What a fun fall this has been! It’s a blast to reflect on the last several weeks for the family archives.
October started strong as we were coming off of a great Fall Break. The first weekend of October was Homecoming at school. It was extra special to have my mom in town for the weekend. The week of Homecoming was full of all kinds of crazy dress up days and lots of fun! Our favorite part is always seeing lots of alums at the Homecoming dinner before the game. We crowned the King and Queen at halftime AND won the game! It was a big win at home. Saturday was spent on the soccer field and then we took my mom out to Henry’s to celebrate her birthday which was the end of September and then I spent the rest of the evening at the Homecoming Dance. Mom went with us to church the next morning and then headed home. Clint took the kids up to Lake Winnie with his Mom that afternoon. They all had their fill of rides, fair food, and fun!
As always, lots of fun cheering on our NCCS Eagles as Emma and Eli finished up their cross country season, we cheered on the volleyball team to the state tournament, and continued with soccer season. Emma did a big book report for school about Elvis and had lots of fun doing that. One big piece of news is that Emma finally got the contacts that she has been hoping for! They make her look WAY too old! We also got to help with the Tim Crunk 5K and Fun Run at Cedarcrest in honor of our friend Tim to raise money for education in Haiti. The race is always a highlight of the fall for our family!
My 40th Birthday was on October 16 and Clint went WAY above and beyond to make it MEMORABLE! On Monday evening some friends surprised me for dinner on the patio at Pablano’s. It was a really special evening and I was so honored that they set aside that time to celebrate with me! As the week went on, there were several sweet things…my friend and admin assistant decorated my office with notes from lots of our students. And then It got really crazy! On my birthday, Emma had very first orchestra concert and it was so cool to see how proud she was!
On Friday, I went down to the lake for Emma and Eli’s race after school. And…my Mom and Dan were there! They had come in to celebrate my birthday. What a fun surprise! We all went to the Fall Festival at school that night. The next morning we were at the kid’s soccer games and up walked my sister and her whole family…again, a total surprise! Such a treat to have them all here. We spent the afternoon at a pumpkin patch and just enjoying some time together outside.
We came home and changed to “go out to dinner” after a quick stopover at an Open House at a company in town. When we walked in, the “presentation” was already under way, so they walked us back to an auditorium where most of the special people in my life were gathered to yell “Happy Birthday” when the doors opened. I can honestly say it was one of the best nights of my life! Clint had worked for almost a year to pull off this amazing surprise and I was so humbled and honored all at the same time. What a gift of words and love that evening proved to be. I’ll never forget those moments!
The next week I flew off to DC with the 8th graders at NCCS for a few days. We had a great time and DC is beautiful in October! We also celebrated Grandparents Day at school and it was great to have Clint’s parents down for those festivities. Emma and Eli both had field trips to Publix with school and then helped me hand out candy for Halloween. October wrapped up just a awesome as it began.
