More Summer?

Really??? It's not over? I swear the kids have been out of school since, about 1987 or so. Sheesh....

We're glad to be home and have been having a sort of normal, summer week. Coulter has baseball camp, Sohpia has had some play dates and Kees has been hanging out with me.

In other news..... Coulter lost his first tooth!!!! It was so loose that is was gross! I finally grabbed him and said, "This is ridiculous." and I grabbed it and pulled it out. Seriously, the new tooth was behind it and the old one was barely in there. I was afraid he'd lose it when eating and then freak out because he swallowed it. He was really happy. We immediately put it in a sandwich bag so it would be harder to loose. He lost it anyway. This, as you probably know, is a recurring theme with Coulter. I had a back up plan. In the past I kept Sophia's baby teeth. I don't know why, I just did. I couldn't just throw them away could I? It may be weird but in this case it saved my bacon. I grabbed another bag and dropped one of Sophia's teeth in there. "Coulter, calm down, I found it." He was really happy about that. He's going to be confused when he finds the other bag with the other tooth in it. Silly fairy, leaving bags with teeth in them all over the house.

Coulter got 2 dollars....that he immediately lost. I have replaced them, twice. I also found the lost ones....it's a wash.

Coulter has loved his baseball camp. Apparently last week there were 39 kids in the camp so they booked 5 councilors for this week just in case. Each day this week there have been 5 kids in the camp. Awesome! One on one attention. It's the best value out there.

Kees is VERY excited for his official birthday party. Poor kid hasn't really had a real party. 3rd child....need I say more? And this is not your traditional party, it's a pirate, cocktail party. Just what every 5 year old wants, a cocktail party. I have been planning and gathering stuff. Now I have to execute it. We have 20+ lbs of Garner's meats....the best. TONS of pirate booty. I have eye patches, head scarves, swords, knives, tattoos, scars, gold pieces, pirate head scarves, pirate shot glasses, hooks, pirate drinks, telescopes, pirate music, Davy Jones' Locker and....wait for it..... a pirate ship. I got some card board boxes and made a pirate ship that I am going to put out front and attach to the deck like it's a dock. It's going to be great. I got Pirates of the Caribbean for the kids to watch in back. It's going to be a blast. Though I am looking forward to having it over. Tina and Rex took on the job of the cake. They are going all out! I can hardly wait to see what they have done. I'll be sure to post pictures of it all.



As a side bar.... Kees is saying the funniest things. Last night at dinner Kees was doing everything but eating. He held up his thumbs next to each other and said, "Look. It looks like my thumbs are swollen. It is because I am growing." And then went to the next subject.... WHAT? He makes no sense half the time. He also lost something in the deflector thing on the hood of my van. He didn't know what that part of the car was called so he said he needed me to open the van. "You need to open the...ahhh...the..." He was waving his arms around and moving them back and forth. "The part where you put all the oil and stuff." I love this age when they are figuring it all out....Too cute.

Sophia is getting so grown up. She made pancakes for she and Kees this morning. Then later she had a buddy over and they went to the pool alone. They made their own lunch, made their own plans and have been playing all day. I love that she is getting more independent. I had to run a couple errands today and she opted to stay home with her friend. It is huge! Big girl. Man the time flies. When she and her buddy Ella walked out the door to go swim Ella said, "See ya. We're going to college." They smiled and giggled and left. It really hit me. They have known each other since they were weeks old and they are both through the better part of being 9. That means that in just that much time again they will be in college. And it's just about this time of year that they will go to college....scary how fast it all goes.

Sophia and Ella circa 2001.


Sophia and Ella today....


I am trying to savor those last few days of summer. The kids each have their one new school outfit. I haven't purchased a single thing for school supplies. They pool them so I figure I'll get them right after school starts. There is too much going on right now PLUS it's way easier (and cheaper) to get them alone. I am making final arrangements for car pools, drop offs and pick ups. Soccer started Monday for Sophia and next Tuesday for Coulter. Soon we'll be into Saturday game days for both of them. I need to set up violin lessons for Sophia and maybe some horse riding for all of them. Yikes, that will be expensive. The boys want to gymnastics....we'll see.

So this post is a random bunch of stuff but I wanted to get it all down. After the party we're going to Anderson Island to see my Dad and Sally for the weekend. That should be great. I'll have more later....