First day of school 2016

First time for everything

And today it was the kids' first time at Waffle House.

Company of Pride - 15 years later

Tenacious

Brody played his second year of Greenville Grizzlies football this fall. Tonight was the banquet. One of my highlights was serving Marcus Lattimore and his fiancée, Miranda, salad.

Later in the evening the players were all recognized and received t-shirts. There were four players in his age group who received an award. Coach Meagher said Brody loved to tackle more than anyone else on the team. 

Coach Repp said he had a lot of fun coaching him on defense, that Brody was a leader on the field who was in on every play. He said pound for pound he wasn't one of the biggest, but he was tenacious. He said this player played as hard as he could and he never gave up on a play. Coach also said he celebrated more than any other player when they won and took it hard when they lost. Brody was given the Tenacious award. His other teammates, who were also buddies also won awards: Dylan (Protector) and Jake (Intelligence). The QB and star of the team, Carson, was the Ferocious winner.

I am so glad this organization does not give out participation awards. Last year Brody saw the four kids who received awards. He watched their play and worked much harder at practice and in games this year and improved tremendously.

I'm one proud Grizzly Mama!

Boo in the Zoo

Mary Grace invited Sydney to Boo in the Zoo today.  

They both went as black cats.

At least she stood firm.  :)

Gr8 Birthday for a Gr8 Kid

Happy 8th Birthday, Brody!  We love you so much!

 Eight and Ninety-Eight!

 Mimi and Star Wars!

 Gran and Carrie, just chillin'.

 Micah couldn't come to the party, so he joined us for a birthday lunch at Moe's.

 The Lees came, too.

Brody had a "Kick the Can" party the night before.

The cake was a random Minecraft cake, per Brody's request.

Thirty-Great

Yesterday I turned 38. I truly believe people are the best gifts. Especially now that I'm older. :)

My mom's gift of time, particular gifts, surcees from precious friends, homemade things from my kiddos, my man searching the whole world over for the best peacoat.

The best gifts are the thoughtful ones, especially when they are small.

So here's to year thirty-great, to our GREAT God and His great gift of people.

Sweet Memory

Thankful for homeschooling in this moment.

My Lunch Surprise

Skytop

We checked the weather, and they were calling for rain at 10 am.

We got there at 9:02 AM and were the only ones in the parking lot.

We quickly headed out to pick our apples.

Lots of climbing was required in the Fuji section.

Stephen was getting the really high ones.

Brody loved climbing the trees.

Tree after tree after tree.

Sydney enjoyed the trees just as much.

After picking our very last apple, it started to sprinkle.

We agreed to divide and conquer. 

I went in to pay for our apples while the kids played with Stephen in the rainy bamboo forest.

We enjoyed a dozen apple cider donuts under a shelter.  Sampling some cider, we walked around the store, then took our annual "How Tall" pictures.

A little rain didn't stop us Fowlers.  We just made new fun memories.

Including a new pizzeria in Greenville, since the Pizza Inn near Skytop was closed.