Birthdays, Basketball, Baseball=Busy!

Jack had Basketball Camp for three days and to say he was excited would be a big understatement! He is in t-ball and Julia is in Coach Pitch baseball, so that's our Tuesday and Thursday nights!

June is a busy month for birthdays around here! Aaron & Julia's birthdays are 4 days apart, so it's just a big party around here!

Look Who's One!

This picture just makes me want to squeal, honestly between the comb over hair to the rolls on the legs and the EYES---he is just the cutest. I have no reservations saying that at all! I just love Luke so much! He is such a joy to have around.
The kids & I had so much fun getting his party ready in time for Aaron to get home from work and Luke to wake up from his nap---have I mentioned what a great sleeper he is?! Doesn't that just make him even cuter?

Blogging--A Monthly Venture!

You know how satisfying it is to reach a goal? And you know when you deliberately set your goal reallllly low just to sorta cheat your way to that satisfying feeling? Well, thats what I've decided to do with blogging! My goal: at least a monthly update--this way I stay in the game, but don't add anything to the guilt list!
So, here are a few tidbits from the last month:
He loves his lasagna and I love his cheeks!
He loves his cookies & I love making them with him---way too often his incentive for taking a nap: make cookies with mommy when you wake up!
Papa, Grammy, Baba & Nana know this very well---Jack loves popsicles! He even has created his own apple pops--frozen apple juice!
So, before you jump to all these conclusions like food is our only highlights in life and our children always either have a dirty face or a dirty shirt on (because these pictures are the ONLY time those things happen around here!), we have done a lot of other things lately----planted a square foot garden, pulled off a successful teacher appreciation week, played outside a lot & more. I will leave you with this beauty that I am currently extremely proud of:

I stopped by the school today during lunch (some may say I do this too much, but I say it's a wonderful window into your child's life!) and Julia excitedly ran up to me and announced that she passed off the final level of the Math in a Minute program, level 15---so, she will receive her "Master's Degree"! She said, "I'm the only one in the school that got it" and this cute little boy looked up at me and said, "Not even the 6th graders got it!" It was so fun to hear the news from Julia--way to go!

Birthdays

I seem to always have an excuse about not having pictures to add---somehow it doesn't seem like an official post without pictures. But, this time I left my camera at my parents' house over easter---I always leave about 5 things at their house and Aaron's parents' house every time we go down.
So, I resorted to a disposable camera for all the latest events--I couldn't let two birthdays go by without pictures (Jack & Adam).
Jack turned 6 on Saturday! Wow--6! I love my Jack so much---he is such a great boy! Adam's birthday is in two days. When I asked him what kind of a birthday party he wanted (just with the family) he said a red one---I think I can handle that.
Pictures to come when I turn in my disposable camera, the old fashioned way--remember when we all did that--the envelopes, the excitement of getting your pictures back, the scramble to rip off your side of the picture where you have three chins or bad hair!
Also on Saturday, Julia had a piano recital and did a great job. Aaron was at school, so I had every intention of videoing it--well, I had the camera, but it never came out of the case. Somewhere in between Adam dancing around in front of the piano to him running out of the room to him slamming doors---the video just didn't happen.
Last night our family did Family Home Evening at the two nursing homes in Soda Springs. I was really proud of Julia and Jack--Julia played the piano, they both said parts and they sang the new primary song, "The Family is of God"--I think that's what it's called, it's four verses long--they did awesome, I love that they will do things like that with confidence. And Adam & Luke did a great job looking cute!
So, thats my pictureless post--I know boring! I guess I will throw in this picture I got on my email--for all the three people that read this blog--remember my blurp about pegged jeans, well I got this email from J Crew---the jean of the season--it's for real--pegged is back!

Ode to Grace

Lately, I have been going through the usual cycle of feeling that the life outside of Grace would be a little more fabulous than within. It's not a the grass is always greener feeling, more like the grass is more exciting over there, some where, any where else kind of feeling.
But, because I have all the right answers, just not all the right actions (this is a joke!), I reminded myself to count my many blessings, name them one by one--So, here is my ode to Grace, in a listed form:
1. I can drive around the entire town & wave to everyone in 5 minutes, actually that's sort of an exaggeration, more like 3 minutes!
2. I can walk into the gas station to a very cheery welcome of "Hi, Mrs. Chambers" and a couple of weeks ago when I was minding my own business in a perfectly acceptable hot pink mom-suit (matching sweats with hooded sweatshirt) I had one of the "regulars" (you know the ones that sit at the table with their hats on the top of their head in the gas station and shoot the breeze about who knows what for at least 3 hours a day) tell me that I looked like the easter bunny. To which I replied, "I'm just doing my part to welcome in spring." My point: this type of exchange would only happen in a small town!
3. Thanks to amazon and diapers.com, I have all the shopping conveniences I need.
4. Remember the song from Cheers, "I want to go where everybody knows my name"---thats my life!
5. I pretty much see all of your potatoes before the hit the produce aisle at the grocery stores. I see them in large trucks, I see them fall off the trucks and bounce around the road, I see them growing in fields all around me--I see them Everywhere!
6. My children want to sleep outside, are easily pleased by having a quarter to get a gumball at the drug store and can walk in and out of the city library just from my view from the car. They are happy and have no idea what traffic is or how many Jonas Brothers there are.
7. In all seriousness, I have so much to be grateful for. I love our home here, even if I am tripping over a toy every time I turn around (nearly sprained my ankle yesterday). They are some great people here and most importantly: our children are healthy and happy.
Speaking of healthy---noticeably not on the list: having to drive for an hour for a dr. appt, but in that too I can see a blessing--spending quality car time with my children---ha!

Joy

I've been thinking a lot about President Monson's talk about finding joy in the journey of life. I have had a lot on my mind lately, but I have realized that there are little things each day that give me a smile and bring joy in my life. I would also be amiss if I didn't mention that every time I hear the the word joy, I am brought back to Joy School--"Oh Boy, I've Got Joy!"---If you know this song, you'll get a laugh out of this! So, here are some little things that have made me smile in the last couple of days....

Aaron gets the Wall Street Journal everyday as part of his MBA program. So, the other day Jack grabbed the paper and sat down in the chair and gave out this really dramatic sigh (like, "look at me, I'm reading something important") I just watched him, I didn't want to get in the way of his curiosity. So, after a good 5 minutes of careful study, he got up and said, "Look mommy, they are so happy because they got their freedom." Not too far off from the original story---another great Jack moment!
Julia lost her other front tooth! As a mom, I feel like there are a lot of things I do, but pulling teeth out is not one of them! I am hands off with that one, it grosses me out. So, after several days of it being really loose, it came out at school.Also, I rediscovered a wonderful treat from my childhood. We've had little ones sick around here the last few days, so I had some saltine crackers on hand. Well, I had a blast from the past when I decided to make some frosting to go with those crackers---yep, frosting and saltine crackers to make a yummy sweet and salty little sandwich treat! So good! Don't knock it until you try it.

the "Goo Goo"

One last picture for the sake of equality & because it's too cute to resist!