First Day

Sophie and Grace started Kindergarten this week. I am a walking, talking stereotype mom who is freaking out about it. I think I am hiding it well. On the outside I look calm, encouraging and so enthusiastic. On the inside I am a nervous, worrying wreck! I am surprised how hard it has been. All day Kindergarten stinks.

So far the girls favorite part of their school day is riding the bus. I hope sometime in the school year that changes but Jason tells me I should count my blessings that they like the bus. Today, the fourth day of school, was the first day Sophie and Grace didn't dress alike. They get dressed on their own and in the past have rarely choosen to wear what their sister is. Interesting.

Grins and Gripes

We have a weekly newspaper for our corner of the county that has a section on the back page called Grins and Gripes. People write in and complain about someone speeding on their road, or their issues with local political decisions, or they write and say how nice their Great Aunt Sally is for sharing her zucchini. You get the picture. So here is mine for this week:

Grins
Taking my kids swimming so often that the only day they have to take a bath is Sunday morning.
Finding a sippy cup under the couch from 3 days ago and discovering that it only contained water.
Listening to a pair of 2 year olds playing made up games and laughing their heads off.
Rereading a favorite book and being amazed all over again at how incredible it is.

Gripes
Having to schedule multiple trips to the dentist to fix Grace's cavities, she is my best brusher! I feel so bad.
Laundry.
Hearing a 2 year old voice call from another part of the house, "Mama, I make a mess!"
Having my husband gone 3 nights in a row for church obligations. Yes, I know I shouldn't complain. It is too late for any blessings though. My attitude took care of that after several bedtimes alone with multiple kids crying for much longer then my patience can endure.

Happy - Late - 4th of July!

 Sweet Gracie and Leo

 These pics crack me up. Getting all 4 kids to smile cute at the same time just doesn't happen.

Fireworks in the driveway is the best! Cute tired boys make me smile.

What is in store...

This morning I went upstairs for 5 minutes to do something on the computer. Really, it was only 5 minutes. I came downstairs to find Luke with dripping wet hands and chocolate cookie all over his face. The cookies were on the kitchen counter in a tupperware container. I looked at him incredulously and asked where he got the cookie from. His answer, "Noah and I get the stool!" with a big cheesy grin. I then looked to find Noah. He had taken the stool back to the bathroom so he and Luke could wash their hands to get rid of the evidence. A good plan if their mouths weren't completely covered in crumbs. With a little detective work I discovered the lid had not been snapped on the container and they had filched 2 huge, messy cookies. The loot was evidently eaten in the couch cushion fort from all the crumbs on the rug.

My thoughts of the future are interesting today. My girls were never co-conspirators in crime at 2 1/2, in fact I don't know if they ever have been. Grace and Sophie are not perfect kids, but they don't work together to break rules or do things they shouldn't. I think it is hilarious, but definitely disturbing, that not only did Luke and Noah take the cookies, they tried to hide it from me. Yikes and yikes again!

Shop till you Drop

B.K. (before kids) I loved to thrift shop. There is nothing to match the thrill of finding something you want/need for just a few bucks after searching through the junk at a thrift store. Unfortunately, second hand stores are not designed with the mother of young kids in mind. My double stroller won't fit through the aisles and the shopping carts (if they have them) are tiny and really can't handle 2 kids at a time. But I decided to be exceedingly brave last week and go to Goodwill with Luke and Noah while the girls were in dance class. I had a mission to find a pioneer outfit for our ward party that required absolutely no sewing by mom.

My brave mood quickly disappeared as Luke screamed and cried almost constantly. He and Noah were crawling through the racks of clothes on the nasty floor and grabbing anything they could. Luke dropped a picture frame on his foot and screamed like his arm had just been amputated. As I was trying to comfort/shut him up this lady poked her head around the aisle to get a peak at the carnage and the look on her face should have made me laugh, but instead I wanted to say something really rude. Of course, being a saint, I didn't.

We finally made it up to the check out and Noah pulled the entire shopping cart over on top of him. You would think someone would want to help but mostly everyone just looked appalled at the behavior of my kids and the craziness of any mother who would try to shop with twin 2 1/2 year-olds. Noah calmed down and Luke touched every glass thing in the store without breaking any of them. So...success. Kind of.

My loot: an adorable pioneer dress in Grace's favorite color, a brand new pair of curtains that perfectly match my boys bedroom and a hardwood stool/storage bench that needs a new coat of paint. All for $15. Was it worth it? I'll let you know in 3 years or so when I finally get to repainting the stool.

Yeah for Vacations!!!!!

Jason and I just got back a few days ago from a week vacation in the Caribbean. My mom and dad and one of my sisters watched our kids. It was a 12 year anniversary trip. We wanted to go on a trip for our 10 year anniversary but were too busy changing diapers and wiping noses.


We went to the US Virgin Islands to St. John. 2/3rd's of the island is a national park, totally undeveloped.



The snorkeling was amazing!!!! We were the only people on this beach. The white sand beaches always had people on them, but the opposite side of the island has rocky beaches and you could find one to just enjoy to yourself. There were plenty of bugs all over though. At the end of the week I counted 43 bites, Jason had 3.

We found out how hard it is to take good pictures under water. I am not sure why there are no fish in this one, but the coral is gorgeous.



This is part of the ruins from a sugar plantation. They were all over because the entire island was clear cut and sugar cane was grown by slave labor. It was sobering to be on the very ground where slaves lived and worked. The slaves in the Caribbean were treated horribly, worse then in many other places I have read about. There are still racial tensions on the island and a lot of poverty. It was hard to be in such a beautiful, amazing place and to see so many local people struggling.



On the same hike was a pool with ancient native carvings. We couldn't find anything about what they were for or why. I thought the reflection in the water was really cool.


Jason was really interested in the nurse sharks. I thought it was so incredibly cool to see a shark in the wild, especially one I was 99% sure would never be the least bit interested in me. But I didn't want to dive down and get a closer look! Jason even touched a 5 ft shark on the dorsal fin. We saw so much snorkeling! Sea turtles, lots of rays, eels, an octopus, a cuddle fish! barracuda, huge angel and parrot fish. We saw tons of tropical fish and every kind of coral and sponge you can think of.

 Amazing coral every reef

On the island there are wild donkeys, chickens and goats all around. We hiked out to a beach to snorkel one day and this mongoose stole our lunch! It was a hungry hike back. We saw the biggest land crabs  - they were kind of creepy to me - almost like a spider. They lived in holes and would scatter away when you got too close.

Our last day we did a beginner scuba dive with an instructor. I was nervous but it was really cool. I think we both fell even more deeply in love with the ocean on this trip. I have never had the opportunity to interact and explore it. I still can't believe all of the wildlife we saw on this trip!

Grace

I just had to post these pictures. Grace is a girl who has unruly hair. These pictures are from an hour after I fixed both of the girl's hair in the morning. I mostly don't care except for Sundays when she leaves Sacrament meeting looking like a brush had not seen her hair for a month.