I'm not very good at writing the little things that happen each day, so today I'm giving my self 30 minutes to write about our day- then stop. It is what it is.
This morning I spent an hour working outside in the (relatively) cool morning before the children woke up. It was very peaceful and relaxing to haul hoses across our (really large) front lawn to the fruit orchard. I counted 8 (EIGHT!) pomegranates growing on our bitty little trees. I can't tell you enough how excited I am to have home-grown pomegranates.
Our jujube trees are also putting forth fruit, and boy howdy am I excited, even though I have no idea what jujubes taste like. When we heard how amazingly well jujubes grow in central Texas, we decided they were no-brainers on our farm. We'll teach ourselves how to like them. Theoretically. We tried that with okra years ago, and we harvested literally BUCKETS and GALLONS of okra Every. Single. Day.
All summer.
And I learned I'm really, really not a fan of okra. It took us years to get through one summer's okra harvest.
So. We'll see how jujubes float our boat. I'm crossing fingers.
I'm pretty busy getting everything ready for summer camp, which is happening next week. At my house.
Yeah, I might be a little crazy.
Anyway, we have 20 kids coming over Monday morning bright and early to have all sorts of adventures.
They'll be here all day, learning how to use power tools (Yup. We're using circular saws to cut wood for crafts. Power drills don't sound as exciting next to a big saw, do they? Poor drills.) and building catapults (two different kinds!) and launching home-made rockets. Sound fun yet? I'm also teaching them acting skills and helping them build costumes out of recycled materials like fused plastic bags.
We'll be playing WAY more team-building games than anyone in their right mind would agree to do (involving giant parachutes, water balloons, Cheetos flying through the air, rescuing imprisoned teddy bears, and LOTS of water games).
We'll see how it goes. You might need to come rescue me by the end of the week. I should probably be really uber-stressed about camp....but surprisingly, I'm not.
While I've been busy prepping for camp, Diego has been /charming/.
Check it out. This is my favorite Greek Yogurt converted into facial hair and hand lotion.
Right after I cleaned him up, he played outside and discovered the lovely charcoal in the fire pit left over from when we made s'mores last night. To his glee, he discovered that charcoal draws WAY better than sidewalk chalk -and would you believe it?!- it even draws on the house and his skin! I found a black little creature having the time of his life. And so it was that he had a second bath today.
Sarah and Matthew were blessed to go swimming next door with a friend, while Daniel stayed home and wailed to the world about the unfairness of life. In an effort to console him, I ditched my duties for an hour and we chilled out on the couch playing Mario Kart together. He creamed me of course, but he was giggling and having a great time, with perceived injustices quickly forgotten. He has the most contagious giggle!
I've also been working on my entertainment business all day, designing new business cards and working on an official website (because, let's face it, a Facebook page just isn't professional enough). After running through mazes of technical jargon way over my head, I was about ready to gauge out my own eyeballs rather than deal with website development again. Luckily I'll be able to swap services with friends to fix this problem-o. A fairy party with all the bells and whistles for them (a few hours of face painting, a magic show, balloon twisting, party games, and craft time with a gift for the birthday girl) and one basic website for me. Fantastic!
Packages have been arriving all day as I prepare for the July Fourth festival. It's the busiest day of the year for me. (I hear you saying, "Wha-?" in a confused sort of way. Yeah, evidently Independence Day is synonymous with Americana body art to openly display a patriotic spirit. /Shrug./ Works for me!) This is the most grueling work day of the year for me: with a 15-hour work shift in the blazing summer heat of Texas, bending over ALL DAY to paint faces. But- the pay is great. It's amazing what grandparents will pay to indulge their Littles on such a fleeting staple of childhood celebration.
It's like Christmas, getting a new package every day this week. I"m stocking up on patriotic glitter tattoo stencils, new face paint colors, snazzy balloons for twisting, and new magic tricks. I'm rubbing my hands in glee over the magic tricks. I can't wait to use them in a magic show! SO fun! I'm learning that performing magic shows are WAY more interesting to me than balloon twisting.
Sarah and I made a really late-night run to town to pick up all the camp supplies on our list. The grocery store was virtually dead (it was almost midnight after all...) which made it a really low-key shopping trip for us. At the store was a family with two tired little girls up waaay past their bedtime. They were so ready to go home, and the parents were equally frustrated.
I whipped out some nifty Mardi Gras beads from my pockets and quickly twisted beensy little poodles for the girls to keep. Problem solved. The girls left my side skipping and carefully cradling bright purple poodles one inch tall. The parents shot me grateful parting glances and thanked me. The poodles are SO cute and will never pop like a balloon dog. I carry these beads everywhere now- you never know when you'll come across a cranky child needing a bit of sunshine.
It's been a very busy and very happy day. Tomorrow is even more crazy. First thing in the morning, I load my car with party supplies before heading into town to pick up a friend. I'm taking her to the temple in San Antonio- her heart needs the powerful peace and hope that only the Lord can give to a grieving heart. After a session there, I'm racing back up to our neck of the woods to change out of Sunday best clothing into my clowning costume. I'll be heading directly to a Mad Hatter birthday party to perform a silly magic show and face paint dozens of gorgeous darling girls. The party ends just in time for me to drive across town and kidnap a friend for an evening girls' night. Whew!
Ah! Time's up! Have a lovely night! Mwah!
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