Time Marches On!

We celebrated My Favorite Gentleman’s 45th birthday by doing--not much! It’s pretty hard to celebrate long distance, especially with no good mailing address!
Last week’s highlight was definitely a visit with our dear friends Bill & Janice, who came into town from far away! Bill has started turning beautiful pens on the lathe, and let us each choose one, and he gave SmallDaughter a wobble duck push toy that she LOVES! I think it was especially good for LargeBoy to have a chance to talk to Bill, who is a fount of awesome stories.

On Thursday, SmallDaughter had her school open house. She has the same teacher, classroom and aid as last year, but she was still shy for a few minutes. Then she found the toys, and told Miss Sherry (her aid) to sit down with her, and got busy playing with her favorite things. The transition seems to have been smooth--I am glad they have the time for the kids to come into the class.

On Friday, BigGirl had a babysitting gig, and LargeBoy had not one, but 2 doctor apts! He got his cast off, and he got his ingrown toe treated with acid to stop it from growing back (the dr. just put a tiny drop on the side where the sharp edge grows--he got to keep the nail.) My Favorite Gentleman got home in the wee small hours of the morning, and we got up at 5, and got everybody loaded in the van to head for PA for the Family Reunion. I drove, while everybody else slept! My car (my beautiful blue, new car) has been making a really horrible, high pitched vibrating sound for a couple of months--but it doesn’t do it very often, and I can never make it do it when I want to, so we had adopted a “wait and see” attitude. When we were almost halfway there, I changed lanes and there was a HORRIBLE loud noise (I seriously thought I had cut off a Harley!) but I could not see anybody around me--quite the mystery! It woke My Favorite Gentleman up, but we had no idea what caused it. A few miles later, it happened again, so I pulled over and My Favorite Gentleman got out to check. The tires looked fine, but when he got down under, on the inside--there were patches worn totally down to the fabric on the sidewalls! We were so blessed that we haven’t had a blowout! So, we turned around and drove (CAREFULLY!) back home. Where we loaded everything into the pickup, and drove over to the reunion--a little late, but feeling very, very blessed!

We really had a great time at the Reunion. We spent most of the day at a nice little beach that the kids really had a blast on! Around 3, BigGirl & LargeBoy went with my young(ish) cousin Alan to his work at the Theater, where they watched Despicable ME 2, got a WHOLE BUNCH of movie posters, and enjoyed touring the projection room, etc. I was going to get SmallDaughter dressed then, but she was having so much fun that I didn’t have the heart to make her--and she got another 2 hours of swimming!

We went back to the Cabin for supper (which was served “caveman style”--no plates, no utensils!--they just put foil down on the tables, and put the salad and the spaghetti right on it! ) The kids had a great time running around playing with cousins, and I had a fun time talking to everybody. My cousin also had his dog and 2 of the cutest, round fat fluffy puppies you have ever seen! The puppies hardly had their feet on the ground the whole weekend--they were just carried lovingly around by all the kids! After the kids were mostly down for bed, a bunch of us played a really fun game that they got at Gen-Con, and laughed and talked until after midnight! We finally went to bed and crashed! We got up pretty early, picked up the big kid’s from Aunt Stephanie’s house and drove home just in time to get My Favorite Gentleman back on the road for VA.

Monday was pretty exciting--it was the first day of Seminary, and the first day of school. I have 6 students here at the house, and 2 more on the phone! It’s pretty awesome! SmallDaughter LOVES riding on the big yellow bus (so much more glamorous than a mere mini-van!). I was not overly happy about the transportation situation--the original plan called for her to get picked up at 6:30 (she still is) and ride on the bus for over 2 hours--since her school doesn’t start until 9! NOT HAPPY. They worked it out so her teacher and her aid come in early, and she gets to school at 7:30, and just has an extra long day. I decided I was willing to see how she did with it--I would only put up a fuss if it was really hard on her.

However, she has actually been happier, and less tired than any first week of school before! Every other year she is sound asleep for the drive home, but she hasn’t even wanted a nap, and she is more cheerful about getting on the bus, so it seems to be working out ok. The worst part is just that we had to move seminary back, so it is from 5:10 to 6, which gives us the half hour it takes to dress SmallDaughter. BigGirl & LargeBoy started on their school with much less fanfare, but they are both really motivated and excited by the subjects they are studying this year. (when I asked if they needed any new curriculum stuff, LargeBoy asked if I would order him some chemistry books--um, yeah! He is also working on “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” and really going to town with it!)

We also got a new order of chicks on Monday! They are so cute! We have quite a few varieties, since I got the “Brown Egg Layer Assortment” and I also got 11 of the “Easter Eggers”--the Ameracaunas that lay green eggs. They are my favorites--SO cute--even when they grow up! Diesel the kitten has been going crazy--walking all over on top of their wire crate, and sticking a paw in to try and get one! The crate is plenty roomy for the chicks to move out of her way, but I put her outside anyway!

On Tuesday, I was the “extra mom” for Miss Kelly, who had a Dr. Apt., so I drove Becca in to her job interview at Barnes & Noble. BigGirl was excited to go spend the gift card she earned from the Summer Reading Program. Then (of course!) we wandered over to the neighboring Chocolate Shop and got a couple of goodies. A pretty nice day out!

On Wednesday, Bec watched SmallDaughter so she go to sleep on time, and I took the large ones to YM/YW. The shop has given us a nice loaner car, which really makes things easier. I am trying to get all my curriculum sorted and my new calendar systems set up and running. It always takes longer than I think it should, but I am babystepping forward. I have been working on doing boring things like phone calls, getting stuff arranged (like SmallDaughter’s fall riding session--only 2 more weeks until “horsey-day”!). Not exciting, but somebody has to do it!

Yesterday LargeBoy made Spanakopita, which is one of my favorites, so I am glad to have him willing to try new things. It turned out great, too! Today in seminary we role played Nephi going to get the Brass Plates. We had just enough people, and it was pretty hilarious! SmallDaughter doesn’t have school today (teacher inservice) or Monday. Tonight we are going over to our friend’s house for a BBQ! Yay! for fun times with friends! My Favorite Gentleman will get home in the middle of the night, and he gets to stay until mid-Monday, which is exciting.

Whew! What a great week!

The entire month of March was so incredibly busy and booked solid that even though everything was good, it is kind of nice to return to our usual levels of crazy! 

The week before last at Church we had the Relief  Society (Adult Women’s Group) Birthday Dinner, which was very fun.  They had different sisters decorate tables in a seasonal theme—I had a “winter” table.  It was fun to see the different personalities and approaches.  My table did turn out really pretty—I had some sheer fabric in a “watery” print in several shades of blue that I used for a tablecloth, then I cut a giant (3 feet across) snowflake with RS themes—a wheat sheaf up the middle, hearts above that, the ornate “RS” letters  from the symbol, and the upper edge was sisters holding a heart between each of them (just the little paper dollies that  “hold hands”) I put a clear plastic tablecloth over it so it wouldn’t snag, and then a funny little centerpiece.  The evening was super nice.

The chicks are growing fast—not as cute as they used to be!  We have a mix of breeds (we just got the “Brown Egg Layer Assortment”)—I don’t know what kinds the yellow chicks (at least 2 breeds, as they are different shades of yellow!) will be, but I know the little black and yellow, that have a little yellow dot on their head like a fingerprint will grow into “barred” hens—black and white stripes.  Very pretty ladies—I am excited.

The kids had their temple trip and LargeBoy got to go to his first OA Fellowship (Order of the Arrow is the Boy Scout’s Honor Society) WITH Grandpa A.  When my Dad was helping us with the kitchen last year, LargeBoy was going on his first OA Fellowship, and Dad mentioned that he had been in the OA as a youth, and had always meant to get around to being active again.  So, for his birthday, I did the legwork to get the needed forms, and paid for his enrollment, and this was their first activity together. 

I went to an all day New Trustees Seminar for the Library.  It was at a really cool Library, and it was very well done—the speakers were all interesting, and I did learn a lot.  I was debating taking SmallDaughter to see “Veggie-Tales Live” that evening, but she was sick all week, and was still not feeling good enough. 

Sunday was Seminary day, and since LargeCousin was on spring break, she got to come to our Sunday Seminary Class with us, and then have a sleepover.  On Monday, I was supposed to be very busy running lots of errands, but it snowed enough that it basically shut everything down—I was SO grateful!  It gave me time to stay home and clean and get things at least partially ready for all the company! 

BigGirl did have her first 4-H meeting in the evening.  LargeCousin and LargeBoy are not doing 4-H this year, as they have too many other things going on.  I don’t mind—I am really proud of how well they have done in the past, and it is their decision what they want to do with their time and energy.  LargeBoy will be spending most of his time finishing up his Eagle project, besides going to the National Scout Jamboree. 

On Tuesday I took LargeCousin into town in the morning and took my inlaws their Birthday loot and ran some of Monday’s errands.  In the afternoon, BigGirl & I went to Yoga and Herb Class—it was on Native herbs and I was very relieved to find that many of the weeds that I have not gotten rid of are actually very beneficial! 

On Wednesday, Sister A’s family arrived and things started to get busy! In the evening we went in to have dinner with Sister M & Sister A’s families at Dad’s house.

Things really picked up on Thursday.  The guy’s picked up the awesome playset that dad had ordered from Lowes, and they got right to work on it.  I am really glad we got the kit, with all the wood pre cut and drilled, because even with that they still had over 2 full days of work to get it done!  It is AWESOME! And it has all of the features that will be great for SmallDaughter for a long time.  There was a huge bunch of cooking—I still have loads of excellent leftovers!  It was noisy, and chaotic, and FABULOUS! We averaged between 35 and 45 people all weekend long!

On friday, we helped the kids dye 5 dozen hard boiled eggs (and by "helped"--we let all the teenagers and college age awesome people "show them how it's done"!)  We had some awesome eggs!  Friday evening, we got LOTS of pizzas and we set up the projector and watched “The Princess Bride”.  It was so fun!  And—as many times as I have seen parts and bits, I haven’t watched the whole movie for years! My Favorite Gentleman got to come home on Friday, but he threw his neck and back out, and was in a lot of pain the whole weekend!

On Saturday, we had the Easter egg hunt.  It was rather cool and blustery—pretty early for a really warm Easter.  In the evening, Sister M, BigGirl, Aunt A, LargeCousin & I went to watch the Young Women's Broadcast .  It was so excellent.  

On Sunday, we filled the first 4 rows in Sacrament Meeting, and we almost doubled the primary!  We had a big dinner at Dad’s and had not one, but 3 different birthday treats (cheesecake for my awesome Brother, a “cake” made entirely of 3 types of ice-cream and toppings for Sister M, and a  Super rich gluten free chocolate “Ex-Girlfriend” Cake for her hubby—who has his birthday the day before hers!).  Sadly, people started to leave after dinner. 

Monday was nice and mellow.  Sister M got stuff packed up and then we went into town.  SmallDaughter FINALLY got to have her horsie riding—the first 2 classes of the season got cancelled for bad weather!  Youngest Brother took Awesome Brother to the airport on his way home, so we got to see them for a little while, then we just hung out with everybody. Grandpa & Grandma took the boys swimming at the Y, but SmallDaughter wasn’t really feeling good, so we didn’t even try to go.   Dear Auntie and her boys left at about 10 pm, so we came home then too. 

SmallDaughter is on spring break this week, which is good because she has spent the last 2 days laying on the couch with a chest cold and fever.  She is starting to feel better, but she is less than impressed with her mom—I have put an onion poultice on her the last 2 nights.  (everybody asks, so I will tell you:  just cut 2 onions into rings, and slice 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, then smash them with a French knife, so the oils are activated, then put them in a pan with either olive or coconut oil on low heat until they start to clarify—you are NOT trying to cook them, and you don’t want them nicely brown and carmelized.  Then, cool them down till they are a comfortable temperature, and apply a thick layer of Vick’s (and I also use a few drops of Tea Tree oil) to the back and chest and rub them in, then cover the chest and the back with the onions and wrap her up snugly in plastic wrap). 

She was not fond of this the first night—but she REALLY hated it the second night when she knew what was coming!  She said “Owie” “No” and “Hot”—which was funny, since it wasn’t any of those things, but she doesn’t have words for “nasty” “slimy” and “gross”!  It is a very interesting fragrance mix—let me tell you!  But it has really helped clear her up. 

We are recovering nicely from all the fun, and I am trying to catch up on all the jobs My Favorite Gentleman needs me to get done for him!  Tomorrow we are going to buy my hive and beekeeping tools, since the bees will be in sometime in the next two weeks!  Yaaay!  I am super excited for them!  And—in perfect timing, next Friday the Local Beekeepers Association is having a “live bee dump” at their monthly meeting.  They will show us exactly how to “dump” our bees into their new home and get it functioning right! I am glad to have so much help and mentoring!

With all the fun we have been having, we have lots of people we love who are going through hard times, and we are still praying for them.  It is always interesting to see how life is such up and downs!  However—I know that these times with the people we love (as noisy, crazy and hectic as they may be!) are the best memories and the real stuff that life is made of!  I am grateful to have a framework for living, so that when our family gets together, it is pure fun—no fights, no screaming or hitting, just love everywhere you look. 

I just want to share some of my Dad’s take on the week:

One of the most remarkable aspects of the whole weekend to me was "the guys".  We had six adolescent and young single adult males ranging in age from 14 to 28.   Not only were they not lost in their own world or electronic gadgets, they were deeply involved in everything.  (The biggest point of contention was who got to hold the baby).  Their major activity was playing with the rug-rats.  In the disengaged society we live in, I find this truly wonderful.  What great fathers these guys will make.

Pictures coming soon!

I have been busier than a marshmallow vendor while Rome burned!  At the beginning of March, I realized I did not have A SINGLE UNSCHEDULED DAY in the entire month!  It has gotten busier since then!  And, while all of the stuff is good—some of it is FABULOUS, even—it is still LOTS OF BUSY!

 Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Both the Yoga and the Herbs classes that we are taking are offered though our Tech HS Community Ed classes.  Yoga is very sneaky—it starts off so easy you think “this isn’t even really exercise!” and then, before you know it, you are working so hard you can’t believe it!  I am really enjoying it—I love it even more because I am doing it with BigGirl!  I wish we had somewhere closer (it is about 45 min North of us) so we could do it several times a week. 

The Herb class is actually 5 freestanding classes that I signed up to take as the entire series.  Mary Colvin, the teacher is a woman who is a Master Herbalist, certified through Dr. Christopher’s School of Natural Healing in Springville, UT (where my friend Heidi worked).  The first class was on Growing a Medicinal Herb Garden.  The second class was “Herbal First Aid” and the third was “Herbs for Women’s Issues”.  I am working on designing and preparing gardens, and hope to plant them next year.  However, it did make me feel better about several “weeds” that I never got around to exterminating—turns out they are awesome helpers that I was already growing!  YAY!

I am taking Beekeeping classes, also, and I will gradually buy apiary supplies this year and get my bees next spring.  I am REALLY excited about that—I didn’t think it would be possible to think bees were any cooler, but the more I learn, the more fabulously awesome they are—truly celestially designed!  (However, the pests that affect them are DEFINITELY in the telestial category!  GROSS and nasty!)   I will probably start my “vermiculture” worm farm this year.  Pretty neat little critters—but not as beautiful as bees!  Red Wigglers eat 1 ½ times their body weight a day in household waste that they turn into the highest possible quality compost!  You can just set up a bin in the basement or outside and make sure they have plenty of kitchen scraps and newsprint, and enough moisture, and they do their magic without much outside interference!

We had the Candyland Activity last Wednesday, so now I can give you more details!  The Laurels wanted to plan a really special Mother-Daughter Activity, and they recruited me, because they know where my talents lie!  We actually started the planning back in November, and over the Christmas break Sarah K and Aryn P came for a 2 day sleepover, and we started work on decorations.  BigGirl and I have been working at least once a week on parts of it since then! 

It started with walking in the YW hallway under 8 ft tall Candy Canes flanking the inner glass doors, with a “Welcome to Candyland” sign.  There were bright paper squares on the floor, like the game board.  If you followed them, you went into the YW room, where the front chalkboard had been turned into the Peppermint Forest, and they did a craft, decorating picture frames with Starlight Mints (red and green).  Then they went to the “Gumdrop Mountains”, and guessed how many gumdrops were in a jar.  Then on to “Peanut Acres” where they played cornhole with beanbags shaped like peanuts.  Each of those areas had a large (4-5 foot long) painted backdrop.  Then out into the hall, past “Lollipop Woods” which had 6 paper mache lollipops that were about a foot across standing in a grove. 

In the RS room we had 4 tables set up, each with a brightly colored plastic tablecloth. The table centerpieces were little gingerbread houses. Over the chalkboard we had the “Candy Castle” which was a castle I painted on sheet years ago for a little girls birthday.  Up at the front we had the “Chocolate Swamp, where I had a chocolate brown silk fabric “chocolate waterfall” and a real chocolate fountain, with stuff to dip.  On the other food table we had sandwiches in the shape of gingerbread people and “cupcakes” made with mini meatloaves in aluminum cupcake papers, topped with mashed potatoes piped on like frosting, then baked.  Out in the hallway by the gym, we blocked it off with the piano, and then put up giant stand up Gingerbread Mom & Daughter cutouts, where we took pictures of the girls with their moms, and we will put those pictures in their frames as a memento.  It was a HUGE amount of work, but we had a really good turnout, and we had several of the less active girls and everybody had fun, so it was worth it!

The next morning was our Seminary visit from our Stake Seminary Supervisor.  He drives all the way up from  Columbus twice a year to visit!  (He has to get up at 2am, and he is still willing, cheerful and brings donuts!  Talk about dedication!)  After he left, I jumped in the shower, then got SmallDaughter dressed and on the bus, then left for town, where I hooked up with a couple from my Ward, and my newly returned from his mission cousin, and we went to the Temple.  It was a wonderful session, even though I was running on 4 hours of sleep!  I stayed in town for an hour, then drove over to the church, where I carpooled BACK down to Columbus for the Stake Primary Leadership Meeting.  It was also very good.  There were several classes on Special Needs children, which was excellent, since SmallDaughter’s new Assistant was able to go! 

I had been really worried about finding a babysitter for SmallDaughter for Saturday’s Quad Stake Seminary Activity/Dance—I knew I would be gone 10+ hours, and there was NO way she would like it!  However—the babysitter situation was looking pretty dire!  Grandpa & Grandma were in Maryland for her brother’s wedding, LargeCousin & Auntie were in their final performance of “Oklahoma”, and Bestie K and her kids are in TX, where her mom has been in Intensive Care with internal bleeding.  Even my backups—were all babysitting grandkids!  AARGH!  I finally asked the mom of one of my seminary boys, and she was willing, but was sick, and not sure how she would be feeling.  Anyway, in blessings many layers deep, My Favorite Gentleman got to come home on Friday, so SmallDaughter just got to have an awesome day with her daddy!  He took her to see “Wreck-it Ralph”, to ride the carousel (once on the chariot, twice on kitties), and to eat Hamburgers at McDonalds! 

So, on Friday, I worked on the house (slowly, since I was super-tired!), and I was at Beekeeping Class when My Favorite Gentleman got home, but boy was it nice to see him!  It is working out that he comes home once a month, and I go see him once, so I average seeing him every two weeks, with the kids seeing him once.  Better than nothing, but less than ideal.  Please pray that he will be transferred to a crew that works 10 days on, 4 off, so he can be home more.  Saturday was the big seminary activity, and it was really fun.  I took my whole seminary crew and we had a great time, but I got home a little after midnight, and had to leave the house on Sunday at 8, so I could be at Ward Council by 9.  I presented the new Summer Project—instead of Book of Mormon Reading, we are doing a Summer of Service.  I have had so much inspiration on this, it has already been awesome for me, and I hope we can get the rest of the Ward to catch the spirit!

Today we are going to go pick up our new chicks!  Always a fun time!  (We just got back—they are--OF COURSE!—super cute!)  And varied, because I just got 25 assorted brown egg layers. I think we have 4 or 5 breeds—lots of barred (black and white striped feathers, very pretty), some yellow chicks that will probably be regular red chickens and 4 cute little “booted” girls that have feathers on their feet, and are a really pretty “seal” brown like a Siamese cat! 

BigGirl going to Spain is because we found a neat program called Pueblo Ingles, where they pair up native English speakers with Spaniards who need to practice English.  We only have to pay for plane fare, and they put the “anglos” up at a 4-Star resort, all expenses paid for 1 or 2 weeks.  All she has to do, is have lots of 1 on1 conversations with teens from Spain!  And,  they use English speakers from all over the world, so she can meet friends from South Africa, Ireland, Australia, etc.  The only problem we are having is with scheduling, because the teen program mainly runs through the month of July—right when she has Youth Conference and Girls Camp!  We are doing our best, but she is planning to try next year if we can’t make this year work!  And for just awesomeness, our passports have arrived!

How is everybody doing?  Well, My Favorite Gentleman is working lots and lots, BigGirl is busy doing awesome young lady things like watching the Lizzie Bennett Diaries (which finish up next week!!), staying updated on several webcomics, reading stacks and stacks of books, going to plays and various social awesome things, and  being on the Stake Youth Committee.  LargeBoy is drawing all the time, and having a great time being awesome with his seminary bros.  They alternate between video games, drawing, creating live online adventures via chat with the various far away friends, learning to play musical instruments and practicing sweet dance moves.  He is also working on becoming a fashion-meister with his own hipster, thrift store style.  It is pretty awesome (often involves hats, suspenders, cool belts and custom decorated canvas tennis shoes).  SmallDaughter is doing really well.  She is continuing to progress in school, and when I had our meeting with her teacher, Mrs. K, (who taught her for 3^rd grade, didn’t for 4^th and had her this year for 5^th), she has noticed LOTS more concentration, and Lots less picking, which gives me hope.  I am just doggy paddling along, trying to keep everything in balance!

Busy, busy, busy!

Blogging has gone out the window because I have been so awesomely busy. I spent most of a week working for the Board of Elections, mainly stuffing absentee ballot envelopes. (It wasn't as exciting as it sounds!).

Then, on Thursday we got SmallDaughter off of her school van and drove into town where we rented a car (since I do not trust the green van, and it has been making a suspicious “clonking” noise—more on that later!). We loaded everything into the rental in the pouring rain (the rental was boring, except that it was a “ key-less push button start” which was pretty weird!), and drove over to Pennsylvania (about a 4 hour drive), where My Favorite Gentleman has been working for several months.

We got to stay at his motel with him, where SmallDaughter had a GREAT time, because they had a pool—perfect for her, only 3 feet deep all the way around. We had breakfast (also perfect for her, scrambled eggs, sausage, hash-browns and toast—she ate every morsel, and scrounged bites from the rest of us!) BigGirl and LargeBoy really liked that the diner in the motel (where we had breakfast) had a jukebox (3 songs for $1), so we ate to the strains of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”, “Sultans of Swing”, and “Duke of Earl”. Then we went to run errands, and when we came back SmallDaughter swam for 4 hours. I did My Favorite Gentleman’s laundry. After we got some lunch, she went swimming again!

After My Favorite Gentleman got off work, we drove for an hour to the cute town where my dear Aunts live, and went to our Family Reunion. It was really fun to see and spend time with so many Anderson Cousins.

On Saturday, the whole group of us went to “Living Treasures Animal Park” which is a nifty cross between a petting zoo and a zoo. You can feed almost all of the animals, and you are close up and personal (and it is clean and well designed, too!). Because we took The WonderDog, all of the big predators came REALLY close to the glass to check us out! Literally “Lions (a male and a female), Tigers (an orange and a white) and Bears (just one, but he was big!), OH MY”!. Also, alligators, boa constrictors, llamas, camels, ostriches, goats, ponies and lots of different monkeys. And what was the scariest? The peacocks (of course!).

Afterwards, various other grownup types stayed with the little kids, and the other adults went to a State Park to see the historic mill and do some hiking. It also happened to be the Heritage Festival, so we got to go on a hayride, (with Abraham Lincoln!), visit with reenactors, see (and hear!) the cannons, etc!

On Monday night, my sister M and her hubs (with the 3 cutest little boys) drove in from NY, and we had a fun day on Tuesday (mostly cleaning and getting things ready, with some YouTube mixed in!). My sister A and her hubs and 4 cutest little girls got here around 6ish, just as we were leaving for the park. It was a truly perfect evening. The leaves are all turning beautifully, but it wasn’t too cold, we had the entire playground to ourselves and all the cousins (and dads!) had a riot!

On Thursday, I took the big girls on the “Metro Amish Country Fieldtrip”. We went to Planktown Hardware, which is the store that sells all of the lotion & soap making supplies. I bought: cocoa butter (yum!), coconut oil, kaolin, essential oils, and deodorant tubes and I am going to try making my own deodorant. Then we went to Planktown Market, and got nice bulk type things, and then to Country Fabrics, which is always fun!

We got back about the same time Friend Lisa showed up with her 2 boys, and shortly after that Friend Vanessa and her 2 girls arrived! We played for a little while, then loaded everybody up, and took them to ride the carousel. SmallDaughter was in heaven! She rode a bunny and a kitty, but we got there just before closing, so they only had time for 2 rides!

Next we went to the Harvest Festival that they had at the Assisted Living Facility where our sister V was dancing. She is always a hoot to watch. It was a perfect festival—very low key and mellow, totally handicap accessible, and nothing scary for the little kids. SmallDaughter really liked the maze, petting 2 alpacas and the cake walk. The bigger kids liked the giant rubber band catapult to shoot apples at targets!

After the sun started to go down, we went over to dear Aunt A’s and celebrated my nephew’s 5th birthday. We made a super cute cake, with cookie crumb “dirt”, and sister M found such a clever technique—we printed out a picture of a dinosaur skeleton, put it in a protector page, then traced it with melted white chocolate. After it set up, we just popped it on top—and it looked amazing! (We broke it into pieces to look more "fossil-like").

End of the first round of visits!

Here's what summer looks like at our house:

filled with food, and kittens and small children!

(This is the kitten deprivation face!) TRAGEDY!

Also, in major happenings: LargeBoy got his hair cut!

Before:

After:

All the cousins we had at our house this weekend:

(It was MUCH harder than you would think to get this picture taken!)

Some people are better at "helping themselves" than others!

It was a great week--I am so blessed!

The blessings of family

I have been sorting through boxes of old family photos. It has been so much fun! I have such a great family, and such a legacy of love. It is also really fun to mock the fashions my cousins (and I!) wore! I am so sad that we will not be able to attend our family reunion this year. It is hard to explain to people who didn't grow up the way I did. I am the luckiest person in the world!

Day 4: My Parents

A few weeks before her death, a hospice worker asked my mom "how her husband was handling it", and my mom responded "as well as any man can, who is losing the romance of the century." It made the hospice worker tear up, but my mom told her that was the only honest way to describe their relationship.



A lot of people looked at the outside of their relationship and got it totally wrong. My mom Brendawas 6 feet tall--4 inches taller than my dad. She loved to talk, and could be very loud. He was (and is) very quiet, and would rather chew off his own foot than get into a confrontation. Many people thought that she "wore the pants" in the relationship, but that isn't true. My dad adored her, and she adored him--and they both put the other person's happiness as the most important priority--so they both won.



In my baby book, my mom wrote under this pictue: "That is a yawn, not crying--she is a very happy baby".

I am the oldest child, so I have the most memories of them. I am really grateful for that.
My parents worked hard to raise a family that loved each other and had fun together. We didn't argue or fight (very much) and we still have a great time when we get together.


This is my dad, with most of his kids, after we surprised him last Halloween.


I am deeply grateful that my parents were married in the Temple, and that our family is sealed together for eternity, so that even death cannot stop us from being a family.

WooHoo!--Now with pictures!

I haven't been able to post for two reasons: 1) I have been attempting to dig out of the more chaotic than usual chaos that the kitchen rebuild created, to get ready for a Halloween party here, which leads to 2) I didn't want to leak the surprise that we had in the works--a surprise for my dad who faithfully reads this blog!

For a couple of months we sisters have been planning for SisterM & HubbyO to come from the Bronx with their cutie boys, and for SisterA & HubbyA (and SisterR!) to come from Indianapolis with their cutie girls, and have a great Halloween party at my house. And the sneaky bit--we didn't tell Grandpa they were coming, we just set it up so that he would be in charge of handing out the candy, and every one of the Trick-or-Treaters who showed up would be his grandkids (or kids).

Everything was going great. The plans were in place, Grandma had been enlisted to get him here on time--and to give us a heads up when they left, so we could get everybody stashed at the other location (so they would be able to surprise him).
The boys who couldn't be here (BrotherN & WifeS in California, BrotherB & WifeM in Pennsylvania, BrotherE in Utah and BrotherR in Virginia) were scheduled to Skype or call during the party. We were very excited to have more than half of the family together--5 out of nine siblings!

M&O were scheduled to arrive around midnight on Fri, so BigGirl and I were staying up to finish the cleaning. I was so tired that I was just about to take a little nap on the couch, when headlights pulled in, so we ran out to see the cutie babies--except there were no babies--just awesome BrotherR, and his good friend S, who had made the 9 hour drive from Virginia! Much happy shrieking happened at that point!

Shortly thereafter, there were more headlights and sure enough, it WAS the cutie babies, with their cute mommy & daddy AND BrotherE! They had picked him up from the airport as the ultimate surprise! WOOT!!!



In total, we ended up with 7 out of the 9 siblings! And it was (as always!) hilarious! Didn't get to bed until 2:00am. Worth it.

On Friday, we got ready for the party, and had actual (technically unrelated, but well loved) party guests here, when finally it was time for the surprise part. We sent everybody "unexpected" down the block to the library, where they got into their costumes, and waited for the signal. We decided that they would arrive in "order of unexpectedness".



IT WAS AWESOME!






"Do my eyes deceive me? Can it really be?"




Yes--it really is!

My favorite part (besides the look on Grandpa's face!), was the fact that he didn't seem to catch the pattern--that every single one of the Trick-or-Treaters who showed up were his progeny! It was classic!

After the surprising part, we had a massive pumpkin carving festival, played some awesome games, and talked and laughed until 2:00am. Worth it.




(this kind of nonsense is what happens when you let the uncles loose with the pumpkins!)


Grandpa prepares to show the young'uns "how it's done!"




In Church yesterday, our family took up the first 3 rows in the Chapel. The Bishop announced that all the Anderson's were officially welcome to move back--it was great! After Church, we had a Soup and Bread (and Chili & Baked Potato) supper together before people had to leave.

I am so grateful for a family that I don't just love--I like--thoroughly enjoy them! We have so much fun together--and we always have. The blessings of the gospel radiate through our lives, making everything so much better, and I am (possibly) the most blessed person on earth.

Well, I'm Back!

I have been gallivanting all over the country! Two weekends ago, I got to attend the Sewing and Quilting Expo with 3 of my favorite aunties! It was AWESOME! I was able to take a bunch of classes and learn so much exciting stuff! I learned how to alter patterns without causing distortions anywhere else. Now, I am sure to most of my readers that does not sound particularly exciting. But, trust me, for me, it is revolutionary and mind blowing! I am SO excited! I also got new tools! (OOH! Shiny!)

And, I figured out a couple of things: 1) I am pretty sure why I am so tired (I will report more on this after the official Dr. visit in a couple of weeks to follow up on my hunch) and 2) What job I can do (with my crazy schedule and family needs). That will be my next post--and trust me, it is NOT what I was expecting!

I also got to spend this last week helping my awesome sister and brother-in-law prepare for and attend a conference, that will (hopefully) get his extraordinary business off the ground. They spent a lot of time in a very small car, while I stayed at their house playing with the adorable nieces. I think I have mentioned before that I have the cutest nieces and nephews in the world (this extends to my cousins children, also, because when you have a family as large and loving as mine, the exact relationships have a tendency to get a bit fuzzy and so easy titles like "cousin" win!)

People might think I am biased, bragging or showing a teensy amount of favoritism, but I have second (and third!) opinions from non-related people, and it is true! They are just DARN CUTE!

Now I have to recover from all the fun I have been having!

Goodbye, Cookie Grandma

It seems very strange to think of the world without my Grammy in it. I have had plenty of losses in my life--people I love, people who have been tremendously important in my life, but thinking of the world without Grandma Nelson is more like trying to think of the world without oceans, or without the color red. Much too big to comprehend.


Joyce Nelson Furniss, Oct 18th 1920--Dec 31st 2009.
Such a lot of lives are contained within that sentence. Joyce was the exact middle child--three older brothers, three younger brothers. She became the mother of 10 children, 9 of whom lived to maturity. All of them married nice people, and had some lovely children--a total of 45. FORTY-FIVE grandchildren.

Yes, she knew all their names. And middle names. And birthdays, and favorite stuff, and secrets, and how to kiss their owies better, and much, much more!


I am one of the older grandchildren. Actually, I am more of the "second wave". I wasn't old enough to be one of the "big cousins" for a very long time! My oldest cousin, Mike, is six months older than my youngest Aunt, Shanan (this happens surprisingly often in big families). They are about 8 years older than I am, which is a pretty hefty lead in the "being a big kid" stakes--although nothing like the lead I have on the youngest cousin Issac, who was born when I was 27.


The big cousins were remarkably slow on the "settling down and getting married" front, which means that my oldest child (BigGirl) is one of the oldest of the great-grandkids. In fact, they were so slow, that the last of them got married (for the first time) in 2009--and had his 40th birthday on his honeymoon.



However, Grammy FINALLY got some great-grandchildren. And, like compound interest, a little trickle at the beginning has turned into quite the tidal wave. 65 great grandchildren (more or less, I could have missed a couple!) With at least 3 more on the way, due this year.


Grammy spent her last week the way she preferred to spend all of her time--surrounded by family and lots of babies and toddlers. I am sure she sang them the "Grey Kitty Song" and I am jealous of that. Maybe they even got "Keemo-Keimo-Daimey-Wah"--lucky little skunks!




Grammy was one of the most truly selfless people in the world. We all learned great lessons about true love and service from her example. Even when we were terrible-two-year-olds or truly aweful fourteen year olds, we knew we were loved, completely and utterly by our Grammy--no conditions, no questions asked.






A great example of how to be a strong, loving, competent woman!

Whew!

What a wild sprint through the weekend! I cleaned house manically on Friday, and it was LOVELY by the time my party rolled around. I had small, but not pathetic attendance. If you are still interested, you can order stuff until this Friday.

On Saturday, we got dolled up and went to a "surpise 40th anniversary party" for Mr. Prism's Aunt & Uncle. It was good to see family we haven't seen for a long time. Lots of exclamations over how tall LargeBoy is getting (and we didn't even have BigGirl here--she has SHOT up this last year, and is amazingly tall and pretty). SmallDaughter and the WonderDog behaved very well--and she ate about 10 plates of potato chips, which her loving brother patiently refilled for her.

When we got home, LargeBoy and I worked on a model of the human body while we listened to General Conference on the internet. It was nice and mellow to listen together.

http://lds.org/conference/languages/0,6353,310-1,00.html" (once again, nothing will link, and you are forced to cut and paste. Sorry.)

In the evening, Mr. Prism went into town to attend the Priesthood Session, and the cookout dinner they had before, and LargeBoy and I did a lot of baking: a batch of bread dough which turned into 2 pizzas and 4 loaves of yummy bread, a pan of really rich butterscotchies, and a lemon jelly roll.

On Sunday morning I made up 2 huge crockpots of stew (one of beef veggie stew, one of corn chowder)(--Thanks for loaning me your crockpot, Miss K!) and got them cooking along. Aunt A and Uncle R, plus their awesome chillun arrived, and we began listening to the Morning Session of Conference. Partway through, my dearest-cousin- in-the-world arrived, with 2 adorable babies in tow (one is her sweet nursey baby, and the other is her sweet niece.) She has come to our part of the world to assist her little sister (my awesome cousin Kit), who is undergoing some medical stuff and needs help chasing her little one (who is 19 months old and FAST!).

It was great to have everybody here, and we all squished into my little computer room to listen. During the break between sessions my dad & co. arrived and he set up a screen and his spiffy computer projector, and we arranged all the couches in the living room (currently 4!) like a theater, and listened to the afternoon session in comfort!


I particularly loved Elder Jeffery R. Holland's bold and forthright testimony of the Book of Mormon, and Brent H. Nielsen's touching talk on missionary work.

Then we all ate and ate and ate, while watching a "slide show" of old family pictures that had been put on a CD from my grandparents old slides. It was great.

I am so blessed.

My life is pretty close to perfect

Recently I had the chance to stay at the home of a friend-of-a-friend. Her home was beautiful. It was a fairly new house--built in the last 5 or 10 years, I would say. It had a lovely stone fireplace, tasteful wall decor, immaculate carpets (think beige--LOTS of beige) lovely furniture suites upstairs and down. It was also sparklingly clean. Like, even with 4 children who are alternately there (due to custody issues) and 4 dogs it was sparkling.

It would be almost impossible not to contrast it with my house.

My house was built over 100 years ago. It is a comfortable late Victorian (which means it doesn't have any gingerbread trim, but it does have a great porch and many funky roof angles and walls that stick out in funny places). It is in DIRE need of a new coat of paint on the outside (but first we have to fix all the places where the racoons or the wisteria ripped off bits of the siding).

It is not in a suburban neighborhood full of it's clone. We have one neighbor whose house is our home's "sister", but all of the other houses are in MANY random styles. There is not a lot of "taupe" or "beige" in our neighborhood. There are a lot of mature trees and amazing flower gardens.

Our furniture is that classic style "early thrift store". Not one piece matches another. EVERY single wall (and every other surface for that matter) has been written on by SmallDaughter. I refuse to repaint while she is still in the active picasso phase. I also refuse to get new carpet while she still dumps stuff. So our whole house has strange 1950's era avacado green and algae colored wool carpet--that ALWAYS comes clean, no matter what she has dumped on it (bubble bath, hershey's syrup, yellow mustard...)

It is not imaculate. Even when I clean and clean, I still can't get it to "immaculate". It is not filthy, but it is definitely lived in, and the fact that I personally can overlook something in the middle of the floor and step over it for MONTHS does nothing to help that.

With all that said, our house is full of life and laughter. Spills and messes are not crises, just something to clean up. Everyone is free to try creative endeavors, because we are not thwarted by the fear of messing up the perfection. All of the neighbor kids cook in my kitchen. My yard gets played in daily. My porch is never boring!

My funny looking raised gardens out back are thriving. The chickens behind the barn are fat, healthy and contented. I like them a lot more than I ever imagined that I would. My children are kind, funny, creative and polite. What more could I want?

A Summer of Rejoicing!

I am rejoicing at the birth of a new life! A sweet baby boy, who came early, but just because he didn't need to "bake" as long! He was ready, and came in a peaceful, gentle birth, surrounded by love and familiar voices. Each baby comes with such utter, incredible potential. I love it when parents choose begin to put their children's needs before their own, long before the baby is even born. Our world is filled with such heartbreaking selfishness, that I love every act of love that shines against it.

I will have other babies to rejoice over this summer--but baby Jackson James is the first!

I am rejoicing at my nephew, who was baptised a few weeks ago. He is a wonderful, sweet boy, and the only sadness in my relationship with him is that we live so far apart! I am very proud of him--he has always had a special place in my heart, and that spot just keeps getting bigger as he grows!

I rejoice that I am surrounded by lives that are expanding. This summer I have 4 couples that I love getting married--and I can whole-heartedly support all of them! Even better! I hate to feel like they are making a huge mistake, and of course, there is nothing I can do about it. It is MUCH better to watch my younger friends make such wise decisions in their lives--it brings so much joy--not only to them, but to a huge circle of people who are affected by them.

I rejoice in watching the way the Lord puts the people we need into our lives. Several people that I love are going through deep sorrow, deep pain and hard trials. It is very hard to see the suffering--both physical and emotional of people that I love.

Some of the trials are physical--mortal bodies causing pain, wearing out, or needing major surgery. Some of the trials are the pain of death--of losing someone that they couldn't imagine living without.

Some of the trials are the most painful kinds--not brought on by their own sin or bad choice, but by the rebellion, selfishness and sin of those they love the most--a spouse, a child, one of their "dear beloved".

In the valleys of sorrow in my own life, I have found the sweetest blessings have come to me in the very middle of my deepest trials. Those miracles that happened at the very instant when I needed them most, have deepened my appreciation of, my knowledge of, and my love for the Savior and His atonement as a true force and cause of miracles in my life. I am praying that those miracles, those Moments of Grace will also bless the ones I love. There isn't much else I can do.

The Solitude is ending

As gradually as it began (ie. with two people and a WHOLE LOT OF STUFF being transported), my little period of solitude is ending. I picked up the big girls from camp yesterday--and following years of tradition, they immediately took a nap!

I did manage to eat fairly well, and I made sure to leave the house at least once a day (It is not difficult for me to have several days at a time where I do not leave the house when I am alone).

I am very ready for my guys to get back. It has been very peaceful without them, but I am missing them, and I am glad they are coming home today.

The house is mostly back in order, LOTS of good projects have been accomplished, many blogs and MANY books have been read.

What a nice beginning to the summer.

Eternal Woman

This picture is of my Grandmother. I love it both for the inherent beauty of the picture, but also for the way it showcases her life in one perfect image. It shows her love for her family, for the land, for beauty and growing things and for the mountains that gave a backdrop to her life.

A Long Drive

*Abject Apologies!* I cannot seem to get my links to work properly, so you may have to "cut and paste" if you want to see them. Again, apologies!

I love blogging! I love finding great ideas from friends around the world and sharing them. That said, I am participating in "Words and Pictures", proposed by Pip at
http://meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com/2009/03/words-and-pictures-long-drive.html

My Long Drive is actually memories of 2 long drives. The first was when I was seven. My dear aunt had taken a job as a school teacher clear across the country, far from our little spot in the West (where our family homesteaded 100+ years before). So, my adventurous mom took her two oldest children (7 and 6) and her new baby, and drove out with her, so she wouldn't be alone. Traveling with two neat women is still a vivid memory. My dear aunt worried about us being stuck in the car for hours at a time, so every time we stopped at a rest area, she had us take off our shoes and run in the grass. It did feel great!

We stopped at lots of neat places. Many of them are well known--Mt. Rushmore, the Mississippi River, but some of them are not--Historic Nauvoo, Illinois was in the process of becoming a "living history" site, and we found the incredibly charming town of Pella, Iowa

http://www.pella.org/aspx/traveltourism/default.aspx?sid=5

While we were there, we feasted our weary, tired souls on the sights of windmills and the bell tower in the town square, and our weary, tired stomachs on the wonderful baked goods from the Jaarsma Bakery.

http://www.jaarsmabakery.com

I have some very clear memories--seeing fireflies for the first time (they still enchant me!) and crossing the Mississippi during the Mayfly mating season, where the poor corpses were piled in drifts on the bridges--literally higher than the car bumpers.

We returned to the west by train, stopping in Chicago, where mom took us to see the Sears Tower (which was the tallest building in the world at the time--not so good for someone as severely afraid of heights as I am!), and to the Shedd Aquarium--Sooooo cool!

I did not like traveling by train--the constant noise and movement was very hard on me--but I loved the "dome car" with its clear roof on an upper deck--watch the world go by!



This is a "Dome Car" on an Amtrak train

Mostly I loved being with my mom, who always had a gift for making everything fun, and finding hidden treasures along the way.

My second Long Drive, was this past summer--when I was the mom. We loaded up our trusty minivan (the boring-mobile--ours is possibly the dullest manifestation of the least exciting car ever made--but very functional--and paid for!) with LOTS of STUFF, 3 children, 2 adults (myself and my very fun & funny brother), and a fabulous Service Dog, and did basically the same drive in reverse.

Because, life being what it is--I have moved my little Western self, and we live firmly in the East now. But lots of my beloved family is still in the West, so driving 2000+ miles to see them happens occasionally.

I am very fortunate that my children are such good travelers. Part of that is just good luck--No problems with motion sickness, or anything horrible like that. The other part is that they have been "road-trippers" since before they were born. The no whining/ no arguing policy that we have always had is also a big plus (I will discourse on that at some future time).

We traveled a twisty, not particularly direct route, visiting family members and interesting sites along the way.


This is LargeBoy's favorite part of Old Nauvoo--the Gunsmith Shop. I have to agree that it is REALLY cool!

Historic Nauvoo has become SO interesting that we ended up staying for 2 extra days there!

http://www.beautifulnauvoo.com/site/default.asp?pg=pages/attractions.asp


However, our visit happened to be at the exact same time as the historic flooding on the Mississippi, and so several things were closed due to high water, as well as lots of bridges being washed out. We ended up driving a long way north to a reliable bridge, so we totally missed visiting Pella, Iowa again (much to my disapointment!)


This is one of the big kids, on an island in the Mississippi that is normally the side of the road! MASSIVE FLOODING was going on!


Yellowstone Park was probably the single most common vacation of my childhood. We only lived a few hours away, and my dad LOVED it, and if any guests came they HAD to see it, so we would usually go a few times every summer. It is interesting to me to see how it is changing. Some of the things that were SPECTACULAR in my youth--aren't anymore. My particular favorite "Black Dragon Cauldron" used to be a huge, billowing, frothing mass of dark greyish brown viscous muddy water, surrounded by huge billows of hot steam. Now it is an occasional bubbling upthrust in the pool.

However, just as some things have diminished, other things have increased in activity. Biscuit Basin, which used to be (in my young opinion) pretty darn dull, is now a hotbed (pardon the pun!) of activity.

I am still astounded by the way the bison sit in the hot water. There are cracks in the earth with steam coming up through them, and a buffalo is calmly laying there, chewing its cud.

The waterfalls are as amazing as ever.


One of the big kids took this picture of Yellowstone Falls--I was content to stay FAR back from the rim with SmallDaughter! (see notes on fear of heights)

I love to travel, and I really love to travel with my family.