I am WOMAN!

This was summer of the boards for us. John took a very time intensive (read expensive) class that ran most of July, including weekends to teach him everything VCOM never bothered to the first go round to (what exactly does the 35,000 a year do then, if they dont teach the students? Glad you asked... you shoudd see the lawn...) It was really hard having him so busy but still around. I think next summer when he goes to texas for most of the summer it will actually be a little bit easier bc he will just not be here, rather then jsut being here but to busy... anyway. so it was hard, but he took the boards on the 13th and so we actually got to see him a little bit and the boys got to spend some time with him before they went back to school on the 19th! Anyways.... during july, when he was so busy, our ward was having a campout, and the kids were so excited to go, so we packed it up and headed out without John. i was so nervous, but it actually went ok. I went out on thrus. with 2 of my friends who were also husband-less adn we had a great time! There were a few rules that I broke in the effort to make it easier.
The first rule- I let my oldest run around like this. For a whole day. With a bandana.

2. CL attacked this poor sweet boy, and i let her, because she wasn't eating dirt in there.

3- i fed her all sorts of things I shouldn't have. fried donuts, watermelon, anything i could reach to keep her happier in her stroller because she wasn't eating dirt there either.

4- I didn't make my kids wash their hands or faces before meals.

5- they played in a creek all day. they even drank a fair amount of it

6- they (again) tended their own fire all day.

We had such an awesome time! it is nice to know that i can take them all out like this and do things with them now. WE headed out thurs. and got to camp right as it starte dto get dark. I pitched my tent way far away from Mels and Stephanies due to location and we went over to their fire to make banana boats. At 10, we headed back to our tent and realized how far we were from them (in the whole camp, us 3 girls and our kids were about the only ones) and it was totally creepy so we dragged our tent all the way across a site so we could be closer. The kids all slept amazingly well and it got really cool! The kdis all played in the creek and in the fire the next day and I barely saw the older boys. Van spent the day eating marshmellows with his friends and that night by the time the rest of the ward had arrived, felt totally sick. At 10 he threw up by our fire so I packed EVERYTHING back up and showed up on our doorstep at 11. We had to throw all the kids int eh tub they were so gross and several of the swim trunks ended up in the trash too... Next time i will prob. be more careful with what they wear...

campfire donuts!!!

I was so proud of myself! I learned how to pitch our tent, light our lantern, start my own fire, and cook over our camp stove. I know that prob. sounds lame, but it was a great experience!

Cousins came to town!

Some of me favorite memories as a child were the many weeks I spent in Pa and NY visiting with my cousins during the summertime. I got to go see several Broadway plays, run all over New york City, explore Pittsburg (without adult supervision...), ride the inclines, and swim in the lake daily. It was always so much fun and I looked forward all year to the next adventure with my cousin Megan. This year, we had the chance to begin what will hopefully become a long standing tradition for our kids! With my little nephew still in the NICU, our family thought it would be fun to have the cousins that used to live in town with us back in town for a visit. July 4th I met them in Charlotte with a few of my kids, where we had a late breakfast with Johns brothers family and there sweet girls and Johns sister and her 3 boys that i was bringing home for the week. We hightailed it back home to celebrate the 4th. and we had a blast! I had to play in our towns holiday concert and we made it back just in time for that. After the concert, the boys lit sparklers and had a snap war with the poppit things that you throw on the ground.

Van LOVED the fireworks this year!

CL was less then impressed and slept through most of the display

the firework display was a lot shorter this year then normal, but there were tons of big ones!

My nephew B- he LOVED sparklers and i burned my thumb countless times lighting almost 100 of those suckers

E and A after the fireworks.. traffic was horrible after the fireworks so rather then sitting in the car fighting traffic for an hour we went back to the park and the kids played til almost 11 pm before heading back to our house to do even more sparklers (what can i say...we love to party!)

some friends from church had these things that lit on fire and they would grow... they were totally gross, but of course since my kids are pyros.... they had Jaren see how many could be stacked on top and still light and Jaren totally got into seeing how many they could light at once...

more sparklers

my nephews! On the way back into town we stopped at an old navy and got all the cousins matching shirts! (I am such a dork, I know, but I was really excited abt. it!)

our towns patriotic concert... we played the real 1812 overture but had to use a computer for the cannon sounds... the town wouldnt even let us use the fake cannon that they use at football games...

We had so much fun with the cousins here! We went blueberry picking...

gotta love child labor! they helped me pick 10 pounds of berries!

B quickly gave up on picking though!

and van only ate... their buckets were still empty when we left an hour later

and we swam almost every day!

and we celebrated A's 9th birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY A!!!

CL enjoyed the dessert!

When it was time for cousins to go home, Their mom met us in a nearby town midway from Johns sister Stephanie. She brought her family up for a dinner one evening. I got to see all of my nieces and nephews this week, a totally rare event! We had such a great time with the boys this week! Thanks for sharing them Mike and Lauren!!

It is so worth putting that to bed to wake up to this:

CL: 8 months old

where the road goes from here

Summertime, and our house is cleaner then normal... Kinda goes against the laws of nature! I always forget (until summertime finally rolls around again) how much I really enjoy being home. The school year for us is always such a chaotic whirlwind or commuting kids to school, work, after school sports, play dates, meetings... I really love the slower pace the summer offers us and the chance to recommit to the house. During the school year our family spend very little time home. I once figured out how much we pay per day to live here, and was appalled at how little we use it for that cost. By the end of the summer, I often feel stressed and burned out from the long hours, but for now, I am loving it! We have a great schedule that involves my kids sitting down in the morning and doing school work, some tv/video game time and pool time almost daily. the only commitment we have is tae kwon do, and that schedule is flexible. Every summer morning I wake up questioning my decision to go back to work in the fall. I am having a really hard time with this. The main reason I work is to pay for Vans preschool cost. We love the preschool he attends, and we have been there for 6 (going on 7) years. The teachers have changed very little and our family is comfortable there. Last year, I worked really hard and made no take home money above and beyond tuition. It makes me feel like C is suffering as a result. She is on no schedule and gets no naps most days. I love the job in the fact that my kids are right there and I dont miss anything they are doing, but hate having to take my baby into a classroom full of snotty kids. so here we stand, and I have a choice to make. if I stop working, Van stops going to preschool. He thrives on being busy and having lots of people around him. How long will it take for him to settle in to a less busy, quieter routine. His b-day is a late Sept. one. Do I pay for 1 more year of preschool then send him off to school at age 4 to be the youngest kid in his class? Do I pull him out of preschool for this year, then re-send him the next? I feel almost guilty pulling him away from his (wonderful) group of friends, but I know when we move in 2 years I will have those same feelings with all the kids.
Its time to sit down and focus on things that are really important and try to figure out what is going to work best for us at this time. This next school year is going to be one of many changes as John starts rotations and will be gone out of state for almost half of this next year. It reminds me of my favorite poem, the road not taken....

I just want to be able to look back on these next 2 years and KNOW that I did what was best for van, and honestly, I just don't know what that is yet...

the young kids wilderness survival guide

After a camping trip where our family took a week and camped in new york, we realized we still had a lot to learn abt. camping with several little kids. luckily, for us, our ward planned a cub scout camp out, and we were able to perfect our camping technique. We learned many valuable lessons during the camping trip, and we would love to share our wealth of knowledge with each of you. Here goes: 10 year old are practically adults. they are totally old enough to build, start, and tend their own fires. no adult supervision is necessary or appreciated. in fact, ts face says it all....

And what should the adults do while kids play with fire? I'm glad you asked! Bring a trebuchet. grownups get very bored camping and this helps alleviate boredom. it is not necessary to watch your kids while camping.... it's only woods around them. shoot the trebuchet at other campsites.

Dinner tastes better in the dark. Don't even start the fire until at least 7 pm. It only takes a few hours to get the coals ready and dinner cooked.

wild beasts are always on the move. beware, as they do bite.

allow the kids to put up the tent. that way, if it falls down during the night you can totally blame it on the kids!

propane helps any fire get going better. keep the kids away and let the dads play!

no hand feeding the animals! they bite!!!
hopefully this will help everyone have a very successful camping trip. please do not hesitate to ask any questions, we have plenty of experience!!!!

genius like this must run in families

i don't mean to brag (but will anyway) but i have THE smartest kids! not only are they cute, calm, polite to the point where it hurts, read only classical lit... i could go on and on.... here is the newest great accomplishment...




just shy of 8 months old, my brilliant, beautiful daughter can already....












take off her own diaper...
next trick i fear will be finger painting in mixed mediums....

my new nephew!

I've been waiting very pateintly (haha) f0r 10 days to see pictures of my new, tiny nephew! here they are!

http://www.hokiemarshmans.blogspot.com/

he is so beautiful! Welcome to the family John