Twain's Tales

Trevor wanted to take a drama class really bad this year at school. Grant and I were not excited about it, but eventually he talked us into it. And I am so glad he did. Trevor has blossomed this year. Yes, I think he is feeling better, but I also think his school and the drama class has helped him immensely. All of the sudden people can hear him when he talks and he is much more animated in what he says.
Tonight was his play. It was a compilation of a few of Mark Twain's stories that he wrote. In the play, Trevor was Commodore Vanderbilt and Huck Finn (and he also got to hold the signs--something he told me in confidence---shhhh don't tell---that he was chosen because the teacher thought he was cute). When he played Huck Finn, I was blown away by his southern drawl. And he commanded the stage when he played Commodore Vanderbilt. It was a cute play. And Trevor was one cute kid in it.

Later that night...

We took the trailer home and got our work done around the house. Gina and DeWayne invited some people over to the property for dinner. So we went back over and joined in the fun. (The cows were not present.) We got to play football, and catch with the baseball. We took a frantic walk over to the pond because I couldn't find Lydia. (Turns out, she ran down to Gina and DeWayne's house to fee the chickens.) We ate an amazing meal, and visited with amazing people. The kids had fun, but we called it a night a little early because Grant's allergies were killing him.

Us VS The Cows

Yesterday was Grant's Birthday. We decided at the last minute to take the kids camping over at the property. We loaded everything up, and headed out. We had an enjoyable evening.

Grant brought his newly acquired *free* bathtub, err, I mean boat. Trevor and Grant woke up early to take the boat down to the lake to go fishing. About a half hour after Grant and Trevor left, all of the sudden Raider started barking. I heard a plane overhead, and told him to go back to sleep. The last thing that I wanted was for everybody to be awake at 5:45 in the morning. But Raider would not be calmed. Then all of the sudden I hear this loud sniffing around the trailer. Very loud sniffing. Ben immediately sat up, and all I could think of is how we left a wet diaper outside last night. Did I tell you that this trailer has no windows??? Ben and I just about decided that there was a bear outside. And then it started hitting the trailer. Raider was now hiding under the cots. So here we are out in the middle of nowhere with no other place to go except a port-a-potty. We don't have a car, there are no houses nearby, and there is very little cell phone reception. And we have this very large animal outside the trailer, sniffing it and hitting it.

Then the sniffing increases. The hitting of the trailer increases and then I hear--mooing. I swear there were 100 cows surrounding us, but I have no way of knowing---we don't have any windows. It was so loud with the sniffing, and the hitting of the trailer. It sounded like we were in a hurricane. They eventually left after we started making a lot of noise.

Ben and Raider "looking" for cows

About an hour later we took a walk down to the pond (Ben scouted the area out to make sure there were no viscous cows lurking around).

No sooner than we got around the pond one time, a cow started making its way towards us.

So we started briskly walking back to the trailer. We almost got there, and then there were 3 cows standing in the road blocking our way.

 I tried shooing them away, but then it was like they called in their reinforcements and suddenly there were about 20 cows lining up along the road completely blocking us from the trailer. {I'm not taking pictures any more at this point. This picture above makes the cows look way smaller than they actually were, and it also makes it look like Raider is staring them down. No, he is a fraidy-cat. We got him because of a bear around our house, and we wanted a tough dog who could hold his own and protect the kids, but also was nice. In this case I think I learned he is WAY nice, and not too tough.} We tried shooing them and everything, and after a bit just decided to walk down to Gina and DeWayne's house for refuge. We waited there until Grant and Trevor got back---a few hours later.

The cows won.

"I'm a Fine Musician"

There is a great family in our ward. He is the Bishop of our ward, and his wife, Jenna, is just about as amazing as they come. She is one person that I look up to and admire, and want to be like when I grow up. When I heard that their family was going to be moving out of the state, I immediately started to cry. 1) I was sad because she is a person that I just love to be in the presence of; I love to learn from her words and spirit, and I appreciate her wisdom in life....and that was going away. 2) I knew that since her husband was going to be released from being the Bishop that Grant would be called (called is what we say in the church about our responsibilities that we have---so we say we have this "calling" or that "calling"- another word that would describe it is assigned) to help replace him.

Well, Jenna is Karmin's piano teacher. I look forward to the Mondays when I don't have errands to run, and I can just sit in her home and see how she talks to Karmin and how she handles life. The biggest thing was when Karmin would find a hard song, Jenna would just tell her that she can do hard things, and that we all love to do hard things. Karmin at first would look at her like she had lost her mind, but after a bit she started to accept that, yes, she can do hard things and it is fun to do hard things. Jenna would tell Karmin that she would go home and play and work hard, and then by the end of the week it would be her favorite thing to do. She was usually right.

Jenna had a piano recital for the kids before she had to move. This time I got to go, and I couldn't have been prouder. Karmin played two songs, "I'm a Fine Musician" and "Silly Fish." I think I will forever have those songs memorized! Karmin actually played better when she would sing along to the song, and she even is able to dance to the songs that she plays. (Karmin and Jenna would often bop to the songs as they played.)

I will miss Mondays. I will miss Jenna. And I was right, Grant was called as the 2nd Counselor to the new Bishop in our ward.

Knock, Knock

Piper has found a new hobby--catching frogs. The kids have found that the best possible place to find frogs is in sprinkler boxes. Piper has followed suit, and has enjoyed trying to find them. This was her first one:

The poor thing will be lucky if it makes it through the night! She LOVES it so much. I told her that he needed to take a nap and go rest in his house because she kept putting him on the sidewalk and pushing on him and telling him to jump.

For the last couple of days, she has gone out to the sprinkler boxes, and has been unable to find any frogs. So she then calls on Papa for help. She will go over to their door and ring the doorbell. And then she will say in the sweetest voice that she has lost her frog, and could he help her please to find it. And who can resist this sweet face?

Can't deny this

Karmin and Lydia don't look a lot alike, but you can't deny they are sisters!

Where's Piper?

I came home tonight and couldn't find Piper in her bed. I started looking around the house, and when I went to the boys' room I heard 3 people breathing. But it still took me a minute to find her. I guess I didn't think to look in the laundry basket. Silly me.
Her laundry basket bed was located right next to Trevor who was asleep on the floor next to Ben's bed. Sometimes I wonder why we have beds when our kids sleep everywhere but their own beds.

The Pleasantest Thing Ever a Child Can Do

That title, just in case you were wondering, is from the very first poem I ever memorized. It was written by Robert Louis Stevenson and is entitled, "The Swing." I thank my grandparents for always giving me good books to read while growing up--this poem was in one of them.

Well, back to today...my kids apparently found an old tire. And what better thing to do with a tire than make a swing with it. So they did. And had so much fun. They spent every extra minute out there today.

Dance to the Music

Karmin's piano teacher is going to be moving soon, so today was her last lesson. I had to get a picture of these 2. Their personalities are perfect for each other. Jenna is boisterous and happy. Karmin is happy and talkative.
At home I would notice that after each practice book Karmin would finish, she would toss it across the room. I thought this was a very random behavior because we don't just toss books at home, but I chose not to say anything. Then one week when I was at her practice I noticed that Jenna tossed the books behind them when they were done--just like Karmin would do at home. When they play duets together, they both bounce on the piano bench. They just dance together. Jenna has been the best and we will miss her.
I will miss her for more reasons than just Karmin's piano teacher. She is one of the top people that I want to be like. I feel uplifted and strengthened being around her. She has so much wisdom and is just a good person.

Notice those pink books--nowhere close to where they are

The Property

We decided to go over and see what the boy scouts had done over at the property today. It looks beautiful! It will be fun to spend time there this summer. Piper and I were met with a whole herd of cows. I think the older kids scared them over our way, and then they saw more people and thought it was dinner time. The only thing I kept thinking about as all these cows came racing towards us was "The Lion King" and the stampede. I was certain that we would be the first case of being trampled by cows in the US, but I did some research on this subject and did you know that 22 people die each year from cows? When I was telling everyone about it, I was half-laughing because it is funny, but most of me was still shaking in my boots.

Seriously dangerous animals--they kill more people than sharks

Miss Karmin wanted nothing more than to take one home

Down on the Farm

Every year my cute cousins raise steer and then sell them at a junior livestock show. I took the girls down to see their steer (we missed my cute cousins) and the other animals. However, they were at first more excited about the dandelions (aka Wishers) than anything else. It took some doing to actually get through the gates and past all those big beautiful Wishers.

But once we did, then they were in heaven. We saw the cows first and we *they* just talked about how much fun it would be to have our own pet cow. And why can't we have a pet cow? They will build a house for it. And they'll feed it everyday. And even ride them. 

Then we made the mistake of going into the auction barn. Because then for the next several hours it was all about "Why would anybody sell their pets?" And "If I had a pet, I would never sell it." 

"If I had an animal that wasn't a pet, I would keep it...and ride it."

 "Why do they want money?"

Then we saw the goats. And then the questions were: "Can we have a goat?" 

"Wouldn't it be fun to have just one goat?"

 "You know what would be fun, mom? To have a boy goat and a girl goat, and then they could get married, and then we could have another goat." 

Then we saw the pigs:

And the conversation was: "Do you think we could get a horse?" 

"I would ride a horse all the time." 

"Can we get a pet cow?" 

14 years

Grant and I have been married for 14 years. I love being married to this man. Even through this last year....we've been through a lot in the last year(ish)....marriage has been amazing. A child hospitalized and diagnosed with a chronic disease, 3 other surgeries, a lot of hours at work, a miscarriage, and an MBA--I wouldn't have survived any of it without him. Really, I am at a loss of words to describe how perfect marriage is. He is perfect. He listens when I need an ear. He gives advice when I need a counselor. He is an amazing dad. He is my handy-man. He is my IT guy. He is our resident doctor. He is my Prince Charming. And I love him.

Recital Time

Grant and I pretty much forced our boys to take a piano class at school this semester. They were not pleased at first, but it turns out it wasn't all that bad. Trevor doesn't mind it, and does well with it. I think he will learn enough that he will be able to sit and play a hymn at church if needed. Ben, it seems, probably will follow in Grant's footsteps. It has turned into his catharsis. He will just sit down between different subjects during the day and play. It seems like when he just needs to clear his head and step away for a minute, he'll play. And he doesn't necessarily read music. He plays by ear and figures things out. Right now he is learning to play one of the songs in the hobbit. I love it. I love hearing the kids play all throughout the day. I love that we have a piano at one end of the house, and a keyboard at the other end of the house---and sometimes both are going.
Tonight, we had the boys' recital at school. Our boys are probably one of the lucky students because they can go home and practice. It showed. They rocked it! Ben played 2 songs---one of which was the theme song to Charlie Brown, and he had people whistling during it. They played with feeling and with confidence, so they weren't quiet about it at all. I was so proud of them!

These are the pictures of the boys introducing their songs. I didn't take pictures of them playing because I was taking video. Ben wanted me to include that another class was doing a play that night as well and that is why there is a troll bridge right behind his head!

To Save A Turkey

Trevor and Karmin were outside the other day hitting golf balls. They lost one golf ball over "the edge." The edge is where we throw all of our weeds, and as we have had trees trimmed and taken out that is where they go as well. Karmin went over the edge to look for a golf ball, and in turn found a turkey. How she found it I will never know--it is so camouflaged under a few trees! After checking on it a few times, we decided that it was nesting there. It was great that she found it because they were taking down a cement gate that is on our property and it was going to go over the edge one hour later, and would have crushed "Turkle" as she is affectionately named around here.

The bird has become quite the fascination for us.
Last week I was sitting outside talking to Grant's mom, and all of the sudden it flew off (it was one of those rare moments that it was quiet outside so I think she thought she was safe to leave her eggs and go eat). So we went over and looked at her nest and saw that she has 14 eggs! From doing some research they sit on their eggs for about 28 days, and then once the babies hatch, they all leave the nest within 12 hours. I hope that we get to see the babies leave, but chances are pretty slim. (The mother turkey came back about 10 minutes after she left.)

Blast Off!

Today we had Grant's sister and her kids over, and while my kids were finishing up with their school work, one of the cousins apparently built a rocket and set it off in the boys' room. The whole room immediately filled with smoke. Through the course of events, the security people called a couple of times, they alerted the fire department, and so then the fire department called a couple more times. It was very amusing. I took comfort in the fact that it was not my child who set it off. But just FYI--a rocket will get stuck in the ceiling if it goes off indoors.

Happy Mother's Day

Liddy-Pie gave me an early Mother's Day gift because she just couldn't wait any longer. She gave me a sweet book that she made, and a card with a picture of her. And also in the basket was a half-eaten candy bar. Yum!

Adding Glamour to our Camping

The first week that we had the trailer we camped in the driveway. And froze. It was, however, very comfortable. We were nice and cozy, but cold. Unfortunately, we were wall to wall people and Ben wasn't even with us. He had a scout campout. We knew that we needed to figure something out before the next weekend to fit everybody in. We had been looking at different options for a while because we knew this was going to be a problem, and have some future "renovations" in the works. But for this week, we got some bunkbed cots...that actually can turn in to a couch as well. So this week (we still had to camp in the driveway because Ben had to be at scouts early in the morning), but we camped in style. The kids fit nice on either side, Raider in the middle, and Grant, Piper and me on the other end. And it was a lot warmer this week!

Home

Lydia is in heaven! Her favorite person in the whole world came home from his mission. MaKade was serving in the Ukraine, and with all the unrest, they sent him home a few weeks early. We got to go over and visit with him tonight, and Lydia brought some pictures to him that she has colored for him recently. My favorite was the one where Lydia and "Keys" were standing under a rainbow on a date. She cracks me up.