Christmas to Remember

What did we get for Christmas? The news of TWINS!

Now we are enjoying quiet down time and I've introduced my kids to The Cosby Show. They love it, and I love that they love it.

Christmas Concert

The kids had the Christmas concert tonight---Sariah's first. She was so excited, and she did a great job. Her solo, "Strike the harp and join the chorus" was a one line joy to James and I.

The other day when I went to talk to her when she was sitting on on her bed as a consequence I asked, "Sariah, do you know why you are sitting on your bed?"

She answered in her airy voice, "It is my destiny."

I hope not. But she's always good for a laugh.

Projects, projects, projects. 10 days as of tomorrow. Headed to the sewing machine now.

Dozen a Day

Haven't been on the internet much lately. On November 8th the YW leaders and I took on the challenge with the Young Women to read a dozen pages of the Book of Mormon every day. Doing so will put us finishing the Book of Mormon by Christmas---our gift to the Savior on the day we celebrate His birth. Needless to say, I'm reading, reading, reading.

Thanksgiving

About 23 years ago someone left a live turkey in a box on our doorstep. One of the infamous family movies is the event of butchering that turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. Somehow, my brother Kase was inspired to re-enact that event this Thanksgiving. He probably wanted to impress his girlfriend. I think she did most of the impressing. She was the one who ended up with the ax come butcher time. Anyway, that was the buzz this Thanksgiving --- a 35 pound turkey!

Enjoyed time with family.

James had to take the toilet apart due to a tongue depressor taking a dive.

The day before Thanksgiving, he spent 6 hours shoveling a football field so Kamiakin could play their state semi-final game. Thank goodness they won.

Tonight, our Christmas tree went up. James and I pretty much sat back and let the kids go at it. They loved it, and so did we.

SNOW!

Yesterday we woke up to a blanket of white. The kids jumped out of bed as James and I sang, "Let is Snow" to them. I was in the attic at 6:45am searching for snowsuits.

Hyrum's first solo debut in the snow.

With school cancelled we've been working on our Christmas projects.

Friday night, as part of our ward temple week, we took the kids to the Columbia River Temple. It was cold, but we took the time to walk around. As we rounded each corner and looked up, Sariah would say, "It's Angel Ramoni!"

Picture Perfect

Of course in my mind as I think of projects for the kids and I to work on I always have this mental image of peace and working together in complete harmony. It rarely turns out so picturesque but we keep trying.

Today for a few moments in the cold garage, Bryant and Sariah worked nicely by sanding the wood cut-outs I was cutting out on the jigsaw. There was Christmas music playing, and although it didn't last long (extremely quick sanding jobs) it was perfect for a little while.

On the Mend

My plan on Veteran's Day was to take the kids to the Veteran's Memorial on the Columbia River and then to the craft store where they were each going to choose some paint colors for our Christmas project. Instead, we spent a miserable day lying around after we had spent the night throwing up. James was the only one spared through the night and he took care of the rest of us all during the night and throughout the day... until it got him too mid-afternoon. Not a soul spared. Fortunately, the wars, although horrible horrible left a few more "survivors".

I'm so glad the boys were able to be a part of some magnificent Veteran's Day Assemblies at their school, Talmage having memorized the Preamble to the Constitution. Their grandpas served honorably, and I hope that the liberties they fought for can be appreciated by these young boys.

Thank you to all to whom we owe our freedom.

Bliss

On the trip back to Utah from Washington after we were engaged, we couldn't help pull off the interstate and take a picture with this sign.

(The camera was on the hood of our car, hence the "tipping" effect.)

We really were in "bliss".

We've passed that sign many times, and always remember that time in our lives. Sometimes, with a van load of hungry kids who feel like they've been in straight jackets for over 7 hours, the feeling isn't quite the same.

However, living with James is bliss. He makes us all very happy. And I don't mind when he brings me home reminders.


(See love, I told you I blog about you all the time.)

All I Want for Christmas

At lunch today, now that Sariah has cut and pasted pages two and three of her Christmas wish list together, she said to me, "Mom, what do you want for Christmas...helpful, obedient kids?"

I responded, "I would love that!"

She laughed, "Well you're never gonna get that. You'd have to get all new kids!" Laugh. Laugh.

What could I do but laugh with her?

Have I mentioned I love crockpots?


Not only do they cook delicious food, but I can prepare dinner during the quiet afternoon instead of during the chaotic 4 o'clock hour. Tonight: Homemade chicken noodle soup. Perfect for such a cold day like today.

If anyone else has a favorite (simple) crockpot recipe, I'd be very interested in it.

Standard Time

Too bad kids don't "turn back" their internal clocks when we turn back our alarms. Notice the time on this post---and we've all been up for an hour.

(continued later) I had to scoop this sweet thing out of his peaceful slumber (waking babies is cardinal sin at our house) to make it to church on time.

Family, Isn't it about TIME?

When Sariah woke up for a drink of water at 4:15 this morning and I couldn't go back to sleep, I decided not to waste the time in bed thinking about projects. After doing my favorite morning thing, (some time in the scriptures) I pulled out a Christmas CD and headed for, the scroll saw, belt sander, and chop saw in the garage.

My sister Haley and her sisters-in-law are doing a craft day together so I've been helping her cut out the wood letter blocks for one of the projects. I really enjoy woodworking. Although I am a novice I dream of building the cabinets in the home we build someday.

Just as fun as that was the 1/2 hour or so Sariah and I spent at Wendy's eating Frosties and putting a princess puzzle together. She needed some attention and it seemed to do the trick.

Mending

Conquered the "mending pile" today so that I can start on Christmas sewing projects without fighting the mountian.

For our "school time" this morning, I helped Sariah write her letter to Santa. It says:

Dear Santa,

Thank you for the Barbie computer. I love it. This year I am wishing for a tutu and a beautiful dress, and jewelry. And maybe one of these [see pictures]

Sariah Hales

Miss Him

This morning Sariah asked me for some tape. A little leery of its purpose, I asked, "what kind of tape?" She replied, "The sticky kind." I should have known.

Dropped James off at his meeting place at 6:50 this morning. He'll be gone for 3 days. Don't know if he has telephone access, but I'm hoping he'll call.

Perks

I suppose nearly every job has its "perks." Here are those perks of my job I have noticed today.

Bryant wanted to sit by me while I was helping in his classroom.

Talmage gave me a big hug and kiss in front of all his 9 year-old peers before I left his classroom.

Hyrum picked his nap time story and snuggled up in my lap to have it read to him.

Sariah gave my hand three squeezes ("I Love You") as she lay down for her nap.

It may not be a high paying job, but the perks put any other job to shame.

What LUCK!

I finally finished the remaining, and significant, day of our trip, August 28, 2010.

You wouldn't believe what the boys found on the road up to school this morning.


Interestingly, they left broke and happy. Now that they are $50 dollars richer they are in tears and arguing over the spoils. Interesting that I read this talk as part of my scripture study today. Wish I could figure out how to impart the principles to young boys.

Harvest's End

Right now, my kids are snuggled up on couches and on the floor in the living room, falling asleep to Pandora's Christmas radio. (I love Celine Delion's Oh Holy Night. Absolutely amazing that that kind of sound can come from a human.)

Last night we carved our pumpkins---four this year.

(Can you tell whose is whose? You can't see the metallic pipe cleaner
curls on the one with eyelashes.)

Today was the last day of pumpkin sales. Amazingly, every last one sold, even the "Quasimodos" that we were about to trash. At the beginning of the week, the boys figured out how much they would have to make in order break $1000 in their mission funds and still have enough for tithing and a small gift for Grandpa and the Perkes Family (those who help us immensely in this project). They figured they would have to make $210 this week. They prayed that they could make $210. Tonight they counted up their money. It came out to $209 and change. Can you believe that? They both broke $1000 in their mission fund. (Bryant actually pitched in $13 of his "fun money" since for some reason he was $13 short from years previous.)

Dividing the hard-earned cash and figuring tithing.

This morning we declared war on the back yard. Cleaning out the shed. Cutting back all the plants and flowers. Putting away all the planters, fire pit, and patio furniture. It took all day, but it's a beautiful sight. One part was sorting and storing my harvest spoils. Here's a picture of the "broom corn" I mentioned. Sadly, the picture doesn't do the richness of the colors justice.

Broom corn tassles.

I'm waiting to see how they dry before I jump into the project I've concocted for their display.

Tonight we went to the ward Trunk or Treat. (I've yet to take a picture of the kids in their costumes and we've dressed up twice.) Since Halloween falls on Sunday this year, that is the extent of trick-or-treating. We'll head out to Grandpa and Grandma's tomorrow to avoid the onslaught of trick-or-treaters and have pumpkin pie instead.

Thursday night and Friday night, Bryant fell asleep completely dressed. It made me reflect on Bryant's style, which is: going to sleep fully dressed so he doesn't have to change his clothes in the morning; sleeping on top of his covers so he doesn't have to make his bed; favorite haircut = a buzz, requires no combing.

Things not as they seem.

Today we hauled our last load of pumpkins. With a little bit of musical vehicles, I was able to take both Hyrum and Sariah in "Squirt"---Grandpa's little white pick-up that has three seat belts. That's the funnest part, to all sit together. Sariah informed me, "Since I'm five, I know everything." That was followed by, "When I'm ten I'll go to college."

At the patch, it wasn't quite so gleeful. It was raining and I had two very muddy kids, one of whom kept getting tangled in the vines and crying. I wasn't too sad that it was the last load.

We then went to Grandma's house, but there was no Grandma. Grandma's house isn't the same without Grandma. A little bit of lunch and then we snuck away to the "guest room".

The guest room includes a crib but since Hyrum "knows better" now and the floor is hardwood I decided to try his first nap in a bed. He was so tired it worked. It was hard for me to crawl out from between these two snuggly bugglies to go do what I needed to do to finish up the harvest of indian and broom corn.

Not a great photo, but I didn't want the flash because it negated the whole dark and cozy effect of this snuggly afternoon at Grandma's house.

We got home just before the boys. Bryant was in tears. He'd accidentally banged into a fence on the way home and broke it. Of course it was the fence of the man who yelled at Sariah when she was just a wee three-year-old in pigtails when she held out her hand to feel the rhythmic tapping as she walked by. Bryant was crushed and I wasn't excited about going to make amends, but we both knew what needed to happen. When we got there I discovered he had simply slipped some vinyl off of some blocking, but as meticulous as this man is, it was obvious he had already noticed. We continued our approach. We had to wait for the power tools to cease so he could hear our knock on the wood shop door. We were both relieved when none other than the good St. Nick answered the door. He was so kind, grateful for the apology, forgiving, inquisitive about how school was going for Bryant... He said us he'd show us to the gate. As we were leaving he said, "You're not going to have any more kids are you?" (Sariah and Hyrum were with us.) Smiling I responded, "I hope so, we sure love 'em." He said, "Three is quite enough." At this point Bryant tried to inform him there are actually four, but I don't think he heard. I smiled all the broader. In fact, I smiled all the way home. Sometimes, things just aren't as they seem.

Didn't even make it to pack night tonight. Bryant was out of sorts at 6:15 and was on a time-out on his bed when he fell asleep. Talmage had a toothache (I hope it's just a loose tooth) and it was obvious a few late nights of homework were working on his stamina. With James gone, I just threw in the towel and called it an early-to-bed night.

Hyrum wouldn't give up scratching at the door after he was put to bed. I laid him on Sariah's bed and watched him fight his heavy eyelids until they won the battle.

James was so relieved that his group meeting for his class was changed from Starbucks to the public library. He really didn't want to meet in Starbucks.

"All Creatures (and creations) of our God and King"

I think autumn may reveal some of God' greatest creativity.

I try to show it off as best I can:

My creativity doesn't compare to The Great Creator's, but I enjoy trying.

Around Here:

Sariah is now feeling confident riding her bike without training wheels. She was at it for quite awhile in the cold wind at the church parking lot while Hyrum and I watched from the warmth of the van. (Actually, I was following his trail mix trail with a diaper wipe.)

Talmage kicked a home run in kickball today and had us all laughing at the dinner table with his play by play. The Reptile Guy came to his school today for an assembly. Talmage's report, "The rattlesnake was very friendly. I think I saw him smile."

Bryant read a Beast Quest Book that Talmage brought home from school and now he says he can't go to sleep. He was fascinated with his own little blue cornstarch and water science experiment he executed as I made dinner.

Hyrum thinks he can get away with climbing on the table with his puppy dog eyes and puppy dog bark. He is now falling asleep like this:

From time to time, he and Sariah play together. Yesterday, he was her bus driver.
(The bed was the bus.) :

Scratch that bit about Hyrum not having the dexterity to turn a doorknob. Amazingly, he stayed in his bed for naps and now bedtime today. (That is, after I held the doorknob last night until he crashed on the floor. It wasn't much of a fight. He didn't take a nap all day yesterday because he wouldn't stay in his bed, and he was exhausted.)

He wins the precious moment of the day award though. At dinner, James called on him to say the blessing on the food. James prompted him, "close your eyes." With the pointer finger on each had he physically pressed his eyelids closed.

Yesterday, James was trying to get him to say, "Holy Cow!" James said, "say Holy Cow." Hyrum responded, "Moooo!"

Tonight's FHE activity is a favorite --- ding-dong-ditching. We delivered Halloween cookies to each of their teachers, the primary president, and the primary chorister as we had a lesson en route on gratitude. Each child used bat, pumpkin, and ghost stamps to make a card that read, "What do ghosts say the week of Halloween?" Inside: "Boo and thank you." Yesterday, was the primary program and we were very grateful for their primary teachers and leaders and all the hard work they did to help them share their testimonies of Jesus Christ through word and song.

Jail Break

Guess who showed up in our bed this morning all of his own accord! That would be Hyrum. Yes, the crib is no longer an obstacle for him. Actually, I'm surprised that my little monkey has taken this long to check this one off his list. For months now he has been climbing bunkbeds and ladders. A couple weeks ago he scaled right up the sheer surface of my kitchen cabinets to sit on the counter. Quite regularly, I find him dangling precariously from high places. Now we have a brand new challenge. Our only saving grace may be that he has not yet developed the dexterity to turn a door knob.

Rearview Mirror

My rear view mirror reveals much from time to time. Today was a classic. Sariah singing the Christmas carol "Fa, la, la, la, la" and Hyrum trying to sing along.

Project Outcome

This is the final product (times four). Jen, this is how they were designed (forgot to tell you that), but of course you can do with them how you please.

My upbringing questioned

Yesterday morning we (I say "we" because I can't seem to cook lately without four little hands in the middle of it all) were making whole wheat pancakes for breakfast. Sariah asked me if my mom taught me how to make them. I told her it was actually one of Aunt Jennifer's recipes. In reference to my upbringing, she responded incredulously, "Who grewed you?"

By the way...pumpkin butter and whip cream on whole wheat pancakes is like pumpkin pie for breakfast!

James and Bryant went out for another load of pumpkins after I had been out on Thursday and James and Sariah had been out on Monday. Thanks to the generosity of the Perkes family the kids mission fund project can continue now that our patch at grandpa's is empty.

They harvested all the gourds before it freezes hard. Hyrum was having a lot of fun cleaning them.

Fancy Nancy

Sariah and I both love Fancy Nancy books.

Sariah has decided to be Fancy Nancy for Halloween.
(That's great news for the costume maker.)

Before bed tonight we read a Fancy Nancy book.
As I was tucking Sariah in, she said, "On my birthday, I was 'almost overjoyed.'"

On her birthday, I was overjoyed. Here's why:

Like I said, I spent the morning with this pleasant little lady hiking Badger Mountain
at her request. A week and a half ago I hiked Badger Mountain with the YW on our third annual "virtue hike" as we recommitted ourselves to living virtuous lives. As a tradition, each YW makes a flag---her banner, her ensign as her personal commitment to virtue. Sariah wanted to do the same.

On the morning of her birthday she made her flag (white muslin on a dowel)---a drawing of herself, standing by the temple, sun shining, grass growing.



I watched her skip, draw in the wet dirt, throw pebbles in puddles, pick flowers, watch bugs, climb rocks, drag sticks, tippy toe, eat 4 granola bars, grin from ear to ear.


Sariah reminding me to "stop and smell the flowers".

I heard her sing, and make such profound statements as: "I have no one to talk to." referring to the very moment she was chatting my ear off.

She would stop every hundred yards or so, ask for her flag, hold it up to her eye like a telescope and move it around until the far end of it was touching the temple. (It is quite the panoramic view from Badger and without a way to focus on a specific area it was very difficult for her to "find" the temple. But using this method, she easily could spot the temple.) It was so symbolic to me that her commitment to virtue was the tool that kept her focused on the temple.



Me and my girlfriend for life.

I also realized more than any gift I could have given her, the gift of time together was the most fun and will be the most memorable for both of us. I resolved to do the same with each of my children on their birthdays. Why didn't I think of this before?

I learned so much today.

Happy Birthday Sariah! (Special treatment: going to get a load of pumpkins
with Dad in the pick-up.)

Five years ago today, one of my best friends was born.

When she was very little, I was pushing her in the baby swing outside. As I watched her delight, and felt my own, I had a feeling come over me that I'll describe as "total contentment." Somehow, that little person made me feel so complete and and happy.

I hope God's plan includes more daughters for our family. If it doesn't though, this little lady is more than I ever hoped for in a little friend. I hope and pray that we will always be close.

For her birthday, Sariah wanted to hike Badger Mountain. I left Hyrum with a sweet friend and spent a long morning with Sariah, just the two of us. I learned "mountains". I hope to be able to put it into words tomorrow.

"A house of order"

Not my house, God's house.

I feel so grateful to be a part of Heavenly Father's true church and equally as grateful that he has organized it so perfectly through his talented and competent sons and daughters.

Last Sunday, we said good-bye to our dear friends and great neighbors as they headed to their new home in Arizona.

Confident in the members of the church, we had told them we wanted to do whatever we could to help the gargantuan task of moving a little lighter.

The previous Thursday I had made a few phone calls and on Friday, there was a crew of brethren to help our neighbors load their moving truck. It was loaded in a little over an hour.

James went here, lds.org/find a meetinghouse, to find out who the Bishop is of the area where they were moving. We called him and left a message. He returned the phone call. I told him how much we loved this couple and hoped that he could help them feel welcome on the other end. He told me they would take good care of them.

The next morning, I received a phone call from a sister in the ward who had been given the information about our neighbors moving in. I told her how much we loved this couple and she said she would see what she could do to help.

Today there was a message on our answering machine from our neighbor. He said there was a crew of brethren there this morning to unload. They were done in about an hour. Tonight some sisters are bringing them dinner.

How I love being a part of this church and they way it takes care of God's children---all over the world!

Sick Day

Yesterday, Bryant woke up with a fever.

It didn't last long. By lunch, he was trying as hard as he could to wipe the ear to ear grin off his face and look sick in this photo. He knew he was doing something that
no one, ever,
does in our bed.

In the meantime, Sariah and Hyrum were loving an October picnic.
(Me too, no crumbs to sweep.)

By afternoon, Bryant was selling pumpkins and riding bikes.
(He managed to flatten both of his tires.)

I'm grateful he wasn't sick for long.

Today, everyone was back to normal as you can see.

6 o'clock am

Perhaps Never Again...

Perhaps never again will we do both of the following on the same day:

Harvest Pumpkins, and

Night Swimming! On October 2nd! By floodlight!

We roused the troops nice and early to make it out to Grandpa's farm to harvest pumpkins before the first session of Conference at 9am. It was a picturesque morning.

This picture belongs in a Country Magazine if I say so myself.

They made their first sales this afternoon. Come and get them while supplies last.


Thanks to the man behind it all...

He brings out the best in everybody,

always has a "tickle bug" handy for a grumpy face,

and will don his swimsuit on October 2nd for his kids.

He said I made him do it, but I never said a word.

Can you tell I finally figured out how to

center,

and change the font size and style and color?

Fabulous Friday

Fridays are just fabulous, that's all there is to it. James comes home without a deadline the next morning and we all have homemade pizza. (Except for tonight. I'm headed up Badger Mountain with the Young Women for our 3rd annual Virtue Hike. It's probably Little Ceasar's for this crowd.)

I completed my post for 082710 if you are still following our trip.

It's the first weekend in October. That means two great things. This and Pumpkin Harvest.

Thankful Thursday

(I finished 8/26/10 of our trip.)

For over four years I've been stumped as to the perfect alliteration with which to send my boys out the door on Thursday. Today, even as I was giving them their good-bye kisses, it came out my mouth. "Have a thankful Thursday boys, find someone to say thank you to." This is my favorite farewell alliteration because I truly and deeply believe that when we "live with a spirit of thanksgiving...[we] will have greater satisfaction and happiness in life." (FTSoY)

Have you ever wondered what 500 hot dogs buns looks like?



James will be BBQing 500 hotdogs for lunch today. It's the seminary invite-a-friend Homecoming BBQ. He has averaged less than 5 hours of sleep this entire week staying up late and waking up early to read for his class. This afternoon he will cram in writing a paper due at 5:45 tonight before his class. Thank you James for all you do on this thankful Thursday.

I heard about this on the radio last week and it caught my attention. A 60 day diet of 20 potatoes a day. I couldn't do it, but I'm interested to see how it goes for him.

Wonderful Wednesday

"Have a wonderful Wednesday" is my farewell to the boys on this day of the week. This morning, no loose chains, and not nearly the rush. After they were so late yesterday, we woke them up 15 minutes earlier and they had to be dressed for scripture study.

Generally, it is coax and drag, drag and coax to get them out of bed and into the living room by 6:15 for family scripture study.

Except this guy. He wakes up crying to get out of bed and into the living room.



Can't you just read his little mind, "I just don't understand this stuff, maybe it's because I don't speak English yet."

On a different note. The last few weeks we've been able to hear a rooster crowing. I've loved it. Apparently not everyone in the neighborhood did. The neighbor boy came and told us they had to kill their rooster. We didn't even know it was his. So much for my country wake up call.

That leads me to another reality. We've lived peacefully and for 7 years without a constant entourage of neighborhood kids knocking at the door. Those peaceful years may be over. This afternoon I had kids walking in the door without even bothering to knock, and others knocking that I'd never even seen before. Fortunately, when it was time to go home, the kids who were playing in the house were kind enough to help clean up.