Summer's end.....

The days are still hot and humid, and we’re trying to be patient waiting for fall to arrive. Even though our days are very busy now that school has started back, we’re still enjoying the great outdoors, despite the heat. Here’s a little glimpse of our backyard “habitat”….home to deer, turkeys, skunks, an occasional coyote, possums, lizards, toads, birds in every color of the rainbow, our sweet Gypsy and her two feline nemeses, DC and Shady, and four sweaty kids (when I can talk them into leaving the air-conditioned great indoors.)

Isaac's

little

lizard

friend

"Josh"

(not sure

why he

chose

that name)...



An afternoon visitor drops by for a snack....

Mom

and

baby at

dinner

time....

Plump pears, ready for picking....

My pear-pickin' partner.....

An abundance of apples...please come get some!

Our sweet Gypsy girl....

Sophie & her favorite playmate, Shady

DC is utterly disgusted with all this photo- journalism...

Isaac is not too sure he wants to do the zipline....

...so big sister "helps" him out.

Can you make out the look of

terror on his face?

Hammock hilarity.....

This week, it's been good for me to contemplate God’s creation just outside our door, to remind myself of all the beauty in this world. Lately, the world has seemed like a not-so-beautiful place sometimes. Funerals, visitations, hospitals, cancers, sickness and sadness have filled up a lot of our time and thoughts recently and those things have a way of wearing you down. Of course, they also help us realize how blessed we are to have a perfect home waiting for us in the future, where none of these things will trouble us. But sometimes it’s hard waiting for that! So in the meantime, it’s nice to observe the beauty and goodness that God has included in this temporary home and remember that, despite the occasional trials and troubles, this world is still a pretty fantastic “waiting room” in which to spend the long hours until the big day arrives.

Jacob's touchdown

Let me take this opportunity to issue an apology to our fine football franchise, the Merrol Hyde Magnet Middle School Hawks, who put up our school's first football victory this past Thursday night. All that talk about them being a "geek squad," and jokes about calculators during huddles was obviously premature, short-sighted and just plain WACK, because our boys put a serious beat down on HCA!!! Jacob had a great game....scored his first ever TOUCHDOWN, threw a completion for extra points, and had a couple of great tackles (including an awesome back-field sack.)

CONGRATULATIONS, HAWKS!! Keep those wins comin'!!

Here's a video clip of Jacob's touchdown run....

First day of school....

Well, I guess the fun part of summer is officially over, but the kids have actually been pretty excited about school starting back, so we're still having a good time. Isaac was especially ready for kindergarten to start; he's been asking for MONTHS how much longer he had to wait. And he had a super first day....no separation anxiety for him. No, that was more of a problem for mom. Our last "first day of kindergarten" (as far as we know!).......I definitely had some moments of weepiness, but was mostly just full of joy for him as he was finally getting his wish fulfilled! All in all, it was a better day than I thought it would be for the lonely, empty-nester mom..... hmmm....in reality that might be because I never actually left the school. I know, I know....pitiful. It's just that I found plenty of very "urgent" projects around the library that needed my "immediate attention" (while spying on Isaac every half hour or so as he went on a "bear hunt," ate his first cafeteria lunch, smashed play-dough into the soles of his shoes, etc) until it was time to pick him up. I hope his teacher did not catch on to all those frequent trips past their door. She's no dummy, though.....she probably thinks I'm psycho-mom. "Well, would you look at the time! I can't believe it's already time to get Isaac and I'm still here!" YEAH, right.....I had been counting down the minutes!


ANYWAY, here are a few more pictures from the first day of school:

Isaac with his "best friend" and most favorite librarian in the whole world, Mrs. Scotti.....

Isaac with his new teacher, Mrs. Cawthon........

Sophie with her new teacher, Mrs. Ryckeley.........

Now, on to other "firsts"..........Jacob played his very first football game tonight! He is on the middle school football team for his school and it was SO MUCH FUN watching him out there on the field (even though we got whupped.) Now, you have to remember that our kids go to an academic magnet school (in other words, there is not a lot of expectation for a winning season, or even A WIN, for that matter. Can you say "GEEK SQUAD"?) Just kidding, we just like to make fun of ourselves. Jacob says the team makes jokes that they should break out their calculators during a huddle to REALLY intimidate the other guys. Nothing like a couple of logarithms to strike fear into the heart of even the brawniest football player. Our team only scored two touchdowns over the ENTIRE SEASON last year, so our main goal is just not to get hurt. We actually played really well tonight and only got outscored 34-0. Seriously, that is not a bad night. I can't believe I just said that. Sad, but so true......

But on the bright side, we only have 18 kids on the whole team, so they all get a lot of playing time. (In contrast, our opponents tonight had 42 kids on their team). Here's our little safety, running back and "special teams" guy after his first game...........

Isn't he cute!!!