We're Expecting!

We're very excited to announce we are expecting! I am due July 22-my birthday! We told our families over Christmas, and everyone was very excited. We are planning to find out what the baby is; we should know around the first of March. Check back often for updates!

Merry Christmas!

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Sweet Sarah

Our new niece, Sarah, was born December 5th. She is so precious, and we have had a wonderful time with her over the past few weeks! She looks a lot like Lauren, but with dark hair. Welcome to the world, sweet Sarah!

Jessie and Robbie's Shower

We enjoyed Jessie and Robbie's couples' shower a few weekends ago! They received a lot of great gifts for Charlie. He will be here in just a few weeks-we can't wait to meet him!

Lot for Sale/Happy Thanksgiving!

Jason and I have decided to sell our lot on Quail Creek off Thomas St., almost directly across from the entrance to Springlake. After much thought and consideration, we have decided building isn't for us; we've found a house we want to buy. It is a wonderful lot, approximately one acre. The asking prince is $54,500. If you or anyone you know may be interested, please call us at 871-2746.

We hope each of you has a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Victoria and Bob's Wedding

Victoria Stewart and Bob Derveloy were married November 15th in a sweet ceremony at the chapel at First United Methodist in Tupelo. Victoria and I teach across the hall from each other at Joyner, and she has become one of my dearest friends. The ceremony was so simple and sweet, and the fabulous reception luncheon was held at The Bistro on Park. It was a wonderful day! Many congratulations and best wishes, Victoria and Bob!

Jamie's Baby Shower

We held Jamie's baby shower at Joyner a few weeks ago. She got a lot of great gifts for Baby Baker, and Lauren also got a lot of Big Sister gifts! Jamie's due date is December 11th, but I definitely think Jack or Sarah will make an appearance before then!

CHS Class of 98 Reunion

A couple of weekends ago, Jason and I went to Corinth for my first high school reunion! We had a blast! Friday night we had a band at The Waldron. Saturday afternoon we traveled to Circle Y for a picnic lunch and enjoyed seeing a lot of my classmates' children. That night we had a dinner at Pizza Grocery downtown. We all enjoyed reading our Senior newspapers, watching our Follies tape, and a slideshow of photos of us from first grade on. We even had a little surprise entertainment- La Toya London, a former finalist on American Idol and member of The Color Purple touring company, was there with Prince Damons, who graduated with us. Prince is in California now working as a singer/songwriter/producer. La Toya is so sweet, and sang "All By Myself" for us. She got a kick out of watching Prince sing the final song for our Follies! We had wonderful weekend, and it was great seeing everyone again!

Tigers' Last Win!

On Halloween night, the Saltillo Tigers pulled out an impressive victory over Center Hill. The game was the last one of the season, as well as Senior Night, so it was very special. As you can see from the photos, Jason worked very hard with his defensive linemen, who stepped up and did a great job! We're looking forward to a great season next fall!

Cutest Bumblebee on the Block!

Lauren was a super cute bumblebee for Halloween! Here she is at our Fall Festival at church, having a great time.

Pumpkin Carving Party

Last Saturday we had our annual Pumpkin Carving party. We had a lot of fun, and as you can see from some of the pumpkins, everyone did a great job carving theirs!

The Pumpkin Patch

I apologize for not posting in a while-we have been so busy this month!

A few weekends ago, the entire Russell family went to the Pumpkin Patch at Blue Mountain, which I get to go back to with my class this Tuesday. We celebrated Big Daddy and Will's birthdays, both this month. We had a wonderful picnic lunch and enjoyed the wagon ride to the petting zoo and pumpkin patch, where we each picked a pumpkin. The kids had a blast; it was such a fun afternoon!



Jason's team also celebrated a wonderful victory last Friday night against Mooreville! 30-7 was the final score-unfortunately, I forgot my camera! I did snap a few photos on my cell phone, and the boys and coaches were ecstatic. We hope we'll have repeat this upcoming Friday night, which is Senior Night when the Tigers will play against Center Hill. Go Tigers!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

We had a very busy weekend last weekend! Friday night was of course spent at the football field. We did not win, but played better than the week before.


Staurday morning was Lauren's 4th birthday party, which was so fun! It was great to see lots of family and friends.

Saturday night we helped host Jamie and Matt's diaper shower at the Curlee's. We had a wonderful time, and they got lots of great, useful gifts for Baby Baker! Unfortunately, I never grabbed my camera, so I don't have any photos of the shower. Sunday afternoon, a group of us went to see Nights in Rodanthe-and let me highly recommend it! It's a fabulous movie.



Tonight I had a Pampered Chef party with Michelle Guyton. We had a great turnout and Michelle prepared some wonderful, easy receipes...now I'm going to slow down for a few days for a much needed break!

Football, Football, Football!

Football is in full swing at the Pannell house! Jason just had his third game Friday night, when the SHS Tigers played the Booveville Blue Devils. Although the Tigers played great, and won the first half, we lost 35-22. They are steadily improving from the first game against New Hope, and the week before, against Baldwyn. This Friday night we head to Fulton to face IAHS. Hopefully this will be our first win of the season!


Last weekend we headed to Starkville for a fun Saturday! We started the day early, because my dear friend Laura Stewart's baby shower was that morning at 10 am. We have not seen Laura, and her husband Marc, in entirely too long! It was wonderful to see and visit with her at the shower, and later on with her family and Marc at their tailgate. We are so happy they are back in the US and much closer, now in Georgia. We can't wait to meet little Elizabeth soon!


Later that day we had a wonderful time tailgating with Ben, Suzanne, and Reed Bingham. We love our new spot, in front of the new Biology building-we highly recommend it! After way too much good tailgate food, Jason and I headed over to visit his family at their RV at the Hump. That night we watched our beloved Bulldogs take the field for the first time at home this season.

It was a great game-unlike yesterday's, which we missed because of Jason's coaches' fish fry. Did we miss the memo Croom is now coaching baseball?

Labor Day Weekend

Jason and I enjoyed a relaxing Labor Day weekend at Darden. Sleeping late, sunshine and and lots of good food were a welcomed break after a great but busy start of school a few weeks ago!

As you can see from the photos, we were all pretty unproductive-the main goal when relaxing at the lake! Your eyes are not decieving you-Chad and Robbie, along with Matt and Jason, played "Pencil Break" for quite awhile Sunday afternoon. Hadn't seen that game since, oh, 5th grade. The new bunkhouse is very nice, and will be great as our family continues to grow!

Long Time, No Post

The past month has been a blur...so much has been going on, all leading up to last Wednesday for Jason, and last Friday for me-the first day of school. I've enjoyed my 28th birthday, our nephew, Walker was baptized, and then later had his first cleft palate surgery, which went great! Mom celebrated her birthday (complete with an "autographed" photo of her favorite singer ever, Rod Stewart!) Jason and I have completed our classrooms, and we are working on getting over the hump known as the beginning of school. We both have great students, and all is going well. Enjoy the photos! More posts soon when life returns to its normal pace (if there really is such a thing...)

My Classroom-Before Photos

I began working in my classroom yesterday, and as you can see, I have a LONG way to go! The photos tell it all...my room is pretty chaotic right now, but not for long! With the help of Jason, Mom, my cousin Leigh and my Aunt Jane (this really is a family event!) I will have my room ready soon. Although I have a LOT of materials, I am so thankful I teach in a school district where I have everything I could possibly need or want. Check back for "after" photos!

Fourth of July Weekend

For the eighth year, we spent Fourth of July at Darden Lake. We enjoyed visiting with family and friends, eating tons of great food and relaxing on the water. The fireworks on Friday night were beautiful, but my photos didn't do them justice, so I didn't include those. We had a great time Saturday night at the Rogers' cabin where we had Atkins Trout's going away party (he leaves at the end of the month to teach English in Japan for a year.) As you can see from the photos, Jason had a great time wakeboarding, the kiddos loved the sparklers and little Walker was very sweet! It was a happy Fourth!

New Blog Look

I am excited to have a new and fresh blog look! I discovered a great website, www.leeloublogs.blogspot.com, that has really cute blog designs to choose from! And the best part is they are so easy to incorporate and are FREE! I have a link to the site on our sidebar-check it out! I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Fourth of July...check back after the holiday for a posting of the weekend's events!

Baby Shower

Last Thursday, we had a surprise baby shower at Harvey's for Elizabeth Russell and Lewis, who is on his way next week! I helped Eliabeth's sister-in-law, my dear friend Jennie Bradford (who managed to flawlessly pull off the surprise) create a diaper cake the night before the shower. Now, I don't know if any of you out there have made a diaper cake before, but ours was somewhat of a pain! This was our first attempt, and I think it turned out cute, although I don't know if we will ever make another one or not! After gathering decoratve stuff at Hobby Lobby, two trips to Kroger, and one to Walgreens, the diaper cake was finally completed! Elizabeth was really surprised, and it was a fun night to celebrate her and Lewis' arrival!

It's Official!

Today I mailed my Educator Licensure packet to the Mississippi State Department of Education! This has been a day I have waited for for three years, and I am so happy it finally came!

CiCi's 12th Birthday

My sweet dog, CiCi, just turned 12 years old! I have had her since I was 15, and she is one of our greatest joys. As you can see from the photo, she had to take a nap after playing with her birthday gifts...a fun beaver puppet, a doggie martini glass, and a new bone!

Please Pray

Please keep our nephew, Walker, in your prayers. Walker was born in May and has a cleft palate. We knew he would be born with one, and he and his family are doing very well. He will have his first of many surgeries in a few weeks. Please keep Walker and his family in your prayers as they travel this journey.

You can visit Walker's Care Page at:

http://www.carepages.com/ServeCarePage?cpn=WalkersJourney&ipc=pinviteemailtemplate


For those of you in Tupelo, you may know about this, but I wanted to get the word out to everyone. Please pray for Will Hodges and his parents, Frank and Kim, and younger sister, Mary. The Hodges attend our church, and are very sweet, special people. Will was recently diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, and is at St. Jude's. He is five years old, and would have started Kindergarten in August at my school. Frank, Kim, and Will are living at the Target house in Memphis, and will be there for the next six months while Will undergoes chemotherapy. Mary is at their home in Tupelo, with her grandparents. Frank is commuting to his orthodontic practice in Tupelo each morning, and back to Memphis each afternoon. The discovery of Will's cancer was somewhat sudden, and his family needs as much prayer as we can offer. Go Big Orange!!!

You can visit Will's Caring Bridge site at:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/willhodges

Vacation/Summer!

Last week, Jason and I traveled to Farmington and St. Genevieve, Missouri to visit some of the largest wineries in the eastern region of the US. The areas we visited were absolutely beautiful; vineyards for miles! We learned so much about wine, and enjoyed sampling many different wines made in the area. We had dinner one evening at Tiger Ridge, a restaurant overlooking a tiger sanctuary. One of our other favorite meals was at The Anvil restaurant, where we ate the BEST onion rings we have ever put in our mouth! Our last night there, we saw a Summer Stock production of Cabaret at the Orris Theatre, which was wonderful.

It was a fabulous week of relaxing, eating, and wine tasting!

This past weekend we enjoyed seeing our cousin Allison, her daughter, Taylor and her brother, David. They stayed with us on Saturday night for something Allison had to attend in Tupelo. Matt (Allison's husband) didn't make it on this trip, but hopefully we'll see them again soon! We also enjoyed Morgan Dawson and Josh Abraham's wedding and reception on Saturday night. We're so happy for them and Josh's new position as head baseball coach at Warren Central in Vicksburg, although I will greatly miss Morgan being my Kindergarten neighbor at Joyner next year!

Summer is about halfway over for us...I have begun working a little in my classroom, and will post pictures when I get more finished. Jason finished his week-long Physics class a few weeks ago at the Rainwater Observatory at French Camp. He learned so much about Astronomy and Physics! He had his first SHS coaches' meeting tonight, and has a coaching clinic in Jackson coming up in a few weeks, plus one more week-long Biology class at the end of July. We are walking and hiking a lot, and Jason swims three mornings a week on the Tupelo Aquatic Club league-at 5:30 am! I swim a few days each week at Mom's pool at her condo...well, mostly, I float and lay out. :) Lots of yard projects are also keeping us busy...hopefully I'll have some before and after photos of that to post soon. Oh, and I had an early birthday present today from Jason-a fabulous spa day!

Music, Monet and Margaritas

Tupelo Community Theatre's Lyric Krewe held its fifth annual summer fundraiser, Music, Monet and Margaritas on June 14th. We had a wonderful turn out for the event, which was exciting after setting up for our street party during a few rain showers...we weren't sure if the weather was going to cooperate or not!

Jason and John Curlee were the masterminds behind the bar, and I helped with set-up and decorating. The Jam Band provided us with great dance music for the night, and the theatre's own Suzanne Oakley took the mic later in the evening to sing with the band! We had a taco bar donated by Casa Monterrey, along with other Mexican foods, and many local artists donated a piece of artwork for sale in the silent auction, which also helped raise a lot of money for the theatre.

A very special part of the evening was when Eric Emig, a Tupelo artist, unveiled his sketch of the late Jess Mark, whom the TCT stage is named after. Jess was a major supporter, believer, and friend of the theatre. Missed by all of us involved at TCT, Jess's family was present for the unveiling of his portrait, and we know he was smiling down on the evening.

As you can tell from the photos, workers and Krewe members all had a great time!

Girls' Trip!

On June 5th, a group of us headed to Jackson to celebrate Suzanne and Courtney's birthdays! We had a great dinner at Julep, and then saw Sex and the City-The Movie at the fabulous new theatre in Madison. We stayed overnight at the Cabot, where we enjoyed their famous "pink drinks." We had a blast dressing up for a night out, which was followed by too much shopping (is there really such a thing?) the following day!

Summer!

Jason and I have had a fabulous first week of summer vacation! We kicked off our first week out of school with a few days at the lake to celebrate Memorial Day...lots of sun, good food, and visiting with family and friends. We got to meet sweet Walker, our precious two week old nephew, and we also found out we are going to aunt and uncle again-twice! Jamie and Matt are expecting December 11th and Jessie and Robbie on January 24th! Next summer will be very busy when we're all at the cabin, so Jason's mom and stepdad decided now was a great time to get plans underway for a new bunk house where the older kids can sleep! Once the newest ones are here next year, we'll have ten adults and seven grandchildren in the family-very exciting!

We have been very unproductive this week, and it's been great! :) We worked in our yard yesterday, so we have gotten some things accomplished. Jason continues graduate school beginning the last week of June, and will be busy with that throughout July and the first week of August, so we're enjoying our time together now. We're very much looking forward to our vacation the week of June 16th to St. Genevieve, MO. We will visit the Crown Valley Winery and its surrounding areas for a few days, which should be great fun!

Jason found out the last week of school he gets to move out of his classroom with no windows (aka, The Cave) to a room in the new wing at Saltillo High School. He also was approved to be an assistant football coach for the Tigers next year; he'll be coaching defensive line, which he played throughout school, as well as coordinating game taping. And, he's only working with varisty-no 9th graders! I'm sure there'll be plenty of posting about that when football season rolls around!

I found out a few days before school ended that I am definitely teaching Kindergarten at Joyner Elementary next year-I'm so excited! On the last day of school my principal told me which room would be mine, and it's the same room I started in as the Spanish teacher three years ago! Better yet, it's across the hall from my friend Morgan Dawson (almost Abraham), who will also be teaching Kindergarten, so we'll be planning together on lots of things. We can't wait! I will post some pictures of my classroom once I move into it...my theme is cowboys and cowgirls, and my students will be Mrs. Pannell's Pardners.

Last night we enjoyed a "clean out the freezer dinner" with friends at Jennie Bradford and John's. About 9 pm, us girls decided it would be a great idea to see one of the best movies of all time-Sex and the City-The Movie! It was FABULOUS-I highly recommend it! The five of us had a blast; Jennie Bradford and I are going to Jackson on Thursday with more friends for a double birthday party at Jeulp/SATC movie night and spend the night at the Cabot, which will be so fun! It is definitely a movie I will own, and could probably watch on a daily basis!

Happy Summer!!!

Everything Came Up Roses and The Countdown!

Last weekend Jason and I had a blast as members of this year's Gumtree musical cast of Gypsy. This was our fifth Gumtree production, and one of the best by far. You can see more photos of the production by visiting www.tct.ms; scroll down and copy the links to photos in your address bar.

The countdown has begun-teachers, you know what I mean! 4 more days then that fabulous word-SUMMER!!!

Graduation, A New Playground and Big Brown

This weekend was very exciting and eventful! I graduated from MSU (for the second time) on Friday night. I actually started back at Joyner Friday morning, and will be there until the end of school-only 15 more days! I will begin teaching there full time in August, and am so excited. Saturday morning was beautiful for the Tupelo Women's Club's dedication of the Fairpark Playground. Our Holiday Tree Festival last November made this wonderful park possible for the children of Tupelo. We enjoyed this month's Supper Club on Saturday night, which as you can see from the photo, had a Kentucky Derby theme. Our hats were fun to wear, and after each couple contributed their money to the pot, everyone drew a horse to bet on-and I drew Big Brown! It was very exciting to win the pot, and we enjoyed a fun night with friends!

Happy Birthday, Jason!

Jason's 31st birthday was Wednesday. Although our "party" was much smaller than last year's, we had a great time with Mom, Jamie and Lauren. Jason was very excited about his new grill, and all of the grill accessories he received. 31...and many more!

Surprise and Graduation Countdown

Last Saturday Jason and I traveled to Philadelphia, MS for his cousin's 40th surprise birthday party at the Galaxy restaurant at the Golden Moon. It was a blast! Don was so surprised, and he got to visit with friends he hadn't seen in years. We had a great dinner, and then spent the rest of the evening in the casino (with no luck, but lots of fun!) before heading home on Sunday.

Only two more weeks of student teaching!!! I will graduate two weeks from yesterday, and I truly can't wrap my mind around it. School has flown by the past 2 1/2 years, but I am happy it's coming to a close. I am so ready to begin teaching in a classroom of my own! Jason's steadily completing graduate school, and doing great in his classes. He'll be taking two classes this summer, both a week long. One will require him to live at French Camp for a week in June, and complete work at the Rainwater Observatory. He'll also be in Oxford the last week of July for a freshwater biology class. We're planning a vacation for sometime between his classes...more on that soon!

Student teaching and stomach bugs...they go hand in hand!

First, let me apologize for such a long time between posts...nothing much has happened lately. Jason and I are quickly wrapping up this semester. I graduate May 2nd, which is also my first day back to Joyner-and I can't wait! I am home today with some sort of stomach bug I'm sure I caught from one of my 4th graders at Lawndale. I was in Starkville Monday and Tuesday, so I was only in my class yesterday...I guess that's about as long as it takes to catch something, though! Other than that, tudent teaching is going great, and has flown by! I also want to share some exciting news-I found out this week I will definitely be at Joyner next year, probably teaching kindergarten! I'm so, so excited. I won't know that it's kindergarten for sure until sometime in May, when most of the new students have registered, but that's what it looks like right now. I can't wait!!!

The World of Blogs

We are new to the world of blogs...here's our attempt to stay better connected to friends and family we don't get to hear from as much as we'd like.

Jason and I are both busy with school; it's pretty much our life right now. He loves teaching chemistry and biology at Saltillo High School, and he's working on his masters at Ole Miss in Secondary Education with an emphasis in Chemistry. For those who don't know, I left the P.R. world about three years ago to return to school for another degree; this time in Elementary Education. I am wrapping up student teaching in 4th grade at Lawndale Elementary here in Tupelo. I will return to Joyner Elementary (one of Tupelo's K-3 schools) in May, where I worked as the Spanish teacher and a first grade assistant while I've been in school during the past 2 1/2 years. I will hopefully begin working there in August full-time; not sure what grade yet.

We are also beginning to plan our house. We bought a lot on Quail Creek last September and are trying to bring all of our ideas together into a house plan. Everyone says it's tough to build, but so far it's been great fun...however, we haven't cleared our lot yet, so we may have a different story when we begin, which will hopefully be sometime in early 2009.

Hopefully everyone who reads this is doing well. If we don't hear from you, let us! Our contact info. is below. Take care!

Katie and Jason Pannell
P.O. Box 2141
Tupelo, MS 38803
(662) 255-0440 (K Cell)
(662) 871-2746 (J Cell)
kepannell@hotmail.com
pannelljason@bellsouth.net