Sing it with me now...

Oh, what do you do in the summertime, 

when all the world is green? 

Do you fish in a stream, 

or lazily dream 

on the banks as the clouds go by?  

Is that what you do?  So do I!

Oh, what do you do in the summertime, 

when all the world is green?  

Do you swim in the pool, 

to keep yourself cool, 

or swing in a tree up high?  

Is that what you do?  So do I!

Oh, What do you do in the summertime, 

when all the world is green?  

Do you march in parades, 

or drink lemonagdes, 

or count all the stars in the sky?  

Is that what you do?  So do I!

This is one of Tanner's favorite Primary Songs...he loves to sing the parts he remembers.

Well, since I've been home the last week and a half, something we've loved doing is painting.

But not just ANY painting.

Painting ROCKS!!!!

The boys have about three dozen rocks painted and in a pile...on the kitchen table...on the porch...out back (the ones I've tried to discreatly discard of) and they keep wanting more!  They beg to go 'rock hunting' every day.  It's a nice chance to use the $1 watercolors they got in their Easter Baskets, but also to relax.  :)  I love quiet time.  I'm now out of paper bags to paint on...so next time we go grocery shopping, I suppose I'll be asking for PAPER instead of PLASTIC!

__________

I've realized since 'being home' the last week and a half, that {home} is where I'm supposed to be.  It's where my children and husband need me to be.  It's where I want to be.

While working the last two years, I would get tired of being home for a few days and tell myself I couldn't wait to get out of the house and back to work...but I feel completely opposite at this moment in time.  Make that...this last week.

I know I have a work to do, but it's not in an office or a school building or under the supervision of someone who makes six figures.  My work is here.  With my family.

Just today I was able to:  wash my blinds, take out the extra slats, wash my curtains, and greenery garland, wash and reassemble both baby car seats, clean out the trunk of the car from the weekend fun, make banana bread, watch a friends' children for a few hours, read to my boys, paint with my boys, play cars with my boys, listen to them fire torpedoes from their airplane to get the aliens, read a conference talk in the Ensign, visit with my husband, do two loads of wash, fix breakfast, lunch, and dinner, AND do the dishes, sweep the floor, fix a button on Taylor's shorts, bind a baby quilt my MIL made, do some mending, help Taylor go potty (even though he didn't go, I tried to heed his request and let him try), call and remind my scouts about our activity tomorrow, and vacuum the apartment.  I know I'm 'nesting', but at the same time, it was very therapeutic to serve my family.  And then take a walk with them after all of this to enjoy their teasing and giggles. Granted, I made a to-do list for the next three days, with only four items for each day, but once I got going, I was on a roll...and there was no stopping this freight train!

Tomorrow is more low-key:  A dr. appointment, scout activity, and making bread, cinnamon rolls, and dinner rolls for the next few days.  That's it.  But who's to say I won't start scrubbing down my kitchen cabinets or organizing the bookshelves and desk in the living room.  ;)

I am enjoying this 'stay-at-home-mom' thing quite a bit.  There are moments (okay, maybe long moments, like getting settled for nap time) that we are far from perfect and have little scolds, but for the most part, I am enjoying being a mother.  A wife.  ME.

Many blogging friends have posted this short video, and I 'procrastinated' watching it, because I've been so 'busy'...My little sister texted me the other day encouraging me to watch it, and when I did, I just cried buckets!!!  It hit a few heart-strings, and is very real.  It is a wonderful message, and I would encourage you to watch it if you haven't already.  Be sure to pause my music.



"Through the thick and the thin of this, and through the occasional tears of it all, I know deep down inside I am doing God's work.  I know that my motherhood is an eternal partnership with Him."