9.25.19 Learning

We are learning in so many directions. Harold is playing football and we have been trying to come up with a quick yet sustaining and non-nauseating pregame food item. So far peanut butter and honey with banana sandwich with some milk or jar of peaches has been his choice. This day he forgot his sandwich. Bruce was delighted to find his favorite sandwich in a bag ready for consumption. I let him eat it and bought ingredients at the store for Harold to have one.  I wasn't going to then relented I can't let my kids go hungry. The cashier got after me saying he would never become responsible.... I made bread at home the next time and took him a sandwich before the next game too. But I didn't have to answer to anyone so it was fine. He is juggling a lot of responsibility right now and his mother feeding him is not the powder on his face that some might classify it to be. 

Further coaching by my kids came from Anna from a job shadow. She informed me the young kids need to get out more and experience social learning environments to be prepared for public education. So we have made more of an effort to go to the library. This is our favorite kid place in Ontario. They are patient have fun toys and sometimes we even land on story hour day. 

Reed has had an abundant harvest from his garden. I am so pleased with his continuous effort and the amount of spaghetti sauce we have persevered this year. We have done all I needed and then some. 

This brand of tomato, no idea what it is, is huge! Like a large fuji apple. We blend them all up and cook them for about 10 hours then bottle and pressure cook them.

And because the sign made me laugh and I Was all alone I treated myself to a dilly bar. Of course, I Was headed back to the hoard of kids that always accompany me and that small bar was devoured in seconds as they all took a bite. Oh life is so good with so many to love!

All learning in individual and communal ways. I thankful for opportunities and diversity. And quick breaks. As I type and the din is deafening I really appreciate quiet time in the car, sometimes I just sit there when I get home from some place and enjoy the quiet, then I take a deep breath and come in to be the adult in charge. I am blessed.

9.23.19 Onion helpers

All week long I've been hearing calls for shoes for PE. I can only handle buying one set of shoes at a time for each child and this seemed to be early. But as you will see in the pictures the weather has changed quickly and fall is here. I was thankful when I heard there was an opportunity to work moving onions. This seemed to be a job most any kid could do. I headed over to the field Tuesday night with a condensed crew. This is what we found. Lots of big onions needing to go back on the bed. You can see on the left and right clean rows. This night we did not take tools as I didn't think it was really worth the cost. 

I soon realized that bending down for each onion was HARD on the back and legs. Kicking them up sometimes worked. Grabbing handfuls of tops also sometimes worked... but mostly it was one onion at a time. We didn't get far that night. Bruce, Livy, and Afton enjoyed gathering seeder tops and playing swords. I did not let them bring them home in the cab of the pickup. They smell strongly of onion. Phew!

We went back en masse on Friday. Alia had gotten new/old clothes to fit her ever-growing body. She had a great time watching the onions be moved.

The kids were much more efficient this day using rakes, hoes, and shovels. It was still a lot of trips up and down the field.

The kids loved playing with grandma's toys on her beautiful different from home yard. Tux the dog was very polite and did not lick faces or rough house. He virtually ignored Lia and Bruce who were very nervous about such a big animal.

Bruce discovered or had time to appreciate the pedal tractors. They were "His" according to him. Actually, I think this one dates back to my childhood and the other one is rumored to be from my dad's boyhood! But it was enjoyable to watch the kids figure out how to maneuver and pedal the tractors. 

And the crew still at work. They developed a system and better control with their individual tools and eventually got the field done. 4 acres of 40 complete. They did another 3 today. These big projects are so good at developing resilience and the inner belief that hard jobs taken row by row or piece by piece can be accomplished. These kids have learned this lesson contiually from Grandma Saunders. Now it's up to them and me to teach it to the younger ones. The ones that went back to playing... try try again is the mantra of motherhood.

Life is good and we will learn to work and to overcome. We are thankful for opportunities to learn and grow. And added bonus was all the time enjoying the outdoors, our cousin Megan and grandma's fun toys.

9.22.19 Family Reunion

Labor day found us like most Americans taking a break from our labors and enjoying some rest and relaxation. We traveled the short distance to the Twin Falls area to enjoy time with family. The kids look forward to reunions for months ahead. There was plenty of activity to keep everyone busy and happy for the few days we were there. 

The family dinner. 

John always finds something to climb. He did very well on this balancing line. 

Family meeting listening to grandpa Saunders. He has a gentle way with all his grandkids they adore him. 63? grandkids maybe now?

Mary Flake, Millie Saunders, and Kolton Saunders.

At the lake enjoying some surfing instruction.

Lia enjoying some new toys.

Addie documenting her presence. She is the only grandchild in her year on both sides the family. That is truly rare!! I think there are as many as 7 in a year on the Saunders side and 4 on the Corn so to be alone is truly an outlyer.

Another year in the books it was good to get away and relax for a few hours, next year we will host in Vale.

9.24.19 Little's at home

Last week I really wanted to listen to President Russell M. Nelson's devotional. I also felt like I needed to play just a bit with the kids that are here. I use to occasionally do that, but rarely make time for it these days of laundry and dishes. So we set down to play blocks which happened to be out on the floor. I turned on the devotional and thought we would have a peaceful hour. It almost worked out. 

Looking good towers and colors discussed. Lots of nurturing and sweet listening. Until baby shows up intent on playing too!! Oh I forgot the stress this cuases and quickly remembered why we don't play blocks here. Watching happy toddlers... then

Crash towers come down sister wants the train.

The melt down. the tears for minutes upon minutes. The sister looking for more to destroy...

We go back to doing laundry.

Kids pickup the toys and put them away. Mom gives them a movie and takes a break from high energy kids.  We tried, we succeeded fro a while and then we moved on back to normal cuz normal is what it takes to keep the show going.

9.19.19 Moving Up

As the enw school year begins I have to remind myself that even though I have the same number of kids living here they are each moving up in ability. This lady took a turn washing dishes!!! That is huge. There seems to be a never ending pile of dishes at our house, the kitchen can be clean for about half an hour before another meal or canning item is started on. UGH! Discouraging, but we are very blessed with generous friends and a plentiful harvest.

This lady also decided to help taste the beans my sister in law shared. She is adamant about doing things herself. She has developed her own unique look in the last month and is generally sweet. She also moved out of my room after a night of non stop crying. Nothing I did helped so she moved out and worked it out herself! we are both doing well with that adjustment. 

Bruce has also really come into his own lately. He turned three and blossomed into a charming silly boy. Three is such a fun age for little boys. Here he's showing his silly hair probably thanks to a sister. 

And wrestling with Mark. He is never one to back down from a challenge. He thinks he's as big and strong as any of his brothers or sisters for that matter. We are working on him being softer with Alia. 

Reed the kind big brother always has time and a spot for Lia on his lap. She is a big baby and Reed is strong. He is also super hard on pants in the last month he has ripped two pairs such that they cant be fixed. This pair also looks like it needs to be trashed. He's all boy!

 And Anna is Bruces special buddy. The little kids love when the school kids come home. Bruce roams the house at night waiting for Anna to be ready to go to bed. I think it is good for all of them to love and care for each other.

As Anna begins thinking and planning for her next year it has been a heavy hearted project for both of us. What will we ever do without her here? I hate when my kids leave, I feel slightly off kilter. I'm sure we will get use to the new normal and we are super pleased with the young lady she has become, but its going to be a big change to have her move on. Life is good and we are blessed.