Seven Quick Takes Friday

1. The kids participate in the County Swim Meet tomorrow. The Ducks are the reigning county champs so there's a lot on the line! It starts at 9:00 am. Our team warm-ups are at 7:30 am. We are supposed to be there no later than 7:15 am. It takes about 20 minutes to get there. Plus  parking is supposed to be a nightmare so we should probably get an early start.  I'm tired just thinking about it.  Oh, and it's going to be hot.  High of 97.  With a heat index of 106.  That's hot y'all.  Even for a southerner!

2.  Peter has been taking guitar lessons this summer.  He loves it!  He practices without complaining and he's actually GOOD!  I was worried that he was going to have a hard time with it but his teacher says he's a natural and that he's very smart. (I knew the smart part already but it's nice to hear from someone else.  Even if the someone else is a twenty-year-old kid!) 

3.  Sarah has been taking piano lessons this summer.  She loves it! She practices without complaining and she's actually GOOD!  She  loves to show off her songs each week to Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa. 

4. Dan has been traveling so much lately he has had to leave me in charge of the garden.  That's unfortunate because I don't like to get hot and sweaty in the dirt.  But even with me at the helm, we are still getting tomatos and cucumbers.  The peppers are getting off to a very slow start this year.  Not sure what's going on with them.  We had good luck with the green beans but they are done now.  We got a beet harvest in the late spring and have planted another round which are looking good.  Not bad for someone who's never home and someone who doesn't really care one way or the other.

5.  Peter and Sarah are starting a new school in the fall.  Peter will be in third grade and Sarah will be in second.  At the beginning of summer we got a packet of information in the fall from each of their teachers.  The packaet contained summer homework.  Yikes!  The kids who aren't really excited about starting the new school were even less excited with this packet-o-summerfun.  To make matters worse, Peter's homework needs to be completed in cursive.  The new school teaches cursive in 2nd grade but our old school doesn't teach it until 3rd grade...which means Peter doesn't know cursive.  So I've been trying to "teach" him myself.  It is a slow and painful process. 

He is a very unwilling learner and I am a very hesitant teacher.  So that part of our summer has been rather yucky.  I had been pretty stressed out about it all but at this point I have decided that I will "teach" him the best I can and if necessary he will have to stay after school in the fall and learn the rest.  On a bright note, his cursive is actually pretty good (a lot better than his print).

6.  Dan returns home from Germany tonight after being gone all week.  Doing a little happy dance!

7.  My parents are taking care of the kids tomorrow night so Dan and I can go out to dinner.  Doing another happy dance!

And that's it for me. It's time to get ready for our last swim practice of the season.

To see what other people have to say, check out more Seven Quick Takes Friday at Conversion Diary.