5.22.17 Happy Kids

It's so easy to get distracted. To get frustrated, tired, lonely and/or overwhelmed. 

He's getting big and independent and yet still so dependent. His innocent learning is charming and yet it's just another stop and clean up when I'm rushing to get just one thing done.

This little one adores and demands going for rides. She is the first to volunteer to go help. Anna is such a sweet sister she is patient and strong and sets such a good example in our home. We are blessed!

A water fight! Oh it turned warm and the sprinkler heads came off and the water flew. John loves to play in the water. He is a master at having fun. I love all the different personalities here.

My little mommy. She gathered all the bears she could find then made a pile of blankets and towels and was putting them to bed... in the path of the pantry and the kitchen. She is so loving and nurturing.

Modeling the glasses from the 50's show a few weeks ago. They grow up fast because so much is offered for them to dream about.
And my cow rustlers! They left at 8:15 pm and came back at 11:30 bloody and disheveled. At some point in the evening they dehorned and lacerated a large steer. Horns spurt and they got bloody faces.

With all the diversity and work there is so much laughter and smiling here. My children are happy. I'm not the happiest laughing mom. But my children are happy. I think that is an all too often overlooked mark of family living. Of living the basic tenets of Christianity. We keep commandments, we enforce rules, we work hard, there are a lot of us, and we are always continually working to know and serve God. We often fail. We often loose our cool and things don't go as planned. But we are committed to eternity and we love each other on an unconditional basis.

As I sat listening and watching this weekend I heard joyous laughter. I heard squeals of delight, I see loving snuggles and hugs, I watch tossing and tickling, and I hear enthusiasm of what they accomplished or witnessed. Sometimes I get frustrated we can't just be like others and go to the beach or disneyland or Dairy Queen -our local one closed :(. As we studied last night for FHE Good, Better, Best -- we discussed how we are different on purpose. I am pondering today another of Elder Oaks talk about Becoming. As I recall the situations and remember some of the feelings of these pictures I hope and think I am witnessing our family becoming unified.

This year is my parents 40th Anniversary. That's quite an accomplishment and one that I am so grateful for. Too many of my friends suffer from the uncertainty and worry caused by parents and families that lost their way and then their love for each other. That's heart breaking and maddening. I'm thankful and often oblivious to the strength and peace that result from an intact, still striving for better, always working together toward becoming an eternal family.

Like the pictures show it's messy, it's in the middle of the action, it's unique, it's fun and it's all hours of the day, and sometimes it requires some fighting to keep it together and make some corrections. I'm so thankful to know the Plan of Happiness and to be able to take my turn living it. I'm thankful that part of my mortal experience has been to invite these handful of kids to experience it with me. The gospel of Jesus Christ makes me feel safe, tired, loved, and humbly grateful.

5.21.17 Touch the Temple

One of the prophets said if you let your children touch the temple it will touch them. I dearly love the temple. however I rarely take my children to the temple with me as children are not allowed inside. These past few weeks have been the open house of the Idaho Falls temple, I wanted so badly to take my children to see and feel the goodness and majesty of these holy buildings. Alas work and commitments won out, like always and we did not make it down. I realized after many a bummed night feeling so bad about not achieving what I hoped to that I could take these three very observative and very unscheduled little girls to see and touch the temple. So we went! (I didn't plan the graham crackers they were add on's but necessary to a happy experience). 

Smelling the flowers...

Prior to our temple visit we stopped at Uncle Don's and Aunt Shauna's. They are the best kid people. They specialize in fun and happiness. Bruce loves to swing, high or low fast or slow he loves it! Afton loves low and slow, Millie is always a higher faster and Livy loves to go high and glide at her pace. Thankfully there were 4 swings no competition some shade and some time to SWING!

We had a great day! It was so good to just go at little kid pace. I love summer with everyone home but trying to keep up and keep everyone moving is strenuous. I really enjoyed this day with my little people. I hope they remember the peace and beauty of the temple grounds and continue learnign to be ready to go inside someday.

5.18.17 Man Adventure

This past weekend was a large boy scout campout nearby. As Greg pondered the necessity of his presence he realized he could get there by four wheeler! A proud machine he bought years ago but has not had much time to really enjoy. This trip was a good time to get some personal hours of necessary recreation. That is genuine happiness on those faces. Flowers were for my birthday. 

The younger boys went in pickups with other leaders. I sent all their gear with a kind friend and thus Harold and Greg were "free" to trek as they would on the quad. I was apprehensive as they are not prone to adventure, let alone leaving the near proximity of home. Greg assured me people do this all the time...

He was so excited to go. he rarely does anything fun so this was a real treat for them. I was honestly happy to stay home in the warm comfortable house. The boys namely John had been packing for 2 weeks in preparation. Harold has more camping experience and thus was not as anxious, Mark got to go last minute and was equally thrilled to be part of the group.

The campout included cooking contest- no hot dogs or chili but rather, scones, pizza, chicken, pork ribs etc! Fishing and hiking. They were warned by a campfire story of Thumper and admonished to choose wisely now as their choices have long range effects on their future family, wife, and ultimately happiness. Harold caught a Salmon which he cleaned and brought home. They all stayed mostly warm and dry and had a great time sans-girls! And yes they were better equipped for the very rocky road conditions than the larger vehicles. Besides a numb thumb they were GREAT!

At home we celebrated Aliza's birthday with fettucine shrimp or chicken topped. We ate cheesecake and watched Sing. It was a peaceful low key night. Nice. Sometimes it's good to be apart to do what you want to do. We reunited as a family refreshed and ready fro the next project fence building and a lovely birthday dinner provided by my mom. It was a nice weekend made all the better because everyone got to do what they wanted.

5.17.17 Big and Little Bruce

I knew from the moment Bruce was made known to me that his name would be Bruce. It was just a soft whisper in my mind but I knew he would be a Bruce. Well now he is a pretty permanent person in our home and we love our little Bruce.
He is named obviously after my dad, Bruce. Who was named after a dear family friend of his parents Bruce. I have met that Bruce and loved his kindness his sense of humor and the great love he had for his wife and my grandparents.
Yet even with all this goodness of the people named Bruce it has been a little odd to have a child named after my parent. At Christmas when we were gathering presents and there were some for baby Bruce I wasn't taking them because anything with that name was my dad's, of course. Thank goodness my sister in law reminded me the child in my arms had the same name and would probably wear the onesie easier than big Bruce. I'm sure there will be many more mix-ups over the years but we will persevere.
In the meantime I will work to love, protect, and teach my little Bruce to grow into a good, honest kind, adm wise man like my father. My father does not like attention so I had been reluctant to snap a picture not wanting to embarrass him. Yet I am eternally grateful for him and my mom and their many choices that gave me such a happy, safe, home where I could grow and become what I needed to to have the adult life I have chosen. That is no small task or gift. To nurture, correct, teach, and endure your children.
This mother's day and all the hoopla and tender mementos are always odd to process. I'm very aware of my shortcomings and what we seem to lack. I hope for better and share memories that are often seemingly once in a lifetime events. Yet I have to remember that each occurrence is not the thing of a lifetime but part of painting. Elder Bednar called them the brush strokes of mortality. It takes many many layers or brushstrokes to make a picture likewise with raising a child and becoming a good parent.
I love my dad, I'm thankful for his good name to share with my son. A good name is a gift. Many of my kids are named after special family members that was not on a whim but rather with hope they will gain strength and direction from those who have gone before.

5.15.17 A Little Pampering

My sisters started a tradition a few years ago for mother's day, pedicures and lunch. We have been going for several years now and it is seriously a highlight of the year for me. We get together and have our feet rubbed and polished. A funny thing if you think about it in just words. My little girls were envisioning my sisters painting my toe nails and vice versa. I told them it wasn't quite like that. 

I can honestly say I don't love the massage part. I've had two in the lat 6 months and I'm too stressed to enjoy the kneading of my rock hard muscles. Not that I'm buff but rather I'm a mom and carry a lot of burden. But it was nice to visit, to be without kids and to ponder on being a sister/mother/daughter for a few moments while soaking my feet in warm bubbly water.

My sister Mary organizes this. She also provided the pictures courtesy of brand new selfi-stick. We are not a picture happy group and were complaining a bit to have to pause and smile. But as with all pictures I'm thankful we took the time to capture the rare experience of being together.
I can see why people always say we look alike. We don't, but we do. It's the same with our parenting, being wives, and raising families. We have similarities but mostly we are different. In so many good ways. I learn from these ladies and rely on their optimism, understanding, and experience with this earth existence we are all having right now. I'm thankful for their service, example,and friendship.

5.12.17 At the Bandstand

Oh the memories of childhood. Yesterday was one that will last for quite a while. As I mentioned previously we spent a lot of time researching to create the correct look. Well we apparently weren't the only family online. The school was jettisoned back in time to the rockin' 50's. The kids embraced the time warp and had a great time jitterbugging to unfamiliar tunes and beats that shaped their grandparents formative years. 

I did not know the shape of the play. I thought Aliza was just a narrator of sorts. In fact it turned out she was the narrator but also a soloist and the "host" of the show. She did great. This part was perfect for her. She memorizes with ease and loves to direct the show and her fellow students. She enjoys singing and practices nightly singing her sisters to sleep. She was confident and calm in her element. 

 

These cute 1st and 2nd grade boys getting ready to rock the house with their performances. They are so innocent and thus charming!

Waiting for her song to begin and shot of the characters. This play fit this group so well. 

Splish Splash Takin' a Bath! Reed really got into the scrubbing! The dancers on stage were so energetic!! Many different groups didn't different dance numbers they all nailed them and really livened up the peppy show.

Don't Step on my Blue Suede Shoes. Addie's teacher got the cat-eye glasses for all the girls to wear. Fun!

The boys were the back-up band. Mark was so funny this is the only shot I have of him facing forward he is suddenly self conscious. You can spot John top row to the left of Mark's head. His group sang "Save the Last Dance for me..." A Slow croon style song. He was dying. If he could have fallen off the bleachers into a black hole he would have been happy. Ahh teenager hood is taking hold on his tender heart and young mind. 

Reed and partner all decked out for Shake Rattle n Roll. Loved it!! There was so much energy and smiles at this show. I  mean every show has been enjoyable but this one was really awesome!

Or maybe it's just freshest on the brain and thus I'm still smiling at the new talents and opportunities my kids have been given. I'm thankful for the many hours of sacrificed time the teachers give and for their stretching of talent and ability both personally and with these almost 90 kids. WOW! We are grateful for the many kinds of learning available at our small rural school Especially in the challenge of weeks of testing this was a serious party of relief and enthusiasm.

5.12.17 The days roll by

Our wonderful amazing, competent, and lovely Addie had a birthday. She spent the day helping and palling around with Grandma Saunders her kindred spirit. They made a cake and we enjoyed it late in the evening (Addie dressed up for the party!) Birthday celebrations are important to Addie she gives thoughtful gifts to all her siblings and often makes their cakes. It's hard to fulfill everyone's various love languages. I got her a present but couldn't find it for two days... but my parent brought her ice cream and she had an impromptu parts run the night before and enjoyed Wendy's with grandma Saunders so she wasn't totally bereft of acknowledgment and honor. 

I had my annual pedicure date with my sisters it was invigorating and relaxing to spend time with my family. We don't do that very often and it was nice to visit and unwind a bit. when I came home it made me so happy to just love on my kiddos who had been so good and who light up my life. Bruce trying out his new sun shade, It's a bit big but his fair skin will need all the coverage he can get so as not to be a cooked goose.

We are attempting a more bountiful harvest of tomatoes this year. Part of that project is getting the plants off the ground. We are thankful for a donation of buckets. Reed was posing to show how tall the original stack was.

And the kind big sister taking selfies with her adoring fan club. How they love and rely on Aliza for care, attention, and learning. She is gracious to willingly give all those to them.

5.11.17 the 50's

And lest we forget or you think I have lost my other older children. They are alive and well with many quirks and more difficult to fill needs than the littles. Case in point the up coming Mother's Tea with needed costumes. Now you know I dread and despise Halloween so why do we have so much time and dare I say fun put into these school adventures? Well for one I want them to feel confident and two I want them to stretch and be a little more than they were before the learning experience. So we have been googling and youtubing trying to figure out fashion we could recreate and what hairstyles looked like. Looking the part is a huge part of playing the part. Thank goodness the play coincides with the dance they had went to in February so part of the costume was already prepared. 

So after all the research we had to start trying out the "easy" methods we had watched.

Costume coming together. (Then I realized the other 4 needed costumes too. Oh boy!) 

Hair trials

She lots a lot of hair in December easily half of her hair broke off or fell out. It was scary. It also didn't just magically reappear. So we are working on making a nice do with little hair in some places. But oh it was pretty when it was semi-done. Now to re-create the look at school by the time the show starts. 

5.10.17 Play with them

** John did kill the badger! There has been no movement or change in the hole for 10 days! Wahoo another protective Male at my house!!

I grew up playing lots of softball and catch. However as a mom I have rarely allowed myself that time. Well last week somehow I had my ducks in a row and life rolling smooth enough that I was able to play softball with some of my kids for an hour or so. It was so rewarding to be with them to teach them and to watch and cheer for them. However as is usually the case we had a great diversity of attention.That's what the pictures show. 

Reed at bat, Mark catching, Mom pitching and the little girls watching from a laying down position. The ball miraculously never touched them, it would bounce very close to their spot but they were safe. It did make catching the ball hard as I had to maneuver not to squish them while fielding the wild throws...

We called it quits when it was too dark to see the ball. We came home to Afton cheering and some mess she had made, as she wasn't too keen on just watching others have fun. I usually have to stay in and watch, clean-up, or care for the littles. This night I went and had fun with the middles, it was more to my liking.

I was recently admonished, again, to play with my family. That is super hard with the landslide crush of responsibility and work that is always on our back. But for those minutes it was very fun to just be together learning and sharing. Those moments are too far between here. So I'm trying to adjust the all or nothing attitude and make it some, let's do!

5.10.17 A boy update

Well never fear nature kicked in or found root and Bruce found his own toy last night. One he wouldn't part with or be denied. A stick! With string on both ends bow like. Yes no more dolls that night for him!! 

Making sure to keep it from the sisters. Crawling with it in front of him in case of surprise attack! Just thought it was funny how intent he was on keeping and wielding that stick. He was not so intent on the dolls other than chewing on their soft parts to help get his teeth through.

5.9.17 the Little Brother

You know you are the little brother of lots of sisters when all your toys are dolls. His sisters make sure that he is cared for giving him not 1 but 2 dolls to play with complete with blankets to wrap them in. They are so good at sharing! 

Earlier in the day dad, Bruce and dolls. When our family pattern was girl boy the pictures of babies playing with toys mostly showed tractors as the object of entertainment. however after this last run of girls well we are doll-centric. Lucky Bruce. 

I was working on a project one evening and Bruce was crawling around fighting sleep. I found him a little later after finally succumbing to rest. Afton had made him comfortable. She tucked her comfort item, my silkie G's under his head, and then tucked and covered him in a blanket.

Bruce is well cared for and entertained by this energetic crew. They love and tease and wrestle him.

5.3.17 Badger vs. Barney Fife

Last night was another new "Mom" lesson. Mark came back from riding his bike sharing that he had seen a badger and that he backed far away slowly and came home. We called dad our resident expert. he instructed us to get a gun and go shoot it quickly.

Okay background. I'm the mom. My main jobs are cook, clean, care for. Not hunt, shoot, or kill. That might be a dangerous addition to my repertoire! I do know how a gun works and what the important parts are and how to make it work. But I'm not sure about which gun shoots how- single shot vs semi-automatic- and which is a large enough gun etc. We managed to get the right gun and bullets and loaded for hunting.

We headed off on the fourwheeler because I didn't want to be on foot and thus prey for the fierce badger. The whole way I was worried about accidentally setting the gun off or one of us getting hurt. Or worse being in an armed standoff with a novice hunter and a big mean badger!!!

I kept telling John you only have one shot if you have to cock that gun it will be on you before you can get it reloaded. Which in honesty it was a semi-automatic gun he just had to pull the trigger not re-cock each time... didn't know that till he was spitting out live bullets with each cock.

Anyway When we got there the badger was throwing dirt out it's hole. John came up trepidatiously. I was of course freaking out... Giant mouse about to eat us up is going through my mind.

A very wealthy neighbor drove by about the time of this picture, we looked a site.  Now note in the background this is only about 20 yards from a road which cars drive on often. Not too far from houses which of course bullets carry a long distance thus the chance of shooting a window out on our self-protection effort was a possibility. So amongst the adrenaline of a hunt there was the mom caution of not shooting a car or a neighbors house. So many variables!

So as I'm slightly freaking out and so proud my son can protect me and hoping he can protect me and realizing I didn't bring anything as back-up like a shovel or other gun (we couldn't find the right clip or caliber....) I was scared!! I called my hunting pro neighbors for help, they were gone. John shot once then three times. I forgot to share we had stopped well away from the site, to see if we could make the gun shoot, I figured out how to close, release, and engage all the right pieces. Oh man I'm a wuss, and terrible mom of sons. But I did keep offering helpful commentary like: "John that gun is live stop waving it around and put the safety back on before reloading. John you only have one shot make it count!"
So after a few shots and me feeling terrible for not creating the next generation of backwoods dead shot for future military conflicts-- too much reading war books I suppose, their mother's were so brave.
We had to reload. All the while anxiously watching the hole. Thank goodness the smart badger had blocked it off instead of coming out I may have died too watching it confront my son.
Well the more manly brave half of this family showed up instructing John to go point blank next time, much to my mortification. He was not surprised when I took refuge in the car and sheepishly laughed.
John was thrilled to shoot, he may have got a shot in the badger we'll see what the hole looks like today.

And so after an exciting anti-climatic event we returned home to dinner. I had literally been plating everyone up when the animal was reported and we rushed off to defend home and family.

When our hunting neighbors returned my call hours later my friend suggested I might just be a current day Barney Fife....uhm yes. All theatrics and little knowledge. Carrying a gun without bullets, yes unfortunately that is a pretty accurate account. In self-defense I think it helps my men-fold to fill manly to protect and know so much more than mom. My neighbor and his skilled outdoors loving wife had a good laugh which is fine. And if nothing else  it is a memory that will probably last a while. I hope that varment is dead!