Summer lovin'

Somehow it is summer again, life just goes so fast! We took the kids to get a new pool this weekend and they had fun on Saturday testing it out. They are both growing so fast!

It is almost summer break at our house. I am teaching summer school and it starts tomorrow. I have a very crazy week this week as we have our end of the year banquet for Youth Court and I have a 3 day juvenile justice meeting. But next week, we will settle into an only marginally busy routine. Yay for summer!

Resurrected

Mylie recently learned about resurrection in her primary class and we have been talking about it at home too.

Fast forward to Saturday, she and Daddy spent the morning tearing down the old dog run in our backyard (we haven't had dogs in 2.5 years). As they were working Mylie said to Jeff, "Dad, I don't kow why you are taking this down, you'll just have to put it back up again when the dog comes back." Jeff explained to Mylie that we were not getting another dog and she told him when the dog was resurrected and came back to our house we would need the dog pen again.

Seriously ... what do you say to that?

A Grown Up

Today at lunch Mylie informed Jeff and I that she is a grown up. She said, "I'm a grown up. I use silverware, drink diet coke, go to work and teach nursery. I'm a grown up."

I feel old today.

Jeff told Mylie that on Friday night that they would have a tent camp out in the backyard. After work they got the tent all set up, the sleeping bags laid out (no air mattress though), and the lantern set up. I figured that Blake and I would give it a shot, I wasn't sure how he would do. After playing for a bit, he did fall asleep and I thought he just might make it ... but only a little bit later he woke up ready to play again. At that point it was kind of a lost cause and we decided that he would have to sleep inside. Jeff asked Mylie who she wanted to sleep in the tent with her and she said Momma. Jeff took Blake in and Mylie and I got all resettled. I was in the middle of a good book, so after Mylie fell asleep (which was pretty quick), I read until I finished my book at about 12:30.

It's been a long time since I camped, like 7 years, and there was an air mattress then, and I was in my 20s. I was pretty stiff when I woke up this morning, but it was a fun night. Mylie snuggled up close to me all night. It was quiet with lots of time to think about how lucky I am to have such a sweet daughter. It was fun to something different!

Bowling

Mylie has never been "real" bowling, only on Grandma and Papa's Wii. Max and Darcy love to bowl, so I mentioned to her that the next time we were in Idaho Falls we would go bowling with Max. She asked me if they have the remotes there or if we take them with us.

Now keep in mind she is a soccer player, not a bowler. Needless to say we had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. And she bowled a 77.

a few random Westmoreland shots ...

A lot of things change over time, but somethings don't ... white siding and red brick ... flowering trees in the front and backyard ...
spring tulips ...

hanging out on the back patio ...

a gathering place for all generations ...

and lots of memories! The kids and I stopped by to tell Grandpa goodbye on our way out of town. It is still funny to be the adult visiting while watching the kids running around playing. It didn't seem that long ago that I was the one running around and playing. Mylie immediately ran to the swingset and found a duck on the canal bank. Blake ran and ran and never ran out of room. It was a great end to our trip.

Parker Cemetary

Last year on Memorial Day, when we visited the Parker Cemetery, I promised myself that at least once a year I would take my kids to the Parker Cemetery. On Friday, the kids and I picked up Grandpa Hammond. He and Mylie picked some tulips from his yard and we headed north. When we arrived they walked to Grandma's grave and Mylie lovingly placed the flowers on her headstone.

We spent 20 minutes or so walking around the cemetary. As we were getting ready to leave Mylie ran back to Grandma's grave, I was slower, with Blake in tow. Mylie was sitting next to the flowers, rearranging them once again. She looked up at me with a tear stained face and said, "Momma, I miss Grandma Hammond." My eyes welled up with tears too and I reassured her that I missed her too. Mylie is so sweet and tender hearted and is wise beyond her years. She hugged me and asked, "Mom, will Grandma come back from Heaven and be resurrected?" I assured her that she would and that we would see her again someday. She looked at me with tear stained cheeks and then her sweet little voice said, "Then why is it taking so long?" It was nearly impossible to stop the tears after that.

Though I am always grateful for the knowledge that our families can be together forever, it hits closest to home at moments like this.

On a lighter note, as we were walking through the cemetery Mylie spotted a headstone that said BLAKE. She exclaimed, "Mom, look! When Blake is dead we can put him here." Yikes.