Dinner at Diane & Bob's

On Sunday afternoon we went to Sevierville to have dinner at Diane and Bob's house. Both David and Doug's families were there for a visit, so Diane and Bob invited all of the cousins up for dinner. This was the first time that all of the Grandma's great-grandchildren were together since before Emma McFarland was born. The last time we had all of the great-grandchildren together, Scott was just a baby, about the size Emma is now. Except for Jim and Kendal, all of the grandchildren were able to attend. Mom and Dad had just returned home on Friday from their trip to New England and Canada, and Mac and Rita had just arrived home Sunday morning from Hawaii. Wink and Jane (Papaw McCarter's nephew and his wife) were there from New Jersey. I think Grandma had a good time and enjoyed seeing everyone. PHOTOS

Foothills Fall Festival 2007

Molly and Emma performed with the Foothills Gymnastics Heat Team at the Foothills Fall Festival this year. They have truly enjoyed gymnastics--and I have really enjoyed the closer gym and working with Donna again! Their first performance was on Saturday at 11:00 and they performed again at 3:00. They were both really pleased that at the second performance; their stage fright had worn off and Emma did her round-off back handspring with no spot and Molly did a round-off back handspring back handspring! Between performances, we had lunch and enjoyed some of the activities at the festival (see photos of the girls on the "jumping thing"). PHOTOS

Cades Cove Camping

During fall break this year, the girls and I headed to Cades Cove to camp with Terri Bradshaw for a few nights. We went up Sunday evening with Greg and Rob to get all of the tarps staked down, to put up Mary Alison's tent, and to unload the firewood and chairs. Mary Alison invited Corie Beth to go with her. Leah, Loran, Austin, Rhonda and Erica came up Monday afternoon to go on the ranger-led hay ride through the cove. Greg came up for the hayride too and brought the girls' bikes. The ranger told of the first settlers in the cove and gave information about the creatures in the park. As she described the different animals, she passed around hides from many of the critters she discussed (otter, bobcat, fox, wolf, bear...). The girls enjoyed touching the fur and playing with the hides. They actually got a little silly--imagine that! We went back to the campsite and cooked hot dogs over the campfire for dinner. Loran stayed with Mary Alison and Corie Beth in the tent. The girls rode bikes Tuesday morning then we packed our coolers and food in Terri's truck and drove around the loop, stopping at the sites of the different schools that were once in the cove (for Molly's social studies project) and the churches that are still there (for Emma's social studies project). We grilled chicken for dinner on Tuesday and had a big campfire--good for making smores! Wednesday was much cooler than the first two days. We broke camp and loaded up. Greg came and we took one more trip through the cove then we headed home. PHOTOS

School Photos 2007

Mary Alison, Molly, Emma

Molly & Emma's Field Trip to Metcalf Bottoms

Mrs. Collett's third-grade class took their first field trip of the year to Metcalf Bottoms Picnic area to meet with two park rangers for an environmental program on habitats and bio-diversity. They learned a neat song and dance about habitats--get them to demonstrate it. They became "soil scientists" and did a soil inventory in a stream environment (the other class was assigned another area--I can't remember what it was called, too busy taking pictures). We got the groups back together and compared inventories. Then the students were divided into groups to look for clues about an animal habitat. They couldn't tell the other groups the animal they had, but they had to flag clues in the forest about their animal. Molly and Emma were in a group with Erin and Megan and their animal was a crow. They had to put yellow flags on evidence in the control area that indicated that a crow had been there. Then they looked at the other colored flags and tried to guess what animals clues were left behind and what animal had left them. They really enjoyed this. We went back to the picnic area and had lunch. I had to leave early for a doctor's appointment with Dr. Huet. But after I left, they got to build a habitat of their own with trees, water, land and animals. I think they really enjoyed the trip and I could tell they had learned more about habitats than I knew when I was a freshman in high school. PHOTOS

2007 HMS Softball Tournament

The Lady Mustangs finished 3rd in the season and 4th in the end-of-season tournament for 2007. Mary Alison's highlight of the tournament was her line-drive triple over first base to the outfield--and bases were loaded. Chalk up 3 RBIs to Mary Alison! I think she has really enjoyed playing softball this year and has no regrets (or has not expressed any) about not cheering. Here's how the tournament went:

Sat., Sept. 29--HMS (3) v. Carpenters (4) --HMS victory
Mon., Oct. 1--HMS (3) v. Alcoa (5) --HMS defeat
Tues., Oct. 2--HMS (3) v. North Middle (6)--HMS victory
Wed., Oct. 3--HMS (3) v. William Blount (2)--HMS defeat--OUT

The only thing I have hated about this season is loosing to Alcoa. They aren't any better than us on the field. They just beat us on the scoreboard (with the help of a very biased umpire--city schools can buy out almost anyone) I hate loosing to Alcoa almost as much as I hate loosing to Maryville. PHOTOS