Our Christmas Morning in pictures...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve!!! We are driving back to GA right now, as we do every year after a long day of Christmases with both sides of our family. I also have to add Ty's sweet family in now! We went to 3 different houses today to spend time with loved ones. We are so blessed to have such great families!! It was a full day of running around but I would change a second of it! Love making memories and carrying on traditions!

This was the first Christmas without both my grandmothers. My nana passed away in May and my Meme is in a nursing home battling Dementia. It was very weird without them & made my heart sad. I wanted to go visit meme in the nursing home & go with my dad to Nana's grave but the hustle & bustle of the day prevented me from going. I am so very blessed I got 23 Christmases with both of them & will hold tight to my sweet memories of those special times with them.

I hope your family has a VERY Merry Christmas!! Remember what this season is about...Jesus!!!

Here is a picture of Ty and I this morning! Merry Christmas Friends!

And another!

Here's another one!!! I guess I should be putting these on my other blog huh!?!? Oh well! Love this one too!!!!!

Pinterest!

Got this idea off of pinterest...now who should I give it to!?!?

I think it turned out super cute. It's to put on your front door (or back)!

Crazy clouds in Birmingham!

Look at these clouds that were over Birmingham the other day!!! I didn't see them but found these pictures on twitter that different people posted! Aren't they cool?!? God is such an awesome artist!!!

Still here

Sorry I've been so MIA - I can't seem to get my life together!!! I can't ever get ahead!!!! I hope I'm not the only person who feels that way. As much as I want a husband & family right now, I sometimes wonder how I'd deal with that when I can't even keep up with myself!!! Ha! I guess you just adapt right?

Anyways, I have had a pretty tough week. I've had some not so fun things happen and I've been sick so I'm ready for the weekend! Last night I went with my bible study girls to deliver food to an apartment complex in my school's community. One of my sweet sweet little boys lived there & went crazy when he saw me at the door. This is the same little boy who cried and cried when I went to Texas & was out one day...remember him? He is so precious, I could just eat him up! Anyways, he gave me the biggest hug & it made my whole week. I didn't want to go out to deliver because I didn't feel good but I am so glad I did!!!! I had fun with my group & I am hoping we blessed some families!

Today was polar express day at school & we got to wear our pjs! I got the kids popcorn & juices and we watched the movie this afternoon! They loved it & I did too :) :) oh the joys of my amazing job!!!!

Happy almost Friday my friends! I'll leave you with a few pics of my favorite nephews & niece! We painted ornaments on Saturday!!

my babies

first of all, i had to share these 2 things...

The other day my kids were guessing my age and this is what I heard....
11!
17!
44!
31!
10!

Seriously? Hilarious.

Then, finally I start hearing 29! So I said, lower! And they got all the way down to 24 :)

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I had my SECOND little girl cut her own hair the other day, what is with my classroom & cutting hair? I swear I watch my kids!!! lol anyways, when I asked this last little girl why she cut her hair, she said, "Well, my hair was too long."

Well sister, way to take matters into your own hands!!! ;)

And just like last time, we found hair on the floor & in desks for DAYS!!!

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They had their Christmas program the other day & I have never been so proud!!!! They did SOOO good and it was just about the cutest thing I have ever seen (ok, I might be a LITTLE biased...). Tears almost came down when they were done. I felt like a proud momma. :)

I am so thankful to be their teacher. They make me a better person. They keep me laughing. They remind me EVERY day why I love my job. They make me want to drive 45 minutes to work. They push me to be a better person & teacher. I just adore them. Yes, they drive me crazy and I think I'm losing my mind because I hang out with 5 yr olds all day but I would not have it ANY OTHER WAY!!! I am SO in love with them!!! It makes me wonder how deep my love for my own children will be someday because I love these babies so much!!!

Almost everyday on my trek back home, I just think & think about where I was a year ago. If you know me or have read my blog for awhile, you know that last year was VERY hard. I almost gave up on teaching. I am SO unbelievably thankful to God that I did not & for opening up this door for me because I cannot imagine my life without these kids!!!

So, THANK YOU to anyone who prayed for me over my journey. It was not easy but I know for a fact this is exactly where I am supposed to be and I know the hard days made me the person & teacher I am today.

still here!

Disclaimer - RANDOM POST!

Check out my other blog (on the right side of the page) for a sneak peak from my craft show! We had so much fun but it was ALOT of work! Melissa and I stayed up til 4:30am Friday night/Saturday Morning finishing stuff!!! I have some stuff left so I will be posting some pictures soon if you are interested!!!

My friend Lauren and I threw a wedding shower to our lifelong friend, Wrenn!!! It was so great to see old friends and catch up!!!! I have tons of pictures so I will do a whole post on that later :)

I can't believe I have not mentioned this yet but my best friend & roommate of 4 years in college, Lauren Humphrey, is ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy for her and her new fiance, Casey!! I am so happy she found the love of her life and I cannot WAIT to start planning the wedding of her dreams!!!!!!! I love you LAUREN!!!!

Alabama is going to the National Championship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RTR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yum!

I made my first thanksgiving dish yesterday! It was a corn casserole recipe I found on pinterest! It was so good! I also helped mom make 2 dips, squash casserole and veg-all casserole! We stayed up til 1am Wednesday night cooking up a storm!!! It was good bonding time :)

After thanksgiving, we went out black Friday (or Thursday night) shopping! We went to outlet malls, kohls, belk, and target!! We got home around 4:30am from shopping! More bonding time :)

I hope everyone had a fabulous thanksgiving!!!

I feel very blessed to have such an amazing family & group of friends, a sweet boyfriend, and a job that I'm totally in love with! God has blessed me with so many things to be thankful for! My list could go on and on!

Happy black Friday and ROLL TIDE!!!!!

Pictures: my corn casserole, the beautiful tree at our outlet malls, and the crazy black Friday shoppers at belk!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Early Thanksgiving!!!

From my babies, to yours!!!

I mean really, how cute are these fingerprint turkeys???

Chickfila Cow

Took the kids to Chickfila while Christen shopped on Saturday. We were there for awhile and the cow came out a few times while we were there...

Aubrey was not too fond of the cow. The first time it came out I didn't know it was behind me and Aubrey starts screaming NO! NO! NO! And shaking uncontrollably...i finally turned around and figured out she was screaming at the cow. It was quite hilarious. And yes, I did torture her each time by holding her and walking as close as possible to the cow while she completely freaked out by screaming and shaking while death gripping me. :)

Levi & Luke had a much better time with the cow. :) Luke wanted to hug the cow and Levi liked petting her (yes, it was a girl cow with a big bow).

This is how Aubrey & Levi felt about the huge cow....

BAMA/AUBURN

Today begins the week of rivalries. Down here, it means, are you a BAMA fan or an AUBURN fan? It means my house is split, it means my boyfriend and I are split, it means I don't watch the game with my future in-laws. It means I stick with my bama people. Yes, it is also Thanksgiving week, but more importantly (ha, JK!!!) it is the week of the IRON BOWL!!!!!!!

Happy Iron Bowl Week!!!

Glasses

So I lost my last left contact down the drain Saturday night and I don't have the extra $$ to spend on new contacts so I'm wearing my glasses until I get one ones. I knew some of my kids might flip out when they saw me Monday but only one noticed....

-student: Ms. Alfano why are you wearing sunglasses!???
-me: are these sunglasses?
-student: I don't know?
-Me: these are my glasses, i usually wear contacts but I lost one so I have to wear these for now.
-student: what's a contact?


How do you begin to explain to a 5 yr old what contacts are!??

a fabulous end to last monday

Mondays are always a drag. Something always goes wrong - you're late, you spill your coffee, you forget to eat breakfast, someone makes you mad (in my case, a 5 yr old), you get stressed about the week ahead - need I go on?

Well, last Monday wasn't a normal Monday - it was pretty great (for a Monday). Nothing huge happened to upset me, it just felt like a normal day. I was excited to head to Hobby Lobby after school for the first time since April 27th, when the tornado took ours in Tuscaloosa. After school, I went to Hobby Lobby & then Michaels to grab some stuff for my craft show next month. Then, the normal, typical Monday slapped me in the face just as I thought my Monday couldn't go any better....

I was pulling out of Michales onto a 4-lane side street, pulled into the median to wait for a car to pass and next thing I know I got rear-ended, then side swiped. My immediate reaction..."UGH!" How dare you hit my car for no reason. No reason at all. My next reaction, MY BABY!!!! YOU JUST MESSED UP MY BABY!!!!!! I got out of  the car and put my face in my hands and told the lady I didn't want to look as she said she was sorry a couple thousand times. She apparently thought I had gone & was looking backwards at oncoming traffic as she pulled out, which in turn is why she smacked me.

When I went around to look at the damage, I immediately lost it. As I called Ty and My mom they both asked if I was ok of course and all I could talk about was the poor Malibu. This car is my baby. I drove a clunker for so long, and I treat this car like gold. No, it is not new, but its new to me.

Well, to sum up the rest of the story, The back corner of my car is all smushed in, there are scrapes all down the passenger side of my car, a dent in between the 2 doors on the passengers side, my back wheel got pushed up, the rim got smashed, and my mirror is broken. The tow truck took it away as my heart sunk. I spent 2 hours on the phone with both insurance companies & drove Ty's mom's car til Thursday and then got a rental car...

Meet my rental car. A mazda 3. And BOY does it GO! I'm scared I will end up with a ticket before this is all over. :/

Hoping my car will get fixed ASAP because I miss it!!!!!!!

Very thankful I did not get hurt because I know it could have been way worse!

Friday photo dump

Ok so it's technically Saturday but we'll still call it Friday :)

Happy Veteran's Day to all our heroes out there. I am so thankful for each one of you.

Pictures: my poppy (who served in WWII), my hobby lobby visit (first time since the tornado took ours in Tuscaloosa, I was in heaven!), beautiful sunset one night driving home, operation Christmas child wih bible study, and a few from the Bama/LSU game last weekend! Sorry they are all out of order :)