Summer

Oh man I am so excited for summer!  It brings back memories of being a kid and not having to go to school.  What summer means to me:
No school
Sleeping in
Watching Matlock
Swimming
Tanning oil
Laying out
Midnight trips to Taco Bell or Wendy's
Roman Noodles
Macaroni and cheese
Bar-B-Ques
4th of July
Family Picnics and get-togethe's at the park
Staying up late
Otter Pops
NO homework!

I am excited to start a new list with my own family.   What summer NOW means to me:
Swimming lessons
Summer sports
Summer reading program
Popsicles
Popsicle stains
Playing legos
Garage sales
Summer dresses
Summer haircuts
Bike rides
Local splash pads
Sunscreen
Tan lines
Picnics with friends
Dirty bath water
Caleb's B-day party!

I am in love with summer so far.  I can't wait to go swimming and have a break while the kids are passed out from the chlorine in the pool.  ;0)  I always loved that after swimming, eating roman noodles or a hot dog and then falling asleep to a movie.  Those were the best summer days as a kid.  I want to give that to my kids...I need to find a recipe for homemade organic roman noodles.  wink

My mind is full of all these reasons why I love being a mother, so I'm going to go without he flow and write them all down, maybe I'll need to look back on this soon.

Why I love being a mother:

Listening to the Chipmunks sing sun oldies rock songs, like "Livin on a Prayer", watching cartoons, seeing my children play together, working together and pretending together.  Kids music groups like The Terrible Two's(Highly recommend to all parents of small children) Seeing my children dance around the front room, saying "Mom look at my cool moves!", I love when my kids want me to watch them.  I love being asks things like, "mom wanna smell my breath?"  Or "is he poppy?  Can I see?"
I love sitting around the table at dinner and laughing about the silly faces we can make, or watching the kids try to cross their eyes.  It's so fun having young children and a lot of them.  No matter how many pregnancies or babies or toddlers I have it is always new and fun.  I love to feel this baby move and as my belly gets bigger it just gets to be more fun.  No matter how many babies I have I still love that first time they smile.  No matter how many kids I have that have learned to walk it is still so exciting for that first step.  No matter how many toddlers I have I love to hear their first word, and to see their little brains working and sputtering out their own little language.  I love seeing Calvy learn in school, so get excited about learning math and writing...it's getting better by the way.  I love to see how different each of my children are, they have such unique personalities and are so special.  I love seeing how girly Ellie is and see her training to be a mommy.  The other day she pulled her shirt down and stuck her baby up to her chest and put a blanket over her self and said, "I'm practicing to be a mommy".  Love it, I love that she wants to be a mommy.

It's hard as a mother, you hope that you are teaching your children all they need to know for then to grow up to be good citizens and parents, and to make good choices.  I want them to follow Christ and grow-up and get married in the Temple and have big families that they love.  I want their experience as children to motivate them to do good and want to have a family like they had while growing up.  I would really like it is they said, "I want to be just like my Mom/Dad" vs. "I will not be like my Mom/Dad".

I was talking to a friend the other day and she said that she and her family are really close.  I asked her how her mom did that, how she made it to where they actually liked each other.  She said "I really believe that a family who plays together stays together"  She told me they would play and play hard together as a family, rock-climbing, repelling, hiking, skiing...etc.  She said that if they had a choice between playing with friends or siblings they would always choose siblings, because they always had so much fun together.  They had a lot of land growing up so they would just go outside and explore all day.  I don't remember who I heard this from but in their family if they were hungry they would go in and make a sandwich and if someone needed help making theirs they would help them, if someone needed help zipping up a their jacket, they would help them.

I love those simple acts of service and independence that teach our children to serve themselves and each other, and love it.  I know that by teaching them to serve one another that it will help them to love one another.  I love when my kids make their own lunches.  I thought at first it was me being lazy, but I realize that me doing EVERYTHING for my children doesn't always show them how much I love them, or if I don't do everything for them it doesn't mean I don't love them.  I am excited to see their independence.  I like to see what they will pick out for the days outfit or at project.  It's fun to see what interests them.

I am grateful to be a mother, I truly do feel so much happiness and rejoice on my family.  I am grateful to be a parent....which doesn't mean it isn't extremely difficult.  Days are still filled with poop and pee, which sometimes end up on the floor, puke and screaming and fevers and crying and hitting and dirty laundry and dishes and all the other things that come with the territory.   BUT  I do find the joy in it, maybe not everyday, but I try.

It's hard, but today I am grateful.  Here's to a summer filled with otter pops and sunscreen!

Happy summer everyone!

Caleb after an encounter with Oil of Oregano....poor kid.

Old pic of Alan graduating.  YAY!

Alan's goofy hair ad his goofy friend.

the missionaries in Chicago gave these to us as a going away present.  So sweet!  

 The story behind it...We had them over for dinner one night and didn't have anything for dessert so I grabbed out a box of walmart granola bars.  As I opened the box I laughed...and so did everyone else.  So that morning I decided we needed to get out of the house, so before we ate breakfast we headed to Walmart, and or course we were all starving, so I grabbed a few boxes of granola bars and we ate those until we were full, we ate almost the entire bulk box.  So when I opened the box for the missionaries there were all of the wrappers from our breakfast that morning.  It was pretty hilarious to them, they really got a kick out of it.  So when we found this on our doorstep it was really fun.  Sweet boys!

Double breasted suit coat...pictionary.

Eating our gift from our amazing Chiropractor and boss and fam when we just moved in "To Dr. Barnes and fam: Welcome to the neighborhood" , SO delicious and so mince!  I wouldn't mind getting one of these everyday.

Ellie had some growing pains, this is after I massaged them, just like my Daddy did for me when I was young.

Cute little Curly Sue. Brings back memories of when I was a kid an my Mom would  put my hair in curlers.

A gift left on our doorstep from the our new elders in our new ward here.  Yes, that is a giant reese's egg!  My favorite!  I think I gained ten pounds and killed my immune system a little with all of this....I didn't actually eat it all, but I came close.

When I first started to look pregnant...not just chubby.

Fun crafty for a friends new baby girl.

matching lovey

Awesome Nacho Libre boots for a kid at Goodwill!

Caleb's broken leg.

Showing a little more.

Laying out soaking up some glorious sun!  So fun to see the bump while on my back.  Love it!

Wonferdul foot rub with my mother's day lotion gift.  Sweet kiddos!

Beautiful flowers from my garden.  I LOVE fresh flowers!!!!!!!

A sweet love note from my thoughtful husband! (the 911 is for the kids)

Crafty day with the Circuit.

A fun day at the beach with our little blonde surfer boy.

Kids getting covered in sand!

Getting BIGGER!

My new business cards...hoping to make a little extra money.

New summer haircuts!

My attempt at a T-shirt dress.  Clue to all....read instructions.  I have never been much of an instruction reader, but I think this would have turned out better if I had.  

summer camping trip...in our backyard.

It was NOT the same as camping out in the wild, but it was fun to wake up outside.  My favorite part of camping.  No gas stove, so we plugged in our skillet and made eggs outside.

Ellie in Mommy and Daddy's tent.

Caleb climbing out of the kids tent.

Playroom on the first day of summer...today.

Look at those freckles!

Cute chocolate on his face...I did not give him a chocolate chip cookie before breakfast...I swear. wink

Summer hats and dresses are the best.