Christmas with the Ketchums

Mrs. Ketchum's Christmas Pajama Party

My class had a pajama party the last day of school before Christmas. BOY WERE THEY WILD!!! It was the craziest day yet! Thank goodness Michael came to help me out. We had snacks and then watched (or pretended to watch) the Polar Express. The kids brought blankets and pillows to stretch out on. They had a lot of fun! I was exhausted and glad for two weeks off when it was over!

My sweet little angels!

Acting a little crazy...

Thanks!

I need to post a THANKS to Jessica Grabowski for helping me give my blog a face lift! It looks so much better! Thanks Jess!

My Best Friend's Wedding

My best friend, Erica Hamilton, is now Mrs. Jimmy Alan Banks Lewis. They got married today in Columbus, MS at our home church Fairview. It was a beautiful wedding with a beautiful bride. I posted some pics from the bridesmaid's lunch and the reception. I can't believe all of my friends are getting married. It seems like we are still babies. This is the first of many friends' weddings this next year. She is definitely one of my most special friends. We first met in 5th grade when she started attending Fairview. I didn't like her then because she was a "goody goody". Gradually over the years, we came to be good friends. Over the last 2 years of college, being the only two girls our age in Columbus, we've become really close! I love her and Alan and wish them all the best in their new life together!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Michael and I put up our first Christmas tree the Wednesday before Thanksgiving! We had such a good time. The tree is a little puny, but we are newlyweds in a tiny apartment. The lights are MIA!

Michael sorting the ornaments.

Me pretending to sort the ornaments!

Michael hanging the first ornament!

Of course, it was a BULLDOG!

I am doing my part!

My beautiful manger scene and MSU santas and snowmen!

The finished products!

The Barlow Christmas

The Barlows would be my mother's side of the family. The whole family--whole meaning aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and anyone else who wants to come--gets together once a year. The first Saturday in December. It is always an exciting event. This year we gathered at my Aunt Edna's antebellum home in Shuqualak, MS. She and her husband have been restoring it for the past several years, so this was a perfect chance to show off their hard work. We ate---of course. Then we played a rousing game of dirty santa with Christmas ornaments. My poor mother kept getting hers stolen. It was a great time of fun. Takes me back to younger days.Mom guarding her prize.


Everyone amid the dirty santa game.

The pile of ornament presents.

My Aunt Dot (The best cook in the world) Uncle Ken (Best Farmer in the World)

Uncle Wayne and Aunt Lee (Best at making homemade Mac n' Cheese complete with $15 worth of cheese)

Aren't they cute!?!

Flashback to childhood: picking buckets of pecans!!!

The six Barlow Sisters

And the Winner is....

My class made a wreath to enter into a contest at Mississippi State. It was for an event called Holiday in the Junction. Basically, they lit the Christmas Tree and sang some Christmas carols. Anyways, the big event was last night. The winning class was supposed to get to "light" the Christmas tree. So, of course, I did everything I could to make sure my kids were there in case they won. I sent home 3 notes, put stickers on them when they left school, and put a reminder in their homework chart. Much to my dismay, not one child shows up. So I go stand, ALONE, in the cold, waiting on them to announce the winner so I can get my wreath and go home. Finally, they started and announced the winner. GUESS WHAT....My class won! Which of course is very exciting, but NONE of the kids are there. So I go up there and am like...welll....none of the kids are here. So the man says, well YOU can light the tree. What fun What fun. So then I am obligated to stay for all of the festivities. After all, I can't swipe the winning wreath and go home before the event is officially over. Luckily, another teacher, Mrs. Aarhus, and her husband were there and kept me company.

I told the kids today that they won. They were pretty excited. The principal announced it over the intercom and came by to congratulate them and give them stickers. The "winning" wreath now hangs proudly on our door.



Here are some pics:

Lighting the Tree.

Applauding the Lighting of the Tree.

Mrs. Aarhus and I with her class's candycane wreath.

President Doc Foglesong and I with the winning wreath.

We called it "Bully's Christmas Collar".

Late Again

So maybe my goal should be monthly posts...I seem to be better at that. A few weeks ago I typed out a really long and witty post and then accidentally unplugged my computer and lost everything. I was so frustrated I just quit. Here I am, trying again. I feel like I am talking to no one, so if you actually read this, drop a comment so I don't feel so silly.

Update on us:

Michael is just about to finish up a semester in graduate school. Classes are hard, but he is doing very well. I am so proud of him! I don't know how he understands all that number stuff. He is on schedule to finish Grad. classes in June and graduate in August.

I am four hopefully short weeks away from finishing my first semester as a teacher. Wow has it gone by fast. I find it very difficult to belive that we've been married for four months and its almost Christmas. I enjoy teaching for the most part. I absolutely love my little students, it's the teaching them that is so frustrating. You explain your head off and one kid tuned out, so then you have to do it all over again. I think I would do better in older grades. But I am sure they present more problems.

We do plan on moving to Fort Worth, TX in July. I want to start seminary in August for a double master's in Marriage and Family Counseling and Christian Education. We hope to come back and settle in Mississippi somewhere...maybe starkville. We are definitely going to miss our Bulldogs while we're gone.

Married life is wonderful. Couldn't ask for anything more right now....:)

So...Do I even need to bother with an apology?

I guess the simple fact that I haven't blogged since BEFORE the wedding...and I've been married for over 2 months lets you know that life is a little crazy. Here is a quick update:

I am teaching 2nd grade at Sudduth Elementary. I have 20 little angels (said with much sarcasm). Everyday is definitely a new adventure. They bring me lots of challenges, but also lots of joy!

Michael is in graduate school for Accounting at MSU. Hopefully, he will be a "master" by next August.

We are going to church at Crosspoint in Starkville. We are REALLY enjoying it there. They are a new church and don't have a building yet, so we meet in the Central Office Auditorium for the Starkville School District. Then, instead of Sunday School, we have Lifegroups which meet at different times and different places during the week. We are in a newlyweds Lifegroup which we really enjoy.

I am going to try to post some pictures of the honeymoon! :)

I'm back...and MARRIED!

So, I fell of the planet for a few weeks, but with good reason. I got married! YAY! So we are officially the Ketchums. We got home from our honeymoon last night. When I get pictures and everything downloaded, I will post some!

AHHH!!

AAAAHHHH!!! is how I felt today. I spent the WHOLE day trying to get our wedding programs to print on the paper I want them to print on. We are trying to be cost effective for once on this journey and looks like it's not going to work because printers are STUPID and think they know EVERYTHING! UH! Anyways, apparently big copy machines don't like thick paper so they wad it up and spit it out...or better yet just wad it up and let you fish it out. Well enough of that....

I have a question...if any of my readers happen to be teachers...I am supposed to be getting ready for my first year of teaching this summer, but am obviously distracted by the upcoming wedding. In reality, I am very nervous about teaching, so if anyone has any tips, suggestions, or ideas about the first few days of school or organizational stuff like procedures let me know. I have second graders!

Copy Cat

So I just wanted to let everyone know that I am a big ole copy cat! I have thoroughly enjoyed looking at everyone's blogs and finding things that I want on mine. Then I find a way to steal it! Therefore I can't take credit for everything you see here...Thanks mostly to Jenny Holloway and Amanda Cantrell...Thats where I found most of my stuff! I will say I feel very good about myself when I do figure something out and get it on here! YAY! Enjoy!

Babies, Continued

So, I was rudely interrupted as I was posting the pictures of my babies. Here are some more for your viewing pleasure...

My sweet boy taking a nap...or trying to but I won't leave him alone!

Smiling for the camera!

Pictures of Our Babies :)

Beau

Beau as a puppy. Stephen, Ashley, Mom, and Dad gave him to us for Christmas.

Sweet Bocifus

TJ with his mom and brothers and sisters.

TJ as a puppy

Old Friends

Today has been a wonderful day of visiting old friends. I started by going back to LFR for a few hours to see some people and visit with a special camper. I had a wonderful time. It is so crazy to be back in that place without all of the wonderful people I associate with LFR. It was great to see those who were there. I got to go to a Steve Miller PowWow which was awesome of course. He was teaching about reconciliation to Christ using the story of Joseph and his brothers. It was really good. I also got to take a spin out in the boat on the lake. It was so much fun! I miss those good times. After reminiscing at LFR, I swung through Starkville to see Katie Neff, a fellow LFR staffer, who just recently moved to Mississippi. I visited with her and Lynsay Abel for a bit. They are such awesome friends. After a quick visit with Michael, I raced to Columbus to have dinner with the Sarahs (Graves and Fowler(Cooke)). After dinner, Sarah Fowler and I went karaokeing at Woody's on the Water which was by far the most fun I've had in awhile. We'll be going again next Thursday if anyone would like to join. We were the hit of the night. Sarah has pictures to prove it. They will be coming soon.

Practicing...

Mary Beth recently graduated from Mississippi State with a degree in

Elementary Education. Here we are at graduation!

The Beginning...

Well, this is all new to me, so we will see how it goes. Michael and I are getting married in one month and will be living in Starkville, MS. I will be teaching second grade at Sudduth Elementary while Michael finishes up graduate school for the next year.