Happy Thanksgiving!

We trust that you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving day! This is the delicious feast and beautiful table at which we dined for lunch. Brian's mom did an outstanding job preparing the Thanksgiving feast!

Right before prayer and feasting the traditional Thanksgiving pose was taken. Notice how happy the children look. They know they must smile for the cameras before they can devore the food.

Brian has been gone on three accreditation team visits in three weeks and has been looking forward to this long awaited vacation day. Unfortunately Kristy caught the nasty flu bug from some of her beloved students. She made it all the way until Tuesday afternoon fly high and running in high gear. Then as she was driving home, a troubled feeling in the stomach was all it took to signal things were not well. Since then she has been in bed. She did attend the feast and was able to eat. However, she returned home just an hour later and has returned to bed. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Brian is planning to be at Dillards early to shop!

Community Yard Sale

Last weekend we had our fall community yard sale. Many of the homes in our neighborhood participate and so many people come through our neighborhood. We did not have tons of stuff, but what we did have sold really well. It is a great time to clean out the closets and get rid of the clutter. We had a beautiful day and had lots of fun visiting with our "customers."

This guy is about the 3rd or 4th one to ask Brian what he did to make our lawn green. I told Brian that we should have sold grass seed and fertilizer instead of knick knacks!!

Our neighbor's kitty came over to check out our flowers. They are really blooming now that the weather is cooling off.

Camping with Mom and Pop

After the convention in Gatlinburg was over, we spent Friday night with my parents in their luxurious trailer!! Wow! I call it the "Carlson Luxury Liner." It was cozy and homey -- basically a mini-version of their house. On Saturday we took a trolley and explored the rural areas around Gatlinburg.

As we waited for the trolley at the station, my parents struck up a conversation with an interesting man who was a trolley driver. He grew up in the hills right around this area and shared many memories with us. He even offered to share his lunch with us. So sweet!:)

After our adventures of the day we returned to the trailer and had a delicious cookout. What a lovely, relaxing time we had.

Brian was especially impressed that there was cable TV and he could watch the score from his lounge chair outside the trailer. We returned home late Saturday night in order to be at our church Sunday and to prepare for the week. What a wonderful time we had and how thankful we are for our loving parents.

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!!:)