11.30.16 Snowy day

Snow is a rare reality in this part of the world. One not necessarily welcome when you have hundreds say 7 plus, of these lovely ladies meandering around.

After learning that this was a solo day here at the farm Mr. Bossman (read the hubs) requested a check on the fences and water. My much more excited than I kiddo, Livy, accompanied me dressed for the elements.  We headed out wooden handle metal tool in hand to check on the bovine herds.

One fence was mildly hot and one was cold. **(Bless my brother in-law Fresh from tropical Hawaii for getting the fence hot.) Water was good. We called to report and headed home. We did stop to enjoy a 4 snowball fight on the front porch before ducking back into our home burrow. It is pleasant to be hit by a 4 year old at close range who is not intent on annihilating you into a blizzard of snowy death blows.

My ever willing babysitter had the situation in hand literally. Afton had enjoyed the bottle more than the baby. And while he was fussing he was not angry red mad. Just ready for a bigger lap. This was a sudden shock from yesterday where we spent most the day snuggling waiting for our joint stomach flu like sensations to pass.

Because snow is a novel experience and these children are newcomers to earth and all it's seasonal glory they needed Livy the older sister to show them the art of making snowballs. The girls arrayed their collective attempts inside on the bookshelf for my approval.

And of course the taste of snow. Cold wet delightfully magical when you are so excited for the Christmas season to begin. Happy snow day to you too.

11.12.16 little problems

 Man I'm thankful for our little problems. The rioting in a big city that is in our home state is close to where my parents are visiting. Times are crazy and I am too often forgetful to be grateful for the safe hard working country life that makes my life Good!
Today I checked Mark's bandage and the butterflies had loosened with the continued weeping of the wound. After consulting with grandma and a farm nurse and calling urgent care clinics I took him in.
We had a big talk about the cost difference and how necessary it was for Mark to be still and not cry.
He was a champion. The nurse and p.a. were all happily surprised he was so calm and still.

  7 stitches later we came home to this surprise from his beloved scout leader. Balloons with bags of candy as weights. Also 3 jugs of root beer. The best!

On the way we talked about diverting your attention to hold your mental resolve to not twitch. I told Mark he should ask the nurse questions. 

His questions: How old are you?

Ans: 56.

Quest: are you married?

Ans: no. You got someone in mind? 

I told her he would be a great pickup man

...and also explained we don't usually ask women their age as it can make them sad. Fun times. We are blessed.

Our first stitches on any children in 15 years of parenting. Clinics instead of e.r. reduced fee for full pay at time of service. Kind skilled professionals. This being a rare event not the norm! And going to local town and scoring some grocery deals. Love that. Happy day to you.

11.12.16 Bruce

Bruce is a bouncy boy. He squirms his way out of his bouncy chair each time I put him in it. His long legs scrunch up and push off the bottom of the chair and before I know it he's hanging off the edge.

We got Bruce blessed last Sunday. I was surprised and relieved to find the outfit for Bruce too. It was made many years ago say 14 by aunt Brenda. It has worn well considering the spit-up and blowouts that are inevitable parts of little babies. Bruce graced us with a cute smile. We sure love this happy guy.

There's nothing like a soft baby cuddle to make your world a happier place. He is a great cuddler just right for loving. Not too heavy not too small. We are blessed! Best to you today.

11.11.16 last canning

Today was the last day of canning!!! Yay more applesauce and 4 more half gallons of pie apples. I hope this wraps up our efforts for the year. We appropriately listened to Marion g Romney talk about the Celestial nature of self reliance from October 1982 General conference. I'm working to teach my children values about work while we work!

 Aliza has been learning the ropes of canning this fall. She also jumped in and did the clean up this time. The hope of a movie night is highly motivating to her.

We were wrapping up when all of the sudden I heard the four wheeler come up and a wailing child. "Ouww, it hurts" again and again. I began steeling myself for who ever it was and was surprised and worried when mark burst in the door. He's not dramatic. He showed me a bloody hole in his jeans and I began to worry. Walking is always a good indicator of how critical the injury might be so that was good he got himself home and in the house. We set him down on a chair and propped his leg up. I decided we would need room to work comfortably so I lifted him gently to the kitchen table. We washed hands, assembled supplies, breathed deep and began cutting off his pants. That was hard because they were nice patched ones with no holes yet. However, I had no idea what I would find and didn't want to disrupt whatever was going on so I cut them open. Aliza assisted handing supplies and moral support.

I found a clean one inch gash about a quarter inch deep. Raw meat with little blood. The sight of my children's exposed flesh always makes me queasy.  We got it cleaned and two butterflies applied while I pulled the edges together. I had to sit down when that was done and then move to carpet and a chair with sides. The room spinning the tingling hands was an indication of a coming black out.

Grandma called at that time and talked to me while I recovered. I told her what was happening and she reassured me he would heal. I got fully oxygenated while talking and then went back to apply one more butterfly. We covered him up and ordered a few hours rest.

He complied nicely and when grandma got home she reevaluated the wound. We worked together to pinch the wound closed and applied new butterflys. I again had to sit down in between applications but we got it done.  Now he is on strict orders to be calm and careful. All in a day's s work on the farm. No not really these are rare thank goodness.

11.8.16 KId-tainment

As I have exhaustively noted here nursing has taken a lot of time this go round, or maybe always. Anyway because of the enforced sitting my active girls have gotten into the habit of using my phone to take pictures, watch starfall or text emoticons to grandparents. My phone is full and I mean full with hundreds of pictures like these. 

I was surprised to find they caught me in my most desired way of nursing. Unfortunately because I have needed to monitor both my production and his intake I mostly sit at the pumping machine on a folding chair watching outtake and intake. Reading a book is a RARE privilege this time. This may be why I am not loving the process. The act of relaxing and taking the time the baby requires goes nicely with a good story. 

And my most adamant baby holder Millie. She has an iron will and a spunky spirit. We do best when we work together when I can see and concede the higher ground. But she is quick to help and just wants to be big. Oh the challenge of waiting for that to happen!

11.7.16 Halloween

This halloween we broke the old traditions and tried some new activities. This year my parents hosted a hayride to the pumpkin patch in the garden my sister planted. it was a fun night. Still amazing how large our family has become. The kids had a great time riding, running, and driving the tractor on this night. We enjoyed a bonfire with hot dogs and marshmallows for dinner. So fun. 

We tried on costumes Sunday night. I am not a big Halloween fan but the kids of course loved dressing up and getting ready for the great candy haul.

John getting a turn driving the crew. They sure love this experience with Papa. I'm very thankful for his ideas and willingness to patiently teach so many kiddos how to drive. Old tractors are the best for learning to drive. Slow and a bit resistant to sudden movements they hold the course pretty well.

I was thinking last week how we just do the same things year after year. But this year we have missed back to school pictures and now pumpkin carving. So we are changing it up this year. Not necessarily for the better but because we are so busy and stretched among so many commitments. I think we will survive. the kids smiles are not so rare I have to capture them in pictures I'm not sure they missed that activity for the others that happened instead. Life is good and changing from one year to the next!

11.5.16 My guy

Things are improving here. We are settling into a routine. I'm pretty sure Bruce is growing and I'm finding ways to manage the mass of people that live here. This has been an epic battle. From feeling terrible about letting Bruce get so skinny to not meeting the needs of the other people in our home it has been a long haul. However from many conversations with the spirit I've come to know that I'm blessed because I have options. While this new baby thing has not been when I remember from the other kids it is a new deal with more than 10 kids thus new norms have been created and embraced.  

One of those norms is bottles. I've never used bottles before. In fact my sister had to explain how they worked. How to mix formula and how much at a time. I've finally got to the point where I can pump and nurse enough to keep him satisfied but thank goodness for formula and bottles that got my guy through the days I could not.

That was a hard thing to embrace and admit. I've always done just fine making fat happy babies. Bruce is an amazing baby in that he has not been unhappy through this whole deal. He is so peaceful even while being starved from his tongue tie. I took this picture last week. After admitting I had been too ashamed to take pictures for the weeks of him losing and then slowly gaining back to birth weight. I'm working on forgiving myself, and remembering I was trying everything I knew to help him grow. He  really is a patient kind spirit. I'm excited to see how this plays out as he grows. I think after the activity of his three older sisters I may really need his patience.

During this time of working to grow him, they have been amazing little busy bodies. The piles of broken dishes and jars, food stuffs -think wheat and flour and eggs and water- sometimes separately and sometimes together strewn about, the books, blankets, dolls, dress-up is staggering. Thank goodness for youtube- they watch Mr.Rogers, and the starfall.com app. Even better are the kind grandma visits that give them the attention they need and crave. And mostly thank goodness that we have learned and survived thus far. Survival is highly underrated!

Bruce has started smiling. He is so cute! He was flashing some great grins during sacrament meeting last week at the three oldest. It was so fun to watch them glow as he showed his love and appreciation for the older safer siblings he adores. I am loving the teenager-baby dynamic of love. Not so much the running and constant activity of teenagers and need for sleeping cuddling and sitting of newborns - that has been another reason to resort to the bottles in the car while we run hither and yon- but again options and new solutions are blessings.

This day Afton was just done. She has been a trooper as well. She's been bumped from baby to big sister and has mostly embraced the change. However too many bumps and tussles and too little sleep caused her to fall asleep in my lap over Bruce. He was pretty ok with it until he was ready to switch nursing sides. Such is the life of lots of littles. We are all sharing the same space and time, we are also learning to make the best of what we have to work with.