Summer Fun!

So as you all have probably already guessed, we've been pretty busy this summer (hence the lack of posts)! Here's a few pics of what we've been up to:

Planting grass....
And more grass....
And more grass!! It's a little patchy in spots (that's what you get when you do it yourself) and it's been a LOT of work, but it's so nice to see green instead of brown! Now if we could just figure out how to get our grass & garden to grow as fast as our weeds!!!

We've also had some fun celebrating birthdays! Here's Camilla with her first birthday cake!

She wasn't so sure at first, but as you can see she decided that chocolate cake is a GOOD thing!

Here's Grammy and Karalie, the birthday buddies! They each got their OWN birthday cake thanks to our sweet visiting teacher. Oh, and she made Camilla's cake too! Thanks, Marge! You were definitely one busy lady!

Here's Karalie celebrating #3 with her very own stick horse (she named him "Buck") and cowgirl get-up (thanks Grammy)! We can now always tell where Karalie is in the house by the tap-tapping sound made by her galloping with Buck!

As for other goings on we've had, my family came to visit over the 4th of July; Ben's been involved in a ward roofing project; and we've had Jenny & co. and Bob & Julie & co. come to visit as well! It's been chaos at times, but we have just loved it! The house and life in general just seem so lonely and quiet after everyone goes home! However, with all the excitement we do tend to get a little tired and often fall asleep at odd times...:0)

Lessons I've Learned

So I have a little confession to make. I never ever thought that being a Mom would be this hard! I was the oldest of seven children and, honestly, I thought I knew everything and could handle motherhood without a problem! I loved kids and I had babysitting down pat! What more could there be? Fast forward a few years and -WHAM! - I'm a new mother with a screaming baby and I have no clue what to do! Thank goodness for parents who have been there and done that and can give some much-needed encouragement and advice when needed (even if that happens to be in the middle of the night)! So the learning began, and as all mothers, I have been in intense, hands-on, motherhood lessons ever since. For a Relief Society bookclub, we recently read I Am A Mother by Jane Clayson Johnson. It was such a good reminder of just what an important job mothers have! As I have read this book I've been led to ask some older Mothers what they would do differently or what advice they had for someone "in the trenches of motherhood". While each answer has been unique, they have all had the same theme of spending less time on the unimportant and spending more time really enjoying your children. So here are some of the lessons I've learned in an effort to more thoroughly enjoy my children: #1: A little smile can light up your day!
#2: A spoonful of sugar (or in this case, "princess panties") helps the medicine (or potty training) go down!

#3: If life gives you dirt and water, make mud (and let your kids enjoy it)!

#4: Enjoying your kids is not a spectator sport (in other words get down and dirty with 'em)!!


#5: I LOVE being a mother and wouldn't trade these experiences for anything!