Anniversary Trip

Mike and I took a trip to Nashville by ourselves to celebrate our 10th anniversary. (Hannah and Will went camping with Dad and Joan while Andrew stayed with Melanie.) It was sooo nice being by ourselves. It's been a LLLOOONNNGGG time. We stayed at the Sheraton Music City Hotel in a beautiful room. The rates for this hotel run around $169/night. I got a great deal through Priceline.com and paid only $55/night. It was close to the things we wanted to do and see and was fairly easy to get to. At first, I was concerned because it was close to the airport. But, then I realized that we live close to an airport and hear planes all the time. To be honest, I rarely heard any flying over except on occasion while we were walking to the van.

We arrived close to 10 and got settled into our room. The next morning, we didn't wake up until after 9 a.m. It's been a really long time for us BOTH of us to sleep that late (usually one of us is up with the kids while the other sleeps a bit longer). After eating a late breakfast/early lunch at Shoney's, Mike and I toured the Hermitage, President Andrew Jackson's home. The brochure recommends you allow about two hours to do the tour. We spent 3 1/2 hours looking around and didn't see everything. They have a wilderness trail that is about 3/4 mile long that we decided to skip. I was tired, hot and thirsty and didn't feel like walking any further. After cooling off in the hotel room for a bit, we enjoyed a late dinner at the Santa Fe Cattle Co. The food was great and it reminded us of a Lone Star or Texas Roadhouse restaurant.

Since the Opryland Hotel was close by, I wanted to show Mike just how awesome this place was. We were really disappointed to find out that they charge you $18 just to park your car in self-parking (they also have valet parking which I knew would be even more expensive). So, since visiting the hotel was out of the question, we drove over to the Opry Mills Mall. But, the parking lot was extremely crowed so we left and went back to the hotel.

Sunday morning we woke up early and had a short workout in the Fitness Center. Mike and I ate breakfast in the restaurant then loaded up the van and checked out. We went back to the Mall and looked around. The Bass Pro Shop there is huge. We spent most of our time looking around it then went through the rest of the mall. We met Dad and Joan on the way home and picked up the kids then went Mel's and got Andrew. Everyone had a blast!!

Tomorrow I'll try to post some of the kids' adventures and the fun Melanie and Andrew had (Nathan went camping with Hannah and Will).

Blogging for Books

For those of you who are regular readers of this blog, there will be a new feature in the future called "Blogging For Books." WaterBrook Multnomah has a program where, if you have an approved blog, you can do book reviews for them. They send you a book of your choosing and you get to write a review on your blog. The one below is for a contest to win two books from them. So, here it goes.

Amish Love

What’s all the hubbub about Amish fiction? Major media outlets like Time and ABC Nightline are covering it, and authors like Cindy Woodsmall are making the New York Times bestseller list regularly. What makes these books so interesting?

Check out the recent ABC Nightline piece here (http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=7676659&page=1) about Cindy and her titles When the Heart Cries, When the Morning Comes, and When the Soul Mends. It’s an intriguing look at Amish culture and the time Cindy has spent with Amish friends.

And don’t forget that Cindy’s new book The Hope of Refuge hits store shelves August 11, and is available for preorder now.

Check out any books listed here in this post and any that I post in the future.

Happy Reading!!!

Happy 10th Anniversary!!

Then

Ten years ago today, Mike and I said our "I Do's." So much has happened in all this time. It seems like it was just yesterday we met and went on our first date. It also seems like we've been together forever. I love you Mike and would do it all over again, in a heartbeat!!!

Now

Happy Birthday Aunt Sybil!

Today is the birthday of a very special lady, my Great-Aunt Sybil. I hope your birthday is wonderful!! We love you!!

Happy Birthday Daphne!!

Happy Birthday Daphne!! I hope you enjoy every minute of it. I know Dick will make it special!! We love you!!

It's Official!

It's official!! Mike and I now have a third grader and a first grader!! Wow, where has the time gone!! You will be proud of me. I didn't cry at all. It was VERY difficult not to break down but I was able to hold it together. For a minute, while looking through Will's kindergarten portfolio, I thought I was going to lose it and almost did. But, I caught myself before the tears started flowing because, once they started, they weren't going to stop.

Mrs. Kicker, Will's teacher, showed a video of pictures that were taken throughout the year and had a copy for each of the students in their portfolios. She and Mrs. Shelton were great this year and made Kindergarten such fun for Will. He loves his teachers.

Hannah's teacher, Mrs. Wolfe, recognized the kids for the hard work they did throughout this past year. Hannah was recognized for making the Principal's list (all A's every 9-weeks), Attendance (Hannah only had two tardies or early check-out), and Reading (she had 91.1 AR points-the most in the Second Grade; the next child in her class had 78.something and the third highest had 71.1, I think). Mrs. Wolfe also recognized the whole class for doing a great job this year and for being such great students.

Next year will be a little bit of a challenge. I will have to pick up kids from four different schools: Nathan at HL Intermediate, Hannah at Southaven Intermediate, Will at Greenbrook and Andrew (once he starts back) at MDO. I'm not sure how it will all work out but I know it will. I can't wait for Andrew to go to Greenbrook. I have loved all of the teachers we have been in contact with. They are awesome!!! Only three more years to go until Andrew starts Kindergarten!!

Hannah's AR Points

I have to be quick - Hannah has a game at 7:30 and needs to be there at 7.

Hannah has the most AR (Accelerated Reading) points in ALL OF THE SECOND GRADE!!! Isn't that awesome??!! She has a total of 91 points. GGGOOO HANNAH!! YEAH!!