Bedtime stories

Chad is a good dad.  He reads to the kids from a chair in the hallway every night that he is home.  He has 3 bedrooms of kids to reach, so he makes sure his voice carries.  He's gone through quite a varied selection of books!

Do you like our perpetual cement flooring?  I had hoped for new carpet by Christmas...before the 2nd pipe leak and more ruined flooring on the other side of the house.  That came right after the oven died.  We'll get new carpet after we re-plumb the house and restore cold water to the kitchen!

Clean Garage

Chad spent the day pulling out tools, bicycles, yard machines, and general junk to sweep out and clean up the garage.  Winter is the best time for this because the humidity is WAY down and the air is cool.  A breeze is actually refreshing in the winter and if you work up a sweat, it doesn't stay with you until your next shower.

The garage looks great and I can get out of the van without vainly attempting to suck in my gut.  Thank you, Chad.  I appreciate your hard work!

It looked like we were having a garage sale for a little while as our belongings were strewn about the driveway.  I'm surprised no one stopped to shop!

End of "No Candy" Challenge

It's ended.  And it almost seems like a bad thing.

One year ago today (6 September 2010), Daniel made a deal with Chad that if he didn't eat any candy for an entire year, Chad would replace the old bathroom sinks. 

We did not think he would make it.  Daniel is a candy magnet and the schools these days hand out candy like every day is Halloween.  Really, what normal 10-year-old boy makes such a deal?

And then Daniel was doing so well that is surprised me and I told him I would join his challenge if he made it a whole month.  That's when he surprised me again...and I joined.  Chad had seen this coming and had already joined.  (I guess that makes him more supportive of Daniel.)  On October 5th, I binged on candy, hoping to make myself so sick that I wouldn't even miss the candy.  It almost worked.  The next day began my candy fast.

Have you ever gone through Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day and Easter without having even one piece of candy?  Very tough.  Very.

I did stay the rules ONCE when Daniel's Primary teacher presented each of the kids in the class with her traditional homemade chocolates.  Hey, it was Christmas! (And Daniel was in tears.)  But he made it through multiple class parties and random candy gifts with remarkable self-control.  There were many times when both Daniel and I just passed our candy to the person next to us.  It's really easier just to get rid of it quickly.  And have you really noticed how many restaurants give out candy with the check?

Up until a month ago, I was still struggling with not being able to reach for a piece of candy after dinner, or in the middle of the afternoon.  And then it was suddenly easier.  I anticipated this day, but not with the eagerness I thought I'd feel.

Daniel was a little more eager and asked me last night if he could have some when he woke up in the morning.  I said definitely not before 10 AM!  At the top of the hour, Daniel was opening a candy wrapper.  But he impressed me again by sharing it with his brothers and sisters.  (Why didn't he offer me any??)

After lunch, I had my Snickers bar that has been sitting on my dresser since Mother's Day.  I hesitated opening it.  Was I really to the end?  Did I really want it to be over?  Was sitting on the back deck with a candy bar the hoopla I had envisioned?  I was going to only eat part of it, but I wasn't excited about a gooey candy bar sitting around, so I just walked around the yard while I slowly chewed.

It was very good.  It could have been smaller and been just as satisfying.  It was a little sad, too.  And the crazy thing?  It didn't really seem like it had been 11 months since I'd last had a candy bar. 

I don't think I will ever undertake such a challenge again, unless it is to support one of my children.  Even a doctor telling me my life depended on it might not keep me from eating a smartie, but a promise to my child would.

Is it wrong to be proud of myself?  Because I feel like I just accomplished something amazing!  I have new respect for Daniel.  I am definitely proud of him!

Chad is THIRTY-EIGHT!

That seems a lot older than eleven.

Chad's cake was an experiment in creativity. I've learned that things rarely come out the way I envision them. Strangely enough, I keep trying anyway.
Can you tell what it is? Chad thought it looked like an armless Mongolian warrior. Admittedly, that never came to me. But I can see how he thought that. Instead, it is a king chess piece on a chess board. Nathan and I made the chess piece. I made the cake.

I tried to make the frosting red, but after I put enough red food dye in to give an elephant cancer, I decided hot pink would have to do. When I tried to frost the cake, the frosting was too runny (probably from all the food coloring) and I ended up scraping it off the cake to add more powdered sugar.

I had a chess board stencil I cut out on my Silhouette and sprinkled on the chocolate candies for the squares. (Getting the stencil back off the very wet frosting was another fun trial.) All in all, it ended up OK...I guess.

The kids had fun giving Chad his presents they'd scrounged up for him. Leah gave him her fold-up binoculars she's gotten from school. Then Sarah stole them.

Daniel gave him a collection of church magazines...all for the month of June...some of them several years old. Those went right back into the magazine basket. (Yes, that does need to be cleaned out.)

I gave him some gifts that I scrounged up around Walmart and we moved on to the cake.

On thing about turning 38...it's a lot of candles. When you add a foil-covered piece of cardboard, you have a significant heat/light source. We nearly roasted Sarah here!

But that foil backboard does help get the candles out in one breath. It was right about now that Chad realized how hot metal gets when exposed to 38 small flames!

Happy Birthday, Chad!

Deaf Singer

Chad is in Joseph and Sarah's room, putting them to bed. Chad is singing "Our Primary Colors" and Joseph is saying, "Daddy, that's enough singing!"

Chad keeps singing and Joseph keeps protesting. Obviously, Joseph's daddy doesn't hear him! :)

Snowmen

Rebekah directed our FHE activity tonight. She chose to have a coloring contest and the theme was Winter. Everyone drew whatever they wanted that had something to do with Winter.

Chad drew a snowman.



Rebekah knows a good idea when she sees one! Not a bad copy, I'd say. :)

Listen carefully!

Daniel: What's 'oblivion?'

Chad: Someone from Bolivia.

Daniel, after some pause, and obviously confused: Oh.

We eventually worked it out.

New Tub

Perhaps you remember the demolition of our old tub area. It was quite a big, messy project. Chad's brother was out this way and gave Chad a hand. The boys also pitched in, though I'm not sure how helpful they were. All of this started on 25 June.



We sold that monster tub for $25.

While Chad's brother was taking care of some business during the day, Chad took some time off work to clean up and build in some shelves/wall. (The replacement tub was not as wide as the original and the tub was too far away from the original wall. Unless we didn't mind that the drain didn't line up. But we did mind.)

That night, they hauled in the heavy cast iron tub and eased it into place. I got a bath at 11 PM that night! And it was nice to be able to confirm that the drain was indeed lined up.

As the days slowly passed, Chad found small snatches of time to work in the bathroom. Meanwhile, I took baths...sometimes cleaning out the tub first.

After several weeks, the tile job was nearly complete. This picture was taken just before we left town for our family reunion. Chad's elbow was all that made it into the picture.

And here is the finished tub! I have been able to shower for two whole mornings now...after 6 weeks of quickie baths. Wow...a shower is SO MUCH more convenient than a bath! I love a bath, but it's hard to take those extra minutes when there are so many little ones that need you elsewhere.

And what are the remaining plans for the bathroom? Well, Chad wants to put in a pocket door to make the toilet a private thinking spot. We are going to install and lamp/fan over the shower, the room will need painted after all this work, and then it's time to get rid of that nasty carpet. It's only gotten worse with the construction.

Happy 37th!

Chad celebrated his 37th birthday nearly two months ago. That means the short time he's older than I am is half over.

The kids are always on a bit of an emotional buzz in June. First is Daniel's b-day, next is Chad's then comes Father's Day. They LOVE to celebrate something and 3 somethings is way better!

Chad's big day fell on a Sunday this year. He left the house at 10 for his meetings and we went to work. We made a big banner for the garage door and wrapped his presents. Amazingly, we still made it to church on time.

After dinner (church is out at 3:30 and we usually eat about 4:30), we presented Chad with his cake. When mom decorates a cake, it usually stays hidden from as many people as possible. There were kids who didn't know what Daddy's cake looked like and were more interested in it than he was.

Though it was the perfect cake for a baby (or baby shower), the lamb cake fit Chad, too. :)

Sarah helped Chad blow out the candles.

Everyone else helped him eat it! There is something very gruesome about this photo.

Daniel got the whole thing on video for evidence later.

Everyone gave Daddy a card they made him...

...and helped him open his presents.

Happy Birthday, Daddy! You're the best daddy in the world.

Yeast and Potatoes

Sunday, as most of you know, was Fast Sunday. Fast Sunday always means a very hungry Chad and for some reason, anything I make for dinner seems gourmet. (I need all the help I can get!)

This past Sunday, I was giving him the directions to get some rolls started when he got home from church. (I stay after for choir because although I am released from directing it, the memory of begging more people to join keeps my attendance up.)

I thought I was writing down very good instructions for the rolls. Unfortunately, I must have assumed that Chad could read my mind. I didn't even think to tell him that the yeast in the fridge isn't labeled "yeast" and he opened a new package.

I buy the SAF yeast that's in those big square packages at the grocery store. It's vacuum sealed and expands a bit upon opening...something else Chad didn't know (but does now).

So when I got home, Chad mentioned that there had been a bit of a yeast explosion. We probably lost about a 1/4 cup of yeast (or so). There was still quite a bit on the counter and floor. If I cleaned a little deeper, I'd likely find more.

Today, I was getting potatoes out of the bag to wash for dinner. The potato bag had been sitting on the kitchen floor because we're too lazy to walk it back down to the store room. When I picked the bag up off the counter again, I saw a few little piles of yeast. I was thinking he must have really had a big mess to have gotten this much yeast on this counter, too!

Ahh...now I see! The yeast is IN the potato bag. Wow. He really did lose a lot of yeast!

Thai Foodd

OOPS!!! This is a sleep deprivation warning...you'll lose your mind if you don't get enough rest. My hint was really bad. There are actually THREE words, two of which would say...dinner in...so you just have come up with the last word, which is 3 syllables. Remaining letters are in bold to help. I will reveal soon. It's 4:53 AM now. We just gave Sarah a breathing treatment are hoping to get back to sleep soon. She just doesn't stop coughing and giving me that look that says, "Do something, would ya?"

Some of you were wondering what happened with the hershey kisses and the message they were building. (Only one of you was curious enough to come right out and ask, right Brooke?)

Well, as smart as I thought I was, the rest of the message turned out to be a little tricky. The first part WAS Thai food. (Which Chad brought home for dinner last night.) There was that extra 'd' and then there were these letters: c, n, a, c, i, o, n, e, h, n, g, n, i, i. Anyone want to try it out? Turns out, it wasn't 'hot daffodil.' (Don't forget that extra 'd'.)

Post your guesses. (Or beg for hints.) And I'll let you know if you're right. 8)

Cha- CHING!

I was looking for something in Chad's closet this afternoon. (Don't worry, Chad...I wasn't snooping for secrets - nor did I find any.) I'm short. I had to drag a chair over to look on the shelf. When I got up there...WHOA!

Some of you know Chad fairly well. Most of you see a quiet man, completely involved in his family. He is the ultimate super dad and one of those rare men that is equally yoked with his wife (I hope he actually feels that way...I can be a little dominating at times).

Anyway, most of you don't know the side of Chad that is unconcerned with organization. His desks at work have been fodder for light-hearted jokes. It doesn't bother him to set the table over a pile of newspapers or kids' schoolwork. Etc. Mostly, this is a good thing for me. The pressure to keep everything perfect really only comes from me (though that doesn't make it any easier to bear).

Now imagine Chad's pockets. Well, first imagine a little boy's pockets. Thankfully, Chad doesn't put anything living in his, but the surprises still abound. When he changes his pants, he transfers the pocket contents. He is not picky...he hardly even looks at what it is. Occasionally, he empties the pocket and dumps it all on the shelf in his closet (since he's standing there to change clothes).

Today, I found the "stash."

There was a huge pile of coins. The shelf space is narrow, but long and the string of pocket contents was about 18" long. As I said...lots of coins. Also included were pens and pencils, tithing receipts, business cards (some his, some not), collar stays, screws, nails, washers, bolts, nuts, hair ribbons and barrettes, a plastic marble, a pair of pliers (yes, those came from his pockets...don't ask me how he stands that), popsicle sticks, random keys, important keys, pay stubs, store receipts and likely some other stuff I can't remember. And then there were the coins. I counted them as I put them into our homemade bank ("Fun Money"). There was $16.43 up there in COLD, HARD cash! I felt like I was making money as I stood there!

Of course, I didn't find what I was looking for, so I started looking in the various shoe boxes up there. Apparently, when we moved two years ago, Chad cleaned out THAT closet shelf by dumping the assortment of pocket contents into a box and placing it on the shelf here. In there I found the tiny screw driver I use for tightening glasses (no wonder I couldn't find it before), more nails and screws, wing nuts, a vial of consecrated oil, electrical tape, wire caps, more tithing slips, paper clips, rubber bands so old that they were in pieces and sticking to everything, one of his old cub scout derby cars, a parking token for one of the church buildings in SLC (probably isn't worth anything anymore), TWO Subway rewards cards (how long do those things stay valid?), replacement bulbs for Christmas light strands, some other stuff I can't remember, AND....more coins!

I counted those coins. Did you think $16 was a lot? What do you think of $23.31? I think I found Chad's emergency savings fund! I made almost $40 dollars this afternoon! Maybe we can take that trip to Disneyland next year. ;) I also found two more states quarters that we were missing for our collection. We're only short one state now. Anyone have Arizona?

Incidentally, it was the 4th box I looked in that I found what I was searching for.

I can't take the noise!

I just spent the last hour being tortured. It's currently 2:21 AM.

Chad and I were trying to go to bed at about 11:30, but Sarah wouldn't play her "sleepy baby" part. Chad took her and I crawled (gratefully) into bed. I heard her fussing occasionally as I drifted off.

My next notice of anything came at 1:18. I heard Sarah again, but it was more grunting type noises than crying. I woke up enough to realize that she was in her bed and Chad was asleep. I knew for sure that she was awake because it wasn't natural to make that much noise and remain asleep. As a nursing mother, I learned with Daniel not to jerk awake at every sound because babies are so noisy. Sarah is really testing me on this; I have never heard such a noisy sleeper. Ever. I should get a little video of it sometime for you all. I just have to talk myself into doing it in the middle of the night.

So it's the wee hours of the morning and I'm half awake, ready for the cry that tells me she's ready to eat. It doesn't come...just the continuing grunting. Then Chad joins the party (or maybe I finally woke up enough to notice him). Chad snores (love the man, not the snoring). He is so good at it that he can snore while sleeping on his stomach. I don't know how he was sleeping, just that he was snoring...loudly. Woodsman kind of loud. Now I'm right between two very noisy, but sleeping people. The one with the most decency to remain quiet is the one who is awake!

For almost an hour, I nearly lost my hearing. I kept waiting for Sarah to wake up enough to demand food. She was just so noisy, I couldn't believe that she was really asleep! I had the thought to put my pillow over my head. The worrying part of me didn't like that idea because what if all the noise was to keep me awake because this is the night Sarah would narrowly escape SIDS? The guilt would be too much. Eventually, the situation got to me.

I jiggled around in the bed enough to make Chad change position and quiet him down. As he did, I worried that the change in sound would actually wake Sarah up. It didn't, but she didn't get any quieter. I finally got up and prepared to wake her so I could feed her and get some sleep. (I have no idea why that would help. Is the stomach in any way connected to breathing/grunting?) Just as I was about to get her out of bed, she got quiet. FIGURES! I turned the little light back out and started to go back to sleep. It was 2:19.

Sarah started crying.

I wanted to join her.

I took my nursing baby and fled to the computer (obviously). She nursed on one side and now I can't wake her enough to finish what she started. She's breathing normally now (maybe there is a connection), so do I dare try to go back to sleep? I'm afraid the association with her bed will remind her to either cry or grunt. Neither one is going to help me get any sleep.

Well, it's now 2:51. I've typed much of this one-handed. I'm going to try to put her back to bed and salvage the rest of the night. I am not very optimistic about it all. Church starts at 9 AM.

Happy Birthday...POP!

It was Chad's b-day yesterday. He's all the way up to 36 years now. As I was singing and carrying the cake to the table, I was thinking...That's really not very old. But I can remember when that seemed old! Even so, 36 and 5 1/2 kids makes a body feel old...too old, sometimes.

Since the next day was Fast Sunday, we had the cake after lunch. I made German Chocolate. (Chad always makes appreciative sounds when we mention German Chocolate.) I think I was counting on his maturity to excuse me from being very creative with his cake.


But I think he got short-changed anyway. I couldn't even manage to make a "36" on his cake with the candles. There aren't 36 candles, either. I used what I had and was still 13 candles short. Luckily, he's unconcerned with the look of his cake over the TASTE! :)

Maybe it was a good thing we were short 13 candles. He barely got the fire out in one breath as it was.And of course, there was no lack of help to remove the candles. I don't like to keep candles. Maybe when the kids are older, if they stop licking them when they take them out, I'll recycle them. For now, I just buy them at the dollar store.

We ate half the cake then and plan to finish it off this evening. Everyone is waiting in anticipation!

Onto another subject: we got a new popcorn popper recently. Our other popcorn popper is more a lethal weapon than a kitchen appliance. It is one of those vertical air poppers. It shoots the popcorn out at you and pops 1/3 of the kernels you put in. The rest of the kernels are hot torpedoes that must be avoided and then swept up.

Our new popper is a Stir Crazy (West Bend). You put in some oil, then kernels, cover it with a domed lid and plug it in. It stirs the kernels and keeps everything inside until you decide it's done. Then you unplug it and turn it over. The lid serves as a bowl. There is a reservoir on the bottom of the bowl that drips butter onto the corn as it pops, if you so desire. This new popper pops so much more popcorn and no one has to duck!

We had some this afternoon. It's a really big hit with Joseph (and everyone else). It also has some recipes in the manual. We've only made one, but it was very yummy. It kind of tastes like a drier caramel corn...a big plus when it comes to cleaning up the floor and lots of tiny hands.

Here is the recipe for you. You can use any plain popped popcorn.

Sugar ‘N Spice Treat
4 Qts. Plain popcorn
⅓ Cup Butter or margarine
¼ Cup Sugar
1 Tsp Cinnamon
¼ Tsp Salt

.....
1. Prepare 4 quarts of unbuttered popcorn according to instructions. Place in buttered 13x9x2 inch baking pan.
2. In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in sugar, cinnamon and salt. Mix well until sugar dissolves. Pour over popcorn, tossing to coat evenly.
3. Bake in a preheated 300°F oven for 10-minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

And one more scrapped LO for you. Stop here if you're not interested in such things. I know some people don't care. :)

This is what happens...

When you try to get a picture of Chad with his eyes open. It's very difficult. We have to tell photographers ahead of time that it will be a challenge.

When Rebekah decides it's time to change the toilet paper roll. She's very proud of the fact that she can. And now I have little partial rolls around the house for blowing noses.

When you leave the eggs in Joseph's reach. He learned at Easter time that you can crack eggs. Too bad the chickens won't lay hard-boiled eggs. It would be easier for all of us.

When you take the eggs away from Joseph.

When the big boys decide to have their own Pinewood Derby. Chad created a mini van. We aren't expecting it to win much of anything. We'll let you know how it does at the derby tonight. :)

Happy 10th!

It's our 10-year anniversary today!

We were married on the only dry day in a string of rainy ones, in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. The tulips were blooming (my favorite flower).

I felt like an old maid at 25 years old in Mormon-ville. I had dated quite a few people and was despairing that I would ever find one I was willing to change my name for! (I had some "good ones" in High School, but the ones after my mission were not only disappointing, some of them were down-right frightening!)

Chad and I officially met 15 December 1998. Our first date was to Applebee's. It took us long enough though...we had been in the same ward at BYU! That's when my youthful looks worked against me because Chad thought I was only 18 (too young for him) when I was really home from my mission almost a year!

We dated for a few months and were engaged 15 February 1999. Nearly two months later we were moving into our first apartment in Las Vegas and soon the family was growing. Now, 10 years later, we're waiting for baby #6, we're in our 5th home and the future is bright.

I know life isn't perfect, nor the people in it, but I came pretty darn close to it in Chad. He's a hard-working, honest, dependable man. He's an AWESOME daddy. He's a sensitive and "equally-yoked" husband. And he's our Forever.

Happy Anniversary, Chad! (Ten more years from now we can go out without finding a babysitter!) I love you.

Poisoned

We went out to an early dinner on Saturday night, after running some errands. I ordered fish and chips, while everyone else around me ordered a breakfast dish or hot dogs. I don't like fish, but this stuff isn't really fish...at least, it doesn't taste like it. So when my fat and calorie-laden breaded fish fillets were gone, I dipped my fat and calorie-laden fries in the left-over tarter sauce.

About an hour after falling asleep that night I awoke to feel pretty yucky. A person should only feel this yucky on a storm-tossed ship or with the promise of a baby at the end of the ordeal. Neither one of those situations pertained to me. All night long I woke up, wishing to be freed from my turmoil. (And cursing that tartar sauce!) Around 3 AM, Rebekah summoned me to her room. She complained to me that she wanted to sleep in a higher bed. !! I can't help her with that right now! I rested my head on her short, little toddler bed until she got tired enough to fall over and go back to sleep.

Around 5 AM I prayed for relief. About 6 AM I had a quick coughing attack, brought on by a 2-day old tickle in my throat. Miracle! That got the stomach churning and up came the offensive matter. And up, and up and up. It was gross, bitter and didn't only come out of my mouth. (Aren't you glad you've read this far?) Unfortunately for me, it was my turn to teach the Primary lesson at church and then we had Tithing Settlement and the First Presidency Christmas Devotional in the evening. So I sucked it up and met the day with half-open eyes.

I felt much better Monday, just tired. Yesterday I was completely recovered, except for that little tickle I talked about...it has gone a little deeper. And so I am thinking bad things about that tartar sauce when Chad admits that he isn't feeling well. (The fact that he was bent over the couch to talk to me was a little incriminating.) He spent the day feeling like he would throw up...but never did. He's feeling a little better today. Which is lucky, because it seems like it's Daniel's turn.

Daniel threw up all night (and I don't get any points for anything because Chad helped him every time). He's home from school today. He seems much better, but the poor kid didn't get much rest! So I guess I didn't have food poisoning as I suspected, but we've definitely been poisoned by something! Nasty, nasty germs!

And I really should apologize to everyone with whom I came into contact on Sunday. I really did think I was only poisoned...not deadly!

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?