Summer Rose, Summer Rose the 2nd and Summer Rose the 3rd

My old friend is returning from the frozen tundra of wintertime. And here she is, summer self! I knew I should have named one of my kids Summer Rose! Perhaps I'll change my name to Summer Rose! Seriously, the winter time was depressing! Nothing made me feel better! I have been sweating here in Alabamy now for a good two weeks. That is, up until yesterday when it was 56 degrees. I'm sorry, but once it's been 89, there is no turning back for me! School is almost over. Dance is almost over. The other VARIOUS things I have volunteered for (and bitched about, which doesn't make a true volunteer because I wasn't giving of my time unselfishly and next Fall remind me not to spread my time so thin) are almost over. And, the neighborhood pool opens next weekend. Friend Susie has her pool open, and oh yes, Summer Rose the 2nd and Summer Rose the 3rd have both been in Susie's pool!

Annie (aka for this summer, Summer Rose the 3rd) is making huge strides in going to the potty. I know you that know her are thinking, "She is 4 and 1/2 years old!" Don't judge me, she's spoiled rotten and lazy. Basically, she should have been a boy and may be just like her Daddy! I don't know what else to do, but I am making huge strides! She has made it through the night dry for the past three weeks only because I took a stand against the racket that is what you and Target may call Pull-Ups. "I'm a big kid now" my thumb! Anyway, Annie is moving up to the 4K class, so we have another year to make sure she is good and trained before she goes to Kindergarten. Also, that means that I only have one more year of doing the Day Care's books in exchange for free Day Care. Free Day Care, my thumb!

Beebs has made it through 1st Grade like a champ. There were some times I wasn't so sure about her, but the last spelling test proved me wrong. 11/10 and 100% on sentence structure. You can't ask for more than that (although, I would if I knew how). I want her to make all A's. Don't we always want better for our kids! She only had one boyfriend this year, because I told her it wasn't allowed! Get this though, when he asked her to be his girlfriend, she said, and I quote, "I don't know, I'll have to ask my mom." How awesome is she!?! I ran through all of the questions, like why would you want to be his girlfriend and why do you like him. Her resounding answer was, "Because he's my friend." What more can you ask of a precious 7 year old!?!

Daddy's (our) A&E Landscaping & Lawn Care is taking off! We have a couple of new clients this year, so we are slowly building it up. I found a great deal (at www.Vistaprint.com) on everything marketing. We have car door magnets, yard signs and business cards as well as our very own logo! More on that later. Maybe I can even upload our logo to my blog. What a concept!

I am planning minor home redos, not renovations, but redos. Renovations take too much time and should be saved for the winter. Thanks to my new friend "The Lettered Cottage", my first project is to paint my steps that were covered in carpet. You see, when we moved into our house 5 years ago, we had the carpet replaced. Daddy told the carpet layers not to put carpet on the stairs because he was going to refinish those. Yep, they're still in the same sorry state. And, it wouldn't be so bad, but ours is a split foyer home, i.e. the first thing you see when you come in. So, I'm going to paint those according to the step by steps I found (no pun intended), re-paint the entire downstairs: den, entryway, bathroom, bedroom and all ceilings. Grandmama and Daddy are going to be contracted to help and Lord only knows what we'll do with the children! I promise to add before and after pics. I think I finally figured it out...

So, here I am, back in your good graces, with my bathing suit in one hand and my Corona Light in the other! Life could not get any better than life with Summer Rose...