Ethan, Hyrum, and Wesley left a week ago for the 2017 Band Tour to California. I took a picture of them before they left...
(can't find it, phone won't sinc up! will update later)
and then we hardly heard from them until they were back on Sunday night. I think they had a really good time. They didn't send me any photos so I had to snoop around for these on facebook.
Playing by the ocean
They had two days at Disneyland. They got to perform there.
Riding on Pirates of the Carribean above, Eth on splash mountain below.
Disneyland is always a magical place.
I can't find any pictures of Wesley yet, I shall have to snoop some more or see if they got any on their phones.
Of course, now life is no fun again cause it's back to reality, (if summer break can be considered a harsh reality?) "My parents make me get up at 8:30! 8:30!!! Oh the injustice!" The boys got home late Sunday night, but we didn't got to bed any later than usual. Though I don't know how well they slept on the bus or during their partying the past few days... Wes looked pretty wiped out when Monday afternoon rolled around and took a nap from 3-5. Hyrum was back to work and seemed okay. Poor Ethan had a major hangover. He got up at 9:30 on Monday, watched "The Flash" til noon, then went back to bed until 5:30. He just wanted to be back on tour. There is nothing to look forward to anymore. ...Nothing! Yesterday was slightly less pathetic. Today an improvement again. So I'm sorry you boys aren't on vacation anymore. I know life at home can't beat life on vacation that someone else paid (us) and spending someone else's money (ours) on food and fun, but you better kick it in gear if you want to go next year, cause so far I'm not all that impressed with the fruit of our sacrifice on this end. I'm glad you guys performed well and I'm pleased with your musical skills, but please try to be contributing members here at home too!
I saw Natalie with my phone today, walking around the main floor with a very pleased smile on her face as she took pictures of whatever suited her fancy. I usually stop Sophi when she has my camera, cause she just takes way too many "bideos" (videos) and selfies. But Natalie is new to photography, so I was curious to see what her work would look like. So, I now present you with ~ "Afternoon at the Wride Home" - a photo series by Natalie Wride.
It's kinda funny, so many of the PBS shows tell us to get outside and get out into nature (Nature Cat), and yet usually, there we continue to sit, vegging out in front of the tele waiting for the next kid show about getting outside (Wild Kratts or Dinosaur Train). It's almost as pathetic as the station's fruitless attempts to get us to get up and get moving during the commercials. "Clap your hands! Reach up high! And jump!" [yawn]
But this weekend we've been feeling like we have been obeying Dr. Scott the palentologist's advice to "get outside and make your own discoveries." On Saturday morning from the kitchen window, Mel and I noticed a monarch flying around our yard and landing on the milkweed. We went outside to see and she fluttered around us. We checked the leaves for eggs and found atleast 15 eggs! And, as we checked out all the milkweed, we heard a buzzing overhead. We watched and saw it was a humming bird. It hovered around us for a good 5 minutes, and I wondered why it was staying around and not flying away. We kept watching it go from branch to branch, and then it landed on a little nest! A little nest that we never would have noticed without the bird landing on it - it was/is very camouflaged. Of course, it's really small too, that might be part of it's hiding secret. Last night I went out and took a picture of it.
I was excited to get a picture of it in the nest! Then it would fly away when we got too close....
Such a little thing, humming birds are amazing.
So butterflies, humming bird, and in another tree close by, there were 4 baby Cooper's Hawks - I tried to zoom in on them as much as I could...
Plus the hawk parents and the hawk's friend the turkey vulture, not to mention the deer that still come by and eat the roses, plus squirrels and the skunks (ok, skunks aren't so magical... The kids saw a few baby skunks in the backyard last month and we've had a few stinky nights with them close by, but luckily no one's been sprayed...) but it's all pretty incredible when I think about it. I don't know many other neighborhoods like this. I told the kids "Do you realize that you are living in a idyllic childhood dreamland? It's almost straight out of a fairy tale with all the animals, they're so lucky!
We've had nature coming to visit us in another form too these past few weeks - we've had some kinda bugs that are all over the house. Hyrum thinks it's a box elder bug, but they aren't red and aren't as big as those are when full grown, but they do kinda look like smaller versions of them. They are creeping through the cracks around the front door and we find them everywhere on the main floor and upstairs. The kids have been on a mission to seek and destroy them. Probably not politically correct to protect and nurture caterpillars but then kill the little bugs. They are harmless (I hope) but kinda annoying. We've been vacuuming them up, Ethan drowned some, Abi likes to squish them with a fork, all the kids are involved. Even Natalie went outside last night and took off her show and smashed on against he window. I'm not as eager to kill them right now, but if I see a few, I'll get out the long duster, catch them in it, and then go shake it in the toilet. We've never had a bug problem before, and wouldn't you know, I paid for pest control for some reason this past year, and now that the contract is over and I didn't really see a difference in anything, NOW the bugs come. But I'd rather have bugs. I'd rather spend the $100 bucks getting my carpets cleaned every quarter instead of having the bugs exterminated. Anyway...
So, about the monarch eggs, we kinda lost track of how many there are out there, but I think it's easily in the 20s. I'm sure there will be more laid in the next few weeks, cause this time of year, right before we leave for Park City, seems to be our peak monarch season. We're reconsidering our approach given our unsuccessful caterpillar farming experience last year (plus they gave me bad dreams!). I have a neighbor who is in the know about monarchs. She gave me some advice on how to cut the milkweed and scrub the stem to be sure the milk doesn't become like a glue that seals off the water from getting into the plant. That was a problem last year - the milkweek would go limp so quickly, so if we can avoid that this year we might be able to take care of them. So, despite my initial feelings that I just didn't want to get involved with caterpillar farming this year, ...I brought in 6 eggs last night, ahh! Grow little creatures, grow! But I can't take the stress you could cause, so we'll pray for you to make survive but you'll have to do your part (and please don't invade my dreams.)
Yesterday I told the kids that if they helped me clean the house, including the basement, I would take them to Chuck A Rama. The original plan was "Let's finish by 5 and we'll go for dinner tonight." Abi didn't think that was possible. Ok, as soon as we're done, we'll go. That seemed more doable. Abi told me I should go to the temple, and they would clean while I was gone. That plan worked pretty well - Abi was a hard worker while I was gone and Sophi was her shadow. But it wasn't worthy of Chuck A Rama reward. We had to get more kids involved if we were going to make it to the buffet. So we kept at it the rest of the evening. Mel finally kicked it in gear last night and really helped the basement progress come along. Lily didn't do jack just because she couldn't get in the cleaning mode, and Joseph didn't do anything cleaning-wise, although he did watch the kids so I could go to the temple. That was really nice Joseph, Thank you.
So, last night I told Joseph and Lily they could also come to Chuck a Rama with us if they cleaned this morning. The two of them didn't work as hard as they should have or as hard and Abi had, but since Abi had earned it and she really wanted to go today, we went. She was cleaning again this morning. So, we picked up the front room, Abi did the kitchen, then we all did my bedroom and we called it good. Lily still didn't do enough to earn her lunch, but we let her come anyway. The kids enjoyed the lunch out with me. I toyed with the idea of dropping them off and running to Costco with Owen and Daniel while the rest of them ate, but Abi wanted me to come. (She's the one that makes family activities happen around here, thank you Abi). So I ate a SAD Vegitarian meal (let myself have some cake and ice cream) and it was a feast for all. I think Daniel's favorite part was a big square of rice krispy. He dropped utensils and crumbs all over the floor, we left a big tip, and we let him take his rice krispy home. He fell asleep with it in his hand on the drive home. He was pretty sticky and messy. And looked stuffed from the feast - properly showing how I think all the kids felt.
Natalie was freaking out cause she wanted to go to Carl's Jr. to play on the slide. The feisty fours are here for a year.
In other EXCITING news!! I have been a bit behind in the Killers stuff - I just found out today they have a new album coming out in September!! We listened to "The Man" on our way to lunch today, I like it. Jammed to it in the car on the way to the airport to pick up Corey tonight and I told him the fun news - a new song from the Killers! I shall be pre ordering the album soon - Wonderful Wonderful. And Imagine Dragons just released an album last month! Gotta get that one too, I'm excited to have new music to listen to for this upcoming winter treadmill season. :)
Today it was Owen whose turn it was to be the little boy that got me up in the wee hours of the morning. At 4 a.m. it took me a minute to wake up, and then I realized he was calling for me. I walked over. The shadows on the bed made me think he'd made a mess in his bed again. I felt around, it was all dry, yay, I don't need to wash the sheets today (or yet!) so I picked him up. "Wa" he said. I got him a drink of water, thinking that after this I could find his binky and put him back to bed. But then he said "Foo" (food). Since he'd thrown up one of his meals yesterday and quickly passed through the rest of his food (3 bad diarrhea diapers), I knew he was thirsty and hungry. So downstairs we went. I turned on the small light by the sink, to give the overall impression that it was not morning time or time to wake up - it's still bedtime! He sweetly and slowly ate a piece of bread. What to do. I guess I should unload these dishes. So I kept looking over at his sweetness as he munched his bread, and I unloaded cups by color, then ikea bowls by color. I get crazy looks sometimes from my family, and I admit it's stupid, but.... if you have to pick the cups out of the dishwasher one at a time anyway, it's just as easy to take out the colors in an organized way as it is to do it willy-nilly (definition: without direction or planning; haphazardly.) So that is why I put the dishes in the cupboard like this. Just trying to create some order around here.
I took this picture after putting Owen back to bed. I wish I had gotten a picture of him. He looked so sweet. I thought he'd be done with his bread when I was done unloading, but he was barely half way. Ok, he's a slow eater. I guess I'll load too. So in the dishes go, one by one. We need a new dishwasher. This one has been missing prongs on the bottom rack since we moved into this home. And the top water spinner thing is broken, so, as I've experimented, I've discovered that the things on the top rack won't get cleaned unless it's all loaded a certain way. I pride myself on being the one that knows where things go to maximize cleanliness. There are times when the kids or my sweetheart will load it up, and we'll have to put a lot of the bowls right back into the dirty dishes pile after a wash cause they're still dirty. So, I loaded the dishwasher and a moment of joy - they all fit except for one plate, and I washed that off. The dishwasher is humming, I wash a cookie sheet and a big bowl. Then I soft-scrub out the sink. Owen still seated and quietly eating, almost finished. And I just had a simple feeling of contentment. I thought of the Mary Edmunds book and when I learned about being content in Brazil in 2007. Life is great. I'm a mother and I love it! There are hard days but there are many delightful moments that give me such joy, it makes the messes and monotony so worth it. I kinda feel like a little girl playing house, but it's real and it's fun. I am doing what I want to do. I hope I can learn to be more grateful more often. It is the key to JOY and happiness!
(Unlike last night when I was almost cursing the kids as I washed cherry juice out of the carpet on the stairs - some kid stepped on a two cherries and then ran up the stairs and left footprints of red on the carpet...) Ugh, I hope I can learn to be calm and grateful in those circumstances too. I was grateful as I cleaned it that each spot seemed to wash out rather quickly, I love my US Advantage! - it even gets out permanent marker. 5 years later and I am glad that I can look back at that and laugh) Be happy, be grateful... Life goal: be Full of THANKS
This morning just before 8 am, I headed down to Lehi with Daniel to pick up three of my sweet nephews. My little brother Grant is moving to Texas, and today they were loading up the van. I can't help with that much cause of the little ones in my care, but I can take more little ones! So Taden, Edmund, and Eli came to play at our house for the day. After I got back home, I woke up Joseph, Ethan, Hyrum and Wesley, and sent them down to help load up the truck. I heard they were good helpers, and received a few pictures via text for proof. Good job, boys! Nice to be able to lend out their services.
Mel was gone at her flute forum again, so Abi was my helper here at home. She was very attentive to Eli. I think Eli was the one that threw us off the most - we kept doing double takes, cause he looked so much like Owen, but was smaller like Daniel, so we'd do double takes throughout the day - Is that Owen, no, Daniel? Oh yeah, ELI!" I took Owen and Eli on a walk - they could easily pass for siblings, and I'd say they could pass for twins! When I take Owen and Daniel on a walk, some people ask me if they are twins, to which I think "Are you kidding? They don't look a thing like each other!" But Owen and Eli, they really could be twins! With their big blue eyes and little blonde heads, super cute.
We take Owen on a walk every day, several times a day. I try to take the night shift after the temperature has cooled and the sun's gone down. This past week I've walked for like an hour as I listened to youtube videos on health. Daniel is usually out after one lap, Owen can take as many as 3 laps around the block. The kids have been joking that Owen is almost like a dog that needs to be taken on a walk every day. He loves it, and will cheer "WALK!!!" if we ask him if he wants to go. He'll put his little fists up in the air and run to the door. He loves going on walks. He's a walkaholic. aren't you, Owen?!
It's a little dangerous sometimes going on a walk with Daniel, cause he likes to pull himself up and grab Owen's hair.
I know I don't need to share 6 pictures to convey the gist of what walks are like, but Daniel looks so funny in these, I couldn't decide which one to post.
So I have to share all of them!
And Owen, look at that cute smile!! He's such a sweet little boy. My little almost two year old, I love you!
I actually think this one below is my favorite cause they're both smiling.
But I'll keep all 6 here anyway. I'm so grateful to have these two little boys in my life.
The funeral for Abraham today was beautiful. They live in Preston, Idaho. This is the first time I've been up there. I've been to Logan before, but driving further north, I just thought about what a beautiful area it was, such a pretty valley. Right below Preston is Whitney, ID, where President Ezra Taft Benson was born, which I didn't know before. I can see why President Benson loved his farm, it is such beautiful country!
On the freeway as we drove up, before we got to the Brigham City exit, there was a mother duck and her ducklings crossing the freeway. They were in the middle lane moving west when we passed on the left of them. There were so many cars and the cars were coming so quickly. No driver could see the ducks until they were right in front of them. We passed by and I looked behind to try to see what happened with the cars behind us. I didn't see them get hit, but I felt sick thinking about them, as I was sure they didn't make it all the way across alive. Those little baby ducks! Just following their mother with complete trust! Or maybe it was more complete dependence... maybe they were like "Uh, Mom? This doesn't seem like the best idea..." but they didn't really have any other options but to go along. Anyway, so they're probably all dead, so sad. I don't like death. And since we were on our way to a funeral, we talked and thought about death. None of us escape it. I'm so grateful to know that our spirits live on, that animals have spirits and they live on too. If they did die, they are like our little baby bird, enjoying each other's company in the perfect meadows of heaven. I have a sure faith that Christ has overcome death and I am so grateful to know that!
We arrived in time for the viewing. It was an open casket. It was hard to control my emotions as I looked at him as I held Owen in my arms. I gave him to Wes and then lifted up each of the girls to see Abraham's sweet little body. A little blonde two year old boy, I could only think of Owen as I imagined being in their position. The Royals are burying part of their heart today. Such a heart wrenching experience. Melanie and Dannan were out in the hall as people left the viewing. I gave Melanie a hug first. She said "You are so blessed! Your children are such a gift, cherish them!" I gave Dannan a hug. "Thank you for coming. There are no words. What can you do? The Lord called him home, and we have to be tried even as Abraham...." That was a quote by Joseph Smith that Dannan also shared during his talk, a quote that I am familiar with:
"You will have all kinds of trials to pass through. And it is quite as necessary for you to be tried as it was for Abraham and other men of God. God will feel after you, and He will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings, and if you cannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom of God."
Our very heart strings wrenched... a fitting description for this test. Then we watched a short picture video of Abraham's life, saw beautiful pictures of him being hugged and kissed and loved by his family. We went into the chapel and waited for the funeral to start. Owen had the runs, so I took him out for 4 diaper changes before the services concluded. One my first outing to the car, Rachael saw me. She and Jacob came and sat by us and held Daniel. Rachael said they were going to sing a quartet with Melanie and Dannan and she hoped they could actually sing and not just stand up there crying. Dannan gave a beautiful talk. As I listened I thought it was so beautiful, so I began to record it. I'll try to transcribe it later. I also recorded the song. They were able to keep composure as they sang through it. Their voiced blended perfectly and they had heavenly smiles on their faces. They sang Dearest Children, God is Near You. I thought of Melanie and Dannan as the "children" in the song. In verse two - "...Holy angels Watch your actions night and day, And they keep a faithful record Of the good and bad you say." Though this is the trial of their life, they are speaking faithful words and are not condemning God for letting this heart wrenching experience come into their lives. They are powerful examples to everyone who knows them! Their stake president spoke too. I recorded his talk and should transcribe some of that too. He said great things, like how they all will be able to feel Abraham's spirit and presence with them throughout their lives. He also warned them that they will be tempted by the adversary to blame themselves or to feel guilty for what happened, so they will need to fight off those temptations cause they are lies from Satan who wants to destroy our hope. We will continue to pray for our dear friends that they and all of us can "...prove faithful, Oh prove faithful! To your God and Zion's cause!" It was a lovely service. Hyrum and Wesley came up, Abi and Lily stayed for an activity they had with neighbors, and I took Sophi, Natalie, Owen and Daniel. It was a long drive and we got them up early. Natalie fell asleep before the program was finished
...which was good cause she was being a bit of a stinker. Owen and Daniel were wiggly and noisy - again I had like 4 diaper changes for Owen during the services and Daniel was noisy, but I knew that my friends would give anything to be wrestling with their little boy instead of burying him. I hope I can always keep that perspective. But I know that their tears will be turned to joy in a glorious coming day. This picture was on Dannan's facebook. (Painting by Howard Lyon)
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."
-Revelation 21:4
He was the seventh and youngest child of our friends from Costa Rica, Melanie and Dannan Royal. He was just two years old, a month older than our Owen is. I can't even imagine facing a trial like that. Last time they were here was in 2015 for Thanksgiving, Melanie had her little boy Abraham, Rachael had Adam, and I had Owen. The funeral is tomorrow morning in Idaho. I'm going to try and go. I'm heartbroken for them! Prayers for the wonderful Royal family. We love you! ❤❤❤
I just found out today that Stephanie Nielsen, who I've always admired, is a vegetarian! She just posted about it on the 15th! We're a little like them. Joseph ate just whatever meat wise while he was at BYU last week, taking advantage of what could be his last opportunity to pig out on all the taste bud addictions of the SAD - Standard American Diet. That was okay by me. Like Stephanie said about her and her husband: "We are not meat sticklers, I don't care who eats meat- including my children. If the Little Nies are at friends houses for a meal, or choose to go out with friends to dinner, they are free to choose what they eat- no judgment from Christian or I." I don't mind what the kids eat when they are on their own, that is their choice. But I don't buy that stuff, and we eat healthy here at home. So that was kinda neat to find out, I feel a little more supported in this new life of ours. Another thing that is helping is our new food and fridge arrangement.
When my mom came over on Saturday, she and my dad delivered a fridge. We already had two fridges in the garage, (so the one in the house, then two in the garage...) but our 3rd fridge doesn't work well. It used to be in the house, but it would freeze our produce. So we ordered this new one in Sep 2015 (I remember that date cause it was delivered on the day of Abi's baptism) We kept it in the garage for bread and other things that didn't matter if they got frozen or not. But now we have one that works, so I'm going to put the broken one on the classifieds and it will be gone soon.
So, I arranged it so that now we have a.... (drumroll) Vegetable fridge and a Fruit Fridge!
I feel like it's already helped me know what we need to buy when I went grocery shopping yesterday. And we also moved them against the wall, so we have a bit more room for the car doors to open without getting banged up.
I also spent time on Sunday going through my recipe book. There is a lot of stuff that I need to throw out. I don't think I'll buy or make salmon anymore. I mostly did it cause I thought it was a healthy meat option, and cause of course we needed a meat dish as the main meal at each dinner, right?
Yeah, that's what I used to think. But I haven't had salmon on our date nights anymore. I don't miss is that much. I like eating plant based more than I ever liked meat. I also threw out most all my egg recipes.
And a snap shot of an old weekly menu from our previous life.
That is how we used to eat before June 2017. I'm excited to continue this new way of thinking about food and meals. I just need to sit down and plan out the menu like I did in that picture above. I can do it, now, going to do it soon. Meals feel much more simplified now and I know it will be easier. I just need life to slow down for a little bit so I can get on top of it!
I woke up early yesterday (well, early for a Sunday)... The kids had all put so much work into making Lily's birthday special, I wanted to do something for Wes. Abi had asked me to wake her up, so Abi and I made Wesley breakfast in bed.
It was a breakfast of blueberries, , and more blueberries! Cause Wes LOVES blueberries. Sometimes after my Costco run when he's at New Bop, I'll pick him up and I'll have a clam shell of blue berries and he and I will eat the whole thing on the drive home. :) So Wes ate his breakfast, got dressed, and then opened his presents.
Most everyone else was still in bed. Joseph dragged himself into Wesley's room to sing happy birthday to him. And we see little Natalie here, who is always up for a birthday party. She got up quick when she heard we were having cupcakes for breakfast (Ok, I'll buy one junk food think on birthdays).
One more cute picture from Saturday - Owen loves Wesley. Wesley was reading on Saturday and Owen got on his back and wouldn't let him leave or get up.
And then Owen fell asleelp on him. "Mom, can you please take Owen!"
Wesley is such a patient big brother, Owen loves him so much. We all do. Happy birthday Wes!
It's been a birthday weekend. So, for Lily's birthday last night... So had started a new tradition this year where we take the birthday kid out with us on our date night. But we didn't do it with Lily last night, cause instead we all went down to BYU to see Joseph in a concert.
He's been at Summerfest all week and having a fabulous time (he stayed in the DORMS and had a meal card, which he was really excited about!) So we went down there and will give Lily a rain check for her date night dinner... Not sure what Ethan is doing here. But it's the only picture I have of the crew in the audience.
I took a long video of them playing "Jazz Police" where Joseph totally rocked his solo (at 2:17)
(It was hard to hold the phone up for that long!)
We never saw Joseph after the show. He was off for more fun. So we went to the BYU Wilkinson Center where Corey treated the kids to some bowling fun. I passed Daniel off to the kids where they would hand him off as they took turns up to bowl, and then I took off with Owen. We played a lot of Skee ball, which he loved. It was actually just one game, but we spent a good half our with our last 3 balls and just rolled them up and down the lane.
And then we took the skee balls over to the air hockey table. Those were easier for Owen to hit than the air hockey puck.
Then Owen and I continued to wander. I had a hand full of MnM's that I used to keep him busy. We ate them everywhere in the Wilk.
I'd put the MnM's on tables and chairs and he'd come find them. This Reflection Room was a new addition since the last time I was at BYU. A quite room that felt like inside the temple, where the names of BYU Alumni who have died in our country's service are remembered.
We killed a good hour and then went back to the bowling alley where they are all still going strong.
There was some kind of wager or prize if the kids were able to beat Corey's score. So after they were done bowling we headed to the cars and drove over to the BYU Creamery on 9th where Corey bought cones, an ice cream scoop, two (3?) half gallons, and donuts. Then we drove to Rock Canyon park where they all pigged out in the dark. Not a bad birthday bash for Lily. But the party was not over yet! My mom wasn't able to come over before we had to leave for BYU last night, so the party has continued today!
Corey headed down to BYU around 11 am to pick up Joseph, but then J decided to stay and get a ride with someone else. While Corey was gone, we watched a few Netflix videos - We had started Fat Sick and Nearly Dead a week or two ago and finally finished watching the second half. (trying to counter all the birthday junk food) We were really proud of Phil! Then, in the sequel, we find that Phil gained it back and was starting over again! That's gotta be rough. You need support. The kids get excited about being healthy after watching health videos, so I'll probably have to show them something atleast once a month. So, after our morning of watching about juice fasting, I ran out to Bed Bath and Beyond and bought a juicer. We made some Mean Green Juice. I'm on Joe Cross' email list now. It's fun to try new things. It helped me use lots of our veggies that were about to go bad, so that's good. But I hate throwing out all that fiber.
So, after getting my mind focused on eating healthy, I was able to resist the birthday cakes that my mom brought them over. Happy Birthday yesterday, Lily! Happy birthday tomorrow, Wesley!
Lily is our sweet 8 year old. She's going to be baptized next month!
And this young man is turning 12! So he is going to receive the priestood tomorrow! My little kids are growing up.
Lily opening her presents... her 4th fidget spinner!
Wes opening his gifts.
My mom and dad both came over to deliver their fridge, they've upgraded. So we rearranged things in the garage quickly, and that was our Saturday. It ended with me taking Owen and Daniel on a walk around the block... something I've been doing a lot of lately (we all have). I went 3 laps. I like it cause I get to listen to conference (Tongue of Angels tonight) or more youtube health videos. Daniel was zonked out after half a lap, and Owen finally crashed on the last stretch of the 3rd lap, hooray! To bed they go, and I get to blog! I have done better this week - I blogged 5 times, yay! Of course I still need to catch up May and June, but I'll get there. Happy Birthday to my cute creative kids Lily and Wes.
