Small Neck-Big Mouth

When I was young I chocked on a the bone of a catfish,

When I was about 10 I decided it would be a good idea to put a game board piece in my mouth, and again, I choked on that.

In college, I freaked myself out and had trouble getting a piece of salad down, to which I thought I chocked.

I diagnosed myself with a small esophagus and just decided to take small bites.

With a slight fear of choking all my life I decided to stay with liquid forms of medicine. This can be a little strange when a 27 year old pulls out her cherry flavored liquid Tylenol to take for a headache.

I recently hit a milestone in my pill taking journey and taught myself to swallow a very tiny pill each day. it continues to be a struggle on some nights but I fight through it.

Then......

what seemed like a typical Thursday night in our house turned into another documented sign that I do have a small espohagus.

I was talking my usually nightly very small pill when it get stuck. Stuck in my throat that is. After a few seconds I realized that I was not dead, but this little thing was uncomfortably lodged in the side of my throat.

We did what any mind abling citizen would do at this point...googled it.

"Pill stuck in Throat" came up with lots of hits.
Some of the advice included:
eat applesauce
drink water
wait
eat bread

After trying a few of these with no luck I decided to jump up and own on the bed hoping I could force it down or maybe stand on my head to make it come back up.

At 10 pm I was still not dead so I decided I would just have to wait for the stubborn thing to dissolve. I put on my pajamas, tucked myself in, and somewhere during the night the pill continued its journey down my digestive track to the correct place.

Maybe I should google small throat disease.

Free Signature Generator

Christmas Break

Brittany, "I mean where have the past two week gone?"

Earle. "Brittany, we did a lot!"

Christmas break has come and is almost gone. Tomorrow the sound of a blaring alarm clock will resume its' job as my wake up call. Earle was right. We did more then a lot over the break. We had a few adventures, constructed a few houses, and even saw some old friends.

Nothing else can start a two week vacation off then to drive to Orlando to see my favorite older sister graduate. We packed up the truck and headed down south. I was well equipped with movies for the entire trip there and back. Kristy is a very smart person and even managed to get two degrees. Notice all the honor cords around her neck. We did a lot of eating and laughing the entire weekend.
She was very quick to remind anyone that forget that it was HER day.

Very soon after the Orlando trip, the second big adventure of the break began: Gingerbread Wars, version 2.

I'm not sure how the first annual gingerbread war came about last year, but I do have sad memories of the results. Out of the four entries I placed 4th. With the losing pressure from last year mounted on my shoulders I began to do a little gingerbread building research. Some may call this cheating, but I like to call it strategy.

The competition started off a little slow, but things quickly began to pick up.

We had a new entry this year. Earle decided to join the competition at the last minute. Well actually the night before. He stayed up until midnight perfecting his gingerbread creation.



This was the final masterpiece: Gingerbread Cabin

The entries were lined up and the secret voting began. We have a very technological savvy way of doing this. Mom places a number on each house and we vote for the one we like the best. I was very nervous as this point in the game.

After the results were tallied, a tie! Andy skyped in at the right moment and gave his vote from Korea via web cam.

At last the winner was revealed: First place...........me!


As you can see from the family picture we took after the competition I was very excited over my victory.

With the victory fresh on my mind. We headed out for a busy, but fun day of Christmas family visiting.

7:00- Wake up and pack the car

8:00- Mom and Dad's for Santa

11:00- Aunt Teri's for brunch

3:00- The Tanners' for a quick shower

4:15-Nana's house for a little visit

5:00- Andrea and Jason's for a Christmas dinner

11:00- Bed at the Tanners

That's right guinness book of world records. We hit up seven houses on Christmas day.

We got to hang out with some pretty awesome and excited kids. Taylor loves her Uncle Earle.

We tried several times to take this. Taylor kept saying, "Let me see me."

Taylor also took time out of her schedule to put on a fashion show for us. I think she did her make up too.

You may be wondering where Tanner man was hiding all this time.

Well, Santa came through and brought nothing other then a Wii!

After a very eventful Christmas day a little R and R time was much needed with some beautiful college buddies. These two helped me forget about the traveling blues and catch up on some good times.

I even got Earle and Josh to stop talking for a moment and give me a quick pic. BFFs!

The last big adventure involved some extremely cold weather, extremely bright lights, and extremely fun friends. Lindsey and her boyfriend met us as we went though some very pretty Christmas lights. It was freezing, but fun.

Brooke is trying to thaw out. She is still a little white from being frozen.

So friends, it saddens me to say that Christmas break 2009 is now a part of my past. Here's to just as many adventures in 2010!

I leave you with a few videos from our two weeks.......

Free Signature Generator

LCE Idol

Every year our school holds the annual LCE Idol. Each grade level puts on a show for the kids. They have a great time and so do we.

I am very sad to say that I missed it this year due to a very important sister's graduation. I have located three of the last four years for your viewing pleasure. The fourth one is hiding, but when I find it you will to get to enjoy it too.

2008


2006


2009


Free Signature Generator

Progressive through Some Food

On Saturday, we had a progressively good time with some Sunday school friends of ours. It was decided to spread the Christmas Cheer at three houses by celebrating with a progressive dinner. We ate way to much and laughed just as hard.

The feast began with a colorful spread of appetizers at Lindsay and Foster's house. Some of my favorites included: Heathbar Apple Dip, Fondue Cheese, and of course some Mexican Salsa.



After stuffing our faces full, it was on to the next stop. Adam and Amy did a fabulous job with the main course. Casey's casserole was even edible. We enjoyed a fantastic main course of some good old southern cooking. Chicken, corn, mac and cheese, and green beans.

The set up was better then a five star restaurant and the service was great too.

Lastly, my favorite meal of the day, dessert! We scurried off to Jack and Sara's house to enjoy a spread of deliciousness that included cheesecake and homemade hot chocolate. I tried one of everything.

Now, our Sunday school class agreed to celebrate the real reason behind the season......presents : )

I'm just kidding we love Jesus also. We had a very "colorful" gift swap that left a few embarrassed.

Adam and Amy paused a moment to proudly display their new gifts......

Not sure which part of the progressive dinner I would entitle this, but Jack showed us how he likes to dress up as an old women and dance around his house singing Christmas music.

The food was wonderful and good times were had by all.

I'm a Big Girl Now

Some things we know about Brooke:

1. She likes to pretend she is Korean

2. She makes really good Buffalo Chicken Dip

and

3. She just moved into a cute little house!

Brooke and her friend Jessica moved into this darling little thing. I was given the grand tour of the place when I arrived and even got to meet their ghost they have living with them, Mr. Willie.


Fresh in her moving clothes I caught her proudly displaying her keys and her cute new bedspread. (Overstock.com)

Our tour then took us into the living room to see the stylish decorations of Brooke and Deb.

Brooke, Jessica, and Mr. Willie -

I hope you make many fun memories in your new house ;)

Free Signature Generator

Happy Birthday Mom!!

On Saturday, Mom had a birthday. Now I am not going to say how old she turned but here is a list of FIFTY SEVEN random things we all love about her.

She use to try and scrub off her freckles when she was younger
She had me, Brooke, and Kristy.
She takes care of Charlie
She is a great gift giver
She cooks wonder dressing for Thanksgiving
She loves and accepts everyone she meets
Her middle name is Carol
She sneezes every time she eats a York Peppermint Patty.
She likes to drink Margaritas
She has a green thumb
She always has a stylish no ride
She makes up words Example: Thunk, a verb, past tense of think
She makes up phrases Example: I swear on a bear.
She read us stories before bed when we were little
She works in her PJs some days
When she tells stores, she gets very animated
She cries during George of the Jungle
She brings home any dog that she sees on the side of the road
She secretly wants to be a rocket
She would marry George Straight if he asked her today.
We think that when she was little she had Elvis sheets on her bed.
She will not try clothes on at the stores, if she can not wear them she gives them away.
She types fast
She has not found out about all the stuff we did growing up
She likes to keep the house clean
She married Dad
She is not only a dog whisper, but a fish whisper as well
On the side she rescues frogs out of the pool.
We can keep up with her but looking at her facebook status.
The older she gets the higher her heels get
She ordered 10 different dresses for my wedding
The more she drinks the louder she gets
She is always smiling
Her make up always looks pretty
She does not like for you to take pictures of her in the morning
She if extremely afraid of black grasshoppers
She is hiding her GPA from college from Brooke and I
She loves Christmas decorations
She is a secret Sci-Fi junkie (all into planet of the apes)
She hates the way she looks in tennis shoes
She will not get a pedicure because she thinks the people are going to talk about her toes in Korean.
She is a great Mom
She is into the same music that my kids listen to
She does not like to fly
No matter how she feels at a party she will dance
She really can’t handle long island ice teas, but she has not learned that yet
She helped me plan a perfect wedding
She has two cars so she will not put miles on her new car.
Her initials spell DCB
She does not talk about people badly
All of her teeth are brand new (Thank you Dr. Childress)
She is good at her job
She cried every time Brooke and I pulled out of the driveway for college.
She is a good speller
She got a tattoo after she almost gave Brooke a spanking for getting one
She came to all our school plays, honor days, and everything else growing up.
She does not act like she is&*$$%&*W!

We love you Mom

Free Signature Generator

Stop, Drop, and Roll

Yesterday was a Monday all day.

There was a one particular moment in the day that made me forget it was Monday.

It involved my students, a cell phone on vibrate, and the fire alarm.

Each month we have fire drills at school. The kids have been doing this since Kindergarten so they pretty much know how it goes. I just happen to have my cell phone laying on my desk yesterday. It was turned to vibrate. I usually put in in my purse on on the mouse pad in case it were to go off. Yesterday, I had it sitting on my computer, when what you do know, it rang.

Normally, I would just walk over, cut it off and that would be that, but yesterday, as I walked over to the phone to cut it off, I turned around and all my kids were walking very quickly to the door.

Thinking that somehow they had managed to all come up with a plan to escape class as the very exact moment I turned my back, I asked, "What are yall doing?"

With a very puzzled look they replied, "Fire Drill!"

I must say that it took me a minute to stop laughing. They all thought my phone going off was the fire alarm.

After I composed myself we all starting laughing.

It's good to know they are good a prepared for a fire.

Free Signature Generator