Tannenbaums Away!

I didn't want to deal with Christmas tree drama this year.  I needed things a little simpler and a little cheaper.  After a long family discussion we decided this year we would try an artificial tree.  We were won over by the ease of set up, the ease of clean up, and the long-term savings.  We scoured craigslist and found a very pretty tree for sixty dollars.  It was a high quality tree, the right size and reasonably priced at $60.  Michael ran out and picked it up and then we put it in the shed for a couple of weeks.  December 3rd we decided to put up our tree.  We pulled out the nicely packaged tree in a sturdy case and started to set it up.  We unwrapped the neatly bundled branches only to discover there was no trunk or stand, just lots of branches.  We called the lady back and she scoured her storage but couldn't find the missing pieces.  She graciously took the tree back and refunded our money.  But we still didn't have a tree.

Michael hopped on Amazon to search for a tree.  There was one for thirty dollars!  It looked like a thirty dollar tree though.  It would arrive in as little as three days.  We ordered the thirty dollar tree.  It arrived in the promised time.

All set up and decorated.

Putting the angel on the tree.  This year it was Grace's turn.  She looked forward to it for days and then when she finally held the precious angel she realized the top of the tree was a lot higher than it looked from the ground.  Michael tried lifting her up to put the angel on but she panicked each time.  He eventually had to climb on the couch because Grace would not let go of him.  After a bit of struggling the angel finally made it to her seasonal place of honor.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Preparation

Years ago when I had two children who were both still in diapers Christmas was easy.  I remember Michael's sister-in-law asking us in November to get December's caroling on the calendar.  She said their schedule got crazy in December and she needed to get it planned.  I couldn't understand why she was so busy.  She only had one kid more than me.  What I didn't realize in my naivete is her kids are nearly a decade ahead of mine.  It's not the quantity of kids that matter, it's the age.  I finally learned that this year.

It started pretty calmly.  We dug out the Christmas decorations on December 1st and decorated the house.

The next day we went to the Capitol Building for the annual tree lighting.  The kids got free books, toothbrushes, cookies, hot cocoa and of course, candy. 

The next big event this month was a homeschool concert and dance show.  But before you perform you have to practice, and practice, and practice again.

 We then performed our numbers at an assisted living facility.  Grace and Sam rocked holding the signs.

Before long they became bored during the performance, but there was a bunny in the backyard (top right) to look at.  I'm not sure why there was a bunny but I was very thankful they found something to occupy themselves.

I didn't get any good pictures of the dances, just this one of Ethan swinging his partner.  I'm sure we'll have more pictures after their concert for the families, coming up this week.

We also couldn't let the season pass without decorating gingerbread houses.  Katie (Michael's sister) and Chris (Katie's boyfriend) came over to decorate with us.  We separated into teams and started building.  Katie really wanted to be on a team with a little one, so Michael and I happily let our guests team up with the littles.

 Chris and Sam's finished house.

 Ethan and Libby were happy to work together and were awfully proud of their tall, tall Christmas tree.

 Katie and Grace's creation.  Grace really did like her house; she was just being goofy.

 Mine and Michael's house.  The picture was taken by a short kid, hence the weird angle.

The next day we had a ward Christmas party.  Sam sat on Santa's lap but wasn't sure why he was there.  He did get candy out of the deal, though!  Just what we need, more candy.

The kids sang at the Christmas party as well.

We've made it barely halfway through December and I'm exhausted.  I apologize profusely for thinking my sis-in-law was being dramatic about their Christmas schedule.  It is crazy and if you want me to do anything in December then you had better let me know about it in October; our schedule fills up fast!

Post of Thanksgiving

Let's start out with the ugly truth:  The last two months have been hard.  Really, really hard.  I started back to college which has been a strain on my already limited patience.  My current classwork is not hard but it is time consuming, and, at times, tedious.  I was coping though.  Michael has been excellent about picking up the slack and we were starting to get used to a new normal.

Then his aunt died unexpectedly.  We were saddened but found peace at her funeral.  Sam was especially naughty during the funeral so Michael and I decided I would take the kids home and he would go to the interment.  He came home an hour later and I was surprised to see him so soon.  He told me there was a terrible accident while people were getting ready to go.   Nine people were injured and taken to the hospital after one of the funeral goer's car drove into the crowd waiting in front of the church.  We didn't know what was going to happen to a couple of the people hit but the families were blessed.  Two months later, a couple of people are still dealing with injuries related to the crash but it could have been much, much worse.  We are grateful for all the miracles that prevented worse injuries that day.

Two weeks later I drove to Havre, Montanta to attend my niece's wedding.  I drove over 1500 miles in three days with my sister and divorced parents.  It was the first time I've ever been apart from every member of my family at the same time for any length of time.  I was so relieved to get home.  I had no idea how much I would miss them all.  Plus I still had to figure out how to get all my course work done in time.

About four weeks ago my dear niece got in a car accident on the way to school.  I got a call from my crying sister telling me she was with a cop on the way to the hospital.  She didn't know what to expect.  Michael rushed home from work so I could go to the hospital and meet her.  Any other week I would have dragged the kids with me and had someone meet me to retrieve them from the hospital, but we were in the middle of chicken pox, and as badly as I needed to go to the hospital I didn't want to infect already sick people with more illness.  By the time I arrived my niece had regained consciousness but was heavily drugged as they stitched her face back together.  She was in the hospital for several days with scheduled physical, occupational and cognitive therapy.  My heart was breaking for my sister and my niece.  I love that girl so much.  I often tell my sister there was a mistake and Aubrey was supposed to be mine.

At this point all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and give up.  Life was throwing too much crap at me and I was ready to cry 'uncle'.  But...kids still needed fed, schoolwork (mine and theirs) still had to be completed, and life was still going on.  And it has gotten better.  Life has gone on.  By the time Thanksgiving rolled around I realized just how thankful I truly am.

I'm thankful to my brother (but mostly his wife) for hosting Thanksgiving each year because there is no way we could fit everyone and the food in my house.

I'm thankful for cousin fun while playing "Operation".

I thankful for this gorgeous girl who has no idea how cute she really is.

And this boy who won't let us take a decent picture of him.  I love him too.

 

I am truly thankful for this girl.  This is my Aubrey.  She was at Thanksgiving acting exactly as sassy as we've come to expect.  She has been back to school for a couple of weeks now.  Yesterday she was completely medically cleared, which means she can drive again as well.  Not sure how thankful I am for that. 

I'm also thankful for the man who takes all these pictures.  I didn't know I was getting a family photographer when I married him but I'm not complaining.  If it were left up to me there would probably be about four fuzzy pictures of each kid per year.

This may have been a hard autumn but I've also realized how much I truly have to be thankful for.  My life is blessed.

Raking

We always have plenty of help when it comes time to rake up the leaves.

 The lure of a giant pile of leaves inspires like nothing else.

 Cousins have even been known to show up and help "rake".

 Thank goodness for cousins.  Sam wasn't brave enough to jump by himself.

Happy Fall!

Chicken Pox: Part Two

Ethan, Libby and Grace had the decency to all get chicken pox at the same time.  It was a long 10 days but eventually everyone's pox had healed enough to go out in public.  The hardest part of chicken pox was being house-bound, especially as everyone felt pretty good the whole time.   With everyone healed we reveled in our freedom.  We went to church, the Discovery Center, the dollar store; wherever we wanted and it was marvelous.

Four days later the kids announced they found spots on Sam while I was showering.  After a longer than usual shower I came out to verify their findings.  Sam did in fact have chicken pox.  Gah!  House-bound AGAIN!

That evening I had class and Michael was supposed to fix his sister's computer.  After verifying his sister had already had chicken pox he decided to proceed as planned and take the family over to his sister's.  Sam was on board.  Moments before we both headed out Sam announced, "I am going to pook and then I am going to go to Aunt Amy's".  He then nonchalantly proceeded to the bathroom.  A few minutes later I realized he hadn't returned so I went to check. 

He decided he needed a nap more than he needed to "pook" but he would prepare for either eventuality.  I picked up a soundly sleeping kid from off the toilet who looked at me and said, "But I wanted to pook!"  Being the stellar parents we are Michael still went to his sister's with all the kids.  The only rough part was when Michael tried to buckle Sam in the car:

"I wanted to pook and then go to Aunt Amy's!"

"You did puke," Michael told him, vainly trying to convince Sam that he had puked.  Sam wasn't going to have any of it.

"No I didn't!" he cried.

Thankfully he was appeased when Michael ran back into the house and brought back the designated "puke bowl" for Sam to use if needed.  He never did get sick.  He did fall fast asleep on the toilet though.  That's a story we will always have to treasure.

A Really Frightful Halloween

The costumes were arranged.  The trick or treat route was planned.  The pumpkins were carved.  We were ready.  We knew it would be a bit of a crazy day due to having homeschool co-op, it being my birthday, and the fact that I had to attend my class but we had it all planned with military precision.  It was going to work!

Wednesday evening Ethan started complaining about feeling sick; headaches and general malaise.  I called my mother and she said she could babysit until 2:30 on Thursday if needed so I could take the others to co-op and the promised Halloween party.  As we don't usually get home until closer to 4:00, Michael planned to go to work at 6:00 a.m. so he could get home in time.  My planning was falling apart but we could still make it work.

Thursday, the big day dawned.  Michael went to work before it dawned and I got up to find Ethan feeling crummy and with two suspicious dots on his body.  My mom came over and I loaded everyone else up and left.  We did our normal four classes at co-op and then it was party time!  While putting Grace in her costume she was acting fussy but I figured she would be okay for another half hour.  Even the promise of candy wasn't making her feel better.  Then Libby came out in her costume and I saw red spots on her chest.  With chicken pox making the rounds among our friends I had a pretty good idea of what the spots meant.  I probably should have loaded everyone in the car at that point but I figured she had already exposed everyone at that point anyway.  I would give her fifteen minutes to collect candy and then we would scoot.

When I arrived home Ethan had a bunch more spots and Grace started sporting a couple as well.  Halloween plans were officially canceled. We were scary enough without Halloween costumes.

We did manage to celebrate my birthday though.  Michael got me the cookbook I asked for and beautiful flowers and Libby made me a beaded decoration. Michael even made, from scratch, cannolis for my birthday as I haven't found a good one in Boise.

Mmmm...delicious! 

There was no trick-or-treating so after my class we watched "Hocus Pocus", popped some popcorn and stayed up way too late.  Over the next couple days the kids received enough pity candy from neighbors, aunts, and our friends to make up for not being able to go out on Halloween.  I might need to go steal a Snickers or two.

Halloween Prep

Aunt Kristal came over for our fun-filled evening.  We started by performing a small concert of "Boil 'Em Cabbage Down" for her enjoyment.  There are no videos.  It is much better without the audio so feel blessed.

Ignore the dog-eaten blinds in the background.  I will get around to buying new window coverings, it just isn't high on my priority list.

We then got to the fun part of the evening:  Playing with knives and guttin' some pumpkins!

Michael and I carved pumpkins for the little ones.  They told us what design they wanted and we endeavored to create them. 

Everyone with their creation.  Ethan carved two pumpkins.  The little one was a puking pumpkin.  He saved the guts and had them spewing out of the pumpkin's mouth on our front porch.  The squirrels were in heaven and there were pumpkins guts everywhere.  By Halloween night the squirrels had even eaten the face off the pukin' pumpkin.  Darn squirrels.

All the glowing glory.  We couldn't have been more ready for Halloween.

Dad's Weekend

My oldest niece decided to get married.  Her wedding was in Havre, Montana.  If you drive straight through, without a single stop, it will take 10 1/2 hours in the car.  After a brief discussion Michael and I decided not to take the kids to the wedding.  Somehow one whole day in the car, one day to enjoy the wedding, and then another whole day in the car didn't seem like a fun family outing.  Instead it was decided I would go and he would stay home with the kids.  While I was driving my sister and my deaf divorced parents around the western United States, Michael and the kids played.

 

He took the kids to Farmstead's Homeschool Day.  We would have liked to have gone together but homeschool day is so much cheaper and is the only way we can justify the expense.  Regular admission is just crazy.

They jumped.

They swung.

The got buried in the corn.

It seems they may have even ended up in the slammer.  This is the part of the weekend they don't talk about much.

They even went through the corn maze.  The little ones rode in style while Michael pulled them in a wagon.  I think that officially makes him a better sport than me.

They also each picked a little pumpkin to bring home.  Meanwhile I am in the car, stopping every two hours because someone needed to use the potty.  We arrived in Havre to find ourselves in a whirlwind of activity.  The wedding was the next morning at 11:00 so we all pitched in to finish the flowers, decorate some sheet cakes and in general try to be helpful house guests.

On Saturday Libby had a Halloween party.  She wanted to be a princess.  Michael's sister, Amy, volunteered to help her be truly glamorous.  She came over and did Libby's makeup (much better than I ever would have) and helped her get dressed.

Gorgeous, isn't she?

I was in Montana getting ready for the wedding.  I have no pictures as Michael had the camera.  I watched my niece marry the man she loves and I kept busy helping serve and clean up.  After the wedding, the portion of the family who weren't newly married went on a hike.  I wish I had the pictures to share.  We ended up on top of a mountain looking down over the aspens turning yellow.  We could even see Canada.  I need to see if I can track down some pictures.

Sunday, Michael took all the kids to church while I loaded back into the van and drove, and drove, and drove.  Thanks to a stop at Craters of the Moon and a stop to help a stranded motorist our trip home took 14 1/2 hours.  I got home at 8:20.  I had barely put the car in park before children exploded out of my house looking for me.  It was beyond wonderful to finally be home.  And nobody was dead nor had the house exploded.  Michael did a great job.  Now I know I can leave for a long weekend every now and then.  Hawaii here I come!

Dryer Days

My dryer and I have been compromising all summer long.  As long as I hung out most of the clothes it would grudgingly dry an occasional load.  It would take a couple of cycles but it would dry them.

Once the cooler weather hit my dryer decided it was done playing and gave up heating entirely.  Thankfully I have a friend who had a dryer she wasn't using that she brought by.  It heats up and dries everything in one cycle!  It's amazing.  Meanwhile we had our dryer sitting out in our yard, which we can all agree is a fabulous look.  I mentioned to Michael that said friend said we should be able to get $30 or so for our old dryer at the recycling center.  She even offered to drive it there on her trailer next time she was in town.

Michael and I agreed that it would be silly to have her come back in to help us out.  We have a minivan and a trailer and the recycling center is less than a mile from our house.  We could figure this out.  So Michael did figure it out.  He loaded it on his bike trailer!

 

The neighbor lent him some straps and Michael started off.  Upon arriving at the recycling center a mile from our house he found it closed.  He had missed it by six minutes.  He asked if there was another recycling center close and was directed to one nearly four miles away and up a steep hill.  Michael was not to be deterred and jumped on his bike.  Just before he left the first recycling center a perfect stranger snapped a photo of his load.  Once he was in the general vicinity of the recycling center he stopped at Lowes to ask for more specific directions to the recycling center.  While there he ran into a coworker of his who also needed to snap a photo.

After traveling a total of 5.5 miles since leaving the house, he pulled into the recycling center.  He unloaded the dryer, threw it on the scale where it weighed in at 110 pounds.  The the recycling guy said "Two dollars and twenty cents."  Michael thought he misheard, but then he was handed two soggy Washingtons and two dimes.

Woohoo!  We're rich!  Michael took his rather disappointing reward and pedaled on back home.  When he was more than halfway there, he realized he left all the straps back at the recycling center.  Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but they weren't his straps!  He either needed to recover them or replace them, and the latter would cost money so this dryer which was supposed to earn us $30 was going to cost us about the same!  Why, you ask?  Because when he got home he also noticed his little blinky light had come off his bike somewhere along the way.  Sigh.

Anyway, we eventually recovered the straps, returned them to the neighbor and Michael spent his hard-earned cash on an ice cream bar at Costco.  What a ride!

Museum Comes to Life!

We look forward to this event every September.  Our local historical museum staffs the displays with people in period costume and have people demonstrating knitting, weaving, rug making and more inside the museum.  Outside there is traditional dancing, gold panning, musket ball firing, roping, and old timey game playing.  There is something for everyone and the entire event is free.  It is a lovely event even if it is pretty crowded.

The kids love to have their names written in calligraphy.

My kids are the cool kids of hula hooping.

We also had to try a target practice game and a game called hoops and graces.  Don't we all look graceful?

 Everyone needs to know how to properly rope a cow.

There was also the Oscar Meyer weinermobile.  Why wouldn't there be a giant hot dog among all the vintage cars and teepees?  It made perfect sense.  The greatest joy came when they gave us all a whistle for singing the Oscar Meyer weiner song.  Words fail to express the sheer bliss of being followed around by four kids blowing into shrill plastic whistles.  Words fail.

Inside the museum Sam found a new reason for living.  My little guy who can't stay still for anything spent forever gazing at the model trains.  This was shortly before we lost him.  I thought Michael had him.

I was under the impression the boys were all off looking at clocks while the girls and I were talking to some lovely women who were knitting.  Then I heard the P.A. announcement that every parent dreads.  "We have a little boy named Sam at the front desk who is wearing a Bronco's jersey."  I looked at the woman I was talking to and yelped, "I thought his dad had him!" threw Grace up on my hip and started running up front.  I got up there to find a teary little boy and pretty understanding volunteers.  I hugged Sam and we started to walk off when a little girl who was volunteering ran up to us.  She was bringing the sad, lost, little boy a bag of cookies.  She was very sweet and Sam suddenly didn't think getting lost was that bad.  I'm almost afraid that he is going to try it again to see if he can score some more cookies.

He did share his prize with Grace and they rode off into the sunset. No quilts were injured or smeared with cookie crumbs in the taking of this picture.

We then continued our journey.

One of our last stops, and a perennial favorite is the printing press.  We left a bit more educated, a lot more tired, and with many copies of the same page of newsprint.  Hopefully next year we can manage not to lose anyone.  I don't think my heart could handle it again.