Peter Breinholt Concert

We took the kids to this concert last year and they had a great time, so we decided to try it again. Peter (Breinholt) and the band did not disappoint. Since my kids are familiar with the music, they loved it. It was fun to see the original band members performing together again. And it was a fun to be there with friends, too - The Marshes, Dunfords, Canteras and Ensigns.

A little picnic beforehand. Peter (Stringham) loved the sandwich. (Who knows, maybe the other Peter would have loved it too, but he didn't have a chance to taste it.) It was hilarious to watch him try to take a bite out of this thing.

More sandwich eating.

Jonas and Robbie hanging out.

Shawn didn't manage to get a hold of the set list this year, but was still happy to be there. Outdoor summer concerts are one of the best parts of summer.

Peter was dancing almost the entire time - making us all laugh. (I think several other spectators also enjoyed his show.)

Look at this line of beautiful girls. We don't have many years before this becomes dangerous.

A little sample of Peter getting his groove on.

1000 Miles!!!

Shawn reached his goal of riding 1000 miles on his bike in July. He managed to come in at 1006. I think he is awesome and I'm proud of him for doing it. (But it will be nice to have him home just a little bit more often.)
To see how he finished, how many hours it took, and how many calories he burned, look here. (It is also a fairly entertaining read.)

Congratulations!

Boating - Again

If you are tired of looking at pictures of us going boating, then you should just skip ahead, but hey this is where we record our memories so it can't really be avoided. Thursday night we had beautiful water. It was glass and stayed that way all night. Really, some of the best water we've had. So we put it to good use.

Peter all goggled up.

This is the typical set-up. Peter hanging out on my lap while the boat is in motion.

Amelia enjoying the breeze.

The Dunfords unearthed their old knee board and it is now a new favorite with Jonas and Samantha. They both just kept asking for more.

Jonas was in the water for a good 40 minutes he was having so much fun!

But this, this was huge. Peter sitting by himself and not crying. Not only, not crying, but happy! We started out the season with him crying the entire time we were on the boat. We progressed to crying only if he wasn't in my lap. And now he is venturing out on his own (a little) and it was awesome!

We all put in some time on the water. It was so nice that I even skied after surfing a bit. (I haven't done that in a loooong time.)

Shawn also got in some skiing and surfing, but ran out of daylight before he got a chance to wakeboard.

The little girls on the tube.

Jonas driving - and clearly enjoying it.

It got a little cold once the sun went behind the mountains.

Crazy face.

Boating beauty.

We're hoping that he will eventually learn - There is no crying in boating!

If you want to join us, just give us a call.

Swim Meet (for Shawn)

At the end of the last swim meet, they held a couple of events for adults. Shawn didn't know it was happening, but got roped into it. So he borrowed a suit from Josh Boyden (yep, he could fit into a 15 year old's suit - he just had to be careful bending over.) Two of the people he swam against were former high school teammates - Tommy Thorum and Skye Wagstaff Khroun.

Adjusting the goggles.

On the block.

A smile for the camera.

Swimmers take your marks.

Go!

I love this photo because you can tell which of these swimmers had the same coach. 3 people with identical dives, entering the water at the exact same time. (And a couple of other guys with funky dives.)

And they're off!

Shawn finishing up.

Post race.

All I know is, none of my kids look this happy when they finish a swim race.

Quote of the Moment

"We are not good judges of ourselves when we reach for goals which are meant for other seasons of our lives."

I read this quote by Ardeth G. Kapp on the Power of Moms website the other day and have been thinking about it ever since. I have several friends and neighbors who are my age (or very near it) who seem to be in a totally different phase of life. You know, all their kids in school all day, able to feed and dress themselves and so on, with all sorts of extra free time to use as they please.

And often when I go to church, I come home feeling guilty because of the list of important things that I feel I am failing to do. I have these grand illusions, um, I mean, delusions of what I can and should be accomplishing with my life right now and then find myself constantly frustrated at my inability to actually do so. At this point I can't even keep up with the laundry and the dishes or read a book, let alone attend the monthly Relief Society temple trip or look for opportunities for service or missionary work, teach my kids to read in preschool and make sure they know about everything they need to for the life ahead of them. (Even to post this I had to wait until all the kids were finally in bed so I would have a minute to myself.) And I know many Moms who are in this same phase and still manage to pull it all off. Some can. I can't. I have to keep reminding myself that my service needs to be in my home right now. And this quote helps me to remember that that is OK. My time for accomplishing the many other things on my list will come - eventually. I am by no means in any hurry to have my kids grow up but I do occasionally get weighed down with the dailiness of it all. You know, the things that have to be done over and over again every day. So when I can find a little something that helps me to remember to find joy in the little things, I try to take note of it.

And there is no way I would trade my other desired accomplishments for the 5 great accomplishments I have right here in my house.

My Life As of Late

Shawn set a goal to ride 1000 miles in the month of July. So, it seems that our lives are all about biking at the moment. He is on schedule to meet the goal and I have had the fun of riding several miles with him. (Not nearly the total, but at least a couple hundred.) However, admittedly, I will be glad when the goal is met and everyday doesn't have to be about fitting in miles. He has been blogging about his various rides and has some great photos and comments that are worth reading if you are interested. So, for the rest of today's post, go here.

Perhaps The Fostering of Independence in Our Children Has Gone Too Far...

Many of you know that we are all about letting our kids do things on their own - especially in the kitchen. By age 3, they generally make their own sandwiches and help younger siblings get yogurt or other such meal time necessities. My 2 older kids regularly make cookies and things, and Amelia cooks on the stove. (We still help with turning the stove on, of course.) Just this week Jonas made zuchini bread for us. So this independence thing is just part of life around here. (We still have a lot of work to do on the clean up aspect but hopefully we'll get there.)

However, this photo is my almost 16 month old sitting on the table. (I tell ya, you turn your head for just one minute...) Anyway, I realize lots of kids this age climb on tables, but you will notice that he is sitting next to a bowl of cereal that he poured himself. Seriously, hardly a flake out of the bowl! (Do you think 16 months is too early to start on personal food prep?) I think I'm glad that the milk was not left out as well. I just can't imagine he could have pulled that off quite as well. Although, it would be really awesome if he could take over feeding himself... Note to self: Leave items unattended on the table at your own risk.

Water, Water Everywhere...

I have been staring at that pathetic picture of Amelia for far too long. I have intentions of blogging, but I guess since Shawn is blogging somewhat regularly, I somehow, cannot. Anyway, here are a few photo collages of how we have been spending our time, with water as a major theme. (Trying to look for an easier way to post 25 photos at once. -I am just learning how to use photoshop, so I apologize for the small photos - you can click on them to see them in a more viewable size. Anyone out there no how I can import collages in a larger size for viewing?)

Lots of hot summer days with the slip 'n slide to cool down.

Our boating season got off to a little bit of a slow start this year, but we are trying to get out as much as we can. Last night we took a quick trip to Echo and enjoyed just being on the water.

And today was the last day of swim team for the summer. (Can I hear a hallelujah?!) The picture of Jonas was a celebratory jump in the water at the end of practice. We aren't done with the pool yet, though. We still have a week of swimming lessons for a couple of the kids and then hopefully some swimming just for fun in the next month. But still, an opportunity to sleep in a little bit and have some morning free time.

Like I said, water, water everywhere...!

On the Polka Dot Front...

Things seem to be getting worse before getting better.
She is as miserable as she looks.

Penelope Polka Dot

Some of you may be familiar with Camilla Cream from the book, The Bad Case of Stripes. Well, this morning Penelope Polka Dot showed up at our house. Poor Amelia had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic she was taking and has been totally miserable and itchy. Covered from top to toe with a lovely rash.(By the way, she does not respond well to being called Penelope Polka Dot, which is why I'm sure the kids keep saying it.)
It has been one of those weeks. As much as I love dentists and doctors, I hope not to see one in a professional setting for quite some time. Last week, 3 kids went in for dental work and Amelia was cooperative as ever. (By that I actually mean that she was, as usual, a rather difficult patient - requiring conscious sedation and ending up with said sedating medicine all over her because of her refusal to ingest it in a regular fashion.) Anywho, after the completion of the dental work, she was given amoxicillin (sp?) to prevent any possible infection which was all fine and dandy because she didn't take that any better than the other medicine. It required hours of my time, threats, and physical force to get the antibiotic into her 2x a day. Fun. Then at the end of the week, Peter refused to eat and was super fussy. By the weekend, I discovered that his mouth, tongue and gums were covered with big painful sores. He was crying because of the pain and because he was starving since it hurt too much to eat anything. Also fun. So off to the doctor Monday morning where we learned that it was a viral infection that would have to run its course (but should never return) and all we could do was give him Tylenol to help ease the pain and some sort of liquid nourishment to keep him fed. My Tylenol reserves were running low so I went to get more. Guess what? Infant Tylenol has been recalled so can't be found. Several stores are back ordered on all other brands as well. Four stores later, I finally found an equivalent and brought it home to put to good use. Come home from the doctor with Peter to find Amelia cuddled up and shivering under a blanket on the couch. Burning up with fever. Great. No big deal, it will pass, I'm sure. (Pretty sure its the same fever that the neighbors had.) She essentially sleeps for 2 days and seems to be feeling better by Wednesday. Thursday morning, get ready to finally take her to swimming and find that she is covered with this lovely rash. So off to the doctor again with suspicions that she is having an allergic reaction. (Familiar because we've done this before with Samantha.) Yep, it is. Stop the amoxicillin and start the benadryl. All this while spending the week being the neighborhood chauffeur to and from swimming and ballet (which I am totally good with because I am often the beneficiary of the carpooling as well.) Let's hope this is the end of the fun - at least for a little while. Now time to make decisions about what to do with the basement...

Ballet Camp

I dropped my girls off at ballet camp in tights and leotards this morning, and they each returned be-decked in attire appropriate for a garden party. They are loving Miss Natalie's summer ballet camp!

Happiness

Do you ever long for the day when all that you needed to be happy was a blankie and a full sippy cup?I love watching Peter toddle around with hands full of the things that are important to him at 15 months.

A Second Day of Celebration

You gotta love the extra day of celebrating when the holiday falls on the weekend. Somehow, Jonas convinced Shawn that we would be missing some quality family time if we skipped the opportunity of lighting fireworks again. I think there was something about important childhood memories in there, too. We had had enough late nights to last us awhile, so we didn't make any attempt to wait for it to get dark. Jake stopped by to use the computer and we convinced him to stick around for s'mores and fireworks. (Duffy went ahead and went to bed.)

Jake testing out the fire pit.

Roasting the marshmallows to perfection.

Shawn's tasty s'more. We used the really big marshmallows which require a full bar of chocolate and 2 full graham crackers to keep the taste ratio intact.

The fabulous firework show, complete with enthralled audience.

Everyone settling into their seats.

Jake, judging whether the "cricket" was more impressive than "purple rain."

Amelia enjoying the fact that we woke her up to watch.

And, for the finale, everyone enjoying sparklers.

Ah, I love a good holiday - especially one that reminds us of all of our freedoms - and that gives Shawn an extra day off of work!