Teacher's Convention in Gatlinburg

Last week we went to Gatlinburg for the teacher's convention. It was so wonderful to see my parents. Here are my mom and I at the PosAct booth. As you can tell we are "two peas in a pod." I did a workshop for elementary teachers entitled, "Reviving 'Ye Ole Melodrama' to Create Classroom Heroes." I used the melodrama that was from my Grandpa's files and had all of the teachers act it out. It was hilarious! Mom came to that one and enjoyed the show.

Brian loves his wonderful mother-in-law. I love the big smiles on both of their faces.



After a wonderful day at the convention we were finally able to go out for a relaxing dinner at a Mexican restaurant -- our favorite!! I will post more pictures tomorrow and tell of more of our adventures.

Elizabeth

This is Elizabeth. She was my Grandma Cutlan's doll when she was a girl. She has a china face that is in very good condition and real hair. Grandma Cutlan gave her to my mom when I was 6. Two years ago my mom brought Elizabeth to live at our house. She is an honored member of the family. Each year my mom would clean her up, wash her clothes, and curl her hair. Usually mom has helped me attend to the yearly ritual, but this year I was on my own. Here is Elizabeth after her annual spif-up. She is so happy to be looking her best and so wanted me to take her picture. A friend from Normal gave my mom the stroller a few years ago so this is her typical pose.

I put together a shadow box with information about Elizabeth and have it on display in our guest bedroom. The little picture next to the lamp is of Grandma and Elizabeth in 1922.

Another view of Elizabeth and her display. These were the chest-a-drawers that I had in my bedroom while I was growing up. My mom found it in an antique shop and refinished it!

Happy Labor Day!

We hope that you had a wonderful weekend! Obviously the price of gas is on everyone's mind these days. We had a church in our area that sponsored a discount gas day! It is sad that $2.45 a gallon is now considered "cheap," but it sure created a stir around here! I waited in line for about 20 minutes to fill my tank at this station this weekend.

I was very impressed with the kindness, organization and efficiency of this congregation that did this special event to serve the community. They are a young church that has just started.

After mowing the lawn, shopping and going out for coffee, Brian and Essie decided to lay down and take it easy. I thought this picture was so cute! Now we are back to work! Have a good week!

School's Back in Session!

The past month has been a flurry preparing for the start of school. It is finally underway and all is going well! I am teaching General Geometry, Honors Geometry, Honors Algebra I, English 11/12 and Speech. So far I love all of my classes. Although this is the start of my fourth year at Berean, it is the first year all of my classes are courses I have previously taught since coming to Berean. Having notes, quizzes and tests to use and improve is such a blessing!

Last year I was the senior sponsor. Since my class graduated, I have now been assigned a new class -- the eighth grade. They are the class of 2013! I took this picture on the first morning of school. I will be their sponsor until they graduate. I told them that we will take a picture on the first day of school every year until their senior year. What a joy it is to meet with this group every morning for homeroom. I found a wonderful devotional book for middle school students and we are enjoying the challenges each day. We are also memorizing one verse a week together. This week is "All the words of my mouth are in righteous; there is nothing forward or perverse in them. " Proverbs 8:8. I have a list of verses from the book of Proverbs that begin with each letter of the alphabet for each week. I did this when I had 8th grade homeroom at Temple. Those students are now in their 20s and many are still in touch with me. What a thrill to help students hide God's Word in their hearts. It is going to be a wonderful year!

Here I am the first morning. I look very tired because it was early, but I eventually woke up and looked better later in the day!:) This was the only picture I had of my first day of school outfit. I knew my mom would want to see what I wore!!:)

"Seuss on the Loose" Dessert Theatre

This past weekend I went to a dessert theatre with several of my teacher friends. The play was so entertaining and creative. They took different Dr. Seuss stories and acted them out. The top picture is from "The Cat in the Hat" and the one below is from "Horton Hears a Who."

My friends David and Candice are the originators and directors of this ministry at their church. They have presented dinner and dessert theatres each summer for over 10 years. I have acted with them several summers and always have a blast when I do. Next weekend I am going again with my in-laws and Brian.

Here are my teacher friends, Patti and Janel, who went to the play with me. We had a great time together -- we laughed and laughed! Patti's mother passed away a few months ago, and she told me she hadn't laughed so hard in such a long time. That was a real blessing to me! It reminded me of Proverbs 15:13, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine. . ."

Morning Blessings

Good night's rest . . . early morning walk . . . beautiful new rose blooming. . .

breakfast together . . . .coffee. . .

spending time in God's Word --

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed,

because his compassions fail not.

They are new every morning.

Great is thy Faithfulness." Lam. 3:22-23

Have a good day!

Another Special Guest

We had a special guest stay with us recently. Our nephew Grayson from Texas! Grayson is a wonderful boy who will be in 5th grade this fall. He spent the night with us and was so polite and thankful for everything. Essie even enjoyed having Grayson, and she doesn't just like everyone!

After he spent the night, we took Grayson to Chuck E Cheese and he found a game that he won every time! He ended up with over 300 tickets and most of them were won playing this game!

Uncle Brian enjoys shooting hoops at Chuck E Cheese as well. I'm not sure who had more fun -- Uncle Brian or Grayson. Also, Uncle Brian is passing on his love for ball hats to his nephews. He treats all of them to one ball hat a year. Grayson is wearing his new Cubs hat (although you can't see it well -- it is cool to wear it backward). He was especially impressed when I told him I used to live in Illinois where the Cubs are from and had a Cubs hat when I was young. We definitely enjoyed having Grayson.

Although we were sad to say goodbye, we couldn't persuade him to stay. For some reason he wanted to get back to Texas to see his parents and his brother! We know he'll be back because Uncle Brian promised another ball hat and a trip to Chuck E Cheese when he returns.