Well well well

Look who is sitting down to post.  Moi!

Sorry to the two people out there who read this.  Ha ha.

Here is a whirlwind tour of the last month or so of summer.
Ben ventured off (alone!) to a 5 day overnight church camp.  Below is a picture of the brave soul playing gaga ball.  He had a wonderful time and I am so impressed with the fact that he wanted to go and went by himself.  Such confidence for a 10 year old boy!  

Will and I had a date at Ohiopyle one day when the big brothers were elsewhere.  My hiking boy was hard to keep up with.  The mountain laurel blooms were so pretty they looked like silk flowers from Joann's had been spread all over the forest floor.

The boys joined forces to save and earn enough money to buy a Wii U.  They went to the bank and had their change counted.  It was a nerve racking moment when we discovered that they still needed 21 dollars.  We went home and they earned it by cleaning out the van.  It was nice to have such eager workers in the house for a while.  

A picture from the annual Rain Day Run.  Kevin and I (again) barely could keep up with them for the mile long run.  I am sure that we are leaning against a tree or something to take this picture.

 We headed to Blackwater Falls, West Virginia for fun.  We stopped in Thomas, WV at a great little restaurant with awesome food and live music.  We enjoyed it so much we went back for local ice cream later.

Check out this view!  Wow!  Needless to say, I spent most of the time holding onto the boys' shirts for fear of them toppling over the edge. 

I have been consumed with Kindergarten.  I am in a classroom at least until January for a woman on maternity leave.  It has been fun, but a bit overwhelming at times.  Of course, I want to be a seasoned veteran teacher of Kindergarten the first few weeks that I am there.  Ridiculous.  I am always judging myself and thinking that I am not quite up to snuff.  Still working on that one!  I try to remember not to take it quite so seriously and to enjoy the time with the little buggers.

One of my favorite stories so far is a little boy who came in late and said, "Sorry I'm late Mrs. Maxwell.  My Mom saw someone in the parking lot she doesn't like and we had to wait in the car for 20 minutes!"  There are no secrets with 5-6 year olds! 

Most of the day so far is spent tying shoes (who invented nylon laces that don't stay double knotted!!) and trying to get them to face forward when walking in a line down the hall.  Small steps.  Small steps.