The "Finnster, et al."

For our Fifteenth Wedding Anniversary Michael and the boys stopped by my office and brought me flowers and Skittles.  For our actual anniversary dinner, Michael took me to Rosie's in Hendersonville.  I had blueberry lasagna.  It was interesting - which is code for not my favorite.  I don't regret ordering it though because it is what they are known for. I did spill blueberry sauce on my white blouse, so that embarrassing.  After dinner we stopped by our friends Greg and Erica's house to visit with them before he began Chemo.  The greatest game of Jenga ever to be played.  This is how I attended judicial conference this year. I hate zoom. 

Fourth of July at Nana and Papa's this year was loud and awesome.  It is always loud when all six of those boys get together, but it become particularly more loud when you throw in fireworks and hamburgers. This year we added chicken fighting.  The boys are getting old enough to really start to have fun with us! Finn and  Zac dominated.  The fireworks this year were impressive.  Papa had set a big table out in the front yard.  Our safety standards have much improved this year. I think the Roman Candles and parachute men were everyone's favorite.  I'm not sure sure what had me so cracked up.  I wish I could remember.  After our fireworks, we brought chairs to the end of the yard and watched a very impressive fireworks show put on  by the neighbors across the street. 

To celebrate the Fourth of July this year we met up with our friends the Sahs, the Claytons, and the Burtons and spent the day out on Center Hill Lake.  We all brought out kids and they played in the water together while we chatted in the boats and floated in the water.  We had dinner out at the Marina and then settled in for a fireworks show. 

Before Tommy had to leave to go back to the work site,  Deneice scheduled a family photo session with my neighbor Tim West. I don't have the edited proofs, but I had a few unedited to remember the day.  Will was pretty miserable all day because his shorts were too big.  He spent most of his time either complaining that his shorts were falling down or trying to pull his shorts up.  He was also bare foot most of the day and I can't really remember why that is.  It was also dreadfully hot. We got a couple of good shots and really good one of me and Will. It was a complete accident.  I was actually dragging him down the a gravel road against his will to the next picture.  For me at least, it was the best shot of the day.  Sam hasn't quite figured out how to smile naturally yet.  Most of his pictures look like he is contemplating murdering us.  Finn doesn't know what to do with his hands and insists on keeping his top button buttoned.  All four, yes four, of my boys are quit

Well, I didn't know if it would happen - but it did!  The boys started school "in person" in the Fall of 2020.  The public schools all around us where either all online distance learning or on a hybrid schedule, but Davidson Academy decided to put safety measures in place and give it a go.  We are so pleased that they did.  I am writing this post in November and I can say that there has not been a massive outbreak at the school. There have been a few cases - namely the middle school football team, but they were sent home for two weeks and the rest of the school continued to roll along.  We do take their temperature every morning and report it to the school on an app on our phones, and they do require masks in the hallways for the older children. But other than that, it is school as normal.  They are learning, they are interacting with friends and we are happy! Finn is in Fifth grade this year which means that he has entered middle school.  He has three different teachers

This year the boys were able to experience the wonderful treat of going to House of Cards for Sunday Brunch.  Since Nashville was still under a mask mandate we had to wear masks as we walked into the restaurant.  Will's mask was way too big for him and made for a wonderfully hilarious picture.  Michael and I got a big laugh out of this one.  As is always the case, you can't take photographs inside the restaurant, so we took a few pictures on our way inside.  We met Gran, Pa, Sharon, Henry and Mason inside.  We sat at an adjoining table and ate a wonderful meal.  The the magicians came by and performed a few tricks for the boys and the boys tried their best to get the invisible pianists to play songs from Avengers End Game - to no avail.  After lunch we watched the magic show.  All three boys really enjoyed the show.  I was selected to go on stage to assist the magician in his final trick.  I am now two for two at House of Cards on stage assisting.  They do allow you to take pic