Yardwork with Daddy ~

~ ~ ~ Another HOT, beautiful summer day in South Carolina ~ ~ ~

Thanks so much Wayne for the beautiful new flowers ... you did such a great job and we love them! :)

The boys have been working hard the past few days helping Daddy in the yard. They straightened up the walkway, raked up a huge mess from the pine trees, and organized all of their yard toys to prepare for a visit from Nanny and Paps. They wanted to make it look nice for when they arrived on Sunday...

Dakoda loves to help me water the new flowers. He is such a big helper!

I woke up early yesterday to meet David 1/2 way between his house and ours to take Joshua to his FIRST sleep over alone with his Uncle Dee. He was so excited! Dakoda was asking to go too ... but this time was just for the "big boys" we told him. We met at the Waffle house in Richburg and ate breakfast together. Dakoda was quiet on the way home, but I reassured him that Joshua would be back tomorrow. This morning he has asked 100 times already when Nanny and Paps, Uncle Dee and Joshua are going to come over. He is so cute, but not very patient. :)

Although Dakoda kept insisting he didn't need a nap, clearly he was tired out from all the yardwork that he helped with. We are very proud of both boys for all of their help.

On another note .... I must admit that initially it was hard for me to leave Joshua for that day and a half in Charlotte with his Uncle Dee for his first big sleep over. I'm working on "letting go" and really trying to encourage him to be a big boy now. He is only 8 my heart tells my mind, but I know that 8 today is so different than 8 when I was a child. Joshua is so smart that sometimes I have to stop and remind him that he is just 8. He wants these "guy only weekends" with his Uncle D now though, and we certainly wouldn't want to hold him back.

On the ride up he was watching my every move and asked me several times "are you ok Mommy, are you sad that I'm leaving?" I assured him that I was infact "ok". He asked me if I was going to cry when he left ... would I? I hoped not - but you never know. He looked so happy and secure as we parted ways. The only other time we have ever been away from each other over night (other than my hospital stay a couple of years ago for 5 nights) was when we went to Boston to see Dwane and to meet his bride to be, Alicia. It was for a short couple of days and he cried on the phone when I called to check on him. After that trip, he said "I don't EVER want to have separate daycations again Mommy" ... yea, you read that right he called them daycations. It was hard for me to leave him, and it made me grateful that I didn't have to work for the government anymore which would mean possible out of town business trips.

I thought it would be many years before Joshua would be ready for any type of "separate daycation", as well as myself ... but then he asked to go stay with his Uncle David. He was ready and we are proud of him. He had a great time in the city doing guy things with his Uncle D. They went to see Batman at the IMAX theatre and to a cook-out. I was also informed that Joshua was checking out the other little girls in the building that David lives in and really having a blast in doing so. They played the Wii, and did some shopping too.

Our independent little man is growing up so fast. I'm sure it won't be long before blog entries such as these are forbidden by him so I better do it now while I still can. :)