First Day of...

I read a great blog post today that really summed up what I'm feeling about the first day of school tomorrow, so rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, here it is (courtesy of Elisa Blaha :: enJoy it:

Today is the first day of school for so many people. I'm a little bit envious. So much excitement. Clean notebooks. Favorite outfit. The only day of the year when you are not tired when the alarm goes off and instead jump out of bed to start making your hair look right. The day when you really only want toast for breakfast to settle your stomach. You actually enjoy packing your lunch. You walk into every class hopeful about who might be there. You listen to the teacher and decide if this is going to be a class that requires a lot of meaningful effort or if this will be one that you just get to skate by in. Your homework is to read chapter one and write an essay about who you are in less than 200 words (or maybe now its 140 characters.) You carefully add it into your planner.

Day one feels so clean and new. As if anything can and will happen.

What if today was day one? For you, not just your kids or your younger brother who is starting his senior year at USC (love you, Robbie. Hold on tight, it will fly.) How would having a clean state, fresh notebook, & high expectations change your Monday?

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Today was spent doing a lot of things to get ready: haircut, dentist (yay no cavities for either girl), finishing hems and tucks in uniform skirts, discussing breakfast and lunch menus, and early bedtimes. The girls are excited and ready for school, but also a bit nervous (which I assured them was completely normal).

Happy first day of...

Summer in a Nutshell Part 1: Synchro

I love synchro. I loved it as a kid and I love it now that Heidi is doing it. I encouraged both of the girls to join in June but Gretchen was really hesitant. Now that she has watched Heidi do it for a summer, I think next year she'll want to participate.

Heidi went to practices twice a week for June and July, and then had a few extra ones the week of the show. The whole summer has been plagued by rain and cool weather, and the dress rehearsal was no exception. We all huddled in the club room during a pretty intense thunderstorm while the girls were getting their hair done. They weren't even able to get into the water that night! No matter though...the show was great and brought back so many memories. Heidi's group was just adorable and they swam to "Just Can't Wait to be King" from The Lion King. I think her group had the cutest costumes, but then, I'm a bit biased. LOL

I hope both girls want to do this next summer.

Summer=

Credits: SYTYCD Week 2 kit by Wild Dandelions, word art by Ali Edwards

Summer = swimming. gardening, barbecue, camping, running around barefoot, wearing skirts and dresses, flip flops, rhubarb, walking to Lickity Split, the big synchro show at Laurel Hill, library reading program, garage sales, that summer glow, catching lightening bugs, baseball.

Fairies Everywhere!

Credits: Mon Petit jardin by MaeliaDesigns, Dear Mom by Anna BV, Yin template 114, Spell It Plastic Beads by Kim Jensen, Font: Pea Bethany

Melissa told me one day about these cool things called fairy doors in downtown Ann Arbor. I showed the girls on the computer, and that was it...we HAD to go see them! Melissa had a band rehearsal in AA on a Saturday, so we all hopped in the camper for the trip. We found most of the doors downtown, and the girls were delighted. Heidi left the fairies notes and Gretchen left jelly beans. We even found one door that wasn’t on any list...it must have appeared recently! We also went to thebookstore to find the last one. My favorite was the Red Shoes, since it had its own garden. Now they are hoping the fairies will come to live with us. I hope so too!

A six year old Ali Edwards wanna be

The story:

The girls' homework assignment was to find two photos of something starting with the letter L. Since I only have old scrapbook magazines around the house, we used what we had and went to work. As Heidi was browsing the pages, she saw a photo of Ali Edwards and said, "Look, it's a lady...lady starts with L!". Okay, that would work. After cutting out the photo she had a silly streak and decided to make "Ali" talk...

Road Not Traveled

Photo mask by Gunhild Storeide
After School paper and alpha by Lynne Marie
Glitter spray by Michelle Martin
Daisy by Kasia Designs
Date stamps by Amber Clegg
Fancy swirl by M Koegelenberg
Fonts: Pea Bethany, Pea

Journaling:
There was a time when I believe God was calling us to move to the mountains. I’ll never know if it was really Him, or just my own desire to pick up and change our lives. Rob wasn’t convinced and so we stayed. Now we both wish we would have been brave enough to just do it. Even though it’s never too late, we don’t want to uproot the girls. Maybe our dream will come true when we retire. Never say never...

Art Music Video

This is the coolest thing I've seen on You Tube for a while: