Summertime

Nathan has been keeping busy with plenty of summer activities.

He completed his second year of robotics camp and had so much fun, again. We are truly a bunch of nerds. When we went to pick him up, the rest of my kids were excited to see what he had programmed his robot to do each day.

He is also involved in a High Adventure Kids Camp that goes through mid-July.
The kids meet once per week and get to try "adventurous" activities.
The first week they did rock climbing:

The second week it was surfing.
Kind of. It was indoors and probably safer, although Nathan did get pretty banged up. He toughed it out and ended up carving some bodacious waves by the end.


Nathan has also been involved with city baseball. His team did very well and were undefeated all season. They have been invited to the county playoffs next month. Nathan played in the family place of honor: right field. He was excited to be on a team that won more than they lost.
The last game of the season was a blowout, so Nathan's coach let him have a turn pitching. He was so nervous and excited that he struggled. But we were so proud of him and glad he had a chance to try.
In the midst of all this, he is also doing piano lessons. He really enjoys it and tends to practice longer than is required just because he likes it!!!
I don't know how much longer that will last, but I am going to make the most of it while I can.

We have all been doing swimming lessons, going to the splash pad, and reading some good books. I just finished the first in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series-- Captured. Nathan is reading the Red Pyramid and can't keep the information to himself. He is going to make sure I don't need to read it to know the plot.
I don't complain, though. I am just grateful he is enjoying a book. He is so picky about what he reads.
I am trying to figure out what to get him to read after Red Pyramid is over. It looks like we will pass that milestone tomorrow.

Catching Up

Since my laptop died and the kids got out of school for the summer, it has been really hard for me to keep up with blogging.
We are keeping busy with summer activities.
Here goes:
Everyone is in swimming lessons,
Nathan is participating in a High Adventure Kids Camp,
He also started piano lessons (better late than never),
Kade's dojo is closing,
But we are looking for a new one (to start in September),
I spoke in the Saturday evening session of our stake conference,
Had a conference related hair emergency,
Which led to being able to visit with my newest twin nieces,
Burke still has a job,
and nobody has even gotten a sunburn yet because I have been on top of the sunscreen this summer!
Yea me!
That's it in a nutshell.
I will try to post photos later, once I figure out how to do it with my new camera on my old computer.

Summer Fun

We are furiously making plans for the summer.
The kids are working on the fun stuff.
I am working on getting more organized and teaching them how to help around the house.
(A nice way of saying they better be getting their jobs done before I end up yelling.)
I have some ideas, but haven't implemented them yet.
I will let you know how it goes.
But probably not for a few days because my beloved laptop is now officially a glorified paperweight.
I have to go alllll the wayyyyy downstairs to get on the internet now, and I am basically lazy, so I am only down here every few days.

But I am getting more accomplished around the house.
Hmmmm.....
Could the two things be related?

Struggles

I have been thinking about the struggles we all have.
I had an epiphany with the help of a friend the other day.

She told me that I sure seem to "have it together".
(Then she said that since she knows me better, and knows the things I struggle with, she also knows I am indeed not perfect).

It made me feel good, in a strange way. Apparently, "fake it 'til you make it" works for me.

In the past year, I have learned a lot about struggles.
I have helplessly watched my own children struggle with their problems, seen my sister deal with hers, and watched my father in law in his fight for life.
It is so difficult to watch others suffer and know that there is little, if anything I can do to help.
Then I remember that is what we are here for.
To struggle.
And to learn.
And to become stronger as we go through our trials.
We learn to accept help, learn to be supportive, and be supported, even when we don't like it.
We learn that we are not alone as we struggle.
Life is good, even if it is difficult.

I recently had the opportunity to hold a sweet baby girl who was born just shy of 28 weeks.
She was 2 weeks old and 2 lbs and 8 oz at the time this photo was taken:

This little girl has had to struggle each day of her life. But she is strong and beautiful and and has an amazing mother and a loving father to help her through every day.
I am trying to be the same type of mother: supportive, loving, and involved.
But I cannot take all of my children's struggles away.
Because they need to learn from them.
I can only run by their side and cheer them on as the work toward the end of the marathon.
Then we can celebrate together.