Mount LeConte---revisited--- Dennis decided it was time for a mini-vacation /torture trip. Most people consider a trip to the mountains as restful but not Dennis. He is not one to sit around and enjoy the scenery. On our trip to Gatlinburg in October we got a good nights sleep and then hit the trail head early. It is about 5.7 miles up and I mean straight up....we made it up in 4 hours or so...can't really remember the exact times and rested around the lodge area for about an hour. We saw the llamas, ate some cookies, drank coffee and hot chocolate and then headed back down to civilization and a hot shower. The trip down is always the easiest unless one of us falls down and turns their ankle. Dennis has one ankle that continues to bother him...he probably doesn't let it heal from the previous injury before he referees, umpires or decides to hike 10+ miles in a day. In a very flat and thankfully wide area of the otherwise steep and narrow path he stepped on a stone that was standing vertically in the pathway. He took a pretty good tumble and grabbed his ankle. It was huge pretty quick but we managed to get down without the helicopter ($10,000 for a lift). I wasn't nearly as sore as i thought i would be but don't want to do that hike for a while.

Baby Garner

Baby Garner arrived on dec. 11. It is the first time i have been able to make it to a grandchild's birth before they popped out. Holder, Sims and Tripp and were all cleaned up and wrapped in blankets before i got to see them. This time it was a little different...no one was in a hurry so I made it down in plenty of time. I even stayed in the delivery room and witnessed the whole (words can't describe it) thing. I thought for a while I was going to have to deliver the baby myself. They checked allison and said it was time to push but when they pulled back the sheets there was a little surprise waiting. The nurse had an almost panicked look when she asked that the doctor come alittle faster. They even told allison not to laugh again much less push. I guess I didn't know you could have a baby without pushing....oh well it was fast and furious and they both did great. Adam and I just stood close to the wall and waited for the time we could snap some pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving

We certainly have lots to be thankful for...family(which is growing), friends, jobs, homes, churches, health and much, much more....The two Jackson kids are here for a few days...hopefully mom and dad will get some rest and get everything ready for baby Garner...He could be here at any time. Tripp and his family are headed to Cotton Plant and then to the Delta for some fam time... My helper fixed the deviled eggs today....

pictures

my friend felicia was a little disappointed in my photos of the things i had made a few weeks back. It did look a lot like a big pile of things and didn't do any of the things justice. Allison took the time to send me pictures that she made of each outfit after she embellished them with rick rack, trims and embroidery. They did turn out cute and baby girl probably will be good for the fall and winter season. The only dress she didn't make a picture of was the dress that simsy girl had on at school on friday.

art

promised some pictures of their finished work...finally had time to get it done. Their latest project was made in art class...their names are in the art work....very cute....

JonJon's, Jumpers and Jelly

This past weekend I finally did some serious sewing. Allison had left about 10 different things to be sewn. She cut them out but just doesn't have time to sew. I on the other hand have "all the time in the world".HA...I guess sewing the bedding for the new baby just got me a little inspired and with Dennis working on some fences I did have some time on my hands. I finished up about 10 A-line jumpers, 7 pairs of pants , two jonjons for the two new babies and 5 jars of plum jelly...I monogrammed some cute monkey heads for bibs and one on a backpack for our neighbors little girl.

The first week

During the first week of school we made self portraits...they studied some prints done by famous artists and then we drew the outlines of our faces with a pencil, traced it with glue and then covered them with foil and pressed out the glue lines. The kids called it "magic" They colored them with permanent markers...they had a really fun time and the finished products were very impressive during parent orientation on Thursday night. I will post the finished products later.

Classroom

"Attitude is Everything"

After several coats of paint and a little sewing I finished my classroom. It is bright and cheerful and hopefully will make us all happy...

Bed skirt

I stole this picture from Ashley's blog spot. I thought the bed skirt turned out very nice .

yum yum

Some friends brought us some veggies from the Amish country in TN...They were certainly some of the prettiest vegetables that we have seen this season....I peeled and chopped and cooked every bit of it for lunch on Sunday...the Mexican eggplant casserole was delicious. http://www.cooks.com/ as was the zuchinni , yellow squash, a HUGE onion, green beans, and some peppers. Doug W. brought us some tomatoes...German running acidless tomatoes that were huge and some yellow tomatoes that were a little different than the typical red ones.

things from the camera

I just looked on my camera and discovered a picture of Felicia and her friend Leslie (leslie teaches at parkway). they have been friends for a long time. We were at the closing luncheon at the Whole schools institute in oxford. I also took a picture of an elvis wall hanging and a quilt that i found interesting. the last picture i made was of den den and the kids in the pool...

too little time

It seems like the days are just rushing by and things are not getting done around here...my new machine has been idle for several days but my friend Felicia came by with a small project and i fired it up....needless to say with both kids here it gets a little hectic. They wait until I am busy to decide they need something...getting sims some apple juice sounds like it should include a 911 call. she is always "bery" thirsty and needs it right now....Holder is pretty content to watch cartoons, play the computer games and play his Wii. Only when he needs a snack does he ever say very much. they have both enjoyed swimming and just relaxing. We don't have a real schedule when they are here and with Den Den gone to Al for two days we just took it easy...real easy....that is until I decided to complete my teacher of distinction paperwork. I have been nominated before but just never had the time to work on the paperwork...It is a lot more work than i thought it would be and with the two little ones coming in and out wanting things who knows how it turned out. Felicia helped when she came by. She kept them at bay while i typed, gave me advice on how to "beef" up my writings, and wrote me a very sweet letter of support.

My sister Kelly from FLorida and my niece anna blair from arkansas came by for a visit too. We swam and ate lunch and then they headed back to cotton plant. Did I mention that they also brought by two walmart bags of peas...just what i needed with my nerves frazzled by writing and thinking....the peas went quicker than I thought and we all watched a movie while I shelled. Sims wanted to be a helper so she put the empty hulls in the trash...only once did she get confused and put the full peas in the trash...maybe that is why it went quicker. Their mom went to the doctor and found out she is having a boy. Lots of new babies in the family for Christmas....Jennifer and Stacy both had girls and Lanna just had a baby boy. Morgan should be having a baby in september...and then the Buse boy and the Jones boy...The kids were wanting a sister...if you go to Lime-A-Beans you can read felicias take on the names....anyway, the kids rode down to the Neshoba county fair with Cindy F. and Kathy Wallace...can't wait to hear about their trip. The Jones family will be moving mid-week and I have a flex day next week, need to set up my classroom and the butterbeans will be in as well as that killer corn...too little time!!!! (i stole the pictures from Lime-A- Beans...)

Papier Mache Mask and pottery

Mask that needs to dry and be painted.

Pinch pot, shaker and a whistle that won't blow.

Hip Cats

Notice the EP on his tag around his neck...and Tupelo on the musical gates...

Under the sea

This has been an "art" week.

Starting Sunday after lunch I have been commuting to Oxford to get sm"arter". I have had "fun with mud", architecture in the classroom, papier mache, under the sea, and hip cats...all of these classes were fun and i enjoyed the activites...painting, making pottery, making a mask, creating sea collages. making a false facade for a building, and painting...My best class however, has been "Drum Circles by Damm"...I know this sounds a little funny but the man's name was Robert Damm(dom)...it is one of the best things i have attended...no stress, no mistakes...just pure fun with drums, shakers, cowbells, a donkeys jaw, and other homemade instruments. We even played the Boom Whackers and did a little African dancing...I had one class on Monday for a couple of hours and then attended the curriculum track on Tues and Wed. He had cute books which had onomatopoeia in them and we duplicated those sounds with the drums.

kilzed

I decided to go back to the school today and take a few(yeah right) more boxes of school junk. Hubby was working out of town so i had no schedule for the day but had planned to only work until 11:00. well, I watched Jeopardy at school, ate some lunch and attempted some painting...everything that i have is so old that it has oil based paint on it and i needed some primer...i decided to call it quits and headed home but made a u-turn at kfc and headed to walmart...got some KILZ...this stuff is named correctly...it will kill a person , if not by fumes, then by all the work of putting it on and then painting 1-2 coats of the real paint....i only primed 2 bookshelves at school but have primed 4 more tonight...after 12 years of scavenging for stuff, moving classrooms 5 times in 12 years, and just making do, I decided to try and color coordinate some things...i will keep you posted as to how long this continues...I always have good intentions but seem to get rushed and just throw things together....

12:34:56 7-8-9

Where were you at 123456789 today? It will not happen again during our lifetime (or that is what they said on tv this morning) I was at school unloading and putting away some good school junk. my friend felicia came to help but had car troubles and was late getting there. I think she made it in time for the 123456789. we ended the day eating pizza and swimming and brainstorming some back to school ideas. She already has the first 5 or six weeks planned out.

Holder and Sims

she doesn't always cooperate during our pictures...

red, white, and blue monday

today was a little depressing...could be because the kiddos were gone, the sun wasn't out or i have a flex day tomorrow...made a cute whale shirt today for Sims with some matching shorts with some eyelet trim...she is certainly a clothes hog...she "wuvs" everything...they are both getting a patchwork outfit for the beach in a couple of weeks...sewing was a little touchy today...moved everything to a new place and i am a little out of sorts...i am trying to embrace change...