Catch Up

Work has been nuts lately.  I've been wiped out at home.  Which means I haven't been able to sit down alone (alone being the operative term here) and blog.  So here is a catch up on nearly a month's worth of summer memories.

Sam's last game of his first soccer season!  He loved soccer and we are excited he's found a sport he has fun playing.  I think the point of the game really sunk in toward the end of the season when he had a few super good games, great passing and teamwork.  My Sam is just a free spirit, fun loving kind of boy, so while some of his teammates (especially the girls, for some reason) were all in, game-faced, aggressive and highly competitive; Sam was mostly cracking jokes, making silly faces, laughing and having fun. That's my boy!

Then Lena had her first ballet recital!  The auditorium/hall was huge and packed full of people - we had no idea if she would freeze up there on stage or clown around or what.  But our girl was on spot, danced the choreography, smiled and was the sweetest thing.  She loved everything from the (required) makeup to the costume to the recital itself and keeps asking when ballet will start up again. :)

 

Then it was her last day of preschool.  Lena really flourished in school.  She made lots of friends, was kind and smart and made us so proud at every conference we went to.  Her teachers were awesome and she is very excited to go back next year with her friends.  Her birthday falls just before the cutoff for kindergarten, so she really could go to the big school this fall.  But we felt that she would benefit more from another year of preschool before sending her onto kindergarten. I hope that was the right decision...how do you ever really know for sure?

I brought Lena to work with me one day (because Rich went with Sam to the kindergarten pool day and Lena was jealous:) She was so good at work that I actually was able to get a lot done.  As her reward, she played in the fountains right outside my office before we headed home. 

Next was Sam's field day/last day of school, for which I was able to volunteer. So I spent the whole day with my boy and all his friends playing games, laughing, eating snow cones, singing happy birthday to all the kids who didn't have a birthday during the school year. Sam amazed Rich and I with how much he learned this year, how quickly he learned it, how easily some things came to him and how he persevered at those that didn't.  And we were surprised and awed by his mad artistic skills, about which his teacher (who is the best) spoke to us several times.  We couldn't be more proud.

We are in love with our new town.  We happened onto a street fair one Friday evening when we headed downtown for a bite to eat and had such a lovely time.  It was a very Normal Rockwell night.  Love those unplanned perfect times.

Then Sam cut Lena's beautiful long golden hair one weekend morning while Rich and I were attempting to sleep in until 8:30.  How dare we, right?  So in addition to him being grounded (which has happened to them both a couple of times already this summer), I had to cut the rest for her and even it up without hacking it into a pixie.  There were a few strands that were shorter than I cut, but I couldn't make myself cut anymore.  It could have been much worse...but still...grrrrr...

We've enjoyed some tickets through my office lately.  The first set was for a Columbus Crew game, which was awesome! The game was exciting and fun and, best of all, we won!

Memorial Day...went to visit Nan and Papa's grave and Grandpa and Uncle John's graves.  It was a lovely day, the kids asked a lot questions and we shared memories about these amazing people.

My husband has been in high woodworking gear this summer.  He's been making birdhouses to sell, which are adorable and functional, and he fixed up the second rocking chair I pulled from someone's trash.  He's so talented...one of the too-many-to-count reasons I love this man of mine.

Rainy day artistry. :)

The second set of tickets we got from my office were to a Clippers game.  And this time we had enough for the whole family to join us, which luckily they were all available to do!  Such a good time.

Rich's birthday lunch at Longhorn.

Hanging with Miles on our back porch.

Family bike ride pit stop.

The kids and I have been volunteering with WARM on Thursdays to help serve free lunches to kids who usually get them during the school year.  We've made some good friends and had lots of fun.  This day a firetruck stopped by for a tour and the kids loved it!

Rich set up the GIANT tent Mom and Dad won at a silent auction at last year's Relay for Life.  We kept it in the backyard all weekend and the kids and their neighborhood friends had a blast!

This week Mom took Lori, the boys, me and the kids to the zoo. What a fun day!  It was a little rainy, but we had fun, laughed, ate, the kids pet a snake and some sea creatures, and had up close and personal experiences with a bear and a gorilla.

And today Rich built these for the kids.  I swear, he's so awesome.  I ran to the thrift store and found two old duvet covers, which I cut and draped over Rich's freshly made amazing tent frames, and voila...tepees!  Tepees that are easy to take down and fold up and store in the corner of the garage.  Double score for Daddy!  



Lots of fun summer memories made so far.  I'm so grateful for each one...and can't wait for more!