I couldn’t be happier with how things turned out this year for the boys. Davis & Dylan got great teachers and all their close friends are in their class.

I even lucked out and Laurie M. & Wendy’s kids are in each of my boys classes. Whoohoo! Now I’ll be able to call them to get updates on activities, homework, projects, and friendship updates. My boys don’t tell me a thing, so it’s nice to have an extra pear of ears in the room. {{evil laugh}}

Davis’ Teacher

Dylan’s Teacher

Davis is going into the 4th grade.

Dylan’s going into 2nd grade.

Drake is really upset about it.

Me? Not so much.

There’s a lot to catch up on since I was out an entire week. So these are a few of the things we were up to our last week before school.

Our last excursion with Rebecca was to the National Scouting Museum. Considering we have 5 boys between the 2 of us, it was a good choice. They all had a blast!

Me? Not so much. Drake was a wild child and became immediately attached to this mechanical mannequin. He kept calling it grandpa and wanting to touch it. Which, of course, is not allowed. His attachment to men is now starting to creep me out. 😉

I chased Drake all through the museum a couple times while the older 2 were checking out the shooting range, pinewood derby track, all the computers, and games. Davis & Dylan absolutely loved it. Davis filled out their quiz and got a huge ribbon at the end. Considering his love language is “gifts” the boy was grinning ear to ear when he received it. Dylan didn’t want to do the quiz so he was naturally bummed when he saw Davis’ ribbon.

They all went hog wild in the Scouting store. Davis is now in the Weblos and Dylan will be a Wolf in a couple weeks so we got their new books while we were there. I’m so appreciative for the Scouting program. It’s perfect for my boys interests, energy level, and love languages. {{YAY for me}}

It was bitter sweet that this was our last excursion for the summer. Davis & Dylan have really impressed me this summer and have behaved themselves better this summer than ever before. We’ve been able to really kick back and enjoy ourselves, not stress out about chores or behavior. Which is a needed change. I got to revert back to “fun mom” and not speech therapist, behavior therapist, social skills teacher, etiquette teacher, drill Sargent and task master. It was a relief.

I’ve really had so much fun hanging out with Rebecca and her kids. She has impressive children! I’ve grown to appreciate and adore them this summer. Drake is especially attached to “Vana” and “Esl“. I don’t blame him, I think I have a crush too. 😉 They are so kind and cute with him. I really love my boys around Rebecca’s boys. My boys just seem to walk a little taller and watch their P&Q’s around them. She has done such a wonderful job raising her children and I can’t hang out with her enough she so amazing. We’ll miss being around them every week.

Considering all the chasing I’ve done with Drake this summer – it will be nice to get back to our little play groups and let other children chase him for a change. Geeze!

We had more friends over this summer than ever before. The boys have finally developed some close friendship. It’s a relief and a blessing. About time!

The boys have discovered Lego.com which uses a 3D software program that’s a dummed down version of the software Jason uses at work. Can you believe that! They are a shoe-in for engineers. 😉

Drake has started singing! This is a huge milestone for the little stinker who won’t talk. “Twinkle Little Star” is his favorite but here we’re singing “Far More” by The Honorary Title, from the Mix CD Weesa made me.

Sunday he said “Drake” for the first time! I screamed so loud in surprised and happiness he got a huge kick out of it and said it several more times. He still won’t say “Davis” and Davis is starting to get a complex.

Crazy kid.

I made several thank you gifts inspired by this Tip Junkie post and According to Kelly. It says, Thank you for “chews-ing” us to come over for dinner. We had a “ball”.

I bought the stuff for lots of extras so I can whip out a cute thank you at a moments notice. I need to get back to being good at little things like that. So I started a ‘gift box’ and have been collecting unique gifts so when I’m invited to an impromptu event I can grab something quickly.

Monica gave me these beautiful sunflowers as a thank you for teaching her class. Gorgeous!

It was a fun week but I really missed my computer. I would have thought that the blogging/communication break would be a nice change. But it wasn’t. I have too many people relying on me and I had spent 2 weeks getting prepared ahead of things for upcoming events. All that preparation was lost with a week with out Internet & phone. Now I’m still behind despite all my efforts to get ahead of the game.

Seriously. Sometimes I feel like I just can’t win.

For instance, Monica asked me to teach a class on getting organized for school to her Young Women. I prepared a while ago and put most of my research on Tip Junkie as well as an online filing system I use. The only problem was that I didn’t have internet or phone service!

Monica couldn’t get a hold of me and thought I was ignoring her and I couldn’t access my research to get the information I needed. I had my first real panic-attack at 3:30 when my friends Mac wasn’t doing what my PC does. Luckily, it was Wendy to the rescue and she watched my kids while I “made it work”.

I was able to improvise and made a 3 page hand out with a fraction of the info I had prepared for the class. I gave each of the girls a copy on 2 sided scrap paper Chanda suggested a while ago. That stuff is awesome. Anyway, we ended the class making beaded bookmarks. I think the girls had fun.

I know you aren’t surprised that we went to the lake, again. It has been a great thing for our family but honestly I’m water-logged. I’m done done done with water and chasing Drake at the lake. I won’t even soak in the tub anymore a quick shower for this girl. I’m in need of some serious dehydrating.

We met up with lots of friends and people from church at Possum Kingdom Lake. We felt honored to be invited and really had a great time. It was my friend Laurie’s birthday and I was delighted that she asked us to spend the day with them on such a special day.

The only problem is that I was on high alert with Drake. And in true form he was as destructive as ever.

Early on in the day, he pulled off the one of the gold letters off the leather seat on their boat! Can you believe it!! I was mortified and honestly it took me several hours to let it go inside my head. I was so embarrassed, disappointed, and sad that he broke something on the boat they’ve only had for a month. Yes, they’ve only had it a month. {{pulling hair out}}

Laurie’s husband kept assuring me that it’s no big deal and that’s why they bought a used boat so they could run it into the ground. But I still felt terrible. I thought I was keeping such a close eye on him and making sure he wouldn’t damage anything. That kid is going to turn me grey before my time. He reminds me so much of Davis when he was a toddler. I’m not sure I have it in me to repeat those years.

It was a good week – a little hectic at times – but a good week. I realized that I really do enjoy Tip Junkie. Lately it has felt more like a hectic job than an enjoyable passion. The Internet break rejuvenated me and helped me realize that I need to simplify a bit – decide on some real goals and implement only those goals. Tip Junkie can’t be everything to everyone. I don’t allow that in real life – I’m not sure why I was allowing it online. I guess it all boils down to boundaries and choosing the “best” not just allowing/doing the good.

Bottom line: I missed you guys terribly and I’m glad to be back!