There were tears, raving, ranting and gnashing of teeth......and that is just the mothers. Ha.... seriously we, most importantly Carson survived the early morning, get on the bus, get to the right class, first bus pick-up of school. Pictures to follow.... stay tuned!
Tonight for our Labor Day Cookout we decided to do hamburgers over the charcoal grill, to enhance the burgers we have had some leftovers from the past couple of nights consisting of asparagus, shrimp / scallops, corn on the cob, and some home fried potatoes. I cooked the hamburgers and Kari magically reheated all of the leftovers. So we all sit at the table and Carson decides he wants a hamburger with no meat tonight, so this is his "Carson Burger" one toasted hamburger bun, slap a slice of american cheese on it, add to that a spoonful of home fried potatoes, a few slices of dill pickle, a couple of stalks of asparagus, and one shrimp that had been done up in butter and garlic the night before. There was less than a quarter of the burger left when he said he was done. So watch out McDonalds this might be the burger that downs your clown...LOL
Carson is SO excited about starting Kindergarten tomorrow. He actually helped me pack his lunch, pick out his clothes, pack his backpack, and finally get in the bed. Prayers were said, and most often Carson will say his prayers and then ask me what else...meaning what else do I pray about tonight? I asked if he wanted to ask Jesus to help him tomorrow so he wouldn't be afraid at school. He said I won't be afraid...but I will ask him to help you not cry. I said I won't be crying because I am sad.... it would only be because I miss you. He told me that he will come home so I don't miss him too much. I also asked him if he was afraid to ride the bus without Mommy or Daddy? I don't think he realized that we won't be on the bus with him...he looked a little puzzled, but assured me that he will be ok.
I am afraid that he will forget his backpack on the bus...that he won't get off the bus.... that he will get on the wrong bus to come home, that he will get lost at school and not know anyone. All the big scary things that I can think of ....I am. I asked his teacher if I could drive him tomorrow morning instead of letting him ride the bus, and he assured me that I could. But, and here is where I really am letting go... I decided that the first day...is special. All the kids will be at the bus stop and will be anxious and excited.... I want him to be a part of that too. I am going to forgo the pictures in front of his school on the first day of school. So reluctantly...I am putting my five year old on a bus all by himself, I am trusting the teachers and helpers at his school to get him to his classroom and to see that he doesn't forget to put his lunch in his cubby, that he washes his hands after using the bathroom, that he will finally be completely in dependant from me for more than 4 hours.... and I won't be able to just drop by and see how he is doing (at least not for the first two weeks). Then there is the fact that Carson can be Carson and extremely hard headed and can be be challenging and exuberant.... I really want him to excel in school so I am praying that he will be attentive and cooperative with his teacher. I truly hope that he has a great day and that my fears will have been for naught. We welcome any prayers...tomorrow for Carson, that he has a blessed day... and that his Momma doesn't completely lose it and embarrass herself and Carson in the morning.
Some friends of our recommended a website click here to find local orchards etc, that will allow you to pick your own fruit. We missed cherry and blueberry season, but we hit the tail end of peach season. I have been wanting a peck or two of peaches to freeze and make a cobbler or two. So this morning we headed up to a small town off I-66 called Delaplane, Virginia. It was about an hour drive to the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains in the Shenandoah Valley. Very pretty drive and a great adventure as a family. This particular area has apple orchards, peach orchards, vineyards, cornfields... you name.... they grow it!
Dad had to hold him up for a few higher up ones.
It took us about 20 minutes to fill our bags... there were about 10 different varieties, but we mostly picked the smaller Loring peach.
The blackberries were really sweet and plump!
Carson discovered that the red blackberries are very, very tart... and he won't touch any of them now.
Carson and I picked a bunch of sweet corn too... I gave my neighbor a bunch and we will eat the rest for supper tonight!
All in all a memory I will treasure, and hopefully the beginning of a tradition for us as the various fruit and vegetable seasons come and go. We already have plans to go back for apple season, and most definitely for pumpkins and fall squash.
Special Birthday wish for my nephew Hunter!
Happy Birthday Hunter... Have a Super day...I can't believe that you are getting so old....10 years old right????
Carson sound asleep at the end of the couch kinda under the end table....See that far couch... that was where Wayne was sitting. 
You can see from this picture that he snuck right behind the couch, Wayne was down there watching t.v..... he just thought it was a cat.
Sneaky little boy...... He really makes me smile sometimes... and of course this one was one of those times... particularly since I had imagined him out in the rain somewhere...or worse.I recently won a contest on my friend KARI'S blog. She held a contest for her 10,000th post and I was lucky enough to be picked as one of her winners. Yay! Here is a picture of the loot she sent me. I love it all... I got a bunch of images for cards...some Riley's (my first...the moose) and some Bella's and Fella's... and the Ladies. All awesome and greatly appreciated. She also sent me a bunch of flower embellishments and other little bling bling for cards and scrapbooking. Here is a picture of what she sent me. Thanks so much Kari
I finally managed to round up all the required school supplies for Carson to start Kindergarten. This year he needed 4 yellow #2 pencils, 12 glue sticks, Composition notebooks, 8 ct Crayola brand crayons, blunt tip scissors, two 180 ct baby wipes, 1 160 ct, kleenex, 1 pr of headphones, 2 large pink erasers, 8 ct Crayola brand washable classic color markers, 1 30 count gallon size ziplock bags, 1 50 count ziplock sandwich bags, an art smock and a kindermat. I finally found the last thing on the list... that was the 8 ct box of Crayola brand crayons. I literally went to 3 Walmart's, Staples, Office Max, and 2 Targets. I finally found them at the little Walmart right around the corner from the house. It is not a super Walmart, so I really don't think about shopping there much. When I found them I bought six boxes. I saw a million boxes of the 24 count etc, but no it had to only be the 8 ct box. I really wondered why only the 8 ct, then I saw somewhere that when working with little kids, the teacher can say get your blue crayon out, and they will all be the same blue crayon. Makes perfect sense now. But I was seriously thinking about just getting the bigger box and taking a bunch of crayons out to make it 8.
Not pictured are the Kindermat and the art smock...they were upstairs when I was ready to take the picture. This is just Kindergarten... I was reading what some of the other grades had to have... It only gets worse.... I think next year I will stock up on all sorts of stuff when they clearance it and hope I have some of it. I usually like to send extras too, so that the teacher never runs out of the the things neccessary to my son having the best possible learning environment.
