Happy Birthday To Me!

So, I will be posting about McKaleigh's birthday in a few days, but...it's a good thing that I celebrated my birthday yesterday because....

This morning I woke up, on my actual birthday, to find that our entire South facing wall had been tagged. SERIOUSLY?! I was furious for many reasons, the first being that we would have to clean it up, waiting forever for a policeman to show up and make a report so we could start cleaning, the mucho dinero that was spent on graffiti removal cleaners and I will just stop there. Needless to say, we spent the entire morning scrubbing our cinder block wall - almost clean. What a day, huh?

June Flies By...

Just like this last school year, the month of June flew by! We were busy wrapping up the baseball season (which was a long one) and now were are getting ready for basketball season to start! Colton did really well this year in Minors and will be heading off to the Majors - there is such a difference between Pee Wee's and Minors, and I have to say that the games were really fun to watch!

Here is a shot of Colton taking a GREAT hit! We were the Cubbies this year! My Grandpa Dan would be proud!
Here he is intently watching his base coach - it was all about stealing bases this year!
Our next, and ongoing event is karate. McKaleigh has karate 3 days a week and really loves it. Here is her instructor and some of the kids at her karate school getting ready for a tournament this past weekend.

McKaleigh entered two events, one was forms, which she is performing here. She did really well, but did not place as most of the kids personalized a form and she played it safe with the normal one.
Here she is with one of here classmates getting ready to spar (fight another kid).
Lets Get Ready to Rumble! (The judge was in the way most of the time I tried to get a good shot!)
You can see her pink glove and this kiddo taking a hit from McKaleigh! I am so glad that she has found a sport that she practices daily and loves!
And here is our little Alex with this swim class. He loves going to the pool, so having a daily swim class outing has been so fun for him!
Here they are practicing their kicks.
Getting ready to learn how to jump off the diving board - he was really confident in the beginning, but...
He was not so sure when he got to the end of the board:). With a little help, he successfully made it into the water - but said it was not that fun!
I have to say that the evenings have been just beautiful, and Brett and I are content to sit on the porch and watch the kids. Almost every night ends in a sparring match on the front lawn. Usually it is the boys against the girl, which is more than fair!

We are so excited to see what July brings! June was great, relaxing, but over way too fast! July here we come!

It's Official - School Is Out

I love Summertime. I always have and always will. I think it brings with it a sense of calm for me, being on my own timetable - nowhere I really have to go, do, or be if I don't want to, and that's a great feeling!

For our family, Summer is full of lazy mornings in the backyard puttering around the garden, swimming in the afternoon, and walks and bikerides in the evenings. This is our daily routine - with whatever we decide to throw in to spice it up.

So far, McKaleigh has left for a weeklong camp up in Kamas with her friends in the area, Colton has been playing lots of baseball, basketball, Playstation, and watergames. Alex is busy playing with the 3 little kiddos I am tending for the time being (which means until I feel I am going crazy- but it really hasn't been too bad, especially since I have been able to get all 4 of them to nap from 12:30 till about 3:00 EVERYDAY). Brett continues to keep himself busy all of the time and does not seem to slow down. He is still working on the bathroom remodel and still finds the time to attend baseball games, karate matches, go on dates with me and then start another project. And me, I have been studying and taking classes to finish up my degree at the Y, trying new recipes, and just enjoying the weather and downtime. Life is good - for all of us, we are lucky duckies to be able to enjoy ourselves everyday!

"The time has come..."

"The time has come," the walrus said, "To talk of other things ...

I just love that part in Alice and Wonderland all of the chaos of the moment and such. I guess that is a very relatable moment! Yes, Summer is officially here, although today I was wearing long sleeves and had a blanket wrapped around me at Colton's baseball game. It kind of makes me wonder if we will really have a Summer. It has been a crazy few months, but here is a quick rundown: baseball baseball and more, karate all the time FOREVER, dad's out of town- again, Alex's monthlong birthday celebration, unfinished bathroom, unfinished backyard project, got the garden in (but the cold is ruining all my plans), babysit 2 kids, take on one more for the summer, officially mother 6 children at my house this summer (how to get to the pool with all those little ones?), mow and weed and do it all over again and again, fit in exercise (no the above does not count), watch court tv (a guilty pleasure), try swim lessons (and reschedule for another time), plan sharing time again and again...the list goes on and i'm sure most of you feel the same - does it get any better?!

Needless to say, I love my crazy busy life and I would not change MOST of it!