Spring?

So I am officially the mother of a teenager now.  13.  We celebrated his birthday a bit early, because his birthday fell on the weekend of both Easter and an overnight scouting trip.  This was the cake:



I was pretty proud of myself- 2 layer vanilla cake with pastry cream (that delicious eclair filling), topped with chocolate ganache frosting.  Balloons were vanilla wafers, frosted and sprinkled, (some left unfrosted for contrast) with licorice strings.  Unfortunately, I was so busy with the cake that I forgot about taking pictures of my son as he opened his presents.  But he liked his presents, and we all loved the cake (I am so making this again), so it was a successful birthday, overall!

Easter was extremely low-key this year.  Jared spent Friday working on the sprinklers of DOOM.  I swear, that job will never be finished.  It is the job that never ends ♫, It just goes on and on my friends ♪...

Jared and Walker went camping Friday, and got back Saturday night. They were sweaty and smelly and I could tell they had an excellent time. While they were busy lighting things on fire and looking for fossils, we did our Easter Egg hunt and enjoyed our Easter gifts. 

 Morgen got a sketch pad, which is already half-full of pictures.  She's in heaven with all that extra room on each page!

 Hyrum got a hexbug.  It has a remote control.  Everyone in the house wants to play with it.  There have been obstacle course races.

 Walker got some plastic tubes to make more climbing and crawling tunnels for his gerbils.  He was thrilled (when he finally got home).

 Jared got a gutting knife and I got some yarn.  No pics for those, but trust me, we were very happy with the Easter Bunny!

Our Easter Bunny always leaves empty plastic eggs for the egg hunt.  That way the dogs and other creatures won't be tempted to chew on them.  So, the hunt for empty eggs:

The searchers were rewarded with a lovely bag full of candy, which was promptly consumed at the table, leaving only wrappers.  Hyrum shared a few of his candy eggs with me, since I didn't have any chocolate of my own.  (well, I did, but it was hidden in my closet and he didn't know about it.)  We spent the rest of the day relaxing.  Oh, and we took a walk, by the sheep down the road, and I finally got a picture of the lambs!  There were three born, but we're not sure what happened to the third lamb.  We've watched and we can only see two now, so it either died or was given to somebody else.

 Anyway, (squee!) they are so cute!  And there are a few more pregnant ewes in this pasture, which means more baby lambs!!

So, notice the green grass and sunny warm feeling of the last picture?  Yesterday, and today, we got snow.

Blizzard-worthy white-out snow.  Which has melted, so all is not lost, but it is cold now.  

 And it is muddy. Blech.  Cold mud is not my favorite part of spring.  (these are Walker's new shoes.  he wears a larger size than I do now. and he is taller than I am.  Bah.)

Oh, and just for a bit of drama, our dogs have been getting out of our yard.  Somebody (you know, the same somebody who eats the last cookie, and tracks mud through the house) leaves the side door, from the back yard into the garage, open.  Our garage is almost always open, and thus the multiple escapes.  We've had to chase them down, we've had neighbors bring them back, and we've driven around the neighborhood looking for them.  Today was extra-super-dramatic, though.  We drove around for over 2 hours, looking for them, praying we'd find them safe and sound, and nothing.  No doggies anywhere.  Finally we came back home and ate lunch.  Kachina came running up the street about 30 minutes later, and we coaxed her into the yard, but she was wet all over, and muddy from her belly down.  Then we searched again for Annie, hoping she was trailing behind her mama.  Nope.  Again, nothing.  Jared drove around for an hour, searching for her, and the kids walked around and called for her.  Eventually we gave up, and began to plan out how we'd handle finding her body.  About an hour or so later, she came running up the street.  So, we're working on a door/garage solution that will keep the dogs more securely in the backyard.  (the best solution would be to keep their food in the backyard and never use that side door, but realistically I don't see that happening) 

And, as a final bonus, Jared and I got to attend the military ball last night.  Kind of like prom, but they had food (and drinks).  I tried to get a photo of us together.  I was unsuccessful.  So, just imagine my very cute husband in his nice blue dress uniform, all shiny and handsome.  And I wore a velvety plush blue dress that was long and warm and still managed to be dressy.  Plus heels.  We were home before midnight, even!  If we're going to attend more of these (and we probably will, for career advancement opportunities), I should probably search out some nice, dressy, COMFORTABLE heels.  And maybe another dress. 

Gratitude List:

* Good weather for the campout and Easter Egg hunt. Always iffy this time of year.

* Cake!

* Watching the lambs growing up across the street. 

* Talking with my kids about parents and children (in the animal kingdom) and how they are similar/different to humans.

* Clothing I can layer.

* Jared is home.

* Dogs are safe.

* Kids are healthy and safe.

* Good friends and neighbors.

* Family.

* Podcasts and music on my iPod.

* Celebrating Easter, remembering His sacrifice for my sins, and feeling an immense gratitude for the love He shows me daily.

* I am truly blessed.  God is good.

More Gardening

Jared spent our spring break working in Northern California.  We thought about going with him, but since it was a pretty intense training session, we stayed here.  We planned short day-trip type activites, and overall enjoyed our break!  I had each of the kids write down some things they wanted to do, and I told them that MY break would be sleeping in every morning.  :)  So, we went to Jump on it (has a bunch of trampolines and a foam pit), watched the movie Rango, spent a day at the zoo, and another day at the Children's Museum.  We also spent some time watching Phineas and Ferb (cartoon, and if you haven't watched it, imagine a show about Calvin and Hobbes where they never get caught when they exercise their imaginations).  I did get to sleep in until 7 every day.  Some days it was 8!

Jared got back Thursday night, and we have some pipes to put into the ground:

 As you can see, he's getting help with the trench-digging.  I'm excited to get these all filled back in, because our dogs have found several interesting ways to use the trenches in their escape plans.  That is why they are spending today in their kitchen kennel. 

We've also got some seeds started, and hopefully they'll do well enough for us to plant them in our (not yet existing) garden plot in June.  Walker actually put the dirt into the egg cartons, and labeled them neatly for me. 

Gratitude List:
* Lots of new music from itunes.  I am spoiled by variety!
* Nice weather for sprinkler-installing.
* A hard-working husband and kids who think helping him is fun.
* Plenty of good food.
* A working washer and dryer, and dishwasher.
* Cookies!
* I ordered a shirt from shirt.woot.com.  I smile every time I wear it.
* Spring is sort of here!
* Jared is home for a bit.
* My lilac bush is putting out buds.
* I am so blessed.
* God is good.

Springtime in the Rockies

Yes, it is officially spring.  No, it is not safe to plant things.  Average last frost date here is June 8- mountains, remember?  But yeah, we're planning a garden anyway.  Jared spent most of last week digging trenches in our yard

with the help of his children.  Some of their help was actually helpful!  Anyway, our entire yard looks like it was attacked by large moles.  He'll be finishing this up next week, and hopefully it will be warm enough to glue together the PVC pipes that make up the sprinkling system.  I just hope the trenches don't collapse in the meantime.  On the brighter side, hauling all the sprinkler pipe was much easier in his newly repaired truck!  I'll have to get a picture sometime- it is really a beast of a truck ;).

Morgen tried out for The Sound of Music.  She made it to the second call-back, but wasn't chosen for a part.  However, we did discover a possible birthday present (acting class), and she enjoyed the tryouts. 

I made cards this week.  It's been awhile, with unpacking and knitting to take up my free time.  But, I had an itch to make cards, and decided to brave the cold basement.  Maybe I'll be scrapping again by the summer?  We'll see...  In the meantime, I still have my knitting.  And yes, I'm making socks again.  Well, one at a time socks:

I'm not quite to the heel yet, but I am making progress!

Jared and I went on a date Saturday.  It is still cold in the evenings, but warm enough for us to walk together, which I love.  We decided to treat ourselves to some ice cream, and walked over to a local restaurant which serves gelato and ice cream, as well as the best pizza EVER.  Anyway, we enjoyed our treat, and visited, and when we walked out the door, we saw snow!  Yep.  It was snowing.  We still took the long way home.  After all, we wanted a walk and a little snow won't freeze us.  I like this snow, though.  It is fluffy and beautiful and it doesn't stick to the pavement.  So we get a beautiful powdered-sugar look on the houses and ground, but a nice clear road and no need to shovel anything.  And I can tell that it adds to the snowpack in the mountains, which means plenty of water for summer irrigation.  I truly love where we live.

Gratitude List:
* Long walks with my sweetheart.
* Ice cream in waffle cones
* We are within walking distance of TWO ice cream parlors.  Three if you count the ice cream counter in the local grocery store.
* Spring break for my kids begins tomorrow.  I am sleeping in 'till at least 8am!
* I love the mountains. 
* The ice is melting off the rivers and nearby lakes.
* My neighbors are great.
* Warm weather in the afternoons, so the kids can play outside.
* We (almost) have a sprinkling system!
* My husband is a very handy man.
* Cars that run well, a nice warm sturdy house, lots of food, and healthy kids.
* Walker has discovered comic opera.  Thank you, Anna Russell!!
* Everyone was at church on time today (not my fault, but I don't mind taking credit anyway)!
* I am blessed.  God is good.

Stuff I missed

I am having a hard time posting, because I keep thinking of other things to do while online.  Also, I get sidetracked a lot (ravelry & facebook, I am looking at you here).  And then there's the "not home" factor. 

That whole label "Stay At Home Mom" is very misleading.  Very.  Take today, for example.  Today I took kids to school.  I dropped off my art project packet and picked up next month's packet.  I ate breakfast in the car, because it takes me 25 minutes to make a roundtrip from the school to my house, and Walker's 7th grade class had a class choice counseling session that I was invited to attend.  That took almost an hour.  Right now I'm home, and I've eaten lunch here (nice and calm, thank you).  My afternoon looks like this: pick up Walker about 2:30.  Stop at the bank & deposit $$.  Drive home.  Pick up Hyrum about 3:30.  There are a lot of other errands/duties included in this day, but everything else can be done from home.  Still, though, if I figure out how much time I was at home today, it is significantly less than the hours my kids are at school.

In other news, my in-laws are buying a house 10 minutes away from us.  Hooray for grandparents!!  They're actually within a 10-minute walk from Walker's school, which is cool.  They'll be back and forth between here and their other house for a while, but I am excited to have them close enough to invite to dinner once a month or so.

February was the month of visits- my in-laws were here, taking care of some house business.  My SIL Emily drove up with her 3 kids to spend their spring break with us, which was fun and chaotic and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  BIL Nate and his family came up to see them, and we all got a chance to visit.  I'm glad that my kids have cousins that are close enough, geographically, to be friends as well as relatives.  My sister Emily drove out with her family, and because she was here, my sister Melissa drove down with her family and spent a few days at my parents' house.  We were able to spend an evening with them, and let the kids reacquaint themselves.  Like I said, lots and lots of visiting was accomplished.  Thank you February, for having nice traveling weather for all of us.

Walker's school, like I mentioned earlier, is talking to his grade about next year's class schedule, and giving some counseling on which electives to add to the core classes.  He opted for Band (still playing the tuba), and FACS (Family & Consumer Science).  I understood the band choice, but wondered out loud about the other class.  He told me that he "likes sewing and cooking stuff."  Then he grinned and added that he and a friend decided there would be lots of girls in that class.  He is not old enough to be thinking this!!!  Today's counseling thing was good, though.  It is interesting for me to watch my child figure out what he is interested in, what he's good at, and what new things he wants to try.  He amazes me.

Morgen entered her school's science fair in January, competed in February, and was able to compete on the State level this past week.  I took her down to BYU to set up her project the night before, then she rode the bus with the other Wasatch County students who were competing.  They spent the morning presenting their projects to the judges.  After lunch, there were other activities- walks, rock-climbing- until the awards ceremony.  Since she's in 5th grade, she is too young to advance to the National level, but she had a wonderful time.  I was pretty proud of her.  She came up with the experiment on her own, then had her dad help her set everything up and record her data.  And this Saturday she'll be auditioning for a part in "The Sound of Music."  It's a big time commitment, so I'm not sure if I want her to make it or not!

Hyrum has been playing basketball on our street with some of the other neighborhood boys.  He loves sports, and I'm glad he has friends here.  A few weeks ago he called me from school to tell me he'd stapled his finger.  Apparently one prong went into the pad of his left index finger.  Mr Hardy (the school principal) had to use a pair of pliers to yank it out.  He was fine, but he wanted me to know.  I found out later that he spent the rest of the day teasing his cousin Madison, who is in his class, by touching the stapler and waiting for her to scold him.  He's still taking karate, and really enjoys the sparring.

Jared & Walker spent last weekend measuring our yard.  I got to be the scribe.  We're planning to put in a sprinkling system, and he wanted exact measurements so he can draw up a watering plan.  We know where we want to put the garden, and where we'll build our deck (but probably we won't be building 'till next year).  He's also gotten his truck fixed, which will be helpful when he's transporting all the sprinkler pipe.

I've been listening to podcasts lately- Dave Ramsey for financial stuff, Sticks and String for knitting info, and Stuff You Missed in History Class for entertainment purposes.  I also get the General Conference podcast from my church.  I like having interesting listening material- it makes knitting more interesting, and driving or doing chores a bit less dreary.

That's about all the life events.
Gratitude List:
* Healthy kids and husband
* plenty of food and clothing
* good schools, good teachers, good neighbors
* God
* good music
(have to pick W up at school now, so I'm ending quickly)

Socks!

I knit those socks.  Yep.  All by myself and everything.  I love the colors, and I'm so happy I am finally finished!
One small problem: they are a perfect fit for Hyrum.  So I'm trying to be happy that they fit somebody in my family, even though those feet are not mine.

Gratitude List:
* snowblowers
* Jared is home < 3
* Freshly baked cookies
* yummy leftovers for lunch
* Walker is practicing his tuba upstairs.
* I have a lot of sock yarn now.
* Also, enough yarn of one color to knit a sweater for (hopefully) me!
* My kitchen is mostly clean
* Dinner is in the crockpot (shredded BBQ elk)
* Laundry is folded and put away
* House is warm
* Family is healthy
* God is good

Happy times

Random happy things:

* Jared was home for Valentine's Day this year.  I think that makes 4 times in our 15 years of marriage.  :)
* My in-laws are looking at houses near us.  I'm pretty excited about that.
* I went shopping for yarn with friends today.  I laughed so hard in the car I almost couldn't see the lines on the road!  Plus I have lots of beautiful new yarn.  (pretty sure yarn fumes make me high)
* More snow at the house, and more shoveling, and hot cocoa afterwards.
* Everyone is healthy.
* Kids are reasonably happy.
* We have plenty of food to eat.
* Jared is home for the rest of February!
* I unpacked another box.
* Walker went camping with the scouts, in the snow, and had a wonderful time.  He's sacked out on the couch now.
* Jared's making dinner tonight :)

Stay home!

One of my favorite things in the world is fog.  It turns an ordinary street into the gateway to a fairyland.  It makes dead trees appear mysterious.  It opens up so many possibilities because it hides what is normally in plain sight.  Fog gathers around rivers and lakes (I know the scientific explanation but it isn't what I wanted to blog about), and we have one of each of those near our house.  So, we get a lot of fog here.  And I love it.  I just have to remember that I need to leave earlier in the morning, so the kids get to school on time!

Yesterday, in addition to the fog, there were a few other obstacles that made leaving my house a bit of a challenge.  We had a fire a few blocks away, and it was a huge, flame-shooting, black cloud-billowing spectacle.  I think everyone in the entire town showed up to watch.  It took me 10 minutes to detour around the block that was closed off, because the streets were choked with cars.  No, not cars that were driving, cars that were parked so people could take pictures and check out the flames.  This seemed a bit odd to me- don't you run AWAY from a fire?  But yeah, one of the many interesting things about small-town life!

Last night I went to pick up a plant that needed a new home.  I pulled out of our driveway, and there was a MOOSE.  It trotted away as I slowly drove down the road, but circled back through the yards and I lost track of where it was.  But it likes our neighborhood (who wouldn't?) because the kids saw it again this morning.

After I thought about it, though, I began to wonder if maybe I should just stay home.

Gratitude List:
* Good music.
* I have a washer and a dryer that work.
* Email and texts, and how easily I can stay in contact with family and friends.
* There are more pictures on the walls now.  Slow and steady, right?
* Another box (fabric this time) is unpacked and sort of organized in my craft room.
* A family that is loving and supportive.
* Visiting grandparents.
* I rearranged my living room.  It isn't perfect, but the layout works better than it did before.
* I am blessed in so many ways.
* God answers my prayers.

Lots of knitting

There has been a lot of knitting going on here.  I know I have other things to do, and somehow I forget.  Or I put them off, thinking I'll get to them later.  Also, I got a nook for Christmas, and after I figured out how to transfer my knitting patterns to it, I kind of got lost for awhile. 

I found this tree at a craft store over the holidays. I desperately wanted to take it home, but it was a bit fragile. That, plus the 8 hour drive with 2 dogs and 3 kids in the car, decided me against the purchase. I had a better chance of winning the lottery (which I did not enter) than of bringing home that tree intact.






We also added to our menagerie over the holidays.  Walker got 2 gerbils, both male (we hope), and has them secured in a nice large cage with all sorts of climbing/running/burrowing places.  He named them Hercules and Ladon.  Hercules was a Greek hero, you may remember, who was given 12 challenges, or labors.  One of those challenges involved taking a golden apple from the garden of the Hesperides.  The apple tree was guarded by a never-sleeping, hundred-headed dragon named Ladon.  Ladon, depending on which version of the myth you believe, was either overcome or slain by Hercules.  So, my myth-loving son named his gerbils after a hero and one of the monsters that hero fought.  Is anybody else seeing a problem with this?  Oh, and his other choices for names were equally disturbing: Beowulf and Grendel, or Siegfried and Fafner.  These pairs are also one hero and a monster that the hero killed.  In Siegfried's case, the hero ATE the monster after it was killed.  Gerbils can be cannibalistic.  I don't really think they need the added encouragment of being named after mortal enemies to fight with each other. 

Hyrum got a betta fish.  Just one, though, so the chances of it fighting are slim.  He named it Fireball, since it is red. 

Morgen got a poinsettia plant, to go along with her gecko and crickets.  Random: I love Morgen.  I vehemently dislike her arguing with me every.single.time I ask her to do something.  And the worst part?  She is currently working on her science fair project with her dad, and just made a suggestion.  He countered it, and she didn't argue with him at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (this is me going crazy- garble arble blaaarrrrrrgh)

Also, I am unpacking/organizing my craft room, which means I have lost: all of my birthday cards, and the workspace I need to make more.  I dislike purchasing birthday cards, however, which prevents my sending any type of paper message.

Jared was in Germany for 2 weeks in December.  I am always hesitant to post when he is gone, because I'm afraid I'll slip and say he's gone, and having that information out on the interweb makes me a bit paranoid.  Anyway, he made it back safely, bringing us candy and treats (enough to fill half of his suitcase), in plenty of time for Christmas. 

Gratitude List:
* a warm house.
* hot cocoa and homemade soup with bread- best part of winter, that!
* good music, old favorites and new finds.
* a new yoga class.
* making meditation time for myself.
* wikipedia- I know it isn't the ultimate source of information, but it is a great place to begin.
* chocolate.
* neighbors who clear our driveway, because they claim that staying inside drives them batty.
* my nook.
* 15 years of (mostly) happy marriage to my handsome, sexy, smart, funny husband.
* lots of snow outside.
* getting order from chaos, ever so slowly, in my craft room.
* my family and friends.
* good books, and The Good Book
* my blessed life
* God

Pictures catch-up

I just noticed that there were a few pictures missing from this blog- and although I am great at procrastinating things, I'm also great at feeling guilty about it until I finish up the procrastinated things.  So, because today I have the time, AND the energy, AND I remembered I was supposed to do this, and I managed to do ALL THREE of these things at the same time, here we go:

This is from a short hike up the canyon from our rental house, which I bothered the family into taking so I could scout out the picnic area.  I had no idea what was up there, and we had planned a youth activity there for the following Saturday.  I wanted to check it out before the actual event.  In case there were bears or something, which there were NOT.  Just many gorgeous maple trees and birches, and a nice and easy hike.  There was also a difficult and slightly dangerous hike across the rock slide.  Which one do you think my family opted for?  (I'll give you a hint: it involved the rock slide.)

Next is the deer Jared bagged.  He was inordinately proud of this buck, and I'll let him tell you the story about the long and difficult hunt, and how he found it after he'd finally given up and was headed back to the car.  (okay, so I told it.  His version has more details, and the excitement of the chase mixed in with the facts.)  Also, he's paid to get it mounted, and I already picked out an appropriate spot for it above the fireplace.

 These next two are Morgen and Hyrum, posing before their latest karate testing.  They were both awarded orange belts, and are getting much better at hitting their forms correctly, as well as paying attention in class.  I'm proud of their efforts!  The poses were their idea :).

 If you did not eat Thanksgiving dinner with my parents this year, you missed out on so much great food!  And you also missed a very exciting puzzle challenge, and some pretty good company.  This is the delicious pie I brought:

 (there were other pies, but this one was the prettiest of the ones that were made by me.)
And lastly, here is what I did today:

This is another reason why I enjoy winter so much.  I can bake to my heart's content, and all it does is make the kitchen feel more cozy.  Those loaves were made using my Grandmother Giles' bread recipe.  It makes pretty darn good bread, BTW.  You know, just in case you were wondering.  (and if you know where I live, and want to drive over, you're welcome to a taste.)

Gratitude List:
* We had to speak in church last week.  As a family, it was easier than doing it alone, so I'm glad that we got to do it together, and that we won't need to do it again for a long, long, time.
* I got to sleep in on Saturday.  I also got to have a nice, long, relaxing bath on Saturday.  Then we all watched Avatar: The Last Airbender all day long (there was a sick child to pamper) and had pizza and soda for dinner.  (except for the sick child, who had tiny amounts of ginger ale and no pizza at all.)
* Most of my Christmas decorations are up, and I've broken out the Christmas music.
* We have enough room in our house to have a Christmas tree up without having to move any furniture.  This is a true luxury for me.
* Overhearing Morgen talk about an "intervention," then an "interlusion" (sic).  She meant an intermission, as they were putting on their version of "The Nutcracker Ballet," complete with music and creative costumes.
* I have a lovely yarn stash.
* I also have a lovely craft room (or the beginnings of one) thanks to my husband.  I have lights and power.  Oh, and shelves!  Now I just need to unpack everything...
* Freshly baked bread.  With real butter and local honey, it  is  was delicious!
* New boots- not snow boots, just boot boots.
* My kids are not yelling, screaming, fighting, or angry right now.
* I unpacked another box.
* Daily scripture study, to keep me centered and focused on what is truly important in my life.
* 3 reasonably healthy kids (who are all suffering from colds, but who are also not throwing up anymore).
* A handsome, handy man who built some walls, hung some sheetrock, strung some electrical wire, and mounted shelves to the wall, so my craft room would be ready by this week.  And he did this instead of working on his truck, which could really use some work.  He is awesome.
* My faith in God.

Why I love winter

Snow.

Actually, lots of snow.  And hot cocoa, and marshmallows (sometimes), and being forced to stay home because
the blizzard that ate my house
is coming and nobody is allowed to drive anywhere.  One of my favorite things about winter is the snow days.  I have my knitting (and laundry to fold, but that's boring), and movies to watch on Netflix, and lots of hot cocoa.  I don't have to go anywhere, our heat is working, and there's plenty of food in the house.  I could probably last a week!

Anyway, it is no longer snowing here, and I am not as excited about shoveling as I should be, I guess.  But I love this weather. 

Gratitude List:
* Snow.
* and Winter.
* Books to read.
* My kids are not fighting right now.
* hot cocoa.
* hot showers.
* Jared is on the ground safely.  (not home, because yesterday's snowstorm hit shortly after his plane landed, but he's safe.)
* Good visits with family.
* A nice big house with plenty of room for visitors.
* No school today, so no driving kids around.
* Audiobooks- right now we're listening to "The Books of Umber: Dragon Games" but we also got "The Candy Shop Wars." 
* Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming soon.
* My kids are mostly well-adjusted (notice I do not claim they're normal), and I love them very much.  (Except when they decide that a JUSTICE LEAGUE marathon is a wonderful idea.)
* Holding my newest little nephew, and talking to his brothers.  I love the things I learn from them!
* God is good. and I am so blessed.