The FREEZE is coming!

So I went out and picked all the tomatoes, peppers (wasn't sure if the freeze would hurt the peppers, but since I was out there...)and one last cantaloupe. This is what I got off of 3 tomato plants. It's mostly from 2 plants since one never really thrived. I still have to go out there and clean off 2 BIG cherry tomato plants. I think this will be the year I learn how to can salsa.

It's kind of ironic that 2 1/2 plants gave us so many tomatoes when 2 years ago, Chad planted 25 plants (not a typo) and we didn't get nearly this many tomatoes. The country must have a magical effect on us. I still have to pick the pumpkins and butternut squash, but they aren't a big rush. We have a lot of corn stalks to decorate with, too!

I just wish there was a way to keep these tomatoes fresh all winter so that I could keep on enjoying my tomato sandwiches for lunch. Speak of lunch...not sure where we're going to eat today since the table is full of the garden.

An Egg-stra Special Day

We have an egg-citing announcement! We have our first egg from the chickens!

This is a long-anticipated event on the Collett Farm. We'll remember it fondly.

Isn't it a tiny beauty? *sigh*

BOO!!

Did I scare you? I thought that maybe since I haven't been around very much that you wouldn't expect me to sneak up on you like that. And it is the season for scaring!


Anyway, I have much to share but less time to do it in. (NCIS starts in 40 minutes and I have a goal to sit and enjoy it. It's a show I really like but hardly ever catch. And the most frustrating thing is that whenever I do get a chance to watch, it's a rerun of an episode that I've already seen! How does that happen? I've only caught 3 the whole year and those are the ones they rerun. Does that happen to you? But that's not supposed to happen tonight because it says it's a new one.) I'll see how much I can fit in and then I'll have something to keep you coming back for next time! *wink, wink*


A month or so ago, Chad's company changed office locations. They had some places to put some signs up and so I got a little creative on the computer. (Do you remember my computer OCD post a couple of weeks back?) I designed a little sign for their business and Chad got it printed up. The sign people had to sharpen up some of the image (and I didn't create the "CZ"), but otherwise, that's my handiwork!

Here are the 3 signs:


Out by the street. It's double sided.

On the building.

On the door to their suite.

Are you impressed? Yes, I am so skilled. Orders anyone? (Chad was my consultant on the project. I must give appropriate credit.)

Last week and this week have been and are Spud Harvest. It is an age old tradition in these parts to let school out for the potato harvest. It began when the kids were actually helpful and worked in the fields. Now, it's mostly kids in the farmers' families that help, kids that are still taught to work hard for their $$ and teachers who do work hard, but don't earn any money and so must also help gather and sort potatoes. Otherwise, it's a long break from school that comes just as we feel like we've worked out the kinks in the routine. We have 3 more days before the school year will really begin in earnest!

It hasn't been a bad thing (too much) because all of last week we were gone on a little vacation. We spent the week (M-F) in McCall, ID with my mom and step dad. I have a zillion pictures to share in another post. We spent this past Monday recovering from the traveling the week before and the Conference weekend that left the house looking torn apart. We also went to a fun straw maze for FHE. I have pictures of that, too. Today, we got out and made our weekly trip to the library. Tomorrow, I hope to finish cutting back my overgrown rose bushes in preparation for winter, see what I can clear out of the garden, tie-dye some Halloween T-shirts with the kids and dig out the Halloween decorations. We'll see how much of that actually gets done (or even started!).

Joseph is still my little Kirby Jr. But now there is a new twist. He seems to have fallen into the habit of smacking his lips and sucking on his tongue (or is it his cheek?). Maybe he's been eating so much off the floor that now he goes through the motions subconsciously. Whatever the reason, I now have to check his mouth twice as much, just to make sure it's empty. With his 6 teeth and vise-like jaw, it's a dangerous procedure.

A little something I overheard Rebekah saying in the tub this morning as she was talking into the sprayer/telephone: "Uh, I remember you. I just don't remember where you live." ??? Oh the things they come up with!

2016

I got my driver's license renewed today. It expires in 4 days. Nothing like a little procrastination! I had an option to renew for 4 or 8 years. What the heck? Let's renew for 8 and I won't think that I've NEVER lived in one address for more than 4 years. It's bound to happen sometime.

So my license now expires in September of 2016. That got me thinking. Daniel will be 16 years old when that happens. SIXTEEN? He'd better start behaving himself a little better if he's going to make it to that age! He'll be driving by then. He'll have his own driver's license! And then if I renew my license for another 8 years, he'll be home from his mission and Nathan will be on his when it expires. Oh my, I think this may be a bit too much for me to think about.

And then I realize that they are growing up so fast. When I got that license 4+ years ago, I was shocked to think that Daniel would be baptized by the time it expired. Where did those 4 years go? I swear it hasn't been more than 18 months.

I need to be a better mom. I need to learn to be more patient, accepting, understanding, forgiving, respectful, humble and above all, loving. Before I know it, they will not want to be so close to me that I trip every time I turn around. They won't want to "help" make lunch or fold the laundry. They won't be dieing to tell me about a funny show they watched and now have to act out for me. They won't be hanging to my every word as I read them stories. They won't be putting 20 barrettes in my hair and telling me how great I look. (I'm hoping that they won't constantly be fighting or complaining, but I've heard it only changes...becomes less innocent.)

So my resolve was fresh and honest. We took the kids to the park. The weather has been PERFECT lately. We were doing so well...then Nathan threw Daniel's shoe high into the air and accidentally pegged Joseph with hit. The only apology he could manage was, "srrr..." (or something similar) before he completely closed up and started to pout. Leah was screaming, stomping and yelling like those spoiled kids you see and wonder why exactly the parents think they have a right to be parents and Rebekah was hogging the can of cream soda. I dumped the soda into the flower bed, had to carry a very stubborn Nathan to the van and told the kids they weren't allowed to go anywhere in the van until we leave for church Sunday.

I guess I'll start being a better mom tomorrow.

400

I noticed earlier this week that I was fast approaching my 400th post. And here it is! I revisited my 300th post to see how long it had been since reaching that milestone. That's when I read that I had a goal to reach 500 posts within a year's time. Huh. I'd forgotten all about that goal. Luckily, I had dubbed it an "unofficial" goal, so it isn't so bad that I forgot I was working on it. As it is, it seems I am a natural at keeping goals (at least this one, anyway) because I'm right on schedule! The 300th post was March 20, so I am only 6 days past the halfway mark.

I found it interesting that I didn't remember typing much of what I'd read. Maybe I should go back through my blog from the very beginning and reacquaint myself with...myself! Maybe I could tell myself a secret now and be completely surprised in the Spring. Anyone else want to tell me some secrets?

I admit a certain OCD over the computer. I've pondered on it occasionally and I'm not exactly sure what the big motivator is. I know much of it is that I feel a little "cut off" from things. I don't have many commitments that take me out of the house and after a while, the separation becomes too much. Therefore, I search for something through my internet connection. I have enjoyed blogging and reading blogs. I am able to interact with people that I'd never have contact with otherwise. And in some instances, I get to see a side of people that they don't often show in person. However, I rarely ever enter a chat room or register in a new site. I'm comfortable with my regular haunts and friends, though I welcome new friends when I'm lucky enough to meet good people.

My computer is also convenient. I can sit for a minute and check email or read a quick article about something as I make my way back and forth through the house. I can hear if someone is at the door or if the kids have come in or out of the house. Truly, I would love to be in my sewing room, but it isn't so convenient and it drives me crazy when the kids get into my stuff in there!

Unfortunately, Joseph has had just about all he can take of the computer and starts to complain before I can even sit in the chair! He is a very jealous boy. I should probably pay a little more attention to that.

So my 400th post finds me in a fairly unremarkable point in my blogging life. I am just a little crazy when it comes to numbers and can't let such a momentous occasion pass by uncelebrated! Maybe by the time my 500th post rolls around in March, I'll be better organized, or a nicer mother, or pregnant for the last time (which will pretty much wipe out any chances of being a nicer mother), or rich, or poor and without internet access, so there won't even be a 500th post. Who knows? But won't the journey be exciting?

My Humble Pie is cinnamon flavored

I made cinnamon rolls today. Would you like one? These are from the bottom oven.

These are from the top. I think I'll need to make a few adjustments. But for now we'll be eating those black ones, minus the bottoms. All that sugar just melted and burned. Just when I think I'm perfect, I go and try to bake.

Here are my cute girls before church on Sunday. They love being seen through the eye of the camera! I made Leah's "sweater" from some fabric I found on a discount table at Hancock's a few weeks ago. That stuff sure was hard to work with! I made a size 5, so we won't know if she's got hands for another several months.


We're still fishing things out of Joseph's mouth. I found him with a wood shaving about 10 minutes ago. I'm still trying to figure that one out. On my way back from throwing that away, I found a game marker in his hand. And I think he just swallowed something else 2 minutes ago. Great. (I just turned around to check on him and found him in a cupboard. He'd found one of those mister fans, had gotten the 2 AA batteries out and was starting to eat them!) I wish he'd eat baby food so well!

A realization

I came to a realization about myself today while driving home. I was sneak-eating a week-old, stale pop-tart but I couldn't bear to just throw it away. I was wondering why I would do something like that, but yet I held onto my goal. I finished that stale pastry. Bonus points for me.

Then I realized that I am a stress eater. I actually already knew that. I made a deeper discovery than that. My "trigger" stress is anger. I eat when I'm angry!

Lately, that has meant a lot of munching. Some little demon in my head is saying, "Neener, neener" to my kids every time I sneak a snack. "I get a snack, and you don't because you're misbehaving!" This is SO not healthy in more than one way.

There are five little independent (and sometimes down right naughty) catalysts to my anger. I need to find a "happy place" and soon! (Because I don't deal with my anger JUST through food.) I could also use a little more sleep.

So I guess if you want to see how well I've been managing my anger, you could just watch me from the rear. No flash photography, please.

Kirby

Have you ever had one of those Kirby vacuum sales people come to your door? We did a little over 3 years ago and ended up with a big, silver monster vacuum. It actually works pretty well. It had better last 20 years, for what we paid for it!

I don't actually like to vacuum, so I expect the vacuum to have a fairly long life. But lately, I've had to use it more often.

Enter Kirby Jr. I mean Kirby Joseph. I mean Joseph. Yes, it's that bad. Chad and I were talking about it last night (we fished garbage out his mouth repeatedly yesterday) and we're not sure if he's been the worst at putting things in his mouth or if he just has the most people to drop things on the floor for him.

He's thrown up two different times because he's eaten something bad. I think we got a piece of petrified chicken out of his mouth yesterday. It was over an inch long. I've found him sucking on Rebekah's discarded cherry tomato, dried pound cake, marbles, game tokens, paper, a twig, etc, etc, etc. He got mad earlier today when the bead he was trying to enjoy didn't yield up any flavor and didn't mash up in his gums. Last week I recognized the slice of crayon that had been on the floor earlier...in his diaper.

Ironically, the kid does not like baby food. He won't eat more than a few bites before he's slumped to the side of his high chair, looking for a corner to hide in. One of his favorite foods is bread. That's fine with me because it's portable and not very messy.

So I'm going to have to vacuum a bit more and put the broom into action occasionally. Darn it. These kids are making me work!

Here's a little scrapbook page I whipped up for a challenge at one of the websites I frequent. I thought it would look nice on this new orange background. :) That's the same reason I'm saving the pink layout I did yesterday. Pink and orange are only good in sunsets.

First Day of Fall

DO NOT ADJUST YOUR MONITOR

In honor of summer's end and Fall beginning, I made a new header. And then the header looked funny on the blue background, so that had to be made over, too.

Sorry if the orange is a little over powering. You'll only have to squint for 38 days. Until then, you get to put up with me in my festive mood!

Recent Layouts

I'll just throw all these layouts in here at once. You can skip this post if you aren't interested or think I'm too full of myself. (Just don't tell me how you really feel!)

I have been a guest in Franziska Altmann's creative team this month. I've never been part of a CT before and I have no idea if I'm working out the way she hoped, but I guess it's nothing she can't take for a mere 30 days! These were the LO's I did with her kits.

These 3 are from her kit "Charmed Meadow" and you can get it here if you are a digital scrapper!

These 4 are from her kit "Free Spirit" which she did as a collaboration with Monica Leiria. Here's the link for this kit.

These other 2 LO's are for other reasons (challenges, fun, etc.)

Credits

Credits

It rained on our parade

Today was Spud Day. Idaho would cease to be Idaho if we didn't celebrate potatoes! I think this was the 80th annual Spud Day (or something like that). There is always a parade, complete with 10 (at least) fire trucks of various ages and models, but all with loud sirens. There are even floats and anyone cool (or not in a marching band) throws candy.

It has been a rather dry summer here in Eastern Idaho. Until today. Two days left of summer and it dumped on us. It was a cold rain. It was a thorough rain. I was thoroughly wet. But at least I wasn't riding on an open float, singing songs and trying to look excited. That was Daniel and Leah's lot. I just sat trying to get some pictures and video while keeping the cameras dry. We had one umbrella. Since I had the jacket, Chad got the baby (and accompanying blanket) and the umbrella. Eventually, I got Rebekah to sit on my lap and help shield me from the rain. (She was wrapped in a big blanket with Nathan. I'm not completely heartless!)

We made it through the end of the parade, but skipped the free potatoes, expensive rides, commercial booths and food vendors with $4 hot dogs. I'm assuming the mashed potato tug-of-war still happened. At least the losers would have been able to shower immediately after getting out of the gooey potatoes!

Here are some soggy pictures. Gotta love the expressions! See if you can find Daniel and Leah on the TaVaci trailer. (Pretend we're playing hide and seek or Where's Waldo.)

We came home and had hot chocolate with our lunch. And since it didn't rain continuously, Chad and I went out to set more fence posts. This is a never ending job! At least it was cooler weather to work in and it even came with mandatory rest periods. When the rain would come down too hard, we'd take a rest. Period. We (he) got 8 posts set today.

I counted the holes left outside. It looks like we have 18 fence posts to go. Then Chad has to brace certain posts and then stretch the wire. After that he gets to hang 4 gates. He wanted to be done before the next weekend is over. I think he'll be lucky to be done before the snow starts stickin'. And I can't help but wonder where the $$ for the wire and gates is coming from. Maybe we'll rent out the kids.

Stinker

It was something of a miracle that we all got a nap today. I sure enjoyed mine and was disappointed when I could hear Joseph "talking" in his room. All that separates my head from his crib is a headboard and a wall. I thought I'd try to ignore the talking and wait until he started crying so I snuggled back into the pillow.

That's when the banging started. I thought it was probably Rebekah doing something or other in there by Joseph's crib. After about 10 bangs, some of which were pretty loud, I got out of bed to get after the noisy kids. I was surprised to see that both girls were asleep. Joseph was banging his head on the wall! I think he was trying to look between the crib and the wall, but that's only a guess.

I tried to get to my camera in time, but these were the shots I got instead. He saw the camera poking around the corner and knew I couldn't be too far away!




He's a stinker. A cute stinker. But definitely a stinker.

LOOK at those teeth!

23,000+ words

You know how a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, you'd better put on your reading glasses! I haven't posted any pictures for a while because my computer was having trouble and I got tired of reinstalling the camera. I've now been trouble free for a long enough time that I was willing to reinstall yesterday. Now we play a little "catch up".

Joseph is growing up! He has recently discovered that he is tall enough to reach the piano keys and make his own music. This is really good, because we can always use a little more noise around here!

Look who's almost the same size as his walker! He is actually using it, too. He's about a week shy of 10 months in this picture. NO. He is not allowed walk yet.

Joseph learned a new trick this past weekend. Isn't he cute? You can't see it, but he's smiling (proudly) under there.

Nathan got upset by something I said while he was doing his homework a few weeks ago, (I never did figure out what it was.) so he started pouting. For those of you who don't know Nathan very well, he is a master pouter. He has stamina that would make Olympians jealous.

He pouted so long that he fell asleep! Please giggle along with me.

Feeding time on the farm. Look at all those cats! Why aren't they out catching mice? Let me introduce (top to bottom, left to right) Nightmare (up for adoption for anyone looking to add free animals to their new farm), Shadow, Trouble (our best mouser and the sweetest cat ever), Tabby, Patches and Fair (she only has 3 legs, but eats like she has all 4).

We've been enjoying the fruits of our labors. Unfortunately, our labor tapered off and so did the quality of our fruit. The peppers and tomatoes are doing fine on their own. Apparently, the watermelon and cantaloupe wanted to be watered. They grew, but not very big.

We also enjoyed the fruits of others' labor, too. Chad parents gave us some produce a couple/few times. Once we had some blue potatoes. They were fun. They reminded us a lot of the geodes we bought on our honeymoon. The kids thought we were feeding them a plate full of mushrooms. But they tasted just like chicken, I mean potatoes.

Rebekah turned 3 on the 30th. She was so proud to be honored on her own special day. She'd requested a kitty cake. I found a picture in a coloring book and did the best I could motivate myself to do. As a 3 year old, she loved it.

Joseph enjoyed the cake at least as much as everyone else!

Rebekah had plenty of help opening her presents. Daniel would have helped if he hadn't been in his room at the time.

We went to the Eastern Idaho State Fair on Rebekah's birthday (purely coincidental...they didn't have it then just for her). Daniel stopped by a local new station's weather booth and got to stand in front of a blue screen.

We let each kid choose one ride. The girls both chose the elephant ride. When I was putting them on, the ride operator informed me that Rebekah was too little to ride without an adult (couldn't he tell she was a whole year older that day?), so he made me get on the ride, too. He said he wouldn't charge me. As I was squeezing my ample behind into that elephant, I was thinking, "Believe me, I'm already paying."

Surprisingly, Chad caught a picture of Nathan as he zoomed by on the roller coaster. That's him in the blue car. I barely got a shot of Daniel on the slide. This was a practice shot because I thought I had some time before they came down. Daniel is at the top of the green section.

Here we are at the end of a long 4 hours. All the kids had a sticker on saying to take them to the lost children booth if they were lost. I thought that was a dumb sticker. Where else would you take them? I wrote my cell phone number on each sticker...much smarter IMHO. (In My Humble Opinion)

We had the Price family stop by for a visit a couple of weeks ago. We showed them around the farm and let the sheep out to play with them.

We tried to get a nice, happy shot of all 9 kids before they left. This is what we got instead.

Sometimes it's a blessing to have a brother. Sometimes it's a trial. Guess which experience Nathan is having. He was wound up in some drapery fabric and got a "friendly" push from Daniel. Darn that coffee table. The bump is gone now, but there is still a bruise and I'm sure it's still tender. In his prayers, Nathan says, "Help my bump to get better."

Daniel has been struggling with some timed math facts in school. To "encourage" (trick) him into practicing, we turned it into an obstacle course/game. He and Nathan raced to complete a strip of 5 subtraction facts, then had to jump a hurdle and circle a cone before coming back to the next strip of problems. There were 5 strips and Nathan was only behind about a strip and half when they finished! (We helped slow Daniel down out in the field.) The next time Daniel did the timed practice in school, he got 100%. He was VERY pleased. And his parents are a little pleased with their creativity.

And there you go. You're caught up with us now (and behind in your chores because you spent so much time reading).

Chad is still working away on a fence that refuses to be finished. He has almost gotten the chicken coop done, too. We're expecting the hens to start laying any time. He's also getting a new calling. Things don't slow down for Chad...they just evolve.

We did some canning yesterday. We've got a batch of pears and a batch of peaches ready to go down to the store room. Therefore, I mopped this morning. It's now a dare for the kids to spill something today. I still have a batch of peach jam to do. I wonder how I can explain this to Joseph?

Skunk Bait

That's what I had for lunch today. Did you know that skunks really like corn? They really like carrots, too, it seems. When we were feeding the animals last night I made a quick check of the garden and collected some ripening tomatoes. I pulled two ears of corn from the stalks.

Our corn isn't doing very well. We had some strong wind knock a bunch of it over a day after a heavy watering. Now half of it is being supported by the other half, and neither half is thriving with those conditions. So one of the ears was pretty light on the kernels. The other one was pretty good so I shucked it and brought it inside (and had it for lunch today). Daniel had picked an ear of his own, but after throwing it around the yard for several minutes it was badly battered. With the two bad ears of corn, I reset the skunk trap.

Now, there is currently a skunk sitting in our trap awaiting his sentence. I'm beginning to lose track. I think this is the 4th or 5th skunk we've caught in the trap. That makes the 5th or 6th skunk to be buried in the pasture this year. I can only imagine the surprise a skunk is bound to make when it (or another burrowing animal) runs into one of these burial sites. We also have a cat out there somewhere!

Except for the skunk we drowned last week, all other skunks have been shot. The trap was beginning to suffer from the shooting, and the skunk would always end up stinking, so we tried drowning. That skunk still managed to stink a bit. Oh well. Winter is coming = less skunks. Gotta love that fresh country air!

Treading Water

That's what I feel like I'm doing in my life right now. There are so many things that need to be done amongst the things that are demanding I get done, despite the things I want to do and instead of the things that I should have done. Make any sense? Exactly my point.

I feel like I am being pulled in 50 different directions when all I really want to do it hide in my room and read a book or take a nap. Even the computer sees less of me. (I admit, that's probably a good thing.)

My house is a never ending chore that refuses to cooperate. One thing can be blocking the hallway for a day or a week. It doesn't move until I move it, or someone kicks it to a new spot or I explode in a fireball of emotions and everyone quickly/quietly restores order.

I grounded the toy room and it's entire contents for two weeks (we still have one week to go). Who is suffering the most? ME. Now Leah doesn't know what to do and doesn't like any of my suggestions. The kids find other places to amuse themselves. I wouldn't mind at all if they had even a sliver of responsibility. Everyone just drops things where they are standing at the moment. Sometimes it's within minutes of me just picking it up!!!!

Daniel is struggling with his math and therefore causing much contention all evening about it. He needs me to sit down with him and focus. Too bad there are 49 other things I'm supposed to be doing.

Nathan is shrinking before our very eyes because he refuses to eat or even TASTE anything new. And when he laughs while we yell at him (for jumping on the furniture during scriptures, etc.), I just want to scream.

Leah has become quite bossy to Rebekah and whines or screams most things at the rest of us. For just one day, I wish she would keep her promise of, "I'm never talking to you AGAIN!"

Rebekah isn't too bad. I'm just overloaded and can't even stand it when she comes up to me and leans on my leg. (How bad off am I if the touch from my own child raises my blood pressure?)

Joseph has a deep attachment to me that involves crying when I walk out of the room...while Daddy is holding him. He HATES getting his diaper changed and pretty much cries the second I sit down anywhere with him. I have to stuff him into his car seat every time we go somewhere. How do little babies wiggle so much? He has been suffering with two little teeth for over a week now. They started coming in with the two middle ones, but never got past the first corner poking through. We're all feeling the pain.

I dreamt last night that I was being put in as Sunday School Pres. I am SO GLAD that is never going to happen! But I still feel the odd stress of having to pick counselors. Why do my dreams do that to me? Does anyone else get intense and unsettling dreams?

Thanks for letting me vent. Now I have to go get Joseph. He's been wanting out of that crib for the past 20 minutes.

Food Storage?

No time to really post. Sorry.

My life stinks!

Now before you refer me to your favorite therapist or sneak a sample from your cousin, Cynthia - the Pharmaceutical Rep., keep reading.

I smell dead things.

I also smell living things. I mostly smell stinky things. If there is a nasty odor, I usually know about it and am probably looking for the source if it's in my own house. (If it's in someone else's house, I suffer and feel slightly grossed out.) I've joked that it gets worse when I'm pregnant. I'm not sure about that. I think that I have been pregnant so much in the last 9 years that my nose no longer knows the difference.

The worst recurring smells in my house are the kitchen disposal (I try to peel all my oranges into the sink just to chop them up in the disposal. Did you know about the power of orange peels?), the garbage can -EWW!, and the diaper pail. Occasionally, I am assaulted by something yucky in the washer (a towel used to clean up milk spills or Rebekah's pants after she almost made it to the potty in time, etc).

I smell bad breath on others almost instantly. I've caught a hint of my own at times, but not too often. I don't know if that means that I don't have bad breath or if I just do recognize my own stink. I learned in High School to hold my breath when a person passed by my seat. That trick still comes in handy on airplanes.

So I've been enjoying a "new car" smell in our van since we got it about 6-7 weeks ago. And then about Monday I started smelling something bad. I thought it was a dirty diaper. I searched and searched, but couldn't find it. Every time I opened the doors, I'd smell it again and I was getting frustrated! Yesterday was do or die...I was going to find the source of the odor, even if I had to remove everything in the process. Luckily, I didn't have to go that far.

I had given all the kids an apple juice box after the fair on Saturday. We usually drink a third of Rebekah's drinks before we pass them to her. I should have given her even less. Rebekah had spilled?/poured? some apple juice into one of the cup holders by her seat. She may have poured some into the other one as well but I'm not sure. It had pretzel goldfish crackers in it and they were all puffed up and moist when I found them. They didn't smell like fermented apple juice, though. I think they were soaked in water. I also found both of Nathan's cup holders with about an inch water in them. So did a bit of cleaning and my new car smell is back. And so is my sanity!

Strange. I know.

Still alive

Oh my heck! I can't believe it's been nearly 2 weeks since my last post! I have let all 7 of my faithful readers down! (I'm assuming there are that many of you. I average 1-2 comments per post, so I'm being optimistic on the readership.)

Well, school started a week ago Wednesday and I've already been called twice to pick up a sick child. Nathan came home from school the first day and fell asleep on the couch. I was thinking, "Wow! First grade is really hard on the poor kid!" I eventually learned that he had a fever of almost 102 degrees. He was crying that night that he had a headache, but awoke the next day as if nothing had happened. Then Tuesday he comes home from school and says he has a headache. I gave him something for it then and Chad gave him something again before we went to bed. I notified the school and asked them to watch him for me. Sure enough, they called at 1:30. I took him to the doctor.

Actually, the guy was a P.A. I recognize that PA's go through a lot of classes and receive heavy training. I get kind of tired dealing with PA's that think they have to prove that they are competent and capable. I try to get in to the doctor when I can. It was not to be this day.

It was decided that Nathan had a sinus infection and was given a prescription for Augmentin. (The antibiotic was more $$ than the office copay...and now the Bishop knows of our newest financial strain since he's also our pharmacist!) I sent him back to school the next day, and they called again at 1:30 saying he was running a fever of 99.something. Could I come get him? No problem, except for that I had 3 sleeping kids (Leah was running her own fever) and they had also woken me up. Chad went to get him. He was fine again in the morning so we sent him on the bus. The school was probably so thrilled to see this sickly kid back again. But they didn't call for a third day...yahoo.

I think everything at the school is slowly settling into a comfortable rhythm. I got a bit concerned last Monday when Nathan brought home a handful of completed coloring pages (they keep coloring books in their desks for times when they are not busy with schoolwork) and informed me that he'd colored SIX of them that day. Nathan is not fast with crayons. Six pages for Nathan is like 10 for another kid. I sent a note about that and some activity/coloring books for him to use. Other than that wrinkle, things have been fairly smooth sailing.

Rebekah turned 3 on Saturday. She was very excited about her big day finally arriving. We celebrated by going to the Eastern Idaho State Fair and then came home for presents and cake and ice cream. We have a family tradition that you have to be sick on your b-day. Rebekah honored our tradition. She's been struggling with the fever that Leah (and maybe Nathan?) had earlier. Remember that Daniel was sick on his birthday...ok we all were...and we postponed his party. Leah has some attractive pictures from her 2nd b-day and if I were to check the facts from my journals, I could give you more instances.

I do have pictures, but my desktop is once again at the "Doctor" and not hooked up to my digital camera dock. I have been suffering digital scrapbooking withdrawals as well. (How is that computer coming, Kristy?)

We recently acquired another cat. My neighbor asked me if we wanted another one and then proceeded to tell me the sob-story of the cat who was hanging around her work and meowing like crazy. What could I say? Well, what I ended up saying was, "Sure. We'll put it out there and see if it sticks around." It stuck. It's a very friendly cat..to people. It got a shock when it eventually met the 5 other cats that already lay claim to the yard. I think that they are all getting along...more or less. It's an all-black male. He's still pretty young. Any one need a kitty? The kids wanted to name him Shadow but we already have an all-black kitty named Shadow so I suggested Midnight. Later that day, Leah came to me and wanted to know something about that new kitty named Nightmare. So Midnight became Nightmare.

We also adopted Cutie. That's the name the kids gave to the hamster that we got on Friday. We got her for free off of a Freecycle listing. (Check out http://www.freecycle.org/ if you don't know about it yet.) She came with 2 cages and a bit of food, so there was a good value there. The cages must be worth $15-20 each. Daniel learned that you shouldn't try to pick up a nervous hamster when you've just had your hand in her food. Her teeth are sharp. :) She lives in the boys' room and like to run on her wheel all night long (or so I've been told).

Chad has been working like a mad man on the pasture fence. He hired a guy to help him, but the guy was sadly out of shape and only lasted 6 days. I'm glad because he wasn't worth what we were paying him and we really couldn't afford it anyway. Since then, Chad's dad has been here helping as well as a friend who came Thursday night and today. They got some good work in this morning but nothing past 3...which is when wind, rain and hail started. It was below 50 this afternoon. Chad doesn't get to work on it tomorrow because he gets to visit Las Vegas. He'll get a 40+ degree jump in temps!

Our ward's Primary Program was a week ago Sunday. Our family was asked to sing "A Child's Prayer." We sang the 1st and 2nd verse, but thought it best not to torture the congregation with an attempt at singing the two verses at once. They don't know how thankful they are that we made that decision! My class had sharing time this past Sunday. Now the rest of the Sundays will seem so easy! Keep tuned in. I think Chad's calling is going to change. Unless the Stake just wants him to come in for a friendly chat. (Does that ever happen?) Luckily, the Bishopric is less than 2 months old. I think I can handle sharing him in any other way. :)

We had our long-time friends from Las Vegas, but now living in UT, stop by for a visit this afternoon. It was nice to visit with the Price family and see how much their 4 girls have grown. It showed how much our kids aren't growing! (Such shrimps we've got.) :) We let the sheep out to run while they were here and we suddenly had a field full of sheep, kids and one very excited dog. I hope we didn't give them our fever germ. (If we did, we're very sorry!)

I'll have pictures soon...when the computer returns. (I've got my fingers, toes, knees and eyes crossed about that!)