"After Hours"

On Tuesday, I decided we needed to go to the park.  I thought we would just drive by the school to see if they had next years' class lists up (don't tell my kids, but I'm hoping we won't still be here by the time school starts back up, but I try to humor their interest in next year regardless).  Turns out they didn't, but the girls got all excited to be at the school and asked if we could get out and play there.  It's so fun to see them in their element.  And they sure do feel at  home there (obviously).  It was fun to hear them showing the boys the things they do and how to do this and that.  Brad got really into it and was telling us what HE was going to be doing on the playground next fall when he's in Kindergarten.  Such fun.  I remember the fun times playing on MY school playground "after hours" with my Dad.  It was kinda special.  I had fun trying to catch some action photos of the kids in between sneezes.  My allergies have been INSANE this year so far.  I'm not sure I'm going to make it through all the fun that we have planned. 

Erika was not happy, Bob, not happy.

Swimming Lessons

So I think I already mentioned that I got the wrong time for our lessons. Thinking it was still a Tues/Thurs class I thought that evening lessons would be fun because then Daddy could be there to help me watch the kids improving. Well, turns out it was everyday. And can I just say that having lessons every evening for the last two weeks has been CRAZY, but we tried to make it more bearable playing with the camera :)

Luckily the next session starts tomorrow and it is everyday, but at 10:00 in the morning instead! Much better for our dinnertime and evening lounging! I'm looking forward to it.

The Family Meeting

On Sunday, we went up to Nate's parents' house for the Maynes Family Meeting.  We are obsessive picture takers now, and can't even resist snapping a few while we're sitting around waiting for people.... It's fun to get some good pictures of everyone though :)

On our way home we drove by the Oquirrh Moutain Temple for some pictures.  The sky was beautiful that day.  Unfortunately we could not capture the beauty of the sunset, and until I get photoshop figured out, the temple will be too dark or the background too washed out.... but I liked these enough to share.... and Brent and Sarah made me feel really good about them :)  I don't think they realize how much it means coming from them :)  But anyway.....

rainy days make the best sunsets

We pretend like we got this camera for me, but it was really for Nate.  Check out these sunset ones he took on the ninth.  He has an amazing eye for these....

Had a bad day

Tuesday was a crappy day. It was one of those days where it wasn't so much WHAT happened, but that it did, that made it so bad. It felt a little like the downer days from post partum that I thought I was done having. I know a little of it was being sad about Grandpa, but the rest..... well, I think that was me and my bad attitude. As the day went on, I kept trying to think of good things and being grateful for the little things.... it was tough, and I was going to share a huge list of them, but never actually got around to it. I did enjoy a few minutes with Erika cuddled up on my chest sleeping which doesn't happen too much. Not because of her, but because I have 5 other fairly needy children who need my attention by the time I get her to sleep. It was nice. Most of my plans kept falling through all day, but we did manage to make it over to the Rainbow shack and got some yummy snow cones! Love that! I cuddled with Noah for a little bit, and then Luke right after. I LOVE being able to cuddle with my little ones. Even if it's just a few minutes. It's almost therapeutic for me. And last night after I laid sleeping little Erika down in her crib, I had this urge to just look at each one of my little angels as they slept. What an AWESOME feeling it is to see my sweet, children, all peacefully asleep. That is also therapy for me. I wish I took more time to just enjoy them during the day. Tuesday was a crappy day, but I could have changed it completely if I had just stopped cleaning the house, stopped being bugged by the fighting, and stopped frowning! I need to write this down so that I can remember to smile. And so that I can remember to let myself stop for a minute to cuddle and love these precious little angels who have made my life what it is. I don't know what I'd do without them. And yeah, it's hard! Being a mom is just hard!! It's as simple as that. But it's not AS hard if we can reap the reward and recognize the blessings. Moms don't get thanked a lot, and being a mom isn't the most glamorous of jobs, but I would choose being a mom over getting thanked and being glamorous any day. I love that I have these little people to share my time with. Hopefully those crappy days are fewer and far between, and I hate to dwell on it since it was one out of a lot of good days, but just so that I can remember how to avoid those days. That's life.