WOW what a TEACHER!

I knew at the age of two that my daughter Katherine had a "gift" for seeing what needed to be done and doing it...not just doing it but doing it to the best of her ability! I didn't know how this would manifest itself, until her high school years, when she made the decision to become a kindergarten teacher...just like her mom! My heart just leaps for joy when I have the opportunity to visit her classroom (it's several hours away so it doesn't happen as often as I would like for it too) and observe first hand the excellent teacher that she has become. Not only does her mom know this but her coworkers honored her with "Teacher of the Year" for 2010 and her parents nominated her for "Walmart Teacher of the Year" in 2009 and she won. Last year she finished her masters in elementary education and her National Boards all in the same year solidifying my impresions of her when she was two years old. All of this lets me see that she is using her God given talents and I have to admit...in only 5 years, she is a better teacher than her mom after 32 years of teacher. AND that my friends is a BLESSING indeed!

Legacy

You can see my grandniece twins having fun hiding under this round oak table at my mother's (the twins great grandmother) house.  Hearing them giggle and play, reminded me of my childhood days.  I loved to play with my big sister (the twins grandmother) under this very same table.  Crawling between the posts, pretending it was a carousel, or just hanging out in my own little world-this table provided hours of entertainment.  It is an antique that was purchased from an old hotel by my father about 55 years ago.  I always thought it would be neat if the top would rotate like a lazy susan.  It almost looked like it was designed for just that very purpose.  Many hours of conversation have taken place around this round table, many stories told, many games played and when this table makes it way to my sisters house, the legacy will continue... which is a  blessing indeed!

Happy Birthday Mattie and Ella

The grandniece twins turned two on Sunday, August 23rd, and the birthday celebration was a Noah's Ark themed party, at a town park, conveniently adjacent to their home.  Two years old and two by two, just like Noah's Ark (they have a very creative mom that is a pastor).  Each twin had their very own cake shaped like a cloud and a rainbow of cupcakes connected the cakes, carrying out the Biblical theme.  In this picture Mattie, the youngest, is in front with Ella behind her and they are dressed in birthday girl t-shirts with birthday bows for their hair.  They have Easter Egg cupcakes in their hands which is something they made during the party when their Uncle Joe (my creative hubby aka Unka Doe) found a left over plastic Easter Egg on the playground and showed them how to pack wet sand in the Easter egg making a cupcake.  It's hard for me to believe they are two years old but I have thoroughly enjoyed every precious minute with these two during the past two years; in the beginning when they grasped my little finger in the incubator, during the days of balancing two in my lap with a bottle in each hand, during the days when they ran down the hall at preschool with out stretched arms shouting, "NANA, NANA",  during the hide and seek games when they would giggle as I found them, during the "snuggle" times holding their "loveys"-reading... book, after book, after book, and then on to the day when they gave me a great big hug and whispered, "I love you"!  Well, readers...it just doesn't get better than this!  I feel like I've experienced a little bit of heaven here on earth as I've had the privilege of being a special part of the first two years of their lives.  Unconditional love-without a doubt and that is a BLESSING indeed!

Kissing Cousins

I am blessed with a LARGE extended family and many of us live close enough to get together several times each year.  My mom had 10 siblings, so I have 23 first cousins just from that side of the family.  Then of course, the cousins married... had kids, the kids had kids, and the kids,kids had kids...you get the idea!  In this group of cousins we have three sets of twins.  On Sunday, we had the opportunity to have dinner with about 5o of the cousins and two sets of twins were able to make it.  My grandnieces will be 2 on August 23rd and the other twins shown in the picture (the boy and girl behind Ella and Mattie), turned 7 on Monday.  Their grandmother, my aunt Elizabeth, is also in the picture along with my niece and nephew, parents of the grandniece twins.  The warmth and love in that room was just overwhelming and knowing that I could count on each of them as lifelong friends is a blessing indeed!  And the memories we share...PRICELESS!  The memories we continue to make, one dinner at a time...REMARKABLE!

Low Country Boil

A favorite summer meal at my house is a "Low Country Boil" with shrimp or crab legs.  It's quick, easy and cooks in one pot!   Clean up is a breeze with just one pot to clean and clearing the table requires wadding everything up into one big newspaper ball.  After an afternoon around the pool, there is "nothin" finer-in all of Carolina, than a "Low Country Boil" at the Carson house.  This is a picture of the recent "Crab Leg Boil" with my son Ben (the Methodist Minister) and his beautiful wife Jenny.  They were home for the weekend to attend Ben's 10 year reunion with his high school class of 1999 and it was such a delight having them home but an added blessing was having so many of his high school buddies stopping by to visit too.  It's hard to believe that I'm old enough to have a son that was attending a 10 year class reunion but as the years have passed, I've realized that each year continues to bring rich blessings from God and that the future will be the same with so much to look forward too.  A "Low Country Boil," family time around the table, visits from long time friends...a blessing indeed!

Celebrations

I haven't blogged in so long that I had to update my profile.  It has been a busy several months but I have been blessed in so many ways.  The picture above is from a fantastic July 4th celebration with friends that live on a beautiful lake nearby.  They also had a cake to celebrate my birthday which was the day before the 4th.  It had those fun trick  candles on it that made it impossible to blow out and they even sang Happy Birthday to this aging 57 year old.    It was a pleasant surprise, a great evening, and a blessing indeed!

Here are a few updates:  a great anniversary- now married 34 years, the twins are so much fun and will celebrate their 2nd birthday on Aug. 23rd,  my kids are busy and happy, I just returned from a fantastic vacation in Chicago with hubby,  we head to Savannah, GA this weekend for a wedding celebration,  I've hired a new director for the preschool I founded 24 years ago and this has been very time consuming but rewarding, and I am continually blessed with the fruits of my labor from my vegetable and flower garden.   Please forgive me for the lack of blogging.  I will try to do better but I must confess... I do enjoy face book and I spend WAY to much time on it.  Find me, if you haven't already, Nancy Goforth Carson.

Graduation 2009

It was so much fun celebrating with my sisters family during her daughters graduation from high school.  I felt so honored to be a part of all the festivities, surrounded by 18 year old mature young adults, that renewed my faith in our younger generation.  They are bright, enthusiastic, adventurous, grounded, and intelligent.  Jordan thanks for letting me be a part of this very important day in your life.  You are a beautiful young lady with so many God given talents.  You have the future in the palm of your hand and I look forward to the great things that God has planned for your life.  I am so blessed to be a part of it all!