Wonderful Article

Confessions of a "Too-Busy" Mom

I recommend this article as a good read for busy moms.  It really hit home with me and, I must admit, gave me some guilt.  Hopefully it's the good kind of guilt that spurs me in to action and improvement because I really am a "too-busy" mom.  I am so thankful for the reality of hope, improvement, and the Atonement.

This article also reminded me of President Uchtdorf's recent Conference talk: "Of Regrets and Resolutions".

I'm looking forward to tomorrow, a day "with no mistakes in it". (As Anne would say:).)

I Love My Family

Photo Update on June

It's hard to resist including these silly pictures of Andon.  This little guy has so much personality, spunk, sass, and love!  He is giving me a "run for the money"; it seems any parenting "trick" I learned with the other three doesn't work on him, so I have to figure out something new!  He can be stubborn and oh-so-tender-hearted from one moment to the next, and he always finds a way to melt my heart no matter how naughty he has been.  Actually, he pretty much pulls the reins on everyone in the family.  Lucky guy!

We picked 50 lbs of strawberries in the rain.  I left Andon with a friend, and the other three kids and I went to work.  They did a great job (especially with not complaining too much in the rain) and it went quicker than I thought it would.  We only made five batches of freezer jam, then froze the rest for smoothies, salads, etc.  I can always make more jam if we run out over the winter, too.  The kids helped with the jam for a little while, then my friend Sara came over and helped me finish while the kids played. It was fun visiting.

We started swim lessons the Monday after school got out.  Kylene started learning to dive, and Spencer started swimming on his own for the first time!  Skyler got more comfortable in the water and did some floating.  They all passed to the next level!  I was especially grateful for Spencer's instructor who worked miracles on getting him to relax in the water.  The first couple of days he wouldn't even put his entire head under the water and by the end he was holding his breath to the count of 20+.  He has always been so nervous in the water, but on the last day he even jumped off the high dive (to his coach waiting at the bottom).  I enjoyed swimming lessons as well because there were three other ladies from our ward who had kids in lessons at the same time, so we enjoyed the time visiting.  

 Tutu and Grandpa and cousin Alohi came to visit and help us with the ward luau.  They were a huge help getting things moved over, weeding and doing work in the yard, and playing with the kids.  The adults went out for a yummy steak dinner one evening and Alohi babysat.  Kyle's mom played the ukulele and sang at the luau and Alohi performed a number with Kylene (Little Brown Gal) and did a solo (Beautiful Kauai).  We loved having them here!

 June 7 was our Ward Luau.  The young men and young women were in charge, so Kyle did a lot of work getting it ready.  There was a great turnout with TONS of yummy food for the dinner.  (The ward provided the Teriyaki chicken and rice; everyone else brought salad, rolls, or dessert.)  Kyle then emceed the program.  He taught the Young Men the Haka (Maori war dance) and I taught the Young Women the Hukilau hula to perform.  Some High Priests did a hilarious Elvis/Blue Hawaii number, Alohi and Kylene performed a hula (I was so proud of her for getting up in front of everyone!  She looked beautiful.), and Alohi did a solo hula.  Kyle had Hawaiian trivia with candy leis for in between the numbers.  It was a huge success and was so much fun to be a part of!  It was a beautiful summer evening. 

The last day of school came and went.  It's hard to believe how quickly a school year passes.  They held an awards assembly on the last day.  They call the school-wide student award the "Grit Award" and both Kylene and Spencer received one.  Kylene also reached the TWO Million Word Club for Accelerated Reader!  There were about 10-12 kids in the one million word club, and only three kids in the two million word club.  The kids were happy and sad school was over.  I was mostly happy:).  Fourth Grade, Second Grade, and Kindergarten (Skyler), here we come!

We said goodbye to our wonderful neighbors this past year, the Applegate's.  They moved back to Tennessee to be closer to family.  It was only a short time living next to them, but we enjoyed having neighbors we could trust and count on for help and play time with the kids.  Jennifer and I enjoyed walking and doing yoga together (she patiently taught me; it was my first time!) and sharing goodies we made:). 

We celebrated Kyle on Father's Day (June 15) by giving him breakfast in bed (homemade cinnamon rolls), and a few presents.  He got to wear his double ties to church (made by Kylene and Spencer), and then we had all four Elders serving in our ward over for dinner.  (He was nice enough to share his Father's Day with these future fathers.)  I decided to try a Thai-themed dinner, and I think everyone enjoyed it.

We love our daddy and are so thankful for all he does for us.  He has worked SO hard the last few months, and gotten little sleep and few breaks.  Work has been pretty much non-stop stress (the good and the hard kind), he has been very busy serving the Young Men, and he has worked tirelessly on projects at both our rental and new house.  I do as much as I can without him, but it seems I inevitably need his help for some part of every project.  He is always willing and I love him for it!  He has built an awesome bike rack in the garage, done tons of yard work, moved a zillion boxes and furniture items until I decide where I want them, etc. etc.  We would truly be lost without our daddy!

Photo Update on May

Cute Andon at soccer games.

 Skyler at soccer--April & May (mommy coach).

 

Spencer at soccer-April & May

FHE to ride the Spokane Falls Tram in May.  The river was running so high with the Spring runoff, the falls were really neat and so powerful.

 Skyler's preschool field trip to a dairy farm.  The kids enjoyed the cows, chickens, goats and farm dogs.  They got to see the milking and processing area and have some fresh milk and cookies.

Visiting Anneca's grave on Memorial Day weekend with the Alva Barney's.  The cemetery was so beautiful with flowers and flags everywhere.

The last weekend in May was the Fairchild Air Force Base Airshow.  The Thunderbirds were the anchor of the show and were amazing.  We went with our neighbors, the Applegate's.  It was neat to go on the base, see all the planes, and watch the performance.  We were able to see parts of it on the other days from our house, which was fun, too.  It brought back great memories of the Hillsboro Air Show growing up. 

Ice cream sundaes--come, dig in--for family council on Sunday afternoon.  A great memory!  The kids were in heaven, of course.

 

I had a great Mother's Day and felt lots of love from my kids and honey!  A yummy breakfast in bed, nice dinner, gifts, and a visit to the cemetery.  It was a beautiful day.  Notice the empty bookshelves behind me...a sure sign of moving prep!

Update

Life is a whirlwind these days.  I don't know which way is up most days:).  I am trying hard not to let myself get overwhelmed, since most of it are things we have chosen and things we are excited about.

We are officially sleeping at our new home!  It has been so fun to have the "big" stuff over here and start to get unpacked a little.  We still have way too much stuff over at the other home, and things are much too disorganized for my liking, but we chip away at it a little each day.  It is coming.

My parents and two nieces, Stephanie and Mikayla, came the Thursday before Memorial Day to help and were here until Saturday afternoon.  The rest of the Alva & Wendy Barney Clan came on Friday evening and were here until Monday morning.  And they were all a HUGE help!  We got the Master bedroom, main living area, and kitchen painted, as well as the entire garage.  I was so excited to have that done before anything was in there!  Wendy and Alva are awesome painters, and my mom is awesome at the taping/prep work.  The kids had a great time playing together and we had awesome babysitters.  The older kids would come and ask me what else they could do to help!  We got several other projects done on the house and my dad measured and got the layout of the yard, and has already done several landscape designs for us!  He also ran several errands and managed to spoil all 11 grandkids with ice cream from the ice cream truck!  It is all so appreciated.

Sunday afternoon we were able to take the Barney's to the cemetery to see where Anneca is buried.  It was so special to me to be able to take them there.  It felt good to cry and remember.  The cemetery was so beautiful with the flags and flowers everywhere for the holiday.

We also had our first experience with ticks!  Kyle had taken the kids to a friends' property for a bon fire and to see their farm animals.  The man warned us their dog has had ticks.  He checked them but found nothing. (I was out of town.)  Spencer's teacher found it on his head a few days later when she put her hand on his head and felt something.  Yuck!  We found two more in Skyler's head.  I was rushing to Urgent Care to have them removed and decided to call the Advice Nurse on my way.  She was a cute Texan who told me there is no way I should go to the doctor to remove a tick.  I pulled off on the side of the road and she walked me through how to remove it.  (I had grabbed tweezers before I left, thankfully.)  And I did it!  My "mommy powers" definitely came out, because there is no way I could have normally done that.  Spencer has had some very swollen Lymph nodes on that side of his head that scared me a bit--and I did end up taking him to Urgent Care for those--but hopefully they will go away and he'll be fine.

Skyler and Spencer finished up their soccer seasons.  They both loved it and had a great experience.  Spencer has three Eastern Washington University soccer players as his coaches and they did a great job.  And Skyler had me as his coach!  He was so proud and I loved helping those darling little kiddos.  It was a lot of fun.  By the end of the season, none of them were kneeling down and grabbing the soccer ball with their hands: mission accomplished!

There has been lots of end-of-the-year school stuff happening.  Kylene's class performed plays I was able to go see, and they had a class field trip I chaperoned.  Plus a few PTO planning meetings for next year.  I loved how on the field trip Kylene kept telling me how glad she was I got to come with her.  I'm glad she still likes me being with her!

I also took a weekend off and headed to Las Vegas....to finally get to meet my sweet, amazing nephew Calvin!  I was able to be there when he was blessed and to attend my brother, Nate's, graduation from Medical school.  Go, Nate!  They are moving to Tulsa shortly for him to do his Anesthesiology Residency at Oklahoma State University.  I was so glad I got to meet Calvin before they live even farther away.  He has been such a blessing to our extended family.

We have had so much wonderful help on the house.  Besides the family, many, many friends have served me.  I have had help painting, watching kids, bringing me cookies, helping me pack and haul stuff over, letting us borrow things we need, dinner brought over, etc.  I have really felt loved!

I know there's more, but that's all my tired brain can think of right now.  Sorry no pictures, those will hopefully come later.