I am also distraught over Ben.  I just don’t know him any more.  He stole money from a friend; he’s disobeying, lying, talking back, sneaking around; he’s being so mean to Evan.  As punishments, he’s lost toys and privileges.  I even took away the door to his room.  We’re not sure what he’s going through, but I hope it’s a phase that ends very quickly.  We just can’t have him acting like this and being disrespectful when school starts!  Praying for him constantly…

And Evan’s two (terrible 2!); Nathan and I seem to be too busy for each other; walking pneumonia had me down and out for almost a week.  It’s all been just a little too much. 

Whew!  Dirty laundry and obstacles!  Now, where am I finding my joy?

I LOVE my new studio!  I LOVE my job!  I hardly bring any income home to help my family, but it gives me such great reward and such self-worth.  Photography is now such a big part of me.  My clients and partner-in-crime (Emily) make me smile.  My images bring me joy.  I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve our community and serve God. 

Now, if the rest of my life could get back on track… 

But the week leading up to the 4th and this past week were spent giving Shutter-Happy its independence.  Nathan, Emily, and I spent a few days viewing a handful of possible studio spots… and we found an almost-perfect place!  It’s an old home, built in the 1920’s, with charming details, including a footed bathtub!    So we signed the lease, moved in, decorated, and updated.  And as soon as we finish painting tomorrow, we begin seeing clients there on Monday!!!  I can’t wait!!!  Shutter-Happy blog for photos!

But today he got his card, complete with drawings from the boys.  And we spent the afternoon at the lake.  We enjoyed water gun fun and swimming in the cool water during the heat of the day.  And then we took the canoe out for paddling and a picnic dinner.  What a great day!

I hope all you dads also had a great Father’s Day… whether it was on the right day or not. 

Why I was blessed:
I was SO lucky to have her as my grandma.  I was honored to be her granddaughter.
And I was so thankful to be with her all day Monday.  As she went in and out of sleep, she would smile, say our names, and joke with us (her usual self).  That ws one of the greatest gifts God could have given me.

The memories I need to document:
The Green House (just as important to us kids as our nation’s capital); laughter; swimming in the big horse trough; homemade everything; Easter (the coveted Golden Egg hunt), Thanksgiving, and Christmas celebrations; hide-and-seek; my favorite dollhouse; mixing leftovers, sauces, and condiments together in a bowl to see which cousin would eat the concoction; sleepovers; trips to Dairy Queen and Tropical Snow; playing dress-up in Grandma’s wedding dress and jewelry; getting to pick our Christmas gifts from the big Sears catalog; “Ready for seconds? Want thirds? You’re too skinny!”; tejano and oopmah music; trips to the lake to swim and visit Grandma at work; tanned, wrinkled, age-spotted skin; rides on the Trail Wagon; catching lighting bugs in jars; swinging on the front porch; quilts; Big Red (and Big Red moustaches!); lottery tickets (none of us ever seemed to win); tortilla rolls; LOVE.

On the radio during the drive to the hospital:
Thank You by Natalie Merchant
You’ve been so kind and generous.  I don’t know why you keep on giving.  For your kidness, I’m in debt to you.  And I never could have gone this far without you.  For everything you’ve done, you know I’m bound to thank you for it.
I want to thank you for so many gifts- you gave me love and tenderness.  I want to thank you.  I want to thank you for your generosity, the love, and the honesty that you gave to me.  I want to thank you, show my gratitude, my love, and my respect for you.

I love you and thank you were the last things I chose to say to her….

And now I have a beautiful, caring, wonderful, funny, protective guardian angel watching over me.

We had high hopes for Evan since he still wasn’t climbing out of the crib at 23 months.  But the second birthday rolled around and he was ready!  He got a new bed for his birthday, and I got it put together last week.

Night one- He was up crying for us before 4 am; I was then up with him until 5:00 am trying to keep him in bed and get him to go back to sleep.

Night two, three, and six- perfect!

Night five- I heard him get up and talk some in the middle of the night, but he never bothered us; found him asleep on the couch in the morning.

Night seven: Nathan saw his little feet sticking out of the tent in the living room when he got up this morning. 

So I think the success rate looks promising.  Even on the nights lately when he hasn’t stayed in his bed, he has been able to put himself back to sleep.  Fingers crossed this keeps up!  (Yay for week one!)

Monday I got on the phone and got in touch with all the right people.  I trucked the boys on over to Granmom’s to spend the night.  And Nathan and I set out with a member of our firehouse’s swift water rescue team… and we found the camera!!!  We were surprised that it still worked.  I was thrilled to find out all the images were there.  Yay, Sony!!!

Tuesday, the boys had a great time playing at Granmom’s.  We cleaned house, took apart Evan’s crib, and got the “big boy” bed set up.  He thought it was awesome!  Night one, I was up with him for over an hour around 4am trying to keep him in bed and get him to go back to sleep.

Yesterday we drove up to the firehouse to take *my hero* a gift.  The boys had a wonderful time getting to see and sit in all the fire trucks!  Then we took Sophie to the vet for shots (which was quite an adventure!).  Night two of “big boy” bed was a success!

Yesterday (his actual b-day), we spent a few hours at Fiesta Texas.  Evan is now big enough to ride all the kids’ rides, so we… flew in the airplanes, screamed in the roller coaster, drove the cars, rode the train, and even got wet on the log ride!!!  I was so surprised by how brave he was to try everything, and was so proud of how both boys behaved.  It was a blast!!!  And then we headed out for dinner and playground fun. 

Today we spent the day with some of our dearest friends.  Morgan, Landon, and Madison met us for lunch and play time at Burger King.  Then we got to go over to Madison’s house for a playdate.  And the boys just finished up playing with the new water sprinkler and swimming in the pool.  Oh, what fun!

Friday we ran errands to get ready for the party… Wackadoo’s for haircuts, Costco for lunch and groceries, and Nadler’s for the cake.  This day would have been bearable if it hadn’t been for the whining, disobeying, and brotherly-fighting.

Preparation for the party yesterday morning would have gone well.  But cleaning time was cut short due to us being confused about what time the party started.  We lost a whole half-hour!  (and I think we’ve done this before, so you’d think we’d learn)

The party was small, just the grandparents, Aunt Angie, and a couple of friends Evan’s age.  The kids played with toys and snacked, we had cake, and Evan opened gifts.  And this would have been fun and had gone flawlessly if Evan hadn’t had a meltdown while we were singing “Happy birthday” to him.  (he either hated the attention or our singing)

Then we headed out to RMR for tubing.  And yet again, this should have been uneventful.  But the tubes came loose and started to fly off the truck, causing us to stop and do another tie-down on the way out.

The river conditions were perfect.  The weather was great.  We had a blast on the water, got lots of great pictures.  But another snag- the camera is now at the bottom of the great Guadalupe.  (By this point I am heart-broken by the loss of the photos and ready to turn in the towel)

So… lessons learned? moral to the story?  I guess that remains to be seen.  I’m just happy that Evan seemed to have a wonderful time at the party, eating cake, and tubing the river.  And I’m praying that someone will find our camera in the next few days, recognize us in the photos, and return it to us…

Jun 7 Update- Thanks to the kind hearts of one of our local firemen and the property owners along the river, prayers from friends and family, and pure determination… we found the camera!!!

Ben’s quite a bit taller, much wiser, is a math whiz and an awesome reader.  He made his first diarama, planted wildflowers, participated in a Dr. Seuss parade, toured the Witte Museum, raised the most money in his class for Walk-a-Thon.  He even won 2nd place in the bike rodeo for his grade and was the star in a talent show.

And now he’s a 2nd grader!  (and *oh my gosh!* Evan will be a preschooler!!!)

(Attached are pics from the field day today)

BY BEN:  I LOVE OUR SCHOOL!!!!!!!!  MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT 1ST GRADE WAS PE!  IT WAS FUN!  I PLAYED LOTS OF GAMES.

But there has been some fun mixed in.  We hosted a scouts meeting and took the boys for a tour of the Boerne Community Theatre.  We’ve met with four more builders.  Ben performed air guitar with his friend Reagan at the first grade talent show (and they rocked!).  MOV00271  We took friends Mark, Erica, and Madison out to River Mountain Ranch for swimming in the river.  We spent the night on our lot (perfect weather for camping!).  Nathan and Ben tubed the Guadalupe for the first time.  The scouts got to enjoy a den meeting at Bass Pro Shops.  We attended the latest Movie in the Plaza Friday night- snowcones, popcorn, and “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.”  And yesterday we went tubing with my parents before they took the boys for a night, giving us a break and a quiet house.  (wheeeee!)

But the weekend was wonderful…

We left Saturday to head to Orange Grove for my cousin Lora’s wedding.  Short and sweet ceremony, we were then off to the reception.  I was thrilled to finally take my boys to the Rifle Club.  And they enjoyed it just as much as I thought they would.  They ran around the dance floor, playing with the other kids.  We ate.  We got to visit with family we hadn’t seen in years.  Ben got to participate in his first grand march.    It was so much fun!  Then we drove out to the Pioneer RV Resort in Port A for a much-needed vacation!

Sunday we hit the beach with my parents.  We built a sandcastle, played in the water, walked the shoreline, and looked for treasures.  Our “finds” included the usual seashells, but we also caught shrimp, crabs, sea slugs, and even a rock fish!  Incredible!  After lunch and nap, we then headed to the pool for some fun in the water.  And then (thanks to Granmom and Papa), Nathan and I got to go out for dinner by ourselves!!!  (the fried shrimp at Charlotte Plummer’s were fabulous… all ten of them!!!)

We kept the vacation going today with beach and pool time in the morning.  Then we headed to my grandparents’.  We got to visit with them and Angie, and the boys got to drive around their property, enjoying the mule and checking out all the corn fields.

Last week, in preparation for Mother’s Day, all the boys put on hair nets and decorated their own little cakes… frosting and sprinkles.  They had so much fun!

And this week, with an “In the Spotlight” theme, the boys put on a magic show.  Ben performed a few coin tricks.  Not only did he do great with the tricks, but he’s also such a fantastic showman!

And in Curington’s bike rodeo, Ben got 2nd place out of all the first grade boys!  First, thanks to the Bicycle Shack, he got lots of points for having his bicycle in good and safe working condition.  And he got more points for performing so well in all the tests.  (he actually had one of the best/slowest times in the one balance test!)

He was awarded his medal on Monday and was so proud!

God won’t ask the square footage of your house.  He’ll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

God won’t ask about the clothes you had in your closet.  He’ll ask how many you helped to clothe.

God won’t ask what your highest salary was.  He’ll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.

God won’t ask what your job title was.  He’ll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.

God won’t ask how many friends you had.  He’ll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.

God won’t ask in what neighborhood you lived.  He’ll ask how you treated your neighbors.

God won’t ask about the color of your skin.  He’ll ask about the content of your character.

I worked hard all week- walked the neighborhood every morning, ran errands, saw several appointments, worked on clients’ orders, met and talked to two more home builders, worked in the gardens, cleaned house, and mowed… all so I could have today free.

This morning we had sausage and homemade (by Nathan) cranberry scones.  Then it was off to the lake with my parents!  We toughed out the cold and waited on the mist to enjoy a wonderful day of play, canoeing, and a great lunch (thanks to Dad).  We made it home to rest and thaw out for a couple of hours.  I even got a hot bubble bath!  And then we went out to eat at Welfare Cafe.  The weather was perfect to eat outside, the food was delicious, and the animals on the farm were so fun to watch.

And gifts?  Yes, there were gifts!  The boys picked out a package of chocolate-covered apple slices.  And I got a tent!!!  Fingers crossed that we can take it out to the lot in a couple of weekends. 

I’m so lucky to have had such a wonderful day.  And I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Super Mom
Mom does laundry, tucks me into bed, plays with me, buys me toys.  Mom is caring, loving, fun, nice, beautiful, helpful.

I was waiting on the right clothes; I’ve been trying to figure out the right location; we’ve been waiting for some free time.

So I put his session on the calendar for last night and we headed out.

A couple of outfit changes, several poses, lots of smiles, and 30 minutes later… voila!  We walked away with a good handful of great images.

 So “Cheers!” to Ben.  And “Happy birthday!” two months late.