Live, Laugh, Love

Shanae "Just a Walkin' Her Dog"

2010-06-07T22:58:00.001-07:00

Shanae's dance solo this year was to a song called "Walkin' My Dog", and she danced with a pretend black poodle on a "leash" and was absolutely adorable. It was the first of her four years of solos that Mom didn't choreograph ... we had her private dance instructor in Brigham City do it for her this year. She improved SO much this year! Her technique is finally coming and I am so proud of her. The photos are from her performance at Utah Dance Fest Floor Competition at the USU Spectrum.

She loves to dance, and I love to watch her doing something that I loved for so much of my life. Two things I love so much in the same package ... that's a real treat!

Another Fun Utah Dance Fest Season

2010-06-07T22:45:00.001-07:00

* Angi and Kort and Demi in the UDF Hospitality Room - Stage Competition

* All of us during an awards ceremony - Stage Competition

* Keith, Demi and Angi ... having a tiny moment with our baby during our busy weekend!

* Demi and her "other mother", Traci Fairbourn

* Angi's parents - Wayne and JoAnn - still "UDF Assistants" but without too many responsibilities now! :)

Utah Dance Fest 2010

2010-06-07T22:21:00.000-07:00

Our dance competitions are over for another season. They were only three weeks apart this year, so it was extra stressful getting ready for the second one, but I finally got smart this year, after 17 years of doing this, and hired help five days a week by two of the greatest college-age young ladies on the planet - Alicia VanNoy and Traci Fairbourn. They took turns coming over every morning for 4-6 hours and just did whatever I needed done. Most of the time they played "Mom" so I could play "UDF Director" and dressed, fed and played with K, K and D, cleaned the house, and ran errands, and sometimes they even had time to do things like wash all the house windows, or wipe out my kitchen cupboards, or do some spring yard cleanup. Whatever they did on any given day allowed me to accomplish what seemed the impossible list for that day. I can honestly say that this Dance Fest season was the first I ever remember when I didn't have a near-nervous-breakdown at some point in the months of March or April, and we have more kids than we have ever had and the second biggest season in UDF history ... all without a Mom-breakdown! Thanks Alicia and Traci!!! :)

New Larsen Family Portraits

2009-09-06T23:09:00.000-07:00

SUMMER 2009 - Whoosh!

2009-09-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of our fun and furious summer of 2009!

Jordan doing his Eagle Project with about 15 other young men improving a trail up Dry Canyon - August '09
Demi's 1 year old birthday - August 18, 2009
Kobe, Kort and Demi TUBING at Bear Lake - July '09
An AWESOME weekend at Bear Lake with our great friends the El-Bakris - yes there are 12 kids and 4 parents! - July '09
James' All-Star Championshipt Baseball Team - July 2009
James' ordination to the Aaronic Priesthood - July 5, 2009
Mom and her girls on the Beach - July '09
Shanae's Birthday in SLC with cousin Vanessa and best friend McKenna - ear piercing! = August 2009
Jordan and his friends at EFY at BYU (Jordan in light blue vest) - July 2009
Mom, James and Shanae at the Ogden "I FLY" place where we got to "fly" in a wind tunnel with our friends the El-Bakri's. Even Kort did it - it was the cutest thing I've ever seen! - August '09
Mom and Demi - riding a big boy bike at Jordan's Freshman Football practice - August '09
Shanae's National Tumbling Championships in San Jose, California - she did awesome and we had so much fun! - June 2009
Our Family Bahamas Cruise in May - what a fun family trip that was!

It was busy as always with all the kids at home and needing rides here and there, attending camps, doing lessons, and hardly ever having a quiet house to recoup and regroup ... but amazingly, time seriously seems like a whirl to me these days. I hardly get uptight or stressed out because even frustrating moments seem to be over before I even have time to react! Okay, my kids would probably say that I manage to react pretty often, but I think old age (I am 40 now!), 6 kids, and utter exhaustion have all combined to mellow me out quite a bit. When I had Jordan, James and Shanae at ages 5, 3, and 1 like Kobe, Kort and Demi are now, my life was SO HARD! And I don't say that sarcastically .... it really, really was. That was the hardest time in my life, I think. I swore I would never have three little ones at once again ... and then I did, and it's so much easier and better the second time around. Not because the kids are better, but because I have actually learned a few things over the past 14 years of motherhood. I am loving my little ones and my big kids add so much excitement and fun to our lives. I just think this might be the greatest season of our life.

This is Shanae!!

2009-05-31T08:26:00.001-07:00

Hey! This is Shanae. My mom taught me hoe to blog, so now I am blogging. I blogged the "December 2008" blog. I was going to tell about how January went, but nothing too exciting happened in January. Right now Mom is making breakfast, and all of us kids are waiting. I might be blogging a lot, because my mom is "SO busy" as she would say. actually, blogging is pretty fun.
Yesterday, Tangi, Scott, Neils, and Davis moved. They moved to portland, Oregan. It was sad. Well, Jordan is begging to have the computer, so... SEE YA!

DECMBER 2008!

2009-05-24T21:14:00.000-07:00

December 2008: CHRISTMAS! (Wow that was SO long ago.) It went great! Christmas was pretty much the most or only thing that was very exciting in December. All of us kids, woke up really early and woke the parents up, as soon as we were allowed to. We all had to wait for Demi to wake up. Finally, Mom let us go down to the presents and party. When we were Christmas caroling with our Larsen Family, Kobe got a ice and snowball hit his forehead. It was very sad! Oh yeah... We also had our piano recital in December. It was Kobe's very first one. He played "Jingle Bells". And Jordan and James played Piano Man with Jordan on the piano, and James on the harmonica. I love to sing, so I was a member of a Music Theatre West Christmas Children's Choir. We had performances all over the valley. It was very fun! Above are some photos from December...

THE LARSEN FAMILY

2008-11-06T15:33:00.003-08:00

This photo was taken the day of Demi's Blessing - September 28, 2008

THE LATEST of our Baby Girl

2008-11-06T14:53:00.000-08:00

HERE SHE IS ... Miss Baby Demi at two months old. My good friend Steph Peterson chastised me recently in an e-mail for not updating my blog, especially with new photos of our newest addition. So here's a recent photo - a kind of silly one really, but I keep trying to catch her cute new smile and haven't had much luck. I always decide it's a perfect photo moment after she's been "aaahh-gooo"ing for a while and by the time I get out the camera, she's had enough. Or no one else can seem to engage her attention or get her to smile very well, so I end up trying to be the photographer and interacter simultaneously, meaning every time I get the smile and pull back and pull up the camera, it's GONE! Ahhhh! But I'll keep trying and post when I get a better one ... or a few months after I get a better one anyway!

Demi is a very good natured baby who smiles often, talks whenever anyone will listen, and cries very little. She hasn't really fallen into a good napping/waking schedule during the day, but for the most part, that's a result of the completely chaotic and wacky-scheduled family to which she belongs. If she did have a routine, it would get constantly interrupted anyway, so I guess I'm grateful she's pretty flexible. At night though, she's an angel. The past few seeks, she has started sleeping from about 10:00 pm until about 5-6:00 am! HALLELUJAH! THAT makes the biggest difference in our day ... somehow un-interrupted sleep is a really good thing!

She is trying to get some control of her hands - you know, the stage where they pull their little hands in tight little fists in front of their body and concentrate really hard and try so hard to get the little fists to their mouth? She does that a lot, and succeeds in getting the fists into her mouth occasionaly, especially when she's really hungry and being ignored. She is about 10 1/2 pounds, outgrowing newborn clothes, and getting chubby little cheeks and tiny rolls on her arms and legs.

All in all, she's just about the greatest little baby we know, and we are so grateful she's condescended to leave heaven for this!

ANYONE WORRIED?

2008-11-06T14:51:00.000-08:00

I just saw a KSL Special Report on the news the other night about predators "blog surfing" to find photos and information about children and families. Often photos can help identify where a family lives and oodles of information is often present about the children. I am such an inconsistent blogger anyway that I must admit I was tempted to toss it all in the trash right away? Any opinions or other ideas about this?

WELCOME BABY DEMI!

2008-09-07T14:08:00.000-07:00

We are so out-of-our-minds excited to welcome Demi JoAnn Larsen to our family! She arrived unexpectedly EARLY (well, 3 days anyway!) and QUICKLY (only 45 minutes after Angi arrived at the hospital!) on a warm, beautiful summer Monday evening, August 18, 2008 at 5:22 p.m. She was 6 lbs. 10 oz., and amazingly had a head full of dark and sort-of curly hair, just like Angi thought she might, ever since a dream she had about a little dark, curly-haired girl about 8 years ago.

She has very sparse, yet very loooong little dark eyelashes and even dark eyebrows. She had nice olive (yes, jaundiced) skin, which sadly earned her a bed in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit for four days, since she had the ABO blood incompatibility issue that Kobe and James also had. Although it was a long four days for Mom and baby and maybe even more so for the anxious awaiting family at home, as far as newborn ailments go, it's not really life-threatening, it's not really painful, and it's a condition that's relatively short-lived, so we tried not to complain. We came home on Friday night, she was under lights at home for two more days, and we've had a dressed, bundled, warm and happy baby (and family) ever since!

Everyone tries to figure out which of the kids she looks like, but there seems to be no consensus and most people think she just kind of has a look all her own. After studying the photos, feel free to leave a comment with your vote for who you think she looks like! My big boys love holding her more than they ever have our other babies. Shanae of course couldn't be happier to have a little sister. Kort holds her for 5-10 seconds, lays his head on hers and then quickly hands her back. And Kobe amazes us with his patience and desire to hold Demi for quite long periods of time - just staring at her, petting her little hands, examining her tiny feet, and rubbing his fingers on her soft little head.

We were warned by our good friends, the El-Bakri's who had their sixth child this past spring, that life with six just might do us in. Let's see, Jere put it something like this ... "For years Krista and I have been pretty on the edge of the cliff, but this last baby just pushed us right over the edge!" So Keith and I ask each other almost daily if we've fallen yet, and although we're sure it will happen eventually - it seems inevitable - so far we feel enormously blessed with more sanity and peace than ever following a new arrival. We can't imagine that could last forever, but we're reveling in it while it does.

Welcome Baby Demi - we love you with all of all our seven hearts!

Keith, Angi, Jordan, James, Shanae, Kobe and Kort

THE MIRACLE OF DEMI JO

2008-09-07T12:05:00.000-07:00

Since it's been almost a year since I last updated my blog ... many of the miracles and experiences that brought Demi to our family haven't yet been shared here. We're sure that many people think we're a little more than crazy to have another child when our family is already so big and crazy and busy. We often think we are too, so it's okay if you found yourself thinking that! (Daddy ... I'm talking to you!) Every child that we've had has made our life busier, more challenging, and seemingly insurmountable at times. Because as I often say in my conversations with other mothers, no matter how many children you have, it's the most you have ever had, and it's just plain hard. Being a parent isn't a walk in the park for anyone, I would venture to say, and after almost every child I have thought "Okay, this is it. I'm at my limit! I can't handle any more." But then I fall in love. And then I pray. And then Heavenly Father tells me I can.

But after Shanae, Keith and I were overwhelmed. Life with three was so crazy. We knew we at least needed a break. So four years later, we decided maybe we could handle two more, because one more would be kind of a distant caboose by itself, but we definately didn't want three little ones at once again. So five kids seemed like our magic number. Then, during my pregnancy with Kort I kept waiting for that feeling people had said would come ... the feeling that our family was finally complete. It never came. I thought to myself ... when I'm in labor, then I'll know this is it! It still didn't come. Months later, still no spiritual pat on the back that we had done it ... we had completed our family. Then one morning during one of my runs, I received an answer more powerful than almost any I have ever received about anything in my life ... an overwhelming feeling that our family wasn't yet complete.

That night, I asked Keith to go to Casper's Ice Cream Parlor with me and I told him about my answer. I wondered all day long what he would say. What jokes he would make of my story or how he would tease me for just wanting another girl, or how he would word the inevitable line that we just didn't have room in our busy life for another. But all Keith said was, "Okay, let's do it!" And from that moment to the moment Demi arrived was miracle after miracle. We didn't get pregnant right away, then a special fast and we were. Then the easiest pregnancy of my motherhood career followed. I ran longer, had fewer symptoms and felt better than any other pregnancy. Although I recognized and tried to appreciate all these little tender mercies of the Lord along the way, I wasn't even remotely prepared for the labor and delivery that I knew I would never have. My labors with my other five have ranged from 40 hours to 10 hours, with only one (the 10 hour one, of course) resulting in my not having to have an epidural - which I know I'm crazy, but I REALLY don't like them! - and seeming even remotely successful and manageable!

My due date with Demi was Thursday, August 21. It seemed like the perfect day. Shanae's birthday is August 7, mine is August 14 ... see the pattern! The men in our family would just have to remember that "every Monday (or Tuesday, Wednesday etc.) in August we need to be nice to one of the girls in our life". Also, the kids went back to school on Tuesday August 19 and Wednesday August 20, so the next day I would go, be induced, and have a baby! And of course, I would hope I would have it before midnight and maybe be able to last long enough through labor to avoid the e-word.

Then, Sunday night, August 17, during family prayer, Kort launched himself from the footstool to my stomach while my eyes were closed. He caught me totally blind and unprepared, and tears immediately flowed. I went to my room and cried and waited for the contractions it caused to go away. Well, they didn't really go away, but I fell asleep and they didn't wake me throught the night.

Monday was a big day for me - I had my usual Monday Laundry Mountain to tackle, the house to freshen up, shine and vacuum, a pedicure at 10:00, and dinner to make for my good friend who had her baby three days earlier. I woke up early and got to work, a little worried about the contractions that seemed to be persisting, but really only inconvenienced by them, not really hurt or slowed up by them. By the time I got lunch taken care of and Kort down for his nap, I had Shanae start recording my contractions for me ... mostly just for fun and because I thought she would like a little secretary job like that. I noticed they seemed to be coming faster, so I just vacuumed faster and cooked faster, telling myself, and Keith when he called from Salt Lake, that when I got the house done and my dinner ready for the Spach's, then I would lay down and they would go away.

At about 2:00 I called Keith and told him about the contractions again and assured him they were probably nothing, but maybe he should try to finish up as soon as he could and head home. He said he would leave in about 30 minutes. At 4:00, I squatted down in the kitchen to get a pan and felt (and I swear, heard too!) a POP as my water broke all over the kitchen floor! The next contraction knocked my socks off! I started making phonecalls ... first to Keith, to find out that he was stuck in traffic in Farmington and would be an hour or more. Next to my Mom to tell her that I needed her to take me to the hospital! Then to Jordan to get on the next LTD bus from his friends house to home because I needed a babysitter!

I finished packing my bag and dumping the crackers on the casserole and shouting orders to James who had just walked in the door from golfing with his cousin Austin all while contractions stopped me dead in my tracks every minute or two. Then Kort woke up from his nap and Shanae and Kobe came home from the neighbors. I sent Shanae and Kort back to the neighbors, hugged Kort and got him busy eating a snack, grabbed the cameras and my bag and got in Mom and Dad's car. Anyone who knows my Dad will appreciate the painful 10 minute drive he endured that day. I think he may have been in more pain than me!

When we arrived at Labor and Delivery at about 4:30 pm, they already knew I was coming, so they rushed me to the last delivery room available, found out I was at 5 cm dilated, fully efaced and a baby's head right there ... they prepped me for the delivery, my doctor arrived, THEN my husband finally arrived and 10 minutes later, at 5:22, Demi was born! It was absolutely amazing! Incredibly painful, but quick and easy and completely miraculous for me. I only heard delivery stories like this from friends at Bunko parties. My babies never came that way. Until the miracle of Demi came into our life. I absolutely know that I was blessed for listening and doing, even when the task seemed impossible.

We still have no idea how we will get through each day. The thought of six kids astounds us. It overwhelms us. But somehow, miraculously, each day we make it. And I believe now, more than I ever have, that Nephi was right on when he said, "surely the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." Demi is the miracle that has taught us that lesson more profoundly than anything could. We are in awe.

THE PARABLE OF THE CROWS

2007-10-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

Once again, a significant spiritual learning moment occurred during one of my morning runs. My all-time favorite run is to the temple and back. I love to see the temple from above as I descend our hill, then it disappears from view for a while while I make my way down Center Street. Then I round the corner from Merlin Olsen Park and there it is again, rising in majestic splendor right in front of my feet. I love to run up it’s hill, around it’s perimeter, often sneaking through the gates and around the circular driveway, then out again and on my way to home. The whole run sometimes seems symbolic of a journey I’m currently on and a goal I am hoping to attain someday.

The other morning, I was doing my favorite run. I got to the top perimeter of the temple gates, and I was surprised to hear, for the first time, the annoying “caw!” of crows coming from inside the temple gates. My eyes searched for the source of the sound, and then I saw them - big, ugly black crows, just a few at first, then more and more as I looked toward the expanse of lawn directly in front of the main doors to the temple. I have always had a weird feeling around black birds, especially crows. Maybe that’s unjustified and silly, but I’ve always kind of thought they are one of God’s creations, like water, where Satan has a little free-er reign.

I couldn’t help the anger that started to rise within me as I approached the temple gates and saw at least 30-40 of those awful, big, black birds, ruining the peace and the beauty of one my favorite places on earth. They were everywhere, and they were noisy ... and I was furious. I felt like Satan was trying to ruin my day, and perhaps other people’s, as they came to the temple in search of peace. I surprised myself when my pace quickened and I found myself storming through the temple grounds gates, stomping my feet at those stupid birds. They seemed reluctant to view me as a threat to their well-executed plan, but the closer I got, the more of them that flew away, ‘Caw”-ing as they went, up and over the beautiful temple walls. By the time I was out the other side of the gates, my heart was racing and my eyes were welled with angry tears. I was shocked by the intensity of my reaction. And I looked over my shoulder, assuming I would see those awful birds right back where they were, justifiably un-ruffled by my little outrage. I was happy to see that I was wrong – they were gone.

As I proceeded down the other side of the temple hill, the tears streamed down my cheeks as I analyzed what I had just seen and felt and done. I wondered what Heavenly Father might be teaching me at that moment. Why was I so angry? What did it all mean? As if a conduit opened from heaven into my mind, the whole picture of symbolism filled my mind faster than I could put it all together…

The birds were symbolic of Satan’s influence in our lives. His attempt to create havoc where there should be peace. His mockery of sacred things. His knowledge of where he is losing the battle and his constant attempt to keep his rotten influence known, even where he’s making little or no headway. The noise that he makes to try to distract us from the things that matter most. And the way he uses seemingly insignificant things (like a little bird, or a movie, or a video game, or a picture …) to taunt us or get us to look away, even for just a moment.

The temple to me, was symbolic of two things … either a person or a family. In either case, the birds knew they couldn’t go inside, unless someone opened a door or a window for them. The temple was sure and steadfast and immovable. The birds were nothing to those who were inside it’s safe and sacred walls. The birds were only noticed by those who were on the outside. I was certain that the same absolute peace and calm continued to prevail within the temple walls that morning, even though outside, where I was, that peace was being mocked.

I couldn’t help but think that a home can be just like the temple. It can be a refuge from all the chaos and the noise of the world if we just remain focused on the things that really matter and refuse to be distracted by Satan’s little ploys. Just like the birds couldn’t get inside the temple walls unless someone let them in, so also Satan cannot get inside our families or our hearts unless we open a door. By allowing ourselves, even in the smallest way, to be distracted from spiritual goals or to be desensitized to the things of the spirit with Satan’s “noise”, we crack a window and make it possible for him to ruin our peace.

I knew as I ran and as the tears continued to run and as my mind continued to race that Heavenly Father definitely loves me and He loves my family. He used some silly crows to allow me to learn some important lessons about seeking peace within the walls of home, about being strong and immovable in righteousness, and about the tactics of the adversary that we certainly can defeat. And I knew that I needed to share this lesson with my family, so that together, we can be like the temple. No matter what goes on in the world, we can have peace and love and reach our ultimate goal of returning to our Father in Heaven.

Fall = Football

2007-09-16T18:56:00.000-07:00

In our family, at least, fall seems to be closely associated with football helmets, the sound of clashing pads, and sweaty boys. Jordan and James are both playing tackle football again this year, which means practices 3-4 times a week and two games every Saturday. My new camera has added a whole new dimension to my life on the sidelines, and I'm trying to learn how to really "follow the ball". The problem is, fakes usually fake me out too, and I find my camera lens following the guy who's pretending to run with the ball, while the touchdown is being made off camera!

Both boys play quarterback on offense, but James plays mostly receiver. He's caught a few touchdowns already this season, as well as extra points, and plays a mighty tough safety on defense! One game, I got a picture of him literally swinging around a players waist and dragging him to the ground (see photo). It was just like Jordan and his friends used to want James to do to them when he was little, and they would laugh hysterically while they were being dragged to the dirt!

Jordan plays safety sometimes too, but mostly corner. They both seem to have figured out the art of running head-on at anyone with the ball and (unfortunately?!) seem to enjoy it. Jordan's team has been to the "MINI-BOWL" the past three years and will likely be there again, against Mountain Crest, their Mini-Bowl opponent the past three years. They have taken turns winning each year, and it's "our turn" to win this year, but Mt. Crest has been our only loss so far this season, so we'll see how it goes!

James' team has won every game, and won by 30 or more the past two weeks, so they are really coming alive. Keith thinks they could win it all for the first time this year in their division. The first photo is Jordan at QB, the second one is Kort at yard-marker-remover, and the third one is James doing "the swing"!

New Camera ~ New Portraits

2007-09-10T23:45:00.000-07:00

Jordan ~ 12 yrs. old ~ 7th Grade
James ~ 10 years old ~ 5th Grade

Shanae ~ 8 years old ~ 3rd Grade

Kobe ~ 3 years old ~ USU Lab Pre-School

Kort Joseph ~ 15 months old

For my birthday last month, Keith and the kids gave me a gift that will probably get more use than any gift I have ever received. They gave me a Canon Rebel camera - a REAL camera - with a big zoom lens for sports too. Oh boy, am I having fun already! I already earned us back at least a couple hundred dollars that I didn't have to spend on my kids annual school portraits, since I tried taking them myself and they didn't turn out too bad! Here is a sample of the ones that we liked the best. I have A LOT to learn about photography and all the millions of things my camera can do, but I figure I have many years to learn them all.

A Celebration in White

2007-09-10T22:52:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, August 11, 2007, Shanae Angela Larsen was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Shanae was so beautiful that day - her insides made her outsides just shine. She was excited, nervous, happy, and sweet. I was so proud to be her Mom.

I remember when I was a new mother and a math teacher at Logan High. I was struggling with the decision of whether to leave my career completely for my new career of motherhood, or try to keep one foot in each pond and try to keep all my balls in the air that way. One day, I was listening to a song in my car by Janice Kapp Perry called "A Time to Share". It was the song that became really my "theme song" on my mission. It was about leaving the life I knew and spending a season serving others. Suddenly, on that day as a struggling mother, it applied to my decision then, just as much as it had my decision to serve a mission. It said, "Now is my season, and faith in thee my reason, for leaving all I know and love behind me. Lord, I am willing to share the love I'm feeling, that those who seek with honest hearts may find thee." I remember thinking that not unlike my formal mission, my mission as a mother was also about "saving souls". My children would be my golden investigators. And motherhood my calling to teach, to serve, to share.

As each of the first three children have entered the waters of baptism, that moment in my life is defined even more poignantly than it was that day over 10 years ago. I am reminded why I chose to leave all I knew and loved behind me, so I could serve and teach the most important people I would ever know ... my children. It seems that our children are most teachable, most humble and most willing to learn during those first eight years, then they receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, because Heavenly Father now trusts them to start making some of their own choices, walking the path they choose, and developing a testimony that will keep them strong and immovable, even when the tempests rage.

There are three things I love most in this world. My husband Keith - my rock, my laughter, my perspective keeper. My children - my joy, my energy, my hope. The Gospel - my foundation, my strength, my guide. When all three of those things merge on a special occasion like a baptism, I can't help but be overwhelmed with joy.

The Not-So-Lazy Days of Summer

2007-09-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

The summer of 2006 was definately the hardest summer of my life thus far. I had Kort just a week before school let out and I was totally unprepared for the challenges of life with five kids who all needed me all day everyday. I was frustrated and frazzled nearly every day, and I wondered really, if I would every totally resurface to the life I once knew. Well, the kids went back to school, and life became somewhat manageable again. So, I was curious to see how this summer would feel, now that I had a years experience being a mother of five. Would it be much easier now, without any postpartum hormones making things worse?

Well, not much to my surprise really, but a little to my chagrin, this summer wasn't much easier. Maybe I started handling the craziness of it a little better, a little sooner than last year. I don't think I ever felt under control last summer until the first day of school! This year, by the end of July I thought I was managing to stay just 10 paces behind at least. But maybe as my kids get older, there are more pulls and demands on me and my time and my car and my kitchen, and my vacuum and my washing machine.

A neighbor of mine, a mother of seven, was at the photo store one summer afternoon when I was there and we were joking about the craziness of summer, and she just hit the nail on the head when she said, not bitterly, just very matter-of-factly, "Angi, summer isn't just FUN anymore. It's just a lot of WORK!" I couldn't help but agree.

Just because summer was the epitomy of fun and freedom for the first 35 years of my life, doesn't mean it will be for all of them. Perhaps this season of my life will redefine the "fun" of summer. Redefine the fun in amount of time spent with my kids, in times at the beach in Bear Lake, in seeing my kids play more and relax more, in having my doors open, in smelling fresh-cut grass, in my morning runs, in summer dates with Keith on our his and hers scooters, and in Sunday evening walks as a family --- not in terms of just sheer relaxation. That's just not part of summertime for me for a season, and finally, I think I'm okay with that.