Fall Festivities

What a beautiful fall day. It started out a bit dreary and a little cool, but the sun broke through and the temperature climbed to about 65. It was a perfect day and it looks like fall. The trees are actually getting very pretty.

My day didn't begin until about 8:30. I've been sick all week; Thursday and yesterday were not too good. I came home, took medicine, and went to bed. This morning's extra rest really helped out a lot. Thankfully, I'm feeling much better. After a morning of leisure, I got dressed in comfortable clothes and headed to school for the annual Fall Festival.

This is the major fund raiser sponsored by our parent group, PACE, to help support the programs of the school. When you are private, there are no state or federal funds to help out, so this is an extremely important day in the life of RCS. In the pictures that follow, you can see some of the festivities.

The DARE cars were brought out for the kids.

There are games in every classroom for the kids to play, inflatables outside to play on, a bake sale inside, country kitchen outside with breakfast foods and then lunch foods, PACE school memorabilia inside to buy, and the major event.

The silent auction hosts the the most incredible themed baskets you've ever seen. These baskets were valued at several hundred dollars. This picture doesn't do justice to what was inside and the beauty of these baskets.

Last year, this day reaped about $30,000 for the school. New to the festival this year was a 2-mile Harvest Fun Run. Everyone seemed to have a great time. I know I enjoyed being out and about. I bid on a Christmas basket, but it wasn't enough to bring it home. I enjoyed lunch and visiting with the crowd.

After getting home, I walked in the yard a bit waiting on Collin. This pretty golden maple is in my yard.

He killed a 9-point deer last week and upon his return home from Brookland where he had done some odd jobs for his folks, we headed out to the processing plant to get the meat. We drove to the back side of nowhere so needless to say we were WAY out in the country and saw some beautiful scenery on our drive.

I made this one somewhat on the run. This view was beautiful, but the camera just can't quite capture that of the eye.

Happy Harvest,

Marcia

Welcome Fall

It's been quite a while. I miss sharing posts and it's good to back. Life has been busy.

I have just completed the 2nd of two on-line classes back-to-back and it has been extremely time-consuming. I'm glad to be finished for a while. I have some long term projects to be working on, but do not have to officially start another 5 weeks until February 20. School started August 18 and my classes begin August 15, so I've been working all day long and coming home to be absorbed in the computer at night. Thankfully, a break.

Speaking of work, I'm still lovin' my job. RCS is great and I am so happy. Some days are not without their challenges; I could tell you a few stories, but I won't. We have completed the first quarter and enjoyed a two day fall break a couple of weeks ago. Collin and I took one last trip for the season and pulled the camper to the hills for a little R and R. The weather was beautiful. We were just a bit ahead of the foliage, but it was turning just a bit.

I'm rather excited about fall, the upcoming festivities, and the approaching holidays. November will be a super busy month at school and on the home front as well. Next Saturday is the annual fall festival. It is the school's major fund raiser for the year, so I'll be there for a while. The next week is Homecoming, so there will be lots of activities and basketball games throughout the week.

Side note: These are Bryan's tractors. I've started a collection for him.

Thanksgiving is wonderful family time for us. I've got the harvest decorations around and about the house as you can see. Just thought I'd share a few photos with you. I love to look ahead, anticipate, and make some plans. I'm already thinking about buying the turkey that Collin will smoke and the huge family dinners we will share with our children and our parents. There will be a feast; dressing, corn, green beans, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie. The list goes on and on. Of all the blessings that I reflect upon, I'm always most grateful for my family. And this year, we'll have our whole family and one half. Remember, our first grandbaby is scheduled to debut April 1st. Micah and Rhyne haven't been home since last Christmas and I can hardly wait for their arrival and lots of hugs. Bryan will be home from living on campus and there is always lots more noise, talking, laughter, and hub-bub when they're all here. A lot more towels, too. Reminds me and their dad of happy memories the way things used to be. Aside from great food, we girls will no doubt get in some Christmas shopping.

My new purchases for the year adding to my collection. I love little scarecrow people.

It is a wonderful time and a beautiful time of the year and I am blessed.

Happy Autumn.

Marcia

It's Been Busy

Hello all.

It's been a month since I last blogged, but life has been so busy and hectic that there has simply been no time to blog. School started August 15 and I have a new job as you know. I've been extremely busy, but I love RCS. I thoroughly enjoy my work and every day passes quickly. I can hardly believe we are into week 6. The time is flying. However, not only did I begin a new job, but I started my second class through ASU the same week. When you have 18 weeks crammed into 5, you are living in front of the computer. I would work by day and work by night. I finished up the class, had this week off, and I begin a new one Monday. You may not hear from me for another month. The good news is, I do not have any classes during the holiday months of November and December so I glad of that.

We did get a reprieve for Labor Day. We hooked the camper to the truck and headed out to Bull Shoals, White River. We enjoyed being out for three days and it was quite relaxing. We left out a little late and by the time we got to Lake Norfork, the sun was setting. Collin pulled over a few minutes for me to snap this photo. This isn't exactly new material for me, but I never get over the beauty of a sunset over water; each one is unique so I wanted to capture, once again, the beauty.

When we arrived at our camp site, we were greeted by this posting.

In case you haven't heard, Micah and Rhyne are expecting Baby Put April 1st. We had just found out about their exciting news the week before. The campground owners heard the news prior to our arrival and wanted to congratulate us in some special way so this was it. We left it up all weekend and then brought it home as a souvenir. We heard today that our little one has the heartbeat of a marathon runner. Have no fear, I may be busy, but I will keep you posted on the latest.

Rolling on in to September, it is football season, and Bryan is marching again this fall in the band so we went out for the first game and enjoyed the band show during halftime.

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is the first day of fall. Time is certainly getting away quickly. I have put up a few harvest decorations in and around the house. I do love the colors of fall. It will be Thanksgiving before you know it and it may be that time before I get back.

Happy Autumn,

Marcia

Child #2 Celebrates a Birthday

August is a huge birthday month for us. Actually born on Tuesday, August 23, 1988, a second little bundle of joy arrived and joined our family about 3:25 in the afternoon. Bryan undoubtedly had the biggest, blu-est eyes I've ever seen, and today, 23 years later, they are still as blue as can be.

I always called him, "my little man" and now he is grown into quite a handsome young man. He is too kind for his own good sometimes, but very courteous and loved by all mothers who have daughters. I'm frequently told if I ever get tired of him, they (other mothers) will adopt him. What a compliment for me, but not a chance. That boy could never do anything to make me dis-own him.

I knew before he was born that he would be musically inclined. Did he ever have rhythm! He would sway and wave at church during the music and as soon as it stopped, he would get still. He played the drums at two on my pots, pans, and coffee cans. He used pencils for drum sticks. He would get in the floor and pull them out of the cabinets. He would insist that I save different sizes of cans to add to his collection. Why I did not get a picture of this, I do not know and I do so regret it.

When he was 7, Santa brought this first set of drums. He was so excited and played them all the time.

Then in the 7th grade, we stepped up to the "real thing." PEARL!

At the end of his freshman year of college, we went "professional." YAHAMA!

He worked long and hard all summer to save his money to buy these himself.

I started calling him "the little drummer boy" and to this day I still say that. I did so in fact just the other day to someone and they laughed. People would say, that racket must drive you crazy. And I would say, "Not one bit, I love it! I dance around the house to the beat. And besides, you never have to wonder where he is or what he is doing."

Life has been exciting with Bryan just like his sister. We've had a snake bite, the same arm broken twice, and acute appendicitis 700 miles from home just to name a few.

We've played t-ball and basketball, been in scouts and sold popcorn, had drum lessons, gone to band rehearsals, competitions, marching events, and concerts. We've rented a tux for proms and bought corsages. I even taught him how to drive and went with him for his driving tests. Now that was a day full of mishaps. I wish I had time to tell that story; maybe another day. We've sat for hours at the kitchen bar memorizing multiplication tables and practicing spelling words. On the way to school, I called the word and he would spell. He has a million dollar smile when you can get one out of him and I paid for it; he had braces. If you get him really tickled he has the best laugh in the world; it comes from really deep within and it was just like that when he was little. Every morning I fixed cinnamon toast, his favorite, and then would go get him out of bed. He was a sleepy head. I picked him up and carried him to the bar until I just couldn't do it any more. I think he must have been 8 and about 50 pounds. His legs were nearly dragging the ground. I didn't want to quit until I just couldn't do it any more. I knew the day would come all to fast for him to grow up and leave me behind.

And indeed, it has. It's his last year of college and he has moved out once again back to the dorm to enjoy campus life. I can't blame him, but I sure do miss him. He'll be around though. He still does laundry and he gets hungry. We sort of celebrated his birthday Sunday. We bought him a small frig to take to his college room. He was actually excited.

Well, the day is all his, but I think I am the one who is truly blessed.

One proud momma,

Marcia

Celebrating Another Birthday

Twenty-eight years ago today, actually on a "Thursday", a beautiful little princess was sent directly from heaven to earth and joined our life at 10:51 p.m. . . .and our life would never be the same.

This precious baby girl began to grow, and walk, and talk. Soon it was time to begin school and we went to lessons for piano, flute, drama, and twirling. Then there were basketball games, (yes, really) choir concerts, band competitions, all sorts of summer camps, girl scouts and cookie sales, and the list goes on and on.

We made a visit to the hospital two times, went through braces, glasses, and contacts.

We got a car at 16 and a cell phone soon followed. There were friends, proms, balls, and other parties and social events. We bought dresses, and shoes, and purses, and shoes, and pants, and shoes, and jewelry, and shoes, and formal gowns, and shoes. We went through several phases of hair styles and hair colors. There was laughter and there were tears.

Graduation came and went and it was time for college days. We moved in and we moved out four years running. Prince Charming came along. She graduated from college, married the prince, and moved away with him to his castle to live happily ever after in spite of everything we had done for her and with her all those years. Once again, we moved her in and moved her out, moved her in and moved her out. So many times, in fact, we've lost count.

Now we are very proud of this little princess who has grown into a beautiful, intelligent, delightful young woman. She has a brilliant career as a caring, dedicated teacher and I think the Prince would say she is a wonderful wife (that is if he is a smart Prince).

And through it all, we wouldn't change anything and we'd do it all over again. We love you, Micah. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Celebrating a Birthday

My family went to a birthday party yesterday honoring my Uncle Buck who turned 90 last Thursday. What a milestone! This is my mom's brother. This was a wonderful tribute to a great man who has always loved his family, served his country, and above all else worshipped his Lord and Savior. I remember his inviting me to travel with him one weekend to a small church to help with the music at a weekend revival type meeting. We had a great time. I just thought I'd share a few pictures of the day particularly for those family members who follow my blog and didn't get to come because of distance or illness. For those who did get to come, it was a mini family reunion and it was great to visit and catch up on the latest.

Settling In

The last week of June and up through July 4th, we went vacationing in the camper to the White River at Bull Shoals. We stayed in a camp ground called Copper Johns. We had a wonderful time relaxing and enjoying nature. Collin got to fish a little bit, and I read some books. We did drive to Branson one day celebrating our 32nd anniversary, but mostly we just took it easy and let the days pass by without too much fanfare.

Once we returned home, it was time for both of us to go to work. Collin returning to his usual routine, but myself beginning my new job at Ridgefield. A few weeks prior, I had good shopping for office furniture with my boss since there wasn't too much in the way of furnishings. After the furniture was delivered, I decided that I would have to go shopping for some new pieces to go on the walls. I was fortunate to find a number of things and Hobby Lobby just happened to be running all the wall decor on half price and the furniture at 40% off. Did I ever have fun and make a great haul. Collin helped me carry everything to the office and helped me hang everything.

This office had been occupied by the coaches, was sometimes used for ISS, and just for whatever came along. It had to be emptied out, I shampooed the carpet, and it began to take on a new look. It went from this. . .

to this.

How do you like it? A filing cabinet has been moved in and placed over the corner door and I've camouflaged it with a small plant since this photo was taken. I've worked three days and I think it's a fit. I'm beginning to feel at home.

Marcia

Assistant Administrator