(23 pictures)
Welcome Summer!
June started cold, freezing our garden at night for the first two weeks.
Then it warmed up and dried out. We were on evacuation standby over the 3rd weekend because the wildfire was 1/2 mile away.
This week it looks as though monsoon is starting. I LOVE monsoon. Today is the third afternoon of rain so far.
Our summer schedule includes the library on Monday...except the kids finished their reading program after only two weeks. The park with friends on Tuesday, the summer movies on Wednesday, swimming and play dates on Thursday and any random adventure for Friday.
In the afternoons they read and rest for an hour, then they get to work on an activity. Thanks to our great grandmas for supplying a lot of ideas.
We are also enjoying concerts in the park on Wednesday night with potluck picnics with our friends.
I got to do another wedding this month and Dad held the fort down...again...while I went to Mesa for a weekend to train for Let's Play Music 2nd year. I started out a year ago doing this for my kids wondering why I was adding one more thing to my life, now it has become such a source of fun and enjoyment for me. I wasn't expecting it to be for me too!
I've also decided that there is definitely merit to the old adage: the right tool for the job. For years I have scheduled my wash so that I can take at least one day off mid-week, if I've had enough. But I did load after load the other 5 days. Since Aaron spoiled me with a fancy new set I find myself with nothing left to do after two days. Not even the rugs, or the shower curtains, or the sheets, or the towels, or the picnic blanket, or the winter coats...what else can I find to wash? Plus it turns out to be great entertainment for the kids- ha ha- and they can take over a lot of the responsibility for loading, switching, turning on, etc. LOVE IT!
Then...I found myself a steam cleaner. Watch out, I am addicted. The chairs, the grout, the sink, the microwave, the oven, the fridge, the garbage lids, the floor, the wall by the baby seat, the windows, the window tracks! and the cupboard fronts. Whoa. It is out of control.
Lazy Summer Days? We're too busy for that!
And did you realize? Aaron and I have been married 10 years now!
June Chronicles
Special Edition: hiking with kids
We've been doing a lot of hiking this spring. The kids are almost always cheeful, but you still have to be geared up for going slow...and bringing home pounds and pounds of rocks.
May Chronicles
Here is what you are looking at from May:
Addie's 7th Birthday- was all things tiny. She recently taught herself the art of balloon sculpting with the help of the ever-genius Klutz. It's a skill that gains her a lot of adoration. She entertained her party guests with custom hats.
Ballet Recital- In January Addie set a goal to learn ballet this year. We think she has found her dance niche. She really enjoyed this class and performance...to say nothing of the beautiful costume. For the week that it hung, out of reach, in the top of my closet she would frequently visit it and declare just how wonderful it was.
Memorial Day Campout at Zion National Park- you can't beat a trip to Zion with great friends, weather that doesn't break 80' and a campsite where you don't see another soul. The crowning achievement was the whole family hiking up to Scout Lookout on Angel's Landing. That's a 5 mile trip up and back down 1200ft! Yea for little legs! Of course they all loved Walter's Wiggles and had most of the passing hikers totally amazed. It was hard not to notice 9 kids to say nothing of the (joyful) noise they were making. We thought they were so awesome. Addie and Aaron ventured up the last 1/2 mile to the top of Angel's Landing. Addie says she wasn't scared at all and points out that she is extra cool for doing it in Crocs.
Special Edition: Let's Play Music Teacher Blog
Check out some of the great things my music students have been doing!
They are Brilliant! I am biased.
But we all can't wait to start playing on the keyboards in a few weeks.
April Chronicles
A quick re-cap on some of these pictures.
April is the height of 'Birthday Season' in our household, so you'll see pictures of Jean's 1st, Quinn's 5th & Aaron's thirty somethin' birthdays.
Jean was happy with her one present of about 50 bracelets. She loves bracelets and will try on just about anything that remotely resembles a bracelet.
Quinn, in true creative Quinn fashion, dreamed up a Leaf Party. Not quite as hard to pull off as last year's Q-U party, but every bit as fun.
Aaron got left with all the kids for a weekend on his birthday. I was the one who really got the gift by going to Women's Conference for the weekend. He is totally capable and even turned down a meal plan with "I can handle it. Don't worry about leaving us any plans." (I did anyway).
And as a plug for his awesome Dadness: on Saturday he got all 4 kids ready and hauled them to the stake baptisms because he had to conduct for our ward, then took them all hiking for the afternoon. They were really energized about the adventure. Remember when we first had Addie and he had never even changed a diaper? He is awesomeness personified.
Then next week he took all 4 kids rock climbing during our switch-off at the temple. That might have been taking it too far in my book, but again, the kids were on cloud nine with stories about how they all climbed the highest they ever had...yadda yadda yadda. I still ban it from ever happening again.
A funny note about the April Fool's Dinner is that my kids totally couldn't handle the mixed messages and most of the meal was spent in tears and confusion.
The last few sleepy pictures are just a glimpse of our real life. One morning I got back from running and decided it would be fun to capture our household waking up. Then that night I couldn't resist following up with our household falling asleep. It is so typical...Addie reading, Quinn sacked out and Enoch with the Where's Waldo book across his face.
