Whew.

OK, so the month of June was THE. BUSIEST. MONTH. OF. MY. LIFE.  Busier than the month before I got married.  I think.  I was kind of in la-la land back then.  But I am pretty sure the last 30+ days can top it, and I have the planner to prove it!

First off, we all now have another year of school under our belts.  We had two "graduations" to attend, and by "graduation" I do not mean the ceremony which celebrates hundreds of students scattering themselves across the country, seeing each other only around the Christmas holidays or summer break but still able to keep up with each other via their Facebook updates.  No, our "graduations" simply meant that three of our kids will be attending different buildings in the fall, although there was so much pomp and circumstance I started wondering if I needed to write out a tuition check.  Brooke leaves elementary school behind to become a big, bad 5th grader, and Emma and Leah will enter the turmoil and tragedy that is junior high (except they call it middle school here).  Duh-duh-DUH!

Here is Brooke getting an award from her teacher.  Brooke was 4 for 4 in the awards department: Library Helper, Peace Force, Academic Achievement (GOLD medal!), and, of course, completing 4th grade.  As much fun as she has had, you know this girl is ready to move on!

Here are Emma and Leah taking a bow with their classmates in honor of finishing 6th grade. Now this was a ceremony. There were student speeches, a lovely song sung by the children (probably intended to make us cry, but I'm saving up for 6 years from now), and an off-site performing arts center venue. Well ain't we fancy?  There was much talk of accomplishments and the future, and I couldn't help but think: you're all 12.  Maybe 13.  You'll see each other at the pool next week.

I'll spare you a blow-by-blow of the rest of the end-of-school-year craziness.  My mother holds the distinction of being the sole benefactor of that generous gift as we embarked on our hour-long drive from the airport to her home.  Yes, I somehow fit an last minute trip to California in all this.  That is probably a post in itself.  I don't know if I can go into all of it here though.  It was emotional and personal and beautiful. 

And I will be forever grateful that Jill and I (and Melissa and Grandma Franklin) were able to make it work because three days after we came home, my grandmother passed away.

Then I was tossed right back into the eye of the hurricane.  There was some of this:

Andrew has become quite the first baseman!

Add in swim team, swim meets, and swim lessons, safety town, summer band (which culminated in a LibertyFest concert on Saturday),

Cub Scout Day camp,

 

and finally, Girls Camp!  Emma's and Leah's first year. I went up for the week too. Glenn came up for the day and went canoeing with the girls. We were lucky enough to share the experience with family and have fantastic weather. (Had we gone during this humid, cut-the-air-with-a-knife week, I'd be singing a different tune!)

So here we are, July already, and I am just breathing a huge sigh of relief.  All I've got now are a couple more days of swim lessons, the occasional doctor's appointment, one more baseball game, and the last two swim meets.  Cake.  It's left me with plenty of time to do those things I've been meaning to do but there just hasn't been time for, like posting on the blog or cleaning the fridge.  And unfortunately, there is just no more excuse for the condition my bathroom is in.