Jewels in the Backpack

  I am admittedly the worst Mom in the world about looking at the pages inside my kids backpacks.   If the boys have something that they want me to see or something that I need to sign, then they bring it to me and I take care of only that page. I usually wait days and days and days before looking at the rest of the pages.  The pages of classwork begin to pile up into a thick stack inside their folders just waiting to be discovered. 
   Today was the day. The day to open the backpacks.  I took out the enormous stack of papers.  I looked at each one. Most of them were thrown in the trash, but I found a few jewels that were keepers.  There were a couple of pages within the stack that brought a smile to my face.

There was this note from a little girl......

 

I'm still not sure if the little girl is trying to say Carter IS her friend, or is he NOT her friend?

Only a 2nd grader would know, I suppose. 

 

Ok, now this one gave me a big smile.......

 

Carter explained it to me.  He was writing a song on this page.  The words about "One sock on my foot. You can't do werth a flip. I got a slingshot in my hand".....yeah, those are lyrics.  Catchy, huh?

 I do not have high hopes of Carter making a profit from song writing. 

Or handwriting.

 

Perhaps Math will be his saving grace.  I did uncover this little gem.....

 

Math genius! 

 

Booya! 

That is my kid. 

Oh, yeah! 

Happy dance.

Boom, baby!

Saaaweeeeet!

 

 

But then, this one was next in the stack to take me back down a notch.....

 

 

 

Oy!

 

So much for his genius status.

 

So, from his papers, I have gathered that.....

 

 Carter may or may not have a little friend.

He is very unsuccessful at song writing.

His handwriting is terrible.

Carter was a math genius for exactly one day.

And he is still a jewel.

 

 

 

 

A Display of My Favorite Moments

     If you know anything about me at all, then you know that I am in love with traveling with my family.  We have an affinity for the National Parks and plan our summer trips around visiting them. Our summer trips together are the highlight of my year.  As a matter of fact, I spend the first half of the year anticipating the summer trip and planning for it. During the middle of the year, we take the big trip. Then, I spend the second half of the year daydreaming, looking through photos and reminiscing about the fun we had together.  My whole year basically revolves around our big summer trip.
    Each trip to a new National Park that we have taken holds very specific and beautiful memories for me.  Mammoth Cave National Park was the park that we first fell in love with the National Park systems.  We took that trip back in 2006 when Carter was only 2 years old, Sawyer was 4 and Tucker was 8.  We took our first 'official hike' on that trip down the Cedar Sink Trail, which was 2 miles long.  Carter's little 2 year old legs hiked the entire trail on his own power. Each of the boys carried a stick they picked up along the trail and used it as a walking stick.  We stopped and looked at twisted tree trunks, lizards, and other critters that intrigued the boys.  The boys loved the hike and we were hooked on hiking from that point forward.  When I look back at the photos from that trip, I remember the boys and how they were at that moment. 
   It's the same for every single National Park we have visited.  I have specific memories and moments in each park with my family that are so fun and so beautiful, that they all rank as some of my favorite moments of my life.
   So now, whenever I am wanting to dream about my favorite moments, I can gaze upon my newest display of them......

   Each window pane holds a photo from one of our National Park trips.  Each photo has captured my favorite moments in time.  May people display a collection of expensive antiques or a collection of some sort, I choose to display moments instead of things. You can look into these windows and peer into the heart of my life.