3.31.20 Just being kids

Everyday I strive to get out and be outside from 5-6 p.m. It's just a time that seems to fit. The girls were happy to join me in a small walk. They had a great time pretending to be geese laying eggs in nests. The fresh dirt of course was easy to dig and fun to nest in. Dirt seems to be good therapy and entertainment for each day we get to be together. I love watching their imaginations work. 

Little miss was not to be left out. She is very hard to get back in the house no matter how long we let her be outside. Thank goodness some big sisters show up eventually and carry her back indoors.

One night Millie shot this picture wanting to be like Addie who almost nightly takes a sunset picture. While the colors are different it was a beautiful contrast nonetheless. Another blogger suggested that these dark blues and blacks are more like where we are at today versus our usual preferred pinks, purples, oranges that we enjoy in sunsets. Truthfully this was just after that display.

Life is like that constantly shifting and changing. Last week was rough for me. Finding out this baby is breech was very scary. Hearing daily of the new restrictions and changes to life. Hearing of customers and friends loosing their jobs, continued shortages for family members and the stress of keeping life going got VERY heavy for several days. Life wasn't just blue and black it was mostly pitch black for too many hours. But with each sunset the sun rises again and we move on. I have  a new mantra that I am repeating often. I can do this, God is with me, Jesus will help me. As I slow down dig in and work to relax and cling to those practices that have brought me peace in the past life goes on.

3.30.20 Learning at home

This catch your breath and slow down opportunity it really a nice break from the normal crazy lives we have chosen to live. The kids are learning a new schedule. It's kinda like summer without the heat and the intense need to be working all the time. There's plenty to do but there's space for just being together too. As I always say the younger ones are LOVING having the older crew here. Reed sharing some time with Lia. 

He also took the challenge to use the brown bananas and make delicious banana bread. He did this alone his only mistake white flour instead of whole wheat. It was not noticed by anyone other than mom and was wolfed down almost as soon as it came out of the oven.

Addie braided Afton's hair for her. She looked so grown up and was so pleased to have Addie share some attention with her.  

We took a few minutes to brave to cold windy weather to do a scavenger hunt here she is showing the flowers that smelled good, the stick longer than her hand, and her spotted rock.

Bruce insists on being outside. I insisted he bundle up a bit. These kids are hearty, I am not loving the cold and am pretty much a pansy right now when it comes to heading outdoors unless it's over 50 degrees.

Mark posing as a high school boy. Cool glasses  and hat perched on top of his head. This guy comes in filthy every evening as he is busy with projects on the farm. He is capable and strong. We are thankful for the time this break has given to allow us to catch up on what needs to be done. I am literally in awe at all the abilities my older kids have. They are pretty much able to be given a task and able to complete it with little help or instruction from me or Greg. All those years of training and maybe yelling is paying off.

And my new screen saver. As I get closer to this delivery and the world continues to be different I am striving to focus on the peace of Christ and his infinite mercy and love that has helped me throughout my life. He is good. He loves me and my family. He is real and my job is to continue focused on him not the worries that abound and the fear that is rampant.

Life is good all the tools are here for me and my family to be successful and productive. I truly love having my kids swirling around me all day. I am honestly humbled to be the mother of this force. It is rewarding to see years of work and hope pay off, there are still plenty of fights and maybe yelling and frustration but as there are small brief moments of clarity and renewed hope I think we are doing ok. Endurance is not easy neither is intentional parenting but as I heard today from Elder Uctdorf Oct 2019 conference talk
               Discipleship is not about doing things perfectly; it's about doing things intentionally. It is                     your choices that show what you truly are, far more than your abilities. 

As my abilities are lessened as this baby grows and my body daily prepares for it's arrival I'm thankful for this wise direction. I chose to have hope, I strive for peace, I work to love and be patient with me and my family. I seek for gratitude to have these experiences and for the grace of having such great support from my husband, children, family, and friends. Truly this is a great miracle to slow the world to refocus on what truly matters and have enough time to let it sink in our bones maybe we were rushing after too much that really didn't matter. What a miracle and how bookmarked these months might become in our minds and memories of life. Life is good.

3.24.20 The Days go by

Amidst all the chaos and changes in the world we had a birthday. We are low on chocolate and eggs are becoming more and more precious we had to revamp the birthday treat offerings. Reed was pretty happy to have scones following a nice roast beef dinner. He did not get the usual buttermilk syrup for dipping them but we survived with powder sugar and syrup. Reed is a great kid. He is a hard worker and very good at staying on task and getting jobs done. He is also good at getting his sisters to do work. Because we did scones we forgot to sing to him, Addie fixed that and the next night he got a cupcake and candles while we sang.

One of my favorite parts of day is watching Reed our chicken man go to feed his flock. They swarm and hurry from where ever they are and follow him to a feast.

With the uncertainty of times we were a lot more proactive in planting a garden this year. Mark and John rototilled the ground and the kids had the best day playing in the dirt.

They say this virus doesn't like sunlight and heat I figure there is no better cure/prevention than letting them play and play outside. And because we were working on a big messy project in the house this was a win for everyone. The bikes are ridden the dirt is played in, imaginations are working the kids are sunkissed and life is good. We are blessed to have a 250 acre place to be isolated in.

This project has been waiting for 2 years at least. Anna, Addie, John, and I have been painting the inside of the house. Just about everyone has paint somewhere on their body and on their clothes. But it looks so good. We finished up some areas Saturday night, and it was so fulfilling to go to bed with such a big project done.

Lia is so much a big little kid. She is fun mix of the older kids. Aliza loves ranch, Lia loved the help yourself approach. Addie is out master salad maker. She loves them and shares her talent with us often.

Note the painted feet, She is not one to be left out.

This time has definitely been put to good use. I am so thankful for the many talents and personalities that bless my home. The usual nervousness of the last weeks of pregnancy has not been so bad, now it will probably be terrible because I wrote that, but having the kids around and sharing more of the load always makes life less stressful. I am truly blessed by all these kiddos. Now back to the grind and getting stuff done. Life is good.

3.22.20 Church at Home week 2

We had a different game plan this week as we were solo, with our family of 14! My sisters ward did a great job reaching out and sharing some resource ideas. I love when others do the thinking and preparing so I spent a few minutes sequestered while breakfast baked and made the game plan. Mark and Anna were assigned talks about an hour before. We ate a nice breakfast and got dressed for church. Harold prepared the sacrament. I love that the boys can still share and provide that for us. 

I made sure to make a batch of bread Saturday so we wouldn't have to use tortillas or salt tine crackers. I gave the older kids assignments for our second half and the got to coloring and preparing. 

After a brief interlude during the opening song where we had to remember we were getting ready for the sacrament, we had a lovely quick meeting complete with songs, grumbling, the sacrament and talks. 

We said the closing prayer then the younger half or the group in primary went for a nature walk with dad and Harold. They ended having a touching table where they closed their eyes and tried to determine what thing they were feeling. 

They came in to prune the olive tree like the allegory of the olive tree.

This was really fun. We talked about how getting rid of fruit lets the remaining fruit grow bigger and how we wanted things like kindness, honesty, and love to be really big in our lives. 

Harold did an activity where the practiced drawing closer to God. 

Addie shared the old seminary video about pruning the olive trees. I loved this video when we watched it in seminary years ago. I think it helped the kids understand a bit more about a story we endure reading year after year. My mom later shared this was one of her favorite scripture stories because it shows good fruit can grow where ever it is planted life doesn't' have to be perfect or even great to bear good fruit.



We ended the meeting discussing a talk about contention and how we don't have time for it. The kids quickly dismissed to change out of church clothes. A few of them called and face-timed with Grandma then we had a glass mess happen so we moved on with the day.

After a long day with twists and turns we wrapped up with family scripture study. Bruce is in love with his new sword courtesy of Harold. Apparently it also doubles as a unicorn horn.



I really like the spirit that accompanies Sunday worship in our homes. I like that we are prepared and able to direct our spiritual learning and needs. I love that I have so many priesthood holders in my home. I was struck yesterday with how much I missed seeing people in our congregation. I don't talk a lot as I'm in primary but I miss the sociality of it. It's interesting how my kids are reacting to this time of semi-quarantine. Some are seriously depressed others are not bothered at all. We work to meet both needs. Life is good.

3.20.20 Family

I'm not complaining about time at home, it's a new normal and has taken some adjusting we are one week in and all still alive, doing better with being patient with each other, and getting some projects done slowly but surely. The girls have been painting or learning how tedious a project that is in a very lived in house. Wash the walls, patch the walls, sand the walls, patch some more, sand some more, clean up, not kill the little people who peel off the patches and put their fingers back into holes. Patch some more, clean-up, sand, prime, paint. All the while watching out for little fingers to play in sheet rock mud, to draw a picture on the new surface, to attack it with a screw driver or anything lying around, to dump paint, to take mud of paint to another room and see if they can do it too... it is tedious but one wall at a time we are getting some paint on walls.

 I was thankful to find Fuji apples at a local packing plant. The kids love them peeled, I guess that is a hand eye dexterity type of activity and they eat the whole thing if the skin is removed so I haven't stopped this practice.
Bruce enjoyed a red pepper I found at store, he is showing off the seeds.

All in all if this is the end of the world this is how I hoped it would go down. At home with my kids mostly within sight just living our lives. There is plenty of outside access via the internet and texts, but we have our creature comforts and we are together. I'm thankful for that reassurance. I'm thankful for years of habitual preparation and for a community that is so resourceful. Life is good just different.
There have been a lot sympathy posts for the Seniors who are missing their senior year and possibly graduation. One noted that these kids had been born in the wake of 9/11 which was a pretty scary time where people returned to their families and to God, again people are scared are forced home to their families and hopefully finding some time with God. That's an interesting place to be. I love God, I love my family, and I'm thankful both are close by.

3.19.20 A last public event

I loved going to artistic events with my grandmother when I was a kid. I strive to also make sure my children get a little bit of culture in their lives. The last time this group came I had literally just got home a day or so before from having Afton. Therefore I was anxious to take my kids and find out what the hype was. We rushed to the performance there was the usual dawdling kids, stress over spending too much money on tickets etc but the show proved worth all the frustration. 

After the show the kids wanted quick pictures with some of the performers. They were generous enough to happily pose with them. Little did we know this would be our last time in a crowd for who knows how long. I'm thankful we got out and enjoyed one of the few performances these young people put on.

These are some amazing athletes here. They danced for over an hour at a high rate of speed and energy. As I calmed down watching the performance I Realized I should be so grateful to be sitting there with 9 of my children. That I should always be grateful to be the mom of 12 such great kids. Sometimes it's easy to forget that and just dwell on how annoying they can intentionally be. oh well for these next several weeks I'm just praying to be more kind to them and myself and that we are able to accomplish most of what I have on my long long list of spring chores, pre-baby work, and farm planting time. Life is good.

3.18.20 Cousin weekend

We bought this rocking horse last fall at an auction. Lia loves it and claims it as her own! She even fell asleep while astride this afternoon. The experts say viruses die in the sun so we are doing our best to soak it up!

This last weekend our cousins came from Utah. They are a mostly boy family but we still had a great time!! There is plenty to explore at the farm and the kids had a ball mostly unsupervised climbing and hollering at will.

 We had to sort yearlings as they were rough housing the new calves too much. A neglected chore is cleaning pens. Thus we had a bit of a delay to the sorting getting their new place ready to go. Some kids had too much to say about life in general so they got to use the shovels. One nice thing about farm life is there is always plenty to do, and thankfully space to say what you want.

Lia is convinced she is big as anybody else around this place. She toddled along keeping up with all the action.

Buckets are a primary tool here on the farm. My boys develop strong bones and muscles from a young age carrying buckets of stuff: dirt, water, milk, rocks, garbage, produce whatever the need may be. So far they are turning out to be pretty solid kids.

The nice change to our life is no homework for the older kids, thus they have time to help! Anna got a quick carpentry lesson from Grandpa and fixed the fence for the cows.

Lia was eager to help but mostly got in the way, no one was hurt.

Of course after all that activity everyone was hungry! Grandma and hte aunts are amazing at feeding lots of people in a pretty quick way. We enjoyed pie after dinner in honor of pi day.

And a cute sign that boys were here. The dollhouse was filled with tractors and cars instead of dolls.

We are thankful for the visits that break up the monotony of work and just being with ourselves. I also got a broken window replaced and learned some more about how to do some other repairs that need to be addressed. We love when the Rogers come as they often fix or repair some broken household problem.

3.17.20 Harold

March was an extremely busy month for Harold until life came to a screeching halt. He was preparing exhibits for the state FFA convention in between traveling to and fro across the pacific northwest. He is becoming quite the skilled young man.  This cutout was made on plasma table. He made another one freehand it is a different kind of impressive. He is very thankful for the welding class. The instructor is personable and has taught the boys a lot. He has spent an intense year studying almost every moment he is at home to take that one class. I've been impressed and annoyed with how much time it takes to self-educate. I'm sure he will be better for it in the end. 

Because of all the travel he was pretty sleepy on the days he was home. All the guys in this picture spent most of scripture time asleep. The time change does that, lengthens the day back to fitting with the sun but that just makes us work longer and harder. Life is good and we are thankful Harold got the experiences he did while life was normal.