Summer So Far

I had major blogging ambitions for this past week while Dan was out of town.  With nobody here to do important things with, like watch The Bachelorette or Food Network Star after the kids were in bed, I figured I might be able to put in a little Q.T. with Big Deal Colton.  Speaking of, this blog's name is totally outdated.  I'll probably never change the URL but as for the header, Max is no longer little and according to the title, Finn doesn't even exist. Not to mention the next little baby nugget on the horizon, who's name ideas are as non-existent as this blog's. I have officially used up all of my boys names on the last three and I am so empty headed right now, I'm really leaning towards Max's vote--Donut.

It's weird to think about all that has changed since I started writing here.  It's been seven years and I've written over 500 posts.  I've had nearly 3 more children.  I've gone from a desperate young mother who felt overwhelmed with the insecurities of inexperience to a desperate older mother who is still in over her head, though slightly more experienced. And maybe that experience serves only to remind me of the magnitude of what I still don't know. Over the years I have learned there is no need to start feeling like I know what I'm doing, because while I may have a good handle on teething remedies and potty training, it will always be my children's job to keep me humble, and the prepubescent tendencies of  9 year old females seem to be my next brand of  resume building/booty kicking.

9 is the new 13 I hear.  Or I might have made that up. In any case, back at the end of May, Ava turned 9.

The boys gave her their homemade cards as soon as she woke up,

And a bunch of girls came over for a pajama wearing, pizza eating, movie watching night.

We were all so excited that the party was a success.  It's hard when you move, you hope and pray your kids can find friends, and she has.

And then a week later, my sweet baby man, turned 35.  (And I left him the same day for England! Sorry, Dan!)

 It's been so long now, that the details of his birthday are getting a little fuzzy. But he did have his traditional cinnamon chocolate chip cake,

And we went on the El Dorado hike, per his planning and request and tried out his new baby backpack.

June 8 was a Sunday and I posted the following picture on Instagram.  I've copied it over here because the day was significant to me.

"I haven't seen Entenmann's chocolate donuts in a very long time, maybe it was because I didn't want to, but on my late night grocery run last night, I did. And I bought them on a whim. 23 years ago my brother was in a terrible accident. He died from his injuries a week later. These chocolate donuts were his favorite. And I haven't eaten one since. This morning I realized it was the actual anniversary of his accident. Our family sat around the table today, ate these donuts, and talked about Aaron. I wasn't sure I ever would enjoy them again, but that donut tasted delicious.#familiesareforever"

The rest of these summer days have also been significant to me but not for the same reasons.  Mostly because they are passing so quickly and I'm reminded of the collection of summer days that live in my memory.  Summer is a lot of childhood.

Luke went to basketball camp and had a blast.  He learned a lot too.  Since then he's spent a fair amount of time on the back patio dribbling.  He wants you to know that his dribbling record, without stopping is 498.  

And if he liked basketball camp, he LOVED soccer camp.  He learned more in that one week than he learned his entire last season.  He could not decide whether his favorite part was the complimentary snack and Gatorade or the actual soccer playing.

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I got.

But now he kicks the ball around the house constantly.  We've got him signed up for a league here that starts at the end of August and we'll see how that goes.  

We've taken a lot of trips which will hopefully be receiving their due attention shortly.  But in the meantime, it's been a lot of doing whatever we feel like.

I have to admit, that as this pregnancy progresses, my idea of a successful day has become one in which we do not leave the house.

Ava sewed the owl from a birthday present from Grandma Linda and Grandpa Don.

She's gotten to be a fine little hand sewer. Next up is the machine, methinks.

We froze water balloons on a whim and they turned out pretty cool.

At the beginning of the summer, we all set a personal goal we wanted to accomplish by the end.  Luke picked learning to tie a shoe.

And in the first three days, his goal was met.  Come to think of it though, I'm not sure he's tied one since.  I wonder if he can still do it?

We got the overgrown, built in garden bed cleared out from the side yard.  Had a pebble circle laid and our trampoline set up on top of it.  Dan was as happy as any of the kids to have his toy back.

In fact, for Father's Day his only wish was for this jungle gym he'd seen on the internet.  The kids thought Father's Day was their day!

We have been loving the soft grass here.  After 9 years of Texas grass, it's been a long time since I've actually wanted to lay down in my yard.

This right here is a big deal.  I paid Ava $7 to do the same thing (hang upside down without holding on) at a park, the last time we were in Utah.  It's was my incentive to face some of her fears.

But this one didn't cost me a dime!

We have been putting in the time with math practice (Ava) and reading practice (Luke).

This happened.  #poopprints

Another one of our summer deals has been the goal of walking, running, or scootering 45 miles as a family over the course of the summer.  And I admit that my knee problems set us back a bit and we've extended our timeline to until the baby gets here.

But we still have taken quite a lot of scooter walks on the path behind our house.

We've sat around in our underwear,

Worked on mastering our utensil skills, 

And eaten lots and lots of popsicles.