Well, it's been a while since I have posted. I have been really busy. My allergies have been really bad these last few weeks. The Bradford Pear trees, peach trees and redbud trees have bloomed. The first two are nearly done blooming. Our apple tree has started to bloom as well. I finally got the cool season veggies planted last night and today. I'm really excited about my gardening this year. I have made 4 garden boxes that measure 4 feet wide by 16 feet long. Into one of them I have transplanted strawberries. I have so many more strawberry plants that I am trying to get rid of. I've been telling people to come and get some, so come on over and get some. We have hundreds! One of the garden boxes has the cool season veggies planted in it. The others will be for the other crops, and then we still have 1/2 of our garden available for old fashoned planting. I will probably use that area for corn, potatoes and winter squash.
I've been trying to get Lizzie to use the toilet lately. It hasn't worked really well. She has only gone to the bathroom on the toilet a couple of times. On days that I try the underwear, she goes through 5 or so pairs by late afternoon when I finally get tired of it and put her back in a diaper. Well, today I had her in a diaper and she kept taking it off after she wet in it. Well, then she took it off after she pooped in it! Not only that, but she wasn't done pooping either. She walked across the house and pooped more on the floor in the family room, then stepped in it. Oh what a mess! I put her on the toilet and made her sit there while I cleaned up. I think she actually peed in the toilet that time! Sometimes it is hard to tell because a couple of my kids are good at forgetting to flush, so the water could have been a bit yellow before I put her there. So, I put a pair of underwear on her again (more absorbent ones) and hopefully she will learn a thing or two.
I went to a different Wal Mart the other day that still has fabric at it. There are two other Wal Marts that are closer to me, but I wanted to see the fabric. So, I found some and it is beautiful. I got enough to make a quilt (I hope) for my bed finally. I then came home and found a pretty pattern that I had to fgure out how big to make all the pieces. If my math on that is right, I should have enough of most of the fabrics for the quilt top and then some for borders. I will need to get more for borders, and more of one of the fabrics for the top, but they still had some of it left yesterday, so if I go soon I should be able to get what I need. I guess it also depends on if I will be making it for a queen or king bed. Right now we have a queen, but we keep talking about getting new bedroom furniture. I am not sure if it will be queen size or king size when we get it.
I am also thinking of decorating the master bathroom. Right now we have a mix and match (but not so much of the "match" part) of what we had when we moved in. I saw some cute bathroom decor things that I might decide to get. I still have the girls' bedroom to finish decorating too. I guess it is time to get cracking.
We are going to hatch a few more baby chicks again this year. We will probaly get rid of our roosters and keep some of the little ones that we hatch. We will not keep too many because we do not want to have many more chickens. Even now, we can't keep up with the egg output from the 10 hens that we have. We get about 6-8 eggs every day. It's wonderful. I've given so many of them away too and we still have 1 1/2 to 3 dozen eggs in our fridge at any given time. When we get close to the 3 dozen mark, I usually find someone to give half of them to. Jonathan and Matthew like cooking their own eggs for breakfast. I made the girls some fried egg sandwiches the other day for lunch. They thought those were pretty good. If anyone has any good ideas on different ways to eat eggs, I'm all ears!
I really enjoy living out here in the country. We are far enough away from the city, but not far enough that it is a pain to go to the store. That Wal Mart that I went to the other day was only 20 miles away. There are two that are closer than that, so it isn't bad. I don't know if I would ever be able to move back to a city. I like having the chickens. I love the sound of the roosters. I'd like to get more animals, but we can't do that in our neighborhood. Some of the people don't like the chickens that much, though I think most of the people do.
Well, that's the news from these parts. I hope you all take time to enjoy the wonderful things that spring brings and remember where we get it all from. This is such a wonderful time of year to remember all that our Savior did for us. We really do owe Him our lives. It would do us all well to remember that. If we are living our lives as Christ would have us do, we would all be much happier. There would not be so much anger or hatred. Let's strive to make our lives as close to Christ-like as possible.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Rachel, Lizzie and Gardening
Wow, what a time we have had. We all got ill during Christmas, but had fun with Dave's brother who came to visit us and had a brief visit with my brother when he stopped by. The boys are back at school and Rachel is continuing with her education now too. Things are going pretty well.
Rachel lost her first tooth the other day. It was really cute. She came in and was talking with Dave and I one evening as we were getting every one in bed. We were looking at her loose tooth and I commented that it looked like all she had to do was pull it and it would come out. I got a tissue for her to use to hold on to her tooth easier. I wrapped the tissue around her tooth and it almost fell off into my hands as I did it. I helped her grab the tooth that way and it fell out. She started going into hysterics. At first I couldn't tell if she was hurt or if she was just happy (because it was more like a scream than a laugh). I asked her if it hurt and she shook her head "No" and kept laughing. After she calmed down a bit she said that she thought it was going to hurt and was really surprised that it didn't. It was really cute.
Lizzie loves her brothers and sisters. One day as I was getting her ready for a nap she didn't want me. This is very odd because she is a HUGE "Mamma's Girl." She was in position for a diaper change and was telling me that she wanted Hannah. Not that Hannah can change her diaper, but she wanted her still. So, Hannah came in and played with her a bit while I changed her diaper and got her ready for her nap. When some of the kids are away, Lizzie often runs around the house calling for them and looking for them. I love it when my kids show love for each other. They all do it, and I think Lizzie is the one who feels the most love from them because she is still a "baby" and doesn't make them as mad as easily as they do to each other.
Gardening season is coming upon us here. We planted our tomato, pepper, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, egg plant and okra seeds for FHE on Monday. We will be trying egg plant and okra for the first time this year. Hopefully I will be able to figure out a good way to prepare them since I have never done that before. We are going to be trying some new techniques for gardening this year. We will be making a raised bed garden. I will construct 4 or so "boxes" that are 4 feet wide by 16 feet long and 8 or so inches tall. We will make some good soil (hopefully) with the compost that we have been making over these last few years of living here and a few other additives. We are very excited to try this new method and hope it works out well. We can start planting some things out doors in another month or so for some of the cool weather veggies. So, I guess I better get going on those boxes. I love the spring!!
Rachel lost her first tooth the other day. It was really cute. She came in and was talking with Dave and I one evening as we were getting every one in bed. We were looking at her loose tooth and I commented that it looked like all she had to do was pull it and it would come out. I got a tissue for her to use to hold on to her tooth easier. I wrapped the tissue around her tooth and it almost fell off into my hands as I did it. I helped her grab the tooth that way and it fell out. She started going into hysterics. At first I couldn't tell if she was hurt or if she was just happy (because it was more like a scream than a laugh). I asked her if it hurt and she shook her head "No" and kept laughing. After she calmed down a bit she said that she thought it was going to hurt and was really surprised that it didn't. It was really cute.
Lizzie loves her brothers and sisters. One day as I was getting her ready for a nap she didn't want me. This is very odd because she is a HUGE "Mamma's Girl." She was in position for a diaper change and was telling me that she wanted Hannah. Not that Hannah can change her diaper, but she wanted her still. So, Hannah came in and played with her a bit while I changed her diaper and got her ready for her nap. When some of the kids are away, Lizzie often runs around the house calling for them and looking for them. I love it when my kids show love for each other. They all do it, and I think Lizzie is the one who feels the most love from them because she is still a "baby" and doesn't make them as mad as easily as they do to each other.
Gardening season is coming upon us here. We planted our tomato, pepper, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, egg plant and okra seeds for FHE on Monday. We will be trying egg plant and okra for the first time this year. Hopefully I will be able to figure out a good way to prepare them since I have never done that before. We are going to be trying some new techniques for gardening this year. We will be making a raised bed garden. I will construct 4 or so "boxes" that are 4 feet wide by 16 feet long and 8 or so inches tall. We will make some good soil (hopefully) with the compost that we have been making over these last few years of living here and a few other additives. We are very excited to try this new method and hope it works out well. We can start planting some things out doors in another month or so for some of the cool weather veggies. So, I guess I better get going on those boxes. I love the spring!!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
From the Mouths of Babes
We have had a great week so far. On Sunday, I was able to play my flute in Sacrament Meeting with another sister and a two others were singing. It was such a beautiful fun thing.
On Monday the boys went to school and the girls and I started going through all the toys to get rid of the broken ones and the ones that nobody plays with anymore. We also made some orange rolls with cranberries in them for dessert. We had a fun family home evening and then went to bed.
On Tuesday, I let the boys play hookie from school and we went to the zoo in the morning and then went to McDonald's for lunch. After that we went to the Science Museum until it closed at 5:00. We went to the store after that to get things for baking today. By the time the kids got home, they were really tired and Dave got them some food and turned on a movie for them (I was still finishing up at the store since Dave met me there and took the kids home.) Jonathan told me as we were going to lunch that it was the best day ever. He said, "The zoo, McDonald's, the HOwells (friends who went with us) and the Omniplex. This is how every Tuesday should be." Needless to say, all the kids had a great day and loved it.
Today we are going to finish going through all the toys and get the family room as ready as we can for a remodel. We plan on remodeling it during Christmas break. We will be building a den/office and a storage room. We also want to extend the current bathroom a bit too and make it larger. It would be nice if we can get it mostly done in the two weeks that we will have to work on it. We are also going to bake pies today as well.
Well, Rachel is quite the girl! She always keeps us thinking and laughing. On Monday, Rachel was helping Dave get the FHE lesson ready. Dave mentioned to Rachel that kids that are not good do not get presents for Christmas. Rachel thought for a minute then replied, "That's okay Daddy, I will share my toys with Hannah."
I hope you all have a great laugh sometime today, and perhaps I helped!
On Monday the boys went to school and the girls and I started going through all the toys to get rid of the broken ones and the ones that nobody plays with anymore. We also made some orange rolls with cranberries in them for dessert. We had a fun family home evening and then went to bed.
On Tuesday, I let the boys play hookie from school and we went to the zoo in the morning and then went to McDonald's for lunch. After that we went to the Science Museum until it closed at 5:00. We went to the store after that to get things for baking today. By the time the kids got home, they were really tired and Dave got them some food and turned on a movie for them (I was still finishing up at the store since Dave met me there and took the kids home.) Jonathan told me as we were going to lunch that it was the best day ever. He said, "The zoo, McDonald's, the HOwells (friends who went with us) and the Omniplex. This is how every Tuesday should be." Needless to say, all the kids had a great day and loved it.
Today we are going to finish going through all the toys and get the family room as ready as we can for a remodel. We plan on remodeling it during Christmas break. We will be building a den/office and a storage room. We also want to extend the current bathroom a bit too and make it larger. It would be nice if we can get it mostly done in the two weeks that we will have to work on it. We are also going to bake pies today as well.
Well, Rachel is quite the girl! She always keeps us thinking and laughing. On Monday, Rachel was helping Dave get the FHE lesson ready. Dave mentioned to Rachel that kids that are not good do not get presents for Christmas. Rachel thought for a minute then replied, "That's okay Daddy, I will share my toys with Hannah."
I hope you all have a great laugh sometime today, and perhaps I helped!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
New Callings
Well, Dave and I have new callings now. I will be leaving the primary as chorister (though I will probably stay and help out until after the program is over in a couple of weeks) and Dave will be leaving the young men. We have both been called as cub scout leaders. So, we will be working together a lot now on this. There are a total of 8 cub scouts. There are 3 Wolfs, 4 Bears and 1 Weblos. So, we will have to see how we are going to separate them and who will be doing what. Jonathan is very excited for this. He is a little bummed that we are not having scouts this evening.
Life has been so busy lately. We went on a trip to CO, UT and ID a bit ago for my grandpa's funeral services. It was a long trip and we figured that we drove equivalent of 7-8 hours a day during the 7 days that we drove. It was a trip full of business, but we were glad to have the chance to see everyone. I met some of my cousins for the first or second time. I saw family that I haven't seen in years. We saw my sister's grave that I haven't seen in years. We also were able to spend a day with Dave's Mom for her birthday, and visit his Grandpa's grave. We went to visit BYU and bought some lovely shirts from the bookstore. We spent time with Curtis (my brother) as he showed us around his work (he does some pretty cool stuff), and my little sister, Brittany. We also spent time with Dave's brother, Daniel.
It was a nice trip, but I'm glad to be home. We did too much stuff in too short a time! Now I am still trying to get back into the swing of things at home. It seems like it's harder to catch up after a trip like that. I had to do a bunch of canning when we got home and I still have more of it to do. I have a bunch of pears in the fridge that I need to take care of. I will probably can some and make jam out of the rest.
I feel that I am now coming down with a cold. Probably because of all this running around and stuff. A couple of the girls have a cold now too. I think Dave might also be getting a bit sick. But, a runny/stuffy nose is better than other things, so we are still doing really well.
Life has been so busy lately. We went on a trip to CO, UT and ID a bit ago for my grandpa's funeral services. It was a long trip and we figured that we drove equivalent of 7-8 hours a day during the 7 days that we drove. It was a trip full of business, but we were glad to have the chance to see everyone. I met some of my cousins for the first or second time. I saw family that I haven't seen in years. We saw my sister's grave that I haven't seen in years. We also were able to spend a day with Dave's Mom for her birthday, and visit his Grandpa's grave. We went to visit BYU and bought some lovely shirts from the bookstore. We spent time with Curtis (my brother) as he showed us around his work (he does some pretty cool stuff), and my little sister, Brittany. We also spent time with Dave's brother, Daniel.
It was a nice trip, but I'm glad to be home. We did too much stuff in too short a time! Now I am still trying to get back into the swing of things at home. It seems like it's harder to catch up after a trip like that. I had to do a bunch of canning when we got home and I still have more of it to do. I have a bunch of pears in the fridge that I need to take care of. I will probably can some and make jam out of the rest.
I feel that I am now coming down with a cold. Probably because of all this running around and stuff. A couple of the girls have a cold now too. I think Dave might also be getting a bit sick. But, a runny/stuffy nose is better than other things, so we are still doing really well.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Buggy bug
We've been doing a lot of work out in the yard for the past several weeks. We have chopped down about 8 or so dead trees and still have 3-4 left to do. We have also been weeding our flower beds and planting some flowers. Not to mention planting some grass seeds and keeping up with the mowing. There's also picking tomatoes and peppers too.
Well, when we were out weeding and planting on Thursday evening, little Lizzie got really excited and started saying "buggy bug! buggy bug!" Then she brought it over to me. She had captured the cute little lady bug and was so proud of it. She took it around to all of us and showed it to us. She has been picking up on words so fast. I didn't even know that she knew what a lady bug was. My kids never cease to amaze me.
Rachel is doing really well with homeschool. She knows how to read, write and spell most of the three letter words with an a in them (bat, hat, map, pan, man, lap, and even mass and pass). She is very proud of herself. She also knows all of the +1 math facts and many of the +2s as well.
Hannah is getting to be really good at coloring (since that is what she does for school mostly). She is not quite ready for writing the letters yet since she's only 3, but she can write a nice capital H and tries really hard on the A and N so that she can write her name.
Matthew and Jonathan are doing well at school. Matthew has a great memory for vocabulary words and things like that (and he doesn't forget them after the test like I would). Jonathan is a reader and has read a lot this year. They are both doing well in math and spelling too.
We are all doing quite well and I find that I don't have much time to use the computer any more, so the posts are a little less frequent. Some of that is due to not having a television.... I will let the kids watch a movie on the computer (we only have one that works right now) and find that it would be the perfect time to be on the computer, so I end up not getting on it. When I am on it and they are "playing," I usually get interrupted and have to quit before I get done with things. Even now I can hear all the kids making a mess in the other room. I guess it is time to go read to them and put them to bed.
Well, when we were out weeding and planting on Thursday evening, little Lizzie got really excited and started saying "buggy bug! buggy bug!" Then she brought it over to me. She had captured the cute little lady bug and was so proud of it. She took it around to all of us and showed it to us. She has been picking up on words so fast. I didn't even know that she knew what a lady bug was. My kids never cease to amaze me.
Rachel is doing really well with homeschool. She knows how to read, write and spell most of the three letter words with an a in them (bat, hat, map, pan, man, lap, and even mass and pass). She is very proud of herself. She also knows all of the +1 math facts and many of the +2s as well.
Hannah is getting to be really good at coloring (since that is what she does for school mostly). She is not quite ready for writing the letters yet since she's only 3, but she can write a nice capital H and tries really hard on the A and N so that she can write her name.
Matthew and Jonathan are doing well at school. Matthew has a great memory for vocabulary words and things like that (and he doesn't forget them after the test like I would). Jonathan is a reader and has read a lot this year. They are both doing well in math and spelling too.
We are all doing quite well and I find that I don't have much time to use the computer any more, so the posts are a little less frequent. Some of that is due to not having a television.... I will let the kids watch a movie on the computer (we only have one that works right now) and find that it would be the perfect time to be on the computer, so I end up not getting on it. When I am on it and they are "playing," I usually get interrupted and have to quit before I get done with things. Even now I can hear all the kids making a mess in the other room. I guess it is time to go read to them and put them to bed.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Reading and Canning
Jonathan has been reading like crazy these past few weeks. He picked up the Harry Potter books and has started reading those. He read the first one in 6 days. He read the second one in 4 days. Now, after having it for the weekend, he is half way done with the third book. He is totally loving them. He has wanted to read them for a long time now, but I wouldn't let him. I still think he should wait longer, but he is very excited about reading them and checks them out from the school library. I am suprised that he has so much time at school to read. From the time he leaves in the morning until he gets home in the afternoon, he has read 50 or more pages in the book. That's a lot of time for reading, especially those books. But, according to the "Teacher's Creed" at the school, "We will use each day to the fullest, finding minutes lost would be tough." So, they are not wasting time in the class room, but somehow he still manages to read 50+ pages of the Harry Potter books each day there. Hmmmm.
This last weekend I did a lot of canning. Saturday, we went with some good friends to pick apples from another friend's house. After we picked the apples, we went and made applesauce and canned it. We got 16 quarts a piece. Then, Sunday I got a bunch of pears from the same friend that let us pick her apples. So, Monday I invited Cheryl over to can pears. We got 9 quarts a piece of those. Also, yesterday I canned a bunch of peppers (so we can enjoy them on sandwiches and salads) and made pickles too. Our tomatoes are starting to ripen, so I will be starting to can tomatoes soon too. I was really bummed that I didn't get any beans this year. I had planted a lot, but then the weeds wouldn't give me a break and they choked out a lot of the beans and then the water wasn't getting to them, and the critters were probably getting at them too. But, I am now hoping the tomatoes continue to look as good as they do now.
This last weekend I did a lot of canning. Saturday, we went with some good friends to pick apples from another friend's house. After we picked the apples, we went and made applesauce and canned it. We got 16 quarts a piece. Then, Sunday I got a bunch of pears from the same friend that let us pick her apples. So, Monday I invited Cheryl over to can pears. We got 9 quarts a piece of those. Also, yesterday I canned a bunch of peppers (so we can enjoy them on sandwiches and salads) and made pickles too. Our tomatoes are starting to ripen, so I will be starting to can tomatoes soon too. I was really bummed that I didn't get any beans this year. I had planted a lot, but then the weeds wouldn't give me a break and they choked out a lot of the beans and then the water wasn't getting to them, and the critters were probably getting at them too. But, I am now hoping the tomatoes continue to look as good as they do now.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Tomato Vines
I was out pruning my tomato plants yesterday in hopes that what I have read and heard about pruning them will really help produce a larger crop of bigger tomatoes. Tomato plants are a vine, of course, and can get very large and cumbersome. They can get so large that it almost feels like going through a jungle to try and find the ripe tomatoes. Most of what is on a tomato plant doesn’t even grow tomatoes. There are “branches” off of the main vine that grow nothing but leaves. These are the parts of the plant that I prune off.
As I was looking at the tomato plants and what I was cutting off, I thought about how similar these tomato plants are to our own lives. There are so many things happening in all of our lives. These can be things like, church callings, taking care of our children, hanging out with friends, making dinner, going out to the movies, soccer practices, reading the scriptures, watching TV, working on a talent, reading books, exercising, using the computer, shopping, taking a nap, playing games, and the list goes on and on. With everything that we do and feel we need to do, our lives can easily feel like that jungle of tomato vines that is hard to get though to find the fruits.
On the tomato vines, I was taking off many of the unneeded parts of the plant. The parts that perhaps take the nutrients from the tomatoes. I realized that I could try to take the unneeded things out of my own life to make it easier for me to see what I need to be doing and to see where I am going. There are many things we all do in any given day that we probably don’t need to do or could have done differently. Maybe I would decide that watching TV needs to be pruned so that I have more time/nutrients for reading the scriptures or something. Maybe I am just feeling overwhelmed and decide that it would be best to prune out the soccer practices, so I am not running all over the place all the time. Pruning out the things that make our lives more complicated than they might need to be can do a lot to help us feel better about ourselves. And, maybe it will be easier for us to notice what kinds of fruits we are producing. Sometimes it is hard to know what part we are supposed to prune. Reading books usually isn’t bad to do, but if it takes the place of reading Scriptures or taking care of our families and responsibilities, then it is. In a case like this, we might not want to take it completely out of our lives. It is a good thing to do, but maybe moderating it is a better solution than taking it out completely.
There are times when I prune the tomato vines, that I accidentally prune the wrong part. I cut off a part of the plant that could have grown and produced wonderful tomatoes for me. There’s no replacing it and it is gone. In this, we do differ from a tomato plant. In our lives, if we accidentally prune out something that is important to our development, we can grow it back. We have been given the wonderful gifts of repentance and forgiveness. Say we unknowingly prune out Scripture study from our lives. It is not gone forever. We can repent and try to make it right again by studying our Scriptures again. Some of these wrong prunings might be a lot harder to repair than others, but they can be done. People generally have a hard time coming back to church if they have pruned it out of their lives. It takes a lot of work, repentance, and humility to come back. It would be a lot easier to not prune the important things out.
Well, these were my ponderings of the day. I can now start to work on pruning my life a little bit better to make sure the important things get the attention they need.
As I was looking at the tomato plants and what I was cutting off, I thought about how similar these tomato plants are to our own lives. There are so many things happening in all of our lives. These can be things like, church callings, taking care of our children, hanging out with friends, making dinner, going out to the movies, soccer practices, reading the scriptures, watching TV, working on a talent, reading books, exercising, using the computer, shopping, taking a nap, playing games, and the list goes on and on. With everything that we do and feel we need to do, our lives can easily feel like that jungle of tomato vines that is hard to get though to find the fruits.
On the tomato vines, I was taking off many of the unneeded parts of the plant. The parts that perhaps take the nutrients from the tomatoes. I realized that I could try to take the unneeded things out of my own life to make it easier for me to see what I need to be doing and to see where I am going. There are many things we all do in any given day that we probably don’t need to do or could have done differently. Maybe I would decide that watching TV needs to be pruned so that I have more time/nutrients for reading the scriptures or something. Maybe I am just feeling overwhelmed and decide that it would be best to prune out the soccer practices, so I am not running all over the place all the time. Pruning out the things that make our lives more complicated than they might need to be can do a lot to help us feel better about ourselves. And, maybe it will be easier for us to notice what kinds of fruits we are producing. Sometimes it is hard to know what part we are supposed to prune. Reading books usually isn’t bad to do, but if it takes the place of reading Scriptures or taking care of our families and responsibilities, then it is. In a case like this, we might not want to take it completely out of our lives. It is a good thing to do, but maybe moderating it is a better solution than taking it out completely.
There are times when I prune the tomato vines, that I accidentally prune the wrong part. I cut off a part of the plant that could have grown and produced wonderful tomatoes for me. There’s no replacing it and it is gone. In this, we do differ from a tomato plant. In our lives, if we accidentally prune out something that is important to our development, we can grow it back. We have been given the wonderful gifts of repentance and forgiveness. Say we unknowingly prune out Scripture study from our lives. It is not gone forever. We can repent and try to make it right again by studying our Scriptures again. Some of these wrong prunings might be a lot harder to repair than others, but they can be done. People generally have a hard time coming back to church if they have pruned it out of their lives. It takes a lot of work, repentance, and humility to come back. It would be a lot easier to not prune the important things out.
Well, these were my ponderings of the day. I can now start to work on pruning my life a little bit better to make sure the important things get the attention they need.
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