Catch up!

Our summer is officially over with the start of school. Here is our official first day picture.

I hope to get a lot more time this year in his actual classroom as a volunteer. Last years teacher didn't really like parents in the classroom so my hopes and dreams of seeing him through 2nd grade as a room mom where quickly demolished. So my first question to the teacher this year was not about anything other than when do I get to come and help? Luckily she doesn't have the same phobia of moms in classrooms as last years teacher so I hope to be doing a lot of classroom help. Careful what I wish for I know. So anyway how was the very first full day of 3rd grade - "OK". That is all we get these days for just about any question. He likes his new school, his new teacher and his new friends. All is good in the school world. Except they told him his shirt was the wrong shade of green - the list called for shamrock green - you show me your version of it and I show you mine. He is wearing this shirt - I bought it. Nuf said.

So with the beginning of school we look back on our summer. What did we do? Well......

We played baseball. Lots of baseball.

We formed the team the Franklin Thunder an 8U tournament team. We learned a lot this summer. Not just about baseball but about commitment, effort and earning your right to play. Some of these lessons were very hard to learn but they will never be forgotten - I promise. The team did well during each tournament - always ended up in the top 3 seeds but for some reason we could never pull it out for the big game when we needed to. We did walk away with one 2nd place that really meant something. We are the 2009 Cal Ripken 8U State Runner Ups. We almost got to go to Florida to play in the Regionals.....maybe next year~

We also learned that Tyler can swim.....

Not just swim but jump off of a diving board and come back up swim.

I can't even do that. I tried once when I was about his age. My parents enrolled me in swimming lessons at the local YMCA. I went for one day. The instructor threw some diving toys into the pool and said go under and get them. I said no. He said it again and I again said no. He then put his hand on the top of my head and pushed me under. I never went back and to this day I am afraid of water. Thanks YMCA swim instructor.

Charlie and I didn't know he could do this until AFTER he did it. I know - what kind of parents let their child jump off of a diving board that aren't 100% sure he will resurface? US that's who. Charlie was ready to jump in and save him if need be - fully clothed mind you. But that was just not necessary because my boy knows how to swim.

We vacationed.......

We took one very short mini vacation this summer to a local lake. It was the most relaxing time we have had in a very long time. There was no T.V., no internet, no nothin and we just soaked it all in. This trip came about because Papa had promised Tyler a fishing trip earlier in the summer. The day they were to go we got scheduled to play in a tournament so we had to cancel. That really was a bummer for both Tyler and Papa. So Papa did some research and some digging and found that you could rent cabins at a nearby lake. So he did. It was originally going to be just Mimi, Papa and Tyler on a weekend fishing trip but it soon turned into a family getaway. We played games, ate, fished, ate, walked, ate, talked, ate, swam, ate, then ate some more. I think in the entire 3 days there we had two full meals. The rest was pure snackin - and it was good! It really made us spend some much needed quality time together and away from the hustle and bustle of everything else. We promised Tyler some more times like this and now every Friday night is game night. It really did our family good.

To end the summer we went to Vacation Bible School. As a child this was my favorite part of church. Every summer we would go and have so much fun learning God's word. I am so happy that my son loves it just as much as I do. He had baseball practice two of the 5 nights and he made daddy promise to bring him to church as soon as he could so he wouldn't have to miss it all. He is already shaping up into a man of God. I can't wait to see what his future holds.

I also started a clothes closet to help those families that are having hard times. I have had donations pouring in and that in itself is amazing. I didn't think I would have so much just given to me. I am so blessed to be used as a part of Sharing Life Ministries in this way. I can't wait to see how many families this will bless!

So that is our summer of 2009.

It went by way to fast but we have a lot of memories to hold onto from it.