Thoughts from Idaho: Catch-up :-)

We have been busy lately, and I haven’t stopped to post on the blog for a while.

Lila started going to Activity Day Girls when she turned 8 in January, and she’s been having a blast. She’s got some amazing leaders, and they’re always up to something fun. This time, they decorated cakes. They had Swedish fish and Candy rocks to make an underwater scene. Pretty neat, huh?

She started piano in March, and she had her recital in May. She played “I Love to see the Temple” and “Wind in the Trees”. For the summer, I bought her a book of primary songs on her level, and she’s having fun teaching herself how to play them. Meanwhile, I’m trying to stay ahead of her, so I can help when she has questions.

Two of my favorite men built a new rabbit hutch for me. I like it because it has a sloped roof, so we don’t get a pond every time it rains, and also because this one is a couple of inches higher, which means the sprinklers spray under it, rather than into it, and Hercules’s food stays dry. L likes it because she has become the official bunny feeder, and all three kids love to go out and feed the bunny. Hercules really is a very good bunny, and he will sit in that front space where the kids can pet him and just let them love on him.

It was a long day for the kids, but they entertained themselves (with the help of my mom’s Ipad) while the adults worked on the hutch. We got it done in one day!

The next day, we went to visit C’s family to celebrate his birthday. I’d been wanting to make him a hummingbird cake ever since I heard of them, but this was my first chance. I’m loyal to chocolate cake, but the reviews on this one were pretty good.

J got it in his head that we needed to roast marshmallows (I still have no idea where he hear of it), but we obliged in the best way we could – on our little camp stove. The kids were fascinated, and of course, they loved them!

In May, one of the ladies in our ward taught a quilting class. C had asked for a new blanket, but I hadn’t gotten around to making him one. I knew if I signed up for the class, I would get it done, so I put off the girls’ Easter dresses for one more month and made this:

Then S graduated from Kindergarten. I know, it’s a sappy, stupid ceremony, but I still teared up.

She’s standing between the 2 and the 0 … the 1 had already fallen off.

Look at this precious girl!

Speaking of precious girls, they’re not too old yet to let their mom dress them up in matching outfits. Smile

L also had her day at school. She got a ribbon for getting all As in her second grade year. I’m so proud of her!

We did put in a garden this year, although we’ve discovered something weird is happening with the water pressure since we ran the drip line the long way instead of the short way. Two of our lines aren’t dripping, no matter what we do to fix them.

Oh, and that patch right there … where we chucked our Halloween pumpkin last fall …

I got 30 pumpkin plants … so I gave my mom a couple, put two in the corner for us, and picked the rest. Then I came back a week later to find another patch, identical to the first. I pulled them, and guess what, another patch grew right up after them. C had suggested we pick them out before we till the dirt, but I said, “No, it won’t be a big deal.” Obviously, C was right, and I was wrong. I can’t help but think this makes a good object lesson for sin. If you pick it off the top, it’s a lot easer to get rid of than when you leave it to be tilled under.

We’ve also been riding bikes. This bike used to be pretty purple. I let J pick what color he wanted, and now it’s green. Except this year his legs are long enough to reach the pedals on his big wheels, so he’s really not that into the bike.

At least he’s happy!

We went to hang out with some friends of ours, and we spent some time making tie-dye shirts. Look how cute they are! (And L does know how to smile. She was put out that I stopped her playing long enough to take a picture.)

Now she’s trying not to laugh, because I told her to look as mad as she could. Smile

And finally, nearly caught up … The Fourth of July!

This year was special because the kids asked a few days before about our national anthem. I got a book from the library, and we spent a lot of time talking about why it was written and what it meant. I think it really helped bring a solemn spirit to our Independence Day. Though they did like the parade and the candy …