Summer Happenings

Things have been pleasantly dull around my house for the past few days.  We have been enjoying some sun by the pool, spending time with family and friends, eating (marshmallow pie, anyone?), and just generally have a good time.  Isn’t that what summers are for?   A little of this and a little of that…

1.  Bean is in swimming lessons right now (he finishes on Friday), and he is actually swimming!  Like, for real!  He can jump in the pool, swim, float, and manage wonderfully without his swimmies.   He has two awesome teachers, and he is just loving it.  I think we might see if he can register him for another round this summer because he loves it so much.  I’ve also taken to calling him Michael Phelps.  He doesn’t get it.  Oh, but he will…

2.  I recently finished my super trashy, completely not age-appropriate summer reading novel, “Beautiful Creatures.”  I could pretend I read it because I’m a middle school teacher, but that’s not true.  I just loves me some witch romance, y’all!  I cain’t help it!  I have now moved on to “Gone Girl.”  Funny thing about that book.  I was in the middle of reading it when my dad passed away, and so, for whatever reason, I just couldn’t finish it.  I had no desire to pick it up ever again.  I saw it at a girlfriend’s house the other day, though, and told myself I was being silly.  So, I’m reading it now.  I think I am close to the plot twist in the middle of the book I keep hearing about.  I have no idea what is going to happen, but after all the hype, I feel like I’m on a rollercoaster and we are slowly climbing to the top of the first drop.  The anticipation is killing me! 

3.  Gracie insists on wearing sunglasses everywhere she goes now.  But she has a hard time putting them on, and she won’t let me help her.  So, she walks around like this most of the time: 

4.  We are potty training with Gracie, and it’s going really great!  She is wearing panties almost all the time when we are home, and uses a Pull-Up when we go out.  She has about one accident a day, but usually she still tells me and she just has it on the way to the bathroom.  The hardest part of potty training Gracie is getting her to sit on the potty long enough.  I have tried singing songs, telling stories, reading books, asking questions, etc.  The other day, I got so desperate that I gave her a box of her bows and let her go to town on my head while she sat on the potty.  I think it’s a really attractive look.  Kind of like a hat.

5.  This weekend, Chris and some friends loaded up a dumpster that we rented with the wood from the old deck that they had torn down a while ago.  It was hot, heavy work, so after they finished, we all spent the afternoon out by the pool.  We floated all afternoon, and watched Bean show us his new swimming moves.  It was a pretty great day. 

6.  I have been missing my dad lately a lot.  I just haven’t been able to shake it.  It’s nice to be around my mom when that happens, so I called her on Sunday afternoon and asked if she wanted to come down and spend the night.  Turns out, she was in a similar little slump, so we had a nice two days together just shopping and talking and running errands and playing with the kids.  We both felt better by the time she left.  On August 11, it will be one year since my dad died.  I think we are all mentally and emotionally preparing for that time, and it’s nice to know that we can do that together.

7.  The other day after swimming lessons, I was trying to think of something to do with the kids.  I had left the house without any plans at all, and I was racking my brain trying to think of somewhere we could go play.  Finally, I decided to duck into our local library branch.  I needed a new book to read, and they have a pretty good children’s section for the kids to play in.  Lo and behold, we walked in and standing in the entry foyer was a library staff member directing people to the children’s hour!  We were right on time!  We scooted in, sat down, and listened to a few books being read and sang some songs together.  It was a lot of fun, and it made me so thankful to be a teacher and have opportunities like this with my kids during the summer.

8.  One day last week, we met a friend and her kids down at the Downtown Disney splash pad to play.  We ended up playing in the splash pad, and then spending a few hours walking around Downtown Disney.  We walked down to the Rainforest Cafe and looked at all the animals outside on the sidewalk, and then we walked down to see the boats coming in and out of the dock.  It was a nice change for our morning, and the kids had a great time.

9.  We have been having such fun little adventures that I haven’t done laundry in a very lonnnnnnng time.  The situation is so dire that I have to do a load tonight or else Bean won’t have any underwear in the morning.  Fo reals. 

10.  I made two recipes the other night from Pinterest and BOTH worked!  I made lemon chicken (which I cannot say without thinking about Deborah from “Everybody Loves Raymond,” I even called it “Deborah’s Lemon Chicken!”) and for dessert I made a s’mores pie.  I was testing out that recipe for the 4th of July, and it was AWESOME!  So delicious, and stupidly simple.  The recipe calls for homemade graham cracker crust, but I just bought one.  Made it even simpler and still so yummy.  Make both.  You’ll love them!