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It has been well over a month since my last post and that small, seemingly insignificant act speaks volumes about how life has been for the Mills family.  It has been BUSY, unfortunately not with well planned family summer vacations.  This summer will probably go down as one of the dullest summers our family has seen in a long while, but the sacrifice being made is for the long term.  I am desperately trying to complete three Master’s courses this summer that I need to complete my Reading Endorsement before the new school year.  These summer courses have been INTENSE!  They are crammed full of content.  It’s like squeezing a three month class into a three week period.   This is the first time I have ever second guessed my ability to pull it all off.  I will not be finished with the Master’s program as the research project will have to wait until next summer.  I really think that simply getting back into the routine of “working mom” is more than enough.  It is, however,  nice to be more than halfway finished with the program.

I just need to say that I have loved going back to school!  I have loved my classes and am so excited to put into practice all of the new things I have been learning.  I know that I may have many regrets in my life, but I know that this will never be one of them.  Westminster has been a great place.  The professors are amazing!  I have gained so much from every one of them and am so glad that I had the opportunity to work with them and absorb just a small fraction of their teaching expertise.  I have one more class to go and will be wrapping it up in about two weeks and then focusing my efforts on getting prepared to teach my kindergarten students.

My own children have had the new experience of going to childcare this month.  My last class is in the morning, so we needed a bit of help.  We were fortunate that a woman in our neighborhood watches a few children in her home and she was willing to take our kids.  The great thing about her is that she plans some fun things for the kids to do while they are there and the street she lives on is full of kids from school and church, so there is an endless supply of playmates.  Austin, Julia, and Olivia will be going here on Fridays when I start my new job so I’m excited that it seems to be working out nicely.  They actually look forward to going to Miss Coral’s house.

Even though we don’t have any exciting vacations planned this summer, our kids have been very active and we’ve tried to keep them as busy as possible.  Austin had the opportunity to attend Scout camp this summer, which he really enjoyed.  He got to go up Millcreek Canyon for two days and participate in all kinds of activities.  Austin has really enjoyed Boy Scouts.  This was his first year and he will definitely be involved with the program again next year.  The ladies that keep the program running are simply amazing.  Austin is taking gymnastics this summer along with his two sisters and will be starting football next month, which is another first.  Austin enjoys hiking, biking, and has been doing a bit of running when we can get over to Skyline High School and hit the track.

Olivia is loving gymnastics this summer and her coach just loves her determination and willingness to work hard.  Olivia, along with her siblings, put on a mini carnival in our backyard for all of the playgroup kids and it was a smashing success.  The kids had so much fun playing games and winning prizes.  Olivia is looking forward to her birthday party at the end of the month.

Julia is also my little gymnast.  She works hard and follows directions and listens attentively to her coach.  Julia has had great health this summer.  She hasn’t gotten a bug in a long while (knocking on wood of course).  I did forget to announce Julia’s culture results from her last clinic visit…she is pseudomonas positive, +1.  There are different degrees of severity, rare being the lowest and going up to +4 (I believe).  So, what does that mean?  Well, basically we are on TOBI of course, an inhaled antibiotic that adds an hour to treatment time (28 days on and 28 days off).  We are off right now, so we are loving the extra hour of free time!  If the culture number gets too high, then it will most likely mean a clean-out…hospital stay…IV antibiotics, etc.  I don’t foresee that happening for a while.

For now we just do breathing treatments, morning and night, and we don’t miss treatments.  I can’t even remember the last time we missed a treatment.  I think in her lifetime, we’ve missed only a handful of treatments.  It isn’t easy, but we make it a priority.  If we want to do something in the evening, like go to a party or BBQ, then we get her evening treatment in before hand.  It’s better to get it done before, because no one wants to try getting a treatment done on a tired, cranky three-year-old and she usually falls asleep on the ride home from late night activities and when that happens…never wake a sleeping baby, or child in this case, so treatment time goes out the window.  No matter what’s going on, we get ‘er done.  I’d love to hear about how you all pull it off, so please do share.

Anyway, I’ll post a few pictures so you can see some of the “staycation” activities the kids have enjoyed.  Most of the pictures are taken with my iphone…I’ve been so terrible about documenting our lives lately.  Two things have taken a back seat this summer…the blog and my fitness.  Oh well, where things are added, something’s gotta give, right?  Gotta love summer!