Making Friends By the Pool

This morning as Grant was helping me with the pool chores, he opened the skimmer basket and found a surprise...  A super adorable little turtle!  Of course, being Grant the insatiable animal lover, he asked if we could keep it and make it our new pet.  You know what my answer was, because - I mean really - could you say no to this face?

Yeah, me neither.  After we held him and exclaimed for a while over his cuteness, we set about making him a new home. Then came the much more difficult task of choosing a name.  Grant claimed that since he found the turtle, and he rescued the turtle; he should be the one to name the turtle.  I offered suggestions such as Franklin (after the beloved storybook turtle), Tuck (from the Wonder Pets).  I even went through all the names of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Nope.  Grant chose a name early on and nothing but nothing was deterring him from his choice.  So, may I proudly present...

Turd Turdy Keith.  You know, because "Turd" is short for turtle.

Making the Most of It

I am not a morning person in any way, shape, or fashion.  My kids are both very early risers (we're talking 5 a.m. here, people!), and my sweet hubs has to wake at around 5 or 6 a.m. for work.  My norm is to roll, drag, or flop out of bed, stumble to the kitchen and make Jeff's breakfast, then retreat to the couch with a blanket and my coffee until the sand is completely out of my eyes.

The trouble with that is, now that 'bama is in full summer heat, it is too hot to do ANYTHING by 9:00!  So I am carpe-ing the diem, so to speak.  When Jeff leaves for work, I now take that first oh-so-precious cup of Starbucks French Roast out to the back porch and watch the shade begin to retreat from the right side of my yard.  By the time the caffeine is in my system, I have to race against the hot sun to get the pool brushing/vacuuming or sidewalk sweeping or flower garden weeding done.  Then by the time I come inside and straighten the house for the day, it is hot enough outside to spend the rest of the day in the water!

There was a time when I hated summer (which curiously coincided with the time in my life when I weighed over 200 pounds.  Go figure.)  Now I love the time spent outdoors, in the water with my sweet family!  I am learning to make the most of my cooler mornings and the sunny, wonderful days with my boys!