The Best Babysitter in Town

Cami is quite the in-demand babysitter these days and it was sweet to see her this week with three of her little babysitting friends, while she babysat them four of five days at our house.  It made it easy to see why she stays booked (and why her bank account is significantly bigger than the average 14-year-old's) when I saw how much the kids all adored her and how patient she was with them.  

 I think there are going to be a lot of sad parents (and kids) with the commencement of Cami's new schedule in a few weeks.... high school, early morning seminary, and after-school sports are certainly going to put a little damper in her availability.    And of course, we always get dibs on the best babysitter in town.  :)

Day 257--Monday

Ellie really doesn't know what to do with herself when it comes to being home by herself all day. Today we actually had baby Jonas staying with us, but it wasn't quite the same still.

We (Ellie, Jonas, AnnaLisa, and I) walked to our neighborhood park this morning and Ellie really enjoyed her little taste of big sisterhood as she doted on Jonas. Hopefully she's getting her fill, because it's as close as she'll ever get to big sisterhood.

At the park Ellie made it very clear that A) she was lonely and B) she was tired.

For family home evening tonight we tried out some gluten free chocolate chip cookies for Chelise (Josh's wife) who is allergic to gluten. They didn't hold together quite as well as normal gluten filled cookies, but they weren' t too bad either.

Then we had a lesson taught about "Love At Home". Ellie had wanted to help with the lesson, so she was my personal lesson giving assistant!

Day 256--Family Get-Together

We have a monthly tradition of meeting together with my brothers Matt & Pete and their families, my cousin Aaron and his family, and of course my sister AnnaLisa (who lives with us). We each take turns hosting and really enjoy the time to reconnect with all of us East Coast Crains.

We had our gathering today at Pete and Mika's house, which with the visit of my Hepworth cousin Josh, Chelise, and baby Jonas it brought the grand total of attendees up to 26 people (15 of whom were children).

Mika & Pete made a feast fit for kings with their ginormous freshly grilled hamburgers. The kids love spending time with their cousins (and first cousins once removed) and we love chilling with the other adults.

{Please do NOT look at my haggard looking face in this picture. I'm a seminary mom now...remember? I've aged 10 years in the last 6 days}.

I also thoroughly enjoyed snuggling little baby Sammy (Aaron and Trish's son). I can finally say I'm to the point where I can enjoy holding a little baby without even the slightest tinge of baby hunger.

Day 255--Soccer, Soccer, Bo, Boccer

The first games of the soccer season were today.

Adam was so excited to be playing again, that he just couldn't seem to wipe that smile from his face. He was huffing and puffing as he ran up and down the field, but even still he kept that smile the entire game.


While Adam played, Emma was charged keeping baby Jonas (my cousin's son) entertained. Emma thoroughly enjoyed her realm of responsibility and doted on him hand and foot.

Of course, after a while Cami realized she was getting gypped of Jonas time and took over for Emma.

Then it was off to Emma's soccer game. She hadn't played since she was five, so she was pretty nervous getting started. It didn't take too long though before Emma was running full speed ahead and defending that ball!

When Emma's game was done, she got to play with one of her BFF's who plays on the same team with her. Audrey has recently moved away and Emma has been going through Audrey withdrawals lately. But with Audrey's dad as the coach they're ensured three days a week together for the next couple months!