A storm, graduations, and school is out. Now what?

Something I don't want to forget: Last weekend there were several tornadoes in the area. The sound of hail woke us at 1am. When that storm cell had passed we went back to bed . This time I slept with one eye open. At 4 am the civil sirens went off. We plucked the children out of bed and headed to the basement. After the excitement (and fear) it was pretty hard to get the kids back to sleep. I plopped into bed alongside Esther with CC on my chest. When both girls finally settled down I looked down toward my feet and saw that Esther had grabbed CC's hand. Their sweetly clasped hands were stretched over me. Not a lot of sleep that night, but the love was palpable.

The last week of school just came to a close. Esther had an indoor picnic with her class on Thursday. Robert graduated on Friday. Happily, Rob, Esther, CC and I joined Papaw, Granny and Gloria at the ceremony. Robert's class sang and received certificates. I teared up just after Robert got his certificate. Check out this video to see why:My girlfriend Lucy put together an amazing quilt with squares created by individual students. She presented the quilt to the teachers (Sally and Lori) on Friday.

Lucy, Jason, Edie (from Robert's class) and Liv (from Esther's class) joined us for a meatloaf dinner on Friday. Good times. I regret that I did not take photos. Thanks Lucy and Jason for the pastries from Alon's. What a delectable way to pass the evening!

On Saturday I took both girls to music class. Challenging. I wanna have one on one time with Esther, but when CC needs to eat. . . Robert spent the morning with the Kosars at the Lake Claire pool. Major props to John Kosar for accompanying 3 boys to the pool-thanks!

Sunday morning came and I dragged myself out of that beautiful and perfect place called my bed. I ran late all day. In the words of the the world's greatest band, U2, "some days are better than others." At 8am I was painstakingly helping Robert wrap a present for our friend, Anna Baker. He decided that 'the ABCs of Canada' was the perfect book for her, wrapped in Christmas paper, in a pink and orange gift bag with a blue bow. I dragged my heels with every lightbulb that popped into his head. He was beautifully regulated all morning but it just didn't fit with my schedule. When I left the house at 9am to attend the 9am service (you do the math) I decided to let my idea of the perfect morning go. The return? A memory of a spontaneous crazy gift, Robert style. Late to church, late to Gloria's to bring veggies from the CSA, late to Anna Baker's graduation luncheon. We had a great time outside at Anna's house. Between her younger brothers and video games, Robert found 5 1/2 year-old boy heaven. Soon after lunch Esther and I headed to her friend, Emma's, birthday party. We got there late. Actually, we were in time for some cake, in time to meet Emma's grandparents and in time for Esther and Emma to get some solid play time in, decked in Disney princess dresses of course! After such a long day, Esther crashed for a long night's sleep. Really, how does she sleep like that?

Mom and dad joined us today at our house. They played hard with Robert and Esther, took them to lunch and consoled CC as needed. Thanks for spending the day with us guys!

Now on to day 2 of summer. . .