Sweet {and a little corny!}

First {let me apologize!} I'm sorry!

I had to use my cell phone to take

photos this evening.

And they just aren't very good!

But on a night like tonight {the night before school}

they will have to do!!!

I just finished a part of the Welcome Back

gifts for teachers in 2 of the

elementary schools in our district.

{We have 3, but I am PTO co~president of only 2}

These will be for each teacher:

If you can't make out the tag

{again, my poor photography skills!}

it says

'Your PTO

wishes you a GOOD year & PLENTY of fun!

Thanks for making our kids Sharpies!'

And here is what's in the goodie bags........

Good & Plenty {s} and Sharpie markers :o)

The original concept I saw included Smarties and Sharpies.

The very cute tag said 'Thank you for making our kids

Smarties and Sharpies!'

But, I didn't have any Smarties in my PTO stash.

And when I went to buy some, can you believe it?

I couldn't find ANY!!!

So I had to do some {fast} thinking in the

middle of Sam's Club and

came up with the above.

{I know} sweet but a little corny!

But, then again, so am I!!

Be sweet to your teachers!

Tracy

{Sweet} Memories

We're on {final} countdown here at our home!

School starts in 4 days! {YAY!}

My kids are excited {can you believe it?} for school to start.

I'm blessed that way :o)

I ran across a blog entry from another {old} blog that I used

to write. And there was the post I wrote on the

first day of school for the boys.

They all had their first day on the same day!

We had homeschooled until Austin was going into 5th, Ty into 4th

and Caden into 2nd {grades}.

{Flash forward to today Austin will be a Freshman, Ty going into 8th and Caden into 5th!!}

It was a {bitter}sweet day for me.

We've come a long since then, all of us!

So enjoy a {well, my} stroll down memory lane.......

5:15 am this morning, my alarm goes off. I lay there a moment wondering why in the heck I have to get up at such an ungodly hour--then it hits me. Today is the day my children, my precious babies, go to public school for the first time. I get up and drag myself to the kitchen, pop my meds (for those who don't know, I've been battling high blood pressure and not winning that battle! I'm on my second med for it, which at least doesn't make me pass out and pee every 5 minutes but has yet to prove it will bring down my pressure from 168/120) and start making scrambled eggs with sausage. I wander out to the living room where I find my oldest son, Austin, all dressed and eating toast. He smiles and says 'Hey Mom!'. When I question why he's up already, he answers he doesn't want to be late for his first day of school! I stumble to the bathroom where I find Ty, my middle son. He is shivering and with his big blue eyes staring into mine he whispers 'Mom, I'm nervous.' I hug him and reassure him that he's a smart boy who makes friends easily. I send up a quick prayer to God to watch over him. Back in the kitchen I continue to make breakfast and check off in my mind all the things I have to do yet. In comes Caden, my youngest. He announces in his sleepy voice 'I'm not going!' I stop the protest with a simple 'Yes you are. It isn't a choice.' He stomps back out to the table and sits to pout while he waits for his food. Breakfast is quiet and the boys all seem to be daydreaming in their own minds. Showers, teeth brushing, hair brushing (which Ty labors over for quite a while to get the righ look) and getting on new clothes seems to fly by in a moment. Christopher arrives (little boy I babysit, who will ride the bus to and from our house) and his face mirrors all the anxiousness of my own children. I get him breakfast, dressed and ready to go with ease. We get back packs adjusted, shoes tied and pictures taken. We make our family cirlce and I pray aloud for Jesus to watch over them and protect them. Before I know it, we are out the door and down to the bus stop. That big yellow bus pulled up and on they went with a last call from me to be good and have a great day. The short walk back home was a tearful one. Homeschooling was definitely easier I can't wait unitl they are home to hear all about their day!

Sweet Sunday!

Tracy

Sweet Site!!

Have you pinned?

I've been pinning and love it!

It's a fairly new website called 'Pinterest'

It's a just like a virtual bulletin board.

If you're like me you run across lots of

{great} ideas on the web and then later

forget where you saw them!

Well, Pinterest let's you post a picture of that

{wonderful} idea and also captures the link to

the site!

Another great things about Pinterest is the ability to follow

the boards of people with similar interests.

Take a moment and check out my boards!

If you want to join let me know and

I will send you an invitation {you can only join

by invitation!}

http://pinterest.com/tracybakes

Sweet pinning!

Tracy

The Other Woman.....

I would like to introduce you to the other woman

in our lives. She's funny, a little overweight, sometimes smelly,

slobber-y, sometimes not too smart and downright adorably sweet!!

It's our dog.

{Zeta}

An Olde English Bulldogge

We got her from a breeder when she was only 10 weeks old and made

herself right at home in our family.

She's my sweetness today {and lots of days}

She knows when one of us needs a snuggle and never leaves the side of someone in our house

who is ill {the poor dog about goes crazy when more than one

of us is ill at a time!} I have a confession to make,

I'm not a dog {or any animal}

person. I like them fine

but really never have been attached to one.

That is before Zeta

{who's full name, by the way, is Zeta-Girl Fancy Pants Schroeder}

She's wriggled her big bulldogge self into my heart

and seems she'll be staying there.

Who makes your day a little sweeter?

From the first {sweet} woman in our house

Tracy

A few new things.....

We went to a local festival in a small community close to us. It gave me the perfect opportunity to visit one of my favorite shoppes. Even the name spells the kind of place I want to be~~Harvest Moon! I {okay, my hubby purchased for me} was able to get a huge bag full of tiny, adorable decorative pumpkins and the two moon shutters you see in the picture. The big, beautful candlesticks come from another favorite shopping spot~~Goodwill {for those who don't know, my hubby is an area manager with Goodwill Industries}. The flameless candles are from {wait for it} Dollar Tree and well worth the dollar {s} I've spent on them! LOVE!!!

And my {not so new} wine cabinet. My husband {Brian} purchased this atrium a few years ago {another Goodwill find}. I denied my inner black thumb and killed {many} plants in it for those few years. I finally came to my senses and gave it up {much to the relief of plants everywhere}. I repurposed it to be our new wine cabinet!! PERFECTION! With a few touches of tiny, adorable pumpkins in my huge glass beverage dispenser and the sign 'Wine a bit you'll feel better' {both from my fave place~Harvest Moon} it was done!

As you can see, we're well stocked in wine.

{But there's always room for more}

Enjoy the sweetness!

Tracy

~Goodbye Summer~

This picture was taken last autumn out my back door. The leaves had already been shed from the trees and we were treated with a late autumn thunderstorm.

Did I mention {I LOVE AUTUMN!} ?

I LOVE

the changing colors

the smells

the chill in the air

the candy apples

the harvest time

the burning leaves

the baking

back to school

pumpkins

cornstalks

candles

halloween

thanksgiving

I feel like a small child every year when summer starts to give way to autumn. I wait in anticipation for the local apple orchard to open their doors. The pumpkin patch beckons us with the enticement of jack-0-lanterns and magical fun. I bring out the autumn inspired decorations for our home. We settle down and enjoy our last few days before the snow comes and chases us indoors. I will always treasure our family autumn traditions and sharing them with you!

Enjoy this sweet day!

Tracy