One more week!

I have a bunch of stuff to do today! Yuck. Most of it is making phone calls, but for you mom's out there, you understand how stressful it can be to try to be on the phone with 3 kids running around! On a good note, I have today, and then next week -- and I am done watching Mark! YAY! Another good little piece of news, Amber is done with her class, so she should be coming to pick him up around 2 every day. Of course, I figure she will probably go home and try to pack up some more stuff while she doesn't have Mark to distract her, but still maybe she will be able to get him around 3:30 or 4, but I am still hoping for 2! LOL I am really glad to get this second half of the summer with just my kiddos. It will be nice to be able to take them to the pool during the week, or go back to story time at the library. Or, just not be so exhausted all the time. For the 4th, JR bought a 10 lb. brisket, and smoked it. Yummy! Amber and Mark, and my mom and dad came over. We had the brisket, baked beans, baked potato salad, regular potato salad, grilled corn, and some cupcakes..plus the chips and dip. We sat out in the front yard while JR did a few fire works...JR called the city, but they couldn't give us a definitive answer on whether the fireworks were legal or not inside city limits...we found this incredibly strange. Our neighborhood watch guy came by and said we couldn't do the fireworks anymore...which was fine, since we had just popped off the final one. JR and I decided it would still be okay to let the kids do the sparklers...guess it wasn't. The neighborhood watch guy called the cops. The police officer was really cool, he was laughing with JR, so it wasn't that big of a deal. My mom was freaking out about the cops coming...it was funny. The cop told us if we wanted to continue with the sparklers or if we had fireworks, we could do them in the back yard. HUH??? Confusing right? First, let me say that fireworks were going off all through the neighborhood. Many people were popping them, apparently the cops had so many calls, that they weren't getting out of their cars to knock on doors. They were only stopping the people that were out walking around, kids doing the fireworks in parking lots, or people in their front yards. It was 10:00 when he came by about the sparklers, we decided just to head in and go to bed! My mom and dad even played a couple games of washers with JR and I. It really was a lot of fun! Tomorrow, my mom is keeping the kids for us. JR and I are heading to Dallas to go watch a Rangers game. JR seems to have a special talent for winning things on the radio. I think this is the 5th time he has won Rangers tickets. I have never been with him, opting to let him take a friend or Logan, but I think it would be nice to get away for a day with my husband. Baseball isn't exactly what I would have chosen, but - oh well, there you have it. I kind of wish we were going to sea world again, but maybe we can go on Sunday. I was hoping JR and I could go to Houston next weekend for a friend of ours turning 30, but we can't find a babysitter. His mom is working, my mom is working, and Amber is moving - not that I would really ask her to watch the kids over - night, but still. So frustrating! Plus, I have to go to a wedding. In Iowa Park, which is forever away. Trust me, if I could get a sitter, I would ditch the wedding, but, I do need to be there. I am just not looking forward to a 6.5 hour drive with the kids! Ughhhh Happy weekend everyone!