the great extracurricular debate

one of my greatest unexpected parenting dilemmas has been extracurricular involvement.

i remember my first struggle with 'extras' being guilt for dragging a sleepy, napless #3 to #1's extras.  then, it was putting my foot down about keeping the kindergarten year free of extracurricular pursuits.  next, i found myself purposefully steering my child away from yet another dance class which i didn't feel was a good fit for her talents.  now, it just seems like there is an endless amount of 'extras' i'm saying 'NO' to because i value time for old fashioned play dates, chores, plenty of sleep, and even boredom.  (however, that doesn't seem to be the way everyone else sees it.)  in the near future, i anticipate the struggle to be a financial one- how do you keep extracurricular pursuits reasonably affordable?  as i interact with teenagers, extracurricular pursuits at their age can become a very difficult question of priorities- what do you do when extras interfere with church priorities?  and a little down the line, the debate will be about when obtaining employment and practicing hard work trumps the extras.  

i absolutely believe that kids need 'extras' to find talents, build confidence, and have a place to fit in.  i'm just surprised it can be so debatable.  

it's a boating 'thang'

on a recent youth boating trip, i found myself overwhelmingly missing dave.  and i just couldn't shake it!  i was a bit surprised by my feelings as i've been boating plenty without dave and we are both fairly independent people- rarely upset about short separations.  but the more i thought about it, boating is kinda our 'thang'.  much more so than fireworks from our july 4th i love you exchanges. much more so than ultimate frisbee or scum from our first meet.  much more so than johnny carinos or the ring from our first date.  much more so than backgammon from our first anniversary.  i suppose our engagement at lake powell sealed our boating companionship forever - oh how i love this boating companion of mine!    

ps... why don't we have a boat yet???     

a whirlwind summer

there was a lot of world cup watching

junkstock- a favorite event with a favorite friend

a lot of swimming and a lot of swim team

kindin tried horseback riding

cookies the size of your face!

girls camp and youth conference

tennis lessons

the color run (my one and only yearly run)

 siblings at the park

 messy cupcakes

 the best water fight ever!

 fishing with grandpa

checking up on an old, now famous friend at CH Patisserie

 and jumping with jordy

i know something...

today, with fake phone in hand, dalia said proudly, "we're twinners!"  at that very moment, i realized she is growing up.  you see, she used to say "we're tears!" but somewhere along the way, she's since self-corrected. it's easy to see that the small window of time in which she entertains us with her funny mix ups is narrowing.  with that, i'm recording a couple cute things that have come out of her mouth lately:
most notably, in an effort to fit into mature table discussions, dalia will blurt out "I know something!"  this exclamation is always followed by a long pause and then something like, "rock climbing" or "resurrection" or any other fancy, sophisticated word she can think of. 
the other day, we laughed as we overheard her scolding her brother, "jack stop adjering me." (badgering)
while riding on the boat, david said, "Dolly look at the waves" and she promptly waved as if she was in a parade.
and she squealed and screamed with adrenaline when given access to the throttle of the 4 wheeler

bazooka jack

remember on dumb and dumber (1994) when lloyd trades the dead bird to a blind kid for $25???  

while out on a hike, 4 kids found 3 walking sticks.  one can easily imagine the arguments that ensued!  soon, a resourceful and empty-handed kindin (aka lloyd) found a very large broken branch and offered it to the blind kid (aka jack) as a 'really big and cool walking stick.'  petie (aka jack) more than happily accepted the tree trunk as a 'straight up trade' and carried it around as a ridiculously oversized walking stick for the rest of the hike.  all who passed gawked at the size of his bazooka (i mean walking stick) and he adored the attention! 

    

what a wonderful 2 weeks

this summer, mom and kids ignored the constraints of dave's work schedule and took an extended trip out west to visit family.   the extra time allowed for leisurely visits with family as well as visits to friends.  grandma and grandpa graciously led the caravan west protecting me from my biggest fear about this trip sans dad.  and that just left my worries about how my 3 yr old would hold up from bed to bed for that length of time.  she did great! they all did great! we had very gracious hosts! and we had a wonderful 2 weeks among family members and friends old and dear!

inseparable: kindin and sophia

jordy entertaining the toddlers

reunited after 10 yrs: janell and i

love these gals: sarah and elisa

laveen ladies take on twin falls

1997 friends together again: stephanie and amber

adults- only parry outing

if i had roasted

my father recently had a surprise 60th birthday party (never mind that we missed it on account of the biker traffic in sturgis)  and we all shared in the responsibilities of the party.  justin was tasked with giving the roast but i had the opportunity to provide input.  and i thoroughly enjoyed a quick think about my father's laughable qualities: 

his extremely loud snoring
a left arm tan
how he joined in with the kid's burping contests at the table
enjoying the same lunch every day for 40 plus years- and always at 10 am
how he helps out everyone else for their home projects and hires out his own home projects
all his crazy childhood stories like snow sledding on junk yard car hoods
his tutoring of random info like 'We must be close to a lake- Can your see how the landscape is changing? When he knocked over the pillar in westminster abbey with his backpack.