A few pics from September

While I'm here, I'll just share a few random pics from September as well. This is before I was sick, but it was a quiet month anyway other than Dane's birthday. That's kind of how I like it.  

Last day of swimming for the summer on Labor Day!

Dane turned 7! Everyone was very excited. 

He got a fish for his birthday. It was very exciting, until it died two days later. And then we went through two MORE fish that also died until I got a 16-cent minnow that has lasted the last month now. 

He was very excited about his Pokeball cake. 

We had Dallin and Krystel and Kurt here for his birthday dinner!

We sure love Dane.

Dane played soccer this fall and even scored a goal. 

Tommy took the boys to a Dallas Symphony Orchestra concert for kids. They actually really enjoyed it. (We are trying to get them a little more cultured.)

Lucy is way too coordinated and good at climbing for a two-year-old. 

Picnic lunch at the temple with my two friends. 

We went to a concert of The Fray and One Republic with DK. So fun.

We FINALLY repainted our peeling garage door. It looks way better. The boys only helped for about 20 seconds but this makes it look like they did a lot. 

This is what Graham does during naptime. I don't complain though because he stays quiet when he's doing this. 

Remember how we're trying to get them cultured? I signed the boys up for a choir. Graham loves it, Dane... does not. 

We finished reading the Book of Mormon after over 5 years of reading it together as a family. We had to document that exciting achievement. 

These two LOVE play-doh. It's the best. 

Benson is such a big cute baby. We love having a cousin close by. Everyone loves him the most. 

Dane really wanted to read outside in the tree the other day. He now calls this his "reading spot."

Graham is quite the train track builder. I love seeing him work and play. 

Long time no see

I haven't blogged in five months. Literally. My last post was on July 1. The reason is because we went on a bunch of trips in July and August, so I was overwhelmed with too many pictures to share from those trips.

And then...

I have wondered for a while what would be the final straw that broke my camel's back when it came to a lot of the things I have going in my life. Like this blog, my book blog, my really well-organized photos on our computer, my photo books, journaling, etc.... I knew those probably weren't that sustainable forever, because those are all extras. But at what point would they all become too much?

I now know. It was becoming pregnant with my fourth baby, having crippling morning sickness, and becoming our ward Young Women's president at the same time. That was it! I lost all ability to do all of these extra things that I have long enjoyed. There has been no journaling, no blogging, pretty much not even any reading. All I have been able to do over the last two months was survive, keep our kids alive long enough for Tommy to come home, and mostly do my calling. Things are much better now--I'm not 100%, but I am definitely surfacing from the coma of self-absorption I've been in while not feeling very well. 

So while I can't promise I'll be back to blogging super regularly, here are a few randomly chosen pictures from October. 

We went camping with some friends over my birthday. It was a huge blessing because I felt fine the whole time we were there. 

The best part of camping is seeing these little cuties running around together.

Birthday s'more for me!

Dane reading five books at a time. 

Graham's reading lessons are very, very slowly coming along...

Lucy playing hide and seek.

She loves her pink calculator phone that she got at the dollar store. 

Helping at Graham's preschool class one morning. He was happy to have me there. 

Tommy took Dane to a high school football game as a Daddy date. It was practically the best night of Dane's life. 

We went to the Heard Museum and saw the dinosaurs. 

We told the kids about having a baby, and they were excited. 

Lucy loved her big sister shirt we got. 

Halloween costumes: Little Cindy Lou Who.

A haunted house (Graham was so cute)

Steve from Minecraft (?? Don't ask me!)

Grandma and Papa came for a week to visit. We got to have lunch at Dane's school with him one day. 

We went to the Dallas Arboretum and visited the pumpkin exhibit there. 

Our favorite pumpkin patch. We sent this picture to Tommy's family to tell them we were having a baby. 

June at a glance

June has been, in a word, DREAMY. It has been such a great month. I can't even tell you how happy I have been to be able to sleep in until 7 and not have to rush to get Dane to school, and how nice it has been to have Dane home all day. Dane has been reading up a storm, playing continuously with Graham and Lucy, and has not once said the dreaded words "I'm bored" to me. He hasn't had time to be bored with all of the playing and reading he's been doing! I have been so happy with this month. I feel like this is the first summer in a long time that I haven't dreaded it and worried about how hard it was going to be when it got hot--maybe because I don't have a baby this year so it's much easier for us to go swimming and do outdoor activities. We have swam a TON this month, but there are hardly any pictures of it, so here are some pictures of what other things we did. It has been a fun-packed month!

We went back to Arbor Hills and spent a few hours playing in the creek there. It did my heart good to see the kids playing in the water and just exploring and building things and having a grand old time. They could have stayed forever. 

The kids and I went to the Dallas Heritage Village, which is basically a less well-run Nauvoo for Dallas. I actually really enjoyed it (although I wish there were some of the Nauvoo missionaries there to help explain things). This is something I would never have done before this summer, because it's a solid 35 minutes away in downtown Dallas, and that has always seemed totally out of reach for me. But it was fun and we had a good time and still got back for naps without anyone falling asleep. So it was perfect. 

Austin is staying with us for the summer, doing an internship at Capital One. It is so fun having him here. 

Dallin drove out with Austin to move his stuff here. 

We made it to a summer dollar movie for the first time in 5 years! (Once again, because I don't have a baby!) It was sooo cute--the movie was the new Grinch movie, which I hadn't seen. But there was once scene where they showed the little Grinch being sad because he had no family or home at Christmas, and Lucy started sobbing because "his mom and dad go to work! He needs his mom and dad!" She is such an empathetic little soul. I love her. 

Lunch at Capital One.

The three Capital One employees (or soon-to-be)... it still doesn't feel real that we have managed to get Austin and Dallin here (although Austin just temporarily!). 

Father's Day. Best dad ever. 

We used our Pogo pass to go to Hawaiian Falls a few weeks ago. It was Dane's dream.

Homemade popsicles--another thing on my summer to-do list.

We got passes to the Heard Museum this summer. We hiked around through the passages in the back, and then spent over an hour with the kids playing in the little village of houses. They were SO happy. I'm really glad we got an annual pass. 

So much swimming at the Fun Club!

Dane got a much-needed new bike and helmet (he outgrew his old bike over six months ago). He is very proud. 

Someone was groggy after her nap...

Our garden has been a success this spring! But sadly our sunflowers have stopped doing so well. 

Dane did a baseball camp with his friend Preston the first week of summer. And the weather was so nice that we spent most of the time just playing at the park nearby while he was there--it was not hot at all most of June!

I've wanted to do cooking lessons with the kids for so long, and we've had fun doing them this summer. They've learned how to spread butter/PB, how to peel vegetables, and how to cut soft foods. 

Chores! Chores! Chores! Another favorite thing about summer!

Someone is always very very sad about not having Daddy home.

Dane did a tennis camp after his baseball camp, and liked it even more. 

These three were so cute at Kid Mania. Lucy wanted to follow around after the boys, and Dane and Graham were so sweet helping her around the whole place. 

Lucy's first dentist appointment. She was scared but once we laid her down and she could watch TV and wear sunglasses, she didn't make a peep. 

Texas sunsets are just killer. 

Summer buzzes! I love them. 

Lucy insisted on getting a haircut too. I just moved the buzzer around behind her head for 30 seconds and said, "Good job!" and she hopped down. 

Lucy loves Austin. We all love having him here with us. 

Not to make June sound like it's been 100% perfect. There have been many meltdowns and even one day where all four of us (the three kids and I) were all crying at the same time. But I have really, really enjoyed having more energy and attention to do the fun summer things that I've always wanted to do more of with the kids but have not been able to with new babies. This summer is like a gift for me, and we have made the most of it. There are still so many other things on our summer bucket list that I don't think we will make it to, but we have done our best so far, and I have also made a big effort to give the kids lots and lots of unstructured free play time, both outside and inside, with friends and without, and it has been worth it. I will look back fondly on this summer.