Girls' Night Out

Leigh Ann is always in charge of planning our Girls' Night Out. She outdid herself tonight by booking us a private party at a Painting Studio on Murray. She pitched it to us as a "Paint by Numbers" canvas. I was convinced I could do paint by numbers, so here we go!

 

 We walked in to our own stations already set up for us. We were excited until....we saw that there were no lines or "numbers." Hmmm, we figured out that Leigh had duped us just to get us there!

 This is the canvas on display to show us what we will be painting throughout the evening. It is called "Funky Sky." I was ready to run for the car! The instructor talked me (& everyone but Brittney) off the ledge by assuring us she would guide us step by step.

 Ok, here goes nothing! How much do I love these gals?

 This is my canvas at the halfway point. Still having doubts....

 Honestly, I don't know when I've had SO much fun or laughed so hard. We had the BEST time and are already looking at booking our next date.

Ta-Da! Here is my finished Funky Sky! I am very proud of it, but I have no idea where I'm going to put it!

Henry County Fair

 

 We started our evening at the Fair with a Kiddie Tractor Pull. Lee had several friends competing, so he had a lot of fun, even though he didn't win.

 Lee selected several categories to enter in the Youth Craft Department. He won a ribbon on his tie-dyed shirt.

 He entered his fish in  the pottery category.

 I entered several pictures in the Adult Photography Category for the first time. I was thrilled to win a few ribbons. My picture of the Miss-Lou Bridge won Third Place.

 This recent pic of my boys in the Sunflowers won First in the "Family" category!

 I was most proud of this picture of Lee and Paul that I entered in the "Sports" Category. It was my only picture that wasn't posed. It was a real life scene, and those are my favorite!

 Lee tried a new chocolate chip cookie recipe and won a blue ribbon. Judging from the empty plate at our house, I can attest to their yumminess!

 Lee's last entry was this wooden flag. He was pretty thrilled with his ribbons!

 On to the carnival where I vowed never to ride the Pirate Ship again! So, Matt was a trooper and took Lee on it. There they are right in the middle.

 The carnies would not allow Wade to ride the slides, so Matt and I took turns with Lee.

The last ride of the night was the ferris wheel with my big guy! What a fun night!

First Day of Second Grade

 When I went to wake Lee up for his first day of Second Grade, this is how I found him. He had recently gotten the new Wimpy Kid book, and he couldn't resist reading a few pages before breakfast.

 Here's my big Second Grader at our wonderful Rhea School!

 He had equal parts excitement and nervousness on going into his new room.

 Once this precious lady's arms were around him, he melted into a puddle of relief. He was instantly at ease and ready to take on the day. She is an answer to our prayers for a loving, firm, brilliant teacher, and she happens to be a blessing to anyone who knows her. Can you tell I'm a FAN?

We are going to have a great year!

 

(Yes, I shed the usual tears as I drove home. It was only because I knew how much I would miss him during the day. And it didn't help that Wade started crying immediately for us to go back and get him. We love that boy more than words can say.)