1st day of school 2009

Hello all.....today was a red letter day in the history of the Fab Four.....back to school 2009. Yippee! The day started out nice and early. We had breakfast and then it was time for Mom to harass the Fab Four by taking pictures....Apparently Scott had woken up about 1 am...and then slept fitfully, waking every hour or so until time to get up...he was the first kiddo up and dressed which NEVER happens.

Here are Holley and Allie eating and talking over breakfast...

The Fab Four....

Macie.....first day of 8th grade

Holley- 1st day of 5th grade

Scott- 1st day of 4th grade (he really was happy and excited- honest:-) )

Allie- 1st day of Kindergarten

Much to Allie's dismay....I insisted on driving her to her first day of Kindergarten.....J/K She was not upset that I drove her, although she is really excited to ride the bus tomorrow with the big kids. She said she's been waiting for this....(to ride the bus) for her whole life! :-)

arriving at the school...

Allie LOVES mascots (and any characters!) She almost tackled the Falcon!

See why I am such a lucky Mommy???? Sweet sisters!

Allie and her precious teacher Mrs. Jordan. We have known Mrs. Jordan for a while now. Scott had her and her son has been on Scott's football team for the past three years. She has watched Allie grow up and we desperately wanted her as Allie's teacher! We LOVE Mrs. Jordan!

Allie found her seat!

One last smile for mom!

I felt awfully strange when I left Allie at her classroom. I was the only Mom who went in, showed her where she sits and where to put her stuff etc. Then I took a few pics, hugged her, kissed her, said "I'll pick you up after school", and started to walk out. I realized that I was the only mom actually leaving. All of the other Mom's were staying. I asked Mrs. Jordan if I was supposed to stay and she smiled sweetly and said, "No, It is easier if you drop and go." I guess some of the other mommy's had a hard time leaving....don't get me wrong...the impact of this moment was not lost on me....I felt the sting of my baby growing up...but in reality, I realize how lucky I am to have had four children now who are so self-assured that they are able to face any new situation without overwhelming fear...and as for me.....I am thrilled that Allie is at such a wonderful school with such a wonderful teacher. It's going to be another awesome year for the Fab Four!

Time Warp.....Saturday, July 25, 2009.....

Scott and his counselor "Bum Belay"-sorry for the wrong order.

.....started out like a crazy, wacky day! Not only was this the day that M, H and S had to be picked up from camp, but this was the first day of travel on our long awaited trip to Colorado.

Allie and I headed towards Pine Cove- Outback (in Columbus, Tx) about 745 am. We arrived to utter chaos. We had to pick up the kids belongings and carry them to the car. Imagine, trying to carry 3 children's luggage, bedding and junk at one time. Luckily, one counselor took pity on me and said I could pile it all together and get it after the closing and promised to help me carry it all. I ran in to Macie and Holley who saw me from across the commons and came running. Holley actually almost tackled me and I wasn't sure who this child was hugging me until she let go and I could see her face. It was my Holley, with the HUGEST smile I've ever seen, who quickly told me this was the "best week of her whole life!" My earlier frustration with the luggage vanished at this point. After making a "pit stop" we headed to the closing ceremony. It was loud, noisy, hot, humid, and awesome.....they all had a great time. It was difficult getting any decent pics because of the sheer number of people crammed into the room and the constant activity but I gave it my best shot.

Macie is in the center looking in my direction.

Holley, behind the guy in the green shirt

Scott, in the green camo hat

Holley and her counselor "smack talk".

It was neat how well the counselors got to know each child during the week. They presented each child with character awards at the end of the closing.

Oh no, accidentally pushed 1 too many deletes and it deleted the pic of Scott and his counselor....oops. Will add it in at the end which means blogger will put it as the first pic but I meant for it to go here!

Macie and her counselor "AfriCan"

Macie and a buddy from camp.

This is the swimming lake with the blob, the water trampoline and the iceberg.

this is the other lake where the kids kayaked.

The pool.

This is the last thing you see as you leave camp.

The car was filled with the sounds of excited children all talking at once. Allie was excited to see her sisters and brother after a long week and the others all sang and chanted camp songs and told stories for the first hour. Then the exhaustion kicked in and it was pretty quiet the 2nd 1 1/2 hours back home. We made a ditch and run maneuver at our house. Leaving unnecessary things at home and repacking extra things for Colorado and hitting the road towards West Texas about 415pm. I've never been so glad to have 3 portable DVD players in my life. I know it is excessive but it saved my sanity I assure you. There were two in the back and Macie had one in the front to watch as well. Oh, and headphones.....the BEST invention EVER! Allie who sits in the middle of the backseat got to choose between two movies and was happy as a clam so Mommy was very happy! The emotional "down" that hits after a week of "spiritual highs" at camp, hit pretty early and I heard some sniffing from the backseat and some "Mom, I miss my counselor" or "I miss my camp friends". I think it helped that we were heading out on a big adventure though. It didn't last too long.

Please friends, remind me to never try to squeeze that much travelling into one day again. Our goal was to make it to Texline and stay the night with Nana and Grandpa. We did not get in there until almost 2 am. That made for a VERY long day! We slept well and loved seeing Nana and Grandpa. We headed out the next morning around 1115. Meant to leave earlier but our Nana spoils us and makes yummy breakfasts! Next post, day 2 of the longest road trip EVER!!!

Oh, I forgot I put this picture in here. I have not returned to Lubbock since we moved in Feb. 2000. I did not realize that along the way near Sweetwater , they have created these huge "wind energy" fields. There were hundreds and hundreds of these huge wind mill things. It was really weird and slightly unnerving to me. I'm not sure why, but driving through those hills and seeing all of these towering wind turbines really freaked me out. So, I stopped to take pictures of them. I almost felt like I was on another planet it was so weird!

Good News!!!

Found the cord! A post with pics from our trip will be up shortly.....just trying to figure out if I should put them in chronological order or just throw them all out here in a jumbled mess! Stay tuned to find out.

Time flies

Has it really been three weeks since my last post? My bad! Life has been flying by at warp speed. I have so much to post and so many updates to give! It is a little overwhelming! First and foremost, our road trip 2009 is over and we had a fabulous time! When I manage to find my camera cord and can download my pics from the trip :-O , I will certainly share them, until then...well this pic I stole from my sister will have to do...a little teaser for you.....Colorado was absolutely beautiful!!! (and this happens to be one of my MOST favorite pictures from the trip.)


As for other changes??? Lots of HUGE changes for the fab four! Especially for Holley and Allie. We've decided to change gyms...lots of things have led to this decision and it has been a while coming but I won't get in to all of that here. The bottom line is they will have a better opportunity to reach their dreams. Holley dreams of competing at the collegiate level and the gym we are changing to has the capability of producing college gymnasts. The day we toured the gym, there were scouts from The University of Missouri and the University of Arizona there watching some of the girls. It is scary how much this "change" is going to cost but we are going on faith that if we are supposed to be there, that the Lord will provide somehow.

Macie continues to play her flute and is first chair in the top band and continues to love every minute of it! Scott, well, is Scott (obviously) and hasn't been overly motivated to sign up for any extracurricular activities at this point this year. We are working on it! I promise to post pictures of our trip ASAP! I know the cord is here...I saw it! But I put it somewhere special so I wouldn't lose it ....and you can guess the rest! Oops! Stay tuned....Love, S