Yeehaw!

Here's the kids I teach at Parent's Morning Out last week on Cowboy/Cowgirl Day:

The mustaches were a huge hit! *A* allowed (H) to wear her cowboy boots just this once, how generous of her.

Soccer Family

Here are the promised pictures (thanks Cortney!) of *A*'s first soccer game.

There are not too many action shots because *A*'s not doing much action out there on the field yet...she's still sort of hanging back and we have to yell from the sidelines, "Go, run! Get the ball!". I do like this one though with the tounge. We see a lot of that tounge when she's trying really hard. So funny.

Unfortunately she has not had practice or a game for a week because of the rain, so I'm worried she will have lost all the "skills" she had finally learned. We've been trying to kick the ball a bit in the front yard between rain storms and hopefully she'll have practice today as the sun is currently shining. She's really good at dribbling the ball with her feet from one place to another, but when the rest of the kids get involved, she's not very aggressive. I gave her a pep talk one day after practice about how she needs to kick the ball from the people on the other team and she said "But they'll get mad at me if I take their ball away." Well, normally yes and that's really good manners but...um, how exactly do you teach competition? Maybe team sports aren't our thing.
Anyway, we did have a great time watching and cheering from the sidelines, and we really don't care what her "skills" are though as long as she's having fun!

Plus, she's pretty cute in her jersey! She's supposed to wear black shorts as part of her uniform but they are so big that they fall off when she runs. This week I think we're playing one of her friend's teams so we'll see how that goes, I can just imagine them chatting away in the field while the ball rolls right past. Good times.

Camp

This weekend we went to our sponsoring parish's retreat at our diocesan camp, Camp Mikell. We love Camp Mikell eventhough we've only been there once before for a Folk School weekend. There is this air of fun and relaxation as soon as you drive up the windy road to camp and all the buildings are full of that same camp-like feeling. I so wish I had grown up Episcopalian so that I could have all the camp memories so many cradle Episcopalians have.
I have such fond memories of the camp I went to as a child, and I can only imagine being part of a place where so many bonds have been made and so many campers have gone before. I'm so excited *A* and (H) will have a chance to go to Camp Mikell and experience this amazing place. This weekend they got a taste of camp, and they LOVED it!
While we stayed the retreat village rather than in the main camp area, we were still able to have meals in the dining hall (yum!), and explore the main camp buildings. After breakfast on Sunday, while ^J^ was leading morning prayer, we snuck into the main hall (the old dining hall) with the stage, huge fireplace, and hundreds of campers' names painted on the walls and ceiling. They couldn't get enough and kept finding new things to look at with their flashlights. I was finally able to drag them out of there and we had a fun walk in the pouring down rain back to our cabin.
It rained, hard, the entire time we were there but it didn't matter. We all had rain gear and boots and umbrellas and extra changes of clothes so when the kids wanted to walk in the newly made stream running down the muddy path, no problem! We watched the creek rise and become dangerously fast while we were there and *A* had fun looking for spiders with her new spider identification book. Were planning to stay until Sunday afternoon but everyone was leaving early because of the weather, so we packed up, and the kids were SO disappointed.
It was a nice getaway and good to see people from our old church. Getting away always puts things in perspective though and we are always struck at the ways we have changed in the short time we've been at Sewanee. We had big discussions on the way home about the future and the fact that we will not ever have the opportunity to be a parishioner again (unless we're on vacation). It's kinda weird but also very exciting.

(NOTE: Since I have no pictures to share from this weekend, these pictures are from our first visit to Camp Mikell in March of 2008. Just imagine a lot more leaves and a lot more rain.)

The Cutest Thing

I've seen in a while...
A Future Bishop?


This year at PMO we're having a Mystery Guest come each day from the seminary community and share something with the preschool kids. They read stories, share music, etc. One of the seminarians, and father of 2 of our PMO kids, asked if the kids might enjoy seeing the vestments a priest wears. Not only did he bring them, but he asked for volunteers and they tried them on! They loved it! Here are some more pictures of the kids dressed up that day:

A Reunion

This weekend our good friends who graduated last year came up for a visit. It was so good to see them and it made us realize how much we miss them. *A* and their daughter are so much alike and are such good friends. They saw each other, gave a brief hug, and ran off to play as if it were just yesterday that they had said goodbye, not in May! So cute! We were able to spend a little bit of alone time with them and then we had a big "reunion" of sorts at the park so all the kids and adults could visit. Here are some pictures:



More from this weekend later, I'm hoping a friend will send me some pictures of *A*'s 1st soccer game. It was great fun and I *think* she might understand the point of the game now. Although, she had a really open shot to the goal once and turned around and kicked it the other way, so maybe she doesn't get it quite yet...

This week I...

picked up my dad from the airport for his first visit to Sewanee...taught and directed PMO...had choir practice...kept the kids out of school to play with Gramdpa John...met with a bride and her family for her wedding this weekend...had spiritual direction...had a meeting for one of my other part-time jobs...made tacos...made 7 loaves of communion bread...bought ballet shoes...took *A* to ballet...picked up some hand-me-down soccer cleats...took *A* to soccer practice...went to Thursday night dinner and community fair...helped host a baby shower...attended said baby shower...knitted a hat...slept(some)...tried to figure out wheat-free foods for *A*...enjoyed cool evenings...drank a lot of coffee.

And we still have 2 more days of this week left where I will...

...run a wedding rehearsal...see good friends who are coming to visit...pick the kids up from school...grocery shop...clean house...do lots of laundry...have a picnic...watch a soccer game...start knitting a new pair of socks...hostess a wedding...meal plan...call niece and brother-in-law for birthdays...sleep(lots)...and dream about next week when the schedule will be slightly less hectic (I hope).

Well, Hi!

Hello there blog! Nice to see you.

I finally have a day to just be. Well, to pay bills, do laundry, and run errands, but at least I can dictate my schedule. It wasn't really supposed to be this way, but things got cancelled, so yay! I'm really enjoying my Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings alone this year, and after this week of PMO preparations I think I might seriously go crazy if I didn't have it. Next week, Wednesdays will be full of morning bible study, choir/Eucharist, and community lunch, so this is my last Wednesday "off" for a while.

I am really glad the school year is starting up again, but man, it's busy. This year we have the added schedule-juggling of *A*'s activities. She's started soccer for the Fall and ballet starts up next week. We're feeling a little over-scheduled, but I keep having to remind myslef that soccer is only for 2 months. And she loves it. She picked out a bright purple practice ball and some pink shin guards so she's all set, and quite fashionable (of course)! She is by far the youngest on her team so we'll see how that goes. The other team we practiced with last week seems to have more beginner players, but her team has some 6 year old boys who went to soccer camp this summer and they seem pretty good. Her first game is next Saturday and then she has a game every Saturday morning for like 8 weeks straight. Welcome to the world of being a soccer mom!

Well, I'd better run but here's picture of the kids and I at lunch last weekend with my mom. We went to Atlanta for a quick visit, consignment sale, house check, and IKEA trip. It was whilrwind, but good and I got some productive retail therapy done! IKEA and Target all in one day...what more could a rural-mountain-living girl ask for?