First Sleep Over

JJ spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's last night ... first "sleep over" (insert appropriate "ahhhhhh" here). Guess it went okay ... didn't get any middle of the night phone calls "JJ wants to come home" (would have been surprised to hear that from him).

They are supposed to go fishing today ... Grandpa wanted to get an early start, so we will have to give an updated report later. Hopefully they don't fall in (well, at least not unless it is on purpose).

Dad's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the great dads in my life! First and foremost, my wonderful husband Lance. He is a phenomenal dad, who takes more than his fair share of the chores and never complains. He plays with the kids, teaches them, and loves them. I am also grateful for my father in law - not only is he a great grandpa in every sense of the word, he also sets a great example for the kids to follow. Since I don't have my dad around to be a grandpa to my kids, I am all the more grateful that my kids have Jake. Speaking of my dad I am grateful for all the things he taught me growing up - he wasn't perfect by any means but now that I am older I understand much better some of the lessons he tried to teach me. I miss him every day. I am also grateful for the wonderful influence and example I receive from my two brothers. They are great dads and husbands. They are so sweet with my kids and in many ways fill the role that my father isn't here to fill. I have been so impressed lately with my nephews and nephews in law- I have no doubt that they will be wonderful dads too.

Jake and Lance with JJ, Hannah and Asher then and now!
Jake with JJ

Jake with Hannah

I just realized that I don't have a picture of Jake with Asher as a baby!! Ahhh!

Lance with JJ
Lance with Hannah


Lance with AsherGreat dads will do just about anything for their kids - for example - mow the lawn with them in the back pack just because it makes the kid happy. I am so blessed by the wonderful dads in my life.

Father's and Son's OR Bust

Bust it is! Lance took the boys to our ward Father's and Son's outing yesterday hoping for a break from this funky weather only to be very disappointed. Our ward opted to have their camp out at a county park right on the Lehi edge of Utah Lake. Can you say MOSQUITOES? Ya, so besides the rain and wind blowing our "fair weather" tent practically inside out the mosquitoes were out in force and undeterred by copious amounts of bug spray. Lance gave up about 8:30 pm when he saw the lightening rolling in off the lake and packed everything up and came home. JJ was very sad that things didn't work out the way he thought they should. What can you do when Mother Nature decides that camping is out of the question? Head home and drown your self in donut holes and anti itch medication. Meanwhile Hannah and I were having a fun girls night out. We went to Hannah's favorite restaurant: Asian Buffet (ya I know wierd huh, but she loves buffets). We did a little shopping afterward and then headed home half expecting to see the boys already there. They showed up maybe an hour later. Hannah has a new found love of scrapbooking and has been begging me to teach her how. I had given her a disposible camera to take to school with her on Field Day so she had some pictures of her very own to scrapbook. I got her a "kid kit" scrapbook and today she worked very hard and got several pages done. It is really cute and quite well done for a 5 year old. I am thrilled at the prospect of bonding with her over something I love so much. I look forward to many fun days with my scrapping buddy Hannah.

Craving

I have been craving time and room to do my traditional scrapbooking. In lieu of having the time and space to pull all my stuff out I decided to do some digi scrapping (which is fun, don't get me wrong, just not quite as satisfying). Here are a some of my recent layouts:

Speaking of traditional scrapping - I am going to attend the Lehi Legacy Center July Scrapbooking Sleepover (wow that was a long name!). It is July 10 and 11. If anyone is interested in attending with me you can register online here. It is $20 ($18 if you are a Lehi resident) for both days and includes 2 meals. You can also register for individual days. I would love the company!

Our Relief Society is making a quilt to give away to someone in need and they asked for people to sew up some nine patch squares. At first I passed on this - I am not the skilled seamstress that my mom is. Then we had a RS lesson on being of service and I felt guilty so I decided to try and sew three of the patches. Lance hauled my dust covered sewing machine up from the basement and I set to trying to remember how my mom taught me to sew. I surprised myself and cranked out all three squares in a matter of 20 minutes. The points don't all match but the seams are pretty straight and they lay flat so I am happy! Guess sewing is just like riding a bike - you never really forget.

We took the kids to see Night at the Museum 2 today. It has some slightly funny moments but none of the sweet poignancy of the first film. It is certainly a renter if you have kids but not really a must see for the big screen, in my opinion. My opinion may be tainted by the fact that Asher was ready to go home about 20 minutes into the movie which made watching the movie fully difficult.

Feeling wierd

It has been a strange few days. We are getting used to the new summer schedule (or lack thereof). JJ is, of course, bored out of his mind and driving me crazy. Asher is really struggling with the loss of his "mommy alone time". Hannah just likes having more time to play with her brothers. I am having a tough time adjusting to the increase in volume, mess, and pestering. All this added on top of a great desire to become a hermit. I love my friends and family but sometimes personal relationships just seem too hard and I have to fight the urge to just shut down and hide out in my room for weeks on end. I guess I am a lot like JJ in that I don't deal well with change and when I have to deal with it I lose my ability to deal with everyone and everything else. Little slights or words said and unsaid become huge to me. Mentally I know I am being self centered and ridiculous but emotionally the feelings are there refusing to be hidden. I firmly believe that we all choose our feelings and therefore it is our own fault if we feel offended or sad. Although I believe that philosophy, I often have a hard time implementing it.
Here are some pics from the last days of school . . .Hannah and her "boyfriend" Nathan
Hannah and Miss Jana
Hannah and her BFF Lexi

Hannah and her friends signing each others scrapbook pages

JJ doing his Kung Fu Panda Dance
JJ and his friend Addison
Hi-ya!

JJ and his teacher Mrs. Wood.
Asher sacked out at the table while drawing a picture.