Teacher of the Year Reception 2014 - Chalkboard Theme

It was so exciting to have women chosen in our school system to be the "Teacher of the Year", plus the "Support Staff of the Year" to also be a woman.  This mean that I could decorate using the color PINK! :)  

One of my sisters-in-law had recently done a chalkboard theme, so I copied her idea. Chalkboards are popular, but also fun! This chalkboard paper roll came from Target.

The pink just made everything bright and happy. And since it was teacher check-out day, I'm sure EVERYONE was really happy!

 The Tipton church of Christ provided the meal for the luncheon, which was held at the fellowship building.  The menu was smoked pork loin, smoked chicken, twice baked potatoes, green beans, homemade bread, and salad.

 I couldn't get pink roses, so had to settle for pink carnations for centerpieces, but they were still beautiful!

 My husband added some artwork to one of the chalkboards. See his nice bird? He's been perfecting it since he was a young boy! :)

 For an extra POP of color, I added in one bouquet of brighter colored flowers.

 These tulips and roses are actually fake, but they look very, very real. Some thought they were!

 It was fun designing these chalkboards for each recipient.

 I think I could practice and practice and never get as profession looking as some you see.

 And that's okay.

 The chalkboard cake was so cute!  The bakery did a fabulous job, despite the fact they spelled one first name wrong. It was an easy mistake.

 A close up of the "fake", but real looking flowers.

 The gifts for each of the winners were amazing!

 We have such generous people in our community and surrounding communities!

 What a blessing!

 If you're looking for chalkboard things, Target is a must-go-to place. The banners all came from there.

Some of the young ladies from Tipton Children's Home served the teachers and staff.  Service with a smile, for sure! Of course, after they served, they were able to eat themselves. Perhaps that's why she's smiling?! Maybe so. I don't blame her one bit! :)

2A State Golf Championship

The path to the State Golf Championship began last Thursday.

The entire student body (minus the 5th and 6th grade) had a send off as the boys headed out of town to practice at the course where they would be playing during the Championship.

It was an exciting time for the boys,

although they didn't seem like they liked the attention they were getting! Ha ha!

Then again, a special time on Sunday afternoon, as the boys were escorted out of town by our local police.  The siren blared through town, a rare occurrence in our small town!

 Our family had an evening devotional with most of the team at the hotel Sunday evening.  That was a special time.  

 Then early Monday morning the tournament began.  Twelve HS golf teams competing in the cold and wind.....

 ...then rain.  It was brutal, but the boys keep plugging along!  

 Riding from the comfort of the golf cart, I snapped some neat pictures. This one of my husband and youngest is pretty special. I'm sure they were discussing golf strategy!

 So many of the golfing pictures look the same, but sometimes you get some great ones.  Here son, Jacob, is contemplating his next shot.

And here....son, Zachary, is watching his ball.

 Yesterday was cold and windy, just like Monday, but something was different:  THE SUN WAS OUT!  Can't you just tell how much warmer it seemed?  Beautiful!

 And it was over.  Everyone shook hands at the end of the game.  Something I never noticed, was that they remove their caps before shaking hands. Golf is truly a gentleman's sport....and I'm thankful my two boys had this great experience of playing this sport at the state level.

The team came in 8th out of 12 teams.  The began at 11th, so we're proud of them! We're proud of them, anyway...just for being "them".  We're proud of the way they handled themselves on this level. it's different playing with so many spectators!  

Way to go, Tigers! You made history!

And thank you to Lauren, who was my golf cart partner and assistant photographer! We had lots of fun during this tournament - laughing and trying to stay warm - going back and forth from one son to the other.  Great memories!

Oklahoma FFA State Convention - 2014

                                     
Last week was the annual Oklahoma FFA State Convention.  This year's theme was "Ignite".  I attended the event, as usual, and enjoyed spending time with our two boys that are in FFA, plus our college daughter came to stay and attend for a little while.

During the Convention, many awards were given for the year of FFA accomplishments.  Both of our sons have competed in various events, but the oldest was awarded with a special award of Proficiency for his Ag Communications/Broadcasting work.

He's already working on trying to win 1st in this division next year, although 2nd is great, too!

There are so many neat things to see, do and hear while at the convention. This year, sand artist Joe Castillo performed. He was amazing!

I think someone said he had been on America's Got Talent. I found his website at joecastillo.com, if you are interested in watching his work.  He was a spiritual man, which was evident by his words.

The State Chorus was great again this year, though no one from our small town was in it for a change.  Oklahoma FFA Alumni, Colte Julian was part of the group and entertained the audience with his Jerry Lee Lewis style!

Perhaps the best part of this year's convention, to me, was the last keynote speaker, Walter Bond.  Walter is a former NBA player turned motivational speaker.  We watched some of his speeches on YouTube, so if you're interested, you can check him out! He was great and inspiring!

We had a big group of FFA members this year, even with five or six missing at the time of this picture!

FFA in Oklahoma is probably different.  A prayer was held at the beginning of the convention.  People tell about their faith in God, their love for Jesus, and they give glory to God throughout the whole thing.  That doesn't happen everywhere.  I'm thankful that it does here.

As we were leaving, I saw this group praying together.  Guess who it was?  The new officers who had just found out they would be leading the 2014-2015 FFA year.  That's what makes this organization great - at least in Oklahoma - and hopefully all around the world.

WE'RE HEADED TO STATE!!

For the first time EVER in our high school's history, our golf team is headed to STATE!  The team placed 6th to become the final team out of 12 to make the cut yesterday!  Congratulations, boys!

For our family, this is extra-special, because our two middle boys play on the team together.  Jacob isn't quite as big of a golf fan as his older brother, but decided to play, anyway.  We're glad he did! He's improved tremendously and is now enjoying the sport and techniques of improving his play.

Zachary is passionate about golf. He has been on the golf team for all five years of its existence, beginning in junior high.  Now, in his Junior year in high school, his (and other's) hard work has paid off!

As a fan, golf is interesting.  You don't pay an entrance fee, but you can pay for - or bring - a golf cart. Pretty comfy seats for this sporting event!  But, the event lasts several hours. This even was 36 holes, beginning at 8:00 a.m. in the morning and ending about 5:30 p.m.

But then we played the waiting game.....
For an hour and a half we waited to find out the results of the other teams.  Can you imagine waiting an hour and a half to see if a team won a basketball game or football game?  How about not knowing how your team was doing until after each quarter?  What about not knowing your standings until half-time?  What if you couldn't tell how your teammates were doing?  Golf is an interesting sport!

So we made it!  By two shots....beating out two other teams by just that little bit....to get the final 6th placing to make it to State.  We made it!  I say "we", but I didn't do any of the work :).  THEY MADE IT! What a GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT!  But "we", as a community, as a school, as the golf family as a whole....made it!

And we're excited!  

The State games will be long, too.  Thirty-six holes one day. Eighteen the next.  Two days of play.  We're not sure how the teams will be ranked.  We're not sure what will happen.  We do know we're glad to get to be there.  We know that our boys will play hard and try their best.  And that's what matters!

Here are a few other pictures from the golf game.  There were tons of ladybugs on the greens!  I wonder if they placed many there intentionally - for the greens health?

And this picture: Little brother helping his older brothers by taking their pull carts to the vehicle for them.  Our daughter is out of college, so so was able to be there, too. Our WHOLE family was there together.  Very special! And we will be for the State games, too! That's pretty neat.

Congratulations, Tigers! We're proud of you!