January 4th.....Hmmm... Reality sets in.

Well who knew having a dog would make my life a little easier in the morning. Waking up Cade before Baby was a NIGHTMARE, a kicking, screaming, failing nightmare. Now I just tell Cade that he needs to get up and and go play with Baby and he's up and running. LOL. Now tomorrow will be the test, whenever Rick doesn't have to work is when Cade is at his worst, he would much rather stay in bed with his daddy all day (not that Rick stays in bed all day, that man works VERY hard and Plays even harder) than go anywhere with mommy. Don't blame him, I'd rather stay in bed too. Hopefully (keeping fingers crossed) that I don't have a huge fight on my hands in the morning.

Baby is still "My dog dog!" according to Cade, but everyone else is starting to get the picture that she really is Momma's Baby. LOL. Poor little (big) thing can't even jump on the couch, I have to lift her up onto the couch so she can cuddle with me.She reminds me a lot of my old dog, Tyson (he was a boxer whom I lost about 10 months ago). That well temperament that thinks he was a lap dog and didn't know that he was a dog. LOL. He was very playful and loving.

Baby loving on Momma watching some TV.

Today was a difficult day for me at work. My job is a very special job that takes a special person. Not that I am the best at it. I work at Huntsville high school as a professional (fancy title for a classroom aide). So I work with teenagers that are mentally disabled or emotional disturbed. Today one of the high functional, emotional disturbed students broke down on me crying. He was very upset and beat down, because "I don't matter, I don't have a brain, I am not smart, I am stupid!" has been told to him by most of the people he places a lot of value in. How can I make that better, ok, or even tolerated for him? It took everything in me not to cry with him. I told that sweet boy, who is almost a man, that he mattered to me, he was smart to me, that he was intelligent to me, that I loved him, and that my opinion mattered. That everyone that he has as a teacher cared about him and wants to see him go far in life and be the someone great that we all know he can and will be. I don't understand as a parent or as an educator how someone could tell someone so fragile something so horrible. We have laws against students being bullied at school, but there are no laws protecting them from this kind of bullying/child abuse, because it is so hard to prove. I just want every student that I come into contact with know that I think they matter and that I have faith in them now and in the future and most importantly that I LOVE THEM!!!

I'm also been gearing up for college to begin classes again. This semester will be a little tricky for me. I will be taking Physical Science online from SAU Tech, Geology on Saturdays from 9AM to 2PM (freaking shoot me, I hope I can stay awake through this exciting class on ROCKS, stupid rocks!) and Number Systems for Elem Ed Teachers II at NorthArk. After this semester I will be going back to TECH in Russellville and entering the last two years of my degree. So I am on the 13 year plan as of right now. LOL. I can't wait to finish my degree!!! I love my job currently, but some days, I feel like some of the other teachers look down on me, because I don't have a degree or a teaching license. Well two and half more years and I will.


This is an exciting month for me..... My mother will be turning 63 years old in just a few short days (on the 10th) and two days later I will be turning 29 (really 29, not 29 and holding, or anything like that), but more importantly, my husband and I will have been together for 4 years on the 12th. Our first date was on my 25th birthday, I have fallen more in love with that wonderful man I get to call my husband, each and every day. I AM SO BLESSED! I know that I'm not the easiest person to get along with or live with and I came with a lot of baggage, but he stepped up to that and has made my life the fairy tale that I always hoped for. By no means are we rich in the bank, but we are rich in the heart which is all that really matters.

I love you, Richard Ernest Decker, JR. You are my rock, my best friend, my prince, my everything.
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More recent picture of my family, taken Christmas Eve.