The Cannon Fab 5: October 2018

Progress on making the back yard presentable continued to take impressive shape. We also had a lot of pretty weather the first of the month.

The rainbow was really thick. I haven't seen one this big in quite some time.

The sunrises were spectacular.

Oranges and grays to ...

...pinks and purples.

October 3rd, Jeremy came with me to Nick's meet. We had a good time cheering Nick on.

October 5th, Steve went to Wilmington to help with hurricane clean-up. There were still so many people that needed help with debris cleanup. They spent most of their day at one house helping a little old lady get a huge tree off her driveway and house. She was so sweet and thankful. Steve got to spend the night at the beach with another one of the helpers who had family with a beach house. It was a nice and relaxing weekend for him. He needed that time to recenter.

The whole crew in front of one of the problematic trees.

While Steve was in Wilmington for the weekend I stayed home and made sure everyone got where they needed to be. Nick was off to the Wendy's Invitational. I dropped him off at the school to ride the bus to that event before running Naomi to her soccer pictures. She couldn't stay and play the game because we had to leave immediately from the pictures and get up to Davidson for the football game.

Team Pride:
front row (l to r) Naysa, Gabby, Kylie, Brook, Anna, Maggie
back row (l to r) Coach Amy, Naomi, Emily, Niyah, Megan, Caroline, Naomi, Coach Jason

The Knight Riders were playing for the Davidson College football game and it was all hands on deck. Mr. Scaringelli was so excited about this opportunity. It was worth missing our soccer game for this. .

Warming up outside the stadium.

Waiting to play

A shot from behind the band.

Mr. Scaringelli and the mascot.

So cool!

Nick running at the Wendy's Invitational. A friend sent me this picture.

After the football game we all gathered at home to watch the second session of General Conference. Jeremy had been sending me updates from the first session while I was at the football game. I always love relaxing and watching conference. We all weeded the front yard together after conference was over. The kids went for a bike ride while I put Nick's Eagle slide show together. The rest of the weekend was full of conference. The best way to spend our weekend.

October 11th, Hurricane Michael slammed into Florida. It was rainy all day on Thursday in Charlotte. The wind was pretty intense as well. In fact, there was more damage from Hurricane Michael in Charlotte than from Hurricane Florence. So many trees were blown down.

October 13th was Jeremy's last day at Books A Million. He was really sad about it, but so excited to start his new adventure.

October 13th was another cross country, soccer and yard work day. The only difference was it was also the day of the annual Young Women corn maze trip. Naomi was so excited to FINALLY be able to go. They had such a good time. Naomi was the only on that was prepared for all the mud. She wore Steve's big, rubber work boots. With all the rain we have had from two hurricanes, it was MUUUUUDDDDDY!

October 14th, Steve, Phil Tufts and the boys drove to Jacksonville, NC, to help with more hurricane clean up. They really enjoyed the day of service. It especially touched them how appreciative everyone was for the help. I am so glad they had the opportunity to go and help out.

Standing in front of the pile of debris they took out of this yard.

October 16th, Jeremy came with me to the Adams house to help them get stuff moved for the painters and also start packing things up for their move. It was a fun morning helping friends. On the way home, Jeremy and I ran a couple of errands. We stopped at Walmart to get a few things for the Eagle Court of Honor. Jeremy had so much fun pushing the new shopping cart around the store. It was funny to watch him. He said it was smooth as butter and like a ninja it was so quiet. We also went to Bojangles to order the chicken and biscuits. The regional manager was there that day and helped us with our order. We told her we needed chicken and biscuits for 50 people and told her our budget. When she found out it was for an Eagle Scout she said she would throw in the biscuits to help us stay in our budget. So cool. Eat at Bojangles, people! I bought Jeremy lunch while we were there because he has never eaten there before. He really liked it.

Jeremy with his smooth-as-butter and ninja shopping cart.

Back at home, Jeremy and I gathered stuff so we could pack his suitcases. He helped me bake the cookies and get the home made Oreos put together. Once I picked Naomi up from Knight Riders and Nick up from cross country, Jeremy and I put the finishing touches on his medicine book. A friend of mine had suggested putting all the information Jeremy would need about the medicines we packed and when and how to use them into a little book. It also included information about signs of dehydration, what is a fever and when to call the doctor. (Update: as I am writing this blog, Jeremy has already used the book and the medicine in the CTM. He may had balked at the idea while we were putting it together, but he is grateful I made him take it all anyway).

October 17th was Nick's Eagle Court of Honor and it has its own blog. It was that incredible.

October 18th we got up bright and early. After seminary and some breakfast, Nick, Steve and I headed to the Nascar Technical Institute to check out their program. Nick has been looking forward to this day since he was really little and it did not disappoint. Nick felt right at home and can't wait until he can officially be a part of everything he saw. In fact, it was even better than he dreamed it would be. There are so many programs he can take and things he can learn. All he needs to do now is graduate from high school. Knowing that this school waits at the end of high school will make it all worth while.

Back at home we packed up our overnight bags and headed to the Great Wolf Lodge. We wanted to have one last weekend as a family before Jeremy left and this was the destination of choice. We checked in and then headed immediately to the water park. It did not disappoint. The water slides were so much fun. They have one water slide where you drop (and I mean drop) into a funnel-shaped piece and swish back and forth before going back into a tub that winds its way to the bottom of the slide. It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. The big water bucket was also a highlight.

That big bucket at the top of the tower has 6000 gallons of water in it. Nick and Naomi are waiting to get drenched.

The water slides were so much fun.

There was another side pool that had an obstacle course across the pool. I stood there watching the kids go across when the cutest little girl came up beside me and said, "Don't be afraid. I will show you how to do it." She then scurried across the floating circles. I made it across, but not nearly as easily as she had. It was fun. There was also a wave pool. So! Much! Fun!

Nick loved playing basketball in the pool.

After completely exhausting ourselves at the water park, we went back to our room to clean up and then headed to Razoos for dinner. Jeremy wanted some good Cajun before heading south to Brazil. We went back to the hotel and collapsed for the night.

The next morning we woke up, went to breakfast and then played at the water park for another couple of hours before going home and taking a nap. Steve, Jeremy and I drove to the temple that night to do one more session together before Jeremy left us. It was a great weekend.

October 20th Steve went and rented a thatcher for the lawn. I took Naomi to her soccer game. It rained almost the entire game and, I kid you not, stopped raining as soon as the ref blew the final whistle. We thatched the lawn and finished the fire pit area by the end of the day. I was completely spent by the end of the day. We played and worked hard all weekend long.

October 21st, Steve was called as a Sunday School teacher for Naomi's class. Jeremy as given his assignment for his "farewell" talk the following week and the kids were treated to a Face to Face with the Stake Presidency that night. We learned a lot of fun things out our current stake presidency and their wives. It was a fun night.

Seminary highlight - Putting on the whole armor of God lesson .

Monica decked out in her "full armor of God"

October 25th was the 7th grade field trip to the Renaissance Festival. The team needed an extra set of hands for the chaperoning so Jeremy got to come with us. It was so much fun!

Naomi getting strapped in to the high bounce

Doing a flip with style.

Ashley and Bella getting a turkey leg for lunch.

Bella, Maeve, Naomi and Ashley at the joust.

It was fun to cheer for our knight.

Bella, Ashley, Maeve and Naomi with their new boyfriend.

One final pose before heading back to school.

Jeremy and his charges, Mez and Evan.

The whole 7th grade.

Naomi and her crew posing for the picture.

Bidding the fair Adieu!

October 26th I got to sub in the 6th grade on their day of service. We rotated through stations where we learned about the people of Nicaragua and their needs and struggles, prepared food packets that would last them a week and then decorated the boxes the food would be sent in because the people down there use the boxes to build their houses. It was a fun day. After that was all done we headed in to the pep rally. By the time I got home, all I wanted was to sit and listen to the quiet. I got to do just that until Jeremy, Naomi and I went to see the school play that night. Their production of "Elephant's Graveyard" was really well done. The second play, "Boy Meets Girl" was a much-needed comedy after the first play. Both productions were well done.

October 27th was a paint the ceiling day. Since it had been raining for two days straight soccer was cancelled. We all helped out and got the ceiling done and the house put back together in one weekend. There are a few spots to touch up, but teamwork made the job fast and fun.

Naomi took the hard to reach corners. She loved being on top of the fridge. She is definitely my child.

All hands on deck.

October 28th, Jeremy did an amazing job on his "farewell" talk. He was asked to speak about the Holy Ghost. True to his inquisitive mind and nature he didn't use the typical answers. His talk was straight from the heart and it really resonated with people. He is going to be a phenomenal missionary.

October 29th and 30th we worked all day to get Jeremy ready to go to Brazil and to prepare for his open house on Saturday. I am happy to say that we got everything in his suitcases. It all fit and we were under weight on both of them.

October 31st was an e-learning day for Nick and Naomi. This means we all get to stay in our pajamas for the morning while we get school work done. I love e-learning days. After school, Nick and I took Naomi shopping for combat boots. That is what Nick wanted to get her for her birthday.

That night Naomi's friends came over for a dinner of chili and breadsticks and then they went trick or treating. Someone had put red balloons on all the sewer grates. I thought it was a nice way to make sure the kids didn't fall in and then someone told me that the red balloons were from the Stephen King novel "It". So scary, but such a good idea. Well-played.