And the Race is on...

Ok, so it is obvious that the first real week back to school kicked my behind... big time! I knew that it was going to be very different from the calm, relaxed schedule we have had this summer, but I had conveniently forgotten what a toll the days at school take on me mentally and physically. I was hurtin to stay awake longer than the kids all week this past week and I think I could have taken a nap every day if they would have let me.

Graham's first week in 1st grade went very well. He had "Green" days all week, which for those of you who aren't well versed in elementary behavior management means that his behavior was good. We were thrilled for that... especially when we discovered that he knew all but one of the other people sitting at his table! Wonder where he got that love of talking to other people from??? No Mom, you don't need to pull out the old report cards... we all know he comes by it honestly! He starts his 2nd grade reading class tomorrow, so we will see how this week goes. It works out very well that the two grade levels have matching schedules for reading group time. Graham will be with several girls who were in his 1st grade reading group last year which will hopefully provide him with some familiarity as he enters a new class tomorrow.

Karis' week was wonderful. She has made herself right at home back at "Nana" Suzanne's house and many days, she has to be forced to come home with me! That does my heart good to know that she is so happy there and so well loved and taken care of. We have been sooooo blessed with wonderful women (aka angels!) who have loved our babies in their first years. Trish was wonderful for Graham and Suzanne is a blessing to Karis. We thank God for his blessing that we haven't had to put either of them in daycare in their early years.

Zane had a JV and a Varsity football game this past week, so the end of the week was busy. He didn't make it home Friday night until close to 11 and as he climbed into bed, I asked if he had taken his state exam for football.... the testing window closed at midnight Friday. After he yelled "Yikes!" and jumped out of bed, he took the test in under 40 minutes and scored his highest score yet... a 94. Nothing like performing under pressure!

We traveled to VA to see Zane's family on Saturday morning for a quick 2 day trip. It was nice to spend some time with Grammy and the kids had a great time seeing cousin Nathan. I got up from napping with Karis Saturday afternoon to find Graham and Nathan in the back yard running in the sprinkler in their undies... won't be long before they are too old for that. They had a great time playing in the water and launching their gliders- until 2 of them got stuck on top of Grammy's camper. That was the sign that it was time to go to dinner. It was later than normal dinner rush, so our party of 8 was able to get seated right away- a true gift from God. Sunday was wonderful as we traveled to Bedford to the Wal-Mart there. This Wal-Mart is the Virginia Tech mecca and Zane was in heaven looking at all the things he wanted for Christmas- they had a 10x10 pop-up VT tent and tons of other cool stuff. We played outside and then finally packed up the family truckster to head home at about 5:30 or so.

Today was laundry day. While Zane separated clothes, I started hanging up the clothes that we are sending to the consignment sales this fall. I got close to 75 pieces ready, and I haven't even made much of dent in the piles yet! We got a call from Bryce and Ingrid Hoover, friends of ours who live in Charlotte now, and they were in town. We met them for a hot dog at Bill and Leah's and spent the afternoon catching up with them. After a short nap, we headed to mom's house for a family cook-out with Meredith, Micah and the girls. Since our trip to the beach this summer together, the kids are much more comfortable with the "uncles" who often aren't around when we do other activities together. It has been neat to see Karis kid around with Micah and Zane give Jordan a hard time about being his "girlfriend". I wish all of our family could be as close in location so that the family bonds were much stronger.

We missed church yesterday while we were out of town, and I can definitely feel the missing piece to my puzzle of life. Karis and I sang some praise songs while on the porch, but it wasn't quite the same. I am looking forward to getting back into the Word this week and getting to church on Sunday.

Looking at the week ahead, we have lots of things on the schedule already. As my title says, the race is on. I haven't done such a great job of staying on top of my game these past two weeks and I am hopefull that we will be able to control the pace a little better in the weeks to come. It is hard to say No to things that you really want to do and participate in, but at the same time, when is enough enough? I especially need some time with week to be still and know that God is God. Hope I can successfully make that time.

We are holding our breath awaiting the new arrivial of our friend's Jayne and Jason's first child. Hopefully we will have good news to report SOON!!!

Hope all of you out there in cyber land are doing well and that if you stop by the page, you'll leave us a note to let us know how you are. Take care and have a great week!!