Soccer Season

Rachel had her first game today. This girl is fast! She was all over the field.

Chloe's First Day

School Days

Today is the first day of school. Today is also the first day of a new stage of life for me. I have a 7th grader, a 5th grader, and a kindergartner this year. The girls are all in school now, and I am home without any kids during school days for the first time in over 12 years. It's been a great day so far. The girls were ready for school and I was, too.

So, what am I going to do now? I have plenty of things on my to do list that will keep me busy, lots of projects and things to catch up on. But, those can wait. Today I'm just going shopping. Alone. It will be strange not having my shopping buddy with me. But, it should take a lot less time.

My Thursday

[The following took place on a Thursday, and should in no way be confused with the My Friday movement]

My day started with Kindergarten orientation with Chloe at 9:00. Hannah, Rachel, and a friend that stayed with us the night before accompanied us. Chloe met her teacher, checked out her class room, made a new friend, took a ride on a school bus, and loved every minute of it.

We got back home at 11:00 and Lance called soon after that. He was headed home from this year's Ride of Passage trip and needed to be picked up at the church in about 30 minutes. I headed to the church with all 4 girls, and helped Lance load up his gear. We picked up lunch around 12:45 at Chick-Fil-A and came home to eat.

At 2:00 Rachel and I headed back to the school for open house so that she could meet her 5th grade teacher and look around her class rooms. At 2:30, Rachel and I left the school, stopped by the house to pick up her violin and music, and took off for her 3:00 violin lesson.

We returned home at 4:00. At 4:30 Hannah's friend was picked up by her dad. At 5:00 I began making dinner for the kids (Mac and cheese and Chicken nuggets). At 5:30 another friend arrived to spend the night.

At 6:00 Lance and Rachel left for her soccer practice. I cleaned up from dinner and played outside with Chloe and her neighborhood friends until dark. After the practice Lance and Rachel picked up another friend that would also be spending the night. They got back to the house around 8:30. A little later, the 5 girls and I tried out a new recipe. After that I cleaned up the kitchen.

During the kitchen clean up I told Chloe to put on her pjs and snuggle with her dad for a little bit until I was finished. This is how I found her in the living room at around 10:30.

More Signs

What?!?!

When we saw this last week we had to stop for a photo.

Camping at Codorus

We took off for a few days of camping this week at Codorus. I'm glad we decided to squeeze this trip into our busy August schedule. It was relaxing and a lot of fun to be outdoors. The weather was beautiful and cool. Low temperatures were around 60 degrees and highs were around 80 . . . in August! Amazing. The camp fire felt great each night.

My Favorite Things About Camping

1. Putting up the tent with Lance
2. Cooking outside on my camp stove
3. Camp fires every night
4. Setting up camp
5. The smell of breakfast cooking each morning
6. Hiking trails
7. No need for watches or alarm clocks
8. S'mores and Jiffy Pop
9. Riding bikes
10. Playing cards and board games
11. Sleeping in the tent (on my Aero bed)
12. Wildlife

August 10, 1991

Today is my 17th wedding anniversary!

Some day I'll scan in a few wedding pictures for you all to enjoy. Our hair styles alone will be quite entertaining. I love my husband, and I love the 17 years of married life we have had together. I'm looking forward to many more.

We're leaving right now for a few days of camping. The family is loading up the car, so I've got to run!

Movie Night

We try to have a family night at least once a week. Usually that means a fun meal together and some board games or Wii. But, sometimes I put a little more into it. Here we are enjoying a family movie night.

We made pizza for dinner. Then we headed down to the basement where I had set up a ticket booth and concession stand. The girls were surprised and had fun buying their tickets and snacks with Monopoly money before watching the show.

Baby Hopper

Look what we found in our yard the other night. We called a local wildlife rescue to see if this little guy was too small to be put back in the woods on his own. We were told he was a "hopper" because his eyes were open and he was able to hop and explore, and we were advised to put him back in the woods. I was amazed at how he followed the girls. Every time they stepped away from him, he would hop after them. We enjoyed him for a little while then brought him to the woods behind our house and said goodbye.