Sunset Beach

On Friday the kids and I enjoyed the day at Sunset Beach with some friends of ours! They are staying in a house down there for the weekend!  It is hard to believe that our summer is almost over and that I will be registering the kids for school next week!  It was a great day to be on the beach!  We stayed in the water most of the day since it was so hot!  McKinley enjoyed playing with Balon and Ethan played with Kristopher and Ben!  It is so nice just to be able to chill out on the beach and laugh and talk with friends!  I feel so blessed to have friends that share my family values!  Thanks Kristi, Charlotte and Natalie for the laughs!!

McKinley with Balon!

Playing football in the water!

Two tired little boys!

Our Trip to Atlanta

On Monday morning the kids and I packed up the car and headed to pick up my friend Kim and her daughter Ana! (Of course Curtis was knee deep with work, so he had to sit out this trip.) We were Atlanta bound!  The kids watched lots of movies and played games as we traveled for 5 hours!! 

Our first stop was The American Girl store!  For those of you who have not visited one of these stores, they are amazing!  It is every girls dream store.  They make everything for these dolls!  McKinley got the "Feel better kit" which included a arm cast and a leg cast, crutches, ice pack, and an arm wrap!  Curtis asked her when she got home had she been abusing her dolls!  She also got a bathing suit, cover-up, beach bag, towel and sunglasses for her doll!  She had saved some of her birthday money so was able to buy some new things for her doll!  Of course Kit went along for the ride to Atlanta!  Ethan was a little impressed with the store as well!  We had lunch at the American Girl Bistro!

Check out the casts!!!

Ready to check- out!

We also went to a Braves game!  This was Ethan's big thing!  He has learned so much about baseball and loves to watch it, even on TV.  He was really into the game!  The game went on for 19 innings!  Of course we didn't stay because it didn't get over until 1 am!  This was a great experience for everyone!



We also visited the Coke Musuem in downtown Atlanta!  The kids loved this place!  We learned so much about how coke is bottled and how it originated in Atlanta, Georgia.  I even learned some cool facts about Coke!  We watched a cool 4-D show as well!  The tasting room was what the kids liked best!  They got to taste all kinds of Coke products from all around the world!  You would have thought that they had never tasted Coke before! They were so excited and tasted until they were SOOOO full!



So glad to be back home!  Today we just laid around and caught up on the laundry!

Water Park Fun!

Yesterday the kids and I enjoyed a fun-filled day at Myrtle Waves with my sister, Peyton and Paxton!  We rode on all the water slides even the dark ones.  The kids had been scared in the past to ride the dark slides but had lots of courage today and they LOVED it!  Ethan and McKinley played so good together today!  I guess he really did miss his sister after all!!  We are trying to enjoy every little minute of what is let of our summer!!

May each one of you have a wonderful day with your family!!!!
God bless!

McKinley's Camp Experience

McKinley went to her first summer camp on Sunday!  I have to say I have really missed her.  She is such a great little helper and I have missed seeing her sweet face everyday!  She has had a great week and has learned so much about God's word!

On Sunday we all loaded up after church to take her to camp (Curtis, myself, Ethan, and grandparents, of course).  This was a very big deal especially since she hasn't spent more than two nights in a row away from home! Mallaree, Ana, and McKenna, three of her bestest friends, were there with her!  They were all excited!  When we arrived we checked in and quickly went to get their bunk beds all ready for their week long stay!  They were all smiles when we left!  I have to say this was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do as a parent, leaving my nine year old for a week at camp, trusting that someone was going to take care of my precious little girl!  This is a sure sign that your baby is NOT a baby anymore!  I knew that this would be a great experience for her and a time to help her grow spiritually!  I was a little worried about the water skiing though because she had never done this before but she absolutely loved it!

All ready for a great week!

In front of their cabin!

Signing up for chores!

Can we do this??????????

I was so excited when I got my midweek letter from McKinley.  I had been praying that God would protect her and wrap his mighty arms around her each day!  I felt so much better after I read the letter that assured me that she was a having a good time!

 Today we had to return to pick up our little ones!  They had prepared a program to share with us what they had learned during the week!  I was so happy to see my little girl!  She ran to me and started to cry.  She said she had missed us so much!  She hadn't cried all week until she saw us tonight!  I have to admit I was teary eyed too!  So glad to have her home again!!!!

Parent Day at Krunch Kids

Today was Parent Day at Krunch Kids.  Ethan really wanted me to go to learn how to play the games that he has been playing!  I discovered that I am really out of shape!  The kids ran circles around me during the game "Flag Tag".  I couldn't believe how good they were at this game.  Kids are very sneaky so they were able to sneak up behind me and pull my flag very easily!  I guess if I had been practicing this game more I could have done a lot better.  It was very nice of Anna and Kirby to invite the parents.  I think that the parents had a good time.  Ethan is looking forward to one more day of Krunch Kids!!

See how blurry this pic is??????

Playing Flag Tag!

The shirt says it all!!!!!

I was able to get my classroom a little more organized today!  I am hoping to accomplish a lot more tomorrow while Ethan is at Krunch Kids!!!

I am in desperate need of a new point and shoot camera! Mine has not been focusing!!!  I am looking at a Nikon Coolpix!!  Does anyone have any other suggestions!!!  I really need this before school starts!  I want to use it to take pictures in my classroom!!  Let me know if you have any suggestions!!!

A Visit to a Teacher's Store

Today my friend Kristi and I went to Teacher's Aid in Wilmington.  This is an amazing teacher store!  It is very organized and has so many cool things for your classroom.  Nothing gets me more excited for school again like a teacher store.  It is kind of like Bass Pro Shop for a hunter.  I had to get all new cut-outs and name plates ready for me to write my new first graders names on!  I even saw a few station ideas that I am going to copy and reproduce!  There is no sense in being depressed because all good things must come to an end!  The kids and I have had a wonderful summer so far and we will continue to do so until that time finally arrives! 

A teacher's paradise!

The idea table in the store!

Kristi with our buggy of stuff!



Cute sight word station for beginning of year!