Its been nine years.

We will never forget.

Pray for our country.

Two years ago, my cousin Sarah gave birth to twins that were over three months premature. She wasn't even six months along in her pregnancy, but due to complications, she had them extremely early. Her twins weren't even two pounds each when they were born. These sweet babies, Cole and Claire, went through many difficulties in just their first few months of life. I'd say that before they were just two months old, they had already experienced more surgeries than some of us will have throughout our entire lives. Cole and Claire stayed in the hospital for months. Cole had many more problems than Claire (as he was the smaller one at birth), and there was a night when the doctors thought we would lose him. The poor little guy had extremely low blood pressure that didn't seem to be responding to any type of drug, and he also had internal bleeding. He had to have a blood transfusion, and he had 10 doctors & nurses working over him, trying to keep him alive. That night, many gathered at the hospital and prayed. Finally, the last drug they had to give him began to raise his blood pressure a bit.

(If you read my entries two years ago, you already knew all of the above. I have several entries about those scary days.)

Praise God--these precious kiddos will be celebrating their second birthday tomorrow with a big party. They are both walking and doing quite well. They still face difficulties, but they are extremely tough kids. I love Cole and Claire so much, and I'm thrilled to be celebrating their birthday with them tomorrow.

Wow. This is the first time since Friday afternoon I've been able to just sit down and relax at home.

*On Friday, we drove to St. Charles, bought my mom a birthday cake and took it to my sister's house so my mom wouldn't see it. Then we spent time catching up with family members.

*On Saturday morning, we went to the park to play softball with family. We brought out the birthday cake to surprise my mom (it was her birthday but she didn't realize we were celebrating it at the park). She was completely surprised to see a cake there and hear us singing to her.

*After softball, we gave my mom her birthday presents and went out for lunch for her birthday.

*When we got back to my mom and dad's house after lunch, we packed, cleaned up and got ready to go BACK to Columbia. We went straight from St. Charles to Matt and Becky's house, where we ate dinner, met Colter Roberts and spent time with friends. Colter is such a cute baby!

*We finally got back home late last night, and I slept so good because I was completely exhausted! After church this morning, we went to Craig and Joetta's for lunch. Immediately after that, we went with a few people to look at our house (that is currently being built). Then I dropped Daylon off at a park to play baseball with some of the guys.

I think it's time for a QUICK afternoon nap before services tonight. :) I love this time of year because I can spend time with people without worrying about getting back home to work on lesson plans!

My school year ended today. Yes, I actually cried as I hugged my students goodbye. It was hard since I had just told them I would not be teaching at the same school the next year. They cried, too. It was quite the emotional day. I've grown to love those guys. They were quite the crew.

One mom called me after her son had gotten home. She called to tell me how upset he was that he wouldn't see me next year and that he cried when he got home. She said she cried with him. He made me a card, and she wanted my mailing address, so she could send it to me. She nearly made me cry again when she talked about how much I had changed his life and how he had made a complete turn around since the beginning of the year. She thanked me for being part of her son's life. Sigh. Teaching isn't like any other career, that's for sure.

Anyway, I AM happy to be done. I have three months until my next school year begins, and this time I will be teaching in Columbia. I'm very excited about that.

Being a teacher in December is fantastic. I love winter break. :)

It has gone by way too fast, of course, but I've been able to spend a ton of time with family. I also saw "Marley and Me". It made me cry.

I've been trying to get a lot done. Today I went to school for the first time during break. I cleaned and organized my classroom. Those are two things I barely have time for when school is in session.

Anyway, I wish everyone a Happy New Year!