New Version

Every morning, the principal comes on to welcome the kids, make announcements, then we all stand for the pledge and star spangled banner. Well, today pretty much summed up Kindergarten. You never know when you are teaching what they will say and many times you are left wondering "where did that come from?!" Here's a classic example:
Pledge is complete
Song begins and one of my girls starts singing pretty loudly. (Singing her own words of course because how many 5 year olds really know the words?!)
"Oh say does that star spangled, turns head from flag to girl near her and says I really like your shirt, turns back to flag and keeps singing: yet wave..."
Too funny! I had to share!

Sunday, Sunday

I woke Sunday morning to beautiful blue skies and a bit cooler weather. The puppies began playing the moment my foot hit the floor at 7:15! After a late breakfast, I met Maggie, Crystal, Owen, and Ben at the REI garage sale. (these pictures are from waiting in line for about an hour!) We left there empty handed and headed up to the She Trade consignment sale. It was the last day, so everything was half off. I got a pair of cords and 3 shirts for a great price! I left the girls, headed home for a quick lunch and outside time with the pups. Then, it was off to attempt a 7ish mile run with Ann and one of her friends. We met up, jogged the loop, then celebrated with a beer at the Wedge. Great place. Never been, but certainly would like to go back! After getting back to my car at Ann's, I raced home to let the dogs out to run one last time before meeting Renee to return Lucy. I took Pattie along because I just knew she would be sad at home! So, both girls loaded up in the back of my car and enjoyed the ride! After meeting with Renee, Pattie and I headed over to Anna's house to take her some dresses. She has a wedding to attend in Hilton Head this weekend. She now has one dress for going around the town during the day, one dress for the rehearsal dinner, and 2 options for the wedding. See mom, all those dresses I think I needed before someone's wedding paid off! Anna offered me dinner while Pattie and Clemson played. I finally made it home after 8 to shower, enjoy my internet that was finally back on after 4 days of being messed up, and time to recover from the run! Whew!

Sisters

This past weekend I kept Lucy, Pattie's sister. I picked up Lucy after school Friday and brought her home. From the moment Pattie got out of her crate until the moment we met Renee in the parking lot to return Lucy, the girls did not stop playing! They ate at the same time, laid down at the same time, chewed on the same toys at the same time...you get the idea. However, since it was raining again all day Saturday I had to stop letting them go to the bathroom at the same time. When they would finish, they would start running around the yard in the rain. I didn't mind drying them off Friday afternoon when the rain had already passed, but I wasn't real keen on wet dogs coming in the house. So, I held one at the door while the other one went outside then switched. It was easy dog sitting. All I had to do was make sure there was food and water available. They entertained themselves!

watermelon

Apparently last year, someone spit out some watermelon seeds in my courtyard at school. We currently have 4 of them growing, and we picked this one about a week ago! I have quite the green thumb even though I haven't done a thing to them!

1st birthdays

Liam, Maggie and Justin's youngest son, turned one on September 20th. His party was originally planned for The Nature Center, but due to the rain it was moved to their house. It ended up being a great afternoon. Maggie got a delicious fall cake. I can't remember the name now, but Crystal and I went back to sneak a half a piece while presents were getting ready!

Carolina Camping

Saturday started out great, took a slight turn in the wrong direction, then ended up heading back to the right path. After coffee and a little breakfast, Pattie and I headed out for a morning jog. Just as the fog was lifting, we hit the park running. Halfway through, the heat kicked in and I began to struggle. I kept telling myself at least I was not running the half marathon that morning like some of my friends were! After jogging and a quick trip to the grocery store for the evenings festivities, I showered and headed out to meet up with Ann and Brad to watch the Carolina game! Not only was there friends and football; there was fried pickles and a Hoptober! Good thing I went running huh?!
So, it was decided we would go ahead and head into the mountains for our evening camping trip!
On Friday, Brad (and Chloe) took out the tarp, tent, and chairs to claim the spot. They found this great spot a few weeks back when his parents came into town. It was going to be perfect for the puppies too! So, we met up at the entrance and drove up to the campsite. Once there, we discovered someone had stolen everything! The cut the ropes and took the bungee cords which makes us think it was all done in a hurry and not some park ranger. Just sad that there are people out there that do these type of things. After sitting on the log watching the dogs play and letting the steam settle from our ears, we decided to call their friend Michael who was going to join us. He and his wife live on lots of acreage nearby. So, we headed his way to figure out our next step. Once there, we began relaxing, the dogs were going crazy, and we were laughing again. We were determined to go camping. So, Michael got out his two tents and we set them up on his land. He opted to sleep inside since his bed was there. He offered the bed in the loft and the couch to us, but we happily declined. I was excited about taking Pattie camping for the 1st time!
I went to the tent around 10ish and slept like a log until about 1:30. This is when I began tossing and turning; going in and out of sleep. Every time I checked my watch or moved, Pattie was looking right at me. I'm not sure she slept at all! From about 4:30ish until we got up around 7, Pattie was restless. Which is crazy since she was going full force from 3:00 until 10:00! Plus, she and Chloe were at it again this morning! Needless to say, she crashed once we got home and didn't seem too upset when I left for an afternoon walk. After a yummy breakfast, church, a walk with the girls, and some lunch I crashed out for a good two hours. Plus, I'm looking at an early bed time! Overall, there was a silver lining in our camping cloud this weekend!

Labor Day Weekend

Friday I was not feeling all that great. Nothing major, just sort of out of it. The school day didn't start out to well and it dragged on. So, I was glad to see 2:55 finally come! This was the first real week of school and my stamina is just not quite up to par yet I suppose. Either way, I just chilled out Friday evening. Saturday morning I went jogging with Maggie then did a few things around the house before taking Pattie to play with here sister Lucy. That evening, Pattie and I went over to Ann and Brad's house to watch football and let the puppies play. So, Pattie was certainly worn out that night and the next morning. I was supposed to meet Maggie that morning to go running, but luckily the time got switched to the afternoon. I woke up Sunday morning just not feeling quite right. So, I laid back down for about 30 minutes around 9:30; then decided to get up for church. After church and a little lunch, I laid back in the bed and slept for 2 hours! I haven't done that in I don't know when! Now I just felt like I had slept too long! I met Maggie for an afternoon jog then Ann brought Chloe over here to play that evening.
Monday morning, the two of us headed over to Anna's house for breakfast and play time! We enjoyed breakfast and morning coffee on her back deck while the puppies played in the backyard. I ended up taking her crate over there, so after breakfast we hit up some sales. After lunch back on the deck, Pattie and I came home so I could mow the grass before it rained. That evening we just chilled out. I think Pattie was one tired pup!
Going back to work today wasn't too tough, but I certainly could have stayed in the bed much longer. The stuffy nose/cough/sneezing was certainly trying to come back again this morning. I made it through a pretty uneventful day with the kids and am finally home to relax. I met Crystal and Maggie for what was supposed to be a walk. However, it was raining once we all got there, so it ended up being a fast jog! They continued on once we got back to the cars since the rain had stopped. I decided a warm bath would do me some good; after bathing the gray pup first! (I think she had fun though!)

Birthday!

Monday, August 31st was Uncle Kyle's birthday, my college friend Lisa's birthday, and my friend Mandi's birthday! Mandi had grad school that night, so we went out after school on Wednesday to celebrate. We gathered at El Paso for beers, too many chips, and an early dinner. Since I eat lunch at 10:50 these days, I was ready to eat at 4:30! We're hoping to go out tonight to celebrate again and enjoy the long weekend. So, Uncle Kyle I'm still celebrating for you!!!

Night sky

I let Pattie out one evening last week and this is what I saw when I opened the door. I know that the picture doesn't do it justice, but I'm still amazed at the beautiful skies I see living up here in the mountains.

teething?!

So, I kid you not. I gave Pattie this new toy yesterday. She had the tag torn off and the stuffing out of the body in 10 minutes top. Seriously! I cleaned up the mess and continued to let her chew on the now flat body. This morning, this is what the toy looked like:
Click here to see what they toy should look like. And people wonder why I leave her in the crate when I'm not at home?!!!