Rest and Relaxation

Thank you, Chris.

There are so many little things that he does for me that I never even recognize or realize. I so often do not think to thank him, but instead, take him for granted. I am just blessed to have him.

Last week was the second week of school. It wasn't a bad week, but there were a few bad moments. So he decided to surprise me.

We headed out of town Friday night and went to...

I had never been before. I was amazed at exactly what was there and the amount of things they had to offer. We stayed at the Mountain Inn and enjoyed the seafood buffet on Friday night. Chris was in heaven. We turned in early, since we had to be up for our 9:00...

Massages! Chris scheduled a couples massage for us that morning. We enjoyed them on our honeymoon four years ago, and I haven't had one since. What a way to start the weekend!

After those were done, we headed back to the hotel to check out. But our day had only begun. Included with our stay was free entrance to the Gardens and bike rentals. I wish you could have seen us riding through the woods. The best part? The bikes had bells that kept us laughing the whole time.

As we rode through the woods, we stopped at the chapel to walk around. The stained glass windows were absolutely beautiful! It was definitely worth stopping to see.

We continued on through the trails and eventually came to the Horticulture Center. I wasn't sure I wanted to stop, but am certainly glad I did. Especially once I realized all the the beautiful plants we would see. With it being the end of summer, I was surprised at what was available. I guess I don't grow these anywhere near my house!

Our last stop proved to be my absolute favorite. We went to the Butterfly Garden. I felt like a little kid in a candy store, or one that stares in amazement at a decorated Christmas tree. I wanted to stay so much longer and take it in, but it was time to head home.

We had the best time. Over all these years and times I have passed that exit on I-85, I never thought a visit there would be so wonderful.

I think it had to do with the time spent with my husband. Thank you so much, Chris. I will never forget this!

"I Remember..."

I had a former student stop by my room for awhile today. As she went from corner to corner and wall to wall, she stopped occasionally to exclaim, "I remember..." and would move on. Every once in awhile it would turn to "I loved...!" If you picture a sweet, bubbly child with the thickest and fullest hair in the world, that's her.

She stopped and remembered a child from her year that had moved in the middle of it. After searching the class picture and not seeing her, we turned to the yearbook from that year. We spotted her in it, and she said rather fondly, "I loved Little Girl." Mind you, she couldn't even remember Little Girl's name before then.

I turned and chuckled to myself when she sighed and said with all sincerety, "Things sure do change."

She was in my class just two years ago.

First Day of School

... number six! I don't have kids going back, but I have the pleasure of greeting many kids on their first day of school. In fact, I have had many "first day pictures" myself. But since everyone else is writing about theirs, I figured I would too.

The best thing about the first day of school is the traditions. Growing up, mom would cook a big breakfast. And we ALWAYS had homemade bagel pizzas for lunch. She could get five mini ones into a Tupperware sandwich container!

Now I don't have time to eat lunch the first day. I'm getting students through the lunch line, rehearsing lunch numbers, directing little ones to seats and reinforcing lunchroom rules. Needless to say, it makes for a long day.

Luckily, with gentle reminders and hints, I get breakfast made for me. Yes, Chris with half opened eyes and barely awake cooks me breakfast. I can smell the bacon as I climb out of the shower. Even though he's back to sleep by the time I enjoy it, it means a lot.

By the time the first day is over and I can no longer move my legs, my stomach is begging for dinner. Tradition #2? Dinner out. There's no way I can cook, so we go out to a restaurant and they do all the work. This year was Outback. I love steak!

So whether I am a little girl excited about school, or a "grown up" still excited about school, these traditions have meant so much over the years.

Welcome back to school!

My Best Friend's Wedding

Congratulations to my BFFs Leslie and James, who have been married for 1 week today! I want to put up pictures, but don't know where to start. I guess I could begin back at the beginning.

Once upon a time there was a girl... No, that won't do. That's WAY too far back! I'll just start with the wedding. Enjoy!

Love you both!

Wedding Weekend #1

Well, we've finally gotten Justin off and married. What an event! This has consumed the first half of my summer, but what I did before then consumed even more. As soon as I heard that he and Emily were engaged, I decided to make them a quilt. This was a little harder, because I didn't know her that well and am still getting to know Justin more each day. With a few quick ideas, I started in on it. I only had 2 months to make my sister's quilt, ending in sore eyes and an aching wrist. This time, I had 6 months to complete it. I turned out beautifully and they loved it!

I helped Teresa with the wedding rehersal dinner. Who knew how beautiful Dreamland barbeque could be!

Here are also some pictures from the wedding. They had it outside at Athens State in front of their Founders Hall. The weather was perfect and everything was amazing. Congratulations Justin and Emily!

Beach Bloopers

So in the midst of a wild and crazy summer, Chris and I took a much needed break to the beach this past weekend. Not only to wind down, but to rest and prep for what's still to come. We enjoyed just laying on the beach, reading and catching some rays. Well, just enough to keep from burning.

I have a cute new bathing suit for the summer. Very cute. Green with white polka dots cute. I was wearing said bathing suit when the most unfortunate occured. I'm not sure what category it would fall under: comedy, horror, drama, or romance. Just know that it was only something that would be seen in a movie. Or a comic strip. Or a greeting card.

We had just come out of the ocean. I bent over to get more sunscreen out of the bag when I heard the most alarming sound. No, the bottoms did not split. Even better. The plastic piece that holds the top together broke. And I don't mean just a little piece. I mean the entire thing. Broke completely in half. The noise I heard? That was the sound of my entire bathing suit top snapping off and around to the front of my body, hanging. NOT ON ME.

The next thing I knew, I was grabbing a hold of everything I could and flopped down into the beach chair. All of this happened within a total of two seconds. I looked around, still holding. I froze, mouth hanging wide open. Once I gathered myself, I realized that my suit was twisted. There was no way it would cover anything until I untangled it. So, with Chris standing nearby blocking views and laughing the whole time, I untwisted it and was able to rig it in the back so that it stayed in place.

For the first time ever, we had packed extra suits in the car. So, there I am, broken bathing suit and changing in the car. No bathrooms around and I WASN'T about to change in the port-a-potty. Once I wiggled into my new suit, I made it back onto the beach. Ever so hesitant to bend over for more sunscreen.

Only to me. Only in a movie. I only wonder where the cameras were!

Duck... Duck...

...Goose!

I want you to imagine this scene so you can take on the full effect of this experience I had last night. Picture a lively group of three year olds. Twelve of them to be exact. We are at VBS, enjoying time in the preschool craft and activity room. For some reason, our schedule has us with them for 30 minutes. We have already finished our craft, played with all of the bouncy and beach balls that we could, and even enjoyed the bubble machine for awhile. We still had some time left and figured we could play a game. What game? Well, why not Duck Duck Goose? They should all know how. So we get them to sit around the midfield tarp.

Clue #1? It took forever to get them in a circle. Clue #2? We had to turn some to get them to face the center. Clue #3? When briefly explaining the directions, I asked what they did when I tapped them and said goose. Only one yelled out "Chase you!" Very good. We gave it a whirl. I started "duck"ing and "duck"ing some more.

I got to one little boy. The one that knew to chase me. I said "goose" and started to jog around the circle. Next thing I knew... HALF of the group got up and chased me, including the "goose". When I sat down, I was bombarded by every child that followed the original directions- Chase me.

Needless to say, that game was very short-lived. We'll probably go for something more like Ring-Around-the-Rosie tonight!