Shakin' It

Back in the days before I had four kids, each year I tried to make time to learn something new. I have tried several different crafts, learned phlebotomy, or took a class that was just for fun--art history, ballet, etc.
It was something that I really looked forward to, even if it was just something simple.
Since moving back to Utah, I have had a chance to resume classes in different areas, taking them with my sister. We have tried ceramics, tatting, watercolors, and tai chi. This time we are trying something completely foreign...

Belly Dancing.

Yep. Shakin' it. Literally.
We had our first class on Monday. No, there will never be any pictures of this posted on my blog.
Our teacher is completely invested in making sure we have fun. And I did. It is always fun to do something physical. I love to dance and miss doing it.
Now I just have to practice... When everyone is gone.

Things of Beauty

I love it when I make things with my own two hands.
And they turn out.
My parents have a mini farmer's market in their backyard and often share their abundant produce with those of us who have black thumbs. Like me.
I took the raspberries, plums, and nectarines and made jam.
It is so pretty to look at. I almost hate to open the jars, but we had peanut butter and plum jam for lunch on Sunday, and that made the work worth it.
I plan on giving away the little jars of raspberry jam away for Christmas gifts, but the rest are just for us.
There was a minor snafu: when I went to get the pectin for the nectarine jam, I mistakenly bought the kind that was sugar-free.
What is jam without sugar? Yucky.
Coming up with plan B....
I think I will use it as syrup for pancakes. Just open, dump in a saucepan, add some sugar, heat, and pour.
How about that for a recipe?

Any other ideas are welcome.

More Rocks

We went all over the state looking for rocks this weekend. We got some good looking specimens to finish Kade's rock collection.
By the end of the day, however, the kids' desire for collecting rocks was waning. Burke and I were still going strong and were game to look for some more goodies, but succumbed to the whining and begging to go home.
Kade's collection looks pretty darn good if you ask me, and was hard won.
Burke and I both reminded him to make sure he tells his teacher he personally picked up every rock and crystal in his collection.
He rolled his eyes, but acquiesced.

Here are some pictures of the action.
This is where we found some beautiful agate.

This is where we found some obsidian. In the book we consulted, they were called "Apache Tears". The pieces were just lying all over the hills. It was a little depressing to think of them as tears.
Next, we stopped at my personal "Moby Dick".

25 years ago, I went to find treasures with my own family. My dad took a "shortcut" and we got lost.
It wasn't a pleasant experience, especially for my mom, who ended up in the back seat with my two carsick siblings. It was a barfin' good time for her. I never wore the blue coat again--thank goodness. (Any member of my family will now be remembering looking for shepherds to help us find the road. And remembering how "hungry" Rebecca was.)

This was the first time I had been back since then. I didn't let Burke take any shortcuts, and we did find some pretty clear-colored topaz lying all over the ground. We didn't find any of the golden or sherry colored topaz or garnets that we were looking for. After doing some more checking at home, we think we may have missed the exact area we needed to look in for the good stuff. Oh well, maybe we'll go back ...in another couple of decades.

Burke and the boys had the camera and hiked all over the mountain looking for the white stone that was supposedly hiding the goods. He never found it, but took this picture of the girls and I walking around at the base of the mountain. I'm the little speck to the right of our van.The girls had both followed the boys up the mountain, but were unable to get down. This was the end of the day, and they both got very upset when they found themselves bodysurfing. Having had that unfortunate experience myself, I ended up carrying Adrienne down, and helping Annika. By the time we got to the bottom, Adrienne was calling it "Pokey Mountain" because of all the stickers she got on her hands and ankles.

By the end of the day we had found some really interesting rocks.
One of my favorites was this: Isn't it pretty? There was a huge pit of the stuff. It had lots of different colors ranging from the pinks and whites here to golds and browns. I would love to have a countertop or floor made of this. Unfortunately, it is very brittle and feels a lot like sandstone. Definitely wouldn't hold up around my house.Fool's Gold. Technically, we didn't find this one on a mountain, but in Burke's old school stuff. He dug it out while trying to find a rock hammer he made in shop class in jr high. Along with his old pinewood derby car (first place, as he proudly informed us), his scout belt loops, and his slingshot. Didn't find the rock hammer. Ended up not needing it anyway.

Here is the final product of several weeks' rockhounding:

I don't think Kade is as proud of this collection as I am.
I have to say, rockhounding turned out to be really fun. I think we will be doing some more in the future, even though the project was due today. Maybe Burke and I can convert the rest of the kids.

Only if we promise not to go back to "Pokey Mountain".

Moby Dick lives on....

RockHounds

It was a beautiful day. Kade had a science project. He needs to make a rock collection. Nathan needed some fossils for scouts.
With some help from Google, we found an area about 20 minutes from our house full of fossils.
We just needed to get there. And find them.


Before we started out, we ran into a university geologist who pointed us in the right direction. After a fairly short but uphill hike, we found the spot. Kind of. It wasn't the one we were aiming for, but we found fossils just the same. We found that all we needed to do was sit down and pick up pieces of shale. The fossils were abundant and the kids thought it was pretty cool. We spent about an hour looking aroud before we left with a backpack full of rocks. Burke carried Adrienne, I carried the rocks. I wonder if Burke got the better end of that deal.

The view was gorgeous and we were able to watch a dust storm sweep across the valley before we needed to get off the mountain due to the wind. The kids liked that part as well.
Of course, we needed to get a silly picture too.

Here are some pictures of a few of the shells and trilobite fossils we found.
It was a fun afternoon adventure, and fulfilled something I have always wanted to do, but needed a good reason for the excursion. I guess kids are always a handy excuse.

The Last Parade

We went to our last summer parade a couple of weeks ago. It is a parade we have been to every year since we moved back to Utah. It is a lot of fun and just right for me: not too long, not too short, not too hot, not too cold.
Perfect.
Afterward, we stopped by the boutiques and got some cute bows for the girls' hair while Burke and the boys went to the car show.
There were some really funny entries into the parade. I have to add some pictures.
Sorry about the blurriness of this one. But it is still funny.



I thought of Dr Seuss when I saw this one.





Besides having to ask a strange man for a jump so I could go pick up Burke and the boys, it was a good day.

Teeth Fairy

Recently, Annika and Kade had to go in to get their teeth pulled.
Annika had what I call "shark teeth". You know how the permanent teeth can sometimes grow behind the baby teeth and then make the poor child look like a shark? That is what happened to Annika, but her baby teeth weren't even loose yet, so we decided to have them pulled.
I was very concerned about how they would tolerate it, especially Annika (she had to have three medical assistants and myself hold her down for her kindergarten immunizations). Because of this concern, I requested they have "laughing gas".
It was definitely a laugh. Annika was spacy and being extremely silly.
There are tv's mounted in the ceiling above the chairs, so the kids can watch a movie while they are being worked on. There are headphones as well, so the whole office doesn't have to listen to Madagascar. While Annika was watching the movie with the gas on, the dental assistant kept asking her how she was doing. Annika would look at her blankly, and finally told her that she just wasn't going to listen to her anymore because she was going to watch the movie. Then she proceeded to loudly narrate the movie to me as I sat in the chair next to her.
Kade had to have his teeth pulled because of "crowding" according to the orthodontist. (cha-ching)

He had the two bottom teeth next to the permanent teeth pulled to allow the permanent teeth to move into place. We are hoping this will help reduce the amount of time he will have to spend in braces later. (Again, cha-ching!)

Both of the kids did great and were thrilled to have the tooth fairy come to visit.

I neglected to get pictures of the teeth after they were pulled. Kade's were actually pretty impressive with long roots.
They are both excited to have their school pictures taken with teeth missing...

Well, kind of missing in Annika's case.

Annika has that cute little lisp that comes from an opening in the front teeth.
It is very sweet.

Cornrows on a Princess

It has been a while since I did a hairdo post. Here is a hairdo I tried out the other day. I was going to leave the ends of the braids out, but decided to braid them together down the row at the end. I was pretty happy with the result. The braids are a little crooked if you look closely, but what can you expect from a four year old?

I just clipped on a little flower picked out by the princess and Voila!
I couldn't get her to give me a good smile because she was practicing writing her name, so this is what I got.

K.I.S.S.

My dad uses a simple formula for life: K.I.S.S.
Keep It Simple, Stupid.

With all of the toys, video games, and dvd's my kids have, I found them playing (nicely) with the refrigerator magnets while they were waiting to go to church.

Who knew?
Keeping it simple.

A Good Night's Sleep?

Burke slept out with the kids a couple of weeks ago as a last big hurrah before school started.

I slept in a quiet house.

He (mistakenly) thought the kids would be really tired and go right to sleep.

After midnight they were still going strong, despite daddy's weak pleas for rest.

They finally watched Kung Fu Panda and fell asleep.

I awoke refreshed.

This is how they woke:
Aren't they cute?
Have I mentioned how much I am enjoying this stage?

Spelunking

We went outdoors.
With the spirit of adventure.
It was an arduous hike that could have taken millions of years--like our destination.
But didn't.

The kids did better than I thought, especially because Adrienne was in the back carrier.
I didn't happen to be the carrier of the back carrier, or it would have taken a million years and a trip to the emergency room to get there and back.
Burke was a trooper.
It was worth it in the end, though. We all felt a sense of accomplishment and were even more excited to see what treasures awaited us inside the cave.

My old high school biology teacher was the ranger at the top of the trail. He greeted me with a hug.
The kids were wide-eyed after seeing me hug a strange man.
Got lots of questions.
Giggled a bit.
We entered the cave and the darkness surrounded us.
Poor Adrienne.

I told the kids about my brother's song about this same cave when he was little:
"Oh, we're going to the caaaaaave,
Where they turn out the lights,
And I get scaaaaaared!"

The kids really had a great time, but by the time we got to the bottom of the trail, they all said they didn't ever want to go back. They were too tired to ever do it again.
Hmmmmm.
Maybe it will be a little bit like having a baby. All the pregnancy and delivery difficulty recedes from memory and you are left with only the thoughts of cute little baby hands and feet and cute little smiles.

I would like to make this a tradition. Hopefully memories of the trail's difficulty will recede and they will remember only these things:


No family adventure would be complete without Annika making some special friends along the way. On this trip she chatted up the rangers who were on the tour, and told the guide that she wanted to be a ranger like him when she grew up. He melted.
At the end the ranger on the right gave her a special sticker that said she helped protect the cave and the ranger on the left let her wear his hat for this photo. She was pretty excited.

It was a great chance to get out and let the kids experience something that I did when I was little.
Although we were pretty sore the next day, I think they had a lot of fun. Hopefully I can talk them into it next year.

Dancing Again

We started dance again this week. Adrienne was so excited; she had her dance clothes on two and a half hours before class started. She made sure she a cute bow in her hair so her teacher, Miss LouAnn would think she looks pretty.

Yep, she's a girly girl. Love it.

I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of Annika because of that whole running off to give Burke some keys so he could get home. (See post below). But Annika looked just a cute as this little munchkin.

Meeting Challenges

Remember that post with the organization issue?
Well..
I've been busy.

Cleaned out and organized my kitchen cabinets.
Got my fabric for Enrichment projects next week.
Cleaned, then cubed, shredded, or baked and then froze 40 lbs of chicken.
Delivered packets to inactive primary children (plus some who are active).
Balanced my checkbook, paid the bills, and found out the medical procedure that would prevent Burke having to endure what his dad did was fully paid by our insurance. (A very nice surprise indeed-- we were going to have to pay a cartload for it).

All in all, a great couple of days.

Except, I still haven't gotten a planner.

Gotta write that down somewhere...

Challenges

I have um....Challenges.
I have decided it is time I face them and try to overcome them.
Starting with...
Organization and discipline.
I figure if it blog it, it will come.
(or at least I will have it in full view of the world, reminding me that everyone knows and I need to get to work).

First, I need a planner.
Yep.
I cannot cram it all into my brain and remember stuff like I used to (forgot another appointment yesterday).
Going to get a planner today.

Next, I need to plan and organize stuff.
Right.
Like when I am going to get the chores done, when I am going to work on Primary stuff (program, argh!), and when I am going to be running people hither and thither, including Burke.

I think that is all I can do for now.

Maybe I should get one for Burke.
I had to leave Annika at dance yesterday to run some car keys up to the highway overpass where Burke locked himself out of the car on his way home from work.

The Golden Hour

It is that special hour I just acquired in August.

I get it twice a week.

It is when all of my kids are out of the house, and I'm here alone.

Wondering what to do with my "golden hour".

Do I clean the kitchen or bathroom?

Do I sort, wash, and fold laundry?

Do I get dinner made?

Do I get Sharing Time ready?

Pay the bills, go to the grocery store, or vacuum?

----Or----

Do I take a nice long shower?

Sit down with a book I have been wanting to read?

Get my hair cut?

Take a nap?

Read the newspaper?

(Relaxing Sigh)

I guess I will blog...

then do the laundry,

then do my Sharing Time.

Then I get to play with my baby for the rest of the afternoon.

I am really loving this stage in life!

A Well Child

I had to take Adrienne in for her well child visit. It went great until the vaccines.

She tried so hard to be brave, but there was a little yelling.

When it was all over and I was giving her a hug, I congratulated her on how brave she was. She looked disgusted and said, "But mom, I yelled--loud."

Then she told me she couldn't wait to show the kids at preschool her band-aids and tell them how loud she yelled.

Found the silver lining...