Well, this is a hodgepodge, no theme other than our life, kinda post. My phone had pictures from way back that I wanted to remember. The holidays and major events are easy, but everyday life sometimes slips through the blogging cracks.
Back in November, we lost 6 precious children in the Woodmore bus crash. Devastating doesn't even begin to describe it. My heart as a teacher and a parent will never be the same. Woodmore was my second home for 9 years and this tragedy rocked Chattanooga to its core.
A week later, we lost Lynda. My mentor and dear friend. She had been sick for years, but losing her was sudden and unexpected. I told Penny, God must have needed her in heaven to hold those Woodmore babies. After all, she spent her entire career taking care of generations of Woodmore children. Needless to say, it was a very hard 2 weeks.
Before she died, Lynda and Penny had planned on doing Valentine bags for the Woodmore kids after all the attention from the tragedy had died down. Penny was determined to make this happen in Lynda's memory. So we asked for donations to fill some "goody bags" from the community and you would NOT believe the response. Things poured in from West Virginia, Bristol, Nashville and all over. Everyone just wanted to help make this happen for these sweet kiddos. The day we delivered them, Penny had to get a Ryder moving truck to get it all there! I was so glad that Trace was out of school and got to go with me. He was amazing and afterward, we walked every square foot of that school. I showed him all of my classrooms, which room he grew in my belly in, the potty I used 14,769 times a day when I was pregnant with him. Ha! We saw the new gym they built and the few familiar faces that are still there. It was so fun to share such a huge part of my past with him. We saw the 4th grade class that had lost 3 little girls in the bus wreck. That was really hard. It hit really hard staring into that classroom standing next to MY 4th grader. It was a sweet and somber day but it felt good to be able to do something, no matter how small, to show them some love and especially get to share it with my boy. I was so proud of him.
Both kids played basketball this winter and it was really fun! They both grew and learned a lot.
Genetics is a crazy thing. This is Roman and Keatyn at 6 months. Cousins maybe? Love these 2 so much.
The Turners stopped on their way through and had lunch at the Wharf with us. Then they took Trace to spend the night in Panama City and hung out with us on the beach the next day. Love this family so much!
Three Brown boys...
Keatyn and Jimmy's first Father/Daughter Dance...
