Thankful Thursday

I always have lots to be thankful for, but these are the highlights for this week:
1. Snow Day - I wasn't as excited as Daniel and Katy about our Snow Day on Wednesday, but I was able to work on my Lectureship presentation and get it almost finished.

2. Snookum's - It's almost time for me to go meet my friends for our weekly meal at Snookum's.

3. FHU Basketball - After eating, we'll all go to watch FHU play Trevecca. It's wonderful to be around friends doing things that both of you enjoy.

4. Makin' Music - I've been fortunate this week to get to work on Makin' Music. We had pictures made for the program on Monday night and then the clubs revealed their shows on Tuesday night. I'm so lucky to have Garrett, Kathryn, Chelsea, and Lauren to work with, too.

5. My mom - Today is her birthday. We (my class) called her this morning to wish her a happy birthday. Stacy and I will go on Saturday for an official celebration.

6. Mama Hinson - She was my dorm mom when I went to summer school one summer and lived in Bradfield. She passed away this week. Wayne is helping with her funeral. She was a very sweet lady.

7. Jana's surgery - We're so thankful that Jana's surgery on her hand went so well. We're keeping her in our prayers.

Well, I'm off to meet my friends, and then on to a great basketball game. Hopefully, FHU will win both!!

25 Random Things About Me...

Thanks for tagging me, Becky. Okay, here goes.
1. I'm trying very hard to live the Christian life every day.
2. I am Wayne's wife - for almost 20 years (July 22) - WOW!
3. I have two great kids - Katy (almost 15) and Daniel (11). I love being their mom.
4. I'm a kindergarten teacher. (This year I'm teaching first grade with my kindergarten kids from last yar.) I can't imagine doing anything else. I love it!
5. I have a sister, Stacy. She lives in Madison, AL. Her husband John is in Iraq right now with the National Guard. Please pray for them!
6. I have a brother, Chris. He lives in Orlando, FL. He's an optomotrist. He also loves to travel. In the past few months he's gone to Los Angeles, New York City, and now he's in Utah.
7. My parents are Roger and Ruth Choat. They live in Cherokee, AL. I don't get to see them as often as I'd like but I can feel their love and support every minute.
8. I love watching Daniel play sports. He plays basketball and baseball.
9. I love watching sports period especially Alabama football, Atlanta Braves baseball, and Tennessee Titans football. I'll watch almost anybody play baseball, football, or basketball especially when I'm folding clothes.
10. I'm hooked on 24.
11. I love Little House on the Prarie - books and TV show.
12. I love teaching the four year olds in Bible class on Sundays and Wednesdays.
13. I love to plant flowers.
14. I love peas.
15. My favorite place to eat is Outback. I love their Alice Springs chicken.
16. I do not enjoy public speaking, BUT I'm trying to do better with this.
17. I love Freed-Hardeman University.
18. I enjoy cooking when I have time.
19. Growing up I lived in the same house in Cherokee. Since I've been married, Wayne and I have lived in Cullman, AL; Tuscumbia, AL; and Henderson, TN.
20. I have taught third grade, first grade, and kindergarten.
21. I love Snoopy.
22. My husband and both my kids have Type 1 Diabetes, so I've become a diabetes "expert."
23. I love Disney World. I wish I could go every year.
24. I love studying the Bible. You can always learn something new.
25. I love history. I guess I got that from my daddy. This past week learning about the inauguration and other inaugurations was very interesting to me.

Now I get to tag someone. Let's see. I tag:

Sandy

Sasha

Stephanie

I can't wait to see what you put! Have fun...

Favorite Things Friday

I am so blessed. I love thinking about the many blessings that I have and to be thankful for all that God has given me.

1. Sonic Cokes - Sometimes a Sonic coke is all that will give me a boost.

2. the Peanut Butter bars I eat for breakfast every morning - Wayne and I went to Sam's one day about two months ago, and they gave us a sample of these peanut butter granola bars. They were so yummy, so we bought a box of them, and I've been eating them for breakfast since. I think I'm on my 4th box now.

3. my new laptop - Wayne gave me a new laptop for Christmas, and I love it!!

4. my new bird dishes that Mother and Stacy gave me for Christmas

5. my bed - I look forward to going to bed every night. It's so comfortable and cozy.

6. Outback Alice Springs Chicken - yum, yum...

7. chocolate covered peppermint sticks

8. my green turtle purse my mother gave me

9. Wii tennis

10. my Alabama windbreaker that Wayne gave me

Coach Hubbard

This afternoon after school my mother had left me a message to call her. When I did, she told me that Coach Hubbard had died last night from a heart attack. She said that Coach Hubbard was in the bedroom reading his Bible and Jean heard a sound which was him falling down. It's so close to the way my uncle Tommy died several years ago, but both of these men would have preferred it this way over living in a hospital or nursing home.
I have been very fortunate to have such positive role models in my life: my daddy, my mother, my granny, my aunt Evelyn and uncle Tommy, Mrs. Holt, and Coach Hubbard. He was an elder at church. He led singing from the time I can remember and probably led singing last Sunday morning. His children were grown up, so he and his wife "Jean" often took me and Stacy home with them from church on Sunday and entertained us - we roasted marshmallows in their fireplace, collected shells at the river, and ate watermelon. Coach Hubbard used to be a football coach and chemistry teacher in Cherokee. Then he was the principal at Barton Elementary School. He would talk to me about my classes at FHU and later when I started teaching. I would ask his advice about discipline or teaching, and he always had some words of wisdom to share. He love Alabama football, and we often shared opinions about players and coaches. I always knew I had a fan in Coach Hubbard. He also loved his garden and would always share green beans, tomatoes, and watermelons with us. We'd walk out on the carport and there would be some fresh vegetables, and we'd know Hubbard had been there. When Katy was little, she gave him a new name - "Hub". My life has truly been blessed by knowing Coach N.C. Hubbard. I know that he is receiving his reward now in Heaven. I'm sure that my granny has welcomed him and they're probably discussing growing something. I'm praying for Jean, Norman, and James as they've lost their husband and father. Tomorrow will be the visitation and funeral, because Coach Hubbard had told Jean that he did not want his funeral or visitation to be on Sunday. He didn't want to interfere with anyone's Lord's Day or keep anyone who might have to travel from going to services. The church lost a great shepherd and influence for good last night. I hope I can live so that I will be able to see him again in Heaven.

I've enjoyed reading other people's thanksgiving thoughts, and one of the reasons I started keeping a blog was to count my many, many blessings, so here goes my first "Thanksgiving Thursday."

1. I am thankful to live in Henderson, TN.

2. I am thankful to teach at East Chester Elementary.

3. I am thankful to have a wonderful class of 19 precious first graders.

4. I am thankful to work with Mrs. Sandy every day.

5. I am thankful for all the wonderful parents that help me every week.

6. I am thankful for Wayne, Katy, and Daniel.

7. I am thankful for good friends.

8. I am thankful that my kids have good teachers.

9. I am thankful for my church family.

10. I am thankful for my Bible class of 4-year olds.

Inauguration Day

I love history, so I've been very interested in the inauguration festivities that have been going on for the past few days. My first graders are also very interested in historical figures and events, so we discussed Martin Luther King, Jr. on Friday of last week in preparation for our day off on Monday. We studied a lot about him last year when the children were in kindergarten, so I wanted to encourage the children to treat people fairly and equally which is one of the messages MLK emphasized. Over the weekend I watched a lot of coverage on the Obamas. I knew that I wanted to share this history with my students at school on Tuesday. We watched the actual promise that Biden and Obama made to our country before lunch, colored a picture of Mr. Obama, ate Inauguration cupcakes (thanks LB and Becky!), and sang a song about our new president. The children had a few questions, but they seemed more interested in the DC landmarks we saw while watching the inauguration. I was satisfied with what we did, but the true learning came today.
Before we went to play this morning, I had an incident happen with my class. One little girl said that another little girl called her a name. I took the two girls into the hall and talked to them. The answers I received were "No, I didn't. Yes, you did. No, I didn't. Yes, you did." Over and over. Luckily I had playtime to think about what I was going to do about this. Since Christmas I have noticed that the children have been speaking to one another in tones I don't really like, I so moved some kids around (the two girls especially) and gave them one of my famous "sermonettes." They're used to it by now. I talked to them about how we have a new president and how we need to support even even if we didn't vote for him (we talked about the election, so they know I voted Republican). We should pray that he makes good decisions for our country and we should pray for his safety. Someone said something about him being the first black president, and I told them that when I thought about any person I didn't think of their color, I thought of their actions and their heart. President Obama seems to speak to people in a kind way from what I've seen. He would want everyone (even first graders) to speak to each other in kind ways and to treat people the way we would want to be treated. I also told them that if everyone treated others in a kind way, we wouldn't have wars going on. We wouldn't have fights. We wouldn't have a lot of the bad things that happen in the world. I had the children draw a happy face and to write "I will treat everyone in a kind way." Then each child stood, showed their picture, and said "I will treat everyone in a kind way." The afternoon was wonderful. I heard no squabbling, no tattling, no name-calling all afternoon. Hopefully, this will continue tomorrow. I'm anxious to hear what they think President Obama should do as president.
We've had some lively discussions at home with Katy and Daniel about Barack Obama. I just hope that he is able to help our economy and to help the troops finish their job and come home soon. I will be praying that he is successful and that he stays safe and represents our country in a good way.

FHU Ranked #20!!

It's been a while since the FHU Lions have been ranked in the National rankings, but today when they came out, I was thrilled to see that they were #20. They've been playing so well having beat Martin Methodist and UNION! Tonight they're playing at Lyon as the #20 Freed-Hardeman University Lions! Great job, guys!!!

Lions Beat Union AT Union!!!!

This weekend the FHU Lions and Lady Lions played at Union, a HUGE rival. Thursday night Zack Frye scored his 1,000th point for FHU, and my class made him cards and a big lion to congratulate him. He comes and reads to my class along with William Perry plus he's a good guy. Saturday was the big day against Union. Daniel had a ballgame, so we were late getting there to the girls' game, but boy, they were getting beat in a big way (very unusual for the ladies), and they finally lost by 29. The Welches were already there suffering through the first game, but the second game was as great as the first game was lousy. The guys had to beat the Bulldogs and the refs. We came back from almost 10 down to go ahead with 39.7 seconds left in the first half and finally won by three. The FHU fans were so excited, because we know how hard the guys and Coach Shelton have worked. We're ready for some more big wins!! Go Lions!!

We visited Germ City!

Thursday and Friday all the classes at school visited Germ City. The 4-H agents taught the children about the correct way to wash their hands and which germs are good and which germs are bad. Our day to visit was Friday. We weren't too happy to have to leave Fun Friday Centers, but we made the best of it anyway.

Reading with Mrs. Rosemary's Third Graders

Over Christmas break Melinda Carroll was setting up a new AR system on one of my computers, and she mentioned that once a week her third grade class reads and spends time with a kindergarten class at her school at Jacks Creek. She said it was working wonderfully and that both groups were loving the interaction and reading together, so I mentioned this to Mrs. Rosemary and we began meeting Friday. Her class has guidance class every other Friday, so our two classes will meet on the Fridays she does not meet with guidance. This week her class came to our room "armed" with two books. We paired them up with my students and just stood back and watched. It was truly a joy to watch these students interact and form new friendships. Next time we're going to take a book and Mrs. Rosemary's children will choose a book. At lunch Mrs. Rosemary came over and told our children how impressed her third graders were with their reading. Every time we've seen Mrs. Rosemary's class in hall or cafeteria since then my kids have almost waved their hands off waving at them. I was thrilled to see Max, Bishop and Caelyn (I taught them in kindergarten. John Nic got to be paired with his sister Mikayla (even though he wanted to stay with Laura Beth). Activities like this is what makes teaching so fun for me. I can't wait until we get to meet together again week after next.

My Letter is .....P

After reading Becky's post on the letter R, I asked for a letter of my own. My letter is P...Here are my ten favorite P words:


1. Parents - Where would I be without my wonderful parents? My mom and dad are both very special to me. I only hope I can be a good parent like both of them are.

2. Prayer - What a very special privilege to be able to talk to God. Prayer is definitely an area that I need to improve upon. I'm working on making Prayer Charts for my four & five year olds in Bible class right now.

3. Peas, Potatoes, and Pickles - My granny could cook peas better than anyone I've ever known. Since she died in 2004, I haven't eaten any peas that come even close to hers. She also made "hot" pickles for us. My mom has just about perfected Granny's hot pickles with her own recipe. I love potatoes in any form - baked, fried, boiled, mashed, chips, French fries, etc...

4. Prince - I love Disney movies and how the girl in the story always gets her prince. I also love how wonderful the prince is and how he treats her. My prince Wayne is also wonderful to me. He's such a great husband, father, and Christian.


5. Priorities - When I was in elementary school, a Bible teacher taught us how to set priorities by using JOY. Jesus first, Others second, and Yourself Last. I still think about this simple lesson when setting my priorities, and I've tried to pass this life lesson on to my own children as well as the children I teach.


6. President - I'm not really big into politics, but I do think it is important for us to pray for our country's leaders. Even though I supported the Republican ticket, I still feel a duty to pray for our new president and his cabinet, the Congress, and all the changes our country is about to undergo (hopefully for the better.)


7. Pizza - especially the $4.99 large pizza special at Domino's.


8. Plants - My granny loved flowers and plants. She always rooted her geraniums, impatiens, and other flowers. She watched the signs and knew just the right time to plant the garden each spring. Both my mother and daddy love working with plants, so it seems like I've been around growing stuff all my life. I love flowers and other kinds of plants. It makes me feel close to those who are no longer around for me to spend time with.


9. Peter and Paul - These men are two of my favorite Bible characters. Peter is so much like many of us - he acted or spoke first and then thought about it. Paul sacrificed so much to tell others about Jesus. Another great Paul to an Alabama fan is Paul "Bear" Bryant. What a coach!


10. Pachyderm - My favorite one is Big Al!!

Joseph's 5th Birthday

My nephew Joseph celebrated his fifth birthday on September 17. Katy and I went to Madison to his Harry Potter birthday party. Wayne and Daniel didn't get to go because Daniel had a fall baseball game. Joseph loves Harry Potter so Stacy got him a cloak and glasses and everyone had their picture made with him wearing the Harry Potter stuff. His cake was also Harry Potter. Stacy fixed enough food to feed a small army. Joseph opened tons of presents, and he loved all of them. He also celebrated with his friends on the following Monday at Chuck E Cheese's. Stacy got little gumball machines filled with candy to give Joseph's friends. I wrote their names on the gumball machines while I was at the party. Joseph wasn't too thrilled about turning five though. He told Stacy that he was still four - he didn't want to grow up! Joseph is so cute and he says the funniest things. Happy Birthday, Joseph! We love you!!!

Pets

This group of children loves animals! Last year we spent about six weeks studying the zoo and all kinds of animals. The children did research reports on different animals. I was thrilled to find out that the first reading unit in first grade was about animals. We had several children who wanted to share their pets with the class. Alex T.'s dad Charles brought his hermit crabs for us to see. Unfortunately, both of them have since died. Shelby T.'s dad Bobby brought her two guinea pigs. Unfortunately, one of them has since died. Lillie's mom Suzanne brought her cat Fluffy. Fluffy is still doing well. I didn't get a picture of Kendyl's weinee dog when her mom Marla brought him. The children enjoyed seeing these special pets.

Snaggle Tooth!!

Moving to first grade with my kindergarten class has been fun in so many ways. They're growing up so fast right before my eyes. One thing that has been happening on a regular basis in our class has been "snaggle-tooth" kids. We're losing teeth right and left. I made pictures of a few kids with that special snaggle tooth look: Laura Beth, Shelby C., Stormie, and Shelby T. say "cheese".

East Chester Fall "Motivation" Gathering

This year I am on the Motivation Committee at school. The committee is made up of me, Nancy Burns, Kim Poston, Mary Allison Katras, Jennifer Smith, and Gail Dyer. The Cox family wanted us to use their cabin for our get-together, and we're so glad that we did. It was beautiful....We served Chik-Fil-A chicken tenders, baked potatoes, salad, and desserts (made by the committee). We played games - I made a "Name That Tune" game with 100 old tunes from TV, but Mrs. Parker only let me do 50. We played several other games, but the best fun was spending time together. The Cox family left us a sweet note thanking us for taking care of their children and grandchildren. It was so nice of them to thank us in such a special way.

Katy's Insect Collection

Katy had a major biology project: an insect collection. She could either compile pictures from books and the internet or collect actual insects and mount them onto a board along with labels, etc. This is my child who screams when she sees a bug - any kind of bug, so I thought she would choose the first of the options. I was wrong. It must be very nice to be able to do an insect collection without actually touching any insects. She called my dad and asked him to collect insects for her and I got out and tried to collect. Our family and friends all pitched in to help Katy - even the children in my class at school. She completed all the mounting by using tweazers, and looked up all the information, typed it, and mounted it to her board. I thought she did a great job, and so did her teacher - she got 100!

Daniel's 11th Birthday

It's hard to believe that Daniel turned 11 on August 31, 2008. He was still playing baseball, so he wanted a baseball party. He requested a table full of food (nothing new there). Wayne's parents, my parents, aunt Evelyn, aunt Stacy and Joseph, Katy, Wayne, and I all wished Daniel a very happy birthday. Michael and his dad even surprised Daniel with a personalized Braves jersey!

Bama vs. Tulane

The Welches, Kerrs, and Scotts struck out on a road trip to Tuscaloosa to see the Tide play against Tulane. We met Nicole and her dad there at the stadium. We were all thrilled that Alabama won the game!

V.B.S. 2008: Shine Like Stars

In June we had our annual V.B.S. The overall theme was "Shine Like Stars," but Sandy, Becky, and I decided to concentrate on one Bible "Star" - Peter. We learned four different stories about Peter: "Peter, the Fisherman," "Peter Healed the Man at the Beautiful Gate," "Peter Raised Dorcas," and "Peter Escaped from Jail." We did lots of fun craft activities, ate yummy snacks, and made lots of pictures for our paper bag scrapbooks. The last night the children dressed like the angel who helped Peter escape from jail. We were surprised each night when Peter (AKA Ben) visited our class to tell us the Bible story.

Daniel's All-Star Baseball Team

Daniel has loved sports since he was a baby, and baseball has been his favorite since he was very small. (Basketball seems to be moving into first place lately though.) This past season Daniel was selected to play on Chester County's All-Star team. Wayne as the coach for the team. He is so good to work with Daniel's friends not only on playing a game correctly but also treating people the right way. The team was made up of Grant Burns, Savon Trice, Daniel, Jaylan Northern, Josh Laster, Cameron Neely, Eric Arnold, Ryan Hodges, Brian Napoli, LaDerrick Means, Kason Emison, and Lucas Glover. The team represented Chester County very well when playing and by the way they treated the other players.

Kindergarten "Field"trip

Last year when these children were in kindergarten, we had a difficult time deciding where to go on a field trip. Something always seemed to conflict with our plans. Finally right at the end of the year, we were able to go to Loyd Auditorium at FHU to see Ratatouille. Then we traveled out to Chickasaw State Park for a picnic and an afternoon of fun. We went on a hike and played on the playground. We had a wonderful day together.

Wildlife Assembly

Earlier this school year my first grade class was thrilled to attend an assembly about different kinds of animals. This group loves animals, so this assembly was just perfect for them. We were able to see a pot-bellied pig, an armadillo, a pheasant, and two Norwegian rats (ewww!!) At the end of the assembly the kids were so excited when our principal Mrs. Parker gave the pot-bellied pig a big kiss!

Sad Sports Stories

After Alabama football is over our family shifts focus to the Atlanta Braves upcoming season. We've been able to attend several games over the past few years with the kids and even got to go to a spring training game a couple of years ago when we went to DisneyWorld over Spring Break. Wayne and I were Atlanta fans before we knew each other. We even went to Braves games on our honeymoon. I remember cheering for the Braves when they were at the bottom of the standings. Dale Murphy is my all time favorite Brave, but I've enjoyed watching Terry Pendleton, Fred McGriff, Chipper (of course) Jones, Brian McCann, Tom Glavine, and the list could go on and on. One of the best Braves through the years has been John Smoltz. We loved watching Smoltzy pitch when he started, then was the closer, and then went back to starting. We were so sad when he got hurt during this past season and had to have surgery but we were fully expecting him to be back playing in a Braves uniform next season - not a Red Sox uniform. It's just not going to be the same without John Smoltz.

Another team my family cheers for is the Tennessee Titans. We were so excited when the Titans started the season on fire. It's been a great season, but it all came to an end today when the Baltimore Ravens beat our team 13-10. Maybe we'll go all the way to the Super Bowl next year.

It was a sad sports weekend at the Scott home.

Old Testament

Our congregation is working on reading the Old Testament this year. I love learning from the Old Testament, because I usually teach my 4 year olds from the Old Testament in Bible Class. Our memory verse for January - March is Romans 15:4: "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." On Sunday Daniel preached a lesson called "Introducing the Old Testament." I enjoyed it very much, because it outlined the major topics covered in the OT in a way I had not heard before:
Genesis - Beginnings
Exodus - Deliverance
Leviticus - Holiness
Numbers - Disobedience
Deuteronomy - Covenant
Joshua - Victory
Judges - Cycles
Ruth - Faithfulness
1 Samuel - Change
2 Samuel - Consequences (Psalms)
1 Kings - Division (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon)
2 Kings - Destruction (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbukek, Zephaniah)
1 Chronicles - Heritage (summarizes 1-2 Samuel)
2 Chronicles - Temple (summarizes 1-2 Kings) Ezekiel, Daniel
Ezra - Restoration (Haggai, Zechariah)
Nehemiah - Rebuilding
Esther - Providence
Malachi - Apathy (prepare for the Messiah)

Law: Genesis - Deuteronomy
History: Joshua - Esther
Poetry: Job - Song of Solomon
Major Prophets: Isaiah - Daniel
Minor Prophets: Hosea - Malachi

I've been able to keep up with the assigned reading so far this first week. Hopefully, I can continue to read the Old Testament and learn more about these important stories which were written for our learning and so we can understand the New Testament better.

New Standards Inservice

Well, today was the New Standards Inservice training that we have been preparing for. All the K-2 teachers in our county gathered at East Chester along with several of the "special" teachers... We had worked very hard preparing a day that hopefully was fun as well as informative. We included the following in our day:

1. Icebreaker Game - we used the doorprizes for this game - I think we ended up with about 20 or 25.

2. Music Video - "It's Not on the Test"

3. More or Less Activity - teachers had to decide which strategies we need to use more and which ones we should use less

4. Tennessee Diploma Project Video

5. Language Arts Powerpoint Presentations

6. Flip It Activity - group stands on a shower curtain and flips it over with everyone still standing on it.

7. Science Explanations

8. Tower 1 Activity

9. Tower 2 Activity

10. Video - "Change is Good - You Go First"

11. Video - "The Top 10 Things You Didn't Learn About Teaching in College"

12. Math Activities

13. Video - "212 Degrees"

We had also prepared notebooks for each participant which contain all the new standards and strategies for teaching them. I'm SOOOO glad it's over!

Pounding the Welches

Earlier this week Sandy and Rosemary facebooked me about a pounding for Becky and Damon, so tonight we "pounded" them. They were totally surprised. It was so much fun to see Becky surprised by all the food, guests, and goodies. What fun!!

Roll Tide - What Happened?

We were all so excited to travel to the Osment's house in Camden to watch Alabama stomp on Utah in the Sugar Bowl. Becky, Damon, LB, Carter, Wayne, Katy, Daniel, and I left Henderson to travel over to the Osments' home to watch the game with some great friends and Bama fans. When we arrived, we were amazed at all the food they had prepared for us. Not only was it great food, but it was all on Alabama or football platters and dishes. Nicole, Adam, and Mrs. Sherri had outdone themselves. We also loved seeing the Alabama room! Then it was time for the game. It didn't start out too well, but we held out hope for our beloved Crimson Tide. When we pulled within 4 points, we were all so excited, but it just was not meant to be...John Parker didn't play very well (Katy, I'm sorry but it's true), and the Tide looked like they didn't really know how to play football. Well, I really shouldn't be complaining. This year's season went much better than I ever expected. I can hardly wait until it's time to cheer on the Tide again!! ROLL TIDE!!!!

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!