Carlee Nichole Dodge

She's Here Birth Announcement

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Amy & Ashlynn's Luau

My best friend Amy is having her first baby next month...due August 15th. Today I had a Luau themed shower for her at my house. We had a great turnout and Amy & Ashlynn got LOTS of fun stuff! She is due in less than a month and we are ALL counting down the days!

FINALLY...a place to call home!

The Dodge's
On December 31st, 2008, Ben and I signed our lives away and bought our first house!!! It was certainly a roller-coaster ride...but it was WELL worth it. Our house is in a great area...one of THE BEST school district in Ocala. It's also right around the corner from my grandparent's house...so that's really cool. I wish that Mamaw was still here...there probably wouldn't be much separation between the two of us though! She'd be here...I'd be there...we'd both be out shopping, TOGETHER! I really miss her. I've gone by the house a few times now and walked around in the backyard and just sat in her old swing. It's really comforting. I know that she would be SO PROUD of me for who I've become and what I've accomplished. I know, I've gotten a litte side tracked. Yesterday was her birthday and she's just in my thoughts right now.

So MY HOUSE! One word...AMAZING! (Yes it totally deserves the CAPS! and the exclamation mark!) It was built in the late 60's and has a lot of character. We FINALLY managed to close on it during my Christmas Break but since it was almost OVER we worked our hiney's off over the course of about 4 days! And when I say we, I mean my ENTIRE FAMILY! We are so BLESSED to have such an amazing bunch of people in our lives. My daddy is TOTALLY my hero! :) All of the work really paid off and the house looks awesome.


The before pictures....

The after pictures...

It's SUMMERTIME!

So...it's been AGES since I've posted anything and I'm kinda bummed because I really like this whole blogging thing. :) HOWEVER, I have 3 HALF-DAYS left of school next week and I'm ready to get my blog on. For now I just want to throw out all of the things that have happened lately and then next week I can start posting pics and catching myself up on all of this stuff! Since October, Ben and I bought our first house. We've turned the thing COMPLETELY around and the house really looks GREAT now! We "adopted" a new kitten and there is a really cute story behind this one. :) School has been LONG but awesome...and we've had TONS of fun things going on. Our school curriculum fair, field trips to The Appleton Museum and Silver Springs, a Luau party, and of course this week...GRADUATION! Not to mention the GROWTH that my children have made recently!!!! Seriously, it makes me want to cry. I can't wait to get started on all of this!

My little "Pumpkin Carvers"

We had such an AMAZING day today! My husband Ben came by the classroom today and spent the whole afternoon with us. He brought us a fall pumpkin and helped carve it for the kiddies! :) They all got to reach in and touch the "goo" after Ben cut the top off. They LOVED IT! He also let each of them take a turn scooping out the inside goodies which totally had them ALL kinds of excited. After we voted on the "look"....Ben carved it for us and then I had each of my babies sign their name because they all took part in the carving. I sent them all home with a seed from our pumpkin and a little poem that talked about planting a pumpkin seed. Tomorrow we are going to EAT pumpkin seeds (the sunflower-like ones!) :) I am SO thankful to have such a supportive husband. He is SUCH a great guy and my babies absolutely LOVE him! I think I might actually have some competition.... lol. "Mrs. Dodge, your husband is SO handsome!" :) I LOVE IT!!!!!

Welcome Jackson!

We added a new addition to our classroom today! I went down to check my box this morning and had a package from Aunt Vikki and AnnE! I was SO excited!!! I opened it up and there was the cutest little frog...with the CUTEST letter. I couldn't wait to show it to the kids and read the letter to them. After breakfast this morning as we gathered at circle time I told them that the class got something in the mail. They had a FIT when they saw it and it was absolutely necessary that we IMMEDIATELY give it a name! We took a vote after the class gave some suggestions and......JACKSON it is! We took a picture to thank her. She really is the best! Love you Aunt V and AnnE! :)

FOUR WEEKS IN....

And I am SO ready for a vacation!!!! I LOVE my job and ADORE my kids...but I'm ready for a break! :) We are supposed to be getting "lead money" from the state (money they give to us as a reimbursement to cover out of pocket expenses in our classroom).....and I think that it will do wonderfully placed in Mrs. Dodge's VACA fund! Where should I go?? Any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated! I just want to get away for the weekend....leave on Friday afternoon and come back Sunday afternoon. Hook a sister up! But seriously....I love teaching more than I ever really expected to. My kids are wonderful...fantastic babies. AND might I add...we had our first day of EVERYONE being on GREEN!!! YAY!!!!! I was so proud of them! :)