My Family in June! June! June!

In my drama class in my junior year of high school, we were invited to dance to a song about June. It was the hokiest, chipper-est song I had ever heard, (Saying things like "June is busting out all over! All over the meadows and the hills! . . .because it's June! June! June! June!"). June makes me happy every year because it's so beautiful and warm, and I wish I had that song in my life. I still sing it from memory in a dorky way every June.

This June, I did a lot of class work, and  I went to Girls' camp. I hiked a steep mountain during a hike that took 7 1/2 hours, and we even got to ski down icy snow in the middle of the hike (I fell a lot and prayed not to tear an ACL or MCL). It was way more intense than the meandering hikes I took in Virginia as a young woman! But camp was terrific. I love the young women, and I love my calling.

Brooklyn is more than 13 months old, and she isn't walking yet. But she took 6 steps to me yesterday, and I think she is almost there. She loves to yell for me, and I am "Mum!" It's pretty funny. She's still got a double chin and some roll-laden thighs, and I "love her for it" (a Derek Bowen quote). She expresses herself very clearly even without a lot of words. She is very demanding, and she adores splashing in water and tearing everything out of cupboards.

Lucy seems to have allergies--no surprise there. But she has had a runny nose for about a month, so I think it's time to start sharing my allergy medicine with her. She is doing well tracing letters, and can write her name with some coaxing. She hasn't settled on being right or left-handed yet, and loves otter-pops and dresses. Her bike riding is getting a LOT better. Snails could have passed her a month ago, and now she goes at about my walking pace or a little faster.

Isaac lost a tooth, and will show anyone who passes him. He read "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back" with a little help from me (words like "laugh" and "would" and "know" still trip him up). The book took us several weeks to read before nap time, so that should tell you how reading is going:). I'm so proud of his progress, and while it has been slower than I thought it might be, it has been magical to be a part of it. I love that he is finally interested enough to read signs in restaurants and in the doctor's office. Isaac thinks life is over when I ask him to do chores, and deals with many extra chores as a result of his whining and fussing. He can be good about chores sometimes, though--today, he put the silverware away without a complaint. He is joyful and loves playing with friends. He says Carter is his very best, best friend, but he only plays with Carter every once in a while, so I'm not sure what's keeping that conviction alive. He will be in heaven when we go to Minnesota in a few days and he can touch fish and salamanders and play in the water all day.

Doug has had a sinus infection/headache for several weeks, and it has been a pain. It's just hard for that man to stay healthy! He stays really busy at work, always writing briefs for deadlines, and doing research. He likes his coworkers and likes his job--huge blessings. He has been disappointed with the talent in America's Got Talent, and he is annoyed that the Obama Health Care bill gets to go forward.

I'm doing pretty well. It isn't very fun to be working in the summer when so many people are on break, but I love my students, and I love my course. If I have to work, this is exactly what I want to do. I do look forward to only teaching one class and being a teaching group leader in the fall. Hopefully, I'll use my extra free time with my kiddies and writing. I've been battling my hives for over a month now--for some reason, my body figured out the really cheap medicine I've been using, and nothing else has kept the hives at bay. I've tried imitation zyrtec, imitation allegra, loratadine, Melaleuca's loratatine, and even Benadryl (which only makes me sleepy and does NOTHING for my hives.) It has been frustrating, but not sheer misery. Also, my face isn't usually disfigured, so that's a plus. I need to go see an allergist, so I guess I'll do that after our  Minnesota trip.

We leave for Minnesota tomorrow night, and the list of things to do before we go is pretty long. But I'm happy I touched on some of our happenings in June! I hope you are having an incredible summer!