5.25.15 Memorial Day Remembering

Livy always investigates new things and will cross any jungle.

We harvested flower from my grandmother's yard. She is a master gardener bringing beauty to any spot of ground things just seem to flourish under her care. This memorial day was different because we did the arrangements. She's not up to all the gathering and grooming of floral arrangements for the graves. It must have taken her hours to put all those arrangements together. It took a team of about 10 an hour to complete the task some picked, some carried to the creation station and some created! It was fun. As most of these transitions take place it is bitter sweet that I didn't help her more over the years. I missed a great opportunity to learn and maybe some of her talent with color would have rubbed off. It's pretty easy to beat yourself up as situations change and moments pass.

I had a great object lesson with Anna and Harold over this bush. It has gone back to the wild state. There are a few remaining branches with buds of the intended cultivated rose bush. I instructed Harold to chop and whack the offending wild branches off. He was not sure but I taught them this rose is not intended to be wild. It is meant to be beautiful and special. The wild side is trying to take over but by pruning and cutting back the wild the pretty rose will come back and live. I had each of the kids pull 10+ weeds while we got flowers situated and people loaded. Again for not much attention the yard does amazingly well.

Arrangements ready to go.

There were too many baby graves at the cemeteries we visited this weekend. This one is from over 100 years ago. Never decorated and probably long forgotten. We had extra so we decorated his and his parents. Many blessings I forget to be thankful for as I complain about never having empty arms or silence, I need to remember it could be worse a lot worse.

The decorating crew. My sister remembers difficult locations every year. She is such a good organizer, it is good to learn from and be led by her in this treasure hunt each year. Grandma was able to make it around with her new walker she did really well this day.

Waiting in the shade. It has been cool and rainy except for this brief 2 hour spell, 1 of which we were walking around. Millie had fun in the rocks.

Part of the crew resting in the one shady spot at the cemetery. Really there are 2 trees in the whole place and we got one.

He had come prepared to entertain. Boys life provides a page of jokes of which he shared them all. It's an age thing I remember my siblings telling various kinds of jokes- knock-knock, blond, walk into a bar... at this age.

And our baby row. These two are so fun to watch grow. It thought it was so cute to just see their little toes peeking out. They were covered in an effort to enduce meditation and sleep... you can always try!
Memorial day is one of my favorite holidays. This year we expanded our horizons and visited multiple cemeteries. My dad and his cousin shared family history stories and we got to see 8 generations counting my kids. Pretty amazing. The first member of my family to come to this valley is buried in Eagle in the pioneer section. My Mark is named after the Corn side and we found many Marcus Corn headstones. Interesting to reverence those who went before and remember they had lives, personalities, and stories that inevitably contribute to who we are today. The Amanda I am named after was a red-head. I told the kids she's part of the reason they are red headed. It was a special weekend of pondering and enjoying time together. And a tradition that I hope they carry on too.

5.21.15 Tummy Time

Being part of a large active family has its advantages and disadvantages. Today i have a cite little episode to share. Afton tried tummy time today for the first time.

It quickly, as in within seconds became

No babies were injured on these pictures or during this exercise session. Might be motivation to learn to crawl though. Afton began to do the army crawl forward

And then she became a bridge. And needed reassurance and love.

 Evil Canevil stunt truck driver and the three care bears.

And that is why tummy time, while quick, is motivating to get moving to join in or escape the action!! Best to you today!
We are trying to patiently wait on potty girl and taking some r&r time before the busy weekend hence the sitting around taking pictures and blogging instead of more active or distracted mom work.

5.20.15 Family

Doesn't the Mormon Ad say Family... It's about time! Family does take a lot of time. This is Mark showing his award for Outstanding "Jr. Service Member from Modern Woodmen. All the kids were entered and he was drawn at random. He was pretty excited to find his name on the award. I had to reassure everyone that it was drawn at random. They are all good at giving service. They like to play and participate but they have learned to enjoy the clean-up as well. If I have my  crew to help I know we can accomplish most anything.

Reed was playing with Greg's ears as we read scriptures on night. We do get points for consistently opening the scriptures and as each kid takes their turn reading I hope they get something for it, occasionally we have question and answer but mostly we are just setting the pattern. As you can see there's not a deep level of pondering going on. Oh well, "Raise up a child in the way they should go and when they are old they shall not depart from it?!"

Afton is changing she is getting very alert and showing her strength. She loves to stand and take in all the action. We sure love having her!

When we got home from Portland we had a whole Saturday to work! That meant mowing the lawns. Our many hands need lots of action so we have 3 lawn mowing machines that work on this project. This year the older kids are learning to maintain those machines. Dad came home to give instruction on how to change the oil. Everyone turns out when dad is home.

Some were persuaded to wash the dirty car.

And some get the luxury of just making funny faces. Actually she is one of the best lawn mowers we have. Her and Mark do a major share of the pushing. Must be the age or the competition between those two. Best to you this great memorial weekend.

5.20.15 -Real Potty Training Days

Potty training is great in theory it is hard in practice. Great confidence builder about drives mom crazy! 
I'm excited for summer because I will have more  helpers to watch kids and I can just "run" to town.
I made this very real list of why I never leave my house:
1. We are waiting on potty girl to go #2 in the toilet and that is a surprise that we never can make happen.
2. I'm tired after waiting then cleaning up and explaining again that it goes in the potty.

3. The 3 year old played in the car while waiting to go turned on lights which killed the battery AGAIN and I just decided to stay home. We have been late to so many things lately because of a dead battery and waiting to have it recharge. GRRR.
4. The baby is now hungry again and messy and we are still waiting on the potty girl.

5. Everyone painted each other and needs clean clothes.
6. I didn't shower because I was trying to pay attention to all the other stuff and can't go looking as is.
7. There is too much that should be done here- dinner, dishes, laundry, vacuuming and shampooing my carpets I spend lots of time looking at my carpets and wishing for time and privacy to clean them it's easier than thinking about starting a training and diet program to loose the extra weight..

8. They just tell me at the store "We don't have it here but you can order it online and have it shipped to your home!" DUH I could have done that, I usually do that, I will do it more in the future.
9. I'm tired and it's time for the rest of the crew to come home.
10. Can't find two of the same shoes for 3 kids and a mom. Although find several pairs in the car for one kid.
11. It's lunchtime/naptime by now and we are still anticipating the big potty event and mom is tired and doesn't want to deal with napping toddlers in the store in and out.

And that is why  never leave my house because I'm just not up for it. In New York City Amazon delivers to your door in an hour. There are perks to living in the city.

5.19.15 Bird Burial

Last week Reed found a chicken stuck in the wire fence. He rushed in to tell me it was dead. I told him not to touch it. Of course he did and was delighted to find if he poked it, it was still alive just lying very still. So he lifted the fence and resuced the chicken. Our hero!

Well that chicken was not well from then on. She made it back in the coop but hasn't been moving much since. Today she died for real. No amount of poking made her move. Again I told him not to touch it. He replied I drug it out by it's leg. I said okay well you have to bury it. He dug some but the ground was too hard so he instead piled lots of dirt on top and the job was done.

Such great days of education and enlightenment we have here.

This is Livy and him adding more covering to the grave site. Livy got all dressed up in her favorite sweatshirt and her pretty church shoes that might not be church shoes anymore. A girl's gotta do what her brother says especially when he is wielding a shovel.

She did a lot of watching. She got busy when I told her to help, but she did have a shovel in hand so it looked like she could do something if need be!

 

A shovel, dirt, a reason to dig and pound life is good on the farm! We may not know our alphabet but we get the reality of life. Love the happy shoeless boy that is becoming a man day by day, and his spunky accomplice that is up for any adventure. Life is good. 

5.18.15 On the Way Home

After the trouble shooting contest we loaded up to head home! Blah! Seriously too much type A here. We did however make a few stops. Harold is showing off his new hat being a junior ranger or something from the Bonneville Dam. It was so beautiful in Western Oregon. The eyes just can't hardly get enough of all the green  and blue.

We also stopped at Multinomah Falls. Lots of tourist and yes everyone has to have a picture selfie or otherwise standing by the falls? Why do we do that? Are our brains really so weak we can't remember things? Are we showing off for others? WE of course followed the crowd and took pictures.

The flowers at the fish hatchery were gorgeous Livy our free spirit really enjoyed smelling the flowers and even found a few to show me. Off the ground of course.

Reed is hiding and Afton is on me.

Higher up at the falls. I stayed with Millie and Afton the kids were waving at us from up high. It sure was a beautiful place. Complete with walking under the freeway it was a memorable stop. 

We loved learning about the power generating capacity of these majestic dams on the Columbia River. Not only do they generate mega amounts of power (especially compared to those ugly windmills) but they also control flood waters from wiping out Portland, and allow greater distances to be traveled on the water to haul huge loads on the barges. Through series of locks the barges are lifted or lowered up and down the Columbia. Amazing what science can do.

The view from the top of the visitors center

Millie up on top of dad on top of the visitors center

An old turbine. John is becoming a big kid following Harold's lead and then some.

It was a nice diversion to the long time we spent in the car. We really enjoyed the time just seeing the sights and learning more about our state. The barges and tug boats, the wind surfers, the pine trees and big mighty Cabbage Hill are always impressive. It was a quick trip- we are always in a hurry. I was not happy or pleased when we got home. So long sitting in the care to do so little. However, looking at the pictures I won't remember that frustration I will remember the good time we had being close together and sharing some learning, exploring, posing, and being together. Thank goodness time erases things. And I'm thankful Greg was willing to go and to stop so often trying to find some extra learning/fun/ and restrooms. All and all we survived and it is good to look back on.

 I did get a good look in the parenting mirror of why Addie was so disappointed with her plan for her birthday. Because I too was let down that my plan didn't quite go the way I anticipated for our big get away 30 hour trip to the Portland area and back. Like I told her though, "Life doesn't go as planned. Get over it and be grateful for what you do have!" Yep mirror talk is a powerful tool.

5.14.15 Troubleshooting

22 years ago my husband won the state troubleshooting competition. He and his teammate Randy were the first from Vale to achieve this success, they went on to win the National competition. From that accomplishment they both received tool boxes and tools and skills that led them to their current occupations. Since that time Vale has won 6 national titles one by younger brother Matt. Well this year the team was strikingly familiar with Greg's youngest brother Jay and Randy's stepson Morgan making up the team.
I'm always looking for ways to get Greg out of Vale so I thought this might have enough pull to drag him away. We ended up traveling the 6 hours all of us in the Van on a very pretty Thursday night. It was a blessing that we were traveling with the sun and during daylight savings time. we were able to view the majestic and beautiful diversity of Oregon. From rugged desert to high plains to beautiful forest and the tranquil Columbia river it was quite the trip.

We stayed in a hotel for roughly 9 hours. The kids really enjoyed the pool and the waffles. I wish we could have slept more but I'm always begging for sleep and they are wailing at that request.

Comfy beds for the 5 hour we used them. Always fun to sleep on a hideaway!

The next day was sunny and gorgeous. We headed to the competition.

Teams of two are given 1.5 hours to find any number of "bugs" or problems with a car. The teams all work on their individual identical cars at the same time. The contestants are given a work order with a few listed complaints but there may or may not be more problems. This year they found 5 bugs. They were the first team to close their hood and go for a test drive with their judge.

 The boys did not have the same wide confident grins that Matt and his partner did 4 years ago when they won. But Jay and Morgan had no other leads so they turned in their car. Then the waiting began.

This is the first time Randy, Greg and the instructor had a chance to talk to Jay and Morgan. The boys knew what they had missed at this point. We all had to wait to find out how the other teams did in comparison.  It was a LONG wait. Jay began talking to each of the other teams comparing what they had found and how they had played in the competition. I was surprised to see Jay be so outgoing. I guess I still think of him as a shy kid. But he is a smart man easily talking to all the contestants and mentally figuring out where they might stand in the rankings. Finally the host served the BBQ lunch and we ate while we waited. Some speeches by college dignitaries took up some more time and then they began announcing the award placements. Vale took 1st in the test taking (a traditional win). With each placement I breathed a small sigh of relief. I had faith in their skill and training. This is Vale's contest these boys are no strangers to this and knew what had to be done. This was theirs to loose...Finally the #2 team. They had been the second finishers and the ones with the demerit for no seat belt on test drive. Whoa!
Yeah team Vale!

Tradition and carrying the torch.

Mom's finally breathing after many tense days of worry and praying. Notice how the boys are much more relaxed by their mom's?

It was a nice time to stand in the shade of the pine trees and watch the fruition of years of hard work and practice. These skills will last a life time no matter how they are applied.

It's an interesting full circle. Mr. Saunders (no relation) was a pesky kid who was my dad's close neighbor and friend growing up. He always wanted a job but my grandfather said no for quite a while before giving in. When he did he demanded that Mr. Saunders do things his way. Keeping things orderly, clean, cared for, respecting the machines, and paying attention to details. These very traits are what made Mr.Saunders a different teacher. This contest and the hope of all car customers is that their mechanic will care, know, and be able to do or fix the problem. So Dick Corn taught Mr. Saunders, Mr. Saunders taught Greg and Mr. Barnes and they taught (by example and instruction) Jay. You never know where your legacy will reach.