Miscellaneous

Greetings to the 3 of you who still bother to check my blog even though I haven't posted in about a year and a half!

How ya been?

School is now in full swing, and I am beginning to feel like my head is above water now (well, at least my eyebrows, maybe even my nose). Although things still aren't quite as organized as I'd like, my students and I are all settled in and are rolling along. I even have plans done for the entire week already! Whoa, Nelly!

So I thought I'd stop by and leave a few updates and thoughts on the ole' blog.

First, fall baseball practice has begun, with Eric still coaching the team, and the youngest member of our household is quite thrilled. The baseball obsession is alive and well and growing everyday. Eric is enjoying it a little too much, I think. His new favorite thing to do (especially when there are other men around who will be impressed) is to name major league baseball players and have Perry tell him what team they play for. Perry is quite good at it, and it's a little scary. Do you think it's possible that he will fill up all of his brain capacity with baseball facts and have no room for little things like reading and math? Boy, I hope not! And football season is starting... Oh, brother.

As for me, I am really loving the new job. I can look out my window and watch Perry playing on the playground, and I can get hugs in the middle of the day. Love that! I also adore my students. Having the same 15 kids all day everyday, I feel like I have a much better handle on their needs than any other students I've ever taught. Spending so much time together, and the fact that we can talk freely about spiritual things and pray together, is allowing us to really build a bond, and I love them already!

Another thing I love about my school -- chapel. Maybe one day I'll get through a chapel without getting teary. Watching the kids praise God with so much freedom and enthusiasm is just about the coolest thing I've ever seen! It is not some dry, ritualistic chapel service. We sing and dance and then hear some great teaching (with audience participation, too!). I really get a lot out of it myself, and it is incredibly exciting that these kids have the opportunity to hear this teaching and learn the joy of praise at such a young age. I just feel humbled to be a part of it, and most of all so very thankful that my kid is there!

Here's one awesome lesson from chapel that is a profound thought for all of us to live by. The kids learned this last year, and they still love to say it loud and proud! Imagine hearing 145 children yelling this --

"God is HUGE, and I mean HUGE
I am small and I mean small,
but HE chose ME!"

How cool is that?

School Days (and nights)

Oh Blog, how I've missed you.

Other things I've missed -- sleep, seeing my family, eating a meal at my house, etc.

1st let me say, very clearly, that I LOVE my new job. But it's been a little crazy this past week. You see, the school moved into a brand spankin' new addition this year. The Lord smiled on us and got everything completed before school began (which we didn't think would happen). However, it wasn't much before. We were finally able to get into our classrooms last Wed. around 4 PM, and we had registration on Fri. at 10 AM.

And so began the marathon.

In less than 48 hours, that place was completely transformed. It was truly amazing how hard everyone worked and how helpful everyone was -- the entire staff, their families, the Landmark parents, people we found on the street...

Oh, ok, we did stop just short of dragging in anyone who could lift a box. We did spend A LOT of time there, though. Eric was such a good sport, putting together massive pieces of furniture and even helping me with a bulletin board. And he only complained a little. : )

School did start today, and I just adore my children! Perry was very happy with the teacher he got this year (I actually teach her son as well -- funny!). And Perry's best bud is in his class.

Here are a couple of shots of us before we left today.

During all the madness, my lil sis was here visiting. She was a lifesaver, keeping Perry entertained and helping out in my classroom some as well.

I felt really bad that I wasn't spending as much time with her as I would have liked. We did have a fun girl's day on Sat., though. We got our hair cut in the morning, and then we went out for some sushi that evening. YUM!

Check out these 2 hotties. (Perry took the picture, by the way. Not bad, huh?)

LOVE YOU, SIS!

Read this

This post by Angie at Bring the Rain is absolutely beautiful. I loved every single word.
http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/2008/07/blink.html

I just had to share it with you.

Enjoy the show!

Our annual beach trip -- SUPERSIZED!

Every summer since Perry was a baby, we've spent a glorious week in Litchfield Beach, SC with Eric's family. We always make lots of memories with his parents and his sister's family.

This year was extra-special, though. In addition to the regular crowd, Eric's aunt and uncle and their kids and grandkids joined us! There were 11 adults and 7 kids. What fun!

It was a lot of people, but we stayed in this house.
Sometimes we even found ourselves wondering where everyone was. Space was not a problem!

Of course, having so many kids around to play with was super-special for our little guy. Eric's cousin, Cindy, has twin boys Perry's age. They haven't seen each other in over 2 years, but they were fast friends. We're already planning a visit to NY to see them.

We were missing our niece Hannah, the oldest of the "little cousins" (grandkid generation). She was in Illinois playing softball. We also missed Cindy's husband, Joe. They own a business, and we know how tough it is to get away from that!

Of course, I took a million pictures, so there will be a slide show for your enjoyment.

Just to let you know who everyone is, here's a group shot.

Back row -- Cousin Cindy, me, Eric, Uncle Rocky, Cousin Rachel, Aunt Lynne, Sister Sarah, her husband Claude, Mom Barbara, Dad Don

Front Row -- Cindy's Zachary, Perry, Sarah's Cameron, Cindy's Nathan, Cindy's Isabella, Evie's Tierney, Sarah and Claude's Tori (standing), Cousin Evie

The "big cousins" -- Cindy, Eric, Sarah, Rachel, Evie.

The "little cousins" -- Tori, Tierney, Isabella, Zachary, Nathan, Perry, Cameron

Everyone kept commenting all week about how great it was to be together. I completely agree!

Great company plus sand, sun, swimming, boogie boarding, wave-jumping, go-carts, mini-golf, walks on the beach, ice cream, s'mores, and so much more!

It was a fabulous way to bid farewell to summer.