as previously mentioned

Update on the classroom: it's coming together. I have given up on any kind of theme and am just going random. There are all colors, all over the place. I should be going back today because I don't want to waste any sunny days up there but my house is crying out to me to get some laundry done and to be picked up. It's begging for attention.

Vacation pictures: I have some and some are on my mom's computer so I am not ready for that big post yet. But it's coming. When you least expect it.

For today, I bring you lake adventures from a couple of weeks ago and a friend's birthday celebration from this past weekend. Why do I find it necessary to share all of this with you? I don't know but I like it. I like to write. I like to savor memories. I like to take pictures.

lake

Brian's birthday bash

That's it for now! Tonight I am headed to dinner with my two lifelong BFFs and our A girls. Summertime '09 is the bomb!

preparations

Today marks just three weeks before it is back to work. I remember thinking at the end of June, wow - it hasn't even been a month yet. And here we are, almost two months into the summer vacation and it's flown by since then. My calendar has been full all summer long. I am thankful for the rain that has slowed me down and allowed me time to focus on my classroom.

Being a teacher has many pre-back-to-school preparations. This year I am moving to a new campus because our school is growing and splitting into three elementary campuses instead of one. Yesterday, I unpacked the 57th and final box from the move - 10 hours into it. Most of the things in boxes had a place to go but some don't because I don't have a teacher desk yet. Hopefully that is coming today. I need to get my area set up. And then there is the issue of a theme. Our hallway theme must consist of "magical" things like castles/dungeons, dragons, knights, etc. This is definitely not me but I will do as told and come up with something. But what?! I am thinking shiny stars or something. Many people on my hallway have done a fabulous job and I am inspired with their creatvity, just can't find my own.

Today my goal is to cover the bulletin boards, hang posters, attach locker tags, folder labels, find more textbooks and organize the closet shelves. My biggest concern is the randomness I am facing. All of the cabinets and shelving in my room are red - and there is a lot of it. I am bringing over a lot of things that are lime green and pink. I am teaching Social Studies and have a wooden flag to hang. How on Earth am I going to bring together red, white, blue, lime green and hot pink?! OMG.

Mardel, can you help me pull all of this together because I am heading your way. And, I hope you are having a sale.

cruisin'

Time flies when you are having fun. And this summer has been so much fun, one we'll always remember. We are so blessed and when I take time to look from the outside in at our many blessings it humbles me to think of where we are and how we've gotten here.

Someone once said, the road to success is always under construction. We need to take time to slow down (ticket fines are doubled) and look both ways - behind us and ahead of us and especially to those that are beside us on the road. I am so thankful for the family and friends that we have and for the jobs that we have - all of these have shaped us and keep us moving forward.

There are many things that I want to blog about but this nightly headache is preventing that from happening right now. Stay tuned for wakeboarding at the lake, fun at the beach and a birthday night out.

Life is a highway and I have been traveling at a constant speed all summer long. I think it's time for a slow down. After all - I'm almost in the school zone...

because two boats are better than one

The newness of having a boat has yet to wear off. It truly qualifies as both family bonding and cheap entertainment. We all enjoy it. It keeps me from having to try to come up with creative (costly) things to do so that the kids don't get bored and can enjoy their summer vacation. Currently, all I have to worry about spending money on is water, lunch meat, bread and a few snacks for the ride. (And it's a good thing as I am fixing to have to shell out $310 for Clayson and Trey to play football. Ouch. )

The intertube that looked like fun will be returned to Academy as soon as possible. It's too big, too rough to sit in and going to cause me back trouble at a young age. We are going to exchange it for more of a disc type towable that you can lay on or sit on, not in. You know you'll be seeing pictures of that as soon as it happens. I never let you down with pictures.

Jared's mom joined us for a boatride on Monday afternoon. It wasn't the most pleasant experience, just seemed it was one thing after another and it was the hottest day of the year. It could be considered a sauna with benefits - if you actually get in the lake.

We also met up with Jason and Megan. The kids boat-hopped, swam, Trey fished, we anchored down and visited for a while. This, I have pictures of.

After any time out on the lake we come home exhausted, hot and without an appetite. My laundry is less and so is the grocery bill. These things may be going down but the fun gage is going up. And not to mention, the house stays real clean because we aren't home much to mess it up.

tubin' like pros

Day two on the lake. First stop, Academy - for the tube that was sure to create fun and excitement for all.

We got out on the lake around 1:15 - the sun was making itself known, hot and bright (instead of loud and clear). This makes for a cranky dad trying to get the boat into the water while his 11 year old is in charge of backing the truck down the ramp and then pulling it into a parking space. Clayson is so good at things like this but it makes me so nervous. I'd rather not be a part of the backing in and loading up. My nerves cannot handle it. He did great as always. We drift out a bit and have a tube to inflate, an anchor that needs a home and kids that need sprayed down. And we are sweating bullets. Five minutes into this launch Ashlyn's face is sunburned. She was looking for shade but we had not put up the cover (I'm certain it has a name that I have not learned and that will be added to the term list as soon as I know.) She found some shade in the side compartment (see picture below) and was comfortable.

Once we finally cranked up, the wind cooled us off and got us motivated to tube. Trey went first and loved it - thumbs up for faster, thumbs down for slower and whole hand for stop. He used all three signals. Clayson got in for a short time and had fun. But, he is bitter that we bought a tube and not a wakeboard. (I am bitter that he had his cell phone in his pocket every time he got into the lake and did not realize it until three dips later.) Ashlyn was brave and tubed with me for six seconds and then started crying hard and could not wait to get out. Whole hand up - stop!! Then, I tubed and she cried the whole time I was out there, scared for me. I enjoyed it on my stomach but when I tried to get in the tube the water beat me up and I was ready for the whole hand up. Plus, my life jacket was way too big and rode up to my eyes pretty much. We also enjoyed a picnic out on the lake - good times.

If it's 104 degrees outside, there is no place I'd rather be.

come on in, the water's nice and green

It seems like my week has been a whirlwind of actvities. And to think that it has been another week that has come and gone. Dear summer, please slow down. Thanks, Me. Just this week, I have taken many pictures, been to a day of inservice and today spent the early afternoon with some school friends in the pool before heading out to the lake.

Big news in the Davis household is that we have gotten a boat. The boat was purchased one week ago today, arrived from Florida on Saturday with no title which meant no tags, which meant no lake - until today. Jared's patience was tested a little and the boat was cleaned and sat in a lot. We have always wanted a boat (just like I have always wanted a swimming pool but now the lake is our swimming pool). I feel that this will give us time together as a family doing something that we all enjoy doing; whether it is sitting in the front seat hoping for a tan (me), eating chips and drinking Big Red (Ashlyn), jumping in over and over (Trey), learning how to drive (Clayson) and going full throttle against the current with the radio turned up loud (Jared).

We got out on the lake around 5:00 and tooled around while Jared scared me bad on our journey to "party cove". At times I felt like I was riding in a convertible, speeding down the highway hitting road bumps with no seatbelt to hold me down. But he claims he was not going fast, it was just the choppy water. Yeah, okay and my hair is not getting tangled by the second. Party cove is a "finger" (new term) that is calm, where boats gather and people ski, wakeboard, tube and swim. Because we haven't bought any of these towables (another new term), the kids settled for swimming. Ashlyn was not one bit hesitant to jump right into the water. (She is convinced that there are no fish in this lake.) All of the kids and Jared swam while I took pictures and checked up on my facebook - thank goodness for the iPhone and this ADD mama.

We went to the harbor for the concert but realized we were missing an important item to be able to sit and enjoy the concert with the other 400 (or less) boats. We needed an anchor. This has been noted on the shopping list - along with a tube, fire extinguisher and life saving device that can be thrown out for rescue. Looks like Bass Pro Shop and/ or Academy will become more than just a place to buy Christmas presents and sports attire.

Obviously, we had a blast! It looks like we are well on our way to becoming lake junkies. I'm fairly certain that this won't be the last of lake snapshots or water blogs. It's just what I do. I take pictures and I live to write about it.

freedom and fireworks

This 4th of July holiday was a bang! (pun intended) We have had so much fun and have been so busy.

Last weekend we went to the annual firework show in Seagoville. It was a good wind down after the hype of Ashlyn's birthday party. Sitting on the lawn at the fire station, eating some cold watermelon sipping on ice cold lemonade while drenching ourselves in mosquito spray - it was almost like a country song.

Friday night we sailed Lake Ray Hubbard (see previous post and this picture).

Saturday we spent the day at my mother and father-in-laws with a large group of people (35 or more)- most we met for the first time and enjoyed getting to know, some were family members and a few were friends. There was a whole lot of swimming going on, good food and drinks, many conversations and a few small fireworks for Jax and Ashlyn. What's the 4th of July without some sparklers?!

Sunday night we went to my mom and dad's for burgers that will rock your world. My dad's "woody burgers" are the bomb. We enjoyed hanging out with long time friends of my parents, I slipped away briefly for a photo shoot (man, the weather was perfect) and came back in time for homemade ice cream, watermelon and small talk about Michael Jackson and other world issues. The kids played kickball, popped some snappers and we loaded up and headed home to end our holiday weekend.




Good times. Memorable. Exhausted.

sail away with me

...to another world - or Lake Ray Hubbard. When I think sailboat, I think small - topples easy - too much work - lost at sea. Those thoughts were laid to rest last night as we loaded onto a large sailboat, carrying 40+ people with walking room, large ice chests and two huge sails - built by owner. We enjoyed a "sunset cruise" with Jared's mom, dad, step-brother and his extended family. We sailed along the lake in all of it's tranquility. Kids under twelve were required to wear life jackets at all times but much like at home, Clayson did not do as he was told. He is big enough to be twelve and he did sit on it, so his life saving device was easily accessible. Trey and Ashlyn buckled up, complained at first and then eased into the "comfort" of the vest riding around their little necks.

The captain requested Trey to be the first "co-captain" at the wheel. He obliged and sailed us along for a few minutes. Ashlyn took her turn controlling the sails a couple of times. The second time she became completely mesmerized - she was dazed and not confused, just lost in the luxury of the lake. She stood up on a stool and sailed us into the deep blue yonder for at least thirty minutes of our one hour 45 minute cruise. I have not seen her that still for that long, maybe ever.

We enjoyed the night on the lake so much. It was a nice change from the norm. After sailing, we enjoyed dinner on the harbor and headed home to rest up for some red, white and blue festivities today. That post to come.

Happy 4th of July and God bless our troops that fight and have fought to protect this American pride and freedom.