picnic

We had our annual school picnic today. It was so much fun. It was at a family's home in Chesapeake City, MD...yes, one of my favorite states. It was a beautiful drive over there. There were a lot of people there, but they have a lot of room. We are met a new family that we feel have become our new friends, the Mercers. They live down here near Dover. They own a 34 acre farm out in the country. They used to live in SC and love all the SC stuff that we love...except for the fact that he graduated from Clemson. That is where we will differ as we are USC fans (South Carolina not Southern California) :) If you know anything about Carolina football, then you know that you go for the Gamecocks and whoever is playing Clemson.
We all have survived our first week of school. We are still working out the kinks. Running club starts this week and I am the coach. I am actually pretty excited about this. I love these kids and it is a pleasure to work with them!
I am SO looking forward to fall! I love football, cool weather, sweaters, soups, raking leaves (I'll have to go find some to rake). I love my sister's homemade pumpkin pie, drinking coffee on a cool morning, watching the leaves change, mums on my front porch, decorating my house with fall stuff....it goes on and on. I am going to hold out on pulling out the fall stuff until the first day of fall. Jacob and I used to go get our pumpkins from an Amish guy who just left his wagon full of pumpkins on the side of the road on our way up to Melinda's. He had a box for your money and they were all 75 cents. I guess he just expected everyone to be honest and leave there money in the box. I haven't seen Melinda's house yet, so maybe sometime this fall I will go up and get some pumpkins. Jacob called it "punkin day".

one reason for voting for Obama.....

....to get Biden out of Delaware! :)

things just got exciting

I am so excited about John McCain's pick!! woohooo!!! I cannot wait to watch her debate Joe Biden!! I couldn't believe Obama picked him....He is not very popular around here. Sarah Palin is going to kick some Biden boo-tay! Good job, McCain! This is definitely a big boost to his campaign!

heart attack

Tonight after Mary Ellen's volleyball practice we went to a friend's pool. While we were all sitting around enjoying the company of friends and eating pizza, Jacob comes over and wants me to watch him go off the diving board. Okay, great...no problem. So he walks straight over to the high dive. I said, "Look at that boy. He has no fear. I should have known he would go off the high dive." Then he climbs to the top and I think to myself when he gets to the top and walks out on that board, he might chicken out and go back. OH NO!! not Jacob.....INSTEAD he DIVES head first off the high dive. I of course jumped out of my seat and about had a heart attack. He was fine and didn't know what the big deal was. One of Kate's friends went over and told him not to jump off like that again but go feet first. It took me a few minutes to recover from that one....I wish I had a picture or better yet a video! It was unbelievable. What am I going to do when he is 16 and wants to drive!!! We are in so much trouble.

big news

Mary Ellen found out that she gets her braces off in November!!! Yeah!!! We have the best orthodontist in the world. We drive a long way to see him. He told us, "You go plant a church, I'll take care of the braces!" and he did....for free!!! So it is the worth the drive.
One of my friends said to me, "Mary Ellen never went through the awkward stage." Maybe it was because she didn't have braces and glasses at the same time like Kate did. We will definitely post a picture when she gets them off.

summer slipping away

School starts on Monday. This year the whole family will be at the school everyday. I will be there in the afternoons and all day on Wednesday. I think all the preparations are finished. I have a couple more things to do for my classes, but the kids are pretty much ready. The girls are ready to see all there friends, but the boys are wishing summer lasted a little bit longer. David and I have been in teacher in service four days last week and three days this week. The feelings of panic and "oh my, what have I done!" have come and gone for both of us. Fortunately, it hasn't hit at the same time. I think it is time for me to find a chiropractor down here. All my stress goes to my shoulders and they are feeling tight! So summer time is almost gone....sad. It goes by so fast. I love fall and all the colors, cooler weather, bonfires, etc... yes, it is my favorite season. I love fall food, too. :) I think we will fit one more trip to the beach somewhere into our schedule.

eeeeeeeek!

I must be really rusty at this teaching stuff or it just stirs up old emotions from when I taught before. I had a great experience when I taught school, (didn't enjoy homeschooling...but that's another story), but there are just some things that I do not enjoy about teaching. Today, I just got in the car and cried all the way home from the school. I feel overwhelmed (I'm such a wimp). Then I think, "Why are you feeling overwhelmed? It's only 3 classes!" We started this week and a lot of stuff is thrown at you. Do this and do that and have that done by this date and this how to do this and don't forget that..... I feel so inadequate, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I feel like everyone else knows what they are doing and I feel like I am stumbling in the dark. Then I think "Emily, this will pass it will get better as the year goes on and you get the hang of things. The first time doing anything is an adjustment. " So I need Jesus to remind me once again of who He is and that His grace is sufficient for today. I belong to Him and He is not going to leave me. The picture above is how I feel right now. My friend, Jennifer, looks beautiful!

Sunday

Here is the nicely posed picture picture where everyone is doing what they are supposed to do!

Here is the crazy picture of my kids at the beach last Tues. We got there early...like 10. It was a gorgeous morning.
We have church in the afternoon on Sundays for now until our building is finished. So we sleep in on Sunday mornings and have a big breakfast. Today we had the traditional grits, eggs, bacon, and biscuits...oooooooeeeeee....it was good! David got to preach this afternoon and that was almost as good as my big breakfast!! :) Actually, it was really good. He preached on battling unbelief. Sometimes I think white people are too quiet in church because this afternoon I wanted to stand up and shout at a couple places in the sermon! My man was on fire today!

Maryland

I have become a big fan of the eastern shore, crabs, and Maryland. Yesterday we got to go pick up my niece on the western shore. When we were crossing the big Bay Bridge, the view was awesome with lots and lots of beautiful sailboats on the bay. The bridge is really high and about 4 miles long. I enjoy it when I am not driving...not so much when I am driving and it is two-way traffic. We took a beautiful drive through the countryside to Edgewater,MD. The summer camp that she worked at was right on the water. It was a beautiful day, so we enjoyed walking around the camp while she said her good-byes. The day before we went to Galena, MD to swim and visit a friend (finding grace). We also love visiting our friends in Chestertown, MD. It seems like whenever it is a beautiful day, we like to take a drive to MD, enjoy conversation with friends and being in MD. Now if I could just have some crabs for dinner.....

summer food

We had some good summer food last night...yummy. Then afterwards we were entertained by our neighbor friend...he's 9 but has a crush on the girls. He is so funny. He was showing us some of his dance moves and teaching them to Jacob.

friends

Today was such a good day. Last night I took Katelyn, Mary Ellen to the movies with some of their friends. We spent the night at our pastor's house (they are out of town on vacation). Then today the plan was to play in their pool. I called a good friend and spent part of the afternoon with her while the girls played in the pool. The time with my friend was so good. I love her so much and it was so good to sit and talk for almost two hours...time flies. Friends are such a blessing from God. We have helped and encouraged each other through good and bad times. I left her thinking, "That was so good and I wish I lived closer so we could do that more often!" It is so good to have people in our lives who pick us up when we fall down, comfort when we are sad, confront when we are wrong, laugh when we are happy, etc...you get the picture. I remember when I moved up here and left my good friends in SC. I wondered who I would connect with in a deep way. God has blessed me with several deep friendships up here and I can't imagine life without them. You know everyone wants to be loved....everyone. I have never met anyone who didn't want to be loved. We all have quirks and imperfections, warts, shortcomings....When we love others through all their imperfections we reflect the love that Jesus has for us. He loved us even when we hated him....talk about imperfections! Jesus knew ALL of ours and loves us anyway. When we feel like we have to "measure up" with people, it builds walls and prevents us to love others genuinely. I know I have made people feel like that before and I really don't want to be like that anymore. I remind myself all the time that I am not better than anyone else. Once I start thinking that I am better than someone else, it prevents me from loving them. Of course, my love is not perfect, but Jesus takes even my sin-tainted love and can use it for His glory. :)wow. I was in a situation about a year ago where I felt like I always had to measure up, say certain things, act a certain way,etc. The bar was set and it always kept moving. It was sucking the life out of me. Once I was removed from that situation, it took awhile for me to come out from under that condemnation, but God used people who understand the gospel and God's love to help me. My friend that I spent time with today is one of those people. thank you. Okay, so this is my blog and I just had to write my thoughts down. If you don't agree it's okay. I just needed to write what I have been thinking....sorry if I rambled or didn't make sense. I warned you at the beginning that I am not the best writer in the world. Sometimes it just feels good to write it all out and get it out!
So today was sweet. Time with a good friend is like a cold glass of water on a hot day! :)
One more thought. My daughter loves being with her friends. In fact, kate's friends have become Mary Ellen's friends as well. They have so much fun together! I love there zeal for life, their love for each other and their times of laughter. It is SO fun to listen to them laugh! Sometimes I just sit and listen. I don't have to be in the same room, or be a part of what they are doing at all to be blessed by their laughter! You know how good you feel after a good laugh...it's a good thing!

yikes

I had two moments today when I felt a little bit of panic and I was saying "YIKES!"
1. when I stepped on the scales at the gym! not good.
2. when I was thinking about school starting in 3 weeks!
SO....
This week we need to go to the beach at least once, hopefully twice. I need to fill out a teacher application. I need to fill out an application for church membership at our church.....and the list goes on and on. I need to redo our budget since we are taking a significant pay cut and our lifestyle will have to change. We are hoping to try to rent our house since we can't sell it and find something close to the school to rent. One thing that is sure in life is CHANGE!
I am looking forward to seeing our school family. I really miss seeing them on a regular basis during the summer....on with the day!

to teach or not to teach

So I am going to bite the bullet and teach three elementary classes this fall. I am also going to tutor kids who need extra help. Christian school pay isn't that great; so it is a lot of work for a little paycheck. David and I will be working at the same place which saves gas. We will also be on the same schedule as our kids...the advantage of teaching. David is teaching HS classes and is the Dean of Students, student gov't advisor. Now I need to decide if I want to be the running club coach. I am not a runner, but do it occasionally if it is the only way to get exercise. I figure it's better than not exercising at all. The athletic director asked me if I would (you know they must be desperate) and I didn't know what to do. Maybe she found someone else by now...that would be fine by me! I ran 3.4 miles yesterday which I hadn't done in awhile. So today I am sore. There is something about running that works different muscles than an elliptical machine or exercise class. I don't know what it is, but I am always sore after running even though I exercise regularly. Last spring I ran quite a bit with the running club kids and didn't get sore after awhile. I enjoy being with the HS kids and will need that outlet after being with 1st and 2nd graders all afternoon every day. So this year there will be no trips to the beach for David and I after the kids go to school. It was fun while it lasted! Gotta go to the store and clean up a little. We are having some friends over for dinner. The menu: grilled teriyaki chicken, black bean salsa, grilled veggies, maybe some corn on the cob, and she is bringing dessert (peach pie). I'm not exactly sure yet who all is coming, but it will be fun.