I Broke It!

Somehow I managed to break my blog.  When I first started this blog four years ago, I googled and found a website that did free blog templates.  I found one I liked, read the how-to-install tutorial and never looked back.  I guess that person who did the free templates decided to take them down which made my blog go all crazy.  Until I can figure out how to do something cuter or more interesting, we are stuck with this blue/green grass template.  Much better than the FORBIDDEN BLAH BLAH stuff that was up there.

Did I mention 3rd grade is kicking my tail?  We've got quizzes, spelling words, a weekly Bible verse, Latin vocabulary, grammar, math assessments and science and history craziness. We have to remember to look at the moon every night for a month because they are studying lunar phases (I think that's what it is called).  Huge props to the teacher because she is teaching the various phases by using Oreo cookies. See example below.  Of course, there will be extras to munch on while "learning."  Isn't that the best idea ever???  I hope she has milk too.


Whoa...lost that train of thought.  3rd grade.  Killing me.  Busy.  Studying.  Turning stuff in on time.  I'm trying to learn how much to let him do on his own (he's 8) and how much I should be helping.  *sigh*

A Few Beach Pictures

We went to the beach a couple of times in the last few months both at Spring Break and again this summer.  I didn't take a ton of pictures, but here are a few of my favorites.

C'mon, This Will Be Fun

The boys started school the day after Labor Day.  So we met our good friends in the mountains over Labor Day weekend for one last fun filled weekend to celebrate the end of summer.

It was suggested that we take the boys (ages 8 1/2, 8, and 5) on a hike.  Fresh air.  Exercise.  Climbing.  Exploring nature.  I'm all for that.  I don't want my boys to think I'm a wimp so I occasionally need to do something outdoorsy so they will have memories of their mother participating in outdoorsy things.

Someone in the group said that the Hebron Rock Colony would be a fun place to go.

This is a picture of the Hebron Rock Colony.

 I did not take this picture.  As you can see, it is a truly beautiful place with a babbling mountain stream and lots of foliage.  Here is a shot at a different angle.

This was not the easiest hike we've ever done.  Lots of tree roots and well, rocks (thus, the name).  Let's just say I am glad Kevin and Grant were there to help all of us (mamas and boys) up and down the rocks.

Some parts were downright treacherous.

See photo.

I did take this photo when we were taking a break.

Aren't they cute?

Does this post have a point?

Right after I took this photo, it started sprinkling.  The Dads wanted to press on to the top of the Hebron Rock Colony.  The Moms were not so sure.  The Dads wanted to live a little.  The Moms were concerned.  The Dads said we were being wimps.  The Moms wished the Dads had taken the kids hiking on their own while the Moms went out for pedicures.

The Moms threw down the Mom Card and said we must start heading back to the car immediately.

Then it started raining like this.  But harder.  Much harder.  Think of words like torrential and downpour.  Or maybe monsoon and tropical storm warning.

Those beautiful rocks from the first few pictures?
Guess how slick they get when it is sprinkling?
A little slippery.  But dry enough to still be hike-able (I think I just made that word up).

Guess how slick they get when it is pouring down rain?
Might as well try to ski down a mudslide.  It's like hydroplaning in a car, but with tennis shoes and children.  And other random hikers following you because they think you know the way out.  Poor them.  They had no idea we were clueless.  The blind leading the blind.  Or in our case...the soaked leading the drenched.

Did I mention the Moms were wearing white tshirts?  Yeah, that was fun.

I have blocked many of the details from my mind.  I think I have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  For the record, I will say that had we left when the Moms wanted to leave (when it was sprinkling), we probably would have made it all the way to the car quite easily.  But I'm not one to point fingers.  Or place blame.  Or say "I told you so."  The Dads said we were making a memory.  I'm going to have to edit out the bad words I was thinking in my "memory".

Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck getting out of there.  Took us forever to get back to our car.  Not only did Kevin have to help his feeble wife, he had to carry Luke on his back while scaling slippery rocks.  Believe it or not, we made it without broken bones or major injuries.  The boys were serious troopers.  I'm glad I was wearing a hat.  We were all drenched.

And when we finally got back to the car?

The sun came out.

Of course it did.

Note to self:  check the weather report before a hike with the Dads.

Won't That Be Nice?!

Right before we moved, I had a few VHS tapes converted to DVDs.  I was afraid the VHS tapes would eventually disintegrate and all those precious memories (like our wedding video) would be lost forever.

One of the gems from that little conversion was the following video.  Some of you may or may not know that when I graduated from college I moved to Houston, TX to teach high school.  While I was there, I went to Second Baptist Church (which is where I met Kevin and got married).  Second is huge - Texas HUGE.  I mean really, really big.  It is a wonderful church and I loved going there.  But did I mention it was really big?  Overwhelming for most people when they visited there.  Not one, but two balconies.  Parking was crazy.  The campus was enormous.  You get the picture.

Well, one day a few singles were sitting around talking as we used to do when we had lots of free time before we had kids and mortgages and soccer practice and carpool duty.  We thought, "Wouldn't it be funny if we made a video poking fun at life at Second Baptist."  Now, keep in mind this video was filmed almost 10 years before youtube ever came along.  And I think that Facebook Zuckerberg guy was still in elementary school.

Disclaimer:  You've always heard it said that the camera adds 10 pounds.  Apparently, this camera decided to add all ten pounds to my face.  Yikes!  Fletcher and Luke saw this video (they think it is hilarious) and they wanted to know how I could make my eyes get that big.

Enjoy!

First Day of School 2012

Fletcher started school on Tuesday and Luke started on Wednesday.  They are both together at a new school.  (We moved over the summer which deserves its own blog post).

Fletcher said the first day was "awesome."   Luke said it was "good."

I told them beforehand that I would ask both of them a question when they got in the car at the end of the day.

"What color are your teacher's eyes?"

We are working on getting both of them to look an adult in the eyes when they are talking to them.  It is a sign of respect (as opposed to staring at the ground and mumbling).  It is also a confidence builder for them.

For the record - Mrs. H has hazel eyes and Mrs. B has brown.

Next up, Fletcher has to find out the eye color of his Latin teacher, his music teacher, his art teacher and his PE coach.

Speaking of coach, both of the boys will be playing soccer with their school through the YMCA.  Should be very interesting for so many reasons. Have I mentioned that I know nothing about soccer.  Well, except for the black and white ball and the goal part.  I guess we will all learn together.

Before I show the obligatory first day of school photos, I do have to share Luke's lunchtime prayer on Monday.  Luke was at home with me while Fletcher was at school.

"Dear God, please make Fletcher not be mean to his new friends today at school and that he won't bite anyone. Oh, and help his lunch taste good. Amen."

Ok so Fletcher looks about 16 in this picture.  

Luke was a little nervous.  But doesn't he look adorable in his uniform?

Good-bye Summer!

Hello?

Is anybody there?

I know.  It has been 6 months since I've posted anything.  One half of a year has gone by.  Several or 8 things have happened.

I made a goal to start blogging again when the boys returned to school which is today for Fletcher.  Tomorrow for Luke.

In the days and weeks ahead, I'll try to catch you up on all of our adventures.

A few things are changing though.  For starters, I'm only going to put up a post on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I used to put something up every week day.  But that gets overwhelming after a while.  I know sometimes people get frustrated when they look at a blog and nothing new is posted.  So for now, just know to check Snickelfritz Lane on Tuesdays and Thursdays for new posts.

We said good-bye to summer by spending the Labor Day weekend with our friends in the mountains.

Here are a few pictures from our weekend.  We ended up at a really cool park on Beech Mountain.  I've seen lots of parks, but never anything like this.  Things were made out of these really thick ropes.  Lots of bridge type things to climb on.  Swings made of canvas.  Rope spider web.  The boys loved it.  And the parents had fun too.

(Haven't the boys grown?  Since my last blog entry, Luke turned 5.  Yikes!  Where is the time going?)