Back for good!

Hello Blogdom Friends!  I hope you have had a refreshing, reflective, easy-going summer.  My summer has been completely outta sorts!  As you can see from above, this has been our hottest summer yet!  I didn't plant, I didn't go outside, I didn't even refil bird-feeders.  Yes!  You heard me!  Empty bird-feeders...it's a travesty, I tell you!  I came home from my last blog entry and found that our air-conditioner had broken!  But bless my MacGuyver of a husband's heart- he rigged it so we can run it with it set on 80......we have completely and utterly changed our cores to accept 80 as the new 72!  I have, quite honestly, all summer, been in a heat-induced funk!  But, we did manage to do a few extraordinary things this summer that I'll share with you.....

We attended the "Birmingham Members Day" which is a day where all of the local family entertainment venues (i.e. the Zoo, McWane Science Center, Vulcan, Southern Museum of Flight, etc.) open up for free so that you may try them out.  This is my boys enjoying some time in the cock-pit.

My precious girl, whom I admire so much, decided she was hot and didn't need all of that hair so she donated it to Locks of Love!  Here she was just a little unsure.....

but then it was too late to change her mind....

and look how adoreable she is with short hair!!  I am so proud of her for doing what she can to kick cancer in the behind! (We hate that ol yucky cancer...HATE it!)

Then the kiddos got invited to a backyard bible study at a new friend's house.  They had a great week- and we ran into some old precious friends who we thought had moved!  Hooray for finding old friends again!  Pam led the study and I was inspired by her servant's heart towards those kiddos.

As the summer began to wind down for us, Abby's school moved and we went over to see if we could help out! What great helpers those girls were as they worked together so nicely!

And now, here we are!  This was Monday, Abby's first day of third grade at Crestwood Day School and Ben's first day of kindergarten with me at home.  I've gotta think of a name for our school.  I have been calling it the "Cain Family School of Genius" since Abby began kindergarten! lol!  Anyone have any ideas?  Our home is lovingly referred to as "Cainberly" (only by me, of course) so maybe I should work that into it!  Oh, and promptly after the first day of school, Abby got sick and hasn't returned all week!!  Here's the eerie part...I missed my first week of third grade due to illness too!  Isn't that something?!

So, Dear Friends, I'm now on a schedule with school again, working on finishing projects in the house (painting, organizing, etc), and beginning to start on Christmas presents....so there's lots of crafty thoughts floating around.  I'm so excited to be back to blogging, and I hope those 12 of you over there that read my blog before I took the summer off will come back and visit again!  I've missed you!