One year on the farm

October 29th was our one-year mark for living in the new house. It doesn't seem like it's been that long! We've turned into quite the little farm in that year.

We've finally been enjoying eggs from the chickens. This is the 2nd container full of these beautiful brown babies. We have 12 hens, but average about 4-5 eggs a day so far. We got 6 eggs one day this week. We've already given one dozen away!

Leah learned that if you hit the egg on your forehead, it will crack (the egg, not your forehead). It made her cry. I think she thought she was in trouble. Often times, the chickens will peck at the eggs and crack them anyway. But let that be a lesson to all of you...no hitting your heads with eggs!

We recently got 3 more cows in the corral. I know some of you are shocked and some are just slowing shaking your heads. The cows are part ours and part Chad's business partner. That brings us up to 5 head. (Sounds so farmer-ish, right?) All 3 are steers (males that can no longer be daddies). They are much more vocal than the two we already had. I'm sure the neighbors are glad.

Here's a little picture of the "farm" one year after we moved in. It's already outdated, though. We butchered one of the roosters, so we really on have 13 chickens. We hope to be down to 12 soon, when we get rid of the second rooster. Roosters are pesky things.

The kids have enjoyed playing in the pasture all summer. Here is one last shot before the snows come in and bury all the tall grass under a couple of feet.

And isn't this a beautiful sunset? I'm really glad we live here.

Carving pumpkins

We carved pumpkins for FHE a couple of weeks ago. The kids had a lot of fun.

Joseph especially liked the pumpkin tops.


We took the jack-o-lanterns outside and lit the candles. In the dark of the night, you could suddenly hear howling. This is what the flash of the camera caught in the darkness. Crazy kids. I wonder how many neighbors heard them.

We made these t-shirts earlier this month, too. The kids had fun deciding where the rubber bands would go. Joseph wasn't in the mood for pictures.

Happy Halloween, Everyone!

Saying Good-bye

Our friends lost their oldest daughter, Kiersten, 15 days ago. She died in her sleep. I think it's assumed that she had a seizure.

We had just been together the Friday before to go to dinner while their daughter stayed with our kids. We talked of her epilepsy and how she was expected to eventually out grow it. It was a very normal conversation. We returned to the house to find her chasing/being chased up and down the stairs with the kids. She plopped down on the couch and visited with us, out of breath and smiling so big. Everyone was hyped up!

My heart broke for her family. She was 13 years old and had 4 younger siblings; the family is close. Kiersten was a good young lady. She left this life with no regrets and nothing amiss.

It has given me renewed vision of the Plan of Salvation and eternal families. I have been appreciating my children more...even their annoying little songs they are constantly making up. We never know when it will be time to say "good-bye."

Rebekah and Leah don't completely understand what has happened. Rebekah knows that they are sad though, and she prays for them almost every time it's her turn for prayer.

We will miss Kiersten.

If you want to learn more of Kiersten's life, you can follow this link.

Leaf me Bee!

It's Fall and that's what leaves do. They fell all over our yard! We raked them into piles and eventually got them onto the garden, but here's what happened in the meantime.

The boys had a GRAND time completely burying each other and then saying, "1, 2, 3, the Sandman awakes!" At that point, the buried boy would POP out of the leaves. Very interesting game. Leah eventually joined them, but she "requested" that her face not be completely covered. And then it changed from 'Sandman' to 'Leaf Boy/Girl'.


















I was a little surprised to load the pictures on the computer and get a closer look of this one. There is a bee (wasp?) on that green leaf right over Nathan's eye. I haven't shown him yet. It's actually dangerous to play in leaves!

















Joseph didn't like sitting in the leaves. It was really amusing to see him sitting in the leaves with Rebekah...how does he get his leg so high without falling backwards?


































Here is a shot of all the kids. It was almost a great picture. If only Leah hadn't been pouting. And Nathan had been looking.

Straw Maze

We went to a straw maze in Rexburg at the beginning of the month. (Aren't you glad I'm sharing this adventure before it's old news?) We drove up for FHE and had some fun getting lost for a little while. I am of the opinion that straw mazes are much safer than corn mazes because the ground is a little more level. My sister had an unfortunate experience in a corn maze this week.

I think this maze was supposed to be spooky. We got there the 3rd day it was open and they may have been still gathering spooky props. There were spooky sounds being played on speakers and it looked like there were strobe lights for when it got dark. Other than that, this rubber hand sticking out of the straw was as scary as it got. I think Rebekah was glad.


Maybe she was still feeling a little creeped out and that's why she wouldn't pose with the other for this picture. Or maybe it's just because Rebekah doesn't like to be told what to do.



The maze had a lot of Dead Ends. We found every one of them.




Joseph enjoyed the maze from the back pack. Doesn't he look thrilled?


There were a lot of fun cracks to slip into, as long as you were smaller than the cracks. Unfortunately, I was not.






The only casualty was when the straw bales fell onto Daniel. OK. They didn't really, but he wanted you to think they did. (It's really just another crack!)


It was a fun FHE and a great way to start of the Fall season. We went home and had hot chocolate.

Joseph - Apples and Tears

BEFORE: Here is Joseph. Sweet little boy. What an angelic look on his face. He has been blessed with strong feelings on certain matters. He has strong feelings about hearing the word, "No."



DURING: Here is Joseph. Mad little boy. He wanted to eat that sandal. Guess what I said to him? He is really pouring his whole soul into his disappointment.

AFTER: Here is Joseph. Sad little boy. He's coming to Mommy for a hug. Who could resist such a face? Not I.

I can't believe he's going to have his first birthday in less than 2 weeks! Where has the time gone?

We had a load of apples earlier this month. We picked them from our neighbor's tree. We got a lot of apple pie filling, apple slices, apple sauce and apple juice. And can you believe it? We only got one WORM! :) But he's a cute worm.

I think the look on his face here says, "Why exactly did you want to lay me down on these hard apples?" I don't know. I was trying to create a cute scrapbooking photo. I'm not sure I accomplished my goal, but it's at least a unique shot!

Card Sharks

The kids found a way to entertain themselves one day. Daniel came to me and told me to come into the hallway and bring my camera - I was really going to like it. This is what they had to show me. And then they all posed with their arms behind their backs to mimic the robot. They were so proud of themselves!


The next day, Nathan made a pumpkin and requested I take another picture. I bet the people who made Five Crowns never dreamed up this game to play with their cards!

Three cheers for creativity and quietly busy children.

Boys or Girls?

We were shopping at Wal-Mart this evening...all 7 of us. We passed a woman who wondered how we did it. (I told her we don't - that's why we're yelling so much!) She remarked that she'd just had her 3rd baby and wasn't sure how she was going to handle it. Then she asked which was easier...boys or girls?

As soon as the question was out of her mouth, Rebekah knocked a glass jar of applesauce to the floor and made a big mess. (Who forgot to tell her that the shelves aren't for climbing?) I answered, "Well, I guess that would be boys." Luckily, she laughed. And then the nice Wal-Mart people cleaned up after us.

Halloween Carnival

Last night was the ward Halloween Carnival. The Primary did the games and the Elders' Quorum was in charge of the food. Chad ordered 200 pieces of chicken, 200 rolls and picked up 10 gallons of drink. It was requested that everyone bring a side dish. We ran out of chicken before we ran out of people in line. Apparently, Halloween is a big time for inviting your grandchildren and for less-actives to make it out to church. I was pouring drinks and didn't recognize at least 1/3 of the people there. They were setting out extra tables and chairs and the people just kept coming! I was wondering if there was a sign out on the road advertising the fun!

Anyway, the kids had more fun than they even expected to. We were there to the end, helping clean up. I was very tired when we got home. But I was glad that the Halloween costumes were finished. (Now I can sit and relax all next week!! ha)

Here are the kids in their costumes. We had two members of royalty as well as two clowns this year. The bee costume was so big on Rebekah, that I image she'll be wearing it next year (if we can convince her that it's a good idea).














There were lots of activities there...

Face Painting (it's beads...don't know why she wanted that, but it's what she requested)





Sugar cookie decorating






Donut eating...off the string (Rebekah cheated)







Mini Golf








Pumpkin Bowling












There was a fishing pond and a candy walk, too. (You don't get a picture of everything!)
Joseph's favorite part of the night was the custom stroller ride. It sure would be easier on the "horse" if he would sit in the stroller the right way! Joseph also enjoyed some dinner off the floor. We'd like to thank the little boy who spilled his pasta salad on the way to his seat. Nothin' beats "home cookin'" at the church!

Oh, actually, this was Joseph's favorite part. He likes to be carried around. See how comfortable he gets? Fortunately, he's starting to accept Daddy sometimes. I had bugs in my hair (I go all out for Halloween.)

And there you have it. I feel like Halloween is over now. It's only the 25th of October!

Speed Scrap

I was out for a bit this evening and got home just in time for Chad to run to the church to help set up for tomorrow's Halloween Carnival. I sat down to nurse Joseph and check email when I happened upon a speed scrap at one of my regular digital scrapbooking haunts.


A speed scrap (for those of you who don't know) comes in two parts. The first part is when an instruction for building your layout is given in regular intervals (one rule every 10-15 minutes). After all the instructions have been given...this is usually the first hour...you then have another hour (or whatever the instructor has chosen) to finish your LO and upload it to the site.


When I logged into the site, there were 45 minutes to go. I surprised myself by getting Joseph to bed and being able to get the LO posted in time. Forty-five minutes may seem like a long time, but you'd be surprised how quickly it passes! Anyway, this is what I ended up with. It's simple, but I was pressed for time! :)

Credits

Here were our instructions:

Instruction #1 Find three photos and crop them into 3 equal long skinny rectangles.

Instruction #2 Align the 3 skinny RECTANGLES together into a squar-ish shape (I say squarish because I know it won't be a perfect square). Then place them off center on your page and stitch them down.

Instruction #3 You must use the color orange on your LO. It can be on the BG paper, an element, a flower, a title, anything.

Instruction #4 Use journal strips on your page and use a "not so common" font on them. Like not century, times, etc. Download something fun! Cool font site: http://www.dafont.com/

Instruction #5 Use wordart on your layout. It can be any type, purchased or homemade.

Instruction #6 Use string on your page. (can be twine or fiber too) Ribbon does not count.

FINAL Instruction: Date and Title your LO. Any way you want! Then you have until 11:15 EST to post your LO to the Speed Scrap Gallery. Please include SS or Speed Scrap and the date 10-23-08 in your title. And post to this forum thread. (I think I only missed this last detail of actually putting a title on my LO. Hopefully, no one will notice!)

It was nice to sit at the computer after working on Halloween costumes so much today. Unfortunately, that's where I ended up again after playing along in the speed scrap! *sigh*

Busy

I know I haven't posted for a bit. I've been kind of busy. Our ward Halloween party is tomorrow and I've been working all week on costumes, when I wasn't do everything else I couldn't ignore.

We also had to go to a funeral of our friends' 13-year-old daughter. It was very sad and still is. More on that later.

I have visiting teaching this morning and then more sewing today. But be waiting for some awesome Halloween pictures!

Halloween Layouts

Here are 3 LO's that I've recently created for different challenges. Gotta love Halloween!

Credits

Credits

Credits

Speaking of scary, Rebekah has a new fear.

She flooded the toilet last week. She started crying and yelling and I had to lift her out of 1/4" of water. Everything was soaked and I was pretty sure my fancy bathroom scale would be shorted out. Then I realized that two boxes of tampons were sitting there by the toilet. Some of them were thrown out!

So now Rebekah won't flush the toilet. She won't even wipe herself up. It's apparently going to take her a while to overcome her fear of drowning toilet-side. Let's hope she doesn't need therapy!

Pictures from McCall

Finally! I'll wasn't sure I'd ever get around to posting these pictures. I'm trying to do it quickly while I wait for Joseph to cry himself to sleep so that I can go a steal a nap for myself.

We started the trip with scenery like this
but eventually got some of this. (Much better.)

We had to keep 5 kids from murderous acts of desperation. This was one way. (Meet Cpt. Nathan)

Our first night there, 4 adult raccoons came up to the deck where they were rewarded with green plums. My mom and I were at the grocery store, so we got the whole story (several times) and saw the pictures when we got back.

There was a lot of playing in the water that went around. That accounted for the multiple loads of laundry I ended up doing! I have a certain dislike for wet sand on wet clothes and wet kids.

Payette Lake









Brundage Res.

We did our best to keep the mud and sand where it belonged...we resorted to making the boys strip and rinse off. hehe

Rotary Park/Payette River (in town)



We enjoyed some beautiful views from the (near) top of Brundage Mtn.



You'll notice that Rebekah is missing her pants. They were wet, of course.






We visited the fish hatchery in McCall. (Very strong smelling fish smells. Go figure.)











We went on a walk or two and enjoyed the trees.












There were treats in Grandma and Grandpa's room each night.

The sleeping arrangements were very flexible. The boys slept upstairs with Grandma and Grandpa most of the time. The last night, everyone stayed downstairs and made good use of the Murphy bed!


Of course, Joseph got his own bed each night. He sure seems to be sleeping soundly!