I Made the Discovery about 4 Hours Too Late

That awkward moment when..... 

...you're changing your clothes AFTER the 2nd Grade Field Trip you chaperoned, 

and you discover there is a HOLE in the seat of the pants you wore.

And this Field Trip happened to be a walking field trip to the Farmington Pond ---

where we walked in a line of mini-groups, 2nd graders and adult chaperons combined, and there was ALWAYS a group(s) following behind me!!

{Here's my group}

 {a hole big enough for my 2nd grader to put most her fingers through!}

What d'ya think?!?
Will Brookelle EVER want me to come on another Field Trip with her class again?!?  ;)


*Grasping for the last string of positivism and hope....Nobody said anything - so that means no one noticed, right?!?  Right?  Hello?  Anybody there?  Maybe?

But, on the BRIGHT SIDE.....
I killed it on my FitBit results that day, earning the "high tops" badge = 20,000 steps in a day!

(I'm gonna claim the number of hours of sleep I got the night before had something to do with me

 donning hole-y pants for the field trip!) ;)

The Frivolous, the Frugal, the Wise-Stewards, and the Clueless

It's that time again....
I have an 8th grader this year, and it's October...

So, it's time for:

I blogged about this 6 years ago, too, when it was my oldest's (and my) first experience with Reality Town.  I decided to volunteer at it whenever I have a child in the 8th grade - so, I volunteered 3 years ago with Kyle, too, but sadly, there's no blog post to reference.  I did it again yesterday for Haylee, as well.

 

Reality Town is a program that provides students with a hands-on simulation in which they make lifestyle and budget decisions, as they take on careers, salaries, families and associated responsibilities of the adult world.

Students come to Reality Town dressed up and are given a career and salary based on their current GPA. They are also given a "life scenario" with a family situation and the assignment to pay all the bills of the month. They are expected to live within the means of their monthly income.

At the end of Reality Town, students [are suppose to] reflect on the experience. Did they save or lose money? Is this how they'd really live? How does education correlate with income? This program is a great way to teach students the importance of how the choices they make NOW can affect them LATER.  It also gives them hands on skills in budgeting, math skills (although they let them use calculators), and determining priorities.  Six years ago, the students actually practiced the skill of check writing to pay for their expenses, but now they just "pretend" they did or use their "invisible debit card" and jot down the expense in their ledger and keep a running balance. (This is not offered at all schools, we are really lucky to have this program at ours.)

If they run out of money, they have to go to "Financial Counseling" or visit the "Supplemental Income" booth where they can get a part-time job that would realistically work with their current schedule.  They can also join the military (and get some more income), but at this Reality Town, they had the military people all doing MANY push-ups at one end of the gym to make it [kinda] the real deal.

That "Just my Luck" booth you can see in the background was required for them to visit.  They spun a wheel, and a scenario came up; got a flat tire, furnace broke, someone gets sick, get an inheritance check, drop your cell phone in the toilet, get in a car accident, etc. that they were face with - just like real life!

Haylee's career was a Music Therapist.  (What?  How did THAT happen when she doesn't even practice her piano???)  Her "spouse" did not have a job because he was a disabled veteran with one leg.  They only get a couple hundred dollars from the Army due to his disability status. (tough luck!)  They have two children; an 8 yr. old and a toddler.  It was super fun for her....until she started to get stressed with everything she had to buy on her finite income.  ;)  Ya gotta love the reality checks!

I worked at the "Property Taxes" booth in this years' Reality Town.  They had to buy their housing first, then come to me and we figured out what they would owe in property tax based on their house/condo/trailer/apartment/parents' basement.  (The higher the value of their housing, the higher their property taxes).
We weren't very far into the experience when I notice one guy was already lying down on the park bench that was set up in the middle of the "town."  We joked that he's already decided to be homeless and bypass the cost of housing and associated taxes!  ;)
These "adults" who came to me and were renting apartments or who lived in their parents basements did NOT owe anything in property taxes - when I told them that, they'd first be surprised, but then acted pretty glad about that little fact.  But, then I informed them the reason WHY was because they didn't OWN it.  And then they didn't look so thrilled anymore.  ;)

Here's the "consumers" who I interacted with:

The Frivolous
I honestly was surprised that we didn't have more "adults" buying THE BIGGEST/NICEST/MOST EXPENSIVE house that was offered.  I think I only had ONE person who bought it, but there was another "Tax Agent" at my table who was also helping, so she may have had some, too? 
But, we still did have some who were buying too much house for their income.  Towards the end of the "experience," I did have some come back to me to get a "tax adjustment credit" because they had ended up downgrading their house after their account got into the negative with all their other bills.  By doing so, they were able to get $25-40 back as their taxes went down, as well.  Although, when one "man" left my table, he was still a few hundred dollars in the negative, so he still had some shaving of expenses to do.  Good luck with that, Sir.  ;)

The Frugal
I had two different "men" come to me, who were both "well-to-do." 
The "Engineer" had only bought himself a trailer house, which only cost him $25 in property taxes.  As I looked at his income, I was a bit perplexed, and then I said to him, "Did you get the trailer, so you could have a lot of money leftover?"  He just gave me the "you got it!" smirk. 
*Sidenote:  this is the same boy who kept raising his hand to ask Matt questions last year, when he came to Haylee's class to speak on "Career Day."  One of the most entertaining questions was, "So, if I get a hold of any checks, can I just start writing them for stuff?"   He was also asking questions about what "robbery safeguards" are in place at financial institutions!  ;)  This boy's thinking about HOW to get money!!*

The "Orthopedic Surgeon" didn't even buy a house - he was in an apartment - which resulted in $0 property taxes.  He was beaming when he heard that news!  I questioned his decision (he's my neighbor, so I can razz him, right?) and he said he just wanted to be close to the hospital so he can make it to the emergencies in a timely manner - AND SAVE all that extra money!

The Wise-Stewards
There were a few "adults" who came back to visit me towards the end, after they had paid all the necessary bills, and realized they had money left over.  They discovered they really could've bought a bigger house, they just didn't want to "chance it" at first. 
So, one "consumer" decided to move out of his parents' basement and buy a 20 yr. old 3 BD/2BA house.  (SMART choice!)  So, he now had to pay property taxes....but he says it's totally worth it!
Another "consumer" was able to ditch his original trailer house to a 20 yr. old house, as well.  He said that was a relief!
And, another, who was feeling pretty rich, upgraded from his 20 yr. old house to a 5 yr. old 3BD/2.5BA house.

Now, I asked them (using my "motherly wisdom") if they were sure they didn't need to use their money for something else.  They said they didn't. 
What about your donations?  I asked them. 
Already donated. they replied.
What about your Savings?  I countered. 
Already got a bunch in Savings. they informed me. 
What about sending your wife to the Spa. I reminded them.
Done.  they said. 
OK, then, I guess you've managed just wonderfully!

The Clueless
There were A LOT (too many!) who opted to live in their parents' basements.  It was the lowest housing option available, after all.
Why were they choosing this?
In this Reality Town experience, $500/month rent was charged for living in your parents' basement (and $0 property taxes), but I don't think that reflects reality.  In reality (and the other volunteers there around me were all discussing this, and have made the same observation), I think "mooching" is what is happening more frequently than rent paying is!
Anyway, in Reality Town, they could've had their OWN place to live for just $150 more per month.  THAT'S TOTALLY WORTH IT!
I asked several of the "adults" if it was OKAY with their parents if they lived with them.  They all said, "YES!" without even thinking about it.
 
(Ha!  They're clueless!  Unless parents, these days, don't want their children to grow up and be responsible!??)

One of the living-in-your-parents'-basement "women" is actually in my ward.  She assured me it would be OK with her parents.  So I told her she better do all the cooking, clean the toilets, mow the lawn, and wash their cars.  She said she was paying rent, so she didn't need to.  ;)  haha.  (see what I mean by clueless!)
I texted her mom (my friend) afterwards:  "FYI, your daughter's planning on living in YOUR basement with her family.  haha."
To which she texted back, "Haaaaa is RIGHT....I don't think so!  I guess we're making life a little too cooshie for her.  I need to crack the whip." 
I'm thinking she better make other plans.  ;)

So, if you're in the market for a Music Therapist in the future, give Haylee a call - her bank account will thank you!  ;)

(And it will keep her out of my basement!)

Three Months of Summer - Gone?!? (Which Means it's Over!)

Sayonara, August! 

It was good while it lasted.....yes, children, we DID do something!

Here's how it went down.

Queen of the Kingdom with these lovely ladies.

This song will forever remind me of this weekend!
It cannot be played now without me breaking out into song AND dance - seriously!!

Just playin' in the rain - more like an all out thunderstorm!

Heber Valley Girls' Camp

Haylee and Matt went....Haylee as one of the "girls."  Matt as one of the "Priesthood men."

Cousins "warming up" for the backyard races

ReAL Monarchs soccer game

Farmington City Volunteer Appreciation Night at the pool

Brookelle on the high dive?!?  

(Thanks to "peer influence" she had from a friend she ran into there.)

Desert Star Theatre

"GREASE'D: Happy Days are Here Again"

Splash Pad with friends

Look what I found while shopping at Ross here in our neck of the woods......

a Virginia Tech hat - my missionary son's stompin' grounds now! :) 

Kyle ran the Davis County 5K

(in the time it takes ME to go ONE mile!)  ;)

Brookelle (navy shirt),

Katelyn (grey shirt),

and Haylee (navy shirt) all did the Kids Mud Run on the same day as the 5K.

Flips on the tramp!

Inflatable waterslide party in our backyard with the Fowers cousins!

Off the strict bedtime schedule and fallin' asleep in weird positions.

The results of new school clothes shopping

Finally got to have the full-time missionaries over for dinner!

(as "payback" for all the West Virginia/Virginia families who are feeding my boy every night)

Seven Peaks Water Park ~ jetBlue Day

ReAL Salt Lake soccer game vs. Seattle Sounders FC

School started August 24th

Kyle's first Cross Country Meet for VHS (maroon uni on left)

(an "invitational" meet in American Fork with 40 high schools!)

San Diego with Matt officially finished out August....

 Because truth be told - - I needed a vacation from [the kids and] this Summer vacation. 

{kidding/not kidding}

And, just like that: 1, 2, 3 months of Summer came to an end!

Waaaaaaaa!

and

Yaaaaaaaay!  :)

It Owns Me

Ever since I started wearing my new Fitbit (first full day was Dec. 26) I HAVE to get my 10,000 steps a day.
 
If it is 11:00 p.m. and I haven't yet achieved my steps, I will "sneak out" to go walking around the neighborhood to get them.  Apparently, the first time I did this, someone at home "needed" me (WHEN don't they need me?) and they couldn't find me, and no one knew where I was, and mayhem broke loose.  When I returned, Matt requested I please inform them in the future if I am going out.....ya know, in case something happens to me.  Like what?!?  Get abducted by aliens up the street?!?
If the day is almost over, and I don't have my steps AND we're experiencing inclement weather, I will pace back & forth on our covered porch.  Or run up & down the stairs.  Or do laps in our garage.
If I'm thirsty and need a drink of water, I STOP myself from asking someone else to get it for me......because if I get up and get it myself, that tacks on several extra steps.
If I need something while I'm making dinner from the cold storage room in the basement,  I don't call for Kyle anymore like I always used to......I want the steps myself!
It's no longer one of my kid's jobs to go and get the mail.....because if I get it, I know that's another 250 steps!

I'm telling you - I'm a SLAVE to this Fitbit.
I WILL NOT let myself NOT get my 10,000 steps a day.
EVERY day.
EVEN on the weekend.
If I let myself go just one day without getting my steps, then it'll just be easier to go another day, and then another, and another.....and I DON'T want that to happen!

 (BTW, it says 0 on the water because I would have to manually enter it in....and I don't.  I just like the Fitbit to crunch all the numbers for me.)  

I mostly wanted to start doing it for health & fitness, but ya know what's ALSO happened?  That was a pleasant surprise? 

I'm spending MORE TIME with my family and children!  The kind of TIME where I'm really WITH them.

Because I'll ask if anyone wants to go out and walk with me - and someone usually does.  Katelyn & I just walk & talk about her favorite subject - The Pioneer Woman (she's the one who "introduced" me to the Fitbit in the first place).....and then Katelyn asks when we can do that again!  ;)

Matt has decided he has to protect me against those "aliens," so he'll come out walking with me at night and we walk & talk.

One day, I needed a bunch of steps, so Brookelle, Katelyn, & I went up to our church.  I thought we'd just do laps around the church, but, NO, they had a grand idea to play "Tag."  So I obliged.  We were up there all night.....or at least an hour!  And I was "It" the majority of the time! (Because I kept getting caught!)  They LOVED it and didn't want to quit, even though I kept "suggesting" we did. (my bladder can only take so much "Tag!")  Again, Katelyn repeatedly asks when we can do that again! 

I ask her, "WHY?" 

And she tells me, "It was so fun." 

And I say, "Really?!?  'Cause I totally stunk at it."  

And she says, "No, you didn't.  You were really good.  You can run fast.....for a Mom your age!" 

And I say, "No......you always tagged me, and I couldn't catch you very much."

And she said, "THAT'S why it was so fun!"

Instead of driving my child to her friend's house to play, I walk her over there......and then I walk back when it's time to come home.  And Brookelle talks my ear off the whole way.

Same goes for getting Katelyn to Activity Days.

I'm also walking to the school after school to meet my girls and walk home with them (& their friends - gotta take advantage of that while it's still happening).  I heard Katelyn explaining to one of her friends, "Ya know how some moms pick their kids up from school and give them a ride home?  Well, our mom picks us up from school and then makes us walk home!"



I'm liking this "by-product" of my Fitbit (more time spent together with my fam) that I didn't realize would be one of the results.  My family is all on board with the idea.  They will frequently ask where I'm at for the day - and WANT me to accomplish my 10,000 every day.  Good thing, because my obsession dedication would exist with or without their support. ;)  I love it!

I ALSO overheard Katelyn tell one of her friends, "My mom has a Fitbit, and she HAS to get 10,000 steps a day.  She's going to do that EVERY day until my brother gets home from his mission, and then she's going to be SKINNY!"

Oh, WOW!  The pressure's ON!

This Weekend:

* Our elementary school had a “Color Run” and Silent Auction this Saturday.
 No one wanted to really run, but they wanted to get “colored” so we went down
to the school for the event anyway.

  They had a couple of “COLOR BOMBS” as a group out on the field, so Katelyn & Brookelle got all pink, blue, green, yellow, & orange.
Katelyn DID jump in for the 1K (without an official race number bib) and ran with a bunch of kids.   
One of the baskets in the auction was a U of U theme, so Katelyn TOTALLY wanted to get it
(in honor of her die-hard-Utes-fan missionary brother)!
There was another boy classmate of hers that was hanging around close by
to always UP his bid on the U of U basket if anyone else ever placed a bid.
She got it out of him that he had $100 that he was capable of bidding for it.
She was BEGGING and BEGGING me to give her $105 so she could beat that other boy!  Ummm....NOT going to happen!!!
  (Actually, I think he was mostly trying to flirt/tease her just to see her get riled up,
and so that she would keep talking to him and paying attention to him!
I could see it in his smile & eyes!)


* My nephew, and my kids' cousin, Cameron, tested for his BLACK BELT
in Tae Kwon Do on Saturday afternoon.  It was a 3 HOUR test!
We went for the last half to cheer him on.  There were 7 boys total testing.  Interestingly enough, there were multiple times
when one of the boys couldn’t quite make his kick high enough or clear a hurdle he was jumping, so the owner of the dojo would ask his peeps to cheer for him,
and it seemed like EVERY TIME their crowd started making some noise/chanting his name, the boy was able to DO IT!
Who doesn't believe in moral support?!  There's POWER in it, I tell ya!

  As part of the test, they had to break boards – 4 with their hands with different kinds of strikes,
 and 4 with their feet with different kinds of kicks all in consecutive order.
The owner and his assistant held two of the boards, but then the boy was suppose to pull
two other people from his crowd to hold the other two.
Kyle said, “I ain’t holdin’ no board!”
He was afraid his wrist would break when Cameron hit it.
So, Cameron's dad, Mike, and Matt were the ones who went out on the floor to hold the boards.
The photographer got a pic RIGHT AS he was striking the board Matt was holding.
Look at Matt's face -  SO FUNNY!
BUT, Cameron is OFFICIALLY A BLACK BELT, now!!!!
What a great accomplishment – we are happy for him!

* Matt & I had tickets to the ReAL game on Saturday night, so we went – someone spilled beer at my feet, so it was pretty exciting!  haha.

2-0 WIN vs. the San Jose Earthquakes

 

* We went to the missionary farewell of one of Ryan's long time friends' (all through childhood) on Sunday morning.
He is going to FIJI and he GETS  to wear a SKIRT with his white shirt & black missionary name tag on his mission!
(THINK:  “The Other Side of Heaven” movie)  COOL!

{Jared & Ryan, circa 2008}

I can't believe these two little boys are grown up, serving missions now!!!

  * We went to our own church later.
Some of the pink is still in the girls' hair/on their scalp TODAY
and they still have it around their mouths a bit, too!  Nice look for church!  haha

* One of my former Young Women was the youth speaker in our own ward (I'm so proud of "my" YW!)
She gave a talk on the parable of The Great Supper (Luke 14:16-24).
I’d kind of forgotten about it, but it is a really good!
When she was talking about how the man invited many, but most of them had excuses
why they couldn’t come, I leaned over to Matt and said,  
“That sounds like what happens to us; whenever we invite other couples to go out with us!”   
Bwa ha ha ha!
BUT, THE REAL MESSAGE is about US fully partaking of the Gospel, without excuses, and then we will receive the FULL blessings.


* My Sunday evenings are now spent writing my weekly letter to our missionary, Ryan, so
when he reads his email on Monday (his one P-day a week), he will have the latest
updates from home.

Don't You Wish I Was Your Mom?

Haylee's Jr. High Science teacher was offering extra credit to any of her students who came to the "Moon viewing" to see the TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE at the school on Wednesday morning.....from 5:15-6:15AM.

But, ya always gotta take advantage of extra credit!

Matt was leaving really early in the morning anyway to take his parents to the airport, so the plan was for him to drop her off at the school, while I stayed home (ASLEEP IN BED) with our other children.

Her school doesn't start until 8:10a.m., so we talked about what she was going to do in between the moon viewing and school.  She just matter of factly told me that she would just walk back home.
Uhhh.....I DON'T THINK SO!  I put the brakes on that suggestion real fast.  It's still pitch dark at that time!  Did she really think that'd be a good idea?

She needed to do some catch up work in the keyboarding lab, so we talked about her doing that - except the lab doesn't open until 7:00a.m. so there was still some time unaccounted for.  Kyle was pretty sure the janitors get there that early, so he said the school would be unlocked.  She decided she would just go into the school and "hang out" until she could get into the lab.

Well, my eyes popped right open at 5:45a.m. and they were already gone, but I started to question whether or not she fully understood our plan for the morning.  And I became restless.  Then I thought, "Wonder if the school is still locked?  Wonder if all the lights are OFF in the school when she goes in?"  I couldn't go back to sleep.  Her comment about "just walking home" kept coming into my head.  That did it.  There was no chance I was falling asleep again. 

So, I got up.  I was driving over to the school.  I figured I'd just walk into the backyard of the school, find her, talk through the plan, and confirm that the school was open, etc.  It was still dark, so I figured I'd just go in my pajamas to save time.  At the last minute, I opted to change my PJ bottoms for my yoga capris instead....to be a little more presentable?

It turns out, the moon viewing was done by the time I got there, and no one was in the backyard anymore.  I talked to other kids who were outside and they told me that a lot of kids were in the school......

So, picture this;  I enter the Jr. High School wearing my pajama top, covered by a zip front hoodie (to cover up the fact that I was NOT wearing a bra), yoga capris, and flip flops.  I had just put on my glasses so I could see and had left without doing ANYTHING else, including looking in the mirror.  I had fresh BED HEAD and who knows what leftover make-up was smeared around my eyes or across my face.  I didn't think anything about it (I had only been thinking about saving Haylee from walking home in the dark) UNTIL I entered the front doors of the school and I saw many Jr. High students (a lot more than I expected!) hanging out all over in the commons area - and I saw their eyes turn to look at me.  THAT'S the first time I thought about HOW I looked.  Uh Oh!  (THAT'S the difference between women in their 40's & Jr. High students!)  I looked like a real beauty, I'm sure!

I proceeded to walk through the halls of the Jr. High and actually found her pretty quickly.  She was laying down on a bench (she got up at 4:20a.m.!) with a couple of friends.  When she saw me, she instantly became alert and she sat up and exclaimed, "MOM!  What are you doing?"  as the two other girls looked on.  I reminded her NOT to try to walk home that morning, and she was like, "I KNOW!  I'm not going to - you already told me I couldn't."  I went over the plan with her - while her friends watched & listened with fascination - and it turns out she had it all under control!  So, I turned around and walked back out of the Jr. High, passed the groups of other students with their stares, and drove back home.

I have a feeling there were some conversations going on amongst the kids about something to the effect of, "WOW!  I wish my mom would come to school like THAT!"  ;)

Bwah ha ha ha ha

FREEDOM!.....or Not?!!

The day has come.

ALL of my children are now in school for the full day.

It only took 18 1/2 years to get to this point!

THIS is a time that I have talked about for years...as if it was always in the [distant] future:
When all my children are in school, I won't have to work crazy [night] hours anymore.

When all my children are in school, I can volunteer at the school/go on field trips.

When all my children are in school, I can schedule a doctor/dentist appt. at any time of the day.

When all my children are in school, I can go to the grocery store alone.

When all my children are in school, I can go out to lunch with my girlfriends all I want.

When all my children are in school, I can get my hair done.

When all my children are in school, I can go visiting teaching without kids or without getting someone to watch my kids for me.

When all my children are in school, I can decorate, clean, do laundry, sew, organize, can, etc., etc.

When all my children are in school, I can.....basically do all my stuff!
 
When all my children are in school, I'll yell from the rooftops, "FREEDOM!"

Well, now I'm here....

And I just sent my oldest on his mission, so in addition to all my children being in school all day, I'm even down one extra kid!

A lot of people have been asking me what I'm going to do or what I am doing.

Is it exactly as I talked about all these years?!?

HA!

Not EVEN close.

Well, I DID change my work schedule to days, the first item on the above list - check.

With that, my goal is now to get to bed at a decent time, and get an appropriate number of hours of sleep each night for the first time in years.  Like go to bed right after the evening news at 10:40PM.  Or maybe 11:00PM.  OK, let's say, at least before midnight.  Do you think I can do it?  ;)

So, if I'm working during the day, and sleeping at night, that only means there's no room for any of the other items on the list I thought I'd be doing!  Why didn't I ever realize that before?!?  Did I somehow think the hours in a day would multiply, or something?

I find myself trying to cram as many things as I can into a couple of 13 minute breaks I have during each work shift and then planning a long list of things to do on my one weekday off work.

I need to get some lessons from others who work during the daytime on how to get everything done.

.....and on how to find that ever elusive FREE TIME!

May Madness

About a year ago, when I was talking to a friend, who has kids the same ages as my kids, she brought it to my attention that we would have children in the oldest grade of every school in 2014.
I realized THEN that we were going to have a VERY BUSY MAY!!!  And boy howdy, was our calendar ever cram packed!!

Haylee would graduate from Elementary School!

(Do you like how she "dresses up" for this Special Occasion?  She says it's WHO SHE IS, so I agreed to disagree.)

Kyle would graduate from Jr. High School!

And, I don't know how this is possible......

.....but somehow he donned this cap & gown......

....because it was time for my own son, Ryan, to graduate from High School!

Wasn't I just in that situation myself?!?

 

REALLY.  I can't be this old!!!

But, before we could even get to all these graduation ceremonies, our May was also filled to the brim with other things:

 Katelyn's final school choir concert

Brookelle's End-of-Kindergarten program

{Spot the yellow pants?}

Haylee (& the 6th grade) also had:

D.A.R.E. graduation

3 Field Trips

End of Level testing

Medieval Feast 

Greek Olympics

Swimming Pool party

6th Grade vs. Teachers Basketball game
Field Day

Kyle also had:

2 A.P. Exams (Human Geography & Environmental Science)

Field Trip to City Creek Center (to "study" urban life!)

9th Grade Honors Recognition Ceremony
9th Grade Dance

9th Grade Lagoon Day

Ryan had:
A.P. Exam (U.S. Government)

Baccalaureate Services

Seminary Graduation

Senior Picture

Senior Scholarship Awards Ceremony

Spring Fling

Graduation orientation/rehearsal

End-of-High-School stomp

 the "Looking Back" assembly which he M.C.'d
(these 4 students, Parker, Ryan, Sierra, & Amanda, M.C.'d together and had many, many rehearsals & filming sessions)

All Night graduation party 

(that Matt & I served at - then Matt went to work the next day and I threw a birthday party for Brookelle!  Can you say, "Bleary Eyed" or "Crazy"?)

{I was doing A LOT of praying for these kiddos this month - especially on test days!}

AND we get to do this again in THREE years when Kyle is a senior, Haylee a 9th grader, & Katelyn a 6th grader.

THEN we get to do it again in SIX years when Haylee is a senior, Katelyn is a 9th grader, & Brookelle is a 6th grader.

After that, we'll only have 2 or 1 graduations in the same year -- unless there's some college ones that happen to fall in 2023 or 2026.

THIS is an amazing time of our life.....but can I nap in June now?  ;)