Wilderness Survival

October is always our busiest month of the year.  We generally travel for fall break, celebrate two kids birthdays, prepare for Halloween and fall parties, continue with school/sports/fall festivals/etc. and the list continues, such as parent-teacher conferences, basketball sign-ups, all you parents know the drill.  It's just B-U-S-Y!  I have a hard time keeping up with this blog during the month because there aren't many spare moments.  However, I have carved out some time to blog about our fall break DISNEY TRIP.  It's been a while since we've been to Disney.  Karson was in 1st grade the last time we went.  Disney Trip Round One The kids were young and only remember small parts of the trip. I have to admit I was not looking forward to the 12-hour drive.  I knew it would be tough, especially on Matt.  I do not help with the driving, don't like it, not good at it--I'm the perfect co-pilot =).  We decided to break the trip up on the way down since our reservations didn't start until Sunday.  My aunt and uncle live in Macon which made it the perfect stopping point on Saturday.  We didn't take off until after 2 p.m. because Karson had a volleyball game and arrived around in Macon around 9:00 p.m. My aunt is the perfect hostess and had dinner waiting and air mattresses out and ready to be inflated.  We only got to visit for a little while before heading to bed.  The next morning, she cooked a big breakfast for us and sent us on our way with fresh banana bread and bottled waters.  She's the BEST!

It's not often that we get the opportunity to travel through Georgia, more specifically, through the Valdosta/Lake Park area where we lived for a few months after Matt and I got married.  We decided to take a quick detour down memory lane and took pictures of our first apartment (Twin Lakes Townhomes) and the church we served at during those 8 months.  Our time there was short but incredibly special.  I sometimes wonder what life would be like if we had stayed?  Things that make you go, hummmm?

We made to Walt Disney World around 3 p.m. that afternoon. 

The rest of our family joined us not long after us.  They decided to make the trip in its entirety that day and left in the wee hours of the morning.  Beautiful does not begin to describe Wilderness Lodge.  Every little detail and carefully crafted and designed to look like your in the wilderness--wood, fireplaces, streams in the lobby, bears sculpted, rocking chairs, the whole works!  It's located right on the lake, close to Fort Wilderness where I camped as a child when my family came to vacation at Disney.  It was a different experience from the Value resorts (although we loved All-Star Music).

Our kids immediately changed into swimsuits and headed down to the pool.  Thankfully Evan and Elizabeth arrived within the hour and joined them.  I think our kids were so keyed after the trip, it was hard for them just to relax and enjoy.  Their excitement was overwhelming for them.

How cool is this place!  We had an actual beach right on the lake where the kids spent a majority of the their time playing.  I wish I had known, and I would've have brought sand toys for them.  However, there was a drink bar a few yards away, and they were gracious in giving the kids "digging" cups almost daily.

Enjoying a few moments in the pool.  Our friends the Justice's were also staying at Wilderness Lodge.  We ran into them on the first night but really didn't get to see them much after that.  The lodge is HUGE along with Disney. I'm anxious to post some underwater pictures that Shawn Justice snapped with his new waterproof camera.  I think the girls had more fun doing that than actually swimming in the pool.

It can tricky traveling with a family of five people.  There is usually not enough beds to accommodate us in a traditional hotel.  Thankfully when my sister organized the trip, she got us all rooms right next to each other on the same floor.  Karson and Miles wanted to stay in our room, but Isaac was totally fine with spending the night with Pops and Meme in their room next door.  It worked out perfectly.

The kids were pumped about getting Disney lanyards and entering into the world of pin trading with each other and the Disney employees.  I don't think Miles quite understood the concept because Isaac became a master at this skill quite and was wheeling and dealing trades with everyone.  At one point, he had traded with Miles for one of his pins and then turned around traded Miles's pin to Karson which made Miles SO ANGRY.  Of course, Karson traded it back to him and took Isaac's original pin.  Miles made no trades after that--to much drama for him.

Paul had purchased a Disney app on his phone which gave us lots of insight into the park(s) and what kind of traffic and lines would be there on different days.  Our first park visit was to Hollywood Studios on Monday.  His app was correct and the crowds were certainly not there.  We made our way to the most popular ride there Toy Story and got fast passes so we could ride it again later.

After Toy Story, we headed over to the Voyage on the Little Mermaid show and then to Tower of Terror which is my favorite ride (along with the Rock-n-Roller Coaster).  Everyone wanted to ride Tower or Terror which meant Miles had to ride it too.  It was the LONGEST 20 minute wait ever as he thrashed, threw fits, cried, wailed, you name it!  THEN, he met a little guy right in front of us who was around his age and convinced  him that the ride wasn't scary at all.  He was a little angel dropped straight from heaven, and Miles totally bought what he was selling.  The tears dried up, and he got excited about the ride.  That was short lived once we got on the ride and the elevator started dropping.  He told me, Mom, I'm scared.  Mom, I'm ready to get off.  It was brutal but thankfully short and sweet and nothing a Disney stuffed animal wouldn't solve.  Disney has a brilliant marketing team that properly places Souvenir shops along with Photo booths at the end of almost every ride.  It's like going through a check-out line with kids at the supermarket packed with candy.  Matt got him his first of several black and white Disney characters.  We also got to see the Lights, Motor, Action show and rode the Rock-n-Roller Coaster, Toy Story and Karson and I tackled the Tower of Terror one last time.  The weather wasn't to cooperative Monday, and there were light showers here and there.  We probably would've spent a little more time at the park, but the rain made it hard.

Off to Magic Kingdom on day two of our trip.  Since our hotel was on the lake, we got to take a boat to and from Magic Kingdom.  Very unique!

Let the Memories Begin! Welcome to the House of the Mouse!

We wanted to start off visiting Fantasyland which is Disney's newest area.  We rode the Little Mermaid ride and then headed over to The Haunted Mansion. This is the ride that Miles ALWAYS talks about and looks forward to the most.  I think he ended up on it three times during the course of the day.  We spent time in Frontierland riding Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain and made our way over to Tom Sawyer's Island.  Somehow we missed this entire section the last time we came.

The fort and draw bridge on Tom Sawyer's Island could have provided a days worth on entertainment. There were underground tunnels, hidden passage ways, a lighthouse, very cool activity center.

After lunch everyone was pretty worn out and ready to go back to the Lodge for a while.

However, we made our way back that evening for Tommorowland and the big production Disney puts on when the park closes (fireworks, movies, the works).  We rode Space Mountain, People Mover, Buzz Lightyear, and went to a Dance Party.  AND, we even got to have our picture made with the mouse himself, Mickey.

Animal Kingdom was our Wednesday stopping point.  The kids were anxious about Expedition Everest.  I really enjoyed Animal Kingdom and think I could spend my entire time there the Africa area--bright colors, music, street vendors, food, full of life kind of place.  We did two rounds on Everest and by the second time, I was ready to be stationary for a while.  My brain can't keep up with roller coasters anymore.  At one point, I didn't know if we were going forwards or backwards--we were in the dark.  We did the Jungle Safari tour, saw It's Tough Being a Bug and visited Dinoland.  Our kids were pretty pooped and ready to go back mid-day, but I think I could've stayed another couple of hours.   However...

...I could give or take Epcot.  I don't enjoy this park.  The highlight ride is Soarin', and it makes me motion sick.  I'm sure if I was there with adults only, it may be more interesting, but I would much rather divide my time at the other three parks with kids.  I decided to go to Starbucks and take Miles souvenir shopping while the rest of our party rode Soarin'.  We also managed to ride Nemo and Living Off the Land in the amount of time it took them to stand in line for Soarin'.  We made our way over to the countries for lunch and wound up in Mexico dining on Nachos, Tacos and churros.  Mexico is my favorite area of "the countries section of Epcot".  We rode the Three Amigos ride and then went to hear a friend of Paul's sing at the Spirit of America show.  The boys were D-O-N-E by this point and ready to head back (they didn't have to ask me twice).  We shot out of the park in the early afternoon.  Matt and Karson stuck it out to ride Test Track which we had fast passes for.  Me and the boys decided to take the Monorail back since I hadn't rode it since I was a kid, and they had never ridden it.

Epcot ended up being our last spot on the trip.  We debated on whether or not to stick around and go to Magic Kingdom on Friday since we had a park ticket for that day.  Everyone was ready to get on the road--kids included.  We were all super worn out and not looking forward to a 12-hour trip back home. We loaded up that morning and headed home.  Disney is magical, and I LOVE being there.  It's hard coming back to reality and life as usual after such a fun vacation. 

So Long September, Hello Fall

 

Plano held their fall festival on Friday night.  I wanted to snap some pictures of Karson all dressed up for the Royal Court.  Isn't she just a beauty!  We headed over to the school around 5:30.  I quickly realized that Karson has become too cool to play the classroom games.  She had no desire to participate this year.  SO, I guess this will be the last year I buy her an armband.  The boys, however, were READY.TO.PLAY!  We hit all the classrooms fast and furious.  I snapped a handful of pictures on the camera but later learned my memory card had gone bad (but I'll talk about that later).  I'm fairly certain there were at least 1,000 people in the school.  It was super crowded.  Our night was hectic.  Matt's parents came for a little while, and we, somehow, got split up in the primary wing.  I was reunited with Karson with a 'page' to the library.  Once we were all back together, we started making our way to the gym.  It was around 7 by this time, and I was hopeful the Royal Court was soon.  We really needed to get home by 7:30 because we needed to get Karson changed and ready for her volleyball game at 8.  We made our way to the gym when Isaac noticed his iPod was missing.  GREAT!  Like I said, there was zillions of people there, and we had been ALL over the school.  Where in the world did he lose it?!?  Matt and I split up, he went one way and I went the other.  We just started retracing the classrooms we'd been in.  The second room Matt went in, he was told they'd just found one and turned it into the office.  Hooray!  Isaac's life is on that iPod.  He can't let his You Tube followers down.  Once we located to iPod, we headed back to the gym for the 2nd time.  Around this time, the silent auction was wrapping up, and the royal court was about to start.  Our STLP raised $3500 with this event. The nominations moved quickly, and I was fairly certain Karson would not be winning especially when I saw a 6th grade nominee walking around with a bouquet of flowers all night.  Coincidence?  Maybe? Not sure.  BUT, this nominee ended up winning.  Karson wasn't disappointed and held her head high.  She raised quite a bit of money and was picked by her classmates which is honorable. I snapped a cute picture of all the 5th graders on court and was anxious to get all my fun fall festival pictures downloaded. When I went to download them the next morning, I noticed all these file errors on my camera.  Boo!  I wasn't sure if my camera was going bad or just the memory card.  I called Sony.  Let me just say that Sony has great customer service!  That's hard to find.  The operator I spoke with suggested I try a few things to check.  My camera and memory card are at least 10 years old.  I had a good feeling it was my memory card.  I went to Best Buy on Saturday and got a replacement.  My camera is back in full working order thanks to the gentleman below.

Thanks Best Buy employee for helping me with  my camera.
 You can tell he wasn't interested in having his picture taken.

Lots of projects taking place in the Deaton home.  Both Karson and Miles came home with projects last week.  Miles had to work on a zoo poster, and Karson had to work on a project for Native Americans.  Miles's poster was simply the cutest.  Miles LOVES homework and was anxious to get started on his project.  It quickly fizzled around day 2 and more so on day 3.  We finished it up and took it to school on Friday We formed the poster board into a squid.  He wrote all over the poster and attached underwater stickers all over the tentacles.  I took a picture, but it was on the bad memory card =(.  I'll make sure to snap one when it's returned home.  We are still working on Karson's project which is due this week.  She originally selected a diorama, but I squashed those dreams immediately and convinced her to do a travel brochure.  Don't get me wrong, I love dioramas.  However, they are LOTS of work and require more work than a simple poster or brochure. She's never done a brochure so it will be a learning experience and something different. My creative juices are somewhat limited this time of the year. 

Much of my creative energy is spent on birthday planning this time of the year.  I've been working on planning for Miles's 7th birthday.  We've agreed to do it at Chaney's Dairy Barn this year.  Hopefully, his allergies will be under control later this month. He had to take a sick day on Thursday. His breathing starts acting up this time of the year. I'm sure all the ragweed amplifies it. I give him cocktails of Zyrtec, Ibuprofen and Delsym. We also have a rescue inhaler, but Dr. Paul put him on an inhaler which is steroid based that is supposed to be taken for a week or two.

Isaac's been spending his creative energy decorating his bookshelf with knickknacks.  He's my lil' hoarder.

Shannon hosted her annual pumpkin painting party at her house last night.  I already had an idea of what I wanted to do--minions.  Matt picked up some pumpkins from a local farmer out by SWHS.  I asked him to pick some up for us because I would much rather give my business to a local, than $5.99 to Kroger.  I bought our pumpkins last year from this farmer and thought he was so sweet!  The best part about holiday parties is the FOOD.  I made some yummy snacks and ate most them before they even made it the party.  Good think I also had chips and dip to take too.

Look at all of our pumpkin creations.  Can you spot the minions? 

 

I'm getting in the Halloween spirit even if it is the last day of September.



Bike Ridin', Volleyball'n Kind of Weekend

Look who started riding his bike without training wheels!?!?!  Miles the brave took his wheels off on Friday afternoon and off he went.  He's such a coordinated kid, I'm not at all surprised by how easy it was for him. He's a bike riding machine.  At one point Saturday, he had about three different cars stopped on our road.  He hasn't really learned the "rules of the road" yet. The no-training-wheels achievement has given him a sense of entitlement when it comes to the road.  And, he wants to ride ALL.THE.TIME. and in the middle of the road =). His favorite path--riding back and forth to our neighbors house.  

Love this little guy.  I'm thinking he may need a bigger bike soon. EH-hum, Meme, his birthday is coming up real soon.

Had to throw this precious picture of Karson and her cats into this post.  These are her three little balls of happiness.  We make a trip to Pap and Nana's almost daily to visit these cuties. They adore Karson and follow her around like a queen.

Speaking of queen's, Karson was chosen as a 5th grade representative in her class to participate in the STLP's Royal Court at Plano.  The contest runs through this Friday at noon.  She has to raise money from family and friends for votes.  One penny equals one vote.  She was selected back in 2011 to represent her 3rd grade class.  It's quite an honor to be chosen by your classmates, the 'win', however, is based on how much money is turned in.  SO, if any of my blog readers out there want to chip in a dollar or two, she'd appreciate it.  The winners are crowned at Fall Festival which is Friday night. 

Karson and her team the Spikers have been gearing up for volleyball season.  They've had two practices a week for the last couple of weeks.  I mentioned in earlier post that Karson has usually played for a team with the word 'spike' in it, but what I failed to mention is that she has always played for a pink team too.  I was glad her team colors this year are black and white.  This is the first year she hasn't been in PINK.

The girls had their first game on Saturday.  They also got their first win!

Team picture, post game.  Their next game is tomorrow night.

 

Her small cheering squad.  I think we took up about half the bleachers at Phil Moore park.

The sweetest kids on the planet.

We were short staffed Saturday night for Ring of Fire so I decided to help out in the ticket office.  Ou marketing team did a photo booth which was fun for the patrons but even MORE fun for our staff!  What a fun weekend!

Poster Contest

I mailed off Karson's entry today for the Public Service Recognition poster contest. I think her poster is simply precious!  We're incredibly thankful for all the ways these individuals serve!

Fall in September

It's Friday the 13th and there is no better time for a post about Halloween than today.  Every year it seems like the fall/Halloween decor starts appearing earlier and earlier.  The giant orange tent has already gone up, and the kids are already begging to go.  Up until today, it's been TOO HOT to go to that sweat lodge.  Plus, I only have one child that has made a decision about a costume, and that is Isaac Matthew who will be sporting a Chuck Norris number. I love the website vistaprint--there are always great deals on there.  I was able to get Isaac this personalized t-shirt.  All we need now is a couple of uzi's, camouflage pants and a red bandanna (and roundhouse kick attitude).

I have been working on costumes for our adult Halloween party.  I have some big shoes to fill from last year's last minute creation (Malibu Barbie and Ken).I can't give away any details of this year's because I like the "wow" factor, but I think it's pretty creative.  We'll see.  I was able to get most of my costume supplies from Amazon points. 



 In other news, I am completely addicted to the game Candy Crush. It's a guilty pleasure I can't resist and find myself waking up at 6:30 a.m. ready.to.play!  I've made it to level 150 without purchasing anything.  I never thought I would be this addicted to an APP of all things.  I don't consider myself a gamer and can't think of any game besides Tetris that I've played this much.  I have a love/hate relationship with certain boards and find myself google searching tips and tricks to beating different levels. 

Not sure if they two are related, but I've recently realized that I eat much like a grade schooler and love ALL the things that are bad for me like candy, cookies and donuts.  I have little to no fiber in my diet and decided I needed to make a change.  I purchased some soluble fiber along with some fiber-packed cereal which resembles that of cat food (and it tastes a lot like it too).  I can stomach it with a giant banana cut up on top of it. If I combine both the powder and the Kashi cereal, I get about half the recommended dosage of fiber for a female my age.  It sure is work trying to eat "healthier".  Ugh. 

Karson's volleyball practice has officially begun.  She's playing for the Spikers this season.  Apparently every team she's going to play for will have the word 'spike' in the title.  She's played for the Sassy Spikers and Spikettes in season's past.  Looking forward to an exciting season!

We're gearing up for Fall Festival which takes place at the end of the month.  The kids are collecting for raffle baskets and small prizes for games.  On top of that PTO usually has contests for Box Tops and Coke rewards.  I'm a scavenger when it comes to these items.  I'm always trimming a box top off of something or rummaging through people's recycle bins on Fridays when I'm out walking.  Potlucks are awesome places to collect Coke rewards.  I wish I could raid the recycle bins at South Warren High which are PACKED with Coke products, but it would look odd and be incredibly sticky.  Ooooh, the things we do for our kids.  More fall posts coming--I got out all my fall decorations this weekend.

Deep Freeze

Our lives are in the school deep freeze right now, and there hasn't been much to blog about.  My brother in law Ben jokingly asked the other day when I was going to do a blogpost so I figured I needed to write something soon.

Karson had her first session at 212° Academy yesterday.  I have learned not to ask to many questions about school when she gets home because it's usually the LAST thing she wants to talk about.  I really wanted to know how her day was but after TWO short-answered questions, I didn't bother asking anymore.  I knew she would eventually start telling me about her day, and she did in bits and pieces throughout the afternoon.  She told me about the special interest areas they are going to be studying.  She was really excited about a couple, specifically book publishing, 3-dimesional drawing and the CSI lab.  She told me about lunch and recess where they got to walk over to the Lovers Lane Park and how once they were done with lunch, they could play.  "We got like 45 minutes, Mom."  Awesome.  I'm hoping I might be able to volunteer some and actually get to see what she's doing.  I'm thankful to WCPS for this opportunity.  The goal is to eventually have an advanced middle school for 6th, 7th & 8th grade students--they are actually looking for land and adequate funding.  Lorie Richey, the gifted supervisor, told us they are grooming these kids for Gatton Academy, which is at WKU and the nations top high school in America.

WCPS's article 212 and the students selected. 

Karson was also recently identified as having outstanding leadership skills and was recommended in the area of Leadership for The Summit.  She has to complete a leadership portfolio (which will be scored by a committee).  One of the requirements is to have three letters of recommendation.  Now, I can think of lots of people who are highly educated that I'm surrounded by daily but am related to, so I didn't want to ask them.  I wanted to find three people that had direct interaction with Karson, weren't related and would feel comfortable enough to write a letter on her behalf.  Here are the three wonderful letters I received:

I adore these people and am grateful for their influence in Karson's life.  This was just ONE piece (of seven) of the leadership portfolio. She is still working on her essays.  Karson is a natural born leader. We are thankful to be her parents and are continually amazed by her accomplishments.

Isaac is right on Karson's heels in the academic arena.  He is involved in the pull-out program at Plano for gifted students.  However, he didn't tell me about it.  I learned this information from my neighbor Jennie, who has a daughter named Mia, who is in Isaac's class and also involved in the program. Sheesh, my kids definitely leave school AT school.  Isaac has become a much more dedicated student this year.  He gets his homework done promptly and takes a little more pride in his work.  I received a kind email from his teacher last week stating that she is only going to give Isaac challenging words and not make him do 20+ spelling words that he already knows.  This is nice because his homework load isn't quite as much, and he's learning more difficult words.  Challenging Isaac is a challenge in itself.  I can totally see him programming his own iPod app. by the time he's in high school.  I've already been researching art institutes in Nashville for gaming instruction.  I'm not sure if Isaac will be as committed as Karson in the school programs (ex. Quick Recall, Academic Team, etc.), but I imagine he'll become involved in things like STLP and Robotics.  He loves being creative and using his talents to entertain or expand his thinking.  Keeping my fingers crossed that he'll one day be invited to participate in 212°. They'd be lucky to work with a brain like his =).

Miles is still very much my adorable 6-year old.  He loves getting kisses from his mama.  He loves playing dress up and romping through the house like a super hero, Mortal Kombat player or whatever he sees fit.  Time with his friends Trapper and Samuel are HIGH on his priority list.  He loves school and his new teacher Ms. Ferry.  I want to bottle up his preciousness because I know very soon he'll be just as big as Karson, and I won't be able to pick him up and snuggle with him.  It's amazing how quickly time passes especially once the school year starts.

Our children are the proud owners of three tiny kittens:  Castor, Golam and Buggy.  I have NO idea if I spelled those names right? or why our kids picked these peculiar names for the kittens?  I think they were trying to avoid the traditional names they've given other kittens like "kitty" or "gray kitty" =).  I guess I should praise them for being more creative with their naming skills.  The kittens don't live with us--Matt is highly allergic so cats are OUT.  They live with Pap and Nana about a minute away.  I think Karson has spent every afternoon there the last three weeks.  She loves those kittens and would probably sleep outside with them if she could.  We've taken them to get all their shots and plan to have them spayed soon. 

The month of August is coming to a close for us, and we almost have a complete month of school under our belts.  It's hard to believe that the orange tent is already up in B.G. and places are pulling out all of their Halloween decorum.  Enjoy these last little pieces of summer, looks like fall is rolling in.

And so the SCHOOL YEAR BEGINS

The dreaded day for most children across Warren County has arrived. It's the FIRST day of school!  No more staying up late.  No more sleeping in late.  No more carefree afternoons. No more staying in the same clothes for multiple days.  People always ask, "are you ready for the kids to start school?"  My answer is and always will be NO.  Routine is nice.  And, I like knowing the kids are with friends and learning new things, but what I don't like, is the fast and furious way time moves during the school year.  It seems like once it starts, we literally hit the ground running.  We have homework, schedules, sports, programs, fund raisers, school events, etc.  It's exhausting keeping up with it all.  I also feel a little more manic about clean hands, bath times and general cleanliness.  I know I sound like I'm complaining because I AM.  I just like the relaxed state of summer and am never quite ready for it to end.  I want my kids to stay little and naive and STOP.GROWING.UP!

Here is my precious 1st grader Miles and his new teacher Ms. Ferry.

Here is my creative 3rd grader Isaac and his new teacher Ms. Victery

Here is my disciplined 5th grader Karson and her teacher Ms. Strode.  Karson has had a relationship with Ms. Strode over the last two years.  Ms. Strode coaches the Academic Team for Plano.  I know she'll have lots of expectations from Karson and is very familiar with her abilities as a student. 

Up and ready to go, bright and early.  I decided to pack our car the night before.  I had an arsenal of supplies to deliver to Plano this morning.  Although I'm never quite ready for school, something about school supply shopping is enjoyable for me.  Most things cost less than $1, maybe that's why?  I was talking to a friend who told me she'd heard most parents spent around $600 per child on school things. 

Families with school-age children will spend an average of $634.78 on apparel, shoes, supplies and electronics, down from $688.62 in 2012, according to the National Retail Federation's 2013 Back-to-School Survey. Total back-to-school spending will reach $26.7 billion; back-to-school and back-to-college spending will reach $72.5 billion combined.

(from goerie.com)

 I don't think I spend quite that much but our bank account is pretty depleted after the first of school.  I think I average around $150 per child starting out with lunch accounts and supplies.  

Thanks goodness the Duck, Duck Goose sale is around the corner so I can start building the kids winter wardrobes. I'm a frugal shopper when it comes to clothes.  I buy used when I can.  I imagine the spending will become more increased as they begin those Jr. High/High School years.  Eeeeek!

I'm incredibly excited that Isaac and our neighbor Mia are in the same class this year for the first time.  What's even more bizarre is that her sister Laila is in Miles's class too!  Hooray, it's nice having buddies (especially next door neighbor buddies) in our class.

I was kind of shocked that Isaac was the only child who had an assignment after open house.  It seems like every year teachers ask the kids to come up with an "about me" bag, poster, box, etc.  Usually we just throw something together quickly for all three kids.  But since it was only Isaac, and his assignment involved a BOX, and he usually uses all of our SHOE boxes for miscellaneous projects, and the only box I had was an empty cereal box in our recycle bin, I figured (based on its shape) why not get crafty and turn it into an iPod? An iPod pretty much sums Isaac up.  The boy has had his own You Tube channel since age 7, check out his You Tube Channel, carries that iPod everywhere, texts, face times, emails, records, takes pics., you name it.  Really all he needed to take today was the box, but he filled it with "me" things like a Captain Underpants book, trash packs, a book he wrote, a picture of his family, a bag of Cheese-Its, and whatever other trinkets he decided to put in it.

I'm anxiously awaiting my kids return from school and know there will be lot of stories to tell.  We're looking for to the 2013-2014 school year!