Fair Week

Our county fair is this week. We will be taking Thursday and Friday off school so that students who are showing animals or entering items will have the time to take care of their responsibilities without having to be concerned about school work. My hat is off to those students. They work hard, often before and after school, to prepare for the fair.

First grade made a Cowboy today as an art project. Enjoy the photos of the students at work as well as the finished product.

Field Trip

Twas a warm and muggy day in the pine forest of east Texas but our junior high students, two teachers, and three parents had a wonderful time visiting Caddo Mounds near Alto and Mission Tejas near Weches. Thanks to Mrs. Perry for driving and to the moms who went along. Our students were awesome!!

First Grade Field Trip

First Grade went on the first field trip of the school year on Wednesday, September 19. We had a kitchen tour of Blue Baker in College Station. The students got to make their own loaf of bread and had a yummy lunch in the restaurant. From there, we went to Bee Creek Park for some play time. The weather was picture perfect and a good time was had by all. Our last stop was the Brazos Valley Museum and a program by Ms. Maria in the Discovery Room. She showed the students several animals and also allowed them some time to look at the various exhibits on their own. It was a VERY good day!

I appreciate Mrs. Pipes for being our bus driver and I thank the moms and grandmothers who took time from their day to accompany us.

The Sound of Silence

I walked out to my front yard in the wee hours of this morning with a dog that needed out. I was greeted by a beautiful starry sky, pleasant temperature, and the sound of a train passing through. Not one of those is anything I consider out of the ordinary.

I've lived in this town for over 30 years and trains have always been a part of the fabric of life around here. Two major railroad companies maintain lines and there is not one place in this town where a train cannot be heard, or in some cases felt. I find that I give the trains little mind. My house is a mere two blocks from the tracks but unless the train is very heavy or has an unusual sounding whistle its passage is largely unnoticed. I just don't give the trains much thought! Nor do I give much thought to the occasional sound of a truck from the highway or the small planes that fly overhead as they approach our  airport.

September 11, 2001, another of those 'dates that shall live in infamy', changed the sounds of our town, of our state, of our country. For on that date, all rail and air transportation was halted for a few days as our nation tried to cope with the senseless acts that took so many lives and shattered our sense of safety and well being.

The sound of silence was deafening.

Spelling

If you read my previous post and paid careful attention you should have noticed that I misspelled friendship. Honest--I know how to spell the word. It's just that I type very, very fast and sometimes my fingers get ahead of my brain--or something like that!

I find that I often make mistakes in spelling or syntax because I am going too fast. I need to slow down. I need to slow down in other areas, too or at least I think I do. It seems that I sometimes miss important things because I am in a hurry.

I'm going to slow down and spell check from now on--or at least that is the plan for now. I'm glad that God forgives us when we go too fast to appreciate His world and the messages He has for us.

Have a wonderful week!

Rearranging

I rearranged my classroom desks yesterday. I usually do this after a few days of school when I figure out who needs to sit where and why! Sometimes it works and sometimes it requires tweaking at a later time. Some children find friends no matter where they sit!!

I gave the idea of 'rearranging' some thought and realized that we are constantly rearranging something. It might be in our personal life or in our job or in our Christian walk but unless we are willing to change every now and then we are going to hit some hard bumps in the road.

I've been a part of FBS since 1981 and until we moved into our new building we rearranged on a weekly basis. We shared our space with Sunday School and there was always someone who was moving desks on Friday and then again on Monday. And it worked! I think it helped us understand the concept of shared ministry.

We still share some of our space but we aren't doing the constant shuffling that characterized all those years of being in the church building itself. I'm glad for that but then again a part of me misses seeing the Sunday School materials sharing space with my teaching materials on the shelves and I miss the satisfaction of having room decorations and wall decor that I knew would please the Sunday School crowd. I sometimes miss being in the church building. It was a great place to be.

I've had to rearrange my thinking with regard to working with Mrs. Pipes. Don't get me wrong---I enjoy working with Mrs. Pipes. She is doing a FINE job of leading FBS. She's got energy and enthusiasm and she is all for her staff and her students. I  really appreciate her. But----I worked with Mrs. Hadley for many years. Not only did we have a work relationship, we had a frienship. And I used to tell her that the day she decided to leave FBS was the day before I would decide to leave FBS. Little did I know that when she made the decision, the 'Message' I received was loud and clear--I was not to leave. I'm SO glad I didn't. I've had to rearrange some things but I can tell you that I enjoy working with my administrator.

I'm so glad that God occasionally rearranges my thinking so that I see things from His perspective instead of mine.

May He bless you and keep you. Be open to rearranging.