Dancing with Daffodils

Cute cousins! It was a great week. We left Monday (June 21) to drive up to Rochester. The kids were so good in the car and it was an easy drive; we didn't even stop once! We had brought food and had movies and Harry Potter to listen to and books to read and we just chugged along and made great time.  We had a nice evening with my parents and my sister and her family did come over for a few minutes in the evening so we could say hello. Tuesday we went to the mall and just walked around and shopped and had lunch at the food court. Everyone got to pick a book at Barnes and Noble and my mom also bought Lily a beautiful dress as an early birthday present. I also went to visit KayLee at work and sat with her while she had lunch since she was very busy all week and it was probably our best time together. After the mall the kids and I went over to the Jansson's house to just hang out with whoever was around. They are all very busy but it was good to see Erik who got home from his missi...

It has been a good couple of weeks. I took Lily to get her second vaccination, taught piano lessons, took the kids to the pool, did lots of reading, laundry, exercising and cooking. Last Tuesday afternoon we went over to the Shoeny's for one last swim and chat. I hadn't actually talked to Joni in a long time and it was nice to catch up but then we had to say goodbye, which is always sad. Friday we had planned to go to Six Flags on our way up to my sister's house but it was pouring rain. We decided to stop by anyway to pick up our season passes and by the time we got there the rain had stopped. We only had an hour but we went on about eight rides because no one was there. We walked right onto the rides and rode them by ourselves. Josh and I even did the Voodoo drop tower since the kids didn't have to wait at all for us and it was so fun. I wish we could have stayed longer but as it was we hit terrible traffic and were later getting to my sister's house than I told he...

Another week has gone by. Memorial Day was nice. We had a big family breakfast and then went to our church picnic. Last year we went to the park where we normally have it and just played by ourselves because there was no picnic so it was much better having our ward family back this year. We played games and had a relay (our team won!) and laughed and played and talked and it was really nice. Everyone was supposed to bring their own food but I don't like making lunches and we had just had a big breakfast so we stayed until about 3pm and then went home and grilled hot dogs and I made some salads and we had an early dinner sitting outside on our patio. It was really nice. The missionaries came over later and we had a nice visit with them--the first in person visit in over a year. I feel very grateful for my country and the many who have died and I like living in a very patriotic place that honors and celebrates that as well. Tuesday was school and laundry and we went shopping at Targe...

 I enjoy reading my friends' blogs so I feel like I should write one but I honestly have nothing interesting to say today. It has been a normal week of kids doing school work and their activities and me just being a mom. I've cleaned, planned meals, picked up groceries, took kids to the doctor for check ups, taught piano lessons and read. Last weekend was Curtis's last soccer game and he did well and his team won. Monday was supposed to be a player vs parents game but it got rained out so they just passed out small soccer balls and ice cream. Curtis and Brandon are constantly playing soccer in our hallway with that little ball so way more useful than some trophy. I really liked his coaches and it was a great season for him. Brandon has one more game on Saturday and then he will be done too. His game last week was way far away and while Josh was gone at stake conference and while Lily had dance rehearsal so it was a bit crazy and so hot that day but his team won for the firs...

Another week and I feel like there isn't much to say. Josh's sister came Wednesday to surprise the kids and they were all so happy to see her. It has been two years since she has been here and 18 months since we've seen her so it was good and they were all shocked when she knocked on the door. Thursday was school work and piano lessons and Brandon's soccer practice. Friday Josh took off and it was a tough day for me. I forgot to change my piano lesson and so he showed up as I was about out the door for dentist appointments. Josh ended up taking them and I got there just in time to go in with Brandon and take over so he could go home and hang out with his sister. No cavities and they even pulled out the last five of Curtis's baby teeth so that was great. Then I wanted to go donate some clothes and a bike and realized they only were there until a certain time (15 min from the moment I realized it) so I grabbed it all and shoved it in the car and drove over there just ...

Climbing a tree instead of watching their brother play soccer  It has been another week. Nothing special happened, just all the normal stuff. Girls danced, boys soccered, everyone did lots of school work, I taught piano, I did my last zoom gym class because they are discontinuing them so now I have to actually go, I sat through a lot of soccer practices, talked to my parents, and cleaned.  I did go visit Carolee with Michelle and that was nice. It was good to see her and talk a bit and hopefully it lifted her spirits some. I also did some yard work. Emma and Brandon and I went to Lowes and got some flowers on Tuesday and then Thursday we planted them all. They put some flowers in the pots on our patio (Brandon's has all yellow flowers and Emma picked pink and purple) and then some tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and basil in our tiny vegetable garden. I also put a few flowers in front that are bright pink and fun. Now hopefully everything stays alive and beautiful! My front garde...