Update

There has been stuff going on.  Not a lot of stuff, at least not so much to make me go crazy and feel like there isn't time to rest.  I like that feeling.  Frustratingly, I am not writing down all the cute and funny things the kids are saying or doing and I am forgetting it all.

To help spark my brain, I am hoping that if I post a picture, it will conjure up sweet memories and I can write down all the goodness that is taking place in our lives.

I painted the master bedroom one day when Todd was at work.  I can't paint when he is at home because he is much better at it than I am (in the manner that I don't do it the way he does it).  Either way it gets done and the end result is the same.  I loved the color our room used to be but it just wasn't going well with the decor I currently had in there.  There were high hopes, on my part, to do a complete transformation of the room, but with a budget of $20, a can of paint was easier to afford than the new bedding, furniture, draperies, etc.

You will see on the right side of the bed that I don't have a nightstand.  Instead, I made a decorative chair work.  It was in my "office" (a dark corner of the unfinished basement) but now I will just sit on a plastic yard chair when the moment arises that I can do officy things.  The lamps were purchased using some birthday money my grandma gave me from one of my very favorite stores, Home Again in Midvale.  Todd gave me a gift card to the store and I bought some amazing frames with artwork in them that I will show you another day when I have the dresser painted and a floral on top of it.  For now, this is feeling a little bit homier to me and I don't stare at the ceiling wishing I hadn't taken down the wallpaper border because the pretty green paint didn't reach all the way to the ceiling.

 Dakota, one beautiful summer morning, brought me Connor's bicycle helmet.  I wasn't sure the boy knew what to do with it, but he kept grunting and bending his head down toward it, so I plucked it on.

 Then he brought me all of the pads.  The little munchkin left them all on for over an hour.

This is all I have to remember from my retirement party.  Yes, I have retired from daycare.  My three year run came successfully to a close and no children were harmed (physically) in the process.  There was so much going on that week (Abi being sick and Todd at Youth Conference, and me re-doing his office), that on my last day of tending, I completely forgot to soak it all in and wallow in the goodbyes.

 Dakota did eat that entire piece of pizza.

Todd and Connor have had some good bonding time.  This was one of those moments where father and son played a game of baseball in the pool.  Rounding the bases didn't take long and with a paddle like that strainer and a ball bigger than his head, Connor did come in contact with the ball a few times and they had a fabulous time.  Todd will kill me for posting this picture.  The farmer tan isn't is best look.

These two beauties are working on becoming best friends.  Most days are better than others...lately.  It's about time.

Oh, this was a VERY good day.  Sunday, July 3rd.  So we were sitting in sacrament meeting when our good friends, the Bigler's. slid into the pew with us!  Sam had no idea what ward he was attending, and Heather had kept the whole thing a secret from him.  Connor gave a wonderful talk in primary on the Nauvoo Temple and how his daddy got to work on the temple.  I gave a lesson in Relief Society, and with Heather there, I persuaded her to sing a duet with me for old times sake.  Heather has an incredible voice and I love the way our voices blend together.  After church, we had them over for pizza and to continue Sam's surprise the Brady's showed up, then the Crenshaw's, and then our friends the Lazo's.  It was such an incredible reunion with our ohana!  The kids just picked up and played as though they had always known one another...kind of like how the adults did.  The time went by too quickly.

The first Monday of each month, we get together with Todd's family for Family Home Evening.  On this particular Monday, we put together hygiene kits to give to the humanitarian center.  I was so proud of Carly and Abi as they really stuck with the assembly line and never stopped until we were done.  The kids all had such amazing attitudes that it made the service project even that much more fulfilling.

Here is our little Abi girl.  This picture was taken during a happier time for her.  She has had a bout with her health lately.  The short story is that she has a stone in her appendix that could very easily pass on it's own or it could block her appendix and she could eventually have appendicitis.  We need to just be aware of the symptoms and at the first sign of them, get her into the ER.  Also, her body is having a hard time building up the good bacteria in her bowels, so she can't have any dairy and is being forced (truly, we have to threaten her to get her to take them) to take acidophilus tablets 3xs a day.

Adam and Angie were in town for a friends wedding the beginning of June, so we took advantage of the good weather and mom's connections with the church and headed downtown to see the Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, cut the ribbon celebrating 100 years of the Hotel utah.  The feeling I get whenever I see the prophet is joyful, but the feeling of being in the same room with him is overwhelming.  I can't help but know that the choices I am making in my life because of my desire to remain a strong and faithful member of this church are good and right.  Thus bringing greater joy into mine and my family's life.

I remember doing this as a kid, at first, I wanted to tell them to stop.  Fearing that one of them would slip and crack their head, or that a car would come rushing by and hit one of them.  But I calmed down and remembered that I survived a lot worse than running in a ditch.  No accidents by the time Tyson and Porter showed up for a playdate.  However, I did make them stop, as Porter had just suffered a little accident of his own and I didn't want to be responsible for another trip to the ER for him.

Those two boys are so dang cute and easy to get along with.  Connor and Tyson are the same age and Carly and Porter are too!  Isn't it wonderful when you can have a built in playmate via a cousin?  It's sad that we don't live closer together.  I never lived close to any of my cousins growing up, but I still have fond memories with them and call them friends.  I am sure the same will be said for these little ones.

 Carly Belle is in the process of potty training.  Some days are so much better than others (she just had an accident of the poopy nature...thank HEAVEN for pull-ups).  However, it isn't the battle I recall it being with the other kids when I would try too early to potty train.  We are taking it at a much slower pace.  I am not even attempting to "potty train in a day."  And it seems to be working for her.

 One of the traditions with the extended Riches' family is to have a big breakfast and slip n' slide on the 4th of July at their house.  We dine on incredible swedish pancakes smothered in dutch honey (yeah...not too AMERICAN) but it is American to eat and I ate a lot!

 Dakota even took a try on the slide, but the puddle at the bottom of the hill was his very favorite.  We finally found a pair of shoes that fit his square little footsies.

 Here, Carly just wanted to pose.  Love this busy little happy happy girl.

 The night that we brought Abi home from the hospital, she got bit by a spider near her eye.  She woke up in the morning and her eye was completely swollen shut.  She said to me, "Mom, I think I am a pirate cuz I can only see out of one eye."  We gave her some benadryl and the swelling went down a bit.

 Uncle Ikey and his little buddy, Carly.  Eating cookies.

Carly was playing with trash on the kitchen table the other day.  She was deciding which things to throw away (her way of helping me clean the kitchen) and she would say, "Eeny meeny, miny, momo, catch a tiger like a fish.  K, you are garbage cuz you are mean."  Then she would put the item in the trash and do it all again until the table was cleaned off.

 Isn't our handsome little Connor growing up?  He has been trying our patience lately (odd, cuz he truly is one of the most perfect kids a parent could ask for).  He has been grounded from the computer for over a week now.  Problem is, once he gets started, he can't stop and a different person comes out.  He tells us that his brain is moving too fast after he plays on the computer and he can't think right.  I find it interesting that he knows he is not himself after he spends too much time playing on the computer or a video game at a friends house.

He picks up on so much, and with him grasping more than I am certain I ever did at his age, we have had a few adult discussions.  The other day the girls were wrestling (my girls...really, not the boy!  So different) and Carly's head landed in Abi's crotch.  Connor yelled out, "Mom, Carly is doing special abuse to Abi."  He meant sexual abuse.  Needless to say, we revisited that conversation.

 Suzy's in-law's invited us to come up to their place to see the fireworks.  Dakota needed to sleep and Connor pulled an attitude, so Todd had to stay home with the boys while the girls and I went to see the fireworks with Grammy and Papa Bud.

 Uncle Chris and James lighting the fireworks.  Lots and lots of fireworks.

Abi said they were too bright, so Grammy let her wear her sunglasses.  See that cute blanky?  She got it from Primary Children's.  We joke now that it's the blanket that cost us $5500.  On the way home from the fireworks that night, Abi said, "I know why we shoot off fireworks.  It's because we want our prophet to know how much we love him.  And there were lots of fireworks tonight, so he will know that lots of people love him."