I know...I know....we are still alive I promise!

It has been far too long since I have posted, and for that I do apologize to my faithful blog readers.  I know there are many - especially from Andalusia and St. Joseph - who keep up with us mainly through blog and our absence has been noted.  But, you see, we've been just a little busy.  Ok, a LOT busy. (It's no coincidence that the last post was right at the end of July - just before school got back in full swing and things got a little crazy around here!) But, thanks to some child-free down time this weekend I've been able to whittle down my to-do list and catching you all up on our lives will be my priority for the next few evenings after bedtime.

Summer ended in a whirlwind and because of that our garden was a little overlooked at times...and our friends (as in Mr. and Mrs. Deer) revisited our yard for a midnight snack.  Several times!  We did manage to salvage one watermelon and we definitely enjoyed the fruits of our labor!  You'll also see a picture below of Turner in her cowgirl attire, complete with a new gun and holster that our friend Cynda brought Turner from Texas.  Turner kept saying, "If you see any of those pesky deer, or anything you need me to shoot...just let me know!"

We made a late summer trip to Andalusia and my sweet girl and I both got much needed haircuts!  I thought this was an interesting way to get your hair washed!  (Excuse the poor picture quality!)

I don't have many pictures of our weekend, but I did snap this one with my phone...that would be my Dad's hand on the left.  I swear Pop will do ANYTHING Turner asks him to do.  (Except eat a pickle.)  He's always been a good sport about this, one time he let us paint his toenails and then he wore flip flops to the hunting club with his nails painted.  What daddies will do for little girls.  We love you Pop!

I'm probably going to do an entire post about my new job...honestly, I could author a book and I've officially been in my new administrative role 3.5 months.  But, summer was much of a transition period for me personally, professionally, emotionally, and just about any other word you can insert here that ends in the suffix "-lly".  In the midst of the transition, I tackled the project of recovering my office chairs with some really fun fabric I found at Hobby Lobby.  It wasn't the toughest project I've tackled, but it was mighty time consuming and labor intensive since there were a total of 11 chairs to cover.  That's 22 separate chair pads if you are counting.  But, the results have made me so very happy and I am actually pretty proud of myself for making this workout so nicely!  See the before and after pics below!

Last spring I was asked to serve on the Board of Directors for the Lee County Distinguished Young Woman of the Year program, formerly known as Lee County Junior Miss.  As a former Junior Miss myself I have always wanted to get involved with the program, and I really enjoyed reacquainting myself with the program and getting to know some wonderful other ladies on the board. Turner joined me for the program (or at least the first half) and she and her friend Francie had a blast listening to the talents and watching the routines.  Francie's mom, Ashley (also a board member), was Covington County Junior Miss in 1995, and I was CCJM in 1997.  We are excited that our girls take dance together and will grow up in the Junior Miss family together here in Lee County!

I'll devote an entire post to Turner's first day of school and how "our" plan for Turner's school experience didn't turn out to be God's plan...just another gust in the whirlwind!  Stay tuned...