So Whats to complain about really....

Not drowning in masks currently but covid is still raging in countries around the world. We went right from covid to heat and extreme drought headliners. We're keeping the grass alive- in a more yellowish state at this point in the time. We're mid summer and the heat has been a little relentless- so we are either indoors or in the rec center pool. We have been busy fixing up the house as usual. This year we put shiplap in our basement and a barn door in our bedroom master bath and some granite countertops in the bathrooms as well as new floors in the bathroom. We built in some shoe shelf's and coat hangers and other shelving in our entryway. We repurposed the build in from an old entertainment center. We're without a shower currently in our master bath because we have sand and swirl coming in to add shower walls after we tore out some of the extra wall, ceiling, and tile the house had from when it was built... Planted some new trees and bushes in the yard... We're really getting in on the make your house a home thing.... 

Lets start with Ben. His 4th grade year had him busy - he already has a hyper focus on good grades even though they don't really give official grades in elementary. He had early morning meetings with robotics and hope squad and loved every minute. He still buries his head in books during school but his quiet sweet ways really do have kids looking up to him and enjoying time with him. When he isn't teasing James to death or vice versa he is the bell of the ball James and Maddy look up to their big brother. Maddy is constantly saying "Mom. I love Ben soooo much!"

James - What a good kid. Keeping us laughing and dreaming up creative ideas like what a traffic system and street lights might look like once we all have flying cars. He is currently in tennis class and soccer in the fall. Ben keeps challenging him to finish Harry Potter - but for now he still just plowing through books like Diary of a Wimpy kid and such. He such a multi layered kid - he is silly and smart and quiet in groups of all things- cause he is so friendly but reserved. Its fun to be around this kid and I can't wait to see everything he will become! 

Maddy has grown leaps and bounds this year. She was a little tricky in her 1st grade class moving around and missing out on her tasks. Toward the end of the year she was more on task and catching up with her peers in the work demanded of your typical 1st grader... She is sleeping better and getting her room cleaned more often and stepping up her after dinner routine of clearing the table as well. Maddy is pretty much the glue that holds us all together. We all are totally all wrapped around her sweet finger. She is sweet and smart and love- she brings us all so much love. 

Will and I - we're holding this whole messy life/family together somehow. I love Will's 6-2:30 schedule working from home- as it makes more time for us and house renos and he exercises almost everyday and helps with the dishes and laundry- he's sort of the perfect husband I didn't know existed. I'm still up and down with the concussion stuff but more up then down :) I'm also still trying to dream up a future career - but currently I'm happy subbing and doing photography and some digital marketing so just hoping to keep that all up enough to pay the bills. Fingers crossed for the rest of my career life but really - I super love the life and family I have so what's to complain about really... 

Keep around and we'll keep you updated

Sincerely,

Summer

ps Maddy is totally taking herself to the restroom now and not having any accidents!!! So yes she did get her Cockapoo - named her Scarlet and we love our cute micro dog so much! 

The next chapter - Pandemic isn't over yet but we are over it

Ben is having a good year so far. He was voted into the Hope squad for the year by his classmates and he loves serving and working in the club. Also a couple boys in the ward asked him to be on the robotics club and he loves meeting every week with them to socialize and build. Everyone who sees him right now instantly says something like "Whoa you are growing so much Ben" or "You look so much older." And I don't know if all the comments promoted premature babysitting tasks but he has been thrown in. About once a week for an hour or two he watches shows with the kiddies and Will and I go grab a soda. On one of our outings we came back to Ben locked into the basement with the kids with some plan of attack in case someone broke in.. he reminds me of me = any noise around my house when I was babysitting and I grabbed my nearest table utensil for support. Ben has had a better year with not getting overwhelmed at school. With such a bright mind and non stop stories running in his brain he doesn't always stop to let his body keep up. I expect great things from this little bugger. The firstborn and leader of our family - kind and driven. 

James is also shooting up like a weed. Almost as tall as Ben in fact. His smile is contagious and he super loves school and reading and cousins and friends. He is my social one, even though he would tell you he is the quiet one in his class - which he isn't wrong he does tend to hang back at school. I substitute teach at his school he really tends to keep his head in the book when he is supposed to and doesn't run out of line to give me a hug like his other two siblings. The last few days he has decided to see if his stories can make Maddy cry so they are always about puppies then something goes terribly wrong... the little stinker. He is so creative. He thinks someday he might become a writer and write really great movies.  

 

Maddy lou - always so much to say about her. The uphill battle of making sure she gets plenty of sleep and exercise and keeping her from getting too overwhelmed about little things. And I think we have found all the tricks. We are getting this girl down to a art. She is actually catching up with her reading and writing - still a tad delayed and most recently it is because of she says she has a hard time concentrating or in her words "I'm so bored!"The good news is she is doing much better than expected in 1st grade. I just hope my faith and hers can keep pushing us all to that better day. And speaking of puppies we've bribed her with a puppy to see if she can put her finishing touches on her potty training. Most of her motor movements are perfected she just needs to get up the inspiration to take herself to the bathroom instead of being prompted... if she does this she will get a cockapoo - so this story is to be continued...  Anywho - her latest interests are whatever the boys are loving currently - so pandas, pokemon, and minecraft educational. She does love detail oriented art projects - she could spend hours poking holes in paper to get the traced out pictures or glueing diamonds onto small pieces of art collages. 

As for Will and I - I picked up substitute teaching and love the kids so so much- but it doesn't always pay the bills so I can't do it forever. I'm sort of having a mid life crisis over what I should be when I grow up. My headaches and neck aches from my accident still plague me so heading full speed ahead back into marketing is probably not in the cards... Will is a stalwart and amazing man - he has wowed everyone with his work ethic this year - pulled out all the stops to help Derik build a deck and put up shiplap in our basement and help my parents with every odd and end. I'm so happy to have the perfect partner. He works so hard and loves me and the kiddies so much. 

Keep tuned for another day and a another letter