Extra, Extra...

Today at gymnastics, Conleigh did a flip-flop by herself!

She did it over and over again. I am so proud of her.

She was working on doing two in a row. 

The second one needs a little more work but I am certainly proud of her 

stick-to-it-ness.

She has only been tumbling since March.

And, not to be outdone, Campbell is doing back bends by herself!

She did it over and over too.

VBS was a success! 

We enjoyed having our neighbor Cameron hang out with us afterwards.

She is so polite and sweet.

Before bedtime last night, Conleigh filled a bucket with water and put some 

random plastic toys inside.

Today, after VBS the kids got to work with screwdrivers, 

hammers and a meat tenderizer to bust it open.

Tomorrow we'll get to have a repeat of that fun since Campbell filled a bucket with prizes this afternoon. It is busy freezing itself right now.

I went swimming tonight and we swam a mile. Yay!

Peter was making home made ice cream this evening while I was working off the calories that I just ate back up. His dad brought up an old ice maker this weekend, so Peter brought home all the items he needed to make it this evening.  It was some good old fashioned vanilla. 

If that doesn't say summer, I don't know what does.

A Day in the Life - Friday

Peter took Conleigh and Alex to chess club before dawn this morning. By that, I mean he had the kids out the door by 6:40am! This summer they are meeting at the donut shop on Friday mornings. Today there were six kids there. 
Everyone was dragging this morning for the last day of VBS. They were tired.  They reported to me that over 8,000 cans of food were donated this week. What a great mission.

During the kids VBS time, I went for a 35 minute walk. It felt good.  After showering, I went and walked around Goodwill. It's always an adventure in there. I bought a couple of books for Conleigh. She is breezing through the books lately.  I kind of wonder if she is really reading every page. She is going so fast.  This was my find of the day. It's a little small for our mantle, but I'll figure something out.   

Embarrassing, but true, you can see the water damage on the ceiling.  We'll be having that fixed and confirmation of carpenter ant exinction next week.  Like the finials? I bought those at GW a couple of weeks ago. I'm going to paint them.

I got home with it, put it on the mantle, and the pest control people called. I had forgotten they were coming. Thankfully, they hadn't been by yet. They were just giving me the heads up that they were on the way. In the meantime, I had to go get the kids. When we came back, the pest control guys were hovered down by our garage.  They found carpenter ants.  The guy is a real chatterbox and goes into way more detail than I need on carpenter ants.  When I changed out my picture for the mirror over the fireplace earlier, I had noticed a pile of wood looking shavings, so I show the exterminator that, and guess what? Carpenter ants.  Sadly today, we dropped close to $400 to treat for carpenter ants and bugs. Ugh-ola.

I had zero plans for the kids today. I turned on the tele and we all chilled out. Seriously, nothing happened here from 1:00-4:00. We had DVR'ed a movie last night and the kids watched it today.  Conleigh was invited to her friend Emma's birthday party at 4:30. I trucked us over on the cart. My sweet, sweet friend Liz offered for Alex and Campbell to stay as well. Her son is Hayden who is Alex's #1 friend.

I snoozed in the chair for a little bit. Peter went back & picked up the kids at 6:00. They came in the door for less than five minutes and were out the door again to the last (and only one we attended) swim meet pep rally.  While they were one, I emptied the dishwasher and straightened up a bit.

The kids are exhausted. Tomorrow mornings early wake up call should be thrills-ville.

A Day in the Life - Thursday

French toast was the order of the day for breakfast.  Alex wanted to have a sofa pillow fight before we left this morning. We did that and walked into VBS just in time. The kids each took applesauce again. They informed me that there are over 5,000 canned goods that have been donated.  They need to get to 7,000 with donations tomorrow to match last year.

From VBS drop-off, I went to Kohl's to return something and to pay my bill.  I then promptly spent almost the same amount that I had just paid off. I bought some new sneakers, undies for Alex, jeans, and some jewelry.  Target was next on my list to return something. Yay, I walked in and out without spending any money.  Of course, then I walked next door to Michaels and found some 12x18 frames.  For Father's day, we had a collage of pictures made in a 12x18 for Peter.  I didn't really think he thought that much of the gift, but the other day, it was lying kind of sideways and he walked over and said, 'don't let this get bent.' Now, it is framed.

After those errands, I came home and registered Campbell for a Kinder-readiness camp that will be at our elementary school in a couple of weeks. I had a hankering for lasagna, so I raced to the grocery, picked up supplies, raced home & put stuff in the fridge, and then went up to Hope to pick up the kids.  We ate lunch at Wendy's.  Oooh, Is that the second time in my "day in the life" week that I had to write we ate at Wendys? Well, I think the kids had the exact same menu items they had on Sunday.  Hamburger for Conleigh and chicken nuggets for Alex and Campbell. 

Silly friends.

Campbell went to play at Keira's today. We picked up Alex's friend Evan on our way home, and Conleigh's friend Josie came by shortly after we were home to get her, so they could go to a pool.

Josie is visiting with her mom from New York. They moved there at the new year. I understand Josie is missing Texas quite a bit.  After racing up to Cedar Park to pick up Campbell, Alex, Campbell and I stopped for Icees on our way home. Once home they were tired and grumpy. They plopped in front of the TV, and I started dinner.

Josie and her mom Diane stayed for dinner. We had lasagna, salad and garlic bread. I had never made lasagna, but I found an easy recipe and it turned out well. I took the advice of several commenters  (speaking of comments...I could use some comment love!) and added mushrooms and basil.  Conleigh liked it. That made my day.  The other kids ate cheese pizza.  Diane and I had a nice visit after the kids had excused themselves and started playing Nerf guns.

Peter ate and ran. He is out with his friends shooting pool tonight.

Nice, huh?

The kids are pooped. Tomorrow is the last day of VBS. Signing off...

A Day in the Life - Wednesday

The house feels glorious.  I love Vickie, our housekeeper.  She works so hard and makes our house so clean & fresh feeling. She is usually here for six hours when she comes every other Wednesday.  I am so thankful for being able to have someone come & change the sheets, sweep & mop the floor, dust and much more.

I got the kids to VBS this morning and came home and worked on emails. When Vickie arrived, I helped clean up the art area, and then I hit each of the kids rooms and filled their trash cans. Conleigh, our treasure keeper doesn't throw anything away. She seriously may be a hoarder.  I tossed all sorts of doo-dads in there.


After showering, I carted up to Hope.  I had an appointment to meet with someone from Hope Children's Center. I am so conflicted on where Campbell should spend next year in school.  At Hope, they have a private kinder program.  If she were able to go there, we could then make a decision next summer whether she is ready for kinder or 1st.  Unfortunately, we are #2 on the waiting list.  I hope to have Alex's tutor who is a kinder teacher at Spicewood, spend some time with Campbell, and if possible assess her opinion of readiness.

I went and picked up a crew of kids. We took the Schultz children home to their house and walked into our house one minute before the babysitter showed up.  I left shortly after while she fed the kids. I went and worked in the country club dining room. It worked. I then breezed through the grocery store to pick up something to make for dinner.  I raced home for a 2:30 phone appointment.  The professor didn't answer. She never returned my call and now hasn't responded to email.  We are trying to close up a large adoption at UT. Ugh.

Alex got off to soccer in a carpool. This is what he came home looking like:

I think he looks like a coal miner!  That indoor soccer floor is filthy. I'm glad he is enjoying the *all you can eat soccer* this summer.  While he was gone, the girls & I did Bendaroos for a bit and then they chilled while I made meatloaf for dinner and planted a few plumeria that we bought in New Orleans.  Three of four in the soil.

 So...

Meatloaf = not a big hit with our kids. Bummer.

After dinner, we carted up to the club and did some swimming. It was nice family time. The kids all practiced their dives off the new starting blocks and we just goofed around. I rode in the back of the cart with Campbell on the way to the club and with Alex on the way home.  I'm not such a good backwards rider. It makes me very nervous and feeling out of control.

The kids all jumped in the shower. I have to include here that it is so nice that Alex & Conleigh can each finally turn the water on & off in their shower and get the temp right and really handle the whole thing on their own. It is just a big step forward and I'm enjoying it.

How long has it been since you've seen one of these? 

God's Eyes were the craft today at VBS.  Kids loved it and want to make more.

Goof ball Alex and sweet pic of C

 It was a good day.  Who knew going to bed in the 10:00 hour could make one not exhausted the following day? I think I'll try that strategy again tonight.