July 4 Weekend

Is it too late for a Fourth of July post? I'm going to say no, because it's my blog, and everything else on it is usually late anyways:)

Serious lack of photos, because for most of it I was either:

a) Too busy to take pictures

b) Enjoying myself too much to take pictures, or

c) Unconscious.

The weekend  - and the week following - were full of ups and downs and busy-ness, but  there were a few highlights I really wanted to record:

1. Baby L's Shower - Saturday evening, hosted by my friend Danica. Danica is simply one of the bestest people ever. She grew up a child of missionaries on a tiny island in the Pacific and is now, as she says, "a suburban mommy/small-town politician's wife." (She writes about both parts of her life on her blog here. You should totally go read it right now.) Makes for an interesting, broad-minded perspective on life, and with her sharp wit, caring nature, and quick sense of humor, no conversation is ever dull.

The shower guests came from different parts of my life, prompting an activity where everyone added their name to a graph (did I mention we were both teachers in past lives?), naming how they knew me - library, church, fire department, etc. With some it took a while to remember, which added to the fun. Regardless, Danica made each of them feel welcome, and everyone had a great time. Too many cute gifts to mention, and yeah for piles of diapers!

The shower was in Danica's beautiful backyard, next to the pool. It rained briefly, just enough to cool things off and put everyone in an even better mood (keep in mind it didn't rain here the first six months of the year!) Yummy food, good conversation, and one beautiful 'practice baby' who didn't mind being passed from mommy to mommy all night (Shannon, you did get her back eventually, right?) We had planned to end around 8PM so most people could get home before dark, but we were still sitting around and talking until 9PM.

2. Street Dance in Cloudcroft - I didn't actually attend more than ten minutes of this, because a) it was the same night as the shower, and b) I don't dance. Daddy took the little ones, though, and being a little more on the ball than me, he got a few pictures:

Yes, his shoes are on the wrong feet. They always are. It's some sort of statement, I think. He's a little nervous, because Daddy said something about dancing with all the pretty girls. When they got to the dance, he surveyed the crowd and announced that there weren't any. Careful, son, those mountain girls can take you!

This one, for example. Oh, dear. That's just about all I can say about her these days.

Take the street dance, for example. Pole dancing and kissing boys all night. And this is with Daddy watching! I thought surely, by the time I got up there at 9:30, she would be beyond tired and fussy. Nope - she said hi to me, and set off for another trip around the dance floor.

I eventually managed to tear her and C. away, leaving M. to dance with Daddy and possibly a certain other gentleman who just happened to be there. Hmm.

3. Date with C. -  Sunday night M. went to a party, Daddy stayed home with S., and C and I had some Mommy-son time. We went out for ice cream first and ate it outside the establishment, where C. promptly ditched me to spy on a cute little girl. Sigh. Story of my life. I got his attention back by taking him to watch the fireworks - and the lightning, which always shows up at the same time, and garnered just as much of his attention. I love how God seems to be saying, "You think that's cool? Check this out!"

C. is such a little chatterbox when he doesn't have any competition, and full of the types of questions that make parents feel really stupid. I thought I understood the basics of lightning (and volcanoes and fires andplanets and...), but it would seem not. Starting school will be interesting for him this year (and for his teacher)!

A busy but fun weekend, all in all. I'm sure the next few weekends will be pretty quiet by comparison...unless there's something I'm forgetting...