Back to school!

I remember back in the day when it was school time.

Mom would take us - all of us - shopping a couple of weeks before school started.

We each got a couple of outfits, some shoes, maybe some socks or underwear. (Those were usually birthday presents.)

But I think the best part was getting the school supplies.  I love school supplies.

To this day, I smile when I see shiny new books, smell that new book smell, or run my hand over a stack of perfect white paper.

I love having everything in order; ready for another year of school.  Love the stack of paper in my organizer.

Love the pile of new pencils just waiting to be sharpened.

Love the new chalk; perfect long sticks that flow so smoothly across my chalkboard.  (By the way, the OMYA brand is the only way to go on chalk.)

Love the stack of colored spiral notebooks; crisp, clean, and just waiting to be written in. ( $.01 at Staples {limit 6} and $.17 at Walmart.)

Love the cleanness of the schoolroom, the scrubbed baseboards and windows, the tidy desks.

Love the maps waiting to be explored.

Love Mr. Anatomy being ready and willing to be pulled apart, labeled, and put back together in a not-so-gentle manner.  He never complains.

Love the markers and highlighters ready to be used.

Love the line-up of text books newly arrived.

I think I just love school.  Back in the day, my sister and I used to play school for hours at a time.  Back when we had to use carbon paper to make copies, use cast off chalk crumbs from the school, and make do with paper clips on the end of our fingers for long, lady-like fingernails.

In fact, when I was young, I always had 2 or 3 things I wanted to be when I grew up.

1. A mother
2. A teacher
3. A nurse

I got married, had kids, and got to be all three!

I'm so grateful we've been able to home school our kids.  I love it.

However, I am glad that there is light at the end of my tunnel! Only 3 more years!

So whether you are homeschooling, or you are sending your kids off to school, take a minute to remember the excitement and anticipation of another year of school beginning.  Grab a text book.  Open it up and take a deep breath.  Ahhh.  Remember that new book smell?

Pull out a crisp new sheet of notebook paper.  Write your name on it a couple of times.  Remember the big, loopy cursive you used to do in Junior High?  Yeah, the one where you made little circles to dot your i's.  Or the back slant cursive.  Or the one where it is all capitals.  Go ahead!   Give it a try!

Hope you all have a wonderful 2012/2013 school year!

Marci's birthday goes on...and on...

Marci turned 20 on August 1.  She wanted to do two things for her birthday:

1. Spend the weekend at the lake as a family and with some of her closest friends.
2. Go to Aberdeen Barn for dinner with as many of her friends as could make it.

We took the RV out to Lake Anna on July 27 - 28th.  We rented a boat for 2 days, borrowed a wake board, bought a tube, and practically lived in the water.

Marci and Britney on the tube.

Heather  Williams.

Heather on the tube.

 Quintin wake boarding.

Marci wake boarding.

Angi on the tube.

Abe on the tube.

Abe wake boarding like it was nothing.

Check out the mouth! :)

Getting some pretty good air.

Quintin again - getting air.

Bat dog!  Bear loved riding up front (as long as it wasn't too bumpy) and letting his ears flap in the wind.

Dork #1 and #2 in their swim diapers.

With living in the water for two days, I'm sure you can imagine how much food we went through.  We played hard, and ate tons!  It was a fun, relaxing weekend with family and good friends - just what Marci wanted.  (Too bad Conni had to miss it - she was at camp.)

On August 1, which is truly Marci's birthday, we surprised her with dinner out.   My two "middles" right before our dinner date.

  

After Bonefish dinner, we went to Sweet Frog for dessert.

 Mar and Quintin.

Then a few days later on August 4th, Marci and a bunch of her friends met at Aberdeen for a yummy prime rib dinner.  Then they all came here for dessert.  Here are some of the ladies.

From L to R:  Shauna, Kelsey, Rae, Britney, Marci, Heather, Tori, Amber

Marci and Britney.

Marci and her cousin, Shauna.

Abe and Shauna cutting dessert, and "cutting up".

We had such a fun evening...again, with dear family and friends.

You'd think that would be enough birthday.  But no.  Quintin had to drag it out. :)

On Sunday evening, after conspiring with Abe to get Marci out of the house, Quintin came and delivered this.

Notice her initials sand blasted in the center top.

Wow.  Such a nice piece.  Hand made, delivered and installed.  He did a great job on it.  She's going to love that for doing bridal consults!

So....later that night.... Marci, Abe, Quintin, Max, and Conni all come here for snacks and visiting.  We have on video (which for some reason unknown to me won't load) Marci opening her bedroom door, standing in the doorway with a look of puzzlement on her face, jaw drops open, large grin forms while she continues to stare at the large mirror in her room.  Then she drops the bags in her hand, whirls around, yells at Quintin, and takes off running down the stairs.

Pretty funny to watch.  She most definitely was surprised!  Great job on the work and the surprise!

I'm pretty sure that is enough birthday, Marci!

We love this girl and are so thankful she's a part of our family.

Here's for many more happy birthdays with our Marci-girl.

The Camper returns!

On Saturday, the 11th, we headed to Rockbridge Baths to pick up Conni from Camp Lachlan.  It is such a gorgeous drive.  I always enjoy it.

We arrived in time to load up Conni's stuff before having a picnic lunch with all the Lachlan campers and families.

It was so good to see my girl!

Waiting in line for food.

Conni and Hadyn.

 LeeBo giving his welcome to all the families, along with advice to THROW AWAY ALL SOCKS! :)

The campers singing some of their camp songs for us.

 Each camper stands in recognition of awards received.  Conni received awards in horseback riding, archery, crafts, and drama.  She also won the diving competition.

Getting a farewell hug and diploma from Nancy.

Hugs from LeeBo too.  Next year will be the 60th year for Camp Lachlan!

Each camper receives an award/diploma, a camp newsletter, and a camp picture.  Great memories.

And now the hard part...saying goodbye.

All the counselors line up and give the campers hugs goodbye.

Everyone likes Stanley, the resident medic.

And with that, we headed home. Lots of catching up to do on the ride home....lots.  After a quick stop at Sticks for carryout, we arrived home.  Conni had to wander around and "see" home again.  She finally wandered upstairs to her room.

And bummer of all bummers...I can't get the video to load!  Tim caught her on video when she first saw her new room.  Screams, large grins, more screams, gasps, squeals, etc...

Needless to say, she was very surprised and very happy with her room.

Whew!  Glad she liked it and glad it's done.

And most of all, glad to have her home again.