The Day Before the Night Before...

It has been a busy fall. John graduated from DARE program at his school. DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. The DARE officer was so nice and sweet and all the boys had crushes on her. Here she is giving John his diploma:

Here she is giving her speech:

Here is the keynote speaker, a Charlotte morning show host from Fox News Rising, Steve Lyerly. He was very good and joked that after hearing the essays from these kids he was, "definitely not smarter than a fifth-grader". He was actually filling in for his co-host Beth Troutman, who was a Miss Cabarrus County years ago and is now a Charlotte celebrity too.

...and finally here is our very local celebrity, the principal, Mr. Cochran with John:

It was an exciting day for everyone. These kids learn so much from the DARE officer and have a good basic knowledge with which to fend off offers of drugs. I hope they can all remember what they've learned and take it with them into middle and high school. Sadly, there are rumors that this is the last year that DARE will be offered to our school due to funding, which I think would be a huge mistake. I remember when Jen and Dave had it and they still remember their DARE officer very well and what all he taught them. I will find out more about that after school starts back up.

We also did a lot of hiking this fall. Here are the boys hiking...I was there too, taking the picture. I made it almost to the top. What a beautiful day that was. I love the mountains!

 The boys made the walking sticks. They made me one too! We were such hikers...we looked just like the signs that indicate hiking areas all over the parkway.

This past week we had parties at school. Here is John and one of his friends at lunch before they got all hyped up on sugar. I think they were anticipating it though...

Jen came in to the school to help out with the parties since we had two at once and her Christmas break started a week and a half ago. Here she is helping Michael build his gingerbread house.

Jenileigh gave Michael some really good ideas and I was able to go around and help some of the kids whose parents couldn't make it to the party. Sadly, there were quite a few.

 

I wanted to share this with you all...what a difference five years makes...

I cannot believe how young the kids look in the 2002 photo. Why does the time have to go by so quickly?

Merry Christmas to all!

Rain, Rain Come Today!

Evidence of the drought in this area. It looks pretty bad around here. Luckily our lake looks better than most. These pictures are the large lake (left) and a smaller one that feeds into it. Pray for rain for us please.

November is Upon Us!

November is here with Thanksgiving only 16 days away. Time for turkey and the fixings. Jenileigh tells me she is looking forward to coming home for all that. We are all looking forward to all six of us sitting down to a big dinner again.

Recently we spent a few days up near the Boone area where Jen is in school. It was beautiful. The trees were in peak fall colors and it was crisp and cold. They had just come off of 5 days of rain which they badly needed as do we in the Concord area. I don't know if the rain helped or what but I thought the colors were the prettiest I've seen since we started going up to that area annually 6 years ago.

Jen is so happy at Appalachian. Her grades are great and she is staying very busy. She gets to travel around with Gospel Choir and that's been fun for her. I'm so happy she's happy! Here are a few pictures of when she was home for her fall break.

Some fall color in the Boone area.

Pretty tree in the mountain neighborhood.

Appalachian State

 

Our little cabin in the big woods in the mountains...no really, our new house...no really.

There is the cabin upper left. We already have a driveway too. :)

Toothfairy Visits Wax Family Again

*By the way, in case you couldn't tell, this was his first lost tooth.

First Day of School!

...and the boys are off!

It's a bit sad this year, not only missing Jenileigh but the fact that this will be the last year the younger boys will be in school together. They are big buds. They had a great day and were so chatty on the way home talking about their first days. John is committed to not pulling any below the lines. He got a collection of them for "inappropriate talking" which he thought the first time meant he had said bad words, which he knew he hadn't and was upset more about that than the fact that he got into trouble at all. He gets it now. No talking when your not supposed to. I think this 5th grade year will really prepare him well for middle school next.

Long Week

This has been a long week at the end of a very short summer. The boys all start back to school tomorrow and I will hopefully be able to post their traditional first day back photos. Davis goes into 11th, John into 5th and Michael into 1st. This will be the last year that John and Michael will ever be in the same school. Kinda sad, dontcha think? Jenileigh left around 3:00 pm  to head back to college. She came home Friday afternoon. She missed her exit and drove about an hour out of the way, a mistake I doubt she will make again. Anyway, since we drove to the mountains midweek last week, we aren't having too much trouble with separation. She will plan to come home on weekends, at least until Kenny leaves for NY.

So, I will be driving the younger boys to school as the bus was not the best situation last year for them. That should be okay, especially since I plan to meet a friend downtown and walk for an hour or so after I drop them off. I really need to come on home and catch up on all the laundry that has accumulated over the summer. It is amazing how bad it can get. I did manage to get all of Jen's done Saturday so she had a bag full of clean stuff to take to her dorm room. She seemed excited to get back to classes and all the activity on campus. I guess my next project will be to organize what is left in her room, box up stuff, get rid of clothes she doesn't want anymore. It makes me sad and tired.

Storms are rolling in. I love summer storms.

Jen leaving to go back to college.

Moving to App

We move her on Wednesday. What will I do without my girl here? Can she really be this age? I feel my heart breaking.

John on his way to tennis

Teenagers

one of the few times we get to see all their teeth. yes!

this was a few seconds later. ups and downs of siblings.

Finally figured this thing out!

Jen singing Wicked, "I'm Not That Girl". Excuse the shaky photography please.

 

 

And then there's Cinderella in "Into the Woods".

I can't believe this...

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/cartoonist-doug-marlette-dies-in-crash/20070710164709990001

I actually met this man a few months ago. He spoke at our elementary school and I spoke with him and helped him carry a box of his books to be signed to the front of the school. He was so kind and funny. He personalized the autograph of a first edition of The Bridge thusly:

"TO JEANNETTE-      

    FELLOW DESCENDANT OF COTTON MILL WORKERS! BLESS YOUR HEART!        

                               DOUG MARLETTE"

This is exactly how he signed it, all caps and with the mispelling of my name. Who was I to correct him, right? Anyway, with all his success and celebrity he took time with everyone who wanted to talk to him after his moving speech. He was a Pulitzer Prize winner after all. What a sad day.

 

Summertime Reading

Books I've read this summer:

     

March by Geraldine Brooks-simply loved it, historical fiction, my favorite style right now.

The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll by Jean Nathan-a biography of Dare Wright, very well written and fascinating

Ocracoke in the Fifties by Dare Wright-who the biography above was about so I very much enjoyed this book as well

Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks-this book drug on and on to be so short, not a fan, only read it because we saw the house on the OBX where the movie, starring Richard Gere, was filmed.

   March             

One more addition that I had forgotten about. I also finished up Answered Prayer by Truman Capote. I started this one a few months back after I read In Cold Blood (which was excellent). I suppose I was expecting something with a more cohesive story. It was an unfinished work of his and based on true life situations he found himself in, with thinly veiled characters. It was interesting but not really my cup of tea. It did feel incomplete. Capote was a fascinating figure, to say the least.

New Bird

Check out this new bird in our front yard. What a pretty bird and he sat there for so long so I could take lots of pics. Wonder what he is? I am beginning to believe he has a nest near the weeping willow as I saw him fly to it and then he was in the tree this afternoon. He almost looks like a roadrunner in this shot. Also, check out the oregano. That and rosemary, the only things growin in my yard this spring. Everything else is the same size it was when I planted it. Guess we need to refresh the soil a bit.

Baci Boy

My how he's changed.

January 25, 2007

Puppy Love

Awwww! Baci lurves Daddy soooo much. Seriously, this dog is so mellow and sweet to be a 5 month old puppy. He is a layabout but when it comes time to chew up stuff he's all puppy again! Cool dog this one. We lucked out. Maybe being hand fed by humans and cuddled so much as a newborn helped him be so mellow....could just be his genes. Just won't ever know will we? He enjoys a good sunbath by the pool. Good boy! He has the prettiest eyes. Light brown almost golden, like Davis.

back home trying to adjust

We've been home 4 days and I must say, I cannot get back into the swing!We went to our favorite place on earth, Ocracoke. It has changed so much since we started vacationing there 11 years ago. It has really changed since I first visited there over 30 years ago. Our trip was only marred by a few rude, obnoxious people not from the south. They need to chill out, and realize that the pace is slower, especially on O.

The ferry ride over from Hatteras was so exciting as it always is when you anticipate seeing O while approaching the docks. It had been a long two days...we had spent the night in Greenville the night before. We expected to take the Swan Quarter ferry over but the one we had reservations on was cancelled due to "mechanical" problems. I secretly believed they just cancelled it due to not being completely full. Something about the sly grin on the guy's face who told us about it made me think he wasn't being completely honest. Anyway, we took off on hwy 264 through Bath, lovely historic town, and headed on up to Nags Head and down to Hatteras. We arrived in the village right behind a group of Ohioans who felt it necessary to blow our doors off to pass us on the narrow highway 12, only to arrive 2 seconds before us at the rental office. Jeez louise!

The house was much the same, a little more worn but feeling like home. The kids all scattered and found their rooms and we unpacked for the week. Tim took off down the road a bit and rented a little bike attachment so Michael could ride and pedal behind him. He was so cute. I somehow managed not to get a photo of him though. Grr.

On Monday and everyday after that except Weds. we drove to the beach and stayed through lunch, packing sandwiches and snacks. The water was the most absolutely beautiful I have ever seen it. It was clear and very Caribbean-like. I could see my feet, even out in the thigh high water. I didn't want to get much deeper as the riptides were pretty strong this year. Gorgeous!

Weds. we took off for a day at Nag's Head/Kitty Hawk expecting to climb the dunes. Well, about the time we approached the Bonner Bridge (I hate going over that thing) the sky turned black as night and a strong heavy storm came on and we had to stay inside the Kitty Hawk Kites complex the whole time. The drive home was treacherous with hard downpours and I had to drive the truck while Tim drove the teenagers car so as not to encounter problems with flooded roads. I wanted to close my eyes over Bonner Bridge(did I tell you how much I hate that bridge?) but I of course couldn't and I made it over by only watching the taillights in front of me. We made it back to the Ocracoke house all in one piece.

On Thursday we did our usual Coffeehouseing,beaching, shopping and walkabouting and then that night had a fabulous meal at Cafe Atlantic. Parmesan Crusted Red Drum. So good. Highly recommend. We usual always go to Back Porch but didn't make it this time. That is usually our date night but we wanted to do everything with the whole family. It just seemed like the time to bond as a family what with Jen going to college in August. Change is so hard. I'm not a fan.

Recovering from our Ocracoma

We're home! We've been home since Sunday night but it is so difficult to get back into the swing of things again after a weeklong ocracoma! We went to the beach nearly everyday, we swam, cycled, walked, shelled, kayaked, ate and shopped. It was so lovely. While its good to be home, I miss Ocracoke. It is so beautiful there, but all the publicity lately has drawn a lot more tourists. I've been visiting there since I was a little girl, over thirty years, so I don't consider myself one of those tourists....LOL. What would you call me then?

I noticed this year, more than any other year, so many rude, fast paced people who needed to chillax and slip into the slower pace on the island. I won't say they ruined the trip, but they were an annoyance. I hope the publicity dies down a bit. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the trip.

On the ferryboat Ocracoke.

All four in the waves...

Now I'm dreaming of next year....

 

 

 

Bizarre Bazaar

A few pictures from the Greek Bizarre Bazaar a few weeks back.

Gladiator!

 

 

Homer and the Homettes

 

 

 

O Brother, Where Art Thou?