Come on summer...

I am just going to lay it all out here.  My children are kind of awesome people.  They come up with the coolest games and when they get rolling then have so much fun together.  They are creative and smart and have above average good looks.  I am raising a troop of exceptional human beings.  Sure they fight (a lot) and complain (about everything).  They also are totally addicted to screen time and I indulge that habit way too much.  However, they are still pretty awesome people.  They are kind and very funny.  I like them.

Right now the middle three children are planning a performance of "Cinderella" the play starring and directed by Adell.  Even Wyatt is gathering costumes and throwing out ideas for Adell.  Colter is running around the house naked saying "Woo-hoo!" (he wants someone to open Wyatt's saxophone case so he can pretend to play the saxophone...or break it).  Lorien is reading quietly in her room.

I have been nagging them to get their homework and jobs done for almost four hours.  I do not think it is going to happen.  I think I am giving up right now.  I think my children are amazing people and the process of inventing, costuming, directing and preforming a play is more than homework enough!  Reading is great!  Nakedness and an interest in music is great!

I just want summer vacation to be here.  I am tired of schedules.  I am tired of busy work.  I am tired of all the running around.

I declare this will be a summer of nothingness.  We are going to chill out!  After all, my children are awesome people and we are only going to have 10 or so weeks to fully indulge in all that awesomeness.

I know there will be plenty of fights, plenty of complaints and I will say "no" all. the. time.  

Bring it on.

I am ready.

Smoke and Dirt

We made our second annual trek down to Big Sur this weekend.  Of course it was beautiful and loads of fun.  The kids ate their weight in marshmallows and played in the dirt.  Lorien stayed with our friends over at their campsite...so it was like we only had four kids.  Adell learned that she loves hot dogs "cooked the old-timey way with a little bit of black on them."  (Roasted over the fire on an actual stick until the hot dog is a little burnt.)  Colter learned how much fun it is to run towards a patch of poison oak and watch Mom or Dad come racing after him.  Wyatt invented a new game with all of his friends.  I think it was a version of cops and robbers but he was always riding by too fast on his bike to give me all of the details.  Clare made fairy houses and visited with her friends too.  On the last day Will and Wyatt took a major hike up Mount Manuel Trail.  It was 8 miles with a 3,400 foot vertical climb.  It was another fun trip, even if we will smell like campfire smoke for a week.  

Two Years Old

Poof.  

And just like that...my last baby is no longer a baby but a full-grown-toddler.  

Happy 2nd Birthday my Troublesome Truck.

New Years Resolutions

I do not make New Years resolutions.  I am not a goal oriented person.  I do appreciate accomplishment and see value in making and keeping goals...but I don't see a lot of value in it.  Call me uninspired or unmotivated.  

Anyway, this year I felt a little differently.  I wanted our children to see it was possible to read the Book of Mormon.  I wanted them to feel like that was an achievable goal.  As a kid, I always felt like getting through the whole Book of Mormon was nearly impossible.  My family read the scriptures off and on but I never remember finishing the whole thing until I was in college.  So way back in January Will and I decided it would be a good challenge to have with the kids.  At first I just wanted to set the goal of reading a couple of chapters every day.  Will had the idea (he is way more motivated by goals) to put down a specific deadline for when we would finish the Book of Mormon as a family.  The kids agreed and we set our goal: reading the whole Book of Mormon as a family by Colter's 2nd birthday (May 19th).  

It was pretty easy in the beginning.  We were all inspired and we were ahead of schedule for a while.  Then life happened and we got behind.  Then we caught up...then we were behind again...pretty typical stuff.  Colter's birthday was on Monday and with a couple of marathon reading days over the weekend we made our goal.  It was awesome to celebrate the success with the kids.  We all read the last verse out loud together.  

I am pretty proud of my little family.  Now we just need to keep reading...

Adell and Clare really were excited to have met our goal.  We took a bunch of pictures with my phone on a timer.  They weren't sure when to get their excited faces on...

I love to see the temple

Sometimes we meet at the temple for Stake Conference.  There is a large Stake Center on the temple grounds and our Stake is big enough to need the extra seats.  We packed a picnic lunch for afterwards and enjoyed some time walking around the temple.