4.23.23 The good life

I'm behind on posting as everyday is chuck full of either preparing or recovering from the mass that was expected/accomplished the day before. For one month almost to the day I have 13 kids in my home. We have accomplished a lot and yet each night I try to convince them sleep is a gift not a punishment and we really should go to bed. They en masse don't believe me.

We had cousins come. Shown are Newell, Myla, and Merle. Same age. 

So many memories have been made over this red tablecloth. Uncle Bryce is so good to tell the kids stories about his mission. 

Andrea and Miriam Flake. Andrea is older by about 4 months but they are pretty similar in movement abilities. 

Traditionally we go to the Owyhee Dam sometime during spring break. This year there was just too much going on. My parents graciously hosted a very large group at their house for a picnic, play, and visiting. The kids always have a great time.  

 
Man what would life be without marshmellow roasting? That is sucha  simple joy yet a great skill. Mark was very good at patiently toasting perfectly golden offerings. Uncle Justin and Ty manage the other cooking- bacon and hotdogs respectively. 

Unfortunately coats were still very necessary but we enjoyed being outdoors in spite of the unseasonable cold day. 

The benefit of the change of venue was more family could come. I'm so thankful our families are good friends and comfortable with sharing time together. 

We are a family of talkers. 

And huggers, and swingers, and dirt loving people. 

Merle is so adamant about wearing jeans. Unfortunately he cant' button them so he hounds me when he has unbottoned them to button him back up. He is such a cute boy we are thankful for his determination to be big. 

After almost a year maybe just 6 months of just being the child Andrea has won over Addie and enjoys spending time with her. The more involved Addie is in her athletics and finds her spot in her bigger high school class the more relaxed and settled she has become. I'm thankful these two have found a spot to be friendly. Sibling friendship, respect, trust and love are important to me. 

Of course Millie is the best at comforting Andrea to sleep. How thankful I am for the patience of siblings in helping nurture the younger kiddos. 

Anna back in the mix. We were discussing things we had learned in general conference and making a palm leaf to commemorate palm sunday. 

Andrea so thrilled to also be part of the group taking her turn to share. 

After our leaders asked us to more fully celebrate Easter- like Christmas I thought an Easter tree was necessary. I found one local for $15. We used silk flowers and pictures of Jesus' life to decorate our tree. I'm not sure that it was any more or less festive but I was trying. Andrea is super curious and was investigating. 

Lots and lots of bike riding has been happening. Bruce outgrew his little bike and jumped straight into a teenage size bike. He pedals like the wind up and down the road enough to cause a blister on his hand. He also crashed a few times thanks to the neighbors dog cutting him off. I'm not a dog fan. 

And the best part of my days and the biggest part of this year I think. These kids are going round after round being sick with something or the other. 

Afton got the cooperation award from her teacher. She is willing to work with anyone she doesn't complain or tattle or get in the fights. Afton has consistently just done her own thing and stayed out of the people messes that can be cohabiting the same space. We are thankful for her talent to love others and to dislike contention. 

Aliza came home and treated Anna to pie! Anna said she had been missing out for 18 months. Aliza has been well trained and doesn't stop with one but makes many. We have thoroughly enjoyed the almost complete family dynamic while they have been home. 

Be still my heart the precious moments of all safely gathered in, of learning, and enjoying being close to one another. I absolutely treasure these night gatherings. Wrestling, fighting, jockeying for your spot, and fitting in the space. Sharing, wandering off, testifying and trying. We are very blessed. 

I'm so behind in cataloging as it has been a swirl of life, emotions, expectations, and enjoyments. All in all we are blessed, the holy ghost does guide and protect, and life is Good. 

4.23.23 Good and bad days

I'm not kidding when I say days are full. This one is shown in reverse order because it turned out so much better than it started. Bruce has been diligent with his homeschool this year. He does not love it in fact he mostly tells me he hates it. I've tried off an on to offer rewards and incentives. That's hit and miss with all the other reponsibility here- read do dishes, laundry, and meals for the crew that is mostly gone. 

That said we had a lesson that included beavers this past week. To entice Bruce to finish I told him we would watch some videos about beavers if he just finished. He did and we watched two videos on beavers building dams. It was fascinating. Did you know they use mud and rocks? They are just compelled to build. It was doubly interesting because the video showed scenery from where Anna and Aliza will spend the next six months. That is so long to even write, but it's going to be a grand adventure for them. 

After all that learning and interest Mark and I went to look at some new property we rented. We are trying to deicde what to do with the land as it has been abandoned for a long time and the one clear field is very hard to access with equipment. After our tour the owner was walking on the road so we stopped to chat. Somehow we learned she had beavers in the river near her and in all this flooding the beavers had been working on her trees. I asked if we might come see their work. She agreed and Mark took me home to gather the younger kids. The youngest were a bit tired from the long day but the grade school crew was excited. 

Beavers are impressive workers. They chewed on four trees standing in the same area but this soft bark will was their desire. They chewed it down and limbed many braches. They left a few which Bruce asked to keep. The lady said yes he could keep them. We saw paw tracks and observered where they had previously dammed the river before the huge surges that have been occuring with the large spring run off. 

Bruce showing his beaver cut and cleaned stick collection. Learning is so important to appreciate the world around. 

The kids rode bikes a lot in between jobs and activities. I love this!

Uncle Matt wanted to drive tractor. Merle thought that was a great idea as long as he was in the buddy seat. 

Lia and Andrea were thrilled to just eat cookies. When I picked Andrea up to go take care of her needs she smelled strangely like mint. I discovered some tricky kid had eaten the creme filling and replaced it with toothpaste and that was the cookie unknowing Andrea got. 

I had got a call earlier in the day from a dear friend asking for some yard help. When we all showed up I think she was overwhelmed so she only asked us to do three things. Unplanned was some rides around her yard. We are not a dull bunch. Andrea thinks fourwheelers are her special spot and grunts and groans till she is on the seat ready to ride. 

The day started with Addie annoucing the room with the washing machine (and drain outlet) was full of water soaking into carpet. Those are terrible words. Thus Greg, Mark, and John started working to unplug the situation. Addie ran the vaccuum to get hte water cleaned up. I made breakfast. Reed did the animal chores. 

The larger water truck helped flush the system. This was the kids longest time exploring the many new features on the truck. 

I had kept Addie home from a track meet. I'm tired of the many hours she sits on a bus, then sits at a track meet to run one race. There is a lot that should be happening here. So cancel I did and she did so much here. The potatoes that have been sitting in the car for two weeks got planted. She dug up a power line to restore power to the outbuildings. She worked for the neighbor, she rested her sore legs, and other stuff  I can't remember. 

This was from the week before on facebook. She left at 7 am and got back at 1:30 a.m. She did well of course. But I miss my amazing and driven Addie. I think a mental break and some loving family time is important too. If you heard and endured all the frustration and just plain yuck of the water situation you would laugh at that too. But life is problem solving. I really get tired of all the problems but my kids are taught by their father to fix problems. We both work to instill in them ability to be problem solvers not stuck in problems. 

 Sunday we saw she missed out on potential gold medal awards. I felt a bit bad but truly the 15 hours for one gold medal is a small trade off. The water became functional again, we all still love each other, we worked through the troubles and found a lot of good. The friend we worked for paid the kids in cookies and dollars enough for ice cream for all. So on top of the delightful audio book we enjoyed for the hour car ride we stopped and got some soft serve ice cream cones. Days are long and divided between good and bad. I'm thankful for this enduring crew that is mine. Life is alright!

4.11.23 Kids

Addie has an eye for contrast. And no this is not intitation into the family. There were a few hours of this truly record breaking spring that was dry enough to burn. The kids got out the matches and went to work. Why the young one was amidst the flames is a question of thinking. Anyway they got a lot done and I'm thankful for the removal of the old year and preparation for the new. 

Oh these two silly brothers. Their days are full of delight as they go from one adventure to the next. The joy they share is precious to me as both just love the other so much. Bruce is tender and inclusive to Merle, and thus Merle is pretty sweet with Andrea. I'm thankful we were able to have a Merle so Bruce could have a pal. He's been riding bikes and working more with Reed who is 7 years older. It's tough to keep up with someone so much more mature but Bruce does. So to come home and play with Merle is just fun and easy. 

Andrea is discovery the joy of the older kids being gone. Ohh the many treasures they leave behind to be discovered. Life is so good when this lady is well. 

Trying to find new jeans. These guys are big all over and it's tough to find reasonable priced jeans that fit. How pleased we are with their large statures inside and out. 

He posed it I ask for smiles and get turn aways. Oh well. He's a big handsome guy. 

Wrestling in my kitchen. Yes my house is beat up for good reason we live hard and big! Thankfully no furniture or kids were hurt in the play. 

Lia was so happy to paint. She was pleased with her self decoration. 

When asked why I'm not more like I use to be I had to explain I have so many more to accomodate. I'm thankful and always working to stay with the stampeded that life is. They have so much energy, questions, and opinions. We are thankful for each and pray for strength to keep going. Life is good. 
 

4.7.23 Homecoming

Wow we are one week post and life has been so crammed full for these past few days. We made signs, mostly to channel some excited energy. Livy did her side Lia did the Done lettering. 

Andrea loves to do what everyone else is doing. She tried tasting the paint. Yum Yum. 

John came home and worked on his own poster. he does actually love to paint and create. He really enjoys being artistic.

Millie and Afton made this poster. 

I realized it would be just as easy to take the kids early enough to go to the temple before her flight arrived. So we hurried and gathered everyone to take the teenagers to the temple. 

After a slow drive around the block and a trip through the car wash we played in the parking lot for a few minutes. 

The big kids got out and raced to the car. 

We got to the airport to find there was no parking. Thankfully Mark took us to the overflow parking lot then we waited and waited for the shuttle. We made it in plenty of time although while waiting we were so worried we missed her landing and coming off the airplane. 

Anna came off sobbing. It was so good to hold her but I was surprised at her total crying. I just held her and told her it was all going to be ok. Eventually she gained her composure to hug everyone else. 

The kids weren't sure what to do. Alia came to also hug Anna and try to make her feel better. 

Anna flew home with a friend from the mission she is seen in the background also hugging her family. 

The cousins brought nice gifts of flowers and balloons. 

We are blessed to have so much family support. We appreciate the continued guidance and love of aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. 

Anna was surprised at how big her brothers had gotten. Andrea was ok with her holding her. 

Off to the baggage claim and to find the car. 

We went to the buffet for lunch and stories, then to the stake president's house. Greg went and had a tooth pulled as he had a root canal go bad. He was in so much pain. After the extraction he came to Anna's release then took her home with him. We got home before them and Andrea watched through the windows the kids coming in. 

 We have 13 kids home for 4 weeks this month. I'm so thankful for all the personalities. I'm thankful for quiet inspiration that helped solve some problems. With strategic curtain hanging we created enough darkness for sleeping and or privacy for dressing. The kids rearrange and share in the delight of older sisters. It is so good to become reacquainted. It is enormously pleasing to see and hear the growth. It is challenging to shift roles from boss to mentor/watching. 

We are thankful for her service and interest in each of the children here. We are so blessed to be together. Life is good.