"Then pa went and chopped a tree down himself"

This used to be a small bush in our front yard. 

But this wet spring made it shoot up. And every year we were sick of getting poked as we reached behind it to yank out the small trees that were sprouting up.

So one day, JB and I hacked it down and pulled it out.

Then he got the other one down the row, and moved some a previous bush over and I think it looks tons better. Now we just need that bush's roots to take.  Ah, the joys of home ownership.

Temple Square

Last Saturday, our primary had a great activity at Temple Square. 

I am the secretary, and I only work a couple blocks away, so I volunteered to get the scavenger hunt ready. I went over and took pictures, then put this handout together. 

We met at the reflecting pond, and my children couldn't resist trying to get wet.

We had a great turnout! I feel like it was around 50 people there, with leaders, kids and their parents.

After wandering around spotting the pictures, we ended at the North Visitors Center, where this famous Christ statue is on the upper floor.

By the way, my parents took an engagement photo in 1977 by this same statue, posed kind of like this. 

The sister missionaries then had us gather in one of the theater rooms, where they talked with the children about the Temple, and bore their testimonies that God loves them ("and Heavenly Father does too!" said one child). We then met outside on the grass by the Tabernacle for a treat.

I really think the activity turned out so nice. I sometimes still can't believe how close I live to this iconic place, because I grew up so far away from it. It is a beautiful, peaceful spot. And it is the place where JB and I were sealed.

Dating

Having a teenager who can babysit means JB and I sometimes slip away for a date. It's usually around 4pm, when we can eat an early dinner with no wait.

Case in point, gift certificates my brother couldn't use and gave us to a burger place downtown.

And a gift card from JB's aunt to Cheesecake Factory. 

We got a peanut butter chocolate concoction for dessert and I was so happy. Then we walked around Deseret Book downtown and saw the exhibit on President Nelson (highly recommend).  Most of our dates are watching our shows together on Friday night and I start to fall asleep on the couch.

For fun, I'm throwing in this picture from Mother's Day weekend the beautiful Costco chocolate cake. We all enjoyed that together and LOVED it.

We also sometimes get spontaneous, like an afternoon when we walked down to the school to play.

Max does act like a third parent, though. Even with us in the room.

He has done some babysitting for some families in our ward, and it's cute to see them run up and jump on him when they see him.

James is 6

It was James's turn for a birthday party! 

My brother Joe is such a trooper. He was the star of the show, by bringing along some reptiles and such to show off for James's friends and cousins.

 

This is Buttercup, and she was HEAVY.

His friends (and their parents) were so nice in what they selected for him. Dinosaurs were a theme. 

I was really proud of the cake I made.

 

He posed with his dinosaurs, and later I found even more in his room.

 

He also wore that new Spiderman glove for a week afterward. The costume was last year's Christmas present (after Halloween sale, baby).

 

James loved being the center of attention that day. I pray every day he will grow up confident and kind and smart and good, and change the world for the better.

And your little dog, too

I had some days off work while JB went on a backpacking trip with some friends. This coincided well with the time that my mother-in-law really needed some help after an injury.

So while the boys were in school, Millie and I went up and did what we could to help around her house. The best part for Millie, was walking Teenie, who was staying with John and Pauline while Jeff and Kim were out of town.

Millie became obsessed with Teenie, calling her "mine pet" and ordering her around. (But then she'd nervously squeal and run from her when we were inside).

Three days, three different dog walking jobs, three different outfits that all under Millie's acceptable clothing choices -- dresses, or swimsuits. Also three days of acceptable hair styles. She always wants a "big pony in the back," but her front hair is still pretty short, so I've learned to style or twist the front away from her face and it looks pretty fancy, I'd say. 

Ben walks our neighbor's dog every day, and he has said he thinks we need a pet. But I just can't do it. We have too many children to clean up after.

School's out

One week ago, school got out for the summer! The last three days were full of ropes courses and 8th grade field day for Max, field days and movies for Ben and Andrew, and Kindergarten water day for James.

(With his bosom friend Dax)

James also had a program in his class a few days before school got out, and here is his smile for my zoomed in phone camera:

He loved Mrs Moray. Andrew had her two years ago, and she is the perfect combination of discipline and love.

Then on the last day, Millie came down to take pictures of the other boys with their teachers.

Ben grew taller than his 5th grade teacher this year, Mrs Marquez.

Andrew didn't mind how Mrs Barica encouraged him to not talk too much in 2nd grade.

Here they all are in their meeting spot outside James's door. (He thought it would be fun to put his nametag on his eye).

I didn't get any pictures of Max on his last day of 8th grade! It was an early out day, and he walked home with some friends while I took a nap. He's going to be in high school in the summer and he's already busy. He's had basketball camps and youth conference ever since getting out of school.

More recommendations

Books

Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles (11 year old Ben really liked it)
Dog Man (8 year old Andrew likes these)
Two Dogs in Trench Coat go to School (Andrew liked it)
Auggie and Me (sequel to Wonder. Max and Ben liked it)
Keeper of Lost Things (skim some of the stories in italics if you are in a hurry)
The Girl With Seven Names (we read this for book group and I was haunted)
The Truth About Miss Ashborne, and Miss Adeline's Match (fluffy escape like Edenbrooke)
Good Night, Mr Tom (RIVETING. 5/5 STARS. READ IT!)


Movies

The Convenient Groom (Hallmark. The whole time I thought, who IS that guy? Then I looked him up and it is Christopher from Gilmore Girls)
How to Fall in Love, My Perfect Match, My Favorite Wedding, and Sailing into Love (All Hallmark. All the right amount of cheese)
Love on the Sidelines (Hallmark. Low-budget acting but the football scenes are from BYU vs Wyoming so it makes the list)
(wow, I am on a Hallmark kick lately. It's just so easy to watch them while doing laundry, and my children can watch them, too, without any language or violence)

Florence Foster Jenkins (Amazon Prime Video. Quirky)
The Man Who Invented Christmas (Amazon. Love Dan Stevens, love Christmas Carol)
True Memoirs of an International Assassin (Netflix -- violence warning but funny: "OW! You brought a knife to a gun fight!")


TV Shows

Whiskey Cavalier (on ABC. I like a good spy action series to mix up all the Hallmark)
Call the Midwife (PBS but I am behind on this season)



Didn't Love/So-So/Real Duds(as in, I didn't even keep watching)


Hallmark or Hallmark-esque: Picture This, Love at Sea, A Date with Miss Fortune, The Wedding Chapel, Betting on the Bride, Coffee Shop, Love at First Glance (this one was obviously filmed in Salt Lake City but wow, snooze fest)

Ordeal by Innocence (Amazon Prime -it was too cruel. Apparently I like reading Agatha Christie but not adaptations)
Silk (Amazon Prime - I stopped at the drug use in the first episode by Rupert Penry-Jones)
Light Between Oceans (DVD from the library - I read a spoiler on my phone while the movie was on and stopped watching)
Bodyguard (TV show on Netflix - the first 20 minutes are heart-pounding. Then 2nd episode, weird decisions are made and I was out of there)


Should I try again?
The Good Place
Victoria
New Girl
Planet Earth


Instagram accounts
(besides the Church accounts and my friends and family, natch)

Camp Patton (a Catholic family in Kansas with 6 children)
theChefAZ (chef for the Utah Jazz and all around nice guy)
askNurseNina (She posts sensible pediatric-type advice)
Kids are the Worst and Things are the Worst


Twitter accounts
(besides all the news, traffic, weather, education, health, fire, police and politician accounts I follow for work)

-CheeseBoy22 (a principal I interviewed once in West Jordan. Some of his jokes have been featured nationally)
-pretty much all the Jazz players but Joe Ingles is the current favorite because of his snark
-TheStakeClerk (hilarious and spot on Church tweets)
-boneyfuller (BYU love fest)

Sometimes I check in on both platforms to see Hank R Smith (great advice), and Steve Tate (he makes me and JB laugh)

I welcome any of your suggestions!

It's just Millie's world

Millie thinks she can scream "jump," and we will all say, "how high, sweetie?" She does get us to do her bidding a lot, but I am trying harder to get her to at least ask nicely. 

I took a parenting course last year when James was going to a counselor to help him with his big feelings. The counselor told me to work on making my instructions shorter, and to the point. Say what you don't want, say what you want, and praise the behavior. 

For example: "Millie. No screaming. Use a soft voice. What do you need? 

GOOD USING YOUR WORDS!"

Some of this is just typical 2 year old behavior, some of it is being the baby of the family. But when she is not screaming, she is so so cute and sweet.

Here she has convinced Max to let her stay up later with him, and watch Frozen songs.

And she got him to squeeze in with her in Nona's play house.

She loves carrying various treasures around in her hand. I remember for Max at this age, it was chapstick. I can't remember what our other boys carried around or if they did as much. It changes every few days for this girl. Soap, nail polish, a battery, and lately, my makeup.

She LOVES dresses and skirts. Hates pants or shorts (and shirts, sometimes). She asks to wear one of her Nona dresses EVERY DAY and we talk about how they are for Sunday. Then I am saving them carefully for her, in case she has a daughter some day.

Here she is again, with Max (her favorite brother lately), in a dress. 

It's either a dress-up princess dress or a cotton dress or her nightgown. I am not kidding about the nightgown -- this outfit below is a baby nightgown with tights.

(snowball bush first featured on this blog ten years ago in this post)

She refused pants for a cold day at the park, so tights it was under her dress.

Or her swimsuit. Swimsuits are also acceptable clothing for this funny girl. And she wants things to be pink, if possible. In this picture below, JB had asked her, "Millie, what color is your dress?" and she said, "Not pink."

I'm just eating it up. It's such a difference from the boys! Though actually, Ben was always very particular about it needing to be sports clothing. For example, see this post about his habits when he was three.