Photos 79-86: Catching Up

Blogging went to the shelf when it came time to start school, help get my sister to college, and football season started back up! Now it is time to get back into normal routines so here is a quick peek at the last 10 days of life! Unfortunately, due to the fast pace of life, I managed to spend several whole days not taking one single picture...Will too! Sadness. Definitely won't be reaching 365 with this challenge!

August 21: Photo 79
College Time!

August 22: Photo 80
Life's a Blur! (When you have a child who won't stop moving...that is what life seems like most of the time!)

August 23: Photo 81
Fun in the Cart!

August 24: Photo 82
Drive In Time!


































August 25: Photo 83
Doing work just like Mommy! :)

August 26: Photo 84
These two look so much alike...especially when Alex is being mischievous! :)

August 27: Photo 85
Swinging the days away!

August 29: Photo 86
Best Reading Log Homework EVER!

Ephesians 6:2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise. I wonder what was going on if they read that verse over and over for 15 minutes! :)

Photo 78: Dear Uncle Ray

Dear Uncle Ray, 

This week you reminded me how fleeting life is, that what we think is the norm can change in a minute. Life can end abruptly, and for everyone else it is never really the same. 

It was about 10 years ago, I think, that your little house was added to Paradise Mountain. You 

forever changed the place. Now new mks will come and not know you, only the stories of who you were and what you did for us.Your house was a restful place, full of pop and candy that you gave out freely to people who you knew appreciated it. You didn't like it when people took advantage of your generosity. I don't blame you. Your house was full of all the adventures you had in your life. Your dart gun and other things hanging on the wall from Irian Jaya, your collection of mugs showed that you had traveled all over the US. The train set. Your paintings.

This week you reminded me that regardless of our limitations, trials, or circumstances, we can still serve and love others. It was a reminder I needed. You suffered through so much, yet that didn't keep you from giving to others and loving on us at paradise. Even with your limited vocabulary, you spoke volumes. You listened. So many people might have given up, but you pushed on. You have no idea how much I needed to be reminded of that. Thanks for setting such an example for us.

This week I imagined you running into heaven. Reaching out both arms to hug your wife, hug Jesus. I imagined the words of praise that came flowing from your lips. All the things you have longed to say for so long, but not been able too. What freedom that must have been. I am glad you are free.

But we will miss you. I will miss seeing you walk from one house to the other when we are visiting. Knowing that you always sat in the same area at church, or on the bench at the basketball games. I will miss wondering where Will is, but then realizing he is probably at your house.

Thank you for what you taught us, who you were to us. It was so good to hear other people remember you today and learn more of the full life you lived. Enjoy Heaven.

Photo 77: Retirement

"I wish I could do that for the rest of my retirement," said the nice old man as he watched Alex get pushed in the swing...

...that would definitely be nice!

Photo 76: Restaurants

We went out to a restaurant for my belated birthday celebration. I think we have reached the point with Alex where, after an appetizer, I am ready to go home...because HE is ready to go home. We now take turns eating with one arm holding on to him so he doesn't try to climb into the next booth. And he doesn't eat any food. Throwing it seems a little more fun. At another restaurant recently, we took turns following him as he ran around the restaurant and played with the game machines in the front... Eating has never been so exhausting! :)
I think for now we will stick with restaurants that include a play place! ;P

Photo 75: hair

love the wake-up-from-a-nap hair!

Photos 73 &74: With Grandmommy

So thankful that my mom can be here for a couple weeks! Alex loves to sit in her lap and watch wheel of fortune, which I did that with my grandmommy too! :) 

or play outside with her (both of them seem to be immune to mosquitoes)!

Photo 72: Oh Laminator

What would I do without my laminator? Especially at the beginning of the school year!

Here is a list of some of the things I have been laminating today! :)
1. Place Value Puzzles by www.teacheristatales.blogspot.com
2. That's a Great Question by www.teachthemath.com
3. Behavior Clip Chart  by http://livelovelaughkindergarten.blogspot.com
(little shout out to my coworker Jen for cluing me into these next great finds! :)
4. Morning Meeting Activities by http://www.bainbridgeclass.com/index.htm
5. Light 'em up by kindertastic.blogspot.com *she had an editable version, so I changed the colors and title to fill a bucket, that way when the kids are bucket dippers, they will have an idea of a way to fill a bucket! You can find my version here!
and a creation of my own! :)
6. Where in the world are we because too many times last year people seemed to have trouble finding up! :)

Photo 71: Dear Olympics

Dear olympics,
I love you, but I really need my evenings back!

Also to go to sleep before midnight would be nice.

Photo 70: Tomato

the cute little tomato on my window sill.  He started off green, but has slowly turned red. his siblings are still hanging out on my tomato plant! I can't wait to enjoy them all. ;)

Photo 69: Fabrics

I have a lot of random fabric, and as I unpack, I have vowed to not put things away until they are organized!
So here was tonight's project!

Photo 68: Fist Bump

{gasp} 

i didn't take a single picture yesterday, nor did Will! 

It was quite an eventful day

note to self: never leave debit card at a restaurant 

and not realize it until checking out at a grocery store that only takes debit or cash

and you don't have cash!

oh, add pouring rain and a toddler to the mix.

it was a long several hours, but it was a good ending

(debit card is safe in my wallet again! phew!)

but I think this picture makes up for it! 

remember back about a month ago

when Alex fist-bumped his special uncle and new aunt on their wedding day?

Well, they left for Japan on Monday... so no more fist bumps.

but wait. 

no one said you couldn't do it over skype! 

love. love. love.

Photo 67: I heart coffee

Is it sad that one of my first areas to be totally unpacked was the coffee station?!

Well, you need coffee to help survive all the unpacking, right?

Photo 66: Airplanes

We went to see a C-17. But due to some lightening we didn't get too so we looked at some other planes instead.
Then we got stuck in a thunderstorm. We took shelter under the wings of the plane.
It was pretty big.

Photo 65: Rainy Beach Day

Blue Skies one minute, gray the next. Rain right after that.
We survived. :)

Photo 64: Big Boy Bed

I took this picture at about 12:30 Thursday morning.
He was so cute in that bed.

This is how Will found him in the morning.

Photo 63: Home Sweet Home

I have been a little MIA thanks to another move! (but I promise, each of the pictures were taken on different days)

The dorchester home was a nice little home.
Alex's first home.
It had a wonderful yard to play in.

It was quirky though too.
The air conditioning went out twice this summer.
The kitchen was sometimes inconvenient.
Having the washer and dryer on the porch wasn't always nice either.
but it was home.
and there are wonderful memories we will have in that house.

We moved just one street over. (We really love this friendly little neighborhood)
It was cheaper rent.
The space is laid out a little better.
I finally have a big closet

For me the act of buying a house signals settling down in South Carolina.
I am not sure if I am ready to commit to that.
I want to be able to sell all this junk and leave whenever we feel like.
Explore the great wide world.
Let Alex have the wonderful experience of growing up in another culture.

I like calling someone else to come take care of (and pay for!) the house's problems.
I like remembering that life here is not permanent, but fleeting.
My better home is elsewhere.
While I enjoy the precious memories I am making here, I never want to forget where my real treasure lies.

Photo 62: Moving Break