8 miles? Or a marathon?

Today (actually yesterday at this point) started with my first 8 mile run since high school.  Early high school.  And maybe if it had ended there, it would have been fine.

Except that when I came home, I recruited the kids to help with the yard work.  Divide the mowing 3 ways, the 4th kid pulls weeds.  But I forgot that I have to get the kids started by mowing around the bushes and right next to the fence.  So there's another 20 or so minutes on my feet.

Then there's the laundry.  Not sure that those front loaders are all they're cracked up to be, especially with our laundry room configuration.  It's like a game of Twister to switch the loads around.  Lugging baskets downstairs (stairs!) and repeated bending over.  Still no rest.

All right, so I got to sit down while I did a little taxiing around town for a couple hours.  But still going.

And going.  Right through the Relief Society activity, begging children to lug baskets of clean laundry upstairs (stairs!) for me (but ending up doing most of it myself), and folding said laundry. Waiting for Glenn to get home from DJing a dance in Hiram.  So that I can take my two teenagers and their friend to the midnight premiere of the new Harry Potter movie.  (Did I not learn my lesson at BYU?  Holy Grail, anyone?)  Oh yes, after this long, physically exhausting day, where I feel myself getting more and more sore with every step, I agree to go hang with the Harry Potter crazies in the middle of the night. 

And did I mention that we are leaving for Palmyra in the morning? Like in a couple hours? I feel like I have had an entire day full of running.  And the end won't come till we're on the road and I am fast asleep in the front seat.

I am clearing my schedule for next week's 10-miler.  Bet on it.

Andrew and the wonderful, incredible, no-bad, very good day.

It may seem like just an ordinary day, but July 12th was one of the best days of Andrew's life.

Early that morning, he got his braces off.  He had been anticipating this for a long time.  He was praised over and over about what a great job he did and how nice his teeth look.  He had a long list of food candy that he was had been looking forward to chowing down on.  And so, we had to make a stop on the way home for Milk Duds, caramels, and sour gummy worms.

Later that night was the first playoff game for his baseball team.  With a losing record, which seeded them against one of the best teams, everyone's expectations were fairly low.  But with a lot of focus, determination, enthusiasm, and a couple key plays and an RBI from Andrew, they pulled out a win! No major league baseball game was any more exciting than this one, let me tell you.

After the victory, the team was treated to Mitchell's ice cream--TWO scoops for the win!  It was awesome to hear the boys congratulating each other, telling the winning pitcher that he deserved 37 scoops, and hearing boys from other teams come up and saying "We are so glad you beat the Bats!!"  I guess news travels fast.

Simple things, yes, but it was everything to a nine-year old kid.

Other days that made his list? The day he went to an Indians game and saw Travis Hafner hit a walk-off home run, and the day he watched Travis Hafner hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 9th. I'm sensing a theme here...

Faith, Family, Friends, FREEDOM

Our city's 4th of July parade was a little bigger this year in honor of it's bicentennial. Several of the city's churches marched in the order they were established, and our church was one of them.

Now, a little explanation of how our church is organized. Our members are divided geographically into smaller congregations called wards. Because church membership is a little smaller out here, my ward is not only comprised of the city I live in, but also several other neighboring towns.  Our building is in my city, however, and so that's the parade we participated in.  But my family is one of a very small handful of Mormons who actually reside here.  And go to school here.  And work here.  And help with the PTA here.  It's not like I go out of my way to NOT talk about my religion, or that I am necessarily embarrassed by it, but I also haven't shouted it from the roof tops of Crocker Park or Holly Lane Elementary School, either.  So, as I said to the missionaries who were also walking with us, I felt like I was being "outed" yesterday.  I was coming out of my self-made Mormon closet.  I donned my bright yellow Mormon Helping Hands t-shirt and marched behind our Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints banner that the city supplied, and waved to PTA presidents, neighbors, teachers, house contractors, and swim coaches.  Yes, I am Mormon.  And proud of it.

After the parade and a picnic with the ward, we came home for some Guitar Hero, naps, and air conditioning.  We were joined by the Chatty's and Grandma and Grandpa Franklin for a little indoor BBQ, yummy salads, and pre-fireworks ice cream cones.

Then is was on to Clague Park to enjoy the fireworks with friends.

The fireworks show was amazing as usual. Here is the grand finale, with repeated sonic booms that shook us over and over again.

It was a great day, with plenty of reminders that we have so much to be grateful for.  And really, it was quite fitting to celebrate not only the birth of our nation, but also those freedoms that we have--and especially for me, today, to worship according to the dictates of our own conscience.  How blessed we are to be FREE.

Elphaba came to town.

And it may come as no surprise to anyone that I jumped all over it. Not being successful in getting my husband or son to come with me and the girls, I recruited the next best Elphie fan (Melissa) and her girls to join us. We got lawn tickets to Blossom and the best part--the kids were free! It was a great night--not too hot (that is, after the loooong hike from the grassy knoll we parked on to the grassy knoll we would be sitting on), with a picnic dinner, and various snacks that must have been inhaled by the girls because that food was gone in 60 seconds, and pre-concert games.

The Cleveland Orchestra played some Americana songs to start, and then Idina came out!!!  From what I could tell waaay back on the edge of the lawn, she was just as beautiful as ever (although not green this time) and her voice blew me away.  I started recording her singing "I'm Not That Girl" but put the camera down because I needed to experience the song in real life and not through the viewfinder as I try to hold the camera steady.  Incredible.

She sang several more songs, including one of the nicer ones from Rent, and a couple from her album, and of course--the one we had all been waiting for...

But she began with an a capella version of "For Good"... (Throughout the concert I figured out that I could use the cup holder as a perch for my camera, allowing me to both record and experience it live--I'm so glad I did it.)

...which just about killed me...until she hit us with "Defying Gravity." I had to cut the recording short because I had to stand and scream and applaud like nuts.

We all loved the performances,but we hightailed it out of there because we saw lightning and a storm looming in the distance. It held off long enough for us to get on the freeway, and then the skies opened up as we drove right through the eye of the storm. Zero visibility. It was like someone was throwing the rain at the windshield, rather than it merely falling. Melissa sure must have defied a little something of her own to have navigated that storm as well as she did. Elphaba inspires in more ways than one!

Hey now, you're an All-Star!

Andrew was selected to play on the All-Star team in his league this year. They had a home run derby, and Andrew tied for 2nd place with two home runs! Here is some video of the second one...

It was a very official event, with bunting decorating the backstops, calling the players out onto the field, and the national anthem.  Andrew made a great showing, with a walk, an out that advanced the runner, and a double, and in the end, his team won!

Ready at shortstop--his favorite position!

Notice where the ball is?  In the glove for a strike!

About to score!

Our vote for MVP

The winning team

This time last week...

...I was less than a week into my 37th year. (Late 30's! Yikes!)

...I had embarked on a family history trip to Kansas and Missouri with my mom.

...I had visited the courthouse where my grandparents were married.

...I had seen the houses where my grandpa grew up in Sedalia, Missouri, and the houses he had lived in with my grandma as newlyweds and young parents.

...I had traveled many unpaved back roads in the middle of nowhere.

...I had met this guy trying to cross the road.  Twice.

...I had seen many windy Kansas wheat fields (only the most die-hard John Denver fans will get that reference).

...I had gotten a text that Leah had been hit by a car that was backing out of the driveway while she was riding her bike to band practice.  A frantic phone call home reassured me both that she was all right and that the guilty party had been appropriately freaked out by what she had done.

...I had been reassured by my mother that the lady who gave us directions to get back on the freeway we had detoured off of had crossed this bridge many times and found it to be perfectly safe.

...I had spend a long time watching the threatening Missouri skies waiting to get a picture of lightning.

...I had just found out that I would come home to a husband with a broken foot.

...I had tromped through countless cemeteries looking for headstones with familiar names in the scorching heat and humidity.

...I had learned that Brooke had been cast for multiple parts in a play she auditioned for.

...I had eaten the same delicious Midwest BBQ that Guy Fieri had eaten.

...I had spent a lovely Sunday with my mom's aunts and uncles, touring the town they all grew up in, listening to their memories, and trying to make up for the last time I saw them at the age of 16 and probably didn't speak more than a couple of sentences to them.

...I was about to learn more about our church's history at the Independence Visitor's Center.

...I was about to see a beautiful temple under construction.

...I would navigate and be navigated, would drive and be driven, would set out with no map, and would stop in a McDonald's parking lot to figure out where we were, would traverse back and forth across the greater Kansas City area.

...I stood with my mom as she fought with rental car companies and Priceline, as she stood on the site where her grandmother was murdered in 1923, as she decided that we needed a Brownie Batter Blizzard from Dairy Queen, as we searched through endless records looking for those who are wanting to be found, as we listened to her uncle explain to me the difference between English and black walnuts, as we learned more about what happened in Liberty Jail, as she fought back tears while saying goodbye to the few family members she has left.

This time last week, as always, when the past and present were so very close, I was so grateful to know that families can be together forever.

The end.

We have closed the books on yet another school year.  The last few weeks came fast and furious.

Brooke had a presentation on wind energy that she gave in front of half the 5th grade.

She also graduated from the DARE program.

Emma and Leah had a major social studies project that created some major drama.  Behold, the final result.

A medieval castle.

And an abacus.

Do not let the smiles fool you.

The actual day itself could not have been any more crazy.  First off, it was 90+ degrees.  Which is not going to make anything any easier.  After some meltdowns (by both children and adults) as people were on their way out the door, I headed up to Brooke's school to get field day set up, stopping in her classroom first to drop off presents and take pictures. 

I left there at noon to grab some lunch on my way to sub at another school for a friend.  When I got home, our contractor was here to inform me that they would start installing our new windows that afternoon.  OK, I'm really happy that it is FINALLY happening (that post is coming...), but now I have to scramble around trying to get window treatments down, pictures off the walls, and a little straightening done so that the workers don't think we are complete slobs.   After some bent brackets, a splash of salsa on my white shirt as I chowed my burrito, and realizing that my window treatments are in need of a serious cleaning, I made it out the door in time.

I had to rush home from the sub job to be here when Andrew got off the bus.  There I was, waiting eagerly on the front porch, camera in hand, and here is what I got:

Nice tongue.

Brooke got home, a half hour later, but I was tied up on the phone dealing with some church business, so I missed getting her picture. Emma and Leah had ridden their bikes from school straight to swim practice. They texted that there were a lot of "other" kids at the pool, which got me thinking--is the pool already open? I didn't think it was because of swim team, but lo and behold. So on the fly, I decided to take Andrew and Brooke to the pool and surprise the girls.

A perfect way to spend a blistering afternoon.

The evening was crazy because we had to get the upstairs ready for windows the next day.  The workers would have to be able to actually cross a room to get to a window.  That meant that the floor needed to be clear.  And, of course, there's no way anyone (workers or otherwise) would be coming upstairs without a little light cleaning first.

Oh, and we had to run to Lowe's to pick out a new front door.

Since Andrew's room was (miraculously) already clean, he came with Glenn and me, and the girls stayed back to get their rooms under control.  Not the way a kid wants to spend their first evening of no responsibility, so I promised I'd make it up to them.

Mitchell's will make any day great.

The day ended with the kids crashing in the basement to escape the heat and the impending demolition that would begin early the next morning.

And today, on the first day of summer, we closed the school year with one last trip to the school to say good bye to a teacher that has made a deep and lasting impression on all my girls--and me.  Believe me when I tell you that this teacher is the epitome of perfection in education.

I am so grateful that my girls all got to have her.  And thanking her for all that she's done was the perfect cap to our year.

   2 good

+  2 be___

    4 gotten