I can’t believe it is the last day of July! The next couple weeks are going to be busy with back to school open houses and first days of second grade and preschool. We have already done our school shopping, and the kids were excited about their school supplies! We all have mixed emotions though. Excitement about going to school and making new friends, but also a little anxious about adjusting to the classroom setting again. The kids and I have acclimated to being around each other twenty-four/seven! I will miss being the primary influence and having them under my wings so to speak, and we will definitely miss the flexibility of just going and doing whenever. David and I have already had a talk about being careful who he chooses to be friends with. The who you hang out with can affect your behavior and your success speech. I can’t believe I’ve already had to have this conversation going into the second grade, but I felt it necessary. During his swim class there was a girl who was constantly being a problem. She wasn’t paying attention or following directions well during the class. She would try and get attention from David who was trying to pay attention, but kept being distracted by her. David is easily distracted! It was while viewing this scenario that I decided we definitely needed to have some kind of talk before school starts. I know we can’t protect our children from every scenario or situation they come in contact with, but I do hope to provide them with the common sense and tools to handle situations wisely. I pray for safety, an easy acclimation period, fun learning environments, and positive friendships this school year!

David did pass his swim class this summer! He did a good job considering we didn’t really get to practice outside of the class this year. Emma didn’t have the best time with swim class this year. She had a cold and missed a couple classes, and then there was a problem with the pool and they drained it…, anyway the water was too cold for Emma. She would get in, and in fifteen minutes would have to get out because she was so cold. After missing several classes I finally gave up, and said, “we’ll just try again next year!”

We also wanted to squeeze in one more trip to Dad and Mom’s (Papa and Nana’s) house before school! Every time we go there we make sure to squeeze in a meal at the infamous Dexter Queen! 🙂 We love it! They are known for their pulled pork sandwich, with slaw and a spicy mustard sauce! The kids like their hot dogs and ice cream though. 😉

We also went on the mile long boardwalk at Mingo National Wildlife Reserve. It was a fun walk that I remember doing as a kid. It was very hot, but most of the walk was under shaded trees, so that helped. We then visited the nature center building. The kids liked that the most! Probably because it was a lot cooler inside! 🙂 On the walk we saw these really cool looking ball flowers. I don’t know what they are called, but they were everywhere! The butterflies were also out in abundance.

Later that day, Emma and Samuel played in the sprinkler, watered Nana’s plants, and then went down the zipline numerous times! 🙂 Emma was also very happy to discover that there were blackberries ready for picking! She loves picking berries, and ate most of them!

The kids are attending Vacation Bible School this weekend! We are happy that they are able to attend, since we didn’t get to have VBS last summer! I love the ocean theme! 🙂 The kids seem to be having a lot of fun! Emma got butterflies this morning when we went for drop off, but they said she did good once I was gone. We are having to adjust to a different church routine currently. Andrew sometimes preaches at one of the chapels on post. When he does we go and listen to him. It is a traditional service, and the families that attended that service have now PCS to other places. So that worship service is a work in progress. Other weeks we have been attending the Methodist church downtown Clarksville. We like worshipping there, and feel that it is good for the kids to have a Sunday school and other children’s programs like VBS to attend.

We have enjoyed the summer reading program at the library this summer! The kids have checked out and read numerous books. We are sad for the programs to end, but will still continue going to the library and checking out books. I am even proud of myself this summer! I actually had time to read some books myself! I love to read, but I tend to read in spurts! Sometimes life gets too busy and I get out of the routine, or I can’t find the right book to get me interested again…. For quite some time now I have been into historical fiction. I love reading stories that make people and history come to life. If the storytelling and the writing is good I’m in! This summer I have read through almost all of Marie Benedict’s novels! I started with The Only Woman in the Room, and it was such a good book that I kept reading her material. If you are looking for some good books I encourage you to check out Marie Benedict’s novels! What’s some of your favorite authors? I hope to keep this reading streak going!

Love,

PK