Be As You Are

April Showers

April showers can change your life FOREVER. 

Wednesday, April 27, 2011.  A day that all Cleveland, Tennessee residents will never forget.  It will be one of those events that we’ll be telling our grandchildren about.  We will always remember the who, what, when and where’s of Wednesday 4.27.11.  If you do not live in the Tennessee Valley then you probably have no idea what I’m talking about.  Our little down did not make it past the local news coverage yet the devastation is …

As of Sunday, there are now 285 homeless families in Cleveland alone.   Hundreds more are living in structures that experienced some sort of damage.  Talking with friends who are using snow shovels to clean insulation out of their living rooms and finding debris in kitchen cabinets.  Heartbreaking!  This is unlike anything we have ever experienced and I pray it’s a “once in a lifetime” occurrence because “once” is one too many in my opinion!

It will take months to sort through the rubble and begin rebuilding.  However, it is amazing to watch our community band together and help each other.  Forget everything I have ever said about this town.  I never want to leave!  Cleveland (Tennessee) ROCKS!!!!!

Both school systems have been out since Wednesday.  Our system returned to class today (Monday).  The county system had two schools destroyed and those kids will be out for at least another week.  Everyone is starving for a bit of normalcy.  Homeowners worked around the clock this past weekend and many could not wait to return to their jobs/careers Monday morning.  Ball games resumed tonight.  Many players were missing and teams were playing with slim line-ups.  The kids on the field needed to be out there ~ running out their frustrations and anxiety.  Those not in attendance, I’m sure, wanted to be there instead of picking up the remains of their property before the next round of rains arrive.  This particular player managed to make us all smile tonight:

Have you ever seen such a sight?  This gal has been begging to play catcher.  Tonight was her lucky night.  Most kids do not like that position but all I can say is “it’s in her blood”.

Not only did she get to play the much-anticipated catcher position, she also scored THREE runs!!!  Way to go!

Clean up and relief will resume Tuesday morning.  For now, we shall savor the happiness/entertainment that Little League softball brings to our family.

Wildlife

(Cades Cove, March 22, 2011)

Our little “wild one” seemed perplexed by this sign.  Will she ever have food again?  What about hugs from mom and dad?  Don’t worry sweetheart, we will gladly pay any of the mentioned fines for you!

Acceptance

This blog post needs a little refresher.  For that, I will reference you to this entry ~ Play date.

It has taken some time for this sweetie to warm up to our crazy family but I think she has finally decided to accept us.  Just take a look at this photo and tell me what you think:

Saturday afternoon we had the pleasure of joining Janelle and her family to celebrate Big Brother’s 5th birthday.  This photo makes me laugh for so many reasons.  Just look at that sweet face framed with the fur trimmed coat hood.  And that smile…..  These three girls are blessings to us all.

They Did It!!!!

After weeks of talks with mom, dad, and various girlfriends at school, Stella and Anna decided it was TIME to get their ears pierced.  There were some last minute jitters (mostly from mom) but the employee at Claire’s was incredible!!!!  She eased everyone’s fears and the festivities moved forward.  Stella selected Hello Kitty earrings and Anna chose Rainbow Daisy gems.  Each girl sat very proudly on the high throne of ear piercing while the very hygienic employee took her time to mark, inspect, and pierce each ear.  There were no tears…only a few firm hand squeezes and bear hugs.  Voila!  In a few short weeks (6 to be exact), the Sherrill girls will be ready for some serious earring shopping.

It was a very memorable day.  The “thanks mom for letting us get our ears pierced” continue to fill the air in our home and that makes it all worth while.

Sweet and Sassy

Love this photo of my sweet “baby” nurturing her doll.

It appears that she has been shopping for Baby Alive.  Just look at that cart filled with diapers and food for the little tike.  Now, we all know that mothers are very protective of their young.  All is well until danger presents itself….

Don’t mess with this sassy girl!  She is armed with her brother’s BB gun and not afraid to use it.

Introducing Gnorm

Meet Gnorm the Gnome.  He joined our family earlier this week and couldn’t be happier.  Just look at that face (hehe).  During a brief trip to Hobby Lobby with the family in tow, Jeff and the kids somehow made their way over to the garden trinket aisle and found this sweetie.  I’ve never been a fan of garden/yard ornaments but Gnorm is different.  Again, look at that face.  The girls chose him because he was accompanied by the little birdie on the sign. 

Pretty sure that Gnorm will become a regular fixture in family photos so beware.  As the kids grow older, mom’s camera can sometimes get boring.  Gnorm will serve as a stand-in during those difficult periods of unwilling children.  Welcome to the family Gnorm! Gnow smile for the camera!!!

Game Time

Where did Christmas 2010 go?  Cannot believe it is now “history” and we are hours away from ushering in a new year.  This afternoon I was going through the few photos taken over Christmas and found this one:

 

Everyone received loads of great gifts.  One of those gifts was the game called Hedbandz.  Players are required to wear these lovely blue plastic headbands with a game card attached.  The object of the game is to ask “yes/no” questions in order to find out what you “are”.  It’s harder than it sounds and hilarious seeing everyone outfitted in their game gear.  Little Lotso Loving bear (from Toy Story 3) is thrilled to be playing!

“Start Me Up…..”

Santa can keep his cookies, Mrs. Clause is loving the Peppermint Mocha! 

Up On the Housetop…..

Stella with her music teacher Mrs. Rita

So proud of Miss Stella.  Tonight she performed in her first piano recital.  Up until last Thursday, we assumed that the Christmas recital was a no-go due to a scheduling conflict.  As luck would have it, the music academy had the dates confused and it worked to Stella’s advantage.  With only four days to perfect her number, Miss Stella practiced and practiced for her first public performance.  She did a great job playing “Up On the Housetop”. 

Baby It’s Cold Outside

Here in East Tennessee we are experiencing winter weather.  Parts of our area saw significant snow this morning while the rest of us simply enjoyed the COLD temps.  In my opinion, this weather is acceptable as Christmas preparations are underway.  Helps instill the Christmas spirit.

Saturday night our town held it’s annual Christmas parade.  The weather was mild at the start but cooled down very rapidly.  Prior to leaving the house, I pulled the insulated mugs out of the cabinets and started hot chocolate preparations.  One problem, no hot chocolate mix in the house.  WHAT??????  99.9% of the time, the following three items can be found in the Sherrill pantry: canned pumpkin, Cream of (Anything) soup, and hot chocolate mix.  This just happened to be the 0.01% time when the pantry was void of such staple item.  Honesty, I think What to do?  Pull out the computer and start a search for hot chocolate recipes.  Found this particular recipe and it’s a WINNER!!!!

FLUFFY HOT CHOCOLATE

8 teaspoons sugar

4 teaspoons baking cocoa

4 cups milk

1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a saucepan, heat sugar, cocoa, milk, and marshmallows over medium heat until marshmallows are melted.  Remove from heat, add vanilla, and ladle into cups. 

That’s it!  So simple yet so good.  Helped to keep our crew nice and warm as we enjoyed the hometown parade.