kissin' cousins

This perfect kiss is the picture I accidentally erased from my last post. When I came across it again, I had to post it! This is Jane's cousin Carson saying "sorry" at his second birthday party. I guess I better watch these two in the future!

i am going to miss...

Today has been overcast and rainy and I am already nostalgically thinking about all the fun of summer! Some things I will especially miss are...

Our garden has been quite a family affair! Ashlyn watched it daily and gave us progress reports. We each took many turns weeding the garden in the earlier stages and we all loved the things that came out of it. The corn was a bit of a disappointment, but the zucchini never failed to amaze me. My ultimate favorite was the tomatoes. We are actually still getting those, maybe they were late bloomers, whatever the cause, I am very pleased with my tomatoes. I am up for sharing with any passersby!

Friends over for snacks! Jane's friend Lyza is supposed to be moving into our neighborhood soon and she is quite happy about it (I am more than a little happy myself since Lyza's mom is my friend Shaundee)!

Summer birthday parties! This is McKenzie Gillen at Carson' s birthday party (I accidentally erased the picture of Carson kissing Jane).

Ben's four wheeling adventures with his friends

oh wait, that is a year round event!

Bike rides with the kids (not to mention green grass) and sunny days.

Summer nights with the kids and Ben jumping on the trampoline. This is my real favorite summer time event! I love the evenings right after the sun goes down. It cools off and we neighbors get outside and talk, jump on the trampoline and enjoy the night. Sometimes we adults try to show off for our kids and do tricks or just jump really high!

i think it is worth it!

So today I was thinking about how good it feels to accomplish. I got Ashlyn off for school and I even helped her get her whole “job chart” done before she left. I changed my sheets and started a load of laundry. I took Jane on a walk /jog along with Alex riding his bike for just over 2 ½ miles and then let them play at the park. I swept out (part of) the garage and replanted a couple of my bulbs. Alex started his own job chart and I helped him with some educational games on the computer while I was folding some laundry. Then it was time to make lunch and I promptly got Alex off for kindergarten since it was early day. He rode his scooter while I pushed Jane the ½ mile each way to and from the school (that’s 3 ½ miles all together). Finally, I made my own lunch and sat to read a little out of the paper. I got Jane down for a nap and was about to fall asleep myself, when my neighbor called and asked if I could watch her kids for 45 min. I gave them a snack while I scrubbed toilets, then played with them for a while (most of the time the 1 year old cried - tired I think). Right when my neighbor came to pick them up, my own kids stepped through the door (early day). After snacks and talking about their day (Ashlyn played with new friends on the playground “MacKenzie and Hailey”, and Alex played with “the two Tylers” again) we focused on finishing Alex’s jobs and going through backpacks. I finished the bathrooms by cleaning sinks mirrors and counter tops and even cleaned the inside and outside of the two side light windows in my entry. I scrubbed our bathtub and mopped the floor, and vacuumed and dusted the whole level including most floor boards and doors. Finally it was time to start dinner. We had chicken tacos (Ben couldn’t get home until 6:30, so we ate without him around 5:30). Time for homework. Alex had a few pages in a workbook to color and write on, Ashlyn had some cutting and pasting along with two questions to answer. They went up to watch TV, and suddenly I felt tired (imagine that). I sat down to watch a previously recorded show and got about 20 minutes into it when Ben walks in. I feel so tired and “done” I didn’t even get up. After the shows we all sat in the family room for a few minutes and talked. Ben got to catch up on the school news and expressed his want to read a chapter book as a family like Harry Potter or something. Then he was off helping a friend with something on his house. For the rest of the night I am pretty spent.
So knowing my health has not been up to par and the pregnancy is already slowing me down, my question to myself is, “Is it worth it to accomplish and feel drained the rest of the night or should I have taken it easy and just kept feeling bad about all the things I should have done?”

I think it’s worth it!

p.s. This is not a typical day, so I am not bragging, merely stating that on these rare occasions I can actually recall what I did during the day and feel good about it, it is indeed worth noting!

Jane is 2

Jane's second birthday! She was a little jipped since her birthday was on Sunday and Ben and I were just getting back from a trip that night, so unbenownst to our little lady, we celebrated a day late (which just happens to be my mom's birthday).

Jane was surprisingly excited for the cards and presents to open from us and her Grandparents. I loved to see her face when she knew it was something to be happy for but wasn't quite sure what that something was.

Ashlyn and Alex liked Jane's new toys as much as she did. They all played together for a while and the older two were good at convincing Jane it was their "turn".

We had a few neighbors over to celebrate. Jumping on the trampoline, eating cupcakes and playing with balloons. This one was Jane's favorite. It is a punching balloon and she played with her brand new Care Bear like it was the best bouncing toy ever!

If you must know they are "frog" cupcakes. I always seem to have these great ideas that don't quite pan out like they do in my head. I also had pigs and then some chocolate sprinkle ones I thought I may turn into bears, but after seeing the actual product of the others, I decided to quit while I was ahead!

Lucky for me Jane loved them and this morning Ashlyn asked if she could have them for her next birthday party! I love that my kids play along so well. They may not be a perfectly decorated cake with parachute guys or my little ponies, but they made Jane happy for her birthday and after all isn't that what it is all about?

I seem to be hard on myself when it comes to the details I struggle to get right, but I am blessed with children and a husband who really feel that its the thought that counts! I am glad Jane is two. She is acting so much older and saying more and more each day. She told the checker at the grocery store yesterday that it was her "happy birthday to me" day. She was found singing the song all day long (that and "I am a Child of God") . I just love to see her work things out for herself and show her independence. I know it is "the stage" she is in, but we all seem to think she is quite funny in whatever she does and says and we all love to try and teach her new things. It is funny how as soon as I finally let myself believe I was pregnant, Jane instantly aged in my mind. Suddenly I am worried about how long the transition into a "big bed" will really take and if potty training is possible before the new baby comes.

Jane is learning so much I barely beginning to think, "Okay, I can do this!"

first day of kindergarten

The big day has finally arrived! Alex gets to start kindergarten! He has been so excited for weeks and especially since Ashlyn got to start a week earlier, Alex has been itching for his turn. At our school kindergarten starts a week later than the other grades. It is supposed to be for the teachers to be able to do assessments, but I think it is for the moms to ease into the transition easier. Jane and I are really going to miss him (for the little under three hours he is gone), but I am sure the time will fly and I will wonder yet again why Utah is one of the few states that has half-day kindergarten.

Alex gets to walk with his best friend Mason Ludlow. Mason's mom and I are walking behind them and listening to the current conversation about animals and superheros and all the other things these two boys are interested in.

I just keep thinking, "Alex is so ready for this" while hearing from Mason's mom, "I am not ready for this, I have been crying for the past few days."

"Why am I so calm?" I wonder. He just seems so grown up, its like Ashlyn already broke me into this and now I see Alex as this big school boy, reading and thinking through things so intellectually. It just makes sense. He is ready!

A few days before school started, he confided in me that he was a little nervous.

Alex: "I had a dream that Mrs. Bellnap asked me to read a really hard book in front of the class and I didn't know the words. All the kids were laughing at me. Is that how school is Mom?"

Me: "Oh, honey, that won't happen, there will be kids who can't read yet, and they won't laugh at you even if you don't know all the words."

It did make me just a tiny bit nervous that I suddenly can't be there all the time to make sure he isn't laughed at or just to reassure him that he is smart and great and wonderful...well I guess its all part of growing up for me and him. I love you handsome boy, have fun at school!