...and the livin' is easy.

Well, it is not quite summertime yet. But don't tell my kids. They have been swimming in our pool since we moved in four weeks ago:) it has been so tempting for me too- I LOVE swimming - but the water has been just a few degrees on the cold side. Yesterday I came home from going to the zoo with Maddie to find Jeff and the three youngers in the hot tub. I hung out with them for a while but then I just had to do it. I ran straight to the diving board and jumped right in. It was cold. Really cold. But I climbed right back out and jumped again. And again. Jeff braved up and jumped once but he was a little wimpy and ran right back to the jacuzzi;) It was fun. And today we went out again and I spent about an hour in the pool with the older kids. I am pretty sure I had more fun than any of them. I had to force myself to come inside.

Did I ever mention how much I love our new house? Yes, it is 37 years old and needs some updating. Yes, the kitchen is kind of small and the dining room is carpeted. But I really don't think there could be a more perfect layout for our family. It is cozy and fosters togetherness yet it is roomy. It has all kinds of awesome built-in storage that I don't even fill up. It has a pool in the backyard. And a hot tub. It has a big great room that is perfect for family time. I love it and I feel so blessed.

One other thing, I am married to the best man on the planet. Hands down. He works so hard solving all kinds of problems at work, comes home and solves all kinds of problems at home, plays with our kids, listens to me talk, and then he somehow manages to fit in time for his school work. I am lucky. Our kids are lucky. I love him.

Humility is a virtue...

I went outside to shoot a few hoops with Cole and Cade this afternoon. I was feeling like my boys should be pretty proud of their old mom since more than a few of my shots were making their way into the basket. But then I remembered the laughable way I look when I shoot. Apparently my form isn't normal. At least that is what I have been told. A few times. So then I worked on my form and tried to make myself look better. I don't think it worked.

I moved on to the trampoline and tried a few front flips. I couldn't land a single one. I got close though. Once. And it wasn't very many jumps before I remembered how unpleasant jumping on the trampoline can be for a person who has given birth to six children.

At that point, I gave up on trying to be totally awesome and came inside. Then I thought about this past Saturday's Cub Scout Day Camp. The boys did an obstacle course and I thought I would impress them by my abilities so I tried it. I did ok but my big shoe got caught for several seconds in the gunny sack (jumping in a gunny sack is a lot harder than it looks, by the way) and I did a little belly flop onto the grass that was apparently pretty funny when I got to an obstacle that I needed to crawl under. I think I was good comic relief. Needless to say, I didn't break any records.

This I what I realize: getting older is humbling. Or maybe, just being me is humbling. Because let's face it, I am really not that old. I guess the trick is to keep getting out there and playing and pretending like I am 12 again. I want my kids to someday be able to tell their friends what my little brother told his, "my mom might look old and tired, but she's just old."

Golden Birthday

So Madlyn turned 10 yesterday- I can't believe a decade has flown by so quickly! We celebrated by having chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, and orange juice for breakfast. I was so happy when Cole said, "this is kind of our tradition, isn't it?" Yes, we do have chocolate chip pancakes for birthday breakfasts! Then I felt a little deflated when Cole said that "mornings on birthdays are always like this" (meaning chaotic and rushed). Oh well. At least we have some traditions:)

After school, Madlyn got to go to get frozen yogurt with her grandma (perks of living one minute apart), to her new activity day group, she made her own birthday cake (her request), and she helped me make her birthday dinner of homemade orange chicken and fried rice. Grandpa and Grandma L. joined us for dinner and then her cousins who live nearby joined for cake and ice cream. Our gift to her was a new bed and bedspread and freshly painted bedroom furniture. She is working on her Paris-themes bedroom and we gave her a good start.

It was such a fun day and she said she felt loved and appreciated so I think it was a success! I did, of course, reminisce about her birth and am just so grateful that she decided to join our family 10 years ago! We love our Mads!

P.S. At 10, Madlyn loves cooking, music, and planning. She is in her school's production of Seussical and is enjoying that. She takes piano lessons and plays the viola in the orchestra at school. She is very talented and is coming out of her shell. Madlyn really is an extraordinary chef. She LOVES to cooks and will often make entire meals by herself with absolutely no help from me, aside from sometimes helping her find the recipe. It is so much fun to cook with her and it is especially awesome that she loves to chop! She will come ask me if I need anything chopped and loves to do it!

Madlyn is such a joy to have in our family and we all love her!

P.s.s. Madlyn had a fun surprise and had a new cousin born early in the morning on her birthday! My little brother and his wife had their first baby, little Carson Boyd. We are so excited and happy for them and can't wait to meet him!!

Home Sweet Home

Well, we did it. We finally bought a house. We closed two weeks ago and are feeling pretty settled in by now. Of course, I have lots of decorating things I want to do but boxes are unpacked and most everything is where it should be. It is AMAZING to have our own space again- and so much more than we have ever had- we are in heaven!

We are so thankful that it worked out so well for us to stay with Jeff's parents for as long as we did (8 months) - they are so good to us- but we are so so glad to be living two streets away now instead of with them!

We are in the same school and (barely) in the same ward and I, for one, am so glad that we don't have to make that adjustment all over again! I have been lucky enough to make some good friends here and like that we get to stay!

I miss Texas and my friends there still but this is home now. I did retain a little bit of Texas with me- both my new home phone number and my cell phone have the numbers of our TX street address in it, 349. I totally did that on purpose.

Life is good and we are blessed!