Antelope Island

One word describes it all. Stinks! Like the p-u kinda stinks.

But somehow, the kids still had a great time!

Oh, and we saw no antelope or bison. Double stinks!

Messy

Aaron gave me the BEST gift a couple weeks ago. He had some cleaners come in and deep clean my house for 7 hours! My face had a per ma-smile all day! It truly was heavenly!

I have every desire to keep an orderly and very clean home. My children do not. Aaron would LOVE to come home to an organized and clean home. He often does not. I will sing his mothers praises all the days of my life for teaching her son to be clean. He tells a story of how, as a teenager, he left a plate and fork in the clean kitchen sink and went to a friends. His mom called him home to take care of his "mess". Oh man, I love her for that.

Aaron worries that our kids are never going to learn to clean up after themselves. He may have a good point, but I tend to be a bit more optimistic and know, (maybe better than he does) that kids are messy and have to be taught to clean after themselves. That said, it's my most favorite thing to come inside to puddles of water on the floor near the kitchen sink and then follow a lovely trail that leads to outside. Or Popsicle juice splattered sporadically on the floor, or a kitchen table full of sticky crafts where their work of art is also stuck to the table, or a bedroom that looks like a bomb has gone off, or SHOES left all over the house! or bookshelves with books strewn all around, or toilets that aren't flushed, and on and on it goes. Please reread that paragraph dripping with sarcasm.

notice the above picture of popsicle clippings on the grass, that I reminded him TWICE to clean up and put the scissors back. He did do it the second time.
Love her mug and I have to say, she's got the whole cleaning up after herself down. She's the BEST cleaner!!!!

This munchkin however has a ways to go!

Things they are learning and doing this summer:
 - Before they can play with friends they must do the following:
    - make their bed and get dressed
    - do their assigned jobs (feed chickens, gather chickens eggs, etc)
    - do two pages out of their school books
    - read a book to me or I read to them
Sadly for them, this usually takes all morning long! I rather like having them home with me in the morning though since once they are with friends I hardly see them the rest of the day.

She's a Girl!

The verdict had long been predicted (by the girls anyway) that this peanut in my belly was a baby girl. Friday confirmed, what us girls already knew. Our little Holland Deanne is small (all my babies are and have been), but looks to be growing healthy and that's what matters most! It is always so exciting to see my baby by ultra sound. Aaron and I both can't seem to get over the wonder of a child growing inside me, that we helped to create. It is a spiritual and sacred event and one I will miss dearly if she is to be our last baby. At one point during the ultra sound, the camera was right over her face and she opened her mouth wide. It was the cutest thing ever! Pregnancy is truly miraculous!

Documenting my 21 weeks

It's a girl!

The kids were so anxious for us to tell them if they were going to have a baby sister or baby brother. We, mean parents that we are, sprayed them with silly string to let them know.

Nathan was perfectly happy to learn he's going to have another baby sister until Aaron told him that the boys in our family are going to be outnumbered by the girls. He did not think that was cool at all! We girls on the other hand, thinks it's pretty darn cool indeed.

Summer

Nothing says summer like friends and popsicles!

Friendships

I have forgotten how to relate to other people. Such a weird thing for me to even write. We have lived in our neighborhood/ward for almost 5 years, and I still feel a disconnect from most of the women here. There are a few that I can talk to with ease, but really the rest it seems totally unnatural at all to talk to them. I haven't been able to figure out why. There are so many lovely women here. So many I really look up to and admire, and for the most part, we are all the same. Same ages, same stages of life, but for the life of me, we just don't connect. I go to activities and say hello, and we small talk, and then I sit back and watch and realize, I just don't fit in.

I am weird. I'm the mom who is going to home school her kids this fall. And really, I don't think anyone thinks that's all that weird. At least not for me (except for one neighbor who felt it her duty to let me know that she totally disagrees). I'm the mom who doesn't have a lot of "junk" food in her house. I'm the mom, who does not get dolled up very often...like only one day a week; Sundays. I'm the mom who doesn't have television in her home, or video games, or doesn't allow her children to watch more than one movie a day, and that's if they are lucky. I'm the mom who doesn't have her children in every extracurricular activity and I swear, I'm the only mom who hasn't taken her kids to Disneyland...ever!

And although I used to have a much larger circle of friends. And I used to be more fun and hip, I do not know how to be that person anymore. Myself has changed. A lot. I cherish my close friends. I cherish those who knew me then and know me now. And I might only be able to count them on one hand, but they are dear.

Not a Yeller

Hmm...I can't honestly say that I'm not a yeller. I have yelled, I do yell occasionally when I can't seem to get the "reaction" I'm looking for out of my children. Do I hate it? yes. Do I ALWAYS feel bad after I've yelled? You betcha! Do I want to crawl into a hole when my daughter will say things like, "mom, it seems like you don't love me". Oh my word, just hide me away somewhere when those words come out of her mouth! Why on earth would I ever yell at those I love most?

I have to insert that there have been lots of times that I have bit my tongue and have been able to refrain from yelling. I'm always proud of myself during those times, but I can't say that I still exude much disappointment and frustration from my face, that somehow still gives me the reaction I want from my children, and that is to stop what you're doing right now and be quiet. I don't know that that's so bad because children do need to know boundaries and have limits, but I certainly believe they can learn those things in a loving manner.

I read an article today that really hit home. I relate. I relate. I relate. Favorite quote from the article, "...yelling shuts down the communication; it severs the bond; it causes people to separate—instead of come closer." Words of truth! I most definitely don't want to create separation between those I love most.

So when I was at my wits end the other day, and my children were not cooperating, and I had rage pouring out of my eyes, and when a sweet woman at the grocery store said to me, "your children are absolutely beautiful. They grow up so quickly", I stopped and watched them instead of yelling at them, and was thankful for her kind words to help me remember they are wonderful and they are children and they do make mistakes. But so do I. Every. Single. Day.

Fatherhood

Aaron has always done a superb job of making Mothers Day pretty special for me. I can't say that I am the best at returning that for Father's day, but I certainly do try. He got his usual choice of breakfast. This year it was German pancakes. He had a very short cat nap, and requested a BBQ with some friends. I pulled through on each request. The evening ended with a water fight between us and the kids (Sabbath breakers), and a leisure walk. It was a wonderful day. Hope he thought so too.

Father of 4-1/2 kids

 Hannah's interpretation of her father. Spot on!

 

And now, a tribute to my own dad. I've been pretty blessed with good men in my life. And he's been a good man in my life!

 

 



 

Par-Tay!!

I've learned my lesson. Less is more. Nathan had a GREAT birthday party and it was so low key, I might be okay throwing one for each of my kids for every birthday if I can keep it this simple.

First, I made invitations that were supposed to look like a Popsicle. Aaron thought they looked like headstones. Um...not the goal. Not the goal.

Nate took them to all twelve of his friends. I also just realized that the invitation implies that he turns 6 on the 14th. Like I said, I wasn't going for perfection on this one. When I asked Nate what he'd like to do for his birthday, rather than come up with some theme myself and spend a ridiculous amount of time making all the final touches to make it just perfect, he said, "I just want a water party mom". Awesome! We had a super duper water slide. Did it matter that today is the coldest day we've had in weeks? and the wind has been blowing non stop? Na! It really was cold, but the kids still got wet.

We played duck duck goose and dodge ball.

Tied died shirts

 

And then it was on to opening gifts and eating cake and ice cream.

 His best buddy, Gavin Dayley

 The girl we'd choose for Nathan if only arranged marriages were still practiced. Isabel Wilson

Sweet sister Hannah.

 Dallin and Nate

Cute Cousins - Hannah and Lydia



 

LOVE all the kids faces as Nate blows out his candle.

Nathan and Hayden

This was one happy boy! He has such nice friends and cousins, who give so generously. It was sweet to see his excitement with each gift and his genuine gratitude to everyone.

And the real excitement came when the chickens "accidently" got let out. The kids sure thought it was fun to chase them around.

Such a fun day for such a fun boy!

Loud Abigail

Abby has one volume. Loud. Even her whisper is loud. Most days I can tolerate it just fine and can quickly remind her that we are inside and she should not yell or talk so loud. Other days I completely want to lose my mind and shoot her a look, that she knows all too well, that says, "you better quiet down or else!" At our swim camp, my cousin Tracy read a book called, "Loud Emily". Oh heavens, it was Abigail to a T. I must find and purchase that book and reread it again and again. In the end, loud Emily's voice turns into such a blessing that saves peoples lives. Could this be the future for my Abigail too? Could her voice be used someday for something tremendous and possibly even life saving? Who knows, but I am desperate now to channel her loud voice in a way that is both positive and complementary of who this precious girl is! Or I very well could lose my mind in all reality.

Popsicles

Joe has had a bad case of the painful gas lately. We're talking, up SCREAMING all hours of the night, kinda bad. The first night it happened, Aaron was at the father/sons campout and Joe screamed, literally, from 7pm until 5:30 the following morning. Dumb mom had NO IDEA what was wrong and was in tears most of the night herself. The next time it happened, smart dad was home and he knew just what to do. The crying only lasted about an hour this time and the gas was relieved. Phew! Thank goodness because I know I would not be able to survive another marathon night of crying, and I don't think the little guy could either.

So what does this have to do with popsicles? Absolutely nothing! :o) But it's been popsicle weather here for sure! And we are eatin' them up!