Messie...

We love this girl, but not her messes. She speeds through the house opening, undo-ing, dumping, and spreading. Sometimes she adds coloring and gouging to her agenda.
I was relieved, yesterday, when T picked up her doll and bear, apparently deciding she was finished helping me shred.A couple of minutes later, I called to K in the other room to see if T was ok in with her. She informed me that T had toddled through, but not stopped. K jumped up to find T and then let out a shriek of agony.

The doll and bear lay abandoned...
For this...After the scrub down, we noticed how perfectly her eyelashes were coated in mascara. This girl certainly is thorough!

Perfection

I have been accused, recently of having a perfect, fairy-tale life.

Me?
Of all people!

You know the hard work it takes to get up day after day to the same routine:

keeping house,
teaching children,
planning,
preparing meals,
scheduling,
ref-ing,
hauling,
mending,
serving,
noticing,
working,
etc.
etc.
etc.

Did you hear what I said?

Hard Work.

Things that are worthwhile all come with a price.

Hard Work.

Time.

Effort.

Sweat.

Tears.

Scrapes.

Bruises.

And after all this, there is no guarantee of the outcome. Whether I am making dinner or guiding a child, I put forth my best effort and then with a measure of blessings from my Heavenly Father, I hope for the best.

Sometimes, I burn dinner or it just tastes like "poop". (an actual quote!)

Sometimes, my children act like they were raised by banshees.

Sometimes, I get so caught up in my shortcomings that I wander from room to room not knowing what to do first... for days on end.



THAT IS LIFE

We all have those days.

Get over it.





I am blessed.

I am happy because I choose to be.

Now, GO BE HAPPY!

Jamming and Jamming

This has been a big year of firsts for me! They mostly come in the domestic area of my life. (I am not sure there is another area, though. )

Growing up with 9 siblings, we were always busy with something. The something was mostly always a regular part of coming or going and daily life. Occasionally, and I don't know why she would give herself the extra work, Mom would decide it was canning day. I remember we bottled cherries, bread and butter pickles, and peaches. There could have been something else, but these are the things I remember eating out of jars. Each time, it was a huge process. We started in the morning and didn't finish until evening when the entire counter would be lined with hot jars of yumminess. We would be tired, but it had been a day of great teamwork and industry.

Jump back to now. I knew that with our great, new yard, my work would be cut out for me. We juiced and froze every drop of juice off of every citrus tree (thanks to Papa for picking them all and helping me!). I anxiously anticipated using every last juicy plump boysenberry. I have made freezer jam plenty of times, but now, my freezer space is limited. Best option: cooked jam in jars that would have to have the lids sealed. It's ok, laugh. For me, this was a daunting task. I have never sealed a jar lid myself and I still had in mind the all day process.
With the companionship of my trusty ipod and L's trusty dock, I dove in. As of now, I have bottled 8 pints of boysenberry, 21 pints of fig, and 5 pints of apricot. I did it! They look beautiful and taste amazing. Better yet, I felt so good doing something I know my mom and grandmothers and their moms and their moms have all done. The surprising part for me is that each one only took up to a couple of hours, if that. The big difference was that I had not purchased boxes and boxes of fruit, but just used what was picked and ripe... a bonus: free fruit!
Last night, a friend called and said she had apples for me from her tree and that they made great jelly! One of R's favorites! I guess that will be my next bottling venture.

Pie in the Face

Early in the week, we received a phone call letting us know that one of R's Chilean mission companions was in Sedona. Could we get together? "Of course!" C also called their other "companion", who lives in Cottonwood, to come join in the fun. Since R had to work on Thursday, they decided to meet in the middle at the Rock Springs Cafe... famous for their pies.

These guys had not seen each other in 18 years! J and his family live in Cottonwood and opened a burger joint named Bing, C lives in Sacramento with his family and said we could visit anytime... nice! Our group of 17 was seated in a room all to ourselves. J's 2 babes are the same age as T and T. C's 2 girls are the same age as J and L. We had a super great time catching up.

Of course, we couldn't leave without some pie to bring home. The selection made it hard, but we decided on pecan and this... coconut cream... YUM.

Friday, after dinner, we cut slices for anyone who wanted some. L looked at it longingly and asked if it would be alright if he smashed his face in it. I told him it was his pie and he could do what he wanted with it. "What?!" Disbelief. "Really?"

Then T had to try, too.

Day Camp in the Desert

(There's Sir L with the shield and the "helmet" too small for his noggin!)

Cub Scout day camp is an amazing phenomenon that occurs each summer. I think the fact that dozens of scouters and parents wrangle hundreds of cubs in the heat of the desert for 3 days at a time make it truly remarkable. This year, the average temperature in blistering Phoenix has been about 108 F for our 3 assigned days of camp. YIKES!
R was able to take Monday and Tuesday off from work to go and help the leaders from our L's bear den. Each den is assigned a "campsite" that they decorate following the theme... this year it was "Knights of the Heard Pueblo". Activities begin at 3pm each day and end at 9:30pm. Each person brings their own sack dinner which is kept in a cool chest and there are plenty of places to refill water bottles.In addition to these fun activities, the Cubs also got to swim, hike, use a compass, shoot bb guns, water fight, make terrariums, and attempt to pull the sword from the stone! Hooray for Cub Scouts!

No Photos

Just as promised in the title, I have no picture proof of our wonderful, fabulous weekend in the mountains.

When we moved, it was only 2 blocks away from our previous home, friends, and ward (congregation). This small geographic change has brought many new experiences and lots of fun and learning.

When I had the chance to host our previous ward's Youth Conference for 3 days in lovely Pinetop, AZ, I jumped at the chance. My babes and I went up on Wednesday to make sure everything was in order. All of the youth and their leaders arrived Thursday at noon(ish).

I had time to assemble 994 pieces of a puzzle which ended up in the trash because of the missing 6. I soaked up the evening chill and let my babes drink all the hot chocolate they wanted. I enjoyed catching up with old friends and making some new ones. I didn't cook a single meal, as that part of the trip was assigned out. I watched and listened as my 2 older boys learned of life and spirit and mind and agency and accountability and then testified of what it all meant to them. I applied sunscreen and bug spray on the children and then did it again and again. I let my boys canoe and fish and even told them I would cook whatever they caught. (Un)fortunately they came back empty handed.

It was a wonderful weekend and I am ready to go back. Unfortunately, tomorrow starts 3 weeks of summer school (10 hrs daily) for L and summer band for J on trumpet and L starting trombone. They will be directed by the brilliant Mr. Kelly Higgins. Yahoo! 3 busy weeks and then we will relax, again and get ready for family reunions. I can hardly wait!

Time Travel

That must be the answer... Right? Time travel!

This was yesterday...
Ponytails and bows. Hercules backpack with her new folder tucked safely inside. That was the day that suddenly, someone (Mrs. Annes) knew more than the parents did!

This is today.
She does her own ponytails, now, but she did ask me to tie a bow on it, this morning. All set for graduation, tonight. After my freak-out a few weeks ago, I am ready for it.

I sure love this girl.

This is what after breakfast looks like most mornings. Minus the milk-jug/cup thing. That was new today, compliments of T. I don't even know where he has ever seen that!
(yes, he did knock it over and I didn't even get mad.)



10 minutes later, we were in the car to take things to the schools that the children forgot...


T: Mom, ouw bananas have decay!

Me: What?!

T: Ouw bananas have decay!

Me: Do you know what decay means?

T: (giggles) Wotten. They awe toneing bwown.

Me: Wow, T! That is a big word! Decay...! Where did you learn that?

T: Fwom Sid Science Kid.



Our babes are sponges. They soak up everything around them. Good or Bad. Science or whatever. This afternoon, I almost tripped over my bowl of berries when I heard J and L on the trampoline, teaching T (the other one) to "just smack him" and "now, kick him, hard"! How dare they! Don't they know that she will head into nursery on Sunday and do just that? Grrrr!

On the other hand, every night before I sing my babes to sleep, I kneel with them to pray. T and T always listen while the other has a turn. I say a phrase and then they repeat it. Now, T can finish many of them for me and he quite often comes up with his own list to be included. T, however, (sorry if it's confusing!) Has yet to participate. She listens, but hasn't repeated any of my phrases... until tonight. I think it caught her attention when I said, "Thankful for ba-ba", which she is. Then she repeated everyone's names and then said, " Jesus, Amen!" It was so sweet.

It was another reminder that I really need to be aware of what they are all soaking up... my bigs and my littles. They absorb more than we know!

Harvest

I hope you are not sick of my garden, I'm not. I have never had one before and I love this one. When we bought this house, I was sold when I saw the yard. Half the yard was set up for playing and the other half for growing.

I inherited a fully mature and productive asparagus patch that just needs picking every spring.

I also inherited 2 fences of boysenberries that are at least 20 feet long, each. In early spring, I spent hours and hours pruning, thinning, and taming them. It has been worth every minute and scratch. This week, they have begun to ripen. The best ones are nearly black and ready to burst and warm from the sun. They melt in my mouth. I must have picked at least 5 pounds during the week. I made one pint of jam the first day, put them on ice-cream the 2nd day, and gave the entire bowl (still warm) to my babes the 3rd day. The 4th day, my sister picked them to help me with my chores so I gifted them to her :) (I just loved the visit!) Then, the 5th day, I made 3 1/2 pints of jam and warm bread to go with it.
Can you tell that I am in AWE? Growing is truly a miracle. There is no other explanation. We are so blessed. We have also planted bikinis (according to L when he was VERY small), radishes, onions, carrots, beets, peppers, basil, lemon-thyme, and a variety of tomatoes.


Growing my garden to take care of my children and growing my children to take care of my garden. We are learning together and enjoying some time together while we are doing it.

Hints of Summertime...

The signs are all around us. As the thermometer creeps up, we can't deny the fact that an Arizona Summer is coming soon. With a new yard this year, our family has new signs to notice as well as the yearly rituals that make our family tick. See for yourselves...

Promises of sweet things to come...
The boysenberries are gorgeous and delicious!
Can you see the asparagus coming up? It grows about 4 inches each day!

Popsicles...

Summer haircuts...

It did all come off, but they both loved the in-between stage!



And... apparently his brows were a little toasty, too... notice the gap in each one? Compliments of J. Sorry it is blurry... I had to steal the proof while he was asleep. The story is that it was L's idea and he asked J for help. What big brother could turn down down a request to make his little brother look doofish?

Honestly, it is now 2 days after the eyebrow assault and I am finally just beginning to see the humor in it :)