Middle School Lockers

One of the things that Hannah has been most looking forward to about middle school was getting a locker. The school didn't issue lockers for the first 2-3 weeks of school. The wait was difficult for Hannah, but a few weeks ago she finally got her locker. She is a pro when it comes to opening it. Today she installed some extra shelves in her locker before school when I was there doing PTSA stuff, so I took a picture of her with her locker.

What am I Reading?

I seem to have slowed down in my reading. You would think that now that the kids are back in school, I would be reading more! I am reading, but not as much as I normally do.

 

 

The first book I have read in the post is Married by Mistake. It's a Harlequin Super Romance that was recently free on Amazon. The premise is that this woman goes on a reality tv show to under false pretenses to get her long time boyfriend to marry her. Well, needless to say, that doesn't go well, so she ends up being stood up on the show. A wealthy businessman who is part owner of the tv station steps in to marry her and help her save face. Then he finds out that the wedding is legal and binding. I actually enjoyed it. Of course it was a little predictable and sappy, but I love happy endings. 

 

I was super excited to learn that there was a new book in Cleo Coyle's Coffeehouse Mystery series! As with all of her books, it was a fun read. I enjoy all the technical coffee descriptions.

My Life in Pink &  Green is a YA book. It is on the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl book list for this year. Hannah is on the school team this year and I am helping out with it. I am trying to read as many books on the list as I can. This one was really cute. It's about a young girl who tries to find ways to save the family pharmacy.

I finally read the second Harry Potter book! Another good read. I had been putting it off, but recently got the title from the library for my Kindle. I was so not looking forward to reading the physical book because of the size of the typeset. I just can't read a thing without my reading glasses anymore! I did like this one a lot and will try to read number three sooner than later.

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm is another one of the titles on the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl list. Turtle is a young girl who is sent to live with relatives in Key West during the Depression. I personally haven't read a lot of fictional accounts of that era, other than Grapes of Wrath in high school, so I enjoyed being taken back to that time period. It was a good read, but a little more serious than the cover had led me to believe.

I absolutely LOVED The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman. This is another YA book on the reading bowl list. I was hooked from the beginning. It's about a high school girl who gets a job as a page in this library/museum type facility. There is one room in the facility that is devoted to all things "Grimm Brothers" related. I would love to see a movie made of this. I have told Hannah that she needs to read this one soon so we can discuss it.

So that's what I have been reading lately.

Happy Reading!

World of Coca-Cola

Last spring break, I had planned to take the kids to World of Coke. On the day we were planning to go, we decided that we didn't feel like going. So we postponed our outing until summer. Then school started and we still hadn't made it there.

Then this past Labor Day weekend, we had a late, late, late football game/marching performance on Friday night. James didn't get released to go home until after 1:30 am. By the time we got home, it was almost 2am. Since it was Labor Day weekend, we had plans to go to the DragonCon parade. Because we all were super tired, we decided to skip the parade for the first time in several years.

So where does the World of Coke come into play? Well, by the time Sunday had arrived and we were feeling better rested, we decided that we would go to World of Coke. It was a destination that we knew would not garner any complaints from either of the kids.

I must also apologize for the picture quality. Our camera recently broke and I was limited to taking pics on my phone. My phone takes okay pictures, but because of the size, it's harder for me to tell when things are not clear. So I don't always know when to reshoot a picture. The husband is investigating new cameras for me.

Some Coca-Cola memorabilia.

Hannah wishing she was getting a real coke!

James checking out some of the equipment.

James & Hannah posing for me.

These are all Olympic torches that have been sponsored by Coca-Cola.

James and Hannah got to hold a torch from the 1996 Atlanta Olympic games.

And here they are holding a 2012 Olympic torch.

 Some "Coke" artwork.

Part of the family posing with the Coca Cola Polar Bear. James didn't want to be in the picture. The Polar Bear was amused by Hannah's tank top. He kept pointing at the Panda Bear.

Hannah stands in front of the vault where the formula for Coca Cola is supposedly kept.

Then of course, there's the tasting room.

 

 

There were lots of  Coke products to try. Some better than others - we knew from our last trip not to get try the Beverly soda from Italy. 

There were several of the Coca Cola Freestyle machines for tasting.

And of course, plenty of Coke.

On the way out we each got our own little Coca Cola bottle.

While we were downtown, we did get to see many costumed people from DragonCon wandering around. Maybe we'll make it back to DragonCon next year.

Marching Band

This is James' first year in high school and his first year in marching band. Now that school is in session, our schedule looks a bit like this:

Monday: Marching Band Practice
Tuesday: Marching Band Practice
Wednesday: Dance Classes (Hannah, not James)
Thursday: Marching Band Practice
Friday: Football Game (Marching Band Practice before, performs during)
Saturday: so far about half of our Saturdays have had marching band activities in one form or another
Sunday: Chris has been working on band equipment & props, but we can usually fit in some family time

A couple of weeks ago, the high school football team played in the Korky Kell Classic at the Georgia Dome. The marching band played during the game and them did a half time show as well. This was their first "real" performance.

Here's my baby boy with his sousaphone. (It's not a tuba!)

Hannah had such a fun time at the game. Two of her friends from Girl Scouts were there, so she had  fun hanging out with them.

The sousaphones (not tubas) getting lined up.

 

Their first marching performance. 

The McEachern "M". (photo credit - Dee Coffey Breeze and thanks to Mandy Cross for posting it on FB)

Playing pep music back in the stands.

So our life has been revolving around marching band, but we are having fun!