Catching up

Here we are in the middle of October and I've not updated the blog in weeks! We've been busy--as usual. There has been lots going on so sit back and enjoy the post....

The girls received their report cards and all 3 are on the honor roll! We are so proud of what good students they are. Sarah, with the exception of Art (89), received all A's! She has proven to be a very responsible middle school student! She's had a few issues with time management but always gets her work and studying done. I've had to take a few steps back and allow her to figure out how to juggle school, homework and dance but she has come through with flying colors! The input I've received from her teachers has been very positive; Sarah is a delight, a good student, respectful to both adults and peers and she has transitioned very well!

Grace, even with her new schedule (more on that later), made all A honor roll! The teacher, no surprise, told me how sweet and wonderful Grace is. The only area we need to work on is reading comprehension. Grace loves school and is well loved in return.

Analiese also made all A honor roll! She is a wonderful student, she is actually ahead of her peers in many areas. This is amazing because Analiese is probably a year younger than what the Chinese told us. Behaviorally, we see the immaturity. Cognitively, she is very, very bright! According to Analiese's teacher, Analiese is compliant and is very eager to learn. This doesn't surprise us at all. Analiese loves to learn and puts all of her effort into everything she tries. We chose the best teacher who is doing a wonderful job of channeling Analiese's energy and challenging her to do her best. Thanks Aunt Kelly!

Sarah had another performance today. Her dance company volunteered at the Annual Walk for diabetes and then performed at the culmination of the walk. Unfortunately the weather was awful (no rain but cold and overcast) and they had to dance in the grass--not the desired venue for jazz!

Dave took Sarah, a couple of her friends, and Analiese downtown for the walk. I was out of town and could not be there. Sarah was sad because this was the first time I was not there to help her get dressed, do her hair and make-up. She cried and I really worked hard at assuring her that SHE was old enough to take care of those things her self. We practiced with her makeup and talked about how to dress warmly. Unfortunately, I did NOT talk to Dave about dressing Analiese warmly, I really thought he would just know what to do. WRONG! The poor, sweet little girl went to the walk in capris, crocks, no socks and a thin jacket! I sure don't understand how Dave didn't know to put warmer clothes on her (in his defense the weather forcast was for a much warmer day--the reality was so different).

Grace's gymnastics schedule has changed -- AGAIN! Surprised?? No neither were we! I had a conversation with the head coach and he indicated that Grace was ready to move to a more advanced TOPs team. That meant workouts in the mornings! All of the girls on the team she was to move to are home schooled. The school district would not work with them to allow for late arrivals or early check-outs. Dave and I had already discussed this issue and did not want to pull Grace out of school. So, I went to the principal (whom I love dearly) and discussed the situation. She had to discuss it with the "higher ups" but came back with great news! The school system is willing to work with us. They won't excuse the tardies but will not press the issue with social services. So, for the last two weeks Grace has been going to the gym in the mornings and after school!

Grace's new schedule is tough. She goes to the gym: Mondays 7-10/3-6, Tuesday 3-6, Wed Off, Thursday 8-10/3-6, Friday 7-10. The first week was difficult. Grace was tired and her body hurt. Last week was the first time I ever heard Grace express happiness at having time off from the gym. Last Thursday, when I put Grace to bed, she cried. She lay in bed and had tears streaming down her cheeks. We had a talk about what a great gymnast she was and how important it was for her to continually increase the amount of training she needed to do if she wanted to reach her goal of being in the Olympics. It was so hard for me. I just wanted to tell her that we could quit and she could just continue with her current program. But, that really wasn't the truth.

We were told, by Grace's coach, to expect tears, pain and more tears from Grace. She said that she works the girls hard but she does it so the girls can reach their potential. She works them hard so they can qualify to go to the Karoyli's camp (3 of the girls are going in December), compete Nationally and eventually be part of the National Team! She thinks Grace has the skills and potential to be one of those girls! Dave and I are committed to doing everything we can to allow Grace the opportunity to find out if she can reach that level!

Today Grace had a meet and, once again, won first place on all four events and first place all around! She got her best all around score--37.875! She only has one more meet before the state meet! Grace is nervous but we have assured her that all she has to do is what she has been doing and she'll do great! No matter what happens! I think Grace is finally realizing how much she wants to win and the competitive bug has gotten her! Go, Gracie, go!!!

Grace and I, with one of Gracie's friends, drove up to the meet on Friday. Grace had to be there by 8 AM and the drive was long enough that I just wanted to be closer and avoid the early wake-up, long drive and stress of making sure we got there on time. She had a great time. There was an indoor pool and along with her friend that came with us, another teammate came up early! The girls just swam, giggled and yelled the night away. I guess this was just a small preview of how the state meet is going to be. There are a bunch of us staying at one hotel with an indoor pool. Boy do I feel sorry for the non-gymnastic traveler at that hotel!

The rain continues here. We are so tired of all of the wetness! Of course there are the benefits but we so are ready for some dry weather!

At the end of the month Dave's boss retires. Dave will then assume the position of Assistant Vice-president of the library! Congratulations Dave, you deserve the position!

Even though we are so busy, we feel blessed that we are able to do all that we do! Life is good, god is good, we are sso blessed!

Grace 10 04 09

Happy Birthday to Me!

I had a truly wonderful birthday today! It is so much fun how the girls acknowledge my special day. They mimic what we do for them so I got lots of hugs, kisses, and special treatment today.

Analiese told me that it was my day so I should just relax and do whatever I wanted. She gave me some choices: sleep, watch TV or play on the computer! When I started to cook dinner she told me to "STOP"! She just had no idea what would really happen if Mom actually "STOPPED!"

When Grace asked me how old I was, I told her the year I was born and challenged her to figure out my age. Well, she did a great job of writing up the subtraction problem. When she came up with my age (no, I will NOT tell you how old I am) I took her word for it--even though I thought I was a year younger. However, as the day wore on today, I kept wondering where that "lost year" went to...I was a little freaked out thinking that I had some how lost a year. Turns out that Grace used 2010 instead of 2009 when she did her subtraction!

Did Grace listen to me? Nope...it wasn't until my Dad, Granddad Matt, called and told Grace how old I was that she finally believed me!

It wasn't the year older that bothered me so much, it was the belief that I seriously could NOT remember being the "lost" age.

Getting older is really not much fun--but enjoying my kids growing up is just priceless!

Happy Birthday to Me!

An insider's view

Clarkdale Elementary School

The flooding last week has touched us in so many ways. I experienced not only the fear of possibly not being able to get to Sarah but the necessity of staying calm in a terrifying situation. Dave and I were out of work, the girls out of school and we lived with having to boil our water for a week. But we were lucky, luckier than so many others who lost a lot more.

Some lost so much more; their homes and others their lives. But, what has really made an impact on me has been the elementary school that was demolished in the storm. For whatever reasons, Cobb county did NOT close their schools on Monday.

As Monday wore on, the rain continued to fall and the water had no where to go. Many of the Cobb schools became unreachable, but none as bad as Clarkdale elementary school. As you can see in the above photo the school was just consumed by water. The children were able to be evacuated but they had to wade through high water to get to safety.

Being an educator is like being a part of a large family. One of our teachers received the following email from Ellen Auchenpaugh a teacher at Clarkdale Elementary School. I received permission to post it here and hope that all of you feel the power of her words.


I've been wanting to write some of this down while it is fresh on my mind. After so many years of teaching young children, my writing has become very straightforward and somewhat simplistic, but at least I will have a written record for myself and maybe others of what has happened this week.

I went to work Monday morning, Sept. 21, 2009, knowing that the trailers would be in some kind of jeopardy that day. Several years ago, they completely flooded during the summer of Hurricane Dennis, so we already knew that the water would be rising out there. Students never went out there that day - each trailer class has a "buddy class" in the building for days such as this. Non-homeroom people started right away to move items in the trailers up off the floors, just in case. There was little or no accumulating water at that point, other than the usual puddles. By the time we got to the last trailer, water was on the steps of the first ones we had done, the ones closest to the creek. So we then began to move as much inside the building as we could, including the new LCD projectors that we had only received less than a week earlier. When we ran out of space, we began to put things in people's cars, just to get it out of trailers. That turned out to be one of the smartest things we did that day. But it then began to rain, so we had to stop (and we were exhausted by then as well). The water during that time began to encroach upon the side parking lot, and was beginning to cover the back field as well. So then the trailers on the other side of the building were also in jeopardy, so we began to do the same thing over there. The whole time, the weather and the state of things were being monitored.

I don't remember it raining all that incredibly much that morning. That and the fact that water had been on the fields and parking lot before but never in the building must have made us feel somewhat safe inside the building, though the encroaching water was beginning to be a little disconcerting. By around noon, I think, you could step outside about every 5 minutes and tell a difference. Announcements began to be made for certain people to move their cars. Then an announcement was made to quickly get things up off the floor as much as possible. While I was doing that, I looked out the front window and realized that I needed to move my car, too. I waded through ankle-deep water to get to my car, and moved it up the road a little. By the time I was walking back to the front door, maybe 5 minutes later at most, buses had arrived and children were exiting out the front. I didn't even know where we were going, but it was all orderly and calm. I knew I had to quickly go back in after my purse, and when I got back to my office, the carpet was wet about halfway into the room (I'm on the end right by the side door - creekside). (Later I found out that what began as calling students out a grade level at a time ended with just line up and move out.) I grabbed my purse, grabbed a plastic trash can, retrieved my family photos, a few papers from my desk, and my album with 30 years worth of class photos and other school pictures, put my computer and the Tier 2 files on the top shelf of the highest bookcase (almost at ceiling level) and evacuated. Water was almost knee-depth by that time (in the front lot), and students were safely on the buses. I got in my car and we all headed to Garrett Middle School.

The students were amazing. Some were in the theater for hours before going home on the bus or being picked up. A teacher from Garrett is a storyteller, and she stepped up to the plate and entertained the kids. Some people with cars took the teachers who had ridden the buses back to the school to retrieve their cars, in the nick of time. We watched The Bee Movie and the students were absolutely fabulous. So were our hosts.

Most of what happened after that has been recorded on the news and in newspapers. Even at the worst of the time while we were there, no one ever suspected that it would ultimately be this bad. We were shocked at the photos on the news.

I can't even describe the feelings. I think I've experienced almost every emotion there is this week. I've had spontaneous tears numerous times, both from sadness and despair as well as gratitude and overwhelming appreciation. I've felt guilty about receiving so much stuff. I've felt guilty when things get a little frustrating, when I know that so many people have it so much worse. I feel guilty that students in other schools have also lost their homes, yet are not getting the same attention just because their school is intact. I feel bad for the host schools. They had no choice in this, either.

I want to mend things one at a time - let's get all of the living situations and basic needs met, and then let's go on with school. But it can't happen that way. We must do it all simultaneously. It's hard to be the receiver rather than the giver. One has to learn to do that with grace - it's very humbling. It's hard to accept so many wonderful gifts, but you must because you really do need it. I feel bad that we can't possibly keep up with where all of this stuff and help and support is coming from, and that there may not be a formal thank you note written. So many feelings. Just overwhelming.

At the parent meeting Wednesday night to explain the new plan, the crowd was tremendous. The support for the school by the parents was so touching. The main thing that the parents wanted to make sure of was that their children would have the same teacher. Some burst into tears when they found out that the teacher would be the constant. Maybe that should drive the budget processes. It's not the stuff or even the building, but the teacher and staff who make the difference. It's not WHAT is delivered but WHO delivers it and HOW. Hmmm..... there are some lessons here for all of us.

There have been so many stories this week that would break your heart and warm your heart. The loss for so many families is devastating. One child couldn't stay at school Thursday because she had lost her home and the picture of her daddy who had been killed a few years earlier. She went back home with her mother, who is also a Clarkdale staff member. An aunt has a small photo of her dad, and one of the other Clarkdale staff members is buying a locket so that this little girl can keep her photo with her all the time. One child came to school today with dress shoes on, and was embarrassed. Though his dad wouldn't admit that his tennis shoes had been lost in the flood and all he had left were dress shoes, we suspected differently. When we asked the child later if he had tennis shoes, he didn't. When we asked if he had food to eat, he said that the people he now lived with were sharing their food. We traced his foot on a piece of paper and the county computer guy who was installing the secretary's new computer volunteered to go shoe shopping. We gave him a Walmart gift card we had received. He came back with, in the words of the child, "way cool shoes" and returned the gift card to us. Teachers who were already exhausted from working long hours still found time and energy to go shopping after work for clothes for some of their students. Those are just a few of the stories that I can remember in my exhausted state of mind.

A not-so-small miracle: we taught on Monday at Clarkdale. By Tuesday, the building was destroyed. On Wednesday afternoon, we began to set up classrooms from absolute scratch, had another "first day of school" at two locations on Thursday, and by Friday there were reading and writing and math lessons occurring, almost as if nothing had happened. The students have textbooks and some supplies, and are all getting new bookbags with more supplies on Monday.

Of course, none of this could have happened without the help of so many people. The staffs at both Compton and Austell Intermediate have been amazing. We know that it must be like relatives moving in with you for an extended period of time that you didn't invite. We know that many people were displaced from classrooms and offices into smaller spaces because of us. We know that precious commodities like copy paper have had to be shared, and there must be numerous headaches with all of this. We know that we are an interruption in a school routine that has just finally gotten established. Yet all we feel is welcomed. People have donated things, bought things, made things, moved boxes and tables and chairs, given lesson plans, fed us, hugged us, smiled at us, given the kids a pep rally to stress that we are all a family, complete with gifts at one school and a drumline, cheerleaders and giant cardinal mascot at another (one child exclaimed, "Look at that big ROOSTER!") (The cardinal, by the way, is our mascot).

I have to commend Cobb County Schools as well. Who would have thought that we could go back to school with everyone else on Thursday? That certainly wasn't the easiest thing for us, but it happened. So much work has gone into all of this, and the planning and support and just "being there" has been great.

The outpouring of prayers, notes, love, support and stuff has been totally and completely overwhelming. We are stunned, and don't even know how to begin to thank everyone. Heroes and angels abound, my friends. I guess part of the reason that there is tragedy on this imperfect earth is so that God can reveal all of those people. My life is forever touched and changed because of them.

Because of all of the love and support, we will get through this disaster. School will go on. Lives will be rebuilt. I am praying about the future. We are so small. It was too easy in some ways to find another place for us. Economic times are tight, to say the least. Even though it would hurt greatly to demolish the old building and build a new one, it would absolutely break my heart to see Clarkdale nonexistent. We can be in a new building, even in another location. But we cannot let Clarkdale Elementary School go by the wayside because of a flood or any other reason.

I wish I could describe what it is about Clarkdale that makes it so special. People who enter the building comment on it, but no one can put their finger on exactly what it is. Even though I've seen many people come and go over my 30 years there, the spirit remains the same. There are good teachers everywhere, and good schools - I'm not at all implying that there are not. I've been around many this week. Maybe I'm a little prejudiced, I guess. Maybe it has something to do with our size - less than 450 students. I don't really know what it is. But it is something. It is definitely something. And it cannot be lost.

Please pray for our students and their families, families from other schools who have been affected, our staff, the people in our new "homes," and those who make decisions about our future.

Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow! He will be with us into the future, whatever it holds. And that is sufficient.

More to come next week, I'm sure. There will be more stories of tragedy and hope, but I know that things will get better overall, little by little. With all the help and support and prayers, it's inevitable!

What it's all about!

David found a wonderful program for all of us to watch as a family. It was a National Geographic show about odd animal relationships (you know the orangutan and the dog???). I was on the couch with the 3 girls but had Analiese in my arms. She looked up at me with those big black eyes and said, "I'm so glad I have a Mom."

My heart just melted. That child is darn amazing! She can frustrate the heck out of me but then turn around and in one short sentence make me realize what being a Mom is all about!

Day 3 and counting....

The fort

sleeping peacefully










Today is day THREE of no school because of the rain, floods and resulting damages.

The rain had been coming down for days but on Saturday and Sunday it just seemed as if it was never going to end. So, on Monday morning, when the 5 AM call came in that our schools were closed it came as no surprise. What was a shock was that Sarah, who is now at the private school, had to go to school--as did Dave to work!

As the rains fell Monday morning, I began to get very nervous. And then the phone call came from the university, at noon, with a recorded message indicating that due to the roads being very hazardous, everyone was being asked to NOT come to the school. WHAT???? My husband is at work and my daughter is at school!

I quickly ran to the phone to call Sarah's school. No sooner had I dialed then an email came in, from the school, indicating that we could come and get the kids early. Well, off I went with Analiese and Gracie in the car.

What normally takes 18 minutes, took us over an hour to get to the school. As the rain fell in buckets we were met by closed road after closed road. I honestly have to say I felt the stirrings of panic as I contemplated the possibility that I would NOT be able to get to Sarah.

I called Dave, in hopes that he could leave school and get her. Unfortunately he was in the middle of the campus closing and could not close. So, we pushed on. We finally got to some open roads but passed playgrounds, homes and businesses under water. We knew it was just a matter of time that the road was going to be closed.

When I pulled up to the school it was not only full of parents but the school itself was flooding! I walked through deep puddles just to get to the front door. After waiting about 20 minutes Sarah finally arrived. We then left for our trek home!

The amazing thing was by the time I got back onto the road, the rain had stopped. We then were able to see more of the dangerous waters. We even saw rescuers bringing boats to evacuate people out of their homes--this was about 2 miles from our house!!

Fortunately, the rain continued to slow on Monday and we've not had another drop. We actually had sunny skies yesterday and today. However, the damage is so great that many cannot get out of their subdivisions or the roads to some of our schools are unsafe.

It has been a challenge keeping the girls occupied. Yesterday they built a fort. I let Grace and Analiese sleep in it because we, again, had no school today. Sarah is back to school, as is Dave to work.

I sure hope we return tomorrow. The teachers have to make up all of these missed days.....