le pieux dans des pyjamas

I captured a few moments spent on our family's pew at General Conference this month...

...such a break from the usual fussing with hair, clothes, shoes, ties, activity bags, binders, snacks, etc. And Scout got to come, too, instead of being cooped up in the laundry room like she usually is.

I think GC should happen once a month.

au theatre

So we officially have a budding thespian in our home. This week C traded a week of gymnastics for a week of the theater. The Missoula Children's Theatre group blew into town on Monday, cast the 50 or so parts that same day, rehearsed with the kids all week after school, and put on the show on Saturday. A play in a week! Chloe had a bit part in the musical, "The Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe," as a member of the Very Hairy Frowny Face Tribe.

The hairy blue one in the middle is our very own daughter...

With "Latte" and roses after the show...

In case you are skeptical and are wondering whether or not you'd want to sit through an hour-long musical put on by a bunch of elementary kids who learned their lines and songs and moves in a little under a week, I can assure you, you are not alone. J and I had our doubts, too. But I am a witness that it works...and is enjoyable to watch! Good thing, too, because C had a bunch of supporters in the audience. A big thanks to Aunt Dine, Aunt Jones, and "G & G with the white hair" for coming with us to cheer her on!

la chasse

Many soccer seasons ago, J and I would sometimes cheer on his sister's kids at their "Kick and Chase" games. I thought then that it was a cute and clever name for a rec league. What I didn't think then was that "Kick and Chase" would someday be the theme of our lives now that we are the ones with four little kids. But let me tell you, the chase is on.

Truth be told, I feel like I am running after life, not planning it out as deliberately as I would like. Sure we're the ones that put most of the items on the agenda, but when the calendar says go there, we go there. And the calendar says a lot of things. Too many things at times. I think my kids for the most part truly enjoy all of the activities and sports they're involved in. I even think they would do more if I let them. But I've made a rule that they can each do only one sport, one thing musical and one social club at the same time. With four kids that adds up quick--and only three of the four have organized commitments outside of the school day right now and only one of them does all three types of things all the time. I think I'm going to have to teach Ed to drive when he's 12...oh, and buy him a car.

I have to admit I struggle with it all at times. Some weeks I am all go-getter, happy to marshall the troops, track down the equipment/uniforms/piano books, and chauffeur the kids all around town. Other weeks, I wished we lived on an island in the middle of nowhere and we didn't own a calendar. Some days I am ready for it and take it on with gusto. Some days I'll skip events that are less essential. Basically, the younger the kid, the less essential the event. I guess it's all about balance. So it's kind of apropos that on a day when there were two first soccer games (& team pictures) and one first gymnastics meet of the year (they run about 4 hours long & we took the whole gang to this one), I only have shots of S's soccer game--a first grader game where someone kicks and everyone chases.

SoSo can be pretty determined on the soccer field...he scored three times at this game

Making his way through the "tunnel" at the end of the game...

ayant chante tout l'ete*: virginie (partie une)

Almost as soon as school let out, we fled the coop. Up, up and away! First stop? Home.

Grandpa and Grandma's magical tire swing

Uncle love

Wouldn't Ed make a great Harry Potter?

Cast, schmast...this boy showed no fear

Uncle power

We spent an afternoon taking in the scenes at Burke Lake Park.

Blowing bubbles

Summer was off to a great start!





*de La Cigale et La Fourmi

il court et nous suivons

Somehow, over the years, J has become the "trailblazer" and I the "sweeper." And if you ever chance to join our family on an outing, for sure you'll hear me shout ahead, "J, wait up!" I guess he isn't a mother hen, and I suppose I dawdle (more likely one of the chickadees). Though at times we are probably equally annoyed to look ahead (me) and look back (him) to discover how far apart we are, it works out in the end. After all, someone's gotta get our wagon train rolling, and someone's gotta make sure all wagons are accounted for.

So naturally, when he sprinted ahead to run the mother of all relays, I gathered the flock and drove to catch up with him.

My dream of surprising him with a sign and cookies and a

cheering section died in traffic. So this isn't a shot of him running

his leg of the relay...it's better. It's him running to meet us...soon

after his first leg.

A bag of "Mary's" cookies that C whipped up and I baked &

a last-minute homemade sign that C and I designed and painted

J & a few teammates. Right after this shot, we realized that a local

weatherman and camerman were right behind me. Jones told J that

she saw me on the 5 o'clock news. There went my 15 seconds.

encore l'ecole

After J gave each of the kids a father's blessing last night, we laid out school clothes and tucked the kids in bed by 9:30--a mini miracle considering our summer habits. Sleep didn't come easy for anyone except SoSo (the kid's body needs and loves sleep) and J (who I spared as best I could because his alarm goes off so early on so many mornings).

Ed lay awake for an hour and a half or so thinking about school and waiting to be tired. I heard him get up in the middle of the night, but it was just to use the bathroom. C woke at 4:06 AM with butterflies in her stomach and came to our room at 4:15 for comfort. I tucked her back in bed and let her listen to a book on tape to get back to sleep. I was drifting back into sleep again when I heard a different set of footsteps--unquestionably LiLi's. I opened my eyes to find him and his soft yellow blanket getting ready to make their way into our bed. There's simply not enough room for J, me and the 4-and-a-half-year-old in our bed. So I hopped up, scooped him up and told him I would lay down with him in his bed. To which he replied, "Mom, you're not friendly." After two "lay down with me" sessions, I staggered back to my bed and made it the rest of the night without further visitors.

The bus came at 7:45 and they were ready for it...

Our 5th grader (Ed waited with us at the bus stop and

then rode his bike to school--I hope it's still there after school

as he left home without his bike lock)

Her supplies weighed more than she does

Our 4th grader

Our 1st grader

Tonight, after such a big day, I'm betting sleep will come a little easier for us all.

les jours des fetes

You may have caught on that I try to promote a mostly vegan diet of whole foods. I haven't always been this way. Not at all. And it's not an easy transition to make with four kids and a husband who haven't always been this way and aren't as sure this is the way for them. When birthday parties roll around, especially piggy-back birthday parties, all I can do is look the other way and remember that this too shall pass and it won't necessarily mean my kids will come down with type-2 diabetes or die young--I hope.

Our birthday traditions of letting the kids choose their favorite breakfast and choose where we're going for dinner (because let's face it, "vegan*ish," they always want out for dinner) have led us down junk food road this year yet again. SoSo's party landed on his actual birthday, so his birthday was basically a harbinger of chronic disease.

SoSo's Birthday Menu

Hootnanny Cake (oven pancakes chock full of eggs, butter, worthless flour, milk, sugar & a pinch of salt)** & Juice for breakfast

Donuts & Ice Cream & Soda at the party (this pretty much turned out to be lunch, too)

Taco Bell for dinner (at least it's inexpensive death)

Cake and Ice Cream for dessert (family celebration with JJ & Dine)

The whole gang around the table (of course I forgot to charge

my camera battery, so there are only a couple of shots of his party)...

when LiLi saw this photo as I was posting it, he made me pause on it

and drooled (and I quote), "See my ice cream? Yummmmy, yummmmy."

"Let them eat cake" takes on new meaning...(this is classic LiLi)

Though it may look like SoSo is dreading the junk food

he's about to eat (I sure was), he's really just a shy boy hiding

behind his hands as we sing to him.

It is a tad comforting that the kids probably worked off a lot of the calories at his party. A huge indoor jungle gym, glow-in-the-dark mini golf, and an arcade meant tons of action and a great way to spend a couple hours.

Ran out of individual candles for the family celebration,

didn't have a "7", and so we made do with "1" and "6"

(simply helping him get ready for school again)

Thanks for the spider cake Dine and JJ!

Chlo Bo's party wasn't on her birthday, so the overload was spread out over two different days...thank goodness.

C's Birthday Selections

French Crepes** & Juice

Ribs & Soda & Mashed Potatoes for dinner at Famous Dave's BBQ (Dave's not exactly fond of vegetables either; he and C get along)

Baskin Robbins for dessert

Godfather's Pizza for her party lunch (I did offer watermelon and carrots to go with it--not a single carrot was eaten)

Cupcakes & Ice Cream at her party

Has your stomach lurched just thinking about all this junk? Mine has as I sat here and typed it all up. But again, it was good that C's party was action-packed. We took the party ice skating for a couple hours first.

Go Babe

Decorating their own cupcakes...

A rainbow in the making

Though a decadent whirlwind, our party week was fun. And let's face it, I'm a realist. Even though I didn't like what we were eating, I realize that birthdays are "vacations" from the day-to-day and that there will be more of them. So after her party, I replaced the lid on the the Pillsbury Cream Cheese Frosting can and set it on the shelf in the fridge...right beside the organic vegetable broth.

**C's taste buds are so refined that she always catches me when I sneak in alterations, so I didn't do it for her crepes. It was her birthday afterall, and I didn't want to have to battle her. And believe me, she would put up a fight about it. But SoSo doesn't ever object, so here's how I tweaked his Hootnanny to soothe my conscience a little (and C ate it just fine): used organic cage-free eggs, split the flour 50-50 between worthless regular flour and whole grain brown rice flour, split the milk 50-50 between water and organic whole milk, cut the butter in half, and used real unrefined sea salt instead of table or kosher salt. Also, I now make my own syrup so that I can reduce the amount of unnecessary chemicals and preservatives in our diet.