Goodbye Summer 2013!

For many years, I did a days of summer count here on the ol' blog.  Somewhere in the craziness that is the internet blogosphere, a sweet lady named Rachel Teixeira found my blog & started reading.  And of course, in turn, I read hers.  Now and then I'd post a "roll call" sort of thing to see who was still reading.  After all, sometimes I write just for me--I love to write--but sometimes I write because I love the interaction between myself and my readers. Rachel would always email me & declare that she was still reading & would name off her favorite things I have posted about.  One of those was the summer count.  She got a big kick out of seeing how the silly Reeves fam spent our summers, day by day.  I adored Rachel, but we only talked now and then.  In April, when her birthday rolled around, Facebook reminded me to wish her a happy birthday.  Thinking how it had been a while since we talked, I went to her FB page to read her wall & see what she had been up to.  To my shock, I found out that she had passed away.  Others were posting "I miss you" messages.  I was able to contact her sister and mom who told me of her passing.  As sort of a 'tribute' to Rachel, I chose to skip the summer day count this year.  It just wouldn't be the same without her sweet comments on my posts and her cheering for the 40th or 65th or 80th days of summer along the way.  Rachel, I miss your encouragement in my life!  God bless your sweet family who misses you so much!  This post is for you, honey!


The kids got out of school for the summer in late May.  I had to work another few days before I was done for the summer, but we hit the ground running!

During the first week of June, Savannah traveled to Washington D.C. with the school band.  They visited all the big tourist sights and placed a patriotic tribute at the World War II memorial.  To their surprise, a busload of WWII veterans were visiting that day and watched them play.  It chokes me up just watching this video from our local news station that was filmed there.  (The man who did the report has kids in the band & he made the trip with them.)  I realize that you can only see about 2/3 of the screen for this video, but you'll get the idea!

KLTV.com-Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, Texas | ETX News

While Savannah was in Washington DC, the other two went on a trip to San Antonio with their grandparents to visit some of our state's coolest sights---the Alamo, the River Walk and Sea World!  They had a ball!  (Sorry.  I can't find any of the pictures from that trip at the moment, so these will have to suffice.  Thank you google images!)

When the kids returned from Sea World, they begin joining me every Tuesday & Thursday in working at the preschool.  Samuel helped in the baby room while Sarah helped me in my classroom.  (Savannah was busy with other things this summer, so she didn't work at the preschool this year.)

Early in the summer, Savannah took her senior pictures for the school yearbook at the photography studio the publishing company suggested.  While they took the pictures there for her yearbook picture, one of my BFFs is a local photographer & she will take Savannah's REAL senior pics later in the Fall.

Late June and much of July was spent doing things from this list.

We went to the movies, ate ice cream for dinner, visited the library, watched 4th of July fireworks, camped out in the living room, read books, (Samuel) camped & fished.  We tried new fruits & veggies, and did a thousand other things on this list.

Savannah visited her out of town girlfriends for a week in July.

Samuel, Sarah & I worked at an in-town mission trip of sorts---leading VBS at a local park.

We swam.  We pet/house-sat.

We visited a couple colleges with Savannah.

And we all sweat like pigs.  'Cuz after all, we live in Texas where it's hotter than the surface of the sun from mid-May til late October.

And somehow, through what I can only attribute to the grace of my sweet Lord, the kids have (mostly) gotten along.

It's been a glorious, wonderful summer.  But in about 36 hours, it comes grinding to a screeching halt.

Savannah officially becomes a 12th grader, walking through the final year of high school while I wipe my tears and try to remember that graduating from HS doesn't mean I will never see her again and she's all grown up.  It's just the end of this season of her life.  Samuel officially becomes an 8th grader, which means this is his last year of well... not being a high schooler.  Somehow, the kids' "lasts" are as hard as their "firsts" for this sappy mama.  And Sarah officially becomes a 7th grader, her first year of junior high.  You know, the land of hormonal, bratty, clique-ish, drama-filled teenagers.  Good grief.  Protect her, Jesus!

The end of summer brings a new world for me in a new job in a new school system 20 minutes from home.  And in just a couple of weeks, it brings a new season to Larry's job---he will begin working from home rather than in an office.  That is, on the days he doesn't have to drive all over creation for his work, which is more often than not....so he'll be here at home maybe once a week.

We've slept a lot, we've had time in the sunshine and water, we've eaten lots of ice cream & watermelon and drank far more Sonic half-price-after-8-p.m.-milkshakes then I care to count.  But whether we're ready or not, summer is over and it's time to plunge head-first into Fall.  Gotta be honest y'all....I'm so ready!

Routines and schedules and football season and pumpkin scented candles, here I come!!!!!!!