Summertime At Last

I don't usually go this long without a post, so there's a lot to update on here.

First, sadly, I've had another aunt pass away. Aunt Kathy, my dad's oldest sister (of 16 siblings) passed away Friday night of heart failure. My dad is young but he is the tenth of the children and this sister was old enough to be his mom. It's sad. I didn't know her super well, but she reminded me so much of my grandma on that side of the family. I can't seem to find an obituary for her on the internet, but when I do I'll post it.

Mothers Day was wonderful. Todd did a BBQ. Lainey started sleeping through the night the week before and it was the best gift she could give me! Todd got me an iPod and I've had tons of fun with it. I've never had one before. It's gotten me out jogging and biking on a daily basis. Woohoo! (That and the sudden good night's rest each night.)




We had a couple families over. First, the Jenks, who we've wanted to have over for over a year now and our schedules never lined up! But we had a great time with them and were happy to finally have them. The Arnette family came for Family Home Evening last week and we made home made ice cream for the treats. We just got the ice cream maker and experimenting with it was very yummy- as well as fun company for guinnea pigs!

Brielle graduated from Mrs. Heather's pre-school class this month. This was her second year attending it and she misses it already. They had a cute little presentation on Mrs. Heather's back porch for parents to watch on chairs in the back yard. It cracks me up when kids preform. So many impromptu quotes like, "Can I go to the bathroom?" while on stage. It was awesome. Brielle memorized her lines super fast. It's a talent, but also a little bit of a curse. When I try to teach her to read, she just memorizes the books as we go so that she can repeat them the next time I try to get her to read them. I used to do that too as a kid, only not so flawlessly or effortlessly!







After reading the Twilight series, I broke down and read my all time favorite movie's book, Pride and Prejudice. And of course, when I was finished, I had to watch both the Kiera Nightly version and the BBC version. They'll never get old! I love Jane Austen's stories. I want to read her other books now- I have all the movies of them. Time to read them.



Memorial Weekend was mostly a bust. It started out good. We started the Friday with a landscaping party with Todd's mom and brothers' families. We had a large portion of our yard full of weeds waiting for landscaping for quite a while after ripping out junipers our second year here. Now two years later, we finally finished it!



But we were out in the sun all day and I thought maybe Ashton got heat exhaustion because he threw up in his bed that night. The next day was one diarrhea diaper after the next.

Finally, on Monday, he seemed completely fine and we went to Todd's mom's house for the Memorial Day holiday. Brielle swam in her pool and Ashton played around the yard. The next day Ashton was suddenly at his worst. He threw up all over the kitchen at dinner time and was so lethargic from dehydration (he refused to drink all day no matter how hard I tried to make him, and he layed around on the carpet during all times that he was not in my arms) that we decided to take him to the hospital where they gave him an IV to rehydrate him. He lost about 5 pounds, but he's fine now as of last night. No more diarrhea or fevers. Lainey also seemed sick for a couple days but she seems better today. She's sure a happy little baby. She had her 2 month check up today- 75th percentile height, 90th percentile in weight. She's a cute tubby one!!!

I'm feeling more adjusted to my new calling. Once the reality of the amount of time required for it started to set in, I felt my nerves fray a little. I had to stop Physical Therapy cold turkey because it was just TOO many different appointments. But I feel great now and sure love the sisters I work with.

We got a little kiddie pool and set it up yesterday. The kids spent most of today in it and they are LOVIN' IT!!! I love summer time with the sunshine, the warmth, the flowers and green shady trees, the popcycles, swimming, biking, jogging, reading on the back patio, BBQ's, it's candy to the soul!!!