books

Bomb: the race to build and steal the world's most dangerous weapon 5/5 Awesome book! Better than a james bond movie!  I laughed and cried.

Bringing up Geeks 4/5 great book about how to protect kids from going up too fast in a crazy world

The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers 5/5 One of my favorite parenting books. I need to buy this one and mark it up.  Clare picked it up one day and was thumbing though it and later said, "mom, that book said you should show love even when you don't feel like it.  You don't do that."  Totally broke my heart. Obviously I have things to work on.  The think about this book I liked is that it was how to be a happy mother and focused on decisions I should make to be a strong and wonderful person rather than give a list of things i need to do with or to my kids to make them great.

A few things of note. I loved the phrase "kiss on a check from God."
-Like many parents have a rule of one activity per child, parents/moms should have the same rule for themselves. If they are super committed to exercise then there isn't time to PTA, etc. etc. Dont' sign yourself up for too much.
-Sometimes we show our love to kids by signing them up for lots of stuff, pushing, buying and running kids around. They may interpret this as conditions to be met in order for them to be accepted by us!
-do not compete with others. YOU ALWAYS LOSE!!!
-Every child should know that regardless of what she does, even if it means that she sits in her closet for the rest of her life, we will love her ad express our love to her. When we do that, we love unconditionally.
-We love less when we are disappointed. Our problem is our expectations, if we cute the list of expectations we have for our kids in half, I can guarantee that our disappointments will be cut in half and life will be a lot less stressful. (I am still trying to figure out how to do this and still push kids to be great. I am too pushy by nature so this is hard).
-Kids' expressions of love can be fickle. we can't depend on a steady stream of love and need not be angry when moods are less than perfect.
What is the purpose of mothering: To raise emotionally, intellectually and physical healthy kids. Do our daily lives reflect that purpose?

Unbroken 5/5 The most incredible book I've read in a while. So inspiring. If you are not going to read it at the very least you need to find an interview of louis zamerini on you tube and watch it.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9O5yVzc0vQ

Life of pi 4/5 It was tough to read this book at the same time as Unbroken since they are both about surviving on a raft. Unbroken is real and life of pi is fictional.  In the end, even though life of pi was boring, it was incredible that the author was able to capture the same spirit of survival that you find in a "real" survivor story. The human soul is so strong and will go to great lengths to survive under the most difficult circumstances.

A short history of nearly everything by BIll Bryson 4/5 At first I was kinda annoyed at how fast things moved along and without enough detail but I really enjoyed the writing style and it peaked my interest in a few areas that I will go looking for more detailed books about. I find that I have such a special place in my heart for the biological sciences. Hearing him talk about protazoa and cells makes me feel warm and cozy. I miss my days of teaching biology!



I almost always have an audio book and a paper book going at the same time.  I've read some good things lately that I didn't want to forget!  If you have a book to recommend, I'd appreciate if you leave it in the comments! Thanks!

soccer

Clare and Calvin played on a soccer team together this year. Calvin is a little too old for the division (04-05) and Clare is on the young side w/ a Nov 05 birthday but it works out conveniently to have them play together for me. Neither one of them is passionate about soccer and this gives them a chance to play soccer. Clare requested that next year she plays on a team where she won't be the youngest so I will wait until the rotation changes and put her on a 05-06 team where she'll be in the middle of the pack age wise.

Calvin and Clare both did a good job. They worked hard and enjoyed playing.

lexey swims!

This summer Clare asked to take swim lessons. We've taken a couple of years off since we have a pool at home and since I had a new born and then a 1 year old.  Lexey also signed up to take lessons at the same time as Clare. We signed up at the local high school. It was $70 per child for lessons every day for 2 weeks (minus the 4th of july holiday).

Clare learned the strokes and practices distance swimming and diving. She enjoyed it.

Lexey up to this point has been swimming with water wings and she REFUSED to take them off even if Dave or I were swimming with her. She would not try to float or swim. We knew she was perfectly capable of swimming but she was too darn stubborn to try.

At swim lessons she was lucky to be the only girl in her class for that time. Plus,she had two teachers so she got lots of attention. After the first day she was swimming. Over the 2 weeks of class she got much more comfortable in the water and now we have a full fledged swimmer! Yay! Definitely got our money's worth for swim lessons this summer.

She calls these free style strokes "ice cream scoops"

camera in hand!

I don't always carry around my camera but I have this week. It has been fun to capture some of our every day moments. Lots going on with everyone!

On June 30th Dave had $100 left on his meal card and it would go to 0 on July 1st so we went down to the hospital and met him for dinner. We spent all the $ on his card! The kids got a meal and several snacks each. The food is way over priced ($2 for a single granola bar, $3 for cup of fruit) so it was easy for it to all add up. The kids thought it was so fun to get to eat whatever they wanted.

Right after we met up with Dave we heard a lullaby over the speaker in the hospital. Dave said every time a baby is born they play the lullaby (about 10 seconds). Clare asked, "What do they play when somebody dies?"  Our answer: "Um, Clare, we don't really celebrate when somebody dies." She is a funny girl. I'm not sure if it is just natural child curiosity, having a dead grandma or having a dad who has patients die frequently, but she is very interested in death.

Lexey had her first piano lesson with Christine. She did great sitting for the 30 minutes. She has already been practicing a bunch and doing her theory at home and setting a good example of not crying during piano practice! :)

Cute JoJo wearing Clare's "bobbles"

We had some friends over to swim! Janis and her girls were visitning from El Salvador and the Boles girls came over for the day. It was super fun!

We had a handy man over fixing a few things and Calvin said "Mom, I love all the weapons!" I said, "Calvin, they are called tools."  His reply, "yes but I love violence."

The kids followed him around and watching him work for about 3 hours. Poor guy! He was very patient with them!

Love my little JoJo! Turning 2 this week!

We went to the science center with some friends. We've had passes for 2 years and they expire at the end of this month. It has been great. We've really enjoyed going there.
Jo loved the shopping cart.

Lex built a house - she was very proud.

Clare and Hallie built a city (don't have a pic of the finished product but it was very impressive with lots of buildings such as school, hospital, etc)

dear dan

Hi Dan, We are so excited for your birthday Monday!  The girls think we are having a big party but I think we'll save the parties for when you are actually here.

Lexey made a note with a picture of you and her that says I love you Dan (you have seen many of these) and hung it on her wall. She says it reminded her to pray and to pray about you when she does. She always blesses you to do good on your mission and come home safely.

We have had a bee hive in our backyard behind the pool, near all the pool equipment. It has been there for a year or two and we haven't thought much of it. Last week when Jack the pool guy was here he said that last week the bee swarm chased him. He had been taught not to hop in the pool if killer bees are chasing because the killer bees will swarm over your shadow and get you when you come up for air. So, Jack ran to his truck and shut the door. He wasn't able to finish his work w/ our pool stuff. So, anyway today I called "the bee guys" and someone came to look at our bee hive. The guy said it was an Africanized colony (killer bees) and removed all the bees. It was $250. He gave me some tips on a special paint to paint the pool supplies with so that the bees don't come back and try to reestablish themselves in the same location.

Dave has been working like crazy. JoJo always says "dada gurk" (daddy work) and the kids are re-adjusting to having him gone all the time.  Dave is loving it though and it is fun to see him having a good time. I'm glad he loves his work.  He is turning in his application for fellowship this month -July. He asked 3 doctors for letters of recommendation - Dr Levy from Chldren's and Dr's Carter and Marshall from UCSD (current chair and former chair). Levy and Carter both said, "sure, can you send me a draft" so I am working on those letters. So far they are pretty decent but I might send them to Scott to lawyer them up and make the more convincing.

JoJo turns two next week and we're going to make her a monkey cake. Her favorite things in life are animals. We go to the library each week and get her a non-fiction book about animals from the adult area of the library. She isn't really happy unless it is a  monkey book. She is funny.

Glad you are doing so well with the fitness competition. Scott and I are trying to keep up w/ you. It's hard for me in summer to get my exercise in but no that's it hot I guess I'll do it in the pool. I hop in with the kids and tread water while they play. Today we went to the Swim and Tennis club to see Jill Goodrich who is visiting. Apparently she has tons of relatives in your mission area so keep your eye out for all the Goodrich people (Cal's brothers).   I told Clare I'd give her .25 / lap in the big pool and she swam for about an hour and got $8!! Yikes. She is going to run me dry. Maybe I'll have to change it to a dime per lap as we get later into the summer.

Scott proposed to Abbey today. She said yes!

Don't you think Abbey kind of looks like she belongs in the family. I'm sure many a person will assume Lance belongs to her which will probably be nice for everyone to not always have to be explaining about step family stuff.  They are cute and she is great.

So Scott did the most romantic thing for his proposal. He took Abbey to this amazing house he bought and proposed there. They are coming this week and I can't wait to hear the story from her about what she thought about it all and to hear about wedding plans. Can you imagine at age 26 getting a gorgeous house as an engagement gift? Nope, me neither. Pretty amazing.

Chris Ewell took this cute pic of Holli and I walking with Tressel and the girls. He thinks we are quite an amazing sight. I guess we are. I miss my walks now that summer started and it is too hot and I have too many kids home to get my walking in.  During the school year I walk with Holli a couple of days a week.  

around the house

Clare got the camera and took a few pics around the house a few days ago.

We hung this US map on the wall a few weeks ago. Everyone in the family loves to look at the map. When we have visitors over everyone seems to congregate around the map and talk about where they've been and where they are going.  Kinda fun.  When I walk by the map I think, "Where will we be a year from now, and where will we be two years from now?" Could be two different places! Yikes.

Tressel is Clare's BFF.  She really loves him. We all love him. He really makes me crazy sometimes when he empties the trash can or eats food of the counter and I get really mad at him and grumble about how I hate having a dog so Clare thinks I don't like him. I guess I need to be a little more mild mannered! She is probably worried I will throw him out and let the coyotes eat him.

 Little jo in her favorite "cupcake jammies"

I am helping to plan a bridal shower for Marly Davis this week.  I noticed the evite hadn't been viewed by about 15 people, not sure why, so I had to make a bunch of calls one morning. The girls played so well together as they often do.  We will have a huge turnout -- about 50 people! I think the #'s are really high because quite a few women are bringing their teenage daughters. It should be a fun gathering!  Hoping the food we have planned is enough. 

I took the rest  of the pics

Cute girls

Lexey had herself totally hidden in her blanket on the floor. She is cute and spunky and delightful little person.

A few days ago we had som friend over for lunch. When they all sat down at the table, Tressel joined them. He is not allowed to have his face on the table but I guess he thought these girls were so cute he wanted to be in the middle of it all!

Look at how sweet little jo is in bed. This was taken probably at 10pm. She loves to sleep with multiple "mimi's" (the little blue or pink ones). She also loves her animal blanket and her baby oh and don't forget the "birdie" (pink puppet). She's a hoot.  During the day one of her favorite games is putting her baby to bed. She lays them down on a pillow, covers them up and says "nini baby" and then turns off the light. She'll wait about 20 seconds and then go back and say "morning baby. up".  She also likes to play this game with Lexey who is sweet enough to play along.  Lexey is a very good big sister to Jo/.

summer hair cuts

 In the summer we swim a lot, shower occasionally and comb hair almost never. Short hair is much better for our summer lifestyle. Plus the chlorine in the pool really makes the hair stringy and tough to handle.    Clare has needed a hair cute for a while now but wanted to wait 'til after school ended to get a short summer cut!  She decided she wanted a shoulder length bob with a few layers. 

(before)

Clare got about 6 inches cut off.

Alexey also wanted a hair cut!  I have trimmed her hair a couple of times this year so she was not in desperate need of a cut but she wanted the same hair as clare.  I kept  hers a bit longer b/c I didn't want to lose too many curls! 

Alexey

Jo loves her "baby"!

Both girls look great with fresh hair cuts. Dave threw a mini fit when he saw how much hair they lost but later admitted to me that they look good.