June 20, 2010

June 20, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Father's Day!  We are so thankful for the wonderful fathers and grandfathers that we have in our family.  We have such great examples of fatherhood to follow.  I am also grateful for M; we certainly have been reminded of how much he does around here since he has been gone.  And he does a lot!

The strategy of this week has been to stay busy.  Especially during the evening hours when it is usually the hardest time of the day and it would be easiest for me to miss M.  Monday we had a pretty normal day.  We went to the pool for a little and then after the pool we went to a friend's house for FHE and dinner.  It was an effective way to pass the time.  I did the lesson for FHE on the story of the "Ten Lepers" and being grateful.  We got home and the boys went immediately to bed.

Tuesday morning I went to an awards ceremony for all of the Kindergarteners.  Each teacher gave out an award to each student.  I was expecting the awards to be slow and painful, but I was pleasantly surprised and they went fast and were done quickly.  B-man got an award for excellence and hard work in the Language Arts.  He has made SO much progress this year.  He started the year not able to write his name at all really, and now he can write two sentences together!  It's been so fun to watch him improve.  After school we ran some grocery errands and then stayed pretty close to home.  We have been talking to M during the day.  That makes it fun for the boys, but hard for us to get any important conversations done.  That evening my friend came to dinner at my house.  Her husband was working late and since she has been so great about keeping me busy I thought I would return the favor.  After leaving her house we then went to mutual.  I stayed only a few minutes since I had all the kids.

Wednesday was a crazy day.  I went to go get blood drawn, but the lab didn't have the order.  I then spent a lot of time on the phone trying to get my doctor's office and the lab to actually work together and get it figured out.  I was frustrated and really didn't want to go to my next appointment without getting it done.  Of course I was also embarrassed about it because I was the one that had lost the original lab order.  It was just all around frustrating.  That afternoon I went back to my friends for dinner.  I can't explain how nice it is to have the hours of four to seven fly by quickly.  It is such a relief!

Thursday was beach day for B-man at school.  He had a great time, but apparently he did a lot of running around because when we were walking home he kept asking for me to slow down because his legs were so tired.  Actually he was slightly mad at me for not driving to the bus stop.  I just thought it would be nice to walk in the lovely weather!  Later that afternoon we had two children of a friend come over.  Their mother was sick and it was a great chance for B-man to have people over.  The kids all played really well together and I was even able to work on dinner while they were over.  After dropping off the kids back at their house we came home for dinner.  We then changed quickly and went to the pool for a quick trip before heading back home for bed.

Friday was the last day of school.  B-man got a little teary and sad in the morning getting ready for school.  For him, not having school just means that he doesn't get to see all of his friends every day.  While B-man was at school I went and visit taught one of my women.  She is from Cambodia, and I was so excited to take her the article in the Ensign about the church in Cambodia.  Sadly though she can't read English and so could only look at the pictures.  I was also sad to see that the Conference talks are not being translated into Cambodian.  They have a lot of other languages though...  When B-man got home from school we took some pictures and then went with the other "bus stop" moms for a fun lunch.  After lunch we went to visit another woman (she wasn't home and I got her message late) and then headed to the pool after J's nap.  We had a great time at the pool.  It was a nice hot day. 

B-man in the morning of the last day of school.

Saturday morning I went to a few yard sales.  With the boys in tow it is not nearly as convenient or fun.  B-man was super excited about the two light sabers that we purchased.  One has been in his hands ever since. B-man has clearly decided which one is Darth Vader's and which one is Obi Wan Kenobi's.  Later that morning we went to the pool for a nice long swim.  It has been hot and humid during the weekend, and it was nice to have the pool.  J doesn't mind the water as long as I am holding him.  I am working on getting him comfortable with the floaty toy so that I don't have to hold him the entire time.  B-man loves the pool.  We had to go home for nap time, but decided on a quick dip just for B-man right before dinner.  After the second quick swim we went to CiCi's pizza for dinner.  B-man was thrilled.  It went surprisingly well for being by myself.  Both J and B-man ate a ton of food, and it was east to keep them happy. 

Today has been another busy day.  After breakfast I spent some time getting ready for a Beehive presidency meeting.  I totally forgot that it was Father's day when I planned the make-up meeting.  But thankfully two showed up and we were able to get things organized for the summer.  After the meeting we mostly played and read books.  Worked on dinner a little and then finished getting ready for church.  Getting out the door with all the church stuff is such a pain.  My church bag is so heavy and such a pain lug around. Church was interesting.  J was super wiggly so we had to keep getting up to leave.  Of course Sacrament meeting went longer than usual too.  I told B-man that if I had to leave that he should just sit there and be quiet.  I was a little skeptical though. But each time I left he just sat!  It was wonderful, I even double checked to make sure that he wasn't just being sneaky.  I was so proud of him.  Sunday school is always just a waste for me.  We spend the time roaming the halls trying to get J to fall asleep.  Today during opening exercises he finally fell asleep.  It didn't last very long, but it meant that we could at least have him be happy for part of the evening.  After church we came home and started working while J was eating some of his food.  We then rushed over with our veggies in tow to dinner at our friends' house.  The time went quickly, but it was nice to be distracted. 

M is having fun too.  He finds the places so exotic and interesting.  He'll have to fill you in on the fun things that he has been doing.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J