It's the most wonderful time of the year......

COLLEGE FOOTBALL season opens this week!!  HIP HIP HOORAY and I am back home in the SEC!!

Also want to send out a shout to my sweet Nicholas who won the starting QB job on his new football team!  Awesome!

Dr. Holland's Opuses (or is that Opi?)

Can you remember a time when things seemed normal, but you just new something was not right? Our last Saturday in Memphis was one of those times...Karen had promised to take me to my favorite BBQ restaurant, Central BBQ, for dinner at 'about 5:30'. Earlier that afternoon, she mentioned that she was going to wear a particular dress (TO BARBECUE?). Naturally I was confused, and being tired from packing, etc., I simply asked if what I had on was okay. I ended up changing...Clue #1 that something was weird...

Clue #2 came at about 5:15...remember 'about 5:30' from before? Well, around 5:15, Karen decides she needs to take a nap (WHAT???) yes, a nap. So when Karen wants to nap, Karen naps, unless the kids are wild and noisy. Something definitely weird in the air...

She woke up about 20 minutes later (quite the power-napper), and instructed Nicholas to clean his room (little did I know he was in on the whole thing, and she actually told him to TAKE HIS TIME cleaning his room). Nicholas was heading to a sleepover birthday party after dinner, so he had to pack his bag as well. By this point, I'm perplexed, but I'm also focused on dinner. Central BBQ tends to dull the senses...

We finally head to dinner, WHICH WAS AWESOME as always. At one point,  I got up to get some more sweet tea. Karen received a text message which she said was an invitation for Nicholas to our church for a special youth thing...I chuckled a bit to myself, weighing sleepover vs. a youth thing at church. Seemed to be a slam dunk for the sleepover in my mind.  Imagine my supreme shock when Karen told me that he actually wanted to go by the church for a bit, and then go to the sleepover.  At this point, I'm convinced that there must have been a lunar eclipse and my family just wasn't themselves...but hey, there was BBQ.  Off to church we go...

We arrive, are heading to the door, and Karen says "Nicholas, be my gentleman and open the door". I of course couldn't be outdone, so I beat him to it, opened the door, and the kids walked in. Karen stopped a few feet in front of the door, and motioned for me to go in.  I think I started to exclaim "What in the world is wrong with..." when I looked inside and saw a bunch of my former students, representing nearly every year I taught at the University of Memphis! Robin Smith, Becca Smith, and Lindsey Hays, some of my former students planned this whole thing, and Karen did an amazing job of pulling off the surprise!

I was absolutely blown away - Carol Rakestraw greeted me instantly, and made me go around the room and say everyone's name and their instrument...and thankfully, I did it!

 I spent the next couple of hours visiting with dear friends, great students, and folks that I have a lifetime of memories with, and here are just a few!

There are many more here in this slideshow - I hope you enjoy! I will never forget it, and THANK YOU to all that could come, and that helped make it happen. Go Tigers!

First day of school!

How is it possible that I have a middle school kiddo?  Really?  Since I can not longer accompany him to his class on his first day here is a picture right before we left the house. 

And here is a picture of Caroline as she entered "Parkerwood".  She LOVES her new teacher and is so excited about school this year!  So thankful for answered prayers.

Front door friends..... kinda

So, we have had some rain here this week! One night after sitting on the front porch to enjoy watching the storm, we found a new friend visiting on our doorstep.  We really didn't have these types of friends when we lived in Memphis but I remember them from growing up in South GA.  They were everywhere--even in my room sometimes thanks to my dad and brother.

Otis...

We haven't had puppy pictures in a while.  I captured Otis in his favorite spot the first week we moved in.  He seems to be quite comfortable in his new setting.....

I have surrendered this cushion to him...... some battles you just can't win!

Before the jellyfish......

On the same night we were at the beach to enjoy and celebrate Caroline's birthday--before the jellyfish sting--Nicholas and Andrew were able to enjoy some fun times in the sand.  Nicholas had never been buried before and he gladly returned the favor!  Fun times!

Another Fun Summer Activity!

For the past 2 summers we have participated in the Apple Stores Summer Camp.  It is totally free and the kids learn how to do some really cool stuff on the computer.  This year they made movies in the store!  The staff members were so great jumping in and being the "actors" as well as teaching the kids how to be directors, editors, and producers.  Here are a few pictures and if the files aren't too big maybe we can post the movies too.  So glad our new hometown has an Apple store so that we can continue to enjoy this activity in the summer!