june

I haven't downloaded pictures off my camera in far too many weeks. So, for now I just want to post some of the things I don't want to forget about in June. It's been a month of milestones and challenges with projects underway at home and school. So, just so that I don't let the summer months' memories take over, I'll capture these while I have a minute here. Things I don't want to forget about June:

• A trip as a family to the Visitor's Center at the DC Temple to hear a children's symphony concert on a Sunday afternoon. This ended one of the most hectic weekends of James' schooling to date: Friday class until 11pm, Saturday on campus at 9am and working on a project straight through until 9pm, then 10:30pm emergency call into work. He rebuilt two of the servers from scratch and then got home at 6am on Sunday morning completely dead. The concert was renewing.

• Hours and hours of painting the family room (ceiling, walls, trim) once the paneling had been removed and replaced with drywall. The trim around the window that took 8+ coats of paint and primer before it actually looked WHITE. I still look at it and think it needs another coat, but I've decided to just let it go!

• On a Saturday, trying to mow the lawn for James and in the process, breaking the belt on our lawn tractor. I headed out and bought the replacement belt, had the whole tractor taken apart and was completely out of ideas on how to get the belt back on (it was complicated), when I got a call from Damien Weiss asking if I needed any help. He came over and we worked at getting it mostly put back on. James came home from school and in the process of getting the belt around the final spindle, launched a screwdriver into his forehead. The force threw him onto the floor of the garage. He now sports a Harry Potter-like lightning scar.
  

• The tears of tender Eliza at the end of the 3rd-5th grades awards' assembly one of the last days of school. She was heartbroken for Seth because he had only received one award. I met her after the assembly to congratulate her on such a great year and knew she was about to fall apart. During the assembly she kept sending me glances and mouthed the word "Seth" to me several times. She received so many awards that the last few times her name was called she grimaced and slowly went up to receive them.
  

• Pulling Seth out of his classroom following that awards assembly to give him the letter from Mrs. McKenzie with news that he had been accepted in the GT program for his 4th & 5th grade years. He had worried so much about the tests used for admission to the program because he SO badly wanted to stay in those classes. I let him open the letter in the hall and told him how proud I was of him and his hard work. A moment I will always cherish.

• 5th Grade Graduation for Eliza. I am so excited for her to go on to Middle School next year. I know I should be nervous, but I see her being SO ready to move on to this next stage. I love the friends that will go on with her and feel so secure in this step for her.
  

• The start of summer swim team this year, and the kindness of a few of the mothers who insist on letting our non-resident kids swim in the pool while they wait for each other to finish their practices. It has made this month SO enjoyable. No more sweaty, grumpy kids waiting in the 90+ degree/75% humidity heat, as they wait to swim.

• The help of our home teacher, Brother Khan, on some HOT, humid mornings to finish laying the paver stones on our path to our front door. James took one day off to get the base of paver edgers laid, along with the pad at the landing and Brother Khan and I worked with the kids to finish. We still have some work to go before it's completely done, but we are WELL on our way to saying goodbye to the mud pit that we've had for the last month and a half.
  

Pictures will come soon.