Journey to Excellence

Wow. I can't believe it's the last day of July and, really, the end of summer. This week the kids and I will spend our annual lake week with our friends from Oklahoma to swim, play games, do some fun activities, and plan for our upcoming homeschool year. It will be strange only planning for one student as Brynne is just days away from re-entering public school. We had a busy month with lots of little trips and some significant changes for our family. Here's a recap ... Kyndal and I started the month with a less-than-24-hour-trip to Las Vegas to see our beloved Backstreet Boys in concert. It was amazing, as usual, and despite the utter exhaustion we had a great time together! We had a fun 4th of July holiday with all of the kids at Farrington Park. Brynne won 2nd place in the egg race. Eli won 3rd place in the softball throw. And Kyndal and Dawson ended up wet in the water balloon toss. Well, Kyndal ended up wet. Collin's birthday is on the ...

  Growing up, were you close to your grandparents? Tell us one or two specific things you remember about them. I was close to my maternal grandmother, Grandma Alice. My paternal grandparents were pretty indifferent as to spending time with us. My memories of my Grandma Alice are fond. We spent the night at her house most every Saturday night. We watched Love Boat and Fantasy Island . We played Double Solitaire. She took us to Sunday school the next morning. Another very fond memory is eating fried chicken dinners at her house. We would all cram around her kitchen table in the kitchen while she served us and then she ate her dinner standing at the counter. She would never sit with us. What's an item you were attached to as a child? What happened to it? I had a blankie that I still have today. In fact, I use it to cover Bennett when he is taking a nap at my house. When you look out your window, do you see the forest or the trees (literally and figuratively)? Explain. ...

I am literally sitting here at the dining room table in a dazed stupor after the busy couple of weeks we have had. I should have never sat down. So, I figured this was a great time to participate in this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge! When was the last time you chatted with a neighbor? About what? (sharing that last bit is optional) Oh my. My neighborhood. We live in a colorful one. I do not actually talk with very many of my neighbors unless it's to discuss the latest visit from the sheriff at the house down the street. On the 4th of July, though, while at the town's park festivities, I did talk with a sweet neighbor who lost her husband suddenly almost two years ago. She and her husband own the funeral home and are just wonderful people. She was widowed at too young an age with two teenage daughters and a young son. We discussed how she was doing, how she is coping with running the funeral home alone, how her oldest daughter has moved into the house across the s...