Summer, Cryptids, and Decision Makers

School has officially ended! I’ve taken a million different alarms off my phone (alarms waking me up, alarms reminding me of kindergarten regular pick-up, alarms reminding me of kindergarten short-day pick-up, alarms reminding me of older kids regular and short day pick-ups); we’ve cleaned out backpacks (a marvel! last year we didn't clean them out until ... we headed back to school five months later); we've returned school books; signed yearbooks, and made it through a nutty school year of masks and occasional quarantines. (There was a time there when it seemed we’d get a call practically every time Goldie stepped foot in the school informing us she’d been near someone with Covid and would have to quarantine). 

But overall, it was a surprisingly good year. And when my kids left this morning it was with an odd mixture of excitement and forlornness. They've had so many good teachers, and made so many friends, and learned so many things. And endings are always a little sad. 

But also exciting! It is summer after all. (And, as if in acknowledgment, the temperatures are planning on switching from the nice 70s they've sat at to the 90s next week.) We've got our calendar all dotted full of Bear Lake trips, girls' camps, high-adventure camps, birthdays, officer retreats AND Abe coming home! So there are good things in store for the months ahead. In fact, as I type, I'm waiting for the last load of laundry to finish so we can pack up for the cabin and leave this very afternoon! 

So I'll sign off with a few pictures of Starling:

A few pictures from Penny's 14th birthday. (I pretty much thought she was 14 her entire 13th year.)

A few quick pictures with my sisters at my niece's wedding shower. (Shannon complained it appeared she had a lamp on her head in half the pictures, and Megan didn't realize for a bit that she was holding baby Bruun's binky between her teeth. But it's rare for us all to be together at once so a photo was called for.)

A picture of this box that arrived on our porch the other day. Everyone is always excited when a package is delivered. It always could be something fun. But it only took Goldie reading, in a flat voice, "Genuine Part" before all hopeful excitement drained away. (Maybe Mike was still excited. I'm not sure.)

And to end, no more pictures, but a few ... things:

The other night while Daisy was tending, she sent us this text:

Starling: “Goodnight Jesse!”

Jesse: “Goodnight Starling!”

Starling: “Goodnight Starling!” a pause, then in confusion, “I’m Starling.”

She seems to be in a stage of Starling self-awareness. She will also occasionally look at herself in the mirror and say, "Hi Starling." And today after pointing out the eyes on a toy bug, she quickly reached for her own face saying, "Where's my Starling's eyes?"

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Daisy gave Penny a “decision maker” for her birthday. (A bit of a joke since Mike often gets on their cases for not making decisions decisively.) It’s a pendulum. You swing the ball and it eventually stops on one of the magnets surrounding the base that say things like “definitely” and “no way”. It quickly got out of hand however. Before going to bed on Penny's birthday night, I asked the girls (who were still playing games and giggling about who knows what at the kitchen table) to turn all the lights off before heading to bed themselves. Daisy looked at me non-committedly and said, “We’ll discuss it with the decision maker”.

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Another funny thing. The other day Daisy was chasing after one of her little siblings when Hans said in wonder to her, "I didn’t know you knew how to run!"

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Speaking of Daisy, she now works at both a dental office AND as a cashier at our local grocery store! It's fun to go through her check-out line at work. (Which we wasted no time doing -- having come to get a few items about two hours into her very first day last week.)

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Summer asked me recently if "worms come down from heaven". I wasn't quite sure what she meant. But after a little questioning it became clear that she wanted to know if they have spirits and will live again after they die. Because, as she explained to me, "Mette says they only get one time to live". Hahaha. Poor worms. Those low lives. This is it for them. (I assured her that all of God's creatures would go on existing beyond this life. And that was that.) 

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Anders, as you may know, is fascinated with Bigfoot. And that's not all! He recently checked out a book called, "Tales of Cryptids". (I'd never heard the word "cryptid" before. But all you need to do is glance through the book at Bigfoots and Lochness Monsters and the like and you understand pretty quickly that cryptids are.) 

As we drove to school the morning after he'd checked out the book, I reminded him of the Great-Salt-Lake-Monster mystery. "Wow," Jesse said. "We've got a monster close to us." Anders looked at him with wide eyes and replied, "Trust me, Jesse. There is more than one monster close to us." Hahah. He is always trying to pin me down with an admittance that I believe in some of these creatures. (And seems disappointed whenever I sound unconvinced.) He's not fully certain of everything though. A few moments after his comment to Jesse he said, skeptically, “I’m not sure what I think about the Loveland frog holding a wand though.” I don't know anything about the Loveland Frog, but a magic wand? I'm glad even Anders has his limits.. 

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My dear little Jesse is not only ending the school year, but graduating elementary. (He's been a bit sad at the thought of leaving such a familiar and comfortable place.) Anyway, at his 6th-grade graduation I was so so happy when he was one of only three students (one from each class) chosen to receive the "Citizenship Award". (The award for kindness, politeness, respect, example, etc.) There's no award that could matter more to me. And it's a big deal! They really only do a few awards. And this was one of the only ones with a cash prize attached. (Finally, he's getting paid to be kind! Ha.) 

One of the other kids who received the award happened to be a boy from our ward. He and Jesse are planning to be locker partners next year. After hearing that he and Jesse both received the kindness award, Mike commented that this was a real problem because all next year Jesse and this boy will arrive at their locker at the same time and both keep insisting, "Oh, you go first." "No, I insist, you go first." "No. No. I couldn't. Please, go ahead." And they'll end up late to class every day. 

Jesse really is a consistently thoughtful and kind boy. Always thanking everyone for the littlest things. He'll even say things to me, after a rushed verse of scripture on the way out the door in the mornings like, "Thanks for always teaching us the scriptures, mom." Yes. Give that boy all the money! 

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All right, the laundry is long done and packing is calling!

All the extra pictures in the world ...

Thanks to Mother's Day (and son Jesse), I am now in possession of coupons allowing me to have: an egg fried, a spider removed from the house without being harmed, a mystery solved, something created on a tft screen (I'm not sure what a tft screen is, but I'm sure I want something made on one!), and last, but surely not least, a trap set. (What will I try and have trapped? What?)

And here we all are Mother's-Day evening at a lovely, quiet, little park I only recently learned of.

And, while I'm here ... let's just see what other photos I have sitting about -- unseen and lonely.

Ah. There are these. (Speaking of motherhood.)

And this. Dear girl. She refuses all shoes but one pair full of holes that barely fits. And she utterly opposes anything being done to her hair. I can scarcely brush it. And any type of tiny clip or bow is ripped out at once. I wrangled her into these ponytails recently -- thinking that once we got past the process, she'd forget about them and have her hair done for a day. But she did not forget. She sobbed and yanked and pulled until I took them out. Ah well. She will occasionally wear a large orange hunting cap. That's something. 

Penny took these while experimenting with my camera one day. Jesse's face. I know. I know. But I find it a bit funny that a Tigger was caught flying past in the background. There should be things like that in the background of all our pictures. It would be true to life.

And here Jesse is making brownies. Anders likes brownie duty (pumpkin muffins are Jesse's specialty), but Anders was busying about with something or other for too long and so Jesse had to take brownie matters into his own hands. (But, speaking of pumpkin muffins: I don't know how this came to be, nevertheless it is a fact, that we nearly always have pumpkin muffins with tacos. They've become as paired as potatoes and gravy. It's a strange thing, when I stop to consider it, but pumpkin muffins and tacos usually go hand-in-hand around here.)

A little Hans playing Legos.

Some girls being silly on my phone.

Some girls being silly in our van.

And in my living room.

And in a highchair. (Many of these photos I don't even take. I just find them on my phone.)

Here we have a bit more of Daisy at home. Daisy all done up to look professional for a job interview. Daisy doing something with her computer. Daisy reading to her siblings. And Daisy taking her siblings to the temple! They are still booked up for months, but when Daisy looked on the website the other day she saw an 8:00 p.m. opening just sitting there asking to be filled. I don't know if someone had cancelled or what, but she snatched it right up. (Sadly Goldie had to work.)

Look at how I found Summer thoughtfully eating an apple the other day. Can you imagine just perching on the edge of the sink and eating like that? Little monkey child. Also, new swimsuits. 

Anders and Jesse went to the Academic Olympiad. Each of them competed in Experimental Design. Anders and his two partners got first place for the third grade out of all the schools there. And Jesse and his partner got 3rd place in the 6th grade. (Naturally we are certain that if Jesse had been practicing like the third grade had Anders' team doing for several weeks before, he would've had first as well. But third place for going in blind is pretty darn good!) (Anders teacher texted me pictures so we have several from his group.)

Goldie and one of her good friends made senior class office. She takes great pleasure in planning and carrying out and being involved in, so this will be a lot of fun for her.

Sometimes Penny (who turns 14 tomorrow!) looks very old to me (as in when she played Hope Harcourt from Anything Goes). But other times she still looks like my little kid. (As in channeling Newsies here.) I don't think these glimpses of little-kid Penny will last long. So I'll take them when I see them!

Speaking of Hope Harcourt. I mentioned how smitten with the whole production Summer has been. She's memorized half of the songs, drawn the set, and seems enchanted with the idea of Hope and Billy. She asked if we could do her hair like Penny's was for the play recently. It was a Sunday morning with little time, but we managed a quick replica. I love Mike's expression in the background. 

The park across the street from us has a big water retention area that fills up whenever it rains. It's always so fun/funny to see people floating on tubes and paddling about in the area typically used for games like lacrosse and soccer. 

And, with that, I think we are, quite suddenly, all pictured out. Whew.