Welcome Back

We've been in school exactly one week today!  Time keeps movin' on!  Our little chicks are growing up.

Isaac began his final year at Plano Elementary - 6th grade in Mr. Coleman's class.  I know I've mentioned it once or twice, but Isaac's a silly goose.  As soon as we got home from open house, he wanted to work in his agenda book.  All the students are required to purchase an agenda to log notes and homework assignments.  Isaac, however, started penciling in on each day exactly how many days until school is out.  He's a nut.  I told him while he was filling that out, he needed to work on his School Days book.  He agreed and got it out too.  Each of the kids has one of those school days memory books.  The one he has asks for the basics (teacher name, school, year, height, weight), but it also asks for some fun things like favorite subject, field trip, friends, etc.  He wanted me to measure him and ran into the bathroom to get his accurate weight.  At the bottom of the book, you are supposed to do your signature.  This year he signed his name Isaac Bartholomew Matthew Deaton.  Love that boy!

Yesterday, he had two wigs stuffed in his backpack for a project.  You never know with Isaac what the purpose of "costumes" is for.  He also took his iPad.  Last night, he was working on an iMovie and told me that he and a friend had to come up with a video on Bathroom Rules at Plano to share with the younger students.  I vaguely remember Karson taking a Pizza costume to school in 6th grade for a Lunchroom Rules video.  At any rate, Isaac is a whiz at videos.  Click here to view his latest video.

He begins 212 Academy tomorrow and will be in classes with a group from Rockfield this year.  The plus side, 212 is on Thursday this year and not Monday (hooray).  The downside - PE falls on this day for his group meaning he has to miss his very favorite specials class =(.

Our sweet little 4th grader Miles has the most beautiful teacher in the world this year, Ms. Kohut.  She's brand new to Plano, and he adores her already!  Miles had an excellent 3rd grade year and has put forth a lot of effort in his behavior and school work.  4th grade is no non-sense and the kids get actual grades this year, not only on school work but conduct.  Miles has been diligent in his efforts to come home from school and make sure he's reading for 20 minutes (as instructed).  This year will be a big one for him! 

Karson is officially an 8th grader. She's about as low maintenance as a girl can get.  I have offered to take her shopping multiple times for school, but she's never interested.  We did manage to find some cute tops at Target a couple of weeks ago, but she didn't feel like trying on bottoms.  I'm thankful she's thankful, but maybe this weekend, we can go do a little wardrobe update (or at least buy some new pants to go with the new tops).  We honestly haven't had the chance to do much of anything lately.  We've spent the last two weekends at tournaments and other events.

 

Volleyball continues on...Our first tournament was the Bluegrass Games in Lexington where we ended up winning first place in the Silver Bracket.  The tournament was structured a little different than most in that there were no crossover matches.  I'm not sure if they had teams drop out or what happened, but we played well and only lost one match.  Our 7th grade team was also there and did well but ended up losing one match, which meant we played each other in the silver bracket finals.  It was a little disheartening playing our own team, and you certainly aren't rooting for either because you want them both to win. Our 7th graders gave our 8th graders a great match and are an exciting team to watch.  However, the 8th grade pulled out a win, but both teams got medals (so it was a win for everyone).


Our team hosted Slamfest last weekend at South.  It's our biggest fundraiser of the season but an incredibly long day.  We got to the gym around 7:30 AM and didn't leave until close to 9 PM.  There were a lot of teams, and we spent all of Friday night preparing - putting up nets everywhere at the middle and high school.  Our girls played awesome and ended up winning the entire tournament after (what felt like a 100) about 7 matches.  Whew.  We're looking forward to having a break this weekend and getting some much needed rest.

I'm pretty sure this is my favorite action picture of Karson EVER. #hammertime #bringtheheat

Had to throw in the team photos picture - our girls are beauties inside and out!

Celebrations

July is a month to celebrate!  This month was no different.  We celebrated Independence Day at the first of the month at the beach with friends and enjoyed a wide display of fireworks all up and down the gulf coast.

 





We celebrated Paul's 40th birthday - pool style with BBQ, tater salad, cucumbers, corn and the cob, and a super cool cake! We all had fun with the photo booth and props!



Evan and Elizabeth turned 12 this month and had a family and friends celebration at the pool.  They begin middle school next year and have simply grown up overnight (like all the kids).  Elizabeth might even be the tallest in our entire bunch.

 

Matt had the priviledge of conducting his cousin Lauren's wedding in Paducah this month. It was a big family event and such a joy catching up with all of his family.  We're a pretty robust group!

Three of the cutest, sweetest kids on the planet!

Isaac couldn't wait to get up, up on the dance floor.  He started boogeying once the music at the reception got started.  He's a clown!

Matt and his beautiful cousin Lauren.

Volleyball season is in full swing and has been since the first of the month.  I'm fortunate to have two lovely friends who live close by, and we have worked out a nice little carpool for our players - so I'm not at South all the time.  Volleyball season is quick but packed with events.  One recent event included a scrimmage against BGJHS.  We're super excited to see Elizabeth in action this year, playing for the 7th grade team at Bowling Green.

Summer is winding down and tweens are trying to cram as much fun into it before free time is a thing of the past!  Karson has been making the most of it.  She's been to two pool parties this week and went with a group of friends to see NERVE.


A couple of cute pics from the month that celebrate LIFE in general ~

Daddy daughter love and WAFFLES!

 The school year is almost here!  I'm sure my next post will be after open houses next Sunday!  Whoa!

One Last Golf Hurrah!

 Golf season has officially ended for Miles and tournament play.  He played his last Go Golf Series match in Hopkinsville this month and came in 3rd place, winning two medals, which tickled him to death.  He's been a trooper this HOT summer playing in lots of tournaments and doing his best to have a good attitude.  Golf is HARD and frustrating.  Thankful he has his dad there to cheer him on, encourage him, and give him golf tips.

Miles is anti golf shoes and golf hats.  He likes his bright neon Nikes and no hat (say hats make him hotter).  What a turkey!

Mark Price (above left) has to be one of the kindest people on the planet and truly cares about all the participants in Go Golf.  He's always there to give a high five, smile, and make the kids feel special.  A special shout out to Mark for all his hard work this season as well!

Although Miles season has ended, Matt's golf season just began.  The SWHS golf try outs were this week.  There's a free tournament at the Bowling Green Country Club for all ages, and all of Matt's golfers were playing in it.  He decided to go ahead and enroll Miles in the 9 & Under division.   I'm pretty sure Monday was the HOTTEST day of the year.  It was smoldering.  Miles brought home the 2nd place trophy.  AND, Matt won the closest to the pin competition for the high school and received $250 for the golf program.  Woo Hoo! 

 

Summer Camp and Beach Getaway

While the kids are away, the parents will play! I can't think of the last couples trip, if any, that I've been on.  A group of us have been talking for years about how we'd all like to take a trip together once all of our kids are old enough to attend church camp.  This was the year (for most of us).  The kids headed off to church camp the second week of July.

 I cannot count the number of years that I've been at Taylor - too many.  When I was growing up at Greenwood Park, there were two weeks of church camp - one for the juniors (4th grade through middle school) and one for the seniors (high school only).  When I was old enough, I went both weeks - once as a counselor and once as a camper.  During my college years as an HFC, I was not only a counselor at Greenwood Park's week but also at Alvaton's week (at various locations) while Matt and I were dating.  Church camp is special, and I truly grateful that my children are a part of this event.  Next year Miles will get to participate (and won't get left behind).

 The kids were in cabins 7 (Isaac) and 14 (Karson).  These huge smiles tell it all! 

I call this photo "The Forgotten Children" meaning, all of parents high-tailed it out of camp because we were all headed to the beach together.  I told Karson - make sure you all stick together during the family night devo and hug each other tight since there will be NO ONE there to hug you =).  I'm pretty sure she and Isaac could've cared less, they're in the their own world at camp.

We left for the beach a little after 5 PM and got there around 1:30 AM Monday morning.  We're fortunate to have these people to "do life" with and love our friends of more than 20 years.  We've been on mission trips, worked in ministry, been in each others weddings, our kids have grown up together, family trips, many, many memories, too many to count.

 

We had a relaxing couple of days in Destin basically doing nothing but relaxing on the beach. It was much needed, especially for me - I'd just complete two weeks of theatre camp at SKyPAC - whew!

 

Enjoying my non-birthday, birthday cake at Bone Fish.

We picked the kids up at camp on Friday afternoon.  They were pooped and excited all wrapped up into one.  It was a great week for all of us!