Saturday, we were invited to a BBQ at some friends house but Norah had a miserable cold so I stayed home with her. Nathan and the kids had a great time, but I am so glad I stayed. Norah and I read books, sang songs, went outside and I pushed her in her swing. Then we came back in and I rocked her to sleep. It was so peaceful! I am thankful I had that special alone time. It has been almost 13 years since I've been able to just focus on and enjoy one baby!

Summer is winding down and I am gearing up for school. This will be our best year ever! Megan is practically independent with her school work and I'm trying to prepare things in hope that Michael and Emma can do the same. When ever I dreamed of homeschooling I would think of all the great projects we would do together. I know that works out for some people, but I just can't get it to work. I never have time to prepare as well as I would like and I get too stressed out with all the commotion. I wish I was a more gifted mother and could magically incorporate the little kids into the projects, because they really do want to be a part of it and I would love to include them. I also feel guilty a lot of the time if I'm spending too much time with the older kids. I feel like the little kids are being robbed of a mother, and truthfully, they should get first priority. So, now Megan is in high school, Emma and Michael are middle schoolers, I feel that they can be given more responsibility and be more self directed.

The other thing that is different than I imagined about homeschool is all the driving. I'm not going to lie. I thought one of the advantages of homeschooling would be to relive those days when I only had little kids at home and we could call it a pajama day and snuggle while we watched a movie or read books and then made cookies. But the problem with homeschooling is that you want to make sure that your kids get social and leadership opportunities. That requires a lot of driving. If there is one thing I don't like it is spending all my time in the car. The only thing I like less is making my little ones spend all their time in the car. I'm just going to need to put on some fun music and we can all sing together.

My dad always reminded me, "if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." Nathan likes to say, "action conquers fear." So I'm preparing. The third year is supposed to be the best, right? It's going to be awesome.

Summer is busy! It has been so packed, in fact, that part of our family has missed church for the past two weeks. Part of that is because it has been a cold summer and swimming lessons in the morning don't help.

One day Derek informed my that he wasn't going swimming. Not for the rest of the summer. "I get very cold," he stated. "I am a warm blooded creature." It is true. He loves to swim, but he usually stays on top of the big blow up whale to keep him out of the water and in the warm sun. The image I have of him swimming is that of a huge chattering smile on his face and his skinny little body uncontrollable shaking. He specifically asked for me to buy him long sleeved shirts for school. I am going to go even further. I've already asked the Kindergarten teachers stationed in the portables to make sure it stays warm out there just in case that is where he is assigned, and plan on buying him a set of long underwear for every school day of the week.

In spite of his unfortunate thermal regulating condition, he stuck it out to the end of swim lessons and is enjoying the fact that he doesn't have to wear the life jacket any more. (It's probably warmer without it.)

He is excited about starting school and especially about his new back pack. I don't want to see my little boy go.

Eliza has requested no long sleeved shirts; she will not wear them. She loves to shop for clothes. Norah had just as much fun. I wish I could have captured a picture of her excitement as she chose a pink shirt or how she pointed her toes to try on new shoes. How helpful! I hope to be completely done with school clothes shopping this week. It is my goal to have next week be a great last week of summer.

Emma and Michael have already started math. Last year we started with one subject and added one a week until we were up to a full day. I liked how that worked and had planned on catching up on the subjects added later throughout the year, but it didn't happen and the end of the year was hectic. So we are starting a little bit earlier. Both Emma and Michael are doing well and it makes my heart soar to see their awesome brains working again. It feels good! "Quality" and "consistency," along with having them take more responsibility and be self directed are going to be my focus this year.

Megan and Michael were able to take part in our stake's Trek. I so wanted to go with them! I'm glad they had that experience. In preparation, our family read Fire of the Covenant each night. Even Derek and Eliza enjoyed it. Derek asked me if that story was real and how we know what happened. I told him the pioneers wrote in journals and asked if he would like to have a journal. In a light blue (his favorite color) I try to write down his words exactly as he dictates them to me and then he draws wonderfully detailed pictures. He is all about the details. I prompt him to tell me about the fun stuff that we are doing. Otherwise he wants to record, "we woke up, had breakfast and went to swimming lessons." He is so diligent he will bring the journal to me before breakfast so that I can write that!

Today Megan, Terzah, Emma, Kenna and Merian went to see Harry Potter. The younger girls dressed up like Gryffindor students and looked quite quaint. I think I'm going to institute a uniform policy in my home school. They are adorable and impressive in that look.

Merian and Derek are going to be heading off for school. What will I do without them telling me I'm the best mom ever and their snuggles? I love summer. Let's move to Hawaii.

On the other hand I am organizing recipes for the fall. MMMmmmm....

Strange Happenings

Eliza and Norah like frozen peas and corn. They request it for snack and object if I try to warm it up. Maybe I should try it; I like to freeze my grapes...

Norah is the only one of my children with an outie belly button. (If you don't count Derek, who had one when he was a baby and cried really hard. When it would stick out it looked like a pencil eraser.) Her belly button is quite prominent. (I hope this isn't embarrassing you, future Norah.) My grandma said that they used to tape a quarter to babies tummies to get them to go down. If there is any truth to that method of correction, Norah doesn't have a chance because she loves to pinch her belly button as she walks around.

Derek goes to bed with Michael every night. Mike is such a sweet big brother and tells him stories to get him to go to sleep. Then Mike will move to the top bunk to have more room. (Michael reports that Derek likes to spread out and snuggle when he sleeps.) Sometime during the night Derek wakes up and notices Michael is missing so he moves to the top bunk too!

It is summer time again and I couldn't be happier. The best part about being a mom is going to the park, pool, movies, chilling in an air conditioned house, reading books with the kids, and more. I feel guilty that I get to enjoy this and Nate has to go to work. Will we do all the summer school stuff we planned? I'm starting to lose my resolve. I'm wondering if it would be more important to enjoy each other not in a school setting and have a fresh start in the fall. But if I keep it fun...maybe we'll just start after our camping trip to Rainier.

Norah loves going places, but especially to church. She laughs when I start to put her dress on and holds up her feet for her shoes. She sings during the songs. One Sunday I wasn't feeling well and decided not to go after we had already gotten ready. She cried when everyone left without her and me.

When I pick up Merian from school she runs from her classroom and almost knocks me over with her hug. I love to see her smile. When I used to pick up Emma I recognized her by the bounce in her step and I loved how she would tell me all about her day. Picking up the kids from school is the best part of my day.

You Will Obey Me

One day Norah decided to raise her arms in the air. To be good sports, we followed her. That game lasted for more than half an hour and has continued sporadically for more than a month. A few Sundays ago after we sat down at church she looked at the rows behind us an expectantly threw up her arms. Sorry babe, it's not going to happen.

Momisms

When I was little my mom told me that her dad liked to say, "Don't be a jerk; get to work," or, "Don't be a fool; get to school." I've come up with a few of my own and every time I use them I think of my Grandpa Harris.

• Don't be a slob; finish the job.
• You're not a snail; don't leave a trail.
• Get the work done so you have time for fun.
• I'll have to add more as I remember them. My kids tell me I have too many slogans.

I also have some that don't rhyme:

• Don't follow the leader if the leader's going the wrong way.
• Do the right thing, at the right time, in the place, in the right way.
• Work hard, play hard.
• I can do hard things.
• I'll have to add more here later. Gotta go help Derek get his shoes out of Ahpa.