to each his own

Hey guys! Summer is well under way. What unnerves me a little is that the first two weeks have gone by so fast. We've had a great time getting our summer started and here are some things we have done and what summer means to each of us.

* We have been swimming at Nana and Pop's; been to the Harbor with girlfriends; been to Cicis, the waterpark and to feed the ducks; I have been to two half day trainings at school; we've worked on the house; Jared turned a year older; we've celebrated birthdays and Father's Day with the Davis crew; we went to the Turner's for grilled hamburgers; we've met our new baby cousin Nathan and loved on him and Clayson has had baseball games. Whew! They say time flies when you are having fun - there is no doubt about that. We have been having lots of fun. There is much more fun in store for summer 2008.

Clayson: summer time to Clayson means being with his daddy. Clayson loves to be with Jared no matter what he is doing. The minute Jared's alarm goes off, Clayson gets up and gets dressed so he doesn't miss anything. Sometimes, he even gets the coffee going because he knows how much his daddy loves coffee to get his day started. Clayson is not a late sleeper. In fact, he requires very little sleep. No matter what fun activity I have planned, he would always rather stay at home with Jared. It is such a neat relationship that they have. He also enjoys going to spend time with his Nana and Pop at their house or at their work. He looks forward to the time that they are home so he can be with them. He also likes when he can go over and help his Pawpaw outside. He is currently into skateboarding. Clayson was such a help this week as Jared painted the house. He kept the paints coming as the cans became empty. He's a grown up in a kid's body. This weekend will finish his baseball season.

Trey: watching TV, playing Guitar Hero and sleeping late are all a part of Trey's summer routine. There is no alarm that he is interested in! He is one that requires a slow start - a little cartoons and a bowl full of cereal and some more cartoons are needed to jumpstart his day. He is not a big fan of being hot so he will stay out until he breaks a sweat. Then, it is back to the couch for a little r & r. He does enjoy swimming and does not mind hanging with me. I am glad that he still acts like a kid and wants to do kid things. We call him our "couch potato". He enjoys lounging at Mimi's watching Alvin and the Chipmunks over and over again.

.Ashlyn: She is all about sleeping late - and I do mean late, like 11:30ish. Most nights she stays up late but even if she goes to bed at a decent time, there is never a before ten wake-up. She loves her sleep! There have been mornings that we have had to be somewhere and how I wake her up is crucial to making sure it will put her in a good mood (once she starts whining, it takes a very long time for her to stop). I turn the AC up so it is not as cool, turn the cartoons on and say her name to call her out of her sleep. Then, I usually go get ready and try to call out to her to see if she is awake. When it starts getting close to time to go, I tell her she better get up and get her babies ready if she plans to take them. (She usually has their clothes set out and bags packed because they go everyhere with us.) This is usually a for sure bet that she is going to get up and get going - Sunday mornings prove to be the hardest with the real early start. So, sleeping late is what summer means to her. She likes to make mud pies, to play in her room and always wants to swim. It was funny because the first week I was off she always wanted to know where we were going the next day - she wasn't used to not having anywhere to go but now she likes to be at home. She misses Mamaw and Papaw and enjoys when it is a day she gets to go over there. She also loves summer because she has a birthday to celebrate!

Jared: (wouldn't he kill me if he knew I posted this picture... and no, he is not into the mime business) Summer to Jared means that we are home everyday and probably throwing him off his normal schedule. But, more than that, this is the time that Jared plans on finishing our house. He has been such a good "construction manager" and kept the ball rolling since April. It was just this past week that we ran into our first kinks but we are trying to get all of that straightened out. He has spent this week painting, hence the photo. He was able to borrow a sprayer and what would have taken a few weeks has taken only a few days. It is so exciting to see the end in sight. He has worked so hard to keep things going and to make it just the way we like it. It is getting so hard to pry him away from the house and get him to do anything. In fact, it is next to impossible. I am thankful that he is such a hard worker and know that soon we will all want to be home enjoying all of his preparation and hard work.

Me: To me, summer means a time to take a break from work and to spend time playing. I have to admit that I enjoy sleeping late, too. I stay up late because I find it to be my time to closet eat (mom's know what I am talking about), watch TV without interruptions, and browse around on the computer. It is my down-time and I look forward to it. I love to swim and spend time with my friends and their kids. The hardest thing for me is to save money when all I want to do is shop and go out to eat. I am trying to get myself into a routine as far as housework, laundry, a day out and other things on the to-do lists that I love to create. But, I do like to kick the routine and be spontaneous at times. Schedules are sometimes overrated! I am having a great summer and love the ages of my kids as they are all so independent and easy to take along :) This will be an especially good summer as we work our way out of 860 sft. into 3800 sft. I can feel the space already!!