What will the New Year Bring?

December has been a little rough on me. (I swear I didn't pray for patience or anything.) On the first day of December I was trying to put some more bedding in the chicken's new abode. On my way back to put it away in the shed, I fell through down into our root cellar.

It was an odd experiance for me, one minute I was throwing the pine shavings in the shed, and the next I was standing directly below where I was. We don't use the cellar yet because the ladder is unsafe. So there I was stuck in a hole.  As luck would have it, I had my cell phone so I called the house and had the kids bring me a flashlight. It was around 4 pm and quite dark in the cellar.

  The pictures are not very good, but technically I was a damsel in distress so don't ask for better quality pics. It's hard to see, but that is a sledge hammer right over my head. It is held in place by a pitch fork that had become wedged as the flooring gave way. Needless to say I was in a precarious situation, made more so by the ever increasing "help" of my children. I finally convinced them that they would be the most helpful if they stood away from the doorway.
  I called Daniel to the rescue and began throwing out the various pieces of wood and miscellany that fell with me. Luckily He didn't take too long. I was only down there about and hour, which is good. Daniel cleared the debris and dropped me a ladder. Only upon exiting my hovel did I experience any pain. I was black and blue for most of the month. (I still have some lingering bruises.) So I went inside and made dinner. Cuz that's what you do right? I sat on the couch surrounded by ice for a while and chalked it up to a freak accident.
  A few days latter I was making dinner and ran to the bathroom, when I came out, the fire alarm was going off and the house was full of black smoke. There is still some smudges on the ceiling. I aired out the house with the help of the kids and addressed the damage. Yuck! Dinner went fine though. I may have to replace my turnabout and a pan....
  Anyhoo, then Devon decided to crack his head open. We needed a hospital trip at least one more time! He was jumping on the boxes of Christmas decorations, (yes, I just got rid of my Halloween decor, Priorities)  The box slipped out from under him and down he went on the hearth. Daniel and I packed everyone up and off to the emergency room we went. It was a rather quiet day there so he was seen to rather quickly. He was a champ and only cried when they put the staples in. After a Popsicle he was right as rain. Here's another poor pic, he is hard to get sitting still. Those shiny parts on the right are his staples.

  It hasn't been all bad though, I got to celebrate my birthday with the Relief Society. We had a RS Christmas evening on my birthday so I brought a cake. It was a fun evening. Everyone sang to me. There are two other ladies with the same birthday, but they couldn't attend. Later we celebrated Devon's birthday. We are all odds now. Emily is our odd one out. She has an odd year, the rest of us are evens. Grandma Bartholomew  made the boys pillowcases, they love them.
  Devon chose his cake out of 4 different choices, and then helped me make it. He chose to have the heart shaped pan. I frosted it in his favorite color.
 More smoke...
  I got a Groupon for a tree experience. We got lost in Oregon following our GPS. I was having a ball, but Daniel didn't like it I'm afraid. It was raining buckets and very slick out. We went over a lovely bridge.

  And then wound up and up and up a mountain to this little tree farm. It was ever so cute. We searched about a bit for the perfect tree and Lizzy picked a wreath and we all had cocoa.

  I had to remove my glasses, it was raining so hard I couldn't see with them on. Just then Devon made a break for it. I was stumbling around searching for a glimpse of orange. He had found their dog and was chasing it. So I was chasing him. I invoked the help of another family and soon caught him.  Here the kids are decorating.

  And then it was on to Christmas.We stayed home this year and it was very low key. Daniel made us Monkey bread for breakfast. It was super yummy.

The kids had fun opening their presents. It was a nice day.

I'll leave you on a happy note...

Happy Holidays!

Charles asked for a strawberry cake for his 5th birthday. This was what I came up with, 
He helped me make it which is starting to become the tradition. We had a nice quiet birthday at home. Here's the plane Lizzy designed and sewed for him. It is affectionately known as the "Duck plane."

All he really wanted was to play with his cousins. Luckily we usually get together around his birthday. We had a wonderful time celebrating with the Martins for Thanksgiving.

It was a nice break and Charles got to celebrate his birthday with Junon and Sean. He'd been asking to have them come over to do his pinata for weeks.We played in the park and caught up on each other's lives. It was a great weekend. We had sushi again and the girls are getting really good at rolling them Rex has taught them well! Here's Jessica preparing the rice.

Twins

A few weeks ago Lizzy decided to pick and outfit for Emily that matched her own. They were so cute together that I had to share.


It's just pure luck that they had matching outfits. I had the baby one from when Lizzy was a baby and Lizzy's dress was a hand me down from her cousins. Serendipitous indeed.

This is Halloween!

So Halloween was a little overshadowed this month because we had stake conference on the same weekend. I felt like I had way too much to do. Anyway, the costumes were pretty easy all told. I only had to make Charles Prince Charming costume and Lizzy wore her Elsa costume from a friend's birthday party a few months back. I was going to put Devon in a Darth Vader outfit I got from Jessica, but at the last minute couldn't find it! Mommy Fail! He was content wearing Charles' knight costume instead. They had fun trick or treating our street with the neighbors. It's become a bit of a tradition now. We always seem to go out at the same time. It makes it fun.  Unfortunately it was poring rain so we didn't go for long. After coming home, we watched The 'Burbs, which in my opinion is a classic Halloween movie that doesn't get the attention it deserves.

 

Pumpkin Carving

We came home from Pomeroy armed with four pumpkins. Emily was given one free because it was her first visit to the farm. As part of our family home evening yesterday, we carved them up. The kids drew the faces and Daniel and I helped them carve them. It was messy fun.

Happy Halloween!

Pomeroy Farms

Following tradition we took the kiddos to Pomeroy Farms pumpkin patch. I love supporting a family run business; they seek to remind the present of the past, by highlighting their own family's history.  I love that.  This year they added a fun hay maze that the kids loved.

Mourning a Friend

  I lost a great friend this week. My emotions have been so raw lately that I have not been able to express my feelings. I have known Michelle for the past fifteen years and just visited with her at a friend’s baby shower last month. She is an amazing person who’s smile brightened the whole room. She was always ready with a quick laugh, hug or kind word. I think that is the most beautiful thing about Michelle, she always thought the best of everyone. I never heard an unkind word from her.

 A talented musician and photographer, she made people happy just to be around her. She had her share of trials and endured the loss of her first husband with grace and faith. Her faith in eternal families never faltered. There are many lovely tributes to this great person, here is her obituary There is also a gofundme set up for her family. I will miss her more than I can say. Till we meet again my friend, Thank you for the memories.

  

Berries and Thorns

  Recently I had two experiences with blackberries that got me thinking. The first event was unexpected, I was watering the thirsty flowers around my trees, when I was suddenly caught up in a tangle of blackberry canes. Since I had not planned to encounter blackberries, I was not prepared for the consequences. I was wearing shorts that left my legs exposed past the knee, and flip-flops, which offer minimal protection at the very least. The canes did their very best to ensnare me and in my rush to flee from their thorny embrace, my legs were badly scratched and began bleeding. I hobbled inside to address the damage. Both of my legs had 3 in. long scratches, deep enough to bleed for several minutes and left me hurt for days afterwards. I could not wear pants because the fabric would rub the newly formed scabs and rip them off. It was a painful reminder that danger was lurking in my seemingly benign back yard.
  The second event was when I was preparing a dessert for our sister missionaries who were attending dinner with us. I decided to try this new blackberry pie. I needed a few more berries, so I got prepared to go pick some. I had on long pants, long sleeves and my trusty tennis shoes. I was ready to go foraging. We are lucky enough to have a huge patch of blackberries right outside out back door. I like them there, unfortunately blackberry canes have a sneaky way of popping up in unwanted places if you aren't constantly on the watch for them. Daniel is battling them year round, but I digress. So I went out and carefully picked my way around the thorns and spiders in order to retrieve enough precious fruit for my luscious dessert.
  As I stood there picking each juicy orb with sticky purple fingers, I reflected on my last encounter and how different each experience was. My first experience was sudden and painful, this one was much more pleasant, even though I had to navigate through the dangers surrounding the fruit, I was enjoying the experience and I knew that my outcome would be far better and worth the occasional prick or stained finger. My end result would be glorious.
  I felt this was an analogy for purity. We are constantly surrounded by thorns that wait to catch us. They can catch us off guard and cause serious injury to our bodies and souls. Yet we have been warned of these various traps by our loving Heavenly Father through His servants, the prophets. We can be prepared for the thorns and bugs that surround us and put in the hard work to remain pure in an otherwise impure world. Then we can receive the blessings that come from our diligence. We can be prepared. And as it states in, Doctrine and Covenants 38:30 “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.”  

How's your morning?

                Charles erroneously went to school today. He doesn’t officially start until October, but I was notified by transportation that the bus was coming for him today. I dutifully got him ready and away he went. This left us a mere 5 minutes to get Lizzy out of the house to meet her bus. I picked out some clothes for Devon and gave him instructions to put them on. I secured Emily and then Lizzy and I went outside to meet the bus. Lizzy walks most of the way herself. I stay in the yard where I can see her and feed the chickens. A few minutes later Devon comes out holding his clothes and not wearing any pants. I inform him that this is not appropriate and instruct him to return to the house to dress.

                I resumed watering the garden, when he again returns in the same condition. I reiterate how he needs to be dressed to be outside. I think that he has listened and so I finish my tasks and head inside only to discover that he has thrown his clothes in the dirt and was using the hood of the car as his personal slide! I finally convince him to enter the house with me. I sent him in to clean himself since he was covered in dirt. It takes him another 20 miniutes dress himself. I checked on the bathroom to find it sprinkled with globs of soap. Devon tried to help me wipe it up. Fully clothed, we ventured to the grocery store and I realize that I can hardly see out of the windshield. I’m not sure what he smeared all over it, but it resembles soap. Our outing ended with a trip to the car wash which I think was his plan all along. This kid loves the car wash. We returned home in time to get Charles off the bus. He won’t be going on it again.

Two Months!

I am the worst at remembering dates, especially weeks. As in, how many weeks old my daughter is. I am much better with months. I like to think that I am more of a big picture gal, but it's mostly that the days all run together for me. But I digress.. Ah yes, Emily is officially two months old now! Some times I wonder how we got from here....

To here, all ready for her first appearance at church.

To here, doing tummy time.

To here, her blessing day.

To here, an outing in the park.

To here, looking pretty in pink.

Emily is such a content child. She loves to observe her siblings and is already a performer. At her 2 month check up she held her head up like a champ and then rolled over and even tried to take a few steps. Much to the shock of the doctor.  I don't foresee her slowing down anytime soon.

Pathway

We had our last Pathway meeting on July 27th and to celebrate, families were invited and we had a dessert potluck afterwards. It was bitter sweet, I have really enjoyed learning and being with this group of amazing students. I miss getting together with them every Thursday. 

Alderbrook Park

For a final summer fling a bunch of us went to Alderbrook Park. It's a private park about 30 min. from us that has it all. Fields for games and horse shoe pits, volleyball, a train, bouncy houses, a pirate ship, paddle boats, mini golf, a pool and play equipment. Lizzy's favorite part though, was the pink lemonade fountains.

We had a great time playing and I can't wait to go back. When Daniel took them over to the paddle boats Devon ripped off his shirt and I yelled, "Keep your shirt on!" I think that was the first time I said that and meant it literally.

Fun Stuff

The Martins came to visit and help with the "Harvest"as we call it. This year had been so warm though that most of our produce was already gone. Even the blackberries were mostly done. So we had some fun playing at Klineline Pond. I had been wanting to go down there for some time, and this was a great day to do it. It was topping 100 degrees, splashing was definitely needed.
It was a fun visit.

Growing Up

We noticed that the kids were almost equally spaced in height. It is amazing to realize just how fast they are growing up. September started bringing with it the first days of school. 
Charles will start next month as his school is being remodeled. We are excited to see what they learn this year.

After school we went to a friend's house for a Smart Cookie party. We brought cookies and played. It was fun and we're planing on making it an annual thing.

Blessings

We were privileged to have Emily blessed on August 2nd. It was fun having both sets of grand parents and the Martins over to help us celebrate.
 
Emily did great, I had to nurse her almost up until it was time for the blessing, but we made it! Her blessing was very sweet and I look forward to seeing her claim the blessings that have been pronounced upon her head.

Here are the brothers, looking so cute!