Catch up

Hello again friends.

It is good to be back.

Tommy started preschool this week and I am relishing a few hours alone in the mornings. I could fill that time doing things- laundry, dishes, cleaning, weeding, money, email, etc. but I really want to be wise in the use of my two free hours per day and use that time to do something that is self-replenishing, rejuvenating and fills up my bucket.

Writing is one of those things so I plan to do more of it.

In recap, we had a good and busy and family/friend filled summer.

It was kind of crazy and the weeks flew by.

The girls were very entrepreneurial and each created a business. Lauren had a "kids club" with two of her friends where they would have kids come to the house for 2.5 hours, and with a theme entertain them, learn and make things with them while the parents got a break. It filled up every week and they made some good coin and learned some great babysitting fundamentals in the process.

Ellie and Ada created a carwash business where they would clean the inside and outside of cars for $5 each. They worked hard and saved up enough to buy a hover-board, after which their motivation to work dramatically decreased although they did keep their car wash commitments to the end. I love the new skills they learned as they can now clean our car as well as the detail shops. :)

Tommy continued to be darling, playing with cars, weapons, legos and dress-ups acting out his favorite scenes from Clone Wars and the Book of Mormon. The war chapters are his definite favorite and any time he has the family night lesson we are acting out a story with a battle between the Nephites and the Lamanites. Luckily there are a few of those.

I felt pretty good through the summer and finished my training for the marathon, after which I've only run a handful of times. I kind of dropped off in the self-care area, so come the end of August I was feeling pretty spent and burned out. Can I say this- taking care of your self if CRITICAL especially when your full time job is to take care of others. This is not a selfish pursuit, but rather filling your bucket gives you reserve to help fill the buckets of others. Thankfully with school starting again (PS. when you are a single parent school becomes the 2nd parent- taking the kids and giving you a predictable break in the day) I've been able to get back to better routines and able to sleep, exercise, read, meditate and even start on a study of the Old Testament and am feeling renewed energy and motivation. Praise heaven.

I can say that when I am physically depleted, mental and emotional depletion are close on its heels and I tend to slide back into the grieving abyss. Thankfully those periods are more brief and less regular than before and I feel like I have some tools to help me climb out of the pit.

Here is my best recap of the summer months. I took very few pictures so you'll have to use your imagination:

June- visit from Phoenix friends, visit from CA Robertson cousins, weekend trip to Rupert to visit my cousins and lots of club time/earning money and soccer practice.

July- Provo freedom festival and stadium of fire, visit from more Robertson cousins, trip to Santa Cruz for the Robertson reunion, trip to LA and San Diego to see my brother and SIL and friends, trip to Phoenix to see friends and swim, soccer tournaments

August- Summer cleaning and house organization, school supply and registration, school clothes/shoes/backpack shopping, organizing and preparing my Let's Play Music classes, school starting, BYU education week, visit from Romney family, fall soccer season starting

And now September is almost halfway over. We have continued with soccer, mutual and activity days and the kids are doing well. I was released from my calling as the co-primary chorister and am now serving as the beehive advisor. It has been a lot of fun and having Lauren in there (and Ellie next year) is exciting.

We have a good morning routine where they help pack their lunches and do a chore while I make breakfast and after school they have time to play, practice piano and make it to a soccer practice. I have been grateful for the cool mornings and the turning leaves that bring on my favorite season- FALL. Weekends are filled with extended family, football games and sports and all in all things are going well and I feel grateful to be in a place where life is predictable, comfortable and enjoyable for all of us.