They All Call Me Mom

JUNE 2014

June.  Such an exhausting month.  June is the wrap-up month of school for our district, and this makes the month very chaotic.  In these last few weeks all the major school projects are due; the science fair projects and the writing projects. This is also when they all take their class field trips. All of the library books are collected, and it seems that all grades do some sort of end-of-the-year class performance of some kind. There are plays and singing performances, violin concerts and end-of-the-year class parties. All this times six kids in six different grades.  My calendar explodes during the month of June.   I can hardly keep up with it all.  Truth be told, I don’t keep up with it all.  There is always something that I forget to do, to bring, to send to school.  Luckily, the most important things – like showing up for a performance – are never forgotten.Yea, June is a crazy month.   To top it off, the kids have a much harder time waking up these June mornings because they are just so over school already.  They can sense that summer is right around the corner, and their brain starts their summer vacations early.  June 24th is our last day of school, and I’m telling you it just can come soon enough. We are ready for summer!Hey, how about this picture!  They are ALL here!

This doesn’t happen often.  Afton is home from college, Audriana wasn’t working on this day, and Anthony was hanging out with us during his break from work.  I love when all ten are “home” — so, I forced them to gather together for this quick photo.  Seriously, some of them gave me such grief.  Like this is asking too much?  Of course when I say “some of them” I mean Afton.  

We have some family news.  Very exciting news!  No, it’s not another baby.  Relax yourself about that.We are done at 10, remember?  We are!  Why don’t people ever believe me?  Anyway, the BIG NEWS is that we are putting in a swimming pool this summer!  Construction on this begins July 1st.  We are very excited!  I will be posting the pool construction progress on my blog,  so make sure you subscribe to my feed so you don’t miss the the excavation or the pouring of the concrete or the installation of the heating system — I mean, each step is so darn exciting, how could you stand to miss any of it?

Here’s the plan for the pool.

There will be a rock slide for the kids, and the pool equipment will be hidden behind the rock structure.The big circle is the jacuzzi and the smaller circle is the raised fire pit with a sitting wall.  There is a baja shelf (aka Shamu shelf) in the shallow end, with smaller steps coming off of it. And there are three bench seats in the deep end.  To the left of the pool will be a 15×15 BBQ structure with a tile roof and bar stool seating, but that will be built after the pool is done.  First things first…because we want to start swimming before summer is over! They say that once the project starts (estimated to be July 1st) the pool will be ready to swim in within 6 weeks.  So that puts us into the second week of August.  IF all goes as planned.  I’m not kidding myself; I know things happen that cause delays.  But if we could be swimming in it by late August, well that would make me happy.  August, September and October are usually our warmest months of the year.

June 3rd was a very special day here in our home.  Our baby boy turned ONE!

Yes, Aiden is an official toddler now.  No longer an infant.  And my heart breaks just a little bit about this. My last baby is growing up way too quickly for my liking.  I just want to put everything on slow motion and drag these baby years out as long as I can.  Having a baby in the house is so much fun.

He is doing new things and making us laugh every single day.  I am so thankful for our #10. 
When he smiles, his eyes practically disappear.  He’s got his mama’s squint.
His first word was “ball” but he just doesn’t say it once.  He repeats it over and over until he has the ball in his hand, so it sounds something like this: “Ball! Ball, ball, ball, ball, ball….”  and it could drive a person batty, hearing that all day. But you know, I never tire of it.  He has the sweetest, raspiest little voice ever.
During his birthday party, I helped him open up his presents.
He got a lot of things: a truck, three balls, a toy doggy, and lots of size 18-24 months clothes.

The day after his birthday, I did what I’ve never done before.  I packed up his outgrown baby clothes and sent them off to the donation site.

Normally I don’t do this.  I usually pack up the outgrown clothing and store it away for the “next” baby.  But not this time.  I won’t even go into the emotions that flowed through me as I did this.   Let’s just say it wasn’t an easy task for me.

Happy 1st Birthday to my sweet boy!

Comments

  1. Wow June is gone and it is July. Hope you are surviving the pool build and that all the kids are having a great summer. Bobbie from south Florida

    Reply

  2. I hope you survived June ok! Love reading your blog and looking forward to seeing photos of the pool. Happy Birthday for June the 3rd Little Man, he’s so cute!!! Hope you guys have a great Independence Day. Greetings from Australia :) Kaia.

    Reply

  3. Love the picture of all your kids, and all the adorable shots of Aiden. What a cutie!! Your pool plans look perfect. I’ll bet your family can’t wait. Looking forward to seeing the progress, and finished product. Happy summer!!

    Sharon M.

    Reply

    • Seriously, time is going by too quickly! We WERE just pregnant! And yea, when the pool is finished, you should come swim! I’m only about an hour away. Well…maybe three hours…don’t you love LA and OC traffic???

      Reply

  5. Happy 1st Birthday! Aiden Richard is adorable as are all your children. It is lovely to see them altogether. Thanks for posting!

    Reply

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