First Day of School for the Girls!

Katherine - all excited and ready for 5th grade!

The bus stop. (Isaac is the designated mascot)

Katherine, Madeline, and Diana

Dylan- Our 7th grader!

She's not too happy about the "uniform", but I think she looks great!

(I was informed that I was not welcome at the middle school bus stop. What's up with that? What middle schooler doesn't want mom snapping pictures as she gets on the bus??)

It's Not What You Think!

Scott participates in a farmer's co-op at work, so every Tuesday he comes home with fresh fruits and vegetables delivered that day by a local farmer.

This is an example of some of what he came home with yesterday:

We never know exactly what we'll get. We've gotten melons, berries, tomatoes, corn, and more. And sometimes we get something we're not that familiar with. It's been fun finding new recipes with these.

Today, a service man came out to look at something in the house. As we were in the kitchen, I noticed him staring at something on the counter. When I saw what he was looking at, I almost died! I've seen enough episodes of Cops to figure it out. I knew, too, that he probably wasn't buying my blubbering explanation of, "It's some kind of lemon herb thing my husband brought home from work yesterday..."

A Few More Alabama Pictures

At the end of a fun day of roller coasters and water slides.

Mother, Kaili and Isaac. Not sure who enjoyed the slide the most!

Justin. What else can I say?

Mother and Scott guarding the watermelon

Marlin Get-Together July 2010

Daddy and Cameron

Shorty and Crimson

Two handfuls of summer fun

"Half Rubber"

Greg and Cocoa

Meagan

Isaac with Rick

Kim and Danette

Millry July 2010

Isaac and Ethan

Randy's Birthday

Bible School at New Grace Baptist (Kat & Emme in the middle)

Isaac at Bible School (aka, most enthusiastic participant...he LOVED it)

Dylan at Bible School (missed Elizabeth because she had returned to B'ham)

The New Swing

Scott says no more blogging until I add pictures, so I'm on a mission.

These pictures were taken the first week we were here. It was decided months ago that the new swing would be top priority when we arrived in North Carolina, so Pawpaw planned everything. The end result was amazing. It's great! And sturdy. It'll be here when the rest of us are long gone.


The prep alone took a full day.



Day 2 was the actual construction.







The end result, inspired by a swing we loved in Hopewell, NJ, is a craftsman's work of art. The pictures don't do it justice.



All the kids love it, but it's really Dylan who claims it.



Our little swinger. How many hours in her lifetime, who could guess? What's for sure is that her first swing, built by Daddy and Uncle Steve in Alabama, was put to the test. She loved it so much that we moved it to New Jersey with us.


And though she's a big girl now, and had definitely outgrown that first swing, she's still just a swingin'. And, thanks to Pawpaw, she can swing for as long as she wants to.

Friends

By far, the hardest aspect of our move from New Jersey to North Carolina was dealing with our two broken hearted girls (especially 13 year old Dylan) who didn't want to leave their friends.

So, I'm happy to report good news from the "friend" department. First and foremost, Ava, Dylan's sweet bestie from New Jersey arrives tomorrow to spend a week with Dylan. Her dad will drive her down from NJ tomorrow. (Thank you, Mark and Nancy!!)

Besides this, the girls have met new friends here already. Katherine has two really sweet girls her age who live very close in the neighborhood that she's having lots of fun with.

There is only one girl Dylan's age nearby, but she's been perfect for Dylan. And, even better, she had a birthday party/sleepover last night from which Dylan came home gushing about how nice and fun the girls were.

This is an answer to prayer for us and will make everything else about the move so much easier! Yay!!

What Exactly is a Tar Heel?

Wow. I didn't realize what an effect moving would have on my blogging! My mind has been so preoccupied with trying to find/place/remove/insert our household that during my "down" times, I'm pretty much reduced to mind-mush.

We've made some progress. We've unpacked the core areas (bedrooms, kitchen, bathrooms, etc.) and are pretty much down to the finishing touches, ie finishing the rec room and garage (the drop spots for things that could be put off until later), hanging pictures and curtains, and rearranging things that don't make any sense whatsoever.

Besides the house, we've also: met the neighbors, made a trip home to Alabama, arranged first play dates, registered for schools and preschool, found an orthodontist, piano teacher and tae kwon do class. Still to do: find a home church, pediatrician, dentist, ETC.

We're also learning more about the area. We've learned that the red fox can make some crazy scary noises that will freak you out at 2:30 in the morning. We're learning what plants will and will not grow in hard red clay. We're learning that North Carolina has some good barbecue and peaches. And since we're surrounded by a big lake, we're looking forward to learning a thing or two about boats.

If you find yourself in the area, come on by! The sheets may not match, and we might put you to work (just ask Kim, Ms. Peggy & Mr. Tee), but we have all-you-can-drink sweet tea. I'm loving me some family size tea bags!