Daniel and Ryan

Tonight Daniel had another friend over to play and spend the night. Ryan Hodges, a baseball, basketball, church friend came over to spend some time with Daniel and play games.

Amaryllis

I got this amaryllis plant the day after Christmas for $5.00. I got one to plant at school, too. I'm anxious to see if they will do well.

Alabama Serving Plate

Becky got me a wonderful gift for Christmas - an Alabama serving dish. I absolutely love it!!!

My New Dishes

A couple of years ago I attended a brunch at Mrs. Sandra Highers' home. My table was set with these dishes. I loved them. My daddy loves birds and through the years, I've tried to pay attention to more kinds of birds. These dishes have cardinals and orioles on them.

Last year after Christmas my mother and I were in Belk's shopping, and I showed her the dishes and told her I'd love to have some, so this year she and my sister went in together and got me a set of them. I love them!!

Christmas with the Welches

Wednesday night, December 31, Damon, Becky, Laura Beth, and Carter came to our house for supper and to open Christmas presents. We are so blessed to be friends with this special family. Katy just loves Laura Beth, and Daniel loves Carter, too. Becky has been such a blessing in my life. It's hard to think about a time when I didn't know her. She and I think so much alike about things. We love spending time together especially when we're working on one of our many projects.

I made lasagna (my aunt's recipe), salad, garlic bread, lemonaide pie, and yellow cake with "Granny" icing. My "Granny" icing didn't set up right, but it did taste ok. I was able to use my new Christmas plates and the plates Wayne got me from the bookstore last year. We enjoyed the meal together, and then the kids went off to play. Carter was once again his usual hilarious self. When they went into Katy's room, he announced, "No, I do not want to watch Makin' Music!!" Poor Carter, LB and Katy always want to watch Makin' Music, don't they?

Finally I went in and asked them if they wanted to open presents, and they came on into the living room to open a new Alabama shirt, a new Barbie and Barbie clothes, a Vera Bradley hipster, a personalized baseball card box, and Alabama serving plates. Even though we exchanged great gifts, the very best gift of all is having such wonderful friends who help us become better Christians every time we're with them. Merry Christmas Damon, Becky, Laura Beth, and Carter from Wayne, Kim, Katy, and Daniel. We love you guys!!

Prizes for Inservice Presentation

In June Nancy Burns and I went to Lexington Middle School to attend training on the New Standards that the Tennessee Department of Education has instituted for the 2009-2010 school year. Several teachers were sent from all the schools in Chester County, but the K-2 teachers are me, Nancy, Susan Willis, Sherry Thompson, Sherri Henson, and Denise Davidson. We now have to present what we learned at the training to the faculty of our schools, and that training is scheduled for Monday, January 5. As everyone who knows me can attest, I do not like to speak in front of big people. Kids are great, and I love teaching them, but I get extremely nervous speaking in front of grown-ups. I've worked and worked on my part: made a powepoint presentation, highlighted codes in 45 sets of handouts, searched for motivational videos and songs about "change," and just generally thought and thought about what would be most beneficial to share. After I completed the academic part of the presentation, I decided to try to make some simple door prizes. Maybe I can bribe the group to like the presentation....Anyway I've prepared 17 gifts to give away and wrapped them. When I was out shopping on the day after Christmas, I picked up all kinds of snowman stuff really cheap that I've used to hopefully help our day go more smoothly. Now I'm trying to think of something neat to use for an Oprah moment. Three of us are trying to come up with 45 little gifts to give away like Oprah does on her favorite things shows. We're trying to keep a positive atmosphere going when we're presenting some pretty intimidating material. If anyone has a great idea, PLEASE let me know!!!

Daniel and Wayne Go to Memphis

On Thursday, December 30, Daniel and Wayne went to see the Memphis Grizzlies with some friends, Dane and Grant Burns. Daniel and Grant play basketball and baseball together, and they also spend lots of time talking on the telephone to each other.

Their trip started with a yummy meal at the Spaghetti Warehouse in Memphis. Wayne had lasagna and Daniel had chicken alfredo.
Then it was time to go to the game! The Grizzlies were playing the Phoenix Suns without Steve Nash. The guys had great seats! Look how close they were to Shaq. They were also pretty close when Amare Stoudemire got thrown out of the game after getting two technical fouls.

To top off a great night, as they were walking around the arena looking for Dippin' Dots, they ran into two Memphis Tigers basketball players, Tyreke Evans and Pierre Henderson Niles. Daniel and Grant were thrilled to have their picture made with them!