TV's Olympic coverage

Last night, I caught the Olympic's closing ceremony shortly before the children went to bed. It was interesting to see the effects of NBC's hero building:
Patrick: Who WON?
Carissa: Michael Phelps. So America won!

This is my blog, so I do get to brag.

Aaron was sent home with a letter from school during the first week (Here are enough quotes to get the jist of it):

"Your child has been invited to participate in a Language Art's Enrichment Program... He was selected based on high test scores, creativity, and homeroom and Venture teacher recommendation. ... This group will meet 4 times a week...

"Our emphasis will include Latin and Greek root words, stregthening vocabulary, correct use of punctuation, poetry exploration, read-alouds, and student presentation of language."

Yeah Aaron. He is also in a similar Science group last year, and is planning on participating in Science Olympiad this year.

Anxious learners, August 11th

Back to school rolls around early in the Southeast. And so did Monday morning. 5:45 came, and no it was not the alarm clock. It was 6 children awake and wondering around the house. The three oldest were fully dressed, backpacks full, and lunches made. Andrew and Edmund were bewildered by the early hour. Mom and Dad groaned. Didn't we say we would wake them up at 6:30?
Here they are, ready to go. Aaron took birthday cupcakes for his class. Everyone came home excited about their new teachers and new learning in the new school year.

Aaron's birthday. August 9th.

Yep, it was birthday time again. To start his birthday, Michael took Aaron shooting in the morning at the Gregson's farm with Craig (Michael's friend) and Luke (Craig's son and Aaron's friend). The men shot their new guns, and Aaron and Luke shot Luke's 22. Aaron had great aim, and shot within the target on a 8.5 x 11 paper. (Michael did a good job too). Then they helped Craig with some of the farm work that needed to be done.

I made a pineapple-marshmallow pudding desert for Aaron's birthday, and his big present was a new bike.

Michael's birthday

Michael has toyed with the idea of purchasing a gun for our entire marriage. We have discussed it during the last several weeks and days, and I think that my comment that it was fine with me if my husband wanted to hunt tipped the scale. He finally made the decision, and bought a Marlin 30/30. He has been watching prices for a long time. Today, he went to check out a new sporting goods store in town, and found one for $50 off plus a free scope and trigger lock. So he came home with gun, case, and ammunition. His plans are to hunt with a guy in our ward, Craig Gregson, on his country property. There are a lot of white tail deer in Alabama. (They are one of the major road hazards in the state.) So we'll see this year if our family likes venison.

Here is what he wrote to his family about it, on their website:

Geez, it looks like the guy in this picture has three guns!! :)

I have wanted a 30-30 for most of my life but could never justify the purchase. I know Dad knows this but for those that don't, the 30-30 is a "heritage" rifle. It use to be the favorite "saddle" rifle of cowboys and pioneers moving west. It is known as the rifle that "won the West" or "tamed the West". It is powerful enough to kill bear and deer but short, light, and fast enough to make for a good "camp gun" to protect you and your family from indians or wild animals. It is a lever action, just like the old cowboy guns.

My best friend here is a real outdoorsman in every since of the term. He has been trying to convince me to buy a gun for six months or so, so that we can go hunt together with our boys (he has a son the same age as Aaron that he takes hunting with him--his son has even killed his own deer at the age of eight). My friend was hoping that I would get something more expensive like a 30-06 or 7mm mag. (like the gun Dad had). The 30-30 will kill anything that we have here in the South (I would need something bigger for Moose or Elk out west but since we don't have those here I really didn't see spending all the extra money on both the rifle and the shells).I never really figured myself for a hunter but my boys are really excited about it. Both Chelsey and I were stunned to hear how much they wanted to go hunting and own a rifle like their friends at school. Our plan is to get Aaron and Cory a .22 for Christmas so they can go shooting with Dad.

For those concerned about safety, we were worried about that too. My gun will stays in the top of my closet, unloaded, safety on, and with a trigger lock on it so we've taken the steps we feel we need to to keep our family safe.

We are Alive

For anyone that has wondered why I haven't posted, there is no real excuse. We had a great trip. I have tons of pictures, which have not even been loaded onto the computer yet. I'll get around to posting them soon.
We are also 1 week out until school starts. Cory has the same teacher that Aaron had in second grade, and Aaron has Mrs. Wilton, (who I don't know anything about). Carissa will learn who her teacher is next Thursday. The back packs are already packed with school supplies and sitting in the foyer closet.