Wanna Ride?

About 20 miles west of Rapid City is the small town of Sturgis. It is a really small town - 1 McDonalds, and a very small grocery store is all that is there. A few weeks ago we went to play at a park there and saw all of 2 cars on the road. But for one week in August, the sleepy little town wakes up and hosts one of the biggest bike rallies around. This is the 65th Sturgis Bike Rally

From our home we can hear a constant roar of motorcycles all day and into the night. The motorcycles started arriving this weekend, and more just keep on coming.


Main Street, Sturgis, SD
I borrowed these pictures from Sturgis Street Blog He updates his blog a few times a day.

The Sturgis Bike Rally is the big topic of conversation - have you been? are you going? do you have a motorcycle? did you see that crash? etc. I heard that so many people come to Sturgis that it doubles the population of the state of SD. I don't know if that is true (I'll have to do a little research) but there really are more motorcycles here than I have ever seen before in my life. We counted 137 bikes on a quick drive to the store this morning.

We were in Yellowstone last summer during the Bike Rally, so we missed most of the fun. I guess Sturgis used to be a really dangerous wild place, but it has become more law abiding in the last few years. But I still would not recommend hanging out there late at night unless you happen to have a big biker boyfriend.

There is a definate dress code for these bikers. Beard. Tank top. Tattoo. Harley. Ponytail optional.

I wonder who ensures that there are enough bathrooms for all those people.

Donna at Quiet Life posts 5 questions on Friday. Here are the questions and my answers.

1. Do you have a pet? What is it? Names please.
Sam the dog - he is technically Hannah's dog, but she is nice enough to share with us. Sam is a 2 year old Golden Retriever. John (almost 2) is Sam's biggest fan. John calls him Sammy.

2. How near is your nearest sibling?
My sisters are all over the place. I think my closest sister Erin. Erin is the baby of the family and is going to be a Senior this year. She lives in Utah and is about 12 hours (by car) away.

3. How far away is your farthest?
Mary, near Baltimore, is the farthest. But I got to see her and Erin in Utah last week. Fun!

4. How did you meet your husband. If you have one. If not, where do you meet nice men?
Church dance in high school. He is still just as cute!

5. Does living in a Villa in Tuscany appeal to you?
Tuscany sounds lovely

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Today is the first Friday of August, so we are headed to the base for dinner with Nathan's squadron. For a special treat they will have a B-1 open for us to go inside and see.

The last time we were able to go inside the B-1 was right after John was born. As part of Nathan's training they had a special day where family members could go inside the B-1 and also try out the simulators. It was a big deal, and most of the guys and girls had family come from all over the county to be there. Poor Nathan. John was like a week old and as soon as I got to the squadron with all 4 (what? How many kids do you have? 4?) kids, John needed to eat. It was my first big outing with John. We really do have more kids than most any one, and I was uncomfortable about that.

I was also feeling overwhelmed by all the people in uniform, and could not imagine feeding John in the auditorium. Also Emily was just 2 and not interested in sitting quietly and listening. I had a wee little panic attack, and went home with Emily and John, leaving Hannah and Sydney with Nathan. At one point in the program everyone was introducing their guests - this is my mom from New York, this is my sister from California, etc. When it was Nathan's turn, he had no special guests, I had gone home, and even Hannah and Sydney had left to go to the bathroom. I still feel bad about not being there for that. Sorry Nathan.

I have a cold

It seems strange to have a cold in August. My nose is runny. My ears seem uneven. I have a cough. My head hurts. When I lay on my side, that side of my nose gets plugged, and if I roll over, the other side gets clogged up. It is no fun.

I think it may be Primary's fault. We did a silly activity for sharing/singing time this Sunday. One of our counselors is really working to find ideas for our music leader. She found a fun idea about giving the music a "check-up."

So I dressed up in a lab coat (actually just one of Nathan's white shirts) and pull a stethoscope, and ear checker thingy out of Emily's pretend doctor kit. I put the stethoscope on and put the ear thingy in my pocket. I also put on those silly glasses with the crazy eyebrows.

I told the kids "I have some very bad news - our songs are sick, and they need your help getting better." I cut out some paper germ shapes and wrote a program song on the back of each one. I put the songs on the chalkboard and we had a child come choose a germ (song) to work on. Then I had another child come be my assistant. The assistant held a clipboard and we watched while everyone sang the song.

We were watching to see if the kids knew the words, if they knew the tune, if they were standing and sitting when the chorister told them to, etc. We sang a couple of the songs a few times before we decided that they were on the road to recovery.

Before the kids left I told them "You need to take some medicine to help the songs get better." I gave them each a "Mike and Ikes" candy. I also made sure they understood that I am not really a doctor and that I was only giving out candy, and that only real doctors can give medicine, etc.

It was a fun activity and the kids seemed to really like it. But - Yikes! - Our little ones just don't seem to know the songs. And they sing very quietly. It is a good thing our program isn't until November.

So maybe I those bad germs rubbed off on me and gave me this cold.

Happy Birthday Mary!

A Little Lamb for you on your birthday!

Thursday

Nathan says no one will want to come visit us if I keep writing about dead animals. So here is another bit of fun.

Sam and John

Our neighbors just moved and left us their doggy door. Sam-the-dog is not sure if he likes it, and though he can go in and out easily, he is not willing to use it unless we tell him to. John, on the other hand, thinks we got this cool door just for him!

Hi John

***********

With the base on the BRAC list, I thought that there would be less people moving to the base, but looking around our neighborhood that does not seem to be true. Two families across from us moved away in the last two weeks. One house is already occupied, and the other will be filled in a week or two. There are several houses around us that had been empty for months, and they are occupied now, too. We have more neighbors now than we did this winter.

To be fair, the BRAC list is not final until December, so Ellsworth could stay open. And even if it does end up closing, it will take a few years to happen. That means that people will still be stationed here - moving in and out - as usual.

So I was thinking about this during my run this morning and I have a little theory. I think that some people who would normally have chosen to buy a house in Rapid City, have decided that living in base housing is safer, if the base closes, and have chosen not to buy a home. I wonder if the housing market in Rapid City has already slowed down.

A few months ago we looked at a great house. It is so cute. It is a 5 bedroom home with a couple acres up in the hills, with big trees. We did not buy it, but it was really great, and the realtor made it sound like the house was going to sell to someone else that very day, if we did not jump on it. Nathan has kept in touch with the owners, and the house has still has not sold. Isn't that sad?

I have been complaining to Nathan that my new dryer isn't working. It has been taking two cycles to dry a load, which makes laundry take forever to finish, and also often leaves damp clothes in the dryer overnight which makes the washcloths have a yucky smell.

When we came back from our trip I noticed an odd smell downstair. I thought maybe it was the bathroom, so I cleaned the toilet. The smell was still there, so I searched for an old diaper hidden somewhere. I couldn't find a diaper, so I started sniffing carpets and closets. I decided the odd smell was a dead animal. We have had mice in the garage, and sure enough there was a dead mouse in the trap, but it was all dried out, and the smell still lingered somewhere in the house.

I got around to washing clothes on Sunday evening. I opened the dryer to move along the clothes and I found the smell. The inside of the dryer smelled awful. There was nothing in the dryer, so we decided something had died in the dryer vent. Our laundry room is in the middle of the house, so the dryer vent goes around the laundry room, under the hall, under Hannah's room, and out the wall.

We called Housing on Monday morning and they sent out a guy to check the vent. He used a coat hanger to dig around in the vent and found this:


Nest

He bagged up all the grass and eggs in two Walmart bags. When we opened the vent to check for more, a little bird flew out at him. He did not find anything dead, and said that it was probably the grass.

The dryer worked so much better. I dryed two loads on Monday. But on Tuesday the smell was back. So another guy came with a leaf blower and used it to blow through the vent. There was more grass and lint and finally, a dead bird.

Today (Wednesday) the smell is gone, the dryer is going, and we have a mesh cover over our vent!

It is so quiet around here

Hannah and Sydney are visiting Mom and Dad for the next week, and it is strangely peaceful here. I think of Hannah and Sydney as my big helpers, but getting everyone ready for church yesterday was quick and easy even without their help. I wonder if that means that I spend too much time bossing the girls around when I could be getting to work. Hmmmm.


Emily at a Campfire

We spend the last two weeks camping in Hood River, Oregon and Wallowa Lake at a big family reunion. It was so fun to see my sisters and their growing families. We have been away from family so long that we hadn't even met some of those cute little cousins before. The combination of great food, fun games, and late nights chatting made the reunion a success. My favorite family reunion activity was toilet tag. (If you get tagged you must freeze and put out your had like a toilet flusher. You can be unfrozen if someone comes and flushes you.) That was crazy fun. Little Abby is FAST!

Laurie brought knitting patterns for all of us and we worked furiously on our Wonderful Wallaby sweaters. I'm still working on it. I have one sleeve finished and another sleeve ready to increase at the cuff. I'm not sure that I will be able to get the sleeves onto the body without the help of my knitting tutor. But I will try. I am hoping to finish it by the time we bring the girls home from Grammy's house.

1st half of summer = SUPER-DUPER A+
2nd half of summer is here.

Happy 4th of July

In Memory of

Bye-Bye Van

Thank you, Brown Van, for taking me from CA to OR to AL to FL to IL to TX to UT to SD. Thank you for 9 long years of faithful service. Thank you for Paul Simon and John Denver. Thank you for never getting in an accident and never catching on fire. Thank you for never stranding me in the middle of an intersection. Thank you for always driving another few miles on empty. Thank you for the camouflaging effect of your brown interior - all stains and messes blended beautifully in with your brown carpet and bench seats. Thank you for the freedom you gave me and the passenger capacity to hold our growing family and visitors. Though you were never stylish or luxurious, you did your job well. May the road stretch long before you.

The Brown Van served us well. I have a lot of memories with that van...we went a lot of miles together. But the '89 Dodge Grand Caravan was tired, and saggy, and consuming a gallon of water at every stop. So we decided it was time to put it out to pasture. Nathan thought I was a maniac for wanting to take pictures of the van before we got rid of it, but I really am fond of that old car.


See Ya!

Oh, What Do You Do in the Summer Time?

Summer is supposed to be a restful time, when I get to lay back and read to my heart's desire. And relax on a hammock. And drink lemonade. But we have been so busy.

It is moving season in our military neighborhood. We have been pet sitting, and babysitting for neighbors as they get ready to leave. We have also been playing with them as much as possible before the movers come. Several close friends are leaving in the next couple of weeks and it is really sad. Hannah's 2 neighborhood pals are moving far away.

All this playing has made my house fall apart. There are barbies in the choo-choo train box, and library books lost behind the couch. The various puzzles and building sets are making it impossible to vacuum.

The weather has been beautiful, and that is another reason we have been so busy. It is just too nice to be inside. We have been playing tennis, and rollerblading, and slip-and-sliding, and bike riding, and blowing bubbles, biking backward....

On Monday night, we walked all the way to the ice cream store with our neighbors for our Family Home Evening treat. We were like a little parade - 3 bikes, 3 jogger strollers, 8 adults, 9 kids, no dogs.

Ice cream, swim suits, otter pops, mosquito spray, family reunion, camping. These are the things our summer is made of. That's what we've been doing. Nothing much to blog about, but a lot of fun!

I am Freezing

Our split level house has its own weather patterns. Guess what? Heat rises. I think we could plan some pretty impressive experiments showing that right here in our home.

Down near the TV it is always cold. The kids sleep in sweats and socks and extra blankets. Up stairs it can be really warm - especially at dinner time when I am pulling things out of the oven. I sleep in just my white jammies! We closed all the downstairs vents, hoping to encourage the cold air to go up, but it is still quite cold down here, and warm upstairs. Brrrr.

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Today was my rest day from running, so Sydney and I went on a walk. But first, Sam the dog escaped (BAD DOG) and we had to run around the neighborhood calling to him, trying to bait him with a tennis ball. So embarrassing. He will usually come back if you have a ball and pretend like you want to play, but today he found his own tennis ball and was not impressed with the one I had. He eventually decided to come with us on our walk. Nice dog.

Yesterday during my run (4 miles) I had problems with my shorts. I do not actually own any shorts, so I borrowed a pair of Nathan's official Air Force exercise shorts. It was very warm, so I was glad to be out of my usual Air Force issue blue sweats (also Nathan's,) but those shorts had a creeping problem. Chub-rub as Sarah likes to put it! Dang. I was so focused of keeping those shorts down, that I hardly noticed my sore foot. Blister, sadly, is still there. May need new shoes.

Running Check In

I think I did okay last week with my running. I went every day and ran about 10 minute miles. Really, I think I can run just under 10 minute miles, unless Sam the dog is with me. He always has to pee in the grass near the soccer park, and if I don't have a bag with me, then he always has to go #2 somewhere along our route. So I have to watch out for an empty field, and tug at his collar to convince him not to go in someone's nice grass. All those potty breaks add up and slow me down. It is not all bad, though, sometimes I am terribly glad to be able to stop and just stand around.

I was really proud of myself for being able to go 4 whole miles, and then 5 miles what really incredible. But I had a little trouble on Saturday's 5 mile run. I started to feel a hot spot on my arch on mile #4. My arch felt hotter and hotter, and finally I stopped and took off my shoe. I had a little blister. Ouch. I still had to go a mile to get back home. I walked a while, but it still hurt, so I went ahead and jogged on home. The blister was not too bad, but it was a little tender all weekend. I could not wear my favorite black sandles to church because they rubbed my owie.

I did not run Sunday, or yesterday, to let the blister heal. It looks like pink tough skin, now. I ran my 3 miles today, and it didn't feel too bad. (Sam came with me) I tried using mole skin over the sore spot, but my feet are sweaty and the moleskin slipped down. Nathan recommended that I put the mole skin over the part of my shoe that is causing the rubbing. I will see tomorrow if that helps.

Happy Father's Day, Grampie!

Run

I am working on running. I am not a fast runner. Really more of a jog/walker, but I am trying to get moving a little more. After Emily was born I successfully lost the baby weight by running 2 miles a day and eating less. John is nearly 2 and I have not lost the weight, so I am trying the running/less eating thing. I don't think I am losing, but atleast I am no longer gaining weight.

Okay, so I have been following the coolrunning couch to 5K running program. I am up to 2-3 miles and feeling good.

My neighbor is a run/walker, too. She is getting ready to start training for a half marathon in the fall. She is trying to talk me into going with her. Does that sound too crazy? 13 miles? She has a pretty gentle plan that eases you into running a really long way.

So if I am going to do this, I need to start the pre-training workout:
3 miles on Monday, 4 miles on Tuesday, 4 miles on Wednesday, off on Thursday, 3 miles on Friday, 5 miles on Saturday. I am going to try it this week. If I can do it for the rest of the month without killing myself, then maybe I will start her training schedule in July.

The main problem is that this race is on Sunday. Do you think she would be mad if I just train with her and do not do the race?

Laundry

Here is a great way to fold a shirt. Not my usual technique, but we may try this.

Bed in Summer

In winter I get up at night
and dress by yellow candlelight.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The bird still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown up people's feet
Still going past me in the street

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

(Robert Louis Stevenson)

Guess Who...

This person loves to read.


This person 57 inches tall.


This person is a soccer star.


This person is learning how to play tennis.

?



"The Great Good Thing" is a book this person recommends.


This person is a girl.

??


The mall is a place she enjoys going.


She is wild about chocolate.


She is 11 years old, today!

???


Do you know who this delightful girl is???


HAPPY BIRTHDAY


11 years old!

More Anna Karenina Thoughts

Last night I was watching Rick Steve's Best of Europe (or something) He was in Nice, and he mentioned that there were about 500 Russian noble families that would holiday there in the late 1800- early 1900's. Interesting.

Also, I read a review of an A.K. movie available at the library and it said:

"Story of passion and family conflict set in 19th century upper-class Russia. Anna (Leigh), the wife of a stuffy bureaucrat, falls in love with a dashing cavalry officer. Ultimately discarded by her lover, she is driven to suicide."

Huh? Discarded by her lover? I was thinking that she was a little loonie, and jealous, and imagined that he was leaving her - but he (though maybe not so much in love) was still committed to her. Am I wrong?

There are three Anna K. movies at our library. Fun.

Summer Reading

I just finished Anna Karenina this morning. I think I liked it. I'm not sure. It was interesting to read about Russian Culture in the late 1800's. For some reason I have not pictured Russia as a high culture, literary, artistic place. I also had not really thought of Russia as so connected to Europe. I want to learn a little more about Russia. I would love to see uniforms and dresses of that era.

Is there a movie of A. K.? Kinda like Pride and Prejudice?

I think my favorite character was Levin. I liked his confused thoughts. I especially liked his thoughts about war with the Turks - though "everyone" wanted to go to war, Levin knew that the "everyone" he knew had no interest in the Turks at all.

I would like to make a reading list for myself and for Hannah to read from this summer. What were your favorite books when you were 11? What are you reading this summer?

Newest little neice!

We had a very exciting Sacrament Meeting yesterday. First, 3 baby blessings. Then, 4 Confirmations, then - - - (drum roll) a new Bishopric. Our bishop is moving to Colorado next month, so the change was not a big suprise, but it was still fun. The new bishop is married to my best friend. She is also one of our Primary counselors. I have a feeling that I will have to find a new counselor. I am sad about that, but her husband is a great man and will be an excellent bishop.

They live right up the street, Sydney and Emily play with their kids all the time. Hannah occasionally gets talked into playing dolls with them, but she won't admit to enjoying it.

It is fun when a bishop changes. The new bishop has new goals and ideas and excitement. Our bishop will probably deploy in the fall, though. That will be hard for him, and his family, and his counselors, and the ward. Maybe he will not have to go after all.

There is so much change in our ward right now. In Primary, we need 3 teachers (maybe a counselor) and a pianist now, and in the fall (when the guys deploy) we will need 3 more. Two YW counselors, and 2 Elders Quorum counselors are also moving this summer, and one High Priest Group counselor just moved, and the other was just called as Bishop. I know everything will fall into place, but it does worry me a little.

Science Fair

This week is the science fair. Hannah has been working on her project since early April. Our neighbor is a dentist, and when Hannah mentioned to him, that she was interested in doing a project about teeth, he offered to bring home some teeth for her. He pulls wisdom teeth on Mondays, so he gave her one day's harvest - 8 huge, white teeth.


She decided to test the effect of soda on teeth. Dr. Jones told her that the acidity of some sodas is very close to the acidity of battery acid, and can stain and weeken teeth. Hannah put each tooth in a cup of soda, and let them sit for about a month. One tooth sat in water - it still looked good at the end of the project, but the teeth in Coke and Dr Pepper looked all yucky, and the tooth in Fanta turned orange!

Week 4, Fanta

Week 4, Coke

Sydney and her friend Rebekah learned about clouds and rain. We heated up water on the stove, then poured the hot water into a glass jar. Then we poured most of the hot water back into the pan. We covered the top of the jar with a lid, then set ice on the lid. The top part of the jar fogged up, then droplets gathered and ran down the sides of the jar. It was just like a little cloud and rain.

Those two girls were really cute writing out their information. Sydney made a paper model of the jar, and Rebekah made a model of the water cycle. We had a blue project board to put their information on, and we cut out a white cloud for the title of the project. It looked so cute. Pictures coming soon.

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In other news, our hot water heated died and flooded the basement. Someone is coming to replace it, but he is not here yet, though he said he would be here at 9am (it is 10am now) Soon I will have to start running errands. Yikes.

Gerber Daisies

I hosted a lovely baby shower today. I am so glad it is all finished. I ran all over town yesterday looking for Gerber Daisies. After 4 stops I decided to just make some phone calls. Gerber daisies go for $3.50 - $4.00 each. Ouch. I called Albertsons - Gerber Daisies - 3 packs of 4 flowers for $10.00! Yippee! That is less than $1 each. I bought several packs and put each daisy in a tall little bud vase, and set 7 daisies on the piano and 7 across the middle of the table. So cute!

I was up way too late baking muffins and vacuuming and washing walls. I think it is nap time.

We served bagels and yummy flavored cream cheese, egg souffle, muffins, fruit with a yummy cream and white chocolate dip, and juice, and cake. About 10 people came, which was just the right amount for our home.

This is the shower for the neighbor who had a little tussle with the other neighbor. We invited the other neighbor, but she did not come.

Did you see the pictures of the snow? It is all melted, but our big bush/tree in the back is all broken. We are going to have to cut it down. There was a lot of tree damage all over town.

We have so much going on this week I am having a hard time even thinking. Here are some of the things I can remember - Science Fair, play practice, Enrichment Meeting, class picnic, tour of middle school, last soccer game, baptism, scout commitee meeting (not going), wives meeting, another baby shower, family dance, piano recital, track day for syd, track meet for han, and, uh, hope that's all. It is busy, and crazy, and I have to take a nap every day so that I can keep up in the afternoon. What are you up to this week?

Crazy Dude

Syd

Em

Nice sled

Boarder Chick

Ellsworth AFB is on the Base Closure List

It seems like a sad thing. We really like Rapid City, and the base seems to really benefit the community. There are still some steps before the list is actually approved. So maybe Ellsworth will still make it.

Here is a link to the base closure list.

I really like it here in Rapid City. The city is cute, the schools are small, the base housing is really nice, we are only 12 hours from Mom and Dad, we love being able to go up and hike in the Black Hills (minus the ticks), the grass is green and soft, and it doesn't get too hot in the summer. We do have snow on the ground (on May 13?) That is odd, and I will post some pictures, but we will really hate to leave this place.

Good thing we did not buy the house that I fell in love with.

Rapid City Schools Closed

We have snow. Good thing I bought those snow boots at the garage sale! It snowed all day yesterday and all night, and we have about 10 inches of really wet, heavy snow.

To Do, To Do, To Do

Sew Ducky Towels (5)
*Primary Meeting Agenda
Nursery Substitute
*Call Sasha's Mom
Laundry (suprise, suprise)
*De-tick the house (saw 3 today)
Jog Daily
Weights 2x
Stop baking cookies
Pay bills
Plan meals
Grocery shopping
Budget
Plan Sharing Time

*= Yippee! I did it!

This Ticks Me Off!

We had a lovely Mother's Day here in Rapid City. We thought going on a picnic up in the Black Hills would be fun, so we headed up to Custer State Park after church. The rain had blown away and the sun was up. We saw bison and deer and pronghorn and wild flowers and starlings and....

We decided to go on a little walk near a river. John was funny, pointing to every rock. Sam (the dog) was having a great time exploring the area and rolling in buffalo chips. Sydney had been really upset about the trip - she prefers to stay home - but she started having fun, and even said: We should do this more often.

Just as we were heading back to the car, I saw a tick on my pants. Then one on Hannah's jacket, one on Emily, aaaaaaaaaaaaaa. We really hustled back to the car. Each time we would stop to brush a tick off someone, more would appear. It was so creapy. Seeing a tick makes you have to investigate every itch. We could see the ticks just sitting on the grass, waiting to pounce.

When we got back to the car we all stripped down and tried to get rid of all the ticks. I found two in Hannah's socks, and on one crawling on my underrooos. Yikes!

Sam was hopeless. We use frontline on him. It is an oily flea and tick contol product that is applied to the back of a dog. I'm not sure how it works, but I think it gets into the dogs system and makes him not tastey to pests. The frontline did not prevent the ticks from making an attempt.

Nathan removed several ticks from Sam before we headed home, about 15 ticks while brushing him on the porch, and like 30 while bathing Sam. None of the ticks were attached to him, they were just in his fur.

I found one tick on each of the kids heads. John's and Hannah's were not attached, but Emily's and Sydney's were. Yuck.

I dreamed of ticks all night.

I rechecked everyone this morning and we are all clear, but I'm sure there are some in the house that came in on our clothes and on Sam. I have not cleaned out the van, and I'm sure there are some in there waiting to attack. Writing about the ticks makes me have to feel around on my head.


Dog Tick
Here are some ways to prevent tick bites:

Avoid tick-infested areas, especially in May, June, and July (many local health departments and park or extension services have information on the local distribution of ticks).

Wear light-colored clothing so that ticks can be spotted more easily.

Wear long pants and tuck the pant legs into your socks or boots; wear a long-sleeved shirt and tuck it into your pants; and use a hat for added protection.

Tape the area where pants and socks meet so that ticks cannot crawl under clothing.

Spray insect repellent containing DEET (products shouldn't contain any more than 30% DEET) on clothes, or treat clothes (especially pants, socks, and shoes) with permethrin, which kills ticks on contact. Remember that these products should be used with caution.

Walk in the center of trails to avoid overhanging grass and brush.

After being outdoors, remove your clothing and wash and dry it at a high temperature.

Inspect yourself carefully and remove any attached ticks. For tick removal: grasp the tick with fine tweezers as close to the skin surface as possible, pull straight up with a slow, steady force and avoid crushing the tick or slipping off the body. Ultimately you do not want to force any material from the tick into your skin. Clean the area of tick attachment with disinfectant. Ticks (saved in a sealed container) can be submitted to the Mosquito Commission laboratory or certain local health departments for identification.

We survived the 2 day garage sale and have the sunburn to prove it. We decided that we would not sell lemonade and I am so glad. As our neighbors were setting up we found that there were cookies/lolipops/juice/hotdogs/chips/etc next door, cinnamon rolls across the street, brownies two doors down, and popcorn/lemonade/snowcones across the way. It would have been sad to see Sydney sitting there all forelorn waiting for someone to take pitty and buy lemonade.

So we did not sell food, but we did sell a few toys - one doll stroller/carseat/playpen, one doll bed, one 12 speed bike (that our neighbor gave us in TX), and one purple bike - for a grand total of $35!!!! yippee. Our friend sold most of her things, but it was a little embarrassing to have her garage sale items here at our house. They were odd items, and she had them priced way higher than I would have paid. So (since she was not here the whole time) people would come, look at the price, and ask me if I would be willing to bargain. But since it wasn't mine, and she didn't want to lower the prices, it looked like I was a little crazy. Oh well. It was fun to chat with her.

There was an incredible amount of traffic and people. This place was as busy as the county fair. If you were having a baby, you could find everything you ever dreamed of. I wish all you sisters were here, there were so many baby girl things! I really had to look to find anthing for John. I did find a nice Colombia coat for him, snow boots for me, snow shoes, sled, and a fancy ice scraper. Our neighbors are moving to TX - not so much snow there. I also bought a Johnny Jump-up toy for Mary! And some baby girl things for Sarah. Sorry Anna, my John and your Juddah were pretty much out of luck. I think I will leave the Johnny Jumper in the middle of the front room so that I will not forget to go to the post office.

Hannah and Sydney had a great time wandering around finding "hot deals". Hannah found paint ball stuff at one house. Nathan bought two guns and all the stuff to go with them. I guess he is planning to go paintballing with Rick this summer!

Neighborhood Garage Sale

Our neighborhood has a huge garage sale each Mother's Day weekend. Everyone in the area is gearing up for the big day. As we are all military, there are many people getting ready to move and dejunking, and others who just moved in and need to get rid of things that just don't fit here. It is all rather exciting.

I give our stuff away to the Salvation Army as it piles up. Usually by the time I am ready to part with it, it is in pretty sad condition. So I don't have much of anything for the garage sale, but a friend from the base asked to use our drive way, and she brought over some fun things.

Last year the girls set up a lemonade/cookie stand and made about $60. Wow. Too bad we told everyone about our success, because now 4 other families on our street are going to sell goodies. Last year we only sold the cookies on Saturday, but there was lots of traffic on Friday evening as well, so we are considering having the cookies out tonight.

I cannot remember what we charged last year. I think it was 10 cents each or 3 for a quarter, but maybe it was a quarter each or 5 for a dollar. Hannah will remember. To stay competitive we may have to drop our prices.

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Today, Sydney is trying out for the school talent show. She is hoola-hooping with three hoops. It is pretty amazing to see her skinny little tummy keep all those hoops up and spinning. I hope she gets to be in the talent show.

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Do you think I should sell the basinette?

I wish I could make the text part of my blog wider. I am getting tired of the thin column of writing in the middle of the screen. I have tried playing with the template, but I have no idea what I am doing. I know I could change to a different blog template, but then I would have to redo all the links in my sidebar, and I am lazy. And I might lose my pet duck.

Hannah brought home a note from school today from a retirement center near here. They are asking for 5th grade volunteers to come work there for 2-3 hours a week. What do you think? Have you spent time as a volunteer in a nursing home? Would it be a positive experience for her, or awkward and uncomfortable? I may go up there and visit the home and speak to the activity director before deciding.

Can you believe that the school year is nearly over? Time to start thinking about summer. Swimming lessons. Camping. Fireworks at Mt. Rushmore. Bike riding. Oregon. Which reminds me, we have a new missionary from LaGrand. I didn't talk to him, but Nathan says he knows Brandon and all those guys! fun!

This morning, Nathan went with Hannah to her Music Memory contest. He is the team coach. The 5th graders all over town have been learning a new song each month as part of their music classes. When Hannah comes home I will have to have her post the names of the songs. The only one I can remember is Fanfare For the Common Man by Copeland?.

Anywho, the kids have been listening to the songs and learning about them. Today the Black Hills Symphony will be playing selections from each piece and the kids will try to remember each title and composer. The Symphony may be tricky and play it in a different key or a different octave. It has been fun to listen as Hannah recognizes a song then rattles off the info.

The rest of us got bundled up and helped in the City Wide Clean Up project. All through the middle of Rapid City runs a little river. Could it be the Rapid River? I don't know. These really cool bike paths run all along the river. The paths are always busy with joggers, bikers, rollerbladers, dog walkers, kids on scooters, and even some cross country skiers (in winter). The path goes under streets and over little streams. I think it is my favorite thing about this town. We have only been on little parts of the path, so it was fun to explore a new section as we picked up garbage this morning.

Our cub scouts signed up to clean a section of the trail, and invited the Primaries in the three wards that meet in our building to come help. That is my kind of Primary Activity! Someone else made the flyers. No decorating. No party games. No planning. And a great chance to really do some service. As it was advertised as a family activity and parents were asked to stay and help, we were not stuck "babysitting" and waiting for parents to come pick up their kids. Yippee!

But the weather turned cold, and the forecast even called for a little snow or sleet. The Cub Scoutmaster called me last night to see if we should reschedule the clean up. Our Primary teachers had already called their kids, so we decided to go ahead and do it.

I parked our truck at the end of our section, then pulled the kids in the wagon down the path, over the bridge, under the railroad, under Main Street - all the way to McDonalds. Whew. While we running down a hill I was afraid the wagon was going to run me down.

We had a good turnout, and I think everyone had fun. Sydney was not happy about going. But when her friend Lindsey got there, Sydney decided that picking up garbage could be fun. They ran along the little dirt paths to the river finding lots of beer cans and paper. John enjoyed pulling the wagon and dropping sticks off the edge of the bridge. Emily was cold. Her little nose turned red. We were at the back of the pack, so we mainly picked up cigarettes. Yuck. Doughnuts and hot chocolate made it all worth it!

The fun is not over yet: soccer is next, then a trip to Sam's Club....

For our date this weekend we watched to movie Return To Me. It is so cute. And a little weird. No serious making out - it might pass the dad test. There are some funny old men in it, so dad might even like it. What have you been watching lately? There are a few coming out on video that I want to see - National Treasure, Because of Winn Dixie, ???

Do you rent movies every weekend? I think we used to rent movies every weekend, or a lot of weekends, but we got out of the habit in Abilene. The library had lots and lots of new movies, and then I got mad at the base movie lady one time, so I couldn't go back there.

Want to hear that story? I just remembered it. Movies were due in by noon. One day I took my movie into the store at about 12:05pm. I took it inside (with all the kids in tow) instead of dropping it into the box, because I wanted to know if I would have to pay a late fee. As I turned it in I asked about the late fee. When she said that I would be charged for another day, I said that I would like to keep the movie and watch it again, since I was paying for it again. She said that it was too late. I said (gosh I hope my voice wasn't shaky) that if I had to pay for another day, then I wanted to have the movie, please. When she said, it was too late, I said that I would like to speak to the manager. It's not like this was a huge movie store, it was a little convenience store with soda, cigarettes, and a teeny movie section. She said that the manager wasn't there, blah blah blah. I think I must have been pregnant and grouchy, I hope I have some kind of good excuse for my rudeness. So I said in as nice a voice as I could manage: "Thank you for your help. Sorry for the trouble. Have a nice day." and I left, 'cuz really I'm a chicken and I wouldn't know what to say to a manager. I walked out to the van, and buckled in the kids. When I turned around, the lady was right behind me. She again told me that I had already given her the movie and that she could not give it back. I said - that's fine. I'm fine. Later I found out that my friend was getting out of her car as I was talking to the lady and heard the conversation. Base living stinks. I'm sure she thought I was crazy. Shortly after this I had to take a stand at the checkout counter of the BX in order to get the half-off-the-clearance-price, price on a game. I am so mean. Watch out check-out people.

We are not members of a movie rental place, and mooching off of our neighbors is making me feel guilty. I am trying to decide if I want to join Blockbuster or one of those online rental places. Going into a movie rental place with all the kids makes me sweat, but would I remember to mail off a movie and order a new one? We are not really a movie buying family, but we have bought more in the last year then in the whole rest of our marriage. Odd.

When I opened up blogger I thought I had nothing to write about. HA!

4 years old

Happy Birthday Miss Em

Thinking About Sharing Time

I have Primary Sharing Time in May. I have spent the day thinking about it and trying to decide how I will work in all the topics for the month, along with Mother's Day. I would like to have the kids do something for their mothers, but what?

This weekend is Stake Conference, and I realized this morning that there is nothing on our bulletin board. We are having Primary training tomorrow, and I want our Primary room to look nice. So we headed down to the church and made our bulletin board look kind of like a grove of trees. The theme for May is Jesus Christ Restored His Church in the Latter Days. I will be able to add things to the board as we discuss the restoration of the gospel. It looks nice (if I do say so myself.)

Here is one interesting little fact that I found today: The King James Version of the Bible took 50 scholars 7 years to translate into English, translating at the rate of one page per day. Joseph Smith, on the other hand, translated the Book of Mormon at the rate of 10 pages per day, completing the task in 85 days! I would be happy to just read the book in that amount of time.

Primary is so cool.

Humanitarian Project

Tomorrow night for Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment meeting we are putting together baby kits for the Humanitarian Project. It is such a fun idea. I have knit two pairs of baby booties to donate, and I am going to sew two little layette gowns. We will be sewing recieving blankets that night, and we will also put together the packets. Each Newborn Kit includes

1 double receiving blanket (see receiving blanket guidelines)

4 cloth diapers (do not include disposable diapers)

4 diaper safety pins

1 pair booties or baby socks

2 regular-size bars of soap (Ivory or other non-allergenic brand)

1 newborn layette gown (please, no footed sleepers; see layette gown guidelines)

Doesn't that sound like fun?

Mopping

Mopping?

We have had a variety of flooring in the homes we have lived in. My favorite was the tile and carpeting in Pensacola. The tile was just the color of the sand and it always looked so clean and nice. It was a lot to sweep, but it only needed to be spot-mopped when sticky.

I did not like the wood flooring in Texas. I know it was great because it had lasted so many years, but I hated the feel of the grit on my bare feet. I also never wanted to sit on the ground to play with the kids. I'm sure a few rugs would have solved that problem. It was very easy to clean with the dust mop - just a few minutes to sweep through the whole house, then shake the dust outside. It also only needed water on the mop to clean it.

Now we have carpet and cheapy linoleum. Having carpet is like having extra furniture. We spend a lot of time on the carpet - watching a movie, laying down train tracks, bronco rides, etc. I like carpet. I do not mind the linoleum, but I do not know how to keep it clean and shiny. It gets really grimy and seems to also keep a build-up of dirt/grease even after mopping. I was using Mop and Glow, and that would make it shiny, but it definitely left a film. I don't know what to use - Pinesol? Mr. Clean? just water? Maybe it is my mopping technique that needs work. I just swish around a large string mop - maybe I need to get on my hands and knees and really scrub.

How do you keep your floors clean?

Spring Soccer

Woo Hoo, Sydney!



Go Hannah!


The first Saturday of soccer took us all over town. Sydney practices at the field right by our house, but her games are about 5 miles away. Hannah practices at a field about 2 miles away, but her games are right by our house. It will be great to just let Hannah walk on over to the park when they both play at the same time. It is a good thing we can walk, because soccer mom's are crazy drivers - we already saw one accident out there.

I seem to have inherited the yelling gene. I find myself yelling things like "Let's go sports fans" and "Sacrifice your body for the ball." Just kidding, Dad. I don't actually yell your famous sloguns, I have a few of my own - "Get the ball" "Help her out" "WOOHOO." It's a good thing Nathan is a yeller, too. He's too busy to notice me making a fool of myself. So far the kids are still willing to sit near us at games, but it won't be long 'til Hannah starts to cringe when I pull out the blow-horn.

John's loves our train set - the wooden one that you can put together all kinds of ways. He really likes to push his "cars" on the tracks, and he carries a train engine with him all over the place. Emily does not love playing trains with John. Emily is the track builder, and though John doesn't mean to, he often knocks over the bridges and makes Emily cry.

I 've been trying to get John to call the train a "train" or a "choo-choo train" but he calls them "cars". Then, as I was reading his favorite book "Freight Train" I noticed that the first pages of the book tell you the names of the different parts of the train - "hopper car" "cattle car" "box car" etc. They really are called cars! He is so smart!

Anyway, one of the engines has a battery (well, 3 of them have batteries, but only one battery is still going...and going...and going) I saw John carrying two engines this morning. Then I heard John yelling and Sam the dog ran past me. I though Sam took John's train, so I ran after Sam. I could hear that little engine chugging away. I found the train all tangled up in Sam-the-dog's long hair. Poor doggy. I had to cut the train off of him. That thing is dangerous. Good thing it wasn't Emily's hair.

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Jump John

John is trying to jump. Getting both feet off the ground is hard work. Even harder is capturing a picture of those feet off the ground with a digital camera. Sydney was our champion jumper. She would jump off of anything and usually land on her feet. John is still pretty dangerous. He thinks he can jump off the bottom step, but...

Syd and John

Han

Easter

I Don't Like

I don't like doing fractions.
I don't like doing chores.
I hate to do my spelling
When I'd rather play outdoors.

I don't like peas or broccoli.
I don't like writing letters.
I don't like taking bubble baths,
Or wearing itchy sweaters.

I don't like washing dishes.
I don't like pouring rain.
But what I really like to do
Is sit here and complain!

- Crystal Bowman

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I'm trying to do better, I really am. But I really do enjoy complaining.

I am worried about little Hannah. We sent the kids to school this year and I have been pleasantly suprised by their school. I really like the principal and their teachers. The kids are both very smart and are in accelerated groups (which makes me feel like I can pat my self on the back.) But Hannah is still lonely. My main reason for sending her to school was because she was lonely. In Florida and Texas she had 2-3 close homeschooling friends, but when we moved here we did not find any homeschoolers her age, and I did not make the effort to find a good homeschooling group to join. So she was lonely. And with all the interaction with kids at school, she still seems lonely.

John with Grandma and Grandpa M.

We spent the week in Wyoming with Nathan's family for his grandfather's funeral. Nathan's grandfather was the most healthy and fit grandpa I had ever seen - he walked daily for as long as I knew him, until just last year. He had a full head of lovely white hair. He loved banana splits. Remember the Ice Cream Company in CA? He enjoyed eating there whenever they were visiting Nathan's parents - I really think he would have loved the Lalapalooza.

It was great to see Nathan's family in action. This side of the family does not host family reunions, so though I knew his Aunts and Uncles, I did not know many of the cousins. There were so many grandchildren and great-grandchildren that we filled the Chapel for the service, then filled the Cultural Hall for the dinner. The Relief Society was incredible, providing delicious dinners in both Green River and in North Platt.

200,000

The van rolled over to 200,00 miles this week. Ah, what a great car. Can you believe it is still alive? The '89 Dodge Caravan is so cool. We have had it 8 years and it has taken us all over the USA - from Oregon to Florida, from Florida to Illinois and back, from Florida to Texas to Utah to South Dakota. Well, just check out the map below, the van was there.

The van is getting ugly, but it is free transportation. The humidity in Florida dissolved the glue in the over head liner, so it droops. The tan upholstery is a little darker than is used to be, and recently I noticed a little tear in the driver's seat. The best thing about the van is that the interior is the exact same color as Sam's coat, so all of his dog hair just blends right in.

The tape player stopped working a couple years ago, and this winter the radio started flickering on and off. The back door no longer holds itself open, so I have to prop it open with a stick. That is a little embarrassing, so now I just put all the groceries on the side.

The van has been pretty lucky. It has never been in a serious accident, and we really haven't had to replace any major parts (yet). Sadly, though, just last Sunday an older gentleman pulled out of his parking space and hit the van as Nathan was driving past him. It was very sad, but there really was not much damage. The left rear light cover was hit and broken. Nathan collected all the pieces and glued it back together (looks mighty pretty) Other than that, when we lived in FL, I had a flat tire, Nathan broke (and replaced) a side rear window, and he also replaced the gears in the driver's side window. I know that we had to have some work done, but I can't remember the problem - the ignition? Nathan is great about checking the oil and doing all that stuff.

We are considering replacing the van with something a little newer, but a car payment seems like such a waste of Nathan's raise. I go back and forth between wanting a new car, and thinking that the van can make it one more year. The van has been a good friend to me. It has given me a lot of freedom. While we could probably get by with just the truck, it was no fun for me when we just had one car. Long trips are a thing of the past for the van, and I dread driving to Oregon with us all smooshed into the truck. But if we hold off on a new car, maybe we could afford to rent a camper to take on the trip.

Nathan heard a poem about an old trusty car on NPR the other day. Reminded me of the van(and the 77 Toyota Corolla that the van replaced) but he is gone right now, and I cannot find it on the NPR site. I will link to the poem when he gets back.

East Coast or Bust

Map was too big and sinking my side bar.

I saw this cool map at Donna's site. I counted a couple of states that we mostly just drove through - like Mississippi. We stopped at a couple of rest stops there, but that's really all. The restrooms had cool all in one handwashing/drying sinks. Do you think that counts?

Maybe next summer we will be able to swing over to visit Mary and Randy. Then my map would be a little more balanced.

Where have you been?

Snow?

We have been enjoying beautiful spring weather. Until yesterday. We have snow again. I am strangely excited about the snow. Sam and I went on our walk this morning and it was beautiful. Last year the biggest snowfall was in March, so I guess this is just how South Dakota likes to do things.

When Do I Get a Turn?

I had a bad dream that I was running around during Sacrament Meeting trying to get my sharing time ready to go. It was so stressful. I try really hard to have everything all ready before Primary. It is important to me that we sit in the front and really minimize all the running around and chatting in the halls during Primary. I need to get this thing planned.

I have had a hard time, this week, deciding how to present the topic for the week - Christ Organized His Church. I think I am going to use the paper cup tower that the missionaries use to show how he built his church and how it fell apart as the 12 apostles died. Then we'll talk about the church today and rebuild the tower. I just am not exactly sure how to do it. We will also play a matching game with pictures from the gospel art kit of things from today and things from Christ's time -baptism, blessing, temple, 12 apostles, sacrament, etc. I think that will go okay. In Senior Primary I will talk more about the Keys of the Priesthood, and use the scriptures.

Lately I feel like I am losing Jr. Primary. I don't know how to pick helpers so that no one gets hurt feelings. We have those sticks that you can pull out with the kids names, but that wastes a lot of time. Sometimes we pass around an object while we sing, and whoever ends up with it gets to be the helper. But we can't do that every week, and even then, one little boy always starts yelling, "When is it my turn?" I think tomorrow I will ask each teacher to call on a child from their class to come help. Then they can keep track of who got a turn last time, etc. That should work.

That 70's Party

Get Down

We had fun at the 70's party. I think that was in January. The group who put on the party did a great job with the decorations. They covered all the walls of the community center with black plastic, then hung glittery stars and record covers on the walls. Records also hung from the ceiling. They had a smoke machine and a disco ball. It was funny to see everyone all decked out. Nathan is a crazy dancer, I know he loves that kind of thing, but it is rather painful for me to have to dance. Oh well. We had fun, but everyone started getting a little silly (too many jello shots) so we headed home after about an hour and a half. A friend of mine from church heard about the party and let me borrow a dress that was her mother's. I also wore her moms funky white 5" platform shoes. Fun!

Neighborhood Woes Continued

So here's how it's going. After a confusing day of phone calls I got to hear the sordid details of the argument between to two neighbors. (one insulted the other's child and threatened to get Family Advocacy involved - a rather serious threat as it would affect her husband's career.) I was feeling grouchy at both of them, and I hate that feeling, so I decided the best thing to do for me, was to sincerely apologize for myself. I called N2 and apoligized for my thoughless actions and told her how I could see how I hurt her feelings. When she tried to turn the conversation to N1 bashing I changed the subject and we talked preschools. I felt a little like Anne apoligizing to Mrs. Rachel . I did feel much better after that, then called N1 and apoligized for causing her any additional hurt and again offered to take her out to lunch. I think things are pretty well resolved on my part, but I feel bad that N1 and N2 are not getting along, I'm not willing to get any more involved in that, though.

Neighborhood Woes

Neighbor #1 is pregnant. Neighbor #2 was going to have a babyshower for N1, but they are no longer friends. I sadly am involved in the fight, now. I told N1 that maybe after the baby comes we could get together with some of the ladies for lunch, instead of a babyshower. N2 feels that I have stepped on her toes and that if N1 doesn't want a shower from her, then she shouldn't have one at all. Whoopsie! I have done my best to apologize to N2. I think she is no longer mad at me. It is absolute sillyness. I wrote an entire novel about the whole saga, but it really comes down to a lot of immature behavior by some of us who should know better. Maybe Hannah has some advice for me, as this is exactly what she and her friends do all the time. Silly.

MUD

Mud is very nice to feel
All squishy-squash between the toes!
I'd rather wade in wiggly mud
Then smell a yellow rose.

Nobody else but the rosebush knows
How nice mud feels
Between the toes.
--Polly Chase Boyden

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We have been having a little snow at night, and rain in the day, so we have MUD! On our walk this morning, Sam had to "go". I found a nice empty lot and let him sniff around. As I followed him my feet got heavier and heavier, and I got taller and taller. I had so much mud on my tennis shoes that I had to scrape them off and scuff around for a few minutes before I could walk. The shoes stayed outside.

This Week

*=finished
*Jog each day - woohoo for me
Go through kids' drawers - still need to do Hannah's
*Move art supplies down to the dungeon
*Shop for couch
*Talk to Nursery leaders
Shop for more nursery toys - I will wait until I have the new classes ready to go
Plan Sharing Time
*Plan dinners
*Clean out fridge
*Go grocery shopping
*City band practice
*Squadron wives coffee
-Bake cookies for neighbor that is driving me crazy (forget the cookies, but I did talk to her for way to long yesterday, I think that is good enough)
*Blog about neighborhood soap opera
Fabric for Easter dresses
Plan date night

Whew. Busy week ahead, but it having it all written down makes me feel better.

Happy Birthday Sydney

Party On


YeeHaw!


Talent


Just Little

Reverence

"When we meet to learn the doctrines of the gospel, it should be in a spirit of reverence. The world grows increasingly noisy. This trend to more noise, more excitement, more contention, less restraint, less dignity, less formality is not coincidental nor innocent nor harmless.

"The first order issued by a commander mounting a military invasion is the jamming of the channels of communication of those he intends to conquer. Irreverence suits the purposes of the adversary by obstructing the delicate channels of revelation in both mind and spirit. Reverence invites revelation." (Elder Boyd K. Packer) (as a side note, this was written in 1991 - before widespread cellphone and gameboy useage, I think things have only gotten noisier.)

Last week we had a Primary Teacher Training and we talked about reverence. We have the most incredible Primary teachers here. This is the second training that I have been in charge of, and once again nearly every teacher came. I have worked in Primaries where we would have been thrilled if even 3 teachers came to an inservice meeting. I felt guilting asking them to give up their time, but it was great to have a chance to hear their struggles and questions and insight.

I have learned so much from them. A couple of weeks ago there was a 9 year old boy who was having a hard time staying in his seat. He really wanted to sit by his older brother, but we have learned that that is not such a good idea. Anyway, he kept scooting from chair to chair heading toward the back of the room. I had talked to him earlier and really did not want to get up and go talk to him again, because it was right in the middle of Sharing Time, and I knew that my getting up would be way more disruptive than letting him move around. Next thing you know, Sister K. got up, put her arm around the boy, and led him back to sit next to her. She gave him such a big loving smile, and he smiled right back at her. He stayed by her side the rest of the time and really responded to her. When he started to get antsy - she would smile at him, or put her arm around him, and he would smile and calm down. He reminded me of a puppy - very active and playful, and willing to do anything for a little attention - especially loving attention. It was great. And way more affective than my method.

Anyway, back to reverence. We live in a pretty small ward, but we have an enormous nursery. We have 30 nursery aged kids now, with 17 more coming into nursery before the year is up. There are less than 10 active YW in our ward, so you can see that things are a little lopsided. Two other wards meet in our building - one ward has 4 nursery children and the other has a nursery of 2. Most of our nursery children are the oldest child in their families, so we also have lots of young, first time parents. This makes our Sacrament Meeting very lively. I have never been to such a loud ward. There is always a roar in the chapel. Sometimes speakers comment about how great it is to hear the little ones, and sometimes I agree that it is nice to have the little ones there, but sometimes I think we let things get way too out of hand. I have noticed that parents bring large bags full of treats and arts and crafts (one time I saw fingerpainting in a pew near us).

I think it is overkill. I think these kids can learn how to be reverent. I think we need to show our children our respect for the chapel and our respect for them by insisting upon reverence. Nathan and I have talked about it and we are no longer bringing notebooks for the kids to color in. And no more snacks. (ok maybe cheerios for John, but not 3 big bags of fishies and pretzels and raisins) Last week one mom in a pew near us opened a loud bag of chips for her kids. I'm thinking that if your bag of potato chips is louder than the roar of the crowd, then maybe you need to rethink your snack for Sacrament Meeting.

President David O. McKay said that “reverence is profound respect mingled with love." During Primary the children are suprisingly reverent. Do you have any ideas for fostering reverence in the Chapel?

Hey Sarah, How are you Feeling?

I just saw these beautiful baby pictures on Donna's Blog. It made me remember that you are due in a few weeks. How are you feeling? Any big belly pictures to share? I wish I could be there to do your dishes and bake some bread. I love you sista!


Baby John


Just 18 months ago

The Laundry

I actually like doing laundry. I like the smell of clean warm clothes. I like the piles of sorted dirty laundry. I like being careful with the handwashing. I like Spray & Wash and Clorox 2. My favorite laundry tool is the 3 bag laundry sorter. The laundry room is right outside of the girls rooms, they just walk down the hall to sort their day's dirty clothes into darks, colors, and whites.

For a very long time I didn't need a missing sock basket, and socks were never without their mate. The sock snatcher appeared while I was pregnant with John and I now have a basket the lonely socks. The sock basket is a catch-all and also holds a collection of clothes that are too small, out of season, or things that I am hiding because, though Sydney loves it, it is just not cute.

To keep the laundry in order I do two loads a day. I throw in one load in the morning, then another in the evening. I rarely leave dry clean clothes in a basket - Emily and John like to help with the folding (and unfolding if I am not fast enough.) I fold the clothes onto the ironing board (I do not iron, so it needs to be used for something) making a stack for each child.

But I always seem to be living on the edge - just one missed day of wash away from complete disaster. If I don't wash the whites every other day, then I will be without underoos; if I miss washing a load of towels, I may have to streak out of the bathroom in a hooded ducky towel.

I have been flirting with disaster this week. I did not do a single load on Sunday or Monday. The sorting baskets were bulging with dirty socks and jeans. I moved the load of clean towels into a basket and did not fold them for two days. I had to wash a load of darks 2 times, because I did not move them to the dryer and they were not smelling so fresh. I have been catching up today, but just before I sat down to type this, I went in to fold the clothes in the dryer. Instead of warm fluffy......heavy wet. Dang. I forgot to start the dryer.

John Talks

I cannot remember when the girls started talking, but I have had a feeling that John should be saying more words. He has his 18 month check up later this month, and it has made me just a little worried that he does not say very many words. It made me think of Cushla and Her Books, by Dorothy Butler.

So for the last couple of weeks I have been making sure to read John 5-10 books a day. Let me just say that I do read to that poor little guy, but not as often as I should. And certainly not as often as I read to Hannah. At first he would sit for maybe 1 book and only if it was quick and catchy. Sometimes he would not let me turn the pages. He would just get up and wander away part way through a story. But now he really likes to read with me. He gets all cosy in my lap, and waits for me to get more books.

Today I pulled out Freight Train and John said "Choo Choo" and kept saying it. Even when I was done reading he pulled out the train book, and said "choo-choo" while turning the pages. As we were getting ready to go out this morning I asked him to get his boots. John went right to his room, got a boot and brought it to me saying "Boot!" He was saying a few things before (and choo-choo and boot are not his only words, just new ones) but I think he is talking even more now.

John's Favorite Books:
The Spooky Old Tree
Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See
Freight Train
I've Been Working on the Railroad
The Going to Bed Book
Mother Goose
Good Night Moon
Where's Spot
5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Snowflakes

While we waited for Hannah after piano lessons, the light was just right to see individual snowflakes as they landed on the windows of the van. They are so beautiful and unique.

I just learned that while no two snowflakes are exacty alike, they usually form in a few categories, and there are snowflake guides to help you identify your snowflake. That site has some other cool information about snowflakes like: they grow snowflakes all year long to study, and sometimes snowflakes form 12 or 3 sides.


snowflake pictures found at www.snowflake.com

This site also has some beautiful pictures of snowflakes.

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The more it snows
TiddlyPom
The more it goes
TiddlyPom
The more it goes
TiddlyPom
On snowing.

And nobody know
TiddlyPom
How cold my toes
TiddlyPom
How cold my toes
TiddlyPom
Are growing.
--AAMilne

Yee Haw

Have you seen the PBS programs that take families "back in time" to live like a pioneer or a colonist? Now you can apply to be a participant on the Texas Ranch House. Yee Haw!

I have enjoyed watching those programs in the past, staying up past my bedtime to see what happens, but then the actual show is a bit disappointing. The producers focus on conflict and bickering between the characters instead of the things I am really interested in - the daily struggle to fix dinner without a stove, keeping the kids clean, and staying warm. Do the characters feel like they have more time in their lives to think without the distractions of TV, telephone, computer, etc, or does survival leave them without spare time.

I'm sure that the conflict is more interesting in a TV program, but it would be nice if maybe there was a boring documentary to go along with the ---house shows - less Surviver, more History Channel. You know, kind of to show how they keep bread and cheese fresh without ziplock bags, what people do in the evenings without light, if the people begin to get creative with the tools that they are allowed, do they plant a garden, what do they eat while they wait for the garden, etc.

Ya'll should apply. Mom, Dad, and Erin would be grrrreat on the show. Dad will just need to polish up his snakeskin boots, dust of the W/M brand, and mosy on down to Tejas.

Pot Luck

Is it bad form to take a store-bought lasagna to a pot luck dinner? The invitation says to bring a family favorite along with a recipe, but I cannot think of anything travels well. Why do these kinds of things stress me out. It is not a big deal. I will just take the lasagna and have a nice time. Ok.

Thursday

Pinewood Derby Dream Car
Last night was the big PineWood Derby for our church Cub Scout troop.
I am not directly involved in the cub scout program, but I am trying to be supportive, so our family went to watch the excitement. And wow! was it exciting. The dads seemed every bit as nervous as the boys. They raced those little cars all evening. Most of the boys in Nathan's Boy Scout troop have little brothers in cub scouts, so they helped keep score for a while. I have never been to a pinewood derby before, and I had no idea it was such a big deal.

A couple of weeks ago we handed out these little wooden cars to the boys. They shaped them, and painted them until their cars looked just right. Last night the boys registered their cars - the cars were weighed, and given a number, then they raced them two at a time down a long track. Over and over again. One of the dads has an auto body shop, so his boys' cars were very shiny. The dad said that the paint is so heavy that he had to really carve down the cars to keep them in the right weight range.

I was most impressed by all the families there to watch. We had a gym full of people there just to watch some little cars roll down a track. And they stayed (and cheered) all evening. Nathan says his mom still has his grand champion pinewood derby car. It will be John's turn soon.