Well, I survived......

I had an awesome time in Cades Cove. There is nothing like spending a day with a group of about 40 first graders to put life in perspective. We had a blast, although it was a little rough getting out of bed this morning. My poor ankles may never be the same. They required appropriate walking shoes, but I apparently don't have appropriate walking feet. Little bit of pain this morning.

We were barely 5 minutes into our walk, when Ranger Ashley stopped us because there was a deer in the thicket right beside us. The little doe just stood there as we all snapped her photo.

 Our theme of the day was the animals that live in the wonderful natural habitat of the park.

 They discussed various animals found in the park and let the everyone feel several different animal pelts. Caleb was not too fond of the skunk. You could just hear him thinking, "No way am I going to touch that one."

  He did love the bear skin. He had no problem with it.

Until the ranger walked off and the claw came near his knee. He couldn't move fast enough out of the way.

After we learned about the various animals and insects found in the Park, we had a scavenger hunt. They had hidden 15 animals and insects in a section of the Park and we had to find them and identify what type of animal....mammal, reptile, amphibian, insect, etc. My little team was one of the first to find and correctly identify them. They were so proud of themselves.

 We then played a little game that had them all laughing and having a ball.

 Our final "quiz" for the day was a relay race where Ranger Mike described an animal and the child had to go find that animal out of a pile of stuffed animals at the end of the race.

 Caleb was really into the relay race, cheering his classmates on.

And after the day was done, they still had the energy to act silly.

What was I thinking.....

As I prepare for my day today, I'm sitting here thinking "What have I gotten myself into?"

It started out innocently enough. I'm driving down the road and a voice pops up from the backseat "Mamaw B, will you go on my field trip with me in two weeks." My answer, "Of course". I love taking trips with school classes and never say no. It normally involves field day on campus or a short jaunt to the local Optimist park for a picnic and time on the playground. How difficult could a field trip be.

Well, I guess I will find out today. I am going to Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with two groups of first graders and will be chaperoning several children in my group. When I found out the trip was to Cades Cove, I thought, "Wow this will be fun." Keep in mind that my trips to Cades Cove are always spent in a car as we drive the 11 mile one-way loop through the cove and just watching for wildlife such as bear and deer, which are in abundance.

My daughter gave me the paper this weekend with the details of the field trip. As I read through it, I couldn't help but wonder what I had gotten myself into. Words popped off the page such as "wear layers of clothing" or "there will be some hiking" (did I mention how lazy I am when it comes to walking and did I mention BEARS) and then there was the line "prepare yourself with appropriate footwear" and the "bring a backpack with lunch, water, rain gear and a towel to set on as there are no picnic tables where we are going." And the worst one of all "no soft drinks".

So let me get this straight.....

#1- I am going to be walking with a group of rowdy first graders through the wilds...carrying food ...where bears are in abundance and will come right up to you if you HAVE food.

#2 - I apparently will be on rough terrain....hence the "appropriate footwear"

#3 - I have to carry a backpack (again, did I mention I can sometimes be a little lazy)

#4 - I have to do all this while not being allowed any caffiene or sugar

This is not looking good.

And on a final note, they failed to mention there are VERY limited facilities in Cades Cove. One set of restrooms when you get there and another set when you drive half way around the loop, which we are apparently not going on.

If I was you, I would stay tuned tomorrow to see how this turns out. We are taking a group of first graders somewhere with limited restrooms AND telling them to bring water to drink. I would love to know who organizes these things.

Note to self - In the future, when a grandchild says "Will you go...", get details before firing off an excited YES.

Miscellaneous Monday

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day.

I went to church yesterday morning and my secret sister had left me a gift in my seat. It matches my bedroom or my everything room, where ever I decide to use it. I love it. I love anything floral so it was a huge hit with me.

 As you all know, I love tea sets and whenever one of the granddaughters is over, we play tea party. I found this adorable set at Walmart for just $5.00. Papaw donated a little serving tray from the kitchen and I found a doily I wasn't using. So now they have their very own tea set that we play with.

 It's that time of year when graduation announcements will start arriving. I got my first one yesterday from Miss Amber at Church. Congratulations to a very special young lady. I have a niece and a nephew graduation this year as well. I am so proud of both of them. My niece is going to college on a softball scholarship and my nephew has joined the U.S. Marines and will leave for basic training in August. I wish them all well with their endeavors.

 Our church blessed each mother with a beautiful flower and pin. I love little surprises like that.

 A dear sweet friend of mine handed me a little package last night with these neat gifts in it. Thank you Ms. Clara

 It wouldn't be a complete weekend if I didn't have a bargain or two to show you. I got this neat little basket at Target Saturday in the $1.00 section. It's perfect for my desk for the little things like stamps, message pads, Post-It notes, etc.

 And of course a new little bucket, also from the $1.00 area at Target. I have a closet addiction for pencil holders. Don't ask me why, but I have to change them out periodically or I get bored with them. Most people won't even notice a pencil holder, but I do. It's got to be roomy because I also have an addiction for pens (pencils, markers, highlighters, I could go on and on)



Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful Mom.

There will never be a song sung or a poem written that could convey the love Mom has for us. She is the epitome of Motherhood. Caring, giving, loving, nurturing. She is always there for us whenever we need her.

I would love to wax eloquently on all the wonderful things that make my Mom the best mom in the world, but there are just not enough words to describe all the wonderful things she has done for us and taught us over the years. I am blessed to have such a great mom. I know I speak for all four of her children when I say, WE LOVE YOU MOM. YOU ARE THE BEST!



Faith Update

As many of you saw last week, I had plans to do my blog every Friday on Faith. I was going to share stories of people who have shown amazing faith in facing the obstacles they have had to overcome in their lives.

I did not do the Faith Filled Friday yesterday. One of my faithful followers pointed out that she had expected a faith blog since it was Friday. So I thought I should give you an update.

I found out several things in doing my research for this topic. A lot of people like to believe they have faith; but when it comes down to it, they are reluctant to actually call it that. They will talk about overcoming adversity. They will say they had faith that God would pull them through, but then they like to list the reasons they were able to fight their battle and win and leave out any glory to God.

I worked for a publishing company that interviewed 100's of successful business people over the years for a ten-volume book series they were doing. The last question of every interview was "Does faith play an important part in your life?"

The answers amazed me. Every single person interviewed gave a beautiful, eloquent answer on how important faith was to them. Yet, only one lady was ever brave enough to talk about her faith in God. All the others, even ones who were Christians, discussed faith in themselves, the faith their parents placed in them, faith in hard work, faith in success. But they were all too afraid of offending their readers to actually have it put in print that they were a success because of their faith in God.

Have we become a nation so ashamed of our God that we cannot give Him the glory for what we are? Why is it so easy to talk among other Christians and share our testimony of our deep-rooted belief and faith in God, yet be leery of discussing it with the secular world for fear we may not be politically correct.

It saddens me to think that we feel like we cannot shout it to the roof tops that faith works miracles. In my blog yesterday I said that I squeeze every possible minute of happiness that I can out of life. The first and foremost reason I am able to do this is faith. If I was asked what my number one strength is, it would be faith. I cannot stress it enough. If you place your trust in God and leave your worries and cares in His hands, you would have so much more joy in your life. Does that mean I never worry? No, it doesn't. It just means that I'm allowed to keep it in perspective. Faith provides us with a positive mental attitude to face the challenges we face and still keep sane.

I saw a quote the other day that I really like:

"A little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but a lot of faith will bring heaven to your soul. - Author Unknown

This is so true. There is nothing in the world that can compare to the peace, contentment, happiness and joy that will come into your life when you exhibit pure faith in the Lord. Thanks be to God that we can believe He will handle our problems, we have hope that a brighter day is ahead. But if we do NOT have a firm foundation of faith behind that belief and behind that hope, it is simply wishful thinking.

A week in the life....

I'm following Jeremiah 29:11.

I'm going to take my lead from Ms. Debbie and post an update on my week.

Sunday was a blessing as I was able to have all five of my grandchildren at church with me for the first time since the baby got here. It was a true delight to show them all off...even if it was a little exhausting. After delivering them all back home, I crashed on the couch the rest of the day.

Monday was a beautiful day and that evening I spent a pleasurable time at the ball field watching Garret and Alexis's ballgames.

Tuesday I cleaned and re-organized my office and took Flat Stanley to visit the Northview Elementary. You can see him standing on my grandson's head in the back row. Then Hubby grilled chopped sirloin, fixed baked potatoes and corn on the cob while I took a bubble bath and finished my Nora Roberts book.

Wednesday was church night. We have been studying some of the minor prophets and it has been very interesting.

Thursday night I kept two of the grandkids while my daughter and her husband went to the Zac Brown Concert. She is a HUGE fan. She was so excited because Mr. Brown was shopping where she works yesterday and she got to shake his hand, talk to him and get his autograph. She was a like a teenager bouncing off the walls with excitement instead of a married mother of two.

Anyway, the kids stayed with me and played hard all night right up until bedtime when they crashed. Once they were gone....they were gone.

Then this morning, my hubby surprised me by taking me shopping at Turkey Creek in Knoxville, which I LOVE to go to and then took me to Applebees for my Mother's Day Dinner. I always like to go out for Mother's Day BEFORE the actual day since the restaurants are so crowed on Mother's Day. He bought me two new pairs of flip flops and a new tea kettle. Don't laugh, it is what I asked for when he asked what I wanted. The flip flops were buy one get one 1/2 off so you know I love a bargain.

I guess you can see I've had a busy week. The thing is, this is about normal for me. We seem to always have something going on. I squeeze every possible minute of happiness that I can out of life. I'm looking forward to a wonderful weekend. Hope everyone else has one as well and Happy Mother's Day to all my blogging friends.

We whine....

We whine when we don't like what's for supper....when just down the street a homeless person digs through trash to find a morsel to make into a meal.

 We whine when gas is $3.73 a gallon....and a guy down the street is losing his car because he can't make the payments?

We whine when the pollen is bad and our allergies act up....yet, someone with emphysema is fighting for every breath they take.

 We whine because we are tired and our legs and back ache....yet someone paralyzed would trade anything to be able to feel their legs.

We whine when things don't go our way at work....when the family next door is about to lose the only income they have.

 We whine because of the drama others put us through....yet the elderly and shut-ins go days at a time with no one in their life, lonely and all alone.

 We whine because we don't have enough time in our day....yet the single lady down the road counts the minutes until bedtime because she is depressed and lonely, with nothing to do and no one to talk to.

 We whine because our kids get too rowdy and noisy....yet the deaf parent yearns for just one chance to hear those sweet words "I love you" from their precious child.

 We whine because the sun's too bright or it's too gloomy outside....yet the blind mother would give anything to watch her daughter walk down the aisle.

 We whine over every single little thing in our life....yet there are many out there who would trade everything just to have one moment, one little fraction of the things God has blessed us with.

That is why I try so hard to maintain my Pollyanna attitude; to see the blessings I have and to thank God daily. How many times in your life have you seen or heard of hardships and thought "There but for the grace of God, go I." It is time to put aside our petty grievances, our whining and complaining and start being thankful for the little things that "get to us". Be glad that you are in the position you are in where you have a life that is filled with the "little things". It's time to put on our big girl panties and get over ourselves. Deal with what you can and leave the rest to God. There are so many that are so much worse than us. Paul said it best in Philippians 4:11-13 (NKJV)

"Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."