Renie's First Day of Kindergarten

Renie's favorite things about full day Kindergarten? Bringing a lunch and gym class- or PhyEd, as they call it here in the Dairyland.


Try as I would, I could NOT get a normal smile out of her.

Sunset After A Storm Last Night

First Day of School 2010

Kennedy- 6th grade- MIDDLE school!



Julia- 4th, Devon 1st



Renie's first day is tomorrow.

Devon

Turns Out, Life Gets Busy When You Have Five Kids...

I really wish that I was writing more. And I especially wish that I was writing HERE more. Life is busy, sure, and I'm sad that I'm not better at recording the events of our life here. Because in all that busy-ness, funny, special moments happen. Moments that it is all too easy to forget if you don't capture them in word or picture. Little things like Devon suddenly becoming attached to the quilt my mother made him when he was a baby. He pulled it out of his closet one day and started using it on his bed. Now, keep in mind, it is baby-sized. It doesn't even cover his whole body. But he likes it. I reminded him one day that Grandma had made it for him when he was a baby and that somewhere I have a picture of him laying on it when he was just a few days old. He thought that was pretty cool and asked me to take a picture of him with it now.



In more event-type news, Renie had her spring sing:






Kennedy had her spring concert:




Julia had her spring concert:



But now (I'm just finally getting this published in August) we're at the point that we're winding down the summer. As usual, the last couple of months have been a whirlwind, but it has been (mostly) fun!

Balloonfest 2010

The end of the school year is always marked by Balloonfest at Bloomfield Manor. It always takes place the night before the last day of school and attending it has become a bit of a tradition. The theme this year was Hollywood, as you will see in the photos. We took a whole slew of kids with us and had a lovely time as usual.

Memorial Day

This year for Memorial Day, our friends the Prowses invited a few families to camp in their lovely backyard. We had a fun time jumping on the trampoline, having a campfire, watching a movie in the backyard, and taking a short hike. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Remember May?

Let's talk a little bit about May. I like May. This year was no different. In fact, I was so busy enjoying May that I just didn't have time to blog about it. But lots has happened in the last couple months. End of the school year activities kept us busy throughout May, Memorial Day, then school let out, then we jumped right into summertime fun.

Let's start at Spring Holiday. I've written about our tradition before, so if you're not familiar with Spring Holiday, you can click on that link and see what I'm talking about.

Once again we decided to celebrate at the State Park. We packed up our lunch and our egg hunt goodies and headed over to the park. We picked out a picnic table, let the kids loose at the beach and lit the charcoal. It was windy, so a bit on the cool side, but that didn't stop the kids from getting wet.



We had our usual grilled chicken, pasta salad, fruit kabobs, and whoopie pies.



After lunch, the kids played for a bit while Lincoln hid the eggs. Usually I hide the eggs but thankfully Lincoln was willing to do it this year. I do not really enjoy the job now that we have so many to hide. I don't really go overboard with candy, but there is just no getting around the fact that with five kids, there are lots of eggs to hide.




We didn't stick around long after that. The wind was very annoying and we were ready to be out of it. But regardless of little annoyances, Spring Holiday is always a fun way to welcome the warm weather.

Some Thoughts Upon Turning 35...

Time is flying. Not just the days or weeks. Or months. But the years, my friends. A little over a week ago I turned 35. I was not looking forward to this milestone. I'm not really sure what it is. I guess I'm now on the slide to 40. This wasn't settling well. To make matters worse, I had been gaining weight at an alarming rate and feeling very tired. I thought it was amazing that I would start falling apart right as my 35th birthday approached. As it turns out, a little bloodwork revealed that my existing hypothyroid disease was rearing its ugly head and I was in need of a medication adjustment. To top it all off, I'm a bit anemic. Though not ideal, I was happy to know that there was a reason for my symptoms other than middle age. So I'm taking an iron supplement and my synthroid dose has been bumped up.

And my birthday was fun. The friday before, my cousin Karen took all five kids for the night. She had been planning on taking the older three for a sleepover, then ended up with the other two at the last minute. I was so happy to be kid-free after a long week with extra kids. Lincoln showed up from work early to take me out to dinner. He had made arrangements for a baby-sitter who was no longer needed, but the gesture of getting the sitter did not go unnoticed. We went to Madison and did some shopping, then had 7:00 reservations at Quivey's Grove. I wish I had brought my camera. The restaurant is an old stone house surrounded by lovely lawns and flower gardens. The menu is traditional early american fare. We were seated at a tiny table by a little window upstairs. Very cozy.

Over dinner, Lincoln presented me with a bank account that he had deposited a chunk of money into as the start of our Greece fund.

After a delicious dinner, we made our way to the movie theater to catch a flick. It was nice to be able to spend as much time as we wanted doing whatever we wanted without worrying about the tab we were running up with the sitter.

Saturday morning we slept in, then went out to breakfast here in town. We checked out a few garage sales, then we went home and watched a movie right in the middle of the day. We are crazy, I tell ya.

Karen kept the kids at her house all day. We met up with Karen and Jamie at 3:00 to drive to Madison for the Priesthood and adult sessions of stake conference. Karen and I shopped while the men went to their meeting, then we all went to dinner before the adult session.

On Monday, my actual birthday, I felt really good. I felt full of joy, contentment, and gratitude. It really hit me that 35 isn't any different from any other birthday. Every year we get a little older. It's what happens. I am so blessed at 35 to have a good and loving husband, not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, but FIVE beautiful healthy children. My husband has a job- a GOOD one that he likes, we have a beautiful home to live in, and plenty of food to eat. We live in a beautiful place surrounded by fantastic people and great friends. That's a good place to be at 35. Instead of feeling like I was headed downhill, I thought about the now. I couldn't ask for more at this stage in my life. And instead of looking inward at my aging self, I began to think more in terms of what the next decade holds for my children, what my reponsibility is to them. In ten years, two of my children will be graduated, the other three all teenagers. 10 years is not much time to ensure their development into good, kind, reponsible adults.

So, bottom line, I'm 35. Big deal. I'm all grown up. I have experience and wisdom on my side. I know why I'm here and where I want to go. I know my Savior and i know from where my blessings flow. And I am happy.




(I should mention that Lincoln cooked my requested birthday dinner- ham steaks, mashed potatoes, home-canned green beans- and made me an eclair cake. We took our first bike ride as a family which I enjoyed immensely, and I got some cool gifts.)