Teen Conversation

I am not sure how the conversation began, but this is what I heard:

Johnny: I don't understand periods, but I know about them. I know that they make Kate super grumpy and Ruth super self conscious, and it is super annoying!"

What 5 Years Can Do

For 5 years I have been taking pictures of my kids on Temple Square. 4 of the years I took a picture in the same spot. This year I put all of the pictures together. I love how it gives you a sense of how they have changed.

This Week at Our House # 30

1. John had a meeting and got a new contract that extends him to the end of the month. 
2. I took the kids to Pineview ressvoir for a day at the lake. We had a wonderful time swimming and playing in the sand and picnicking. I LOVE swimming in lakes, especially when they are clean. I love that you can swim out so far in so many direction. It was really nice to take an actual vacation day. I would like to do it a couple more times before school starts again in 2 weeks.
3. Ruth had an ordinary week of work. We went to the lake on her day off and I know she had a real lovely time. Though she did get pretty badly burned.
4. Kate did not go to the lake for girl reasons. But she cleaned the house and made peanut butters for the family. 
5. Johnny had a hard time figuring out what to do with himself while Adam went to day camp with the cub scouts. 
6. Adam had a good time at day camp. But after being too disrespectful and ornery, he ended the week being grounded from computer games until September. He keeps telling me that I am being too harsh. What he doesn't realize is that I never regret limiting screen time. 
7. Rachel loved the lake and swimming out really far. She did a good job too.
8. Anya said that her favorite thing last week was winning part of poptropica on the computer. Oh my!
9. Joseph had fun swimming. He is looking forward to going back to the lake.
10. It took some coaxing, but once he was comfortable, Josh really had a lot of fun in the water.
11. Arwen is a regular fish. She loves to swim. She is confident and comfortable in the water and only needs minimal flotation assistance.
12. Suzy is getting 6 teeth in right now. 2 are almost finished coming in, but four haven't broken through and are bothering her plenty. I know she is grumpy because of her teeth because she calms down when I massage her gums.

This Weeks Pictures

Arwen Turns 3

Sweet little Arwen turned 3 today!

This Week at Our House # 29

1. The month is waning. Summer has progressed at top speed and now I have to start thinking about getting ready for school. John's still working, though without a new contract I am not sure he will get paid for what he is doing. But that's ok. He is still looking for either more contract work or a full time job. We are mostly looking in the South East to be nearer to my family, but we will take a job about anywhere if the company is stable and the pay is enough. 
2. I got to meet my dear MWS colleague and friend, Susan Porter on Monday. She was diagnosed with colon cancer and is moving to Florida to stay with her friends because her husband travels so much. I meant up with her at Temple Square a few hours before her flight left. I just run and run all of the time. When I just had 5 or 6 or even 8 little kids I was able to pace myself better. I could get naps and my kids would go to bed early enough to give me time to recoup. I even wrote a couple of times about how doable a large family can be. Well, 10 kids has finally beaten me, but I also think that having older kids who want to stay up all night and sleep all day are a big part of that.
3. Ruth took Kate to the mall on Monday and bought her a nice dress. Then she took Kate and I out to dinner on Friday night. 
4. Kate stayed up until 6:30am reading a book I gave her. I am not sure if I am glad or sad, I gave her a book I knew she would get  interested in.
5. Johnny's voice cracks so much now. It's hilarious!
6. I let the kids play computer games again this week and Adam played one game for hours and hours. I think I may ground them all again.
7. Rachel played Star Wars with Anya, and when we went to visit a friend of mine and played her 3 acre yard, Rachel played pirates and even wrote a treasure map.
8. Anya LOVES bike riding all of a sudden and begs and begs for me to take her on a bike ride. But since I need to exercise more, this is a good thing.
9. Joseph began sucking his thumb at the end of the school year and now he sucks it constantly. I think I am going to have to put a glove on his hand to help him break the habit before school starts in about 3 more weeks.
10. Joshua has been jealous of Joseph and Arwen's birthday's. He takes their presents and tells them they were meant for him and them. Today he told me what he wanted me to get him for Arwen's birthday. 
11. Arwen's birthday is today. She's 3! She's potty trained! She's a little shy. She's very independent and can do most things for herself. She loves chocolate, shoes, dolls, changing her clothes about 5 times a day, playing on my phone, looking at books, drawing and coloring.
12. It's still just fun to watch Suzy walk around. I love the wobbly baby walk.

This Week's Pictures

Joseph Turns 6!

Joseph had his 6th birthday on July 20th. He's so tall and smart now. He can read and he knows where everything is. If we tell him a story and ask him it 6 months later, he can recite it to us in detail. He still breaks just about everything touches. Maybe someday he'll construct instead of deconstruct.

This Week at Our House #28

1. I can't believe July is almost over. John should get his work submitted this week and he will likely be done the contract. If they want him to continue on they will need to upgrade the contract or hire him on full time. I guess we'll see what happens.
2. I have realized that I do two things that I really need to fix in my life. The first is that I am too critical of my husband. I know I need to become more gentle with my words. And the second is that I need to have more faith. I find myself doubting and worrying too much. The scriptures say that "...if ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you."(Luke17:6) Obviously there is way more power in faith and in words than most of us have enough belief and understanding to make use of. I know that I need to work on that. I am sure this is a huge process of trust and belief and action that I don't yet understand, but right now I do understand that doubt, worry, and fear are in opposition to faith. I can work on repenting and eliminating those in my life.
3. Ruth was sick on Wednesday and Thursday, but then had to work extra long hours on Friday and Saturday. And I think she will work a lot this week because the two head cooks will be on vacation. 
4. Kate and I have both been mourning how much work this summer has been. The house is on the market for sale by owner. That may make things harder or easier. We really have to focus on keeping the house clean, but I would like to just take the kids camping at a lake for a few days so we are away from so much cleaning, repairing, and electronics and only have each other and nature to contend with. Kate would agree with all except the nature part. Unless she can get a bug-free natural setting.
5. Johnny helped me with a lot of repairs around the house all week. He also spent a lot of time playing games with John, Ruth, Kate, and Adam. He loves games. 
6. Adam likes to pick on his younger sisters. It can be a huge pain at times. I need to find a way to persuade him to be a little kinder.
7. Rachel is the master at getting out of work. But I do agree with her. It is time for a vacation.
8. Anya has been making up for Rachel's lack of effort so I told her she could stay up as late as the big kids the rest of summer break. That has meant she excitedly joins us in reading or watching a show and promptly falls asleep. 
9. Joseph's birthday is today. He's gotten so tall, he's good friend, and he knows so much. If something is lost, Joseph likely knows where it is. Six years have passed quickly with this little boy.
10. Joshua is not peeing his pants anymore. I can't remember the last time he did. I think I owe that little boy a train ride at last.
11. Arwen is a girlie girl in every sense except that she prefer pants or simple dresses to go along with all of her other frills.
12. Suzy girl is walking and is now 19 months old. She's strong willed and determined and has no problem letting us know how she feels about things.

This Week's Pictures