A Village

This morning the weather was gorgeous. I opened up the porch doors and let some fresh air in. We are looking forward to this weekend's fall weather. Highs in the low 80's and lows in the 60s make me very happy! There are so many things I'll miss about summer, but I love all seasons.

One fun thing about fall is all the local festivals. Today's FarmFest in town didn't disappoint.

We really enjoyed the parade..

We listened to the high school band.. (which has an unbelievable percussion section by the way)

Of course no parade is complete without the farm equipment....

Not sure who this fella with the guitar is but man could he sing! 

It didn't take Addie long to find her good friend Sydney...

But I think the part the girls liked best was seeing Mr Doug, the local hot dog man. When the girls were small, Mr Doug had a little hot dog cart he drove around the Vidette Country Store. The girls used to go there with Poppy often. Today when Addie saw Mr Doug she didn't want to leave. When we were walking to the parade, she wanted to stay with Mr Doug!  I promised her we'd come back and get a hot dog from Mr Doug when the parade was over. So, on our trek back to the hot dog stand, Addie asked "Mama do you think Mr Doug would let me sit on his tailgate and eat a hotdog like I used to when I was little?". I told Mr Doug she remembered that and since his truck was too far away, he opened up his trailer doors and let the girls eat their hotdogs there! They felt like they had VIP passes or something! It was too cute. Thanks Mr. Doug for being part of the awesome village that's raising these two precious girls. 

Bennett Blog is Back

I intentionally ditched the blog this summer. I really wanted to enjoy the summer and I am always conscious of the fact that some people out there spend more time trying to capture the moment than actually enjoying it. I just focused on enjoying it. However, the primary reason I blog is to remember. I want to remember the details.. the little things.. So here's the last couple months of little things..

We had a fabulous 4th of July... Addie had a major bike accident earlier in the week. She wears dresses but she's hell with a bike on a dirt road. The road rash on her face still hasn't completely healed.

We showed a few goats..

We had cousins visit out the ying yang and when they came they generally crashed on the floor even though there are 5 bedrooms in this house...

Ali Grace turned 12... She thinks she's 21 but that's another story..

We had new baby puppies born...Sarah Rose fell in love..

Speaking of falling in love... awww ... Pete and I celebrated our 14th anniversary in Athens where it all began.. I really had a great time. Here we are at the East West Bistro in downtown Athens.

We swam so much our hair smelled like chlorine and our fingertips were shriveled...

We lost a tooth or two...

School started without much drama..

Addie Belle started cheering Jr Pro at school. She's got too much of her Mama in her though and I catch her watching the game more than she's paying attention to what cheer everyone else is cheering.

We harvested a significant amount of honey and we're waiting on our jars to arrive in order to start selling a little here and there... let me know if you are interested in some local wildflower honey from Ali B's Bees! It's raw so it's great for allergies.

We ushered in college football season! Notice I'm not wearing a UGA shirt. I'm a rabid Dawg fan but I swear they lose every time I wear a UGA shirt. So it's a Hokie shirt for me. Second favorite team will have to do...

One of the dogs killed almost all of our chickens right before they began to lay.. Still so sick about it I could cry but nevertheless, Daddy's chickens across the road started laying like mad.. Check out this blue egg..

Ali Grace was invited to participate in the Duke TIP program. She will be taking the SAT at Georgia Southern in January... She also placed 3rd in the Region 4H Forestry Competition in Reidsville and helped her team from Burke County win first place!

And Addie Belle  got a new hermit crab named Bobblewitch who died within 14 hours of residing with the Bennetts. He's been replaced by TWO hermit crabs because Addie insisted he died of loneliness. 

And that's about it.. Just an ordinary couple months around here. But I'm all about ordinary. I love this everyday ordinary life. It's easy to feel blessed by an ordinary life when you have extraordinary people in it.

Onward to fall.... 

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It's great to be 38!

I don't really get all excited about birthdays. Not just because this is my 38th and I'm getting older. I just never have been a big birthday person so a low key margarita by the pool with the Teacher of the Gifted was a great way to celebrate. 

Addie helped me get ready for brunch..

I got a few new charms for my bracelet...

I'd rather have gotten a new dishwasher but the girls were so proud of what they'd picked out, that I couldn't help but love it.

Addie and I ran by Nanny and Poppy's and picked them up for the monthly Vidette Community Dinner at the church. Small towns are such a blessing.. Fried chicken and deviled eggs are just a couple of the many reasons...

Then we came home and Addie Belle packed her bags to head to her cousin Emma's tomorrow. I'm going to help Jessica get some boxes unpacked and Addie is spending the night with Emma. 

The David Bennetts are about 30 miles from the Pete Bennetts. I have a feeling Jessica and I will be burning up the road between Vidette and Harlem over the next few years. 

Ali Grace and her daddy headed off to 4-H camp this morning. Whenever one of the kiddos is gone, I always miss them but it does give me some special time to spoil the other one rotten. I know Addie and I will find something to get into this week..

Aunt Jess, Emma and Sarah arrived safely Saturday night and Pete helped Jess get all the boxes unloaded. I kept Sarah and Emma along with my two yahoos and it's clear from the picture below why I don't have 4 children...

We've gotten a ridiculous amount of rain this week and the dirt road has gotten to the point that it's difficult to navigate. My only other choice is to take the farm driveway through Mama and Daddy's drive. Then you have to contend with the goats in the road...

Either way, this sign on my screened porch is still true...

Looking forward to a great week playing with the unreal amount of frogs that have descended upon us from the freaky amount of rain we've gotten...

Honing our surfing techniques in the pool...

and of course fitting in some cousin time...

Chill out Grill out School's OUT!!

Although the girls got out of school a week ago, I've been teaching a class so I haven't been able to start my summer fun until now. Tomorrow is the first official day of my summer break!! WOOHOOOO! I absolutely love summer break here at home. I always enjoy a vacation or a getaway weekend here and there but for the most part, I like staying up late watching the Braves and sleeping late in the morning.Of course I consider anything past 6am sleeping late since I get up at 530 during the school year. I can seriously go days and days without leaving The Ponderosa and not think a thing about it! 

Both the girls have worked hard with their 4H Market Goat projects. It's a time and money intensive project but the girls get a  hoot out of it so I guess it's worth it. Teaching a goat is kinda like teaching middle school....

You win some....

And ya lose some...

But you never, EVER give up!

We're looking forward to a few weeks of nothing but pool time...

and grilling out....

But mostly just chilling out...

The girls had basketball camp at EBA this week and had a blast!! I am so glad since they'd have been camped out on the sofa soaking up TV while I had class if they hadn't had camp. Kudos to the EBA Varsity Basketball team for hosting a camp that both girls loved!! Next week Ali Grace is off to 4H camp and Pete is going as a chaperon. He understands that this will probably be the last summer that Ali Grace wants anything to do with him for at least 10 years or so, so he's taking advantage of it. I suppose Addie Belle and I will find something to get into here on the farm next week.. Never can tell. I'm just so excited about spending some time with my family this summer I don't know what to do with myself!!  Doesn't this F. Scott quote from The Great Gatsby sum it up just perfectly?

 

Last but not least...Congratulations Bert and Erin on the birth of our newest Lyles cousin, Ryleigh Anne. I think she is just gorgeous.

and congrats to Robin, another Lyles cousin who's just graduated from high school! I'd rather not think too much about this since I toted her around on my hip when Pete and I first married and looking at her makes wrinkles form on my face instantly.

Here's to a bunch of new beginnings.. it's summer time y'all. Go out and enjoy it!!