Up to?

Remember that scene in Disney's Sleeping Beauty when Aurora/Rose comes home from picking berries and finds her 3 mothers/guardians/fairies all in a dither trying to hide their plans for her 16th Birthday party?  "And what are you 3 dears up to?"  Their reply, in succession "Up to?"  "Up to?"  "Up to?" is quite possibly my favorite part of the entire movie.  Although the movie has absolutely nothing to do with this post, I thought Flora, Fauna and Merriweather's response was a perfect segway into filling you in on what we've been "up to" in the month since I last posted.

::  Summer is in full swing 'round these parts.  Even if our weather has been protesting, we are still enjoying the sunshine and warm-ish days.

::  Hannah just finished the Summer Music Program through one of the local high schools, playing the violin.  She started last fall in her 5th grade Orchestra and found that she has a very natural musical talent.  When she began, I kept expecting that screechy, obnoxious sound that goes along with learning to play a string instrument, but it never really came.  She would hear a hymn at church and come home and start playing it by memory.  She's worked so hard and really enjoys playing, and in turn I love to hear her play.  She will begin lessons this fall with none other than the fabulous Lisa Sorenson and she cannot wait!

::  Josh and Jake have been taking swim lessons for most of the summer.  Josh would swim all day long if allowed, he's such a fish.  Although this is his 5th summer taking swim lessons, he says he doesn't feel confident enough to do swim team.  Personally, I think he sees how hard they're working and has decided against it.  I can't really say that I blame him.  Those kids are flying up and down that pool and it looks exhausting.

::  The biggest news of the summer is that thanks to swim lessons, our Jake is no longer afraid of the water!  For as long as I can remember, that boy has had a deathly fear of even getting his face wet.  We've tried for years to get him comfortable in the water, but nothing ever worked.  I've always hesitated to put him in swim lessons, but finally decided this was the year.  At first he openly protested and wouldn't even slide into the water without some heavy coaxing (and maybe a bribe in the form of cookies from his mother).  But after the first week, he was putting his face in the water, and a week after that, he was putting his head under!  For the child who has to have a towel next to the bathtub in case a single drop of water gets on his face, this was a gigantic step!  On the last day of the first session, he wheeled next to me with a huge grin and asked, "Mom, don't you think I'm making so much progress in swim lessons?  Aren't you so proud?!"  First of all, what 7 year old talks like that?  Mine.  And second, YES!!

::  We have a new little friend at our house.  Meet Sage.  She's a Black and Chocolate Lab Mix (we think so anyway).  Her coloring is very interesting.  She looks like her head was dipped in black paint and her body was sprinkled with cocoa powder.  While at the Vet yesterday, they said they would just call her a "Dark Chocolate" Lab.  I'll take it.  She is 7 weeks old and is as sweet as can be.  She's doing very well with the house training and so far has only had one accident.  She's great with the kids, aside from that pesky puppy nipping.  Crate training is going great and hallelujah, no more crying at night!  Some of you might remember that a few years ago, we had a different puppy.  We weren't very wise in our timing then.  My husband was smack dab in the middle of a 2 year long illness and the kids were just a bit too young to really care for the dog.  Because of this, the responsibility fell to me and after 10 months we decided it was time to place him in a home where he would have more attention.  Things are going much better this time around for several reasons, the biggest one being that we allow her inside, where we didn't with our other dog.  It has definitely helped her to feel like a part of our family, or "pack" if you will.  Eva has especially taken a liking to the dog.  Every morning when I pull her our of her crib, she asks to see the "dog dog" and laughs hysterically when Sage licks her or plays with her.  We just love her!

::  We're heading to Bear Lake in August for our annual family reunion with Spencer's family, and I can't wait to see everyone!  Seeing my sister in laws once a year just isn't enough.  I vote we do a girls reunion next year too.

We're having a low key summer and I love it.  If you ask me, 2 months of popsicles, slip and slides, movies, swimming and reading sounds just about right.  You would think that with this low key summer, I would find time to post more than once a month?