Life and Times of the Sharp Family

Today I am thankful for the Western High School March Mustache Madness Competition. For fun, some guy teachers participated in a mustache contest.  The categories for the competition were "Best in Show" (the most Tom Selleck-like mustache), "Most Original", "Most Disturbing", and "Most Pathetic".  The contestants were required to be clean-shaven on March 1st.  We've all been enjoying watching the mustaches evolve throughout the month of March, speculating on who was headed toward each prize.   The Western Men's Original Mustache Inspiration for "Best in Show"    Another Inspirational Mustache  To make matters even better, I was selected as one of the Super-Secret Mustache Judges, so I got to be in on the entire decision-making process.  Today, we nominated four male teachers in each category and sent before and after pictures of the nominees to the entire staff.  Then, we held an unexpectedl...

I know it sounds crazy, but tonight I'm thankful for my bathroom floor.  When we moved into our house almost four years ago, both of the bathrooms were complete eyesores.  Both had carpet.  The upstairs bathroom had curtains that had the same print as the wallpaper and the ceiling paper...yes, you read that right.  There was wallpaper on the ceiling too.  The downstairs bathroom wasn't really much better.  In addition to the carpeting, it was filthy and painted an obnoxious yellow. The evolution of the downstairs bathroom has been a gradual move toward acceptability.  First, we replaced the yellow paint job with a nice tan.  A nice shower curtain from Ikea and some window treatments and we were nearly finished.  But, sadly, there was still the carpet to deal with.  So, we ripped that up and put in vinyl flooring.  At first, the vinyl flooring was great, but not long after it went in, it began buckling and peeling in several...

I was driving home today, and my heart sank as I heard an unidentified noise.  "What now?" I thought angrily to myself.  It seems like every other week we have had to deal with something or other with our van, mostly involving flat tires. I did the whole scientific method thing (after all, I am a science teacher) and (1) turned off the radio (2) listened intently (3) continued to hear unidentified noise (4) turned off heat (5) repeated steps 2 and 3 I laughed out loud as I realized that the noise that was bring me so much consternation was, in fact, my tiny baby (see yesterday's post ) who had fallen asleep and was sawing some huge logs in the seat behind me. I am so thankful that my baby was getting the rest she so obviously needed.  Thank God for big, big snores! Lord, thank you that my baby was getting some much-needed rest on the way home today.  Thank you that nothing was wrong with the van.  Finally, thank you for the comic relief you provide on ...

Today, I was getting AJ dressed.  I looked at the little zip-up sleeper thing I was putting her into and thought to myself, "Wow, it seems like she's had this outfit forever!" I looked at the tag.  It was a Carter's size 6 months.  It was before 6:30 am, so I had to check again, just to be sure. My little girl is SO tiny!  It's not that I favor small children, it's just that my other two kids were so gigantic, that I'm not used to it.  Breslin was wearing Carter's size 9 months before he turned 5 months old.  I love that AJ is so sweetly petite; she's so little that I sometimes forget that is she almost a whole year old.  I know she won't be tiny forever, but I'm so grateful that I can experience some of her tininess for a bit longer, if only because she is naturally on the small side. Thank God for a tiny baby! Lord, thank you for my tiny little baby, who is getting so big so fast.  Thank you that she is healthy and happy.  Th...

Tonight I am thankful that my kids are so entirely opposite when it comes to many things.  It has allowed me to fully experience the wide range of toddler emotion.  I has also helped me to appreciate their unique reactions to each and every situation.  I can usually predict fairly accurately how both Breslin and Dharia will behave in certain instances.  I love knowing that each will handle whatever comes their way with the personalities and strategies that God has given them.  I actually had been thinking quite a bit today about how fun it is to have two polar opposites in the house today when we sat down to eat dinner.  Just watching the two of them eating affirmed everything I just described.  There is Breslin, carefully spooning the soup from the bowl to his mouth, and getting visibly upset when he spills or the noodles slip off of his spoon.  Then, there is my beautiful wild woman Dharia, with chicken stuck to her face thro...

The note on the card said, "I love you babe!  You looked like you could use some flowers this morning. Colby" You know what, I really did need some flowers this morning. I am so grateful that my husband is so wonderfully observant. Thank God for Surprise Flowers! Lord, thank you for my husband and for his efforts in cheering me up today.  I am so blessed to have a man who loves me so much and who takes care of me when I need to be taken care of.  In your name I pray, Amen.

Many moons ago, when Bath and Body Works first came around, there was a scent that I loved.  It was called Pearberry.  I used it throughout my junior and senior years of high school.  Then, I began to notice that they weren't carrying the scent as often any more.  In fact, one of the annoyingly perky employees at the Jackson store informed me that they were discontinuing the fragrance.  Starting about four or five years ago, my mom adorably began stockpiling Pearberry lotions and body washes for me.  Almost every time that I saw here she would hand over to me a paper bag with a couple of Pearberry items inside.  I would go home and stash them in a drawer, like toilet paper and canned goods in a bomb shelter.  I realized today that I am on my last Pearberry lotion and am about to finish off my last bottle of Pearberry body wash.  I had my post all planned out for today -- my sort of eulogy for the Pearberry fragrance.  I would ...