Remember

I find myself trying to account for the last 3 months (months since my last post-shameful!).  I am tempted to sweep it out my backdoor like this morning's breakfast crumbs, but I am sure something blog worthy has happened.  I just can't recall, which sadly leads me to conclude that my writer "eye" is sadly fading.  I am no longer seeing things as a great story to tell. 

The other night I was remembering a small town I lived in during the 1rst and 2nd grade.  It seemed so magical as a child.  We lived in a new subdivision situtated on lots of open acres for playing and roaming.  I road my bike down what seemed to me at the time a giant highway to my piano teachers house.  We dressed up in our Sunday best on Tuesdays and walked to primary after school let out.  We bought penny candy at the Merrill store and ran barefoot down gravel roads.   As a young adult I once detoured off the freeway on my way back to college to visit this childhood community.  I was so sad to discover that it was practically a ghost town.  It was as if it had died when I left and nothing was ever the same.  I looked for anything familar and it seemed that nothing was even remotely the same.  I often long for things to be familar and to stay the same.

Is this what happens when we don't tell our stories and keep them alive.  It must be a reflection of my own personal weakness of being resistant to change.  I long for things to stay the same, or as I remember them.  I am afraid things are never a good as we remember them anyway.  What a terrible thing to not be able to remember the good things.  The sad truth is that things do change and all we have is our ability to remember and learn or have hope for better things. 

Long Winter

It has been a long winter in many ways.  We are grateful Santa wisely brought Patch the cat to Austin.  Patch has reluctantly agreed to be Lydia's source of winter entertainment.   We are ready for the snow to melt, by we I mean me and Patch.  That will signal a little break for both of us when everyone can go outside and play for a change.

Books I love-Little Britches

Recently I became enamored with everything ever written by Ralph Moody.  It all started when I made the decision to home school my kiddos.  I have been exploring the never ending option of how to accomplish this.  I have covered the entire gamut of stereotypical strange home school children to "is that really legal" to almost perfect fit for us.  I am still settling on what is best for me and my family, but I did have a brief love affair with Thomas Jefferson Education.  It is a very interesting theory based on teaching from the classics.  I love good book recommendations and to this point have never focused on the "classics."  Little Britches is one of the recommendations for family reading.  Ralph Moody, the author, based this story on his life story.  He leaves the "city life" when he was young and moves west with his family to a ranch.  I loved everything about this story.  I felt like I was a part of the family and I longed to know more about them.  Lucky for me there are about ten books illustrating different phases of Ralph's childhood set against the great American backdrop in the late 1800s and 1900s.  I can't put a finger on what is so fantastic about these books.  Maybe it is just the honesty of their lives.  They worked hard and suffered, but they believed in God and they believed in their family.  They were happy in good times and bad.  It is so inspiring to read later books and see the fruits of a child raised with honesty and integrity.  I can't wait until my kids are old enough to read it again with me. 

Brussel Sprouts and Sunshine

Today we waited for morning to come.  It never did it seemed, so we stayed in our jammies until we had to leave the house.  We all stumbled around in a daze.  Where did the sunshine go?  It is our clock.  It tells us when to wake up, when to eat, when to drink, when to nap, and when its bedtime.  Today it did not come and we were left to our own devices to manage our day.  We did not do so well. 

I cooked Brussel Sprouts for dinner.  They were part of my Bountiful Basket last week.  I refuse to let them go bad just because I don't know anyone who even eats Brussel Sprouts.  I searched out a recipe that appeared to bring out the best qualities in these little Green gremlins.  Something interesting occurred.  As they sauteed in a hot bath of olive oil they became very shiny and brilliantly green.  I found myself smiling.  It was the same kind of smile when I first greet the morning sunshine.  Seems so strange that these strange and smelly little veggies could bring sunshine to my day. 

Ode to Autumn

Okay, this is really not an Ode per say, but more of a bunch of pictures to illustrate autumn around our house.  We love it all! By the time Halloween (not my favorite holiday) arrives we really just get it over with, recover from the sugar coma and get on to the business of preparing for birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  Here it is...

Austin learning to mow the lawn for the last mow of the season.

Rider and Lydia's Mommy School field trip to the Pumpkin patch.





Proof that the Princess was at the Leaf pile making party--IN THE CAR with her warm Daddy.





Our "After Potato Harvest" family trip to my favorite place Logan Utah.  My first visit in 12 years!  Wow a lot has changed.  It was so great to be there and I kept looking around every corner as if my old friends my pop out at any time.



My kids are certainly in the background of several poor brides trying to get shots on the temple grounds.



Captain America and his loot. 



Every day is Halloween around here.  Captain Underpants!

Hulk Smash and Hello Kitty ready for trick or treating.

Princess insists that Daddy paints her nails best.  We tried out the Pinterest suggestion to spray Pam spray to dry the nails and IT WORKS!

Springtime at the 1/2 acre

Yesterday we fired up the Orange Dream Machine and took a fun family outing the Pacific Steel and Recycing. What a place!  I have to tell you I had no idea such an adventure existed right in my very own city. 

I just realized after a quick review of my posts I have not really introduced you to "Orangie".  Once upon a time my husband came home very excited to tell me all about this steal of a deal he found. The county was having an auction of their older vehicles and it was our lucky day.  He put in a bid of $220 on a bright orange Oldsmobile pickup with a Bonneville County Landfill sign on the door.  He didn't feel a bit deterred by the two flat tires and the broken out drives window--easy fixes!  I will never forget the day he came home to tell me he received the winning phone call telling him to pick up his new prize.  I wouldn't be honest if I said I was happy for him.  I really didn't think he would win.  He brought it home and parked it proudly on the street to the side of our lot.  The county had graciously removed the sign from the door, but apparently didn't have time for a "proper detailen," as Mator would say.  I did my best with Clorox wipes and really just stepped aside as he tried to vacuum up, chip out, sweep, etc. dirt.   A  quick trip to the recycling place is a bit of a dream or maybe a threat of what is to come if Orangie doesn't behave himself. 

We earned a few bucks for the stuff we hauled to the recycling place--enough for drinks all around at the gas station.  Then it was back home to clean out the garage and clean out the garden.  Rider and Lydia were in heaven.  Our grand finale was a trip to the landfill since I had forgot to put our garbage out during the week. 

I think I just needed to write this to document how far I have come, or how much I have changed, or maybe how I have lowered my standards.  I am still a devout germ-a-phobe, but I really had a fun day with my little family.  Orangie has turned out to be a great adventure wagon in our lives.

From the Outstide Looking In

We live on the corner, a busy corner, to be exact.  There are many houses in the subdivision that I can go months maybe even years without ever passing by. We just happen to be near one of the three exits to our subdivision and therefore our house is passed by more frequently than some houses.  No big deal, right.  Most times the answer is yes, no big deal.  The great things about our corner are the neighbors surrounding us.  There is someone for each of our kids to play with on all sides it seems.  Summers are terrific.  Our yard has been affectionately nicknamed "Petersen Park." We don't have a fence, so the kids come and go to the swings and swimming pools freely.  Summer evenings the adults wander back and forth across the street relaxing sometimes in lawn chairs set up in driveways to keep a careful eye on kids riding bikes and trikes.  It has been a huge blessing for our family.  We wouldn't have it any other way. 

I remember about two years ago at the end of summer, well really more the beginning of fall, I was feeling very bogged down with morning sickness and caring for a toddler and kindergartner.  My husband was working in the potato harvest and for some reason at that point in our marriage it still seemed like the end of the world when he was gone for those 2 weeks.  I was changing a really nasty diaper and cursing under my breath about having to get down on the floor for the hundredth time and also having to smell the awful smell magnified by my morning sickness. For some reason my boys were not playing outside like always.  There were inside driving me nuts.  My phone rang and I waddled to find it thinking it was my husband making sure I was still alive.  It was one of my neighbors.  She wondered if everything was okay and if she needed to send her husband over.  I was still wallowing in self-pity over my current situation and assumed she meant "you poor pregnant mommy of two young boys while their daddy is away."  I think I even launched into a whole spill about "Ya, I am fine.  I am just so sick, bla bla bla."  There was a bit of silence on the other end.  I felt embarrassed about going on and on.  Then my neighbor asked if I had looked outside.  I quickly opened the front door to see 3 police cruisers with what seemed like 7-10 teenagers handcuffed in strategic positions around my yard.  Then I looked out my back window to see even more police vehicles and three teenagers on my back step being handcuffed.  Seeing the look of horror on my face a kind, but a little impatient deputy quickly came to me to give me the run down.  Basically an after school fight had been scheduled in the church parking lot that borders our back yard.  The fight spilled over into our yard and bla bla bla they would be out of there as quickly as they could.  I shut the door and mumbled to my neighbor on the phone something crazy and said I would call back.  I quickly called my husband in hysterics and told him he better come home immediately because it was a scene from Cops in our yard. 

This is a long one.  I apologize.  It is my therapy--give me a break.

We stayed in our jammies this morning.  Everyone has different degrees of a cold or the flu.  It is a dreary February day.  The kitchen sink overfloweth and I haven't even put a bra on.  One of THOSE days.  The doorbell rang this morning and Rider raced to open it before I could give him the "don't you dare open that door" eye.  I had no choice but to answer the door in all my glory.  There was a nice little Bonneville County Deputy.  I knew immediately the purpose of his visit.  He was anxious to take care of business and be on his way.  He was just as embarrassed by my appearance as I was I am sure.  We have had an ongoing power struggle with an "anonymous" resident of our subdivision.  He is not happy that we park our vehicle on the side of our road.  Over a month ago a poor little deputy had to visit us over the same issue.  The truth is that we don't really have anywhere ideal to park it right now.  It isn't bothering anyone where it is currently parked except for this miserable human being.  He won't let up and he keeps sending these poor deputies to my door and quite frankly they are probably wondering if I ever get dressed.  We chatted and basically agreed that we are not doing anything wrong, but to keep this guy from driving everyone nuts we need to do something.  Again, a phone call went in immediately to the husband.  I reminded him that it is not in our family motto to be a neighborhood annoyance and something to the effect of take CARE OF IT NOW!  He laughed and said I should write about it on my blog and maybe I would feel better.  I hung up. 

Then the final straw.  My neighbor who I love and quite frankly during the summer I am happier because we talk on a daily basis while out children run wild.  She knocked on my door to "see if I was okay" because "I heard there were police cars at your house."  My friend from a neighboring subdivision noticed through the field that separates our subdivisions that their was a  police car at our home.  She called the relief society president who then called my poor friend to go immediately to my home to make sure all was well at our home.  Again, I was answering my door in all my glory.  It has not been an ideal day, but I am happy once again for our strategic position in this neighborhood.  We are loved and watch over even if we are the neighbors with the ugly truck parked on the road. Did I ever write about the ugly truck?  That is a story that needs to be told.  I better do a little research and make sure I haven't already ranted about the truck.  I am just waiting to see or hear from more neighbors passing by in cars or who talked to so and so and is everything okay.  I better just go put on a bra.

***  This was written completely for therapy purposes.  I didn't even read through it!  Keep that in mind.