Seminary

For the past 15 months or so, Jon's alarm went off at 4:45 am every school day. He never snoozed it. Not even once. 

At 5:45 he'd head out the door. From 6-7 am he'd teach an early morning religion class to a group of nine high-schoolers. Then he'd head straight to work. 

After work it was a careful juggling act between being a dad, a husband, and a seminary teacher. It was never an easy balance. And there was rarely any time just to relax. I can only remember two days in the last year when Jon took some time just to play (for himself--he took time to play with the kids because that's what a dad does). 

Every evening he'd take time to prepare for the next morning. He prepped on Saturdays and Sundays. During our vacation to Arizona he prepped a lesson or two every single day that we weren't travelling. 

It wasn't easy, but he never complained. I did! I often felt like my kids didn't see their dad. I worried that he was burning himself out. Every spare moment went to seminary prep. And I hated the inflexibility of the alarm clock, never leaving us time to stay up a little later in the evenings. 4:45 comes really early. 

A few weeks ago at church Jon was released as a seminary teacher. Neither of us expected it: we were mentally prepared for at least one more year. I thought it would be a relief: no more 8:30 bedtimes! No more single-mothering in the evenings while he prepared lessons! 

But it feels like a loss, somehow. Jon is sad. He had already started preparing for the fall. When you put so much of your soul into something, it's never easy to just let it go. But that's what you do in our church: you let it go and you move on to wherever else you are needed. 

So here's to more sleep and more time to play. And here's to all those teenagers who make huge sacrifices to attend these classes for FOUR YEARS. And here's to all the seminary teachers and their families who make it work even when it seems impossible. The Lord really does provide a way. 

(And yes, I found out when it was announced over the pulpit, even though he'd known for a week. It was a "surprise", apparently. All I could do was give him the stink eye from the stand where I was playing the organ).

Jon with (most of ) his seminary class.

Summer Adventures

Three kids on a teeter-totter.

Obviously Elise and Seth are very well-balanced.

Annual trip to Plumpton Park Zoo!

We began by feeding the koi all the food for the goats. 

Apparently they did save a bit of food for the other animals.

Crazy kids with a gorilla.

(They made me take this).

The gorilla punches Seth in the face.

(He made me take this one, too.)

Aaron got invited to several birthday parties, much to his siblings' dismay.

This one involved swimming.

Aaron in goggles is my new favorite thing.

We got to babysit Miguel the Leopard Gecko while the Knoxes were in Utah for 3 weeks.

Miguel was deeply loved by these two girls.

I thought a snake was a pretty easy pet, but this guy has Nadara beat!

Lady Baby

Grandma Cathy sent one of my old Cabbage Patch dolls and her clothes. 

Elise was in heaven.

What Grandma failed to send were shoes for Elise.

Being a clever girl, she improvised.

Doll shoes totally fit, even if they do make walking rather difficult.

Catherine never did the baby doll thing, so this is all new territory for me. Elise loves all baby dolls. My favorite part is how she immediately strips them down. I suppose she does the same thing herself, so why not her babies?

We told the girls that during the summer Elise would move into Catherine's room. I brought it up casually one afternoon and Catherine decided it would happen immediately. We moved all of Elise's clothes into the room and crossed our fingers that she would stay in bed. She didn't. I had to return her to bed several times and threaten her with a return to the crib. It took a week or so, but she's now a full-time big bed girl! 

It was a little sad for me. It's the first time I've ever moved a baby out of the nursery without the knowledge that there would be another baby taking her spot soon!

Elise's current favorite outfit.

For some reason it's highly offensive to Aaron.

"No, Elise! I hate that dress!"

"If I fits, I sits."

Elise needed a new swimming suit. I usually go for the cheapest ones I can find, but this one has ruffle sleeves and lemons! And so she got a new (overpriced) swimsuit because I'm a sucker for cute lemons and ruffles. 

We are constantly on our toes with this one, but I love every piece of our dinosaur cat!

May Stuff

Seth is always my most thoughtful child. He made this place setting for Mother's Day, plus hung a little banner of construction paper in my favorite colors above my bedroom door. It's still there two months later. 

Aaron made this in preschool and it's my absolute favorite thing ever.

Our ward took a picture and I love it. 

Catherine is center front (behind the boy with his head down).

Aaron is the last sitting kid on the right

Seth is the first row of standing on the right (with fabulous hair)

Jon, Elise and I are in the crown straight down from the rightmost bush by the church.

We also survived another piano recital. This year's theme was Music from Around the World. The students picked traditional songs from various locations. After the recital we had a potluck dinner of ethnic foods. Delicious and so much fun!

Catherine's turn! Did you know there's a Mexican folk song called "Japanese Clapping Song"? Well there's not. But there are little girls who can't say "Chiapanecas" and seriously confuse everyone at the recital.

Seth played "Mas Que Nada", a samba from Brazil. One year in school he did a report on Brazil and now it's his favorite country. 

Finally warm enough for the kiddie pool! 

And for nude swimming, apparently.

A very chilly Memorial Day breakfast.

The cold didn't stop Catherine and Jon from kayaking!

Since our birthdays fell on/right after Memorial Day this year, we opted to have friends over to grill and eat birthday cake/fruit pizza with us. At the last minute we were invited to play kickball at the elementary school and decided to move the party there. A birthday is always more fun with friends and food! I think this will have to become tradition now. (Not pictured: my cheesecake, which was delicious. Thank you, Wegmans). 

May is for Field Trips

School may have ended, but that just means more time for field trips! Our first one was to the local recycling center. I had heard great things about this field trip and we were not disappointed. This picture is from the top of a hill created by buried garbage. The kids were quite impressed.

We also went strawberry picking/eating:

Whatever we didn't eat got made into delicious jam, smoothies and milkshakes.

We also visited a cool little science museum in Pennsylvania.

Aaron was fascinated by this ball contraption:

Catherine and Talia trying out the recording studio.

Talia does not need any sort of microphone to be heard.

Seth was there, too. I just failed to take any pictures!

A friend also arranged a field trip to a local grocery store. I wasn't sure how fun it would be (especially since we couldn't go in the back room that day), but it was awesome! We got samples of bananas, cheese, and Haagen Daz ice cream. We also got to play with one of the lobsters from the tank. And on the way out the kids got a goodie bag full of treats. Pretty great for a free, local field trip! 

Looking forward to lots more fun field trips this summer!

Elise Dinosaur

Markers are not for whiteboards.

Markers are for faces, clothing, walls and rugs.

Who knew dinosaurs had little red ringlets?

A fine example of the relationship between Aaron and Elise.

These two are going to kill me (if they don't kill each other first).

Aaron at 4.5

Aaron continues to be my unique little man. He wrapped up his year of speech through the school but will return in the fall. Lately he's been getting upset and frustrated whenever he's trying to talk and it's loud. It's like he can't get the words out unless its quiet and he can concentrate. Hopefully we can get him assessed soon and find out the best way to help him!

His new favorite activity is cutting things. He's constantly asking to help me cut things (cucumbers, apples, potatoes, etc.). I give him a duller knife and let him have at it. He hasn't chopped off any fingers yet, so I'm calling it a win.

His newest passion is drawing. In true Aaron form, he went from no drawing skills at all (he would cry when I asked him to draw letters or shapes) to sitting on the couch drawing for hours. And this transition happened in the course of one afternoon. He just sat down and started drawing and hasn't stopped since. 

Drawing Plants vs. Zombies on the white board

An Aaron drawing. The details amaze me. 

Yes, that is Avatar Aang.

We have Uncle Timmy to thank for this new obsession.

Along with the newfound love of drawing has come a love for writing. I try not to push writing too soon, but Aaron now insists. He wrote all these letters without any help from me. It's not perfect, but still impressive for a 4-year-old boy!

One night he insisted on sleeping on his floor. No padding: just straight on the carpet. When I asked him why, he said "I'm a floor man." He actually slept there the entire night!

In a similar vein, he'll announce that he's a "hard man" or an "easy man" depending on whether or not he thinks he can accomplish whatever task I need him to do. One day he called me an "easy woman" which had me in tears. 

Conversation with Timmy:

"Aaron, are these your toes?"

"Yes, cuz girls' toes are brown and boy toes are yellow-ish."

(Catherine, when asked what color her toes are: "Brown." Guess Aaron was right?)

He's starting to read simple three-letter words, which is fun! Can't believe he's almost 5!

Co-op Ends

After a lovely year with some amazing people, our co-op wrapped up mid-May (HUGE benefit of homeschooling. Public school wasn't out until mid-June). While it's been nice to have a more relaxed schedule, we will miss our friends (especially those not returning in the fall). 

My Pre-K class doing some watercoloring

Aaron's Monday Pre-K teachers sent me these pictures:

If these aren't the pictures of an ideal childhood day, I don't know what is.

Elise pushing Kaia on the swings:

(Also, in the background is Big Seth/Other Seth/Original Seth who one day gave into Aaron's requests for swing-pushing. Poor Seth is now the official swing-pusher for all my kids. And my Seth is highly offended when we refer to the other Seth as "Original Seth.")

Despite having had zero kids wear it, I am somehow the proud owner of a preschooler-sized cap and gown. I brought it on our last day and took pictures of all the (cooperative) kids in my class:

Aaron still has one more year of Pre-K.

Hooray for September birthdays!

He will take a few kindergarten classes with his buddies.

Things like art, music, and story time. I love the flexibility of co-op!

Aaron with his Monday Pre-K teachers, Miss Renee and Miss Cari.

They were PHENOMENAL. 

He wouldn't have had a better experience in the most expensive preschool.

Elise has many, many years of preschool ahead of her.

She got a head start by sneaking into Pre-K with me instead of staying in the nursery.

In the chaos of getting kids from classes, cleaning up and loading up the van, I failed to get a "last day of school" picture. So instead enjoy Seth's self-portrait. I actually really love it. He's not as impressed. 

Now on to summer and free schedules!