Welcome to our World

Remember how I mentioned the neighborhood kids were playing together every day and summer plans kept being canceled?  When I asked my children what they would really miss one of the things I thought I could make happen and social isolate at the same time: swimming. Using the money from our canceled 3 day Bahamas cruise, we rented an Airbnb in Arizona for two weeks. Even though the children are still distance learning we decided to go now before the weather was hot enough to melt us the minute we stepped outside. We drove straight through — I’m pretty sure the longest my children have ever gone in a car in one day — complete with our dog Piper. Having a pool in your backyard with a huge fence is pretty amazing!  Our family used that swimming pool every single day and loved the different flora and fauna and NEWS flash! Piper is a really good dog when she’s not around Maisie (who is staying with my parents while we are away)!  It would be a shocker if the dog trainer hadn...

Many of you know my middle daughter’s name and would like to acknowledge there are many wonderful women who share her name. One of them is someone I hired to change my life and she did.   I was listening to a life coach podcast and the thought occurred to me to look for a life coach that specialized in adoption and I am so glad I did. I found someone absolutely perfect for our family.   Michelle  knows both what it is like to be adopted and what it is like to raise both biological and adopted children. She is full of warmth, light and wisdom. One thing I really appreciated about her was the lovely emails she sent to me after each session.  They were another wonderful way to remind me of what I wanted to focus on in the coming week.   Of many things, she helped me find that I treated my adopted children as though they had been handed the short end of the stick for the way their life story began. Not only was that untrue, but it had affected the way I treated the...

One of the cookbooks I ordered as a Mother's Day present arrived early and we have been trying out all sorts of recipes (especially the desserts) and have been loving it.  I've liked baking for years but as it turns out, I don't mind cooking when I'm not rushed and don't have a to-do list a mile long!  Who knew?  Even though we are having a lot of disappointments about activities being canceled I really enjoy not having places to be on a daily basis.  Our most recent cancelation sadness: no in person school for the rest of the year (I feel sorriest for my middle children since they will be switching schools in the fall), no CU sports camps for my two oldest (and no BYU volleyball camp for Kate), no Girl Scout in person day camp or our troop camp out scheduled for a return to Twisted Pine or touring Backpacker's Pantry, and no Project Launch for my youngest (which she actually cheered about).  Natalie likes having us all together and no where to be! One of the...

Natalie’s birthday got off to a rough start. She didn’t want to have to do her reading group virtual meeting on her special day so I told her she could open one of her presents after it was over. Michelle and I wanted her to open up the gift Michelle picked out for her because we knew it was something Natalie could wear for the day. Natalie has other ideas so was unhappy when I told her she could either open up the one I chose or wait until later to open one. When she opened up her new High School Musical dress she found the fabric uncomfortable and was upset. With an undershirt and leggings we fixed that and she wore it all day, but not before Michelle broke down in tears thinking her little sister didn’t like her present. Then when Kate told Natalie Michelle was crying Natalie began to cry. As I sat and talked with Natalie as she curled up in her bed I I told her she could stay there as long as she needed to feel sad. Natalie replied she was going to stay there forever since she ...

Especially since Hubby is still going to work like normal, it feels like a summer break with cooler weather.  Instead of having a page or two from their summer workbooks they still have their marvelous teachers giving them assignments every day.  I know some people feel like they are home schooling but I love the fact I don't have to plan out their activities.  I am so grateful for teachers that try to stay in touch and can be another positive adult in my children's lives.  My children got some really good ones this year! Natalie loved her zoom meetings at first but was pretty upset about reading group being three times a week. One morning she was half way done with eating a croissant when it was time for her meeting to begin. Natalie told me she didn’t want to. I asked her if she wanted me to carry the rest of her breakfast into the den for her. She responded in a perfectly sassy tone, “Do you think I’m stupid?!?” We laughed so hard. It was m...

Happy 10th birthday, M!  The day before her big day she pretty much made her cake all by herself. I just cracked the eggs, took it out of the oven and frosted it. She mixed and decorated it perfectly. I am so proud of all the things she can do. M appears very ready to be in double digits and I couldn’t be more thrilled to see what the next 10 years brings her.  As I look back on her first decade I feel such gratitude that this wonderful girl is a part of our family. M put on the Minnie Mouse shirt I ordered from Etsy for the cruise and was ready for the day.  M is thrilled about her Harry Potter bedsheets and duvet cover and lamp. Yes, she wasn’t going to get all that before but I ordered it for her ASAP (and the Penderwick set of books) after finding out our cruise was canceled. Am I buffering?  Heck, yeah. Take my Disney away from me and I will turn to retail therapy, junk food and too much screen time just like the next mom looking at home schooling...