Lost and found

Andy has had two pairs of glasses since we got the prescription in April. He has also lost two pairs of glasses. The first pair cost about $150 at the Wal-Mart vision center. I got the super bendy frames and good lenses.

After that pair lasted two days, I went back and got the $9 frames and $20 lenses. Then we found the first pair and had two pairs for a couple of months.

Right before his checkup with the opthamologist, I realized both were missing so I went and found the cheapest pair available. The only frames I could convince him of in the $9 section were Harry Potter frames so I bought him the movie and we have been reading the book. We are now huge fans.

We went to lunch today with my folks at the the DCC. The main building closes for business today as they shut it down and demolish it to make way for the new fancy castle they are building. In honor of the big day, Andy lost his first tooth on the top on a piece of bacon. He has lost all four bottom teeth and now the top ones are on their way. My boy is a toothless first grader. When did that happen?

The very restless girl

And she's at it again!

Snake handling

This week, Andy is going to a safari camp at the local middle school. The science teacher has all these animals and puts on a camp for littler kids to more.

"So how was it? Did you like it?"
"It was so cool! I want a snake."

He hasn't stopped talking about the snake he is going to get since he got home. I am trying to be cool as I so clearly do not want a snake. A cat, a gerbil, mice or rats even. But not a snake. I suppose someday an we will end up with an aquarium of assorted cold blooded animals. It just never occurred to me that that sometime would be this soon.

They are moving on to mammals tomorrow. I could much more easily be swayed toward a ferret.

Meanwhile, Texas is driving me batty with this 2,000 days above 100 degrees bull. My AC bill was over $500 last month and that was before it actually got that hot. It hasn't rained since April, I think. We have this cute creek behind our house that is totally dried up right now. Plus, my feet are dry and cracked despite my attempts to put Vaseline on them before bed. And to add insult to injury, my hands are swollen which makes my wedding ring itch. I find myself checking the weather channel online hoping for a stray pop up thunderstorm.

Whirling dervishes

Meg had dance camp this week. Beyond adorable although she is wearing my neice's bathing suit as I didn't have the right outfit. (As you see, I stole the idea from another mom). To my horror, it was cheer and pom pom class this week. She loved it though.

Pinkalicious

Annie and Margaret made strawberry "pinkalicious" cupcakes today. Seriously how adorable?

Swim team

Yesterday was the last day of swim team. Hard to believe we've been trekking up to the pool for two months now. His swimming has really taken off. On the way home, he said, "I am really proud of myself, Mommy.". Me, too, kid. Me, too.

Delicious

Meg went to "cookie camp" at a neighbor's house this week. Great idea, actually. Her middle school kids ran the camp (under adult supervision) for a small fee to raise money for their vacation. I got her out of the house for three hours and then a plate of the most decadent cookies ever. You know, the good kind made with all the stuff that tastes so good and is so bad for your arteries. We also got some home made ice cream out of the deal. I probably put on 10 pounds just this afternoon. It was so worth it.

Swim team ends this week. I am amazed how fast Andy's swimming has come along (hers too for that matter). Next week during the mornings, he's doing golf camp and she's doing a dance camp. I'll still have one of the girls, er, young ladies helping with them in the afternoons and with pick-ups. I hope they have half as much fun as I think they should.

With that, we're into August and then school starts the 21st. Like that, the summer is just about over. I will be sad/thankful when it's over. This has been our first real summer vacation. It's been pretty cool. Actually, neat is more the word. It's been anything but cool here in Texas with our 100th day over 100 degrees with no rain.

I was wrong (Bjorn was right)

There, I have said it publicly and out loud. Bjorn was right. Just this once.

When we were looking for a new house, Bjorn really wanted a pool and I really didn't. "It's not safe," I cried. "I want a yard," I moaned. "It's too expensive. We will never use it. We belong to a pool and never go."

But I was wrong. This summer someone is in the pool every day. Usually it's the kids and sometimes Bjorn takes a dip at night when he gets home. We have entertained friends and family and had a good time.

We added a pool fence with a key lock so the kids can't get out there without us knowing. So far, we are good about locking it. We must keep up with that. The kids have gotten so much more comfortable. Andy did swim team this year and can really swim now (not without us, of course). Meg isn't far behind. She has been in lessons for six months now and that combined with the daily swimming is really paying off. It's so nice for everyone to play in the pool. It's a rare place when everyone is happy and a pool is one of those places.

Special guest star

Bratz dolls

My neice (sister) had an adorable birthday party at one of those girls salons. Meggie wasn't quite having it, complete with peeing in her pants on the floor of the bathroom. But she got it together and was enjoying herself by the end. My sister's kids had a blast. I think kids aged four and older did better than the littler girls. Hilarious. Check out the little one on the left. With that scowl, she reminded me of a figure skate out for blood.

Corporate relocation

We live in the land of corporate relocation. Seriously. I thought DC was bad with all the congressional jobs that came and went with whoever was in power. There was also a lot of military moves with people coming into the region. But I've never seen anything like this. Our good friends who moved in when we did and have kids about the same age? Yeah, moving away 11 months later. I can't imagine having to do that. I also can't imagine the expense of all this on companies. Seriously.

The amount of money companies are spending to move people is insane. So these nice folks will probably have $100,000 spent on the move inbetween travel for the family, realtor's fees, packing expenses and general relocation costs. And all this for people they just moved less than a year ago. It seems like a lot of money when everyone keeps crying poverty and not enough money for jobs and stuff.

Another family I know is moving to Asia for work. So in addition to the probably $100,000 on the general move (realtor's fees, moving costs, etc.), they also have to pay for private school in China for the kids, trips back and forth and then moving the family back at the end. I think they said it will cost the company about $300,000 a year for them to live in China. Wow.

Granted, these are mid to high level executives so not your average worker. But still. I'd love to see a study on whether all this money spent on relocation is worth it for the company. And I'm not just saying this because my friends are moving. Okay, maybe I am.

USA is awesome!

He says.

Happy Independence Day

Lost tooth #4

Lost tooth!

Andy lost his fourth tooth today. He has now lost all four on the bottom and the top middle two are wiggly. We are at my parents' ranch near Brownwood this weekend (or near Crawford as Dad likes to say). Funny, of his four lost teeth, two were lost away from home, one in Australia last summer and now this one.

Good thing the tooth fairy travels. The going rate is $2 in our house. Is that what he pays at your house? Bjorn though about giving him a $5 but that sets the bar pretty high in case neither of us has that kind of cash in our pocket some evening.