how summer is shaping up...

This is going to be a different summer.  I can feel it.

First off, one of my best friend's here is moving.  :-(  This is not good.  She's the one person here, other than Gary, that I can talk to about spiritual things - who's on the same page as me.  Our boys are friends.  We go to the same church and several social things.  She lives in the same neighborhood.  We are walking buddies sometimes.

That's the sad thing.

I've set up a schedule of sorts for the boys.  A chore chart so they can earn an allowance and finally buy that Wii game they are begging for.  They are doing a Summer Bridge page each day, handwriting, reading, reading a devotion on their own, wiping their toilet and sink and emptying wastebaskets.  So far, they are cooperating.  I'm loving it.  I'm stunned that they are doing it. 

So that's an oddly organized thing.

This week the boys are going to a science class, called "boys tech camp".  It's from 12:30 to 4:00 and it's all about things that are fast and loud and how it works.  They've made flywheel cars and solar cars.  Thursday they are going to make rockets.  They are having a blast, except today.  Ryan came out of the class, saw me and started bawling.  All the way home he was sobbing.  He informed me that he didn't want to go to class tomorrow for two reasons and I couldn't make him.  So I asked him why.  And he said that they were going to work with craft knives and super glue tomorrow.   He's afraid.  I'm sure the teacher had good intentions and just wanted to stress the importance of being careful, but Ryan takes these things to heart.  The teacher told them that the slightest touch of the craft knife would cut them to the bone.  And the super glue will permanently stick you to what you touch and you would have to cut away the flesh to get it off.  So I told him the knife thing was an exaggeration, that it is indeed very sharp, but you'd need pressure to make it go to the bone.  Plus he had earned the knife badge in cubscouts so he had learned about knife safety.  Gary reviewed knife skills with him tonight.  And then I told him that superglue is indeed strong and fast drying, but solvents can be used to pry your fingers apart.  We looked it up on the internet and it said that fingernail polish remover would work.  I also toldhim that EVERYONE glues their fingers together, and if he gets glue on a finger to let it dry and not touch anything.  *sigh*  Before bed he began to tear up again, and informed me to be prepared because he may cry during the night.  *sigh*  What a sweety pie. 

oh, I also told him that if he cut himself, they could just superglue it together.  And he said no!  And I said yes, that's what they did when you cut your forehead.  I'm sure it wasn't reassuring, but it was true!

So that was a traumatic thing.

I'll end on an oddly funny note.  Yesterday, walking to the class, the sprinklers were on in the school yard, so we walked on the sidewalk.  As we walked along, I felt something on my legs, like a vine or something, hear/felt a snap and then suddenly, I was doused from the rear with water.  I swung around and saw a balloon unloading on me!  We ran a little bit and looked back and all we saw was a clothespin on the ground.  I'm sure there were kids across the street giggling behind a window.  I wasn't mad because it was a hot day and frankly it felt good.  So I took them to class and went back home the same way.  Mysteriously, the balloon and clothespin were gone!  Aha, just as I suspected, a booby trap.  So on my way back to pick them up, I went the same way out of curiosity.  I saw a fishing line casually draped across the sidewalk, but I did not see any water balloons or other objects lying in wait.  There was a flip flop in the grass.  I wish I had tripped it just to see what would happen.  The fishing line and flip flops were not there on the way home.  Hmmmm....

I just thought it was all fun and funny.  And I'm so glad it was just water and not something like dog poo.  I wonder how they made it work?

We do have a few fun things planned.  Next week is Vacation Bible School.  What is a summer without VBS?  And then later will be a short trip to Maui.  Nothing much in between.  Some swimming, some beach and lots of laziness.