MIA

Yes, I know I've been neglecting my blog. If it makes you feel better, I've barely checked any of yours in the past three months too! And hey, do you like the new layout? Just be sure to click on the window to see the whole post. You'll know you've reached the end of a post when you see my name and a time stamp.

I was able to snap a mugshot of the culprit behind my MIA status:

But the paintbrush isn't in this alone.

Several weeks ago I received an anonymous letter with an anonymous gift from an anonymous friend. (It all sounds very suspicious, doesn't it?)

Whoever it was really knows how to push my buttons.

I've spent those past several weeks repainting my room.

It all started very innocently. My friend suggested a nice brown paint for my walls, I found some free "lumber" (reclaimed fence posts and boards), and several pieces of furniture that were marked for goodwill (DI) because they couldn't bring in the cash at Kent's office furniture store. Now I'm in over my head on a project that is taking too long (don't most home projects do that?)...and new carpet is coming on Friday.

Really, I'm not complaining. I think the master bedroom will turn out amazing. I just hope it's not another month before I get to post it all on this blog.

It's surprising how much trouble one little paintbrush can cause:

Fall, Break

Someone should have suggested that the idyllic weather we had through this past extended weekend was meant to beckon us outdoors. Instead, we tried our luck indoors...and it did not go well. We had a lot of this happen:


In an effort to prepare for the cold weather, I designated our Fall Break for canning and winter clothes sorting. We ended up with three canning explosions (two in the pressure cooker and one jar of pickled hot peppers in my face), one broken jar of delicious salsa verde on the floor, and seven exploded boxes of clothes all over the house. To wrap up the messy weekend, I ended up getting the flu, which I think caused an inflamed nerve in my ear, which resulted in nauseating vertigo for a day. Thankfully, my kids were around to send for help and hot pepper oil remedies as well as to feed the family through my illness; and thankfully again, they went back to school today. Maybe tomorrow I can begin the recovery process.

It wasn't all bad. We did play a little, including more falls (minus any breaks) at the skating rink.



Still, I'm really not sure how I'll survive Christmas break!

P.S. Lest I deter anyone from preserving their harvest, the canning explosions were due to our mistakes. The bands were on the jars way too tight, which didn't let them vent. And the explosions in the pressure cooker happened when someone tried to speed up the cooling process by removing the regulator. Now that we've experienced a few physics lessons, more members of our family are educated in the art of canning. (Maybe I should also let the responsible party have a lesson in removing pepper shrapnel from the cupboards where it has dried quite nicely.)

Flowers in Film

Last fall I planted a couple thousand bulbs in my front yard perennial flower beds. This past spring was the first season for them to show their stuff, and I recorded the show in a series of photos taken every few days. Toward the end of the movie clip, the spacing was every week or two, because the allium just hung around forever.

Allium are more impressive in person. They remind me of purple fireworks in the garden. Wait until you see how I use them in home decor!

Anyway, here's the movie. Or one of them. I realize some of you think it's crazy that I love flowers so much. BUT, if you want to see all three movies, taken from different parts of the yard, you can visit my gardening blog: How My Garden Grows. The longest little filmstrip is less than two minutes.



Pretty nice, eh? I bought all the bulbs online from a company called Colorblends. I highly recommend them if you want an impressive bulb bed. I'm already looking forward to an improved show in years to come!

Reason to Have Kids: Entertainment Value

Scene 1: One night last week, Kent walked into the younger kids' room to tuck them in. #4 was busy with a pencil and school worksheets, and #5 was crawling around on the floor.

Kent: It's time for lights out kids.

#4: Dad, I need help with my math homework.

#5, without missing a beat: Dad, I need help being a horse.


Scene 2: Last weekend, when the children were supposed to be getting their cleaning done so they could play the rest of the weekend, I came home from running errands to find this.

Hey, I find "Malcom in the Middle" pretty irresistible too. But COME ON! Did they really think no one would notice them spending forbidden TV/online shows time if they huddled under a blanket?


Scene 3: Today while he was eating lunch, I asked #5 if his teacher would be back today. (He had a substitute the last two days.) Here's his reply:

#5: Yeah, I think she'll be back. You want me to tell you why?

(He always asks if we want more information and then waits for a response instead of just following up with the information.)

Me: Yes. Why?

#5: Because today we are learning the letter K, and that's a hard letter. I don't think the other lady could teach it very well.

Wow. I want my children to think independently and not assume that their school teachers are always correct, but what a huge underestimation of the abilities of adults! It's a good thing a certified teacher will be there to instruct about the letter K. !!!

Moab!

Last year, Kent and I wanted to take our kids camping; but we never set aside a time to do it, and suddenly school was back in and then it was snowing. This year, we decided to PLAN a camping trip, and when I came across a bargain for a rafting trip in Moab (found on CityDeals.com) in March, I jumped at it. And lucky for us, our friends, the Petersons, happened to be visiting when I saw the deal online, and they got in on it too. Within a few weeks, we had campsites and the trip date reserved and on the calendar.

At the beginning of August, we spent three days in Moab. Even though our campsite (at Ron's Pack Creek Campground, which we liked) backed up to a stream and was shaded by river trees, the sun was still beating on us at 100 degrees as we set up camp. But almost as soon as our tent was up, a brief rain storm blew through and left us with a cool evening.

We decided to visit Delicate Arch in Arches National Park before it got dark, and the timing turned out to be perfect. The desert was still wet from the rain, the air was cool, and the sunset against the arch was amazing.

#1 got this great photo of Delicate Arch.

The only disappointment came from #5 who looked around at the small crowd viewing the arch and said, "Where's the guy selling the license plates?"

It grew dark as we drove back to camp, and we had a late dinner to fill our sleepy kid's stomachs before they conked out.

In the morning, I woke the children saying they needed to wake up or we'd be late, at which point I revealed the surprise rafting trip. One kid was excited because she apparently has always wanted to go rafting, one thought it sounded fun, one wanted to keep sleeping, one informed us that she hates rafting, and one was indifferent. (Kind of the same response as the time we surprised them by showing up at Disneyland, and all they wanted to do was get in the hotel where they could watch cable TV.) I'm starting to learn that I should keep my expectations low when I try to surprise them.

Anyway, we went rafting for the day.

Once everyone was suited up and headed up river in the bus, the excitement started to build. We chose a rather calm river trip hosted by World Wide River Expeditions. The most challenging rapids were a class three, which was great for our young families. No one fell out, but everyone got wet!

Even #4--who had protested very much about our camping trip, insisting vehemently, "I hate camping. I hate the nature."--ending up loving the rafting, as evidenced by this photo:

The air by the water was cooler than the rest of the desert, and whenever we got hot, we just jumped in and floated alongside the raft.

The river guides provided lunch at a beach midway through the trip, and it was nice to just float and talk and not have a care in the world.

That evening, following a Dutch oven dinner, we had another lovely hike in Arches where we all climbed around on the rocks and sat in a stone window to watch the sun set.




On Saturday, we took down camp and rested at a park in town. The playground was a group of oversized chimes, drums, and xylophones that kept all of us, children and adults, entertained for quite some time. Then, going with our play-it-by-ear theme, we discussed plans for the rest of the day. Our neighbor had recommended a Hummer tour on the slick rock, but it was too pricey for this trip's budget. We had wanted to go sledding down the sand dunes, but we were already too hot. So we opted to head home with a detour to Dead Horse Point.

The view was amazing! Getting photos there was humorous in the wind. (#4 looks like Cousin It! I guess I can see why she's not in love with "The Nature".)

There isn't much hiking to do there, but we spent two hours at the visitor's center learning about the geology and ecology of that portion of desert. There was a photo gallery downstairs where I found some fantastic artwork that I would like for my home someday. #5 and the Petersons' #3 became Junior Rangers--she did most of the work.

Plus, we got a second "passport" stamp in our Utah State Parks Field Guide.

We spent the rest of the day enjoying our air-conditioned vehicles, and grabbed dinner together in Provo before our friends continued home up north. It was nice to arrive home in the early evening and have time and energy to unpack and start laundry. Even though much of the trip was played by ear, everything worked out perfectly and I enjoyed the short vacation immensely. It was really fun to camp with friends, too. Besides having plenty of good conversation and someone to split meal duties, we could send grumpy kids to the other family's vehicle and they would almost magically be on better behavior. We came home having enjoyed our children because they enjoyed themselves more with others too. And now that I know there is so much to do in Moab, I look forward to saving up for horseback riding, Hummer tours, and late-night dining when we go again.

This Year's Favorite Mutant Vegetable

The harvest has begun! #5 and I picked 27 pounds of Roma tomatoes Monday morning, and by that evening, they had been transformed into quarts of spaghetti sauce sitting on my kitchen counter. All except for one tomato.

Kent called it Devil Tomato. I called it Wilbur.

See? Just put another little deformed tomato--notice the "pony tail"--on top and you have a cute little thing. Wilbur was "some tomato".

What can I say? We Whites, E.B. and me, like to save farm products from their natural fate.

Unfortunately, while my little Wilbur/devil tomato was saved from the sauce, the kids called dibs on eating its "arms" seconds after I took these photos. I didn't even get to put a little shirt on it. Sadly, s/he (or it?) is no longer with us. But my, homegrown tomatoes sure taste good!

Milestone

Do you know what this picture means?

That's right! I have three hours to myself each weekday!

Oh yeah, it also means all five of my children are in school. !!!

Our charter school has grades K-8, making this the only school year that they all will attend the same school. (Are you noticing the word school popping up a lot? I'm pretty excited about this.) I've already over committed myself to helping at the school a lot this year. I even suggested to the eigth-grade language arts teacher that I might like to sit in on her class. They are studying some great thinkers and materials this year. I'll probably have to settle, though, for simply reading the poetry, essays, speeches, and books that she brings home, and then subject her to a re-hash of her classroom discussions. Maybe I'll call it our Family Dinnertime Book Club. (I should get extra credit for this.)

I am SO ready to return to the more normal schedule of bedtimes and morning alarm clocks. Now, how to fill those three, lonely hours? Maybe I'll catch up on everything I've put off for the past five years; my bathroom could certainly use a good cleaning!