Thankful Thursday - Summer Stuff

Summer is so busy. And that's saying a lot coming from me, because I take things at a slower pace than many moms I know.

I try to balance how many days in a week we run like crazy and how many we stay home and loaf. If we run too much, we're all grouchy. If we stay home too much, we're all cagey. It's a fine line.

I'm thankful that this summer actually seems easier than when the kids were younger. We're doing more fun things, and I'm not wildly stressed. The kids are obeying more reliably, which allows us more freedom.

Speaking of freedom, I'm trying to loosen the apron strings a bit with our oldest son and let him visit with other kids in the neighborhood. He's never wanted to do that during previous summers, but this year there are a few boys he rides the school bus with that he's buddying around with.

My major qualm with this is that people drive like idiots on the main road of our subdivision, which happens to be the street Clay's friends live on and play on. But I'm circumventing their natural inclination by asking Clay's friends to play in our yard and on our street, which is a cul-de-sac with very little traffic.

I've bought a bunch of cheap freezer pops to make the request sweeter.



If you treat them to a sugar high, they will come. And hopefully stay... at least until the heat drives them back indoors.

I'm thankful that the latter portion of this week was several degrees cooler than the temps were at the beginning of the week. Those 90 degree days just suck the energy right out of a person.

I'm thankful that, despite the heat, my husband and father-in-law have put in several days of work on our porch. It's coming along so nicely. Soon we'll be painting the spindles and railings and staining and sealing the floor.

For the first time in the eight years we've lived here, maybe we'll even use the deck and porch. The previous design of the railings allowed for copious amounts of wasps to nest anywhere that we might have tried to enjoy.

Clay has actually stood outside the garage doors after riding the bus home from school, screaming for me to open them up because he's afraid to come up the porch stairs to get in the front door because of the wasps. (He has good reason to be afraid. He's been swarmed before and was stung five consecutive times.) I'm hoping the new design doesn't give the little terrorists any place to hide.

Maybe when everything goes on sale at the end of summer we can buy a table with an umbrella and some chairs. I'm dreaming now, folks. But it might happen.

My grandpa was sick again last week. The doctor's sent him home with a prescription and orders to return on this past Tuesday. Plans were to admit him to the hospital again if he had not improved. But he was better and is at home. I'm taking the kids to visit him today. It'll be a short trip; we'll return tomorrow evening. I'm just so thankful for grandpa's health and to spend some time with him again with the kids.