Ms. Groff

This year Baylie's student teacher is Ms. Groff - aka Sophie Groff. We started hearing about the amazing Ms. Groff early in the school year. Ms. Groff is a starter on the USC women's soccer team and Baylie couldn't wait to see her play. We've been able to go to two games so far and the lady Gamecocks definitely put on a good show. They are currently ranked #5 nationally.

Baylie and I went on a mom/daughter date to watch the Gamecocks beat Clemson.

The next week we went as a family to watch them beat Georgia. While there we ran into Ms. McCaskill, their principal. Her daughter, Savannah, is the star of the team.

They play in Stone Stadium. It's a beautiful facility. 

Ms. Graff is #5.

Pregame huddle.

Savannah scores most of the Gamecock goals. She is #7.

Ms Graff in action.

Baylie made signs.

Ms. Groff and Savannah.

Leaving the game.

Ms. McCaskill cheering.

Lady Gamecocks.

After the game, they sing the school song.

After the game you can also go down on the field and meet the players.

Watching the Lady Gamecocks is a fun family activity!

Happy, Happy Birthday, David Dear!

Today was David'd 36th birthday. I think he's officially a grown up now. I remember turning 36 and it felt old. Way older than 35. It seems that way with David too. 

David has to leave at 6:15 a.m. so we all woke up early to celebrate with him. The kids bought David presents at Dollar Tree. Jalen could hardly contain his excitement.

Fortunately, Jalen and David like the same toys.

Baylie also was excited about her gift.

She chose an air horn. Everyone loved the gift, but me.

I gave David a lunch box - it's what he asked for.

We had biscuits and gravy for breakfast - David's favorite.

Baylie and Jalen made David a sign. Guess who wrote which part.

The kids decorated David's car. (Unfortunately it rained and washed off, but at least he got to see it.)

For dinner we had pasta al forno - another David favorite.

He wanted an ice cream cake so I made a brownie ice cream cake with chocolate sweetened condensed milk on the top. It was probably one of the most unhealthy things I have ever made - and he loved it.

He liked it so much, he started eating with his hands. (So much for the getting older theory.)

David has changed so much in the 13+ years we've been married. I married a 22-year-old boy - crazy. I'm so grateful for the man he's grown to be. He's a great partner, friend and a fantastic father.

Back to School

I love having my kids home all summer. We have had a fantastic summer full of amazing adventures. We have stayed up late, slept in and had a lot of fun. But I think we were all ready for school to start today. 

For Family Home Evening on Monday, we interviewed the kids. My favorite question was about what they think I do all day.

Baylie's Video

Jalen's Video

Today actually went more smoothly than I expected. We all got up okay and the kids were excited to go.

 They even stopped arguing long enough for a photo shoot.

We all love their school. I'm so glad that they have been able to start of their elementary years in such a wonderful, supportive environment. Their school is one of the main reasons we want to stay in Columbia and is why David commutes over an hour each direction to work.

Baylie is in AGP (Academically Gifted Program) this year.  That means she will send most of her day with Mrs. Paddock. Last year she got to be in a reading book club, which was led by Mrs. Paddock, so she got to know her. Mrs. Paddock couldn't say enough nice things about Baylie.

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Baylie's homeroom teacher is Mrs. Alexander. She was the teacher Baylie wanted so she was very excited to learn she would be in Mrs. Alexander's class. Plus she gets to be with her good friend Isabella who was also in her class for kindergarten and first grade.

It makes it a lot easier to send my kids to school when they get greeted by teachers like Miss Rohrbaugh - or as Jalen says, "Drew's mom." Miss Rohrbaugh's son is one of Jalen's good friends from kindergarten.

Jalen was nervous to go to school today and hid behind me until he saw how excited Miss Rohrbaugh was to see him.

Jalen was also excited to see Mrs. Corley who helps him with reading. She has been a great friend to him. He calls her "Miss Wishy Washy" because of a book she read to his class the first day of kindergarten.

Both kids had a great first day of school.

Oh Say Can You See?!

A few months ago, I found a link where you could submit a video to audition to sing the National Anthem at a Fireflies baseball game. (Interested? Click HERE.) David submitted a tape and the Fireflies contacted him a week or two later. They were impressed with his tape and wanted him to sing. Tonight was the night!

We got four tickets to sit five rows up behind home plate. So cool!

Jalen hung out by the dugout waiting for the game to start and the bat boy gave him a ball. He was pretty excited about it. 

David had to report about 40 minutes before start time. He spent a lot of time standing around waiting. I wondered why they didn't let him sit down somewhere, but he said he didn't mind.

David did an incredible job with the anthem. It was absolutely beautiful. You can listen to it HERE.

After the game, they had a little magic show and then a huge fireworks display. We were surprised at how big the show was. It was really well done.

After all of this, they opened the field so that kids could run the bases. It's so cool that they do that. HERE is a video of the kids and David running the bases. It's blurry, but you can still see them. Jalen is a little speed demon.

I love baseball. It was a super fun family evening.