schedule-shmedule.........

school started yesterday
i'm ready for summer break already
although i do enjoy a tiny bit more free time (really not much)
i am meant for a slower pace, less schedule
setting an alarm sucks

started watching a friends 5-month-old on tuesday
with my 7-month-old that's a crash course on having twins
harder than i thought

all the kids were trashed after school, lots of walking, and swimming yesterday
1 of 4 kids slept through the night last night
it was like putting out fires every half hour
dave and i are trashed today

on our long walk home from picking up Jessie at school yesterday Logan was so tired
plus it was a super hot day
half way home Logan says, "MOM, I can't walk anymore. It's not good for my energy!"

i want to post pics but the camera got left on Grandma's table last night
they will be up soon

Baptism day!

Jessie is officially a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Her baptism went so well today. The room was overflowing with family and friends and the entire day was so enjoyable. There was a little stress there for awhile when I didn't think we were going to make it to the church on time to prep refreshments and set everything up. Thanks to Grandma's Grace and Evie, Denise and Arnold, Lauren and Dan, Jill, Scott and Sami and probably a few more people that I didn't see who helped with food and set-up/take down. Thanks so much to all who participated in the program.
It really was a special day. I didn't want to speak or get up and participate in the program to avoid losing control of my emotions and crying like a baby. My idea was to sit down and enjoy the day. I did end up leading the opening and closing song and I'm SO glad I did. During the last verse of "I'm Trying to be like Jesus" as the closing song, I scanned the faces of all the people that came just for our sweet Jessica. A spirit of overflowing love and joy was in the room. I then looked at Jessie sitting in the front row in her beautiful white dress, and she was singing with pools of tears in her eyes. There isn't another occasion I can think of that I have seen Jessie cry happy tears. I know she felt the Holy Spirit that had just been confirmed upon her- that peaceful, happy, thankful feeling- present in the room like I did. It is the moment besides seeing Jessie get baptized that I will always remember about that day. I couldn't hold it together after that. Good thing I can cry and lead music at the same time. ;)

Thanks Ken & Cassie for the neat gifts. The picture was perfect for this table out front. We had a book sitting next to the programs that people wrote messages to Jessie in. And we couldn't pass up some super hero action! I love Jessie's sweet pose here.

Birthday Girl!

It's 2 days late here, but I'm wishing my sweet Jessie a Happy 8th Birthday!! We certainly didn't forget her birthday. In fact, we celebrated at the exact minute she was born. I told Jessie about how Daddy and I were watching Batman cartoons in the hospital (thank you epidural) the morning she was born. The nurse came in to check on me and said, "It's time to have a baby." I remember suddenly wanting to put it off after anxiously awaiting her arrival for so many weeks. I wanted to finish watching the cartoon and get used to the idea of actually pushing out a baby. No such luck, the tv was off and I was getting ready to have our baby girl, my firstborn, sweet Jessie. The eight years between then and now has been a wonderful journey through motherhood. Jessie is a light in our home and I hope the next eight years doesn't seem to go by so fast.
AND, to make me feel even older, J is getting baptized tomorrow. She is ready to take this big step at church and we are pleased and thankful to see her growing up so gracefully.

Winding down

We have been back from vacation since Monday (the 4th) and I'm still not unpacked. It's all Stephenie Meyer's fault. <-----This book came out on Saturday. It was great timing because we were staying in a cabin with the extended family and I got enough time to plow through the first half of the book before I got home. J and Toby stayed with Gramma & Grampa an extra day so I had plenty of naptime at home to finish it. Even though I really didn't like book 3 in this saga I had to finish the series. Breaking Dawn was okay. There are parts I really don't like, but being a person who wanted Bella to end up with Jacob, I am okay with the resolution at the end. Even if it is wrapped up in a perfect bow. I think Dave enjoyed his updates every 50 pages or so. He made the best of losing his wife to a book for a few days by getting a play-by-play. We both agree that Ms. Meyer's werewolves are pretty cool.

We drove up to Pinecrest Lake last Thursday to spend a long weekend with Dave's family. Grandpa & Grandma were so generous to offer to take Jess & Toby with them the entire week. They left on Monday and we were without 2 kids until Friday. It was weird. I thought I would have all this time to do things on my I'm-always-too-busy-list, like sort and clean the big bookcase and paint the rest of the living room. I didn't get any of those things done. Logan enjoyed being the big boy in the house by talking my ear off and getting into all sorts of uninhibited trouble. Dave and I ran some errands and took the Elders to dinner at In & Out with the 2 youngest kids. It felt strange to always be looking for the other 2 kids out of habit. J and T had a wonderful time with the grandparents and Uncle Sam and his friend Isaiah. I'm sure they were sufficiently spoiled for the 4 days they spent without Mom and Dad. Unfortunately, the altitude change from sea level to 5500 feet in 3 hours was a lot for their bodies to handle. Both Jess and Toby had fevers and slept a lot for a day or two. I'm so, SO thankful neither of them were "puke sick" the kids call it. That happened to Jess a few years ago and she spent two days on the couch at the cabin trying to stay hydrated and not throw up a meal. Thank goodness we had a washer and dryer. I am always digressing............so, our long weekend at Pinecrest went well.

I am of the opinion that packing up clothes, toiletries, tents, food, cooking utensils, toys, basically everything to exist at a dirt campsite for a week with four young kids is NOT a vacation. Crazy really. We tried it semi-on-our-own last year in a tent trailer and I didn't enjoy it- way too much work. Staying in a cabin this year was wonderful. Even though the beds weren't the best it was a million times better than sleeping on a sagging air mattress or camper bed. Nothing beat using a real shower every night to bathe kids and self then lounging on the couch with a good book or playing games with the fam while Mom made killer banana bread in the kitchen. We stayed in the Robin Hood cabin which had a nice layout. When Dave and I got there Mom and Dad gave us the loft with a 1/2 bath for our family so we all slept there together. The loft overlooked the main living area and made for a sweet dart gun war. I'm suddenly tired of writing the details so here is the brain dump version:

All the kids were addicted to swinging in Uncle Mark's hammocks at their campsite
Logan was Uncle Mark's shadow one lazy afternoon- they talked superheroes, laughed and listened to Logan's little CD player- Uncle Marks book did not get read
Jessie and Toby enjoyed swimming at the logs in the lake(a big string of floating logs tied together)
Sydney got reacquainted with Gramma Grace after not seeing her for 5 weeks
We took the kids kayaking with Aunt Tori, Aunt Denise and Uncle Arnold
Huge dart gun wars in the cabin with our little family and one with Grandpa/Sam/Isaiah
Stayed up until 2 AM reading and talking with Grace- we missed her while she was in Portugal
Played Kubb-the Viking Game with anyone who would play at Mark/Lita's campsite
Jessie got smacked in the head by a falling branch while standing under a tree- Grandpa stripped the branch and Jess claimed it as her walking stick
Dave was so excited to "teach" us how to play Mao- we played almost every night
Good food and relaxing with our young family
No schedule!

Logan and I are playing "Eye Spy" while eating our chicken nuggets and cucumbers (power lunch) at the table.

Logan says, "I spy something with big hair."

Mom: "Hmmmm. Daddy," I guessed.

L: "NO! Daddy has a skunk stripe!"

Yep, even the kids notice your grey babe. We still love you of course, especially since we helped your skunk stripes along.