Productivity Complete!

So far today I've attended Justinb's living museum at school, gone to Starbucks for coffee, gone to yoga with KT that had a view which looked like it was straight out of Italy, and am about to start school with Shawners. I think that more than makes up for Wednesday, no?

Justinb's living museum was sooooooo cute. The kids had a button the parents and other students got to press and the kids would "come alive" and give a two minute presentation about their character. Justinb was Henry Ford. He was dressed up in a little suit and tie, with a 1950's F100 Ford truck as his prop.

 His friend was Daniel Boone next to him, and on the other side was his other friend, George W. Bush. So adorable!  Amelia Earhart, Annie Oakley, Florence Nightingale, Charles Lindbergh, Davy Crockett - they were all there. They learned SO much about so many different characters!

We pressed all of Justinb's classmates buttons, then headed to yoga with KT. OMG her view at her apartment is AMAZING.

This is a picture from Como, Italy, but looks exactly like our view this morning.

We sat there on the balcony with the breeze blowing and the tuscan plastered roof overhead in the most compromising positions that ended up being totally relaxing once I got over giggling to myself and KT that Brando would absolutely LOOOOOOOVE that I am taking that class and stretching myself to the limits, if you know what I mean. My favorite part was at the end when the instructor had us relax as he named each body part to relax. Whenever somebody tells me to relax each body part i.e. relax your shoulders, relax your elbows, relax your forearms, relax your wrists, etc, each body part goes totally limp, relaxes completely and freezes there. I feel totally hypnotized and love the feeling!

Killer Weekend

We had such a blast this weekend! By 3pm on Saturday we had all already had a completely full weekend, and now we have just been relaxing.

Yesterday morning, my girfriend, KT, and I took Shawners and road-tripped to College Station for the annual A&M Veterinary Open House.

College Station

We listened to a lecture by an exotic animal veterinarian called, "A Day in the Life of an Exotic Animal Veterinarian". We learned they do surgery on fish, wallabies, tigers, cockatoos, bald eagles, and mice. And that's all in only one day!

The exotic animal veterinarian lecture at A&M

Some of the animals they work on.

After the lecture we stood in line to take a picture with Reveille VIII BUT before you get all excited if you're an Aggie, we realized after 20 minutes that is NOT what we came there for. When we realized it would be another twenty minutes (and we were going to have to deal with super awful lady behind us, telling her daughter she was going to knock her out) to wait for the picture and our legs were already hurting we moved on! Then we walked through the large animal clinic and learned all about how they do surgery on horses and cows, and how they move them about when they are anesthized with padded rooms, and three ton lifts.

After the large animal clinic, Shawners wanted to check out the agility dogs, so we did.

Shawners resting his feet on KT. Not sure why this picture is so small!

Our next to last stop was the hallway of dogs. There were at least ten different breeds of dogs, and at least thirty dogs in all. Shawners pet every single one.

Shawners was this way with every dog there.

After that we were going to stop by the exotic animal area, but when we realized the only exotic pets they had there were the ones that we go cuddle and hold at our local exotic pet store (ferrets, snakes, turtles, iguanas, etc.) we decided the thirty-five minute wait in a line wasn't worth it. KT suggested McAllister's for lunch and off we went. Man, was I almost as thrilled about lunch as I was about the vet open house, when I realized they have .99 kids meals with a full meal, side (chips, fruit, mac n cheese, or a billion other things), and graham crackers!! Dang! The best news is we have one in Austin, and I didn't even realize it!! So excited!

Being goofy with Mommy! Not sure on the size of this one either...

.99 Killer Deal!!

On the way home we honked at the cows and waved at them like we did on the way there (something KT's Dad always does, so we carried on the tradition), and while we were a little too tired to enjoy the view again, I did snap some pictures before I zoned out to music while driving home.

The pretty drive. Sorry these are so small!

While KT, Shawners, and I were road trippin' it, Brando took JT kayaking, to his art class, and to his flag football game. Unfortunately no pictures to show for it, but they had an awesome day taking two single kayaks out (JT is getting SO big!), kayaking with a three inch draft (how far the boat goes in the water) in a four inch depth. Brando took a nap while JT was at art class. Then, took him to his flag football game where he played a KILLER game and made two awesome catches and one amazing touchdown catch!

They got home at the exact same time KT, Shawners, and I got home at 3pm! I couldn't believe we got back so early with a two hour each way road trip! After San Antonio and this one, KT and I totally rock the road trips! We went our separate ways, showered all the gunk off of us and promptly relaxed the rest of the day (especially for me after staying out til' 2am the night before with my girl Genie at an art gallery showing of Peter Max's famous work at Russell's Art Collection downtown with complimentary Lemon Drops and Cosmopolitans, catered by NoRTH - Allison you would've SOO loved it!, then hitting 7th street for live music). Whew!

Learning How to Discipline

We're in the middle of transferring responsibility to Justinbustin for his homework and book reports. With all the homeschooling and part time schooling we've done with him he's gotten so used to having his teacher at home that he has grown to lean on us to get done what he needs to get done. Now he's learning to be responsible for knowing what he needs to get done and accomplishing that on his own. It's a tough battle, but he's doing great.

On a somewhat related note, the lady he carpools with drives me nuts. On one hand she's fabulous because she has totally helped me figure out this whole public school thing and that homework needs to be a priority and he needs to treat it with priority just as if he were homeschooling or in part time school. My neighbor was the one who helped me figure out it's best to have him do it immediately after school so he can have the rest of the afternoon to play. On the other hand, the lady we carpool with is accusing my son of lying a LOT. I haven't figured out yet if she's opening my eyes or judging my kid. First of all, Justinbustin is a sneaker. Always has been. Not in a malicious way. He's too smart for his own good and will try to pull a fast one on you if you let him, i.e. my mom doesn't let me eat [insert whatever you want here]. You always have to be one step ahead of him. Well, this lady has boiled it down to him lying.

It could be it's hard for me to hear. And in the case of homework it's been true. At least in the sense he hasn't thought through his answer before he gives it to us. "Is your homework done?" "Yes." "Okay, reading, mad minutes, math homework...?" "Oh. I forgot math homework." That had to stop, which is why we're working on it now. I don't know if what is bothering me is that I can't handle the fact that my angel baby might be doing something wrong thus making him a bad person. Of course! he's not a bad person if he lies or tries to pull fast ones on us, it's something we need to PARENT him on, not get angry with him for. Still I can't help being angry with him or SOMEbody, I'm still not sure who.

The other thing that bothers me about the lady he carpools with is I hate, hate, hate (yes, that's a strong word and I've chosen to use it) how her own son is with her. He's whiny and avoidy and doesn't make eye contact with her and "slithers" (it's the best way to put it) around when she asks him to do something. If it was me? I'd be all like, "Boy you better do what I asked you to do right now or you are in the naug*ty chair a-sap (thanks Super Nanny)." He totally drives me NUTS!! That says something of her interaction with him right? So now that my son is spending four hours of his week with her is he starting to act the same way with her? And when he comes home trying to pull it off with me? Or is this more of me blaming someone else for something that was there already and I need to deal with?

I take this boy's sister to school and pick her up and take her home afterwards with Shawners as part of our carpool. When I first had the two of them in the car together they would bicker and fight, talk ugly to each other and be mean. The girl would irritate Shawners on purpose and Shawners would react by doing it back. At first we worked on having games and books to occupy them on the drive which worked okay as long as they were playing by the rules of the game. Finally the other day I got sick of it and belted out a little speech, "Shawners and Girl it is YOUR responsibility to be kind to each other when you are together. Shawners when Girl says stop it is YOUR responsibility to stop the first time, and Girl when Shawners asks you not to do something it is YOUR responsibility not to do it. Girl, when you want to ask Shawners something it is YOUR responsibility to ask in a nice manner, and Shawners it is YOUR responsibility to respond in a nice manner." I've had to repeat the speech once or twice but now they are working on writing a story together, with all of us carpool people in it, beautifully and cooperatively.

Not to pat my own back, but isn't that how the tune should go back at where Justinbustin's staying? Is he so bad that I have to step in and come down hard on my end and ground him for the last two weeks from playing, like I have, so he'll get his homework and book report done there? Put my kid on a freakin' time out for all I care. Sit him down and tell him homework is what you are doing and if you do any different you won't be allowed the privilege of playing while you're at my house. Tell him it's not my responsibility to know your homework, when you come here you get your homework done, that's what you do, and I'm not the one that needs to be telling you to do that.

So NOT Suzy Homemaker

Gah. I'm baking cookies for Justinbustin's Valentine's party at his school and have discovered that store bought sugar cookie dough is not the key to making perfectly shaped sugar cookies. In fact they make for more like heart blobs instead of heart cookies. Two tries later and we have perfect heart cookies. Unfortunately that was the only one that was absolutely perfect. The rest came out okay, some look more like heart butts than others, but it will work. Next time this suzy homemaker is going to HEB for pre-made cookies. Or going the recommended (after the fact) route of making my own sugar cookie dough recipe. Remind me not to sign up for the cookie decorating table next go around : ) .

Homeschool vs. Private School vs. Public School

Homeschooling IS amazing for those who HAVE THE ENERGY and creativity. Not all of us do, and I spent way too long convincing myself I do. I followed the relaxed homeschooling method and convinced myself I was doing enough by taking them to feed the ducks, taking them to the Chinese New Years celebration at the Asian Cultural Center (an absolute blast by the way), taking them to Dragon Boat Races on the lake, Hot Air Balloon lift offs at the local dam. While those were all amazing and an absolute blast, and may've even been an amazing learning experience for someone who was creative enough to make it into one, I wasn't. My kids watched, and it was a neat experience, but they didn't learn a darn thing about ducks, Chinese New Years, Dragon Boats, or Hot Air Balloons, except to know those things exist. Fast forward a few years, and I'm sick of coming up with things to teach them and always feeling like I'm not doing enough. He didn't know some of the most basic information. Again, had I been more creative and energetic with some of my methods I'm sure he would've had those things down pat. I wasn't.

I found a half home-school, half private school school and thought "Ah, here is the perfect fit." Especially because the brochure said I could put him in second grade math (that part is his gift, and remains today), and first grade reading. Only when we enrolled him first grade was full. So into second grade math he went. Halfway thru the year he wanted to go to school time because HEY consistent friends are FUN. I don't blame him. I feel the same way. Into full-time second grade he went. Only he was still missing first. He did okay in second thanks mostly to his AH-mazing teacher who we still stay in touch with.

The next year, we sent him to third grade and our younger one to to kindergarten. Kindergarten was an AMAZING year for the younger one and I realized HOW much my older one had missed. Teamwork, group activities, consistency, a teacher who had years of experience behind her and an even more extensive never-ending supply of creative ideas (we lucked out on that one, I realize that doesn't always happen in a school setting). Our older one, on the other hand, got the short hand of the stick this year. He's had speech difficulties since the beginning. Between making it to weekly speech appts, staying up on the overload of work at home from school, and things being taught SO fast in a two day environment, things started to come crashing down. On top of having two wonderful, but relatively inexperienced teachers in that they probably hadn't come across a kid quite as wonderful as him and pretty much had nothing to offer besides pat answers that didn't work on how to support him at home. When the school recommended we send him to a specific tutoring place that cost the same amount as the school for the year, that was the last straw. A friend of mine encouraged me to deal with his speech difficulties COMPLETELY before puberty when things start to set. He had been going to private speech therapy for years, but hardly on a consistent basis with her and my ever-changing schedules. This got me started with testing thru the public school for regular once a week speech testing, which, along with the difficulties at his current school and my complete and utter burn-out and non-desire to ever homeschool my children again drove us to enroll him in public school. With LOTS of meetings with the vice principal, registrar, and on-line information, mind you, before I felt like I could send him off to public school without worrying on my part.

What were my hang-ups on public school you ask? Fear. Mostly fear. Fear that the peer pressure would cause him to be different than something he was. Fear that the teachers would teach him something I absolutely did not want him to learn. Fear that he would prescribe to a different belief system than what we hold. Fear the education wasn't good enough for my child. I got over those fears by talking with LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of people who I admire and respect, in my church and in my life, about their views on schooling in general. So many of the ones I respect the most had sent their children to public school and spoke highly of it, also speaking of the importance of the community at home. How we as parents still have the ultimate responsibility to shape their lives, and how we are at home will do that. I have learned through my oldest going to public school that he now has two AMAZING women in his life who give their all to him 40 hours a week, happily. Not stressed out like I was. Not running dry of ideas and money, like I was. Fully loaded, ready to go. On top of that, I have gained two AMAZING women in my life who are helping me to become a successful parent by accepting and loving my child for who HE IS, not who I think he should be, or who somebody else thinks he should be. I have learned in the public school system you can make or break the experience as a parent of your child. You can either use the opportunities that come along to teach your child about life, or you can use the opportunities to bash the largest educational system in our country that is put there to give EVERYone a chance. He is receiving free speech services and his speech has improved dramatically. He is in the upper level math just like we wanted in the beginning. He is getting remediational first grade material through his teacher grading and sending his homework home with the corrections marked that I have him redo (again, I realize we are extremely lucky in that aspect and not all teachers send graded with marked corrections homework home, or even homework home at all). He has had an AMAZING year. To top it off he got to go to a winery with my husband and I, our younger, his two teachers and another teacher in his grade. How special is that?! Another fear I neglected to mention because I totally got over it, was not being a part of his education enough. That was easily solved by showing up on open house night and signing up for every volunteer opportunity I could possibly give myself to between working and homeschooling my little one. It has allowed me weekly opportunities in the classroom where I see how much he is flourishing and also get to know his teacher. On top of it all, his teachers both live in our apartment complex and his regular substitute teacher lives above us. This has all been a huge encouragement to know we are exactly in the right place at exactly the right time.

All this to say, my view is this. There is a reason you are where you are at. Don't bash where other people at. There is a reason they are there as well. Don't hold them up as gods either. They may not be in the creative, patient, wonderful loving place you think they are. Don't bash them for being non-involved or giving their kids to the system. They may be in a much more loving, creative, patient wonderful place than you think they are. Do keep an open mind to all possibilities every year as your family, life, and views evolve, and so does your childrens. Do think ahead a few years to how your decision today will affect them down the road. Do realize the system we live in and how affective you want your children to be as citizens of that system.

If you're homeschooling and are thinking of other options, think about the opportunities regular friendships create. My oldest gained a best friend from his half school and half homeschool experience. Do think of the learning opportunities gained from learning from other adults. My child is learning there is other ways to deal with anger than his mother's sometimes frustrated, stressed out responses. Do think of the consistency he MAY be missing because sometimes it's just nice to sleep in when you're homeschooling, or skip that subject because he KNOWS it already (but is it ingrained?). Do think of the accountability he will be held to for his grades, for his teamwork, for his initiative.

If you're in private school and are thinking about other options, do think about the low cost of home-schooling or public school versus private school. Do think about the benefits of home-schooling and being able to give your children those higher education opportunities without the pressures to be perfect with all your t's crossed and i's dotted literally that they require in private schools. Do think about the benefits of being able to teach your kid at his own pace. Do think about the time you will have with your child, versus the hours and hours of homework he will likely spend doing in private school. On the other side, do think of the free benefits of public school. Do think of the amazing teachers they have there. Do realize you can go in and talk to the principal of one schools, two schools, or many schools until you find one you like. If you are willing to make the drive for private school, how different is it to make the drive for public school? Do talk to the principal or vice principal and make sure they know your child personally as they will be personally responsible for choosing the teacher that best fits your child. Do realize that you can volunteer and be as much a part of your child's education as when he is in private school, only with less pressure of this project or this project, and less time spent on homework to fill in the blanks of what they missed in private school by not having the resources that public schools do.

If you are in public school and considering other options, do consider the quality one-on-one time homeschooling provides. Do consider the opportunity to get to know exactly WHO your child is before sending him off and believing what everybody else says he is. Do consider the opportunity to tailor his education directly to him, and not at one other person in his class. Do consider the lack of group following and self-initiative YOU will give him in homeschooling. With private school, do consider the amount of control you have over his schooling. You are footing the bill as much as you are in public school, but in a much more direct after tax way. You can go in and put your foot down and say this is what I want to happen. Unfortunately you have less control over the hiring of the teachers, experienced or inexperienced, and you may not have as many options as you might in a public school. All the same, do consider his friends will be more selected, because these parents are willing to work their arses off to have their kids in private school. Granted, some of them are loaded and can afford it AND their Lexus without a seconds thought, but a good majority of them break their backs to send their kids to private school because they believe it is the right thing for their child. Those children and those parents are GOOD people to be around.

Do you see how I can see both light and dark in each situation? It's because it's there. Don't fool yourselves into believing you have seen the light and only the light because you are choosing one of the options. Experience each one before you form an opinion about it. Don't really on stats. Stats don't tell you about YOUR child and YOUR experience. The most trusted advisors are those who speak from personal experience, hence why I love Momversation.com, whose video "Homeschool vs. Public School" inspired this post. Do tell others what you have experienced in your life, and why are you personally grateful you have made certain decisions. Do share with them the fears that are lurking in your closet as to why or why not you haven't made other decisions. Who knows? Their thoughts may change your views.

Back in the Groove

For some reason it really helps me to have an ultra-simple outline of what I need to do. If I get too busy filling in the details it overwhelms me and I throw in the towel. With Shawner's school work at home it is one overwhelming detail after another. Some days I print out three pages full of 14 size arial fonts with bullet checkboxes. Most days it's two full pages. All for us to do in ONE day.

Since Christmas it has been increasingly difficult for me to get back on the bandwagon of going down the checklist one by one. I would put it off as looooong as I could until I absolutely HAD to start doing it to get anything done. So yesterday I came up with this schedule:

8am-3pm

8am: Phonograms, Spelling Tunes, Spelling

Break

9:10am: Grammar, Composition

Break

10:10am: History

11:10am: Lunch

12:10pm: Math Facts, Math Quiz

Break

1:10pm: Math Lesson, Math Worksheet

Break

2:10pm: Reading, Science

Done!

Strangely, even as simple as it is, I am freshly renewed. I have a schedule to follow, breaks to look forward to, and an extra long lunch time. Also, everything being done by 3pm. Perfect.

Today we got a late start due to the freeze and consequently Justinbustin's school starting two hours later, but we have been squeezing in phonograms, spelling, grammar, and composition in the empty spaces and it's been working as smooth as a baby's bum.

Oh my gosh we have a stylish First Lady!

In light of everything going on in the world, this is probably low on the list of priorities. Nonetheless I am super excited about it! Check out her inauguration-al celebration choice by a new and upcoming designer Jason Wu. His entire collection is so fun! How fun to have such a prominent person be so fashionable and not fade into the background because she has to dress professionally. I love people who dress fashionably, cute, stylish, and manage to look professional all at the same time. I can't wait to see more of her choices!

On a more important note, Justinbustin watched the inauguration at school yesterday. My heart was so proud when I heard that. What a neat moment in history for the kids to share together. I watched it at work. My boss was recording it and I still don't know how to work that darn TV, so I'm glad it was on already when I got there. I have to say I'm still not sure what to think of Obama, mostly because most people I know vehmently disagree with some of his choices. I voted for whose parties my beliefs most lined up with, but I'm still not sure who I really believe in.

Why College Matters

This morning I had a conversation with my baby girl's uncle about public schools. We were talking about school ratings and how they came to be. His belief is that the schools who have low ratings are in impoverished areas whose families are working to survive and not teaching the kids that school is important. These kids aren't motivated to go to school, they aren't being taught that school is important by their parents, brothers, sisters, and relatives, and if they have no hope for college they wouldn't have the finances. Yes, the government would help them, but most don't even have the hope. His argument and tyrant struck me. I had never thought about the background behind how these schools came to be rated so low. It hit me that out of my entire family, and Brando's family, we are the only ones who think college is halfway important.

After reading this comment tonight on a savvysugar post, "Unless you're studying something that specifically is required for a career path -- like computer engineering -- your major really has very little impact on the jobs you have after college. It's all about the skills you developed and the different internships/clubs/jobs/volunteer work you have to put on your resume.", I realized how important it is that we encourage that vision in them. Brando is of the belief that you don't HAVE to have college. Which is true. We are making it without it. BUT I told him, think about how MANY more experiences you could've had. He might've ended up in the same place, but he may've been able to develop some of his passions and interests along the way such as photography, programming video games. Heck he might've even discovered more. Doesn't mean they would've been his career, but he would've had the opportunity to develop them along the way.

I want this for my kids, this opportunity for them SO bad. I told him tonight we HAVE to encourage them and make it a way of life. Our family certainly isn't going to and that's why we need to be so much more intentional about it.

This Week

Sunday - Lazy, productive day. Slept in, made a big, yummy breakfast with maple sausage, eggs, season fried potatoes, oj and coffee. Went to a talk at our church on how to talk to your kids about sex. Some of the same stuff we've heard before i.e. talk to them from when they're itty bitty with medical terms, and explain sex at their level, but more about the telling them of the actual action than we've heard before. Had milkshakes from P. Terry's on our way home.

Monday - Had off from nannying. Homeschooled Shawn. Dropped off and picked up the boys at their respective sport lessons, Shawners to a multi sport lesson and Justinbustin to his tennis lesson. Girl night watching The Hills, and Gossip Girl, eating chicken salad with feta, raspberry pecans, cucumbers, garlic croutons, and balsamic viniagarette.

Tuesday - Nannied. Had lunch with Kel Bel and her little Leprechaun, then walked Zilker Park Botanical Gardens with both of them. Rushed home late for a harried late evening of labeling items for a consignment sale at the Palmer Event center this weekend.

Wednesday - Dropped off items at the Palmer Event center for the consignment sale and volunteered the four hours I'd signed up for months ago to see what was going on behind the scenes. Met up with Tina for dinner at Z Tejas and desert at 360 Primo!! Fun and yum!!

Thursday - Nannied. Had lunch with my sister at Potbelly. Picked up a friend of Shawners at his school and brought them home for a playdate. Tried desperately to get a hold of the mom who picked up Justinbustin, but never succeeded. Ended up picking him up right before a meeting for the upper math program he is in at his school (woot! here we go again. i swear this should he be in upper/lower programs question will never end). Paid him, Shawners, and Shawners' little friend to babysit themselves outside the room of the meeting. Met up with Shawners little friends' Mom at Chick-fil-a afterwards. Met Jen at another Chick-fil-a a few minutes later for a solid hour of friend talk that I sooooo needed after that day.

Friday - LOTS of schoolwork to do with Shawners today. Ugh. Feel overwhelmed. Thus I'm avoiding it on here.

No wonder people don't know what healthy is

I just went and ate with my son with his school lunch. The lunch menu choices seemed innocent enough, if you can figure out the healthiest to eat. My choice? Fruit plate and cheese stick. Never mind the fruit looked like it'd been sitting around for days, and the cheese stick? Ummm, NOT real - it was that American processed cheese I don't buy for the house and don't have them order when we go out. The way I eat is by looking at the ingredients, not the nutrition label. Real food = nutrition. Processed food = nutrition that had to be added if you're lucky and perhaps a nutrition not designed in a way for your body to naturally absorb. If I don't recognize the majority of ingredients I put it in the processed food category. I know some of the unrecognizable ingredients actually mean vitamin c or some other harmless item but the majority don't. When I asked nutrition services for an ingredient list for the school menu they acted surprised and had no clue where to find that information, referring me to my schools local cafeteria manager when the school opened.

This is one of the nicest schools in the district, in a more costly neighborhood but the menu is the same for all the schools in the district. Even though it is one of the best districts in the state, they are still demonstrating that food that's been so processed with so much added to it that it's practically fake can stand in for real food.

Well, I have Justinbustin eating meals there because he begged to and it's a whole hell of a lot easier for me. After today, I'm not so sure!! I'm sure I'll still have him eat there, I'm just going to try a whole heck of a lot harder to track down that ingredient list and see if any of it is actually real food!

Busy World

Little update on life:

Boys are all set for school. I've been praying for them every night that they will have a teacher who loves God and is able to teach them to the best of their capabilities. Also, that they will have friends who love God and support them, especially one in particular, and ones they can support. I've set a schedule that includes having a breakfast date with Justinbustin every morning and one with Shawners on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I'll also have extra time with Shawners on those days for a date later in the day if we want!

Finances are shite. I sometimes get the feeling they always will be. We are doing okay in that we aren't adding more to our debt, and sometimes even paying more of it off (we're down to one credit card, but with still a large amount on it), but with all the inflation and gas prices lately we run out of money two days after pay day!! Today I had to take money out of our emergency fund in order to fill up my car and buy groceries for our Mother Hubbard cupboards.

Summer luvin' is good. We have spent a lo-hot (aka Dr. Cox style because I am currently obsessed with Scrubs) of time at the pool. The last week has been busy with robotics camp for the boys so yesterday and today we were back in, even amidst the tropical depression coming through our area. Yeah. The friend of mine that was here, her little one, the boys and I were in the pool while it was pouring (no thunder or lightning or we would've hightailed it out of there). Our hair was soaked, not from the pool, but from the rain. Awesome.

Brando and I are currently seeing a counselor every other week. Tomorrow is our second time. So far so good. We've set a few ground rules - no talking about what we talk about in counseling afterwards unless it's with the counselor the next time, not waste our time fighting in front of the counselor (yeah, we do that). I also mentioned to the counselor that we need a specific goal to work on when we leave - something constructive that gives us a common goal to work towards and not storming out of there angry with what was uncovered.

And just because...

Apparently I look like a ballerina when I frisbee golf

A more normal frisbee golf pose while playing with friends.
It was our first time and a blast, despite the melting hot heat!

Fireworks over downtown on the fourth of July

Blowing out birthday candles on my cupcake cake

My beautiful cupcakes my boys and Brando made me and
the real daisy cake his Mom sent me in the background.

My birthday cupcake cake

Just because it's adorable.
Justinbustin gazing out from the pedestrian bridge over Town Lake when my parents were here.

It's Over!

Finished. Done. The school year for the boys is officially completed! I feel like it was all a dream, half dream with Shawner's schooling, and half nightmare with Justinbustin's schooling. I half sailed and half struggled through and suddenly woke up. It's all over and I'm okay. Shawners graduating is bittersweet and the tears I went to cry the day he graduated came later that evening nonstop for a half hour. They started by an issue we had with Justinbustin's schooling that helped confirm why we are giving public school a go next year and then went from there. The issue with Justinbustin's schooling was a good thing in the end but I am trying so hard not to have a bitter taste in my mouth for his school year! Long story short the school is grading in 3rd grade and expecting perfection, then has a way of giving you the indication you are all alone and not offering any suggestions along the way of how to make it better (oh, besides spending an additional $3000 for a tutor - easy fix) and leaving you completely on your own to struggle through and FINALLY find a way, which we did thank God. We finished the school year strong regardless and is my own private little SHOVE IT without actually saying it and had they offered suggestions or help, it would've been even stronger, and sooner. We had a picnic after school with friends from school, and later sno cones to celebrate the day and the start of summer!