It's official...school's out! I have mixed emotions this year, just because while I really want to make this a fun and exciting summer for the kids, I feel like I need a good routine right now just to keep my head above water!

We (meaning Derrick and the kids) kicked off summer break on Thursday night. They built a bon-fire in the back yard and made tin foil dinners and smores. Derrick delivered mine to me inside. I'd had a big day. Skyler's friends from our street all happened to congregate in our back yard for night games. It sure sounded like they were having a lot of fun, other than one of the neighbors yelling at them for running on his new sod. It was a fun night, since they are all really great to let me other kids join in on the games (none of Zac's buddies live right here on our street). They even took Myah along with them.

Yesterday, they woke to me making a nice big excel worksheet of their summer jobs. I'm sure they were so excited about that, but the days are just too long if they don't have a little work to break it up!

So, here we go with oodles of neighborhood kids, endless otter pop wrappers in the yard, dozens of shoes left around the trampoline, late nights, emotional days, back yard barbecues, smores, swimming pools, water guns, and great times! Wow, wouldn't it be great to be a kid again???

Notice that Skyler isn't even in the picture. Apparently, at this point he was the 'kidnapper', although I'm not sure what that means.

Are We The Only Ones???

The more blogs I'm reading, the more I'm thinking that I ought to have a giant 'L' plastered to my forehead...'L' for 'Loser'! Are we the only family that did absolutely NOTHING over Memorial Day weekend? I'm reading about all of these weekend getaways, and quality family time, complete with cute and happy looking pictures!
We spent our whole day Saturday working and cleaning the house and the garage, and doing yard work. And we listened to the kids tell us at least a thousand times, how 'that's all we ever do...work'!
All of that hard work on Saturday, meant that on Sunday, I was really very tired. So while I slept for a large portion of the day, Derrick played a game of RISK with the kids (go Derrick!).
On Monday, Skyler and I got up at 6am to deliver flags throughout the neighborhood for Young Womens and Young Mens. Of course, the 6am wakeup time, completely wiped me out for the remainder of the day. I spent a large portion of Monday sleeping again, while Derrick played another round of RISK with the kids. On the plus side, the boys went to see Indiana Jones (also with Derrick), while Myah and I stayed home and watched Cinderella.
Boy, I think I deserve some sort of 'mother of the year' award or something!

Finished...at least for now!

We did it! We finished relocating Myah to her new room, complete with a paint job. It's completely girly and she really loves it. I'm just so glad to be done! We still need to repaint some of her furniture, but we'll just see when we get to it. It sure feels good to accomplish something every now and again.

Once In a While...

Every once in a while, we (Derrick and I) do something really smart as parents! It's only every now and again, but I think it would take the fun out of it if we were smart parents all the time! I mean, where's the surprise element in that? Since we started rearranging the house to make room for the Swaner Seven, we had a dilemma...where could we put the piano? We've always kept it in the office (now Myah's room) where it could be heard but not seen. It's really very ugly, but what more could we expect from a hundred dollar piano? But it serves it's purpose. So our genius idea...let's swallow our pride, and put the piano in the living room, right where we spend the majority of our time! And the craziest thing has happened...our kids actually PLAY the piano, all the time! To make it even better, we relocated the WII to the basement. Last week, our family time was centered around NBA 08...this week, it's centered around 'Book of Mormon Stories' (courtesy of Zac) and 'In Dreams' (from Lord of the Rings, courtesy of Skyler), and 'Brother John' (courtesy of Tannon). Now what could be better than that? Sometimes, we really do impress ourseves...but only once in a while!

Do Husbands 'Nest'???

I think that Derrick is 'nesting' today. Or maybe he's just sick and tired of the mess we've had around here since January when the morning sickness kicked in! So far, we've painted the big downstairs family room, created Myah a new bedroom (which used to be the office), started a new bedroom for the baby (used to be Myah's room), and rearranged almost the entire house. At the moment, he's 'dejunking' our bedroom, which is a HUGE accomplishment. Last night, he even relocated the piano ALL BY HIMSELF! I think I like this 'nesting' stuff. Especially when he catches it!

Seriously???

Monday it snowed (see post below). Today (exactly 4 days later), my kids went down the street after school for a swim party! Of course, an Idaho swim party means that the kids run through the sprinklers in their swimming suits, but it still seems crazy! I don't know who's in charge of this whole weather pattern thing, but I think they might be confused.

A Good Read

I'm always looking for a good read. There's nothing better than going to bed early and reading until I fall asleep. So Derrick and I went to the book store the other day to grab the new Stephenie Meyer book (the Host), since I'm 4th on the waiting list at the library and I didn't want to wait that long! While in the book store, I picked up another book, and I just couldn't put it down. So I still haven't read 'The Host', but I sure have loved every minute of reading the other book I bought! It's a memoire from a boy who was forced to be a child soldier in Sierre Leone in the 90's. The story is really quite sad, but to see what he overcame is truly amazing. It's called 'A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a Boy Soldier' by Ishmael Beah.

If you're looking for a good read, take a look at it. The whole time I was reading, I was just so thankful for the circumstances that we live in. We are so blessed to raise our families in a place where we feel safe, and our children can be just that...children. Just thought I'd pass it along. It'll stick with me for a really long time, and I love those kind of books.

Here's a link to take a look at...http://alongwaygone.com/

May 12...7:50 am...It's SNOWING!!!

Why, Why, Why???

Myah is going through the 'why' stage right now, and it's making me CRAZY! After a while, my response to 'why?' became, "Myah, not everything has a why". Eventually, she started answering her own questions by repeating my 'not everything has a why' response. My other common responses are "I know what I'm doing, so you don't need to know why" or even an occasional "Because I'm the parent and I said so!". Probably not the best parenting technique, but I never claimed to be the best parent! Sometimes my lack of patience takes over, and all good parenting skills fly out the window.

I started wondering and thinking what makes our kids want to know 'why' to everything. Then, probably through a little inspiration, the thought came to me...Heavenly Father must feel just about the same way with me questioning 'why' to everything. I can just hear Him saying, "Not everything has a why." Or "Can't you just trust me...I know what I'm doing". Or even better, "Because I'm the parent and I said so!". I must really try His patience, even more than my sweet children try mine. Thankfully, He is the perfect parent and loves me anyways! And I guess I ought to ask 'why' a little less often, and trust Him a little more!

Happy Birthday Sweet Myah!

I can hardley believe that Myah turned 4 years old on Monday! Where does the time go??? She opted (with just a little parental influence) to just invite one friend on a lunch date to the park. She had a great time, and it was definintely easier than an all out birthday party. We had a great day at the park with Myah and her friend. For her birthday dinner, we had a hot dog roast in the back yard. Sounds like a great (and very easy for mom) birthday!

Myah got a new bike...a PINK one, with all of the pink accessories you could ask for. She had a blue bike that worked perfectly well, until the other girls in the neighborhood told her it was a 'boy bike'. Too bad.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I absolutely adore my little girl (probably to a point of annoying others). So far (and yes, I realize she's only 4!) she's been such an easy little girl to get along with, and is a great blessing to our family.

Happy Birthday Sweet Myah!

Although we're only a third of the way through 2008, I've already learned several new things this year. I just want to make note of them, so as to not forget by the end of the year...because some of them, I really don't want to have to learn again next year! Here goes...

1. Kids don't really care if dinner is homemade...or from the freezer. As long as its covered in cheese and pepperoni...it's all good!
2. I can ALWAYS find some clean clothes to wear...laundry can wait a few extra days! (also, when you wash with Tide, you can make yourself believe that your clothes are fresh washed for at least an extra day!)
3. Husbands really can iron their own clothes. Poor Derrick.
4. With good friends and supportive family members, we can get through anything!
5. Pre-Teen boys are just as emotional as pre-teen girls!
6. Pregnant women are more emotional than all of the pre-teens in the world!
7. Paper plates are the best thing EVER invented!
8. Food Network runs from morning until night without repeating any of the same episodes!
9. Three year olds need at least 25 pairs of underwear, especially when they're playing outside with their friends...and when the whole laundry thing is an issue!
10. A nice hot bubble bath will make anything better!
11. Email is the best form of communication because it allows me to say something stupid or insulting and then backspace and replace it with something somewhat intelligent or nice! (You all know that I tend to speak before I think, therefore getting myself into trouble)
12. Salad and garlic bread...the worlds easiest dinner.
13. Good health is one of our greatest blessings!
14. Working on food storage is the funnest thing ever! It's so satisfying and the couples that work at the food storage center are so sweet.
15. I'm TOTALLY & COMPLETELY blessed to have such great family and friends. Seriously, what would I do without all of you???