Summertime!

Ok, so I decided to try my hand at blogging.... except it is so hard to get something like this started. People are always telling me that I need to blog the funny stories I have about my boys, and the random things that come out of their mouths... and I do mean random and hilarious! I couldn't make some of the stuff up if I tried. However, it is awkward getting started on a blog! What do you start talking about? I decided that since summer started this week, we will just start there. My boys are now out of school for the summer.... yay! I am excited, however... give me a few weeks and I will be SO READY for school to start back up...hehe. AJ just finished second grade and Jackson just finished his first year of two day a week preschool. Where is the time going? What the heck? My babies are big boys, and even my little baby is growing like crazy and is almost four months old. My goal for this summer is to really try hard to come up with fun activities so we don't get through the summer looking back wondering what we did with our time. I have really been thinking this past month at how easy it is to let distractions get in the way of real, quality time with each other as a family. Don't get me wrong, I spend a lot of time with my kids and we do fun things but sometimes it is easy to let the time pass with nothing to show for.With all these horrible, disasters that have happened around us whether it is a natural disaster or a shooting somewhere... it is just a reminder that tomorrow isn't guaranteed and I have been trying my bests to cherish the moments I am in.

Story time:
So, AJ's last day of school was this past Friday and last year, I had made him a sign welcoming him to summer with balloons. This year, I wanted to do something again. Jackson and I had fun making a sign that read "No Mo' School!" and we decorated the sidewalk/driveway with chalk, and I even had summertime songs playing when he got off the bus. I always realize that I usually have more fun with these things than my boys. I just remember the events as a kid that I thought were special and how I loved parties so why not try to make the most of those important days to a kid with something memorable!? AJ got off the bus, and of course I didn't get the response I was hoping for. Though he enjoyed it eventually, it was obvious he had been crying. He was so sad school was out. He did have good reason because there is a new elementary school opening in Gardner, and a lot of the kids from his school are going there in the fall. Along with that, his teacher, Mrs. Birk, will be at a different school next year to. Like I said, legitimate reason to be sad. I even thought it was sweet when he said the whole class cried, along with his teacher when they said their goodbyes. Tears were shed all day... not kidding! What kid isn't happy about summer?? After we played outside for awhile, AJ came in and showed me his yearbook and all the people that signed it. More tears. Then he looked at it and said "It's all the names of people I knew"... like they were dead! I had to remind him he would see most of them in August, some even at baseball and the pool... not to mention that the people moving schools are just a phone call away. I mean, Gardner is a small town and they will all be united again at middle school in a couple years. So we get happy again and I took him to Red Robin for lunch to cash in his free meal that he won at school. Trying to keep the mood happy, I played Alice Cooper's "School's Out" in the car... we were rockin out! Then it got to the part about "no more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks". Oh geez... more tears. AJ said "It was a good song until the no more teachers part!" We talk about how it's talking about dirty looks and it's just for fun. Not kidding... ten minutes AFTER the song was over and done, he mumbles "Mrs. Birk never gave a dirty look", and cried some more! We had several more comments like that throughout the day, and I even had to take his yearbook away for awhile. Oh my word... so dramatic! Especially for a boy... I mean, I don't know who's son he is! haha... just kidding. According to my mom, that was the story of her life growing up with me. I think he is starting to get happy about summer after a couple days of staying up later and sleeping in, but I do have to say this... it says a lot about a teacher when all the kids leave school in May in tears. That I can appreciate.