Yorktown: Almost a Year!

TI am so sad that I have not blogged in almost a year! It has been a busy year but I need to get back into it as a journal for our family and I know my Granddaddy will read this even if no one else does!

Last July, we said goodbye to these sweet people, packed up and moved to Oconee!

These pictures are after the closing of our house in Athens. We closed on the opposite side of the street from our wedding reception location which was so sweet! (It's in the background with the green awning)

So now we are here in Oconee for the past 8 months and loving it. It is exactly as we hoped our life would be...much more quality time with our daddy who now only teaches middle school and much LESS time in the car fighting traffic which is nonexistent in this part of the world! We have about 2 traffic lights on our commutes, both of which are about 15 minutes! It has been amazing.

We've had a few bumps with our house (mold in the crawlspace found on day 1) and replacing HVAC, dishwasher and fridge. We are dreading lifting the cover off the pool which will probably be a green swamp after the winter but we are excited to enjoy that this summer once we can wrap our heads around the maintenance!

My initial job told me the day we moved in that my contract would only be fore three mos which turned out to be a good thing. After three months, I switched practices and God provided me a new job without even a week off in between. I now work 2 days in Watkinsville and 1 day in Lexington which is a long but very pretty country commute.

Wes is so happy back in a great public school and the boys are doing awesome at Malcom Bridge Elementary. They've had some amazing experiences with amazing teachers and we are so thankful.
Now to brag on them since no one really reads this and Grandaddy won't mind...
Collin won the top runner award at school for the fun race they do in the fall and he represented the school's kindergarden writing submission to the GA young writer's competition. We are so proud! His story was about a gummy alligator. He has really blossomed and went from no reading to chapter books in such a short time. His real love is writing though and it's so sweet. He told me on spring break he had so much in his head to write about when he got back to school! His teacher says he is so quiet but when he does say something it's perfect and at just the right time.

Ashton is also doing great in second grade. He switched classes for math early on and we called him the "roaming student" He's so humble that he didn't know he was going to an advanced class and thought he as just going "to meet more people" since he was the new kid. Then after winter break, he changed altogether to the advanced class and is really enjoying doing special projects and has made lots of new friends.
Both boys really love STEAM at school and I have been able to volunteer in that class a little. They are making a garden and green house which is really neat in the back of the school. Ashton was in the Oconee Enterprise newspaper last week with a quote about it! They've also both been ambassadors for their classes which is a neat opportunity. They get to meet with the principal and give her ideas and share things they like or don't like about school. Collin says they should have inflatables to play on. I'm sure the principal enjoys those meetings!

we had some trouble with Embry's first preK following allergy requests that I gave them and after several incidences of me crying on the way to work, decided he needed to change. God provided a check the next week from selling our old house that covered his tuition for the year at a private PreK and he is doing great in a smaller class with a teacher who is much more caring and thoughtful about his needs. We are so thankful. He continues to entertain us with his antics and we cannot imagine how boring our lives with be without our little entertainer who can't keep still! Here are some photos...