Summer 2012

The kids are back in school, which should mean I have a lot more time on my hands.  Unfortunately, that's not as true as it would seem.  It is true that I have less noise and chaos during the day, but I still have just the same amount of things to do.  So, in short, I am still working hard every day, but maybe with a little less stress and chaos invading my every moment . . . a little.  Back to school means back to me spending at least an hour a day helping the kids with homework--especially reading and math.  I'm hoping to help Ricky make significant progress this year, but that will take a lot of time and work for both of us.  Sometimes I think I might have learned enough about teaching strategies for children that I could compile a book.  I still have a lot to learn, but I think we are learning what works for Ricky (and the others) and what doesn't.  No matter what, it is a serious time investment.  It has also stretched my communication skills and encouraged me to be more vocal with teachers and staff to help my kids get the help they may need.

I have meant to post pictures of our summer trip for about a month now, but I knew it wasn't realistic to find time while the kids were home.  Once I got the kids in school, I had a baby shower to plan.

That happened last week and I think it turned out great.  I had about 40 people (20 adults with their preschool aged kids and babies) for a baby shower brunch.  Luckily, I had a lot of help with this because I dislike party planning.  I provided the house and invited the people (based on a list given to me).  Two other friends helped plan the food and decorations.

I only took one picture as I was spending most of my efforts managing the chaos.  Check out the blog, pattycakesbakery.blogspot.com, to see what my friend can do with cakes and crafty decorating stuff.  She is truly amazing.  We did a "Sugar and Spice" party and she has some examples of what we did on the blog.

Now that the shower has passed, I can get to the other things on my to-do list.  Namely, sharing what we did on our big summer trip this year.

We went to Disneyland (CA), San Diego, and Las Vegas.  Summer here had been so hot and miserable, I was so happy to be experiencing weather that was a good 15 degrees or more cooler in California.  It was perfect.

We met Rick's brother and family, along with his parents in LA and spent three days at Disneyland.  The kids had a blast!



After three days at Disneyland, we made the drive south to San Diego.  I thought the Mormon Battalion visitors' center was really cool.  They have completely remodeled it with new technology.  They told the story of the settlement of San Diego and the part that members of our church played in settling the west--especially the San Diego area.  It was really well done and a perfect place to take your family--even with small children.

Ricky was lucky enough to be able to dress up like one of the members of the Mormon Battalion.

That same afternoon, we visited the San Diego temple grounds.  This is a beautiful temple.

 I was so glad that we managed to spend some time on the beach.  I love the ocean and wished we could have spent an entire day relaxing to the sounds of the waves, playing in the sand, and searching for sea shells.  Iowa is so land-locked.  Since I am a California girl at heart (or at least an ocean lover), I was so happy to spend a little time there.

 After San Diego, we drove to Las Vegas, to visit my sister Cathy, and her family.  Her daughters were getting baptized.  We were able to attend their baptism and see the rest of our family there.

 Andrew loved hanging out with Uncle Danny.  They drew a ton of pictures together.

 Aunt Cathy was fun as always.

The baptism was very nice.  Cathy has some great friends near her.  They were so helpful and sweet and everything turned out great.

Cathy was really smart to hire a photographer since our entire family isn't together very often.  With all I have had going on, I haven't yet had a chance to look at the web-site to choose pictures.  Below are some I took with my camera while he was setting up.

 I think you can check out his web-site as well to see the pics:  www.matthewglucero.com/p395715142

Tell me which ones you like best.  I'm not sure which family picture to order.

Spending time with family is a special treat that we don't get very often because we live so far away.  I'm glad the kids were able to spend time with their cousins, grand parents, and great grandpa.

I should make the following part a separate post, but I'm afraid I might forget to do it if I don't get it in.

The first day of school was exciting.  Andrew started Kindergarten!  He was excited and continues to be good at gettting up and ready for school each day.  This is a complete turn around from preschool last year.

You can see in the above picture that Emily is missing and Sean is wearing a backpack.  Emily got off to junior high (8th grade) before I got her picture.  Sean was under the misguided notion that he was starting school too.

It kind of broke my heart to see Sean's disappointment when he realized that Andrew was going inside the school without him and not coming out until after nap time.  He couldn't believe that he was not old enough to go along too.

 Andrew tried to comfort him as best as he could.  He was super excited and couldn't help but emanate his excitement, even with Sean's extreme disappointment.

When we said good-bye to the kids and watched the kindergartners walk into the building, Sean looked so forlorn and sad.

 It was a long walk home.  He kept turning around, hoping there was some way he would get in the building too.

After seven days of school, Sean is much better at sending the big kids off.  Maybe he discovered that being home with mom is not so bad.