Welcome Summer!...

I was listening to the radio the other day, and the person was talking about how kids in America are dumber than kids in China and other countries, because our kids have a summer vacation, and those kids go to school year round.  The person was making the argument that kids should never have more than two weeks off school at a time, since they lose valuable information in that time off, and how we will never be able to compete as a nation with these other countries, because we don't take education seriously enough.  What a bunch of hogwash!  I don't care what people think--I LOVE SUMMER!  So my kids might forget a few things...and August and September might be spent reviewing...so WHAT!  You heard me right--who cares?  You go to school 9 1/2 months out of each year--almost all day long!  I think without summer vacation, I would lose my ever-lovin' mind! 
For me, summer has always been about freedom.  Freedom from schedules, freedom from homework, freedom from sports teams, organizations, grades, and teachers.  Freedom from parents even (as you get older...)!  I love that my kids are MINE for the summer.  I don't have to share them with anyone, and I don't have to account for our time together.  If we spend the whole day together--and all we do is lounge around--I don't have to apologize to anyone that we didn't get homework done, or that they didn't practice their instrument, or that we didn't have time to do that project.  Our time is OUR TIME, and we can spend it however we want.  I know for many moms, this doesn't sound like fun--it sounds like pure CHAOS.  But for me, a Mary--(see that post HERE), it works!  So if my kids are dumber than a kid in China--oh well.  At least they can look back on the 10 weeks we spend together every summer, and remember that their lives were not all about books, and homework, and practice. Every summer--there was FUN!
This week, the kids used their points from our chore chart (the website we've been using is HERE--it's super awesome, and SO easy for the kids to use), to purchase a Slip-N-Slide that they saw in the Target circular that we got in the mail.  I remember my first Slip-N-Slide!  As a kid, there's not anything as fun on a hot summer day then to run and slide on one of these babies! Josh and Ashlie put their money together, and went in on the most super awesome 3 lane racing one!  I must say, it brought back some fun memories to see them play on it.  I still remember when I got mine for my birthday.  All the neighborhood kids came over and we played on it for HOURS!  It used to irritate the heck out of my dad, since he has always been a stickler for a well manicured lawn--and when we used it it would destroy the grass underneath.  I'm surprised he let me have that thing at all!  My kids enjoyed it just as much, and I have the pictures to prove it!  Take a look at their faces, and ask yourself if these kinds of smiles could be found at anytime other than SUMMER?!  Not a chance!

 Now tell me:  Do you think Chinese kids look this HAPPY?  I don't think so!  HA!

In BLOOM...

I have yet to get the hang of gardening...in fact, I have never really tried it due to the fact that A. we have never had a yard that was conducive to having a garden in it, and, B. I have killed every houseplant I have ever tried to take care of.  (Truth be told, I'm not much better at pets...)  Anyway, a few years ago, when we moved into this house, I let the girls plant some sunflower seeds in the front of our house in two empty planters that we have.  I didn't think much of them, but they watered them once in awhile, and low and behold...they GREW!  I was thrilled with the result--because I LOVE sunflowers.  They grow so big and tall (taller than me), and they are so beautiful and hearty, and well, they make me feel happy! Unfortunately, only one side grew last year, so we decided to help out the other side this year by buying some topsoil and carefully turning the soil over.  We planted LOTS of seeds in that side, thinking we would be lucky if we only got a few...OOPS!  Turns out, this year, our little flower garden is lopsided once again!  TONS of flowers grew on the one side we nourished (see if you can find our For Sale sign in that jungle...)--and the side that grew well last year had an irrigation problem and kept flooding, and before we figured out what was going on, many of the plants died.  Oh well, live and learn.  This was the result:

I'm sure my neighbors probably drive by and think, "These people are CRAZY if they think those flowers look good there.  It's certainly not the place really, for sunflowers.  But it is the only place in our yard where we can plant them--and I love them.  The kids love watching these HUGE flowers grow from just a little seed, and in a few months the Arizona heat will kill all of them anyway, so I will enjoy them while I can.  I also love taking pictures of them, knowing these blooms came from our hard work!  Now if only I could do the same as these flowers...and BLOOM where I'm planted...sigh.  I'm working on it...one day at a time.

One Year Older and, Well...

It seems the longer I live, the more I feel like there is so much left to learn!  Older = Wiser?  I'm not sure about that.  I guess even though I have a lot to learn about life, I'm glad to have tucked away a few decades under my belt, and glad to have seemingly skated through them without too much hassle!  I'm 37, inching closer and closer to the 40 mark.  I'm not sure how I feel about that yet, however, I feel like once I got married and started having children, in a sense I felt like I became OLD even though I was relatively young in comparison to most people.  Now that I'm in my 30's, and because I have so many children, I seem to identify myself with all different people, of all different ages.  I identify with those young mothers in their 20's , who have one or two little ones and are struggling through those early years of parenthood.  I feel for them--since I know they are putting all kinds of pressure on themselves, thinking that if they don't do everything just perfect, they will somehow destroy their children and their poor, vulnerable psyche.  Even though I still have young children, I have learned (the hard way), that all that pressure and stress does no good, and all I can do is my best.  My 5th and 6th children have certainly had a much more relaxed, confident, (and happy) mother than their older siblings did!  I identify with mothers in their 30's, most of them with children in elementary and junior high school, and I enjoy talking with them about strategies and tricks to talking/relating to our young children and pre-teens.  Some of them are mothers who had their children later in life, and have had experiences that I didn't get to have.  Missions, Degrees, Careers--I really admire these women for what they were able to accomplish while I was in the thick of parenting and marriage in my 20's.  They benefit from a maturity, and a perspective that I didn't have for a long time, and they are able to see things in a different way.  Sometimes I notice that they appreciate their kids and families a little more than maybe I did in the beginning.  I was a little (or a LOT) selfish while I was in my 20's--especially when I first got married & had a child, aren't we all?  I also have friends and family in their 40's and 50's,  most of whom are dealing with the JOY of teenagers, whether their first, or last few children to leave the nest.  I enjoy talking to them, especially the ones who have done this teenage thing before, and whose children have made it through the JUNGLE that is High School, and have survived!  I have learned that it IS possible--to raise a righteous, valiant child, in a world swirling about with wickedness and that gives me HOPE! I think HOPE is what every  parent of a teenager needs!  Finally, my visiting teaching partner is a lady in her 60's, like my mom, and I just love going with her to visit teach and hearing her perspective, having raised her children, and now looking back at what she thinks she did and didn't do wrong.  We also visit a lady in her 70's who gives such valuable insight--I feel like I learn something new from these ladies every single month!  I guess my point is, when I was in my teens, and 20's, I remember looking at people in their 30's and older, and thinking--"They are nothing like me--I can't relate to those OLD people".  Rude...  I know!  Now, I realize that I have much to learn from those who have come before me, and valuable input to add for those coming up behind me.  In this way, I do feel like I get a little wiser every year--just a little.
You might feel like that was a rather lengthy monologue for a measly 37th birthday post--but hey--life is short right!  When you have these kind of epiphanys at my age--it helps to write them down--I surely won't remember them later unless I did (I probably wouldn't remember 30 minutes from now)!  My memory is going fast you know!   My birthday was so much fun!  I was awakened by all of my children serenading me in their beautiful voices, and YAY--got my favorite treat--a QT Donut birthday cake, homemade by TODD!  Thank goodness he didn't destroy them by putting 37 candles on them!  The kitchen may have caught fire!  My friend Tonya made my morning even brighter by bringing me a Coke Zero from Circle K (the styrofoam cup is the BEST, and they have the BEST Coke Zero), and she went the extra mile to stop at QT and buy me 2 MORE QT Chocolate Long Jons!  (I didn't share those...with anyone--in fact, I threatened a certain child with his/her life for trying to take one).  Anytime I have a Coke Zero before 10 a.m.--it's SURE to be a great day!  The kids had cute cards telling me what they LOVE about mom--luckily they only tried to think of 10 things, not 37!  Later, I found out that Erin had decorated her bathroom mirror with a Dry Erase Marker in MY HONOR!  She's so sweet!  Love that girl!  That night we went to dinner at the Keg--(steak--YUM) with Todd's sister Katie and her husband Shaun, and then to Gammage for MAMMA MIA!  I LOVE that show--it was a BLAST!   Take a look at my amazing day!  Forgive the bedhead--but I don't look THAT bad for 37, right?  (Nevermind...don't answer that!)

Ashlie's a Kindergarten Grad!...

I am just getting around to writing about the end of the school year, mostly because the end of the school year is INSANE!  Seriously, the last few weeks of school are nonstop at this house & it seems like there isn't a night go by that we don't have something to go to.  It's a good thing really, that our kids are involved in so many things, and that the schools they go to put on so many performances and neat programs, but I'm telling you I am BURNED OUT by May & ready for school to be OVER! 

Ashlie is a proud Kindergarten Graduate!  All of the Kindergarten classes at Towne Meadows did a cute little music program the last week of school.  They sang the sweetest songs, and did these cute little actions to them.  I'm telling you, the sweet music teachers that put these things together have hearts of GOLD to work on these songs over and over with these kids!  They were so stinkin' CUTE!  I LOVE this age!  Most of my pictures didn't turn out great, since it was a small room with a TON of parents--but you can see my sweet girl, with her cute ear poking out (as it sometimes does--isn't she ADORABLE!).  Great job, ASH!  We are SO proud of you!

Ask Me Tomorrow...

This week has been a crazy week.  Todd has been at Scout Camp since Tuesday morning, and I pretty much get NO sleep when he is gone, so I have been driving myself CRAZY by cleaning every nook and cranny in my house.  Mostly because I am SURE that we have only received crap offers on our house because the Laundry Room is a mess, or the Pantry shelves are dirty.  It can't be the CRAP economy can it?  (Thanks Obama--Really.)  Anyway, I am pretty much going on NO SLEEP.  I'm not good on no sleep.  (I'm not even that good on a lot of sleep!)  Anyway, Emie has been up in Heber for the last few days with her good friend.  They had such a great time, doing girly stuff (fake nails), watching scary movies, (I told her to get Watcher in the Woods...classic), and riding quads.  Quite a fun couple of days, full of adventure.  Tonight, she returned home just in time to go to mutual, and then went to her friends house until around 10.  When she came home, I finally had a few minutes to talk to her.  This was our conversation:
Emie:  "So, Mom, what have you been up to the last few days?"
Me:  "Well, I've been cleaning, a lot.  And, well, ya, that's pretty much it."
Emie:  "Really?  Do you just HATE your life?"
Me:  "Ummmm....."
Any other day, I may have launched into a lecture about the joys of motherhood, or the beauty of having a house of order, and how it helps us to have the spirit in our home when it is clean.  I may have shared with her how I find joy and satisfaction in being a woman, and how my motherhood, and homemaking skills help define my life.  I might have told her how I used to long for a career, and recognition, and well, a life.  But then, she was born, and as soon as I looked into her eyes, I knew she NEEDED me, and I was forever changed.
However, that conversation never happened.  Today, I left it at "Ummm...", and it was probably for the best.  The way I was feeling, and the no sleep part of the equation may have caused my answer to be construed the wrong way, because today, the answer was,  "Sometimes...YES, my life is crap!"  But please--ask me tomorrow!