Where the Deer and the Cantelope Graze...

Oh, I love a good rainy day! I feel a little like Carrie Bradshaw right now looking out the window, sipping coffee and writing on my laptop...that's where the similarities end though. :)

Yesterday, we got back from a wonderful houseboat vacation with my parents and sister and her boyfriend on the outstanding Lake Ouachita. It was a great time. I think the only thing we regretted was that it couldn't have been longer. Oh wait, and sunscreen! I wish I had applied sunscreen a little more generously but that's it. The girls both played hard and Beatle was in the water constantly. Birdie definitely upped her game when it came to food. She's so ready to move on to cereals, juice and other baby food. It was NOT okay that we were all eating and drinking and she couldn't.

Before we left with them, we had a Watermelon Party for Beatle and her two besties. She created the idea back in April and the three of them pestered the fire out of us about having it so we had to follow through. Beatle and I got really into it and made the watermelon invitations and made gift baskets for the two other families with things that represented summer to us. BR mowed and worked to get the yard looking good and we decorated. It was pretty bomb-diggitty. The plan was for the two families to come over around 7 for watermelon (of course) and homemade ice cream and stay until dusk. Heartache of the century: one of the families didn't show and when I called, their girls were in Dallas with grandparents. But we were soooo glad for the other family or it wouldn't have been a watermelon party at all! We still had a great time and the whole day when we were getting ready for it, I told Beatle how proud I was of her to have thought this whole thing up. In gym class that morning, she was talking about how we were going to get ready for the party that day and one of the other girls in the class said something like, "Oh B, that sounds like fun. I'll see if I can come." Beatle thought real quick on her feet when she said, "Well, we've already sent out invitations but if you like cantelope, we can have a Cantelope Party someday." That cracked me up! (We didn't know then that that girl could have totally stood in for the no-shows! Too bad!) After the party, Beatle told me that I "am a magical woman". :) Makes a mom feel good for hard work. She also, the day before, told me that I "am the queen of funny".

Have I blogged about running away? I think I touched on it before but that's her main threat these days if she's upset and I'm not a magical woman anymore. BR and I both have memories of "running away" around 6 or 7 years old. The thing is, we both lived in the country and we could "run away" with our parent watching from the window. Here in town, I'm not sure what to do. Lord knows, I don't want to her to go out that door without me. That's not an option so we'll have to get creative.

Foster Update: Still going to the meetings and getting our paperwork lined up. We have a date set for our home study at the end of July. Our house will probably be open around the time school starts in August but I'm learning quickly that you never know when you're working with DHS.