The Robinette Family

Baseball Summer '09

2009-08-17T10:50:00.002-04:00

We have had a great summer of baseball....more details to come...

Vegas Vacation June 2009

2009-08-17T09:53:00.001-04:00

I know that I have not been faithfully updating my blog this summer....well I actually haven't updated at all! We have been sooo busy and had the best summer ever! We began with our first ever Vegas Vacation! Bruce had been before, but I had not, so we treated ourselves to a trip for our 9th anniversary! I must say that this was the best vacation ever. We had a great time and can't wait to go back!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Eighth Grade Awards Day

2009-05-27T21:11:00.003-04:00

Today was Peyton's Middle School Awards Day. He was chosen to receive the Algebra/Math award and the Literature Awards. He was also recognized for representing the school in the Roane County Spelling Bee earlier this year. We are so proud of Peyton and I am appreciative that I have a boss that is understanding about the importance of family and let me attend his ceremony today.

As Peyton closes this chapter of his life and looks forward to beginning his High School career, I pray that he will continue to make good decisions, study hard, follow Christ, and continue the path that has gotten him where he is now. I hope that he is always happy and always remembers how many people love him so very much!

Congratulations, Peyton! We love you!

Peyton and his buddies...

Showing his medals...

Brooke and Peyton...almost all grown up...

Mrs. Kirkham, Literature teacher, and Peyton

Peyton and Mr. Lem Hill, Algebra teacher

WooHoo!!! Last full week of school!!!

2009-05-22T14:19:00.000-04:00

We have made it through the last full week of school!!! Next Monday, Memorial Day, I will have my annual swimming party for the kids. On Tuesday, they all get to go meet their teacher for next year. On Wednesday, the kids will enjoy the last 1/2 day of school with me and say their goodbyes to Miss Daryl :o(. Of course I have to work until Friday, but the year is pretty much over. I can't wait for summer and my trip to Vegas in a couple of weeks!

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T13:26:00.004-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to everyone. I am very lucky to have my mom. She is an amazing lady who continues to give all that she has for her kids and grandkids. I don't tell her enough how much she is appreciated!

I am also blessed with a wonderful Mother-in-Law! I know not many people can say that, but I can! She is so good to all of us!

Today, Joe and Nikki dedicated Sailor in the Mother's Day dedication at church. They looked so pretty (Nikki and Sailor...you looked alright too, Joe). Our preacher took turns holding the three babies that were dedicated before it was Sailor's turn. He reached for her and said, "And do I get to hold you?", ha,ha, Sailor quickly replied, "NOOOOO"! I am so proud of her and their family. I can't wait to meet Sailor's baby brother who will be here in August!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you new mommies and mommies to be! Enjoy this day, because before you know it, you will be watching them head into high school!

Sungrins on Mother's Day!!!

Sailor showing off her Bible she got at her dedication!

Nana and her grand babies...mine just aren't babies anymore!

Sailor's Mother's Day dedication

How to Rear Children Without Raising Cain, Ephesians 5:21-6:2

2009-05-10T13:06:00.002-04:00

I would like to share with you the sermon notes from our service this morning. This message is especially meaningful to me, as I'm sure it will be to other parents as well.

Introduction: One of life's greatest challenges is to rear children in the "nurture and the admonition of the Lord". Regardless of your age or your family situation, you have a responsibility toward children.

Five Traits to instill in children/grandchildren:
1. To lead them to love and obey God.
2. To help them have a good self image.
3. To teach them to take responsibility.
4. To develop in them a positive attitude.
5. To guide them to have a thankful heart.

Ten steps to accomplishing these goals.
10. Set a good example- especially in the home.
9. Give unconditional love.
8. Provide loving discipline.
7. Supply spiritual and moral training in the home.
6. Set high expectations and goals.
5. Spend time with them.
4. Show a strong, loving relationship in the home.
3. Teach respect for authority.
2. Encourage the right kind of friends for your children.
1. Pray daily for your children.

Conclusion: One of the great laments of the Bible is heard in the words of David: "My son Absolom - if only I had died in your place." (II Samuel 18:33)

Praying for Stellan

2009-04-21T15:04:00.002-04:00

Some of you may already know of this story. If you do not, please visit the following link to read about the journey of this family and the struggle to help their youngest child.
www.mycharmingkids.net
In honor of little Stellan, and his surgery today, many people all over the world are wearing orange today showing their support and continued prayers. Please join me and many others in praying for this little boy.

HAPPY 14TH BIRTHDAY, PEYTON!!!

2009-04-08T07:30:00.002-04:00

I absolutely cannot believe that my baby is fourteen today! One year from getting a permit and two from his license!!! Next year he will go to high school and before I know it he will be walking across that stage at graduation and headed to college! I have been so blessed to have been given such a wonderful son! I could not ask for more. He has made me so proud in his fourteen years, and I cannot wait to see what lies ahead for him in the years to come.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PATE!
I LOVE YOU,
MOM

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Opening Ceremonies 2009

2009-04-07T13:12:00.004-04:00

Saturday morning we were up bright and early and headed to the ball fields for Opening Ceremonies. Colton has traded in his Yankees uniform for a Red Sox jersey (I know Tara and Brad are going to be very disappointed). Sorry guys but you know how it is with the draft and trades and all that stuff. I told him that he cannot redecorate his room and I would not give up my Yankees license plate! He says he is still a true Yankees fan! They got announced to go on the field and then played their first game. They won BIG!!! I didn't get to see him play because Peyton and I headed to Morgan County for his three basketball games, but he did really well. Here are a few pics of his big day... (notice that Colton thinks you have to look tough in ball pics and won't smile!)

Colton and his friend Marquis

Colton K., Colton R., Thomas, Nick, Thad, Carson, and Matthew
(not pictured Dawson, Hunter, and Marquis)

Magic Tree House the Musical

2009-04-07T13:05:00.003-04:00

We had a great time at the Magic Tree House the Musical last week. I had not been to the Tennessee Theatre in a very long time and was glad to share the visit with Colton and 'Ms. Daryl'. We all three love the books and also met the author the week before. We couldn't take pictures of the performance, but here are a few shots that I took during intermission.

The ceiling of the theater

me and Colton

me, Colton, and Ms. Daryl

Colton, his Merlin sword ?!?!, and Ms. Daryl

Colton, Jack and Annie, and Ms. Daryl

Our Day at the Park...

2009-03-30T12:17:00.004-04:00

Aside from doing a lot of Spring Cleaning and closet organizing over spring break, we took time out to take a picnic to the park. We had a great time, especially watching the boys and Sailor feeding the ducks and geese. Later that night, Sailor didn't want to eat all of her garlic bread with her spaghetti that Uncle Bruce (Bwoose) made because she kept telling us "duck, duck" and showing us her bread. We had to save it in a baggie for our next trip to the park! I loved getting to keep Sailor this week, we had sooo much fun! I am also thrilled for Joe, Nikki, and Sailor that they will be adding a baby brother (bwothee) to their family this coming August!

Mary Pope Osborne

2009-03-30T10:59:00.003-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, Colton got to meet Mary Pope Osborne, the author of the well known children's book series, The Magic Tree House! He was excited, but I think I may have been even more so, because I use these books weekly in my classroom. They are great books to use in bringing Social Studies alive in class, as the main characters, Jack and Annie, travel the world in their magic tree house! She was supposed to sign our books, but due to injuries to both of her hands, the store employees at Borders had to stamp our books with her signature instead. As a treat though, we were allowed to take photographs with her! This was a nice surprise because we had first been told that we were not allowed to. We are also super excited because one of her books has been made into a musical which we are actually going to see tonight at the Tennessee Theater downtown Knoxville! I'll try to get some good pics, but in case I can't, please visit the tour website for more information:

http://www.mthmusical.com

The man in the picture is her husband who has adapted the book, "Christmas in Camelot", into a musical script that can be enjoyed year round!

Birthday Gift from Nikki, Joe, and Sailor!

2009-03-13T12:39:00.009-04:00

I got a great gift from Nikki, Joe, and Sailor last night. I had mentioned way back before Christmas that I would love for Carrie to paint a ceiling tile to match my classroom. She does a fabulous job on these and I really wanted one. Anyway, I didn't get one for Christmas, so I really just forgot about it. When Nikki brought my gift by the house, I had absolutely no idea what was inside the big garbage bag she was carrying. I was holding Sailor, so Nikki opened it for me and it was the painted tile! I absolutely love it and it does match my classroom colors and theme perfectly! As I wrote about in an earlier post, though the frog theme just kind of happened, I now consider it a blessing. Everyday when I walk into my classroom, I am reminded to F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely on God). This is always the answer I give my students when they ask why I like frogs so much! Thank you, Nikki, for the wonderful surprise and thank you, Carrie, for doing such a wonderful job creating it! If you have never visited Carrie's shop, ellaMinnowpea, in Kingston, please do. Her shop is amazing and has gifts for all occasions, especially for babies!

Colton's Ceremonial First Pitch

2009-03-12T10:17:00.006-04:00

As part of our school wide positive behavior plan, students can earn gold cards for being ready, responsible, and respectful. They then cash them in for prizes and rewards. For ten gold cards, Colton was honored at the first Rockwood baseball game, was given a Rockwood Baseball T-shirt, and a ball signed by the whole team! He also got to throw out the cermonial first pitch! This was even better because Rockwood's first game was against Kingston...Colton's daddy's baseball team. He did a great job, all decked out in his Rockwood All Stars uniform, and even gave his daddy a big hug before he left the field.

Coach Jake Witter, Colton, and Bruce

Sailor came to watch Colton's big day!

Anticipation...

Colton and Rockwood's Assistant Coach, Tim Treadway...He was so good to Colton!

Showing off his baseball signed by the team

He whizzed that pitch right in there! It was a strike all the way! Look at that form!

Coach Witter presenting Colton the team ball

A hug for Daddy!

Congrats from the team

Cumberland Mountain State Park

2009-03-12T10:03:00.004-04:00

Last weekend, it was so warm and so pretty outside, we decided to take a picnic to Cumberland Mountain State Park in Crossville. Nikki and I have many memories of this park from growing up. Our family used to go camping there quite often with several other families. I am hoping to take the boys camping there for a few days during Spring Break. Colton loved playing on the trails, the playground, and the swinging bridge that I showed him. Peyton missed out, but had a fun evening shopping with Nana!!!

Winterplace, West Virginia

2009-03-12T09:14:00.005-04:00

The last weekend in February, our church made its annual ski trip to Winterplace in West Virginia. This was the first time that I had skied in about six or seven years, so to say that I was nervous was an understatement. Other than my boots being a little tight, I didn't have any problems at all! The boys both snowboarded and did a great job! I hope to make this an annual trip for the boys and me. Bruce couldn't go because of spring baseball practice, so Ms. Daryl took his place. We love her and hope that she gets a job here so that she can continue being part of the family!!!

Ms. Daryl and Colton

Ms. Daryl showing off her skills!

Snowboarding Brothers

Ms. Daryl was a little under the weather, so she kept her "mucus relief" close at hand!
JD also kept us entertained on the trip!!!

And finally, yes those are big beautiful snowflakes that you see. And yes, those boys are in bathing suits...."Where was their mother????"
They were actually heading to the indoor pool for a swim, but I had to catch a quick picture of the snow that we never see in Rockwood!

Happy Birthday, Bruce!

2009-03-08T17:26:00.003-04:00

Today is Bruce's 44th birthday! He is officially ten years older than me, at least until Thursday rolls around! I am so thankful to have him as a husband and father to our boys. I could not ask for more. I thank God daily for bringing us together. Our day has been just as he has requested, spent at home. Brace yourself, I am actually cooking him dinner..meatloaf is what he has requested, and the boys (mostly Peyton) have baked him his favorite cake...yellow with chocolate icing! We have enjoyed spending time together this weekend. As of tomorrow, baseball season officially begins and we won't see much of him until sometime in May!

Road Trip to BB Kings

2009-02-06T18:12:00.004-05:00

Last night a group of us, many RHS c/o 1992 alumni, took a road trip to Nashville, Tennessee to see one of our good friends perform. Jason Eskridge, whom we graduated with, and his band performed at BB Kings Blues Club. Jason is a great guy and I am proud to call him my friend. I am honored to say that he took time out of his tremendously busy schedule to sing at both my wedding and my sister's wedding as well. He tours all over the country and sometimes outside of the country with Johnny Lang and Lyle Lovett. For more information on Jason's success, please visit his website at

http://www.jasoneskridge.com.

Below is a slide show of the pics from last night. I hope you enjoy!

(I did make it to work today for anyone who might be wondering!!! In fact all of us teachers did! What dedication!)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Blast from the Past!!!

2009-01-22T15:58:00.004-05:00

I was looking through some old yearbooks and found these pictures stuffed between some pages!

Here are a couple from a Halloween party that I had at my house when I was in about the fourth or fifth grade.

Kristi Fox, Micah Clark, me, Amanda Marine Huling, Jennifer Brown

Micah Clark, Jennifer Brown, Amanda Marine Huling, Daniel Christian, Kristi Fox, me (Dear ol' Dad in the background)!

These were at some Rockwood Junior High basketball parties.
Paige Easter, Joy Garner Waters, Penny Bandy, Amy Richardson, me, Jennifer McNally Glass, Monica Gunter
kneeling: Denice Vance, Coach BJ Kirkham, Tabby Fugate

Joy Garner, Paige Easter, Heather Robertson (background), Jennifer McNally Glass, coach BJ Kirkham, and Penny Bandy

All the Pretty Horses

2009-01-06T12:10:00.003-05:00

The week after Christmas we had lots of fun keeping Sailor while Nikki was at work. One day was really pretty so we went out to Pa and Trudy's house to see the horses. Sailor wasn't too crazy about Midnight at first (the really BIG black walking horse) but she warmed up to the Blonde Haflinger horses rather quickly!!! Eventually she got close enough to Midnight to let him sniff of her a bit! She was really excited to see the "kitties" and kept calling for them. She sees cats at her baby sitter's house everyday. Unfortunately, pretty much our entire family is allergic to them, so I dare say she probably won't have a kitty of her own! Here are some pictures of our visit...

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-01T19:49:00.003-05:00

This year we celebrated New Year's Eve with several friends and family. We had originally planned to go to Wasabi, but changed our minds when we found out that mom was sick and couldn't go. After debating back and forth about what to do, we ended up going to eat at the Cracker Barrel with Nikki, Joe, and Sailor, plus our good friends Scott and Penny Thurman and their two kids. We had a good time catching up with them on what their family had been into. We had an 'interesting' waitress who ended the dinner off fittingly by spilling ranch dressing all over Nikki's shoe and diaper bag! The bad part about it is, the waitress just looked at it and walked off without a word!!! Anyway, another kind server who had helped this girl with our table helped Nikki clean it up and did apologize. It ended up being funny and very fitting for one of our family outings (think Griswold)!

After dinner, we went to Joe and Nikki's house and spent the night playing xBox 360 and Wii games! We had so much fun. Probably not the most 'festive' of New Year's Eves, but we enjoyed it! We stayed 'til almost midnight and then watched the New Year come in at home while watching Robbie Madison jump his motorcycle 100 feet in the air onto a tower in Las Vegas (ESPN)!

We wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009!

Peyton (actually smiling) adding some tunes to his iPod

Sailor working on a 'new 'do' for her doll

She also got in on a little singing while we all played Guitar Hero World Tour.

Joe proved to be the fastest on Outdoor Challenge!

Nikki got in on the action too!

Sailor was "helping" Colton prepare for a challenge!

She loves riding on Rody!

Colton Kayaking...

The whole crew and Beamer too! (Notice Peyton's expression...this lasted for most of the night for some reason!!!! Teenagers!!!)

One of My Favorite Gifts....

2009-01-01T19:29:00.002-05:00

I received many wonderful gifts this year, but one of my favorites has to be my new digital camera! Bruce totally surprised me with this one! I had not asked for it at all! It is a Canon Power Shot Digital Elph. I absolutely love it! It has lots of great features, I especially like the rechargeable batteries, but my favorite so far has been the Color Accent feature. It allows you to isolate one color, and take the rest of the shot in black and white. Carrie has tried to explain to me how to do this with Photo Shop, but I haven't had much luck! Here are a few shots that I have taken while experimenting!

Christmas 2008

2009-01-01T13:56:00.003-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas last week! Of course it all began with rushing downstairs to see what Santa had brought everyone! I am usually expecting Colton to wake up bright and early, but this year he was sleeping soundly when I hear Peyton whispering..."Colton wake up!!!". Needless to say that we were up and downstairs by 7:45! The boys were so excited and got pretty much everything they asked for. Santa brought Peyton the iPod touch he has asked for forever and Colton racked up with Indiana Jones Legos, Outdoor Challenge for the Wii and lots more! We were lucky to have Mammaw join us for Christmas morning. Bruce fixed a wonderful breakfast! I don't know if I have ever mentioned it, but I am blessed with such a wonderful husband who is, among many other things, a terrific cook! After breakfast and playing with our new toys, we went to have lunch at Mammaw's house and to spend time with Aunt Teresa and cousin Dillon. From there we headed to Nana and Pop's house to end the night with them, Nikki, Joe and Sailor. We are so blessed to have such a great, close knit family. So many people have to travel many miles to be with loved ones, but we are fortunate enough to have everyone right here together! I hope everyone else had as good a Christmas as we did!

img id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" height="46" alt="Create your own
>slideshow - Powered by Smilebox" src="http://www.smilebox.com/globalImages/blogInstructions/blogLogoSmileboxSmall.gif" width=386>

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Christmas Eve

2008-12-31T11:39:00.003-05:00

Christmas Eve was a busy day for us this year as it always is. We began by visiting with Granny Fran and Granddaddy at their house in the afternoon. It was good to see them and we also got to visit with cousins Mysti, Noel, Trey, Sabrina, Tori, and Allie. We don't see them often enough! The kids had fun playing while the grown ups got to catch up! I had asked Bruce to remind me to take my camera and as you will see, of course we both forgot!!!

Next stop was our church Christmas Eve service. We always enjoy this tradition to help us honor the real reason for Christmas! The boys enjoy the candle light tradition at the end of the service.

From there we went home and waited for Grandma Trudy and Pa (Frankie) to stop by. We love seeing them and enjoyed exchanging gifts and spending time with them.

The hardest part of the night, as usual, was getting the boys ready for bed. They spread their Reindeer food, left Santa some cookies and milk, and reluctantly turned in for the night.

Colton and I made our usual gingerbread creation this year. We opted for a train instead of a house.

The boys spread their Reindeer food (compliments of The Evans Agency...thanks John!) on the lawn Christmas Eve night.

Tagged by Brandi

2008-12-15T14:09:00.001-05:00

In response to Brandi's blog, here are the six words that I have come up with to describe my life, or my philosophy for life...

Live Simply, Laugh Often, Love Always

I now tag everyone else like she did!

2008-12-15T13:01:00.002-05:00

Just thought I would share some recent pictures taken by Carrie. She does a terrific job!!! We went down to my grandparents' house at the lake. I think she got some great shots!

By the way, Sailor, I completely understand. I find myself wanting to cover my ears quite frequently...whether I'm stuck in between them or not!!!

Congratulations Peyton

2008-12-12T18:10:00.003-05:00

Peyton finished second today in the Rockwood Middle School Spelling Bee. I didn't even realize until last night that the Bee was today. Unfortunately, I was in Nashville at a conference, and didn't get to go :o(. Nana and Pop were there for support though! He will go on to the County Spelling Bee sometime early next year. Have I ever mentioned how proud I am of him???

Here is Dr. Kelly congratulating the winners...Andy Eddington and Peyton Robinette

I'm not sure if he is praying or practicing!!!

Thanks Maranda for the great pictures!!!

Joni

2008-12-09T19:12:00.004-05:00

Peyton has always had a very vivid imagination. Even now, when he tells us a story, he has to include every detail of the event (sometimes I just look at him and say, "Give me the short version!"). This vivid imagination goes all the way back to when he was very young, probably 3 or 4 and he had his imaginary friend, Joni. No, Joni was not a girl. Joni was a boy with a purple tongue and blue hair. When Peyton visited his house, he always ate pickle sandwiches fixed by Joni's mom. Anytime Peyton got into trouble, it wasn't he who had committed the infraction, it was always Joni! Although Joni seemed to be Peyton's same age, he was allowed to drive. Any time Peyton gave the description of Joni, he always included that he drove a baby blue minivan that he had purchased at none other than WalMart! Peyton even claimed that when he turned sixteen, he wanted one just like it...hmmmm three years to go, wonder if he's changed his mind? Anyway, we tried for a very long time to 'leave' Joni many places...the beach, Gatlinburg, anywhere! Eventually Joni gradually spent less and less time with our family. I often wondered where Joni went, but not too long ago, I found out. Joni is still right here in Roane County, perhaps befriended by another young boy or girl, but still driving his baby blue mini van!!!

I have seen this mini van several times around the county. I have always said that I would love to find it sometime when I had my camera handy. Today was the day! As I was leaving a meeting at the Board of Education building, this van pulled into the Rocky Top parking lot across the street. Needless to say, I pulled a big U-Turn and snapped the picture. It really doesn't do it justice though, because you can't see the baby blue flames on the grill from this angle. Peyton never mentioned that detail, so it HAS to be an upgrade since Joni left us. I know Peyton would have never omitted that detail!

This is one of my favorite stories to tell from Peyton's younger days. I hope you new moms and moms to be enjoyed it, or at least got a little laugh. I look forward to hearing all of your little ones' little antics as well. Don't worry if they have a 'Joni' of their own. I have heard that this is a sign of great intelligence. Nikki's imaginary friend was named "Rammy". I never had one, so what does that tell you?....Peyton is very smart and Nikki is very successful....?!?!??!

Congratulations POP!

2008-11-22T18:51:00.003-05:00

I have to say that I am so very proud of my dad. He took his Black Belt test in Taekwondo today and passed! I didn't get to go watch like I did when Peyton took his, but dad said that it was much worse than he had anticipated (all FOUR hours of it)! He has worked so hard and has been so dedicated to reaching this goal. Not too shabby for a man who is two weeks away from his 60th birthday! Congratulations, POP! We love you very much!!!

I'm sure he will have a Belt Presentation Ceremony soon. I'll make sure to have pictures.

Tagged by Nikki

2008-11-17T21:03:00.002-05:00

Ok, I was tagged by Nikki to go to my fourth picture folder and select my fourth picture and write four things about it, so here goes...

Probably not his most flattering picture, but this is my hubby, Bruce, on our very first camping trip! He is enjoying a bowl of my home made chili.

Four things about Bruce:

1. He is my very best friend in the world.

2. I could not ask for a better husband or father for my boys. He spoils me terribly!

3. He has a very strong faith in our Lord.

4. He loves me for what I am... (not a housekeeper, not a cook, not an early riser, not laid back) I could go on, but I'm telling on myself!!! ha,ha

Now I tag:

1. Jennifer Glass

2. Jessica Jackson

3. Terri Jones

4. Brandi Clifton

Keep the fun going and don't cheat!!!

How Brave!!!

2008-11-12T20:03:00.004-05:00

Don't quite know what I was thinking, but I decided that I would be brave and hold this lovely creature today. The lady that comes to do lessons with our girls at school through the Girl Scouts brought her daughter's pet Corn Snake to show off today. Mr. Ayers made her promise not to allow any children to touch it, but since I teach there, he said that Colton could hold it. Needless to say his brave streak ran out the minute he saw it. He did at least touch it (the tip of his tail) but really he didn't get any closer than you see him in the picture. Bruce has decided that since I am so brave, the next time a snake gets in the basement, I get to take care of it!!! I tried to convince him it wasn't really a REAL snake, but I had already messed up!!!

I'm not sure that either of us look really sure about this!

Happy Veteran's Day

2008-11-12T19:46:00.004-05:00

In honor and memory of all Veterans, I centered all of my class lessons yesterday around Veteran's Day. We learned about all of the armed forces, vocabulary words like honor, freedom, patriot, etc. and even studied the flags of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. Here is a picture of the display we made for the wall outside our door.

Thank you Veterans!!!

Apollo Peyton

2008-11-11T14:57:00.004-05:00

As any of you who have had the priviledge of having BJ Kirkham as an eighth grade literature teacher know, she always does a unit on Greek Mythology. At the end of the unit, they dress up as their favorite Greek god or goddess. Peyton has chosen to dress as Apollo the god of the sun. I think he looks great, not to mention that he is a 'ray of sunshine' in my life as well!

Prayer Request

2008-10-31T16:15:00.002-04:00

Please pray for my friend and coworker Tiffany. She and her husband, John, just found out that they are pregnant. Tiffany has had a difficult time getting pregnant and is just ecstatic. Please pray that God will bless this pregnancy and that they will avoid complications.

Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog!

2008-10-31T10:38:00.003-04:00

Each year at school, we dress for Halloween according to classroom themes. This helps our yearbook editor, Mrs. Garrett, get some really good pictures. Our school AR theme is "Read Like a Rockstar" so this year she asked us to either pick a decade from music history, or a Theme song for our classroom. Of course mine is none other than, "Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog"!!!
Some kids did a great job with their Bullfrog costumes and for those who chose not to make a costume, we made masks so that everyone had a chance to get in on the group picture for the yearbook!

Annual Pumpkin carving at Nikki's House

2008-10-31T10:28:00.005-04:00

We had a great time Wednesday night! We went to Nikki's for our annual pumpkin carving night. I was really excited to see how Sailor would react. She was a real trooper...she actually dug right in! Peyton was disappointed in his. He had tried to do the Phoenix Suns logo, but it ended up being too complicated, so he opted for a big 'P' instead. 'P' for Phoenix and 'P' for Peyton! Sailor's pumpkin is the 'Oh No' face. Bruce and Colton did the "RIP" and I am quite proud of my sunflower. After we finished our pumpkins, we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire pit in the back yard. I can't wait for "Trick or Treating"!

The finished products

Halloween Kisses

Proud Pumpkin Carvers

Sailor loved the GOO

Sailor helping Peyton

Are they Ghosts?

"OH, NO!"

My Pretty Sunflower!

Hollis Eble Basketball Tournament

2008-10-31T10:14:00.004-04:00

Peyton's basketball team finished second in the preseason tournament on Oakdale. They did really well! In the final game, they played Petro Joyner Patriots. They have a boy that is in the 8th grade, is 6'3" and can DUNK!!! He didn't dunk against them (I would have kinda liked to see it) but he did throw one down with two hands in a previous game in the tourney! Peyton didn't want me to post since they came in second, but I am still really proud of them. These are all good boys and they work really hard.

Youth Act Induction Ceremony

2008-10-27T20:08:00.002-04:00

Tonight Peyton was inducted into the Rockwood Middle School Youth Act Club. This is something that our Rockwood Rotary Club has established to be a service club for our Middle School kids. I am very proud that Peyton was asked to be in this club. Maurice Greif and Eddie Bilbrey both approached me about this awhile back and told me that they would like for Peyton to be a part of this initial induction. I am honored and proud that they think that highly of him to invite him to join. I am very proud of all of the kids that were there tonight and the ones that were unable to be there. RMS has some really good kids and I think this will be a great opportunity for all of them. Here are a few pictures from the ceremony.

Maurice giving Peyton his Youth Act pin
Maurice and Peyton after the ceremony
Maurice has been a close friend of our family for many, many years. He and his wife Carolyn were always good friends of my grandparents. I used to visit their store, Bernard's, downtown Rockwood and sit on the counter and play tic-tac-toe with Maurice all the time. He loves to tell that story and even shared it with my second grade class when he came to visit earlier this school year. He is a great man and I am happy to call him our friend.

Riley, Hunter, and Peyton looking thrilled that I am taking yet another picture. I think this is a really good picture of them that we moms will be glad to have in just a few years to come when they all head off to college.

The RMS Youth Act group

Several of the girls are not in the picture because they play basketball and were playing a game in the preseason tournament in Oakdale.

Ready to go!!!

2008-10-27T17:42:00.004-04:00

I caught this picture of Nellie and Charlie as we were loading the car to go camping. They were going to make sure we didn't forget them!!!

Baseball clinic pictures

2008-10-27T17:29:00.003-04:00

Here are the pictures from the baseball clinic that Colton attended over Fall Break.

Colton and Brent Carrol of the Marlins

Colton and Tim Foli

Showing off his swing

Colton won the balance competition in the pitching station.

Brotherly Love!!! (Kodak Moment)

Boo at the Zoo

2008-10-27T16:57:00.004-04:00

Nikki, Sailor, Peyton and I went to Boo at the Zoo Saturday night. What a great way to get ready for Halloween! None of us had been before and we will definitely be back next year. I wasn't sure if any of the animals would be out since it was really after hours, but we saw beavers, zebras, elephants, penguins and birds. We got to trick or treat down the haunted trail! Towards the end of the trail we found a whole table of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts!!! Nikki thought it was hilarious that I was so excited, but I have been trying to "be good" since I am participating in WW and it has been a really long time since I had a doughnut. Needless to say I did not pass it up! While we were eating our doughnuts, we stopped to watch some bellydancing! I wondered to myself, "Why in the world would they put the belly dancers right between the doughnuts and the elephants?"

I can't believe Nikki let Sailor pet the ferret!!!

Peyton and the ferret

Sailor was really over pictures at this point!

Zebras

Trick or Treat!!!

I really didn't know beavers were this big! I expected them to be like little river otters, I guess, but they are HUGE.

Red Ribbon Week

2008-10-27T13:29:00.004-04:00

In recognition of Red Ribbon Week, a week set aside to promote drug abuse awareness, we have had several activities at our school. One has been a door decorating contest. My class theme is, "Team Up Against Drugs". The kids decorated a frog (our class is decorated with frogs everywhere) as either a football player or cheerleader. We covered the door with green paper and used chalk to create a football field. We lined our football frogs up to defend against the other team which just so happened to be drugs and alcohol!!!

I wanted to share a quick pic of the final product. They haven't announced the winners yet, but win or lose, the kids had a great time doing the project!

2008-10-24T18:43:00.002-04:00

I know everyone has already seen this picture on Nikki's blog, but I love it! Sailor is such a little doll. I also love it because she is wearing the pillowcase dress I made her. I got a wild hair one night and decided to try to make her something. I saw the pillowcase in these colors and thought that it would look so cute on her if I could pull it off. I had heard of people making these, but I had no pattern and really no idea what to do. I just kinda eyeballed it and went from there. I knew I could find ribbon to match, but was amazed when I found the baggie of little buttons all in the same exact colors! It had gotten too cool here by the time I made it for her to wear it, so I am really glad that she got to wear it at the beach. We love her sooo much!!!

iMOM Morning

2008-10-23T14:22:00.003-04:00

I hope some of you have followed the link on my sidebar to visit iMOM.com. We have started the iMOM morning breakfasts at our school. In case you haven't visited the site, here is some information about iMOM...

iMOM is the newest program of Family First and the complement to the organization’s popular All Pro Dad fatherhood program. iMOM’s unique focus is to equip mothers with information, ideas and encouragement to positively impact their children in the following areas:

Wisdom: Wisdom enables us to make good decisions in life. Without wisdom, a child is likely to make bad choices and suffer the consequences for those choices with potentially increasing regularity.

Health: A healthy lifestyle is an important factor in a child’s life. How a child treats his or her body has a direct impact on how he or she grows physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Purpose: Without parental direction about life’s purpose, children will seek out answers for themselves. Often these answers will come from other youth and may not reflect a healthy, productive lifestyle.

Relationships: Good relationship skills are essential. This skill development begins at birth through a child’s attachment to his or her mother. Without the ability to form and sustain lasting relationships, whether personal or professional, a child will struggle to find lasting joy and productivity in life.

The iMOM program will provide information, ideas and encouragement to mothers where and when they need it – and from noted experts in a variety of specialties concerning childhood development and parenting. iMOM delivers their research and tools through the following resources:

iMom.com is a clean, inviting space for mothers to visit daily at their own convenience. The website is a library of parenting information arranged by relevancy to their child’s age and by topic. Specialists will be featured weekly as well as expert advice on breaking research and news. iMom.com strives to be your “Technological cup of coffee” – a place you go to daily for soothing and stimulating refreshment.

Espresso Minute, a free daily e-mail, is a quick shot of parenting advice delivered Monday through Friday encouraging mothers to focus on one of the many facets of being a mom each day. The Espresso Minute will include a call to action that will help a mother build her parenting skills.

Drive-Time CDs are a parenting tool designed for the busy mother who is often in the car. Each CD covers a parenting topic and each topic is broken down into 5 to 10-minute segments that can be listened to while carpooling, running errands or gong to work.

Pillow Talk and Pillow Talk Tonight are for the mother who desires to pursue the heart of her child and develop a close and trusting relationship. Pillow Talk is a creative journal that leads a mother through the process of opening lines of communication with her child. The journal is interactive and used by both the mother and the child, with the suggestion of trading the journal back and forth by leaving it on the other’s pillow before bed. Pillow Talk Tonight provides additional communication topics and is offered freely through a daily email or accessed on iMOM.com.

iMom Mornings are school-based breakfasts designed to bring mothers and children together for support and inspiration. Meetings may incorporate a live speaker, a relevant topic, questions for group discussion and practice skills to take home.

The iMOM program is run by a team of moms, who have children ranging in ages from 3 to 21 and we understand everything you have to do as a mom. Our desire is to help meet your needs by providing you access to everything we have learned and are learning. iMOM is working for you, so you can do everything a mom does – only better.

Please check out our RVES chapter and see the pictures from our kickoff that was held on Wednesday morning. I can't believe that I was awake, ready and out the door (with Colton) by 5:45AM. I never thought I'd see the day that I was at work by 6:00am!!!

http://www.imom.com/morning/chapterpage/index.php?cid

Here are the pics that I promised from our iMom morning breakfast on Wednesday...

The High Five after doing the iMom cheer!

Robin Reynolds and her beautiful daughter Bailey

Carrie Cole, our counselor, giving the overview of the program (Colton is in the background in the orange "I love my mom because..." shirt. I'm not so sure he was fully awake!)

Terri Jones and Hayden looking at Tony Dungy's children's book she won as a door prize!

Our breakfast buffet....this was after quite a few people had already come through!

What a great turnout...our gym was packed!!!

Fall Break

2008-10-19T19:21:00.002-04:00

As always, we thoroughly enjoyed our Fall Break. We stayed home this year, but made the best of a week long break from school. On Sunday, Colton attended a Legends Baseball Clinic in Knoxville put on by former and current Major League Baseball players. The kids in attendance rotated through several different learning stations. Colton seemed to enjoy all of them and even won the 'balance' contest in the pitching station. Tim Foli, former Pirates player, Reds coach and current instructor with the Nationals, was there to conduct the hitting station. Mr. Foli told Colton he was really impressed with his swing. He also noticed what so many people have also noticed...Colton was smiling the whole time!

On Monday, the boys and I spent most of the day away from home running errands like taking Izzy to the vet for shots and to the park for a walk. Although that had to be done, the main reason for us staying away from home was Bruce prepping for a colonoscopy! He could not eat all day, and if anyone knows Bruce, you know that he is not pleasant to be around when he is hungry!!! Tuesday was the DAY and everything went very well! I'll spare you the details, but the doctor said he was fine and didn't have to come back for five years. The reason for the visit was Bruce's mom's history of colon cancer. She is a survivor!!!

Once again we went camping from Wednesday to Friday at the church lake property. The boys had the best time. We fished, rode bikes, played in the fire, swam (not me, just them) and had lots of good camping food! I don't know if I mentioned it in my last camping post, but my dad pulled out his old Coleman stove from when we camped years ago and got it in working order for us. It works like a new one. We had chili and hot dogs, sauteed vegetables, ham, bacon, scrambled eggs, hot chocolate and a hodge podge of other things that people brought to snack on. I am so glad the boys have gotten to experience camping. Many may think it's not a big deal, but as I have said before it was a huge part of my childhood and I want them to have all the memories they can of family outings together! Next time, we plan to go to Cumberland Mountain State Park and hope that Nikki, Joe, and Sailor can join us!

Saturday was another Upward Football game. They won (not that we keep score or anything)and Colton did really well. He made a great catch and ran the ball too. After the game Colton went to his Mammaw's house and Peyton wanted to stay at home. Bruce and I enjoyed the pretty weather by driving around and looking at the leaves and Fall scenery.

And last but not least, today the rest of our family...Mom, Dad, Nikki, Sailor, and Pam...arrived home from the beach!!! They had good flights both to and from and we are glad they were safe in their travels. Sailor is once again brown as a little biscuit and mom says acting more like me everyday...can you imagine that seeing Sailor throw a fit reminds her of ME??? I'll have to say that I have talked to Sailor about those awful marathon shopping trips that Nikki and Mom take her on, and how she needs to stay with me when they go. I think she was trying to tell them to call aunt Heather, so that I could rescue her. Several of the fits were on little shopping trips! I think she is going to be my kind of girl!!! (You can decide for yourself whether that is a good or a bad thing..not that you have to let me know!!!)

Tomorrow it's back to work and school! It will be a big day for Peyton as his basketball team travels to Oakdale for their first game of the season. It is a preseason tournament and Peyton is really excited. It is the beginning of his final season as an 8th grader at RMS!

I'll have pics to post from the Baseball clinic later. Right now the batteries are dead in my camera.

2008-10-19T18:17:00.002-04:00

Family'>http://www.pyzam.com/toys/view/familysticker">Family Sticker Maker& MySpace Layouts.

Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.

Bruce: Chef and Coach
Heather: Plain Jane...what you see is what you get...never fancy!!!
Peyton: RMS basketball player
Colton: Loves Baseball
Izzie: our Golden Retriever
Charlie: our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Nellie: our Japanese Chin

Fancy Nancy

2008-10-09T21:50:00.005-04:00

Unless you are a teacher, you may not truly appreciate this post. I have an intern from UT working with me this year. Her name is Daryl Baxter and she is doing a fantastic job. This week has been dress up week at school in coordination with homecoming week at the high school. Wednesday was "Character Day". Daryl came dressed as "Fancy Nancy". I did not know who "Fancy Nancy" was until Miss Daryl shared one of her books with me earlier this year. "Fancy Nancy" is a very fancy girl. She uses fancy words and loves to speak french. Miss Daryl used these books this week to teach adjectives, AKA special words to make plain, old, everyday nouns 'fancy', this week! On Wednesday, Miss Daryl even had her friend, Miss Rachel, come to class to correctly pronounce all the fancy french words in the book (Miss Rachel speaks fluent french). To tie it all together, we had a "Fancy Nancy Party" with fancy pink food, a pink and white checkerboard cake, and cookies with holes in the middle because "Fancy Nancy" always eats her cookies by positioning them on her little pinky fingers and then eating them all the way around. We also had fancy pink punch, pink donuts, and pink marshmallows. By the way, "Fancy Nancy's" favorite color just happens to be pink. Anyway, I wanted to share some of the pictures from our party on Wednesday. Hope you enjoy.

Miss Daryl, AKA "Fancy Nancy"

Since Alivia was the "Student of the Day", she got to wear "Fancy Nancy's" angel wings and beautiful pink boa!

Miss Rachel reading, "Bonjour Butterfly"

Our pink and white checker board cake...it tasted much better than it looked!

Mr. Ayers (our principal), Miss Rachel, Miss Daryl, and Mrs. K. (our assistant principal)

Our kids having such a good time

Our First Family Camping Trip

2008-10-09T18:06:00.004-04:00

Many of my fondest memories from childhood were from our many camping trips. We were always camping...early on in places like Center Hill and Cumberland Mountain State Park. Later we headed to Stump Hollow, Hornsby Hollow, and then settled in at "Our Place" Brigadoon Resort. Many of you know our Brigadoon story and how sad it was when we all had to leave there. Sometimes I can't talk about it without getting choked up because things just haven't been the same since. I feel like my boys, especially Colton, and Sailor are going to miss out on so much because of us having to leave, but I'm getting a little off track.

Anyway, It has taken me almost nine years, but I FINALLY talked Bruce into taking the boys camping! Last weekend we camped down at our church lake property and had so much fun. Bruce even like it (minus the sleeping on an air mattress). We spent the weekend with our friends Mike and Tina Kile and their family. We played in the lake, went fishing, took the boys' little jonboat for a ride, roasted weinies, made smores, you name it, we did it! I can't wait for our next trip, which I already have scheduled by the way...next week, Fall Break! We usually go to the beach, I'm really sad that we aren't, but camping will have to do!

All the kids...Brooke, Hannah, Chelsea, Peyton, Colton, and Seth

Like the outfit???

The boys in the boat

Peyton and Hannah

Bruce and Colton
Brooke, Colton, and Sailor
Colton was sacked out, not really, just playing possum
Sailor girl and Nikki (like the matching jackets?)
Roasting Marshmallows

More Upward Football Pictures

2008-10-09T17:54:00.005-04:00

I really can't say enough about this program. Colton is really enjoying it. Not only is he learning about football, but also about God, sportsmanship, and being a good person at the same time.

Praying before the game
What a RUN!
Grabbing a Flag
You can't get me!
The players all get stars after each and every game. They symbolize good defense, offense, leadership, and being Christlike. I am really proud of Colton. Now as long as I don't get turned in for all the bruises on his legs, I'll be in good shape!!!

Prayer Request

2008-10-06T09:56:00.002-04:00

A good friend (Jamie Legg) and coworker of mine had tragic news this weekend. Her mother, Ann Alexander, was found unconscious at her home and had suffered from an aneurysm. Luckily, she did regain consciousness later and knew who Jamie was. However, she is in very serious/ critical condition at UT hospital. She is undergoing surgery today (Monday) to repair damage in her brain and to try and drain some of the blood from the damaged area. This surgery could take anywhere from 3-9 hours to complete. After surgery, she will still have a long road to recovery, including, but not limited to an extensive hospital stay. Jamie is an only child, but has other family members surrounding her at this time. She and her family will be staying at a hotel close to the hospital for the time being. Please lift Jamie and her family up in prayer. We all know that God is The Great Physician and will have His hands at work in the course of Ann's treatment.

A few of us are taking some snacks, rolls of quarters, dollar bills, etc. to them on Wednesday afternoon. Our school is also collecting money on Friday to help them offset some expenses. If you are willing to pitch in and help, please let me know. An occurrence like this is always hard, but with our economy and gas prices the way they are right now, I am sure the family could use any help offered.

Thank you in advance for all prayers and help.

Heather

Meet Chanel, aka. Nellie

2008-09-21T17:00:00.006-04:00

For a couple of years now, Bruce has been telling Colton that he could get a dog when he turned 8. I am not sure where this specific age came from, but Bruce has stuck with it. Last summer on his birthday, I thought Bruce had softened a little on the age thing when he actually told me that he had considered going ahead and letting Colton get one then. That passed and then Bruce mentioned maybe Christmas. Anyway, with these two thoughts in the back of my head, I started looking online from time to time at dog ads on golsn.com and on the petfinder rescue sight. Last week, I found this beautiful little Japanese Chin that was being fostered if you will by a Vet Tech/groomer in Crossville. Her name is Chanel (she already had her name) 8 months old, housebroken, spayed, only 8 pounds, great deal on a great dog! Anyway, I started hinting around to Bruce about it. Even saved her picture as a desktop background on my computer. (He didn't take the bait) Colton had seen the pics and liked her, but wouldn't ask his dad. He said, "I'd rather him be mad at you and you be the one to get in trouble instead of me. You ask him!" So I did. I finally got the "whatever you want to do" line. We went to see her on Thursday afternoon. She immediately ran to Colton when she was put down. I told the lady that had brought her to meet us that I would call the Vet Tech the next day to finalize plans. I had gotten a copy of all her vet records from the lady that was fostering her. On Friday, I faxed them to Dr. Davis's office to have them look them over. Dr. Bass looked at them and thought everything looked fine. After one more talk with Bruce, Colton and I called and picked her up on Friday evening. She is a sweetie with just a bit of an attitude. What a great match for Colton...my sweetie with just a bit of an attitude. It took a little bit for her and Charlie to become aquainted with each other, but everything is fine now. She's just a doll. Again, I took these pictures with my phone, so I hope they are clear enough.

Chanel (we are calling her Nellie)

I have already made her a little jacket!!!

Charlie wants to know what's up with this!!! He's never allowed in Daddy's recliner!!!

This was the first picture I saw of her...who wouldn't fall in love???

Upward Flag Football

2008-09-21T16:39:00.004-04:00

As many of you know, our Fall baseball team didn't pan out. Some of the boys wanted to play football so we decided to wait and pick things up again in the spring. Although Colton has mentioned several times that he might want to play football, we don't think he would be able to because of his asthma. The heat combined with all the heavy equipment would probably be a little much for him to handle right now. Anyway, Bruce was talking to someone from Kingston and found out about this Upward Flag Football. I was still a little hesitant, but decided to let him try it. Needless to say he loves it and so do we. Not only are they learning some things about football, but it is also centered in Christ. They have prayer before games and a devotion time at every half time. They also have weekly Bible verses that they talk about during practice. I don't have any really good pictures because my memory card has been full and I just now went to Walmart to empty it. (Have I ever mentioned that I greatly dislike Walmart?) Anyway, here are a couple that I took with my phone. Enjoy!

Colton in his new uniform right after a practice

Colton and Sailor at the game

Say It Ain't So, Sailor!!!

2008-09-01T19:54:00.004-04:00

I feared this day would come. Nevermind the fact that a really cute T-shirt, denim capris, and a cute little orange bow would have looked adorable. Just before the game, there was a knock at our front door. Who should be there, riding in her cute little two door coupe from Granny Wanda, but little miss Sailor herself in a UT CHEERLEADER OUTFIT!!! So, I admit Sailor girl would make any outfit look good, but I do hope this is a phase that will pass quickly!

!!!GO BIG ORANGE!!!

It's Football Time in Tennessee!!!

2008-09-01T12:04:00.003-04:00

Happy Labor Day to all, but more than that, "It's Football Time in Tennessee!!!" We love UT Football and have been counting down the days! We can't wait to watch the game tonight and hope they do GREAT! The pictures below are from about six years ago, but that's about how long it has been since we actually went to one of the games. We have decided that we enjoy it more sitting at home, in the air conditioning, without the crowds! I guess that means we are getting old. Maybe so, but if I am old, that means Bruce is older than....?!?!?

Happy 1st Birthday, Sailor Girl!!!

2008-08-22T16:25:00.005-04:00

I cannot believe that a year has passed since my precious little niece came into this world. I have so enjoyed the past year of watching her grow and learn and watching Nikki and Joe travel down the road of parenthood! I feel extremely blessed to have them in our lives and don't know what I would ever do without them!

Happy 1st Birthday, Sailor Girl!

Love,

Uncle Bruce, Aunt Heather,

Peyton and Colton

Venice, Florida

2008-08-02T18:05:00.021-04:00

We had one last beach trip before having to head back to school. We went to Venice, Florida to spend some time at my grandparents' house they have there. This is our absolute favorite place to go to the beach. I took lots and lots of pictures because this may be the last summer that we get to take our trip there. My grandparents are considering selling their place and we will definitely miss it.

When we first arrived, we saw two little rabbits that must live in the bushes close to the house because we saw them a lot while we were there. That was just the beginning of seeing different little critters... one of the bunnies
Here leezard, leezard
a sand crab peeking out of his home
an iguana
a crab that Peyton caught

jellyfish....Bruce got stung on our last day.

Our most favorite thing to do while in Venice is to visit Casperson Beach and hunt shark's teeth! I try to stock up on them so that I have plenty to show and give my students when we read our Time for Kids story about Sharks in Second grade. They love to use my posters and place mats to try and decide which kind of shark their tooth came from. Then we build a class bar graph to show how many of each kind we have. They love it!

We love it too, because it gives us something to do other than just sitting on the beach. It's almost a contest to see who can find the largest one!

Of course Peyton and I both like to enjoy a good book on the beach too!

After leaving the beach, there's nothing better than to stop off at Nokomis Groves for some home made ice cream!

oops!!!

Yep, Bruce dropped his first one!!!

On the weekends in Venice, a popular place to go in the mornings is to the Dome Flea Market. You can find all kinds of neat things there. We found a really cool 'neck cooler' for those hot days behind the plate when Colton is playing hind catcher. I even bought the supplies to try and make some of my own. More on that in a later post! They had booths with produce, HUGE shark's teeth, replica designer hand bags, golf clubs, about anything you can imagine. We always have to make at least one trip there.

On our last day of vacation, we drove a little south from Venice to Boca Grande. This is a place on Gasparilla Island. We drove out to the Gasparilla Island National Park. This is the location that many of the scenes from the movie Hoot were filmed. The lighthouse in the pictures is the same lighthouse that you will see as the credits roll at the end of that movie. It is really beautiful there. We saw many boats fishing for Tarpon. One time when we were there (Colton was just a baby) Bruce and Colton were in the water and Peyton started going hysterical thinking a shark was swimming behind them. Come to find out it was a Manatee and it was swimming right behind Bruce and Colton! We weren't lucky enough to see any this trip, but we did find many pretty shells, more shark's teeth and saw some really pretty birds and pelicans.

We didn't eat out all that much. What's nice about staying at my grandparents' place is that we can cook and not spend as much money going out to eat. We did enjoy a night out at Mi Pueblo (Mexican), Cheeburger, Cheeburger, and I think the boys' favorite would probably be Hooter's in Sarasota! Colton was so proud of himself for not being shy (as shy) as he was last time! We had lunch at a great pizza place called Fratelli's and we also found a little bar and grill called "Norma Jean's". We didn't eat there, but I did take a picture because we have always told mom she should open a restaurant herself called Norma Jeanne's Diner. (That really is her real name!)

OK, this pirate wasn't at a restaurant..it was on the side of the road in front of a liquor store, but I made the boys pose in front of it anyway! They were not very happy with me! Peyton made sure the stood in front of the barrel that said Captain Morgan!!!

This is a picture of Colton standing in front of his dream truck...a Dodge Daytona!!

When we were in Venice, and Colton was two years old, he decided he could swim without his swimmies! He was right and the pictures below are of the boys in the pool just up the road from my grandparent's house. This is the same pool where Colton announced he no longer needed swimmies and took off swimming. This is also the same pool where, a couple of years later, Colton got strangled on water and puked (puped as he says) and in order to clean it up, I had to go diving for 'chicken chunks' that ended up in the water...not a fun, but somewhat funny memory.

I have to say that this was an absolutely wonderful vacation! I was definitely not ready to come home, and am definitely not ready to go back to school next week, but Bruce and I are definitely more fortunate than many of you who live in the real world and have to work all summer. We are both so happy to be teachers and have the summers off to spend family time together!

Sorry for such a long post and so many pictures. I took as many as my card would hold just in case we don't get to go back next summer. Thanks, GrannyFran and Granddaddy for allowing us to make so many memories at your place at the beach! We truly appreciate it!

All I Want for Christmas is....

2008-08-02T18:01:00.002-04:00

My Two Front Teeth!!!

Roane County Yankees...First Tournament

2008-07-20T18:16:00.002-04:00

The Roane County Yankees played their first tournament this weekend at Alcoa Way Fields in Alcoa, Tennessee. The team had a lot of fun and learned a lot together. Overall they finished 1-2 and some of the boys even entered a skills contest and did pretty well in that too. The Yankees are (with the exception of one player) six and seven years old. They played in the 8 and Under division and faced some stiff competition. They have a year to learn and grow in this age group and have the potential to be a really great team! We are very proud of them. I am working on a blog just for the team, but that will have to wait until vacation is over!!! One last beach trip before going back to sch......I won't even say it!!! Summer is just way too short!!! I hope you enjoy the slide show of the team from this weekend. There aren't too many action shots, my camera (or maybe the photographer doesn't do well with them), but at least I think I got pics of everyone on the team!!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tin Grin

2008-07-16T16:53:00.003-04:00

Today was the big day...BRACES! We headed to Dr. Wheeler's office early this morning. Peyton did great. They had told us to plan on at least 2 hours, but we were done with 30 minutes to spare. I think really the only thing that bothered him much was when they put the metal bands on his back teeth. Other than that he just says they feel awkward and odd. I knew Peyton had some space between his teeth, but didn't realize how they were out of line (up and down) until I saw how crooked the wires were after they put them on. Peyton chose orange and white for is o-ties to get ready for the upcoming UT Football Season! I think he looks really cute!

Snaggle Tooth Colton

2008-07-16T16:20:00.003-04:00

I knew this week was going to be teeth, but I was thinking about Peyton's braces. Before the braces went on, one of Colton's teeth fell out! He has had this front tooth loose for weeks. It started out on its own, then Peyton elbowed him during a wrestling match and it was really loose, but still wouldn't budge. Monday night the tooth got bumped again and my Tuesday morning it was dangling, but Colton wouldn't let me near it. It was sticking out so far he looked like a little beaver! Finally it must have gotten to him because he actually asked me to pull it and it came right out. He seems like a new kid! Isn't he cute with it missing?

Peyton's New Ride...

2008-07-12T18:39:00.003-04:00

How do you like Peyton's new car? I know it's a few years early, but we found a great deal on this little, red Viper and just couldn't pass it up!!! Won't the girls just love him?!?!?

Peyton would love for this to be true, however this is just one of the cars that was washed at our 2nd car wash fund raiser for Colton's baseball team uniforms! I can't believe that the owner of this car actually trusted the guys to wash it. He was kind enough to let Peyton sit and pose for a couple of pics.

I want to thank everyone who visited the two car washes and who donated to our cause. Hopefully we have raised enough money to cover the cost of these new uniforms. Everyone worked hard, sweated a lot, and had a pretty good time!

Peyton's Getting Braces

2008-07-11T20:13:00.003-04:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Peyton is getting braces! Yesterday was the first step...xrays and spacers. The braces actually come next Wednesday. I am amazed at the technology available now! The xray machines were really neat. Peyton stood (looking like a robot) while the machines took the pictures and then I could watch the xrays pop right up on the computer screen! Next they put the spacers in. Luckily he only has two on top. His last molar is really needing to come out, but they didn't pull it in hopes that the spacer would push it on out. He has complained a little about the spacers bothering him, but I have been quick to tell him that the real pain will come next week! I'm sure he will really "milk it" for all it's worth!

I never realized the choices...This is a picture of just some of the colors he can get for his braces. I think he can change them each month. We are using Dr. Wheeler in Crossville. He seems really nice and I think we are going to be pleased. Plus he comes to Jay's office once a month in Rockwood, so we won't have to drive so far, or miss as much school! I'll post pics of the final product next week.

Colton's 7th Birthday

2008-07-11T19:17:00.009-04:00

Colton turned seven on Wednesday, July 9. Even though we asked many times what he wanted to do for his birthday, he never seemed interested in having a party. Even without a party, we had a very busy day. When he first got up, we opened presents. Peyton gave him an extra set of bullets for his Nerf Gun and a scope for the one that Colton was hoping Nana would get him as his gift. From his daddy, he got a "SubSkate". In case you haven't seen one, it is like a surf board to use underwater (hence the term Sub) in the pool. From me he got the Tiger Woods golf game for his DS. He was very pleased. After lunch, we headed down to Miss Karen's pool to try out the SubSkate. It's fun, Colton is so light, it kept flipping him over. He's gotten much better at it now. We had to make an early exit from the pool because of thunder and lightning. We went home, took showers and headed to pick up Mammaw to go eat at Wasabi. The rest of the family met us there. We always have a great time! Sailor wasn't even scared by the fire! Of course they brought out the drum and special hat and sang Happy Birthday to Colton. He really enjoyed it. Nikki and Joe got him the Guitar Hero game for the DS, Mammaw gave him a really sweet card and some spending money and yes, Nana came through with the new Nerf gun that he was hoping for. After a few pictures, we had to hurry back home to baseball practice. I dropped Bruce and the boys off at practice and headed to WalMart to pick up birthday cupcakes to share with the team after practice. All in all he had a fun day and claims that he doesn't even feel any older! ;o)

Babysitters Anyone???

2008-07-08T11:09:00.003-04:00

The boys love to help take care of Sailor. They wanted to help get her ready for our daily walk on Tuesday. She wasn't real happy, but they actually did a pretty good job.

Colton's Team Car Wash

2008-07-07T11:57:00.004-04:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Colton is now a part of a new baseball team called the Roane County Yankees. In order to raise money to help pay for their new uniforms, we scheduled a car wash down town this past Saturday. We were supposed to start at 8:00. When we woke up, it was pouring rain. We ended up going to Oak Ridge to the Farmer's Market and to KMart to do some birthday shopping (Colton turns 7 Wednesday). By the time we were finished, it had stopped raining and cleared up enough that we thought we'd still give it a try. Even though some people had gone ahead with other plans for the day, we still had several that were able to come help. We raised $200 to go towards their new uniforms! We still have a way to go, but it's a great start! As you will see in the pictures, the kids had a ball and Bruce did a lot of car washing!!! The link to donate to the team uniform fund is still active in my previous post. We really appreciate any donations that you are able to give.

Happy Fourth of July!!!

2008-07-07T11:16:00.005-04:00

Our Fourth of July tradition is always a boat ride and going to eat somewhere on the lake. This year was no different except that Peyton was still on his church trip and it wasn't the same without him. Instead of taking dad's boat, we borrowed my grandparents' pontoon boat and went to Terrace View to eat. Colton drove us over! He did such a good job. Sailor enjoyed the ride too and her life jacket fits much better this summer! While eating we got to enjoy live music performed by a band led by a friend of dad's from Rhea County, Vance Winstead. They were really good! Sailor was fascinated as you can tell from the pictures! Vance and his wife Sheila ran the King of Pizza in Spring City for many years while dad had his lumber company there. They now have a fantastic restaurant called Winstead's Grill (and still serve the King of Pizza pizza). This is actually the first restaurant that Nikki and Joe ever took Sailor to. We highly recommend it if you are ever down that way. We usually try to stay out on the water to see the fireworks around the lake, but unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate! We took the boat back to Granny Fran and Granddaddy's house and went inside for a visit with the two of them. Sailor enjoyed crawling around and showing out. She played with some really old toys...they were mine when I was her age!!! I think it's really nice that GrannyFran has taken such good care of them through the years so that all the grandchildren (7 of us), and now great grandchildren (up to 5 so far) have been able to enjoy them! We had a fun night spent with our family.

Pop and Colton

NIkki, Sailor and Nana
She loved looking at the water!
Captain Colton
Bruce and Me Watching the Band
She didn't take her eyes off of them!
What a doll!
Colton and Bruce
Happy about going back to the boat!
Uncle Bruce and Sailor
Grand Daddy and Colton
Granny Fran and Colton

Sailor and another Nature Walk

2008-07-03T20:11:00.007-04:00

Today we were lucky enough to get to spend the day with Sailor. She is always such a joy to have! We started out by taking her walking with us at the track this morning. She only wanted Colton to push her, of course. She loves him so much! We got to see the Muskrats, tadpoles, pretty flowers, birds, butterflies, and Colton got to sample some Honeysuckle. Who knew there could be so much to see and do at the REU track?!? After we were finished walking, we headed to Reno's Sporting Goods. We needed to get some information on baseball uniforms. Of course Colton entertained Sailor the entire time playing PeekaBoo from behing the racks of clothes. She loved it! Awhile later, we met Nikki and Mom for lunch at Los Primos. Yes, even Bruce has decided to brave the bathroom once again because we love to eat there so much. Sailor loves to look at all the bright colors there. Nikki even lets her eat the refried beans on small bites of tortilla shells. Somehow I wonder about how good those beans are for her little belly...she had a few episodes in the car on the way home! ha,ha Anyway, from there Colton left with Nana to go shopping in Knoxville and Bruce, Sailor and I went to the pool to spend the afternoon with Dear Old Dad! We had a great time. Sailor loves to swim and I would be willing to bet if Nikki and Joe were to let her, she would take off right now. She kicks and moves her arms like a pro! After a few hours, Sailor and I had had enough of the sun and went inside to crash on Nana's couch. We stayed that way until Nikki got off work. We are very lucky to have our little Sailor girl in our lives!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Donations Needed

2008-07-03T20:03:00.006-04:00

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

As all of you know by now, Colton loves baseball and the Yankees. He has been asked to be a part of a new travel team called the Roane County Yankees. He is really excited! They are planning to play in tournaments for the rest of the summer, in the fall and spring. The coaches hope to keep these little boys together playing for many years to come. They are in need of a nice set of uniforms. They have already planned one fundraiser, a car wash this Saturday, July 5, at the Dollar General Store on Gateway Avenue in Rockwood. Please come by if you get the chance. They will start at 8AM, so as you head out to enjoy your holiday weekend, please take time to come by and get a car wash. We have also set up a way to make donations to the team through Paypal. Any and all donations are appreciated and every little bit helps. If you would be willing to make a donation to this cause, please use the Donate button below. This is a really good group of little boys, two of them will even be in my second grade class this year and one was in my class last year as well. We thank you in advance for any contribution you are able to make. If for some reason you have problems with the donation button, please email me:

hhrobinette@bellsouth.net

Muskrats!!!

2008-07-02T12:01:00.008-04:00

OK, so I have actually been exercising this summer. Bruce, the boys, and I have been going walking in the mornings at the REU track. Mom and Sailor came down and walked this morning and sometimes my friend Karen comes too. I have worked my way up to three miles! This is a real accomplishment seeing as how usually the most exercise I get is walking from the couch to the fridge! Another accomplishment is that I have been making myself get up by 9 to do this. I know that 9 might not be early to most people, but for me that is way early for summertime! Now to the title of this post...MUSKRATS...

If you are not familiar with the track at REU, it goes around the REU Warehouse and 3 1/2 times around equals a mile. On one side of the track there is a small, gently flowing stream. One morning while walking I saw a small, rodent like critter gnawing on clover beside the stream. I didn't have my glasses on and first thought it was a rat. Upon closer examination, I thought maybe an otter? a beaver? I saw two babies and a mom, so I decided I would call them beavers. Probably the main reason I decided on beavers was because it reminded the teacher in me of a story I use in second grade called, "The Trouble at Beaver Pond". It is about a mother beaver watching her two kits playing on the shoreline when a bear comes trying to get the babies. Anyway, I made a mental note to bring my camera one morning so that I could have pictures of these 'beavers' to share with my class when I talk to them about the story.

This morning I remembered my camera, and was lucky enough to get some pictures of one of the babies. While I was taking pictures of the 'beaver baby' a kind man stopped to ask what I was doing. I explained the whole teacher idea and he kindly explained that though that was a wonderful idea, I was actually photographing MUSKRATS! Oh well, it was a great teacher thought anyway! I did get the pictures and came home to find lots of information on MUSKRATS on the internet! Now I just have to find a MUSKRAT children's story. If anyone knows of one, I'd love to know the title and author! Below you will find my Beaver/Muskrat pics and another picture of a flower that I thought was pretty! Enjoy!

Peyton is at M-Fuge

2008-07-01T18:17:00.002-04:00

Peyton left on Monday morning for a trip with our church. This is his first time being away from home without one of us, Nana, Nikki, etc. I know he will be fine and that he is learning about and doing God's work while he is there. He has chosen the construction track and today helped a church clean out a polluted creek (he said it was more like a muddy ditch) that was in really bad shape. The reason for my post is that when I talked to him earlier today, I sensed he is a little homesick and not having a great time. Please pray for him. He is with some of his best friends and Riley's dad is staying in the dorm with them, but I think it may be bothering him being away more than I thought it would. Also say a prayer for my mom too...she is not handling him being away from home very well either :o)! I know this will be a great learning experience for him, but I hate that he might be upset or homesick. Thank you in advance. ---Heather

Colton meets a real Yankee!!!

2008-06-26T16:53:00.004-04:00

Today was a special day for Colton. Most of you know that he is a HUGE New York Yankees fan. Today he got to meet a real former Yankee. Bruce is helping with a baseball tournament this week called the Battle in the South (http://www.battleinthesouth.com/). He is overseeing the games that are being played in Kingston, Tennessee. Teams come from all over the country to play in this tournament. While talking with one of the coaches yesterday, he found out that a former New York Yankee third baseman would be attending with one of the teams from Houston, Texas today. Sure enough, he was there. The player is Charlie Hayes. He played on the 1996 Yankees team that won the World Series. He even caught the last out of the final championship game! Of course when he came home last night, Bruce went digging into his Yankees stash of baseball cards in hopes of getting an autograph for Colton. We did better than that. Mr. Hayes was kind enough to pose with Colton for a picture as well. Out of curiosity, I went searching around so that I could offer you some additional information about what a great player Mr. Hayes was. According to Wikipedia:

Charles Dewayne Hayes (born May 23, 1965 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi) is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the San Francisco Giants (1988-1989, 1998-1999), Philadelphia Phillies (1989-1991, 1995), New York Yankees (1992, 1996-1997), Colorado Rockies (1993-1994), Pittsburgh Pirates (1996), Milwaukee Brewers (2000) and Houston Astros (2001). He batted and threw right-handed.

In a 14-season career, Hayes posted a .262 batting average with 144 home runs and 740 RBI in 1547 games played.

He caught the final out of the New York Yankees' 1996 World Series victory. Charlie currently gives baseball lessons and operates a team along with a facility for the instruction of baseball, called "Big League Baseball Academy" in Houston, Texas.

Charlie Hayes is also only one of the few major league ballplayers who played in both a Little League World Series & Major League World Series during his career!

Charlie Hayes and Colton

Colton and his autographed card
"The Card"
Charlie Hayes catching the last out of the 1996 World Series
Derek Jeter and Charlie Hayes celebrating after the last out!

Colton's All Stars

2008-06-25T11:06:00.004-04:00

Well, Colton's All Star tournament is over (a little too soon for us) but he did really good. They all did. He had three home runs on Saturday, and many other hits including some doubles and triples! I didn't get many good pictures this year, but he made the paper and the Roane County News website. Here is the link to the article:

http://www.roanecounty.com/cgi-bin/storyviewnew.cgi?062+Sports.2008625-507-062-062007.Lead+Sports

We are really proud of him!

Dear Ol' Dad...

2008-06-22T13:26:00.003-04:00

What would Father's Day be without a post about Dear Ol' Dad???? We all went to church Father's Day morning, everyone except mom who was still in Florida. Afterwards we spent a day at the pool and cooked out for all three dads...my dad, Bruce and Joe. Actually Joe helped in the cooking, but Nikki and I did most of it. Those who know me realize that this really was a special event, because I do very little cooking! I even made a salad, though I can't stand the taste, touch, or smell (yes, lettuce does have a smell) of lettuce! Peyton got Bruce an Infinity Razor, that supposedly never needs sharpening. Bruce is a huge fan of infomercials, and this is an "As Seen On TV" product...perfect! Colton got Bruce a hand held fan, he said since Bruce sweats so much working out. I think I'm actually the one who needed it since I sweat so much sitting by the pool! Nikki and I got dad a gift certificate to the pool place for him to use to get chemicals for the pool.

Now the Dear Ol' Dad stories...

Well, while on vacation, he fell asleep on the side of the pool (see pic), he was in the hot tub thankfully by himself, laying in a very odd, awkward, possibly XRated looking position, "trying to let the jets" all hit his back and legs ?!?!? But best of all, he got to pose as Forest Gump on the bench outside the restaurant! Priceless, check out his posture and expression in the pic! While inside Bubba Gumps, we were reading all the signs that are hanging up. There is one the reads, "Bad Spellers of the World, UNTIE". Of course Dad didn't get it, even when we tried to explain it to him. Dad really struggles with Spelling himself which made this even funnier! He often calls me at work from his work to ask me how to spell words that Spellcheck would easily help him correct...too funny! (If I have misspelled any words while typing this, please overlook this once!)

Last but not least, for our last night there, we went to eat at the Ocean Deck, and Dad kept getting dripped on. He looked up and he was sitting right under a vent that had condensation all over it and he ended up with water spots all over his shirt the whole time we were there (of course you had to be there for that one!)

Asleep in the pool

"Life is Like a Box of Chocolates"

"That's all I have to say about that!"

We were all trying to explain the sign to Dad!

One of Many Water Spots on Dad's Shirt!!!

Daytona Beach 2008

2008-06-22T13:19:00.004-04:00

This post is way late, but I have been enjoying summer, baseball, being away from school etc., so I haven't been blogging much lately. The first week of June the entire Henley clan took a vacation to Daytona Beach. It was special in many ways, but two being it was little Sailor's first trip to the beach and two, Bruce and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on June 3rd. This is where we went on our honeymoon, so it was neat to spend our anniversary there. On the way into Daytona, I saw this huge burst of flames way up in the sky! I really wasn't sure what it was, then I realized that they had just launched the space shuttle! We got to follow it as far as we could see it while we were driving to our resort! I wish I had been able to reach my camera for pics, but it was packed away in the luggage. It was great to see it live instead of watching it on TV. Anyway, to the beach part. We all had a great time. The boys loved playing with Sailor. She absolutely loved the sand, even the way it tasted. She sampled several mouthsful! In uploading our pictures, I realized that I had way more of her than I did my boys. That's ok though because I am so glad that I got to share her first beach experience with her.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What a busy day!!!

2008-06-10T17:05:00.002-04:00

We had a terribly busy day today, but amazingly all has gone well so far. First let me start by saying that I had the wonderful priviledge of having Sailor with my and the boys today! She was a little angel. I am sorry to say that instead of playing all day, she had to run the roads with us all day today. Our day started at 6:45 AM this morning when the boys and I went to pick Sailor up. Nikki and Joe had to work, Mom (who usually keeps Sailor) stayed an extra week with her friends in Florida, so that's why I got to keep her. After getting everything to the car, we headed off to Colton's asthma checkup at Children's in Knoxville. He had an 8AM appt. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am definitely NOT a morning person, but I have to say it wasn't too bad! Colton got a great report. His PFC showed that his PF levels are up 30% from his last test! This was a nice surprise since he was sick when we left for the beach. We also found out that the soft tissue xrays of his tonsils and adenoids were normal, so no surgery anytime soon! Finally, his respiratory therapist really bragged on him and said that his technique using his inhaler was better than any child she sees in their office! Sailor was really patient, but didn't want anything to do with being back in the exam room with us. The only person she would let hold her without her crying was Colton. As soon as she was in his arms, she was quiet and huggin him as tight as she could. As soon as I would get her, the tears would start all over again. They love each other so much! After we left we returned home by 10:30. This was after stopping by the vet. to pay our bill where Bruce and the boys picked up Charlie from his stay while we were on vacation last week. We got to stay home and play for a short while, and then it was off to the Orthodontist with Peyton. Dr. Jay suggested that we might want to set up a consult appt. with Dr. Wheeler in Crossville to get his opinion on whether or not Peyton would need braces. He suggested him #1 because he is really good, plus #2 he comes to Rockwood to Jay's office once a month to see patients here. What a great bonus with gas prices the way they are right now. I really liked Dr. Wheeler and as we suspected Peyton does need braces. Dr. Jay had thought that as Peyton's eye teeth further descended they would push the spaces between his teeth together. Dr. Wheeler said that given that Peyton's molars are all in, or partially in, and that he has no wisdom teeth (yay) the spaces are there to stay! So we are now scheduled for braces next month! I think Peyton is kind of excited about getting them. I have no words of advice for him because I never wore braces. I'm sure the excitement will wear off when he has such a sore mouth for awhile! Sailor was an angel, charmed everyone in the office with her little debutant wave, and played in Colton and Peyton's lap while I filled out paper work and set up Peyton's appointments and stuff. We left and went through the Taco Bell drive through for a late lunch and headed home. Sailor drank her bottle as the boys were eating and then fell asleep for a much needed nap. By the time we got home, Nikki was off from work and we delivered Sailor home, safe and sound! My next shift starts in about an hour and a half when we head out to Bible school (Peyton) and All Star practice (Colton). To say I am looking forward to climbing into my soft, comfy bed tonight would be a HUGE understatement. I have enjoyed spending the day with my boys and Sailor and I didn't even have to threaten to kill either of my boys! A day well spent!!!

Peyton's New 'Do

2008-05-28T18:36:00.005-04:00

Peyton has had long hair since the summer before 4th grade. He had decided that he wanted to let it grow out like Keith Urban's. I was hesitant but thought, if I didn't like it, I could have it cut before school started. I actually did like it and it has been long ever since. A couple of haircuts ago, he started mentioning getting in cut instead of trimmed. I convinced him to go ahead and try it. He always had the summer to let it grow back out if he didn't like it. So while Bruce and I took Colton to the asthma doctor today (that's a whole other story, upper respiratory infection and pink eye in BOTH eyes, all right before vacation...) my mom took Peyton to get his hair cut. I feel like I have a different child, Colton even told him that he did not look like his brother anymore, but I really like it. It's not real short, but it is definitely shorter than he has had it in almost four years! Check it out and let us know what you think!!!

Mrs. Robinette's Annual Pool Party

2008-05-28T17:01:00.005-04:00

On Tuesday night, May 20, I gave my second grade students and their families an end of the year pool party. I tell the kids this will help them "dive into summer"! The Community Center always opens the pool for my one night during the last week of school so the kids can enjoy it. In the pictures you may see some blue lips. No it's not from blue icing on the cake or cupcakes, it was really that cold! The city had just filled the pool up the day before via hoses from the fire station, so you can only imagine! I stayed outside the fence most of the time, so I wouldn't get pushed in! I had warned them that I would still have time to change a few grades if that happened! I love my second graders and love watching them enjoy this last time together as a class. Only a few were unable to be there and all had a great time! I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

One Week, Three Celebrations...

2008-05-27T22:04:00.002-04:00

All in one week, I have three things to celebrate.

First, Congratulations to Peyton for making the RMS Basketball team again this year. He has worked hard and wanted this so badly. I am very proud of him for sticking with it and it has paid off.

Secondly, we found out tonight that Colton made the All-Star baseball team again. As you have seen on many of my posts, Colton LOVES baseball! I asked him not too long ago, if he thought he'd still play baseball when he was older and the response I got was, "Mom, I'll always play baseball. It's part of my life!"

And last, but definitely not least, as of tomorrow my school year is officially over and summer can begin! We are leaving for the beach on Saturday, and I can't wait! The whole family is going...mom & dad, Nikki, Joe, and Sailor, and Bruce, the boys, and me!!! I will take lots of pictures and post them as soon as I get back.

A Sweet Story

2008-05-27T21:52:00.002-04:00

Sunday morning at church, Colton was really wanting to go to Children's Church during the service. Since he is now really a 'second grader' I didn't know about him going....it's really for kindergarten and first graders. He hadn't been wanting to go for awhile and since he really wanted to go, I said OK. He and his friend Bryson headed down the aisle and that was that. After church, I went to pick him up in the CC room and a friend and fellow teacher of mine called me to the side to tell me something. (She was the CC leader for the morning.) She said that during prayer request time, Colton said ,"I'd like for you to pray for my cousin, Sailor." Brother Ben asked if Sailor was sick or hurt and needed prayer. Colton told him that she wasn't sick or hurt, he just loves her and wanted them to pray for her. Sonya said it was so sweet. It gets better though...When they bowed for prayer, she said that his friend Bryson, put his arm around Colton as they were praying. Again, Colton is 6 and Bryson is 5! She said it was wonderful. If I haven't said it before, I will say it now. I am so thankful that God led us to our new church home at First Baptist in Rockwood. I feel so at home there and our kids are learning so much about the Lord and how to live a Christian life! I know he has to do it on his own time, but I am so looking forward to the day that Colton asks Jesus to come into his heart and save him. He gets really emotional at times talking about Jesus. I know that He is working on Colton's heart and it will happen when the time is right. I am so thankful for my family, both my immediate and extended. I know my kids argue and fight, but when all is said and done, they would do anything to protect and take care of each other. I also know how much they love their new little cousin, Sailor. Colton's prayer request proves how much he thinks of her. My boys may sometimes act rough and tough as boys often do, but I know they both have hearts of gold. I love them so much and am so proud of them!

Peyton's DUKE TIP State Recognition Ceremony

2008-05-18T20:11:00.005-04:00

This weekend we traveled to Vanderbilt University in Nashville for Peyton to be recognized in the DUKE TIP State Recognition Ceremony. As a part of the DUKE TIP program, Peyton was invited to take the ACT test as a 7th grader. Some of you may have read about this earlier in my blog posts. He did extremely well. He scored an overall 23, with scores of 25 in English, 24 in Reading, 23 in Science, and 20 in Math. To be recognized at the state level, you only had to qualify in one subject area. Peyton qualified in all four! I am so very proud of him. This was such an honor. I was very disappointed when we received the invitation to this ceremony. Due to limited seating, only two guests could attend with Peyton. Anyone who knows our family, knows how close we are, and how we support each other. We had already made reservations through our time share, for the whole family to go to Nashville for the event. Bruce is such a thoughtful, caring person. When we found this out, he told me even though he wanted very badly to watch Peyton walk across that stage, he wouldn't dream of taking that opportunity away from my mom. Mom and Peyton have such a strong bond, and I really respect and appreciate Bruce's decision to let her go in his place. We got to tour the campus, I had never been there and I have to say it is absolutely breathtaking. We got to listen to the Director of Scholarships give an overview of the scholarship program at the university and also speak on some helpful tips in beginning the search process early. I must say that with tuition of $52,000 a year (yes, ONE YEAR) we will need to start NOW to be able to half way afford it!!! After that, we ate lunch at Mellow Mushroom right across from the campus. The actual ceremony was next. It was under a huge tent, so many of my pictures aren't focused very well. All students got to walk across the stage and received two medals, one from Vanderbilt University and one from the DUKE TIP program. We also received information about week long summer studies programs offered on campus. It is probably too late for him to get enrolled in one for this summer, but hopefully this is something he can do in the future. After the ceremony, we went back to our condo to change and meet up with the rest of the family. Peyton chose to go eat at the Aquarium restaurant (back to Opry Mills). We had never been there, but definitely recommend it. Since mom missed out on the shopping earlier in the day, we closed down the stores at 9:30. A very long day, but one to remember for a very long time.

Peyton and Me
Peyton and Nana
Sailor and Peyton (look at those baby blues)
Waiting to be Presented
Receiving the Medals
Peyton's program, Vanderbilt Medal and DUKE TIP Medal

Peyton outside the Vanderbilt Law School
Strolling around campus
OK, I made him pose like this!!!
Peyton Barker Robinette

Dear Old Dad....

2008-05-18T19:57:00.003-04:00

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I love to tell funny stories about my dad! He always keeps us laughing. I have a new one from this weekend in Nashville. Nikki heard it first hand, but I went back later and took pictures so that you can get the full effect...

While mom, Peyton, and I were at the DUKE TIP ceremony at Vanderbilt on Saturday, Dad, Nikki, Sailor, Bruce and Colton spent the afternoon at Opry Mills. Dad happened upon this store and saw some life sized cardboard figures of Obama and Hillary Clinton. They were each on opposite sides of Bart Simpson, but that is beside the point. Dad says well lookie there, they aren't even in office yet and they have their figures standing here. OK, the name of the store was "Past and Presents", but dad thought the sign said, "Past Presidents" and he was really confused. It was one of those 'had to be there moments' I'm sure, but so typical of my dad just the same!!!

They were at Opry Mills for several hours. Bruce is not a fan of any mall, but was quite entertained spending the afternoon at a mall with my dad. If you have been to Opry Mills, you know that it is just one huge circle. They must have made that circle numerous times during the course of the afternoon. Bruce got tickled at dad because everytime they passed the peanut stand there were different people there giving out samples, and of course, dad got a handful each time they went by.

There were also oriental people offering chair massages. They would use their hands to motion you towards their stations. Bruce said that dad would head that way and then proceed to just shake their outstretched hands and keep going.

It's never boring with 'Dear Old Dad'!

Mother's Day Weekend...

2008-05-13T16:55:00.003-04:00

My Mother's Day Weekend was a busy one. Colton played in another tournament on Saturday in Fountain City. As always he had lots of fun. We thought we were only playing two games, but when we got there, we ended up playing three. They were going to try to finish the tournament all on Saturday to avoid tying up Mother's Day, but that didn't work out. We had to go back on Sunday to finish it. Sunday morning I was suprised with a poem and card that Colton had made at school last week and a pretty new watch from Peyton. Bruce had ordered me a present, but it hadn't arrived on time and we are still waiting on it to get here! We went to Sunday school and then headed back to Fountain City. All the moms at the game got special autographed baseballs from out kids that said "Happy Mother's Day". The game was really good, but the boys lost 9-8 in the bottom of the 7th inning. They ended up coming in third. On the way home, we stopped by Bruce's mom's house and had a good visit with her. We came home and Bruce fixed me dinner. Later we went to my mom's to give her her gifts and visit for awhile. Peyton and Colton both wanted to stay all night with her, so maybe the best Mother's Day treat of all was getting to be in bed and asleep at a decent hour!!! There is nothing in this world better than being a mom! My boys are the lights of my life and I wouldn't trade this full time job for anything in this world!!!

"Dear Old Dad" again...obviously not too interested in the game!!!
Colton R., Colton K., Zander, and Marquis waiting for the next game
Me and my little Sailor girl
Brooke and Peyton
Peyton, Brooke, and Colton taking a lunch break

2008-05-09T17:14:00.004-04:00

The boys and I went down to mom's after school today to play with Sailor. By the time we got there, she had already suited up and headed for the pool. She seemed to love the water, but you wouldn't know it from her expression in the picture with dad holding her. The boys swam for a few minutes, but it's still a little cold.

Teacher Appreciation Day

2008-05-06T16:07:00.004-04:00

I had two wonderful surprises today. First, the mom of a little girl in my room brought her to school today and had cooked a tasty breakfast for me and some of my colleagues for Teacher Appreciation Day! This was totally unexpected. She had fixed baked apricots (which I had never tried,but excellent), pigs in a blanket, and fresh fruit. Did I say breakfast, well I must admit it was enough to snack on all day long! My next surprise came after lunch. They called over the intercom to let me know that I had a delivery in the office. I didn't think I had ordered anything, but I'm so scatterbrained by this time of the year, that I could have but forgotten. Anyway, come to find out that, Jordan, had sent me a beautiful basket of flowers. They are so pretty as you will see in the picture below.

I love being a second grade teacher and can't imagine doing anything else. Though frustrating at times, the good far outweighs the bad in my career. I love my students and get so attached to them. Although I am always ready for summer break, I always hate saying goodbye to my kids. At least I get to watch most of them continue to progress through our school and usually have several visits from past students each year. Only 11 1/2 school days left...

Alexis

Me & Jordan with my beautiful flowers

The Inaugural Cookout

2008-05-04T21:05:00.004-04:00

Tonight we had our first official cookout at Nana and Pop's new pool. The boys even swam even though it was pretty cold! The whole family was there and eveyone had a really good time. The pool looks great. Everyone has worked really hard this weekend to get the fence up. I think it looks like a professional job!!! All we have left to do is stucco the retaining wall and a little landscaping. 13 1/2 more days of school and we will be spending a lot of time there!!!

Colton's Tournament

2008-05-04T20:49:00.005-04:00

Colton played in a baseball tournament in Karns this weekend. Coach Bryon and some other dads did a great job with the boys and they had a really good time. There was some pretty stiff competition there and we enjoyed watching the other teams in the tournament as well. It was good experience for the boys and they ended up coming in second in their pool. They each got a trophy and the team got one as well. Here are some pics from the weekend.

Taking a knee while the coaches checked on Zander.
Getting my trophy from Coach Bryon and the tournament directors.
(back row) Jackson Hicks, Marquis Golliher, Kolby Robbins, Kyle VanPatten, Levi Crabtree, Tristan Tinker, Ryan Moog, (Front Row) Colton Kindrick, Colton Robinette, Sam McCallie, Hayden Lee, Zander Price

Peyton Barker Robinette

2008-05-01T19:32:00.002-04:00

This post is way out of order, but many of my pictures have now been recovered since my friend's husband fixed my laptop. Some of you may know that Peyton did some modeling a couple of years back. He worked with an agency called 18karat out of Knoxville and did pretty well. He worked for Goody's several times and is even in the 2008 SeaRay catalog! I was disappointed when he decided not to renew his contract but I guess being a male model wasn't cool for a middle schooler! Here is a slide show of some of the pictures from his portfolio.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Little Slugger, always smiling!!!

2008-04-29T20:53:00.003-04:00

If I haven't mentioned it before, I will mention it now...Colton LOVES baseball. He always has a ball and bat in his hand. Whether it be in the yard, in the car, or even in the living room, he is always practicing his swing! I have even seen him walking down the hall at school practicing his throws.

Colton plays for the Braves in the 5 & 6 year age group. He also plays with Coach Bryon for the Yankees in the 7&8 year age group, when they are short a player because some of his players quit and one broke his collar bone. With the shirts being the same colors, some times we get a little mixed up with which shirt goes with which pants, which shirt goes for which game etc. Tonight I had Colton's uniform laid out and told him to change. He had worn an old Yankees shirt from Peyton when he played years ago to school today. When he changed, he accidentally picked that shirt back up and put it on instead of his Braves shirt! Luckily they didn't notice that he had on the wrong number (and name on the front) when he batted the first time. I ran to the car and got the other one just in time for him to take the field!!!

He is playing in a tournament in Knoxville this weekend, but they are wearing Rockwood Tigers shirts, so maybe we won't have any mix ups!

I love watching him smile, but most of all I love that he is always happy (unless Peyton makes him mad!!!)

Smiling before the game (in the wrong shirt, this is when I noticed)!
Smiling coming off the field (in the correct shirt)!!!
Smiling running the bases!!!
Even smiling when he swings!!! (Pretty good form!!!)

Good Luck, Ms. Missy

2008-04-28T21:40:00.003-04:00

We have been blessed with an awesome student teacher over the last couple of months in our classroom. Missy Worth is now finished with her college classes and student teaching placements and graduates on May 10th! I am so happy for her. Missy and I went to school together at Rockwood Jr. High and High School. We played High School softball together. I am very happy to call her my friend, and now colleague. She did a terrific job in my classroom and the kids all love and now miss her! Sometimes I wondered if they wanted me back as their full time teacher at all. That's not a bad thing though because it shows the level of respect they earned towards her. I hope so much that Missy gets a job at our school next year. She will be a great asset to a school no matter where she goes.

Serious....
and Silly!!!

Ozone Falls, formal Black Belt presentation

2008-04-21T16:45:00.004-04:00

Although Peyton has had his Black Belt in TaeKwonDo since January, they had not had his 'official' presentation ceremony. There were several others who since that time had earned their belts as well, so they had one big ceremony at Ozone Falls in Ozone, Tennessee. I felt a little funny about going since Peyton had already been presented his belt by Master McCullough in class, but am very glad we went. It was a really nice ceremony and in a beautiful location. I hope you enjoy the pictures. (Of course Colton was all decked out in his uniform for the occasion also. He is a Yellow belt and slowly working his way up! Anything to be like big brother.)

Easter Pictures

2008-04-21T16:06:00.004-04:00

Easter fell during Spring Break week this year. We were fortunate enough to find last minute reservations in Panama City Beach! We had a wonderful time. Mom and I took the boys (Bruce stayed here for baseball ;o(). We even got to see the Easter Bunny by the pool! Here are some pictures of the boys in their Easter clothes that we bought to wear. I wasn't ready to come home on Tuesday. I was really regretting coming home during the last part of the week...west Tennessee, baseball tournament, three sleepless nights, 40 degrees, rain, I could go on, but I think that is enough said. I'll take the beach anyday!!!

I'm Back!!!

2008-04-10T16:25:00.002-04:00

Thanks to my good friend Tina's husband, I once again have internet access at home. He fixed my laptop as best he could and pulled all of my files and documents off and put them on a backup disk!!! Colton has two ballgames tonight, so I won't be able to post any pics or anything tonight, but we have had a good week. Peyton's birthday was good...now oficially 13 and Colton won his ballgame plus hit a grandslam in doing so. I'm looking forward to getting back to blogging and having the world at a touch of my fingers!!!

Dead Computers!!!

2008-04-07T14:51:00.002-04:00

Both of my computers at home have died, and right now, we are trying to avoid replacing them, although it's really frustrating not having internet when you are used to having any information you need right at the touch of your fingers. I am still enjoying reading everyone's blogs (during breaks at work), but I really don't have time for many posts of my own with 18 second graders in my class! I do hope to get some new pictures up soon.

There are many exciting things coming up for us, the first being Peyton's birthday tomorrow. At 5:39 PM, tomorrow evening, he will officially be a teenager! I am blown away at how fast these years have flown by and he continues to make me prouder of him by the day! He is such a good kid and we all love him very much! Thinking of him being a teenager makes me feel a little old, but I'm sure it makes my mom feel even older!!!

Tomorrow is also the first game of Colton's baseball season. He is so excited, he has already planned for me to pitch some to him this afternoon when we get home from school. I was a little disappointed that his team name changed from the Yankees to the Braves, but it hasn't bothered him in the least.

I will try to find time to post pictures of both of these exciting things sometime this week!

Colton and Chester Drawers

2008-04-07T14:45:00.002-04:00

Today we were fortunate enough to have a children's book author visit our school. His name is Eddie Bowman, aka Chester Drawers. The kids loved him and had a great time listening to him tell jokes, talk about the importance of reading, and sing songs with them. Colton bought one of his song books called, "Crazy Cat" and got an autograph and picture with him. I'm not sure he knew what to think about him!

A Surprising Phone Call

2008-03-20T08:44:00.005-04:00

Thursday night, Bruce's baseball team played Catholic High School. If you are American Idol fans, you probably remember Amy Catherin Flynn, the Catholic High student and Dance Team member that made it to Hollywood on the show. We saw her at the ballgame and sat and talked to her for quite awhile. She seemed very down to Earth and very intelligent. On the show, she seemed to be portrayed as a little 'ditzy', but she is not like that in person at all. She gave us some insight into the show that was almost a little disappointing to me being such a big follower of it. She is still under contract with the show until next spring. Her contract is 75 pages long!!! She told us that the judges were all really nice to her and that you would not believe the amount of editing that goes into the show. There is so much that you don't see that really affects the outcomes of the show each week. I am going to leave out the info. that was a little disappointing to me, don't want to ruin it for anyone else.

I also showed her a picture of Peyton, he was at home with Nana, and told her that he thought she was "hot". She actually called him from my phone and talked to him for a few minutes and thanked him for being such a fan! I am going to try and post a picture that my friend Shannon took of her while she was talking to him. I will also try and post the picture of Amy and Alan Taylor who went and asked her to come talk to us in the first place. My computer at home is torn up, so I am having to try and do this from work. I am not Mac savvy, so I don't know that I can post the pics from here, but I'll try!

If you are interested in the outcome of the ballgame, Kingston was run ruled and lost 11-1 ;o(!!! Talking to Amy was much more interesting!!!

Prayer Request

2008-03-18T10:15:00.002-04:00

Please pray for my friend Tara Boles and her family. Tara's dad has lung cancer and has cancerous cells in some areas of his bone and liver. He is currently in Erlanger hospital in Chattanooga undergoing treatment. The cancer was found in his lung about four or five weeks ago when he went to the doctor sick with pneumonia. The pneumonia is blocked in his lung by the cancerous tumor. They are telling them that the cancer is stage 4. Tara is very optimistic that the treatment is going to work. We all know that God is the Great Physician and performs miracles for us everyday, according to His will. Please join me in lifting them up to our Lord. Her dad's name is Edward Ladd, from Rhea County, Tennessee.

Blurb.com

2008-03-06T16:12:00.002-05:00

I found this website through someone else's blogspot page. I can't remember whose, if I could, I would definitely give them the credit. It is a program where you can upload your blog and turn it into a book. I thought it was worth a try, so I did it and just got my book in the mail today. It is so worth it! I have looked and looked through the pages of this new book. The pictures are so clear and there were so many different page layouts to choose from. It is like scrapbooking online, without the mess at home! I hope to continue to make books every few months or so to keep a 'hard copy' of my blog for years to come.

The web address is: www.blurb.com

Colton's Basketball Party 3/03/08

2008-03-03T20:38:00.003-05:00

Colton played basketball this year for the Cavaliers. They had a great season and had lots of fun! Here are some pictures from their party tonight.

Front Row: Parker Ferrell, Bryson Boles, Colton Robinette, Blaine Ferrell,

MIddle Row: Karlee Bowling, Marquis Gallaher, Trent Stinnett,

Back Row: Coaches, Scotty Boles, Todd Ferrell, Bruce Robinette

Colton going up for a layup (excuse the poor photography)

Colton getting his trophy from his coach Scotty.

Colton and Scotty enjoying their pizza!

Bryson showing off his smile!

Great Story!!!

2008-03-03T20:10:00.004-05:00

I really tried to get pictures to go along with this story, but was not able to, so I'll try to paint the picture as creatively as I can.

Let me begin by saying that through the years, my family has accumulated many funny 'bathroom stories'. There was the time when I was young that I went into the McDonald's bathroom by myself (mom and dad were close by) and decided to check everything out including the big, silver garbage can attached to the wall to use when you threw away paper towels after washing your hands. Being 'vertically challenged' as I was, I needed a boost to get high enough to see what was inside. I tried to climb up the metal garbage can, only to have the whole thing come loose from the wall!

There was the time when we were in Daytona Beach, Florida and were out to eat and Nikki and I decided we needed to go to the bathroom. Again, mom and dad let us go by ourselves (what were they thinking). We were in the stalls doing our business when all of a sudden a crazy lady came rushing in the bathroom, banging on the walls, telling us to get out of the bathroom, it was an emergency. Of course it scared us to death! When we went running to mom and dad, we found out that this woman really was crazy and had been on the pay phone calling the White House demanding to talk to the President because she was a Kennedy! She was so unruly that the the restaurant called the police and had her arrested and removed from the restaurant. As we were leaving, the police had the lady handcuffed outside, so dad decided to tell the police that she had scared his two little girls in the bathroom. Dad was standing a little too close as he was having this conversation with the police and the lady kicked dad right between the legs!!!

There was the time that Bruce and I took the boys to Panama City Beach, Florida and were sitting out by the pool and Peyton decided he needed to go to the bathroom. We were sitting within eyesight of the bathroom, so we told him to go ahead by himself. We waited and waited for him to come out (he was 8) but he never did. When Bruce finally went to check on him, we discovered that he was indeed stuck in the bathroom! The door had gotten wedged shut and Bruce had to push the door open with his shoulder! Peyton says he has been traumatized ever since.

This brings me to my current story. Last night, Bruce and I took the boys to eat at Los Primos Mexican Restaurant in Harriman. As always, Colton waited until the food was being brought to our table to decide he needed to go to the bathroom. Bruce went with him and Peyton and I started to eat. A few minutes later, Bruce comes rushing out of the bathroom soaking wet from the waist down! When I asked what happened he told me that when he went to flush the urinal, it exploded! The pipe burst and water started showering everywhere. The really bad thing was that Colton was still in the bathroom stall (sitting to do his business) and the water was gushing so much that Bruce said he couldn't get over there to get him. A man with a TVA shirt got up from his table to try to help get the water to stop. I guess the woman at the table with him thought I was awful for sitting there laughing the whole time, but I just couldn't help it. She ended up going to get an umbrella from her car, so that Bruce could use it to go get Colton off the pot! When Colton came out, he was soaked from head to toe! The water had showered up over the stall and had been raining down on him the whole time! I was shocked at how calm he was, but he was fine, just really cold. After we finally got to finish eating, I asked Bruce if he thought we'd have to pay for our food. He told me that yes, we would pay for our food, because if we asked not to, they'd probably ask us to pay for a new urinal. Needless to say, we paid and left quickly!

GrannyFran

2008-02-25T12:46:00.003-05:00

This is my grandmother, Fran Henley; AKA GrannyFran! She is a wonderful artist and lives in Venice, Florida (near Sarasota) during the winter and comes home to Rockwood, Tennessee for the summer months. Many of the beach pictures that you have seen on my blog and myspace pages have been taken when our family has visited her house in Florida. The flowers that you see are flowers that we sent her for her birthday on this past Friday. I think they are really pretty. Pretty flowers for a pretty lady! Happy Birthday, GrannyFran!