Adam and Blain headed out early Wednesday morning to play golf. They had a great time and were able to get in nine holes before the heat really started getting bad.

On the cart.

On the course.

We went to the Mall the other day. Near the Food Court they have a "Wind Tunnel" machine. The boys got in and for a few seconds they felt "hurricane force" winds. Turns out the machine only goes up to 79 MPH. That is just 5 mph over the minimum for a Level 1 hurricane. It was still fun, but during hurricane season we have felt real winds stronger than that. Oh well, it was fun for them and fun to watch.

Now - Hayden and Blain at the Mall.

Then - Hayden at the campground during Hurricane Katrina.

Yesterday Adam and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary. He brought me a beautiful bouquet of daisies. Daisies and Sunflowers are my favorites! He also brought home my favorite chocolates. Then we went out for sushi.

Aren't they gorgeous!

Yum!! We had a Volcano roll, a Destin roll, a Crunchy Shrimp roll, and a Dragon roll.

Style Marcher Band Room renovation continues. We haven't been able to put the trophies back in the Band Room yet. But, we had to move them out of the concession closet that we have been storing them in. So, several of us spent an evening moving them from concession storage to the equipment room. Fun!

We put two rows of seats down in the van, and still could only fit 1/4 of them.

Blain rides in the back of a pickup carrying another load.
Empty shelves awaiting trophies - forgot to take an after picture :-(

Friday Fun

Hayden and Blain had fun at the music store on Friday. Playground Music hosts a Guitar Hero competition during the summer. Each Friday kids sign up to compete. The winner gets a $25 gift certificate and a chance to compete in the finals at the end of the summer. Last year's winner got an autographed guitar (can't remember who autographed it). Hayden and Blain were both eliminated in their first round, but they had a good time anyway. There's always next week :-)

Hayden and his competition go head to head on "Expert." The song was by Metallica (can't remember the name).

Blain and his competition go at it on "Medium" to "Toxicity" by System of a Down.

After dinner we went "Cosmic" bowling (blacklights and loud music). It was a lot fun! Everyone did pretty darn good, and no one fell on their rears (the floor was really slippery). I did sustain a sports injury :-( The ball thumbhole tore a chunk of my skin off. I had to get a band-aid from the snack bar :-)

This pic was taken before the blacklights got turned on.

We had to call on our technical experts (the boys) a time or two when the computer got our scores wrong.

Summer's Here

And we are in full swing!! Adam and Blain got back from Parker's Baseball tournament (pics to follow) on Monday. Blain will be staying with us for 2 weeks. So far we have been to the Base Pool, the Skating Rink, the Library and today it's the Golf Course (I'm staying home for that one - too hot!!)

Being Goofy at the Pool

Of course the boys have also managed to squeeze in time to play Guitar Hero and whatever shoot 'em up games they are into these days. I can't even watch those :-(

Last night we played "LIFE". The new edition "Twists and Turns" is so much more fun than the version from back in the day. I recommend it! There's no money, or paper to keep track of. It's all done with a hand held gizmo and debit cards.

I started out as a Strawberry Picker. As the game progressed, I got "promoted" to a Homemaker, a Nanny, a Clown, a Wedding/Event Planner, an International Translator, and was just about to be a Television Minister when the game ended.

Hayden got a major haircut yesterday. It's still not short, but it is shorter than it was and cooler for summer. She also thinned it out quite a bit. That boy has thick, thick hair!

Before

During - another lady was absent mindedly sweeping the floor. She suddenly looked up and said to Hayden, "Is all of this hair YOURS"? WOW! This was taken when he was about 3/4 finished.

After - so thrilled to be having his picture taken - NOT!

Out to dinner at Logan's. They were out of big tables, so Adam and I sat at our own table next to the kiddo's table.

It All Comes Back to Jesus - Vacation Bible School 2009

Hayden and I just wrapped up a great week of Vacation Bible School. I co-taught a 4th grade class and Hayden helped out in the Music rotation. We had a lot of fun!! This year's theme was "Boomerang Express." We got to learn lots of cool things about Australia while, at the same time, exploring the life of Simon Peter.

This is a group shot taken on the second day of VBS

(1) The teacher/helper breakroom. We had lots of goodies every day and a few minutes to enjoy them and chill while the kids were at recreation/snack. (2) Adam and Hayden helped Beth and I cut out lots of curriculum materials. (3) Hayden enjoys a break with some of his co-helpers (4) Each day the music helpers would teacher ALL of the kids a brand new song along with lots of motions. (5) Hayden helps the kids with the motions for the song "Working on My Serve" as they practice for their Friday performance in the sanctuary.

(1) The kids learn their song of the day in the Music Room (2) Back in the Classroom for the day's lesson (3) Off to Craft Crossing for the day's craft (4) In the CLC (Christian Life Center) for Recreation and Snack - this is teacher break time - yeah! (5) In "The Oasis" for Missions - each week the kids learned about a missionary from a different part of the world (6) We started each morning and ended each day in the Sanctuary where we would review our songs and see video clips about Australia and Israel (7) Kids kids and more kids :-)

Friday night the kids performed for their families and then everyone enjoyed inflatable fun and junk food. It was a LOT of fun!!

(1) Trish and I served Nachos and Cotton Candy. You couldn't beat the price (free). We had lots of customers :-) (2) All week we had a contest for the biggest offering. It was boys vs. girls and the girls won big time. All of the money goes to a mission trip to Atlanta where we will help an inner city ministry update a rec room for their kids (3) Hayden helps little ones exit the water slide (4) Another inflatable slide provided lots of dry fun (5) The 4th grade (Mine and Beth's class) and 3rd grade classes perform for the families (6) Because the girls won the offering challenge, Ms. Lanie got to pie Mr. Brandon. She was nice enough not to get it directly in his face. He ended up eating some of it - blueberry YUM! (7) The kids had a BLAST on the giant inflatable water slide!

Baseball's Over

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6th Grade Awards Day

One More Day of School!! After two years of this schedule, we're still not used to going to school in June. Everyone is ready to be DONE!

Today, was 6th Grade Awards Day at Hayden's school. Lots of kids were recognized for their acheivements. Hayden received a certificate and a medal for getting all A's and B's this year. We are very proud of him.

The 6th graders who were scheduled to receive awards sat on the gym floor. Parents and the remainder of the students sat in the bleachers.

I made Hayden pose for this picture.

He is standing with Ms. Jackson, one of the Assistant Principals, and Mr. Chambers Principal

(oh yeah, and the Pryor Mascot - a Pirate)

Teacher Gifts for Hayden's 6 teacher's.

You can see more about these on my craft blog - craftasticpassion.com