Sometimes he is tiring, however, as I reflected in that moment... I told her that he gives me more energy than he takes. What's exhausting is my hectic schedule... which I MUST work on when we get back from vacation!!! I really do need to simplify! (As evidenced below.)
Mercer and I had a very pleasant surprise Friday afternoon: a childhood friend, Susan, who now lives in Tennessee was passing through town... and she stopped by with her 3 children and new baby, Saber. So cute... and strong (which around the other 3 kids probably has to be out of defense!) It was short, but I know we'll go visit her and their family sometime soon.... maybe this fall?
Throughout the week when I got home from work, I immediately went into planning, research, and shopping mode for an event that I was helping out with: the Cherokee Heights Art Festival. A guy on our street (who is retired) thought that we should do a neighborhood event in honor of the City of Marietta's 175th birthday. The city was hoping that different neighborhoods around town would have street parties and festivals this year to celebrate. They advertised the event and loaned us street barricades and tables. I used to make jewelry and participate in our neighborhood art shows, but I knew I wouldn't have time to produce any work. I volunteered to head up the "Children's Art Experience" booth instead. Somehow I also got wrangled into doing a layout of all of the artist's booths which meant going up and down the street, taking measurements the week before the show, coordinating with artists, then getting there Saturday morning at 7 am to mark the spots before everyone arrived at 8 am. 8 am came... I worked on setting up the big 10 x 20 tent (with several people's help), set up tables, dragged out all the art supplies... and 10 am arrived quickly. Showtime!
We had a rush of kids in the beginning (children of the artists mostly who wanted to make sand art (in Mercer's baby-food jars), a fish-bowl craft that someone had designed, and launch into face painting. We had bubbles,
sidewalk chalk, origami for the older children, and coloring book pages / crayons for the younger children. 
At left, Mercer is tasting the chalk because we pulled the pacifier from his mouth. Oops! Below, Mercer is giving coloring a try. (I did get to contribute artwork "on the sly" -- by making copies of some coloring book pages that I had drawn several years ago. They were based on inspiration from the neighbor dog who I was wild about!) It was a whirlwind of a day, but - honestly - was a lot of fun! Todd brought Mercer up once in the morning and once in the afternoon. He & I were both impressed with the quality of some of the fine art (paintings, photographs, and sculptures) that some of our neighbors produced. 
Here's a shot of Todd & Mercer in a handmade wood mirror that a neighbor made. (Notice Mercer's arm in the foreground pointing at himself in the mirror?!) There was also a nice mix of crafts and smaller pieces. It was a very well-rounded show and something that we'll likely do again next year (in honor of Marietta's 176th birthday?!)Maybe next year I'll be better at limiting my obligations and commitments. As seen at the bottom of the blog post, Mercer got his photo in the local newspaper as did some of the artists (including Jen, the mother of some of Mercer's friends). Click on the image to enlarge if you want to read the caption. I suppose this is Mercer's first 15 minutes of fame? (the circulation is close to 18,000 papers, so he's now locally famous.)
With that behind me, I have begun to turn focus to our trip to NY. We fly out Wednesday. I'm sure we'll have an update from the big apple later this week. Hope everyone has a nice, calming, relaxing week ahead~ Candice
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