Lilley of the field

Dear Kimberly, I am writing you this little note so you remember how you feel about camping. In general, you enjoy most of camping. However, I need you to remember how you feel about the different types of camping so that your expectations are not too grand the next time you go. The two types of camping are car camping and backpacking (at least in your realm of camping... RVs have not entered the picture yet). This way whichever type of camping you choose you will be fully prepared and love them both. First, there is car camping, which you just did this past weekend to celebrate your 2nd year anniversary at Paris Mountain. Your anniversary is on a holiday weekend. Memorial Weekend, to be exact. It is quite lovely weather at the end of May and it's a three day weekend and therefore, there are LOTS of people at any campground you may go to. Therefore, it may not be as secluded and romantic as you would like. However, the pros of the car camping are as follows: You may have alc...

I just finished up  Sweeping Up Glass  by Carolyn Wall. My mom let me borrow the book. It was a "Roswell Reads" at her local library in which the author comes and speaks about their book. I really enjoyed it. I read the last half of the book all last night. Couldn't put it down. I cannot wait for summer to begin so I can read more!! Here's a description of it from the back of the book: " Olivia Harker Cross owns a strip of mountain in Pope County, Kentucky, a land where whites and blacks eke out a living in separate, tattered kingdoms and where silver-faced wolves howl in the night. But someone is killing the wolves of Big Foley Mountain–and Olivia is beginning to realize how much of her own bitter history she’s never understood: Her mother’s madness, building toward a fiery crescendo. Her daughter’s flight to California, leaving her to raise Will’m, her beloved grandson. And most of all, her town’s fear, for Olivia has real and dangerous enemies. Now this pr...

It's never to late for a Mother's Day post because shouldn't mother's day be celebrated everyday? Today I remembered that I forgot to send you and nana this picture. These are the luminaries that I bought in honor of you and Nana and decorated to be set up at our district Relay For Life this past Friday night. When I was putting this picture on my computer I realize what a hero you are. You are a hero to me. You don't fly in with a cape, but with a cloak of love. You don't have supernatural strength, but you do you have insurmountable kindness. hero-    noun 1. a person who is admired for courage or noble qualities. You are a warrior. A fighter. A hero. You didn't just beat cancer several years ago, you beat so many things that I don't know how you've come out so sane (**mostly sane :)**). I am thankful that over the years you've fought the doctors. That when I was in your womb 24 years ago that you didn't take the pills to e...

On Friday, I had one of the those moments . Those moments are the ones that keep you going as a teacher. Those moments are the ones that remind you why you do what you do. Those moments are the ones that make you forget about the paperwork and lesson plans. Those moments are precious. I can't forget those moments. I have a secret to share. Sometimes, I actually enjoy taking my children into our classroom restroom and helping them change their pull-up. I know it sounds crazy because most people think they couldn't do my job because of those times... but it can turn into one of those moments . I get a moment alone with a sweet child and I just get to hug them, whisper kind words to them, sing with them, tickle them, or laugh with them for a moment. I am not trying to manage another 10 children in a chaotic classroom. There is quiet and calm in that bathroom. There are no academic goals to achieve for a brief moment. During this particular time, I held one of my children wh...

I want to eat up Colossians. I can't get enough of it. I've been reading it day and night and I am just happily stuck in chapters 2 and 3 of it. I want  it to fill up my heart and mind just like a good bowl of soup fills up a hungry belly. Today, I kept thinking of the lines, "whatever you do..." "And whatever you do , in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Colossians 3:17 I'm in the middle of the much dreaded "IEP season" at school. Unfortunately it's smack in the middle of my favorite season of spring and instead of enjoying the outdoors and running around the fields of Clemson, I've been doing lots more paperwork and intermittently dreaming of summer. During IEP season, I rewrite each of my students Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs) complete with their present levels of performance and goals for next year and then we meet with all the therapists and e...