June 2024

It felt like summer really began in June, which looks like swim team and goals. I tried to scale back on how much I was requiring the kids to do this year, but they still seem to drag it out. Actually sometime in July I had a bit of a meltdown about that very thing. I want to be a fun mom who does lots of activities together, but because they drag out so many of their tasks we hardly ever have time to do anything for very long. And this is after I had trimmed down their list ask much as I thought I could. It hit me that I only have two more summers with Ellie, and the kids were prioritizing reading time over anything else. I wanted to live our lives together not it someone's made up story. It was a sobering and devasting day for me. I eventually shared my thoughts with them, and for the rest of the summer they did better at balancing reading, tasks, and fun activities. 

Miriam had a goal to strengthen her relationship with Holland, so each day they did a little activity together like watching a youtube tutorial on how to draw a dolphin. Holland had a couple of goals so we just had her work for 10 minutes on one each day. Eliza wanted to do summer classes to free up her schedule so that was her extra thing. Besides goal work, we did swim, music practice, weeding, and scriptures. 

This was Holland's first year of jr swim team. I was pretty nervous about it because she was so stubborn about not getting in the cold pool last summer. But she actually got in! It was a bit touchy for the first day or two, but then she managed to get in the swing of things. I think winning swimmer of the week the very first week helped a lot. We carpooled to swim this summer which made a world of a difference to me. Claire Reimschussel played at our house for an hour each day after swim, which was the perfect motivation for Holland to bathe quickly, while her mom was at the pool with the older kids. It was such a nice set up, and I feel like it gave me more time than ever in the summer. 

This cactus started having the weirdest growth. 
Miriam: It only kept growing weirder and taller.

We celebrated Father's Day early this year because of our Boston trip. John is so loved by all of his girls. They made him such cute cards, and I have to say that the food was delicious (Creme brulee french toast, 7 layer dip, and chocolate cream pudding pie). John got some new shorts and sandals. It was also my Grandpa's 100th birthday!

Creme Brulee French Toast!

Miriam: I love cuddling and also smushing Daddy!

Fun little poppy in the front yard. There was a pink and orange!

Miriam: We sound so much better than we did then. Actually we still sound bad. Just LESS bad.

Miriam did Summer Band for a little while in June. She couldn't make a lot of the practices because of Boston and Young Women camp. But I was still proud of her for doing it and for making new friends there. She really enjoyed playing with kids that weren't in beginning band and getting better at the clarinet. 

Those older girls are so wonderful. I love just chatting with them. One day we talked about their thoughts around friendship. They are getting so mature and thoughtful, but are also silly and carefree. It is pretty beautiful. 

Another beautiful thing is that the church is coming out with new hymns. For the 5th Sunday meeting we had the whole second hour to hear and sing them. It really brought the Holy Spirit and was touching. 

One day Holland, Darcy, and I planted corn and beans. They were so careful and cute about it--counting aloud each seed as they put them in the holes. I was so sad that this section didn't grow well. 

This was while Eliza and Miriam were at Young Women camp. They had so much fun and came home so happy. They particularly talked about an obstacle course and the delicious food. 

Miriam: There was so much yummy food! We had these delicious French toast slices with rich homemade whipped cream and lots of fruit and syrups! We had Cafe Rio and J Dogs. There was also a fun zip line and water slide. We were on the edge of a clearing with other camps around it too and in the clearing all the groups shared bunches of fun activities. Solo time wasn't as great this year because it wasn't super peaceful and quiet which was sad. We made lots of bracelets this time though, like Disciple and WWJD bracelets. We talked some times at night and it was fun! I really feel like I strengthened my relationships with the other young women enough to be reasonably comfortable around them, if not super close. We also went on some fun hikes and also played with a water cannon. It turned out to be really really cold though when we did that. We had testimony night which was really sweet and I started to understand the other young women a lot better. It rained some but not over board like the year before. Overall I think it was super fun and great but less spiritually impactful than the year before!

At home one of my favorite things is eating outside and swimming in the evening, playing motor boat with the girls in the pool. Everyone wants to climb in my lap while in the hammock. It is so fun. 

One day my friend Erin Moulding stopped by with her family. It was fun to hear about their life in Wisconsin and to share about life here. That same day Darcy was so excited to go to the doctor for her well check. She ran to the nurse when they called her name. 

Darcy went to Samuel's 3rd birthday party. It was firefighter themed, and she had a ball. 

Another fun thing in June was that the large cul-de-sac in Cinnamon Ridge threw a big summer bash. There was food, dunk tank, bouncy house, and more. It was so cute! I am impressed that these women had the band width to put that on. Miriam loved manning the dunk tank. It was so nice of everyone!

We also went to the Caldera Summer Party. There was so many prizes and fun games. I always think those are a little awkward, but it is nice of them to put it on and give out so much stuff. Miriam got second place at the kids' watermelon eating contest and won a gift card! 

Miriam: The boy who got first place totally cheated. He SPIT OUT it after taking bites. So unfair.

Playing with water in the yard for their sister time. 

Miriam: BEST SISTER TIME ACTIVITY EVER! I'm so sad that was the only time we did it.

Game time after tasks are done. 
Miriam: I love playing games with Mommy and the rest of the family!

Darcy to Claire: "Our house is really really old, old so we have to be careful with it." It is 2.5 years old. 

Darcy tells me every time we're in a parking lot, "Hold hands, HOLD HANDS!" She has changed her tune from when she wanted to walk by herself. 

One of my favorites of Darcy's, "If you knew how much I loved you, your heart would explode with laughing." 

Miriam threw out one night, "I can't see you as an assassin, but if you were your name would be The Apologizer because you would feel bad for killing them and would apologize as you killed them." That kid. 

One of Darcy's most noteworthy phrases this month was calling me "The one I love." For example, Darcy says to our family, "I want the one I love to sit next to me." It is equal parts adorable and ridiculous. 

One night Darcy told me, "Don't forget kisses from you little Darcy!" 

Miriam: I got a water gun too! But I unfortunately didn't have the chance to complete the fire fighter training as the tube was like 1 and 1/2 feet tall. I am not that short.

John wheeled our grill over to the other cul-da-sac for the party.
Miriam: The food was delicious but there wasn't enough of it. 

Dunk tank girls. 

Miriam: The little kids were SO CUTE to help on the dunk tank. It was really funny but I also felt kind of bad because Emmy kept picking me to help her over her cousin.

I guess they were doing face paint somewhere at the party. 

Ellie got emotional about some stuff she was learning in her online health class. Holland wrote her a note and left it on her door. "I love you. I will protect you." So sweet. 

Miriam: Ellie and I played cornhole with this super sweet older couple who helped us through it and were super nice. I love old people, they are the best.

Miriam got a back brace to help with her scoliosis. She has a lot of growing left to do according to an xray of her hand that showed that her growth plates have a lot of space still. Scoliosis gets worse as you grow so we decided to get her a back brace so that hopefully it won't get worse as she grows. 

It was pretty fascinating process to see how they measured her so exactly. And it worked. According to an xray with the brace on, it is correcting her curvature at 50% which is about as good as you can hope for. She is a trooper to wear a brace every night and deal with back pain occasionally. 

Miriam has started to become quite the babysitter, and it all started one day in June when she babysat for the Neeley's and made quite the impression. Apparently there house was a disaster because of a crazy week, so Miriam organized all of their stuff in little piles on their counters. Thankfully Cassie thought it was adorable and now can't get enough of Miriam babysitting. She also told all the ladies in the ward about it, and Miriam is in high demand as a babysitter. I am thrilled for her but feel a little bad that she eclipsed Ellie's babysitting jobs. Thankfully Ellie doesn't have as much time as Miriam does so there is that at least. 

Darcy's 4th birthday

Oh Darcy, my sweet girl. You are such a darling delight. I feel so lucky to be your mom. You are so generous with your love to me. You so happy about so many things in life. You are fun and funny. You are goofy and can talk so seriously. You are such a good talker. I love hearing what you come up with. 

At four years old you love dresses and the color pink. You love to play with any toy that anyone else is playing with. Not to take it from them, but you just love playing with other kids. You loved playing with Claire that whole summer. Sometimes you can be little bossy with playmates, but I think you are more aware than you used to be about it. You and Holland are best friends and love to play together. I am so happy for you that she will play with you so much event though you're five years apart. 

Your favorite way to play by yourself kind of drives me crazy. I like to keep things nice and organized so it is easy to find the things you want to play with and to put them away at the end. But you love to mix things up. You put anything and everything in purses and bags and then put those in other purses or bags or boxes. It is impossible to keep things organized with you around! What kills me is how many things you tuck away that aren't toys, including containers of food from the refrigerator and books overdue at the library. Good thing you are so cute, because you are killing me kid! 

Sometimes you play by narrating stories out loud to yourself which is pretty dang cute. I love your imagination. You have kind of followed Holland's lead by being interested in what she is interested in. You love dragons, teddy bears, and legos. You love dancing and cheering on your sisters. You love to hear stories being read to you. In fact you have developed a love of audiobooks, which is fun, but I think it making you less willing to learn how to read. Whoops! 

You are still doing reading lesson and preschool at home though. I am proud of how much you are learning. I sometimes am concerned that I baby you too much and don't make you work as much as your older sisters did at your age (which I am sure is true), but I think you are going to work out just fine too. :) 

At four years old you weighed 31.3 lbs which is the 22%. You are 39 inches tall which is the 42%. This puts your BMI at 14.39 which is the 18%. You would never know by your tiny little body that you are such an eater. You want snacks all day long. You love milk, bananas, and toast maybe the most. 

What is your favorite vegetable?

Tomatoes

What is your favorite breakfast food?

Oatmeal actually pancakes and waffles

What is your favorite dessert/treat?

Candy. All kinds of candy. I like lollipops the best.

What is your favorite restaurant?

The one in South Dakota. I mean the one in Costa Rica. We drove in a fancy car there. It was by lots of warm pools. It is actually at the resort with the turtle pool. (In Tortuguero)

What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas, because I LOVE presents. I especially loved Poppy on my birthday. I liked the birthday when I was turning four because that is the day I got Poppy. 

What is your favorite stuffy?

Poppy because she is so cute. She is especially cute when she wears my glasses. I am glad you don't joke against her. She doesn't like being joked. 

What are some of your favorite things to do?

That's easy. Swim in a pool. A turtle pool. Lighting candles. I like when we have a candle bath. Playing with my light up pigs. 

What is your favorite thing to do with Holland, Miriam, Eliza?

Kissing them. 

Who is your best friend?

Oh that's easy, Brielle. 

Who are some other friends you like to hang out with?

Marta--she's nice. Preschool people (Cyrus and Jack). Samuel--I like that we went on an adventure with him. 

What’s your teacher’s name?

Sometimes I do it with Cyrus's mom and Jack's mom, and Mommy especially. You already did preschool with me once. 

What is your favorite thing to learn? 

I don't think anything comes to mind right now. 

What activities do you participate in?

Preschool, playing. I don't think chores because today I kind of struggled. I definitely participate in MCO now. I don't crawl on the floor anymore. 

What do you want to be when you grow up?

An artist. Actually a penguin. 

Who do you admire and why?

Mommy, because I like your kisses and hugs. 

What do you like to sleep with at night?

Bearby, Poppy of course. 

What are you scared of?

Bears, I wasn't scared of the bears at Bear Country because they didn't try to stomp towards us. I am scared of foxes. I am not scared of dragons because I haven't seen one and they are not real. Actually I have, but it was in a book. It was in Dragon Master book 1, do you know what it is called? Rise of the Earth Dragon. 

Where is your favorite place to go?

Probably to the beach. We have been to the beach before, haven't we? It is that part of the forest when we traveled to the beach. It was on a trip. It was on a trip when I tripped my knees a lot. At least I think it was. Oh Mommy I remember things that are very far away from here. 

If you could go anywhere on a trip right now, where would you go?

To see turtles hatch. Because I saw turtles lay eggs. I just wish I could do that! 

What would you do if you had a million dollars?

Spend it on a pet penguin that was real but I would have to go fishing everyday to feed it breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

What are you thankful for?

Toys, Mommy, Candles--I mean warmth. 

What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

Playing legos. We played legos today, did I? Did it look like I have been playing legos? 

What are you really good at?

Singing. Listening to music. Focusing, just like I focused getting out of the bathtub. 

What is a goal or something you want to accomplish this year?

Do the advent at Christmas time. Do my chores faster and get it done faster. 

What's your favorite toy?

I think Holland's dragons toys. They are stuffies, but also toys. Mommy can stuffies be toys?

What's your favorite color?

All the colors in the rainbow. Red because it is dark pink and I love pink so that is why I love red. 

What do you like to do with Mommy and Daddy?

Work with them to build the pool. Remember when I holded down that thing when you did it across? Karaoke because I was on your team so we got to go together. And I like that we sang Must Be Santa because it is my favorite song, and we sing it in choir. And I know it better than you. 

What's your favorite game to play?

Zingo!

What's the best thing about our house?

Snuggling in the bed and squishing each other. 

If you could have any animal as a pet, what would it be?

Giraffe because they are not making noises. Because I haven't had it as a pet and I have never seen one. 

What's your favorite book or story?

My favorite book is Dragon Masters. Rainbow Dragons are actually Sun Dragons but they have rainbow powers. Actually Sun Dragons have the power of rainbows not just sun powers. Rainbow Dragons have the power of rain. 

What is your favorite food?

Cucumbers. I like tomatoes and cucumbers. I also like salad. Toast. Salad. 

What is your favorite movie or show? 

Bluey because I like the part when Bingo used to be Mini Bluey. And Big Bluey used to be Big Bingo. 

What is a bad habit that you have? 

That's a hard one. Sometimes when I breathe faster it gets the word inside my head faster. Not listening to the full answer. 

What is a good habit you have? 

Oh that's easy. I have to think about it for long though. Not picking at my other fingers except this one. (Her thumbs.) I have only been picking at my thumbs and toes. And that is a good habit because my toes aren't as worse as my thumbs. 

Tell me a time you were kind. 

In church, when I am learning from my teachers. I always listen to the full answer. I patisipate. I copy what I am supposed to be doing. 

Tell me about a time you were not kind. 

When I was shouting and I had to say sorry later. It was today. I was shouting so much. And you told me to say sorry to everyone. 

What are you excited about? 

Birthday. Of course I am excited about your birthday! (hug) I am glad your birthday is nearest to John's, I mean Daddy's. 

What is your prettiest thing? 

Flowers. The flower that Holland planted. 

What do you think about Jesus?

He healed everyone. He always watches over. He helps us. He helps us be stronger and makes things easier for us. I am glad that he always...Mommy how does God stay up over night without going to sleep? I am glad that he always watches us over even when things are supposed to be doing all day. That he watches over us all the time. I like when he loves us. He helps us as he guides us on the right path. 

We celebrated Darcy's birthday 3 days early. She asked for her meals oatmeal, toast with almond butter and jam, and Trader Joe's tomato soup. Cheesecake with strawberry rhubarb sauce for dessert. 

For presents we gave Darcy some picture books, light up tennis shoes, a sticker book, a bath toy, and the best of all a stuffed animal penguin. She loves the penguin the best because of all of the Poppy the Penguin stories I tell her. 

They always start like this, "Once upon a time there was a penguin named Poppy, and she lived in a nice icy land named Antarctica with her friends, Freddy and Macey, and her mommy and her daddy, and her baby sister Grey." Poppy and her friends go on lots of adventures, some of which aren't logical at all, but the thing they like best is sliding down icy slides. It's pretty cute and in another life I would like to write a children's book about it. 

In the real world Darcy just loves the stories I tell her and absolutely adored the new stuffy Poppy. It's pretty cute! 

Happy birthday sweet girl! We love you so so so much!