Not necessarily something that made me smile, but it's interesting how coincidences come together to fix our problems

283. Crazy Blessings. Our Suburban was stolen. Yep. That beat-up rusted lovely beast that we could probably recognize in another state as ours as easily as the old van. Less than half a mile from the federal building, the courthouse, and a police station. Really? Yep. Apparently it's easier to hot wire an old car than a new one. Desperate people like that. We've only had a few days of trying to figure out life with one car. We could do it, I think. But it wouldn't be easy.

Luckily, the details of how to help us solve our new transportation issues were figured out months ago when my father-in-law acquired a Ford Explorer. It's an extra car for him that would have been mostly parked during the mission he and he wife leave on in two weeks. We are working out details, but due to a canoe race being postponed (which is good when you have no way to tow the canoe!) we get to go pick it up this week.

It's all coming together for this week. We really didn't have a lot going on except the race. Mr. C. was CRAVING mountains (a good old fashioned camping trip will be just the ticket!) , and we really wanted to go see the grandparents before they left. So - one joy ride and a cancelled canoe race equals a vacation, a chance to hang out with family, and an opportunity to secure busy family transportation. I'm really hoping whoever took our baby was just some poor guy who needed a car and couldn't see any other way to get one. Hopefully our car will be abandoned soon for lack of gas money, and he'll get to come home. And it's even all right if they roughed up the steering column in their quest to hot wire. We have an extra one sitting upside down in the garage! Come home baby. What else are we going to use this steering column for?!

Old Spice, New Spice, Spice, Smice

282. Spice. And on a lighter note, Have you seen the new Old Spice commercials? If you haven't, click here.

And after you watch that, if you haven't seen it already, watch this.

Farewells

281. Great Traditions. Today we had a young man from our ward speak before leaving on his mission. In this ward, when a missionary is leaving, all the men over 12 go up to the choir seats and sing "Called to Serve" as the closing song. It is such a strengthening tradition. The love and support felt. The voices as they roll over the chapel. The feeling that here we are, all of us part of something bigger than ourselves. Hearts swell and eyes are cloudy. It can't be duplicated. It's so sweet and poigniant when the community has watched these young men grow from sunbeams to graduates. We have all raised each others children together. How can you help but feel supported when you roll forth on your mission on the waves of such glorious sound? In low parts of a mission, the echo of that booming joy is reassuring. We are children of our Heavenly Father together. You are loved. You are a crusader in a cause greater than yourself. You will be loved by those who helped raise you, no matter how old you get. I love living in a place where the spirit of caring for each other is strong. It's what we all want for our children.

Summer Singing

280. Musicals - Sue and Lou were in a musical this summer. A friend of a friend (a senior next year in high school!) puts on a show with the kids she can round up each summer. This year they put on "Into the Woods." They worked hard for two weeks. Sue was a narrator and did a great job.


Lou was Little Red Riding Hood. I was excited to help with sketches for the castle and bakery backgrounds. I think they turned out nice.


I keep thinking about one of Little Red's Songs, "Nice is Different than Good." Isn't that really what all the advice we try to give our girls about boys boils down to? The only crummy thing about this video is that my camera insisted on focusing on the hair of the person in front of me instead of the stage. Grrrr.

I tried to upload video of the song several time, but blogger is thwarting me. I'll try again to add it tomorrow.

Summer Fun - Part 2 (I'm not sure how many parts there will be. Probably lots.)

276. This beautiful face. That comes to visit me three times a week with her siblings. I have watched them for the past 5 years or so. It's interesting how things change when they are at my house. Today we had birthday doughnuts for a child with a mild case of Summer Doughnut Obsessive Disorder. Everything this summer has been - "Can we get doughnuts?" Hopefully the two Krispy Kremes everyone got today will ease the symptoms for a little while.

277. Youth Conference Enthusiasm by the oldest. This year they did a pioneer trek. Several youth in our ward loved the authenticity and costuming. Two days in the hot sun with handcarts. She had a great time.
277. Sewing. She made her dress and a bonnet for the experience. I helped unpick everything I told her to do wrong. It seemed only fair. (It helps to actually read the pattern and not just try to wing it from memory.)

A little later in the summer, Lou got inspired and made this skirt.

She picked out one of the fabrics last year and was going to make it for our gigantic vacation trip. A year later it was finally time. Now I have three more girls wanting to make skirts. They are all cut out, and one is half done. I'll post pictures when they're finished. I'm so excited to use up my stash on something so fun and useful. I love watching flat pieces of fabric become 3D pieces of wearable art!

And just for fun

279. Shoes I Saw. Out looking for Pioneer and EFY clothing I came across these little beauties.

I had to take a picture.

Now look closer.

Anyone have ideas for the perfect outfit to go with Cartoon Unicorn Shoes? Smiling and shuddering, it's a fine line, really.

Summer Fun - Part 1

All right. I have missed so many things for my list this summer. I'll console myself by knowing that I have captured so much more of the year than I would have without this blog. So, in the interest of a family update, here are a few of the things we've been up to. I'll try to do a few every day for the next few days.

271. Reading - Every so often this summer things get quiet. It's eerie. I don't know how to handle the silence and I'll look around to find out where the children have gotten to. I gets even spookier when I realize they are all very close to me - they're just ALL reading. While the lack of noise is unsettling, realizing a love of books and reading has been passed on to a new generation makes me smile. The library is one of our favorite summer places.



272. Swimming - The girls have been on the swim team. I love seeing their progress since last year. Their times keep getting better and their strokes look cleaner and stronger. I think this year has been more fun because it's been warmer. No blue lips after practice! It's great to see friends and talk at the meets. The girls get to see some of their friends too.



273. The S-Train and Space - Of course, with more free time the wall decoration has been in a constant swirl of change. One big theme for most of June was space. Made a great telescope. (Don't poke your eye out, kid!)


Which, you can see in the collage below, we took to try and see some stars in the daytime while reading our "If you went to the Moon" book from grandma.

The art kicked into high gear, and this is a portion of the artwork that went up on the walls of his room. Those glow in the dark stars were starting to get company! The artwork extended to
274. A 50 cent light brite - (We found it at a garage sale for 50 cents! It still works and has a bunch of blank pages and bulbs. I was willing to get it for a rainy day summer activity. At that price I wasn't married to it, and it was cheap entertainment.) It got roped into the space theme along with everything else.

And The S-Train made, my favorite, 275. Quick Trip Cup rockets.


This one, seen while doing chalk drawings of rockets at the ward ice cream social, is one of many. The lid comes off and littlest pet shop pets and lego and playmobile people get to go for a ride.

The kids tried to launch one of these on the fountains downtown. It only worked a little bit. The cardboard wings didn't make it. But that led to new and improved plastic milk jug wings.

The space fun lasted about a month. Then all of a sudden space was done. All the space pictures came down and now the race cars are up.

The Fourth of July. There's no place like home.

270. Fourth of July weekend and fireworks. We had a low key 4th. It's amazing how quiet things can be when you're supposed to be out of town. It worked out well. Saturday was spend swimming and cooking and then eating dessert with friends. Sunday we all hung out at home and watched a Capitol 4th. Then we tried to go to the rained out fireworks. Even when cars were leaving in droves, there were some pretty determined people out there. If you look closely, you can see them waiting in their folding chairs and umbrellas in between the raindrops.


Monday we slept in, then did chores. It rained most of the morning. Mr. C. spent 6 hours at work on what was supposed to be his day off. (And was a good chunk of the reason we stayed home after all.) The front lawn got mowed. Mountains of laundry were moved. (Faith and determination help!) Rooms were cleaned. And then we settled in to watch National Treasure and play Settlers of Catan. At 9:30 several small voices popped up. Aren't we going to see the fireworks? Umm. We thought about it, but it seemed like everyone was happy hanging out. Fireworks! OK, jump in the car! (The S-Train in short, patriotic pajamas.) We headed out as the show was starting and watched the first part of it in pieces. Darn trees! Finally we got to where we had watched them last year. The parking was not good, so Mr. C let us out to run down the sidewalk towards a better spot. At this point I realized that two of my children were shoeless. They thought we were going to stay in the car to watch. And in the summer, aren't shoes optional?

We came out on a beautiful view. Grass and a clear skyline full of bright explosions. I picked up the shoeless S-Train and held him on my hip. He avoided the rocks and got a clearer view. I realized this is the last year I will be able to do this. Their littleness is growing and expanding, like the fireworks, into something bigger. As we stood there I got asked questions like, "What if a plane was flying there? What would happen if you could touch a firework? How do they change color - or shape?" The never ending six year old questions that I only know some of the answers to. I love his confidence that I can answer his questions. I hope that will last as long as possible.

We ooohed and ahhhed over the lights in the sky. We pointed out our favorites. I thought about how blessed we are to celebrate freedom with a light show each year. As the S-Train said, "It's not the 4th of July without fireworks!"

After the fireworks we went to find where Dad had parked. The girls linked arms and skipped down the sidewalk singing Wizard of Oz songs, and I felt a great contentment. It's good to be home.