The New School Year

Today, I officially have a second grader and a fifth grader.

Oh, my lands, do I feel OLD.

(I also have a pre-schooler still, but she does not start school until after Labor Day.)

But, I digress.

This morning, we got up and successfully got Kate AND Abigail off to another year of elementary school.  It's Kate's last year there, so I'm a bit sad...

Any-hoo, here are the official "Back to School" photos of my babies.

Here is Abby, giving me the "2" for second grade.




Here is Miss Kate, showing off her brand new backpack.

And here are the sisters, ready for a great first day!
Happy "Back to School!"

'Twas the Night Before School...

'Twas the night before school started,

and all through the house,

not a creature was stirring,

except for the pet mouse.

The new backpacks were hung

on their hooks with care,

just waiting for morning...

the time was almost there!

The children were nestled

all snug in their beds,

while visions of new crayons 

danced in their heads.

And mom in her old t-shirt

sat still on the chair

thinking that once morning comes,

she'll have hardly a care!

Except, "Will they like their new classes?"

"Will their lunches be all right?"

"Can she reach the hook on her locker?"

Oh... this may be a long night...

"Should I walk them to class,

or drop them at the door?"

"Will they remember their manners,

or leave their stuff all over the floor?"

"Have I taught them all the things

that they really need to know,

Will they feel confident about themselves

and let their true feelings show?"

Thoughts ran wild

through Mom's head,

But by bedtime she knew,

she had nothing to dread.

She had taught them the way

In which they should go,

Once they got to school,

the right way they will know.

She could let them go on,

with a hug and a kiss

even though she knew, tomorrow,

her babies she would miss!

She locked all the doors

and turned out the lights,

but not before going upstairs

and kissing each baby "good night."

And I heard her exclaim

as she crawled into bed,

"Happy New School Year to all!

We have nothing to dread!"

Meet the Teacher Night

Last night was "Meet the Teacher" night for my oldest two kid-o's.

Pictures, you ask?

Of course not... I forgot the camera.

Not that you all would be SURPRISED by that... I always forget the camera!!

Any-hoo, it was a success, and now the girly's are ready to go back to school.  They were quite excited to see all their friends.  Actually, believe it or not, yesterday was the VERY FIRST TIME all summer that I have heard one of them say "I'm bored".  That's pretty good...

We have a FULL weekend planned on this, our last weekend before we go back to school.  At first I though I'd try and make them go to bed early and practice getting up early, but then I thought, "Oh, well... why ruin the last few days of summer?"  (Really, I'm thinking why ruin my last few days of sleeping late? ha ha)

Enjoy the last few days, my friends!!  Monday is quickly approaching...

Fishin'

We took the girls out to the farm and took them fishing in the pond.  What fun!  While we were out there, just look what we found hiding in the tall grass!Yep, it was the cutest little baby goat you've ever seen.  We loaded him up in the back of the truck and took him back to the goat herd.  It was AMAZING to watch him find his mama... he cried one time, and she came running.  None of the other mama goats even turned their heads to look at him!!

After helping "baby goat" find his mama, we did a little fishing.  All the kids caught fish!

In this pic, Abby and Grace both caught a fish at the same time.

Here I am with Grace and her fish.  She named him "Flippy".   She was quite upset when we threw him back!!  After a few minutes, she caught another fish, and she got REALLY excited, and shouted, "Flippy!!  You came back to me!"  
Here's Kate with her fish.  Note the beads... one can't go fishing without the PERFECT accessories!!!!!
We had a ball going fishin'!!

20 Years? Amazing!

This weekend, I had plans to go to my 20th reunion of my high school class back in Arkansas.

  Long story short, I moved when I was 16.  Not a good thing, really, for a teenager.  I thought my life was O.V.E.R. - I moved schools and was pretty miserable for a while.  But, everything eventually worked out swimmingly.  Because, really, had I stayed in Arkansas, I likely would not have attended Baylor, and thus would not have met my amazing husband.  So, clearly, I was supposed to move, and my life has turned out quite well!!  

However, because of the move, I did lose touch with most of those friends back home.  20 years later, (GASP!  That's a long time!) these same friends planned a reunion and were nice and thoughtful enough to include me.  I was excited about it, and had planned to go for months.

As often happens when you have children, one of mine got SICK two days before the family was set to leave on the great reunion adventure.  Grace got an earache and the "pukes".  Really, that's not such a good thing when you're planning an 8-hour road trip!  So, we pushed back the departure date by a day.  Still no luck.  The fever was hanging on. So, we pushed it back ONE. MORE. DAY., hoping she would be well.

When we woke up Friday morning, Grace still had fever, and the trip was a big, fat "No Go."  I was quite sad, really, as we crawled back into the bed.  I was ready for a road trip!!  All of a sudden, Luke sat up in the bed and said, "You should still go.  Take the big girls, and just go. Grace and I can stay here.  We'll be fine."  I was about to laugh out loud, and suddenly I realized that he was dead serious.  This man was really willing to take care of a puking pre-schooler so I could go see my old friends.  Amazing.  After talking it over for a few minutes, I decided to just go for it.  We woke up the big girls, told them the new plan, and HIT THE ROAD!!!  

The reunion was a blast.  I DID remember my camera, but haven't uploaded pics yet... luckily, my old friends have already uploaded their pics to FaceBook, so I was able to copy and paste them!!

Here I am with one of my DEAREST childhood friends, Debbie.  She still looks just like she did 20 years ago.  Amazing.

This is my friend, Andy.  He grew up and quit playing pranks on everybody and is now a lawyer.  Amazing.


This is me with Abby and Kate, walking up to the family picnic.  My friend, Jason, was waiting at the gate taking photos of everyone as they walked in.  The expression on my face is pretty funny.  I was seeing everybody for the first time.  Amazing.
Here is a picture of all the classmates that came to the picnic.  Amazing.
And, finally, here is a pic of all the classmates from the dinner that night.  Amazing.
I had an "amazing" time, and it was all thanks to my AMAZING husband, who knew that I needed to go and see these people from 20 years ago.  

Thanks, babe.  I love you very much, and am so lucky because you are AMAZING!!!!

Camping 2009

Last week we went on a big camping trip to the Palo Duro Canyon.  It was wonderful!  How can I describe it?  Beautiful, hot, busy, mosquito-ridden, wild... I can't even think of enough words.  I didn't even know this place existed until a few months ago, and now it is a place where we will surely return.

Look at the sun shining down across that red soil...
We also went to see the musical "Texas" in the Pioneer Ampitheater in the canyon.  Our camp site was so close we just walked over to the show.  Folks, it was FANTASTIC.  I can't recommend it highly enough.  The girls LOVED it.  Here we are, waiting for the show to start.
Before the show, they pick a child out of the audience to go up on stage and do a little singing and dancing for the audience.  Wouldn't you know it, Kate was the kid chosen!  HOW did he know that she loves the spotlight?  I don't know, but she loved it.  Here's my little star...
Here's hubby with the girls on the rim of the canyon.
And here are Kate and Abby, out hiking in the canyon.
There was SO much more that we did, but (as usual), my country-fried internet makes the uploading of more pics truly painful.  If I'm feeling adventurous, I might try and upload some more tomorrow.  

If you have a little time, say a quick prayer for Miss Gracie.  She's pretty sick right now... fever, stomach stuff, and an ear infection.  She's on medicine, but pray that she heals quickly.  We are trying to sneak in one more quick trip this weekend before school starts, and we ARE NOT GOING if she's throwing up!  Nobody would enjoy that...

Happy Wednesday!

More SMC Pics...

Just in case you hadn't seen enough pics from SMC '09, here come some more!! :-)  I promised some "close-up" shots of the stage and the scenery, which the children made in craft class.  (Just as an aside, let me say, "Sweet Mercy!!!  My country-fried internet took F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to upload these.  It was painful, friends.  Painful.  And then, blogger didn't even put them in the order in which I loaded them!!  Grrr.")  OK!  Enough of my little fit there... on with the show (in no particular order!! ha ha)

Around the baptistry, we made huge crowns.  The kids cut out and glittered giant jewels to adorn these crowns, because the name of the musical was "Good KINGS Come in Small Packages."  (Get it: kings... crowns... I know you're feeling me here!)  Then we took brightly colored gossamer fabric and draped it around the crowns.  There were crowns on both sides of the baptistry, which framed the cross at the back.
The best parts of the stage BY FAR were the HUGE 11 foot long banners that the kids painted to look like giant  stained glass windows.  We made these out of black canvas and then used painters tape to make it look like stained glass.  Then the kids painted it with shiny iridescent paint, so it looked like the "windows" were illuminated from the other side.  Then we took gold fabric and made symbols from the musical to adorn each pane of the "window".  I still can't believe how well these turned out.  I love them!
During part of the musical, the kids sang a song about the 10 commandments.  One of the gals working on the musical spent the better part of the week making these numbers (one through ten, of course) out of foam insulation board.  After she painted them black, we took them and used the pre-schoolers hands to make hand prints all over them.  Then, during the song, as the children sang about each commandment, a child held up the corresponding number.  They turned out super cute, even if T.J. did have to work on them for a week!!  ;-)  Here is number 10:
So, finally, here is a shot of the entire stage.  It looked great!  
Thanks, craft team, and thanks CAMPERS, for a job well done!

FBC SMC 2009

It's a "photo fest" today, all about our church's Summer Music Camp last week.  We were fortunate enough to have a professional photographer document our week, and then make all the images available to us.  SO... even on the days where I forgot my camera, I have photos!  LOVE IT!!!

I love this photo... This is Abby and Hope, who were both in the Yellow Yak Group.  They both wore an old VBS shirt, which said "Upon this rock I will build my church."  Perfect message, since these kids are the future of our church and our faith.Miss Grace was a Purple Panda for the week.  She particularly enjoyed crafts...

Here is the FABULOUS crafty staff...
... and here is "Little Purple Riding Hood."  I don't know why, but she adored the purple bandana that her group leader gave her, and insisted on wearing it like this.
Here is the group photo of all the campers and staff.  You can see the stage a little bit here, but I'll upload a close-up of it from my camera later.
Here is our fabulous music minister, John, leading all the little singers. (Abby is right there in front in her Yellow shirt.)
Here's Miss Ab, singing loudly.
Grace, playing hard.
Here I am, helping Kate and Miss Trinity paint the banners.  Look at all that tape!  We placed each piece of tape on, one at a time before the kids started to paint.  It took FOREVER!!!!
Here is Miss Abby at "water day".  Safe to say, she's having a blast!
Gracie loves the bubbles.
Here is Kate, who played the role of one of the palace cooks, named Elizabeth.  She's practicing her solo here.
During rec time, Bridgette came up with some FUNNY games.  Not only did the kids bob for apples...
... they also bobbed for VEGETABLES, like potatoes and even carrots!
Here are kate and Grace with friends inside the Moon Jump at the Carnival on Friday.
It was a fabulous week.  Thanks to everyone who had a part in it, especially our Music Minister, John!  John and his lovely wife, Lindsay, are moving on to a new call at a new church, and we will miss them SO MUCH!!  Thanks for all you've done, and good luck!  We love you!

Day 4!

Today we finished the banners and the crowns, and got them all hung up.  Whew!  What a relief!  I must say... I think the stage looks wonderful.  I *heart* it so much.  I didn't take a photo today, but I will tomorrow.

The children took their musical over to a local nursing home today and performed it for the residents.  I heard it was a rousing success.  I didn't SEE it, mind you, because I was busy decorating the stage!

Tomorrow is the final day for Summer Music Camp '09.  I'm a little happy, and a little sad, to be quite honest.  It has been so great.  My children have had SO MUCH FUN.  I was quite concerned about little Grace, but she has had a ball.  Today she didn't want to leave!

Friday is also the Camp Carnival.  The "crafty divas" (my team and myself) are also in charge of the carnival.  Pray that it all goes smoothly, and that the children have A BLAST.  Also, please pray that their performance goes smoothly, and that someone is touched by it.  Pray that people will see the Lord through these children and their gifts!

Day 3!

  Day 3 of FBC's Summer Music Camp is now history.  Today was "water day".  We rent a huge inflatable slide that sprays water, the local fire department comes and hoses the kids down from the fire truck, and the recreation team plans games that all revolve around getting wet.  It is, hands down, the most fun thing for the kids.  They LOVE it!  Of course, today it rained and was the coolest day thus far in July.  Did that stop water day?  NO!  The kids had a ball anyway.

In the morning hours, the crafty people finished off our banners and then the kids worked on a photo block to take home at the end of the week.

It all looks AWESOME.  Tomorrow we will get all the banners and scenery hung. I can hardly wait to see it!

The kids are having the best time, and are learning so much about God and His great love or them.  Please continue to pray for our camp, and that ultimately it will lead His children to Him.