Happy Independence Day!

It is a beautiful morning here in Illinois.  Not too humid -- I even went out for a run this morning, but now my hips hurt, woe is me!  I always miss the Freedom Festival in Provo this time of year.  I love to start out the week with the spirit at the Marriott Center and then end the week with the balloons, the parade, a family party, and the wonderful fireworks.  It is different here, but fun.  I live on a wonderful street.  It is red brick and has grass growing up through the pavers in the summer.  The neighborhood has a lot of get-togethers throughout the year and today is one of them.  They ask the city to barricade the street so that we can play in it.  First, we meet at 11:00 with decorated bikes and wagons for a small parade.  One man on the street leads the parade with a truck blaring patriotic music.  Then an old fire truck drives up with the siren wailing.  All the kids and adults climb aboard for a fun ride through town.  He takes several tours so we can usually go a couple of times.  Next, we all join for a picnic on the boulevard and then set up a slippery slide, kiddie pool, etc.  Later, we are going to join some people from church at State Farm park.  For all of you who have State Farm insurance, you should see the amazing park that you helped pay for.  We normally aren't privileged enough to be allowed entrance, but our friends our getting us in today.  My boy is still at camp, so Matthew is driving up there this evening and spending the night and then driving a crew home tomorrow.  I cannot wait until he is home and safe again.

I read the book "John Adams" this spring and it was so wonderful.  I love history and have read a lot about the founding of our country, but this book made it even more real to me.  Abigail Adams said to her husband that their posterity would never really understand what people went through to procure freedom and liberty.  She is so right.  I don't think we do, but I hope today we can think about them and honor them.  I am so grateful to have the life that I do!

Now I must go, because we haven't even adorned the tricycle!  

These are some photos that my sister-in-law Stacie took last summer. Aren't they awesome? I was going to put the collage in with my birth announcement, but didn't.

Some pics of the babe...

The Latest

For all those Girl Talk fans out there... check out this MTV news article

Time keeps on slippin, slippin, slippin...

Phin in diaper -- had to wait a while for him to stop pumping all four limbs at once!

Summer is a little bit crazy. One would initially think, 'Oh, the lazy days of summer, all the time in the world to accomplish whatever didn't get done during the frantic days of winter industry; not bound by schedules and timetables; long days of early sunrise and late sunset...' But what really is happening is that there are five children here all the time, meals are erratic at best, everyone wants to go to the pool every day (no AC, it's humid, who can blame them?), the garden needs weeding, the lawn needs mowing, swim lessons, piano lessons, camp preparations, keeping the kitchen sanitary -- I was trying to make the list long, but to be honest, I really have no idea what I am doing most of the time. It took me an entire week to read a book which really isn't like me. I set a goal every day to exercise and it rarely happens. I even set out the yoga mat hopefully, but it lies there neglected and forlorn. I am on day nine of doing "8 minutes in the morning," but I have only really gotten to day 2, so do I skip all the days and get a false sense of accomplishment, or do day 3 tomorrow to be an absolutist about the whole thing? We are halfway through the third season of "Lost" so I guess the summer isn't a complete wash.

My obsession with diapers has continued with the latest culmination being the purchase of one dozen perfectly snugalicious bumgenius fleecy perfections. They are pretty pastel colors and are so soft! But their flashy exterior does not hide a shallow core -- oh, no! They are cozy and absorbent and keep Phin's bumbum happy. I saw a little t-shirt that said, "Love is gentle, Love is kind, Love is having a fluffy behind." Doesn't that just say it all? I will try to take a photo of him in one tomorrow. I told Matthew that it is so sad that we didn't cloth diaper all of the children and I am going to be sad to give up my lovely diapers when the baby is ready to use the potty. He assured me that I will be ready when the time comes and even was so uncivil as to imply that I am fickle about my compulsions and will surely be on to something else by then. They are so amazing, I am sure I can bequeath them on my grandchildren (all of whom will be cloth diapered, of course, to go along with their organic diet, only the best for my grandbabies, won't I be a lovely mother-in-law?) Now that I bought the nappies, I have already moved on to the necessary accoutrements involved -- it is truly astonishing what is out there. Designer pail liners and wetbags, velour wipes, new friends... Yesterday I found two new sites that I love: Monkey Foot Designs has bags and nursing covers and Mairzey Dotes has lovely blankies, etc. Hmmm, do you think that accounts for some of the time I have misplaced?

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! I am glad you got married and just look at what you have produced! Wonderful!

I had better go to bed. My incredible baby has been asleep for a while now. My husband is downstairs working hard because the record label is exploding! Exciting, but slightly manic.

We had our big yard sale on Saturday. I had been getting ready for it for weeks so it was very exciting when 30 minutes before it was supposed to begin there was instead a torrential downpour. Fortunately, I am not very on the ball so I hadn't put anything outside yet. Some of my neighbors had already put all of their things outside and they all got very wet. Just goes to show you that procrastination pays off. Eventually I got everything out as it drizzled depressingly. The traffic for our sale was not what we would've hoped since who would have a yard sale in the rain? Who indeed... We decided we couldn't bear to take everything back in the house so we pulled the van around and loaded it up to take to Mission Mart. My house felt less cluttered for about five minutes until a few neighbors came by and very kindly gave us some things that they didn't sell. Even Steven. I also stopped at some yard sales on the way home from dropping off our stuff so it is kind of an even flow, a revolving door as it were.

The rain is really great because it makes it very easy for my garden to grow. All the seeds that the girls and I planted have sprouted and are doing well. I spent quite a lot of time last week weeding, but the rainy weekend helped those along as well. The zinnia heads that I dried over the winter and then planted are shooting up nicely and the roses are all blooming. June is always so lovely and it isn't too unbearably hot. Our house has been a little toasty (well, toast is dry and our house isn't), but if one stays situated beneath a ceiling fan it is tolerable.

Last week we found an amazing price on tickets to Utah so the kids and I are flying instead of driving this year. Yea! I am so excited. Matthew didn't want to go at all so this will work out perfectly. He said that the price was worth us being gone for a bit while he works on music. I am afraid that the six of us can make quite a racket. I would like to lose some weight before we go so my goal is two pounds a week. I know that it is a simple formula of diet and exercise, but the problem is that I am just so hungry and tired! I am working hard at keeping a very large baby from the brink of starvation and I feel like eating all the time.

Charles has decided that he would like to go back to school this fall, but I feel quite uneasy about it. So is Matthew. I have really enjoyed homeschooling him, despite having dropped the ball a little after the baby. I really want to do what would be the best for Charles, of course, so I have been praying and pondering quite a bit about it. Sometimes I get the feeling that things will work out either way, but I just want someone else to make the decision for me.

The rain is clearing up so we will probably head out to the pool per our usual routine.