1st day of school

And so it begins... Today Anna and I started school "for real." We've been doing a little math to get a head start, but now we're diving in. I'm kind of sad that Summer break is over, but it is nice to have a definite purpose in life (i.e. survive the looming pile of books you must read).

So goodbye lazy days, I shall miss thee in part, if not in whole.

How To Say I Love You

Camping Trip

I know it's the end of August already, but we just got back from our first camping trip of the year. We were very jealous of everyone who had bikes and almost 'borrowed' our neighbor's bikes when they were away. It was very hard to resist.

And although we had gone to this camp last year, we didn't realize they had a swing set until this time. It was kind of hidden, but we enjoyed it immensely.

Sunday Em, Anna, and I walked down to the water.

Anna's classic back bend.

This was the sweet camouflage tree we climbed and watched the sunset.

Monday was our only full day there and we hiked the trail to the falls.

The little falls on the way.

T and I making rock art.

Don't mess.

Teresa got a kayak this year and we had fun in that. We also rented one for a couple hours so two could go at the same time.

That night we played scattergories, roasted s'mores, ran up and down the street, and played Apples to Apples by lamplight. It was a good trip.

Zoe at 8 months

Mom went down for 11 days to visit Zoe, she's eight months! Here are some pics from her trip (taken by phone) and from Teresa's trip. Grandma with Zoe. (I wonder who dressed her)
Teresa went down right after mom for a little over a week to take over the "job" of babysitting.

All decked out.

She's getting so big. She's started pulling herself up now, walking soon to come.

Praying in the Dark

I don't know what's going on
In your life right now
I barely know your name,
All I know is that
I can't forget about you
You're stuck inside my brain,
There's a pit in my stomach
That won't go away
It keeps me up at night,
I want to tell you
How much God loves you
And He can make it right,
I want to let you know
That I've been praying
Every day for you,
That you would see Jesus
For who He really is
And discern what is true,
No matter where you're at,
No matter what you've done
His arms are open wide,
He can chase away the dark
Heal your very soul
And bring you peace inside,
But how can I tell you
All of these things
When you seem so far away?
An imaginary chasm
Stands between you and me
And all I can do is pray.

Jumping @ Midnight

This is what we were doing at midnight a couple of nights ago:

Anna and I saw a ghost in the moon...I don't know what Emily saw.

I'm not sure what's going on here.

Cookie Crumbs

I like construction men. I smile at them as I drive by. I sometimes even wave. I like feeling (however wrong I may be) that I have brightened their day by my presence. They look so forlorn slaving away, it makes me want to give them a cookie. So yesterday I took the opportunity to show my support when the opportunity came.

I was over at Natalie's house scrubbing her porch (I know, weird), and just a few yards away were three construction workers putting in a new sidewalk. Even though we were in the midst of our long, arduous project, we took it upon ourselves to bake them some fresh cookies along with lemonade. And so we did. We threw together some delicious-looking oatmeal raisin cookies and stuck them in the oven. During that time another worker had shown up, so we added another cup of lemonade to chill in the fridge. They were getting ready to leave, but our cookies made it out in time. Onto 4 small plates they went with 4 on each. Wow. This was really going to make their day.

We walked out bearing our gifts and offered them to the three workers lounging around the truck. Did we get smiles? Did we get a "Wow, you made fresh, amazing, delicious cookies just for us even though you were really busy?"? No. They didn't want any. Without even a 'thank you' to smooth it over. I could have thrown the lemonade in their faces. But I resisted. The only recompense was that the skinny dude actually doing the work took a plate. But COME ON! What man turns down fresh baked cookies?

So we limped back to the house with our injured prides and ate all the cookies ourselves.

"The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure."
-Sven Goran Eriksson

Subtleties of the Slate