Alex's Birthday

It's hard to believe, but I am now the mom of a 7 year old. A month ago, we celebrated Alex's 7th birthday. When I think back to the day he was born, I don't think I ever imagined him actually being 7. At that point in time I was just so thrilled to have that little 7 lb. 1 oz. bundle in my arms that my thoughts really didn't go much further than cuddling him and feeding him and changing diapers. But wow, time flies and that baby is now 7 years old with a mind that thinks and wonders, and dreams, and a body that runs and jumps, and slides and a mouth that closes only for the hours that his eyes are also closed! : ) My prayer is that God will continue to grow Alex and draw Alex closer to Him with each passing day, that Alex will develop a heart and mind that stays focused on the things of God! And that God continues to grow me as the mom of a boy.....that I will know what he needs as well as the wisdom to say and do the right things at the right time.

For Alex's big day, we celebrated with a friend party at the bowling alley and a family party at our house. Alex wanted everything to be Clemson Orange....so we had a Clemson Tiger Football field cake at the bowling alley and then we had what else, but Tailgating Food with the family that night. It was a great day, and we were thankful to share it with so many friends and family!

Alex was super happy when he finally got a strike! It made the bowling birthday party even better!

Lake Pictures

Lake Days

Now that fall is setting in (although the weather here has been warmer than usual, and most days have not felt very fall-like) we have had to put our favorite summer toy away for the season....the boat. We had a blast out on the lake this summer. Alex continues to get the hang of skiing and towards the end of our boating season, Emily surprised us all with her announcement that she was going to try knee-boarding one day. And, she did!!!! We look forward to those summer Friday or Saturday mornings or summer evenings when the 4 of us can hop into the boat, find our favorite cove and spend time together laughing, splashing, and skiing!!! Ryan, of course, likes that time the most of any of us. And to make this year's boating season a little sweeter, he was able to do something he has wanted to do for a long time, he bought a "new-to-us" boat. The red Stingray, after 20 something years of faithful service was beginning to be a little less than faithful. So, Ryan started looking around and we said good-bye to the noisy, little red boat, and welcomed a Malibu skiboat to our family! I will admit, it was a lot harder than we thought to bid the red boat farewell, but we have LOVED our family time on the new boat!! There is more room and we don't have to worry quite as often about making sure we have an oar on board in case we need to row back to the boat ramp!

Cleaning up the "red boat" before selling it.

Getting ready to bring the "new boat" home!

Alex's 1st Day of School 2010

Alex has just finished his 1st 9 weeks of 1st Grade. He has had a great start to his 1st grade year. He loves his teacher and his friends in his class. As a mom, and as a teacher, I could not be more thrilled with how much he is enjoying school. His reading ability continues to improve (and even though he won't admit it, I think he is actually enjoying the fact that he can read more things). He LOVES math and science and excels in both. And of course his favorite time of the day is recess where he can run and play with his friends.

My first grader....I can't believe he's already 1/4 of the way through the year!

I can't keep up! and God's Blessings

Let's just be honest here....I can't keep up with everything. This blog is piece of evidence # 1!!! Summer ended and school started and someone still has not let off the gas pedal! In all of my 13 years of teaching (yeah...I did say 13. I am getting old!) I can honestly say that I do not think I have ever had a year as crazy busy as this one. And to be perfectly honest, I have yet to put my finger on why the start to this school year has been NUTS!!!!!!! Nevertheless, this blog along with several other things have been a little neglected over the last 2 months.

But as I sit here on Saturday morning, and listen to the sounds of my kiddos running around playing I can say that I am thankful even in the midst of all the craziness of schedules, school assignments, presentations, church work, meetings, soccer games, etc. As I have rushed through the beginning of fall trying to take one day at a time and on some days, one hour at a time, I have friends all over the place who are in the midst of all sorts of trials that are far worse than my crazy life! Currently I am receiving 4 Caringbridge updates via e-mail. If you aren't familiar with Caringbridge, it is a website that allows those in the midst of all sorts of medical needs, a way to keep friends and family up-to-date on the progress of a family member. I am blessed to call these folks friends and see how each family is handling their "medical crisis" with the help of friends and family and a loving God. And every time I get a Caringbridge e-mail in my inbox I am reminded of what a wonderful God I serve and how blessed I am. And I am also reminded of how selfish I am when I have a "bad" day and think that no one could have possibly had a worse day than me.

God has been with me each step of this crazy fall. And in the busyness of life I know that I have forgotten to take time to worship Him, praise Him, and allow Him to be at the center of every part of my day and my life and thank Him for the blessings he has given me. Will you join with me this week to truly be thankful for all the ways God has blessed you? And will you continue to pray for your friends and their needs as I continue to pray for the families in my life who have needs? And, if you have a minute, leave a comment and let me know what you are thankful for. When I hear other people talk about the ways God has blessed them it always reminds me of other things to be thankful for!