A Pet Sitting Warning

I've been trying to simplify our lives, by reducing the number of pets we have. I sold our sugar gliders, and gave away our fish (although I'm still looking for a lucky recipient of a free fish tank and accessories). After all of my hard work, I've taken a step in the wrong direction, by adding an additional pet to our family-a chicken named Daisy.

It all started with my agreeing to watch our neighbor's pets while they were gone to Disneyland. We were in charge of their two dogs, a newly hatched group of quail, and a chicken named Winnie. They were gone for only three days, when tragedy hit...during the day while everyone was gone; Winnie was killed by a couple of mangy, half-starved dogs (otherwise known as Butter and Marge). The boys came home from school and went to feed Winnie, only to find her remains. When I arrived home, I found two panicked, teary-eyed boys.

That began a frantic search for a replacement for Winnie, needing to match the breed and approximate age of Winnie proved very challenging. Luckily for us, the day before our neighbor's arrival home, we succeeded in locating a match only twenty miles away! We picked out a new Winnie and a companion for her (after the kids begged, pleaded, and made outrageous promises for getting a new pet). Amazingly, they have been very good so far at keeping those outrageous promises. It has been very fun to watch how excited they are to collect eggs, and turn them into omelets; or let the chickens out for daily exercise and bug hunting (that is the best perk, of not having as many bugs/snails in my yard).

Luckily we have very kind, forgiving neighbors. They took the transition of Winnie I to Winnie II very well, and were good not to berate us for the death of all their quail chicks (that is another long story). They were, however, quite relieved to still have both dogs alive upon their return home.

A quote from Ashlyn

I overheard Ashlyn talking to her friend the other day. I'm not sure what prompted her to be on this topic, but quite clearly I heard her say, "If you are my mother's daughter, you must love chocolate!" Yep, she's absolutely right, I eat so much chocolate when I am pregnant (and when I'm not), that it is mixed into their bloodstream when they are born. I'm afraid they are addicted at birth to chocolate...what kind of a mother am I?

Wax Museum

Last week Lauren's fifth grade class participated in their annual Wax Museum. At the Wax Museum each student picks a famous person, and then they dress up as that person, along with a backdrop and a blurb-explaining the most interesting facts of that person's life. Lauren decided to be Julie Andrews, and we chose the backdrop and the costume to represent one of her most famous roles as Maria from the Sound of Music. (Not pictured is the carpet bag with a cd player hidden inside, playing all the songs Julie Andrew sang on the Sound of Music soundtrack.)

It was a great surprise to see Grandma and Grandpa at the Wax Museum, and we were glad they came all that way to support Lauren!

Rolling, rolling, rolling...

Last month we sold all our sugar gliders, along with their cages. Then, we moved the office downtstairs and began work on changing the glider room/office into Ashlyn's new bedroom. Lauren and Ashlyn kept a close eye on the painting, making sure we were doing it correctly. (Ashlyn chose a light green paint with a creamy white accent.)

Trek and Treating

Ashlyn, our little angel (most of the time)

Lauren as a wood nymph

Caleb our "red-neck" hillbilly

Nate as an old-fashioned golfer

For Halloween, we went to a local walking path, where neighbors set up spots and the kids walked around the path "trek-or-treating." Besides a lot of candy, we also had hot dogs and hot chocolate. The weather was perfect...warm and dry. After the trek-or-treating, the girls, Steve and I went out for some traditional trick-or-treating, to make sure the kids don't forget how us old fogies did it way back in the day. Although the boys were willing to go out to the trek-or-treating, they decided they were too old for the "kiddie" trick-or-treating. I figure they received enough candy and weren't willing to work for more.

Carving Up Some Fun

We continued our annual tradition this year of carving pumpkins for Halloween. Everyone picked their own pumpkin and pattern for carving. While I was at the stake center, officiating volleyball, Steve got the gang started on scooping out the gooey stuff from the pumpkin.

This year was the easiest year yet, because everyone except Ashlyn could manage most of the carving on their own.

It was a fun evening, and another successful pumpkin carving event. The pumpkin seeds with the garlic salt were a hit as well. The end result was well worth the clean-up afterwards!

Weekend Wedding

This weekend we traveled to California for Mike and Melissa's wedding. It was a whirlwind weekend, with our arrival in Sacramento on Friday, wedding on Saturday, reception in Redding that night, and return home on Sunday. Luckily the kids behaved well, even after being in the car for over 28 hours. (Blessings on whomever invented the portable dvd players and books on cd)



The wedding colors were purple and purple.



Trying to find purple for the girls outfits this summer was nearly impossible. It took three determined mothers and all the stores in three counties to find what we needed. But, wouldn't you know that now there is purple in all the stores, because it is the hottest color for Fall. (Murphy's Law strikes again)

Interestingly enough when we asked the kids what was the most memorable part of the trip, it wasn't seeing Mike and Melissa married (sorry Mike & Melissa), the 30 wild turkeys on the Sacramento Temple grounds, seeing Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen, or staying three nights in three different hotels...it was a breakfast at a casino just west of Reno. That worries me just a bit.

Our Typical Week

I've recieved a little bit of abuse because I've stopped updating the blog. I am sorry... I figured I'd give you a run-down of our last week, so you could see that I'm not ignoring this blog. I just haven't found the time. (This is a typical week.) With 4 kids in soccer, there is soccer training or soccer games every day of the week-excluding Sunday (along with the other activities). I love soccer season, and the running around is part of the craziness. However, In a few weeks when soccer season is over, I will definitely be glad.

Monday-
7:20-Nate and Caleb leave for school.
8:00- Steve leaves for work.
8:30-Lauren and Ashlyn go to school.
9:00-Lana substitute teaching.

3:15-4:00-Lana and kids are home from school. Quick snacks, jobs finished, piano practiced and homework started.
4:00-Ashlyn's soccer practice. I'm coaching Ashlyn's 1st/2nd grade soccer team. Nate and Caleb are my helpers.
5:30-Lauren's soccer practice.
6:45-home and finishing homework/starting dinner.
8:20- eating dinner
8:45-getting kids to bed, cleaning up the house, and preparing for substituting on Tuesday.

Tuesday-
Morning to afternoon- usual routine of getting to school and work.
5:30-soccer training for Caleb and Nate. (Of course both are in two different locations-30 minutes apart)
6:15 UAS meeting for Lana
6:30 Soccer game for Ashlyn. (Rainy game-luckily I was in my meeting, so Steve got to hang out in the rain with Ashlyn)
7:00 YM for the boys.
eating dinner around 8:45.

Wednesday-
Morning- piano lessons for Lauren and Ashlyn (7:30 and 8:00).
Afternoon-piano lessons for Nate and Caleb, and gymnastics for the girls.
Caleb game at 5:30.
Nate referee soccer game.
7:30 home from Caleb's game, starting dinner, homework and jobs. Eating dinner at 8:20.

Thursday-
Morning to afternoon- usual routine of getting to school and work.
Community Council mtg.
Nate soccer training

Friday-
Morning to afternoon- usual routine of getting to school and work.
Lauren on extended fieldtrip
Nate away game at 6:30-home at 10:00

Saturday-
Caleb's away game. Leaving house at 7:30.
Baptism for Sydney, our next door neighbor
Nate refereeing game at 12:00.
2:00-3:30-Cheering on our Cougars-wasn't that a great game!
3:30-Lauren's soccer game.
5:30 heading out to Nate's soccer game.
9:00-home and working on dinner.

Sunday-filled with 3 hours of church, 2 meetings and dinner with family.

Since I've been subbing this week, I am now truly amazed at Mothers who can work and keep their house clean. I'm not sure where they find the time. I am satisfied with a load of laundry and a load in the dishwasher each night after I've tucked the kids in bed.

I've been cleared to substitute teach from Kindergarten to 12th grade. But, Nate's asked that I stay out of his classes. (Though he wouldn't mind me subbing in his school- so I could take him out to lunch on those days.) It is very interesting to see how the kids have reacted to me working. I think they are worried, because in each family prayer they bless me and my substitute teaching. It makes me wonder how they act when there is a substitute in their class. When I come home from a subbing assignment, the first question they ask is how was the class. I may just get the opportunity to find out how they behave-we'll see.

I'm falling asleep right now as I write this post. Time for bed.

One Year Older and Wiser Too

I can never remember to buy candles for birthday cakes, so here is my one back-up candle-which won't melt down to quickly.

Nate turned 14 on the 3rd. He starts High School in a couple weeks. It's no wonder that I'm starting to see a few strands of gray hair and more wrinkles. If he wasn't such a good kid, I might have even more. (That reminds me of the story of a father talking to his son saying, "everytime you do something wrong I get another gray hair." The son thinks about this for a minute and then with eyes full of surprise he says, "So it was you that gave grandpa all his gray hair!")

I wanted to record a few of his favorite things, so he can look back and compare them in later years.

Nate In a Nutshell

Favorite Color: Green

Favorite Meal: Navajo Tacos

Favorite Dessert: Cookies or Double Fudge Brownie ice cream by Dreyers

Favorite Pasttimes: Can't decide between soccer, hunting, or fishing.

(I would say his favorite pasttime is teasing his younger siblings.)

Favorite School Subject: History

Best Friend: Blake

Favorite Movie: Oceans Eleven

Favorite TV Show: History Channel's Dog Fights (it's about WW II airplane fights, not re-enactments of Michael Vick's past criminal history)

Most memorable experience this past year: ?

Most embarassing experience: My Mom trying to coach my soccer team.

Biggest challenge this past year: Trying to gain weight, or getting my Mom to stop blogging about me.

Conehead

Sunday night Steve went out to feed the dogs. After a short time, Ashlyn ran into the house yelling that there was something wrong with Marge, one of our pointers. I came out to see what was the problem and saw that Marge had somehow managed to cut open a 3 inch gash on her hind leg, just above the knee. The cut was wide and deep, but luckily it wasn't bleeding. After a quick call to the Veternarian, we decided it could wait until the next morning. On Monday Marge went in for minor surgery to clean out and sew up the cut.

We opted to put Marge in a cone collar, in order to keep her from chewing on her stitches. But she managed to get that off her head and pull out all her stitches a couple days later. Back to the Vet and an upgrade to staples. A few days later Marge somehow worked out how to position the cone so she could reach her leg, and she pulled out all but one staple (of course it was late Saturday night and the Vet office was closed). We haven't returned to the Vet yet, because amazingly the wound has remained closed. I would post pictures of her cut, if it wasn't so gross. Once this heals completely, Marge will have a nice scar to remind us of our ordeal.

Playing Catch-up

Time is speeding up and our summer is quickly coming to a close. The knowledge that school will be starting soon is a bit of a shock. One day you are enjoying your carefree summer activities and the next you are looking through all the newspaper ads for the best back-to-school deals. Ihave neglected this blog for a few weeks to attend to the kids activities. Here is a quick update of what we have been doing, in no particular order.

Swimming Lessons

Swimming lessons are over and I'm pleased to announce that we made it through without any near drownings or other small injuries (we have had a couple close calls in the past). Ashlyn made great progress this summer, and has discovered that she enjoys diving and swimming under water. Lauren worked on her breathing technique. Her first lesson I laughed the entire time she practiced her breaststroke, because she would come up for air and sound like a crow cawing. She is doing much better at the front crawl, and can almost get away from her brothers when they want to dunk her.

Parading

The fourth of July parade was a lot of fun. Our location was perfect, with lots of shade. (I'm hoping that we can convince Tricia to save a spot again next year...if she's willing to wake up at 4:30 a.m.) Everyone liked the big balloons and floats, but the free water bottles and shirts elicited the most reaction. They weren't quite as excited with the free garbage sacks that were handed out at the end of the parade. We liked the canons when they were a block away, but directly in front of us-they weren't nearly as enjoyable. The girls all wore their new patriotic flip flops, thanks to the creativity of Candice. It was an ideal morning to spend with family and friends, to honor Veterans of past wars and to be reminded of how great a country we have. God Bless America!

Sew Happy

Lauren with her gecko pillow

Lauren working on her pajama bottoms
In three days of sewing class, Lauren completed a sewing bag, a pillow, and a pair of capri pajama bottoms. She was most pleased with her choice of fabric; that all three projects had the same colors-just different patterns. She loved the class, and was excited about sewing...until I made her unpick and resew her pillow. But, I think she saw the benefit of the extra work, when all the puckers were taken out and the edges of her pillow lined up correctly. She can't wait to start on another project, and luckily for her (and me) I have plenty of unfinished projects here that she can work on.

Campfire in the Canyon

An evening in the mountains was the perfect way to end a busy week's activities. We enjoyed a quick hike up to a grove, where the kids found a tree that had grown sideways. They discovered that it was the perfect teeter totter. I discovered a small clearing filled with these beautiful, white Columbine.



After a delicious dinner, which Grandpa prepared (stuffed pizza pockets for the kids and sweet and sour dutch oven chicken for the adults); we sat around the campfire singing songs and roasting marshmallows for smores. Adam impressed us with his skills on the guitar and Grandma surprised everyone with her dancing moves.


Isn't he cute! I couldn't resist posting this picture of Steve. I was glad that I actually had a picture of him in the canyon, because I wasn't sure if he was going to make it. He was the last to arrive, because he worked late that night. But, we were happy to see him and the kids were quick to pull him up the hill to their favorite tree.

David vs Goliath

For the 24th of July we celebrated with a soccer tournament. It was interesting to see how much height difference there was between some of the boys in this age group. (as you can see from the photos) Nate plays center mid-fielder and he was going up against other center mids who were a foot taller than him. Luckily he doesn't back down, and he attacked with the same ferocity he uses on his brother when they play Playstation's NCAA Football. It was a few days of intense heat on and off the field (100+ degrees), but it was also a lot of fun.

Running a 5K

Nate ran a 5K today, as part of the Fourth of July celebrations. He's caught the running bug, as he has been getting up at 6:15 most mornings this summer to run a few miles, and has a few more races lined up. He was very excited when he returned from his run on Wednesday, waving a pile of papers at us. The High School running coach stopped Nate during his run that morning and talked to him about joining the cross country running team.

Running a family affair: (back row)Uncle Adam, Nate, Aunt Janet, Aunt Tricia, Uncle Steven, Aunt Kristy, (middle row) Parker, McKelle, Hannah, (front row) Kurt, Aubrey, Callie

There was a small competition this morning between Nate and Steven. A few days ago, when Steven learned that Nate was running in the same race, Steven bet Nate $100 that he would cross the finish line first. Steven started to get a little nervous leading up to the race, worrying that he might actually have to make good on his bet...but in the end Nate came in a few minutes after a much relieved Steven.

Duck Creek

We spent the last weekend of June at Duck Creek for a family reunion. It was so much fun to spend time with everyone. Even though we only spent a couple days together, they were quite memorable. Here are a few highlights:

1. Grandpa cutting down a 70' dead pine tree, and watching it crash into the shed.

2. Gunny sac races in Panguitch. We stopped there to wait for Steven who planned to bike from Duck Creek to Bryce Canyon-what would have been a 54 mile bike ride if we hadn't decided to cut it short (he completed 32 miles).

3. Hiking trails in Bryce Canyon. This trail had amazing switchbacks down between the canyon walls. It was a hot and dusty climb, but the views were spectatucular!

This chipmunk was so fat, feeding off of scraps from hikers. My nephew Spencer kept calling, "here chipmunk, come on chipmunk," trying to get the critter to follow him up the trail.