Where I last left off...

...we were struggling for perspective and gratitude. Without going into too much detail about The Incident which precipitated my last post (in respect for my little Reader Girl who closely monitors this blog), I will say that things are much improved. We had a week long "experiment" following The Incident, in which Avery was required to keep her life afloat without all the normal help from her loving parents. She did her own laundry, prepared her own food, and even earned the driving time we spent shuttling her to and fro by doing chores. At the end of the week, I asked if she'd learned anything. Her response? "Yes. I learned not to complain."

Ok, then. I was going for something more like, "Wow, Mom, you sure do a lot to help me! I know now that I could never get by without such loving and generous parents!" But if she learned not to complain, I'll take it.

So that was last week. This week was camp week. Avery spent the week at the Williamson County Historical Museum. Keeping with our current family theme, I'll share the things our family is grateful for this week.

1. We are all grateful that Avery had such a great opportunity for such a fun camp. She learned all sorts of new crafts, like spinning yarn, felting, weaving, etc. She also got to explore new places, like the county courthouse, where they even had a mock trial.

2. I am grateful for good friends to do childcare swaps with, so that Bill and I could have one glorious morning exploring Georgetown alone. We perused the book sale at the library, wandered through countless arts and antique stores, enjoyed the quaint and lovely architecture on the Square, and had a wonderful lunch at Romeo's. Oh, and I'm grateful to have a husband that enjoys these things as much as I do!

3. I'm grateful that we don't have to get up every morning all year round and get children out the door. It was fine for a week, but I'm already weary of operating on someone else's schedule!

4. I'm grateful that my daughter and her friends are so accustomed to polite and respectful adults that they were absolutely horrified when the camp director got frustrated and yelled at a few of the kids in the courthouse. We all got quite an earful from our enraged offspring. I think the director was just having a bad day, as teachers sometimes have!

5. I'm grateful that my children missed each other so much this week! It was a good reminder to them both that they really enjoy each other's company. After camp one day, Avery had her violin lesson, then I took her to a movie. The kids were so sad to not see each other all day, so they arranged to talk on the phone. It was really a heartwarming (and hilarious) conversation.

And, unrelated to camp, I'm also grateful this week for...

6. My wonderful grandmother, who celebrated a birthday yesterday. And I'm so thankful for such a fun and loving family.

7. I'm thankful that I got to see a screening of the movie Man on Wire. Truly amazing!

8. And, last, I'm sooooo excited that the Olympics are starting that I can hardly stand it! I'm guessing we'll be parked in front of our TV more in the next 17 days than we have been all summer. I can't wait!