$100 and butterflies

 We went to Gtown for L's birthday.  Pizza and doughnuts were had by most.  We took Grandma and aunts to the museum and butterfly garden.

Aunt E took this nice picture of us.  P has loved me for 20 years.  I recently searched out my journal entry from 1999 where I say "I met a guy named P P ...."

G and P took a bike ride last week and G found a $100 on the road.  Over the past week P posted a message inviting people to claim it.  On Friday the kids read the most likely responses and decided nothing was a very good match.  But that it wasn't our money and if the one, who was at least sort of possible, had lost money, it would be good to give it to him.  We all agreed that if we had lost money, we would be very happy to have it returned.

Beach walk, and Rocket launch

On Tuesday I walked the beach for 5 miles with a friend and saw this!

When I first saw it I thought it was an interesting track from a cooler and "wait a minute!  It looks almost like a turtle track.  It is a turtle track!!!"

Last night we drove down to New Smyrna to watch a rocket launch.  G has wanted to go see a space X launch and I'm not generally adventurous enough for that.  But I prodded him into coming up with a solid plan, 3 possible locations, departure time etc... and so we went and it was lovely.  As the rocket went up I excitedly lifted L to see at my eye level.  I looked down and B was squinting up into the sky, missing the launch.  We got him looking in the right direction.  Then L said "It is my first rocket launch."  He repeated that phrase so sweetly a few more times.

Later as we played at this amazing park we heard the rumble of the launch.  It went on for over a minute.  Then about 8 minutes later we heard a loud bang that G tells me was the rocket coming back down to land.  So cool.  I'm glad G came up with the plan so we could go.

Peaches

 This has been a bucket list year.  Kayaks, lasik, rockets, a new AC, family bike ride, and 25 lbs of peaches.  I ordered this box of peaches from the fruit stand.  We ate at least 10 lbs of peaches once they got soft (about 3 days after I bought them).  The kids helped me cut them up and skin them.  We froze them in bags and last night we had the missionaries over and made peach cobbler.  M, lP and B all agreed that peach cobbler is amazing.  So we have enough peaches to do that several more times. 

I'm very tempted to order another box...

Good examples

P and G are training for a bike ride to G-town this summer.  They are making increasingly large rides and gathering equipment and experience for the trip.  On Saturday they rode to a town at the edge of the county and we drove out to meet them at the library there.  I'm grateful P is providing this example of how to prepare, increasing their capacity toward the goal.

I read recently that Inuit parents don't yell at their children because that would be a bad example.  I'd like to implement that idea more.  The Inuit also tell their children scary stories to keep them out of dangerous situations.  I don't feel like I've burdened them with many scary stories.  We are reading the Complete Grimm fairy tale collection.  Some of those stories are really weird.

Rockets

 Grandma P sent a gift card, so for L and P's birthdays we bought a rocket kit.  We've never done one before and it turned out awesome.  We went tonight after I got home from the temple.  We sent it off 3 times and it didn't get caught in a tree, stepped on or catch fire!

Stools at the counter

I got some stools from my neighbor and now we have 3 spots for kids to eat at the counter.  It's so nice!  M is tall enough to stand and I'm grateful that she's put up with that very well.

job

My friend J called today and asked if I would like a job that I would very much like.  It's working with a cause I do care about and the money would be a good thing.  But as I thought about it, I remembered that I do have a job doing something to serve a population I care deeply about and that I'm the only one who can do this job.  I'm a homeschooling mom.  mom.  mom.

I recently made some goals that will force me to waste less time.  I recently got a groove going with exercise and I don't want to loose that.  I have recently gotten a grip on my nutrition and less time would not help me with that.

I know a lot of amazing women who work and they all wish they had more time with their children.  I have a pretty sweet situation having a husband that can earn an income we can live within. 

My children already need more of my time than I spend on them.  I have recently stopped working for my dad (for free) and leading my homeschool co-op (for free).  I am trying to use this extra time I have to work for me some (for huge benefits). 

I do hope someday to return to working a job and I hope to make a difference.  This job would have been exactly perfect for then, but I am here, now.

This is my "40 is the new 20" picture.  Yay!

technology and the temple

I come from a family where one side has a long history with the church.  The other side hits a dead end within 2 generations because of communist china.  New names are hard to find.   Today I got a tip of how to get 4 names in Family Search by looking for "Ordinances Ready". 

I think of the work that was done indexing the census and the computer programing that made this search algorithim possible.  What a blessing.  I'm grateful for this tool.  It really motivates me to do work for my ancestors.

shoes

5 years ago we went to Utah with plans to visit the Grand canyon on the way.  B was newly 1 year old and I wanted good shoes so I wouldn't slip down the canyon and drop him...

I'd never invested in good shoes for myself.  Hand me downs and whatever fit and cost less than $25 was my main source of footwear.  Occasionally I would go out with my sister M and get 1 pair of shoes that felt special.

I've arrived recently at a level of caring for my feet.  When I stopped eating sweets I rewarded myself with nice leather boots after 100 days free from sugar.  I started walking around the same time and got a good pair of walking shoes.  I threw away all my closed toe dress shoes and got salt waters.  My craisglist Tevas broke down and I got new ones instead of some knock off.  I currently own 6 pairs of shoes (plus galoshes OK!) and each is a pair that fits well and is kind to my feet.

Cleaning the Roof

Today we went to T park from 10-11.  A friend from sign language class happened to be there and we spent the time chatting while the kids played.  It got hot and they were happy to go home.  Summer fun.  Taking them out daily is a goal I try to keep up on.

The leaves and pollen were collecting on my beautiful metal roof.  I swept them off last year but it was kinda precarious and I was putting it off this year.  Today I reviewed my plan with P and he advised that I use a broom instead of a rake.  So after feeding the kids lunch I got the ladder and headed out to battle the debris.   I set the ladder up against the gutter and swept the leaves within 5 feet of the gutters.  Then I headed to the back of the house with the ladder to go up on the roof.  I found that if I kept my feet facing down the slope I could keep positive pressure and felt surprisingly nimble.  I worked my way down the roof pushing the leaves toward the edge.  Having previously cleaned the last 5 feet, I could just shove the upper leaves down and they would scuttle off the edge.  Yay!

I cleaned up and within half an hour it rained a torrent.  The screened porch has a tar roof that boils in the sun.  As I type the steam is rising off the roof and blowing past the gutter.

fitness

I joined my friend T's fitness group.  I'd met with them before but now I am more committed.  It felt great to push myself to just do all the exercises and not let discomfort stop me.  It helps that I have lost 25 lbs thanks to Q.  Everything is easier when you're not carrying 25 lbs.  But still, I was really in to the workout and it was a great exhaustion at the end.

Kayak adventure

My sister is visiting and we were able to do a kayak adventure today.  We put in at the south neighborhood dock with 2 adults and 4 kids.  Meanwhile my sister M drove the other 4 children to vail point and met us at the dock.  Then I switched places with M and 4 kids and they reversed the trip.  We had cookies and cheese sticks on the dock.  It was something we had wanted to do for a while and the 8 kids on hand made it work well.  P even let B jump off the boat and swim on the return trip!  The trip was a bit short, but long enough for a first time paddler which there were 3 of, so that was good.  It was enough to call it an adventure without the exhaustion and frustration of our usual sort of adventure.  Win!

 Little T was very concerned about falling out of the boat.  He was much more well behaved than L.

4th of July Parade

A few months ago I asked the neighborhood president if we could have a 4th of July parade.  She loved the idea and was super supportive in publicizing, bringing watermelon, and decorations.  Her grandkids came and it was a great event.  I'm so glad we got to have this.

My sister is visiting and we went to see fireworks and P's band play last night.  I've had all the 4th of July fun I could want and it has been nice.  We might go to the beach tonight if the weather is clear.  So nice!

Rock Spring!

We celebrated my birthday today by going to Rock Spring in Appopka.  I'd heard about this spring and how nice it was, but also how quickly they closed reaching capacity.

I am wearing contacts to practice mono vision before getting my eyes fixed this summer.  I brought a snorkel and mask and was so excited to try it out.  lP asked if she could use it and I said I was saving it for myself and G.  Me, because I never got to use one before and G because he's deaf and I want him to have as much visual fun as possible when he can't hear (with the water).  lP said I had used a snorkel before I got glasses when I was a kid.  I told her that I never had.  She said I must have had a very sad childhood.  M reminded us all that I didn't grow up in Florida.  True.  Snorkeling at Rock Spring was so fun!  It was scary at first but as I got used to trusting that I wasn't going to drown, I could relax and enjoy seeing, under water!

We left the house at 7 hoping it would be enough.  I woke at 6 and went out to buy some floats and I'm glad I did because the rentals were $7 a piece and the kids didn't even want to use their floats most of the time.  Boogie boards would have been ideal for them to float a little and then drag them along, lashed to their ankles when they wanted to be free.

We stayed 5 hours!  We never stay anywhere for 5 hours.  We floated the lower half 3 times, swam in the swimming area twice, and floated the whole length 1 time.  There are rocks at the head that are fascinating, but precarious.  Someone stole P's rented tube at the head of the springs and he was stuck navigating the rocks on foot.  It wasn't a good moment.  But he was mostly stressed trying to keep us together because he's loving like that.

We took a break in the middle to potty, warm up at the park and have a snack.  L was cold from the water so we were glad one of our floats had a seat to keep him out of the water.

We left around 2:30 and went to Golden Corral in Daytona to celebrate our Anniversary.  Breaking fast with an all you can eat buffet is interesting.  The kids were so well behaved.  It just gets more and more fun the raise this family.