Driskill Mountain Adventure

Yes, Louisiana has a Mountain (well sort of). Caleb and Ethan were begging for an adventure the other day so we decided to head to the highest point of Louisiana.

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We had a great time exploring and climbing. We met a few people that this will be their 32nd Highest point they have been to. We found deer tracks, dog tracks, a big leaf, and we got to use some great walking sticks. Caleb wanted to venture off the trail, so from pretty close to the top we went down the steep side barreling through the woods. It was great fun. We will have to take Mommy next time.

Murphy Family Christmas

Christmas morning was wonderful.

Jill and I woke up early so we could see the kids reaction when they got up.
Caleb was up first (around 5:30am) so we woke Ethan (way too early for him).

I was confused on the season and got Jill a couple of swim suits. While Jill on the other hand got me a some great winter bicycling gear. Biking gloves, long sleeve jersey and a cycling Gortex windbreaker.

The remote control car, bikes and bike ramp were a hit.

Then we ended up at Nanna and Pops house where Caleb got his long awaited mp3 player. He had been opening every smaller box first all morning hunting for it. Ethan was in love with his new art kit. Then we went outside to try out Ethan's "pitching machine". They were hitting "homeruns" left and right.

This has been a great morning opening gifts, singing Christmas songs in the car and hanging out with family.

It has been a Merry Christmas.

Christmas Reflection

This year I was able to participate in a wonderful new tradition(at least I hope it becomes a tradition) at our Church. Trinity UMC adopted Ruston Elementary school for Christmas. We as a church purchased books and Sweatshirts for everystudent.  Small groups, Sunday school classes and other groups connected with the church adopted individual classes and were supposed to throw a party for the class.  Our small group got to work with Mrs. Garner's 5th grade class.

I was able to go meet the teacher and the students in late Novemeber. I took pictures of the students and found out that they are a group of kids that likes to read. I told them how we wanted to make Ruston a better place and that we couldn't think of a better way than for us to make a difference in the youth of our community. Since they are the future of Ruston.  We made a prayer sheet of the class so our small group could pray for the students. 

It was exciting discussing with our small group what we were going to do for the party and what else did we want to get for the students besides books and a sweatshirt.  So we opted to get a bunch of school supply refills that Mrs. Garner mentioned, and we also ordered a 100 books from Sch0lastic Books so each kid got 5 books. There were some grammer board games Mrs. Garner mentioned that we got for her too.  

The party was fun.  We had 3 stations set up. One for decorating and eating cupcakes. Another for playing a Christmas Bingo game, and the last one for decorating an ornament with their picture on it.   We told stories and then handed out the gifts.  I got to over hear one of the students saying how impressed she was.  She thought it was going to be some kind of cheap gifts. She really appreciated the nice sweatshirt.

I kept the prayer sheet on my desk in my office and would pray for them as we approached the day of the party. I had hoped that I would remember a few of the kids names at the party (no such luck). The thing that may seem really simple, but made a big impression on me was while we were gathering in the hallway outside the office to prepare the party.  A bunch of the students that I had met from Mrs. Garner's class weeks before recognized me and remembered my name.  It was amazing to me that such a little investment of time and they were able to remember me.  I hope that more than them remembering me that they know that the creator of the universe cares for them much more than I was able to show them in these few short visits.

Also the other thing that left a big impression on me was that all 450 students in each class at the entire school was having a similar experience as we were having in Mrs. Garner's class.  It was special to watch my friends care for these students in Mrs. Garner's class and knowing the same was going on all over the school was awesome. There were so many people at Ruston Elementary school serving and loving on the students that parking was a problem. They were constantly announcing over the intercom for someone to move their vehicle.  It was an amazing experience to participate in.

I wasn't a leader in making this outreach happen, but for whatever reason I felt very connected to what happened. Maybe it was that I got to do the interviews for a video to promote this project, maybe it was that I was able to meet the students and Mrs. Garner one extra time, or maybe it was the prayer sheet with all the kids faces.  Whatever it was, this will be one part of Christmas I hope to remember.

Here is the video I produced to promote this outreach.

Lego League in the paper

http://www.latech.edu/technews/viewnews.cgi?category=1&id=1229548116

This article about the Lego league stuff Caleb and I participated in apeared also in the Ruston Daily Leader.

Lego Robot competition

The Lightning Pups in action at the La Lego League Tournament.

Caleb and Conner



Nathan and Peter

Lightning Pups - Climate News Rap

This is Caleb and the team's presentation they did on Climate.

LA Lego League Tournament

AE Phillips Rookie Team: Lightning Pups

Well, it was amazing. We went to New Orleans this weekend to compete in a Lego League Tournament.  Yes, I said "Lego Tournament".  Some people think the kids sit around a table and build stuff with Lego's and the biggest tower wins, but that is now what this is about.  Check out the First Lego League website.  

Caleb and his teammates had to build a Lego robot to complete a number of challenges.  The kids also had to do a research on this years topic of Climate and do a presentation.  They did a Climate News Rap.  They did a great job. The team brainstormed the idea, wrote the lines and did all the work themselves.  They had to also do a team work challenge.  This was a fun challenge they walked into a room, the judges read the description of the task and they had to start.  The team was judged on how well they performed as a team.  This is one of the parts I was the most proud about.  They did an incredible job of sharing, encouraging and working together.  I was so proud! The last of the four challenges was the design challenge.  They had to go into a room alone with the judges with their robot and answer questions about their design.  

We had a great time.  The kids did wonderful.  Here are some pictures(video to be uploaded soon).

I had a great time with the kids.  It was hard to be the coach sometimes because I wanted to play with the robot instead of letting the boys do all the work.  It was great fun and the kids did so well.  Especially for going as a rookie team. 

Also for fun here are some pictures Caleb took with his camera while we were in New Orleans:

CalebPOV