September Fun

Superhero day at school...this kid LOVES BAtman!

Tailgate day at school

Embry's class pet Ollie got to spend the weekend with us!

Collin's Kindergarten shape parade

Watching the Redcoats practice (with Ollie)

We've loved being back close to the Siple family!!

Emrby's doing great on his bike!

Grandparent breakfast at school

Always fun doing his inhaler!

Beautiful sunrises and sunsets where we live! 

We love our front porch in the rain!

Second set of stitches for this one after a playground incident. He was brave!

Pirate night at school

Front porch chats

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...

First day of school

Ashton got a basketball goal for his 8th birthday! He played basketball this winter and loves it!

hat day at school

our bog 8 year old

Pap swimming in our pool with us

I've completely lost count of the number of teeth these two have lost this year but I love this photo after Collin's first one was lost!

Spring and new beginnings

 

One week in February I was having a particularly difficult time dealing with the stress of Wes being gone so much with his job. The weekends in the spring were just too much and I was having to do so much on my own. I really got frustrated having to buy all of Ashton's baseball stuff on my own one Saturday while Wes was working and take him to tryouts dragging the other two, when Wes would really have enjoyed doing it! Although he had a job offer last year, we did not feel it was the right option for us to move from GAC at the time. Over the year, we have still felt the pulling to make a change and I prayed that week in desperation for a change. The following week Wes texted me at work and said " What would you think about moving to Watkinsville?" A music store rep had told him about a job in Oconee at a wonderful middle school that he felt Wes would be perfect for. We prayed and asked God for guidance as he applied and God spoke so clearly through Joshua 1 many times to both of us. We just kept either turning to the passage or hearing it somewhere:

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: ² “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. ³ I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. ⁵ No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

⁷ “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. ⁸ Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

So here we are moving to Oconee county! Wes will be teaching at Malcom Bridge Middle school and our house goes on the market tomorrow which has been a crazy preparation process. We thought we would live in this house to the end but God has other things in store. I have two jobs I am in the process of deciding about which has been another huge answer to prayer. Now we need to find a house and Embry a preschool!
There are absolutely no words to describe what the people of GACS mean to use and how much we have loved having our children there, but we feel this is God's plan for us. Tonight is the band banquet which will be very hard emotionally. Over the past several weeks, we have had Wes's last concert and many school events that were hard. We will miss the people and our neighbors so much. Wes is truly a legend on that campus and several people have told him he has touched more students and changed that campus more than any other teacher. I could not be prouder of my husband and the work he has done growing that band from 30 kids to over 200 with amazing accomplishments and relationships in between. We pray God would continue to bless that program with Robert and the new director, Megan, who Wes is so thrilled to have there. She is someone he has known and respected for years and he has asked her to work with the program on many occasions.

So to make things more emotional, today is my last official day off with a child who is not in school. Embry most likely will be going to a 5 day preK next year. It is such a big occasion that I don't think it has hit me. I have been trying to enjoy every moment with special alone time with him although a lot of his days are spent at doctor's appointments and errands.It's still so nice to have one on one time that you don't usually have and I cherish a buddy to have with me.  Seven years of having children on my days off...next year will be eerily quiet but I am looking forward to getting involved in the schools more. I am so very thankful that I have had these days while they were young and would not trade anything for them. God truly answered my prayers long ago when I asked to work part-time and my Dawsonville job has been incredible...more on that later!

Here are a few photos from our spring:

 

Ashton's First grade program

Our annual strawberry pick with Grandaddy and I let the boys skip school...such a rebel mom

Grandaddy broke the rules of the patch and jumped over the plants and fell into the strawberries! The worker had clearly told the boys NOT to do that so it was hilarious and they were quite worried we would be kicked out! Here is granddaddy trying to get the red off of his booty! hahahaha what a memory!!

Mystery Reader for Embry's class

Embry and his buddy Joshua

Embry's K3 class program

One of our amazing school nurses, Mrs Annabelle Townsend who holds a dear place in our hears and has given me so much peace over the past 4 years dealing with our allergies and asthma! We praise God for her. She also was the TA for Collin last year!

Embry and Mrs Kim

Embry and his best buddy Banks Wilson who will we miss so much! His sister is HAllie, Collin's arranged bride. haha We have become great friends with the Wilsons as Banks' mommy is the other school nurse and my sweet buddy Kristen!

Mother's day putt putt. overlooking the fountain and the view of 85! Collin asked if he could be baptized in that fountain!! haha

Ashton's field day!

Second place three legged race with Landon Wilson,whose parents we were friends with years ago at Briarlake Baptist before any of us had kids!

Ashton and Jack Wilson, whose family we knew from Peachtree Corners Baptist several years ago!

My awesome tug of war shot

 

Last week on my walk with Embry. I am getting so sad about his last days with me before summer and pre-K

Embry's K3 water day! This is one of his many "giwwwlfwiends" alexis

And Embry with Julia Turner, Robert's daughter who is his partner in crime in the mornings and afternoons in the bandroom waiting on daddies while they rehearse and help students! He says he is in love with JUlia all the time!

Random crime shot from the park with the chief in charge

His police partner

and an arrest was made! So thankful my boys are amazing playmates!

And today after Kroger. I cannot imagine grocery store runs on days off without kids. What am I going to do without a buddy?

Our last official day off just the two of us