Jessica had her 36 year birthday and rented out a huge water slide. Kevin and Courtney's family was in town, and we had a good time. She really knows how to throw a party that the kids will love. This is her second year of celebrating this way, and I think it will be a tradition.
I took some of the kids out for ice cream while the boys were at football. Mercedes and I missed our tradition of watching Women's Conference and going out to eat, so this was what we came up with to make-up.
Right after this picture was taken, Cub knocked the scarecrows head off...
Luke went hiking with me. He is a hiking machine!!! He seriously wore me out. We sprinted the whole way down and at one point, he told me that I was slowing him down. Then, he took advantage of my tired legs and challenged me to a sprint race afterwards. I promised, him two years ago, that the day he out-sprinted me, I'd pay him $10. Well, he got his $10...
After the hike, on the ride home, Luke asked me if I liked being a girl. I told him that I did. He asked me what was the hardest part about being a girl? Keeping it light, I said, "well, I can't pee standing up." He agreed that that would be awful. I asked him what the best part of being a boy was. He said, "well, I don't get syrup in my hair."
This is what church in the year 2020 looks like.
This is what goofy golfing in the year 2020 looks like.
This is what a teenager in the year 2020 looks like.
Joshua: Joshua is very in-tune with my emotions. When I start feeling stressed, he tells the kids to quiet down and give mom a break. Usually they ignore him and get even louder with their chorus's of "mom!". The other day, Luke sliced his finger pretty good. I'm not great with blood, so Joshua ran and got his first aide kit and took care of it. I wish he had been home when Caleb's lip busted open and blood was everywhere. I called my parents to come over, but by the time they had gotten to my house, I had put Cub in the bath and cleaned him all up. I was proud of myself. Joshua has been struggling with the rigor of jr. high. It's a different beast than elementary school and we've been adjusting to help him be more responsible. He's had a good attitude and has had many late nights doing homework. The other night, it all felt like too much. I could sense that he was overwhelmed, stressed, worried, and things seemed heavy. He was up doing homework until 10 pm. He didn't openly start sharing all of his thoughts, but I could tell. So, instead of making him go to bed right away, I made him come sit by me on the couch and watch Dr. Strange with me for a little while. He's a sweet boy.
Mercedes: She's had a hard year with her teacher this year. She's had a fair share of crying after school each day. She's had her "cycles" of emotion, and I am sure the real "cycle" is just around the corner. She can shift from being a bit beastly to being incredibly loving and sweet, so quickly that it's the definition of mood swings. The tears have become pretty intense too. Sometimes she doesn't even know why she is crying. She's a tender hearted girl. She is quick to say sorry and quick to forgive. I have always said that she is both Sunshine and Hurricane, sometimes at the same time. Every night, she says over and over, "I LOVE you guys SO much". The other day I took her to Ross at her begging. I told her over and over again that I wasn't planning on buying her anything. When we got to the parking lot, she said, "Jessica says that I am the best negotiator. I know you said you weren't buying me anything, but you never know." She said it with a hopeful ring in her voice. She also is very afraid of diving. So much so that Papa Mac had to promise to take her to Whataburger if she got up the gumption to dive. Well, he ended up taking her and every other grandkid because every other grandkid also wanted to earn Whataburger by doing something hard to them. Luke did a backflip, Hannah practiced her backwalkover over and over again, and Caleb had to go to school for three weeks with a good attitude. Recently, my dad spelled out to my mom whether or not they should take the kids to I C E C R E A M. Mercedes got excited and said, "yes! Yes! Please, Yes?!" My dad asked her if she knew what I C E
C R E A M was. She said, "no, but it sounds delicious!"
Luke: Luke has a big heart. He sobbed so hard recently because Bear got in trouble and couldn't come to the sleepover. He was so sad. I told him he could continue to be a good example to Bear and he said, "Oh, don't worry mom, I have already told him everything he needs to know to keep the commandments." He loves Bear so much. Hannah was quite worried about Luke. She has him wrapped around her finger and can take advantage of him. He adores her and lets her get away with too much. So, I was glad to see how sad she was to see him so sad. Luke was telling my mom about his crush named, Alley. He told my mom that he buys her things so that she will feel special and he pays attention to what she likes. Turns out that she likes Airhead candies.
Hannah: Hannah is a tease. Sometimes she teases too much, but she laughs and laughs and keeps teasing. We are trying to help her see that it is only fun if everyone is having fun. Hannah loves is when I tuck her in and sing her birth song. She makes me kiss her when the song says, "say nighty night and kiss me". She dances along to the song as she lies in her bed. Of course she doesn't stay there. None of the kids stay in bed after I have tucked them in. There are about 20 "night nights" and "I love you's", but I am old enough now to realize that time is fleeting and these tuck-ins with my younger kids are getting fewer and fewer. I am definitely in that transition period of motherhood, shifting away from being a mom of little kids into a middle-aged mom of older kids. It's both fun, stressful, happy, and sad. My afternoons are packed and it's hard sometimes.
Caleb: Caleb has turned into a monster this year. Harsh? It's true. The cute, feisty, smart little boy that we all know and love is still there, but so is this stubborn, broad-chested, foot-stamping, silent-treatment-giving, monster child. He hates school and lets me know it every single day. Every single day he has a "tummy ache" that somehow prevents him from going to school happily. He tells me it's because he has to stay silent and not talk at school, and that his teacher doesn't love him as much as his mommy loves him. He says he just loves being home so much and doesn't understand why I would want to send him to school. Well, the other day he had one bout of diarreah and the new Covid rule is that you must stay home for 72 hours after symptoms disappear. He had no fever, no other symptoms, but he wasn't allowed to be at school for three days. Caleb was SO happy. It was better than Disneyland. He told me that he was so excited to be home with no one but his mommy. I helped him pray for his tummy to feel better, and instead of repeating after me, he opened his eyes and said, "no! I pray that my tummy never feels better and hurts forever so that I can stay home with just my mommy!!" It was really cute and sweet, and I think he did love staying home with me. We went on a bike ride again together. We haven't done that in a long time. I took him to the store and bought him a dollar toy. His siblings were really jealous and mad. So the next day he asked me to take him to the store again, but this time he didn't want me to buy him anything, instead he wanted me to buy his "brudders" and sisters something. See? The sweet boy is still there, too.
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