Monday, July 26, 2010

Cub Day Camp

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Levi had a blast at Cub Scout Day Camp learning to make blue spaghetti, climb flag poles, damage nearby children, and other such fun. He just finished his Wolf Badge and is about to embark on the Bear journey.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Braces

Braces are one of the most cosmetically humiliating experiences voluntarily inflicted on our children we have yet invented, but if we don't undergo this most silly of child-rearing rituals those children then blame us when they need to get braces at age 40! So Taya at age 12 not only has to suffer the indignity of it all every day for the next year, but her photographer mother captured the entire procedure on camera. Smile! These are almost as good as baby bath tub photos!

We were fortunate enough to be recommended to Fast Braces by some friends of ours, taking half the time and therefore costing half as much as traditional orthodontia. Whereas other quotes we received varied from 15-18 months at $3500-4800, these weighed in at 10 months and $2000! A big difference that makes my own orthodontically enhanced mouth smile a little bigger.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Pretty Sisters

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I had to do a quick retake of a front exterior of a home near where we live, and my daughters thought the yard was almost as pretty as they were. Taking a photo of them was the only way to keep them out of the photo of the house, so here are two to make extra sure the MLS photo doesn't have any yard faeries in it!

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Bird Watching

Levi went to day camp in north Austin this week, and the owner of the real estate photography firm I contract for has 2 boys Levi's age and lives about 5 minutes from the camp. So they picked him up each night, and he slept over. I am picking him up tomorrow: he had a blast, and I am glad he enjoyed himself doing something good for his body, brain, and social skills, but we've missed his sweet self around here! She emailed me this photo with the message, "If you are really quiet, you can grab your camera… peek around the corner and catch a photo of the elusive Levibird curled up on the sofa reading a book…"

He behaved beautifully, much to my relief, especially after several recent altercations with the parent volunteers at swim meets and a tough time in school and Sunday school generally. Frankly I'm just glad he didn't get sent home early by the camp or our friends, and that I didn't get fired! His counselor is an at-risk teacher during the school year, luckily enough, and ironically enough was also named Levi! So Lord Levi was Little Levi's confidant and extra supervision during the week, helping him work through any tough situations. They even named a duck Levi III, so I guess there are 2 Levi birds now.

The boys helped him "man up" after all his four sister torture around here, and hopefully he'll come home understanding better what being a rowdy boy and a gentleman are all about.