Do we have to get out of the pool?!

The last full week before the start of school came out of nowhere. I want to do as much with Alex as possible before he starts first grade, so we followed Alex’s lead this week. Surprisingly, Alex didn’t want to sit around and watch me do laundry or clean house. I have mountains of laundry and fingerprint-streaked appliances, but it will all be there next week when he climbs on the bus. (Unless of course, my fantasy about vandals breaking in and cleaning our house comes true.)

I did get a much needed haircut on Thursday and popped into Immediate Care to have a case of poison ivy treated. After trying vinegar, scalding water, Dawn dish washing liquid, Fels Naptha laundry bar, and some $20 over the counter cream, it turns out all I needed was super strong cortisone cream. Apparently, I’m not a trained physician no matter how much I read on-line.

Thursday afternoon, we went shopping for school supplies. Alex loves office supplies, so he was on cloud nine when I told him we could shop at Office Depot. He made some weird choices…a safety yellow binder, and a cement grey notebook, but I kept my opinion to myself. I’m not sure how he’s going to get all the required supplies into his classroom. For the teachers who read this blog, would it be strange if I showed up at the ice cream social with all this stuff? I just can’t picture Alex dragging it all onto the bus, and he insists on riding the bus.

Our Friday was nuts and lots of fun. Dawn called and asked us to go to our favorite burger place. Rarely will I turn down lunch. It was sort of a last hurrah with my kids and Dawn’s kids before they all hit the books. Have you tried to synch a preschool schedule?! Bubs’ is very kid friendly, but also caters to the business crowd at lunch. They have outdoor seating, it was 78 degrees and sunny. Guess how long our lunch took? Worth every minute.

After lunch, I called my new friend Annie. I “met” Annie through another photographer’s blog. The funny part is, this incredibly talented photographer, Betsy, lives in Ft. Wayne, but her friend Annie lives in Noblesville. I love God's way of connecting me with great people! Annie is an extremely talented artist and produces beautiful canvases. She has several signature lines, and also does custom pieces, which include personalization. As you know, I will buy practically anything if it is monogrammed, so I loved Annie’s work from the get go. I was thrilled and honored when Annie contacted me and asked me to photograph some of her pieces. Annie is going to create something for Meredith that I can’t wait to show you! If you need a birthday idea, a baby gift, or your walls are begging for something original you have to check out Annie’s website. Her blog is fun too!

Oh, another great thing Annie offers are canvas tiles dedicated to various health issues. I love this idea as a gift of support for someone facing a tough diagnosis or treament schedule.

I can get off track faster than a bullet train…my point was we met Annie and her three gorgeous children, whom I’m dying to photograph, at the park. We took a few shots of recent works. Easiest subjects ever, except I was nervous about doing Annie’s work justice. Then, we all headed to our pool for an afternoon swim. The kids had a great time smacking each other with noodles and splashing the moms. Annie and Joe stopped by too, which added to our fun. This is what I’ll miss most about the summer. Well, maybe not the most…this is the first year I’ll only set two places for lunch.