July 4th

This year for the first time in probably 7 years we stayed home for the 4th of July.  I know this is beginning to get repetitive, but we moved and had a baby within a two week period. I just didn't feel like I could do a 4th of July trip this year.  That being said we had a fun time at home.  We went to the neighborhood party.  All the neighborhood kids decorated their bikes and they had a little neighborhood parade.  After the kiddie parade we had hot dogs in the park and then the kids were off to different activities.  Lily stayed close to Nate and I.  She had a fun time doing the three-legged-race with Nate.  Carson joined the potato sack race.  Lincoln went straight for the water slide and even though he didn't have his swim suit on just stripped down for the occasion.  After the afternoon festivities we did some small fireworks in the backyard and then went downtown for the big fireworks (which were actually kind of pathetic) but our kids were still pretty impressed.  It was a good holiday.

Berry Picking

So my kids don't love berry picking, but it is turning into a bit of a tradition.  Nate and I feel good about it because it gets the kids out doing work that they don't usually do at home. I am pretty sure that the boys thought at one point that they were going to die, but I say pushing your kids a little bit is good for them. And I assure you they were no where close to death.  Oh, and also I LOVE Berries!  I have never met a berry I didn't like.  So although the kids complained about how hot it was, and how long it took to pick the berries, the complaining stopped once they got to enjoy some of the homemade ice cream that their labor made possible.  Yep, I think the berry picking tradition is here to stay.

Swimming lessons 2013

We started swimming lessons 2 weeks after moving into the new house, so getting to swimming lessons I pretty much considered a huge accomplishment.  Grant was such a gem during swimming lessons he would just sit and chill happily in his car seat maybe take a nap if he was feeling like it.  The boys started lessons without any problems, Lily on the other hand was a different story.  It was a battle of wills to get her to do swimming lessons.  The first session of swimming lessons I tried all sorts of bribery to get her into the pool and not scream and throw a fit.  It did not work.  I could not get her into the pool without her being a huge disruption to everyone in the class.  So I decided to not push it and just let her watch her brothers swim the first session and see if she would do the second session.  It worked like a charm she watched her brothers, realized that swimming lessons weren't that scary, and ended up loving swimming lessons.  In fact the swimming lessons catapulted her to full on fish status. She ended up loving the water this year and would swim all over the pool.  Unfortunately, she got a little too brave and had to be rescued a couple times because she wasn't wary enough of the deeper water.  One time I had to jump in and save her fully clothed!  Carson continues to be a good swimmer and got pretty good at diving this summer.  Lincoln also made huge improvements after I took away his floaties.  The kid doesn't throw very many fits, but he gave me a piece of his mind when I took away the floaties.  However, his swimming and his confidence greatly improved once he realized he didn't need the floaties any more. My kids are all developing into great little swimmers.

Baptism and Baby Blessing

Since we knew we were going to have 2 big events this summer we decided to combine them and make it easier for more people to attend. So we combined Carson's baptism and Grant's baby blessing as one big Snow family extravaganza.   Carson was so cute at the baptism, he seemed very serious and subdued.  I think that he comprehended in his 8 year old way the special occasion his baptism was.  A member of our bishopric surprised me and asked me to say a few words before Carson's confirmation.  I basically just talked about how Carson has always been a good kid who is concerned about following the rules.  Carson is such a rule follower that he sometimes asks me if I am obeying the speed limit. And how I know that he will continue to try and keep the commandments and follow a good path.  I of course cried on this occasion, which surprisingly made Lily cry.  We asked her why she cried and she said, "because mama was crying and I love her."  The girl can be so sweet when she wants to be.  Nate gave Grant a lovely blessing and then we all came to our house for dinner and visiting  It was a great day, and it made me so grateful for all the blessings in my life.  A son who wants to follow the Savior a new little person in my home a family that helps me grow and develop everyday, and a loving and supportive extended family
.

Carson turns 8!

Carson turned 8 this summer.  I can not believe how big he is getting!  Since 8 is a special birthday, Carson got to have a friend birthday in addition to his normal family birthday.  Carson is really into football right now and especially loves the Patriots and Tom Brady.  Thus he requested a Patriots football cake and a Patriots hat for his big day this year.  For his friend party we went bowling and to the arcade.  It was the perfect birthday party for an 8 year old  boy.  He and his friends had soooo much fun! And I loved it because besides the cake I didn't have to lift a finger.  Carson is such a great kid, and was a Big help this summer as we got settled into our new house.  I am so glad this kid is mine!

Working Hard

This spring we had a ton going on to get ready for our move.  Since I was 9 months prego during this time most of the work fell on Nate's shoulders.  He took the opportunity to recruit the kids to help with the yard work.  As you can tell from the pictrue the boys were thrilled. Despite the sour faces I actually love this picture, because it makes me feel like a good parent.  My kids just don't have that many opportunities for good old fashioned hard labor. And this was a pretty physically demanding job. The boys shovled a decent amount of rock into the wheel barrow (I actually think Nate may have demanded a little too much for the boys ages, but they survived.)  Lily was the most cheerful worker in the family.  Although her contributions were not that significant, she spent the whole day following Nate around and keeping him company while he worked. She totally talked Nate's ear off, but he enjoyed having such a cute little companion while he worked.

Lincoln's Preschool graduation and mothers tea

May was a busy month for us this year.  Along with having a baby and moving we had all of the other end of the year festivities. Lincoln's preschool always does a tea for the mothers at the end of the year.  The kids sing cute songs like you are my sunshine and serve the food.  I barely made it to this years mother's tea, because the air conditioning went out in the van as I was driving to the event and the van was smoking like a chimney.  I must admit I spent a good deal of this event wondering how much it was going to cost to get the van fixed.  Despite all the drama getting to the event, I did love to see Lincoln do his little performance. Two weeks after the mother's tea Lincoln had preschool graduation. The kids sang more songs and signed there names in sign language.  To be honest the details of this event are a little fuzzy since they took place about 4 days before Grant was born.  I mostly remember Lincoln being a whole head taller than most of the kids in his class. I don't think I realized how tall he was until I saw him standing up there with all his preschool class mates. The Lincster has grown up on me.  I sure love this kid!  He is a sweetheart and he always keeps us laughing.