Memorial Weekend

We did quite a lot of socializing, as well as lazing about this weekend. We had Chris' co-worker Chris and his family over for dinner Friday night and grilled hamburgers on Chris' new grill. We've been without one for a very long time, so we've been catching up for lost time this past week.

Chris has been doing so much work lately on the deck, he inspired me to kick it in gear and do a little something I had been putting off. The top and seats of Clara's picnic table had warped and were growing some lovely fungus, so we replaced them and I sanded the base and painted the whole thing. Robert helped Daddy screw the boards in place and they both love their new and improved table.

Saturday morning was soccer and Clara's team won. They were playing a team that was undefeated and this was their third time to play them. We were so proud of them all. Clara's team only had 5 players show up on Saturday, so they all had to stay in the entire game. Boy were they tired at the end. This particular team plays a little dirty and is more interested in winning than playing a fair game so it was an especially exciting game with very little down time.

Their star player (and coaches daughter) knocked one of our girls, who is teeny-tiny, down and when she got called by the ref, she started crying. And her mom got mad at the ref and called a time out instead of having her daughter just sit out for a minute. (There isn't supposed to be timeouts.) Every child is supposed to sit out at least once during the game, and she doesn't ever sit out. The three times we've played them, she's sat out once, for 20 seconds before the end of a quarter. The rest of the players on her team are instructed to throw the ball to her, pass the ball to her and pretty much stay out of her way. Sooo glad Clara's not on that team.

Moving on...... We had the DeCarlos over for shish-ka-bobs on the grill Monday night and playtime in the water. Chris' co-worker Medium Robert also came over for a while. Medium Robert lives in the apartments next door and has been hanging out lately, so since there's already a Big and Little Robert, he got stuck with Medium Robert. I have a few pics but I can't find the cord to get them off of the camera.

Our long weekend was extended by a day when Chris took the day off. We took Chris' co-worker, Frank, and his daughter, son-in-law and 2.5 year old grandson who were visiting to the zoo. Many of the animals were smart and hiding out in the a/c and most of the others were just trying their best not to die of heat stroke.

The chimps were pretty fun though. Several of them were right up against the glass watching us watch them.

Hugs for Clara's favorite animal.

This is a springhaas. It was sitting right against the window in a little ball asleep and then all of a sudden it fell on to its back, still asleep, and stayed there. Yes, it was alive. I could see it breathing.

I Don't Care What the Calendar Says

it's summertime and I have proof.

Ready for Kindergarten!

Clara's preschool graduation was yesterday. They were all so cute up there on stage. Each of the classes wore different colored caps and each sang a song. Clara's class sang "If I were a Butterfly". Then all of the classes sang a song together about being ready for kindergarten.

They walked up on stage when their names were called to receive their diploma and their picture was put up on the screen. They also played a slideshow of pictures throughout the school year. The kids were so funny and would oooh and ahhh loudly each time a picture came up. It was cute for about the first 30 seconds. They did it through the entire thing.

There was a little reception in the gym after the graduation. We got to take home Clara's journal that she did throughout the year. I'll have to post some of the entries. A couple of them left us scratching our heads. She also got a chocolate bar with a picture of the girls in her class on it. That was of course a hit.

Chris headed back to work and I took the kids out to lunch to celebrate. Clara got to choose, so Chinese it was. Clara wore her cap in to show Jenny, the owner. She came and gave her a hug and gave Clara her meal for free and of course an armload of fortune cookies on the way out. She's such a sweet lady.

Here's my grown up little kindergartener all ready for the fall. She can't wait! I was surprised that she wasn't sad at all about school being over and not seeing her classmates anymore. She's just soooooo ready to go to kindergarten. I really hope her enthusiasm lasts.

She had a really great preschool experience. I'm so glad that I decided to put her in. If I had any doubts about sending her to school as opposed to homeschooling, they were definitely put to rest after this past year. And especially after graduation. She was so proud. It brought back memories of how special the first and last days of school were, each eagerly anticipated. There were class parties and end of year field days, programs, talent shows, science fairs, awards assemblies, spelling bees, movies, recess, new teachers, band concerts, and the list goes on and on. I can't deprive her of all of those and countless other special moments.

As we've neared kindergarten, I've really been kind of beating myself up about what the best route is for her schooling. Although Chris is adamantly opposed to homeschooling, I do see the pros and there is that part of me that wants to hold on to her longer. I have to be realistic though and I know there is no way homeschooling would work for our family. Clara needs to be with other people and have lots of friends; she's just like her daddy. School was about friends for him, plain and simple. And Clara loves to learn (except when it's me teaching her). If she tells me that 4+5=8 and I correct her, she will go to her grave telling me I'm wrong. But she's perfectly happy to accept it when her teacher tells her that 4+5=9. Homeschooling would only result in lots of tears (hers and mine).

And then there's private school and when it comes down to it, we're just not the private school type. The smaller class size and no standardized testing is great, but I just can't bring myself to send her to a place where everyone is wealthy. I want her to have experiences with different kinds of people (good and bad, rich and poor, christian and not) and learn empathy and compassion, not shelter her in what I've deemed to be a safe little bubble.

That said, I'm not just in love with public school either. There are a host of problems there as well. I'm not going to write it off though until we've actually experienced it firsthand. It's entirely possible for her to have wonderful teachers, make great friends and not be forever scarred by the system. The wonderful thing is we can change our minds next year if things are horrible. Or the year after. One thing's for certain, public school will challenge her and she will undoubtedly have daily opportunities to let her little light shine. I have a feeling she's going to rise to the challenge and bless many people in the process.

I hope no one thinks that I'm anti-home or private school. We've got friends in all three camps. I've gone around and around trying to decide what's best for us and what I've realized is that it's not a one-size-fits-all question. Each child and each family is different and like I said, I'm open to the possibility of either in the future if that's what fits. Just kinda getting my thoughts down on paper as we've reached this milestone :)

Hats Off to the Graduate

Abilene

I loaded up the kids last Thursday morning and headed to Abilene for my cousin Nathan's wedding. The wedding was Friday night, so I decided to go a day early since I didn't think it very nice to make the kids sit in the car all day and then expect them to sit through a wedding.

Robert did pretty well on the drive. He got a good nap in and he was interested in the movies that were playing, so that definitely helped the trip go more smoothly. We stopped at a rest stop and Clara showed him how to blow dandelions. He thought that was pretty neato.

We got to Abilene around 6:00 and got checked in to our hotel. I went to pay for gas when I realized my check card wasn't in my purse. It wasn't in my pocket either. I frantically looked everywhere for it and then decided to use a credit card. We went to Denny's for some dinner and I dug through my purse again and then decided to go ahead and cancel it. I was sure I had used it for lunch earlier in the day.

It took some time, but I finally found the phone number and cancelled it. Thankfully, no charges had been made. (The next day I figured out why no charges had been made; I remembered it was in the back pocket of the shorts I had worn the night before.)

My parents and Linsey weren't getting to town until right before the wedding, so I decided to take the kids to the zoo on Friday morning. Abilene got some much needed rain for a few hours that morning and then the skies cleared and it was nice and cool when we got to the zoo around 10:00. We got in free with our Houston Zoo membership.

Clara is pretending to be a flamingo in this picture.

This peacock strutted around with his feathers up the entire time we were there. Robert was fascinated by him, but Clara found him to be a bit intimidating and wouldn't let me take a picture of her near him.

The wedding was beautiful (what I saw of it anyway). Robert was just about as wiggly as he could possibly be. I saw the procession and Katie walk down the aisle and then I quickly escorted Robert out. Linsey got there a few minutes later, so the boys played outside while the wedding took place. Clara got to stay and watch with Bia and Pawpaw.

The reception took place at the new performing arts center at ACU and everything was beautifully done. My dad has 6 siblings and they were all there along with several of my cousins, so it was fun catching up with everyone. The only problem was my darlings were acting crazy! I was sweaty from wrestling with Robert the entire time. Clara spilled her drink, it was late, I couldn't let Robert down without him bolting, so we left before it was over. Surprisingly, once in the car, they completely mellowed out. And they fell asleep fairly quickly after a full day. I took zero pictures that night because my hands were full.

Linsey wanted to go to the zoo too, so we all went back on Saturday morning. I was able to get all of us in free with my membership. The great thing about going back was that now I could get some pictures with me in them. He wasn't strutting his stuff on Saturday so Clara reluctantly consented to a picture with the peacock since I was right there with her and he wasn't 6 feet wide and 4 feet tall.

The giraffes were out on Saturday and we went across the bridge to see them up close and personal.

It took Brody awhile to warm up to the animals. This was his first visit to the zoo and he was freaking out at all of them for about the first half hour. Linsey let him out of the stroller and he finally loosened up and enjoyed looking at all of the animals.

After the zoo, we went over to Uncle Howard and Aunt Jacki's house with all of the family. We had lunch and dinner there, the kids played in the backyard and everyone enjoyed holding babies and watching the little ones play. They were so sweet to have such a large, loud crowd hanging around all day. I think there were twelve second cousins there, Clara being the oldest. So there were a few fits and fights that afternoon.

Lindsey holding Ashton.

Here's my dad playing guitar and three of his siblings.

A few of the cousins stood still long enough to snap this next picture. Clara, Clara, Laney and Benton.

Gracie and Clara swinging with Aunt Sally.

My parents stayed in our hotel room Friday night and they spent Saturday night at Howard and Jacki's house, so Linsey stayed in the hotel with us that night. It was fun trying to get all four kids to sleep and Brody coughed a lot the first part of the night but we eventually all got a good night's sleep and woke ready to make the long drive home.

Linsey and I left our luggage at the front desk and told them we were going to put the kids in their carseats and then pull around to load our luggage. (We both wondered how on earth single parents of young children handle hotel stays. What a pain!) We said our goodbyes in the parking lot, Linsey turned her car on with the remote, got the kids buckled in, and shut the door. The second the door shut she realized she had locked the keys in. Oops!

Thankfully the a/c was on and she has Onstar. Only problem was her phone was dead and the phone number was on a sticker on the windshield that she just had replaced. I stayed outside with the kids while she took my phone and went back inside to find the phone number. She talked with them for a couple of minutes and then Voila! The doors magically unlocked. I have to admit, that was pretty darn cool.

Other than that, it was a fun trip and I love getting to see family, meet new family members and introduce my kids to their Great Aunts and Uncles. Can't wait for the next get-together!

Spring Recital

Clara's recital was tonight. It was kind of a pain this year with Robert being such a busy guy that prefers not to do anything he doesn't feel like doing. Clara's class danced first though and he actually sat through her whole dance watching intently. For most of the rest of the recital, Chris or I was up walking around with him.

We weren't in a good position to get good pictures. She was behind this girl at the other end of the stage for both dances.

I was surprised to hear them playing lots of contemporary Christian music. It was playing before the recital started and between the dances and a couple of the classes even danced to some Christian songs that weren't overtly Christian sounding. Clara's class danced to the Christian song called "Hold Me".

Ironically, there were several dances that I felt were not appropriate for a children's dance recital, one of which was "Single Ladies" by Beyonce. I admit the song is catchy, I cracked up at the SNL parody of it, and when I hear it I find myself singing it. That said, I don't think 7 and 8 year olds have any business dancing to a song about being in a club, wearing tight jeans, with a guy, saying "Don't be mad when you see that he want it. If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it."

Call me a prude.

I mean really. There are plenty of wonderful, family friendly songs out there to choose from. That and a few of the dance moves in the older girls' hip hop dances left a bad taste in my mouth. I was pretty sure that this was going to be her last year of dance, but this kind of sealed the deal for me (for this studio at least). Even if she's not participating in the hip hop dances, I still feel like going to the studio is endorsing it and I want her to know what is and isn't appropriate for little girls.

One of Childhood's Simplest (Albeit Messiest) Joys

You'll have to click on the picture to truly appreciate this popsicle-eating experience.

Uh-oh. Dropped the last few bites. It takes years to perfect your eating-the-last-bites-of-a-popsicle-without-letting-it-drop technique.

Dude, the 5 second rule does not apply to popsicles dropped in the grass.