Summer begins

One... two... three months since my last post. I keep promising to do better and failing. Oh, well. We'll say it's because I'm too busy living life to take a moment to write about it. ;-)

Summer break has been here for almost a month now (for me). I have been going a little stir crazy not having something to get me out of the house and challenge me every day. Being a stay-at-home parent is a completely different mindset and I've had a hard time readjusting to it.

Of course, we have to blog briefly about the last few weeks of school. I was quite pleased with the graduation ceremony my preschool pulled off. My co-teacher and I were given pretty much full control of what would go down and it ended up being amazing. Starting with the slideshow video I put together and ending with how well each of the students did when it was actually their turn to cross the stage. I took multiple pictures with students I have come to love. (The one actually posted is with a student I had this year AND last year. Such a sweetheart!)

Have I shared my awesome haircut on this blog yet?

Lucky for me, my school schedule let us out a full week ahead of the girls, which meant I was able to attend their award ceremonies and end of year parties. Cadence earned all of the awards she could potentially earn in her classroom. I was a little surprised she didn't get the art award again this year, but I know she's an amazing artist and we don't need a certificate to prove it. ;-)

Megan's ceremony was a little more involved since it was also her program (Cadence's program was for Thanksgiving). Megan also got every award the teachers handed out. I was also pretty proud of her earning a PE medal. The PE coach keeps track of their lap times and the top 20 girls get a medal. Megan was #11.

Then came their actual last day of school. It was dress-code free day, so they were more than happy to don their favorite at-home dresses instead of the polo shirts required of them.

At last, summer! We had a long first week where we all went a little nutso. The rainy weather kept us from making use of free time, pools, splash pads and all the other things that usually accompany summer. Luckily, the second week had better weather and the girls were able to attend the same dance camp they went to last year. This year, we were able to attend the little party the church that hosted the camp put on. The kids had a blast. There were sno-cones, popcorn and an inflatable obstacle course that Connor stubbornly conquered.

The week after dance camp, we had to venture an hour north of home to the other end of Houston. There was no way I would be going to be only 10 minutes from the temple and not stop by for a visit. I was also wanting a little bit of the peace that comes just from being on temple grounds. The kids loved it. A few times their excitement got the better of them, but I don't think anyone minded hearing the occasion squeal of delight on temple grounds.

And that brings us to this past week. The girls got to attend the first of three VBSs I signed them up for this summer (to get them out of the house!). I love that there were so many VBS options near us. I must have combed through at least a dozen options before settling on the ones that our schedule best. I especially enjoyed the conversations I had with the girls as I drove them home and we discussed what things they'd learned about. Of course, most of their stories involved what they had for snack or what game they'd played in the rec room, but...

So, that's the last 3 months in a nutshell. Upcoming: another VBS next week, James has a week off for 4th of July, I'm working a summer camp the week after that (the kids are attending) for my school, another VBS, then I'm off to a work conference the week after that. I think I have a week of nothing to do before I'm back to work again. Even vacation's not really vacation around here!