Tyler and Homecoming

My high school, Walker Valley, celebrated Homecoming last Friday night. Tyler was asked to serve as the junior attendant for the event. He got to wear a suit and he looked so handsome. He was so excited until he realized he had to hold the arm of a girl. (The daughter of one of the other faculty members at Walker Valley.) I had to bribe him with $5. As soon as he finished crossing the field, he walked up to me and said, "Where is my five dollars?"

The school started a new tradition this year. We decided to crown a King and a Queen. Mr. Coggin, my principal, and Tyler concocted a scheme. When they announced the winner for King, Mr. Coggin lifted Ty in the air and Tyler placed the crown on the King. It was so sweet.

Fall Ball

Ethan decided to sit out of football this year and I was relieved. He would have had to move up to the 9 - 10 year old league and some of those 10 year olds are bigger than me. I was scared for him. He decided to play Fall Baseball so he could get some practice pitching. He is turning into quite the pitcher. So far this season he has struck out over 20 batters and allowed 4 hits. He is not a very fast pitcher (yet) but the key is he pitches strikes.



I have to say that watching kid pitch baseball is slow and long. Hopefully it gets more exciting in the future. I'm ready for spring baseball.

Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day we went to Dayton, TN to visit Chris' sister, Valen. The Rhea County Fair was going on and Valen and her husband, Jamie, were participating in a rodeo. Valen did some break-away roping and barrel racing. Jamie is a bull fighter and all around cowboy. The boys had a great time. Tyler told his teacher the other day that he is part cowboy because his grandpa is whole cowboy.

My Amazing Sister

My sister, Jessica, is the National Marketing Coordinator for the Healthy Woman program sponsored by CHS hosptials. (Impressive title, not like math teacher.) Healthy Woman recently hosted a large even in Cleveland so my sister came to lend her support. Her good friend, Dale Thomas Smith, spoke and it was inspiring. It was so nice to get a change to visit with my sister. I have to say that Jessica has endured more than any person I've known and she has always come through. Her testimony is powerful and encouraging. I'm anxious to see what God has in store for her next. I love you, Jessie.

Back to School

School has been back in session for 5 weeks now. Tyler started Kindergarten this year. It is nice to not have the daycare cost anymore. He has a great teacher. Mrs. Withrow is a young teacher who attended my high school several years ago. Tyler seems very pleased with her. Ethan has Mr. Brown this year. He is excellent. Mr. Brown and I share a similar educational philosophy. It looks like it is going to be a great school year.

I have three new classes this year (Algebra I remediation, Algebra II Honors, and Pre Calculus Honors) and department chair responsibilities. I feel swamped but I'm loving it.

Happy 9th Birthday, Ethan!

My sweet boy, Ethan, turned 9 today. He is growing up so fast. He is so independent. For his birthday we rented the church gym and had some kids play basketball and football. My poor niece, Joy, was the lone girl. It was a great time.

For his birthday, Ethan asked for a dirt bike. Chris and I decided to get him an electric one instead. He got this Razor MX500. It is crazy fast. I rode it around the yard. It is so much fun. It goes up to 15 mph which seems pretty fast. Ethan is quite the dare devil on it. Poor Tyler can't ride it by himself.

Summer Break

Now that summer is coming to a close, I feel like it's time to catch everyone up on what happened. We had a chance to see Kenny Loggins for the 4th of July. (Thanks Aaron!) He was awesome! We had a nice picnic and listened to some great music. I was amazed with how many songs I knew.


We celebrated Chris' 36th birthday with a quiet celebration at home. I purchased a Kahlua cake from the local bakery.
I also spent my summer getting my professional blog up and running. Here is a link if you are interested, but I warn you, it covers things like math, standards-based-grading, and classroom reflections. http://ambercaldwell.wordpress.com/

A Night at the Lookouts

The 8 year old Stingers went to the Chattanooga Lookouts game. The Lookouts are the local minor league baseball team. The boys got to run out on the field with the players at the beginning of the game. Ethan was in awe. The best part of the night included Chris and Ethan competing in several competitions on the field in between innings.

First, Chris competed in the musical chairs against the other Stingers coaches. Chris did not win the game and ended up on his behind on the field. He then competed in the frozen t-shirt contest. He won a t-shirt and a Krystal gift card. (Krystal's is the southern version of White Castle.)

Ethan won the tire roll and was awarded a combo from Hardee's. The boys ended the evening on the dug out dancing the Chicken Dance. It was such a fun night!

Disney...On My Own

My amazing husband agreed to let me go on a business trip to Disney World. About two months ago my principal invited me to attend the Model Schools Conference in Orlando and allowed me to invite one female teacher of my choice. I invited my friend and fellow math teacher Lauren. We flew down on Monday morning and flew back on Thursday. Our room was at the Wilderness Lodge at Disney.
(Sorry the picture is fuzzy. I need a new camera.)

The conference was amazing! I learned so much and heard so many great schools speak. My principal and I are hoping to present at the conference next year when the conference is in Nashville.

On Tuesday night Lauren and I went with my Principal's daughter, Katie, to Epcot. Epcot was the one park that I wanted to go to with no kids. It was so much fun. We rode Soaring and the Test Track. We ate fish and chips in the UK while we watched the evening light and fireworks show. We stayed at the park til midnight.

On Wednesday night we went to Downtown Disney and ate at Wolfgang Puck's Restaurant. I had a delicious pumpkin stuffed ravioli. It was so good. We ended the evening at Ghirardelli's where I had a monster ice cream sundae. I really missed my family, but it was so nice to have an opportunity to be a professional.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Ethan's team won their second tournament. It is turning out to be a good season. It was crazy hot that weekend. This is the last year of coach pitch and in the fall we are starting kid pitch. Ethan is looking forward to pitching.