On Having Daughters

I remember when I was pregnant with Merrody (before I knew any better) I hoped I was having a boy. I thought it would be fun to raise a family of boys and maybe one daughter. I'm pretty sure that's the last time I wished for a boy.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my two boys! Joel and Jack are constantly surprising me and at the same time they are everything boys should be--they are loud and rough and athletic. They love to wrestle and look devastatingly handsome in their Sunday best. I'm positive I would pine for boys if I didn't have them.

And yet, I am constantly grateful for the girls in my life. Merrody and Norah are polar opposites. While Merrody never cared a bit for dolls or Barbies, fairies or Strawberry Shortcake, Norah can't get enough of those things. Merrody is my animal fanatic, my science girl, my bookworm and organizer. Norah is a running mess, a total drama queen and a social butterfly.

If you look at their contrasting personalities and add it to a seven year age difference, you wouldn't expect much in the way of friendship for these two. But they manage to LOVE each other. They find a way to play together. Merrody is Norah's second mother and Norah follows her around like a lost puppy.

When I think about the relationship I have with each of my six sisters, I am grateful these cute girls have each other. I imagine them leaning on each other during difficult times and turning to each other for advice, just as I do with my sisters. And when I think of how much I love my own mother, I hope these two sweet girls will save just a little bit of the fun to share with me, too.

Flash Flood

On Friday night after dinner, Matt and I were sitting on the couch chatting and enjoying the sounds of the massive thunderstorm outside our window. When, all of the sudden, Matt screamed, " WOH!" and ran to the window. This is what we saw:

So we headed out the front door and found a rushing river through our driveway and covering the street. If we had wanted to evacuate, someone would've had to come get us.

We noticed the poor neighbors had a waterfall rushing over their driveway into their back yard.

I actually had to keep the kids from wading into the middle because the current was so strong, it would've carried them away!

I had another "WOH" moment the next day when I looked out the window and saw Joel playing in the muddy mess the flood left behind.

And then he marched himself right into my house like that and touched every surface of the bathroom and proceeded to shower with the curtain out of the bathtub. He left mud everywhere and an inch in the bathtub when he was done! Boys will be boys...

On a lighter note:

Summer Wrap Up

Here's what happened to us this summer:

1. We started the summer by moving to this house in Duncansville, PA. It's about an hour from Johnstown. The short version of the story is that the other house we were renting got sold and Matt was already commuting to work, so it just made sense to move closer to work. We miss our old house. a lot.

But who am I to complain about a real grapevine over an arched lattice?

Or a covered porch with a porch swing and a raised garden. I know it looks overgrown, but we had tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, squash, strawberries, romaine lettuce, basil and cilantro. Not to mention grapes!

2. Merrody, Joel and Jack each took a round of swim lessons (probably the 5th or 6th round for Merr and Joel, but first for Jack). We also joined the YMCA as a family, so there was a lot of swimming there this summer.

3. Grandma Malone took each of the oldest three on individual 2-night stays to her house a couple of times. This is always the kids' favorite thing!

4. This summer I did "school" with the kids. We did a lot of reading, writing, worksheets, math games and art projects. We also made these pinecone bird feeders.

5. My Mom came home with me after the Nauvoo Reunion. We had a fun visit AND she taught me how to can. I have now canned 5 dozen jars of jam and 4 dozen jars of peaches!

6. We visited the drive in only once this summer. Smurfs. Don't bother. But it was a fun summery thing to do!

My sister, Whitney was in town visiting before she went to SVU for the fall. We made her take our family pictures.

And that pretty much sums up the summer. This week Merrody started her 5th new Elementary School! She's only in 4th grade! And she was excited to go! Resilient little bugger.

Joel started 2nd grade.

And Jack is a kindergarten boy!

This little princess is all I have left. Not bad!

Now on to fall!