8.27.18 Scout adventures

Instead of scout camp this year the John's group went on a 50 mile hike. I was a nervous Nelly preparing him.  John is a big fruit eater and has a hard time if he gets too run down or dehydrated. And he had not been gone for such a long time before. He was excited! We went to the parent meeting- spurred by my lengthy texts of questions, and learned more answers to my ever bubbling questions. I wasn't worried about injury or death or even John's ability (as some of the other parents were in regards to their sons) but I was concerned we had enough stuff and the right items for a great week.

After two indulgent shopping trips buying trail food from a pre-planned menu by someone who does this for fun recreation and purchasing a water sanitation bottle and checking and rechecking John's packing he was super ready to go. 

The boys and amazing leaders.

Cliff diving/jumping was a great end to any length of hike and a great way to ward off smelly boys!

Cleaning fish just caught.



John and his infamous glove. He found this one glove on the first day of hiking he kept track of that solitary glove for the entire week. He knows the value of hand protection when working in the outdoors.
I was also really pleased to see he followed my instructions to keep his skin covered as there would be no respite from the ever present sun in the mountains.





Beginning of the week




His after a week outdoors picture.



Headed to their overnight location for the outdoor survival build your own shelter and sleep in it portion of the trek.
Beautiful challenging country.





The boys learned a lot about teamwork, encouragement, and endurance on this adventure.





A small skiff of snow seen from base camp several miles up the moutain but hey snow in July worth the effort.


Clearing trail as a service component of the week. The boys cut logs and moved them so fellow hikers could trek all around the lake.




They also made some natural tables that were greatly enjoyed by the boys. And of course who doesn't love playing/using knives with no moms around saving "Stop that put it away!"



Which merited a lot of merit badges and a rank advancement or two. Good job John and thank you to leaders who facilitate the sometimes tricky and uncomfortable metamorphosis from boy to man. These adventures are so teaching and concrete memories that last a lifetime. We are thankful there are men who enjoy the outdoors and are so knowledgeable and willing to provide that experience for our sons.

8.25.18 Day Camp

While we were squishing every last drop of fun and learning from summer one final activity was a trail to first class day camp for 11 year old scouts. Mark fit into this group and was excited to go work on fun boy activities like cheering, knot tying, talkign to firemen and mostly a day with friends away from working at home. 

Hi group won the group cheer award. 

He mastered some knots.

He's strong enough to be a fire man.

And they burned off extra energy with this parachute game. A fun day of teamwork and broadening horizons. A good diversion to the looming back to school that was quickly approaching. Another blessed event of good times with fellow scouts.

8.23.18 show hosts?

It was a long week! So much to do, so much not done, and so much more completed. One night while we were on round two of scripture study- we are having to run multiple bedtimes here for the different ages and activities and these two were just having the best time being together. They reminded me of daytime talk show hosts. 

Oh we have some big personalities here! A few new personality quirks that only independence have brought to life, and a lot of adjusting to the many directions and places we are going. I'm beat! From studying and preparing lesson plans and trying to refresh my understanding of important gospel doctrines, to getting nightly reading and paper signing done coupled with all day of cooking, planning, purchasing, and cleaning it was  a full week.

The kids rejoiced when they got back together at night. Bruce even had a pretty decent mud battle with his sisters. He was the happiest about the outcome.

And while farmer REed went to school the deer have come out in hungry excitement in his pumpkin patch. 

They have started to devour his pumpkins. The melons aren't ripe yet so they have left those alone, but sure enough as soon as they are ripe the deer will be taste testing them too.
We do not love deer here. They eat the corn and the produce while we sleep. Hunting season can't come fast enough as the quieter days have emboldened our 4 legged horned enemies.

The boys are building a fence right now to hopefully preserve some of the remaining harvest. Oh well life in the country is full of pests and adversity but it's worth the effort to enjoy some of the fruits of summer. Maybe that's the real take away of this week. Education and mental training is full of adversity, challenge, and diverse paths to success but the end result is worth the pain and endurance. Who would have thought the deer problem would be enlightening? Not I.

8.22.18 Summer wrap up

We wrung the life out of the August days of summer. From irrigating with a neighbor and the younger kids enjoying his good old steel toys, to a quick temple trip, to a glorious day of rafting it was a great time!

Taken moments before the wagon tipped and Bruce ended up in the mud puddle on his right. I was in process of telling them he was too big for the small wagon. But gravity taught that lesson far more memorably in just a few seconds.

John grew a lot this summer he's taller than me now and working toward overcoming Greg as well.
John is a truly delightful person to be around. His easy going personality and witty outlook bring many a smile to this dad's face. 

Harold playing with baby BEcca his cousin before starting his excursion out on the river.

Funny how times change. Growing up we occasionally wore shirts with swimsuits when doing water activities, but never long shorts and long shirts. Times and better education have sure taught us the hazards of sun exposure! Or maybe just living with a houseful of super white skin children and dreading them all moaning in pain from sunburns has made us wiser. Pleased with their obedient choices this day!!

My adventurous dad graciously took my kids to the trip. I was worn out from a full weekend and felt I should probably be responsible for the kids who were sick at my house. He took the 5 well kids and kept them safe. I love how he is always willing to jump into whatever the fun thing of the year is. He sacrifices a lot personal needs on the farm and time resting to be with kids. It's always more fun and reassuring to have him along. Thanks Dad for many great memories!

Anna and Harold manning their own water craft. They were both sore for a few days after. 

The trip! My brother in-law and his dad and brother were heros for rowing the kids for almost 4 full hours. That is a MIGHTY workout. And they were happy to do it. We have been blessed by all the fun knowing people that we get to call family. Thank you to them for willingly inviting us. It was a great day trying a new sport that the kids all hope they can do again!

8.21.18 Curious WORK-manship

We were admonished this past Sunday to work our children. That by so doing we were crafting families of curious (unique/fine) workmanship.

A week ago I got a call from a dear friend asking for young help to set up tables and chairs for a large funeral. I said yes and passed it on to the big kids and their friends. As the days drew closer and the response was silent we worried about enough people showing up to get the job done. Plan B came into action and we rallied the family, just in case. 

When we got to the venue there were big kids! However the little kids didn't want to miss out on the action and soon found they could also help. 

 This guy stole the show. He loves to help.

 These two did more.

These found a spot to help, even just holding the door from slamming shut.

 Letting the big kids do the heavy lifting. There a lot of tables and chairs! And because of the location- the fire hall they couldn't be fully set-out until the next day. We moved, and then moved the chairs and tables again and again. Thank goodness for so many kid volunteers.

 Dragging chairs got the job done almost as well as carrying them. And each one moved is another done.

And at the end when the big kids washed and sanitized tables the little kids took a break on the weight equipment.

The mourning family has been so good to ours. The widow has been our school librarian for the past 7 years. We have gained a vast library of books and movies thanks to her incentive program along with ice cream sundays, weekly bags of popcorn, quarterly pizza parties, and mostly a real love and desire to read! It was a blessing to be able to serve her in this time of need. It was an additional delight that the children of the deceased were so thoughtful as to learn my kids names and to take an interest in them while decorating and moving tables and chairs again and again. These were days when I was reminded how wonderful it is to be part of a small town where people know and care about each other.
Again from our Sunday sermon "When you're helping you're happy!" It is so good to help others. Too often my summer days got mired in just worrying about tasks here at home. I lost sight of helping and interacting with others. This weekend was great because we spent a lot of time working with and visiting with others. As always I love walking into circumstances flanked by my many children and a few trusted kid friends and then making light work of huge projects. I love serving others and helping lighten their burdens!!  I hope the kids feel their power to do and be a tremendous force of good. I think they do. They had a great time and the request to take all the leftovers- desserts and yummy lemonade included- were perks of the day!  Life is good and so is working together.

8.20.18 Back to SChool

Man oh man if the whole school year is as full as today I'm going to need roller skates and rocket boosters on my car along with a healthy supply of power bars! -- I don't eat power bars they are like sawdust to me but something to keep the energy level up up UP!

Of course everyone was up bright and early ready for an exciting much worried about first day of school.The advice had flown back and forth here for the past few days about what to do in each class situation. The kids were anxious to just get started already. 

 I drive the kids to school the first day so the little kids were drug out of bed early and we all raced to school. Not sure which picture is best with that many it's hard to get everyone pretty in any one shot.

For memory sake Anna is grade 11, Harold grade 10, Aliza grade 9, John grade 7, MArk grade 6, Addie grade 5, Reed grade 3, Alivia grade 1, and Millie at home with me kindergarten, Afton and Bruce keeping it interesting here at home!

Our bubbly brave first grader ready to see what this school mystery is all about. She was super happy to go and didn't need to hold my hand on the way into the school. She made friends, enjoyed all the recesses and yummy lunch and is looking forward to library time tomorrow!

She told Millie the night before she really wanted to go to school because she wouldn't have to clean out the dishwasher at home anymore! I didn't tell her that's the youngest kid going to school job in the morning. No need to burst her bubble until tomorrow!!

Her teacher sent this later in the day.  Livy is my first first grader to not fall asleep before dinner on the first day of school. She's gonna do well this year I feel it in my bones!

I didn't have time to cry after dropping them off because we were dashing back to town to see our

 new high school freshman who had a special task ahead of her this morning. 

She had been asked to sing the national anthem to start off the back to school assembly on the first day of school. She was slated to sing at 8 am. That meant rushing the 15 minute drive to the elementary school and back so we could hear her sing. She did well and started off her high school career by showing her reputation for music prowess! I love her confidence and ability to step up and get the job done. 

Thank goodness for older siblings to tell her again and again when lunch is and how it's done, and reassuring her she would survive the hard teachers. It's nice to have older siblings. Watching the two consult these past few days made me wish we had been more patient and accommodating for the oldest as she fords the way for all that follow her. 

All in all positive reports from all the kids and several of the teachers. We really appreciate the efforts the teachers make to know our children and help them be successful learners. That truly is a talent to make learning fresh and exciting each year with each new batch of students and their individual needs, aptitudes, attitudes and class dynamics. We have been blessed with a lot of great ones. We end the day with grateful hearts and prayers and fall into bed to be up and ready to run the race again tomorrow.

8.17.18 Onions

We got a call to help my brother move some onions. SO we loaded up the car with kids, and borrowed a few more, and headed to the hot onion field.

Afton wanted to try being an onion and got a ride in the bucket. 

 Because of the slope of the field we moved the onions about 20-30 feet back from where they grew so they wouldn't get squished by the machines in the background. This was not a hard job just tedious. But many hands make light work. 13 kids did well despite the 100 or so it was outside.

And the kids have asked daily since if they could go back. BEing the fair weather person I am these days not until it is under 90 degrees. Which might be OCtober. Or until another call comes in requesting help then we will go and do what is asked. Until then we will continue canning and canning.

8.16.18 Tit for Tat

On top of all the work and activity of last week there were some pretty close calls here as well. All were accidents that children had been warned numerous times to no do. OF course mom/dad was ignored and so we learned the hard way.

Reed was swinging a hoe and clipped the corner of Afton's eye. She sported a pretty purple eye and a nice scab thankfully her eye was completely unharmed. 

A few days later Reed was completing his job of burning the paper garbage and his sister was doing her usual playing with a burning stick and flung a piece of hot plastic onto Reed's bare foot. He immediately screamed out and we got him in cold water. He remained soaking for the next 10-12 hours. The burn is healing slowly as they do.  

 Harold carrying Reed into the kitchen from outside to begin his day of soaking. Yes our house is a mess in progress. We are running very fast here and clean-up time happens daily but so does bringing more and more in to process. Accidents push the pause button then we resume working.  A long winters nap sounds dreamy!! So tit for tat good karma bad karma. Not sure which is the best description but hopefully they will be more careful and learn to listen a little more next time.

8.15.18 Harvest time

 The high heat has brought the crops into full ripeness. We have been working hard picking and canning our winter store. One added bonus this year is blackerries.

We ate our weight in blackberries. It was a delicious day peaches, blackberry, corn, and green beans yum yum! This is the best time of year. 

 

The kids were completely in charge or corn harvest this year. From picking to cooking and freezing they got it done. I was so proud and thankful for their ability and mostly willingness to get this project done.

8.14.18 Sale Day

The kids were ready to sell by the time it rolled around. They were dolled up and the pigs were shined ready to walk through the ring. The kids were not sad but rather excited to see what they would sell for. 

Sometimes the pigs were dressed up with balloons to improve their appeal to  the fair going public.

 The sale ring and the waiting process.

The younger boys had a great time watching the pigs sell too, The added bonus of climbing up and down the bleachers made the experience fun. The sale was interesting and sad. Some pigs sold high some sold low. The kids were happy with their experience. And we were really happy to be mostly done.