Daddy's Home! Mommy's Working...

The kids had a lot of fun this week. Daddy made sure all the kids got to do something special with him ( or even something ordinary, but being with Daddy made it special), while I worked frantically on my two graduate classes. I appreciated the time to work distraction free at the library, and the kids made some happy memories with Daddy.

On Monday, I worked at the library all day and Daddy took the two girls shopping and spent some of his birthday money buying each of them a new summer outfit. In a household where "new" usually means "new to us" (ie. from the thrift or consignment store), getting a new outfit was something special. They all couldn't wait to show me their new duds, so they surprised me at the library to show them off. It was a pleasant break, and very sweet to see the girls so appreciative and excited over something so simple.

The next day, Daddy took Cowboy with him to Home Depot and the Dump. Exciting. Well, apparently, Cowboy thought it was GREAT. There's no doubt in my mind that there are real differences between boys and girls.

They came home (after having stopped at the gas station for a treat) and all three of the Amigos helped Daddy assemble the train table he was given at Christmas. Last Christmas. I mean, last last Christmas. Don't say anything. All I can say is that he sure was happy and they all talked about it for days. They love to play with that thing, and I guess he is thinking it was worth the wait.

Friday, we headed over to Nanny and Poppy's to let the big boys (Tex and Daddy) go fishing and bowling with Poppy and Bubba, while I went to the library over there to work on one of my final papers. On the way over, we saw the bridge open and a ship go through. We were fortunate to be near to the bridge when it happened, so the wait became a "field trip" instead of being a hassle.

Once we got to Nanny and Poppy's neck of the woods, I dropped off the big guys at the bowling alley (which had a great summer special going on), and I took the little ones on to the house to play outside. I headed over to the library to work all day (I wrote almost 100 pages of text for each class...but not all on that one day!), and the guys went on to the pond at the end of the road to go fishing after bowling.

 The pond in my old neighborhood

It seems the fish weren't biting, but they did see a pretty big snake and a turtle or two. Plus, lots of birds, bugs, and tadpoles. Tex took most of the photos for me. I hope he used the zoom lens to get the picture of that snake...

The little kids didn't miss out on all the fun because they got to stay and play with Nanny and Poppy while their cousins visited. Firefly enjoyed storytime with Brother Bear, while Nanny and Little Bear made faces at each other. I have it on good report that Ladybug and Cowboy played exhaustively outside, drawing pictures on the driveway and swinging crazily from the swing in the cherry tree.

 Brother Bear and Firefly with Poppy

Little Bear and Nanny

As you can imagine, I also have it on report (notice I left out the word "good") that, as usual, Boo got into absolutely everything he wasn't supposed to get into, including the refrigerator. Even Brother Bear, who is a year older than he is, hasn't done that yet. Hmph. What am I going to do with that boy? I need to channel that energy and curiosity into something special. Ideas anyone?

I'll tell you about all the fun they had on Saturday later. It's absolutely crazy the ideas that dads come up with which to entertain their children...

Blessings,

Heather