Oh, Christmas Tree!

We drove into the forest to cut our Christmas tree again this year. We are helping with the thinning to prevent serious forest fires. It cost $5 for the permit and whatever gas we used as well as dinner at Pizza Hut when we were finished. Add to that, snow chains in case we got into some bad roads and some snacks to keep the kids from screaming us straight down the highway of insanity!


We didn't even get onto the highway until after 3:30, with an hour+ drive ahead of us. When we finally found a place to get out and pick our prize, it was the time of day that we should be leaving the mountain, not just starting out. We didn't take too long to make a choice. It was getting dark enough that we couldn't really see how good or bad the trees were. The toughest part of the adventure was the girls. I really think that there should be an age minimum for this tradition. Leah hasn't reached it yet.


So the kids had fun making snow angels as we packed up.













You can see Rebekah was having the time of her life. (She did smile after this picture.) You can also see how dark it was. Yes, we are idiots. Next year we need to leave by noon or reschedule. But we were blessed and had no problems past the screams from the back seat.



Here are the excited lumber jacks after a filling dinner of pizza and breadsticks. You can see that Nathan is very skilled at wearing his food on his face. (I'm embarrassed to admit that you could probably find food on his face almost any day.)













And tonight we put the tree up. Chad had to go shovel the church walks and then a meeting before an hour of scouts. That translates to = me vs. the kids to decorate the tree. It only took an hour to get the lights on (and off and on again, then off again and on for the thousandth time). I wanted to give up, but then Daniel admitted that he'd prayed I could get the lights working, so I perservered. Amidst a flood of phone calls, Rebekah rolling down the entire flight of stairs and the Young Women knocking on the door to perform service for their scavenger hunt, we finally got the tree decorated, teeth brushed and kids in bed. WHEW!

Unfortunately, the cat thinks it's a catnip tree rather than a pine tree. It's going to be a fun month!

Let the Holidays begin!

Christmas is just around the corner! I avoided the madhouse shopping experience, choosing to sleep in and sleep off Thanksgiving. But the radio is playing Christmas music 24/7 and inflatable Santas are expanding all over the place.


This weekend was the city's 2nd annual lighting ceremony. Daniel's singing group performed a few numbers before the mayor spoke and "turned on" the lights. The kids were all bundled up and looked comical in a cute holiday kind of way as they sang and did motions for their songs.


Here is a video of the kids singing a song from "Polar Express." Daniel is right there, center screen.

They even got a spot on the news...Daniel's 5 seconds of fame.

After the mayor spoke, and the lights were on, Santa showed up in a light-flashing, siren-blasting fire engine. Very impressive if you're a 6 year old boy! Here is Daniel telling the magic man that he wants train set with red lights and a truck. (He got a candy cane.)

Rebekah's Personality

Don't you wish you could take pictures in your mind and then download them onto your computer? Sometimes, that's the only camera I have on me when cute things happen. (Sometimes I don't even have that!)

Rebekah (nearly 15 months old already!) has started to show some of her personality. She likes to engage us in a game of Peek-A-Boo by smashing both hands flat against her nose and eyes and then quickly removing them. It's very cute, especially the look of anticipation on her face. She likes to climb up on the coffee table and then lunge at you from the edge while laughing hysterically. She perfected it tonight while my visiting teachers were here. She LOVES to carry hers and Leah's shoes all over the house and also finds great joy in pulling clothes from Leah's drawers to leave here and there. She expects to be able to brush her teeth when the other kids are and even makes a brushing motion. She doesn't like to be told no and cries loudly when offended. Her mouth opens crooked and her bottom lip slides far to the right bottom corner. It's actually fun to watch her pout and cry!

This Sunday Rebekah asserted her grown-up self and insisted on sitting on the steps leading to the stand in the chapel. It was a little before church started, so I let her sit a bit. But even when I brought her back to our seat, she quickly headed back to her step. She was very cute.

And now to the real reason I want to have a camera handy. Rebekah is really getting into her meals. We had pancakes Sunday night and by the time it was over, Rebekah had found out that her empty plate would actually stick to her head! She would put it up there and it looked just like a big beret. Even when she tipped her head down to study something else on her tray, the plate remained. She would peel it off and reposition it on occasion. Tonight it was pasta. The spaghetti sauce was all over her head and face. She loved to put her little bowl up on top of her head. Her expression was one of pure joy.

So although she hasn't actually spoken her first word (unless you want to count "bup" - her all-purpose response), she has become quite expressive and has told us much! Here's hoping that she doesn't wait as long as Nathan to start talking!

Break a Leg!

Daniel had his first TaVaci performance tonight. He was very cute up there on the risers. His sparkling gold vest twinkled along with the goofy bow tie that he and the rest of the boys were wearing. They sang to a packed crowd at the Idaho Falls Festival of Trees. If you've been to the Salt Lake Festival of Trees in the Salt Palace, you can imagine what this one looked like, except it was in the conference/ballroom of the Shilo Inn and was limited to about 30 trees. No comparison, really - but cheaper to get in!

Here is Daniel after his Tony Award winning performance. See the rosy glow from the spotlight?

Curious George and the monkeys

The library here had a bedtime storytime event centered around our favorite mischievious monkey.

The kids watch Curious George on TV sometimes. Leah calls him Monkey George. They had some drawings for prizes, art activities, ice cream and bananas in a cup, free books and a chance to take a picture with the monkey himself.

The picture makes me giggle. Nathan looks like he's trying to evaluate the monkey's credentials and you can see what Rebekah's evaluation was! Leah was almost sure she'd made a new friend. Daniel was too mature to go at first, but we talked him into it and it appears he enjoyed himself enough. It was a pretty fun night, but WAY crowded. I don't like crowds.

Leah was "reading" one of the books about Curious George tonight and sounding out his name. She was saying, "Cur-e-us-Geor-or-ga." It was funny. She's heard Daniel sound out tons of words, but she doesn't quite know how it goes.

Cereal Endorsement

Rebekah loves her Kix cereal!










A happy consumer!











Would General Mills like to hire us to promote their cereal? Rebekah needs college funding.

Recent projects

I've spent some time in my sewing room lately.

I was working on the November quilt blocks. These two patterns use the same initial design. The first one is a circle on a constrasting fabric square, cut in quarters, combined with another circle on a fabric square (also quartered)- with the colors reversed. The second block is the same but the squares and circles are made smaller and you make two of each set.

Beg.: Drunkard's Path

Adv.: Robbing Peter to Pay Paul, Indiana Puzzle, Mill Wheel
I don't know why there are so many different names. I haven't been able to find this block online with any of these names.

Some of you may know that I was working on a crocheted lace edge for my bedskirt. I started it WAY before Rebekah was born. I finished it in September this year. I think it took a year and a half or so. I dyed it in tea and finally got it on the bed! Here is a close up and a shot of the bed.

This is a close up of some machine quilting I recently finished. I did 60 of these and 20 large leaves in the large red squares (you can barely see it in the lower right corner).













And because I can't finish a project without starting a new one, here are the first two (of many to come) blocks in a quilt that I'm making for a friend here for Christmas.

She'll grow up someday

This morning Nathan, Leah and Rebekah were playing with the Little People and a dollhouse together. It was SO NICE that they were playing together and no one was fighting! Of course, Rebekah wandered in and out of the activity. There were other things that she found to do in between her playtime with her siblings.

Eventually, Nathan got tired of playing and walked away. This prompted Leah to inquire after him. I reminded her that she could still play with Rebekah. This was her response: "But her's not a brother, and her can't talk, and her isn't big enough and her can't play!"

Well, at least she thought it through!

Have I been Punked?

Last night was my single parent night. Chad was in Las Vegas. I made an easy dinner of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Before we even had prayer, Nathan had bumped his bowl twice, spilling soup each time. Leah and Daniel were determined to act out a Punch and Judy the entire dinner, and we'll not even mention how much Rebekah was enjoying her food!

When Leah went to the sink to put her bowl in after dinner, she missed. It took me a while to get there, but when I did I found a nice pile of dishes, soup and soggy saltine crackers. About the time I'm wiping up soup and cleaning the floor, I'm thinking, "Have I been Punked?" I replied to myself, "No, you just have 4 kids!" Maybe that's equivalent. I think it's the best prank I've ever pulled on myself!

So much for an easy dinner!

Fox Urine

Chad's parents write a weekly letter and email it to the family. We usually find something to comment about in the letters, but we have found the last letter to be particularly useful fodder. Apparently, they are having skunk problems and mentioned that they sent away for fox urine. Sent away for fox urine? Well, we had lots to suppose and speculate on last night! How exactly do you get the fox to give you the urine? Are there farms for this purpose? Will you now have to share it with the neighbors since your skunks are moving on? And where do you buy fox urine? Certainly not eBay...don't they have rules against that? (Don't be too sure.)

So we laughed about our lack of important things to discuss as we turned out the light last night.

It seems that there wasn't a lot of important things to discuss in the office this morning as the conversation eventually drifted to the subject. Just to add a visual, the drafter actually pulled it up on eBay. It was in a gallon jug. (Duh!) Suddenly, they realize that the guy they share the office with is meeting with a client right next to them (the partitions are only about 7 feet high). Did they joke around too loudly? Not that the guy noticed. Apparently, he's a big expert on fox urine, too. The conversation continued still! I think the guy was talking about how to get the urine from the poor animal when his wife walked by, prompting a strange look. The topic died around that time.

So now you, too, can go and have your own discussion on fox urine and see where it takes you! Here is a helpful link to get you started. You can thank me later.

Welcome, Baby Manna!

We have a new little addition to our family. Or at least, that's the rumor circulating around the communities. You may remember that I mentioned we received some formula samples. We've also received a sample diaper...size one. We have received a few mailers detailing the stages of development of newborn babies and just today we got a coupon for $5 off any purchase at a grocery store about 35 minutes out of town. Someone has started a very powerful rumor that we are now a family of seven.

So, I have decided to name the baby Manna. If you recall from your Bible reading, Manna translates to "What is it?" That's what I'd like to know! Maybe we'll receive another gift bib from our alma mater. If it's pink, I'll know Manna is a girl.

Just in case any of you are thinking this is my twisted way to announce that we DO have a baby coming, let me make it as clear as possible...NOT YET!

Writer's Block

I haven't posted much lately because I haven't felt that I had anything worth telling about. But maybe I'm wrong.

I could tell you about my fun laundry experiences.
The kids' bladders are still developing, thereby giving me many excuses to use my automatic washer and dryer. In some countries and less-fortunate homes in this country, people must wash their clothes by hand and leave them to air dry, regardless of the weather. I am so tickled to have a machine to do it for me. There is a drawback to such oppulance, though. I don't handle each piece of laundry so I don't discover the no-no's in the clothes until later. The kids are constantly surprising me with crayons. Sometimes I find them as I transfer the clothes to the dryer (good). Sometimes Daniel wears brand new shirts stained noticeably with greasy yellow crayon markings to school (bad). I'm grateful that his socks and underwear are less visible! If I was a parent of only one child, I might get worked up and labor extra hard to get the crayon out as much as possible. Luckily, I have 4 beautiful children and don't have to worry about such activities! Did you know it's possible for a hershey's kiss to come out of the washer, still in its "kiss" shape? I'm not too sure about the smarties. I'm hoping it was only a wrapper when it went into the wash, because that's all I found when I took it out.

I could tell you about Stake Conference.
We had our first broadcast for Stk. Conf. today. It covered around 70 stakes in the SE Idaho area. We sat on the hard chairs in the gym. Pres. Faust, Elder Oaks and Pres. Parkin were speakers. There was one more guy that I can't recall a name for. The lady who led the intermediate hymn was on fire! She must have been sipping a forbidden caffinated beverage before standing to lead us all in song. She succeeded in waking us all up, as we had to really concentrate to sing the words in time. We were relatively reverent. Rebekah had had her fill by the time we ended and I was glad Stk. Conf. only comes around twice a year. I look forward to the days when the kids will sit quietly and let me actually get something from the meeting besides a numb rear!

I could tell you about my sister visiting from SLC.
Amber and her 3 kids came for a visit this weekend. They arrived Friday night around 7 PM and stayed until this morning (Sunday). We had a lot of cousin play time and I think the kids all had fun (mostly). Amber and I snuck away to a whole wheat bread making class and left poor Chad to feed 7 kids lunch. (I fed them all breakfast, so I know exactly what he was up against!) So we got a free lunch of two kinds of bread, cinnamon rolls, pancakes and pizza - all made with the whole wheat bread dough. It's been a while since I ate that much whole wheat. I'll let you imagine the rest of the story. I'm glad Amber could visit. I appreciated a quieter house when she left. *wink*

I could tell you about losing my voice.
I got so frustrated with the boys on Friday that I yelled the deepest roar I could muster. It took about 10 seconds for me to lose my voice. It's Sunday and I still can't hit the highest notes in my normal range. I guess I really showed those kids who's boss!

I could tell you about the rest of my adventures.
If only they'd left a big enough impression on my mind that I could remember them. Truly, it's a sad, repetative life I'm creating for myself. I should do something just so that I could entertain you with it.

Made the switch.

I just switched from the old blogger to this new version. I don't know how that will affect any of the 5 or 6 people reading my ramblings on a semi-regular basis. Please let me know what problems you encounter or your opinions. Not that I can do anything about it, but you never know! Probe around and see what you can.

Pie anyone?

I cooked two medium pumpkins today and got over 20 cups of pumpkin. That's over 10 pumpkin pies. That's a lot of pies! While I was chopping, cooking, peeling and smashing the pumpkins I thought longingly of the Amish communities. They would take a mind-numbing activity like this and turn it into a social event. I wanted to invite someone over to work in the kitchen with me. Instead, I later invited a ward member over with her two youngest kids to play for an hour until the older kids got home from school. It was the best I could come up with. We don't know each other really well, considering we shared a backyard fence, so it was good to visit.

Daniel's parent/teacher conference was yesterday. His teacher used the word "super" a lot. I guess he's pretty super at school. I'm glad to know he's well-behaved when I can't reach over and pinch him back into good behavior! He's doing really well, academically and socially. We have really tried to emphasize having a good name with the kids. We are the only ones with our last name in our town. We don't want to tarnish it!

Nathan gave his first talk in Primary this Sunday past. He's the first one of the kids to give one and it was only because someone else couldn't do it. He did really well. I really noticed his speech problems during his talk. We'll work on that. Anyway, he really impressed his Primary teachers who weren't even sure he could talk! He went on to challenge their hearts by agreeing to give the prayer in class. If only he'd be so quiet at home.

So today was Election Day. Chad and I voted this morning. It's really hard to believe that our votes make a difference in an area like ours. We sure aren't adding any votes that would make any changes. But still, it's a freedom that comes with a high cost, so we don't ignore it!

I've already picked my Thanksgiving turkey!

Daniel was out of school Friday, so I drove down to Salt Lake with the kids on Thursday afternoon to spend the night at Grandma's and go to the zoo on Friday. We went with Grandma and our cousin Caitlin.

It was a little drizzly in the morning, but it cleared up about 10 minutes into our visit. This big stone ball on a water pedestal really captured the kids' attention. I eventually pried them off (I actually had to grab Daniel by the jacket collar) to keep them from soaking themselves during the first moments of our visit. We saw gorillas and giraffes ("joy-raffes" if you're asking Leah) among bears, meerkats and rhinos.

It was amusing (and at the same time, it wasn't) that my kids were trying to measure up to a gorilla.

At the end of our gazing and admiring, we stopped at the zoo's "Beast"ro for lunch. All the kids had corn dogs. (By the way, at $2 a corn dog, you'd think they would be something a kid could actually bite into. These were half rubber!) I am used to seagulls in Utah. Utahns with pioneer heritage even have a special love for these noisy scavengers. There were signs on the tables asking diners not to feed the seagulls. (Kind of like kids and candy...one piece is NOT ok.) So I was a little surprised to see a turkey come strutting through the tables and chairs, followed by a few other gobbler gang members.

Daniel couldn't resist throwing them a french fry (no loss there, either...what did they fry those things in anyway?) WELL! Seagulls and turkeys have much in common when it comes to scavenging! Before we knew it, a late-in-life fowl had picked Nathan's nearly-new corn dog right from the table! Grandma stomped off after it. Nathan's corn dog got stripped down to the skinny and he had a hot dog on a stick. Now there was a lot of yelling coming from the table as little people tried to protect their lunches.

I had Rebekah on my lap while she munched on the stolen crown of her cousin's corn dog. Without warning an ill-mannered turkey plucked it from her hand and started shaking it violently to break it up (remember, these corn dog are half rubber). Now my mother-bear instincts kick in and I kicked that turkey right under his tail feathers! Have you ever heard the distress call of a turkey? In that moment, I chose and marked my turkey for Thanksgiving this year. I half-wished some zoo keepers would come out to yell at me so I could yell at them for having scavengers with such expensive tastes roaming free around the dining area, attacking small children!

So, I guess you could say I goosed a turkey. I put it in my list of "Things to do before I die" and then checked if off!

We also took the opportunity to visit Grandpa Peterson at his house Thursday afternoon. We were very glad to get out of our seats after 216 miles of traveling to play with Grandpa and his toys. Thank you for the fun and the ice cream, Grandpa! We love you!

(Speaking of turkeys and geese, get a gander of that striped one on the right!)

Post Halloween

Well, it was a glorious, sugar-filled holiday. Of course, we are still buried in the mounds of confections we gleaned this sub-spiritual night. Just peek at our bounty! Our littlest pirate quickly developed an intense love of candy. After she discovered that MaryJanes didn't need to be unwrapped to extract the lovely goodness, I was picking up soggy, oozing mangled MJs throughout the room. And how have we behaved since our unsaintly binging on this unhallowed night? We need to hurry and eat all the candy, have a NASTY week of misbehaved children and then get back to regularly misbehaved children. Just in time for Christmas plates to start their regular deliveries.

I had the Halloween boxes packed and put back into the storage room with 48 hours of the last haunting. My living room seems much bigger now.

And now we bid a grateful Farewell to Halloween.
The END!