The End of An Era

Noah and I took a walk yesterday.   Our last middle-of-the-day walk before the kids come home for the summer and then he joins them at elementary school in the fall.  

I don't think he minds the alone time, but it sure can be lonely at the park all by yourself.  

"Mommy, take a picture of how high I am!"

 This made me laugh- we had the park all to ourselves so I let Laney off of her leash to sniff around.  She's a velcro dog that likes to stick right by my side, so I never have to worry about her wandering very far.  

I pointed out this sign to Noah and explained that it meant that dogs should be kept on a leash, so he marched over, picked her right up and said, "Then we'd better put her on her leash!"  

 

An exact rule follower, just like his daddy.  

And we passed by two tinier-than-Laney pups on the way home.  They were all very curious about each other, and Laney clearly felt safer checking them out from a safe distance behind Noah.  I think she's going to miss him a whole lot in the fall, too. 

Date Night

Sometimes date night just means sneaking away for 30 minutes to a graduation party.  

But the sunset on the way home made the night feel extra special.

  No one does sunsets quite like Iowa does them.  It almost makes all of the rain worth it!

Growing UP

I've had a sneaky suspicion about this baby of mine for a while now....  

 Yep, Leah is officially taller than her mother.  When did this happen??

I tried to convince Jason that the growth chart was hung too low, but after measuring and re-measuring he said it was fine.  I still think the carpet adds a quarter of an inch- I know I haven't grown any taller!  But either way, Leah has definitely passed me up.  

I have a feeling she won't be the last one to be taller than me, but just as my 5 foot zero mother always said, "I may be shorter than you but I'm still your mother!" 

Ode to Toast

I offer up pancakes with strawberries, waffles with syrup, 

cinnamon rolls, even pie. 

How about muffins, quiche, souffle?  

Is french toast something you would try?

Scrambled eggs! Omelette eggs! 

Hard boiled eggs! Or fried?

One time I made  a 'mufflette' egg- 

you gagged and we both nearly cried. 

Oatmeal!  Baked or quickly made up 

in the microwave?

It has to be quick!  It's time for school!

There's no time in the kitchen to slave. 

Eggo waffles?  Toaster Strudels?  

Jimmy Dean Breakfast wraps?

Nutrigrain bars, granola with yogurt, 

or maybe a cheese stick, perhaps?

Berries!  Raspberries?  Strawberries? 

Maybe blackberries or blue?

Bananas or oranges?

Cantaloupe? Melon?  

Does anything sound good to you??

But no, no, no, no. 

None of this will do. 

There's only one breakfast for this little champion, 

It's his most favorite thing to chew.

"Toast!  Toast!  Can I have toast!

It's my favorite thing to eat!

Toast!  Toast!  Can I have toast!

For any meal toast can't be beat!"

Overcooked, undercooked, cinnamon sugar, 

Extra butter or plain. 

As long as there is is toast on the menu, 

we all remain (mostly) sane.

Toast is crunchy, toast is warm, 

toast is really easy.

A day without toast makes this growing boy 

unusually uneasy.

Toast!  Toast! Toast! Toast! 

Toast for all who will eat it!

I throw up my hands, 

I have to give up!

Toast!  I can't seem to beat it!

One blink of an eye, half a loaf is gone, 

on the table there's nothing but crumbs.  

I blink again, and he's making more toast!

 Pop! More toast! Here it comes!

One slice in his mouth, one slice on the counter, 

He hops on his bike for school.

He rides away waving, toast clutched in his hand, 

And I'm shaking my head like a fool.  

I really don't know why I try so hard.

His palate is easy to please.

Just serve up some toast and he'll love you the most!

It really makes breakfast a breeze.

Here Comes the Storm

Spring in Iowa means storms. 

Wind storms, rain storms, thunder and lightening storms.

Often we just keep on keeping on.  We know when the storms are serious enough to hunker down. 

And no matter how severe, the storms always pass and the skies always clear- just like in life.  We weather the storms and we enjoy the clear skies when they come!

Duet on a Tuesday

Even easier on the ears than the last duet they played, I could listen to this song all day!

Stake Conference

Stake conference was last weekend, and this time around it meant that we had the visiting general authority staying in our house.  Elder Thomas Priday of the Sixth Quorum of the Seventy was very kind and sincere, and very complimentary about our family, our home, and our efforts in leading the Des Moines stake faithfully and fully.   

Of course, it was just a bit stressful having a general authority in our home, but he put us all at ease immediately, chatting with the kids in a grandfatherly way and expressing sincere appreciation for such lovely accomodations in our basement and tasty food in our kitchen.  And he left us a surprise to come home to after the last session of conference! He told Emma to look for it while she was giving him a big hug and telling him how much she would miss him.  Emma sure knows how to make fast friends.  

In conference he spoke about the importance of repenting daily and making a regular appointment in the temple with the Lord, and at home around the breakfast table he told us about the importance of keeping our priorities straight and our family members as our best friends. 

We sure do like each other around here, so that is counsel that we are happy to keep!

And since we will have a general authority visit the stake once a year, even if they don't stay in our home, I thought I'd better keep track of them here before my memory starts to fail me. 

Elder Robert C. Gay of the Presidency of the Seventy and Elder David P. Homer, a General Authority Seventy, visited last year and extended the call to Jason and I to serve as the stake president and "not-called-but-called" wife.  

It's hard to believe it's almost been a full year.... out of eight or nine total, we're off to a good start with a great stake full of amazing people that we feel very blessed to get to serve with and learn from.

Family Power!

Every morning we circle up for family prayer and then all put our hands in for family power!

So of course we had to teach Laney how to join in!

High Tolerance

Laney has pretty high tolerance for everything the kids dish out to her.  There is no toy quite as fun as a real live puppy!

And because she loves us, she tolerates the joy rides, 

the high fashion, 

the puppy hats,

and the bird poop!

And even bath time (she has lower tolerance for baths than just about anything, but they're necessary, especially after being attacked by bird poop!).

She even tolerates being searched (Emma pretends she's going through airport security and has to be patted down for hidden guns, while Laney puts up her paws and declares, "I'm innocent!!")

 The boys torture her plenty too, especially with the purple pig,

and chasing her around playing dog catcher,

but all in all she handles the kid chaos incredibly well.  She whimpers when the kids leave and loves when they get back home, and she definitely loves the "roughing up" that Jason gives her every evening when he gets home, with the fetch and toy-snatching and hand-nipping games that she knows she can only play with him.

And her crate provides happy relief from all of it when she needs it.

Of course, that comes in exchange for my higher tolerance for occasional potty messes and occasional food messes.

And we all benefit from the puppy snuggles

and baby snuggles- look at those paws!-

and new adventures

 that come with enjoying life with a new pup.

Naptime

Every day Noah makes a couch bed for us like this- blanket spread, pillow fluffed and our latest read open to the current page.  

How can I resist?  We snuggle up and read until my eyes start drooping and the book gets too heavy to hold any longer.

Nothing quite like a good nap to help you gear up for the afternoon crazy!

Laney's First Haircut

Desperately needed. 

  

 Totally exhausting.

And now it looks like we have a new pup.  

Just as tiny, just as cute, just a totally different look.

We all miss the little fluff nugget of before, but she had so many matted clumps of fur that couldn't be combed out, it was best to just cut it all off.  And with 90 degree weather and tick season upon us, Laney seems much happier without a winter coat to carry around.

Concert Videos

Leah's orchestra performs Mythos.

Leah's orchestra performs Blue Ridge Run.

Adam performs Vivaldi's Spring.

Mommy, Leah and Emma perform Handbell Choir.

6th grade choir performing Swing Low Sweet Chariot.

And somewhere lost in my files is Leah's 6th grade band.  I geuss I'll have to leave that one out.

Noah Is Reading

One of the best milestones of all!  

This was one of the first I Can Read Books that Noah ever picked up.  I espeically love that when he catches on to the fact that I'm recording him he said, "Wait!  Can you not take a video of this?"  

This boy is definitely ready for kindergarten!

It's interesting to note that Noah followed Leah and Adam's style when learning to read- poring over books and pictures and studying letters to figure out what the words are.  Emma, who is also a great reader now, took a totally different approach to reading that made the whole thing "click" a little later for her.  Neither approach is good or bad, but as the kids have all learned to read it was so interesting to see different kids, same family; different process, same results!  But no matter the approach, nothing beats the ability to read a great book!

Wrapping Up the Spring

 There has been a whole lot of life going on around here lately.  So much to squeeze in before the lazy days of summer start!

I had a piano recital for my 8 students- Adam and Leah played and boy was that piano out of tune.  

All of my students did a great job!

Leah has had concerts galore- choir concert, 

band concert (possibly her last one since she's not signed up for 7th grade band), 

and an orchestra concert. 

Which some of us enjoyed more than others.

Leah and I also squeezed in a temple trip with her Beehive class and leader.

 Adam continues to be happily busy with Cub Scouts. 

Whittling and wood burning- a nine year old boy's dream come true!

Noah started t-ball- his very first sports endeavor.  

It's fun to remember how the sport starts out- lots of scrambling for the ball, spinning around and around when hitting and some running the wrong direction. 

Running for home!

There have been plenty of rainy days, but even more beautiful days for riding bikes and playing in the yard.

Emma has been faithfully marching off to first grade every morning.  She has made a huge improvement from the beginning of the year when she woke up with a grumpy cloud over her head every morning to now, when she wakes up with a smile and a happy attitude (her words, she's helping me write this).  She's most looking forward to summer because she loves swimming and going on picnics. 

 Throw in a bunch of graduation and birthday parties, end of the year projects and parties, and a visiting general authority staying at our house for stake conference, and it's been a pretty full life around here lately.  We're all looking forward to the arrival of summer!