David's 38th

I just realized that I forgot to post about David's 38th birthday. We don't have much money because we're buying a house so it was a pretty low key affair. We had dinner at Texas Roadhouse the night before.

David is always very enthusiastic about his presents.

A football from Jalen.

A BB-8 from me.

A race car from Baylie.

His favorite candy.

David wanted a red velvet cake, but a whole cake is a bit much for our family so we got desert cups. Baylie's was red velvet.

Jalen's was chocolate.

And David and I had red velvet cup cakes.

I think he had a pretty good birthday. After all, he got a house and a dog!

Jalen the Reader

Jalen struggles to read and because of that, he gets discouraged. He wishes it were easier for him. I was expressing some frustration for him and two of the teachers at Irmo Elementary stepped up big time.

First grade teacher, Nicole Bishop, and second grade teacher, Geri Algar, both invited Jalen to come read to their class. They told him that they needed an older kid come to show their kids how fun reading is and to be a positive role model.

He couldn't believe he was "famous" and he was so surprised and pleased to be chosen. He was also scared to death. They are amazing and made him feel so important. The kids in their classes made him feel special and it was such a positive experience for him.

Neither of these women have had Jalen as a student. I'm so grateful that my kids go to a school where all teachers love all children, whether they are their students or not. I'm grateful that these are the women I now get to call colleagues. IES is home.

You can see a video of Jalen reading the book HERE. 

Mrs. Bishop gave Jalen the PERFECT book for him to read. We will definitely be adding it to our family library.

Musician of the Month

There is a new program at Irmo Elementary where kids are recognized for showing good character traits. There are four students chosen to represent the general student body and an additional five to represent the special areas. So only nine students are chosen out of almost 500. Baylie was chosen as the musician of the month! It is quite an honor!

She got a certificate and several little goodies.

Her music teacher, Mrs. Turner, looks a lot like her.

Both the kids love their new music teacher.

It's so fun that I work at the school so I can be there for moments like this.

And now Baylie is in the hall of fame!

Tashi

I was driving to school Tuesday morning and there was this cute little dog running back and forth on St. Andrews. I was afraid it was going to get hit by a car and I was afraid my kids would be witnesses to something that they would never forget. I pulled into the meridian and got the dog to come and get in my car. I had no idea what I would do with the dog while I was at school, but just then my friend, Esther Courtney, pulled up behind me. I followed her to IES and she took the dog home. Later that evening, I went back for the dog. We drove through neighborhoods on both sides of St. Andrews, but there weren't any signs posted. We figured she was probably chipped because she's a beauty, but I didn't have time to take her to a vet.

Meanwhile, Baylie and Jalen had completely fallen in love with this dog. I kept telling them that someone was certainly looking for her because she was obviously well cared for. I had told them that once we bought a home, they could have a dog. We are in the process of buying so my kids were sure that God had sent them this dog. I - obviously of less faith - was trying to keep them from becoming too attached.

Another friend, Kati Locklear, tracked down the owners through a facebook group. When the dad came to pick up his dog, I recognized him as an IES parent. His daughter goes to school with Baylie. I told him that I was glad we found him, but my kids were not. So then he told us that they were actually looking for a new family for the dog! What are the odds! Perfect dog for our family, already trained, etc., etc.

We were babysitting another dog who DID NOT want a new inhabitant at the Batchelor Pad so we couldn't keep Tashi (as we now know she is named) until that dog went home. Today we were finally able to go pick her up.

She was a rescue dog so we don't know for sure how old she is or what breed she is. It is believed that she is between 1 and 2 years old and she appears to be a mix between a lhasa apso and a terrier. She is very sweet and very active. She is also an escape artist. Fortunately our new house has an enormous back yard where Tashi will have lots of room to wander.

She is a fabulous dog and we have fallen completely in love with her.

Before the Storm

I've been through hurricane warnings in Mexico, Texas and South Carolina. This has resulted in some interesting experiences, although I have never suffered personal catastrophe as a result. Regardless of the outcome, preparing for a hurricane is often a stressful and anxious experience. Without fail, I have been grateful for the teachings of my church that tell us to be prepared. I have never had to run out and buy supplies because we are always prepared for emergencies. That brings a great deal of peace.

As Florence headed towards the Carolinas, schools in our area were let out starting on Tuesday so that our busses could be used for evacuations and the schools could be used as shelters. Consequently, even though the weather was still lovely here in Columbia, school was out until further notice.

We stayed home on Tuesday so David and I could get some work done. It's kind of ironic that even though I spent the entire day working on school stuff, I won't be able to count that day as a make up day. (Yes, teachers will have to make up all these days we're missing whether students make them up or not.)

Wednesday, we decided to take the kids to the zoo. I love our zoo. We took our sweet friends the Allsups with us.

Seize the day!

I always love to look for this face-shaped stone. It's location moves from time to time.

The zoo is connected to a botanical garden with an awesome splash pad. We like to park on the garden side where parking is seldom crowded, do the zoo side, and then finish the day at the splash pad. One of the kids' favorite things to do is ride the tram between the garden and the zoo.

Because of the impending storm, they have been slowly opening the dam and lowering the lake, which raises the rivers. I have never seen the Saluda River so high. Usually this spot is filled with large rocks, pocking above the water.

 I love Spanish moss.

I also love all the history in South Carolina. These rock walls are the ruins of a bridge that used to span the river. In February 1865, Confederate troops burned down the covered bridge in an attempt to keep Sherman out of Columbia.

A new bridge now connects the two shores.

The explorer membership is a great deal and gives you free access to rock climbing, the merry go round, pony rides, train ride, feeding the giraffes and feeding the lorakeets.

Baylie came sooo close!!

Never too old for the carousel!

The howler monkeys were LOUD!! You can hear them all over the zoo. I took video, but it didn't download.

The tiger was out and about, which doesn't always happen, so we were glad to see him.

We hadn't seen the lion cubs yet, so we were excited to finally see them.

Next we headed to the pony rides. Baylie is too tall and can't ride them anymore. 

The llama was visibly concerned about the impending hurricane.

The goats just wanted to eat, as always.

Zebras also getting ready for Florence.

The kids were very excited to un into their former assistant principal, Mr. Scott.

Feeding the giraffes is one of my favorite things to do at the zoo.

The baby giraffe was already put away in preparation for the storm.

We don't often see a giraffe sitting down.

Mr. Elephant.

I don't know why, but I find the Galapagos tortoises fascinating.

King Julian.

and his subjects.

The golden tamarin is my favorite. I want one.

Kangaroos doing yoga to calm down before the storm.

Love the sea lions and spotted seal. 

Also love the otters.

The moved the train to a new spot so the ride is a little more fun now.

Second icee run (souvenir cups are worth the $2 refills).

The grizzlies are always a personal favorite. 

The baboons are not a favorite. It's something about that red bum.

Traditional orangutan statue photo.

Then we finished the day at the splash pad. Sunny and high 70's.

On the way home we ran into the evacuation traffic.

We've really enjoyed having time to hang out as a family, but I'm dreading finding out how/when we'll make up all these school days.