Perseverance

No pictures to accompany this post. I took the kids to a roller rink today...4 kids that have never been roller skating + one toddler in a stroller + only one mom = no time for the camera! Anyway, that's not the point. I just want to tell a tale of perseverance.
Like I mentioned, none of the kids had been skating before and they thought that it would be no big deal...slap on the skates and let's go. Not so much! At the rink, they had these walker type things that the kids could use to help steady themselves. I was so impressed by my little James (3yo), I was nearly brought to tears. He got out there (while my older 3 whined a bit about it being too hard!) and for about an hour he skated with his "skate mate." He kept falling down, crying, getting back up, wiping away the tears and continuing to skate. I can't even tell you how many times he fell down, but it was a lot. He wouldn't let me help him up, he wouldn't take a break. He just kept going and going. It was almost heartbreaking. I'd never witnessed such tenacity before and I was amazed. After a while he'd finally had enough and let one of the refs (if that's what you call them) help him off the floor. He came off the floor with tears stained cheeks. When he was up and moving, he was so happy that I guess it made all the falling down worth it. He even kept asking me all evening when we were going roller skating again.
The lesson is obvious here...Keep trying no matter how many times you fall down. I am rereading Anne of Green Gables with Grace and just last night I read a quote from Anne that said "Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing." She was referring to the fact that she had done her best in school to try to win a scholarship. It was the eve of the final exams and she just couldn't worry over them anymore. Like Anne and James, we just need to keep trying and doing our best (or sometimes good enough!) and even if we don't succeed, there is value in the effort. And if we keep at it, we cannot fail, no matter the outcome. I love the quote from President Monson that says, "Sometimes courage is that little voice at the end of the day that says, 'I'll try again tomorrow.'" I have lots of those days as a mother to many small children (and some not so small!) It is just important to keep at it. I'm grateful to my little sweet boy for reminding me of that today.

Now that it's the middle of June...

I should really do a rundown of the end of school year festivities! I thought I would do a little different format with this entry. I'm gonna just do individual updates on the kids and that will tell you what's been happening around these parts!

JESSE

*Had his first "real" project for school. He had to make a display of Arizona's National Historic Landmarks and Monuments. He researched 3 different ones and posted his findings on his display board. I did help, but he did a lot of the work himself and it turned out really good.

*Finished off the year with straight A's for all 4 quarters and was treated to a Golden Scholar award lunch that I got to attend. I'm so proud of how hard he works at school and what a great student he is. He had a great teacher, Ms. Guhy, and he said that 4th grade was the best yet!

*He's been keeping quite busy with Webelos. He's already earned 10 out of 20 activity pins and is on track to receive them all. We had a fun day camp this past weekend and he is working hard and thinks that Webelos is the best den ever! It helps that his den leader, Sister Bowers, is a scouting veteran and works hard to make sure the boys achieve all the pins plus numerous belt loops. I'm the other den leader, but I'm just there to help where needed...Sister Bowers is a scouting all-star! And so is Jesse. I was working at the day camp so did not get any pictures but here is a picture of a volcano that he made for his Geologist pin.

 

*Jesse (to my delight) is an avid reader...he devours books just like his mom (when she gets a chance!) I love being able to read series with him. It's fun to compare notes and discuss our favorite characters and parts!

GRACE

this picture has nothing to do with this post, but is the most recent picture I have!

*Grace's end of the school year came without any fanfare, it just ended! But she, too, got straight A's for the whole year (they didn't have a lunch for the 2nd graders!) and is an excellent reader and student.

*She loves activity days and spending as much time as possible with friends, friends, friend!

*She is my right hand man when it comes to help with Milly or in the kitchen. She's such a great big sister and is such a big help to me...when she wants to be!

*We are reading Anne of Green Gables series together. It's so much fun sharing some of my all time favorite books with her.

DYLAN

*Was the praying mantis in his bug show for the Kindergarten performance...ain't he cute! He was being a little naughty during the performance and couldn't keep his hands to himself. But it was fun watching him nonetheless!

*Graduated from Kindergarten. He did awesome in Kinder. I was a little worried about him (he's not my most disciplined child) but he did great and was a great student. He excelled in all his learning and was loved by his teacher and classmates. He had a great teacher, Mrs. Sears. I know he will miss her next year!

*Learned how to ride a two-wheeler the last few weeks of school and was excited to get a bike lock and ride to school a few times before it got too hot!

JAMES

*is enjoying having the kids out of school.
*loves anything that has to do with fighting, cars, legos or TV.
*is a bit of a troublemaker, but so dang cute, he gets away with way too much.
*loves nursery at church.
*is starting to communicate a little better (he was a little slow in the talking department, but I'm sure he'll catch up in due time!)
*is an all around cute little stinker!

MILLY

*has decided that walking is a way better mode of transportation than crawling (second only to being carried!)

*still has those luscious chunky legs that I just want to eat up! But I know with her walking they will soon disappear...boo!

*is officially a toddler but will forever be my little baby girl!

*is getting quite opinionated and is learning the fine art of tantrum throwing (much to my dismay! I was sure I had a few more months of sweetness, but, alas, it is not to be!)

*loves to "help" empty the dishwasher, too bad I am usually trying to load it at the time!

*looks so cute when she folds her arms and sits quietly during prayer (much better than her 3yo brother and even sometimes the almost 6yo!)
*loves pulling everything out of all the cupboards in the kitchen...so much fun!
*pretty much makes a mess at every turn...gotta love it!
*cracks cute, cheesy grins with just a hint of mischief behind them!

We are all enjoying the summer break so far...I'm not even going crazy yet! We are planning a trip to CA the first two weeks of July and are looking forward to a much needed beach fix! It will be nice to have a little break from the constant 3 digit weather and to be able to spend time with family and friends.

House update: We are still in the waiting game for the not-so-short sale property that we are trying to get. Apparently there is just a lot of red tape when working with banks! Quite the understatement there! And just because I didn't do it before, I thought it would be worth mentioning how we came to put an offer in on the property.

Well, we were not exactly in the market for a house just yet. We had decided that we would by our new van this year and start actively looking for a house next year. We (I mean "I") were always keeping our eyes open for potential properties and I really wanted a house that had a big property. Here in Gilbert you have basically 2 options (in our price range!) close-quartered subdivisions or pockets of 1 acre horse properties. The second of which are really hard to find in our price range and sell really quickly. Anyway, one night we went to get our taxes done by a man in our ward (who happens to live in one of those pockets) and his wife told us that the house across the street was going to be listed the following day as a short sale...in our price range! It turns out the lady that is selling the house felt compelled to tell her next door neighbor (also a member of our ward) about the sale and he in turn felt prompted to tell our tax guy about it. This all transpired about a half hour before we came over. Anyway, to make a long story short(ish) It took a bit of convincing to get Danny to consent to look at it, but he finally saw reason and the offer was made and accepted by the owner. We are just waiting on the bank to approve the short sale (when the bank agrees to sell the house for less than what is owed-for those not familiar with the lingo!) 

It's a great house on just over an acre with big, beautiful shade trees and grass (not common out here in the desert!), lots of  mature fruit trees and even a blackberry bush. We are still keeping our fingers crossed and hoping to go under contract soon because we likely have to be out of this house by July 31st and don't want to deal with the hassle of moving twice!

So there you have it...the long and short of it. Thanks for sticking with that loooong post!