The Actual Independence Day

We did all our Independence celebrating during the weekend, so Monday the 4th had huge potential for being a let down.

I was out of sorts all day, but Darin took the kids on a drive to Huntsville where they stumbled on a celebration in the city park. Bounce houses, local live entertainment, and cotton candy, not a let down for them at all!

Soren and I got the vacation laundry finished which is a reason to celebrate as well.

We lucked out with neighbors who took advantage of the lax firework laws this year.

There were fireworks exploding all around us as gatherings of neighbors in every direction were also setting off quite an impressive displays.

The sparklers were the scariest part. 10+ kids running around with burning embers on a stick.

We survived with minimal spark scorching.

{this is one of the wimpy fireworks....probably from the pack we brought}

Happy Birthday Aunt Ruth!

Unbelievably 80 years young!

Spur of the Moment Crafting

This is how my sisters and I operate.....If the event is Saturday, there will be a phone call on Thursday night saying "we should make such and such....". Julia and I get all excited (Kelly and Sarah go along with it all) and drive our husbands nuts running around gathering supplies. Then we stay up till 1:00 am the night before coming up with creative Mormon swear words to mutter as we glue glitter tulle to our fingers.

Here is this year's spur of the moment cabin craft!

Inspired by my sister in law Cristin's version

Here they are in action

Fishing and Canoeing

Bear Cave

The Parade

Yaking Scofield 2011

Miss Pleasant Valley Days Pagent

Book Club

Our first meeting of the summer book club.

Our June book was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Everyone LOVED it, and Miriam finally agreed to watch the movie (she was traumatized by an accidental viewing of it when she was little).

We toured a local chocolate factory, of course sampling the chocolate, and then had lunch and discussion at a park.

Next up: Indian in the Cupboard

We Bounced Back!

Lagoon on a Monday @ 11:00 am

Pretty sweet, but it didn't last long, by 1:00 things were getting crowded.

We took the morning to ride everything Bub's little heart desired.

Went home for Soren's nap and waited out the heat of the day till Dad came home.

Miriam and I retured that evening. She was determined to face her roller coaster fears.

She wanted it documented that she rode:

The Bat

Bombora (a zillion times)

The White Roller Coaster

The Screamer

The Lady Bug Bop (twice)

The Swings

Tidal Wave

Wild Mouse

and my personal favorite The Flying Aces

We were there til the park lights started to turn off!

She is a thrill ride lover just like her mom.

Thanks again Mom and Dad, we wouldn't have bounced without you!

Girls Camp #3

As a Young Women's presidency, this was our year. The first year that no one was pregnant or had a newborn baby. The first year the WHOLE presidency could come together!

There was SO MUCH to take pictures of but when I don't have to keep track of our darling children and diaper bag (with diapers, sunscreen, water, treats, sunglasses, bandaids etc etc) I tend to not pack ANYTHING. Including my camera. So, the only thing I have a picture of is the Jedi braid my Beehive President tied for me.

Lovely eh? I also came home with a friendship bracelet or two and orange toe nails.

I didn't take pictures of jumping off the pier into freezing cold water, canoeing, kayaking, extreme water ballooning, zen sneaker yoga, leather working, Vanilla Ice impressions, a lingerie display, stargazing, dough boys, good night tent checks, campfire chats, a lost fingernail (not mine) and happy testimony tears.

For any future Camp Directors out there...Our theme was PJ'S

Prayer, Journals and Scripture Study. The girls got matching pajama bottoms and decorated pillowcases. Each night we had a campfire devotional about P...J...and S.

Father's Day

The awesome tie!

Our church was full of them since the primary kids made them for their Dads.

Pink feathers, googly eyes, pom-poms....it was great!

We tried to show Darin how much we love him by shining his shoes, letting him sleep in and then bringing him breakfast in bed (M was ready to start it at 6:45 but I held her off till 8:30), a fish taco dinner (recipe from Chez Moi...amazing as always), and then some dress shirts for work. Nothing says we appreciate how hard you work like more clothes to go do that work in!

He is our tower of strength around here. Our patient voice of reason with a very FORGIVING heart.

We've Been Lagooned!

Lagoon is a noun but if you've been there, you know its a verb too.

It's the act of making yourself dizzy and light headed seeking that tummy flipping sensation.

It's feeling your heart pound as you run from ride to ride to wait in a line which intensifies the anticipation you already feel because you can hear the screams of others before you.

It's also a day long people watching event. A fashion show of the strange and sometimes inappropriate.

It's the astonishment at being asked to pay $5 for a pop.

This is what being "Lagooned" looks like.

My parents hosted a family Lagoon Day.

Everyone had a blast, the kids haven't stopped talking about it!

Durring the day we all broke up into dare devil level groups, meeting up between rides. We gathered together at the end of the day to do Rattle Snake Rapids as a family.

Dad's Boat (I get a kick out of Kelly and her hair protecting hoodie)

Mom's Boat

Darin trying valiantly to protect Bub from a soaking.

This is Bub's least favorite ride because, in his words, "YOU GET FREAKING WET!"

Bub was in heaven riding the kiddie rides with his cousins. Miriam braved some big kid rides with her cousin Ali (Tidal Wave, Turn of the Century, Wild Mouse). She has promised if we do the bounce back (return within 10 days for a cheaper rate) she will do roller coasters.

Darin and I had fun riding a few rides, but mostly watched the kids and cousins enjoy themselves. We could have called it a great day just having done that, BUT we left at dinnertime, put the kids to bed with a babysitter, and came back to do the trill rides ourselves!

I wondered if I would even like amusement rides anymore....it's been a loooong time since I have ridden any.

I was relieved to realize I still LOVE THEM! I was wonderfully terrified all over again. It made me feel young and giddy.

THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!!

What It Looks Like When Mom is Sick

It looks pretty cute,

and it's not a bad life....

wear what you want,

watch tons of Netflix,

make up your own crafts,

play with water in the back yard,

eat tons of Popsicles,

drink lots of juice

pizza for dinner.

(except when Fiona brought us an amazing, nourishing dinner complete with homemade chocolate chip cookies THANK YOU FI!)

The party is over my friends, Mom's back and her summer schedule has begun.

Piano Recital

How cute are my Mom and Dad?

I know, SUPER cute.

And, how great is Darin for loading all the kids up to go to M's recital?

I KNOW! He's SUPER great.

This little guy is SUPER CUTE as well.

Can you see the Grandpa resemblance?

Ballet Promotion

Waaay back before I got sick (should I refer to that time as BP, as in before pneumonia, and all things now AP?) M had her Ballet Promotion. They put on their play back in February so this is just an end of year review of what they learned. I had to run after Soren most of the time, but was there when her teacher pointed out her very flexible ankles and lovely feet. Like most girls her age, M loves to perform but doesn't love the bar work.

Miriam wants to be in toe shoes so bad she can taste it! I have no plans or aspirations for Miriam as a dancer, I just want her to stay in long enough to learn how to walk into a crowded room with grace. I want her to feel comfortable in her curvy little body and know how to suck in that stinger!

*I have to thank my own mother for slapping my behind every now and again saying "suck it in honey".

Back post - Joy School

The day before I was hit with a flu semi truck we hosted Joy School.

Our theme was Healthy Bodies

First we had to review our number of the day (we finished the alphabet) which was 10.

So we traced our hands and numbered the fingers to 10.

Then we read The Busy Body Book which is a fantastic introduction to how the body works and what it needs to be healthy.

We stopped after the bones part and sang "I'm all Made of Hinges" and felt the bones in our elbows and knees.

We stopped after the muscle part to do some push ups and feel the muscles under our skin.

We stopped after the circulatory part to run around to music and then feel our hearts beating.

We ended with the digestion part and stopped for our healthy snack of apples celery and peanut butter.

Then we went outside to draw our healthy chalk bodies.

I traced everyone and they added the details, including their hearts and lungs.

I was going to play some soccer with the crew but they wanted to play on their own so this was an EASY one. I didn't have to buy or make anything!!

I have loved doing Joy School this year. It was all easy and breasy, the moms were great, the kids for the most part, got along. I feel like it created a net of safety for Byron, he has 3 other Moms who live so close that he would feel comfortable asking for help or going to with a problem. He also got a different teaching style and learning emphasis from each Mom. Jamie was so good to play lots of games, Stacie introduced lots of culture, Kim did the cutest crafts!

THANKS STACIE JAMIE and KIM!