My Darling Daughter

I have been watching my daughter the last couple of weeks and seeing how grown up she is becoming. I can't believe that she is almost 9 and going into 4th grade!  The time has just flown. She is such an amazing girl and I love her with all my heart. She is such a big help and a big example to me. Whenever Aidan has taken something and we can't find it, she is the first one to say, "we should  say a prayer so that Heavenly Father can help us find it." 

Laney has had a really hard time moving to California and leaving all of her friends behind and I am so proud of her attitude through it all. She has such a big heart and is so willing to help others and those around her. She is "trying" to not fight with Max and loves being Aidan's second mom. She is very creative and always coming up with fun ideas to make things "not boring."

If she had her wish, we would be at the swimming pool 8 hours everyday. She is such a fish. I think that stems from spending so much time at the beach when she was just a baby. She is learning how to dive and Lemuel has been teaching her the different swim strokes. 

I am so glad that I was blessed to be able to learn and grow from her and that I get to call her daughter.  She is my rock!  What a beautiful young girl you are!  

Splash Park

On Tuesday we went with some friends to a huge park that had a big splash area. I knew Aidan would love it and figured Max would too since he had his friend there to play with, but I wasn't so sure about Elena. It was a cooler day, only about 96 degrees with a little breeze so it was really nice. Plus, there were a lot of big shade trees.  The kids played in the splash area for about an hour and then Max was ready to hit the playground. We hung around the playground for about another hour and let them play, then headed back to the splash area for a little longer to cool off.  Elena had a good time despite not having a friend to play with. She played with Aidan and showed him how to work the sprayers.  All in all it was a fun way to spend the day. Next time I will pack a picnic so we can stay a little longer. 

Aidan eating fruit leather, his favorite snack!

Laney and our friend Elias Simmons

Aidan wasn't so sure about all the big kids 

spraying him so he pretty much 

stuck to the puddles and the inside of the whale frame. 

Max lovin' the playground!

Aidan loves slides and was so thrilled that this park had 3 big ones!

Two adorable boys enjoying the summer!

Max and Aidan with Jack the frog!  

Summer Days

Max with his new "pet" Jack

On Friday last week I took the kids to the pool again to hopefully cool them down for a bit. Although, I guess it is a little difficult to "cool down" when it is 110 degrees outside and the water is not much cooler, but it helps. 

I was leaning against the side of the big pool watching the kids in the 1' pool when I felt something bumping against my stomach. I looked down and there was a frog swimming in the pool with me. Of course, the kids thought it was absoulutely amazing and chased it and watched it dive in the water for over an hour. They were thoroughly entertained which was a nice change. 

Max really bonded with this frog and wanted to keep it for a pet. I told him we had plenty of frogs in the yard that he could play with, but he brought it home and named it Jack. He is somewhere hidding in the backyard and only comes out at night when it is a little cooler.  '

Aidan ad Max were playing with it and just being typical boys. 

Is it Friday yet?

I have been feeling kind of yucky the past 2 days. I came down with a nasty cold and sore throat, yeah for me. I spent most of yesterday doing laundry and trying to rest it off. Today I woke up feeling slightly better only to be hit by more cramping from my lovely endometriosis! :( Lemuel had to leave for work at about 7:30 which is normally fine because the kids are usually asleep still, but Aidan woke up early. Lemuel came in and woke me up at 7:30 to tell me he had to go and that Aidan was up so I couldn't go back to sleep. Since he is only 2 and can't quite get cereal on his own, (as much as he thinks he can) I had to get up. Since it was just him and the other two were still sleeping, I fed him, threw my last load of laundry in and then put him in my bed with Diego on thinking maybe I could "sleep" a little longer. If any of you know Aidan you are probably laughing thinking "yeah right!" Once the kid is a awake he can't sit still for very long. So after one episode of Diego I straggled out of bed to entertain him. Since I was up I figured I might as well take care of the dishes in the sink and finish up some things. When the other two children joined the world about an hour later I had pretty much done most of the things I needed to do from home for the day. At about 11 we left to go and pick up some of the items from sisters in our ward for our stake service project of making newborn kits. After that was done, we headed to Wal-Mart to finish purchasing the additional items we still needed.

I just have to vent for one minute, I hate Wal-Mart here! It is so insanely busy ALL the time I hate going. The only reason I went is because Target and Babies R-Us were out of the items we needed. So I ventured in thinking I could be really fast if the kids would let me. Again, so busy! The only thing nice about this Wal-Mart is that because it is always so busy, every register is open all the time so I don't have to wait in line long.

Of course by the time we were done at Wal-Mart, the kids were starving and I knew I still had more errands to run so we checked out and then headed to the McDonald's inside the store to get the kids some lunch. I parked the cart, got Aidan out and the kids sitting at a table and then ordered their food. I was waiting in line to get their drinks when all of a sudden, Aidan tipped over on the chair and slammed his head into the bar! Needless to say, every single person in the place was staring and gasping at us. I rushed over, dropping one drink and the other cups to get to him. He was crying so hard he wasn't making a sound and everyone is saying over and over "is he okay? Is he okay?" Needless to say I was so embarrassed and scared because I felt like I was the worst mom in the whole world for leaving him at the table with Elena and Max. One nice lady got a bag of ice for his head but he wouldn't keep it on. He has a very nice bruise over the top of his left eye and then on through his eyebrow. Thank goodness he was okay. He then proceeded to eat 5 chicken nuggets and most of his apples. I guess he was more hungry then hurt.

After we finished up there we headed to pick up one more item and then head to the library. We picked out some good books for the kids and then headed home. Aidan came in and fell right to sleep which was great because by this time, I was exhausted and my head was pounding! I laid down in bed for about 10 minutes when the first interruption made me realize I was not getting any rest. I had a few more things to take care of for Relief Society and then the kids were bored. This didn 't last long because within 10 minutes of that statement we had a house full of kids. So of course there was no resting.

So now that dinner is done and the kids are watching a movie and Aidan has had his bath I am going to go take a shower and have Lemuel put the kids to bed and I am going to crash! I promised the kids that since we didn't go to the pool today we will go tomorrow so I am going to need all of my energy!

How Can I Be

My good friend Kristen posted this on her blog and I just had to add it to mine so my family could see it. I just love this song! It reminds me so much of living in Hawaii and walking on campus and hearing the ukulele being played. This is the first time I have heard this song and couldn't wait for my kids to hear it. Max turned to me and said, "I want to play the ukulele like that." I am all for that. Actually, I should learn to play. I think I would really like it. Anyway, enjoy!

Candy Tour

Today we spent the morning touring a local candy shop. It was a lot smaller than the Sweets Candy Factory in Utah, but it was fun to see and taste the chews that they make. We were able to watch them make them, wrap them, and then taste them!  They were nice and soft and pretty fun to watch them come right out wrapped. They were pretty yummy. They made peanut butter chews while we were there. We then went the giant cooler to see where they store the ice cream and then to see how they make the ice cream. We got to sample there chocolate ice cream. It was delicious!  It tasted almost as good as the BYU creamery in Provo, almost, but not quite!  :) 

Last week we had a fun week. I forgot to post it but Max really wanted to "campout" in the backyard. So we put the tent up on Thursday morning and then Laney and Max slept out in the tent that night. Then Friday they played out in it with their friends and then that night we did S'mores over the charcoal grill and then they slept outside in the tent again. They had a great little campout. 

Saturday morning Lemuel played in a tennis tournament so we went their to watch him play. He lost the first set 4-6 then won the second set 6-4 then lost the third 4-6. He won the consolation match yesterday so he plays again on Thursday. He played really well despite being a little under the weather with the flu last week. It was fun to watch despite having to chase the kids all over the club!  Aidan just hasn't grasped the whole stay still and be quite concept. I'm not sure why??? :0) 

Sunday I spent most of the day in bed with a heating pad attached to me because of my endometriosis. Not a fun day. I was pretty miserable.  The kids were really good to play quietly and watch movies and Lemuel was great about doing dinner and cleaning up and keeping kids out of my hair for a bit so I could rest.  

Yesterday it was 93 degrees so we spent a couple of hours at the pool with our neighbors. It was fun and cool. Not really relaxing, since Aidan kept wanting to run from one pool to the next but fun all the same. And luckily, no one got sunburned thanks to sunblock and the kids great skin tone. 

Great Sunday

Today was a great Fast Sunday. It was a great sacrament meeting and then Sunday school and relief society were even better. The meetings were just fantastic. Today was my first Sunday conducting in Relief Society. Can I just say it is sure different than conducting young women's. So much harder!  Plus it didn't help that I forgot quite a bit of the announcements and welcoming  but oh well. It was so great to feel the spirit so strong and feel the love and inspiration that radiates from the sisters. It has been over a year since I have been to relief society. It is good to be back, however, I do miss my young women from Utah. They are pretty special girls. 

We came home and the kids ate a quick lunch and then Lem, me and Aidan took a nap while Laney and Max watched the movie Hook! It was nice and relaxing. Now, my wonderful husband is grilling up some flank steak for tacos tonight!  Yum!  I am so excited about that!  

I still can't believe that school is over! I am so happy about not having to rush around in the mornings to get them off to school and the best is that there is no homework!  :-) I am still trying to find Elena and Max a fun summer class or sport that they can do.  I think I have worked out a little math tutoring for Elena this summer. The secretary in relief society is a math teacher and she is doing some tutoring this summer. I know Laney will be so excited about that!  :o)  Math is her least favorite thing to do, but in order for her to be ready for 4th grade, she needs to do better in math. So if anyone knows any great math games or ideas for learning multiplication and division, I am all ears!  

Salsa and tacos are calling my name!  Wish you were here!  ;)