Summer's here!!!!

Hello all,
Summer is officially here! It's time for running through sprinklers, the smell of sunblock, fresh veggies from the garden, humidity that wilts even the sturdiest of hair and oppressive heat. Added to that, the smell of jasmine, the feel of grass under your feet(watch out for those fire ants-tiny spawns of Satan), and flip flops. Man, I love living in the South!

The kiddos were released from prison (aka school-I'm starting to sound like Jared) last week and there was much rejoicing in the Chesley household. No more "mommy, I think I'm sick" at night from Jared- who has yet to learn that unless you're running a fever, puking or bleeding out of your eye sockets, you're going to school. No more "mom, I have NOTHING to wear and my world as I know it is disintegrating!" from Kiersten-this is a tremendous blessing, as any of you who have lived through 13 year old girlhood can attest.

This week, Kiersten is at the beach with her other family and Jared is an only child until she gets back on Sunday. He's loving it. Before she left, I said to my sweet baby girl "please dearheart, call me every once in a while to let me know how you're doing." I got a call yesterday after talking to her on Tuesday to tell her about her grades. I wasn't expecting a call, but she asked me if she could call me every day. Of course! I tell her, I love to hear from you, I love you. She told me all about the goings on (she's already sunburned and they just got there). I made her pinky promise that she would not come home with a boyfriend-which probably entertained her dad immensely. She got contacts for her birthday and is doing really well but she looks older without her glasses and I'm not sure how I feel about that. She's beautiful no matter what. She's still writing but we don't talk about it much, it's just something she does. She's gotten into English I next year and that's exciting. She was very excited when I told her, her words were "that makes me feel like I'm smart!".

Jared is excited to be going to the drag strip on Friday with Mike-that's definitely a boy thing, and then fishing on Saturday. He's also gearing up for Cub Scout daycamp towards the end of the month. He LOVES day camp! He can run around like a crazy person, shoot BB guns and hang out with some of his friends. I love it because he comes home absolutely exhausted. He's been after me lately to let his friends come over to spend the night. I'm not sure about two or three 9 year old boys in my tiny house, the thought just makes me shudder. The house and dog might never be the same. He's reading Harry Potter and loving it. He would still rather be outside riding his bike or playing with his hatchet (don't worry, it's dull and he can't really hurt himself), but I still try to get him to sit down for a few minutes and read. He spent a good bit of time last weekend helping out with nana's 80th birthday celebration. He's a great helper and I'm so glad he's a friendly, outgoing kind of kid.

Mike and I are rolling along as usual. Mike has a busy summer with Scout camp in June and the Youth Conference in July. Work has picked up and that's a blessing. I've been released from nursery :-( and I know that I'm going to miss all my little children. It will be nice to go to Relief Society on a regular basis and maybe even slip into Sunday School.

That's what's going on with us, I'll write more than an update later.

Peace and love y'all!