Child's World, Here Comes Anna Beth!

Anna Beth started back at her preschool the day after Labor Day . . . and believe me, she has been counting down the days since the boys started back! It has been a little lonely here at the Cleft with Riley Catherine and Blaine gone to Kindergarten, so preschool was a welcomed event. She looked as precious as ever in her navy & red apple dress and braids. My heart cringed a little when she ALMOST forgot to kiss me before hopping out of the car to her teacher, lol, but she DID remember! She had a wonderful time and was all smiles when I picked her up at noon . . . I think it is going to be another great year!

Ethan & Graham Go Back to School

The boys started back to school on August 11th. Graham was eager and very excited, and Ethan . . . well, he was a little less so, as usual. Overall they had a great first day. Graham wanted to wear his new tie-dye spirit shirt and Ethan chose a very 'tough' football shirt with spikes on a helmet, lol--guess that gave him the fifth-grade 'edge'! We feel so blessed with their grade teachers and their focus teachers--they are all so wonderful! These photos are compliments of Andrea Jenkins since I completely forgot to take photos before they left! Here are my boys with her boys, Blaine and Jarrett:

Personally, I absolutely CANNOT believe I have a 3rd grader and a 5th grader--WHERE does the time go!

Back-to-School Celebration!

We enjoyed a Back-to-School Celebration with our neighbors, the Warbingtons & the Jenkins, the afternoon before school started. It started with prayer over the new school year and a yummy mexican dinner; then the adults gathered around to watch the children run through the back-to-school banner. And WHAT a show it was . . . the daddies introduced each child, announcing interesting and sometimes exaggerated stats about the child as they busted through! Afterwards the kids danced by the lake . . . and then on the trampoline, lol . . . and then we enjoyed a cookie cake for dessert. The sparklers at the end of the celebration were the finishing touch. The children absolutely LOVED every moment, it was a wonderful way to kick-off the new year. A BIG 'Thank You' to the Warbingtons and Jenkins for including us this year!

LeConte Hike 2008

I am SO BEHIND with my posting, so I'm going to try to make these quick! In July, Kip and I went on our now annual hike to LeConte Lodge in the Smokies. It is a great experience, even for a city girl like me. The lodge at the top is VERY rustic with no electricity or running water in the cabins--and certainly no cell phone service. I have never seen the stars from this viewpoint, and it is amazing! This year we hiked with three other couples--the Holidays, the Mikles and the Geigers.

It was a great hike with fabulous weather (that is KEY after our 3-mile hike in a severe thunder/hail/lightening/rain storm last year). We took our regular 5-mile hike up Alum Cave--it is the shortest, steepest route with breathtaking views. After a warm meal, we enjoyed the sunset on the cliffs and then played cards by lantern-light in the common area. The next morning, we headed out after breakfast, taking the Trillion trail down. It was a less steep 6.5 mile route through the woods--not as scenic, but beautiful in it's own right. Also, we saw the Llama train taking the supplies up to the Lodge--they take this trail up and down several times during the week. We have all decided that this is a trail that our boys can definitely handle, so they will be joining us next year--they are ecstatic!

Abbi & Sarah Kate spend the night!

Cousins Abbi and Sarah Kate came up this weekend for their VERY FIRST spend the night party with Anna Beth--the excitement (and squealing) was just too much! Of course, Aunt Amy and Uncle Ray stayed as well, and we all had a good time visiting and catching up. Unfortunately, we were having so much fun that I didn't take a lot of pictures.

The boys loved playing with Uncle Ray's new Guitar Hero 3--so much fun! The girls enjoyed sleeping together in matching sleeping bags and then waking to a chocolate-chip pancake breakfast complete with bacon, sausage, fruit, eggs and grits. After eating, we were treated to a complete fashion show of everything in Anna Beth's dress-up box (and there is quite a lot, by the way!) Then they headed out to try their hand at fishing, where Sarah Kate caught her very first fish! Later they enjoyed some time outside, riding bikes and playing in the hot Georgia sun.

Time with family is limited since we live a few hours away . . . Thank you for coming to visit, Amy, Ray, Abbi & Sarah Kate! We had a blast and hope you come back soon!

The Long Awaited Carrot Cake . . .

For months now, Anna Beth has been begging me to help her make a carrot cake. I love carrot cake but have never baked one (not since she has been alive, anyhow!), so I wondered if she REALLY knew what it was. She insisted that she tasted it at preschool and loved it and wanted to bake her own . . . in fact, it was so important to her that it was on the list of things she wanted to accomplish this summer!

So, since her aunt, uncle and cousins were coming to visit for the weekend, it seemed like the perfect dessert option (to Anna Beth). We headed to Publix for some fresh carrots and got started. It actually was a lot of fun, and the boys got involved too. Anna Beth is a VERY particular child and had a VERY specific idea of what it should look like when it was done--thus the carrot decorations I had to add at the end! We had a great time and the end result was both cute and incredibly YUMMY--we all loved it (minus Graham , of course, my picky son)!

Great idea, Anna Beth!

EXTRA, EXTRA . . . Read All About It!

Just an update on Ethan's BIG CATCH--he was featured in Skipper Smith's column in the Banks County Newspaper on Thursday! Mr. Smith is the father of Shawn Smith, our SS teacher and good friend, and was so kind to interview Ethan about his fishing experience. You can click on the photo to enlarge it and read the article. What a treat!

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Also, the fish is no longer in my freezer (thank you!), but is officially at the taxidermy shop for mounting. We should see her again in four to five months!