Life with Joseph

It's become pretty exciting around here lately. I used to wonder how Joseph would feel being surrounded by sisters. So far, it doesn't seem to be slowing him down.

This week we've been cutting off tags. He HATES the tags in his shirts. He starts taking short breaths and saying, "Ow, ow, owie!" Then he backs up to me and expects me to tuck the tags down. Sometimes, the tags are already down. I thinking some version of Princess and the Pea with this one! So I wasn't shocked, but still not thrilled when he took the scissors to a nice sweater and did his best to cut off the tags (thankfully, the sweater survived). He got most of them off. It ended up in a lot of little tag shards. The next day, I found him with the scissors again...this time cutting the tag off a little toy ball. No one will ever know the ball was made in China. (Like that wouldn't be the assumption anyway.)

Also, this week we've been using the stapler. Being the 5th child, Joseph is learning his arts and crafts skills earlier than his siblings did. We already know he can use scissors. He's been mastering the stapler. And being the mother of so many children, I've become less neurotic about what my kids can play with. So while I didn't love it when he had the stapler, I just looked away and pretended not to see. Until Joseph put three staples into one of the dining room benches. It took pliers to get them out. Now the stapler is on top of the fridge.

Joseph's stapler alternative is tape. He needs to tape everything. He folds up a paper several times then asks for "pate." Again, the mother-of-multiple-children thing kicks in and I just rip off a piece for him. I figure it's not really that expensive. I may need to buy larger quantities of it, though. Of course, asking for tape while I'm in the middle of skinning chicken legs doesn't have a real happy outcome.

Just last week, Joseph figured out how to open doors. I have a feeling the bathroom door lock is going to be used with more frequency now.

I fear that Joseph may have some of Leah's problem with comfort...mostly in clothing. We already have the issue with tags. Now we're struggling with new shoes. They feel DIFFERENT and he's not happy about it. He throws himself to the floor in a tantrum so often, I'm surprised his forehead isn't purple. But he'll get used to the shoes eventually. And these new ones are velcro, so it will be much faster to get his shoes on again every time we go into a new store. I look forward to the day when a tantrum in the van doesn't result in bare feet. Why don't they make tights for boys?

But there are also a lot of fun things to do with (to) Joseph. Having older siblings can be very fun! The kids had a lot of fun dressing him up on Easter. :)

Pet Peeve

I have several pet peeves, let's just be honest. (People taking the on ramp for the interstate at 40 MPH is one.)

One of my bigger peeves is PEOPLE WHO TYPE IN ALL CAPS FOR SEVERAL SENTENCES LONG AND EXPECT YOU TO BE ABLE TO READ IT JUST AS WELL AS REGULAR TYPING. Even worse are the people that do that and don't include punctuation marks. MIGHTASWELLMAKEITALLONELONGWORD

I know some people say they do that because it's easier. I'd just like to throw something out here...LAZY! Once you learn how to use your keyboard, your fingers find that 'shift' button all by themselves.

If you're just doing something for yourself and don't intend to inflict your CAPS typing on anyone else, it's fine. But if you're trying to sell me something on Craigslist (for example...eBay, too), don't type it all in caps in one tedious paragraph. It's very hard to read and the details get lost in all the big letters.

Of course, no one who actually does that is likely to read this. Even so, I'm sure it wouldn't change anything.

FHE cookout AND Our Lambs

We grabbed a chance at decent weather (notice I didn't say pleasant weather), and had a little cookout for dinner/FHE. We roasted the ever-healthy hot dog, enjoyed it with potato chips and washed it all down with Kool-Aid. And for the FHE treat we had s'mores...of course!

Maybe it would be more accurate to say that CHAD roasted and everyone else watched. We tried roasting these corn cobs, but the contraption was really meant for the BBQ, not getting so close to a fire pit. And it didn't help that this corn was older than Joseph. Some things get lost in the freezer around here. Anyway, we didn't end up eating it.

Sarah was there, too. Get that girl's toesies closer to the fire...she'll freeze!


Joseph's first fire-roasted s'more (I think). He liked it. And he got way more sticky than was reasonable.


The very informal FHE lesson was to tell your favorite scripture story. We need to study the scriptures a little better. Afterward, we set up this sports thingy. You're supposed to use it to practice your pitching, etc. The kids used it to cheat death. It's really not advisable to stand inside while the ball is being thrown in.


Onto a completely unrelated topic, we've acquired a few more farm animals. Meet Steam and Smoke. (Guess which one is which.)

We saw an ad on Craigslist for some bum lambs up in Archer. (Anyone like Chad is now reaching for their map or logging onto maps.google.com to find where that is.) We were only prepared to get two that day. The kids named them on the way home. It was interesting to hear the tiny bleating the 40 minutes home.

The next weekend we saw and ad for 10 lambs and added them to the collection. Meet the rest of them...too many to name.

They LOVE a nice, warm bottle of milk! I don't think Leah expected to be rushed by 7 lambs.


This one is hoping for a treat from Nathan's pocket.


It's so cute to see them following Joseph.


This was the view Nathan had as he tried to take a picture of them.

Many people have asked if we're raising them for 4-H. Nope. We're just putting more lamb in our freezer, and keeping the pasture grass down. A lot of people don't like lamb, but we've grown to like it. However, I really doubt we'll need THIS MUCH lamb come January (or so). Anyone want to buy a lamb (pre or post butchering are the options)?

I'm looking forward to the day they won't need so many bottle feedings. I've been going out during the day to feed the smallest ones.

Primary Activity

The kids had a Primary activity last Saturday and they were supposed to dress like they were living in Jesus' time.

That worried me for a little bit: how could I dress up 4 kids? Most people would think a towel around the head or a robe would work. Unfortunately, we are a very FUN family and don't have the kind of robes that Jesus would have ever worn...rubber duckies anyone? And I know my children well enough that they might get out of the van with a towel tied to their head, but they wouldn't leave it on for more than 10 minutes.

As it turned out, my OCD for fabric collecting paid off. I used a flat twin sheet for the younger three and another large piece of "linen-y" fabric for Daniel. The ties were long scraps.

And Voila! Daniel doesn't look too thrilled with the idea. He's too young to be feeling too grown up for this kind of thing! And he sure DIDN'T want to take his scriptures along. But he lived. And he wore the costume for quite a while after he got home...as did Leah.


It appears we are also ready to play angels in the next Christmas pageant. We'll just get some gold pipe cleaner halos and red or gold or blue sashes. (What color are angel clothes? Does anyone REALLY know?)

Spring fever

The kids have a nip of Spring Fever lately. The sun is reluctant to make any prolonged appearances, so it's been one of those situations that you take advantage of the good moments.

The kids had fun with the camera. I'm so grateful the digital age has arrived because I wouldn't be able to afford so much film. They'll likely have fun looking back on themselves in these silly poses when they're older.

If you tell Joseph to make a silly face, he'll happily comply.

Daniel is wooing the camera. Look out girls...you're next!


Joseph loves this house. Leah won't go in it very much because of spiders. (I tell her the spiders are everywhere outside...not just the playhouse.) We're glad Joseph is not afraid of spiders. He'll even attack them (and bees) with a rock in his hand.


Nice. I only allow this picture so that I'll be more motivated to skip the treats.


Daniel's 4th grade Idaho History presentation was this week. He memorized a small part that portrayed him as someone important to Idaho's history. I'll have to come back and edit this post if I find out.


The 4th graders had to learn some square dancing. Daniel was not thrilled that he had to dance with GIRLS! Hopefully, he'll find a girl or two shorter than him when it really matters. Even better, I hope he'll find a girl worth the time and it won't matter what size she is (to either of them).

One of my favorite kind of pictures to take is of the kids sleeping. I've gotten some really great ones. Chad captured this one of Joseph. He LOVES those boots! Definitely appropriate spring footwear.

"Feed The Birds"

Once upon a time, not so long ago (a couple months, really), I made bread.

It was my great idea to include some dried cherries from my cupboard. Ordinarily, this would have been a very yummy idea. As is turned out, the fruit was probably older than Joseph. The unfortunate result was 5 loaves of mostly delicious bread with a somewhat rancid taste.

It tasted best fresh (a term I can only use loosely when some of the ingredients were about 2 years past their prime). It was palatable toasted, if you told yourself not to think about it. And if you drank lots of milk.

But after the first loaf, I knew I would not be eating any more.

My husband was very kind. He used it for lunch sandwiches. When I remarked that it was nasty, he replied, "It's not bad." Eventually, the 2nd loaf was gone.

A couple of weeks ago, he pulled a 3rd loaf from the freezer. OK. Enough is enough. That bread is NOT good! Stop eating it! He said it was good. At that moment, he lost all the credit he's earned over the last 11 years of eating my failed cooking. I thought he suffered through those meals, but it turns out he really doesn't have any taste buds.

I got out a loaf of GOOD bread (don't mind tooting my own horn here) and forbade him (I'll pretend it this way...makes me look powerful) to eat the yucky one. A couple of days later, I took the kids to feed the birds...with an entire loaf of bread.


We took advantage of sunny spring day and headed for the Greenbelt in IF. This was the week Rebekah had been sick and I was tired of being stuck at home. We didn't stay too long and Rebekah was feeling pretty yucky by the time we left.

Yep...mid-April and we still have brown grass and leafless trees. But at least we can get by with only jackets and the snow has melted.

The girls were very good about sharing their chunks of bread. We thought we were going to feed the ducks, but we had more seagulls than anything. Luckily, homemade wheat bread is very filling (even for birds) and we had plenty to go around.
Joseph was more than willing to throw out the bread. I nearly lost baseball-sized chunks of bread at his doing, but grabbed his arm quickly enough...several times.

Sarah sat behind us at a safer distance from the water. She doesn't know she missed out on throwing bread. She'll get it next year.

There is a little war memorial in the park that the kids had to check out. Heavy weaponry...the perfect backdrop for a snap shot of children!

I hope no other little kids stopped by to feed the ducks this day. We filled them up so much that they had started swimming away!

Rubber Egg

Want to see something really gross? This egg was laid without a shell. It's just the membrane...and it's squishy. It's called a rubber egg. You can probably understand why. Several things can cause it.

Chad didn't want me to blog about it because he didn't want it to end up printed in a book - forever. I think he'll get over it. :)

I don't know if this has been happening often or not. It's a miracle it didn't break in the chicken coop. The chickens will eat the eggs that break (which is why I'm unsure if we've had these before).

Easter Eggs and the hunt

Easter finally arrived at our house. We waited a long time for it. Some of us were getting fairly antsy in anticipation!

The kids made decorations for the house to celebrate the coming of the holiday.

Maybe next year we can get some pictures of a resurrection scene. We'll work on that.

Regardless of the desired topic of Easter, we still color eggs. I bought eggs about a week or so...white ones...so the colors would be nice and bright...not camo (which is what coloring brown eggs looks like).

We finally have enough white crayons to supply each decorator with their own. Daniel made good use of his.

There aren't very many colored crayons, so those had to be shared. Rebekah got one here. I think that tongue has something to do with the creative process.

Leah is showing me her egg. Nathan's probably wondering if she really thinks I can see the white crayon on the white egg.

Joseph doesn't feel any less able to color eggs than the rest of the kids. It makes me a nervous wreck, but we both survived. Some of the eggs weren't so lucky.

Our end result was a very pretty display. It won't be very many more years before we'll have to color more eggs just to give everyone enough to decorate. They'd better pick up with their egg eating then!


This year I organized 3 treasure hunts with clues in plastic eggs. The girls had one, the boys had one and Chad had one...each with a new game at the end of the hunt. Each one varied in difficulty. The boys had to help Chad with his. ;)

The girls found one clue in the cookie jar. "Here is where you lookie, when you want a cookie."


The boys are looking for a clue in the library. I can't think what clue this would have been, so I'm guessing they're looking in the wrong place. :)


Chad's final clue led him to the cookbooks. "1 c. flour, 2t sugar, bake at 350." (or something like that)

Nathan wanted to show me what one of the games was. Wow...look at that mess on the floor behind him. Someone should really clean up around here!


We held the treasure and egg hunts on Saturday, before General Conference started. The kids had fairly simple baskets this year. They got a fish aquarium as a collective gift. (The aquarium and games came from Craigslist...love that CL!)


We made the kids go downstairs while we hid eggs and set out their baskets. Then we called them up and let them into the room according to age.


Except for Sarah. We let her see where we hid the eggs. She promised not to tell. :) Cute girl! She was the perfect size to wear this cute bunny outfit. I think it was a hand-me-down from her cousin. ?


Electric toothbrushes were the highlights in the baskets. Rebekah liked hers enough to request a picture with it.


Sarah's Easter basket held only one item. Everyone gets a stuffed bunny on their first Easter.


FINALLY! It was time for the actual egg hunt. Joseph started us off. He really liked finding the plastic eggs because they had candy in them. :) Smart kid!

That didn't stop him from finding (and cracking) the real eggs.

The last egg was in a tricky place and we had to give a few hints. Daniel found it.

Enough fun already! Sarah was tired of it all and wanted to move on to something else. See that cute puckered mouth? She's crying. She cries with her lips closed. It's very funny, cute and quiet. It doesn't last though. If you make her go long enough, she'll open up and give you a lung full.