first day pics!!!

 Here he is...our big Kindergartner!!! He was so excited!!! And had a fabulous day today!!

 I on the other hand had a bit of a boohoo session last night, just finally hit me that he was going to school.  Feels like just yesterday he was a little bitty baby!

 Here is my First Grade team in our I "heart" First grade shirts we all wore today! I had a good day today too, with my 16 new babies.  First grade is a lot different than 3rd grade but I think I am going to really like it!

Here is a small snapshot I took in Ollie's class, Matt came to drop him off too.  And that's his teacher in the corner, Mr. P...we are excited for the year to come!!

A few more of sweet Ben...

Love this sweet baby who is turning into a toddler! Just wanted to share a few more photos!

Faces...

 I've snapped a few pictures here lately of some very sweet faces...here is our good friend Grant at the park.

 Of course this sweet girl, love that little pig tail!

 Got to meet baby Max last week, so adorable!

 Baby Max and his big brother Levi, my friend Carla's kiddos.

 Sweet Abby Cadabby, love those bright eyes!

And did a little photo session with my friend Jacki's son Ben, who is now 8 months old!

Camping...

This past weekend we headed out on a camping adventure with our good friends the Clarks.  We camped right off the parkway near Floyd, NC.  The daddies took the big kids hiking on Saturday morning and fishing in the afternoon while Loren and I took the little kids to Mabry Mill and to the Peach Festival, we even got to ride on a horse drawn cart.  We ate lots of delicious meals, courtesy of Chef John and had plenty of yummy s'mores.  Hard to believe that Ollie and Bryan will start Kindergarten in just one week!  We are getting really excited!

For the LOVE of Pinterest...recipes!!!

 This summer I have continued to enjoy even more this oh so amazing thing called Pinterest!!! I have learned cool tricks, done many a science projects with Olls, organized a bit, and cooked a little. I thought I would share a few of the recipes that I've tried out this summer! Once school starts back who knows if I'll be cooking again...ha ha j/k Matt! Ok these PB cookies were good and really easy to make! The recipe was a pin fail, meaning it didn't link but here it is directly from the picture:

Healthy Peanut Butter cookies! Only 36 calories per cookie! Ingredients: 1 Cup Peanut butter 1 Cup Sugar 1 TSP baking soda 1 egg Mix the peanut butter and sugar first then add in the egg and baking soda. Bake for 10 minutes on 350 degrees. They’re delicious!

 I made this one Monday night except I used Shrimp and not chicken, it was really yummy!

 Oh my this salad I have made several times over the past few months, so incredibly yummy!! I have in my fridge the Sam's Vidalia Onion dressing, so I mix that with balsamic vinaigrette instead of Poppy Seed, yum-o!

 This Parmesan bread thingy, too good, it's not one for the people who are cutting the calories, but tasty none the less!!! And very, very easy to make!!

 I made these cookies the other night when we were having dinner with friends, they were easy to make and most of us enjoyed them, very dense and I'd say you would have to be into Nutella to like them for sure! They were really hard the 2nd day so enjoy them while they are fresh!!

 Who would have thought that growing up in Charleston I wouldn't know how to make shrimp and grits by heart...alas, I needed a good recipe. And this one was fabulous! The bacon in it, wowzers, a very nice touch!

Ok, saved the best for last!!! This dip might just replace my favorite corn dip recipe!! It is totally easy and totally scrumptious! You have to be a feta cheese kind of person to enjoy, but I am and this is totally a great dip for a dinner party appetizer! 

Man, now I am totally hungry again...I've got about 100 more recipes that I've yet to try.  Some are more "skinny" than these.  One I am super excited about is making salads for school, of course, in a Mason Jar!!!

Chickens!!!

 We headed up to Virginia for the night last night to see the fam.  Matt's parents have a coop of 5 chickens and they let them out last night around sunset.  They were very fun to watch. Ollie and Sarah Claire loved them!  In fact Ollie kept checking to see if there were any eggs, and I think he found a total of 4! We ate them for breakfast of course this morning.

 Sarah Claire liked watching them and touching them and even picked up a handful of feed and held it out to this one special one, whom she named, "Sue," a nickname we still call her a lot. 

 I think they are beautiful birds, who know maybe one day we'll have chickens too!

Love this little farm hand, in her pink smocked dress, another dress that used to be mine when I was her age!

Apologies for the lack of blogging, it's the middle of August already! We've been hanging out with friends getting ready for Kindergarten and fixing up my new room here and there, I am going to teach first grade this year (taught it for 3 years about 9 years ago.) I am excited for the change and look forward to being real close to my big Kindergartner who will be right across the hall from me all day long, what a fun and exciting change this will be for our family.

This week is my last official week of summer, with workdays starting next Monday.  We hope to see lots of friends both near and even going on an overnight visit to see one of my best friends and college roomates!  You know me, love to squeeze every little last second out of my time.  We have had a fabulous summer, one we all will not forget!