9/52

Wow.  Labor Day Weekend.  The end of summer.  And boy, did we get summer weather today.  While we are waiting for Brian to get home from his super awesome motorcycle vacation,  the kids and I served for River City Church and helped out at the Batavia Block Party. I knew we wouldn't know many people, so I let each of the girls bring a friend.  Emma invited Jessica and Abbi invited Lauren.  On the way to the Batavia Block Party, I reviewed the rules with the girls.  Keep their cell phones handy so if I text, I can get an immediate response.  If someone in a van pulls up and offers candy, you should not take the candy or get in.  In true Abbi form, she responds, "what if they have free wifi?" You have NO idea how thankful I am that Lauren was with her and keeps her out of vans with candy and a mobile hotspot.  :)
 

I was disappointed when Abbi and Lauren flat out refused to have their picture taken.  They literally ran away when I asked them to pose for me.  Ran!  I really did think that Abbi would be less difficult to photograph if she had a friend to pose with.  I mean, Emma detests having her picture taken, but look at her smile here with Jessica!

Peace, Love and Batavia

So I had to revise my strategy.  Of all my kids, Abbi is the only one that hasn't been featured on my blog.  Abbi is the spitting image of Brian, her dad, who is the spitting image of his mom, Rosemary (who is celebrating a birthday today! Happy birthday!!)  She is a freshman in high school and so far, she loves it.  She comes home with crazy stories and claims of being this teacher's favorite and that teacher's favorite (I will say that at back to school night, a couple teachers had very complimentary things to say about Abbi, but don't tell her that).  Abbi has taken piano lessons with the very awesome Mary Hwang, and has taught herself many other songs - the latest being a recommendation from Emma, Mad World by Gary Jules.  She sings like an angel (I'm laughing because my mom said the same thing about me when I was a kid, but I'm for real here).  Last summer and this summer she even attended a choir camp at University of Illinois.  And you should see her absolutely beautiful handwriting (which she gets from my side of the family - my dad, my mom, my brother and I were all blessed with stunning penmanship.  How my brother and I acquired that gorgeous penmanship is a story for another day).

Today, at the block party, I had a great time chatting with my friends at River City Church.  I even got an impromptu photography lesson from Alex as well as an invitation to help take pictures at church events.  Even more opportunities to practice!  Hooray!

As we got ready to leave, the kids and I walked down to the Fox River.  Abbi and Lauren were tossing pine cones down and I was able to get this shot.

Remember that choir camp I told you that Abbi went to this summer?  I just had a brilliant idea.  During the week-long camp, the students worked on several new songs.  On the last day of camp, when the parents come to pick them up, they perform all the songs they learned that week.  Lauren attended this camp with Abbi.  And I got a picture.

So this is Abbi, Lauren and Natalie. 

It was a fabulous day and a pretty incredible summer.  And I have pictures to prove it!  I'm thankful for all your support.  Some of you have told me that you are having trouble commenting here on the blog.  And I have figured out why.  You need to have a google account to do so (and you have to be signed in).  If you don't have one, click here!  Then you can sign in and comment to your heart's content!