Okay, so I've neglected this blog for quite some time. I didn't realize how long it had been. So here's what we've been up to the past couple of months.
During the summer months I was working a whole lot more. I had the best of both worlds. I was still able to be with my family while going in to work a few days a week. But it made the summer very busy. Coordinating schedules was the biggest challenge, but we were blessed to have one of the young women in our neighborhood be willing to babysit one morning a week for the entire summer! I'm sure she could have found something better and more fun to do, but I will always be grateful for her.
The last week of July was Girl's camp. The girls left on Wednesday and even though they aren't my family, I felt so sad sending them off without me. It was very difficult to leave them in the hands of others. I joined them on Friday morning and camp ended Saturday morning.
Right from Girls camp me and John drove to Nephi to meet up with Aunt Deb. My kids were with Aunt Deb and we had plans to stay with her for the rest of the weekend. Fun times were had by all.
About a week later I had Youth Conference. I hadn't been planning on being there, but then I realized I could be there at least the first day. It was so crazy getting everything ready for that. Plus I was trying to get everything ready for our trip to Michigan. It seems as if everything happened at the end of the summer! Thank goodness for the extra work I had this summer that allowed us to make the trip to visit with John's family. The kids were so excited to see Papa John and Grandma Kate!
We left for Michigan on August 13th. Now, the drive can be 24 hours, but with 4 small children, that 24 hours quickly spread into 30! It was a very long drive, but the kids were amazing in the car. The girls didn't fight very much, and the boys were happy as long as we got them out of the car seats every time we stopped! This was the difficult part for me because I wanted them to sleep most of the night, but alas, nothing ever goes as planned.
We spent about 5 days with John's family before heading back home. There were things I needed to take care of and school was starting on the 23rd. School here seriously needs to start later. I felt like we had very little summer. But part of that is my fault for working. I wouldn't trade it for anything though. Life has been crazy but has been so worth it!
Like I said, school started on the 23rd for Amber. Emma started Kindergarten a week later, on the 30th. It is so hard for me to see Emma coming out of school at the end of the day with all the big kids. Seeing her next to all the big kids makes her seem so little still. I've had a harder time sending her to Kindergarten than my oldest. I was so not prepared for this!
Since then we've signed Amber up for soccer so we'll see how this goes. She is so excited. John gets to be her coach, and I am a member of the soccer league board. Amber didn't want to play until she found out John would be her coach! It helps to see both of us excited about her playing. My hope is that she gains some confidence that spills over into other areas. In the past year she has lost a lot of confidence in herself. I would like to see her build her confidence levels again. It makes me sad to see how she is.
Oh, and in the midst of all of that, we've been to the Discovery museum downtown, and the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. And the girls have found time to have play dates with some of their friends. I've found time for a few baking nights in the midst of all this craziness. I need to bake to keep my sanity sometimes.
Despite all of that, I have managed to keep my family fed, the grocery shopping done, and actually get a few minutes of shut eye! Sleep deprived mom is not fun. Just ask my kids, and then ask my husband.
