Summer

It feels like it has been so long since I've blogged. I love to run down to my computer and savor all the new blogs on my blog roll but once I've savored and commented, there is no time for writing and away I run to answer the call of the wilds living in my house. So here I am...I've read, commented, and find myself with a few moments to write something. What shall it be?

Summer is here. I love summer. Even though it has rained 17 out of the 19 days of summer vacation so far, I still love it. I love that the kids sleep in until 9:30 a.m. I love that we have a leisurely breakfast and read scriptures together. I love that they have new chores and are doing a SPECTACULAR job. No complaining, no whining, just stunning work. I don't know what happened to my old children but I'm loving these new and improved models. I love that they have learned to load and unload dishwashers, vacuum rooms, empty trash cans, take out trash, pull weeds, clean bathrooms and such. It has changed my attitude and outlook to be able to really work together as a family to accomplish these tasks. I truly don't feel so alone in taking care of our home and feel much less overwhelmed. They have always had chores but having them assume new responsibilities has not only made them feel grown-up and trusted, but has truly opened the way for me to be able to relax and spend more time with them doing things we love! After chores, we sit at the table and do 30 minutes of "thinking" stuff. We have workbooks, writing journals with a prompt jar, lots of books at all their different levels to savor and read, and lots of motivation in the form of sticker charts and tic-tacs. They are each accomplishing amazing things this summer! JC is writing a story about a boy shipwrecked on a desert island, MC's reading and writing has improved by leaps and bounds, and HB, true to nature and not wanting to be left behind for one second, has started to read and write. She read a story the other day about fish and then opened her journal to write. A couple of minutes later she came over to show me what she had written. "I like the blue fish with the big lips." When I asked her how on earth she knew how to write that, she just gave me a blank look. I wish I could say I had taught her to do any of this stuff but truly, she is a PBS Kids prodigal and I'm adding at least 2 more hours a day in front of that fabulous programming. The kids know they belong to me and my crazy summer schedule until 12:00 p.m. and then they are free!! They can roam, play, swim, dig, hunt, bike, jump and do anything else they like until the mosquitoes drive them inside around 9:00 p.m.

That was SUCH a long paragraph. Do I need to throw in a couple of pictures to keep everyone awake? I'm not really typing anything interesting. I could tell you about the 4-year old boy that almost drowned in the public pool and got pulled out of the water by his mother and rushed away in an ambulance but that would put a damper on the sunny mood. That event and the 3 dirty, used band-aids I saw on the edge of the pool that day just strengthened my testimony that the slip-n-slides at Wal-Mart really are a better use of resources. At least you know who the dirty band-aids in the backyard belong to. I could also tell you how I lost my 2-year old niece at a huge park yesterday and I called my husband at work screaming and crying hysterically, but really...who needs that kind of image in their head?! Summer, like any good thing, also has its dark moments.

But how did we wander into that dark area? The kids started swimming lessons this week and LOVE it. I wish I had a picture of the day HB attended her lesson with her hot pink, polka dot swim shirt UNDER her pastel, paisley swimsuit or MC trying to do the dolphin kick where he throws his bum 3 feet out of the water before sinking back down to the bottom of the pool, or JC in his darling shark goggles telling the teacher in no uncertain terms that she can say what she wants but he is NOT diving into that pool head first. They really do love the pool...and I love it because I don't have to get in, I can read a book at the side, and the dirty band-aids haven't yet been deposited on the side. It is great!

This week we have had cousins here. Glorious cousins. How my children love, love, love their cousins. We have played so hard and loved every moment. Went to a movie, ate burgers and fries and onion rings, attended a Bees baseball game, went bowling, ate gourmet cupcakes, slurped snow cones, played in the dirt hill, played on the basketball court, traded and warred and talked Pokemon all day and night, gone to the park...it has been so fun and my poor children are going to go in a deep depression when their cousins leave. It is hard to beat people bred from your own genetic pool who seem to understand and "get" you in a way no one else can. They just move and breathe and think in sync. I love it!

I love that we have hung out with grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles and cousins. I love that we have hung out lots with great friends. I look forward all year to our summer adventures...museums and book stores and Creamery on 9th and Heritage Park and Red Butte Gardens and hikes and camping and parks and playing in the water. I love the bike rides and eating out on the new patio table we were generously given for free from our neighbors. I love the BBQ and the new books to read and the late nights where no one has the energy to put the kdis to bed and the kids just fall asleep all over the house and at some point they get carried into their beds by their sleepy parents. I love summer.

And it is only June 19th.

Wanna come play?