15 Years Ago, One Month From Today

I've been looking at the date all day ~ on the calendar on my fridge, on my

desktop calendar and on my cell phone.

Tonight though I was thinking about how wonderful it is that we're fifteen years

later than what June 26th, 1994 meant.

June 26th, 1994 meant that we were one month (and counting!) until our wedding.

June 26, 2009 has not been filled with quite so many so many flutters or detail planning, instead I've been coupon clipping, baby feeding, cookie making and carpet spot cleaning. I've cleared my desk and took Emily to her 9-month well child check up. I have paid some bills and registered Melissa for two sessions of swim lessons.

I still tried to suck in the moments I had today to spend with Kurt ~ he was home for about 2 hours this morning....long enough to mow the lawn and get frustrated with his boat hydrolics. I am hoping that we might sneak out for a McDonald's $1 soda and some catch up conversation when he gets home.

15 years later, my heart still skips around a bit when he gets home.

15 years later, we are kept company by five incredible "tax deductions". That's four more than I thought I'd have when I dreamed about my life as a kid... I have to admit that sometimes I threaten my children with the "ok, which four of you have to go?".

They know the joke ~ and that it is in fact, a joke.

15 years later, I am glad we aren't newlyweds anymore. There was a time when I ached for our wedding day again. But then, after about three years and after attending a friend's wedding, I realized that we'd been through too much to want to go back to that again, as wonderful and as perfect as that day was.

15 years later, I still love to write "Mrs. Maryhelen E. Freeman", and sometimes I take a second to look at the ring on my left hand, holding my hand up to fully admire how it looks. I love how it looks!

15 years later, we have grown together in every area of our life. One of the advantages of marrying young (he was 21, I was 19..) ~ learning and growing up together. We could never have wished or dreamed or planned on some of the things that have helped us to grow. Joyful things and painful things. Isn't it incredible how that works.

15 years later, he's come home and run out to take advantage of the last few minutes of daylight and what he might do with his boat. Not before a hi and a kiss though.

15 years later, I am still a very lucky girl!

Freefam Freebie

Wonderful Sarah of www.athriftymom.com is giving away $596 in coupons! Visit her site for details. I'm earning an entry by telling you (but secretly hope you'll be too busy to enter! lol.). Good luck!!

Happy Friday!!

Father's Day

Kurt and I were fortunate to get to spend some of Father's Day with each of our dads. One of the biggest perks of having moved close to home again ~ spending regular days and special days with our parents.

My dad came over for a Father's Day breakfast of muffins and bacon and eggs. I was happy to serve pineapple juice and milk; he was happy that there was no orange juice....one of the terrific idiosyncrasies that make my dad my dad! :)

Here's Emily with some of her cheesy pizza going on.... she ate three muffins!

After church, we gathered at Kurt's parents' house for dinner.
Burgers, salads, and cobblers for dessert. Yum!

And finally, here is a shot of an awfully good-looking group. Where would I be without these people? I am grateful to not even have to wonder!

I know our children know they are lucky to have their dad as their dad, but it's great to get to focus a bit more on special days like Father's Day. To get to honor these great men ~ even with small tokens and family meals. What a privilege!

Vroom Vroom Ahhhh

Meridian Speedway gave away 200 tickets recently to various service agencies in the area, and we got four!

Originally the races were scheduled for the 6th, a night Kurt would be on duty. So we enlisted Grandma and Grandpa's help to watch the little guys so I could take the big girls. We made it all the way to the track to find NO ONE else there! Hmmm.... that was kind of strange, but maybe we were early. It was only about 5:30 and the races didn't start for an hour. Three or four more cars pulled up and we all sort of sat there, waiting.

A few minutes went by and suddenly two of the cars pulled out of the parking lot... ?? As he was leaving, a guy rolled his window down to tell us that the races had been CANCELLED because of the rain earlier in the day. Bummer! They would reschedule though for the following Saturday night.

So we survived the week (somehow!) and this time Kurt got to go. (gotta love those revolving schedules). Grandma and Grandpa still were able to take the litle guys, but this time at their house. Which meant that mommy had a few very quiet hours at home, by herself.

Whatever would she do with all that time, you might ask?

Well, the first thing that came to mind was : WHATEVER I WANT! lol

But then reason took over and I made a list of productive things that could be done, which included finishing my lesson for Sunday and getting the laundry done. I also got to watch my new Work & the Glory movie. Alone. By myself. Without interruption.

While we were talking about what mom would be doing with her evening, someone noted that I don't get to stay home alone very often, maybe two or three times a YEAR. To which Melissa replied, "yeah, and that's a GOOD year!" So, at least they see the value quiet time is to me I guess!

Knowing that I would be fine and somehow survive without them , Kurt and the girls braved the weather (it was raining again, but the races went on....go figure!) and had a great time.

It was "Project Filter" night so they were giving out these little footballs, signed by some of the drivers.

Eventually the weather won and the evening was ended before the stock cars came out. A trip to Sonic for dinner completed the evening, along with a phone call that Kurt's youngest brother had fallen at work and broken his arm that afternoon. The fracture was a big one, complete with bone protrusion and surgery this week to install plates and pins...he's going to be bionic! Thank goodness for morphine, which left Jon not really caring about much for a while..

Good Times!

Milestones and More

We sure hope your summer is going great. Ours sure is. My children would be quick to tell you that we've had our down time ("boring", they would probably say...), but there are the moments and days that make up for that, and hopefully those will be the things that they remember, when all is said and done.

Today Kathryn, Melissa and I attended a REALLY fun Mom/Daughter Activity Days lunch. Complete with games... one was a baby pool set up with marbles in the water. The idea was that you had to pick up the marbles with your toes and drop them into a bucket. The mom/daughter team with the most marbles in the bucket after a minute won the round. I was excited about the event, mostly because I have TOES OF STEEL. Any pregnant (or formerly) pregnant woman knows the value of being able to pick up things with your feet, sparing you from having to bend over. Let's just say I have some skillz (as did the rest of the moms...)

The girls decided to compete against each other at one point ~

The competition was FIERCE!! lol. But when all is said and done, we ended as friends. :) Here are Kathryn and Melissa and I along with their friends Madalyn and Hannah:

Emily has hit a milestone of sorts. We are now going to be seeing our fabulous therapist every TWO weeks, instead of weekly. That part isn't the good part. The change is because Em is doing so AWESOME and is hitting her marks and gaining skills like CRAZY.

These days she's spending time on the floor ROLLING all over the place. She puts weight on her arms to push up off her tummy and even rotates herself around from both her tummy and her back. She finds toys to play with and talks and sings to herself. If she isn't in a place she likes, she changes it to suit her better. What a CHAMP!

She's also eating a piece of toast with a thin layer of peanut butter with me every morning for breakfast. I cut the toast into strips so she can hold them and she yums that all up. She's drinking from a sippy cup consistently and successfully and likes her thinned out apple juice 'al a mode'. :) I just happened to take a picture the other morning to send to Kurt while he was on duty.

Oh! I would have forgotten if her grin didn't remind me: We have (count 'em) THREE new teeth! The top two middle and the one just her right of the middle have all come in at the same time. They tried hard for several days before finally popping through. It's funny that after a long nap, there they were!

Em is also a fan of dad's chocolate crinkles.... here's a bit of proof:

Yeah ~ that's good stuff!

We took Emily today to a friend's in Parma. Our friends have three calves (named Whopper, Big Mac and Sloppy Joe so they don't have a hard time remembering where the cows are going when they're bigger....), and our friend told everyone that the calves will suck on fingers (they have recently been weaned from bottles) and they could try it if they wanted. Well, you'd have thought it was the FUNNIEST THING on the planet! Emily laughed and LAUGHED!!

The calf didn't seem to mind too much, either.

Kurt took the big girls to the Speedway the other night. Pictures to come! They had a great time despite the wet weather that eventually ended the racing early.

Tomorrow it's off to free movie day and our final Girls' Camp prep meeting.

Summer time is glorious!

So Far, So Good

Oh What do you do in the summertime

when all the world is green?

Do you fish in a stream, or lazily dream

on the banks as the clouds go by?

Is that what you do? So do I!

Oh what do you do in the summertime,

when all the world is green?

do you sit in the shade

and drink lemonade

or count all the stars in the sky?

Is that what you do? So do I!!

Well, we're a week into our "82 Days of Summer" celebration, and so far so good!!

Our week started with a great breakfast ~ cantaloupe, raspberry muffins, bacon and eggs

This next picture is very misleading ~ this was the morning when Schmemily Meeman was out in full force. Her grin here just shows the reflex reaction my children have learned for when the camera comes out. lol.

Schmemily wouldn't ~ no, REFUSED ~ to pick up any piece of food in front of her, preferring instead to fuss and whine and cry and fuss some more until finally she just gave up and melted completely. It was only after mommy picked her up and held her, hand feeding her bites, that she would eat any of the items in front of her.

The last day of school is sort of the honorary first day of vacation. Not much instruction goes on, and there are usually fun and special activities. Elizabeth was asked to sing the National Anthem for her Promotion Ceremony. She did a great job, eloquently clearing her throat in the middle with a quiet, "sorry". She picked right up though and was right on key. I think that will be one of those moments that everyone remembers happily about their time in middle school. Liz sure will!

I have to admit to tears the whole time during the Promotion. I consciously had to keep my mouth shut for fear that I'd make some embarrassing noise if I tried to breathe through my mouth. I just kept thinking to myself, as she was singing, that "she lives at our house!" "that girl up there ~ she comes home with ME!" We have surely been blessed with terrific people for kids. Elizabeth is working on developing her talents and we are so pleased with the decisions she's making for herself and the goals she has set. So many wonderful things ahead I'm sure!

We took a minute to look through the certificates the younger girls had brought home. Kathryn was the only one close enough to take a picture with all of them. She received a computer award for being the first student (ever!) to get through all 25 lessons of the "Type to Learn" program. She also received a certificate for her role on the student council. There's also an Honor Roll in there as well as a sort of "good kid" one that has a certificate for a free kids meal at Winger's. My assumption is that everyone got one of those ~ we have quite a collection that's built up here through the year! Have to get there one of these days..... :)

Kathryn had a GREAT 5th grade year and is so excited to get to be 'movin' on up' to the Middle School next year. The District has instituted a new Dress Code, so we'll be on the look out for great deals on solid polo shirts and khaki pants this summer.

The first rose of the year appeared on day #1. Isn't she pretty!!

At one point during the day, all of the chairs from the dining table disappeared. This is where I found them:

Kathryn and Melissa had built it, using all of the chairs and all of their blankets (looks like Missa's robe is in there as well). Then they pulled in a bunch of books, as well as Emily and Nathan for a while and played and played. Super summer fun!!

The week continued with cousins coming over for the day on Saturday so their parents could suprise them with a Total Room Makeover. The fort in the livingroom was rebuilt and there was lots of fun going on. Somehow we forgot to take any pictures!

I did snap a picture with my phone from the top of Table Rock on Saturday morning. The YW leaders went for a practice hike on the route we're taking the girls on next week. We had a great time!

Kurt spent Saturday in the middle of the intersection at Franklin and Milwaukee helping with the Fill the Boot campaign. The goal for the department was to raise $40k.... they were at $41k before the change was counted. Kurt was so impressed with people's generosity! All funds support the MDA.

Elizabeth and Kathryn rode their bikes to Maverik (about 4 miles away) and were thoughtful enough to bring back ice cream for everyone. Making the 4 mile trek back meant the ice cream was PERFECT for eating when they got home. Mmmmmm!

And yes, it's finally happened. I've started reading Twilight. I'm still only about 100 pages in, but Liz and I have a deal that if I read Twilight she'll read Anne of Green Gables. We're going page for page on this one ~ there are 9 books in the AofGG series and four big ones to Twilight of course. These are the kinds of sacrifices, aren't they, that we make as mothers sometimes? sigh.


Monday of week one brought the trash guys to our house. It's Nathan's favorite part of the day and nearly the best thing for him all week (next to Nursery!)

He's still a little timid, but our Trash Guy knows now that he'll always be watching and has started waving to him. What a cool Trash Guy!

Tuesday was Emily's workout day with her incredible, awesome, terrific and wonderful PT, Wendy.

We discovered last week that Emily would pull herself out of exhaustion to get to the cookies Melissa had made for Wendy to take home. So Elizabeth took a plain white onesie and made this for Emily to wear:

There are times when Em just isn't in the mood to work while Wendy is here, but our discovery just might mean we're able to pull a few more minutes out of her. Interesting to know where her motivation lies....

Kathryn made some terrific Snickerdoodles while Melissa pretended to help. She was a great "taste tester"

And lest anyone worry that we're too busy or doing too much....be comforted in knowing that there's PLENTY of lounging going on:

With breaks to come up with cool creations like this one:

And look at the difference a week makes for the roses! Where there was just one (that's her, in the very middle of the picture), now there is a whole bunch. So lovely that her friends have joined us.

Tuesday Kurt and I went on a "$10 Date Night" (patent pending, lol) that started at CostCo for a slice of pizza and a soda to share. We went home and changed our clothes and made it to the temple for our Stake's night. There were 20+ people from our ward in the session. It was AWESOME! More date nights like this one to come!!

Last night we took Sonic up on their FREE Root Beer Floats. We had a lot of fun and the floats were yummy. Nathan had already gone to bed and fresh from her bike workout, Liz offered to stay home with him. So we had just a partial family outing, but had a great time. We were just about done with our floats when one of the little guys on skates came over to the table behind us, having spilled one of the floats on his tray. There were three others on the tray that were now all sticky and he asked us if we wanted them since he didn't feel like he could really give them away. Um ~ sure!! So, we got two for the price of one. And since the first was free, we were doing pretty well! We met another FF family, who caught my eye because they had three girls and a boy (in that order). Looked very familiar! Turns out they live not too far from us. We ended up chatting with them for quite a while. Sonic turned the lights out on us in fact! But, our standing around chatting paid off ~ I'm not sure why but all of the sudden about the time the lights went off all of the employees poured out of the building with stacks of coupons in their hands. We were asked if we'd gotten our float and even though we said yes the guy handed us a bunch and said, "thanks for coming tonight. Be sure to visit us again." Thank you! We sure will!!

Amongst all of these activities, we've signed everyone up for both Caldwell and Nampa's summer reading program. The girls are devouring their books and looking forward to some fun rewards. Liz has been babysitting three different times (two in one day). I had a great time at my Book Club meeting in the park, even though the weather tried to rain us out. And I was worried about it being too hot!

We're looking forward to more summer fun with (free) AirShows, a (free) trip to Meridian Speedway, a (free) river floating trip for the girls, lots of reading, sleeping in and staying up, and watching our garden grow.

Hooray for Summer!!