Well. I took a bit of a summer break. For basically the entire summer. Somewhere in between the daily loads of laundry and all of the four children running around and the working I decided an extended blog break would be a good thing. And it was. Back to try to remember if there has been anything memorable happening in the last 8 weeks, and as it turns out, when I don't write it down, I don't remember things as well. Hmmm. Funny how that happens.
I was going to do a "June Recap" post, but it turns out that June is but a distant memory at this point. Emerson had her preschool graduation, which I only remember because I found a handful of pictures on my camera from it. 
I had worked a nightshift the night before, rolled out of bed, and managed to make it to the school for the early afternoon graduation ceremony.
So please excuse my bad hair and pillowcreased face. Aidan and I snuck in late, just in time to see Emerson recieve the "Hardest Worker" award from her teacher.
Of course my super-smart China Doll got the "Hardest Worker" award.
I took this picture to document a version of what Harper has looked like basically every day this summer.
Dress, sunglasses, purse, hat, bracelet. Usually she will change from the dress into a swimsuit or nightgown a couple of times a day. Which makes for cute-sy posed pictures for Harper-girl, and a laundry nightmare for her mother. By the way, Harper introduced herself to someone as "Harper-Lo" the other day. And it's becoming increasingly obvious to us how weird it is that we call her "Harper-Lo" or, more often than not, "LoLo".
Speaking of Harper-Lo, after months of her taking a LONG time to fall asleep past bedtime (think 10pm), then waking up at all hours of the night, we eliminated naptime in early July.
And now, a moment of silence for naptime. We mourn her absence, and miss her daily presence in our lives.
We may bring an early, brief naptime back, after frequently finding this by mid afternoon:
Girlfriend was too tired to climb all the way down the stairs, so she just passed out on a step. We also find her on the couch, floor, rug, and in her bed sometimes. And forget about taking her anywhere in the car by mid afternoon. She passes out in her carseat after just a few minutes.
Early in July we celebrated the end of another successful swim season with a banquet for our little swimmers.
My most vivid memory of swim team banquet? A certain conversation we had with Emerson while Brandon and I were getting ready in the bathroom beforehand:
Emerson: Wow! You look so pretty!
Me (blow-drying and fluffing my hair): Thank you sweet girl!
Emerson: I was talking to Daddy.
Of course you were.
Our little first-year splasher (it's too much of a stretch to call her a swimmer) got her first swimming trophy
And her freshly-mohawked brother accepted one as well.
And then struck a fierce pose...
And Dane-o added 3 trophies, a handful of ribbons, and a bunch of hardware around his neck to his collection. One participation trophy, another for qualifying for Invitationals, and another for being point leader in his age group. Boy is a mean backstroker.
This picture makes it easy to see what Harper will look like 5 years from now. My genetic contribution to the family.
We've spent a lot of time at the neighborhood pool this summer, many Lego communities have been built and destroyed, and we are burning through coloring books like there is no tomorrow. Dane, Aidan, and Emmy are working through grade-level workbooks, and do 4 or 5 pages most days. 3 or 4 board games are played every day, and TV and video games have taken a backseat this summer, much to my childrens' chagrin :) I've learned to reinterpret "Mom, I'm bored!" to either "Mom, please find me something to clean" or "Mom, if you let me be bored for just a few more minutes, I will find something fun to do with my brothers and sisters that may, or may not involve completely destroying the upstairs part of the house." It just depends on my mood what "Mom, I'm bored" means. Today I went upstairs to find all four kids playing quietly in the upstairs playroom, on a palate made of all of the sheets, blankets, and pillows off of their beds, with all of Aidan's nearly 100 stuffed animals, and every article of clothing from the girls' pajama drawers and the boys' underwear drawer. I think Harper was responsible for providing the pajamas and undies. Never a dull moment!
We're (okay, I'm) counting down the days till school starts, but still lots left to do on the Summer Bucket List!
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