National Chemistry Week

The Northeast Tennessee Section of the American Chemical Society has sponsored this fourth-grader’s ‘Celebration of Chemistry’ since 1991. I have been involved in this for years and it is truly a wonderful experience. The look of amazement on these kids faces when they see things boil, bubble and explode is awesome. This makes my chemistry classes well worth the hard work!

Dr. Webster from Radford University put on a fantastic show!

An Eastman employee giving a demo.
I promise I did more than just blow up balloons!

Jessica's Wedding

Jessica and Jordan were marrie at Maple Lane Farms last weekend. Their wedding turned out so pretty. I never realized what a pretty color brown was for a wedding, but for a fall celebration of love - it was beautiful.Look how pretty everyone was - oops, I didn't catch everyone in the wedding.
Jessica acting silly.
The cute and happy couple!

The fire was a nice warm touch.

Malisha and Jessica - they have been friends for years.

Can you say "Spoiled"!

Malisha and I decided to try a new recipe - Peanut Butter doggie treats.

Of course we had to use animal shaped cookie cutters.

And they patiently waited. Aren't they adorable!
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!!
Here Malisha and I were cooking for the dogs and Jim was cooking for us! Thanks Honey - you're the best!

Super Simple Chunky Peanut Dog Treats

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup chunky natural peanut butter
1 cup non fat milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheet. In large bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Use another bowl and combine the peanut butter and milk. Add the milk and peanut butter mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. On floured surface, turn out the knead. Roll out to 1/4" thick. Cut out using cookie cutters. Place on baking sheets and bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Place on racks to cool and then store in airtight container.

Taking care of Sean's car while he is gone

Anyone that knows Jim know that cars are not allowed to be dirty at our house! :)Or have a part that isn't working properly. The lock on Sean's door wasn't working right, so Jim was repairing it.
Then it is time to wax. We use Ice - it is easy to put on and take off and your car looks fabulous when you are done.

The Cutest and Sweetest Puppies

Mattie being her cute, sweet self! Then there is Mr. Rotten - always chewing on a toy.

Shopping in Blowing Rock

You know we can't stay home on the weekends and being the girl I am I wanted oops needed a new Coach purse. In support of Breast Cancer Awareness, Coach was offering an extra 25% off any purchase if you donated a $1.00. So off to Blowing Rock we go.

The drive up was beautiful. The leaves are starting to turn and the weather was perfect.
Jim resting and guarding my first two big purchases.
The fall decorations were so pretty.

After shopping we toured the actual "Blowing Rock."
The Legend of The Blowing Rock
It is said that a Chickasaw chieftan, fearful of a white man's admiration for his lovely daughter, journeyed far from the plains to bring her to The Blowing Rock and the care of a squaw mother. One day the maiden, daydreaming on the craggy cliff, spied a Cherokee brave wandering in the wilderness far below and playfully shot an arrow in his direction. The flirtation worked because soon he appeared before her wigwam, courted her with songs of his land and they became lovers, wandering the pathless woodlands and along the crystal streams.
One day a strange reddening of the sky brought the brave and the maiden to The Blowing Rock. To him it was a sign of trouble, commanding his return to his tribe in the plains. With the maiden's entreaties not to leave her, the brave, torn by conflict of duty and heart, leaped from The Rock into the wilderness far below. The grief-stricken maiden prayed daily to the Great Spirit until one evening with a reddening sky, a gust of wind blew her lover back onto The Rock and into her arms. From that day a perpetual wind has blown up onto The Rock from the valley below. For people of other days, at least, this was explanation enough for The Blowing Rock's mysterious winds causing even the snow to fall upside down.


The views were amazing. I would love to see this when I look out my window.



The sky was so blue. My dad use to say the sky is always the bluest during the month of October.
Isn't God wonderful! You can feel his presence when you look out onto something so beautiful!
Poor Jim, he hates all the picture taking but he is a good sport and goes along.
On the way home, we had to eat at Shirley's! Yum - old fashion home cooking!

Busy Weekend

Okay, since Sean left on Friday, Jim wanted to make sure I stayed busy this weekend. Boy, did we ever! Friday night I stopped by a friends house to catch up. She told me about a yard sell the neighborhood was having the next day and wanted me to come help and bring anything I wanted to sell. So off to load up the truck I went.

Early Saturday morning the yard sell started and we didn't stop for hours. I even got a marriage proposal from a sweet old man from Elizabethton - he was so cute! We did really well with our sale and I got rid of so much stuff. What didn't sell we took to Goodwill - it's always a good feeling to clear things out. The rest of the night was pretty calm, we went to dinner and gave the pups a bath. I had no trouble sleeping!

Sunday we went to church and afterwards visited a friend of mine who is in the hospital. He is in his early 40's and collapsed stretching before his Judo class. The doctor's are not sure what happened yet. He is doing better and is off the ventilator, but has a long rough road ahead of him. He is such a picture of health - it was a shock to hear the news. He and his wife just adopted their first child - a little boy they have been foster parents to since he was an infant. My friends name is Eddie - so keep him in your prayers!

Next we took a drive to Steel Creek Park - what a neat little place. Of course we had to take our fun car! Jim loves driving and I enjoy sight seeing!

This picture is a little dark, but I wanted to show some of the pathways. We definitely want to go back when the leaves turn - it will be beautiful!

They have lots of things to do here especially for kids. This is a red ear turtle - I thought he was neat looking. They have train rides - both kids and adults rode.
Paddle boats and several walking and bike trails. Next we stopped by Sonny's for customer appreciation day to eat wings with our friends Bill and Donna.
Yes another bad hair day from riding with the top down.
Okay, so we're almost home and I asked Jim to change vehicles - we needed the truck. He is like "oh no, what is she wanting to do now." We went by the Green Boys house to buy hay for fall decorating. I've known these boys since high school, so we've been friends for more years than I care to discuss. Well, I only wanted a little bag of hay and some fodder. However, Gerald loaded our truck up! We ended up with a large bundle of fodder, a whole bale of hay, some indian corn and tomatoes. :) My other sweet friend, Allyson gave us the mums and I bought the plow at Jim's uncle's auction a few years ago. I still need to buy a pretty ribbon to tie around the fodder. I also made a new hanging for my front door. Check out my decorations below. I love my friends and am blessed to have so many great ones! What a fun weekend we had! Thanks Honey - you're the best!
Happy Fall Ya'll!