Did you Vote?

Did you vote today?

I had my patience tested, and I truly debated in my head whither it was worth it or not, but I DID vote! I happen to live in a state that had primary elections today. While I am not always pleased with the choices, I realize that as a citizen of this great country, it is my responsibility to vote.

The weather here was so beautiful that I enjoyed being out and about. I had a few appointments I had to meet and then I took the opportunity to stop at a few of my favorite stores. I was very careful in my selection of merchandise, which should thrill my checkbook. I picked up construction paper and stencils for school. I'm always running out of school supplies.

The above bear is what I had planned on doing today, but... I think I will do that another day. That adorable clip art is found here.

She has the most precious free clip art. You should drop over and see her selection. I envy her skills.

It was Beautiful!

Students designed this board as a welcome to the guests that had been invited.
Dessert. YUM! It was a chocolate gooey cake with peanut butter. They swirled caramel for the garnish. It was perfect!
The main course, well part of it. Guests had a choice of Taco Soup, or Loaded Potato Soup or a sampler plate. This is a picture of the LPS. They also had a choice of grilled cheese, chicken salad croissant, or egg salad croissant sandwiches.
This was taken as you enter the door into my new room. There are almost 20 students working down this line as a perfect team. The front group is making the croissant sandwiches. Can you see the slice of tomato for a garnish?
The appetizer salad. I'm afraid you can't see the beautiful garnish, but they made lemon curls, jello salad on lettuce. The salad was sitting on the table waiting for the guests as they arrived. I have more pictures, but the site won't allow me to upload more than this at a time. I will show you more tomorrow. I really wish you could have been there! We evaluated the event today, the students and I, they want uniforms (or t-shirts) and want to give our team a name. I can't wait to see what they come up with. The newsman told the students that they planned on running the article in Sunday's paper. This has been a hectic but rewarding week for me. Thank you for your prayers. I felt them!

XOXO Theresa

WISH YOU WERE HERE

The pictures really don't do this table display justice! Tomorrow the Maintenance Crew from our school system, the manager from Lowe's, the custodial staff from our school, the local newspaper and all administration have been invited to my classroom for lunch to say "Thank You" for a job well done! These sweet people transformed my classroom environment. My CTE director took on the task of working with all of these groups and the budget. Her dedication to our CTE program is evident in her continued support and program improvement. She is a miracle worker!

The kitchen designer from Lowe's was absolutely the best! She came out to the school and drew the plan up. She listened carefully to the functions that happen in that room and designed work areas to meet those needs. I am amazed!

She was instrumental in working with cabinet companies to get the best price for all new materials. Consequently, my classroom has new cabinetry, new flooring, a wonderful floor plan, beautiful counter top and amazing storage space. I am blessed.
As a way to say "Thank You" the students in my classes have worked diligently all week to prepare a special meal for the above mentioned groups. I have creative students and put them to the task of working on "atmosphere" for the dining area. They chose a "tool" theme. These pictures do not begin to express all of the creativity that has happened in that room. The tables are covered with denim fabric that was left in the classroom by the former teacher. Duct tape was used to outline each place setting, the napkins rings are nuts(nuts & bolts) strung on plastic ties, napkins are handi' wipes, the center pieces are electrical "stuff" I found at Lowe's. The "Thanks" cards are on sand paper. I provided the materials and they went to work.
I wish you could really see these "flowers". They used wire cutters and pliers to twist and turn that wire into flowers. We have table settings for 30 guests. I cannot wait for tomorrow and our guests to see what wonderful young people I have the priviledge of working with each day.

I have not forgotten all of the food that has been prepared. I will take photos of that tomorrow and share with you then. The food is as pretty as the tables. I LOVE MY JOB! Thank you, Jesus for allowing me the opportunity to earn a paycheck for doing what I love. AMEN

XOXO Theresa

Brrrrrr

The cold wind doth blow! It blows so hard they canceled school. Unfortunately, it never dawned on me they would do that and I was already up and getting ready when I heard on the radio my school was closed. UGH! It took effort but I was able to snooze on the couch for a while. I love unexpected snow days.

I have spent some of my day learning computer "stuff". I have worked on the design of this blog spot. I'm sure there are easier ways and better ways, but for what I did I am pleased with the looks. I would love to take a computer graphics class for fun. Maybe another day.
Enjoy your weekend. XOXO Theresa

Time Flies

January is over 1/2 gone! Can you believe it? I can remember when I was a little girl I would think I would never grow up. Now, I'm praying, I never grow up. LOL

I have had a couple of creative moments since my last blog.

These small bags went together fairly quickly once I had all the correct supplies. I can't tell you the last time I needed a zipper. I have helped students put them into projects, but I personally haven't used a zipper in a project in forever. I found this fabric in my "stash" and thought it would make cute bags. Everyone can use a small bag. This is the inside of the bags. I love the red, black and white. The dressed up dolls on the fabric remind me of playing "Barbie" when I was a little girl with my sister. That's another story.
I admit, I'm having feelings of nostalgia this week. My grandmother was a "crafty" lady. She had the patience to work with me and encouraged me to learn what I considered at the time, really cool things! As I became a young wife and then mother, I didn't have the time to continue the crafts she had taught me. This brings me to the above flowers. I have several beautiful pieces of crochet work that my grandmother did for me. I decided that I needed to "relearn" those skills. This is easier said than done. I remember grandma showing me step by step how to make each of those stitches. What I don't remember is learning how to read the instructions. It has taken me a few hours, but I was determined to make a crochet flower. The above flowers are the product of my labor. I think grandma would be proud. I'm not sure yet what I will do with those flowers, they are larger than I thought they would be. I'm not sure you can tell what this is, but it is going to be a valentine quilt. Last Thursday when we were out for snow, I began this little project. I thought I would have it finished, but as you can tell, it's still a work in progress. My mother was the queen of 9 patch quilts. She painstakingly cut each square, with scissors, mind you, and then would sew those squares into perfect blocks. Her seams matched, or out the seam ripper would come. I have a few pieces of her work still. I used a rotary cutter and sewed into strips, re-cut then made them into blocks. Pretty easy. I wish it were done, but I got tired of sitting at the sewing machine.

A stomach virus has hit our house. I'm hoping it stays with the person that has it and the rest of us NEVER get it! My washing machine has gone non-stop today, trying to wash those germs down the drain. I hope they stay there!

I haven't checked the forecast to see if there is a possibility of snow. We had one snow day last week. With today being a holiday this should be a quick week. I hope you are having a wonderful week. xoxo Theresa

Good Night!

Girls night. These girls are spending the night together before they head back to their respective college campuses. Fun!

Homemade chicken pot pie. I was craving a comfort food and decided this would fit the bill. It was perfect. I hate that you can't have a bite. YUM! I made the white sauce from scratch with real cream and it was incredible.
The applique blankets were a joint effort. Ashley did the design work and I did the sewing. To be fair, she WAS going to do the sewing, but ran out of time. LOL

I have to finish up grades for report cards. Enjoy your week.

XOXO Theresa

BACK TO SCHOOL

No photos tonight. I am trying to prepare myself mentally for a new semester. It was suppose to begin last Thursday but... due to snow in the mountains, we haven't returned to school from the Christmas break. I love my job, I LOVE teaching, but there is just something wonderful about hearing those words on the radio, "no school for.." and knowing you can sleep in. What makes this beginning so difficult is my honey is on vacation and my two yac(young adult children) have not returned to college dorm life. We have had a glorious time staying up late and sleeping without concern of an alarm clock going off. They will all be staying up late tonight without me and then sound asleep when I leave in the morning. Such is life.

On a positive note, our church focus for the year of 2008 is reading the Bible through. Due to cranky eyes, I have difficulty with reading texts these days, so I am going to be listening to it on CD. I have discovered the joy of listening to books being read aloud to me. It makes my 40 minute journey to and from school pass quickly and enjoyable. If you haven't listened to a good book lately, other than the Bible, I can suggest you pick up "The Christmas Promise" by Donna VanLiere. She not only wrote the book but reads it. She reads beautifully, and my brain allows me to see her spoken word as if it were a movie. If you aren't familiar with her work, she is also the author of The Christmas Shoes and The Christmas Blessing. Both of those books have been made into movies. Another enjoyable activity, watching good movies.

Well, as the saying goes, I'd better get to bed. Morning comes quickly! XOXO Theresa

ORGANIZATION

A dear friend of my m'n'l passed away this past summer

and she left a tremendous amount of sewing notions. Because of my love of sewing and creating my m'n'l passed the sewing beauties on to me. I was determined to organize before adding them to my sewing room. I always have good intentions to organize but never seem to find the time. LOL

For the first time in my adult life I finally have a room to call my own! I did let my oldest son sleep in there when he was home for Christmas but otherwise it is all MINE! I have been inspired by the beautiful studio rooms I have seen on the web. Anna Maria Horner, Heather Bailey and Portabellapixie are three of my favorites. I have listed their blogs on the side. If you haven't been to these sites yet, you should go! They are creative and inspiring young women.

Ribbon is always a dilemma for me. I want to see it but have yet to find a creative way to organize those beautiful spools. Upon observing the above mentioned studio rooms I thought I had found the perfect wrought iron piece at Hobby Lobby a few hours ago. My hubby was with me and he didn't find the piece nearly as ideal as I. We were looking through a magazine while there and no, the above picture is not what was shown in the magazine, but it did give me the idea of what I could do. This is my solution to organizing ribbon. I purchased enough materials to make two of these, but have discovered I need at least two more. I bought 2, 1/4" dowel rods for .39 each and a pkg. of wooden disks to place on the end. Now if I were really creative I could paint them, but for the time being I think they will stay simple. Those ribbons look gorgeous and ready to become a project.

Isn't life "Grand"

Beautiful "Grand" Nephew Levi
He is so cuddly and has a sweet disposition.
Thanks to my niece and sister for sharing this precious treasure with all of us. He is blessed to have wonderful Christian parents and grandparents. He is loved. Thank you God for this addition to our family. God is Good!

xoxo Theresa

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

January 1, 1979
December 30, 2007

29 Years! Wow! How Quickly time flies! It seems like yesterday when we began this journey. God has blessed us and I wouldn't have missed this trip for anything. Thank you, honey, for a life time of joy! I love you! XOXO Theresa

Productive Day!

I've had a great day! I thought you might enjoy seeing the projects I worked on today. The towels are for grand nephew Levi. There will be tons of pics in a few days of him!
Gift, I appliqued the "P" on a purchased fleece blanket and made the pincushion to match.
These pincushions look like candy! I have made several of these for gifts this season, these are the only ones I've been able to photograph as I'm usually doing this at the last minute.

xoxo Theresa

Merry Christmas!

Grandma & Grandpa Burton

Christmas 2007

Mom(Theresa) & Dad( Greg) Burton

Christmas 2007

Chris & Ashley

Pillsbury Crescent Rolls turned into cinnamon rolls with butter, sugar and cinnamon added. YUM! Breakfast casserole was also a tasty Christmas morning brunch.

Adam, Ashley & Andrew

Santa always leaves one last gift hidden and they each have to follow the clues in order to discover the prize. These Ty Bears represent Scotland and are named William. A Subway gift card was attached. It was fun!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

xoxo Theresa

Next Generation

Ashley's appliqued blanket

Her blanket and a blanket she made for Chris's mom

Upstairs bath. She made the shower curtain! It is beautiful!

The shower curtain fabric is "chocolate lollipop" by Anna Maria Horner. The bow is Amy Butler fabric and Michael Miller.

I have waited 12 years for this moment. Ashley and I spent the day doing exactly what my own mother and I did when I became an adult and we would get together. When my mother would come for a visit she would have sewing projects she would want me to do for her and she would clean my house while I sewed. It was a GOOD THING! Ashley learned to sew today and made several beautiful projects, I cleaned house around her. Merry Christmas! Adam has arrived! All of our company is now here. We are settling in for a beautiful Christmas Celebration.

Pink Nail Polish

Pink nail polish. Beautiful when painted on finger nails, or toes. Especially, when it is a bright eye-catching pink. Unfortunately, it is not beautiful when the bottle falls off a counter top and hits a white tiled floor. Yes, that was one of my many experiences today. Actually, it was at that point that I was in tears and ready to go back to bed!

My husband and I enjoy entertaining, especially during the holidays. With our hectic schedules it is imperative to us that we schedule time to invite friends and co-workers to our home to enjoy food and fellowship. Tonight was one of those scheduled events. The office and ministerial staff from our church were all invited to our home. Their anticipated arrival time was 5:00 p.m. The nail polish incident happened at 3:30.

Naturally, all of the "helpers" had other appointments during the day which left the burden of last minute cleaning and cooking to yours truly. I had mapped out my day in such a way that even "Martha" would have been proud! Swiffer those dust bunnies, set the tables, prepare a yummy cake, make two crock-pots of soup, take a shower, have quiet music playing, and a smile on my face to greet my guests. Oh, don't forget to straighten the cookbook shelf which is above the desk area in the kitchen and find a hiding place for the piles of junk that have accumulated. Yes, including the famous bottle of nail polish.

CRASH! I thought I was seeing things. How could such a small bottle of nail polish break and leave gallons of bright pink enamel on white tile? It was at this point that I lost it. I was so mad at myself for waiting til the last minute to clean house. I know better! I really do! I have had years of experience doing exactly what I did today, why I was in a tither makes no sense. But, lost it I did. I cried and then called my hubby and mentioned he might want to pick up a large bottle of nail polish remover on the way home. He was my hero! He arrived just before 4 with a huge bottle of remover and went straight to work with cotton balls. Happily, other than a very close look at the grout the pink nail polish is now only a memory or chapter in my book. LOL


I think our guests had a good time. We had supper and then all went to the movies to see "National Treasure". A very good movie. The first I've seen since school has started.
Company is coming tomorrow. I have to "work" on the upstairs. Sigh! The work is never done. Good night!

2 hour delay

Applique Blanket


dance shoe bag



Christmas Stocking



This has been a great week! Snow day yesterday and a 2 hour delay this morning. Thank you for snow. I had computer headaches last night and didn't post those pictures that I had mentioned. I'll try again.

xoxo Theresa

Snow Day!

It snowed in the mountains! I knew when I went to bed last night that I wouldn't have to get up for school this morning. Wouldn't you know it, I woke up wide awake at 5:30. I tried staying in bed, then finally got up and came to the couch. I fell back asleep and enjoyed the rest!



I fixed a crock-pot of chili this morning. It was so nice to have a hot dinner tonight. Ashley and I had a very nice day Christmas shopping. The stores were not too crowded and we were able to find most of the things on our list.



I sat down at the sewing machine when we got home and finished a few projects. I thought you might enjoy seeing them.

Snow flakes

The possibility of a snow day for tomorrow is high on my list of wishes. Here in Kingsport the snow is lightly falling, but not yet sticking. My prayer is that the snow is mounting in the mountains and I will have a break from school tomorrow.



I finished my "great" nephew's Christmas stocking on Friday. I'm trying to complete his mommas so I can get them in the mail tomorrow. I love sewing gifts for Christmas and always have a ton of ideas floating around in my head. The dilemma comes when I run out of hours and the gifts are not finished. That's why a "snow day" tomorrow and Tuesday would be really nice.

Tonight is the night for the Choir Christmas program. I hope you are enjoying the church activities of the season. God Bless!

Field Trip

Today FCCLA and FBLA members went on a field trip to the National Guard Armory. 38 students worked diligently to prepare 650 small food boxes and 100 large food boxes for needy families in their community. They had the opportunity to deliver the boxes to 50 residents in an assisted living apartment complex. Students shared with me stories of how the residents invited them to come back for cookies and visit. As the bus pulled away from the apartment complex the residents were standing in their windows waving good-bye. I observed students waving back and thought to myself, "this generation of young people have a heart of service." That's a GOOD THING!

I have a couple of sewing projects to be working on. I'd better get busy.

Prayer

The last week of school before the Christmas break is usually filled with exhaustion and craziness. Today seems to be a perfect example of that. Several students are out of school due to illness. I had one report of a student that is in the hospital with kidney stones. While I have never had the displeasure of such discomfort, my hubby has and I understand it is horrible. I wish her well and a quick recovery.

A friend of mine, received a phone call from her sister this morning. The sister was at the hospital and had just been told she has breast cancer. Please pray for this family. Pray for wisdom and strength as they face this new challenge.

It is finals week for my two youngest children. They both assure me that all is well. I remember finals week and I'm happy I am past that. For those of you taking final exams, remember to study and rest. Your brain needs sleep in order to function well. Speaking of sleep, I think my pillow is calling my name.

Yes!

I am sitting in the living room and looking at our decorated Christmas tree! I am so happy to have it decorated. We had the living room painted last week, which has caused us to play catch up for decorating the house. Hubby and I put the lights on the tree before we left for the dinner theater at church. Ashley and Chris placed the ornaments on it when we returned. It is so nice to have young adults in the house. They did a great job! Thanks.

The dinner theater was wonderful. The youth and children in our church are very talented. We were blessed.

Ashley wanted me to make a Christmas stocking for her roommate. As this is the last weekend before they go home for Christmas break I had to work on it today.

Nothing like last minute gifts. LOL Ashley's friend loves pink and the polka dots were perfect. I did the embroidery work by hand and really enjoyed doing that this morning. It was relaxing.

Tomorrow is Andrew's big Christmas concert. We are so excited to hear him in the college choir. The Christmas season is in full swing.

My bed is calling my name. Good night.

Event Planning

My Family & Consumer Science class and the Spanish class went on a field trip yesterday. What fun. We integrated the lesson plan in order to involve more students in the understanding of different cultures including their own. Both classes created ornaments to place on a tree for the public to view. If you happen to be in Elizabethton you can stop by the Festival of Trees located by the Sycamore Shoals Hospital to see our creation.


When I arrived back at school I went into my classroom to see how the day had gone. The guest teacher was full of praise of my classes. I knew I had the BEST students! What was so amazing to me was how they had continued to work on their project. I had one student to greet me at the door to show me that she had made cloth napkins and denim placemats for the event they are having next Thursday. I was so proud! They are beautiful and I can't wait to show you the photos of this event. I also discovered that another group had taken the time to embroider their monograms onto their cloth napkins. The attention to details amaze me! I am blessed to receive a paycheck for what is so much fun.