The girls were excited to get back to school. It was a great summer, but toward the end we were ready for a new season. I am so thankful for the seasons of life!

Lydia misses 6th grade. It was a fantastic year but I am encouraging her to look forward to more good times. I know middle school is a difficult time.

Jessica was up at 5:30 this morning excited to try out middle school!

They outgrow picture taking!

Elaina is studious. She would love to go to school year round. At least that’s what she thinks!

Anjelia has the best imagination of any kid! Of course she loved first grade.

Anjelia is super proud of her Twinkle Toes Sketchers! They light up quite brightly when she walks.

The women on my mom’s side of the family gathered together for our 2010 Girls’ Weekend.  We had a great time relaxing, talking, shopping and enjoying the scenery.

This year we honored Aunt Tootsie with a Tootsie Roll party!

We barely had the table ready in time for her arrival! We were thrilled to have found a fun set of party decor.

Aunt Tootsie’s daughter, Kandis. My pretty cousin. The first cousin.

Aunt Kathy took this pic. I hate to have anyone missing. Mom had us all make a jar of exfoliate. It made our hands silky smooth.

Aunt Kathy is in this one, but Mom is now missing.

Here we are relaxing in front of the country home we rented for the weekend.  We were so far out that none of us had cell phone connections, the gravel road was completely flooded in one direction,  and when outside at night there was literally no light – at all. It was odd to those of us accustomed to light pollution.

We had a blast spending a couple of days in a quaint little town in the middle of wine country. Great shopping and good food were big hits, of course! Kandis, Aunt Punkie and Mom posing showing off their new rings.

I had to get in on it, too!

Ok, so we were all pretty excited over our jewels!

Aunt Punkie was totally in her element when we stopped off at a winery with live music. We had fun watching her dance!

She found someone else to be her partner. A nice, random lady

Aunt Punkie and Kandis ended the weekend perfectly.

There was so much I didn’t capture in pictures. I was too busy relaxing and having fun.

I’m looking forward to next year.

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I love my techy husband!

Check out his new blog, Blue Collar Coaching, in my links. He’s added another business to his life! He’s putting what he’s learned about business to good use, helping other entrepreneurs  as a business coach.

We plan on podcasting soon! Our call letters are BCRN, Blue Collar Radio Network! Unfortunately the two microphones James has ordered have been fried by our usb hub. He finally figured out the problem!

Check out his business website, Builders Installation Group. We are in the process of getting a professional pic of James. We need to update his amateur  tough-guy pose! hehe!

Lydia and Jessika’s friend, Liv, doctored some photos of the girls. They are too cute and silly not to share.

Domino sleeping on the way down!

Our good friends, Robin and Larry, invited us to travel to Branson for the weekend. The highlight was of course, Silver Dollar City, a wonderfully clean and friendly theme park. It was a blast.

Anjelia was rather attached to Larry for the weekend. Robin and Larry were brave to invite a family of six on a get-away weekend!

Elaina and her daddy.

I enjoyed the ginormous Flemish Giant bunny!

And Anjelia liked the little goats!

The girls were curious about the old school house. Kinda wish things were still this way for my kids.

The girls loved the roller coasters. Elaina jumped on the barn swing with Lydia and my blood pressure went up. This thing is a beast of a ride. Elaina and I both survived the experience! Jessica and Olivia were roller coaster riding machines. Lydia was brave and tried them all. Larry bought the video of Lydia riding Wildfire, a 66 mile per hour ride with five upside down loops. Her expressions are hilarious the entire ride! I was proud of them all for being brave. Anjelia loved the Powder Keg. It starts by going from 0 to 60 in two seconds! Pretty daring for a six-year-old!

Our family at The Landing. It was beautiful. Would love to see the fountain show at night.

We toured Marvel Cave. It is a one hour walk underground! Very cool. It’s amazing that there are gorgeous water falls underground! The girls got to see some bats and lots of beautiful formations.

A big thank you to Larry, Robin and Olivia for sharing their bring-a-friend tickets with us! We had a great time spending the weekend with your family. Thanks for the memories!

My girls have been singing Officer Bob’s praises for two years! Lydia graduated from the D.A.R.E. program last year; Jessica graduated last night. Officer Bob teaches D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). He is a hero in our community. He eats lunch at school with the kids, visits them at the pool in the summer and helps the disadvantaged kids shop for back to school items (I see him at Wal-Mart with them each year). Officer Bob’s plans include moving his office to the elementary building. If a kid is suspected of skipping school, Officer Bob drives to their home to find them. If there’s a kid event going on, Officer Bob is there. He greets the girls at the Primary door each morning and waves goodbye to Lydia each afternoon at the Middle School. Officer Bob is a vital part of our community and we are so thankful to him for all that he does!

It was nice visiting with you this evening!

Mmmmmmmm. . . candy! Who wants to be mommy’s favorite! hehehehe!

Peace out, dude . . . or something like that. . .

It’s no wonder James was stressed when he left this morning. He had to rent this big machine for a multi-unit job that started today. He had to figure out how to get several hundred cabinets out of a semi and onto the third floor of an apartment building! Yikes!

Today has come and gone with a pretty hefty price tag for our business. I am hoping and praying we reap the benefits of the work in a timely manner! It’s funded with government money. I guess the government jobs are starting to come around. It’s a bit hairy though. Since it’s government funded James has to pay prevailing wage. (LOTS of bucks per hour). We won’t start getting paid for the work for weeks to come and payroll is just around the corner each week. Pray for James!

James and I on our nineteenth anniversary! It’s amazing how deep a relationship can go and I know we haven’t even scratched the surface yet compared with people who have been married two to three times this long.

I enjoy taking pictures of James’ kitchens. I especially enjoy doing so when he is in the pic! With the kids in school I have had a little more freedom and have gotten to tag along a few times. My job is to take pics of the various kitchens!

It’s been such a blessing having his office at home in our basement. He now has his very own man-cave!!! It’s a dream come true for him! (I doubt very many men have guinea pigs and rabbits in their man-cave! hehe!) They are good for stress!