Summertime

I've gotten so behind on blogging. Mostly because we misplaced our camera charger for a few weeks and pictures are what give me ideas of what to right about. Anyway, this is what we've been doing with our time..

-Church: I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting 2 weeks ago. They'd ask me to speak 20 minutes on "the Sabbath--a delight". That's the longest talk I'd ever given and I put a lot of time and energy into it. It feels good to go through that every once in a while. Also, after more than 2 years, I was just released as RS teacher. I really enjoyed that calling even though it was a stress every month. At least it kept me honest with my scripture study, etc.

-Tennis: Matt has a dream of everyone playing tennis. The girls really like it and identify themselves as Tennis girls. We put them in a 2 week, 2 hour a day camp. It's really pushing Ellie's attention span although she made a friend there so it keeps her going. Sophie's improving a ton. Mathew cries that he wants to play so we got him a racket and I've been just throwing balls to him during the class--it's very cute.

-I hired a 12 yr old girl to come over 2 hours every morning to help me with my routine. While I do piano and reading with each girl, Sydney works with Mathew to do "chores and homework" (unload dishwasher, clean up books, work on coloring and cutting). While I work with one girl, the other does chores & homework. Then the girls play board games while I take Tito on a snooze cruise. So far it's been nice because it would take me all day on my own. This way we work hard for 2 hours and then have time for play.

-Gymnastics: Ellie and Mathew had been doing gymnastics but Sophie wanted to go too so we found a time where all of the kids take a class at the same time. It is the most enjoyable hour for me to sit and watch all 3 of them!

-Thundercats: Matt loves digging out old shows he watched when he was young..somehow got a hold of the old Thundercats episodes. The girls LOVE them. I was trying to hide them because I think they are a little too old for Ellie but she eats it up. Whenever Mathew is sleeping I let them watch an episode. Ellie tells everyone about the show that has really cool face painting and practices running like Cheetara.

-Mini-family reunion: Matt's cousin, Lee, and his family are moving to Guam with the Air Force so there was a reunion at a park last weekend. It was fun to see everyone and then we were able to hang out with Matt's cousins on Sunday and Monday too.