Project Life 2012 - Week 33

August 12 - 18

It's back to school week!! How can the summer be gone already??

Honestly, I'm not ready for summer to be over! I've heard lots of moms and dads saying that they are SO ready for school to start, but not me! We've had a great time together this summer (even learning grammar together to get ready for his new school!!) 

We get into a good rhythm, this boy and me. I guess that it only makes sense that we would - it's always been him and me while Brad is at work providing for us (thanks honey!) Anyway, for us, summer whizzed by and we weren't quite ready to say goodbye.

On the other hand, we were excited to be going to a new school! This was a big decision for us - and one that was made with lots and lots of prayer. God opened doors for us and made the path so clear that we were confident that we had made the right choice. 

But if you know me at all, you know that there were some nerves still mixed in too. 

On Monday, the 13th, we went to 'Meet the Teacher' day. We were excited to see his desk and see who he would be sitting by. We had already met his teacher 2 weeks before - I think I said this in my last post - the people at our new school have been so welcoming! His teacher called and set up a meeting with her son, who is also in 4th grade, and Bennett and another boy. They became fast friends - right there in Chick-fil-A! Awesome!

Here he is in his new desk. Front row (which is a first!).
 And right by his other friend that we also met before school. 
God is good! 
Bennett did say that he thought that it was cool to sit in the front but that the other kids behind him might not appreciate his tall-ness :)

Bennett and Mrs. B

The first day of school was on Tuesday, the 14th. Most schools weren't starting until the following Monday, so we were ahead of the game!

Here are the first day pictures:

Look at those long legs!!

Want to remember the kindergarten pictures? Go here. 

Why is he growing up so fast??

Woo-wee! He sure is handsome! Look at the uniform! 

We've never had a uniform before, but I have to admit that it does look nice (and certainly cuts down on the fighting-about-what-to-wear dilemmas that we've had in the past :)

Yes, I know that I should have ironed those pants. Brad and Nana - I am sorry! :)

Honestly, I didn't even think about it until Brad saw these pictures and said 'Why didn't you tell me that his shorts needed ironing! I would have ironed them!" 

Have I mentioned that ironing is not my strong point?

He was very patient with me until the veerrryy end.

So, to be honest, there were some nerves this morning. A little teary-ness. I knew that I would be nervous, but Bennett had kept his cool right up until the big morning. 

But that's ok. 

We talked about it. We prayed about it. 

I was thankful for the opportunity to walk him in - all the way right up to his classroom.

He even held me hand for a second on the way in.

But once we hit the classroom door, he was right in his element. In fact, I had to make a point of calling him over and saying good-bye :)

Then I made it out to the car and I wondered what in the world I was going to do without him for 4 and a half hours. Then I took a deep breath, prayed a little more, and headed out of the parking lot to my first-day-of school massage :)

Oh, and when I picked him up from school and asked him how his first day was, he said 'That was the best day of school I've EVER had!'. 

Answered prayers for sure.

Project Life 2012 - Week 32

August 5 - 11

Well, yet another week that I didn't take many pictures... there were a few exciting things that happened this week, though!

Bennett started the week out by taking the 2nd round of cartooning and art camp at church. Once again, he loved it! I'm sorry that these pictures are sideways, but I think that can still get the gist of what he did :)  Oh, and I don't have any of the cartooning, but they worked on anime (whatever that is - I think that it is that characters with the big eyes :)

The first day they painted on canvas and I guess that the theme was water. I love the anchor and the sea behind it. Things seemed to go awry when the Bible verse was added with a brush that was a little too big for writing. Oh well!

The second day, they painted in wood and used mixed media. I love the cross on the hill! Great job!

Nice and simple :)

On Friday, Brad was post-call and able to be home, so mom, Aunt Sue, Nellie, and I headed down to Gee's Bend to see the real place that was in the story 'Leaving Gee's Bend' By Irene Latham. We drove straight to the Gee's Bend Quilting Collective, where the sweetest ladies met us to show us around. 

 Mary Ann is on my right - she also showed us some of her current as well as her past projects. The quilt hanging the background was her first quilt and it is made out of corduroy. Amazing work!

 Look at all of those quilts! Wow! It really made us have a new-found appreciation for the quilts that our grandmothers (and great grandmothers) made. And it made me think about taking up quilting. But only for a few minutes :)

 After our visit at the Collective, we hopped on the ferry and headed over to Camden for lunch and some shopping. It was a hot, but good ride. 

 Mom, Aunt Sue, and Nellie

Such a fun and interesting day!!

While we were gone, the boys went zip lining at Red Mountain park. It was a blast! No pictures, tho :(  Just take their word for it :)

One more 'weekend of freedom' as Bennett is calling it. School starts on Tuesday! 

That post is coming right up...

Project Life 2012 - Week 31

July 29 - August 4

We returned from vacation and didn't skip a beat! I kept trying to schedule a pajama day, but it just didn't happen! For some reason, though, I didn't take very many pictures during the week... we did have some great meetings with new friends from Bennett's new school. The moms and kids were SO nice and really made us feel so much more ready for school (well, we're not ready for school to start, but now we have many less questions than we had before and some very friendly faces to greet us! :)

On Tuesday, the 31st, Bennett had flag football evaluations. From his excitement level, you would have thought that he was trying out for an NFL team!

 Here he is doing his best sprint work (smiling the whole time!)

And here he is catching a pass. Again with the smiling!

He was on cloud nine when we left there and on the way home he declared 'I'm the happiest boy in the whole world!!'

Who woulda thought it would just take saying 'yes' to flag football this fall???!??

Oh, and he's sure that they will want him as either quarterback or receiver, which I'm sure that they will. Although in flag football, I'm not sure how that's all gonna work. Honestly, I'm not sure how football works at all. But, I learned about baseball, so I'm sure I'll learn this too :)

On Saturday morning I left bright and early to meet Gigi and Evie at the gardens to take some pics of Evie. Can you believe that we hadn't taken pictures since before she turned one?? That's a shame.

 Oh, my! Look at that cutie! 

She was in a good mood, but not particularly smiley - or at least that's what we thought when we were there. When I got home, I was thrilled with the number of GREAT shots that we got!

I could just eat her up!

While I was at the gardens, the boys went over to Brad's parents' house to see Chad and his family.

 Bennett loves seeing his cousins - especially Gabe, who is just about a year older. By the look of Bennett's sweat-i-ness, I'm guessing that they played outside.

Here are all 4 boys :)

Wow! Only one more week of summer. Where has the time gone??

Project Life 2012, Week 30 - part 3

Thursday, the 26th

Our last day in Michigan... how did it all fly by so fast??

 We started out with a little trip to the bakery - YUM!

 After we fueled up, we headed to climb Mt. Piscah's 229 steps to the top for a beautiful view of the lake.

 We made it!

 Then boys headed out for a canoe ride. Bennett practiced a few ninja moves with the oars before they took off :)

 Off they go...

Lunch time smiles

 And even though he's doing his grammar, he's still happy to be outside by the pool :)

Friday, the 27th

On Friday we left The Beach House and headed back toward home. We had planned an overnight stop in Louisville to tour the Slugger Factory, and we were so glad that we did! 

 Brad with some famous guy's bat.

 Bennett with some famous guy's bat.

 After the tour, we went to the batting cages. Both guys did great!

 Outside by the BIG bat :)

Saturday, the 28th

On the way back to Alabama, we stopped in Bowling Green at the Lost River Cave. It was really neat!

 Here we are outside the entrance to the cave. It really was beautiful.

Here are the boys outside Blue Hole #1. Bennett seems scared, but I promise there was nothing to be scared of :)

We had a great time on our vacation, and it was hard to admit that it was over! Each day in Michigan was filled with great adventures and family fun - what more could we ask for??

Project Life 2012 - Week 30, part 2

On Tuesday, the 24th, we picked up Aunt Cork and headed out to Saugatuck to ride the dunes (which is always a 'must-do' for our trips to Michigan). It was threatening to rain all morning long, but it actually ended up being the perfect day for a dune ride!

 Ack! You'd never guess what was in there...

Here's Bennett in front of our ride :)

 The whole family at the top of the dunes - it is so pretty up there!

That afternoon, Aunt Linda had invited Bennett over to play with Mitchell and Bennett could hardly wait! They had a blast!

 While the boys played, Brad and I had some free time (which was so strange since we were on vacation) so we headed to the scrapbook store :)  Afterward, we had pizza at Aunt Linda and Uncle Terry's and then Bennett and Mitchell went to the Great Adventure at Aunt Cork's church. They had a blast!

On Wednesday, we prepared for our lunch guests, the VanEe's.

 We had a bunch of goodies from the Farmer's Market, along with our favorite chicken salad recipe. I think everyone had a good time.

After lunch, more cousins came over for some pool time - Bennett was super excited again! 

Here are they are - mostly blurry since they could hardly sit still :)

 Peek-a-boo ;)

Project Life 2012 - Week 30, part 1

July 22-28 - Our Michigan Vacation

Ok, just a warning that I have waaaayyy too many pictures for one post, so I'm going to break it up into 2 or 3 posts. Just picking a couple of pictures from vacation just isn't an option, so here are the highlights from each day :)

Sunday, July 22

After going to church with Aunt Cork, we headed over to the Boerman Family picnic, which was held at a nearby park. We were really looking forward to seeing everyone, but Bennett was REALLY excited about seeing all of Brad's cousins' kids. Here's the best group shot that we could get :)

 Before we left, Bennett was begging to have playdates with several of the boys - I love it that he makes friends so easily! (and that he remembers these cousins from 2 years ago! I wish that I had a memory like that :)

 Here we are with the bell that Brad inherited from his Grandpa Steenwyk (Brad donated it to the park where we picnicked). 

 One of the things we were looking forward to about our condo was that it had a basketball court... I think that Bennett won this game :)

 Monday, July 23

Lake Michigan sand shadows...

 The water was too cold for me, but after a rough game of football, the boys enjoyed it!

In the afternoon, the boys went out on a jet ski and had a great time exploring the lake.

Stay tuned for post #2 :)