Backward/Mismatch Day

Friday was the first of the monthly "Spirit Days" at HAE. Last year, the kids did not participate, primarily because *I* never remembered! This year Spencer stepped up and decided he wanted to dress up and this is the outfit he fashioned for himself. Pretty creative and bold, I like that!

We've gotten more mileage out of that $2 thrift shop tie than I ever dreamed we would.

The next spirit day is "Fancy Day"...you don't suppose I'll be ordering a tux, do you?!!

First Day of School!

And...they're off! The morning went without a hitch. Yummy lunches packed. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Time left over for Wii. Bus driver picked them up in front of the house even though it's not an official stop! (We'll see how long we get away with that, hopefully the driver is cool about it.)

This is the first year we have a back-to-school picture with our own dog rather than Jessie, but we did see her this morning so it's OK.

Now to get my own school situation under control. We start on Monday!

Meet the Teachers!

The kids got their class assignments and met the teachers last night. I think they ended up with great matches. Spencer already had a conversation with Mrs. Lloyd about parallel universes, black holes, and string theory! She mentioned that she will give Spencer opportunities to teach others this year and step up his level of responsibility in the classroom. He's with his good friends John and Cassidy too. The nice thing is, with just two classes in his grade, he knows all of the kids really well having been in and out of classes with them now for three years. We love Harding Avenue Elementary! (The tie was completely Spencer's idea...he wanted to make a good first impression! And he just soaks up the positive feedback from all the adults.)

Grant has Mrs. Day, who Spencer had, and who we really liked. Grant was hoping to have her and we are so glad he does. I think her calm and kind ways will work well with him. Grant's good friend William is in class with him too.

The kids seem pretty excited for the school year and so am I. I've made no secret of that. They are ready for more structure in their lives, as am I!

Walter-Martin Family Visit

We enjoyed a great visit with my sister Kristen and her children. My nieces came down but my nephew had to stay behind. We enjoyed outings to the pool, the New River, our creek and Macado's, but mostly enjoyed the house, yard, dog, and games. I sure wish they all lived closer than Cleveland, Ohio, but we are grateful for the time we do spend together.

A surprise!

I just love my family! On Saturday the kids and I roamed around our community festival, Steppin' Out and I saw this neat carved horse at one of the booths. The kids and I admired it and I said I might stop back by the booth later and get it so we didn't have to carry it with us. Then I promptly forgot about it and Grant and I headed home, leaving Spencer with Robert at Steppin' Out. Spencer remembered the horse and guessed that I had probably not gotten it and he took Robert to get it, bringing it home as a surprise! What a cool kid!!

Weekend with the folks

So my mom and dad came in for the weekend to visit and so my mom and I could play in a member-guest tennis event at the club. Here's a photo from our dinner tonight at the club where we had the deck to ourselves!


The kids participated in the SVSL Championships this morning, also at our club, and they did well in each of their three swimming events to contribute to the Blacksburg Country Club Barracuda's team win (photo of them with the team trophy)! It's great to end the season this way and the kids can see how it took the efforts of every member of every age to pull off this big win. Thanks to coaches Danielle, Genny, and Michele!

What the boys did on their summer vacation

Sigh...lots of Nintendo DS and Wii this summer! I saw an article that said something along the lines that kids in the US can name like twice as many Pokemon as they can species of animals. And no, we don't dress them alike on purpose, but every once in a while they make a grab for the same color PJs. They each have about six pairs in different patterns and colors...our favorites from Hanna Andersson.

Things completed from our summer list:

• Create family blog
• Learn some origami
• Ride bikes (need to do more of this one)
• Read Eragon

Things left to do:

• Lemonade stand
• Make cheese
• Read the gospel of John
• Spend time at the creek including a camp-out
• Go to New River