Behemoth Dandelion

Happy Birthday To Me

It's my birthday! I've spent most of the day driving places, but there has been some celebrating. Topher and Phoebe took a birthday walk with me. I took the younger three to eat lunch and watch Meet Me in St. Louis with some friends. I spent the evening getting to know some of the women in our new ward at a Relief Society Activity and when they found out it was my birthday (a friend who switched wards with us brought me flowers at the activity) they all sang me Happy Birthday. I came home and opened a few cards and a gift from a friend.

And Bryan got me a gift. It's something I've needed so I'm really excited about it.

Guys, I have my own sliding compound miter saw!

The Ukulele Makes Me Happy

Sophie and I performed in a Ukulele Orchestra concert last night. The performance included us singing a duet of I Don't Want to Live on the Moon. I love that this is something she and I can share.

Happy Campers

Phoebe returned on Saturday from an exceptionally hot week at Girls Camp. The girls weren't allowed to have their phones so Phoebe didn't take any pictures. The leaders have said pictures from the official camp photographer will be forthcoming. Until they actually arrive, I have this picture of Phoebe and her friend Kenzie that Kenzie's mom sent me when she dropped them off. 

She had a great week, except for the heat. And except for a major thunderstorm that hit the last night of camp.

Keep It Cool

All last week it was extremely hot here. The temperature was in the 90s, but it felt like it was in the low 100s. We spent most of the week inside with the blinds closed to keep the heat out and the cool in. But on Friday morning we joined some friends at a nearby state park and splashed around. It was delightful.

Impressive...but Creepy

Sophie said she wants to be a stop motion animator when she grows up. This looks like a good way to start.

Get Outside

Phoebe is at Girls Camp right now. It's her first time going. She was really anxious, but she agreed to attend because Sophie would be there for one of the days. Girls Camp is a week long church camp for young women ages 11-18. The 10-year-olds were invited to join for the second day. That was yesterday. Sophie was as excited as Phoebe was anxious.

We carpooled so I didn't have to take Sophie up in the morning, but I was responsible for picking them up in the evening. It took me about an hour to drive to the camp. Sophie had an amazing time and didn't want to leave. She and her friend chatted the entire ride home about how fantastic it was. They swam in a pool and paddled canoes in a lake and tried archery and played games and did several other awesome things. I like being the pickup driver for activities because I get to hear all the details about what happened during their adventure.

Before I had a chance to locate Sophie, Phoebe spotted me. She was looking out the window of the dining hall when I walked up. She came barreling out and nearly knocked me over with her hug. She said she missed me and was so glad I was there and that she was ready to go home. She was partially kidding.

When I finally found Sophie and convinced her to leave, Phoebe followed us out. She ultimately stayed behind for a few more days of camp, but she did seem tempted to hop in the van and head home.

Hopefully she has a positive report when the week is over.

I love that Sophie had such a great day!

The Beach: Day 2

On day two we visited a local zoo, played at a cool playground, then hit the beach again. I took way fewer pictures on day two, mostly because I was in the water with the kids. After the beach we all hurried back to the hotel, got cleaned up, then went to meet Peter's girlfriend's family. They were lovely. The last picture of Cooper was taken at the beach less than a mile from their house.

The next morning we drove home. I stopped at a carwash and did my best to vacuum out all the sand we had with us. We had a fun few days, but we were so glad to be home.

The Beach: Day 1

Last week I took the kids down to the beach! The real reason for the trip was so Peter could see the girl he met at church prom back in April. They've been talking nearly every night since. Spoiler: Peter officially has a girlfriend now. This is new territory for us as a family.

Unfortunately Bryan wasn't able to join us. He had too many meetings that he couldn't get out of. So he had a quiet house for a few days and we all missed him.

While Peter spent time with his girlfriend, the other kids and I spent time in the Atlantic Ocean.

We brought sooooooooo much sand back to the hotel that night. It was fun though.

The New Place

We had our first Sunday in our new ward.

It was...tricky.

The new ward is much bigger than our old ward. It was a regular church meeting with regular classes. I wanted at least a little time dedicated to introductions. In Sunday School we were split into groups and I asked that we take a moment to say our names before we started on the assignment the teacher had given us.

The building is old and Bryan and I both had some trouble breathing while inside. Rather, I kept having to cough and Bryan had to walk outside a few times to get air.

There are a lot of youth, at least for an east coast ward. So, maybe twenty kids? That's about the number we had in our old ward as well. We brought nine of those kids from the old congregation. There aren't many Primary kids. We brought ten kids from our old ward, I think we more than doubled their numbers. Sophie is the only kid her age in the ward. She felt pretty lonely today.

Apparently there were only sixty-eight people in our old ward today. My friends told me it was a small and quiet group. And they said we were missed.

We missed them too.

Idyllic

I took the younger four to a friend's house this week so they could run around this gigantic yard and I could get a lesson in building bookcases. My friend supervised the kids while her patient husband taught me beginning woodworking. She sent me this picture after we were back home. The kids were all eating Otter Pops, or the east coast equivalent.

This picture makes me smile.

Sleeping Cool

I made the mistake recently of calling Topher beautiful. He informed me that because he's a boy he is cool, not beautiful.

Newsworthy

On a lighter note, Peter was featured on two different news sites last week! The local newspapers sent photographers to graduation and they posted some of the pictures on their websites.

Hot and Cold

Sophie drew this on the whiteboard on our fridge last week. I thought it was cool and took a picture. It occurred to me yesterday that this picture accurately depicts how my heart feels about the changes in our ward boundaries. I go between feeling cold and empty with sadness to hot with anger.

I know that I'll be okay with this at some point. That point is not right now.

Change Is Hard

Our ward boundaries were changed yesterday. A small but highly populated section of our ward was lopped off and moved into a different ward. We're in that section. Instead of our church building being a thirteen minute drive away (and close to the library and most of the schools) it's now a 20 minute drive away without traffic, but will likely be closer to thirty most of the time. And the only thing it's close to is the mall.

They also realigned the Stake boundaries. Both wards in our old building were pulled into the Stake north of us. The Stake Center is nearly two hours away. We're now close enough to the Stake boundary that we can walk to it. Our elementary school is in the other Stake.

We're heartbroken. I think I'm going through the stages of grief. This is the longest we've ever been in a ward. And it was a really good ward. And because they're in a different Stake we won't even see them at Stake activities. 

I only got to serve as the Primary president for six months. I joked that I either nailed it or bombed it. I had to make a joke because I'm so sad I don't get to serve in that role longer.

Topher's two best friends at church are in the other ward. Sophie's best friend is in the other ward.

I know I can still organize activities and invite people over to see them, but I'll be honest, those are not skills I readily possess.

Many of the people in the old ward assured me that we'll be a blessing to our new ward and that we'll have opportunities for growth. That may be true, but all I want is someone to mourn with me right now and let me be sad. And that's how most of the people in our position feel.

I know wards get reorganized all the time. But knowing that doesn't help much.

Summer, Where Do We Begin?*

The first day of summer break included:

• sleeping in
• a park date with friends for the younger two
• a missed spot of sunscreen
• a very sunburnt knee
• multiple stores to find new swim shorts
• pizza
• a pool party for the older three
• a planning meeting for our summer season of the kid's choir that took place during the pool party
• a plan to sleep in again tomorrow
• zero pictures taken

*This is one of my favorite songs from Phineas and Ferb!

The Last Last Day

Today was the last day of school! Full disclosure: Peter's last day was one week ago, Cooper's last day was yesterday, but everyone else finished today. And it was officially the last day of school on the district calendar.

This will likely be the last time I can take a last day of school picture with all five of them. Technically, it's also the first last day of school picture with all five of them actually in school.

Hats Off

Peter graduated from high school yesterday! Bryan was the official photographer for our family and his pictures are still uploading, so here are the few that I have.

In southern California you see lots of graduation leis. Apparently this is not a Pennsylvania tradition. We made the four (one carnation, two candy, one cash) that Peter is wearing and I had to ask the teachers checking the students in for graduation if he was allowed to wear them. (If they said no I didn't want them getting tossed, so I walked up with him in case I had to carry them off.) They had no idea and said yes because there was no one there with more authority to tell them no. With his height, his long hair, and his leis, he was always easy to spot on the field.

Bryan took this picture and then texted it to me, so I didn't have to wait for the mass image upload to get it. The cash lei was initially too short, so I carried it into the stadium after he lined up with his class. Bryan, being the hero that he is, figured out how to lengthen it so it looked like a lei and not an Elizabethan stiff collar. He left our seats and delivered it to Peter just before the graduates headed into the school to arrange themselves alphabetically.

This is the rest of us while Bryan made his delivery. It was sooooooo hot. We were all dripping sweat.

Here's the pre-graduation field.

Topher mostly did well sitting through the two hour graduation (there were five musical numbers and at least five speakers), but he definitely got antsy. We took a few pictures with my phone to keep him engaged.

My sister-in-law Falisha sent me this screenshot of Peter after his name was called. We had family in California, Idaho, Utah, Virginia, and Maryland that tuned into the livestream to watch him graduate. There may have been more that watched, those are the ones that I know of. It was cool that family could be there virtually.

The graduates were allowed to tastefully decorate their hats. This is what Peter put on his. Yesterday he was a senior and today he's a freshman again. He's off to BYU in August!

Congratulations, Peter!

And Beyond

"But why is space infinite?" - Topher, contemplating the big questions while eating his lunch after church on Sunday.

He followed it up with, "Cooper, infinite means it has no end." 

Now we know.

One Step Closer

On Saturday we gathered at a friend's house to celebrate the four kids graduating from high school from our ward this year. We set up a table to display their accomplishments, had two grills cooking food, many available desserts, and a giant backyard for kids to run around. It was a wonderful three hours and Peter felt appropriately celebrated.

And I didn't take any pictures.

I guess I'm learning to live in the moment.

I also forgot to reapply sunscreen, so maybe it's more that I'm tired and overwhelmed and my brain can't remember.

Other than some sunburns, it was a great.