Picture of the Day

One of the best things about visiting my in-laws in Spokane?

The backyard. The kids could stay out there all day.


I will be gone most of the week to a cabin in northern Idaho, but check back everyday for the picture of the day. Have a good week!

School's Out!

I took this picture to mark the final school pick-up of the year....

And it was shortly followed by

Tears from Colin

All day long

Tears about:
Having a sore throat

Not having Lee Laoshi as a teacher next year

Missing school

Missing out on Discovery Place because he was at school

Everyone at school being mean to him

Mom and Dad being the meanest people in the whole wide world

Wii remotes being low on batteries

Finding out that we went to lunch with Daddy

Stir-fry for dinner with chicken instead of shrimp


I am not kidding you, he cried about every single one of those things, plus more.

He was just having the worst day in the world. Not enough sleep, lots of sugar today, last-day stress...I don't know.



It would have been a lot more frustrating if he hadn't brought home a report card that made me so proud I cried.

Discovery Place

Gabe finished reading lesson number 75, so it was date time again. He chose to go to Discovery Place, and let Ollie tag along with us.

We haven't been in a long time (how did Gabe even remember it? he was so young!), and they are renovating the whole museum, so it was interesting to see what changes have taken place. The kids zone downstairs, which has all been re-done, was still the highlight of the day for both the boys. The beloved water area is still there.

Gabe and I had a good time building a city in another section upstairs.

Since Chad works near Discovery Place, we took a lunch break and met him for lunch at The Fox and The Hound. YUM!


It was so nice to see him in the middle of the day. The boys got a kick out of it.

Great day!

Gabe is around number 83 - when he hits 100, he is done and gets to have a party!

Speaking of Baseball

A pick-up game formed in my sitting room/dining room this evening after dinner
.

I kept thinking that I should be an adult and break things up, but hey, the oldest one in the family was the pitcher, and he was getting belly laughs from all the boys, so I just went with it.

Four boys playing baseball inside might not seem like a very holy activity for the Sabbath,

But I am tellin' you, those scrumptious boys laughing together, sharing, loving each other,

It was heaven on earth.

Last Baseball Game of the Season

I'm not the biggest baseball fan, as I have said before. My boy, however, really is. So seeing the season come to an end is a little sad for me. Mostly because I didn't get to go to as many games as I wanted to. They were often at night, so I would stay home with Gabe and Oliver to put them to bed, while Chad took Colin. I know that this was the practical thing to do, and there is no way I will make it to all of my kids' games over the years, but I feel like I really missed out.

All of the other parents on the team have been commenting to us about how much determination and hustle Colin shows. He is very young and small, and it was 2 years since he played on a baseball team (and so long ago that it was T-ball). He had a lot to learn this season, and he soaked it up like a sponge. Colin has always tried to master anything he is interested in, and you could see that in his batting, throwing, and concentration. I'm proud of him!

(so is Ollie)

Let me tell you though, it was so stinkin' hot this morning. I had sweat marks on my t-shirt by 10 am.

Feelin' Funky

My last guests left 3 days ago.

School ends in a week.

We leave for Spokane in 2 weeks.

No YCMA because of a snotty-nosed little boy.

Things just aren't flowing (well besides the nose).

I am not PRODUCTIVE enough to even come up with a post right now,
so......
here are some previously unpublished pictures that I like.

I think it is funny how I am folding my arms like a good little primary kid in this picture, but I have to say that the feeling at the Lincoln Memorial was so reverent for me. Even with all the crowds and picture taking, it was just awesome.


A walk on Mother's Day.



Peonies from Sabina last month. Not only gorgeous, but so wonderful smelling.



My shoes, Colin's hat.

They do love each other. Their stripes even match up.

Elder Jeppson

My brother Bryce, who has been serving a mission for our church in Madrid, has been having foot problems. I am a horrible sister because I can't remember what the name of the particular problem he has(I am sure one of my siblings can tell me what it is), but I have heard it is just excruciating. The best treatment for it is rest, which is just impossible as a missionary. So after living in pain for quite some time, he needed to come home and try to recover. It is pretty crazy that this happened just after all the out-of-town family left.

Last night we gathered all the Charlotte Jeppsons to welcome him home. His flight ended up being a couple of hours late, so we gathered, dispersed and gathered again. Colin and Chad weren't there the first time because of a baseball game so I had time to run home and get them and come back.

Here is a video of him coming down the escalator. My mom had already walked up the stairs on the side to wait for him at the top to claim the first hug. Please excuse the quality. For some reason I thought clapping while video-ing would work.

Bryce looks great - mature and fit (besides the limp, of course, poor guy) and handsome.

He told me he was studying a picture of the kids on the plane, making sure he got them all straight.

Welcome home Bryce! We love you!

Free Summer Kids' Movies

Ayrsley Cinema, a movie theater near us here in Charlotte, offers free kids every Tuesday and Thursday at 10 am. I think it is great way to get out of the house while remaining air-conditioned. You don't have to worry too much about bringing your noisy toddlers either, becauset the whole theater is pretty noisy. It is always packed with day campers, but they open up a second theater when the first one gets too crowded, so don't sweat it if you are running late.

Here is a schedule for Ayrsely. It looks like there are some fun movies planned. My kids really love Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

AMC Pavillions, another theater nearby, also offers kids movies for a dollar every Tuesday. Here is a link to their schedule.

Summery morning

Hydrangea blossoms on my dining room table.


The sprinklers are running and the grass is green green green.



The sun shone right in my eyes at 6:30 this morning.



Ten more days of school left.

S-U-M-M-E-R!

What I am thinking about tonight

• My garden is really pathetic. Don't be fooled by the pictures on the side - they are prettier than it is. As a whole, it is needs a lot of work, and my climbing roses are all DEAD now, thanks to blackspot. So sad. I think I am done with them.

• I am really thankful to have a house big enough to host my family members who take the trouble to come see us. I know that is a huge pain to drive/fly across the country.
• Gabe was really grumpy today. He loves people, but he also loves his alone time and his mommy time.
  
• Colin made a really important move in his game tonight, helping win their first game in the their season-end tournament. I was really excited for him.
• Ollie wouldn't take a nap today and then cried hysterically on our way to Colin's school, until his little head dropped to his chest, dead asleep.
• I love my mom.
• My brother Aaron starts a law internship tomorrow. Wish him luck!
• Looking at my blog count for April and May really bums me out.
• We got our tickets for our annual trip to Spokane!
  
• I forgot how much I loved Lost until it ended. Sure, a lot of stuff still doesn't make sense, but I cried during the finale.
• I love TV, but sometimes I wish I had the strength to live a life completely free from it. Maybe even the internet too.
  

Oh My

Just a peek at why I have been too busy and exhausted to blog:

Worth a 15 minute drive

Maybe this post is a little braggy, but I had to share some good news - the school Colin attends, Smith Academy of International Languages, just received an award for being the top elementary magnet school in the nation! It was also one of the five finalists for the overall award. Hurray for Smith! I can't tell you how happy we are to be a part of Smith and how impressed we have been with his teachers, teacher's assistants, and all the little extras the school has that makes it so special. It isn't an excellent school because it is an language immersion school, it is an excellent school period.

Farmer's Market

I had the privilege of chaperoning Colin's class to the Farmer's Market last Friday. It was fun, but honestly, not as fun as I expected it to be. I consider myself to be pretty good with kids - I assisted in dance classes for years and have worked in the Primary almost continuously for the last nine years, so I at least have experience - but I am still surprised when kids Colin's age have the gall to disobey an adult within minutes of meeting them. Maybe that is just because I grew up as a chicken and my kids are kinda chickens too (somewhat shy with adults). Anyway, before I sound like an old fogey, most of the kids were great, and it was fun, as always, to spend some time in Colin's classroom before we left (I just love his school so much) and to see him interact with his classmates during the day.

Each of the students brought a few dollars to spend at the market, and his teacher drilled it into their heads that Mother's Day was just a couple of days away, so they should get their mom flowers.

Colin took it very seriously, and used the money I gave him to buy me some tulips, which I put on my mantel at home.

On Sunday we were sitting around in the living room talking when I observed that the tulips on the mantel were very similar to the ones in the painting hanging there. Colin got a big kick out of it, and I got a big kick out of downloading my pictures yesterday and finding two that Colin took......

The tulips are dead now but the pictures make a good Mother's Day memory for me.

Stalkerazzi

The first night that Chad and I were in DC, we took a bus tour around to all the different monuments. The first stop was supposed to be the FDR Memorial, but there was too much construction around it, so our driver announced that we would be stopping for a White House photo op. Pretty cool! However, when we got out and started walking towards the street where the driver directed us, we were greeted by security officers, telling us that the street was temporarily blocked off. Bummer.


So this is as close as we got. I took a lot of pictures of the White House and we got back onto the bus, where the driver told us that he was told by security that the Obama girls were playing on the lawn, which is why we weren't able to get closer. I actually thought that was kinda cool - "Good for them" I thought. "I'm glad they still get to play outside when they want to." We had noticed some people milling around the roof, but when we got home and I looked at my pictures, I noticed some other people in front.

Like the gentleman below in a pink polo(zoomed in from the picture above).

Tell me that stance and build doesn't look like our president!


Again!

And if that doesn't convince you, please say hello to Mrs. Obama on the right below!

I'm convinced (even more than I was with Orson Scott Card). How about you?

Aching legs times four

This is the circulator. It runs (I think) three different loops around the city all day. Maybe more. You can get an all day pass for $3, and since one of those loops was very near our hotel (or at least near by DC standards), and another ran the perimeter of the National Mall, it was the only mode of transportation we used in DC.

It is supposed to come by every ten minutes, but sometimes it is longer than that - like when you have been standing on your feet for the last two days, and your legs and back are screaming at you. Not to mention the last 2 hours of being on your feet were spent in the Holocaust Memorial Musuem, which is draining in a whole 'nother way. And chances are, when it does take longer than 10 minutes, there will be no bench around, and even the railing that you want to lean against will have fancy scrolling spikes on top to prevent you from leaning. No kidding.

And then when you do get on that bus, and it is hot, and there is a woman cursing loudly at the driver, and the bus temporarily stops working in a seedy part of town, and you are wondering if you should just get out and walk to the hotel.....

You will think to yourself, "It could be a lot worse."

"We could have the kids with us."