Sledin in a Winter Wonderland

As I alluded too in a previous post, we recently returned from Pennsylvania. Although we were there for the funeral of Katrina's grandmother, we also had some time for fun as well. One of the benefits of being in the northeast in the winter is SNOW - something we rarely get to experience in Chattanooga. My children had their first experience with snow last year, but as those of you who live in Chattanooga will remember, it was not much (less than .5 inch) and was all melted by noon. I have added some pictures of the Corcoran's first sledding experience.

You may notice that my brother-in-law (Kraig) and I appear to be standing on the sled in one of the pictures. Since we did not have a snowboard readily available, we improvised and used our sled for a snowboard. This was our 3rd day of sledding and we were looking for a challenge! The falling from this great(?) idea caused soreness that lasted for several days! Some would call this redneck snowboarding!

If you would like to see more sledding pictures, you may visit my "My Space" page. as well.

The Best Restaurant You've Never Been Too!

I just finished eating my annual "Birthday Meal." For the last couple of years my in-laws have taken our family out to the restaurant of my choice for my birthday meal. Katrina's family has a tradition of meeting and eating together (usually somewhere between Murfreesboro and Chattanooga) to celebrate the birthday. With my birthday being on Christmas, we always are in middle Tennessee area which means that I get to eat at my favorite restaurant in all the world!
My wife and I actually went to this restaurant on our first date as well, so it is special for this reason too! If your ever in Murfreesboro (or Nashville, Hendersonville or Lebanon!) you need to try this place! Many BBS teachers can testify, if we are up that way for school meetings I try really hard to work a trip to Demos' into our itinerary! Click here to see some of the awards they have won.
Some of my favorite items on the menu are their great steaks (of course!), their grilled chicken tenders (Katrina's favorite), bread, CHEESE bread, soup and the best spaghetti! Because it is an Italian Steak House, you get a side of spaghetti with every meal. They have probably 10 different kinds of spaghetti to choose from. My personal favorite is the "Brown butter and Garlic." Give it a try - you will be glad you did!

Overwelmed!

Whew! What a week! Do you ever feel like you are living life at warp speed? Last week I was busy in the business of school. We were wrapping up our fall semester with the best Christmas program that I have ever had the privilege of watching at BBS. The program was excellent. I heard many times from numerous parents about how awesome the program was. I was truly proud to be involved at Brainerd Baptist School. Once the program was over, I was surprised once again! Mike King (with the help of Robin Morris) surprised me with a bag full of birthday cards (and many surprising gifts!) from parents and students from our school. Katrina and I stayed up late sorting through the cards and reading all the kind words. The comments that students and parents shared with me truly encouraged me! Words will not describe how much I appreciate all the kind words and gifts that were showered on me. I do not deserve it all!
On Sunday, Katrina's grandmother (who resided in Pennsylvania) passed away. The Corcoran's loaded up in a van and drove 13 hours to attend the viewing and funeral. Those of you who have traveled long distances with 3 children understand the fun of this experience!
This created a struggle for me. Those of you that know me well, know how I can struggle managing my schedule. I had two scheduled tours on Monday and Tuesday with prospective families, several meetings with parents, four teacher observations, an important parent meeting scheduled, and basketball practice on tab for the 3 days of school. To add to the busyness, one of our teachers lost her husband. In addition to my school life, my son (Andrew) had his Christmas Around the World project (that we had worked hard on!) due and my other two children had their Christmas parties. This was not a good week to be gone! God has his own timing though.
My incredible staff stepped up and filled in for me where they could, and helped reschedule the things that could wait (sometimes I really wonder why I am even here!). The lessons that I learned from this are: 1.) You are never as important as you think you are; 2.) I have incredibly talented people that surround me and really do not get the credit that they deserve!

I type all this to say - Thank you so much parents and students for your gifts and cards. Thank you staff for the kind words, cards, phone calls, and emails that were sent to us this week. You know you are blessed when the people you work with care enough to show your family love and support when they are going through a rough time.

The Corcoran's have arrived to middle Tennessee and are excited to be celebrating Christmas with our families. I know that I will be making my way out tomorrow to purchase my last gift of the Christmas season. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!


SIDE NOTE! The Corcoran children had never experienced the joy of sledding! While in Pennsylvania for the funeral, we got to take our children sledding! It was a blast - it is a shame you have to drive 13 hours to enjoy this!

Tis the Season...?

Earlier today I had the joy of accompanying our student council to the First Tennessee Pavilion where we delivered over 900 pounds of food in the annual "Share Your Christmas" food drive that benefits the Chattanooga Area Food Bank. This is the second year that I have gotten to be a part of this great event. Last year, BBS raised over 600 lbs of food, so we were excited that our students increased their giving by such a large amount . The highlight for our students was being interviewed by Latrice Currie , one of the news reporters on WRCB TV3.

The thing that makes me the proudest is that it was organized, led, and completed by our students. We are working very hard to teach our children at Brainerd Baptist School that we do not necessarily have to get an award or have a contest for doing something that the Bible tells us to do - serve others! Serving others is the best way to exemplify the love of Christ. After delivering the food (and getting lunch at the Mellow Mushroom!), our student council continued the theme of service by going to Wal-Mart and shopping for an Angel that was adopted through the Adopt an Angel program.

Today is also the beginning of another service project. Through cooperation with Brainerd Baptist Church, we are collecting coats (gloves & scarfs are accepted too!) for those in our community who are less fortunate. These can be adult or children coats. As we talked about in chapel today, we want our students to understand what it means to serve others. I hope you parents who are reading this will get involved in this project! How many of us have several coats at home that we have not (and WILL NOT) wear this winter season? I know I do. As the BBS community, lets embrace the mindset of serving simply for the joy of doing so, and begin to move away from the mind set of "what is in it for me". Our children need to see us and hear us encourage them with this.

If you have questions about our coat drive please email me!

Tis the season.....for giving! Merry Christmas

Favorite Christmas CD's

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, hence we come to the title of today's post - My Favorite Christmas CD's. As I explained in my first post, my good friend Curtis originally turned me on to the cyber-world of blogging. I must admit that I have become engrossed in it, but at the same time frustrated by it. Those of you who simply sit there and read (Mr. Albert Moose) these ramblings do not understand what a tedious task it becomes to continue posting things. Some weeks are easier than others, but sometimes it is just hard to come up with something, anything interesting to "blog" about. It is with that being said that I come to this blog. I will give credit where credit is due and admit that I stole (or borrowed!) the title from my friends blog.

Through the 14 years that Katrina and I have been together, we have always loved Christmas music. In our early years (before children, when money was not the concern that it is now!) we purchased many Christmas CD's and amassed quite a collection of Christmas music. I would like to share my favorite Christmas CD's and/or songs and would encourage you to share yours as well. Here goes the Corcoran list! (CD's first, then songs)

1. Avalon, JOY - This group has changed several times since this CD came out, but we enjoy every song on this CD. If I only got to pick one CD, this would be it!
2. Steven Curtis Chapman, Music of Christmas - I probably do not even have to explain. Several original songs along with some classics make this one great!
3. Annie Moses Band, Message in a Bottle - We were turned on to this group last year. They did a concert at BBC. Very talented. You will be impressed...check them out
4. Phillips, Craig, & Dean, Repeat the Sounding Joy - This is my all-time favorite group. I own every CD (all 11!) that they have produced. The best song on this CD is Joy to the World, a classic done right!
5. 4-Him, The Season of Love - This CD looks funny because it is one of the first that this group did, and they have a rather 80's look to them. The song "Strange Way to Save the World" is one of my all time favorites
6. The Elf Soundtrack - Probably my most "shared" CD on my Itunes. My children laugh and dance every time we play this one. We also will watch the movie at least 10 times during the Christmas season (we have already watched it twice). It is a "GINORMOUS" hit!
7. The Rat Pack, Christmas with the Rat Pack - Who doesn't love Sinatra, Dean, and Davis Jr. Katrina purchased this CD on her Black Friday shopping spree. NO one can sing like Sinatra!

SONGS - I do not necessarily have the entire CD's that these songs are on, but I enjoy the songs....and with Itunes....who needs the entire CD!?

• Alan Jackson - Let it be Christmas - I agree with Curtis. This is a classic. You can not help but like Alan Jackson
• Alabama - Christmas in Dixie - I once again agree with Curtis. If you are from the south, a strong sense of pride swells in you as you sing along!
• Go Tell It On The Mountain by Phillips, Craig & Dean - The Christmas season does not begin until I hear this song!
• Carol of the Bells by Manheim Steamroller - John Tesh turned me onto this one. In fact, I enjoy all of their music. A new twist to classic songs.
• I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - My kids love to sing this song
• Whitney Houston - Joy to the World - From "The Preacher's Wife" Soundtrack. I realize she is not the talent she used to be, but Whitney could SING!
• Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer - Need I explain this?
• Mark Lowery - Mary Did You Know - A classic that will be sung for generations to come!
• Angels We Have Heard on High - The chorus is the best part!

BONUS - for those of you who have stuck with me this long are most assuredly need to find more important things to read!....I have a treat for you! I am also going to list my all-time favorite Christmas movies (or cartoons!).

• It's A Wonderful Life - One of my all-time favorite movies. I have to watch it every year. I was bummed when NBC bought it and it was no longer shown on all the cable channels like it used to be.
• ELF - There are only a couple of movies that I can watch and laugh like I have never seen them before. My 4 year old daughter absolutely loves this movie. Its a must have!
• Christmas Vacation - Poor old Clark Griswald, he has no good luck!
• Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer - It has to be the original that still comes on CBS. It's great. I still watch it, and am trying to get my children to watch it...they are not as interested in the old style animation!
• Santa Claus - Our family enjoys the sequels as well!
• Home Alone - I realize this could never happen in real life, but it's still funny!

Do you have any suggestions that you would like to make?