Life Happens, be grateful

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on us, and destroying whatever plans we have made and pointing us in a different direction!

In May, we had the opportunity to replace our front door and put on a storm door. I have to say, it looks sooo much better and I am grateful there is no longer a draft through the door! Skylar finished up his soccer season and his team did very well. The grandparents from Nevada were able to come and see one of his games. We weren't sure if he was going to be able to play, he broke his finger at school, but luckily it didn't need a hard splint so he was fine to play.

The end of school was good for all the kids. They each did well this last year. I still cannot believe Skylar is old enough to be in 7th grade! Haiden, my baby, did wonderful in her developmental pre-school class, and I am a little sad that she is going to be in Kindergarten! It leaves me at loose ends with all 4 of them in school. Jordan is more than ready for 6th grade, she's been complaining that she wants to go back to school already, and it's June. Holden is excited to be a "big kid" and go to school a full day. It all goes by so fast!

Holden and Jordan have been playing t-ball and softball this summer. They have done well and really enjoyed the extra time with their friends from school! (Yes, I have pictures. I hope to post them soon.) Holden is very athletic like his brother, and Jordan is doing really well. She's really good at catching and throwing to her target. (Must be all that practice she gets at home fighting with her siblings!) She has done really well. It is difficult for the girls to work on their batting skills because the girls pitch and most of the time they end up walking the bases. But, they have all done well.

Skylar and Jordan are also doing the summer jr. golf program with the city. They love this, and I love this. It gives me time with just them. The younger 2 get left with grandma and I get to walk and be outside with the older ones. It has been good for them to have that individual attention. The last 2 weeks however, we have been unable to go. Skylar injured himself playing soccer in the yard, and we have had a series of ER visits, orthopedic dr. visits, and MRI and CT Scans. He ended up with a severe muscle spasm in his hip, causing him extreme pain and one leg to appear 1.5 inches longer than the other. Fortunately, it is just the muscles and there is no need for surgery or anything else. Kind of an expensive way of finding out his muscles are in spasm, but we are grateful it was not more severe.

In addition to all this, we have been having some challenges as well, leading to a change in our summer plans! This June has been a very wet one for our area. We had 2 severe rainstorms last week which filled our windowells and flooded our basement. We have always intended to remodel the basement of this house. The bedrooms downstairs don't have closets and it is laid out poorly and has poor use of space. This was going to be down the road a bit, like in a few years. Now that we have a basement that smells like an aquarium, we will be remodeling it this year. It means I don't get to paint my house a new color, or fix up the flower beds, paint my bedroom, or go on vacation. But, in the end it will be a blessing to have the basement done! Oh, and the same weekend we had to deal with Skylar, and the flooding, my washing machine died and my dog injured herself and had to have stitches. So, overall it's been a challenge!

I know this is getting long, so this is the last part. We had to move the kids upstairs into the 2 bedrooms and make them all share. This caused a lot of fighting and contention. So, I downloaded the poster of President Hinckley's Be's. Each week, we draw a bee out of a box and put it on the poster. We list things that we can do that week to practice that "be". Then at dinner, we discuss the things we did that day, in our way to be. This week's "bee" is Be Grateful. I am grateful for so many things this week even though we have had so many challenges. This "bee" has helped me and my family get through this with peace and calm that we may not have otherwise felt. I am grateful Skylar is okay and will heal with time. I am grateful for the rain so my garden can grow. I am grateful that Rob is now employed full time again. (as of last week!) I am grateful for family and parents who have helped us out this week. I am grateful for all the blessing Heavenly Father has given us. And, I am grateful for a husband who was willing to help administer a blessing to our son even though he is not an active member of the church. Life happens, and as I have learned this week, there is always something to be grateful for.