This is Motherhood

This is motherhood.

I do a dinosaur maze...

...And my child claims my prize.

Welcome to Summer Reading! 

End of School Year Things

So much happened the end of the school year. Let me try to share some of it. This is not necessarily in order.

 

Field trips! 

Jet went bowling. Lucky went roller skating. The whole school went to watch Paddington at a movie theater. 

When I asked Jet what he liked about bowling, he told me, "I liked knocking down a lot of pins."

 

Reading Hall of Fame! 

Jet and Lucky both did enough reading for the Hall of Fame this year that they got certificates, posters, bookmarks, and a new book each.

Lucky got a special framed certificate and another book for doing the Hall of Fame all the years of elementary school.

 

Student Council Party!

Lucky was the secretary of the Student Council this year and they had a party at the end of the year. When I went to drop him and a friend off for the party, they started heading toward the door then all of a sudden ran the other direction and into the parking lot. A few other kids did the same. I realized, it was because they were helping carry food and things in for the party. No hesitation, these kids immediately went to help. I appreciate seeing this from these students. They are a good example to others (no wonder they were accepted into student council this year). 

Lucky brought home a service award "for outstanding leadership, character, and service."

 

Two of the aides in Jet's class retired this year so we went to a little retirement party held for them at the school and Jet made them cards.

Jr. Jr. also got a bunch of certificates for surviving junior high. He and I went to a celebration. Then we practiced some juggling afterward.

You saw the train he made, right? See my blog post from May 14, 2026. Jr. Jr. brought home a candy dispenser he made, too. 

 

I got to go to an assembly at the elementary school where Lucky was presented with a Hope of America Award. It was awarded to Lucky "who has demonstrated during this school year capacity for leadership, ethical and moral character and outstanding academic accomplishment."

I was talking with a mom of one of Lucky's friends who also got the award about how it was fun to see how several of these students were good friends. It's nice to know that they are good influences on each other. Keep up the good work, kids.

 

I went to the elementary school dance festival to watch Lucky and Jet dance. They both did great. Jet's first and Lucky's last.

What a cool kid.

Woohoo! We survived another school year. 

The Gentlemen's Gamble

You know I like when authors convince me (they don't have to try that hard) to read their books (if it's the type of book I would read). See my post from September 14, 2024.

I found out about a new series that came out this year written by multiple authors called The Gentlemen's Gamble series. The idea is that this group of friends make a wager when they're younger that whoever is the last to marry has to pay each of the others in the group 100 pounds. They kind of forget about it and then years later one friend writes to all the others that he has gotten married and reminds them all about the wager so it's a scramble for them all to get married.

A couple fun things about this series are: 1) the authors kept the release order of the books secret so we didn't know who was going to lose the wager. 2) each of the books have the same prologue but written from the hero of that book's point of view.

I haven't finished the series yet (I'm still two books away- I've listened to four on audiobook) but I do know the order of the books at this point. The series introduced me to a new author (and the last two books are from authors I have not previously read so I'm still waiting) and I got to read books from three authors who I have read books from before. One of them is Anneka R. Walker, who is one of my favorites, as you know.

In April, the authors held a Gentlemen's Gamble virtual event where they talked about the books and answered questions. It was pretty fun. Before the event they emailed BINGO cards so we could have fun catching little things that were mentioned throughout the event. 

They also did some giveaways and I won a tshirt. It says, "Team Gentlemen. Honor Intact. Hearts Compromised." 

I am enjoying this book series and I'm glad I found out about it.

 

 

I Love Reading Challenges

You know I love reading challenges. I participated in the 2025 Adult Reading Challenge with Orem Library and got a notebook and pen. I love what they both say. The notebook says, "Just one more chapter." You know I love that. The pen says, "My weekend is all booked." So fun.

Nichole and I both signed up for the Winter Reading Program at Provo Library. That one runs December and January. I was thrilled when I picked up my main prize from reading enough minutes. It's a tote that says, "The book was better." Ha Ha Ha Ha. I love things that have sayings related to books and reading.

Nichole and I took some bonding time one day to finish up the activities for the Winter Reading Program. We went on a scavenger hunt, we wrote poems, we texted each other, we colored bookmarks at the library. Then we picked up the prizes that still needed to be picked up (hot cocoa mix, candy, chips, etc.). 

On Peculiar People Day, January 10, Nichole and I had more bonding time. We went to the kickoff event for the 2026 Adult Reading Challenge at Orem Library. This year's challenge centers around The Hobbit. We got to be with other book lovers for "second breakfast," while listening to Lord of the Rings music. We got to learn about this year's challenge. We got a copy of The Hobbit to keep. We made junk journals to keep track of things during the challenge this year. We got pins that say, "Make reading a hobbit." We got to interpret some Elvish. It was nice.

As soon as we got home, I told people everyone was welcome to read The Hobbit. Jet immediately asked me to start reading it to him. So cute.

I keep the book and junk journal in my reading tote now so I can take it all with me while waiting for kids after school or after play practice.

I love reading challenges.

 
P.S. One of the book categories for the challenge is a book published in 2025. This is me going for a walk while listening to the audiobook of The Rules of Matrimony by Anneka R. Walker. I loved reading it last year and heard that the audiobook had good narrators so I listened and laughed out loud and loved it just like I love the physical book. Narrators really can make a difference for me wanting to listen to audiobooks.

I'd say Anneka R. Walker is one of my favorite authors. I can happily reread her books and get excited about reading those I haven't read before.

 

Easter Days

April 19 was Hanging Out Day. I got to hang out with Jr. at another UVU event. 

Besides the lunch they provided, the also had a soda bar and candy bar. We got lots of candy. I got a lemon-lime soda with coconut and pineapple flavoring in it based on Jr.'s suggestion. Thank you, Jr. It was yummy.

At the end of the event, they had a Bingo competition. I won! I won! I won! I won a little air fryer. 

I've used it a couple times since I brought it home, both times to make mini jalapeno popper egg rolls. I love those things.

 

That afternoon we had an Easter egg hunt at home. Jet loved it. I'm sure the older kids did as well. It was fun to see Jet didn't need guidance this year like he has in some past years. He was told which color egg to look for and didn't try taking anybody else's eggs.

April 20 was Easter. We went to church and had a beautiful Sacrament Meeting then a brunch in the cultural hall afterward.

We were able to put together an Easter dinner that day. We had ham, scalloped potatoes (from a Season of Family Meal Plans, volume 2, by Jordan Page), pineapple, and resurrection rolls or empty tomb rolls.

I had everybody come help with the rolls and taught them what each part represented.

Roll dough represents the tomb. A regular sized marshmallow represents Christ's body. Dip it in melted butter then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture to represent the oil and spices used to prepare His body for burial. Wrap it up in the tomb/dough and bake about 20 minutes. When you open the tomb, it is empty for He is risen. That's what it represents.

 

It was a nice little reminder during our dinner of what Easter is really about. Because Christ was resurrected, we will be resurrected, too. All the physical troubles our bodies go through in this life won't follow us through eternity. But the relationships we cultivate here on Earth, whether it's going to church together to learn more about our Savior or making a fun treat together, will last. What a marvelous blessing.

Reading Challenges

If you know me, you know I love reading challenges. You should see our whole family in the Summertime with our local library reading programs.

This photo represents three reading challenges. In March, I finished a read-along with author Anneka R. Walker reading a book a month of her Matchmaking Mamas series. The fourth book, The Rules of Matrimony, comes out today, May 6. These books are sweet clean romances, and I love the humor in them. Having read the first two books before this read-along, I was looking forward to certain scenes I knew would make me laugh again.

The mug in my picture says, "Just one more chapter..." This is very appropriate for this series. I had a hard time stopping in order to stretch each book out for a month. The mug I earned from the Winter Reading Program with Provo City Library.

The last challenge that goes with this picture is the Adult Reading Challenge with Orem Public Library where I had to pick one of two categories to use The Gentleman's Confession since it fit both.

I'm sure when Summer Reading comes along again, I'll use that as an excuse to read and reread more of Anneka R. Walker's books. 

It turned out I didn't have to wait until May to read the last book in the Matchmaking Mamas series.

I won an advanced copy of The Rules of Matrimony from the read-along. I was so excited to read it in April.

It wasn't intentional but I happened to be wearing a shirt that matched the cover in this picture. Fun!

When the book arrived in the mail, Jet was very happy to help me open it. He's so cute.

Anneka R. Walker posted a quote from the book on Instagram and I just so happened to have read the scene with that quote early in the morning... because I was reading the book in the middle of the night. I mentioned it on Instagram saying:

How could you do this to me, authorannekawalker?

I woke in the middle of the night and thought I'll just read a little bit more of this book I started yesterday. The next thing I knew it was time to get up for the day. Now I have to teach my children there are consequences for my actions because I am so so tired.

And I want to do it again.

 

This was her response:

 

 

Remember the mug? "Just one more chapter..."

I knew it would be like that for The Rules of Matrimony because it was the same for the rest of the Matchmaking Mamas series. It was true. It didn't take me long to read the whole book because it was so hard to put down.

There was something I realized about myself, though. That attitude of "just one more chapter..." is great for reading sweet clean fiction books but I should really be feeling it when I sit down to read my scriptures. It's a personal goal I want to do better with and if I'm being honest, when I am doing those things that bring me closer to my Savior, I can enjoy other wholesome things in my life (like books with "humor and heart") even more. 

We Won! We Won! We Won! We Won!

I mentioned back in September (September 2, 2024) that Jeremy won a movie night at the Orem Library through the Summer Reading Program.

He was allowed to have 20 people for the movie night, so each of us in the family were able to invite two or three people. So on a Saturday afternoon in September, our group of 20 met together at the auditorium at Orem Library to watch the movie, Wonka, and eat chocolatey treats that Jeremy put together for everyone.

It was a nice activity. We really like that movie.

picture taken by Stephanie Goodman

This is what Stephanie sent to us after the movie was over. Some of us got a quick picture together.