What time is it? Summertime!!

(So that is the opening song from HSM2 ... for those of you who do not know)

Anyway, can I just say that I cannot remember being this excited about summer since I was like 10. As Riley would say "I am so exciting!" I think a big part of it is that Riley will be home ... YAY! I miss that Little Man during the day and cannot wait to have him back all to myself. He is our constant source of entertainment. Just so full of joy and nonsense. We love love having him around.

What else about summertime do we love? The absence of dragging two babies out of bed every morning, getting them dressed while half asleep, stuffing breakfast down one of their throats and then rushing off to school. I guess that is the one drawback of having children that love to sleep in as much as their mommy and daddy do ... the mornings can be a bit difficult in the get up and go department.

But, that is what is so great about summer ... not alot of get up and go. The Texan Thompsons have been known to sleep in as late as 9AM on summer days. I do believe that I am getting back some of missed sleeping hours from 2003. Not a good year for Kim as far as sleep goes. Averaged about 4-5 hours a night, courtesy of Mr. Riley. No lie. Ask Carey. He was there too. He was asleep, but he was there. Heard all about it the next day. I will give him credit. It was his master touch that got Riley to FINALLY sleep through the night at 12 months of age. Thank you hon ... I am forever grateful.

Anyway, what else? Swimming with our new cousins at Pops and Gigis, tank tops and flip flops (or flop flops as Victoria calls them), VBS, ice cream truck, playdates with our buds, staying up late, cookouts, a trip to Six Flags (oh boy), going to the movies, our two week vaca to Colorado and Michigan, zoo days, and maybe hit a couple of water parks (again, oh boy).

And then there are the days of just lounging around the house. Those are the days I look forward to. Carey went out and bought one of those inflatable $20 pools from Walmart last weekend. Well, you would have thought we put down $40,000 for a brand-new pool. The kids love that thing!! This past week, they spent a total of about 12 hours in it. I kid you not ... the first words out of Victoria's mouth every morning last week "simsue, golls?" Translation "swimsuit and goggles?" Mommy likes it too. I can sit on our covered back deck and just watch the kids fight ... I mean play in the pool, while I sip on my Diet DP and enjoy doing ... nothing. Quite nice. So I am sure most of our days will be spent in the backyard a'swimmin in the Thompson Pond.


I am also going to try my best to work with Riley on his reading this summer. He is doing so very well and I would like to keep up the momentum. So, the plan is to read with him during the first 30-45 minutes of Victoria's nap everyday. I am really going to stick to my guns on this one. We are making a chart to hang on the wall with rewards for reading a certain number of books. Riley wants Carey and me to participate too. Not a bad idea. As Riley would say "I just have so many good ideas in this brain."

I also want him to work on his handwriting and spelling. He will be writing letters to family and friends. So don't be surprised if you get a letter from Riley in which all the words are spelled phonetically and there is a drawing of a guy with some sort of weapon with a rainbow over his head (those a his favorite things to draw right now).

As far as Victoria, well ... we will just be working on getting through the day without a spanking or a time-out. Those only seem to occur in the presence of Riley. So, I am preparing myself now for the "Mooooommmmeeeee, Victoria just __________ (fill in the blank with any number of catastrophes that could possibly happen to the older mild manner sweet hearted complacent brother of a strong-willed in your face outright defiant little sister). Poor guy just doesn't stand a chance.

There's the plan. Only 4 more days. Super fun. Summertime.