And, I Rejoiced

Last Friday, I rejoiced because it was the last day that I had to get up early and take the boy to seminary.  This morning, I rejoiced that I only have one more breakfast and one more lunch to make before school is out.  Next Friday, I will rejoice that Driver's Ed is over (only I will have spent much of my week at Girls' Camp) except for the drive times.  The girl is helping out with summer school at TSAS all month.  I will be rejoicing at the end of June that I no longer have to cart her around.

I feel like a poor excuse of a parent for all of this rejoicing.

And, I really feel like a poor excuse of a parent when I realized that all the boy expects or wants for breakfast is a cup of chocolate milk and 3 little donuts.  Therefore, why would one rejoice that she gets a summer long break from preparing breakfast?  I don't really know and I don't care.  I'm just tired.  So, judge me. Mock me.  I'm excited to have a break!  I will be rejoicing.

Happy Independence Day!

We hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July!  As for our family, we are headed to Austin and San Antonio!  We are leaving right this minute (hopefully) for Austin to spend the evening in with my awesome Auntie Jan.  Then we get to pick up our sweet boy from EFY tomorrow and hang out in San Antonio for the weekend.

Enjoy your weekend... And, maybe one day I will post about our adventures!

Missing My Boy

I have been away from this boy a lot this summer!  I spent a week at Girls' Camp with Jess.  Then he spent the next week at High Adventure.  Now, he is at EFY for a week.  I really miss him.  I have received one text from him and it simply read, "I love u."  Not sure if he was really thinking about me or thought he had better check in with Mom before she loses her mind!

Summer Sun

 

Last weekend, we managed to spend one last time enjoying the sun and the water.  Jess was hanging out with a friend and Fred needed to check out a campsite for his Scouts.  So... Jonathan and I talked him into letting us spend an hour floating in the sun.  We had to make a pit stop at Walmart and buy these bargain rafts, because we had thrown all of ours away.  It was just the three of us, so we just enjoyed floating on the rafts and soaking up the sun.

 

Poor Fred started coming down with a horrible cold while we were there!  By the time we left, he was super sick.  Other than that, I am glad that we managed to enjoy one last time in the water, before it gets too cold.

End Of Summer Blues...

It is very quiet in my house right now.  The only sounds are my washer and the click of the keyboard.  It is 9:30 a.m. on Saturday and everyone is still in bed.  We had one last hurrah at Main Event last night.  Jess and I left at 11:00 p.m.  The boys (Fred, Jonathan and Abie) were just starting to play billiards when we left.  We were there for an after-hours work event.  Fred wanted to know how many of our employees were still there.  I laughed at him and told him they all left hours ago.  Jess was still up when the boys got home and I could hear Jess and Fred laughing watching some TV show - World's Dumbest Daredevils, I think?  We are a tired bunch this morning!

Jessica started school on Wednesday and seems to be loving it.  Jonathan starts on Monday.  I think everyone has just about everything they need.  We are pretty organized and ready.  It helped to have Jess start in the middle of the week instead of on a Monday.  It also helped to have them starting on two different days.  Seems like less stress this year.  I think Jonathan needs some more shirts from the mall, but he has enough to get started.

Jonathan had band camp week before last and had to get himself to and from school everyday.  I was very impressed with how responsible he has become.  He enjoyed getting back into band.  The first day we weren't sure if he would need his tuba from home, so we dropped him off with it.  We told him to let his band director know that it would have to stay at the school, because he was going to be walking home.  Of course, he didn't.  They switched out his tuba and gave him the one that he would be using for the school year.  He walked almost 3/4 of a mile dragging a large tuba.  I hope we don't have to replace the wheels on the case at the end of the year!  I wonder if they inspect those when you turn them in?

Part of me is so ready to get this school year underway.  We need to get back to a schedule and structure.  The other part of me feels like we didn't do anything fun this summer.  We didn't go to the lake one single time.  We didn't go to any water parks or do any fun adventures.  No vacations.  We did hang out with friends during the summer, but no real adventures!  I really want an adventure and I don't feel like the summer is complete.  Two trips to Main Event does not count as adventure!  I want to kayak or hike or go to the beach or something fun!  But, I think I just need to get over it and move on.  Maybe next year.  This summer is in the books.

I am hoping that we have a great school year.  I hope both the kids enjoy their friends and learn wonderful new things.  I hope the excitement doesn't wear off and Mom doesn't have to help with any school projects!  And, that is my wish for the school year... just sayin'!

All pictures are from our trip to Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas in summer of 2010.

Love and War

Our wedding anniversary is July 29th, so we celebrated on Saturday (the 28th).  We decided to check out the live music at Love and War in Texas.  I was nervous, because Fred is not a huge country music fan.  I knew one of the acts - Dale Watson - is very country.  I was concerned that Fred might get up and leave early on.  He was a trooper and stuck it out.  We sat outside on a super hot night to listen to the music.  Smoking was allowed and the seating was uncomfortable.  So, if you know me, you know that this was recipe for a migraine.  (I had also worked out and taken Jonathan to the pool, so I had already over-heated and stressed my sensitive little brain out). 

I really enjoyed it and would have had even more fun with another couple.  I really wish Fred and our friends enjoyed country music, because it would be fun to do often.  The first act was Saille Branch. I was not familiar with him.  He is a local act.  Fred said that he is a cross between Hank Jr. and Johnny Cash.

Dale Watson was awesome, but he was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen.  He was very country and is based out of Austin.  I think Fred liked Saille Branch's music better, but Dale Watson was very funny (thankfully, that kept Fred entertained).  It was a great night (not counting the migraine) with great entertainment and great people watching.  Maybe I can talk Fred into doing this again!

Flashback Friday: Hanging Ten at Port Aransas

August 6, 2008

Port Aransas, Texas

In 2008, we took the kids to Port Aransas.  We had so much fun and have always talked about going back.  I hope that we can work that in the schedule again, soon.

Duck... Duck... Goose

Fred and the kids took Jeff and Emma to see Dark Night last Saturday.  That left Lainey and I to our own devices.  We had one Dora video and a cat to keep us busy for 3 hours.  It was super hot, but we decided to venture outside for a few minutes.  We walked across the street to the duck POND.  (Imagine a 2 year old saying duck in a normal voice and then yelling pond every time we discussed our adventure.)

It was excruciatingly hot!  Aunt Donna carried her around the entire pond.  We were sweating like crazy.

However, the heat didn't keep us from having fun!

We stopped here to feed the ducks.  She used all her bread in one spot.  I forgot all my old 'duck feeding' tricks.  I used to hide bread from Jonathan, so we wouldn't use it all up at one place.

There were so many ducks!  They were everywhere.  I took about three or four pictures just to get them all.  I have never seen so many in our little pond.

We were hot, but had so much fun!  Who needs Batman to have a good time?

Picnic Fun

 We got up super early and went to our Ward's breakfast picnic for the 4th of July.  When I say 'we,' I mean everyone except for Jessica.  We left at 7:45 a.m. and that was too early for Jess.  We enjoyed a delicious breakfast, fun games and great company.

Our Young Women were in charge of the Face Painting station.  We were a little nervous, because most of the girls were not available.  The leaders professed to have limited face painting skills, but we had 3-5 girls and that was the perfect number.  They did a great job.  I was so proud of them.

The girls even painted on each other and the painting seemed to move from their face to their arms.  One of our little clients even painted a heart (complete) with glitter on my arm.  She used ample paint and it took quite a while to dry!

The boys gave us a flag ceremony and offered outdoor games.  Jonathan and his friend went old school.  After they had their fill of the games, they spent some time on the playground.  After the picnic, they spent most of the day together.  It was a lazy day, for sure.

4th of July

We hope everyone is enjoying their holiday.  We started with a church picnic.  Jonathan had a friend over for much of the day.  Fred and Jessica have been watching a Twilight movie marathon.  Yes, I think it is slightly weird, but have opted not to say anything... for the most part.  I think he secretly likes Jacob. Fred and I are working on talks for church. 

For dinner tonight, we are going to grill and enjoy this pink lemonade cake that Jessie made. 

I had a small setback yesterday at work that seems really big and I am trying to remember that life is good.  One of my Young Women was having her own bad day and reminded me... 'come what may and love it.'  What a great attitude!

Independence Day Celebration

Allen always celebrates with fireworks the Saturday before Independence Day.  Our sweet friends, the Garstka's, are kind enough to invite us over every year.  They live close to the park, so we hang out and play before walking over to see the fireworks.  Afterwards, we hang out at their house while we wait for the traffic to die down.

We had a great time and always enjoy hanging out with our friends and Dave and Angela's family.

We looked at this bass all night long.  We parked our selves next to it, so that we would have an easy landmark to use when locating our spot.  We had no trouble finding our group!

Jonathan had fun walking around and checking our the jeep and trying out the bb guns in the Cabela tent.  I think he really wants a bb gun now. 

The fireworks were spectacular as always!

Fred's Man-Size Cooler

I have to post Fred and Jonathan's adventures from Scout Camp, but I really need their help.  In the meantime, I took these pictures of Fred getting his cooler ready the night before they left.

Does anyone really need a cooler this big?  It was very heavy.  I know this, because I helped load it in the back of the Durango.  I'm not sure that Fred had any room for kids.  His cooler took up all the room!  (It almost looks like a coffin!)

Fun Family Friends

Madison, Katy, Ally, Laura and Jessie

Madison and Savannah

Mrs. Joannie and Jessie



Summer Sports

The Purple Cow in Fairview has a sand volleyball court right next to it.  We managed to hang out there for about 2 hours after dinner.

The guys were all good sports and played.  The women - not so much!  We all sat out.  I personally wasn't interested in getting sand on my feet or looking like an idiot in front of all of the people hanging out.

Some people, like Dave, are more comfortable with that sort of thing!  As you can see, he rolled his pants up to make manpri's and rolled his shirt sleeves up, so that easier to play.  Style was not on his mind.

 Given the fact that we were there for so long, I'm guessing that they had a blast.  The guys were dripping in sweat when we left.  Giving goodbye hugs was a little hard.  For some reason, the girls didn't sweat so much (even though, they were the more talented players).  Just sayin'!

I don't think they are ready for the Olympics... or any team for that matter, but fun was had by all!

Movie Madness

We had the opportunity to celebrate our sweet friend, Ally's 12th birthday on Saturday. We started the celebration by watching Madagascar 3.  I went with low expectations.  It is much easier to enjoy a movie that way.

Jessica, Katy, Madison, Jonathan, Laura (back row)

Rylee and Ally (front row)

I think the kids all enjoyed the part where Alex the zebra (Chris Rock) put on the rainbow colored wig and started singing:

DA DA DADADADA DA DA CIRCUS! DA DA DADADADA DA DA AFRO! CIRCUS! AFRO! CIRCUS! AFRO! POLKA DOT, POLKA DOT, POLKA DOT, AFRO!

I personally could have gone the rest of my life without that song!  Hearing it on 14 million commercials over the last month or so has been enough!

After the movie we reconvened at The Purple Cow for dinner.

We had a great time celebrating Ally's birthday and hanging out with our friends the Garstkas, Millers, Turners, Whites... and, of course, Abie.

Stay tuned for more...

Summer Firsts

The first swim of the summer...

The first sunburn of the summer...

Camping And More Camping

A couple of weeks ago Jonathan and Fred went on a multi-ward camp out.  I think they must have had fun, because they came home much later than expected.  They brought home a ton of stories, and they smelled bad.  These are all signs that fun was had by all.

The boys camped in Wolfe City on one of the Bishop's property - I think.  The boys were grouped in patrols of about six boys.  I think it was absolutely awesome that the patrols had boys from all the wards.  It was a great way for the boys to step outside of their usual groups, and get to know one another.

They were actually supposed to camp two weeks in a row, but the second camp out was canceled due to rain.  Jonathan was so excited, because it was a father/son camp out.  He and Fred and had invited my dad for the second year in a row.  Never fear, the week long Scout camp is coming up the second week in June!

Flashback Friday: Livin' The Good Life

Once upon a time a mother and daughter went kayaking.  It was hard work, so the daughter decided that it wasn't any fun, and that she didn't really want to play anymore.  So, she stretched out in the warm sun and took a little nap.  The mother was left to navigate the river by herself.  She stroked along as she pulled the weight of herself, the sunbathing teenager and the extra large kayak.  The mother could feel every muscle in her arm and shoulder working.  She was tired, but she felt like a super hero.  There were times that the mother didn't want to play anymore, either.  Sometimes the daughter would sit up and try to help.  During those times, the mother and daughter would end up spinning in circles or hitting the bank.  They decided it was better for the daughter to sleep and the mother to stroke. 

And, the mother swore she would never kayak tandem ever again.  The daughter swore that she would never kayak ever again (tandem or otherwise).

The End.