Thoughts

• The kids mowed the lawn tonight while I made dinner. They were not happy about it but thankfully, they finished the job. It's pouring rain right now so I'm glad it's done for the next week. I love when 'strongly encouraging' a job turns out to be the right call.
• They changed a four-way stop right by my house and took two stop signs down a couple weeks ago. It wasn't a necessary four-way stop to begin with and many people rolled through it. California stops aren't usually my thing so I generally stopped even when others didn't. In fact, I'm still stopping there even without a stop sign. Doh! The city 'moved my cheese' and I'm struggling to get used to it.

Adding this picture to remind me how cute this guy is even when he loses his specs!

• Reed lost his glasses....again. I thought I might lose my mind while looking for them all. day. long. I had turned his entire room upside down and looked in every toy bin not to mention the bathroom, kitchen, laundry room, etc. All of the sudden he perks up and says, 'I left them in dad's car!' In fact, he acted like it was the first time I asked where his glasses were in two days. Oh Reed! I had asked him no less that 10 times if he had them on when he came home (I was at the RS Meeting). Thank heavens Milo found them tucked under the seat in his car. Other than a thick cable around his neck, any suggestions on how to keep track of these glasses?

• Both Nathan and Kathryn are running cross country this year. It's been fun to see them both work hard, set personal goals and then achieve them. They both did quite well this past meet and have felt really positive towards the upcoming meets as well. I love cross country. The runners cheer each other on and yell reminders to not give up. Other sports aren't quite that positive in my experience. This is one sport I hope they both continue.
• Speaking of cross country. Their last meet was in a town an hour away. I wasn't going to go but ended up heading south to watch them race a course I haven't been to before. I have an amazing ability to get lost even with a GPS and spent precious time making u-turns on dead end streets. So frustrating! I was certain I was going to miss Kat race. Her age group raced first this meet and when I rushed up to the finish line, she was still 90 seconds from finishing. Whew! Even with GPS help I'm directionally challenged. Ugh.

Not a scouting photo but I had to add his cute face in this post.

• Dane has moved up to 11 year old scouts which means the start of merit badges for him as well (yikes). Both boys went to an all day merit badge clinic a couple Saturdays ago and came home with two finished badges, yeah! Dane chose to earn a geocaching badge. Before the clinic we had to find a geocache so he could talk about it at the class. There are two right near our house so I downloaded an app and off we went. It was close to bedtime but Reed and Owen begged to come along. Mistake. 

•  Owen was not wanting to ride in the stroller and gave up wanting to walk as well. I finally had enough and buckled him into the stroller tightly as opposed to trusting he'd stay put (rookie mistake). He was not happy about the restraints but he outsmarted me, didn't he? He's totally buckled in here and we cracked up the whole way home.

• Our stake put on a Road Show a couple Saturdays ago. They were supposed to take 7-8 minutes per ward and highlight the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet. Our ward was the only ward that followed those guidelines and I can honestly say, it was the best one of the night. They shadow 'danced' behind a screen and it was big hit. That's Kat digging a hole for plants to show service to others. She rolled out a human wheelbarrow just before this. It was funny.

•  Speaking of service, I have been humbled again and again the past couple weeks because people are so good to my family. As in- really, really good. 'They' care that my kids are fed and share their food generously. 'They' pick Kathryn and I up last minute so we can attend the Women's Meeting with our stake (dead van!). After a laughing conversation about said van, 'they' quietly dropped their van off so we would have an easier time getting to early church. When 'they' heard my van died they brought a portable charger over to get it running again. And even still 'they' don't leave it alone after my van seems to be running fine. 'They' took it somewhere, found out it's the alternator and 'they' ordered one. Each 'they' is a different person here (honestly that many people helped with my van situation). The Lord knows all of that is too draining for one person to take on. He knows how to help me keep going. He knows I don't want to be a drain on anyone. Thankfully, He has a solution for that too. He sends the kids and I many selfless people to take care of needs we simply cannot meet on our own. From food to a loaned mini van and everything in between. It's humbling to the point of tears. Lots and lots of tears.