The Girlies!

Friday evening, Jessica and her girls arrived for a fun filled girls only weekend! Arriving after dark, we played in the yard for a bit with Pattie before calling it a night. Saturday morning, Jess and I enjoyed drinking our coffee outside while Pattie chased the girls who chased a white squirrel! The girls had never seen a white squirrel before and were quite impressed. We went on a picnic lunch in the woods before heading downtown to check out the splash pad. That evening, I made dinner here and we played outside with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and Pattie. Sunday morning, we enjoyed our coffee outside while the girls played and Pattie tried to "bite" the bubbles! We had a picnic lunch in the Pisgah after checking out a waterfall. We took one last walk around the block before the girls headed down the mountain. What a wonderful weekend to have guests!

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Baptism

Sunday I was the stand-in auntie while Liam and Ellie were baptized. It was an honor to be asked by Maggie and Justin to attend the service. We never got pictures of ourselves afterwards, so enjoy these pictures that were taken with Maggie's camera!

Girls on the Run...

is so much fun! For the 3rd year in a row, I helped coach 3rd-5th graders at my school in the GOTR program. For 12 weeks, we met with the girls two afternoons per week incorporating running into lessons on self image, how to deal with bullies, eating healthy, and loving your body to name a few. Sometimes I think the lessons were written for adults to hear as well! Saturday the girls completed the 5K; some for the first time and others for their 2nd year in a row. I ran with Anna who I taught in Kindergarten and is now a 3rd grader. She gave me a run for my money!

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Remembering...

Remembering Sweet Grandmother Gen who is rejoicing in heaven with her husband Ken, her son-in-law Marty, and her best friends my own MeMe and Pa.

Merlefest

On my way to school Thursday morning, I found out from the Lewis' there were two free tickets to Merlefest with my name on them! How could I resist?! Friday afternoon, I dropped off Pattie with her sister and headed to West Jefferson to meet everyone. We stayed at Jessica's family cabin which was about 45 minutes from the venue. I enjoyed over 12 hours of music Saturday after a relaxing morning with coffee and listening to the river. Sunday morning I hung around the cabin with the girls exploring the property before heading out for an afternoon of music. My only question now is "Why have I never been before?!!!!"

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Another Family Gathering

Saturday evening, we hosted the Petty family that was in town. We were missing many, but enjoyed being with those that were around. Mom made a wonderful chicken pie meal complete with too many delicious sides followed up by the 3 desserts that were brought! We had to venture outside for some baseball to work off the meal!

Extended Family

The entire Gribble family gathered at Grandma Gribble's house the Friday before Easter. We haven't all been together in 4 years! Since our last gathering, Caroline and Mali have both been born! We celebrated Grandma Gribble's 84th birthday early with her.

Easter Fun

I traveled home the Thursday before Easter to spend time with the family. We played outside, hung out with family, put flowers on the graves, dyed eggs, rode bikes, read books, and waited for the Easter bunny to arrive!

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Spring Break!

To begin my Spring break, I headed down to Edisto Island to help celebrate the marriage of Briana and Dan! Thankfully the terrible storms that were heading our way turned more north. The wedding went as planned outside and during the reception the srong winds calmed. We enjoyed a little pool time Saturday afternoon and a quick trip to the beach Sunday before leaving town. Now it's on to some relaxing before heading home for a long Easter weekend.

Tickled Pink!

Friday afternoon I headed to Cary/Apex after dropping Pattie off with my parents. I arrived in time for dinner with the whole crowd...a table for 10 with one on the way please! (well, minus The Hoggs and then we would need a table for 14 plus one on the way!) Saturday morning, Jessica and I headed over to help shower Heather in pink. She has 3 boys and is expecting a baby girl in May!!!! The afternoon was spent shopping before spending the evening relaxing with everyone plus neighbors while listening to music. There were guitars, singers, maracas, one 1st grader on a drum, and one 6th grader on a flute. It was the Apex band!

Zoo

On Saturday, April 2nd we had another workday to make up for a missed day due to snow. Afterwards, I rushed to a wedding shower before hitting up dinner with friends. So, Sunday I made a spur of the moment decision to head down to Greenville with Maggie and her kids. We headed to the small Greenville Zoo and a trip to Trader Joe's before heading back up the mountain. Since Saturday was taken I decided to enjoy Sunday and enjoy it I did!

Devotion

The church I have been attending puts together a book for Lent. Each day of Lent is a scripture, devotion written by someone from the congregation, and a prayer. A few weeks ago, they were in need of a few more writers. I went home and e-mailed the person in charge expressing my willingness to write if needed. What was I thinking?! Well, here is what I submitted (minus the prayer. I forgot to originally write it so I sent it as a separate e-mail and didn't save it I guess):
Revelation 10: 1-10
After hearing there was a need for eight more devotion writers I decided to step up and answer the call. It wasn’t until after I sent the e-mail volunteering that I actually came to my senses and realized what I was really doing! This week I received the scripture, read the passages, read them again, and waited. I was waiting for those right words to enter. Below are the words that found me. The explanation or connection might not be clear to you, but like I said these are the words that found me.
I am one to believe there are angels all around us. Those angels might be loved ones that have passed before us or simply unknown angels that were sent to watch and protect over us. After reading about the angel and the little scroll, this angel reminded me of a teacher. At first, I thought of this angel as a teacher in a classroom. This was probably my first instinct because I am a teacher myself of young children. However, the more times I read the passage this week, I began to think of this angel as anyone in my life that I have learned from. My grandparents were influential people in helping me become the person that I am today. So, maybe this angel could be my MeMe and Pa. In the first verse, the angel is descending “wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head; his face was like the sun”. All those are signs of peace and bring a smile to my face. So, this angel was a sign of peace and comfort. When I think of a scroll it brings to mind great teachings. The angel told of this scroll as being “bitter to your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth”. Was the angel saying it is best to keep unkind words hidden down below and only let sweet words leave the mouth? Or was the angel saying if you swallow the scroll the teachings will be bitter in the stomach because they are kept hidden? If you read back over “the mystery of God will be fulfilled, as he announced to his servants” this is telling us to share the good teachings. We need to share the good news, the kind words, and the important teachings of God. This can be done by sharing the lessons that we have learned through the years.
As the children leave my classroom, I tell them to “be sweet. Remember who you are and where you came from” just as was told to me each time I left my grandparents house for college. This was always my last stop out of town. MeMe would say, “be sweet. Remember who you are” and Pa would chime in with “and where you came from. We love you.” So, even those children I know are going home to troubling situations, they at least know they left a classroom where they were loved and cared for. Isn’t it better to share the good in life and let kind words leave our mouths tasting like sweet honey?

Miles visits Kindergarten

Two weeks ago I was planning my dinosaur unit. We haven't done this unit in a few years but we had an extra week the way the calendar fell so we put it back in. Most of our boys love learning about dinosaurs. We make dinosaurs out of pasta, "excavate" chips out of chocolate chip cookies, measure the real length, see how many of our feet fit into one large dino foot, etc. Well, my friends Maggie and Justin have one smart boy who LOVES dinosaurs! So, as I was planning I had this brilliant idea to invite him to the classroom! Miles will be going to Kindergarten in the Fall so this was helpful to me since I have a hard time pronouncing the names and helpful for him to see what Kindergarten might be about. He arrived around 9 and left before our lunch at 11. He helped read us two books, "wrote" a story about taking a dinosaur to school, made a pasta dinosaur, played in the blocks with the dinos, and made a dinosaur in the Art center. Here are a few pictures from his trip and a video if it will upload. He reads an entire A-Z dino book so it is kind of long.

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Spring Day

It was beautiful at the beginning of this week with the start of Spring. After a trying day at work, I came home and relaxed outside with Pattie. I decided to see what pictures I could take from sitting in the chair. Here is what I discovered:

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Max Patch and Hot Springs

Last Saturday I went with some friends up to Max Patch. I searched on the internet before going and thought we were going on a 9 mile hike for the day. Turns out it was more of a stroll, but I was certainly prepared in case we got stranded for a few days! One of the girls had a dear friend who was hit by a car earlier in the week. He was a fellow camper so once we settled at the top she lit a candle in his memory. The candle holder she made at camp with him.
After leaving the beautiful views, we headed over to Hot Springs. I have wanted to go since college and last week was the day! After a delicious mexican dinner on the way home we all crashed. I haven't seen views like that in awhile and they were long overdue.

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In Bloom

While at home this past weekend, I was in my old room and happend to peer out the window to see my camellia bush blooming. As my memory serves me, which might be different from the true story, I chose this bush to plant under my bedroom window in middle school. It could have been late elementary school. Nevertheless, I remember making the choice. (So, mom and dad if that's not true just let me go on believing it to be.) Here are a few shots from the ever growing, ever blooming memory.

Rah, Rah Car'lina-'lina!

Pattie helped cheer on the Tarheels with us Saturday. She must have been worn out Sunday to help pull them through. That's okay, she has until Friday to rest up!
(this was from the ACC tournament...I am having trouble getting the video uploaded....)
Continuing on with the cheering: I have stayed busying cheering on the Tarheels. These pictures are dark because they were taken with my cell phone. I just couldn't pass up taking a capturing a night of fried pickles, beer, friends, and Carolina making it to the Elite 8!

Wellingtons

I went to church last weekend in the pouring rain wearing leggings, a skirt, and my rain boots. Looking like a five year old I might add, but hey, it was pouring rain and at least I made the effort to attend church. Anyways, I sit down next to some friends I have made. The wife is also a Kindergarten teacher in the county so we are always swapping stories. Well, she is also from England. As the service is beginning she looks at me and says, "I love your Wellingtons". Well, I'd love to thank her but I'm not sure what she is talking about. So, of course I asked. This is probably a term I should know, but well I didn't. So, I went to church and learned a new word all in the same day!
(I did not make Pattie put her paws near my wellingtons for the picture. I was just snapping pictures and she wanted to be close.)

Has Spring Sprung?!

Saturday night

My friend Hollie came into town for work again, so a few of us met up for dinner. It was a great way to end another Saturday night!