Happy "I'm in charge" Day!

Here is how Aidan decided to spend is special day.  He picked out all the details and it was a full day!

Krispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast.

All Star Sports - the ticket eater.

Hit the jackpot!

All Star Sports - Climbing Wall

All Star Sports - Laser tag with Carter.

All Star Sports - Go Carts

Subway sandwiches for lunch.

Movie - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2

Present time (after a dinner of grilled brats, fresh tomatoes and peaches, corn on the cob, cucumbers, and baked beans)!

Swimming

Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake

Movie with Dad - This 10 year old and his Dad thought he was finally old enough for The Dark Knight.

10 crazy years old!  I love you Aidan!!!

Good to be Home

Sometimes the stress and exhaustion of a family vacation can really wear on you.  I know that I hesitate to take all the long road trips, or the hiking and camping trips that Kip and Aidan love.  They take a lot of planning and patience.  But one thing that a vacation like this does for me, is remind me how much I love my home and the comforts of home.  I am utterly exhausted from the trip, but so happy to be hanging out at home today.  Looking back at the 9 day trip, I can see that we had a lot of fun!

Because I have these pictures handy, I will share one of the many highlights of our family's summer vacation.  We took a river rafting tour on day 8 of our vacation.  I found one that wasn't too fast and had little chance of bouncing out a two year old, so we could ride together.  The pictures the tour company took are a pretty funny, play by play of the kid's faces so I am going to show you a lot.  It looks pretty rough, but of course they took the pics at the few whitewater drops there were (Don't worry Dad...).

You can see that Owen and I got the dry side of the boat.  Somehow Aidan didn't...

Whatever Happened to the Lazy Days of Summer?

10 Days!  That's all the rest I got!  I started my class a week and a half after school was out and its been crazy ever since.  The first two weeks of June I took a 5 hour graduate certification course in the Kodaly method of teaching music.  I was so down in the dumps after my really tough year that I dreaded the class.  I needed the hours to re-certify my KS teaching certificate.  I was told it would be really tough, but I didn't realize how hard it would be.  I was shocked at the amount of work that I had to do (my family was really shocked at the disappearance of mom!).  I was up until 2 a.m. every night and in choir class by 8 a.m. every morning - a shock to my body (and a testament that college is better suited twenty year olds). Most nights I didn't get home until after 6 and I started my homework by 7:30. After two weeks I was wiped out but surprisingly renewed.  I remembered why I loved teaching music and it was really fun to sing with fabulous musicians again.  I got a lot of new ideas and this method has put so many things together for me.  I am actually excited to try this new framework with my students.  Why didn't they teach me this 15 years ago?!?!?

The summers are so busy anymore.  I remember spending days on end lying by the pool. It's just not realistic to do that any more.  We are spending most of our time getting ready for Halloween and Christmas.  We have to get all the websites ready and the advertising printed.  We spent 5 days on a trip to Dallas Market getting the stuff for the Christmas shop.  I am squeezing in time for my own work as design jobs are picking up again.  But, I do feel like I am actually getting a chance to work on projects around my house (still nothing completed...).  And, of course, the kids are always need my attention or some entertainment.  Now,  here it is one week from our family reunion/summer vacation and I have had only 2 days at the pool!  We will try hard to enjoy what summer is left!

Here are a few reminders of summer fun.

 Jacob, Kennedy, and Aidan 

  What 4th of July would be complete without sparklers?

Wallpaper fun!  I ran out of paper, but this is going to be so pretty when I'm finished!