Outdoor Wednesday

Thanks to Susan over at www.asoutherndaydreamer for hosting Outdoor Wednesday. Be sure to check out all the posts! This week I want to post pictures of our weekend at Georgia Tech. The college hosted Family Weekend, which was an absolute blast! It was a great time to spend with our son and a wonderful time to get to know the college even better. On Friday there were lectures and presentations that you could attend. We ended up just getting checked in and then spending some fun time as a family. We went bowling on campus, then ate in the student center. Our hotel had an indoor pool, so we ended the night swimming. On Saturday, the tailgating party started at 9:30 with the ballgame beginning at 12:00. The weather was very humid with rain coming in with about 4 minutes left in the ballgame. We got soaked, but it was alot of fun. We ate dinner together, then went to dry out! On Sunday, we went to church together, ate a great lunch, then headed back home. It was such a wonderful time! I appreciate all the planning and hard work that different people put into making it all happen.

On our way to the college on Friday, we stopped at Red Top Mountain State Park for a picnic. As you may know, our area has recently had much flooding. Well, here is where some of the picnic tables still were on Friday! Even though the park still had alot of tables in water, we were able to have our picnic in this beautiful park.

The next few pictures are of game day. I thought this blow up of "Buzz" was interesting!

I just love hearing the band. They did the best formations! This one is of Tech Tower with the bottom part spelling out "Tech". How neat!

This is the Atlanta skyline just as the rain was moving in around us, then eventually soaking us ( even though we had raincoats and rain ponchos!).

I hope you enjoyed seeing our "Family Weekend" pictures. We so much enjoyed the Atlanta area. Have a super Wednesday!

Kim

Week in Review and Upcoming Activities

Last Friday there was a hot air balloon festival held on the field behind our house. There were hot air balloons, bands, crafts, a children's area, and much more. The band stage was set up in the cul-de-sac right at the back of our house. On Friday afternoon the band was practicing and they sounded very good, but it was also very loud. I think the animals that hang out in the brush behind our house made their way to our backyard. This little one was hovering by our pool. I was on our deck and he just stayed there nibbling on grass. I think he felt safe there. Our dog was also not feeling so good with the noise. He kept trying to get out of our backyard. He would go to the gate and try to get out and then end up getting stuck. I stayed on the deck awhile to try and calm him. Eventually he decided everything was okay. It was really a nice event,especially being right behind the house. They had a great turn out on Friday night, but Saturday was rained out. They still had the craft booths up since they were under tents. Hopefully they will attempt this again in the future. The next few pictures were taken from my deck, so you can see how close everything was to our house.

I got tickled at the purple monster. I was doing dishes and looked out the window to see this wonderful face looking back at me. How funny!

This was such a wild week, with all the flooding that our area sustained. Everyone is trying to get things cleaned up. We worked at our church last night, cleaning and tearing carpet up. There is much to be done.

This weekend we are headed to my son's college. They are having family weekend. I am very excited about the whole weekend. There are alot of activities to choose from. We were supposed to go to Six Flags on Friday night, but they are closed due to the flooding. Alot of the rides were damaged, so now they have to be repaired and every ride has to undergo safety inspections. However, there is still alot of other activities available. I am hoping to get to sit in on the lecture given by an author of a book that I am reading. But, most of all, I am looking forward to spending some time with my son. We get to see him on Sundays, as we drive there to go to church with him. But this weekend we should get to spend more time together.

I wish everyone a wonderful weekend!

Kim

Outdoor Wednesday

It's Outdoor Wednesday time again! Thanks to Susan over at, www.asoutherndaydreamer for hosting this wonderful event. This week I want to share pictures of our massive flooding that we have been experiencing here in North Georgia. The Atlanta and surrounding areas have been hit hard. We had some really hard rain over several days. About this time last year we were still in a drought. Amazing how things change! The picture below is one of a golf driving range. As you can see, the back part of the range is under water.

I took this picture from the interstate. This is Camping World near Chattanooga, Tennessee. All of the pull behind campers were in water.

The parking lot of this furniture store is under water.

As for our family personally, our downstairs flooded. We spent most of Monday with the wet vac and buckets trying to get the water out. We have it out of the inside rooms, and almost out of the garage. Now, on to the clean up. Also, our church suffered some flooding. The classroom areas are in a lower area, so they are ruined. There was 8 inches that got into that area. Tonight we are going over to help with clean up. I thank the Lord for safety during this time. I know from news reports that not everyone was safe. There were some drownings due to the flooding. My prayers are with the family members of those individuals. I thank the Lord that we are no longer in a drought situation. Sometimes, as now, I don't understand why circumstances play out as they do, but I do always know that God is in control and He does know the whole plan. Praise be to God!

Have a super Wednesday! Be sure to check out all the Outdoor Wednesday participants. There are always such wonderful posts!

Kim

Sunday's Thoughts

" My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children." Hosea 4:6 KJV

"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue ; and to virtue knowledge;" II Peter 1:5 KJV

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.: Psalms 111:10 KJV

Have a blessed Lord's Day!

Kim

What a Great Day!

We went on a field trip today to the IMAX theater in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We were able to see the movie "Under The Sea". After the movie we got to meet the makers of the film. They gave a talk and answered some questions. I thought their talk was fascinating. They told about everything that goes into making underwater films. They have made IMAX films, National Geographic films, PBS, and Discovery channel films. Just getting all the equipment to the site of filming is a daunting task. The film they use for the IMAX runs for 3 minutes. So, they have to reload after that time. Oh, and getting those wonderful shots takes patience, lots of patience. I now have a greater appreciation for the work that goes into the making of those movies. The above picture is of two of my boys inside the Tennessee Aquarium. One of my boys is holding a souvenir poster from the movie. The picture below is outside the aquarium.

We had a great lunch at Cheeburger, Cheeburger.

This is outside the IMAX theater.

It was a very enjoyable day. Now, we get to be entertained by bands right behind our house! Our county is hosting a Balloons & Tunes Festival this weekend. There will be hot air balloons, crafts, food of all sorts, a children's area, and lots of music. On Sunday, they are having a church service with festivities to follow. I hope to have lots of pictures! I will get to sit on my deck and enjoy life!!

Have a super weekend!

Kim

Outdoor Wednesday

It's Outdoor Wednesday time! Thanks to our host, Susan, over at www.asoutherndaydreamer . Our family went to visit the New Echota Cherokee Capital. This site is one of Georgia's state historic sites. In 1819 the Cherokee council began holding their annual council meetings at New Town. The Council, on November 12, 1825, adopted a resolution renaming New Town, New Echota and making it the Cherokee Nation's Capital. Annual council meetings were held in October,during which time several hundred Cherokees came into town.

New Echota had approximately 50 residents. There was also a Supreme Court Building, Cherokee Phoenix Print Shop, The Cherokee Council House and several private homes, stores, a ferry, and a nearby mission station.

Today's pictures are part one of our visit. Some are outdoor pictures, while some are pictures of the inside of the buildings. This was a fascinating place to visit. It is larger than what it seems from the road, and it holds a wonderful historic story.

This is a picture of the inside of the print shop. I was amazed to learn that The Cherokee Capital had its own newspaper, The Cherokee Phoenix. The newspaper was not only circulated throughout the Cherokee Nation, but also parts of the United States and Europe. The printing shop also printed pages of other publications, such as hymns, the Bible, and a novel.

The inside of the print shop.

The outside of the print shop.

Most Cherokees, according to the 1835 Cherokee census, lived in small cabins on farms. These farms also included common outbuildings such as corncribs, smokehouses, potato houses, and barns.

Vegetable gardens surrounded the farmstead buildings. There were also fruit trees and cornfields.

The next two pictures are of a middle-class Cherokee farmstead. The building was constructed in the early-mid 1800's. They were moved to this location to represent how the New Echota residents lived.

I hope you enjoyed part I of our visit to New Echota. Be sure to check out all the participants in Outdoor Wednesday. Have a super Wednesday!

Kim

Sunday's Thoughts

It has been a while since my last post. I have been dealing with some kind of nasty virus. This weekend I have started to feel better. This one really was a tough one! So, hopefully, I will be blogging happily again:)

I am reading "Teaching the Trivium" by Harvey & Laurie Bluedorn and just thoroughly enjoying it. I am highlighting and making notes. In chapter one the statement is made, "The potential for a true change of our culture lies with those people who renew and transform the family, because the family is God's instrument of choice for transforming a culture. Only through the transformation of the family can a society be restructured to agree with Christian order and the rule of God's law." I started thinking about that statement and so much agree with it. The family is so important in making an impact in our world. Every role within the family is important. What concerns me, is that our world is striving so hard to confuse or totally wipe out the roles that each family member has. Our world promotes a "do your own thing" with no regard to your responsibility to others. When families have that order that God ordains, you find peace, even within busy days and schedules, peace that makes an impact!

I think that we have got to strengthen our families and the only way I know to do that is through God. The study and reading of God's word within the home, praying together as a family, and letting each family member know that their role within the family is important. It is sad to me that there are so many shows that belittle the family or what is usually the case, the show makes the parents look stupid and clueless, while the children are much more savvy and smart. Or, the shows that show rebellion from the children as normal. Being a parent takes courage, time, patience, and most importantly an active prayer life. We have got to take our families back.

One of the ways, I believe, to promote family is to promote traditions within the family. One of our traditions is family movie night. This is normally on Friday nights. We make homemade pizza, have a special dessert, and gather for a family movie. We look forward to these nights. We gather with our quilts and have a great time. In the winter, we will have hot chocolate with marshmallows. Even though my boys are teenagers, this is a night that they look forward to. Sometimes, it can get easy to think these nights don't mean much and to let things slip in the planning for these nights ( I have done that!), but my boys will gently let me know that our movie nights are slipping and we need to plan better. This lets me know that they care about this tradition.

One episode of "Extreme Home Makeover" on ABC, showed a single dad with five sons ranging in age from pre-teen to older teens living in a high crime area. I mean drug deals would take place right down the street from their house. This dad made a huge statement. He said that he knew he needed to do something to keep his boys wanting to be home with him on the weekends when alot of bad things were going on down the street. He started having movie nights with his boys, spending the time with them, when he was really tired from just making ends meet. But, this act, this tradition, was huge within his family. His boys chose to gather with him instead of hanging out where they shouldn't be. The show made the family a special movie room in their new house. I thought it was an awesome statement by this single dad of five boys.

I just want to close these ramblings of mine with some scripture dealing with families.

"Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward." Psalm 127:3KJV

"As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." Psalm 127:4,5KJV

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Ephesians 6: 1-4 KJV

"The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." Titus 2:3-5 KJV

Have a blessed Lord's Day!
Kim

Sunday's Thoughts

"But the Lord is in His holy temple

Let all the earth keep silence before Him." Habakkuk 2:20 NKJ

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you." John 15:7 NKJ

Have a blessed Lord's Day!

Kim

Outdoor Wednesday

It is Outdoor Wednesday time again! Thanks to Susan at www.asoutherndaydreamer for hosting this exciting event. Please visit all the Outdoor Wednesday posts for wonderful pictures. I wanted to share the rest of our battlefield pictures. We enjoy this park very much with its trails, monuments, and history. There are cyclists, walkers, runners, and tourist in the park all the time. If you missed my earlier post of this park, this is the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. It is not too far from where we live.

We enjoy reading the monuments and trying to imagine this area without everything that is there today. The visitor's center offers some wonderful programs about a soldier's life and they also offer driving tours of the park.

This is the gate to the tower. I think it is just beautiful. The climb to the top of the tower is tough, but once you are at the top, wow, what a view!!

The entrance to one of the many trails in the park. These trails are great to go exploring on.

My husband and youngest son at the top of the tower.

This is the Visitor's Center. They have a bookstore, a theater that shows a short film, a military gun collection, and several historical items to view. The rangers are also a great wealth of information. They are very passionate about their work and it comes through in their willingness to share stories about the park.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures of the park. We love history in our house, so this is a wonderful place for us to visit. Have a super Wednesday!

Thank you for all the wonderful comments I have received! I truly enjoy reading everyone's thoughts!

Kim