Staying Home and Staying Sane: Summer loving....

Summer is in full swing in the Dodds house.

Yep, kids have been fighting as much as possible.

No one wants to sleep in their own bed yet they don't want to bunk together in the family room either. But they do anyway.

And, I, being a glutton for punishment.....don't really enforce bedtimes during the summer.

What?! You crazy woman!

I know!

Hey, it does eliminate the need to cook breakfast because everyone is waking up closer to lunch. Well, the big kids are. G hasn't gotten the memo that he can totally sleep in during summer.

We haven't made any road trip treks further than an hour and half yet. I'm itching to get on the road.

Yes, I'm craving a road trip.

Me...the chick with three kids. And family that lives 12 hours away.

It's tradition. And I miss my family.

And I'm already getting pretty stoked about all of the thrift shop stops I may find along the way.

Because, I'm addicted.

Just try to park me in front of a Goodwill and keep me in the car.....you.just.try.it.

Today, we went from three wild and crazy kiddos to one wild and crazy kid.

The big kids got dropped off at camp.

I've gotta' say...I was a bit sad after we dropped them off. I will miss them.

And this is coming from the woman who has been singing,

CAMP, SWEET, CAMP....I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU!

Let's get real here. Teenagers are nuts. They are plain out of their minds. Plus, my son eats more than a whole football team. And he puts no time limit on his non stop eating....all night long this child wanders into the kitchen and "quietly" makes himself sandwiches with massive amounts of lunchmeats and cheeses and polishes off handfuls of homemade muffins in a single bite.

Come to think of it, he might have a tapeworm.

My daughter isn't really trouble, per say....actually she's an amazing stylist who just happens to curl my hair for me because I have zero talent in that field. I can barely blow dry it without sucking my hair up in the vent.

Smell of burnt hair. Bad.

BUT....she does like to get bossy. She's 11. And a girl. That's her life. She also has two brothers. Which might be the worst punishment ever. Two brothers who are total extroverts and always all up inyourface.....yep. She claims that T is super nice at camp.

I can only hope that this is true.

And I'm also wondering, why the hell doesn't he act like that at home?

We've almost finished with swim team season....our first attempt at this sport. I like it!

Yes, you have to get up at ungodly hours to pack a cooler with diced fruit, water bottles, and Gatorade or maybe just a family size box of Cheez-Its. You have to sweat it out with swim team parents who you may or may not enjoy. But I kind of dig it. R has gotten pretty lucky and all of her swim buddies are really encouraging and sweet to each other. They also have a lot of fun together chilling out between events.

Soccer starts soon.

This means waking up at ridiculous hours and trekking across fields of icky wet grass and I always wear flip flops anyway even though I can not STAND the feel of wet grass on my feet. Hours in the sun.

But I love it.

I scream my head off.

I am that mom that you are cutting your eyes at because you think I'm being too loud and maybe telling my kid to take your kid out.

Just kidding.

Maybe.

Our plans for this week while we are 2/3's child free?

Get ready, folks...we're getting CRAZY here.

I'm cleaning R's room and giving it a much needed makeover.

Yep. I'm exciting. Dang it.

And I am way too excited for some of the projects I already have planned.

Some random pictures of our summer so far?

SURE. These are from my phone because I am way too tired right now to walk over to where my camera is and take out the memory card and blah, blah, blah..... :)

He lost his 2nd tooth today! And he's super amped up about being an only child for a few days. Can you tell? He sang a snippet of Thrift Shop this afternoon to for all of my Instagram followers.