I am surrounded by fish!

(Random picture of Father's day)

My 4 children (I have my niece Jade for the summer so she counts as mine) would live in the water if I let them. I am willing to do 2 hours at the pool a day and that is still not enough for them. We also go to the park or library both of which have free ponds/fountains/water features for kids to play in - they just keep their swim suits on all day. Oh, to be a kid again :). I'm going to Old Navy today to find more suits for everyone - including me. I imagine that when my kids are older they will look back on summer and think it smelled like sunscreen and chlorine and remember that it looked like swimsuits and towels forever hanging on my front porch to dry......I'm enjoying every minute of it :).

Summer Fun

Wha Who! I figured out how to add pictures! This one is from the last day of School. I'll add one of Charlie's Birthday soon.

The last week has been crazy. We've had a lot of little projects going on. Spending time at the Library, Park, Pool, and more - it seems like we are always hopping from one thing to the next.

Charlie's 2nd b-day party was on Saturday. It had a Monkey theme and it was so fun. Everyone got him Monkey stuff - from books and blankets, to toys and towels. Which is great because he loves Monkeys.

Jadey got here yesterday and Aleah couldn't be happier. We went swimming this morning with Jessie, Clay's girl-friend. After 2 hours, the kids still wanted to stay, but I was done. They are getting tan so fast. Now we are home for a bit while Char takes a nap and I do the 13 trillion loads of laundry that are waiting me and the gazzillion dishes - then it is on to the library.

Have a fabulous day! Candace :)

It is hot!

Well, I wanted summer and it is now in full force. It has been high 80s and 90s for the last 4 days and the same is forcasted for the next 10. Eventhough we have no AC in our house, the kids and I are doing okay; we spend a ton of time at the park, in the water, or in airconditioned buildings like the library or Cheap Theaters. Aaron is being a big boob. He doesn't do well in the heat. But at least the basement stays in the 60s, so he has been spending much of the last week there.

Speaking of Aaron, we had our first 'running lesson' yesterday to get started on this whole 'triathalon kick' of his. He did great! We did 1/2 lap running and 1/2 lap walking. I think we got in 10 or 12 laps before he called it quits. For a first attempt it was fabulous.

Other highlights - Aleah spoke in church on Sunday for Father's day. She had to speak in front of about 200 people. She was amazing! Here talk was on Fathers and more specifically Aaron. We didn't tell him, so he was very surprised when his little girl walked to the pulpit Sunday Morning - there where lots of tears - and they weren't all mine - Aaron is really just a big softy.

Almost everyone that will be reading this knows Cam and what an 'active' child he is. We've had a lot of behavioral issues with him since birth and he's had to be on medication to calm him down for school. Since school is out and there is no reason for him to sit still in the summer, I decided to take him off of it (except for Sundays). HE HAS DONE GREAT!!! It has been almost 2 weeks and although there are rough times here and there, for the most part I am so proud of him and how he can make good choices. This is a huge success in our lives.

Charlie is almost 2! On Thursday at 1:30 p.m. He loves monkeys, so that will be the theme of his party on Saturday.

Summer is finally Here!

I don't think Utah has ever seen so much rain and cold in May and June. Finally, now that we are half way through June, it hit 89 degrees and feels like summer.

It is flag day and because I have the honor of being the Webelos Cub Scout Leader, Aleah and I got up at 6:45 to go to a Flag Raising Ceremony. We were both very tired, but the military men that spoke were very inspirational. Afterward, she and I went rollerblading around the park for an hour. Aleah is getting really good at it. We did 3 miles and she didn't fall once.

Saturday is always project time around our house, so we had a busy morning and then Cam, Aleah, & I went back to the park for some water fun. The kids and I rode bikes for a while and then got wet.

I love summer!

Family summary

Well, we have our ups and downs as any family but the last few weeks have been full of sucky things. But if the saying "bad things happen in 3's" is true that we should be done for a while :).

(1) I got laid off from Moduslink. I've worked there for nearly 10 years and they've been constantly downsizing for about the last 5. I really don't know how I managed to hang on this long. But on the positive side, it happened only 4 days before the kids got out of school, so it has been wonderful not to stress out about work when I want to spend so much time going places with the kids.

(2) Aaron's sister Jessica moved to NY on Tuesday. She was one of my favorite running/rollerblading/scrapbooking/hanging out at the pool people, so this summer is going to be hard without her; but she has enrolled in nursing school in NY and will finish in 1/2 the time it would have taken her in Utah, so it is much better for her and, who knows, maybe she'll move back to Utah some day.

(3) Aaron and my best-friends just told us that the military will be moving them to Italy for 4 years. Um, the upside of this is for me is extremely small. When they were stationed in Japan for 3 years I felt like I was missing an appendage. But at least we will definantly be visiting them in Italy (Japan held no interest for us). Aaron is beyond excited about all the food there. Also, they won't be leaving until next March or May, so we have a little time to adjust to the situation.

Now for the good things in our lives -

Aaron: He is 1/2 way done with his Master's Degree! We are so proud of him. He got asked to Coach Defense for the Varsity Football team and East Highschool (the school that all 3 of the Disney Highschool Musicals are filmed; in fact, they are filming #3 right now). And he is now training for his first Triathathon (Sp?).

Aleah: She just finished the 2nd grade last week and is looking forward to a summer with her cousin Jade, swimming, and sleeping in. Soccer got done last Saturday and her team crushed everyone they played; it was a little pathetic at times. She was the goally and loved it.

Cameron: He's moving on to 1st grade! We were nervous about that for a while, but he has been working hard and is beginning to read some. He has finally found a favorite sport in Wrestling and is very good at it. He is so proud of all the medals he won.

Charlie: He turns 2 next week - crazy. He's still as happy as ever. He tries to throw a fit every once in a while, but it is a sad attempt and we usually end up laughing at him. Hopefully he won't get the hang of it anytime soon. He is very into Trains, Monkeys, and reading.

Me: Clay and I finished our 2nd marathon a month ago and so I've had to focus my energy on finding something new to accomplish. So, it has changed to sorting and organizing my house. This has made Aaron very happy.

That's it for now - have a happy day!

I have no idea what I'm doing

Even though I have years and years worth of computer experience; the web is still a mystery to me. I still get a little overwhelmed by Instant messaging, personal profiles (like My Space), and now blogging; heck, ebay still makes me nervous. But I figured now that I have a little extra time on my hands, I could try to keep people up-to-date on how my life is going and what the kids are doing and stuff like that...enjoy the read.