Because you are three
You prayed one night to bless mom to drive silly and to bless dad to drive really fast. That was nothing though compared to your "prayers in motion." There are times you fall move all over the place during evening prayers- you even fell off the bed a few times.
Sometimes when you thank me you say: "Thanks mom you're the best mom in the whole world"
You have loved milk since forever, but since you are three sometimes you can't be pleased. One morning you asked for a cup of milk. First you complained that it was too cold, so I warmed it. Then you complained that it was too hot- so I added some cold milk on top. Finally you complained that the milk was too white. *sigh*
In July we visited Red Butte Gardens. The way back to the gate is always up hill. Kate tripped and fell hurting her knee so I began to carry her. Then you said "Ow mom, I hurt my arm bow (elbow), carry me too."
Every morning for breakfast you as for spaghetti, and then you get really angry when I say no. It's making me crazy.
You told me you love doggies more than butter, and than you love doggies a lot and the color blue. One time when Mimi was giving you candy, you'd only eat the blue skittles.
Jane is finally eating meat. She usually has 3 pieces because she is three, she insists on it. Tonight she had to eat her meat before having any chips. "NOooo! That's worm meat!" she said. (We were eating ground beef.) "That's not worm meat," I responded. "But look!" she said pointing to the striations left by the grinding. I guess it did kind of look like worms. Soo funny.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
December 2013 or How to Ruin Your Children (Part II)
So, there's this whole "Elf on the Shelf" phenomenon going on around here, where people have elves watching their kids and reporting back to Santa, and doing all kinds of other mischief or good during the holiday season. There are many reasons I won't bore you with why I think Elf on the Shelf is totally excessive and dumb, and one of my issues is of course that I don't like lying to my children. Even the whole Santa and Easter Bunny thing makes me a little uneasy.
However, this year two things happened: I ran across the idea of "Kindness Elves," and I thought it would be fun to start lying to my kids. Kindness elves are way better than Elf on the Shelf because they ask the kids to do things to help bring Christmas cheer like serving others, sharing, leaving a surprise present on someone's doorstep- that kind of thing. As for lying to the kids I read about this family that devotes every November to convincing their kids that their toy dinosaurs come alive and every night and cause mischief in the house. Now when I say mischief, I mean that one morning their kids woke up to see that the dinosaurs had graffitied the apartment wall with spray paint. Those people are devoted to cultivating their kid's imaginations!
At any rate I decided it would be pretty fun to essentially play practical jokes on my children, especially in the name of Christmas magic, so we acquired some kindness elves.
Once they appeared Mitch started telling me all about other kid's elves at schools and sharing all of his elf knowledge, like apparently if you put a rope by them at night they will tie themselves up. He and his friend Norah searched all afternoon for other evidence of elf action, besides the note and craft the elves left that morning that is. They were sure that it was THE ELVES who left Kate's underwear on the floor in Mitch's room, because WHO ELSE WOULD DO THAT!
So every morning Mitch would find the elves and ask me to read their note. Since Mitch none of the kids read yet and "Elf Placing" was often the last thing I was doing at night before going to bed, I started just grabbing a post it note from the drawer, scribbling nonsense on it and then just telling them whatever I wanted in the morning. That plan was thwarted when Rob came back in town and was asked to read one of the elf notes, which Kate and Mitch were collecting.
Towards the end the elves stopped doing anything at all. I always left a light on until I moved the elves as a way of reminding myself, but once Rob was home he'd just turn off all the lights and come to bed. After three nights in a row the elves had to move during the day while the kids were at school once. And I told the kids that their magic must be wearing out.
Then Christmas was almost hear and we had a special surprise planned. Through a friend I'd discovered a magical website where Santa gives a personalized message to each kid. It's seriously so awesome. Santa says their name and looks at pictures of them (that you've previously uploaded) in his book and tells them whether they've been naughty or nice. Well.... since each message is otherwise the same we had each kid come in one by one to see their message from Santa. When it was Kate's turn, Santa told her she was one year old and then proceeded to tell her she was not quite on the nice list yet, but that there was still time. She hardly reacted, but we could tell SHE WAS CRUSHED! Rob tried to play it up by saying "Oh good Kate! You're almost on the nice list!" I had Rob take the kids up to bed for stories while I tried to fix the stupid message, and the whole time they were walking up the stairs Mitch kept asking her if she got on the nice list and she kept answering that she didn't want to say.
What happened? Well early on I was curious as to what Santa would say to a naughty child, so a week earlier when I was creating the messages I set Kate's to almost nice. And then after we watched it and laughed and talked about why they even had that option and who on earth would be so cruel and to choose that option I changed it to nice. Only it didn't update, just like it didn't update her birthday. I had more than one browser open so while the one I was working on confirmed the change, the change didn't actually take place. Ahhhh!
Once I finally fixed it, I fast forwarded it to the place where Santa's machine inputs the data and gives the result and then took it my laptop up to Kate's room. Rob had told me she was either sulking or actually asleep. Sure enough she was just devastated and pretending to be asleep. I told her Santa had just contacted me again. He had been confused when his machine said she was naughty because he was pretty sure that he wasn't, so he had his elves check it out, they found a loose screw, and now they wanted to run her book one more time. She barely leaned up from her bed to look at the screen as I pushed play. When the machine said "nice" all the elves on the screen cheered, Santa congratulated her, and Kate physically sighed and fell back on her bed in relief. And Rob and I left the room, still feeling like the worst parents in the whole entire world.
On the next day, Christmas eve, we did something fun although I can't remember what. Then we got ready for all the grandmas and grandpas to come for dinner. Dinner was AMAZING thanks to a special holiday roast I found last minute on a dynamite sale. We had a birthday cake for Jesus with ice cream for dessert, and then our family did a nativity play for all the grandparents.
Kate hopped into the living room on a hoppity hop horse as her donkey in order to get to the stable (the coffee table). She wore nothing but a white shift over her blue underwear which everyone could see from the sides. Jane stood on the coffee table saying "I am an angel, but I have no wings" to everyone with her arms raised above her head. And Mitch arrive in style as the sole wise man, wearing the jewels and accessories of all three (the kid looked like he'd just been to Mardi Gras) and bearing the gifts of all three. Then our guests left and we read the children the bedtime Christmas stories and put them to bed.
Christmas day was the usual fun at our house and then at Mimi's for Fin and Haddy.
So other than the addition of events that contribute to my ruining of Kate and her childhood, it was a lovely holiday.
Oh yah, and this post is bare of all photos because.... apparently I didn't take a single picture of Christmas, not of Santa (both of them) or anything.
However, this year two things happened: I ran across the idea of "Kindness Elves," and I thought it would be fun to start lying to my kids. Kindness elves are way better than Elf on the Shelf because they ask the kids to do things to help bring Christmas cheer like serving others, sharing, leaving a surprise present on someone's doorstep- that kind of thing. As for lying to the kids I read about this family that devotes every November to convincing their kids that their toy dinosaurs come alive and every night and cause mischief in the house. Now when I say mischief, I mean that one morning their kids woke up to see that the dinosaurs had graffitied the apartment wall with spray paint. Those people are devoted to cultivating their kid's imaginations!
At any rate I decided it would be pretty fun to essentially play practical jokes on my children, especially in the name of Christmas magic, so we acquired some kindness elves.
Once they appeared Mitch started telling me all about other kid's elves at schools and sharing all of his elf knowledge, like apparently if you put a rope by them at night they will tie themselves up. He and his friend Norah searched all afternoon for other evidence of elf action, besides the note and craft the elves left that morning that is. They were sure that it was THE ELVES who left Kate's underwear on the floor in Mitch's room, because WHO ELSE WOULD DO THAT!
So every morning Mitch would find the elves and ask me to read their note. Since Mitch none of the kids read yet and "Elf Placing" was often the last thing I was doing at night before going to bed, I started just grabbing a post it note from the drawer, scribbling nonsense on it and then just telling them whatever I wanted in the morning. That plan was thwarted when Rob came back in town and was asked to read one of the elf notes, which Kate and Mitch were collecting.
Towards the end the elves stopped doing anything at all. I always left a light on until I moved the elves as a way of reminding myself, but once Rob was home he'd just turn off all the lights and come to bed. After three nights in a row the elves had to move during the day while the kids were at school once. And I told the kids that their magic must be wearing out.
Then Christmas was almost hear and we had a special surprise planned. Through a friend I'd discovered a magical website where Santa gives a personalized message to each kid. It's seriously so awesome. Santa says their name and looks at pictures of them (that you've previously uploaded) in his book and tells them whether they've been naughty or nice. Well.... since each message is otherwise the same we had each kid come in one by one to see their message from Santa. When it was Kate's turn, Santa told her she was one year old and then proceeded to tell her she was not quite on the nice list yet, but that there was still time. She hardly reacted, but we could tell SHE WAS CRUSHED! Rob tried to play it up by saying "Oh good Kate! You're almost on the nice list!" I had Rob take the kids up to bed for stories while I tried to fix the stupid message, and the whole time they were walking up the stairs Mitch kept asking her if she got on the nice list and she kept answering that she didn't want to say.
What happened? Well early on I was curious as to what Santa would say to a naughty child, so a week earlier when I was creating the messages I set Kate's to almost nice. And then after we watched it and laughed and talked about why they even had that option and who on earth would be so cruel and to choose that option I changed it to nice. Only it didn't update, just like it didn't update her birthday. I had more than one browser open so while the one I was working on confirmed the change, the change didn't actually take place. Ahhhh!
Once I finally fixed it, I fast forwarded it to the place where Santa's machine inputs the data and gives the result and then took it my laptop up to Kate's room. Rob had told me she was either sulking or actually asleep. Sure enough she was just devastated and pretending to be asleep. I told her Santa had just contacted me again. He had been confused when his machine said she was naughty because he was pretty sure that he wasn't, so he had his elves check it out, they found a loose screw, and now they wanted to run her book one more time. She barely leaned up from her bed to look at the screen as I pushed play. When the machine said "nice" all the elves on the screen cheered, Santa congratulated her, and Kate physically sighed and fell back on her bed in relief. And Rob and I left the room, still feeling like the worst parents in the whole entire world.
On the next day, Christmas eve, we did something fun although I can't remember what. Then we got ready for all the grandmas and grandpas to come for dinner. Dinner was AMAZING thanks to a special holiday roast I found last minute on a dynamite sale. We had a birthday cake for Jesus with ice cream for dessert, and then our family did a nativity play for all the grandparents.
Kate hopped into the living room on a hoppity hop horse as her donkey in order to get to the stable (the coffee table). She wore nothing but a white shift over her blue underwear which everyone could see from the sides. Jane stood on the coffee table saying "I am an angel, but I have no wings" to everyone with her arms raised above her head. And Mitch arrive in style as the sole wise man, wearing the jewels and accessories of all three (the kid looked like he'd just been to Mardi Gras) and bearing the gifts of all three. Then our guests left and we read the children the bedtime Christmas stories and put them to bed.
Christmas day was the usual fun at our house and then at Mimi's for Fin and Haddy.
So other than the addition of events that contribute to my ruining of Kate and her childhood, it was a lovely holiday.
Oh yah, and this post is bare of all photos because.... apparently I didn't take a single picture of Christmas, not of Santa (both of them) or anything.
Monday, January 13, 2014
December 2013, or How to Ruin Your Children (Part I)
So after going over a year without a check up at the dentist for any of us, we decided it was time. I made the appointments an we went for it. Unfortunately, Kate was a little hesitant. Kate doesn't really trust me, especially in medical places.
Flashback: Months ago Kate split her chin. We ended up at the ER with myself and six burly nurses holding her down while they tried to numb her chin (during which she was still got enough kicks and shoves in enough to bend and almost break the needle, all the while screaming bloody murder). "This won't hurt," is what she kept hearing all night, but then everything did. She finally had to be put under for the stitching to take place.
When a nurse came over to our house to remove the stiches to make it less traumatic, we once agin ended up holding her down while something that wasn't supposed to hurt did hurt (although not that much).
And then 30 minutes later when we had to go off to another friends house for a steri strip to seal it up for another week since she opened it up again during her squirming, she was once again told "This won't hurt," right before I held her head while glue containing burning cleaning alcohol was applied to the would.
Then after I'd finally gained her trust enough to allow me to occasionally apply super glue to the steri strip during the following week to keep it on, one night she knocked the bottle in my hand spilling it on her chest. It burned her through her shirt and left a patch of glue on her chest. I threw her in the bath while I researched how to treat this burn because I figured it was chemical. I think I was told by their website to apply cleaning alcohol to help remove it. I put it on a cotton ball and promised her it wouldn't hurt. Well it did. Moments later I found that super glue has a very hot chemical reaction when it comes in contact with cotton. She did not let me put anything else on it.
Flash forward: Kate does not like bright lights, smiling people wearing scrubs, or being told that "this won't hurt." So after one failed dentist appointment we rescheduled another at the really expensive pediatric dentist with a treehouse in the waiting room, prizes granted for every exam, and Disney movies playing on every ceiling. After watching her brother she finally gave in. After all, she REALLY REALLY wanted that prize. Yes her exam took place with her lying on top of me, and I got an extra dose of radiation while she sat on my lap during her x-rays.
But the trust was back! Mommy said it they wouldn't hurt her, and no one did! Of course we were scheduled to come back the next week to fill her five newly discovered cavities.
Yes it was two weeks before Christmas, but there's really never a good time for this kind of thing. She was nervous. For goodness sakes she pointed out the anesthesia nurse from across the room filling up a needle (WHY DIDN'T HE CLOSE HIS DOOR). And then an hour later he talked to me IN FRONT OF HER. Sure it was in code, "happy juice," but when he said "put it in her arm," well the ruse was up. It didn't help that he had the stupid syringe in his chest pocket the whole time, well within view unbeknownst to him. So yah, when they tried to surprise her it didn't work because she was onto it, and once again I had to help hold her down while someone else put a needle in her, while a stranger hurt her after they told her it wouldn't hurt.
So clearly Kate is already developing deep seated trust issues with her mother, and I'm of course thrilled about it. My poor Kate.
Flashback: Months ago Kate split her chin. We ended up at the ER with myself and six burly nurses holding her down while they tried to numb her chin (during which she was still got enough kicks and shoves in enough to bend and almost break the needle, all the while screaming bloody murder). "This won't hurt," is what she kept hearing all night, but then everything did. She finally had to be put under for the stitching to take place.
When a nurse came over to our house to remove the stiches to make it less traumatic, we once agin ended up holding her down while something that wasn't supposed to hurt did hurt (although not that much).
And then 30 minutes later when we had to go off to another friends house for a steri strip to seal it up for another week since she opened it up again during her squirming, she was once again told "This won't hurt," right before I held her head while glue containing burning cleaning alcohol was applied to the would.
Then after I'd finally gained her trust enough to allow me to occasionally apply super glue to the steri strip during the following week to keep it on, one night she knocked the bottle in my hand spilling it on her chest. It burned her through her shirt and left a patch of glue on her chest. I threw her in the bath while I researched how to treat this burn because I figured it was chemical. I think I was told by their website to apply cleaning alcohol to help remove it. I put it on a cotton ball and promised her it wouldn't hurt. Well it did. Moments later I found that super glue has a very hot chemical reaction when it comes in contact with cotton. She did not let me put anything else on it.
Flash forward: Kate does not like bright lights, smiling people wearing scrubs, or being told that "this won't hurt." So after one failed dentist appointment we rescheduled another at the really expensive pediatric dentist with a treehouse in the waiting room, prizes granted for every exam, and Disney movies playing on every ceiling. After watching her brother she finally gave in. After all, she REALLY REALLY wanted that prize. Yes her exam took place with her lying on top of me, and I got an extra dose of radiation while she sat on my lap during her x-rays.
But the trust was back! Mommy said it they wouldn't hurt her, and no one did! Of course we were scheduled to come back the next week to fill her five newly discovered cavities.
Yes it was two weeks before Christmas, but there's really never a good time for this kind of thing. She was nervous. For goodness sakes she pointed out the anesthesia nurse from across the room filling up a needle (WHY DIDN'T HE CLOSE HIS DOOR). And then an hour later he talked to me IN FRONT OF HER. Sure it was in code, "happy juice," but when he said "put it in her arm," well the ruse was up. It didn't help that he had the stupid syringe in his chest pocket the whole time, well within view unbeknownst to him. So yah, when they tried to surprise her it didn't work because she was onto it, and once again I had to help hold her down while someone else put a needle in her, while a stranger hurt her after they told her it wouldn't hurt.
So clearly Kate is already developing deep seated trust issues with her mother, and I'm of course thrilled about it. My poor Kate.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Kate and Her Purse
This girl loves her purse. Her first time on the ATV she was wearing it. She also wears it jumping on the trampoline at our cousins house. She even gets away with taking it to school and church since she never opens it and causes a problem there (it actually broke the straps of her school backpack with it's weight).
As a result, many have wondered what's inside it. I had to pry it off her shoulder in her sleep, but here are the usual contents of Kate's purse- minus some old food and old shopping receipts of mine.
As a result, many have wondered what's inside it. I had to pry it off her shoulder in her sleep, but here are the usual contents of Kate's purse- minus some old food and old shopping receipts of mine.
Friday, December 6, 2013
A Boy and His Chain
This is Mitch's lock and chain. As you can see, he must love it very much.
After we saw some locks at a garage sale and talked about getting Mitch a bike lock for locking up his bike at school, he wouldn't forget it. Rob, wanting to answer his sons request as soon as possible, decided to take the lock and accompanying giant chain of the front gate and give it to Mitch.
Well forget about locking up bikes. School hadn't started up again yet and now Mitch had new ideas. He kept asking us if he could lock up the girls and could he please have a cage and, "Daddy, do you have a cage down at the shop I can have to lock up the girls, I will let them out whenever they want..." Of course when Rob didn't have a cage Mitch came to me again to ask me if we could possibly make one out of cardboard. I finally had to threaten a time out or something to get him to STOP asking if he could lock them up.
When school finally started again some older kids thought it was pretty interesting that we were locking up his old no name bike at all, and remarked- albeit politely- that it a REALLY big chain. Mitch took this to be a compliment. On the day he didn't have his chain and lock (it was in timeout for locking up some furniture in an effort to barricade the girl's bedroom door), he locked his bike to a post with his helmet. For some reason he thought this made it pretty secure, whereas I thought it was pretty amusing.
After we saw some locks at a garage sale and talked about getting Mitch a bike lock for locking up his bike at school, he wouldn't forget it. Rob, wanting to answer his sons request as soon as possible, decided to take the lock and accompanying giant chain of the front gate and give it to Mitch.
Well forget about locking up bikes. School hadn't started up again yet and now Mitch had new ideas. He kept asking us if he could lock up the girls and could he please have a cage and, "Daddy, do you have a cage down at the shop I can have to lock up the girls, I will let them out whenever they want..." Of course when Rob didn't have a cage Mitch came to me again to ask me if we could possibly make one out of cardboard. I finally had to threaten a time out or something to get him to STOP asking if he could lock them up.
When school finally started again some older kids thought it was pretty interesting that we were locking up his old no name bike at all, and remarked- albeit politely- that it a REALLY big chain. Mitch took this to be a compliment. On the day he didn't have his chain and lock (it was in timeout for locking up some furniture in an effort to barricade the girl's bedroom door), he locked his bike to a post with his helmet. For some reason he thought this made it pretty secure, whereas I thought it was pretty amusing.
First Day of School
Most kids there had new haircuts, new clothes, new backpacks. We... well we just didn't get around to it. On school picture day it was the same story, but with worse bed head. I like to think of us as simple people, not superficial. That makes it ok right?
Well they call it Flood Irrigation Right?
Someone upstream was done, so they decided to divert the water back into the flow. Ooops. We're the end of the line- the water doesn't keep going back into a drainage system for some reason (too old it got los). Good thing our house isn't on the low side of the property (where these pics were taken), and it's also a good thing that the neighbor's property is elevated. The kids had a ball though.
It's Official We Are Now White Trash
I mean what else can I say?
(notice she must ride with her purse)
Coming Up For Air: The Fruit Tidal Wave
Like the last 20 posts, here's an old one that I finally finished or uploaded pictures for:
Dried pears, pear sauce, puree for pear leather, raspberry pear sauce, raspberry ginger pear butter, gingerbread pear butter, salted caramel pear butter, cardamom almond pear butter, pear juice...
...vanilla bean pear butter, spiced pear butter, chocolate pear sauce, cardamom spiced three plum jam, ginger pear jam, dried peaches, chocolate cherry macaroon conserves, chocolate cherry jam...
...peach barbeque sauce, apricot jam, prunes (fail), raisins (not worth it), homemade freezer pesto, and several varieties of grape juice, all from foraged grapes from family and neighbors.
In summary, summer was crazy. In July Rob's schedule for about three weeks was one day home, one week away, one day home, one week away. Meanwhile I was here simultaneously fighting off and feeding the jungle here at home. Once I let go of all expectations of taming and manicuring the place the stress just melted away, until the first fruits hit. I knew we had wild plum seedlings all over the property, especially in the thickets and along the irrigation lines. I had no idea that they would produce fruit, and that being wild, it would actually be tasty fruit that I would want. That was really exciting at first when the place erupted into Eden with tasty albeit tiny morsels all around. First there was the confirmation that we have several Potowatmi plums, an old heirloom planted by Mormon Pioneers back in the day that's recently got a buzz again and has started showing up on restaurant menus. Our trees are small and most likely came to us by way of up stream through the irrigation, or by the rodents that use the ditches for travel.
Identification took way too much time, but it was just so exciting. There was the tiny dark Damson plum out by the shed- my person favorite, and what's either an Americana or Chickasaw plum (both common names are used), a small red wild plum either way that looks a lot like a cherry. Sadly as soon as they were ready to eat I realized they were also full of maggots. Yep, the one fruit around here that's not supposed to require any management or pest control, and it ends up being the buggiest of them all! Well that's when my inner biologist really came out and I started taking pictures and collecting specimens for Utah State University's pest diagnostics lab. Yes, like I said it was way too many hours spent on pest and pest control research, but maybe I just should've stuck with that major after all. I think that's one reason I'm finding all this garden and tree business interesting. And I did identify the pest for them and got my pictures published... in the pest newsletter! I know, we're pretty big time around there. Darn that apple maggot fly which really ain't supposed to be using plums as hosts; I was right!
Sadly though, that's about all summer was. There was NO hiking, no visits to the zoo, no family vacations, no picnics, and only a handful of bike rides. At the end of July I finally took the kids to the pool for the first time and got them in some swimming lessons. That woke me up long enough out of our work stupor to jump on the family rodeo excursion and spend a few days at the cabin (during which Rob and I commuted back down to the valley each day for work we had to attend to). Well next year will be better.
Dried pears, pear sauce, puree for pear leather, raspberry pear sauce, raspberry ginger pear butter, gingerbread pear butter, salted caramel pear butter, cardamom almond pear butter, pear juice...
...vanilla bean pear butter, spiced pear butter, chocolate pear sauce, cardamom spiced three plum jam, ginger pear jam, dried peaches, chocolate cherry macaroon conserves, chocolate cherry jam...
...frozen pears, plum tart filling, peach pie filling, almond pear tarts, garlic pickled asparagus, pickled beans (so sad, this year I planted the wrong beans so they are nasty), diced tomatoes...
...peach barbeque sauce, apricot jam, prunes (fail), raisins (not worth it), homemade freezer pesto, and several varieties of grape juice, all from foraged grapes from family and neighbors.
And that is why I was so tired this fall. But now we have many lovely things to put on toast, stir into oatmeal, and ladle over ice cream, cake or yogurt (my favorite). Finally in November Jana and I were able to get together for a special and nerdy dinner to celebrate the harvest, something we'd been meaning to do for months. Each course had to contain something we'd put up. Our menu was a lovely green salad with cherry tomatoes from my garden, fresh mozzarella, and pickled asparagus rolled in ham. The soup course was garden tomato soup made from tomatoes I'd frozen. Our entrée was fresh alfredo noodles dressed with homemade pesto, and our dessert was a cheese plate that included ice cream and crepes for drenching with our finest preserves, in case the cheese, crackers, and bread wasn't enough for us. Oh we also had tiny gourmet seckle pears preserved in a brown sugar vanilla sauce. The sauce was great! The pears- boo. And we drank grape juice and homemade peach Italian sodas (the syrup utilized my peach skins from canning for it's peachy flavor).
In summary, summer was crazy. In July Rob's schedule for about three weeks was one day home, one week away, one day home, one week away. Meanwhile I was here simultaneously fighting off and feeding the jungle here at home. Once I let go of all expectations of taming and manicuring the place the stress just melted away, until the first fruits hit. I knew we had wild plum seedlings all over the property, especially in the thickets and along the irrigation lines. I had no idea that they would produce fruit, and that being wild, it would actually be tasty fruit that I would want. That was really exciting at first when the place erupted into Eden with tasty albeit tiny morsels all around. First there was the confirmation that we have several Potowatmi plums, an old heirloom planted by Mormon Pioneers back in the day that's recently got a buzz again and has started showing up on restaurant menus. Our trees are small and most likely came to us by way of up stream through the irrigation, or by the rodents that use the ditches for travel.
Identification took way too much time, but it was just so exciting. There was the tiny dark Damson plum out by the shed- my person favorite, and what's either an Americana or Chickasaw plum (both common names are used), a small red wild plum either way that looks a lot like a cherry. Sadly as soon as they were ready to eat I realized they were also full of maggots. Yep, the one fruit around here that's not supposed to require any management or pest control, and it ends up being the buggiest of them all! Well that's when my inner biologist really came out and I started taking pictures and collecting specimens for Utah State University's pest diagnostics lab. Yes, like I said it was way too many hours spent on pest and pest control research, but maybe I just should've stuck with that major after all. I think that's one reason I'm finding all this garden and tree business interesting. And I did identify the pest for them and got my pictures published... in the pest newsletter! I know, we're pretty big time around there. Darn that apple maggot fly which really ain't supposed to be using plums as hosts; I was right!
Sadly though, that's about all summer was. There was NO hiking, no visits to the zoo, no family vacations, no picnics, and only a handful of bike rides. At the end of July I finally took the kids to the pool for the first time and got them in some swimming lessons. That woke me up long enough out of our work stupor to jump on the family rodeo excursion and spend a few days at the cabin (during which Rob and I commuted back down to the valley each day for work we had to attend to). Well next year will be better.
The State Fair
Giant pigs and stinky smells. That's usually what comes to mind when some one mentions the state fair. I've only been a few times myself, and although I like it in general I've always found it ridiculously expensive to truly get the full fair experience of riding rides or eating anything besides one overpriced drink at the point of dehydration.
This year Rob had his patio display over at t friends hot tub exhibit, and as a result we got free tickets. As you can guess form the photos we pretty much went crazy. It's amazing what seeing things through the eyes of a kid will do to you. Sure we got free passes and free parking, but at the end of rides and slides and caramel apples and cotton candy, we'd still spent a ton. I left without too much guilt though, seeing as we'd been a little short on family time since the move and still hadn't taken the kids on a vacation in about two years. Unfortunately, it's a precedence that will be a hard one to break!
This year Rob had his patio display over at t friends hot tub exhibit, and as a result we got free tickets. As you can guess form the photos we pretty much went crazy. It's amazing what seeing things through the eyes of a kid will do to you. Sure we got free passes and free parking, but at the end of rides and slides and caramel apples and cotton candy, we'd still spent a ton. I left without too much guilt though, seeing as we'd been a little short on family time since the move and still hadn't taken the kids on a vacation in about two years. Unfortunately, it's a precedence that will be a hard one to break!
The Bee Whisperers
Twenty minutes later when it was time to go, from her buckled car seat Eliza implored, "Could you please tell Mitch to hurry, he was going to catch me a bee and now I have to leave." I told her I would call him right away. I walked back through the garage to tell the kids to come say goodbye when Mitch ran over with gloved hands yelling, "Wait, I've got a bee for Eliza, she can't leave yet." Then I watched incredulously as Mitch coached Kate to leave just a hole big enough for clenched hands in the bin he'd prepared with torn leaves to be a bee house for Eliza to take home.
I really didn't believe he had a bee until I saw him dip his hands beneath the towel, open his hands a bit, and saw the bee helicopter right out of there. Boy was he bummed (and boy was Eliza's mom relieved), he had never imagined that it would do something other than just fly right down and make itself at home.
Not to be outdone, within a week Kate came in the house crying. Apparently her gloves were not as thick as Mitch's. Still, she casually demonstrates to friends how easy it is to pet a busy bee if you just avoid it's bum. And when Mitch's b-day came, Grandma Nena gave him a bug catching toy. The pear drunk bees were placid enough to be caught with his plastic toy tweezers and placed into a small plastic vented box where they would become very angry before release.
New Driveway
So the remodeling continues...
Of course it's a lot cheaper if you can do some of the excavation work yourself so Rob did a bit of digging beforehand to "loosen things up" read: play with my machinery. Of suddenly as I write this it occurs to me that I would've liked to play with the Bobcat myself- I mean who
wouldn't- and that would've been the perfect time. He even already loaded up some of the giant dirt pile left in our yard for a week and took it to the dump. Sorry kids, no sledding hill this winter. (actually if it weren't for the gradation constraints of flood irrigation, we would be very temped to build a hill just for fun)
So this is a picture of him using his newest attachment, the ditch digger thingy. That's what I call it anyway. He wanted to lay down some pipes underneath in chance that we (or someone else) wants to add a sprinkler system in the future.
The next day when the pavers came it was pretty exciting. I set up chairs in the garage for the kids and we watched them dump and level the asphalt. I think Mitch and Kate spent two hours outside before they got bored of it.
The next day the kids were excited to ride their bikes on it like daddy promised. They actually ride all over the yard. I think the original dirt and gravel drive trained them well, but they were still pretty excited. That afternoon when daddy told them they could ride on it, they put on their helmets and went for it, around and around the new roundabout, Kate on her push bike and Mitch on his two-wheeler. Jane felt left out so after about the third lap she started yelling, "Look me! Look me!" and started running laps around the circle herself with her helmet on.
Two days later Kate was riding her two-wheeler as well, and Jane was still running aorund the circle yelling, "Look me!" "Look me" whenever anyone would come over to see Kate's new feat.
Of course it's a lot cheaper if you can do some of the excavation work yourself so Rob did a bit of digging beforehand to "loosen things up" read: play with my machinery. Of suddenly as I write this it occurs to me that I would've liked to play with the Bobcat myself- I mean who
wouldn't- and that would've been the perfect time. He even already loaded up some of the giant dirt pile left in our yard for a week and took it to the dump. Sorry kids, no sledding hill this winter. (actually if it weren't for the gradation constraints of flood irrigation, we would be very temped to build a hill just for fun)
So this is a picture of him using his newest attachment, the ditch digger thingy. That's what I call it anyway. He wanted to lay down some pipes underneath in chance that we (or someone else) wants to add a sprinkler system in the future.
The next day when the pavers came it was pretty exciting. I set up chairs in the garage for the kids and we watched them dump and level the asphalt. I think Mitch and Kate spent two hours outside before they got bored of it.
The next day the kids were excited to ride their bikes on it like daddy promised. They actually ride all over the yard. I think the original dirt and gravel drive trained them well, but they were still pretty excited. That afternoon when daddy told them they could ride on it, they put on their helmets and went for it, around and around the new roundabout, Kate on her push bike and Mitch on his two-wheeler. Jane felt left out so after about the third lap she started yelling, "Look me! Look me!" and started running laps around the circle herself with her helmet on.
Two days later Kate was riding her two-wheeler as well, and Jane was still running aorund the circle yelling, "Look me!" "Look me" whenever anyone would come over to see Kate's new feat.
Sam and Riley Babysit
Sam and Riley came to babysit while we did a double date with Ann and John.
When we came home I found Kate sleeping like this.
"She told us that her mom said her bed had to stay like that," said Sam shrugging his shoulders. I realized that earlier that day when I was trying to change the sheets Jane kept trying to "help" too much and so I'd told them to leave it how it was. And then, I laughed my head off.
The next morning when I changed Jane's diaper I couldn't get it off, until I discovered that it had been put on backwards. Well, Sam did the best he could as a youngest child himself.
When we came home I found Kate sleeping like this.
"She told us that her mom said her bed had to stay like that," said Sam shrugging his shoulders. I realized that earlier that day when I was trying to change the sheets Jane kept trying to "help" too much and so I'd told them to leave it how it was. And then, I laughed my head off.
The next morning when I changed Jane's diaper I couldn't get it off, until I discovered that it had been put on backwards. Well, Sam did the best he could as a youngest child himself.
A New Game
So after my friend Justin came and tried to hunt squirrels (unfortunately the hawk was more interested in the neighbor's cat), the kids learned how to get onto the roof of the shed.
Now, they are allowed to get on the shed when daddy goes up with them which has evolved into a new game we call plum races. It's a pretty good game.
Now, they are allowed to get on the shed when daddy goes up with them which has evolved into a new game we call plum races. It's a pretty good game.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Belated spring updates
Oops, I just found this old entry that I forgot to post:
Although it's summer now mores o than spring, there are babies everywhere.
Baby plums:
Baby apples:
Although it's summer now mores o than spring, there are babies everywhere.
Baby plums:
Baby apples:
Baby Pears:
Baby birds: (this is our baby woodpecker)
And baby gardeners:
Irrigation
Summer is flying by, and there are a lot of things to write about and still not enough time just like all the other nights. Most of our time is taken up serving the yard and my new calling in the church, and poor Rob is gone driving and working down south more often than he is home. We feel like we are working working working all the time, and although we both believe in the principal of hard work very much, we also feel pretty sure that our lives could use a little more balance. Still, much of my work house and yard that can blends right into life when I'm careful not to be neglectful of the kids so it often works out better for me like on irrigation day. Some days they are happy to spend hours in the ditches and the mud pit that forms near the giant plum tree on the side of the house while I thin pears and pick up the early fallen fruit. Recently they received adventure vests from aunt Claudia, and that made skulking about in "the forest" and collecting fine specimens of seeds, flowers, and pine cones suddenly a new thing again.
Sometimes Rob and I disagreed on which area to irrigate as he wants to get a feel for how much of our weed field (some day to be lawn) we can water, while my reply is that I want to water the trees first, let's at least water the trees. So I have a favorite story about irrigation. We were at the ranger's station up Big Cottonwood canyon with the kids, and that day they had a big erosion trailer. Basically, it's a trailer full of sand and toys and a water pump. The rangers have the kids build a river and town with the sand and toys, and then they turn on the water talk about erosion. Once the town and river banks were created, they turned on the river. Promptly Mitch grabbed the five or so trees next to his tiny house and replanted them right in the water saying, "Oh dear I've got to get my trees." The ranger looked at him trying to decide if he should take the opportunity to educate or not when I realized what Mitch was doing and explained that that we have flood irrigation, so of course he's got to make sure all his trees get water. The ranger chuckled and that memory always makes me smile when I think of it.
My Girls Love Bugs
I don't know where they got it from, perhaps it's just my somewhat biological approach to teaching them about the natural world, but my girls love bugs.
This is a picture of Kate this last spring. "Look mommy, take a picture of me holding this snail." The week prior the snail was less lucky. "How do you get the snail out of its shell?" Kate asked while I was messing around in the veggie garden. "Oh honey, they're not like hermit crabs, they're more like turtles: they can't come out of their shells," I replied. "But I want it to," she replied. At that moment I stopped and looked over at her. She was peeling the shell right off the poor bugger as best she could and just covered in its defensive slime, rather a poor weapon against the curiosity of a spunky child. Eventually the persistence of the slime won and grossed out, she tossed the snail.
However, that hasn't stopped her from picking up bugs She and Jane croon over potato bugs they find on the brick walkways talking about whether they are daddies or mommies or kid potato bugs. I am called over to observe and approve the smallness of every "tiny baby one" they find. They also big up box elder bus all the time, especially Jane who talks to them in a baby voice, tried to bring them in the car, and shows me how they are sleeping in their buggy house often only minutes after entering captivity due to the uneven pressure of baby fingers.
Once at the cabin she called me to look at the very fuzzy bee she was cradling in her tiny palm. As it started to move I swatted it out of her hands so fast she looked at me with quite a look of surprise, obviously wondering why on earth I had just hit her arms. Then I realized the bee was dead, and the movement had been vibrations from her hands to the feather light bee. To ease her shock daddy agreed that it was indeed a very nice bee and helped her pet it lightly on the back where it lay. I don't know if THAT was a good idea. But the good news is, those same girls are completely petrified of any spiders.
This is a picture of Kate this last spring. "Look mommy, take a picture of me holding this snail." The week prior the snail was less lucky. "How do you get the snail out of its shell?" Kate asked while I was messing around in the veggie garden. "Oh honey, they're not like hermit crabs, they're more like turtles: they can't come out of their shells," I replied. "But I want it to," she replied. At that moment I stopped and looked over at her. She was peeling the shell right off the poor bugger as best she could and just covered in its defensive slime, rather a poor weapon against the curiosity of a spunky child. Eventually the persistence of the slime won and grossed out, she tossed the snail.
However, that hasn't stopped her from picking up bugs She and Jane croon over potato bugs they find on the brick walkways talking about whether they are daddies or mommies or kid potato bugs. I am called over to observe and approve the smallness of every "tiny baby one" they find. They also big up box elder bus all the time, especially Jane who talks to them in a baby voice, tried to bring them in the car, and shows me how they are sleeping in their buggy house often only minutes after entering captivity due to the uneven pressure of baby fingers.
Once at the cabin she called me to look at the very fuzzy bee she was cradling in her tiny palm. As it started to move I swatted it out of her hands so fast she looked at me with quite a look of surprise, obviously wondering why on earth I had just hit her arms. Then I realized the bee was dead, and the movement had been vibrations from her hands to the feather light bee. To ease her shock daddy agreed that it was indeed a very nice bee and helped her pet it lightly on the back where it lay. I don't know if THAT was a good idea. But the good news is, those same girls are completely petrified of any spiders.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Updates on Our House Adventures
So last week I pretty much wanted to leave, I mean I actually got on the MLS and started driving by houses that were for sale. This week I'm not so sure.
I was out the yeard spending hours neglecting the children so I could spray trees, cut back vines, and move hoses and rainbirds around all day so I could keep the stuff we wanted to keep alive. One of our irrigation ditches hasn't been used in 15 years so I was trying to clean and dig out that as well too (yes this picture that looks like a forest is really our irrigation ditch).
I was out the yeard spending hours neglecting the children so I could spray trees, cut back vines, and move hoses and rainbirds around all day so I could keep the stuff we wanted to keep alive. One of our irrigation ditches hasn't been used in 15 years so I was trying to clean and dig out that as well too (yes this picture that looks like a forest is really our irrigation ditch).
The kids were asking me to come in and play, and I kept telling them I couldn't for a few more hours. The house was a mess- I mean a worse mess and more often a mess- and I still couldn't find half our stuff in our new house when I needed it. The all day committment of irrigation days were getting on my nerves too. Sure they're fun for the kids, for the first couple of hours. Then they tire and want to do something else but I'm still committed and the day always seems to end with muddy clothes and muddy floors.
More than anything though I was learning too much. I was learning that our trees are too old to care for properly as you would a true orchard. They're too high to spray for worms, thin fruit, examine pests well, and to harvest. I was learning that we have vines trying to take over everywhere and that actually have far more weeds than grass, and how hard it will be to change the tide. I was learning that we will have to water quiet a bit of the yard with culinary water especially during the later months, and that it will take more than one year to tame this place on the most basic of levels, and that once that's done it will still take far too much of our spring and fall to maintain this place again on the most basic of levels. Most garden time I want to spend on tending vegtables and raising food, not on keeping all the trash trees and weeds out of the ditches do they don't take all of your water and keeping the vines of the trees so they don't kill them!
Here's a vulture that showed in our yard one day, just waiting for me to keel over.
I'm starting to get annoyed when people say "oh the yard can wait," as though my concern has something to do with a lack of flower beds and pretty pots or something. The taming of the yard is really about economics since our water supply is finite and whatever doesn't get watered with irrigation must be watered with expensive culinary water or die. The fruit trees specifically will drop green fruit or produce poor quality fruit if they don't recieve enough water. They also become subject to all kinds of disease which then require more time and expense in treatments to remedy. So what people don't understand is that tending our yard is less about a personal aesthetic pressure and more about a real financial pressure which requires time I'd rather spend elsewhere. These are things I am still considering.
So I'm still not sure about that, but on the flip side we already have friends here! After only TWO MONTHS there are already mothers I would trust my kids with, and play groups we belong to. That usually takes about a year. And I love being within walking distance of church and school, and bike riding distance of the library, park, and grocery store, and yet still have the most amazing freeway access I have ever experienced. This area is marvelous, and I still think our house is cute, a pretty good layout, and in a yard like nothing else I've ever seen- even if I do hate it.
So Rob and I are still trying to figure things out, but in the meantime I'm getting pretty good at ignoring most of the yard. My exceptions are noxious vines, irrigation days, anything dying like our apple trees right now, the veggie patch, the front lawn (our only true lawn vs weed patch) and and our peach trees which I can care for without a ladder.
Birthday Girls!
Look, it's just a blog- I make family photo albums every year! That's why I thought it was no big deal that back in April when we were MOVING I never got around to recording the girl's b-days in here. After all, not EVERYTHING has to be recorded in here, but everytime I see the photos I feel guilty or something that they're not. So even though they'll also be in the family album, so here it is. We basically had a bunch of all the kid's buddies over and played and ate cake and ice cream.
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