Busy Saturday ~ Homecoming for Preston & Game for Savannah

Savannah scored some good, free tickets to a UNC football game . . . but unfortunately, it was on the same day as Providence's Homecoming.  So we split, and Dave drove to UNC for the afternoon game, and I stayed here to take homecoming pictures.

For the most part, it was a sweet homecoming group, and they had a swell time.  Of course, none of them set foot in the actual homecoming dance, but they had fun getting dressed up and going out to dinner anyway.

 

So Much Activity Lately . . .

School is in full swing for the kids, plus so many other outside activities keep them both insanely active.  One of the latest fun things is varsity soccer team dinners together, either at a restaurant or someone's house. This picture was from the pool party at Landon's house with some of the team.  

Nothing like waiting until the last minute (4 days before) to ask a girl to homecoming . . . 

And just for fun, on his day off from school, we went to Firehouse for lunch! :)

There is rarely a quiet, spare moment, but we are trying to savor all the fun-ness we can during this stressful Junior year!

Celebrating Dave!

Savannah was home for Labor Day weekend and was able to celebrate Dave's birthday with us! He had been wanting to try Swig, so these two made the journey just over the border into SC for drinks and cookies.

And of course we had cake!  Celebrating the man who is the calm to our never-ending storm and who loves us all so well.

 

Spark throwing Microwave

Just to add to the chaos of school starting, having to fire three people at work (this new job at church that I'm just trying to trust is what I'm supposed to be doing because goodness, I really do not need another part-time job), soccer craziness, the dishwasher door being broken, and booster club nonsense, our microwave decided to start throwing sparks . . so now we are old school heating stuff on the stove and in the oven.   BUT, if you ever wondered what the inside of the microwave looks like, here you go. The fix it man missed the simple inside quick fix so a few hours later, this is what we had on our counter.  Why can't anything ever just be easy?!

"Mom, don't freak out . . "

Not exactly the call you want to get from your college kid at 10pm on a Thursday night.  Thankfully, Savnanah was ok! Also thankfully, the accident was not her fault.  Still, this was quite the shake-up to our back-to-school week.  Apparently, a girl turned left in front of her at a stoplight, and now her car is totaled since the airbags deployed.  Her arm looks pretty rough (along with her green, bruised leg), but these things will heal.  I'm just so thankful her friends were there for support and to give her a ride back to the dorm, and thank the Lord she is OK!

 

It's BACK to SCHOOL time!!

Savannah was kind enough to take and send me this picture on 8/17, her first day of class!!  I can't believe she is a JUNIOR in college!

And Preston left bright and early this morning to start his JUNIOR year of high school! Praying they both have a wonderful year that is not too hard and filled with fun!  May they continue to shine for HIM in a dark, dark world.

 

My Birthday Weekend

 

Savannah was so sweet to come home for my birthday weekend.  Unfortunately, I was feeling so sick on my actual birthday, but she was a champ even though we did absolutely nothing fun; it was so nice just to have her home!  She was surprised with a special creation from Mrs. Karhan.  She had asked her to make storage curtains for her dorm . . and being that she's Mrs. Karhan and all, she had enough fabric left from SHEETS to make this beautiful throw pillow too.

Thankfully, I was much better by Friday!  Preston left for the soccer tournament at the beach with the varsity boys.  They did really well and had a blast bonding as a team in Wilmington.

Preston didn't get home until late Saturday night, and I had a planned dinner out with my girlfriends, so it was a whirlwind weekend, but it was nice to have everyone home Sunday for a small time.  Savannah had to head back to school, and I had to work at church Sunday night, but at least for a little while everyone was home together, happy and healthy! The school craziness is already upon us!!!

Soccer Scrimmage & Baseball Fun

Providence had their first scrimmage of the season today against Carmel Christian.  It went well, and the boys had a strong victory!

Thanks to another mystery shop opportunity, we were able to enjoy a Charlotte Knights baseball game, complete with lots of free concessions.  Although the day was super rainy, the skies finally cleared, and we enjoyed the end of the first double-header game (rain delayed) and then part of the second game that we actually had tickets for.  We had to get home early because Preston has early soccer practice again tomorrow.

IHOP & Back to Campus Life

One of Savannah's bucket list items for this summer was to eat at IHOP.  Well, they barely made it, since she literally moved into school today.  But, these three had quite the "fine dining" experience for a Saturday morning breakfast at IHOP. :)

And, sadly, we moved Savannah into her dorm today.  It's quite a bit smaller than her room from last year, but somehow I'm sure she'll make it work (and be grateful that as the RAM she still has her own room, geesh, I can't imagine sharing those tiny rooms!). We enjoyed dinner at Bunz before heading back to Charlotte.  I was so sad to leave her room in such disarray, but she has some time to get settled before her suite mates move in . . and we had to get back because Preston has early soccer practice tomorrow!
 

Museum of Illusions

We've wanted to check out the Museum of Illusions uptown for a while, but it's pricey and we never really had a good reason to go... until a mystery shop became available!  The kids and I enjoyed a fun afternoon checking out all their attractions; it was a great distraction while waiting for the soccer rosters to be posted!

It was pretty cool to experience, but I would never pay full price to go!  We did have a fun afternoon together and as we were leaving the roster was posted!  Preston made the PHS Varsity team!  Woo hoo!

 

Turks & Caicos Summer Adventure

We flew out on Thursday for a MUCH needed break in Turks & Caicos! Of course, Preston had to make a stop in the cockpit when we arrived.  Below is a big photo dump with a few explanations . . . it was a great vacation; just what we all needed before school and soccer restarts!

It didn't take us long to hit the sun

 

No clue what day this was, but a wedge of salad was not stopping this hangry teenage boy from enjoying lunch.

Snorkelling was probably one of their favorite things!

At the legal drinking age, this girl was not so sure about her first real strawberry daiquiri

Silent disco

An early birthday treat for me

These two lived on virgin strawberry daiquiris!

 . . and fro yo!

We could barely still fit in the same chair four years later!

Not even an Ameriotto sour was appealing . . so glad we've figured out alcohol tastes nasty all around!

But what was NOT disappointing was their first REAL taste of steak! YUMMM

And just like that, our trip was sadly over.  We grabbed lunch at the resort to eat in the airport, and before we knew it, we were back home to the chaos!