The end of the school year I started reading friends status updates on how they had goals and activities and trips planned out for their entire summer break... I started feeling nervous and overwhelmed. I started thinking: Everyone else is doing it, shouldn't I be too? I looked into swim lessons. I read through camps that sounded like sooooo much fun for my kiddos. I even went into a learning store to look at books to keep their skills sharp(I ended up not buying anything because I got completely overwhelmed and ended up just leaving- A very typical event for me. I shop much better when I have someone telling me what to get or encouraging me what is a wise buy). I did not sign up my kids for camps or lessons or anything. We have no trips planned(Except for the big one in September). We are just hanging out-- everyday.
So, that leads us to today. This is a typical morning when I am not at work:
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| The big girl is playing DS. The two littles are playing skylander. |
The kids play a lot of video games. I don't get minecraft at all, but love that my kiddos, all three, can play together nicely. They also watch a lot of sponge bob, which I swore I would never like, but I have actually started appreciating his humor and completely get it now. My mommy guilt is at an all time high for the amount of "screen time" they are getting. Had I been a responsible Mommy and planned out their days and hours of summer, we surely would not have planned this much wasted electronics time.
We do managed to get to the library several times a month and stock up on books. The big kids DEVOUR their books- reading them all in the first day or two. This makes my mommy heart proud. I love the quiet it brings to the home, and I love that they share my love of books. There is nothing better than getting lost in a book in my opinion.
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My poor husband feels very neglected, so it takes a concentrated effort to make sure I am paying enough attention to him and his needs. We've had a few date nights, with amazing babysitters from the girls I work with at chruch. But, nothing beats the power of trading services right? So, one night I decided to have a party-- a babysitting party. We watched my friends children and my sister-in-laws children, so now we have TWO people indebted to us(babysitting wise) from one evening of chaos! And honestly, it would have been chaos anyway, right? And who could resist this adorable beautiful boy:
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As you may be tell from my non-blog-writing I have been feeling very lacking in creativity. I've not been writing in my spare time, I've not been feeling like my normal "creative" self. This overall lack of creativity got me down. It didn't help I was in a car accident and had some back pain(still do). It didn't help I've been working, and while working less hours this summer, I've been happily picking
up extra shifts, which causes more running around, more calling around to get help with babysitting. It takes a lot of effort to keep my day running it seems. So, when my day is done, I am done. I have nothing left for myself. This has bothered me. I didn't realize how much, until....
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On a whim(After being a bit inspired by a friends beautiful art work), I bought a little starters kit and came up with this:
My kids think I am an amazing artist. While I know its nothing special, I enjoyed doing it and I am actually a teeny tiny bit proud. I won't keep it on my wall. But it is on display right now and I am happy with it. One of my children will likely get it for their bedroom. And I plan on doing more. This has helped my creativity-- and in fact it jump started my writing even. I have a concept I have been happily working on for a number of hours that I am very optimisitic will get completed! That feels good.~
In June went to girls camp with my church girls-- I had an amazing time with "my girls" and I had even more fun with my adult friends. We went to Camp Howard that was up by Mt. Hood, and it was simply an amazing week full of spiritual highs and lots of fun. I felt blessed to be surrounded by so much beauty-- both in nature and in the people around me.
We finally found a dress Kathryn will wear! Thank you Aunt Tamara!
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In August, Leila joined Jeremy on a Take Your Kid to Work Day! SHE HAD A BLAST! She came home with all sorts of Climax Machine and Tooling knowlege, and of course, Jeremy's co-workers LOVED HER! She has had a few Girl Scout Activities, and we are going forward with another year, with me as her leader(YIKES!)!
This summer the Portland LDS Temple opened up a Visitors Center in a small building on the temple grounds. Its a pretty neat place- they have state of the art technology and very intereactive tools to look and learn about Jesus. We love when you drive up you can see through the glass and see the big statue of the Christus. Our kids loved it. The Visitors Center is open to the public 9am-9pm, 365 days a year. They don't even expect you to be baptized, or drink the kool-aid, if you go in.
Nathan had to have another surgery. His skin condition was still causing some scaring and we needed to correct some things from the last surgery. He handled it like a pro! I am so proud of this boy! Now if we could just get him to loose more teeth!
The rest of the summer is pretty much the same. My working and taking the kids to either our dear friend Vanessa and Kaitlyns, or Grandma's. More playing video games, more watching TV, more reading, more loving, more laughing. I guess its not so bad to be an Anti-mommy. I'm sure my kids are not suffering...
