It's June!

I had this very short-lived crazy idea that I'd try to post a picture every day this summer, which quickly morphed into deciding to attempt a weekly recap every Friday-ish. It's the whole lowering my expectations process that's gotten me where I am today.

So, Dan's mom arrived last Friday, we hit the local farmer's market Saturday morning and Reece had a birthday party in the afternoon. Sunday we hosted all of Dan's relatives and a few of mine, which included a squirt gun war with the neighbor kids across the street, lots of pinochle, and more food that we all could have eaten in three days. Monday we saw the parade and tried to recuperate while not melting in the heat, Tuesday Dan's mom's friends from nursing school who live in the area came over lunch, and then she headed home Wednesday. It felt like a whirlwind visit since we were so busy. Wednesday evening, Greyson gave a 5-minute reading of some of his work from his language arts class (they called it a "coffee house"). Throughout this whole period, I "taught" an online class to undergraduates, which involved setting up the exams, grading discussions, and fielding emails. The class ends tomorrow at midnight, and I'll be glad to have my time back to myself, such as it is.

A few photos for your enjoyment:

The only reason the kids agree to accompany me to the farmer's market is so they can have a crepe or a doughnut (or both, depending on how difficult the week's been and if I have any parenting left in me at all).

Notice the bags at the ready for candy collection. We had a brief talk about the purpose of Memorial Day and the parade right before it started, but I'm not sure how much sank in once they started getting pelted with Tootsie Rolls.

I call this "life with boys". What you can't see is the huge pile of pillows and blankets at their feet on the bottom steps that serve as a barrier to their war bunker.

He just looks so old up there, and he did a great job despite being extremely nervous. I'm really glad they're making the kids do presentations early and often so they won't be petrified to do them in college like I was.