Scene 2 - Take 26

Finally, I can post this!!!! I came home from the field trip yesterday, and was all excited to post pictures and videos on my blog. Why is it that things never go according to plan???!! It took me all afternoon to finally post the thing, and the videos were just NOT cooperating. Finally, my short video clip decided to work, but my longer clip just refused to upload. I was pretty annoyed because I am not a very patient person at times. :) I get an idea in my head about how things are supposed to work, and when they don't, I have a hard time dealing with it! (Especially when it comes to dealing with technology which is SUPPOSED to work and work FAST! :P) However, I know things are going to happen in life that don't go according to my "schedule" so I guess I will just have to learn to deal with it! Finally, tonight my brilliant brother "converted it to a different format which compacted it to 1/7 of its original size." And, yes, those were my brother's words, not mine! Well, I guess the "compacting" worked because it finally uploaded! Yay! Thanks, Andy!!!!!

This is always my favorite part of Roadside America. I love the night scene when you just see the lamp lights flickering on the various buildings. Also, I love when they play the song "God Bless America." As you watch this video, you will definitely notice that my kiddos really enjoyed this part as well!

And if I don't get at least 20 comments on how people enjoyed watching this video after it caused me so much grief to upload, I will be very disappointed! Oh well, such is life...and, noooo...I am not really expecting 20 comments! ;-)

Also, if you want to check out some more pictures of our field trip, you can go here.

Roadside America

Today I took my kiddos to Roadside America for a field trip. It is a really neat indoor miniature village about 45 minutes away from our school. The place didn't open till 10:00 so we couldn't leave right away. Of course, I had 3 very excited, very hyper children enter the classroom this morning! We had our normal morning routine - pledges, calendar, Bible verses, and Bible story - and then they worked on a handwriting paper. (yes, Miss Mean Teacher made them do some work today ;-)) After they finished their handwriting, we played this game called Rivers, Roads & Rails. I thought it was a good game to play before this field trip because we were going to be seeing lots of rivers, roads, and rails there!

Having fun connecting their rivers, roads and rails together. :-)

You could just feel the excitement escalate throughout the van when I pulled into Roadside America's parking lot. I was soooo thankful that Mrs. A and her daughter, Brittany, came along with us. Their help and support was definitely appreciated! :D

I wish I could have captured the look of awe on all their faces when they entered the room. Their eyes just got wider and wider! When they discovered that they could press a button and make something move, they were thrilled! They especially enjoyed making the trolleys and the trains move. :)

3 happy students and their teacher posing in front of the miniature village.

Before we left, we had to get a picture in front of the "farmer statues." :)

I think the field trip was a success if the smiles on their faces mean anything!

Veteran's Day

Today we had a special flag-raising ceremony to honor our veterans on Veteran's Day.

Gathering in front of the flag poles

We had a Marine come to be our special guest today. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of him saluting the flag as we said the Pledge of Allegiance. Every time I see a soldier salute our flag, it just gives me goose bumps!

Praying for our veterans, our soldiers still in combat, and our country.

I love the sight of our flags blowing in the breeze and sunshine!

After our flag-raising ceremony, our special guest talked to the students about his life as a Marine. The students were able to ask him a lot of questions.

Although this doesn't really have anything to do with Veteran's Day, I was admiring these trees while out at recess, and decided to take a picture. :) The autumn beauty is quickly passing away, (*sniff*) so I wanted to capture one last picture before all these leaves fall to the ground.

A Sisters' Day Out

Today we had a half day of school because of parent-teacher conferences. Alayna and I decided to go shopping after school was over and take advantage of a free afternoon. Our first stop was the library where we dropped off 2 movies, and got a movie called North & South. My Mom and I have been into those types of movies recently, especially the Jane Austen ones like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Anywhooo....after that, we headed off to good ole' Walmart. There is a Subway inside the Walmart, and by this time we were both starving, so we stopped there first. I had a chicken bacon ranch sub (mmmm!!) I forgot to take my camera inside so I didn't get a picture of the actual thing, but here is a "fake" picture of what its supposed to look like :-) You know that the pictures never look like the real thing!! Just try to imagine this cut in half, without olives, and a little flatter and you got the general idea of what I had!

After we were done shopping at Walmart, we went to the Goodwill nearby. I know not every one likes to shop at thrift stores, but Goodwill is a close friend to my sister and me. We find a lot of shirts and skirts there. :) After Alayna was able to make some thrifty purchases, we headed off for a NEW adventure. I had a gift certificate from last Christmas to get my nails done, and just never had gotten around to it. However, the year expiration was almost up so I knew I had to do something about it soon. I hate doing new things alone, so I dragged my sister along. :-) Once we were situated and the lady started working on my nails, the one guy who works there came over and just started staring at me. He then was like, "I know you from somewhere. You look familiar." At first I was like, Ummmm...go away, I don't know you and you are REALLY making me uncomfortable. He then said, "I am sure I have seen you somewhere in Emmaus. Do you work at the coffee shop there?" Of course, that was a laugh...I was like...nooooooooooooooo. Then it hit me who this guy was. He was the guy who caused my car accident last July! I was like...oh dear...this is awkward. I really didn't want to tell this guy where he knew me from. So I was like....hmmmm....I don't...ummm....know. Well, he walked away, assuring me that he knew for a fact that he knew me from somewhere. How reassuring! So yeah, that was a "flash from the past". If you want to read the story of that wonderful experience, you can read about it here and here. What a small world it really is! Now that I am thinking about it, maybe I should have told him who I was. Maybe he would have given us free service! :) So that made our first "manicure experience" a little unnerving because Alayna had been with me in the car when he hit us. But despite all that, we are still enjoying the results of our first professional French manicures!! We have tried giving ourselves French manicures in the past, but there is nothing like getting it professionally done ;-).

After we got our nails done, we went to another Goodwill before we headed home. We definitely had a fun "sister bonding" time this afternoon! There is nothing like shopping with your lil' sis ;-)

The Lord is my Shepherd

The following excerpt is from a devotional book that I read every morning entitled "God is Enough." The devotionals in this book are excerpts from some of Hannah Whitehall Smith's books and journals. This particular excerpt is from her book, The God of All Comfort. When I read these words for the first time about a year ago, I was going through a really rough time. These words were indeed a comfort and reassured me of God's love and care for me! It just happened to be yesterday's and today's devotionals so I just had to share them. Hope they are a blessing to you!

Hundreds of times you have said, "The LORD is my shepherd" (Ps. 23:1), but have you ever really believed it to be an actual fact? Have you felt safe and happy and free from care, as a sheep must feel when under the care of a good shepherd? Or have you felt like a forlorn sheep without a shepherd or with an unfaithful, inefficient shepherd, who does not supply your needs and leaves you in times of danger and darkness?

Answer these questions honestly in your own soul. Have you had a comfortable religious life or an uncomfortable one? If the latter has been your condition, how can you reconcile it with the statement that the Lord is your Shepherd and therefore you shall not want? You say that He is your Shepherd, yet you complain that you do want. Who has made the mistake - you or the Lord?

But here, perhaps, you will meet me with the words, "Oh, no, I do not blame the Lord, but I am so weak and foolish and ignorant that I am not worthy of His care." Don't you know that sheep are always weak, helpless, and silly, and that the very reason they must have a shepherd is because they are so unable to take care of themselves? Their welfare and their safety do not in the least depend on their own strength or wisdom but wholly and entirely on the care of their shepherd. If you are a sheep, your welfare also must depend altogether on your Shepherd and not at all on yourself.

Let us imagine two flocks of sheep meeting at the end of the winter and comparing their experiences. One flock is fat and strong and in good condition, and the other flock is poor and lean and diseased. Will the healthy flock boast of themselves, saying, "See what splendid care we have taken of ourselves, what good, strong, wise sheep we must be"? Surely not. Their boasting would all be about their shepherd. "See what a good shepherd we have had, " they would say, "and see how he has cared for us. Through all the storms of the winter he has protected us. He has defended us from every wild beast and has always provided us with the best of food."

On the other hand, would the poor, wretched, diseased sheep blame themselves and say, "Alas! what wicked sheep we must be , to be in such a poor condition"? No they too would speak only of their shepherd. "Our shepherd was very different from yours. He fed himself, but he did not feed us. He did not strengthen us when we were weak, heal us when we were sick, bind us up when we were broken, or look for us when we were lost. In times of danger or of storm, he forsook us and fled."

We all understand the responsibility of a shepherd toward his sheep, but the moment we transfer the figure to our religion, we shift all the responsibility from the Shepherd and lay it on the sheep. We demand of the poor human sheep the care and power to provide what can only be provided by the divine Shepherd. Of course, the poor sheep fail, and their religious lives become miserable.