Summer, summer, summertime

Cruise countdown: 351 days.

As you might have noticed, I have added a ticker underneath our cruise countdown which depicts a goal that is not only closer, but near & dear to my heart -- yes, the back-to-school countdown.

Fifty-two days, eight more Mondays, a mere six weeks until I can stop stressing about what to do with my kid each day & stop relying on others for help. That last part is what drives me batty the most. I *hate* needing other people's help in order to just get through the day, so this summer thing really throws a kink into every fiber of my being. I knew this stress would show up eventually, but I didn't realize it'd get here just a few short weeks after school got out. For the record, I'm eternally grateful to Mimi, my Dad, & Amy for all their help this summer. Without you guys, we'd be screwed. I ♥ you all!

When I'm not worrying about all the things I have to get done each day, I'm obsessing over the World Cup. I love this tournament. LOVE IT.

I'm going to be pretty bummed after July 11, when it's all finished and we have to wait another four years. [sigh] But, Aaron loves it too, so he's started looking into ways we could go to a World Cup in the future. They have already picked the host country for 2014 (Brazil), but we'll have to keep watching for World Cups farther down the line. We would love to experience something like this in person, and since Z loves soccer, I think it'd be an amazing thing for him to see, as well. Maybe one day?

I've recently found an app for my iPhone that has given me a new way to take pictures and feed my photo addiction, while not lugging my beast of a camera around with me 24/7. Taking that thing with me everywhere becomes a hard task in the summer, since I'm rarely in one place for very long, and I'm in my car more than anything. (Texas summer heat + camera lenses = bad.) Example of what I mean from two weeks ago, Thursday:

6:00am - drive to work
8:15am - panicky boss comes in, asks me to go find food enough to feed 10 adults, within 2 hrs
8:30am - drive to grocery store in search of party platters
8:45am - drive to Chik-Fil-A in search of party platters
9:00am - drive to Wal-Mart across the street from Chik-Fil-A to kill time while my platters come to life
9:20am - drive back over to Chik-Fil-A
9:30am - drive back to work
11:30am - drive to designated meeting point to pick up Z from Mimi
12:05pm - drive to get something for me & Z to eat
12:45pm - drive Z to art camp
12:55pm - drive back to work
2:30pm - drive to pick Z up from art camp
3:00pm - drive home
3:25pm - detour, and drive off a cliff

Ok, that last part isn't true, but don't think I didn't want to do just that. Minus the party platters, and that list describes the first two weeks Z was out of school. Needless to say, the thought of driving now-a-days makes me cringe a little bit, but I'm hoping things will die down now that Z's not doing any more camps. Either way, I've been finding a way to keep myself sane by taking pictures with my phone, and though they are camera pics, they still come out awesome. I'm so happy - thank you, makers of Hipstamatic. You light up my life. (cue Debbie Boone)

My first try with the app - this is my computer printer in my office.


In the courtyard, at Z's school while I was waiting for him to get out of camp.


An overpass by our house.


Art camp.


Art camp, v2.0.


Z's painting.


Sweet Hayden.


Precious Ashley.


Baby feet.


A church in our neighborhood.


Dell's solar panel parking lot.


A favorite work snack.


[sigh]


Even weeds can be pretty.

Our right-side neighbors finally took off on their quest to Alaska, so we had new neighbors move in a week or two ago. We have been very lucky to have the same neighbors on all sides of us for almost the entire 10 years we've been in our house, but sadly, I think the lucky streak has come to a screeching halt. The new people have at least 4 cars parked in the driveway and the street at all times, and the cars rotate out. Lots of different people coming & going, which we are definitely not used to. We've been trying not to be a-holes & pass judgement, but then they did this over Father's Day weekend:

Parked partially blocking our driveway.

Not a good way to start things off. They left their car here like this for 24 hours, until Aaron finally had to go over & knock on the door to get them to move it so he could back out. Oh, Scott & Traci, we miss you already. Thank you for never blocking us in our own driveway. On a lighter note, Aaron had a butterfly land on him the morning of Father's Day, and he got some kick-ass shorts from my parents - all good things.

They have skull & crossbones all over them. Sorry for the tiny pic.

Other than counting down days, picture-taking, work, and new neighbors, we've just been keeping busy with trips to the pool & lots of reading.

We signed Z up to do his school's honors reading program this summer, so we've made a few trips to the library already. It makes Aaron & I so happy to see him read & get into a story, and it made Aaron just as happy to see the library so jam-packed when we were there the other day. His words were, "well, it's good to know not every kid out there will turn out to be an idiot after all." Ah, spoken like a true lover of books.

Here's to hoping I can stop feeling so worried about how to balance my son being home & my ever-increasing work load, and I can remember stressing doesn't do anything but take time away from my precious boy. I'll keep trying to get more sleep & running three times a week to get rid of the junk, so I can focus on the fun of summer. Gotta think positively & creatively, because thoughts become things, so I have to choose the good ones.

Three things I'm grateful for today:

1. My Dad.
2. Amy.
3. Mimi.

Until next time, peace & pastries to everyone. xoxo

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' ...

Wow, another two or three weeks have whizzed by. And they have kept me busy, like always. I swore I would sit down tonight & blog though, no matter what. It's been nagging me, so I'm hoping this will make feel better once I'm caught up. (I think I'd be much better at consistency if I were getting paid for this ...)

Before I forget - cruise countdown: 367 days. HELL yes. Almost at the one year mark!

We are done with first grade! As I've mentioned a thousand times over the previous nine months, I can't believe he's getting so old so quick. *poof* What a great year it was, filled with lots of laughs, new friends, and a few manageable challenges.

He and his dear friend.

Z's fabulous teacher.

Three of my most favorite people.

We squeezed in one more field trip before the last day of school. This time we went to McKinney Roughs Park, which is a nature reserve & packed with all kinds of cool stuff. The kids (and parents!) got to touch turtles, a snake, and a baby alligator, which thrilled them all.

After the reptilian meet 'n greet, we had lunch, then set out on a hike. WOW, it was hot. Summer has arrived very early this year, and we were feeling it in full force that day. The kids were melting right before our eyes, doing everything short of faking their own deaths to try & get out of it. My son resorted to sitting down every time we stopped to supposedly learn something, and even stuck his water bottle down the back of his shirt to cool off. Crafty.

Scenery on the hike.

Trend-setter, he is.

The line of dragging children.

More pretty scenery along the way.

Gotta do whatcha gotta do.

A few weeks before the field trip, we participated in the school's annual "Fun Fest", once again. This year we chaired the dunk tank, instead of the cotton candy booth, which was a wise decision. It was nice to go home and not stick to my car or my furniture when everything was said & done. We had a few teachers (reluctantly) volunteer to be dunked, but until they showed up, Aaron was Dad-of-the-year and sat in the tank. It was hilarious.

Mr. Daigle took the prize for best sport, dressed up in his wig & "Vote for Pedro" shirt.

Z got gutsy & decided he wanted to try the rock-climbing wall. He was the first kid of the day to get all the way to the top, & he loved the thrill of it all. I think he did it three times over the course of the day.

Mommy heart attack #1

A little higher, so Mommy heart attack #2

He made it! Stud!

The weekend before Memorial Day, we crammed in a road trip to Port Aransas with the Young family. What a blast this trip was! We rented a big condo from the internet (which we ended up loving), hung out in the sun (which we also loved), and grilled a feast (which we always love doing when we get together). This was the first time Z had ever gone to Port A with a friend in tow, so he thought it was the best trip ever. We're planning another trip in July, if the Gulf isn't smothered in oil by then. [sad face]

Home away from home.

Our street.

A lovely patio that we didn't use because we were actually being eaten alive by mosquitos. Who would've thunk they would follow me to the beach?

The living room.

Where all the magic happened.

It had a loft, which made for two enthusiastic boys.

Beautiful.

Malcolm, doing one his favorite things.

Karen, doing her absolute favorite thing. (Despite her crappy taste in chairs.)

My two most favorite people, relaxing.

Had to take the Young's to our favorite dive on the beach.

Mmmm, lunch.

The only picture Karen would let me take of her facing me.

Happy dudes.

Can't go to Port A without taking a picture in the shark.

We also had Z's last soccer game the morning after the last day of school. I must admit, I'll be a little happy to get my Saturday mornings back, but I know I'll be jonesing for more time on the sideline by the Fall. We were really lucky to get to know Z's coach & his family, so we gained a few more new friends. Love it!

Z and his coach, mid-game.

Action shot. (Wedgie shot, too. Oops.)

Whew! That sums up the past few weeks, I think. (See why I haven't been on the computer?)

Now, we are solely focused on on having fun with Z over the summer break - all lousy 9 weeks of it. Gah! Does anyone else besides my husband remember when summer was actually 3 full months?? Oh, how times have changed. Since he's older, we're ok with signing him up to do *some* stuff (helps resist the temptation of playing the Wii twenty-four hours a day). No offense to any Moms out there, but I've never been a big fan of signing kids up for camp after camp after camp & keeping them busy so they don't get bored (aka - so they'll stay out of your hair). I think summer is the perfect time for them to be creative, to read, and for us to spend oodles of time together swimming, laughing, and staying up past bedtime watching movies. Z asked to repeat the only camp he's ever done, which was last summer for one week of half-days. It was a "young scientist" camp at the Austin Children's Museum and he absolutely loved it, so we had a good experience. Unfortunately, the ACM camp this year for his age group was an all-day thing versus half-day, so we opted out. I just think that'd be too much for him & his 7-year old attention span. He took the news well (because he had no desire to do an all-day camp), and then asked to do the basketball camp & the art camp that his school was offering, so we said ok. When those are over June 18th, he'll just be hanging out a lot with me, Dad, Grandpa, Preston, & Thomas. We want him to really relax, break up his routine, and have tons of fun. So much so, that we're planning our next quick trip to Six Flags as we speak. He's finally tall enough for roller coasters - BRING IT! Hey, you only get to be 7 once, and your summers disappear once you become an adult ... what better time for him to let loose & just be a kid?

Three things I'm grateful for today:

1. A/C. (We may have tons of fun in the summer, but I'm not stupid.)

2. Being a Mom.

3. Snow cones.

As the weeks go on, my life will slowly be consumed with attempting to balance my crazy workload & having summer fun, so I still can't promise I'll write again very soon. I just promise it'll be sooner than later. Until then, peace & pastries to everyone. Muah!