Not much.

I hardly have any photos from this week and the hour I usually reserve for blogging on Sundays has been obliterated by Harris unplugging the internet (while Dan was teaching a Zoom lesson to the Young Men in our ward) and then having to restart my computer, and then my computer forcing me to let it make updates. So time is short.

And I'm back. Didn't know I was gone? We had another catastrophe, and I was helping a sad baby for the past twenty minutes. I know have negative 3 minutes to blog. Luckily, it's been a boring(er) week at our house.

June let me pull another tooth out. She lets them wiggle forever, and it grosses me out. But the problem now is that she's missing four teeth in a row up top. Watching her eat corn on the cob is like a Discovery Channel episode.

Do you need a good quote? Boom, I took a screenshot for you. This is a Christian homeschooling mom I follow, and she just has good things to say. Every week I'm amazed at the ease and yet profundity of her words.

Kapow. As an extremely emotional person, I found this quite helpful. 

Church today.

Jumping.

Acting like a horse.

More horse.

Up close and personal horse.

The End.

Father's Day 2020

We're that type of family who goes all out for first birthdays. Which is exactly why, a couple of days after Beck's birthday (which had up to that point been uncelebrated), I decided to whip up a cake from a box and announced that we would be having Beck's impromptu birthday party in an hour. Okay, so I'm a bit of a failure at first birthdays (and many other birthdays) but I did add a pudding packet and a cup of sour cream to the cake mix in order to make an extraordinarily good cake mix cake, complete with coconut pecan frosting.

Most of my babies have been overwhelmed by cake. They haven't understood how to go about eating it. Beck is his mother's baby and dove right in.

A few facts about 1-year old Beck:

He just learned how to go down the stairs. This picture doesn't help illustrate that because you can't tell if he is going up or down. So you'll have to believe me--he's going down.

He's teething. And when he's teething, he bites.

He's a fantastic sleeper but during wake time, he is very attached to me. Though I know it's only a matter of time until he goes the way of the other kids and turns on me. Traitors, all of them.

The summer escapades continue. The girls went to gymnastics camp this week. I forgot to take pictures, but here they are after camp one day, still in their leotards.

Also there has been a lot of jumping on the trampoline with nice older neighbor girls who insist they like playing with little kids. I was not that kid myself so it's hard for me to believe, but they are so genuinely nice. Love it.

And there is a man in our neighborhood with the largest dog I've ever seen. We call him the Bear Dog. And every time this neighbor and dog are out for their morning or evening walk and my kids happen to notice, they scream "BEAR DOG! BEAR DOG!" and run outside to greet them. And the man always waits, and the dog immediately lies down and lets the kids say hi. Sometimes multiple times a day. They are really nice.

Here's my attempt to capture the moment through a screened window while also holding the aforementioned super-attached, super-teething baby.

By the way, that cranky baby I keep mentioning is now on my lap. So this is about to go "lightening round" style. 

Harris found a millipede this week (for sure a millipede and not a centipede--I looked it up) and it was our pet for a couple of days. My kids really want a pet. 

And yesterday, I captured this sweet moment of Dan and Harris mowing the lawn.

And today is Father's Day. We are so lucky to have fathers. I'm especially grateful for Heavenly Father, my own father Doug Beck and my husband, Dan the Man Jolley.

About a month ago, I came across a box of pictures I didn't know we owned. There were tons of pictures from Dan's childhood. So this morning, I woke up early and taped them to all of the walls in our living room area. It was enjoyable because there are some real gems. Like the following:

Dan was half delighted and half horrified at what I had done. He's a good sport though.

For our Sacrament meeting today, the girls gave talks I had helped them prepare about the role of men in our lives. They also sang the children's song "Daddy's Homecoming" complete with hand actions.

For dinner we are having knock off Cafe Rio and Dan's favorite dessert. I don't know what its true name is, but it has the layers of pudding and cream cheese with a crust made from pecans. Not my favorite but I guess it's not my day.

Happy Father's Day, Dan! We love you. Yes even Harris, who doesn't look loving in these photos. And even Beck, who was taking a nap.

The End.

First! Week! Of! Summer!

I don't know if I've ever been so excited for summer vacation. Even though we have ZERO plans for this summer, and we've already been home for three months, I'm so excited not to have online school anymore. Wahoo!

This first week of summer vacay, we had no routines in place. We didn't even do piano lessons, which is unheard of around here. As soon as I told the kids that we wouldn't have piano for one week, they rejoiced. And then they ran to the piano and played some songs. Huh? Go figure. I'm beginning to think parenting is psychology in action. Parents want control. Kids want control. Parents relinquish control, and kids fulfill the intended goal. Why am I trying so hard? Will my kids just raise themselves?

Hahahahaha no they won't. And yes, I'm going to make them do piano this week.

And while no school and no piano was the big treat this week, the icing on the cake was that the library opened back up! For curbside pickup, anyway. 

So that's where we headed first thing Monday morning, dropping off the 40ish books and movies I have held onto for three months and picking up the 40ish books and movies I've had on hold for awhile. 

Why is it that the movies you have for three months are the ones you wish you hadn't rented in the first place? We've had Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for three months. I loved that movie as a kid so I rented it for my own kids to see. They loved it, but the whole time Dan and I were throwing glances at each other over the kids' heads, wondering what in the acid trip was going on.

I had also rented Evita, which I love but Dan abhors. He's wrong; it's a great film. But he still won't watch it with me. 

Anyway, we were excited for new library stuffs, and the girls read most of the day and week.

June's really into the A to Z Mysteries series, and Gwen is just learning how to read so she mostly looks for words she knows in stories she has already heard.

One of the favorites books of this week was this:

I highly recommend.

Other fun first-week-of-summer things:

We have a neighbor who is crazy good at making balloon animals, and he made my kids a bunch. I'm not talking about your average puppy balloon. I'm talking about:

A fishing rod, complete with fish.

A bow and arrow:

This amazing princess for Gwen:

A fully detailed pug for June:

and Spider-man for Harris:

We had a play date. This is the only picture I took, but the kids were in heaven. Gwen cried when we left.

And then yesterday we headed back to Gettysburg. We've been there twice now but feel like we could go back 100 more times. We've only made it through 4 of the stops, and there are 14 or 15 total. And the visitor's center isn't even open yet! 

We always have to stop at Devil's Den so the kids can climb the rocks and Mom can have her weekly heart attack.

I hope you love the "mom" finger in this next photo. It means I was there! This is also the picture where I almost had my heart attack. Kids near the edges of cliffs--my favorite exercise in seeing how loud I can yell in public.

And I had to capture a photo of Dan in his happy place. Listening to the audio tour while looking at the tour map at his favorite battlefield of Gettysburg. He was seriously so happy.

The rest of us. Also happy, but kids were tired and we all had to go to the bathroom. June and I ran and ran to use some porta potties and then she was so grossed out she wouldn't use them. And then I made her. Maybe I need to reread that parenting psychology paragraph again.

Side note: June went through the backpack I had packed with stuff for the day trip where she found an extra outfit for Beck, which she promptly put on and is wearing in this photo. It's size 12 months. She's a kook.

And church today. Harris isn't pictured because he's in timeout for running outside of the house. Make that two heart attacks a week. He loves be outside, and we don't have a fence yet, and it's stressful.

And June insisted on wearing her swan skirt even though it's a little small on her because last night we finished The Trumpet of the Swan.

And she loved it. We all did.

The End.

Have Ye Received His Image In Your Countenance?

We have been talking about the senseless murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery and others at our house all this week. And I do mean all week. I'm a news junkie and read everything I could find to learn more. My way of dealing with things is to talk. I know some people have conversations on Facebook or other social media, but that doesn't work as well for me. I need real, one-on-one conversations. I called many friends and family members this week. And of course Dan and I talked the most of all. I can even say that I talked to him about it through the bathroom door at one point. Because it felt that urgent.

There was a little peaceful protest in my little Pennsylvania town, but we found out about it too late. We are hoping that I can take the two girls if something else comes up. I have heard about interfaith marches against racism. I would love to be a part of that.

This week in the Book of Mormon we studied Alma's sermon in Alma 5. The best question in whole book is "Have ye received His image in your countenance?" Gave me a ton to think about, especially this week. His image is one that is full of love and compassion for every single person He created. 

It's easy to feel inadequate. I know I do. But I see where I can do better. And so I will. One of the best things someone said to me this week was my sister Heidi. She said, "I can't do so many things, but I can raise four children to stand up for what is right." That is what I have in my power to do as well.

I am also educating myself and listening. I know there is work to be done outside of my home as well. My neighborhood and community need me to take part in the change.

So here is to living a life more dedicated to Christ. To loving His children. I especially want my black and brown brothers and sisters to know I see them and hear them and support them. 

We've also been working on some of June's goals for her youth program at church. We set some goals together at the beginning of the year but totally let the ball drop with Covid. Which is silly because Covid is great time to work on some goals. We dusted off the ol' book this week and re-read her goals. She wants to learn to cook better and is committed to helping me with dinner at least three times a week. She helped me make chicken salad this week.

So did Gwen. I thought she would like slicing the grapes because she loves grapes, but it turns out she only likes eating them.

(Sidenote: As if to narrate her dislike for slicing grapes or anything other chores I give her, she is currently playing Jingle Bells in a minor key on the piano.)

Harris has given himself yet another haircut. Where is his mother, you may ask. Well, she's still here but all semblance of her sanity left long ago.

I feel like he's getting closer and closer to this kid from The Little Rascals (which was our Fun Friday movie this week).

 June received a Dairy Queen gift card from her teacher for completing all of her work during online school. We took the kids yesterday, and it was hot.

There was also a duck pond with a feeder machine next to us, and the kids found this most exciting. We told them, "Once you finish your ice cream, we have a quarter for each of you so you can feed the ducks."

Gwen's response: "The ducks eat money?"

On the way home, we saw countless yards where people were outside in their little cool inflatable pools/slides/whathaveyou, and Dan told the kids about how his dad used to wet down a tarp and they would slide down on that.

So the kids asked him to get out or tarp and do this same thing.

We tried. It was a bust. We sat down on the tarp, hose running, and then scooted ourselves down with our hands and bottoms. The fun never ends.

It ended in a water fight and eating corn dogs on the deck in swimsuits, which made up for a lot.

Ignore that beautiful plant. It's what we do.

Church today. There's a fly in that jar. The kids are that desperado for a pet. Please give me your pet advice. I am a cold-hearted non-pet wanter. Tell me your best low-maintenance pet ideas.

And Harris "Don't Take My Picture" Jolley.

Harris gave his first talk in our Sacrament meeting today. All talks are written by kids and assisted by Dad. It's my favorite.

I know my blog is missing my usual spunk. It's been a hard week. Which for me means being at home and reading the news and feeling sad. I know others have been through much more. 

I love the Gospel. I love Jesus Christ. He is the way.