September

Mom and Dad drove home from Maine with us, and everyone would tell you that the 12 hour trip with our van full was not bad at all - praise God!

After one day of unpacking, doing laundry, and prepping food for the family, Mom and I flew to Nashville to attend the Sing! Conference together.  I was already looking forward to attending the conference on behalf of our church, but getting to be there with my mom was such a rich blessing.   

And if it wasn't already special to be with my mom, our dear friends whom I've known most of my life were attending the conference as well and we were able to sit together during the plenary sessions.  The four days of singing and learning while in the company of such wise people filled me to overflowing.

Meanwhile, Rooke flew with Big Daddy to Oklahoma for a few days.  He played with his cousins (or maybe more accurately they played with him!), spent time with Nana, ate tons of cereal, watched tons of sports, and - most importantly - attended the IIWTCFL fantasy football draft with my dad.  I've been told that their team, the Bullets, are looking good this year thanks to Rooke's role as Director of Analytics. =)

I came home from the conference and had a day to turn around and join women from my church for our ladies retreat.  No photos to document the weekend, but it was a wonderful time, though it made for a very full week before we started school. . . 

Our family has joined a different homeschool tutorial this year.  The girls were able to attend an orientation day while Rooke and I were out of town, followed by some Shake Shack!  

All three kids bravely stepped into new classes with new tutors on our first official day of school.

Rooke, 9th grade

Gretchen, 7th grade

Bridgette, 5th grade

Sometimes you just want to sit on the porch, listen to Adventures in Odyssey, and crochet. =)

Cool kid rocking her science lesson

I entered a drawing for free tickets to hear the Pan American Symphony Orchestra perform, and I WON!  Gretchen and I enjoyed a special night out to the Kennedy Center to hear our friend from church join other musicians in a beautiful performance.

Bridgette has been experimenting with oil pastels this month.  It's so fun to see what she's coming up with!

Ryan and I went out for an early birthday date to see Sunny Day Real Estate play.  He's loved the band since high school, and he requested that I wear his t-shirt to the show, which I think really helped me fit in with the forty-something grunge punk vibe - ha!

Saturday outing to a park where the guys played disc golf and the girls and I walked the nature trails.  Then we all marveled at five-day-old piglets!

While in the area, a stop at Donut Shack was in order