okay so i've become such a blog slacker. so lazy i'm not even capitalizing. so much has been going on and my ocd self feels the need to put it all in here...like when you journal every part of your day and then quit journaling after a week cuz it's so exhausting? anyway, i know i don't have to put everything in here but i may one day print this journal for a family keepsake since i happen to be a really bad journal keeper and picture taker so i kinda wanna put the important happenings in.

soccer ended. harris got a trophy that he was proud of. so did charlotte and claire. school ended. field day, which i attend every year to help harris, was one of our best yet. he's really getting so he can do so much more physically. they are so good to him at that school and i am so grateful. there were awards ceremonies to cap off the year and ethan won the principal's award! harris won this last year and it's a pretty big deal because in each class the teacher chooses just one boy and one girl to be recognized. i was most proud when they said the reason (these vary) was for always being kind to others. those manners and Christlike attributes are what make me most proud as a mom...way more than academics or sports stuff. summer has been pretty busy as it is every year. harris and i went to cub scout day camp which is usually a nightmare because its all outside and requires lots of physical strength and endurance (sports, bb shooting and archery) and again, harris struggles with all of that and usually cries for about a week straight leading up to camp. just like field day he totally surprised me this year! he worked hard, could do a lot more, and actually enjoyed himself! a huge part of that was that for the first time his cousin luke, who might as well have hung the moon, was in attendance. now faith is at girls camp for the first time. this makes her feel ecstatic and just makes me feel old. while she's gone i'm tending some friends' kids so they can go and so my boys feel like they are having one big awesome vacation! junk food, video games, staying up late, you get the idea. they are loving life, and i hope faith is too, up at the camp bovay.
okay. what else! we are due to leave for idaho in two weeks. i am dreading, in a way you cannot understand, the 24 hour drive, yes i said DRIVE that it will take to get there! i will post about that later. however, it will be fun to spend time with j's family, plus i'll get to see my sis mary and bro dave and his wife em who are all attending or teaching at byui. we will also get to see our niece ashley get married in the idaho falls temple which is the same one we were sealed in so that should be special. also upcoming is me using the 8 cans of satin black spray paint i just purchased on my dining room table and harris may start getting music therapy (he loves music!) phew! i think i covered it all. oh. and my hair is brown. i dyed it with a 5 dollar box of just for men i found under j's sink. i was fed up with roots and unable to find a good hairdresser (mine moved) i've since found one and gotten a few highlights so it's a little lighter but still has a ways to go. i'll post some pics of all this stuff i'm saying but it'll just be what i've got which will be sad and sorry as usual. the ones of ethan getting his award were taken on my mom's phone and i have yet to get them. oh well. hope all of you are well. i'll also be posting later about faith's band called splattered paint..it will require its own post which you'll understand soon enough

Good Times

Today I went with Harris' class on a field trip to the Museum of Natural Science. And yes, those ridiculous shots are the best pictures I got from the entire day (don't get me started on his little friend who insisted I take a picture of EVERY SINGLE GEM in the Gem Vault!) Harris loved all of the exhibits, especially the dinosaur fossils. As part of the field trip, we went to see an Imax (super 3-D) movie called Whales and Dolphins. Harris was terrified the entire time and intermittently cried and covered his eyes with MY hand on which he had a death grip for the entire hour. As soon as it ended and the lights went on he sighed loudly and said, "Oh man! That was SO good!" What a punk.






Tonight we also watched Faith's volleyball game. Her team didn't win but she was playing really aggressively and I was so proud of how hard she worked. Her last game is Saturday and then she will start practicing and working toward making the school team next year in 7th grade. Go Faith!

Ordinary Miracle

Tonight was an ordinary night. Dinner without Jared who was working late, chores with grumbles, Family Night with eye rolls, showers with wet floors, prayers with bums in the air (I hate that!) and one other thing. Harris read a book to me. But instead of the usual fussing, followed by a lot of, "I can't read!"s, followed by a lot of stopping for help and subsequent frustration, Harris read, with little help and a huge smile on his face, a book that was pretty hard if I do say so myself! He did SUCH a good job and read just like an old pro. Just like he walks and talks like an old pro. It brought tears to my eyes and made me think of how at three years old, when I sent him to Preschool For Children With Disabilities, I wondered if he would ever walk or talk. He would crawl and sign and point to little pictures in a book but I truly worried and wondered if that would ever change. And boy has it! That guy runs like the wind at recess while he plays tag with his friends. And we all know he can construct a sentence that includes the wit and sarcasm of a grown man. It is miraculous to watch him meet and conquer life's challenges and he reminds me, in his own happy way, to keep chipping away at my own obstacles that lie between me and my divine destination. I will get there, just like he keeps doing.

Happy Birthday to Me

32 things I'm grateful for on my 32nd birthday. Okay. That's excessive. Let's do 10.
1) Good friends....the kind you laugh with, and cry with, and laugh til' you cry with.
2) Patient kids. I mess up alot, and they forgive me.
3) The temple. I went there with my mom today. Man, I love that place.
4) My mom. She gave me life, and continues to teach me about it. Same goes for the greatest dad ever.
5) My sisters. They are as good as they get.
6) My brothers. None of them wished me a Happy Birthday, but Jon wished me a Happy Earth Day. I wouldn't change one thing about any of them.
7) A really funny husband who isn't nuts, but doesn't mind that I am.
8) The gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the greatest blessing I have, and without it I'd be lost.
9) A body that functions properly, water butt and all. My brain might trip me up, but my body is strong and able. I'll take what I get and be grateful.
10) Change. I'm glad I'm not who I was a year ago. I hope on my 33rd birthday I can say the same thing. I have a long way to go, but thanks to blessings one through nine, I'm getting there.