Grateful Sunday

This has been a fun week. Party after party as school winds down! This week, I'm thankful for:

• Audrey's ability to memorize piano pieces. I could never do it and nerves always got the best of me, but she did a great job at her recital this afternoon.
• Parker's little friends who came and celebrated his belated birthday with him yesterday!
• this article, shared by Judy. It's beautiful.
• friends who are generous with their pools.
• Neal. He's good for me.
• double dates and good babysitters.

7:16 pm

We're having a productive evening, after a long day of work (Neal) and play (everyone else). There's something so satisfying about tucking tired children into bed at night, don't you think? Mine will be worn out, but first we're having strawberries with cream and brown sugar. Ever tried that?

Audrey called me away from the dishes to show me Miles' perfect letter P!

pool hair & cute freckles

Weeding is the men's job around here.

Grateful Sunday

This week, I'm grateful for:

• Neal and my similar ideas on house hunting/building/waiting. It just makes the process easier that we agree on the plan. Or lack of plan.
• a sort of second Mother's Day on Friday. Neal had the day off and got the big kids up and off to school without ever waking me up. I was in bed with Miles after a long night of tummy problems, and when I did get up, I got to redeem my Mother's Day spa gift certificate. Nice way to start the day off!
• happy children.
• my father-in-law, who celebrated a birthday this week.
• this video, which I saw on Mrs. R's always inspiring blog.
  

eights

A cute old picture of Miles in Kemah, TX, just for fun.

My friend, Melanie, tagged me to complete this list. I haven't done one of these in so long. Here goes!

Eight Things I Am Looking Forward To:

1. spending ten summery days in Sundance
2. seeing Neal's sister Georgia with her new baby (Ryan & Kristine, too!)
3. our Alaska cruise later this summer
4. a week on the white sandy beaches of Destin in August
5. seeing Audrey and Callie reunited on that trip
6. moving to a more permanent house
7. the moments after the Primary Program in September (I get to write it and am very nervous about that!)
8. partying this weekend

Eight Things I Did Yesterday:

1. booked a bounce house for Parker's belated birthday party
2. continued our perpetual house/lot search
3. learned to make bread with some lovely women from church
4. read my book while Miles & Parker played at McDonald's
5. saved Miles from choking on a Starburst while purchasing new sneakers for Parker
6. took a short walk holding hands with both of my sons
7. sent Neal out for late-night grown-up dinner
8. swept the kitchen. Twice.

Eight Things I Wish I Could

1. be better at math. I'm starting to struggle with Audrey's second grade work. Yikes.
2. live within walking distance of my sisters.
3. stay away from my computer. I have no will power.
4. love working out.
5. make sushi.
6. fix up my blog just the way I want it.
7. make my kids stop growing up.
8. be more diligent about reading my scriptures.

Eight Shows I Watch

1. Lost
2. The Fashion Show
3. 30 Rock
4. Worst Week (come back!)
5. Intervention
6. So You Think You Can Dance
7. The Bachelor(ette)
8. Imagination Movers (with Miles every morning)

Eight Bloggers I am Tagging:

1. Stephanie C.
2. Gina H.
3. Erika A.
4. Mimi P.
5. Beth Ann
6. Melanie T.
7. Lauren W.
8. Julie H. (Happy Birthday Julie!)

Mention the person that tagged you.- Complete the lists of 8's.- Tag 8 of your wonderful bloggy friends.- Go tell them you tagged them!

made cookies

i love my cookie scoop.
and my Silpat.
tried this recipe for a second time and changed it up a bit.
added 1/2 t. almond extract.
doubled the vanilla. i always double the vanilla.
did half butter half shortening.
upped the salt a bit.
omitted the walnuts.
nummy.

fun photos

A friend of mine took some photos of me and my friend, Beth, a few weeks ago. She did a great job and made us feel at ease. Since it's hard to be at ease with a camera in your face. Now I know how my kids feel. You can see more of them here and here.

water balloons

Our kids love water balloons. I don't mind them so much as long as they keep them outside and don't try to sleep with the little cute baby ones (has happened). While my dad was here, he was so nice to be the water-balloon filler for the weekend. It's pretty much a never-ending job, so thanks, Dad.

little league nights

I have some really wonderful memories of Little League games as a young girl. I never played in them, of course (I'm SO nonathletic), but with two older brothers and a dad who was almost always the coach, we spent many hours at the Cerro Villa Junior High fields as kids. We'd tag along for practices often, but the games were the best. Stephanie and I were pretty much free to roam the field areas, taking trips back and forth to the snack bar, filling our Lemonhead boxes with white chalk from the sidelines and trying to trick our grandpa into eating it (thanks for always thinking we were funny, Grampy!). We'd play on the bars, eat our smarties lollipops (they were only ten cents), or just sit in our little chairs daydreaming and wiping the sweat from our foreheads. I couldn't wait until I had kids and we could do the same things all over again. Little League is what being a kid in America is all about, if you ask me. Even if you're just the tag-along sister.

Here are some shots from our recent trips to field number eight:

Parker scoring. He's really improved since last year, both his speed and catching ability. We can't wait for coach-pitch next year. Way more authentic baseball.

Miles, with various and sundry little siblings.
They have their little spot over by the dirt pile & shed.

Audrey usually joins Miles and some other kids for a bit, but at this game, we had my dad's iphone. So she sat by us most of the time.

Grateful Sunday

We had fun with my parents, who were here to visit for the last part of the week. It's always so fun when they come to town. Today, I'm grateful for:

• the loving family my parents created. I am so blessed to come from a family with lots of love and pretty much no drama. How often does that happen.
• the many blessings I enjoy in my life which make it pleasant and happy. I marvel over things like running water and refrigerators full of cold, fresh food. We are so blessed to live here.
• our wonderful church family. We've been so readily welcomed here and have found so many people with whom we can share both faith and friendship. It's a beautiful thing.
• a last-minute movie date with Neal while my parents were here. We got to stroll hand-in-hand through town at night (I love to do that), and saw Angels & Demons; it was pretty ok. Helped me come up with an outfit for church today!
  
• the end of the school year and the fun trips we have planned for the summer. We are so very close!
  

nice day

post-church pajama photo

My Mother's Day weekend was really lovely. I had the longest night's sleep I've had in a long time, and Neal made me a gourmet brunch when I finally rolled out of bed on Saturday (he's quite the epicurean lately). Sunday afternoon brought sweet home made gifts from the kids, and we finished off the night with a chat with my mom and The Amazing Race finale. Yay!

Grateful Sunday

my mom with matthew, me & elliott. the first three of her six children. she looks happy. :)

This week has been great, we're quickly finishing up the school year, which is always great for everyone! Only three weeks to go! Today, I'm grateful for:

• my wonderful mother. I feel like one of the greatest blessings in my life is that I was sent to my particular set of parents. I often wonder how my mom raised us all with such patience, love and perspective, but she did. I have known my whole life how dearly I am loved by my mother because she has told me and shown me in so many countless ways. She continues to be the pinnacle of womanhood in my mind, and I'm so grateful for her influence. You can read more about how lucky I am to have my mom here. (I used the same picture.)
  
• the opportunity to be a mom. I know that today brings sadness and pain for lots of people, those who have lost their mother and those who aren't yet mothers. My heart aches for those, such deep heartbreak can be so difficult to understand and bear. I hope they can find some comfort today.
• the support I have from my Heavenly Father. I feel a tremendous responsibility to rear my children in a way that is pleasing to God and at times, it's so daunting. But I am grateful for it nonetheless. No other experience has brought me such great joy. I'm grateful that I can turn to my Father in prayer when I just have no idea what to do, and I know that He listens and helps me in His own way.
• grandmothers, aunts, friends, sisters and sisters-in-law whose examples are constant and wonderful. Thanks and Happy Mother's Day to all of you!

boys abound

Since Parker only has kindergarten until 11:00, he has lots of time for play dates. The kids in his class all get along so well, he ends up playing with at least two boys a week. This week, it was three, oh wait, four.



Miles is the third wheel until nap time, but he'll take anything he can get.

San Antonio

We had a really fun weekend. Some friends of ours sent out an open invite to join them at a nice Hyatt resort down south a bit and we thought it would be a fun diversion, so off we went!

The resort had firepits and smores set ups every night. We took advantage.

Our blogless friends, Launa & Andrew. They brought their two cute little boys, too.

Neal & the kids in the lazy river at the hotel.

Me and my dude out by the pool. He's chewing. :)

We spent Friday night downtown and Saturday at Sea World. The kids got very intimate with some dolphins. Very cool!

Grateful Sunday

The kids at the Riverwalk. I inadvertently put them all in green. They noticed.

We had a really slow week leading up to a really fun weekend. This Sunday, I'm grateful for:

• easy access to doctors and such. Miles was just really sick last week. He couldn't keep anything down (or in) and we were getting pretty worried, not only that he was getting dehydrated, but that the rest of us were next. After having some tests run and meeting with a great Nurse Practitioner, we found out the cause and are so happy he was feeling mostly better for our weekend away. We were going to have to cancel it if he hadn't improved!
• the kids in primary, whose arms shot right up today when I asked for volunteers to do some impromptu missionary work. I was expecting to have to assign someone, but no, they were itching to help. What awesome kids!
• a safe trip and lots of fun in San Antonio this weekend. More photos to come, and lots of them will be on Audrey's blog (because they're of animals).
• rain, rain, rain. It's beautiful and clean everywhere here because of the recent storms. Nothing like spring rains to make the world feel new.
• Stella (and Stephanie's) impending freedom. The cast comes off this week, hooray!