The end is near...

The end of summer, that is.

This summer has been a BLUR! Good and Bad and Crazy and calm??? Actually, I don't remember much of it being calm, but overall, it's been a good summer. We survived and for the most part, we're still smiling.

School starts in a week. My kids excitement level decreases greatly as their age increases.

Beck is starting Kindergarten -- he is SO excited, he can hardly sleep! He asks me everyday, "How many more days until I can go to school?" He talks about it all day long.

Kaia is starting 4th grade -- she's excited to see her friends, meet her new teacher, go the school library,  and of course, go to recess!

Zoe is starting 7th grade -- she's excited to see her friends, sort of...

Gabe is starting 10th grade -- he's... um, "school, what? at least I got new shoes, right?"

I'm excited, I am. I'm not gonna lie. It's time. We've had a good time together going to the park and the library and swimming lessons and playgroup and the splash pads. We've spent a lot of the time organizing and enjoying our new house. We rode the bus one day just for "fun". (It was fun for about the first 5 minutes, but it was an adventure!) We made a fire pit in our backyard and have enjoyed roasting marshmallows and string cheese and grasshoppers and...  yeah. We have improved their cooking skills (their request) and cleaning skills (MY request). And we have done a LOT of yard work, but I've really enjoyed it.

I'm not a big fan of the sun. In fact, I really don't like it at all. It makes me very ill every time I go out in it for more than, well, about 5 minutes. Really. So that's hard to work around. My kids have learned to adapt. We stay in the shade or we don't go outside. We've been playing board games quite a bit this summer -- strange, I know, but it's been fun. Our favorites? Monopoly and Killer Bunnies (I'm using the term "favorites" VERY loosely).

Our favorite inside activity though, would have to be reading. We've cuddled up with more than a few books this summer. Well, my kids have. I can't seem to focus... I've been working on "The Lost Hero" by Rick Riordan nearly all summer and I just finished it last week. It's really good -- it just isn't captivating? I don't know what's happened to me... I used to LOVE LOVE LOVE a good YA Sci-Fi/Fantasy. I still do, but I find myself being drawn to memoirs and even just fictions that are a bit more realistic. Huh. I hope I'm not growing up too much... maybe it's a phase...well, I'm forcing myself to plow through "Son of Neptune" and on through that series. My kids love that one -- they're waiting for me to catch up so we can discuss it. :) Awwww.

We also did our traditional Summerfest day (arts festival) and Cache County Fair adventure. 

I think this ride was called "Dizzy Dragons" or something... so fun! Beck is on the far right, with Kaia next to him, and our friend Monique next to Kaia. (Random girl next to Monique... Beck says she is their new best friend. Ok.)

Oh, one more VERY important thing to note:

This is a CHURRO... the really YUMMY kind from the fair. My friend, Rose, and her family makes them. Rose is Monique's mom. This one has dulce de leche filling (like caramel, but WAY BETTER.)

And this IS Churro (He found his way to our house and well... he's just too adorable.) 

He's our newest family member.

The kids and I think his fur looks like it's sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and his eyes are truly the color of dulce de leche. (I need to post a picture of his eyes). Yep, it's official, we're crazy. 

And it's official: We have the legal limit of cats per household in our city. 4. 

4 kids, 4 cats -- my kids think we are now complete.

More on summer later...

Time to organize a few more drawers and boxes before school starts (as in, I really need to find my social security card -- I'm teaching preschool this Fall -- I start next week! -- and my employer needs a copy of it.)

It's "MEOW or NEVER" (saw that on Facebook!)

P.S. Kaia chose my new background -- it really goes with our houseful of CATS! It's kinda hurting my eyes, but I'll keep it for awhile.

How I spent my summer "vacation"

Swimming

lots of swimming

Sweating

I feel like I've been melting all summer

Crying

this summer has been hard

Correcting

all I need is a whistle and a black and white striped shirt!

Comforting

leaving our home of 9 years has been hard on the kids and cats (and me) - Zeke is a rock!

Changing

Cleaning

TOO MUCH cleaning and I'm sure it's not enough. 
Thanks, Lora!

Packing

Un-packing

Praying

Pleading

Pricing

Pondering

Planning

Phone-calling

Emailing

Meeting new people

More phone-calling

More emailing

Buying LOTS of popsicles

Watching "Cake Boss"

(and sorry to say, lots of Dinosaur Train and Pound Puppies -- "Fuhget aboud it!")
Buying cake 
(notice I didn't say baking)

Watching "The Adventures of Merlin"

if only I could look like Morgana and not BE like Morgana!

Having LOTS of picnics

Hiking

Spelunking

Going to the fair

Thinking

Wishing 

Hoping 

Dreaming

Stressing

Obsessing

Waiting

Waiting

Waiting

Waiting

Just surviving

 and LAUNDRY

oh, the laundry -- especially towels!

Oh, I did NOT do any yard work! Bonus :)

A summer to remember, but glad to be through it really.

What did I miss the most?

the things I need the most:

Good friends

Good books

How did you spend YOUR summer vacation?
(Man, I hope I get an A on this!)

THIS is the definition of Insanity

"The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result." ~ Albert Einstein

I can't believe how often this quote applies to my life. When I finally wake up and realize what I'm doing -- this quote always comes to mind.

Thanks, Gabe, for letting me use your AWESOME gorilla skull on my blog
(I think it would make a cool T-shirt):

I was whining to Zeke this morning (Wednesday after my last post) about how hard it is and how stressed I am, how messy the house is and how grumpy we all are and sick of each other. DUH!

Kids eating breakfast hours apart, sleeping in until 10 or 11, friends coming and going, insanely stressful dinner making times, "the witching hours" as my friend Stephanie calls it. She talked about quiet/play in your room time right before dinner when they're hungry, tired, and excited for Dad to get home. GENIUS. She also told me to spend more one on one time with each child. INSPIRED. Hard to do, but VERY important.

Today I changed, made a schedule, not just in my head, but on paper on the fridge and went through it with each child and well, tried to follow it --aaaaah. So much better! Another quote I need to practice more often, "If you don't write it down, it's simply a wish."
Not every member of the household was pleased with the "SCHEDULE" (i.e. Gabe), but I think they'll figure out soon enough, "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!" There HAS to be some structure even to summer. June was so crazy and July was so busy. Better late than never, right?

We've done a lot of cool things -- swim lessons, play group, afternoon at the county fair, late nights with friends, summer reading program, cooking together, yard work, sewing, etc, but it's all been "roly-poly, pell-mell tumble-bumble" and I end up at the bottom of the hill in a big heap.
Now that there's only 2 weeks left, I've got it all figured out... for NEXT YEAR! Bring on the Strawberry Shortcake! :) 10 pts. to the first person who can identify one of our favorite books I'm quoting. Oh, and here's the guardian of our front porch (Thank, Caspian):

Is he cute or what?
(Dedra and Tawnya don't need to answer this, but I love you anyway :)

Three is a Magic Number

Well, here's my week: Swim lessons everyday, Playdate/Park everyday, shopping, library, gymnastics, art class, oh, and laundry, dishes, dinner, and guilt from NOT working in my yard.

I realized this week I have reached a milestone in my life. This is the FIRST time EVER in 10 years that I have been able to sit and watch my kids during their entire swimming lesson. WOW. Really it is SO weird. Gabe started when he was three and I was busy with Zoe. Gabe and Zoe took lessons and I was busy chasing Kaia. For the last three years, I have been chasing Beck while Gabe, Zoe, and Kaia have been doing their lessons. Now, Beck is three and this is his first summer taking lessons.

I have 40 whole minutes just to sit there! *bliss* It took me until yesterday to realize I should bring a book! Every few minutes I would look up and smile and wave at the kids. Beck keeps giving me the "thumbs up" I like this new phase of being a Mommy. My brain feels so calm. It's time to re-fuel. Especially after chasing Beck through Wal-Mart yesterday morning!

Today is the first day this week I don't HAVE to go anywhere. I'm looking forward to working in the yard and reading "Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo". I'm on chapter four and it's really good so far. Really good, if you like juvenile science fiction/fantasy and I DO!

We're also going to a wedding reception tonight for one of Zeke's former young men/scouts. It's so cool/bizarre to see the youth grow up and get married. *sniff sniff* Where does the time go?
My girls just LOVE to go to weddings and see the bride's dress!
The girls have been playing dress up lately. Here they are as the Red Fairies complete with RED lipstick. I know I'm just a *little* biased, but I think they are absolutely adorable. I am so thankful they have each other. They are so close. Sometimes too close... there are some occasional arguments, usually over candy or jewelry or the cats. Oh, to be little again!

Last Friday, Zeke and Gabe went camping with the Scouts, so I took Zoe, Kaia, and Beck to the park. We also went Father's Day shopping for Zeke and got him some new shorts. This guy doesn't really ever buy clothes for himself other than shoes and T-shirts with funny sayings on them. I've mended and re-mended most of his shorts. He calls one pair his "Frankenstein Shorts" because of all the stitches on them. It was time to get new shorts!

I love this picture of Beck.
He was jumping up the slide and I caught him with his feet in the air:

Unfortunately, he jumped so hard, he hit his head on the slide:

"Whoa, Mom, did you see dat?!"

The girls call this the "little red spinny chair". It's tilted a bit, so when you sit in it and lean just a little, you start spinning so fast you wish you never sat there. I've only sat there twice. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me! What was I thinking? I used to love stuff like that. Not so much anymore, actually not at all. It's really hard to get out, especially with one hand over your mouth! Needless to say, Kaia and Zoe LOVE it!
Beck isn't too fond of the "little red spinny chair",
but this motorcycle is one of his favorites.

This park is one of my FAVORITE places to be.
It's only three minutes from our house.

I hope you're all having a FABULOUS summer and please don't feel bad if I haven't commented on your blog... I haven't forgotten any of you wonderful friends. I LOVE your comments and I look forward to catching up on your blogs in the next few days.

Now I've done it!

Okay, I seriously need to write a blog post... life is so busy and crazy right now.

A quote I really like, "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle." Life is too short. No one is perfect. Look for the good. People can change.

I also believe that no matter how hard you try, you cannot get people to believe or see something they don't want to, even if it is the truth. Like Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." But the truth will come to light someday and I am at peace knowing that retribution is with God. Let go and let GOD. Some good life lessons learned this week, not by choice, but maybe this was needed long ago.

Just FYI, we have ONE computer and now that school's out for the summer, there are FIVE of us waiting in line to use it during the day. Yeah, I'm thinking one post a week might be pushing it.

We've been swimming, BBQ-ing, cleaning, painting, gardening, laughing, crying, cooking, shopping, going to gymnastics, movie watching, reading, and staying up WAY too late... and just enjoying not having to do homework every night!

By the way, we watched a movie on Netflix called, "Outsourced", I really liked it.

NEWS of the week:

1) My neighbor and dear friend, Lora, is EXPECTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the best news ever!
2) I got to meet a blog friend this week! Amber, I had a great time finally talking to you in person. Your kids are adorable! I wish I would have taken more pictures.
3) Zoe had an "Un-birthday" party today. Ever since she could talk, she's wanted a water party: swimming, water balloons, sprinklers, etc. Poor girl was born in November... so this year, she got her wish! :)
4) Last Saturday, I invited the girls from my Book Club and their families over for a BBQ. It was the best night ever! :) I seriously LOVE every single one of these women; they have saved my life. To see some of the highlights... go here, this is my dear friend, Tawnya's blog. This is Beck and his best friend, Sammy, at the BBQ. This is serious. Beck does NOT want to share Sammy with Kaia. At all. Or with anyone else. Sammy is the man! Beck talks about him all day and pretends he's here. :)
5) Gabe (far right) and his buddies heading to a Young Men's activity... they look pretty dang cute I think!

Zeke and I are so blessed. We have so many wonderful people in our life. Thank you to Lora, Tawnya, Amber, Nancy, Nicole, Melissa, Lisa, and anyone else who has made me smile. :)

Wow, suddenly June is half over. I need to take more pictures and keep working on my "to do" list. I've re-painted Beck's room and the family room. Next up is our room and the deck!

Next week: swimming lessons

Oh, and some good advice I learned the hard way,
"Never toss a bag of topsoil into your trunk!" (Do I need to explain?)

The Good with the Bad... I'll take what I can get!

Okay, so Wednesday was Book Club. It was so AWESOME. It was nearly impossible to get there, but I was going no matter what! Kaia had a last minute birthday party. Zeke and Gabe went hiking with the scouts. At least my friend Nancy agreed to watch my kids, but right before I left, the Young Women came by doing a service scavenger hunt (how could I say no?) I had to take my Dad's old Chevy, very groovy in my opinion, although a tad hard to reach the gas pedal. I was an hour late, but it was worth every crazy minute spent trying to get there!

Sushi at the Black Pearl and Cannoli's at Sweetly Divine?
Oh yeah, but that's just the beginning!
Without incriminating anyone I will just say we hand a grand old time shopping for lingerie at Dillard's. What?!? Don't you go shopping for lingerie with your Book Club? Well, you should.

Oh and of course we talked about the book, a bit. Actually most of us hadn't finished it yet. It's over 500 pages and well... life happens. But I did finish it Friday night. If you didn't read my last post, it's called "The Forgotten Garden" by Kate Morton. I really liked it. I would probably give it 3 out of 5 stars, maybe 4. It's hard to follow sometimes, jumping between the early 1900's, 1975, and 2005 all through the book with each chapter labeled with a different year. It's a great mystery with interesting characters. However, I was a bit frustrated by this woman's apparent allergy to conjunctions. I don't think I've read a book with longer, more confusing sentences. (other than my blog!) I'd have to go back and reread a few sentences here and there trying to figure out what she was saying. I'm very impatient and it just didn't flow at times. But the overall story was great.

Seriously, this whole paragraph is TMI I know, but I don't care. Friday was one of those days.... my dumb bladder. Does anyone wanna trade me? Deb? Amanda? You've offered to trade other things with me, I just thought I would ask. :) Anyway, having IC does have it's benefits, I guess. When I'm having a "flare-up", I can't hold still for anything, for fear of, well, you know. So I spent most of Friday running around the house getting stuff done. A week's worth of chores done in one day: Litter boxes, weeding, laundry, more weeding, dishes, etc. I guess I just need the proper motivation. Hmm? The kids and I had fun in spite of my inability to sit still. My medicine just wasn't cutting it so I had to keep VERY busy in order to keep my mind off of it.

Random: Kaia and Beck watching Scooby Doo

For the record, we're just a week into summer and my kids are so good at helping me around the house. During the school year, they have a few chores each day, but with so much homework and scouts and activity days and all that, I don't really focus on heavy duty chores until summer. I have a very simple chore chart and I rotate it everyday. Did you know that Kaia seriously LOVES to dust? I don't know where she came from, but I am definitely keeping her! Gabe mows the lawn for me and takes out the trash. Zoe is my best sweeper and clothes folder and Beck will do anything if he thinks he's "helping". Yeah, I'm pretty dang blessed!

Here's Gabe and Beck chillin' on the back deck after Gabe mowed the lawn.
Beck LOVES his big brother!

Friday night, we built a camp fire in the backyard and made smores.
It was a bit chilly, but fun.

Saturday was a Mother-Daugher Picnic for the Activity Day girls (kinda like girl scouts, sorta). Zoe and I went together and well, she is my buddy. We had a picnic on the lawn and painted flower pots.
Afterwards, we went to the store to grab a few things and Zoe saw a display of Justin Bieber dolls and was NOT happy about it. I'm glad she's not into all that yet. Honestly, why is he so popular? He sounds like a girl, well, at least the doll version of him does. We had to test all of the dolls just to see if they worked -- at the same time. You know the guy that spins dinner plates on top of sticks or whatever? We're WAAAY better than him!
Saturday night, we invited our wonderful neighbors, Lora and David, over to help us eat some some dutch oven potatoes and ribs. They obliged and brought some dutch oven cherry-chocolate dump cake. It was a feast! I can't believe it's only been a year since I met Lora. We are so blessed! I was so sad last year when I got released from Young Women's and then, Lora moved in across the street and life just keeps getting better. We have a lot in common so we can relate to each other, but we are very different too and it's keeps things interesting. :) I didn't take any pictures :(

Okay, today, Sunday, has been quite a day for me. I've been praying earnestly for answers to some things that have been troubling me lately. I'm always amazed at how those answers come. Testimony meeting was inspiring and I really appreciated my friend, Michelle's testimony of prayer and how she's gotten answers to the "small" things and that's given her Faith to keep praying for the "big" things and now the big things have been answered. I need to have more Faith! I hope I can endure the trials I have been given. Sometimes I'm not so sure. They're nothing too major, but for me they seem unbearable.

I was thinking about how wonderful my life really is aside from one or two things and if I didn't have these trials to deal with, how would I learn anything? There must be opposition in all things, right? Sometimes I just wish I could pick the what and the when... yeah, it just doesn't work that way.

Also, while preparing my Primary lesson this week, I've had this cute little Primary song going through my head (and it's no coincidence):

Help me, Dear Father, to freely forgive
All who may seem unkind to me.
Help me each day, Father, I pray;
Help me live nearer, nearer to Thee.

Why is it so hard to forgive people? Maybe it's just hard for me. I look at other families and wonder what it would be like to have a different family. But you know, I was given my family for a reason. ALL of them. I'm really trying to figure out what I'm supposed to learn from all of it and REALLY trying to feel charity in my heart. I think it's interesting the lyrics say "all who may seem unkind". It's how we perceive things... and I could go on forever about that one. But regardless of perception and true intent, I am still REQUIRED to forgive. My trial isn't "finished", but I got a lot of answers today and I am very grateful for the peace I felt. I think I've made some progress. There's NO way I could handle what I'm going through without the help of my Father in Heaven.

Here's to a new week! :)

This is my thinking face

I feel so behind on blogs and blogging. We had a good trip. It's always nice to see my parents. I didn't feel too well most of the time and well, that's just not any fun is it? Can I just tell you how much my parents LOVE the soundtrack to Mamma Mia? ha ha ha... good times. We went for a ride with them and they were SO into the music. It was a treat to see them out of the house and enjoying each other and the music. :)

I'm trying to get my children into some kind of summer routine. Yesterday was great, but I'm not sure yet how blogging will fit into it. Yesterday was also full of unpacking and extra laundry.

I'm trying to finish reading a book because Book Club is TONIGHT! I'm excited, but I've gotta get reading! So far, I really like the book. It's called, "The Forgotten Garden" by Kate Morton. We'll see how it ends. I also need to find a babysitter because Zeke and Gabe are going hiking with the deacons... I will TRIUMPH!

I always feel kinda weird visiting the cemetary... kind of sad and just really introspective. So many memories, so many regrets, so many worries, so many questions, so many hopes and wishes. I enjoyed going to visit the graves of both sets of grandparents, as well as my sister, Brenda, and my cousin, Rory. Life is SO precious. It can be over in an instant. This weekend was FULL of emotions and I find myself overly cautious and smiling on the outside, but worrying like a paranoid crazy person on the inside.

Here's my Mom, Zoe, and Kaia at the Centerfield, Utah Cemetary... it was very cold and windy. This is the headstone of my paternal grandparents, Leo and Eliza Andersen. Don't you just love Zoe and Kaia's headbands/bows? My Mom always has some special little thing for them. She is THE best grandma.
I am so thankful that she can be part of their lives.

Here's the boys: my Dad, Gabe, and Beck
(sorry the picture is so fuzzy, I took it from my phone)

The highlight of the weekend was my Dad singing "one of his songs"... you just have to know my Dad. I'll have to share a few with you later. But this was a song I've never heard before and well, before he got to the second verse, my Mom came running in and shut him up. My kids were laughing so hard and just DYING to know what he was going to sing. Dad, I'm still curious. You said you'd sing it to Zeke later and he could sing it to me. Oh, I can only imagine. :)

As soon as I finish that book, I will catch up on my blog reading!
Oh, and go hug your little ones at least two or three times, ok? :)

School's out for Summah!!!!

Our favorite song this morning:

It's the last day of school and my kids are more than REALLY excited!!! We made it through another year! We're going to visit my parents this weekend and I can't wait to see them, other than I think I have an ear infection. :( It's been a rough week, but I'm going to the doctor this morning. I think I get an ear infection every May. I'm not going to let that stop us from having fun!

Hope you have a fun weekend! :)

Blah-ging: it's not you, it's me

I've been so busy and I'm just not in the mood to blog... I'll try to catch up on my blog reading tonight. I promise: it's not you, it's ME! Blah.

We had a wonderful weekend:

• We took Friday off and just played. All six of us. It was more than splendid. I'll write more about that later too. We kind of planned it last minute. It was SO fun. We are so blessed. By the way, I love sushi.
  
• On Saturday we cleaned out our garage and car, just to mention a few things. And those are MAJOR things.
  
• I went to a Stake RS meeting and heard a great talk by Emily Watts. She was AWESOME! I'll write more about that later too.
• We rented Harry Potter 7 from the Redbox and I loved it. (Kaia and Beck didn't watch it -- I'll save you the trouble of cussing me out. You're welcome.) *SPOILER ALERT* Tell me I'm not the only person that cried when Dobby got killed? I knew it was going to happen; I've read the book, but it still made me really sad.
  
• We ate dinner outside -- to me, this is THE welcoming ritual of summer. Any suggestions on yummy things to grill?
  
• The girls and I got new swimsuit cover ups and flip flops -- another sign that summer is really coming!

Are they cute or what?
My cover up is the same color as Zoe's. The sash can be worn many different ways and well, that fact made us want them regardless of the color. They can be dresses, skirts, sleeveless cover-ups over your bathing suit, yeah, it's just too groovy. We can't wait to walk around Bear Lake all dressed the same. I am so blessed to have these precious girls.
They are definitely my shopping buddies.

I hope you all have a FABULOUS week.
My kids get out of school on Friday and for the moment,
I'm really happy about it.
No more homework, no more books, no more children's dirty looks! :)
I just want to play...