That’s what it seemed to me.  (Warning Lonnnng and lots of pics!!)

Summer camp ended on the 8th when we had our “Olympics”. It was such fun and the kids had a blast. That following Monday morning we left on our 2nd annual staff retreat. This year was at Summers Mill Retreat and Conference Center in Belton and it was so much fun. Pastor Kevin drove the bus and we got to Belton in now time. He even did a K-turn on a one lane dirt road with ditches on both sides…the guy is crazy!  We spent most of Monday in meetings…both with the whole elementary/preschool staff and then we broke into the two groups to discuss things pertaining to each school level. We then met back together to play “Bunco” and with each round we had a question that the four of us in each group had to answer so we could get to know even more about each other. That was fun and we won prizes at the end.

After dinner, we could do what we wanted so we broke down into smaller groups, mixed with elementary and preschool staff how ever we wanted. The group I went with was fairly mixed and we had some frozen margaritas, watched the olympics and played some games. Again…lots of fun.

Tuesday morning we met for breakfast and then split into our school groups to finish up with things. The two teachers in charge of our preschool resource rooms put ona  fun skit letting us know what they expect from us this year   We laughed so hard at their presentation.

When we finished up with that, we met together again for worship and went outside. There were three rows of tubs set up and we talked about supporting each other. We then walked through each tub until our feet were covered. There were tubs with water, flour, sugar, syrup, oats, mini marshmallows and dirt.

We then had another short bible lesson and separated with our coteachers to wash each others feet just as Jesus washed his disciples feet during the Last Supper.

After that, we had a short bible lesson from Pastor Kevin based on our theme for this year, “You are Loved” (1 John 3:1) then we gave each other communion and shared the peace with each other.  Most of us were in tears at that point since it was so spiritual and moving. When that was done and we composed ourselves, we headed home. I had a blast with all my coworkers, but I was anxious to get home. Chrissy and the girls arrived late Monday night and I wanted to see them and HUG them so badly! Everyone knew that they were going to be there to meet me, so I was one of the first ones off the bus. I was soooooo happy!

They were here a week, and it just flew by! We were going to go to Houston when I got home Tuesday, but they were calling for rain so we decided on Dallas. That changed yet again since we figured that the younger girls were probably not going to really care about the Book Depository. We ended up just hanging on Tuesday and going to Mellow Mushroom.

Wednesday we headed to Brenham and took the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory tour. The girls liked that, but I think they liked the end when they got free ice cream better than the actual tour. They show a film on the history of Blue Bell before you go on the tour and Sophia called out, “Is this long? I want my ice cream.” Chrissy and I just ducked our heads and everyone laughed. She is only 4 so it was still cute.

Thursday, we headed down to San Antonio for The Alamo and The Riverwalk. The girls were more impressed I think by the big fish at The Alamo and the fountains by The Riverwalk! We stopped at Scott’s brother’s and Chrissy got to meet her step-uncle and her step-cousins. That was neat and we had dinner down there with them then came home.

I had to work on Friday morning so everyone else slept in. I finished up at noon then we left to head up to Waco to see the Texas Ranger Museum and the Dr. Pepper Museum.

The big thing too was getting to swim.

We did the Ranger Museum after we got there then went back to the hotel to swim. We got up early Saturday to do the Dr. Pepper Museum..then headed home. The kids were beat!

So were the adults! We just hung around the rest of Saturday and Sunday. I had to be at two of the services Sunday for the Commissioning of the school staff, but the rest of the day we just loafed. I worked Monday again in the morning then when I finished at noon, we had lunch and headed to the Bullock Museum downtown. They stopped allowing pictures inside the museum..which sucked since I wanted pics of the girls seeing them, but it was still fun. I did get a pic of them in front of the star out front.

We got up early on Tuesday to take them all to the airport…I did great until Sunshine started to cry as she went through the security line because she didn’t want to leave. I lost it then too!

Wednesday was back to school. Scott H settled in well in his 5th grade class. He tested into advanced math, spelling and reading!  Hopefully his meds will help him focus this year. I have both his teachers watching him to make sure he is doing OK. My Ducks class went well the first day. Not too many criers but naptime was pretty short. By Friday, they slept a little better but a few are still crying some. It will take a couple of weeks for them to really settle in. This year’s class is pretty young compared to the previous two classes. We have just three that turn 2 by the end of 2008. Most of them don’t turn 2 until April and May!  That is going to make it a little tougher, but Sara and I will manage. I am loving my schedule this time. I get out at 3:00 on Mondays, Tuesday and Thursdays and at 5:30 on Wednesdays and Fridays. It works out well for Scott H and Webelos since his den meetings are at 5 on Wednesday. He’ll go there straight from Aftercare and I can just go home then come back and pick him up at 6:30!

Scott H’s birthday is on Tuesday so we had his party yesterday. We ended up renting out one of the auditoriums at the Alamo Drafthouse that Scott does work for (at a reduced rate thankfully). Scott H wanted to see the new Star Wars movie but they weren’t showing it yet. We took a DVD of “Shrek the Third” and they played that for him and since they serve food (while you are watching the films…sooo cool) we had pizzas for the boys. The party was from 9-11 AM before they open to the public..so they had the whole place to themselves.

They had a blast and Scott’s cake again came out great. We got it at All-in-One again. They do fantastic work. They didn’t have a cake in the design he wanted to they made one themselves.

And that catches Y’all up here at La Casa de Peach!  This Wednesday the guy is coming to install our new counters and sink/faucet. In preparation, I cleaned out the cabinets under the counters since Scott will have to empty them all for the guy to work. I got rid of so much junk! I can’t believe how many empty bottles of cleaner were under the sink and how many things I never use were in the other cabinets. Now they are all cleaned and organized and I cannot wait to see my new counter, sink and faucet!! Remodeling is never done is it???  You can see all the other pics I took by clicking on one of the ones above then looking around my Flickr site if you’d like!

Have a great one!!