Let the Soccer Season Begin!

Today marks the beginning of soccer season in the Camp house. That means twice a week practices (for now), Saturday games, and snack schedules. This is Owen's third soccer season. He played for two seasons and then last year took a break from soccer to play football. Now we're back to soccer. Being out at the Canaan fields was like being back at home today. I think Owen is going to be much happier this fall. Football was intense - for him and for us, but it's always his call. We'll support him in whatever activities he wants to try. Here are some pictures of my favorite Blue Thunder player and his motley fans. If you want to see him in action, call us or e-mail us and we'll give you his schedule.

First Day of School '08

The first day of school arrived here at the Camp house on Tuesday. One Camp eagerly embraced the start of the school year (Owen) while another begrudgingly agreed to let the learning begin (Me). Sara fell somewhere in the middle - excited to see friends in a new place, but also a bit apprehensive about her move to middle school. Yes, that's right, middle school. For those of you who haven't been keeping track, my baby girl has entered middle school, that world of lockers, cliques, and crushes. SO much changes in middle school - childhood is exchanged for adolescence. It's awkward and cruel, but sometimes exciting and fun. How do I help her navigate such unpredictable waters?
It seems like I just brought her home from the hospital as a newborn. I remember so vividly the first day Daniel went back to work and I was left alone with this tiny person. I was so scared. What if I did "it" wrong? What did I know about being a parent? Where was the instruction manual/lesson plan? She and I made it through that first day and the over 4000 days since then. I've not always gotten "it" right, but I've always acted with love. That's really all a parent can do. And, that's exactly how we're going to survive middle school.

Anchor Summer Finale

On Saturday, the whole family took a trip up to Look Up Lodge for the end of summer celebration for Owen's Anchor group from Hope Point. We got to see some neat animals (Okay, I thought they were creepy. Everyone else liked them AND touched them. Yuk!), play volleyball, and swim in the lake. Daniel, Sara and Owen had the most fun on the water slide! As always, we had fun being with our church friends.

Golfing Buddies

Owen recently enjoyed a leisurely Sunday afternoon playing golf with Daniel and Uncle Jon. Don't they make a handsome threesome? They had gotten rained out the previous Sunday and Owen was so disappointed. Thankfully, they got a raincheck and got to play on a gorgeous day. Maybe, with Daniel and Uncle Jon as coaches, Owen will be the next Tiger Woods!

5 signs my youth may be over

5. Daniel and I are celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary this September.
4. I had to have my first mammogram.
3. I'm starting my 16th year of teaching. That’s more than halfway to retirement.
2. Sara is starting middle school this year.
1. I just got the invitation to my 20th high school reunion.

It's not that I mind getting older, but did all of these things have to happen at once to drive the point home? And where did all of the time go? I'm not sure any of us can answer that one. It's eaten up with doing laundry, driving kids to soccer practices, making dinner, grading papers, etc. One reason I started the blog is to help me remember all those little moments that make up the year so it doesn't just become a blur.

B-T-S Shopping Adventures

Friday, the kids and I took advantage of the tax holiday to do some of the much-needed back-to-school shopping. We spent the whole day roaming around the stores and people-watching. We played a fun game of spot the ladies with the zebra purses. Have you seen these things? They're black and white zebra-patterned leather (possibly pleather..haven't gotten up-close to tell) with straps and trim in green, pink, and blue. The three of us find spotting them as much fun in the stores as playing punch-bug is while driving down the road. If I remember correctly, we saw five of them on Friday alone.
Anyway, some stores had good sales - we got great deals on Owen's soccer gear for this season. Other stores were craftier in their marketing. For example, the week before we had been shopping and there was a good sale on jeans for both the kids at one of our usual shops so I bought them both a couple of pair. On Friday, this store promoted a BOGO sale, but when I calculated the purchase, I had gotten a much better deal the week before. The lesson here is an item may have a BOGO sign and still not be a good deal.
The most hilarious part of the day was a stop at our favorite big box store. We were shopping away when the power went out! There we were completely in the dark. All the shoppers in the store got silent. It was dark for maybe a minute and the power came back on - business as usual, except for the PA announcement that it takes 5 minutes for the registers to reboot. We shopped for awhile longer until the lines at the register diminished and then we decided to checkout. I had the pen in mid-air ready to finalize my debit card purchase when ... the power went out AGAIN!!!! This time it was out for about two minutes. My purchase hadn't been finalized so we had to unbag all the items and start all over. Thankfully, everyone seemed to keep their patience. I didn't see anyone making a scene. I still haven't heard what happened. There wasn't a storm and the traffic light at the entrance was still working so it must have been isolated to that store. Anyway, it made for a memorable day. I'm sure we'll all be saying "remember the time..." whenever we shop there in the future.