Where's Your Joy?

It's been a ca-razy week. Preston has been at fencing camp for a few hours each morning. It sounds cool, but it was a total waste of money. There's about 30 kids in the class, and I think they have 4 swords. When I ask Preston what he did at camp he says "freeze tag" and "catch the bacon". We could have done that at home for free.

In the midst of fencing camp, it's been "sassy" week for P-Ditty. He's normally a sweet boy, but is gearing up for the "sassy sevens". No one warned me about "sassy sevens", but apparently, lots of kids get this wicked virus - both boys and girls.

Tonight was especially bad. So I asked Preston, "where's your joy?"...and he said "my joy took a summer vacation...it will be back when school starts...but don't even think about putting me in summer school!" I can only hope his joy will return with the first bell. Until then, I'll need to find that "sassy sauce" to cure this little virus. (sassy sauce = tobasco on the tongue)

Night night

High School Musical

Last night, we went to see High School Musical at Fair Park with some friends. Preston is a fan of the movies and TV Joe came home with some pretty great tickets, so off we went. We decided to catch a bite before the show and headed to Grimaldi's Pizza in Uptown. It's freaking awesome pizza. The boys were so excited. We sat at a table with bar stools. We let them order sugar-laden, caffeinated beverages. Which is when the Dr. Pepper jokes started. "Where does a jalapeno go when he gets sick? Dr. Pepper" That was the best one, but I will say the creative joke telling lasted about 15 minutes. Little boys are funny. After the pizza, we headed over to Fair Park for the big show. Both boys were acting like it was no big deal, for fear that they would not look cool in front of the other. But they loved it.

After getting settled in our seats, getting a little snack and a small glass of wine for the moms to suck down in order to tolerate the show, I busted out my camera to document the night. Snap, flash, done. From out of nowhere, appeared a theater attendant.

"You're going to have to delete that picture."

"What?"

"There's no flash photography during the show"

"Um, it's 7:45pm...there is no show."

"And I'm going to take your camera and you can pick it up after the show. Here's your claim ticket."

"WHAT? How about I just put it up and not use it anymore?

"No, we're taking all cameras. You can pick it up after the show."

"What about all those cell phones out there? Are you taking them up?"

"If they get caught."

It was at that moment I remembered there were 2 little boys with me, watching me. I handed over the camera and muttered the words "well, rules are rules."

So...no moment captured on film. But then again, after watching the show, I'm not sure I really want a memory. The kids liked it...I thought it kinda stunk.

Only in Teh-xus!

Preston spent the week at Adventure Daycamp at a local lake. He swam in the lake, went on a canoe, shot a bow and arrow, shot a bb gun, shot a "rifle" (aka air pump up gun thingy), played games, did a talent show, played on a water slide and ended the week with a pizza party. Oh to be 6 again.

Middle of the Summer

As I've stated in earlier posts, this is my first summer to stay home with the boys. I am working twice a week and the kids head to my in-laws for the day. Preston likes to go to Mimi's house because he has a friend next door and he has a ton of Legos and a pool. When you are six, that's like paradise. We've had a good summer so far. Preston took swim lessons the last week of May and he's swimming like a fish. I still watch him, but it's nice to know he can make it to the side of the pool now. I have him in camps every other week to occupy his time. The first was tennis and swim camp. I had some great pics from this camp, but I can't find the email anywhere. Trust me, it was precious. The camp was at a park in the next town over, and the pool there was 12ft deep and had a big diving board. Oh yeah.

Next was VBS. I volunteered to help in the baby hall. Since we had Preston, my church friends have been working VBS and tell me how fun it is and how they gabbed for 3 hours and served little snack and made little crafts. I was deeply jealous. I usually did not care that I was missing things being a working mom, especially since I always had really flexible jobs. But VBS...there was no way I could take a week to work VBS and I was always jealous. So this year, I got to help and gab with my girlfriends while serving little snacks and making little crafts. It was everything I wished for. Bergen had so much fun with his friends. He's getting so big and independent. By the end of the week, he did not even shed a tear when I dropped him off. Preston had fun at VBS - he was with the big kids since he's entering 1st grade. He started asking questions about becoming saved. I think we have some time to work it out with him. He's so little - we need to make sure he really understands.

We had a great 4th of July. Our cousin and his wife and daughter came to stay with us. It was awesome having a 2 year old little girl around. We watched Annie and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. She's adorable. We did this 4th of July old school - blow up pools and firecrackers. The kids had a great time - we had tons of good food, some awesome sangria and homemade vanilla pudding. God Bless America and thank you Lord for landing me in the south. Yee haw.

The rest of our days have been filled with "brotherly love". These boys fight like cats and dogs. I can really tell it's the middle of the summer because tensions are high and it's harder to entertain them outside. We hang out at the pool at the gym a lot. The other day I heard the following argument about some random toy.

B - "MINE!"

P - "MINE!"

B - "MINE!"

P - "MINE!"

B - "MINE!"

P - "MINE!"

B - "MINE!"

P - "MINE!"

B - "pweeze?"

Preston and I burst into laughter. It was the cutest thing.

It's moments like these that I praise God for this one summer. I'm ok if I go back to a real job because I have this one summer to hold on to. And I hold dear to the times when we go out with our friends to enjoy a glass of chilled white wine. I swear it's the best therapy out there. Cheaper and healthier than prozac, that's for sure.