Annual Spring Symposium

Ronna, Alina, Stacey, Crystal, and Krista
I could not believe there was still snow on the mountain..beautiful, but 70 degrees

Katy, Krista, Crystal, Ronna, and me

Alina and Ronna at Bubba Gumps

Crystal, me, and Krista

Some of the girls and I who are aspiring to teach went to the annual Spring Symposium in Gatlinburg for the Tennessee Education Association. I got a glimpse of what it will be like to be a teacher...amazing. I had no idea how much influence I can have on children..good or bad. I pray that God will instill something deep inside of me that will show each and every child that I come in contact with just how special they are and what they can become (even the rotten ones :) I had such a good time and learned soo much in just a day and a half. I had fun with my friends and made some new ones. Until next year....

What a Difference A Year Makes....

Wow..I can't believe it has been one year since tragedy struck our lives. One year ago this week my mom found out that she had stage three breast cancer and George's brother Tommy died ...all in the same week. My mom was very lucky and blessed by God's grace and is considered cancer free right now. All of our lives are in the hands of God and through all of the trials of last year we learned that all too well. It is so hard to hand everything over to God, but when he places you in the palm of his hand you have no other choice. Through all of the trials we have become stronger with each other. George's sister Kelly accepted God's Grace and now she knows where she will spend eternity. We are still praying for other family members but is so awesome to see the power of God work in Kelly's life. She has made dramatic changes in her life. I am so happy for her and her family. We are actually going on vacation together this summer...can't wait!
Tommy was George's one and only little brother and the past year has been very difficult for George. I can't even imagine living life without my sister. His death has brought back many memories..good and bad. All of the things they used to do growing up and how they now are married with children. When George and I first got married, Tommy used to come over to the house and we would all play football in the yard. I still remember the first time that George took me to his house to meet his family. He went in his room to change clothes and left me in the living room with all of those new people and I was nervous. Tommy said "so do you love my brother?" in front of everyone....:) Everytime we had a new baby he was always wanting to hold the little bundle of joy, but boy did he make me nervous. Tommy had so much potential, he was so tall and great at sports, he could have played for a college team if he had wanted, he had a really good heart...he just made some bad choices.
It is amazing to me how much Tommy's death has affected me. I loved him, he was George's brother...but it is so much more, hard to explain actually. I guess it was seeing my mom so close to death and seeing so many other friends and family pass away last year too. It made me really see how quickly life ends. I stood back in the ICU with my hand on his leg as life slipped right out of his body....I saw his heart stop beating. I watched his mom as she saw her baby slip away and it made me think of how precious my own children are...and how quickly they could be gone...or how that could have been George....they don't belong to me but to God and again I know it is all in his hands. I know that he has a reason for everything that he does and I don't question it, it is not my place to, I just have to trust him.
In 2000 I lost a set of twins, for some odd reason, although I was devastated, I felt peace through their death. I prayed that God would take them on home if something were wrong with them, intuition I guess, and he did. After they were gone, I wondered why??? Why did he place life inside of me and then take it right back out? One night while I was laying bed, not long after their death, I thought about heaven and what they were doing there. Those thoughts opened my eyes and I thought then about how wonderful heaven would be when I get there to see them. In that moment I had my answer from God...Heaven is full of wonderful, glorious things...streets lined in gold, mansions on the hill...but when he put my babies up there it all changed...they mean so much more than gold and I can't even imagine when I finally will get to see them!! Since their death God has placed many more treasures up there for me to look forward to....Oh how beautiful heaven must be!!!! Today I thank God for all that he has done for me and all that he will do for me...without him I am nothing.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death: I will fear no evil for thou art with me;thy rod and thy staff they comfort me

Upward Award Ceremony

Anna with her coach Kelly.

All of the kiddos..Luke is having the best time!!

Anna was on the "Pink Poodles" team

Ashley cheering for the crowd..she is in the middle with pigtails.

Ashley was on the "Ponytails" squad

Anna cheering for the crowd

Ashley with her coaches..Kristen and Jamie

Anna with her other coach Margarita

Well I am a little late on this post...but Ashley and Anna celebrated the end of their Upward Cheerleading season. They had such a great time and can't wait to do it again next year. Red Bank Baptist does such an awesome job, they have such fun activities for the kids to do. Their VBS is at the end of June and we can't wait!!

Awana Grand Prix

Last Saturday was the annual Awana Grand Prix. This is one of my favorite things we do in Awana. It does take a lot of time and hard work, but it is lots of fun for the kiddos. You purchase a kit that has a square block of wood and 4 wheels and 4 axles, then you cut it the shape you want and glue your wheels and axles on. We missed the work day at church when they bring all of the tools so Steve Baggett cut our cars out for us. I then laid out newspaper and let the kids painted their own cars. They had so much fun!! Sadly we only started the cars the Friday night before the race so not much time was put into the cars. We did not win for design, which is usually where we win at least one "family" trophy, but we brought home third place in speed for Luke's car. Any time anyone of us win a trophy we call it the "family" trophy because they are so hard to win. I fully did not expect to win any trophies this year..we were only doing it for the fun of it, so it was nice to win a speed trohpy..the first one I have ever won (George won second place the first year we raced). Thanks LDBC for all of the hard work that was put into the race..it is so much fun!!

Anna's hospital visit

Well my little Anna was very sick last week. She had a high temperature (104) that would not break Saturday night so I took her in to the hospital Sunday morning. Her oxygen level was low so they decided to keep her. She spent the night and got some fluids and antibiotics in her iv and felt much better by the next afternoon. She actually enjoyed her stay and all of the attention. St Jude school sent gift bags from the kindergaten class, it was such a nice treat. She also received a certificate and hat from some veterans. She really enjoyed her journey in the wheelchair, that was her favorite part. I am so thankful that she feels better now and that everyone in the house is well. Thanks so much God!!!

Super good day for the Culver's

I am happy to announce that I passed the reading and math parts of the Praxis I exam. This is a test that has to be passed in order to enter the teaching program at Tennessee Tech. I will now wait to hear about the writing portion...it takes longer to grade because it is an essay that has to be read by two teachers. It is so nice to see everything starting to fall into place.



Ashley also had a good day...she received the Kids for Character award for the month: Self Discipline She also received this award in Kindergarten...I think they see another side of my little Ashley(: I am super happy for her, she is such a precious, caring little girl and I am honored to be her mom.



On a funny note....this is what happened to Luke last week at church (written by Beth Eddy)

Our Awana Puggle Luke....Fell in the toilet last week and got stuck...I ran in there and saw only two cowboy boots and little voice saying "save my hat" The rest had sunk into the potty.

Luke is a handful, but boy he can put a smile on your face :)

Please continue to pray for my grandmother...the mass that showed up on her tummy last week is not showing up now ( I think it may be on her pancreas and they are having trouble finding it) She needs the right care so this can get fixed and she can get to feeling better.

Also please pray for Ashley's teacher Mrs. Justus...her brother passed away yesterday.

Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me...thank you God for your loving hand!!

Loving the Snow!

Today we enjoyed snow that was supposed to be rain..we like the snow much better. George got all ready and tried to go to work but had trouble getting down our hill so he called his work and let them know he couldn't make it. I am so glad that he did not chance it, our neighbors got stuck so their daughter went to get them and then she got stuck and they all had to walk up our hill. It got slick fast out there.

We really enjoyed the snow and playing in it. We threw snow balls and ran and chased each other, they made snow angels. We really wished we had a sled though. I think we will try using a box tomorrow if the rain has not washed it all away.

So much fun to see all of God's marvelous handiwork.