Back

I am back from Girl's Camp. We all had a great time. Lots of giggling and silly songs. I am a true mountain woman. We leaders decided we were not showering the entire week, and we even took our tents down and slept outside the last night. Several of the girls even joined the "No Shower Club" and slept outside with us. Good times!

I came home to a spotless house, and 6 little kids who were missing me. Their dad took great care of them, and they had a great week. I missed Levi soooo much, and couldn't wait to kiss his little face off.

Now reality is setting in, and this week has quickly filled up already! Ugh! Sleepovers, plans with friends, immunizations, auditions for Sounds of Music, scouts, piano lessons, shopping with sisters, and 2 birthday parties. Oh, and Lincoln just got picked up on another club team, so we can add a couple of baseball practices to that.

I did a ton of laundry today, so I am getting caught up on that. It's amazing how it gets piled up when you don't do it for 6 days. I decided to go to Cafe Rio today for lunch with friends instead of going to the grocery store. My kids are asking me what's for dinner, and I don't know what to tell them. Pancakes, I guess.

Jim cleaned the carpet in the family room while I was gone. It looks so much better. We have never lived in a house long enough that we needed to start repainting, and replacing furniture and carpet. I really want my house repainted, but I just don't want to do it myself. There's only so much you can clean up on the walls with Clorox wipes. Ya know? If Jim took the kids away for a few days, I bet I could paint the whole house. I love my babies, but it is nearly impossible to accomplish anything when you are constantly being interrupted to fulfill their little needs. Someday we will get to it :)

Enough of my randomness. I will have a real post coming soon....with pictures.

8 is great

Here are some pictures from Lincoln's big day. We are so proud that he made the choice to be baptized.






He has been waiting for so long for his own scriptures. It was almost painful for me to make him wait so long. He has been so patient taking his plain jane missionary Book of Mormon to church with him. Now he has his very own scriptures with his name on them.

At his request, the whole family headed over to Cici's after the baptism. I mean WHOLE family. Cousins and all. Even his good friend Rylan convinced his mom to take their family. Thanks Julie :) Then we headed over to our house for cake and swimming. It was a fun, fun day. Congratulations to my little man!

Lately

So, here are the happenings...

• The kids finally finished school. Hallelujiah! It is just too hot to be in school. We will now LIVE in the swimming pool until the fall.

• All of the kids got straight "A" Honor Roll. I was surprised this year at how few kids got it. There were a lot of "A-B"'s this year. Blake barely skinned by. The morning of the assembly she said, "Mom, I don't think I did it." I started crying when she got "A" HR, because she worked so hard this year. I am so proud of her.

• Taylor got her Great American Award.

• Blake got her Nevada Citizenship Award. Both really difficult awards to get. So proud of their hard work.

• Lincoln got the Awesome Gladiator Award for his hard work on his writing this year. Ms. Vela started talking about a little boy who started out hating writing, and then by the end of the year was writing pages. She caught me off guard. Right away I knew she was talking about Lincoln, and I started crying. I am so proud of him. He used to just scribble all over the page, because he hated writing so much.

• Brooklyn graduated Kindergarten, and Taylor is moving on to Middle School. This was the last year that I will have 4 kids at the same school together. Taylor is sooooo ready to move on. Next step will be Young Women's.

• Dylan has one more year of Preschool and then Kindergarten.

• Levi is just barely 4 months old. He is rolling over already, and can do an army crawl and get to whatever toy he wants. I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING!!! Hello! Who told him he could move so fast! Slow down!!

• Lincoln got baptized. That's a huge one. So proud of my little man.

So, Jim took the kids camping this weekend, and I am enjoying the peace and quiet. It's amazing what you can do when there are not 100 interruptions during the day. They only left yesterday, and already the laundry is done, folded and put away, and the house is clean. I am free to veg.

I have been training really hard since Levi was a month old, because I knew that I had the Mt. Charleston Hike coming up. 18 miles. Ugh. I have been running a lot, and doing a lot of pre-hikes to prepare. We did a 5 miler, a 7 miler, and we did Griffith Peak (10 miles).

So, the big hike is tomorrow, and why do I not feel prepared!!! Is it because I am not quite back to my old self, yet, after having Levi? Is it because I have not quite yet forgotten how HARD it was last year?? Is it because I don't think my new hiking shoes are quite broken in enough? Maybe. I am terrified. I have been thinking of a million excuses not to go. Levi is teething. That's a good excuse, right? I'M GOING, OK?! Wish me luck.

My next post will have lots of pictures. Lincoln's baptism and the camping trip. Jim took my camera, so I have no pictures to post this time :)

Also, if you are a MOM and you have not seen this, you MUST watch it. It is inspiring, and a good reminder of why we do what we do.