It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world

An End and A Beginning

2011-09-27T21:53:00.000-05:00

Since my dad, my mom, and my sister called today to tell me that I had fallen off the face of the earth and they were worried about me, I am finally getting my blog butt in gear and posting. I have messed up the template for this blog so much that I have decided that I may as well just start over. And since we have started over in the rest of our life--new state, new house, new vehicle, new school, new ward, new friends,etc. I am starting a new blog. So hop on over and follow me there.

It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world will stay here. But I am not going to fix it. So come see the new one.

Update

2011-09-07T21:05:00.000-05:00

I've been messing with my blog, as you can see. I messed it up (arrggghhh) and am still trying to fix it.
We found a house to rent, finally.
I have the kids halfway enrolled in school: 1 1/2 hours to fill out paperwork, 1 1/2 hours for the kids to take placement tests. Tomorrow I will meet with all three schools to sign each child up for classes (probably another 1 1/2 hours at each school for another 4 1/2 hours total).
Our household stuff, that has been in storage in Dallas for the last 5 weeks, will be delivered on Monday. YAY!!
Our life is about to be back to normal next week. Well, closer to normal anyway.

Seen while driving

2011-09-04T01:17:00.000-05:00

We did lots of driving this year. We've seen lots of interesting things too. While crossing New Mexico we came up on the Google Maps street view camera car. It was pretty cool. That would be a fun job to driving around America videoing everything.

Covert

2011-09-03T05:53:00.000-05:00

I got a new truck. YAY!!!! I started out looking at trucks way back in February after we traded my last vehicle in for Nate's new car. Then I thought that an SUV might be more practicle with four kids and friends. But, after searching for two weeks and being unable to find what we were looking for, I ended up getting this truck. And it's what I really wanted in the first place.

**Here in Kansas, you don't have license plates on the front of your vehicle. So lots of people put fun plates on the front. Usually their favorite sports team or college. Everyone here laughs when they see my front bumper. My truck is anything but covert. They don't know that it's CO-vert (the place I bought my truck, not co-VERT).

The Art of Legos

2011-09-02T05:05:00.000-05:00

While in Topeka, we went to the Mulvane Art Museum at Washburn University to see an exhibit that used Legos as the medium. We all love Legos. And it was fun to see what could be made with these little plastic blocks.

Hazel thought it was fun to either copy the pose of the piece or react to it. Cool mosaic.

I didn't notice that the figures in this piece created an eye if you stood in just the right spot until after I took the picture and saw it on my camera.

Afterwards there were Legos to play with. I think it was the kids favorite part.

My favorite toys

2011-09-01T05:00:00.001-05:00

We didn't bring much with us to Kansas besides clothes and computers. And since we aren't in a permanent place here yet, the kids haven't yet started school. So they are a little bored.

The only toys that they all enjoy playing with and don't get bored of are Legos.

Legos are also my favorite. So I decided to buy a couple basic building sets (we mostly have themed and specialized sets, so I wanted to get these anyway.)

They have been playing with these Legos for two weeks and everyday it is new. The only problem is that there aren't enough. So I may buy some more before we get into a house and get our stuff back. But I don't mind. I love Legos.

Good-bye to Texas

2011-08-31T11:36:00.002-05:00

Finally, it happened. We packed up. The truck was loaded. We locked the doors. And we moved away.

It has taken so long to get here. Part of me is still in denial. Our situation is still in temporary mode, so things aren't quite settled. But we got an offer on our house. And we have moved to a better temporary housing arrangement. So the kids have started seminary. We are still trying to find a house in the school boundaries that we want to be in, so they haven't started school yet. But we are looking, and looking, and looking.

We miss Texas. We miss our family and our friends that were also our family. It is always a bit hard to start over again. But it will all work out.

Moving Day

2011-08-04T06:07:00.000-05:00

The packers came today. They are good and fast. The whole house is almost done. Just a couple more rooms and the garage. It's a little strange to see our life boxed up.

You can also see our new counters and backsplash in the kitchen. (The things you do to sell a house!)

These are just the books from upstairs (25 boxes worth). There were 15 more downstairs! I think I have a book problem.

They were so nice when I had to ask them (two separate times) to reopen some of the boxes and unpack to find some documents I had forgotten to keep out. Some paperwork that was supposed to stay with the house. And all the birth certificates that I will need to register kids for school. Kind of important stuff. They were super nice about it.

They should be done a day ahead of schedule though. Then I can finally take a break.

Quiet time

2011-08-03T18:02:00.003-05:00

I needed something for Isaac to do last weekend to keep him occupied. So I had Hazel and Isaac sort my change. $160 worth. I've been collecting for awhile. I love change. . . it's like free money:) And it kept the two of them busy for two hours. Priceless.

My Young Men

2011-07-17T18:07:00.010-05:00

These are my two fabulous sons. We bought them suits this summer and I think they look quite handsome.

They are both nearly the same size despite a four year difference in age. And they are both almost as tall as I am.

All the priests in our ward wear suits, or at least a jacket, to bless the sacrament. Now Toby fits right in and looks so handsome.

A funny thing happened this morning when Isaac put on his suit. The pants were nearly too short! Apparently, in the three weeks since he was measured for his suit, he has grown. (Luckily, the tailor left some fabric in the hem, so I can let them out again.) Unfortunately, at this rate, I'll be lucky if his suit still fits at Christmas. But for now, he looks handsome and represents his priesthood well as he passes the sacrament at church.

I can't believe that they are growing up.

I love my little family.

AAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!

2011-07-11T17:56:00.002-05:00

This is what I feel like today. Just found out my AC upstairs went out. It's 87 degrees up there right now. Last week my water heater had to be replaced; it rusted out the bottom. I've replaced two broken windows (due to golf balls), painted everything (but I'm going to have to start doing touch ups now), super duper cleaned carpets (and will probably clean some of them again), planted flowers twice (drought isn't flower friendly), replaced broken kitchen faucet, the shower faucet upstairs is mostly broken (just trying to hobble through), and bunches of other smaller repairs. And my lawn is nearly dead because of the drought and water restrictions. People who see the house want granite countertops (it's hard to compete with the new house's upgrades in our neighborhood so we'll probably change them out so we can better compete). How much more money do I need to spend before I can get out of this house? And I still need a new car. Just feeling a bit frustrated.

Favorite Movies: List 1

2011-07-01T05:02:00.000-05:00

I love watching movies, all kinds of movies. Nate will watch a lot with me. But there are some genres that I will most likely watch even if no one else likes them. I just like to watch movies. So, this summer I'll be posting lists of some of my favorite movies in some of my favorite movie categories.

First category: Any movie with a horse in it:

Black Stallion,
Black Stallion Returns,

Flicka,
National Velvet,
Secretariat,
Horse Whisperer,
Sea Biscuit,
Phar Lap,
Lady Hawke,
The Horse in the Gray Flannnel Suit,
Danny,
Hidalgo,
Black Beauty,
Dreamers,

Man from Snowy River,
Return to Snowy River,

Touching Wild Horses,
Virginia's Run,
Long Shot,
Racing Stripes,
Derby Stallion,

Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken,
Flash,
Running Free,
Gus,
My Friend Flicka,
Thunderhead Son of Flicka

I'm sure there are lots more that I have watched that I don't recall at the moment. But I love myself a nice horse movie. I dream of having horses and stables one day. I don't think my golf course neighbors would appreciate horses in my backyard. So it will most likely be awhile. So for now, I get my horse fix watching movies and daydreaming.

Aspen Grove Family Camp

2011-06-27T15:51:00.000-05:00

We went to Aspen Grove Family Camp for Nate's family reunion this summer. It was so much fun. There were tons of activities for everyone. The weather was perfect and it was fun to hang with cousins and family.

There was rock climbing and dodgeball.

There was a really fun ropes course that we all did. Being so high on such a skinny cable was slightly nerve-wracking. But it was fun.

One night there were water games. I think everyone enjoyed playing this game with the giant blue ball: basically hot potato in the pool.

Each family stayed in these little cabins. There was lots of hiking and stairs involved the whole week.

There was still a lot of snow on Mt. Timpanogos. So we were unable to hike the peak. Instead, there were hikes to Stewart Falls and First Falls. Being from sea level, we got winded kind of quickly. But the kids were troopers.

One day the adults did paintball. I won the elimination round. But only because I had more ammo than anyone else and an awesome position in the fort. We have some nice bruises to show for our fun. It would definitely be fun to do again.

The kids swam in the (heated) pool everyday. It has super fun slides.

On family night, we participated in all these fun games. There was a potato sack race, a parachute,

steamroller,

there were these four person ski thingys, and then a contest where you had to fill a holey can with water. So Isaac and Alex got in (to lessen the amount of water we needed) and everyone else plugged the holes with their fingers. Then a couple other kids filled the can with buckets of very very cold water. Isaac and Alex were good sports.

There was a giant earth ball course on the hill.

The kids enjoyed making paper rockets and launching them with a compressed air launcher.

We also did arts and crafts, shuffleboard, mini golf, ping pong, horse shoes, geo caching and skits for FHE with the whole family, cheers and songs with the kids' age groups and their counselors, a music video with Aspen's group (which I am trying to get a copy of) and lots of other things I didn't get pictures of. It was a fun week. We really enjoyed our week up at Aspen Grove. We would go again in a heartbeat.

Nearly There

2011-06-27T05:29:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple as a family to do baptisms for the dead. Since we are so much closer to so many temples here in Utah, and Nate was here with us, and Isaac just turned 12, we took advantage of that and attended the temple together with Bryan and Cynthia (who has also recently turned 12).

The temple was beautiful, as always. And we enjoyed the peaceful feeling inside it. We were able to be baptized for 98 men and women. (Thanks for providing us with the names Aunt Joan).

It was an early day. But so beautiful (and bright) in the morning sun. Living so close to a temple would be such a blessing. We go as often as possible in Texas. But it was nice to be able to enjoy the nearness of the temple here. In 6 more years, we will be able to go to the temple with all of our children. Eternal families are such a great blessing. We are nearly there.

The Boys' Special Day

2011-06-26T05:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a special day for Toby and Isaac. Isaac turned 12, received the Aaronic priesthood and was ordained to the office of deacon. Toby turned 16 a couple days ago and he was ordained a priest.

We were glad to be here in Utah with some family to participate and celebrate with us.

We were glad to have Earl (Grandpa) Brunner, uncles Jeremy, Bryan, and Felipe, and my mom's bishop, Bishop Redding, to be here with us. Of course there were lots of cousins and aunts and grandmas as well.

I am so proud of my boys. They are growing up so fast and are becoming valiant young men of faith.

Roadtripping

2011-06-23T11:47:00.008-05:00

My kids have become professional road trippers. We have always done a lot of driving in our family. That's what happens when you live in the middle of nowhere I guess. We've done trips to Utah a lot. But also Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore, New York City, Niagara Falls, Washington DC, Southern California, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Colorado, Arizona, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kansas. Some years we have crossed the US two or three times.

This past month we have traveled more than 5000 miles. Here's that we've done so far:

400 miles Pflugerville to Mustang Island and back

626 miles Lawrence, KS to Nauvoo, IL and back to KS (Toby and Aspen at Youth Conference)

687 miles Lawrence, KS back to Texas

770 miles Pflugerville to South Padre Island and back

1310 miles Pflugerville to MN (the day after getting back from SPI) for Toby to go to Scout Camp at Boundary Waters

1259 miles Pflugerville to Aspen Grove Family Camp for a Brunner family reunion

That's a total of 5052 miles.

We'll log another 1300 miles to get back to Texas. That'll be 6300 miles.

The long miles are sometimes a bit daunting, especially since I do most of the driving by myself. But it is always worth the fun memories, being together, seeing new places, and visiting with all our family. There are still a lot of places on the list to visit. Maybe next year we'll get to some of the places we haven't been before. (Seattle, Chicago, Redwoods, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, most of the monuments and national parks in Utah).

Scout Camp

2011-06-23T11:29:00.003-05:00

Isaac got to go to scout camp for the first time this year and he loved it. He passed off 5 merit badges, got mostly done on a sixth, and has 2 more ready now too. There was a family night the last night that he actually wanted us to come to, so we did.

My favorite comments when I arrived to see him at camp: "I haven't showered for 5 days!" and "I didn't wear sunscreen (that I sent and made him promise to use) at all and I didn't get burned!" Well, thank heavens for that.

When I went to do the laundry from his backpack, all the extra clothes I had so carefully folded for him were still folded. At least he went swimming everyday and kind of rinsed off.

Ahh, the joys of having a 12 year old boy.

Out takes

2011-06-18T05:24:00.000-05:00

Taking pictures of the kids is always work. There are usually some threats and some bribes, and lots of cajoling. But the one picture that is nice is worth the 335 others. AHowever, the "outtakes" show lots of personality, so I usually keep them too.

Surviving Summer

2011-06-17T05:36:00.000-05:00

Summer is upon us with a vengeance: Hundred degree temps and rising humidity have us in the water everyday. We have spent time at the pool, in the sprinklers, and at the splash park. Then we eat watermelon and make slushie runs to Sonic during happy hour. It's a great summer so far.

I guess they didn't think I was serious

2011-06-16T07:29:00.002-05:00

...when I said, "The next person that eats out of the kitchen will be scrubbing floors."

I came home to three girls eating in Aspen's room.

Hopefully the lesson will stick this time.

S.P.I.

2011-06-09T09:39:00.018-05:00

We are on the beach again this week. We have been coming to South Padre Island for 10 years.
Our friends from home were here too. They have four boys, so Toby and Isaac had someone to hang with too.

Skimboarding, boogie boarding, catching sea critters, and feeding the seagulls.

And that was just day 1! There's more fun to come.

Mustang Island

2011-06-08T09:28:00.006-05:00

Last weekend we went to Mustang Island with some friends. It was a lot of fun. I only had Isaac and Hazel with me. (Nate and the other two were in Kansas for Youth Conference). But Isaac and Hazel had plenty of kids to hang out with.

I made matching skirts for all nine of the girls that came. It was fun to design different skirt styles for each girl. I still had more ideas, but ran out of fabric, girls, and time.

Hazel learned to boogie board.

Everyone got buried in the sand, caught shrimp and crabs, jumped in the waves and had a great time.

School's Out For the Summer

2011-06-04T08:41:00.004-05:00

These pics are from the last couple days of school. Hazel was sad to leave her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Higgins. (I've been called Mrs. Higgins by Hazel lately. Must mean she really loved her teacher.)

Hazel had some fabulous friends. Mrs. Higgins was quite successful at indoctrinating future Longhorns. Every kid, in every picture I took, was giving the horns for the camera.

And since the last day of school was Hazel's birthday, she brought cupcakes for her class to hand out at lunch. (I was running behind so I ended up buying cupcakes at the store and sticking a Blopop in each one. The lolipops were technically against school rules, but hey, it was the last day of school, and an early out day at that.)

I'm going to be truthful here: I am so glad that school is over. No more early bedtimes, early up times and lots more relaxing with my family. Life is good.

Hazel's Birthday

2011-06-03T15:21:00.005-05:00

We celebrated Hazel's birthday for more than a week. This year her birthday fell on the last day of school. Since that day was super busy we had her party the weekend before. We invited all her friends over for a water fight in the backyard.

We had a slip 'n slide, a couple little pools full of water bombs, some squirt bottles (better than guns cause they hold more and are easier for little kids. Toby, Isaac, and Dallin let the kids throw sponges at them. The kids thought that was awesome.

Then we tried to play egg toss with water balloons ( didn't work too well) so they just threw them around. And we played this game above. Try to fill up the bottle that the kids were holding in front of their faces. They took turns holding the bottle.

Eventually all the kids ended up in the sand box. It is fun having a mini beach in the back yard. Sand and water are a perfect summer activity.

Hazel wanted a cupcake cake (cupcakes frosted together as a whole). Because I ran out of time, I just bought one at the store. There was 3 inches of frosting on that thing. And it was the greasiest frosting. Not good at all. But the kids ate it. And Hazel liked it, so it was a hit.

Then, on Hazel's birthday, we were at award ceremonies, and pool parties, and a friend's court of honor. Nate came late on the day of her birthday, so we did presents and dinner the next day. Hazel chose Tokyo Steakhouse for lunch. She was upset that the chef prepared vegetables as part of her meal. She kept telling me that she didn't order those, just steak and white rice. It was a fun lunch though.

We love Hazel. She is so much fun. I just can't believe that my baby is 6!

Now that's a big treat!

2011-06-02T09:22:00.000-05:00

We found these giant rice krispie treats at the gas station down the street. It's huge. 2 pounds of marshmallowy goodness. We didn't buy them though. Who needs that?

Isaac and Scouts

2011-05-25T04:46:00.000-05:00

Isaac has a fabulous scout leader. He helped Isaac to advance 3 ranks in the last few months. A couple weeks ago Isaac received his Tenderfoot and Second Class ranks. In just a couple weeks he will earn his First Class rank. I have really appreciated the work his scouts leaders do in training my young man. Since these leaders have come in, Isaac has become excited about scouting and has learned a lot.

End of the year...finally

2011-05-24T08:34:00.004-05:00

With the end of the school year comes all the concerts.

Hazel participated in a dance camp over at the high school. They got to perform for the dance team's spring concert. Hazel danced to "Party in the USA". She was so excited and had so much fun! She did a fabulous job.

Aspen and Isaac had their spring band concerts last week. Aspen was in Wind Ensemble, the school's top band. She has really enjoyed playing the flute and they played well.

Isaac has been playing percussion in band. It's a good fit for him. He loves to move around and play different instruments for the band. He played the marimba, the bass drum, snare, and bells. His favorite was playing the vibraphone. At the band festival, the judges noted his skills particularly. He was very pleased. I'm happy he has found something that he enjoys. Their band played some fun numbers: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Inspector Gadget, Do-Re-Mi, and a piece that depicted a prehistoric dinosaur battle (it was very fun).

Hopefully, the will be able to participate in band in their new school next year. We'll see.

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T08:39:00.003-05:00

I love my Mom. She has taught me so much about how to be a good mother. She is an example of great faith. I am grateful for her in my life. Have a great day Mom.

Mighty Fine

2011-05-07T05:33:00.001-05:00

When Toby and Aspen were gone for the weekend at Youth Conference, Isaac, Hazel and I did some fun stuff on our own. We went to dinner at Mighty Fine.

There is a hand washer machine. Like a little car wash for your hands. Stick the in, the sprayers wash them with soap and rinse them. You dry them off. Then you get a sticker (kids will do anything for a sticker.)

Mighty Fine serves hamburgers, hotdogs, fries, shakes, and lemonade. That's it. And they are goooood.

It's one of our favorite places to eat. And we'll miss it.

Going on a Field Trip

2011-05-06T11:10:00.005-05:00

Hazel went on a field trip to a local farm/rescue/education zoo. So Toby and I went with her.

We went on a hay ride, learned about milking a cow, saw some native texas animals, and walked through a fairy garden.

I can't believe this is the last time I'll have a kindergartener, and that this is the last time I'll go to this farm (every one of my children have come here on a field trip). It is sad to see this time pass. Sometimes I just want to pause at parts and just enjoy these momennts with my kids. I'm excited for the new adventures that older kids bring. But I will miss and cherish the little kid moments we've had.

Talking to Moses

2011-04-15T08:52:00.003-05:00

Hazel loves to Skype Hester so that she can see baby Moses. He is cute. And we loved seeing his little personality.

I hope this is the end

2011-04-13T12:02:00.003-05:00

When you start your day in the dentist's chair at 7:00 am to get a 2 1/2 hour root canal that got complicated and resulted in not being able to open your jaw very much, it can only get better.

Right?

Better late than never. Right?

2011-04-10T23:19:00.005-05:00

I know that this is a year late. We'll just call it a happy first anniversary to hester post (even though I'm late on that as well). Anyway, all the pics in the slide show are also on flickr. Most of these pictures went into the album that I created for Hester last summer of her wedding.

Thoughts on motherhood

2011-04-05T09:18:00.005-05:00

Rainy days make me wish my kids were home with me all of the time. I love these kinds of days. They feel cozy to me. But they would be more enjoyable with my family home with me doing cozy things, homey things like reading, playing games, building forts to hide out in, or elaborate toy cities, watching movies, making cookies, sewing, or playing quietly. It's days like this that I wish I homeschooled all my children and that they could be with me always. Don't get me wrong, I love a good by-myself-day as much as the next mom, but mostly I love being with my kids. (It also probably explains why I take my kids on long road trips where we can be all cooped up together in the car for weeks on end. It's just one of the reasons anyway.) Though I work hard to teach my children independence and give them opportunities to do things on their own and to grow, I really enjoy being able to watch over them, to give them comfort, encouragement and love. I guess it's all part of the growing up process - for them and for me. And so I send them off every morning and look forward to their return at the end of the day. I guess that might just be a little bit how our Heavenly Father feels about us. He has sent us here to grow and learn. He watches over us and waits for us to return home to Him. So, in the meantime, I will enjoy the privilege of being a mother. I will keep my children close, while still letting them learn and grow. I will do my best. And I will savor the moments I have with my children as we all work on returning home.

General Conference Weekend

2011-04-03T18:48:00.007-05:00

I love General Conference weekend. It's usually a little bit more relaxed and we enjoy spending time together to listen to the prophet. I always hear messages that seem just for me. The kids still request that we play conference BINGO. Although Hazel is the only one that actually plays. The others just want the candy. But, it's not a big deal anymore. Since they are older they listen without the BINGO game to keep them focused. The Legos come out and everyone listens and plays quietly.

I loved the second speaker today for the morning session (of course I can't remember his name). His message about trials being the pruning that the Gardener desires us to endure so that we can be what he wants us to be really got to me. Also the metaphor that raising easy children versus challenging ones is like being enrolled in Parenting 101 versus Parenting 505. I really related to that one. I hope to I can graduate from that 505 class some day.

Today we got up early to take bluebonnet pics. It was overcast, which is good so that everyone doesn't have to squint, but makes for kind of gray pictures. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow in different flowers. I'll miss this tradition. Hopefully there are wildflowers all over in Kansas as well.

Good Dog

2011-04-02T08:29:00.000-05:00

I was watching the movie Marley & Me the other day and choking up at the end. It reminded me of Copper. Copper was a maniac dog. She drove me crazy. But I sure do miss her. We had to say good-bye to her last June. I know that it has been nearly a year. But it's was a harder decision to make than I bargained for.

Copper came to live with us the same week that Isaac was born. She was about 3 years old. She was a beautiful dog. She had so much energy. Anytime the front door was opened, she ran for it. We chased her down in the car quite a few times. She ate anything that was left out: whole loaves of bread, entire roasts, an entire unopened bag of hershey's kisses (she did spit out the wrappers on the carpet). Twice, in one week, she got sprayed by skunks. That was not fun. But we discovered that if we rubbed Mexican vanilla into her coat, it overpowered the skunk smell, and we had a vanillaroma dog every time it rained for months afterward.

Copper kept the kitchen floor clean. It took me months to figure out why I had to sweep so often after she returned to live with my parents when Isaac was 2 or 3. She would eat all the food the kids dropped during meals. When she left, the kids still dropped food, only I had to clean it up because she wasn't there to eat it. Copper loved to ride in the car. She loved to go after the ducks in the pond; although, she never could even get close to one.

Copper hated thunder and lightening and fireworks. She would run around and bark. The year before she died, she lost her hearing. So the thunder didn't bother her so much anymore. But she could still see the lightning flashes. Whenever there was a storm when we weren't home, she would hide. One time, one of the boys was using the bathroom soon after returning home and Copper jumped out from behind the curtain in the tub. Quite startling. We joked that she was such a smart dog that she knew where the safest place in the house was during severe storms. The bathrooms were one of the few places in the house without windows so she couldn't see the lightning.

Things were frustrating and difficult the last few months of Copper's life. I was hoping she would last until summer, so Dad could see her again. But her quality of life was diminishing. It was hard to see her get old. Saying good-bye to her was hard. Someday we may get another dog. But for now, we'll just remember Copper. She was a good dog.

Spring Break

2011-03-30T11:26:00.001-05:00

We went to Lawrence, Kansas for spring break a couple weeks ago. We went to visit Nate, to relax, and do a little house hunting. We woke up to snow on Monday:

So we kind of stayed in at the hotel and watched some TV

and swam in the pool.

We celebrated Pi Day (3/14) with some terrific pie.

We did a little house hunting and found this:

We think it's a zonkey.

Mostly we just relaxed, watched TV, read books, played video games, watched movies, swam in the pool, ate out, met new friends, and had a nice time.

On the way home we met a nice Kansas Highway Patrolman.

At least he only gave me a warning.

lessons learned

2011-03-29T08:53:00.009-05:00

When your 14 year old daughter uncharacteristically wakes us before you do, there's a problem.

If you ask to cut layers into your own hair and your mom says it's not a good idea, don't do it --- even though your dad says it's okay. Listen to your mom.

Thank heavens for fabulous hair stylist friend who is willing to fix the hair disaster before school so she didn't have to face middle school with a really bad hair day.

Even though she wasn't planning on going this short when she tried to cut her own hair late last night, the new cut is cute. Drastic, but cute.

Leaning Tower of Pisa Cake

2011-03-29T05:11:00.000-05:00

For a social studies project Isaac had to make a 3-D model of an historic European structure. Isaac's assigned structure was the leaning Tower of Pisa. He wanted to make it out of cake. I thought it was a fabulous idea. So we spent the weekend baking and decorating cake. Tomorrow he gets to bring it back home so we can eat it! I like projects like this. Who knew that cake decorating would come in handy for my son's social studies project?

KU Game

2011-03-28T11:18:00.000-05:00

Kansas University was playing their playoff game down in San Antonio last weekend, so Nate and I went. Since we are moving there, we may as well start getting involved. So we got the family T-shirts:

The Jayhawks got an ealy 20 point lead and kept it the rest of the game. Not the most exciting of games, but fun to go and watch.

Spent the weekend...

2011-03-27T22:59:00.003-05:00

Hazel and her friends filled the little pools in the back yard (first time this season - probably the earliest ever in the 13 years we've lived in Texas), then played in the sand box (best project ever finished in my yard). It was 90 degrees yesterday. (Not so today, but we enjoyed the heat while we could.)

Added some more pepper plants to my garden. The bunnies ate the last ones. I'm worried that my lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower will bolt because of the unseasonable heat. But it is supposed to be back to normal this week. Hopefully we will be eating more greens soon. I mowed the lawn for the first time this season...well, Isaac did. But I weed-whacked, spread some weed-and-feed to tackle the weeds that grow faster than the lawn, and enjoyed some sunshine.

Nate worked on fixing some of the piddly stuff the inspector found around the house: patching mortar in the brick, fixing sprinklers, finding sprinkler boxes under the overgrown lawn. I'll be glad when that's done. The carpet cleaners were here all day deep cleaning the house. I must say, they are the best I've ever had clean carpets. They look sooooo much better...almost new. This week it's the window repair guys (darn golf balls hitting my house), the window washers, the chimney sweep, and preparing for a garage sale next weekend. Got to keep busy.

Nate the Great, Great, Great

2011-03-06T19:41:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was Nate's 39th birthday! Nate is the best part of my life. He is a good husband, dad, and friend. He came to Austin for the weekend. It was so nice to be together as a family again. It's been three weeks since I'd seen him! And the weekend went by way too fast. But we are heading to Kansas on Friday to stay for the week. (It's spring break for the kids. ) Now we're counting down the days till we see him again.

Aussi treat

2011-03-03T03:39:00.001-06:00

I guess this is the Austraulia version of a slurpee. It's a frozen Fanta from McDonald's.

Hmmmmm.

Riding the bus

2011-03-02T05:16:00.008-06:00

Hester and Andreas don't have a car so we walk or ride the bus everywhere.

Luckily there are reserved seats for Hester!

Black Mountain Tower

2011-03-01T04:57:00.000-06:00

See that tower over there? We decided to go there on Saturday. It's the highest point in Canberra and has fantastic 360 degree views.

So we took the bus up there and took the elevator to the top.

The Snowy River country is beyond those hills behind Toby.

This is downtown Canberra.

We had to wait for the bus so we just hung out in the fabulous sunshine on the viewing deck.

Hester keeps hoping that baby Moses will decide to come. (Toby was prepared with a book. He read 7 books last weekend.)

Canberra has beautiful blue skies. The air is clean and clear. It has been really nice to just be here and relax in such a beautiful place.

Botanical Garden

2011-02-28T23:41:00.007-06:00

Today we went to the Botanical Garden.

It was the perfect day for a walk.

We saw lots of beautiful gardens,

trees,

rain forests,

and rock gardens.

There were also lots of these water dragons.

It was a nice way to spend the afternoon. (Except for the mosquitos.)

Then we went to the greenhouse to see the orchids and found this:

But, still no baby. I think we've walked ten miles in the last few days. Apparently, it isn't working.

Making Money

2011-02-28T14:57:00.001-06:00

On Friday we went to the Royal Australian Mint. Pretty interesting. Australia didn't start making it's own money until about 70 years ago. The current currency (decimal coinage) wasn't minted until 1965.

This staircase has real coins and blanks behind the glass. I think it looks pretty and cool.

This big robot is named Titan. He dumps big barrels of coin blanks into the hopper and they are on their way to being made into money. The operator had Titan dancing for us too. After he poured the money into the hopper, he bowed.

Toby needs your help

2011-02-27T19:12:00.000-06:00

Toby has an assignment for school for which he needs to conduct a short survey. Can you help out by answering a few questions? It won't take long, I promise.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Thanks for your help!

Hardware

2011-02-25T20:32:00.001-06:00

I had my follow up visit today. Here is a picture of what they did to my ankle. They drilled two holes and ran polyester cords through to keep the bones tight together. The buttons are different because they push the rectangular ones through the hole, and then they catch on the other side when they pull it tight. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Australia Day 2

2011-02-23T23:56:00.000-06:00

Day 1 was spent getting here, and working really hard to stay awake until a decent bedtime hour. I am trying to beat this jet lag stuff so I don't spend most of this trip sleeping. We walked to the grocery store and that was about it for day 1.

Day 2: We went to the Australian National Museum today. It is a really cool building. Very sculptural.

There were even paintings hung on the ceilings!

But my favorite part of just about any museum is the gift shop. There is always something great to find.

Today I found this awesome little printed tea towel:

One my favorite movies, The Man From Snowy River, is an Australian movie. And as I was looking at a map I realized that we aren't too far from the Snowy Mountains. I would love to go. But I am hoping for a birth around here and wouldn't want to miss it by going on a road trip.

I couldn't resist. I like souvenirs that I can actually use from day to day. And this one fits the criteria. Isn't it great?
One day I'll make it back here and go horseback riding in Snowy River country. Until then, I'll watch the movie again.

Side note: The man from Snowy River is also one of Hazel's favorite movies. Her favorite character is Jessica. Nearly everyday Hazel asks me to play Jessica's Theme from the movie soundtrack on the piano. When she plays pretend, her character is always named Jessica, as well as any babies, ponies, dolls, or pets that she comes upon. I think it is really funny. And cute. And I miss my little baby.

I'm off to the land down under

2011-02-21T15:18:00.000-06:00

Toby and I are leaving for Australia in just a bit. We are excited. I think I got most everything done. Everyone is staying with a different friend until Nate comes for the weekend. Then they'll stay with friends again next week until I come back. I really appreciate my friends for helping me out. I will owe them a big favor.

Now we just need Hester to have that baby!

A little stress relief

2011-02-17T05:19:00.000-06:00

A BB gun + a work award + a plaque to celebrate a promotion (which didn't include a promised pay raise) = a nice little diversion to take Nate's mind off his broken leg.

Eagles

2011-02-16T05:35:00.000-06:00

These are two of Toby's friends from church. Both of them just earned their Eagle rank at a Court of Honor a couple weeks ago. Toby is right behind them. He earned his Life rank at Christmas time and is now finishing the last few required merit badges and will work on his project. There is a light at the end of the scouting tunnel. I'm glad that Toby has such great friends who are good examples for him. Congratulations to Dallin and Harrison.

Isaac and his junk collection

2011-02-15T05:55:00.002-06:00

Since we ar moving, we have been going through all the closets and getting rid of the junk. Isaac loves junk. He had 4 or 5 dead RC cars in his closet that I wanted to chuck. He wanted to keep them.

As a compromise, he asked if he could take them apart and then throw them away. Me? Okay. I get what I want.

and Isaac is kept busy and out of mischief for...a while anyway.

Then he wanted to keep the tires.

I am afraid he will one day turn up on Hoarders if I don't keep this in check.

Snow day 2011

2011-02-13T05:37:00.000-06:00

They say our winter is probably over here in Austin. At least we actually got snow this year. In the 13 winters we've spent here, we've only had snow maybe 4 or 5 times. The kids are out early in the morning, in whatever cold weather gear they can find, and play until it melts away. With the golf course in our backyard, we usually end up with a few extra friends to sled or make snowmen or have snowball fights.

I'm glad that I didn't leave all our gear in Utah like I thought of doing at Christmas time. (It's such a pain to pack that much gear across the country.) They kids had a great day. It was really really cold for Texas: in the single digits at night with the wind chill. We had rolling power outages across Texas to help with the overload. A few of our pipes froze. We enjoyed many fires in our fireplace.

But I'm ready for some springtime. It's supposed to be back in the 80's by Monday.. Thank goodness. I'm ready for sunshine, flowers, and green grass.

Aspen's Party

2011-02-12T05:23:00.001-06:00

Aspen celebrated her birthday yesterday with a big party with all (30) of her friends from church and some from school.

She chose a super hero theme. It was fun to see all these teenagers in capes!

My favorite part were the cakes. Made pretty simply with templates printed out from the internet. Cake making is my favorite part of my kids birthdays. Mostly they turn out. Sometimes they are wrecks. I'll have to find pictures

of all of them sometime. But not this week. Maybe next fall, when things quiet down a bit.

Zoom, Zoom

2011-02-11T19:49:00.000-06:00

I started this post last week...before Nate's accident. But I am posting it anyway.

New job, new title, this calls for a new car!

My car officially died this week, on the way home from San Antonio in fact. Barely made it to the garage. So we traded it in and Nate picked out this:

It's even his favorite color.

Since I lost my car, Nate gave me his. Woohoo:( (Insert sarcasm here)

But I am glad for him. Unfortunately, it doesn't seat the whole family. So I guess for a while we will be going everywhere together in two cars.

Can you guess?

2011-02-11T19:09:00.000-06:00

What made this mark?

After you net it all out, we had a pretty average week

2011-02-06T18:13:00.010-06:00

1. Quit my job (+1,500 points)

A couple weeks ago I gave notice. After almost 11 years. . . . I won't be working here anymore. This week was my last.

2. Dinner with friends (+150 points)

We did a Thai theme with a cooking group we are in. I didn't get a photo of the food, but the event did require a trip to the "Market"--I just love the fact that MSG has its own aisle.

3. Durango had problems (-500 points)

It has been having strange electrical problems for a while, but slipping out of gear was new, as was the black "cough" on our driveway near the Durango's exhaust pipe.

4. But made it home before dying (+50 points)

Final tally: 196,312 miles--actually sad to see it go, since it has been such a part of our lives, and accompanied us on so many road trip adventures.

5. Dinner at Eddie V's (+150 points)

I don't have a photo, but those who know what I am talking about will appreciate this one.

6. Got a new car (+250 points)

7. With a turbo charger (+250 points)

Zoom zoom.

8. Betsy's dental work (-500 points)

11 new crowns--the entire day at the dentist

9. Hopefully for the last time (+50 points)

Unfortunately we have thought is was the last time before. . . .

This isn't an updated x-ray, but you get the idea.

10. Snow (+450 points)

Probably the best snow we have had in the ~14 years we have been in Texas. It was below freezing for a couple days, so when it snowed, it actually stayed on the ground.

11. Betsy lost one of her temporary crowns (-100 points)

. . . and (surprisingly) doesn't have her dentist's mobile number. He wasn't in the office, due to the snow.

12. Hazel sick with a temperature of 103 degrees (-100 points)

Betsy was at the urgent care when number 13 happened.

13. Dislocated my ankle, and broke my fibula (-1,750 points)

I looked pretty much exactly like this guy, except I was lying in a puddle of slush in the parking lot at work.

Hmmmm, my foot should be pointing up.

When you dislocate your foot, it can put a lot of pressure on your fibula, as evidenced above.

14. Friends helping out--bringing food, etc. (+100 points)

We appreciate everyone that has volunteered to help out, visited, offered rides to Kansas, given blessings, brought us food, and kept us in their prayers.

And so, if you total up all the points, it was just a pretty average week.

I survived...mostly

2011-02-04T06:26:00.002-06:00

I don't remember most of this morning's dentist visit. Unfortunately, all the meds wore off by the then end of the day and there were a few tearfullly painful moments. But I am home. For now. As soon as I got home and had a little snack, one of the temperary crowns came off. I think they forgot to glue it down permamently. I want to go get it fixed tomorrow. But it is suposed to snow and sleet tonight and tomorrow. Which, in Texas, means the whole city basically shuts down. Schools will start late or be cancelled all together. Looks like a perfect day to stay home, play games, roast marshmallows and drink hot chocolate.

People here can't drive.

Baby, it's cold outside

2011-02-03T23:25:00.000-06:00

I think this has been the coldest winter we've had in our thirteen years in Texas. The wind chills are putting the temperatures in the single digits. Because most of Texas isn't prepared for this kind of cold, the power company can't keep up. So now we will have rolling power outages for the next few days. Every couple hours the power goes out for 20 minutes. At least we still have water (mostly), and gas to cook with. The cold water pipes for my bathroom froze though. They are flexible tubing so I hope they won't burst. The kids are out of school early today. So I think we are going to light a fire, drink hot chocolate, and play games and read, and eat lots of soup. There is a chance for snow on Thursday/Friday. That could shut us down completely. We'll see. It's always fun weather here.

This picture is from Christmas at my mom's house. Besides the fun outside activities, the girls loved to get together to do inside activities too. This is what we will be doing for the next couple days.

You've come a long way, Baby.

2011-02-01T14:23:00.002-06:00

I've now got over 1,000 posts! Can you believe it?

I've been blogging for almost 6 years. Crazy. I think that this is the longest I've done any hobby consistently. (Movie watching and reading don't count.) I started this blog when Hazel was born. It seems like just yesterday and forever ago at the same time. I've been better at posting at times, and then real life gets in the way at others. One of these days I am going to publish the blog in book form. I don't scrapbook or journal. So this is my family's record of our life. Not everything has made it in, of course. But it's better than nothing, right? And it's fun to look back at. We've come a long way.

The Last Time We'll Have This First

2011-01-30T05:43:00.001-06:00

Last Sunday, Hazel lost her first tooth. Finally. It was so wiggly. And her two big teeth were already coming in behind the baby teeth. So finally, it felly out. We made a little pocket pillow for her to put her tooth in for the Tooth Fairy. And the Tooth Fairy actually came the first night! Thank goodness for dark mornings in Hazel's room. Then on Saturday, Hazel actually pulled the next loose tooth out herself! She was very proud of herself. So we are using her cute new pillow again.
I am a little sad that we are running out of first times for these little milestones in my children's lives. Some things I am okay with not repeating: first broken bone, first trip to the ER, first time to get stitches. But these other moments are so much fun!

Survey says....

2011-01-29T05:26:00.002-06:00

I found this in my draft folder. This was from more than 5 years ago. But I am going to post it anyway. The old answers are in green, the new answers in pink.

I get these types of surveys in email sometimes. They are interesting to read and get to know a little about the person who sent them. So I finally filled one out and am just posting it. Kind of cheesy I know. But Nate is gone, there is nothing on TV, and I am a little bored.

1. WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME? Betsy Jane

2. WHAT COLOR PANTS ARE YOU WEARING? brown chinos, black track pants

3. WAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? quiet, Toby laughing to himself while reading

4. WHAT'S THE LAST THING YOU ATE? grapes, ding dongs

5. DO YOU WISH ON STARS? of course, who would pass up a chance for a wish, still do

6. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? chartreuse, yellow

7. HOW IS THE WEATHER RIGHT NOW? frigid, cooler, but supposed to warm up to 70 degrees today!

8. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Sister Easthope, the pharmacist

10. HOW OLD ARE YOU TODAY? 32, 37

11. FAVORITE DRINK? Blackberry Izzy soda, water

12. FAVORITE SPORT? To play: baseball, to watch: basketball, still the same

13. HAIR COLOR? brown, also still brown

14. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? for the last 20 years, yes, but I've been wearing my glasses more often for the last couple years

15. SIBLINGS? Erika, Jacob, Peter, Karl, Hester, Hannah, Maddy, Axel, still the same, no new additions.

16. FAVORITE MONTH? April, May (it's my birthday month, school ends, and vacation begins)

17. FAVORITE FOOD? Chocolate still chocolate

18. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? It must have been forgettable, because I can't remember it. But I know it was last week, New Moon (Nate hadn't seen it in the theater last year. I saw it in Norway with Hester. So he wanted to rent it last weekend. I don't usually like to watch movies twice)
19. FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR? Midsummer's eve, any day that the kids are out of school and I am on vacation
20. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD? Art supplies, yep
22. SUMMER OR WINTER? summer, summer in the desert

23. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs, hugs

24. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? chocoate of course, chocolate

28. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS? Husband, 4 kids, 2 parakeets, still the same

29. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? a couple of weeks ago. PMS and watching sad movies. This morning while writing the last post. Stupid dental anxiety.
30. WHAT IS UNDER YOUR BED? absolutely nothing, blankets

31. WHO IS THE FRIEND YOU HAVE HAD THE LONGEST? Holley, Amber, Ellen, still the same
32. WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT? Cleaned house, practiced piano, showered and went to bed at 11:30pm. Then got back up at 12:15 to feed Hazel., watched TV, sorted paperwork
33. FAVORITE SMELL? sawdust - reminds me of my dad, also love citrus smells

34. WHAT ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT? my family, getting organized, getting ready for christmas my family

35. WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? being attacked in the dark dentists

36. PLAIN, BUTTERED OR SALTED POPCORN? buttered with real butter and salt. hasn't changed, just use less butter than I used to

37. FAVORITE CAR? Karman Ghia or Volvo P1800, still like those, also want a Ford F-250 in bronze

38. FAVORITE FLOWER? daisies, love daisies

39. NUMBER OF KEYS ON YOUR KEY RING? 4, 3

40. FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK? Friday - no homework after school, Sunday

41. WHAT DID YOU DO ON YOUR LAST BIRTHDAY? Went to the San Antonio Temple dedication, don't remember

42. HOW MANY STATES HAVE YOU LIVED IN? 5, about to move to state number 6
43. HOW MANY CITIES/Towns HAVE YOU LIVED IN? 14, about to move to number 15

44. HOW MANY COUNTRIES HAVE YOU LIVED IN? 3, still three

45. HOW MANY CARS HAVE YOU HAD & WHAT WAS THE FIRST? First was a blue subaru. Have had 4, 5 - I think I misscounted. Although, both our cars are almost dead. May be getting two new ones this year.

46. WHERE AND WHEN WERE YOU BORN? May 22 in Salt Lake City, UT, same

47. WHAT IS ONE THING YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE? Visit all the continents on Earth. I especially would like to go to Antartica. Still want to do that. But just want my kids to grow up and be good people and to be happy

On dentist visits and anxiety

2011-01-28T05:36:00.001-06:00

There is a lot going on at our house lately. Besides all the normal day to day stuff of family life and church responsibilities and friends, Nate is about to quit his job for good. We are about to put our house up for sale. Nate is about to move to Kansas and I will be single parenting for a few months while trying to keep my house spotless so that someone will like it and buy it. And then I have to pack. (Still trying to put that one off.) And look for a new house in Kansas.

So because of that, and the impending move, we have had to hurry and get a bunch of health/dental care items checked off of our to-do list. I was postponing these things because the holidays were a little busy. But now I am really busy. Kind of ironic. All of us needed our teeth cleaned. That was 4 separate appointments. Then when we were at the checkups, we found cavities.That added another 3 appointments to the calendar. So I have been hanging out with the dentist twice a week for the past month trying to fit in all of these appointments.

But I've noticed that in the past two weeks, I've felt my anxiety level rise. I've been a little short with every one and I'm sorry. If you recall, I have seen my dentist more often in the last 8 years than most people see one in their entire lives! To say I have just a bit of dental anxiety is a huge understatement. Needless to say, I am a bit cranky, depressed, anxious and stressed out. The biggest stress inducing factor is my upcoming appointment. The last part of my facial/jaw repair process is to replace all 10 crowns in my mouth with new ones. Because my jaw has been repositioned, the old crowns no longer fit together properly. It still causes headaches and sore jaw muscles, and pain in my mandibular joint. Stress makes all those things worse. So these past few months haven't been good on that point. All of this adds to the anxiety. And though I've had many crowns, which were no big deal when you get them one at a time, getting 10 done at once has me a little on edge. I was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder after my second jaw surgery (the facial reconstrution surgery) and it has made me a little gun shy with subsequent procedures. I had expected that second surgery to be as easy as the first one. It wasn't. That second one was so much more painful and the recovery was so long, that it really screwed me up. For a long time.

So next week I go to the dentist for the finishing touches to a nearly-decade long treatment plan: 10 new crowns. I get to spend the entire day at the dentist: 7 am to 5 pm. I am the only patient for the day. I'm anxious. It's more than a little debilitating. Even though I have so much to do, I can't seem to get through the thoughts and anxiety of next week's appointment to get around to my to do list. I've been trying to avoid even thinking about it by catching up on TV shows on my DVR and my Netflix movies that I've had since November. Read lots of books, and been on a little junk food binge too. (I managed to lose weight during the holidays, just to gain it all back thi month.) All to avoid having to even think about my teeth. I don't deal well with anxiety and stress. It's not good.

So, after I go and have a good cathartic cry about this, I am going to try and focus on the positive for the next week. This will be the last dental procedure for a long, long time. In reality, this won't be nearly as bad as having my face broken in 6 places and my chin cut off and reattached and having 54 screws put in my skull. Not even as bad as getting a new jaw joint. My face won't swell up tilll I look like a troll and no one recognizes me. I don't have to go to the hospital. (Although I think I would like to be put under while they are doing this instead of just sedated.) I will get some good pain meds to help me out. I won't have to be on a liquid diet for 6 months - just a day or two probably. I won't have to do any chores for the day. Nate will take care of everything else. I will most likely be back to normal in a couple days. Hopefully, with the valium, I won't even remember much. And then it will be over. Forever. (Or at least until I need a replacement on my metal face parts in 20 or 30 years.) I am going to get through this. I will be fine. I am strong. I can do this. It will all be ok.

At least that is what I am tellling myself for the next week.

When I have grown a foot or two

2011-01-27T08:24:00.000-06:00

My baby brother entered the MTC yesterday: to learn japanese and to learn how to share the gospel with the people of Japan. I talked to him just before he left the house. He was so excited to go! He will be an awesome missionary. He will touch so many lives for good in on his mission. When we get an address, we'll let ya'll know so you can write him if you'd like.

It is a bit surreal to me. Axel was born while I was a freshman at BYU. He was only 3 years old when I gave birth to Toby. When he would visit sometimes, it was more like having another child than having my brother over. But seeing Axel now reminds me that Toby will be entering the MTC in a little more than three years to go on his mission. My little baby is almost old enough to serve the Lord for two years! It's a little crazy. It makes me realize that time is short. It goes by so fast. There is so much to do and so much to teach and prepare for! I appreciate the example Axel is for my boys. Good luck little brother!

Top 10 Things We Will Miss About Texas . . .

2011-01-17T21:39:00.010-06:00

10. Mangos
9. The new movie theater they are building 2 miles from our house.
8. Annual Crawfish boils???--hopefully we will be able to get them in Kansas
7. Annual trips to South Padre (OK, we may end up still doing these, but it still makes the list)
6. HEB
5. Central Market (Yes, technically owned by HEB, but it is different; gelato, 23 kinds of apples, Hazel cheese, Valrhona, etc.)
4. Rudy's--The Worst BBQ in Texas (Extra moist, half a hottie . . .)
3. Chuys Fine Tex-Mex--Creamy Jalepeno, Elvis' Birthday, Hatch Green Chili Festival
2. Jake and Amy--I know, we suck
1. Friends--School night, late night movie friends; cooking friends; live down the street friends; camping friends; white elephant party friends; bootcamp friends; cousins in San Antonio; church friends; school friends; work friends

We're moving to lawrence, kansas.

Sledding #3

2011-01-10T09:57:00.006-06:00

Sledding #2

2011-01-10T08:51:00.017-06:00

At the end of the day, a few toys were used up, and a little girl was done.

Sledding #1

2011-01-09T16:33:00.004-06:00

Erika and her girls joined us for a day of sledding. We bought a few sledding toys and hit the hills in the park by her house.

Isaac tried everything standing up. That boy has terrific balance.

The little girls made snow angels.

Everyone had a lot of fun.

It's the weekend...finally.

2011-01-08T19:59:00.002-06:00

This first week of catch-up-after-vacation is finally coming to a close. It's been busy and exhausting. But we celebrated by doing fun things: Nate had breakfast at Kerbey Lane with the kids (I was having Relief Society Board Meeting Breakfast at our house), looked at Ferraris and cool eyewear, and got gelato. The afternoon was spent having friends over, making cookies, playing games, shooting the BB gun, chopping up the Christmas tree with a chainsaw, and launching marshmallows over the golf course. (Remember those JUMBO marshmallows I mentioned earlier? They fit perfectly into the golf ball launcher! Lots safer too.)

Luckily, tomorrow is a day of rest (relatively). I might be able to squeeze a few minutes nap in there somewhere and perhaps be ready for next week. Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Idaho

2011-01-08T18:38:00.019-06:00

We took a couple days and drove up to Idaho to visit Jake and Amy. I think it's my children's favorite place to go. The kids love to be with each other. And there is always something to keep them occupied.

Karl came with us too. I don't think he wants to ride in our car again for long trips. But we were glad for his company.

First Snow

2011-01-08T18:22:00.007-06:00

There wasn't any snow when we got to Utah. The kids were worried that they wouldn't get any when we were there. But we woke up to snow and the kids couldn't wait to go out and play in it. We planned to participate in as much winter/snowy activities as possible during our stay.

Early Christmas

2011-01-08T18:14:00.003-06:00

We had our first Christmas morning, complete with present opening, the Sunday before we were supposed to leave on our vacation. I didn't want to take all those presents to Utah, just to bring them back again. Besides the fact that there just wasn't room in the car. So we got up, dressed for our 9:00am church schedule and then, because we had a few extra minutes, opened up all of the presents under the tree. It was fun. Everyone was just as excited as they would have been 10 days later. And we got to enjoy them for the next couple days. I think a few of the presents did end up coming to Utah with us anyway. I like extending the fun of the holidays. Maybe we'll do it again next year.

Family Home Evening #1

2011-01-06T17:19:00.012-06:00

Family Home Evening this week was a little spur of the moment. (I am determined to be better at this counsel from our prophets, and I didn't want to skip week 1!) So we had a lesson from the Friend magazine about going to the temple (even if you aren't a grown up) and sang some songs (teenagers aren't big on singing so this is a little bit of work in our family) and then we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores.
I found these:

They are new. So I had to try them. They are HUGE! One will fill you up!

That is just a little slice of one marshmallow. It takes up the whole square!

So we are off to a good start!

Merry Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T12:20:00.002-06:00

Well, our car never did get fixed enough to drive on our trip. So we ended up renting a car and left last weekend. We've had a fun trip so far. Sledding everyday, visiting with family, getting ready for Christmas. Now it's finally here! We are glad to be able to spend it with people we love. I wish that everyone could all be together at once. But we are glad to see everyone we could.

I'll blog more later. I have some great pics from sledding.

Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas. Love to all!

latest update

2010-12-15T15:39:00.002-06:00

Things have been super busy. Finally am feeling better after last week's strep/tonsillitis/cellulitis. Saw the doctor again yesterday and he gave me the all clear. Isaac and Aspen both got some stomach bug the last couple days. So they missed school, but still had to finish all their homework and go after school to take their finals. Lovely thing to do when you're sick, but had to be done.

Our other busyness has been trying to get my car ready for a 3000 mile road trip. New tires, check. Oil changed, check. Then the alternator died, which killed the battery. Took them in to be repaired. Decided to rebuild the alternator to save money. Finally got the car back. Two days later, the alternator is broken again, on a Friday night. Of course mechanics don't work on weekends. Took the car back in on Monday, they fixed it again. Got it back late Monday night. We were getting ready to leave today. The alternator is STILL broken. Good thing we hadn't left yet.

I should have just paid the extra $100 for the new alternator in stead of the rebuild. It's probably not going to be done until late tomorrow. So instead of leaving Wednesday morning for Utah, we won't be leaving until Friday I think. I guess we'll just live it up at home for the first part of our vacation. I already told the schools that we would be gone, and church and work. So it looks like we'll be hiding out until the car is fixed. It's a good thing we weren't on a strict schedule. But, still, I wish cars didn't have so many problems.

So, my family in Utah...we won't be there on Thursday. We'll keep you posted.

Gorillaz

2010-12-06T05:14:00.000-06:00

Nate and I went to see the Gorillaz in concert a while ago. (Just barely got around to getting the pictures off my phone.) I wasn't really excited to go. Nate had been playing some of their music for me while we were driving around and it was a bit annoying. But I went anyway, because Nate was really excited. Turns out, they are better live, at least I thought so. We had a great time. Luckily there were no chairs in front of us so we could sit to watch. I'm too old and tired to stand for two hours in the nose bleed section just to watch a concert. But it was fun. And I'm glad that I went afterall!

Update

2010-12-05T08:46:00.002-06:00

So I finally broke down and went to the urgent care last night. It turns out I have strep, tonsillitis, and cellulitis in my throat---which left unattended could lead to not being able to open my jaw or swallow, and then could abscess.

Fabulous! I guess I've been saving up for the past 20 years to get really really sick.

But thankfully they gave me a penicillin shot and a double dose of oral antibiotics for yesterday. And they said I could take stronger painkillers (which have really helped but which make me nauseous, as do the antibiotics if I don't eat first, which is painful to do and, consequently, takes a long time.)

This morning, at least the body aches are gone, hopefully some of the sore throat pain will be gone tomorrow. Tomorrow I have to go see another doctor about the cellulitis.

I'm glad I didn't try to hold out until Monday.

Today I am grateful for:

priesthood blessings
urgent care office that was open late on a saturday (most close at 4 or 5 --crazy)
nice doctors and nurses
antibiotics
painkillers
hot baths
wonderful husband who hasn't complained, even though he has so much to do that hasn't gotten done because he is taking care of me and everyone else.
kids that are still behaving nicely

Please keep us in your prayers. We're going to need it for the next few days. Hopefully no one else picked up my sickies.

Things I'm grateful for while I'm sick

2010-12-04T20:15:00.000-06:00

I've been sick for the past couple days. So sick it makes me cry. I haven't been this sick in maybe 20 years. And I don't deal with pain very well. At least not sore throat pain. Can't swallow, can't eat, can barely drink - only do it because I don't want to get dehydrated. Nothing tastes good. My head is all stuffed up, my jaw hurts, I have some massive tension headaches, dizzy, nauseus, and my whole body hurts. Basically have the flu I think. But these are the things I am thankful for this weekend:

Advil
Tylenol
Sudafed
Chloraseptic - spray and lozenges
Kids that are helping out and being nicer to each other than normal because I am sick.
Friends that are picking up the church assignments that I was supposed to do this weekend.
A husband that is picking up the slack on this very busy weekend, even though he has a ton of his own stuff that he needs to do. Including helping one forgetful son with his science project that was due two days ago but wasn't paying attention and didn't do it over Thanksgiving like he was supposed to; taking Hazel to have breakfast with Santa; and then to a birthday party at one of those inflatable bouncey places.
A big bathtub.
Two water heaters.
A kind husband who was willing to bring 5-gallon buckets of hot water from the bath upstairs to my bath downstairs when my hot water ran out halfway into filling the tub. (They are on different water heaters.) That was the icing on the cake.

Lights

2010-12-04T15:20:00.000-06:00

I thought ahead a little on this one. I heard that it was going to be a bit chilly the day after Thanksgiving, so I decided to put up my house Christmas lights on Thanksgiving Day morning. I didn't want to have to freeze my fingers while trying to hang lights. And I figured that I was only one day early. So I did!

Sadly, my lights are slowly dwindling in number. This year I lost a whole strand due to burned out bulbs. Unfortunately, they don't even sell the size/shape of bulb that I have. So this will be the last year for them. In the week since I hung them, 5 more have burnt out. I guess next year I'll have to bite the bullet and buy new ones. But for now, the outside of the house is lit and decorated.

Great Deal for Me

2010-12-03T02:26:00.000-06:00

Have you heard of Groupon? Did you hear about Oprah's groupon for Nordstrom Rack? Basically I paid $25 and got a $50 gift certificate to use at the Rack. So this is what I found for me! Franco Sartos. I love a good deal.

Trimming the tree

2010-12-02T02:12:00.000-06:00

The tree is trimmed.

There are even presents under it already. One of my children is really excited for Christmas and is really on top of things.

This year's advent activities

2010-12-01T16:20:00.003-06:00

Here's my list of advent activities for this year. Mostly they are the same every year. And this year I kind of started right after Thanksgiving. And there are a few activities that are traditional for after Christmas too. So there are more than 24. But anyway, here's a list.

Cut down a Christmas tree.
Decorate the tree.
Decorate the house.
Put up the lights.
Make snowflakes,
Write new lyrics for Christmas carols. These tend to be really silly. But it's the boys' favorite activity.
Isaac's band concert
Aspen's band concert
Sing Along with the Austin Symphony Orchestra.
First Presidency's Christmas Devotional
Breakfast with Santa (this is really just for Hazel. The others don't want to go.)
Jingle Bell Run. (I may end up doing this in our own neighborhood this year since the races around here are either on Sunday or in towns kind of far away.)
Nate's work party
Watch A Christmas Story
Watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
Bake cookies
Make Candy
Put together goody boxes and deliver to our neighbors.
Advent Sundays with friends over to sing carols.
Listen to The Best Christmas Pageant Ever as we drive to Utah.
See A Christmas Carol at Hale Center Theater
Go to visit Grandma and Grandpa Kerksiek at the cemetery
See the lights and nativity on Temple Square.
Go sledding.
Go ice skating.
Go skiing.
Decorate gingerbread houses.
Make cardamom bread and pigs in a blanket for Christmas morning.
Visit Nate's family in Utah.
Go see movies that come out during Christmas time (not necessarily Christmas themed) this year will be Tron and Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Will probably watch some other Christmas themed movies on our drive to Utah: Grinch, Home Alone, Elf, Miracle on 34th Street, White Christmas.
Write thank you cards.
Send out holiday cards.
Hot chocolate and fires in the fireplace.
Read Davey's First Christmas on Christmas Eve.
Have a little family talent show.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

2010-12-01T05:20:00.000-06:00

We cut down a Christmas tree at the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm on Saturday. I don't usually get our tree up so early in the season. But since we are leaving for Utah in 2 /12 weeks, I figured I'd enjoy it now.

It was a beautiful 60 degrees afternoon.

We rode the hay ride out to the field to find our tree. I love this place, they provide the saws for for cutting your tree, and the twine for tying it to the top of your car. In addition, they'll shake the tree to get rid of any loose stuff, or squirrels, and bag it up for you. They are a full service tree farm.

So we wandered around, up and down the rows of trees looking for just the right one. Unfortunately, the last few years of droughts here in Texas weren't too great for growing trees. Pickins were a little slim.

But we found one. Everyone got their 15 seconds of cutting the tree down.

And rather than wait for the wagon to come around again, we (or mostly Nate) hauled it back to the front of the farm.

We tied it on to the car, and that was that.

Christmas is officially underway!

New Thanksgiving Tradition

2010-11-30T16:21:00.000-06:00

I started a new Thanksgiving Day tradition with my family this year. I read about it on some blog somewhere. (I can't remember which one - I follow waaayy to many.) But I really like this idea.

I got a big blank sketch book. Each year I plan to put it out during our gathering and have everyone sign it. Even little kids. Each person can write a line or two to say what they are thankful for. Or just sign it. Then I'll take a group picture of everyone in attendance and place it in the book on the pages signed for the year.

This way, I'll remember who was there every year. And have a record of how things change and/or stay the same each year.

So I started this year. I don't think I got all the kids to sign that were there. But I got most of the adults. And of course my family. The group shot was minus a couple sister missionaries that left before I knew it. As with all new things, it will take me a bit to get the hang of it. But I am excited about this new little memory book for Thanksgiving.

Now I've just got to remember it next year.

The Candy Game

2010-11-30T07:17:00.003-06:00

Blue asked about the candy game. So I'll explain a little more. This game was the highlight of Thanksgiving when I was a kid. My Grandpa hosted it every year. Basically, there is a board with numbers between 2 and 12 on it. But there is no number 7. Some of the other numbers appear twice. There are prizes on every square. Mostly they are $1 store prizes with some candy thrown in. Stuff like pencils, beads, glow sticks, handcuffs, tape, coloring books, stickers, etc. But for the end, Grandpa usually had a grand prize he would put out on numbers 2 or 12 (because those are typically the hardest to roll). To play, you roll a pair of dice. Whatever number it lands is the number of the prize you get. If you roll a 7, then you are out of luck. This is so sad for the little kids. They don't get it. And if it keeps getting rolled, there are sometimes tears. But usually it's still fun for everyone. Then you roll until all the prizes are gone. As a kid, the grand prize was a giant Rambo knife for a couple years. And, inevitably, a little girl would win. Then the trading would begin. And the boys would just about trade everything they had for that awesome knife.
The candy game was always a fun distraction between dinner and pie. Try it for your next family get together. I think that sometimes some members of my family play it at Christmas with their families. It's definitely lots of fun with lots of people.

Movie Marathon

2010-11-29T05:13:00.000-06:00

The kids decided to watch all the Harry Potter movies in a row. SoFriday they watched the first 4 movies. Saturday they watched the last 2 after cutting down the Christmas tree and doing some Christmas Recital practice, some shopping and some eating. They finished around 9 pm. So Nate packed up the older 3 kids and took them to the late showing of Harry Potter 7. They didn't get home until 1 am. But it's pretty cool to watch the whole story at once. I guess I'll have to go some other time to see it for myself.

Thanks and Feasting

2010-11-28T19:26:00.009-06:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone. We have had a wonderful long weekend of feasting and relaxing.

We joined our friends for dinner. We brought this fabulous turkey to deep fry. (Our host roasted one as well so that we would have in-bird stuffing to enjoy.)

I asked Lester at the meat counter at HEB to find me his biggest turkey. This was it. 23 pounds. It barely fit in the fryer.

Right as we got to our friend's house, a cold front blew in and so we had to set up a little lean to in the back corner of the yard to fry the turkey. Of course, all the kids wanted to watch.

It was a beautifully crisp on the outside, moist on the inside turkey. Ready in just over an hour. Beats getting up early to put the bird in the oven. We actually fried two turkeys. I signed up to bring turkey to the ward Christmas party next week. So I just cooked another one at the same time. Just freezing that turkey for the party.

I had planned to do three. But the one that I tried thawing in the refrigerator was still frozen when we left for the party. So we roasted that one today. Nothing like a second Thanksgiving dinner to enjoy again.

Inside, Marie and Johanna were finishing the last preparations for dinner.

Jed was carving the oven roasted turkey. Nate carved the fried one.

Then everyone loaded up.

We had lots of pie. I made 7 pies. Bought 6 more. Marie made 3 more. We didn't come home with much: 3 out of the 16. Those disappeared the next day.

We played the traditional Kerksiek family candy game. All the kids had fun.

This is the group shot. The sister missionaries were there too. But they left before I could snap the picture.

It was a great night. We went and saw Tangled afterward. Kind of late, but the theater was pretty empty.

I missed my family. But I am thankful for good friends to fill their place.

Stuff I've been working on or Why I haven't had time to blog

2010-11-09T15:12:00.008-06:00

Nothing exciting to report lately. Just the normal chauffeuring kids, making dinner, and doing laundry routine. I guess that is the way things go. But occassionally there are some other things that happen. So, here is a list (because I love lists) of our life lately:

Two sick kids this week.

I had 7 kids last week all week. Friends were out of town and we took some of their kids. Nearly double our usual 4. But it worked out just fine. The only time I really noticed a difference was at dinnertime and bath time. Our table doesn't fit 9 and bathing 3 little girls at once takes a while longer than one.

I've been sewing a bunch lately. I have a backlog of sewing projects that keep getting ignored. I keep adding new projects before I finish the old ones. Some get done, some get added to the work-in-progress pile. But this last week I finished capes, a dress, a jacket, bunches of mending and altering projects, a baby quilt and some pajamas. Still have more mending and lots more projects. But I love sewing. It is something I really look forward to.

Lots of piano practice with Hazel, percussion practice with Isaac, and flute practice with Aspen. She had a district band audition last weeekend. And now we are practicing Christmas music.

The weather has been beautiful here. 75 to 80 degrees in the day. 40's and 50's at night. One night we almost had a freeze. I wish it was a little colder to actually feel like fall. But this weather is nothing to complain about.

Finished reading Little House in the Big Woods with Hazel. The Little House series are some of my favorite books. I always wished I was a pioneer girl. I wanted to be Laura. Next up is Little House on the Prairie.

Started planning Hester's baby shower with my sisters. So excited for Hester, her baby, and the shower.

Watching Dukes of Hazzard reruns with my kids. Still my favorite show.

Had a movie party with the kids last weekend. We made pizza, a birthday cake (complete with candles) for no reason whatsoever, and popcorn in front of Toy Story 3. Cute and funny movie.

Premade some breakfast foods so that my kids don't just eat cereal every morning. Although they don't mind just cereal. I think they should have something more substantial. So now we are stocked up with veggie sausage biscuits, veggie breakfast tacos, turkey sausage pigs-in-a-blanket, and ham, cheese, and tomato english muffins to eat with our fruit, yogurt and milk in the morning.

We are still getting tomatoes out of our garden, peppers, jalepenos, onions, and basil too. We'll be having stuffed peppers every week for the next month. And lots of salsa. Yum.

Helping Toby with school stuff.

Helping the boys with scout stuff. We are also helping their friends with Eagle projects.

Helping Aspen with Personal Progress stuff. We have the Young Women in Excellence prorgram for our Stake this week. So Aspen is finishing up a cool project to exhibit. I'll have to take pictures of it and post it when she is finished.

Researching appetizer options for the cooking club that Nate and I are in. This month we are doing dishes featuring orange and pomegranate. It is going to be tasty.

Made atwo pumpkin pies. (The big can makes two, I can't help it.) And just about ate them by myself. I got inspired when I started planning our Thanksgiving menu. I like pie :)

Doing stuff for my church callings.

Thinking about Christmas: gifts, activities, vacation plans, food. Listening to Christmas music. I already bought a new CD for the season and have listened to it a couple times. Playing Christmas songs on the piano. We even wrote Santa letters the other day. I know kind of early. But I want to get Christmas shopping done early this year, and help the kids get theirs done too, so we needed some lists of ideas to choose from. Christmas season is so much more relaxing for me when all those things are taken care of early.

Finished reading the The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials by James Dashner. Very good books. If you liked Hunger Games, you will probably like this series. I think there is one more to come. But it will likely be awhile since Scorch Trials just came out.

Started reading the latest installment in the Wheel of Time Series. I haven't gotten very far due to busyness in the rest of my life. But hope to finish this month.

Ward Halloween Party Costume Bonanza

2010-10-29T21:39:00.007-05:00

Tonight was our ward's Halloween Party. Because I am such a procrastinator, I spent the day making costumes - when will I ever learn?) I love the costume aspect of Halloween. I'm not very good at pretend, but I love to make costumes for my kids. I always plan to make one for me as well, but I always run out of time - that pesky procrastination habit again ;)

Hazel wanted to be a purple cowgirl; she was very specific. Here she is with a couple of her friends: Jasmin, Jesse and a pink cutie-pie.

Aspen chose to be Strawberry Shortcake this year. I liked her friend's costume who came as Cinderella before the ball. Also is a friend from the 70's and one from the 80's.

Another Jesse and T-Rex (so cute when they are so small). I also loved this Airbender - he shaved his head just for this costume. That is dedication. His daddy dressed the same - but he was already bald.

Since I ran out of time for a costume, I joined Hazel as a cowgirl. Nate is Pooperman; goes well with the Whoopie Cushion (one of my favorite costumes of the night).

Isaac is a Cereal Killer. Toby is an army dude. We had originally planned on being a plastic army guy. But the spray paint was taking longer that I planned. Maybe we'll finish that tomorrow for the party he is going to. His friend, King Dallin.

One of the most original of the night: Peace and Quiet.

And I love this zombie's hair. But I would dread trying to get all that product out of her hair later.

Poor Danny looks unhappy, but he loved his little car. And lastly the cutest little family of Vampire boys and Jasmin again with her flapper mom. She pulls off the look very well.

Other great costumes that I was too busy to get pics of: A whole family of Mario Party, Willie Nelson, Ozzie Osborne (very much in character too), Scooby Doo, Thelma, and Shaggy, Ben 10, Old time Mafia guys (think Blues Brothers). We have some very creative friends in our ward. Good ideas for next time.

It was fun to play games and go through the haunted house put on by the young men (they enjoy that job a bit too much). And of course the trunk or treating. Isaac changed his costume and went the rounds 3 times. Sneaky boy.

Takin' a Spin in the Caddy

2010-10-24T22:00:00.003-05:00

Nate here: I have subscribed to Road & Track for a long time. About 10 years ago, I got invited to test drive some BMW's. A couple months ago I got an invitation to attend the "Cadillac V-Series Performance Lab" at a track in Houston. It was a blast. We were there for about five hours. They had some classroom-like sessions where they talked about the performance of the cars, and then they had drivers from Skip Barber take us through some different activities. The highlight was driving the cars around the track--they recorded the whole thing, and just sent me the link to the video:

http://www.p1productions.net/cadillac2010/556152482686

This totally changed my perspective on Cadillac. If you are in the market for a high-end performance car, the CTS-V is definitely worth checking out. 556 horsepower, 191 mph top speed, and definitely fun to drive.

Thank you Road & Track and Cadillac for a very fun weekend.

http://www.cadillac.com/vehicles/2011/ctsVCoupe/overview.do

Tomahawks, knives, and fire: a boy scout's dream campout

2010-10-23T00:43:00.001-05:00

Nate went with Toby and Isaac to our area council's Scout Jam celebrating 100 years of Boy Scouts. Apparently, it was fabulous. The boys came home happy and tired. (Isaac wanted to go straight to bed - shocking coming from him at 6:30 pm).

We made him shower first.

Then he did go straight to bed.

There was knife and tomahawk throwing. Isaac was in heaven. He has been begging for a tomahawk all summer. And he came home and browsed for throwing knives on Amazon to add to his Christmas wish list (emphasis on the wish part). He also got to make his very own arrow head.

There were also guys with guns from WWII that they shot off for the boys (firing blanks of course), a helicopter,

and someone shooting a flame thrower. That was an especially thrilling part of the event.

I'm glad that Nate is willing to go to so many scouting events with the boys. They get to make lots of fun memories together. Thanks Nate.

Update: Adding video of the flamethrower.

What do I do?

2010-10-22T00:31:00.000-05:00

This is Mango, Toby's parakeet. She has been laying eggs all summer. Usually, they get abandoned on the floor of their cage, and we toss them. We tried putting a nesting box in the cage with the birds, but she wouldn't use it and kept laying her eggs on the floor. This time, she has decided to sit on the most recent ones. (There are three.) If you look closely under her wing you can catch a glimpse of one. She sits here on her eggs all day. I guess she is serious this time.

But what am I going to do if they actually hatch? I don't really want three more birds. We'd have to get a much bigger (very expensive) cage. They are rather loud, and somewhat messy. And did you know that parakeets live for 20 years?! I had no clue about their life expectancy when we got them for Toby one Christmas. I guess I could save them for his children. They'd still have a good ten years left in them. Still. As cool as little parakeets would be to watch hatch and grow, I'm kind of hoping that this little experiment doesn't really happen. Or maybe someone wants some baby parakeets? I'll keep you updated.

Stocking my freezer

2010-10-21T00:14:00.000-05:00

Fall makes me want to cook. Well, at least October brings on the cooking frenzy. We are still having upper 80 degree weather here. But I am breaking out the crock pots anyway and hoping that eventually the weather cools a bit.

I've spent the last week making soups (split pea, yellow pea, chicken noodle, tortilla), chili, browning ground meats to add to sauces, making meatloaf (very convenient serving size when made in a muffin tin) banana bread, pumpkin bread, spaghetti sauce, and chicken stock.

My chili ended up being way too spicy. I had to triple the recipe to tone down the fire just to get it to manageable levels for my family. So now I think I have enough to last us until 2011. But it is rather tasty so I am looking forward to some cold nights to enjoy it. So now my freezer looks like this:

I've still got some more meals to make to use up the rest of the chicken and ham. I've got Toby helping me too. He is a fabulous cook and so I am employing him to make the chicken makhani, thai red curry and massaman chicken this afternoon while I am working on the soups. (One of the joys of having a homeschooled kid is the built-in helping hands during the day.)

A fully stocked freezer is the best reward for a couple days of cooking and dish doing. Now, when it's 6:00 and I'm looking for something for dinner, I'll just have to warm it up and we're all set.

Priceless.

Aspen Was Inducted

2010-10-20T12:05:00.004-05:00

into the National Junior Honor Society yesterday evening. We are so proud of her. She is a wonderful daughter. She is smart and caring, beautiful and creative. And she wrote a great essay on leadership for her application. I'll have to see if I can find a copy of it on the other computer. Way to go Aspen!

Fried Food Capital or The Texas State Fair

2010-10-07T07:38:00.014-05:00

One of my favorite times of the year is fair season. And the Texas State Fair is fabulous! (At least I think so, my family might have a different opinion. But I dragged them along anyway.) Big Tex welcomed us right in. (He talks! and he gets new clothes and boots each year too!)

The Texas State Fair is called the Fried Food Capital of Texas; and they really embrace this title. Each year there are winners for the best tasting and most creative fried foods. And really, you can find almost anything fried. So Nate tried a bunch of them. (I actually had no appetite the entire day...I get really grossed out by fried anything. Even french fries are pushing my limits these days.) But Nate was game.

So he tried Fried Twinkies,

and Fried Peach Cobbler, and Fried Fritos Pie (this year's Best Tasting winner), Fried Butter (last year's most creative winner), and a couple others that I didn't get pictures of. There was also Fried Beer (this year's Most Creative winner), and Fried Margaritas, fried watermelon, fried green tomatoes, as well as all the other normal Texas fair fried fare: turkey legs, funnel cakes, corn dogs (a Texas original from many years ago), fried Snickers, fried Oreos, fried chicken, fried everything!

In one of the food buildings there was a demonstration for a vita mix blender. The man was making habanero pepper smoothies. Nate tried that as well. Very hot!

This sculpture of football players is made entirely of butter! Crazy! (Refrigerated of course.)

And of course we petted lots of animals,

Saw the Amazing Dobermans,

and the birds of the World presentation.

A visit to the fair wouldn't be complete without a ride on the Texas Star. (The tallest amusment park ride in North America.)

The kids tried out a couple other rides as well. But since everything cost lots of $tickets$ we didn't do them all.

I loved the fair. I missed the livestock barns and the parade and the light show. And there was the car show and the music concerts too. Next time...

Found

2010-10-03T18:15:00.003-05:00

I saw this going down the hallway this afternoon. Aspen is taking spanish at school this year. Obviously, she has issues with the boys using "her" bathroom. Upstairs she put a BOYS sign on "their" bathroom. I kind of have to agree with her on this one. Teenage boys aren't known for their bathroom cleanliness skills. And I don't share my bathroom with any children.

Exploding gummy bears

2010-09-29T07:43:00.005-05:00

This science experiment has been waiting for months to happen. Nate ordered the materials a loooong time ago. We waited and waited for them to come in the mail. Finally Nate contacted the company after about a month of waiting. Turns out, you need to fill out a HAZMAT form so that the chemicals can be mailed. So then we waited some more. Finally, the package arrived in the mail. So we could try out some exploding gummy bears.

First mix a couple chemicals. Making sure that you are in a well ventilated area of course.

Heat the chemicals in the test tube until they liquify.

Add a couple gummy bears.

And stand back.

The first time, the reaction was so violent, the gummy bears were catapulted back out of the test tube. (Flaming, flying, molten gummy bears=not good.)
But the second try produced the desired reaction: adding them to the liquid chemical turned them into flaming balls of sugar, no fire added.
Next time we won't use so much chemical and we'll do it more than twice.
Our neighbors must think we're a little nuts. Lots of things are blowing up in our back yard.

All Together, right now

2010-09-18T03:30:00.001-05:00

Since all the grandchildren were finally together, in one place, we had to take some pictures. So here are all 12 of the Kerksiek grandchildren, youngest to oldest (not shortest to tallest because the tallest is not the oldest(much to Toby's chagrin)).

I think we took about 50 pictures trying to get a good one. These are the best ones of the bunch. At least everyone is looking and has their eyes open.

But this one is my favorite:

It shows the true picture. I love that Clara looks aghast at what everyone else is doing. And that McKay is unsure if she really wants to be silly or not. Everyone else is just embracing the instuction to show me their "crazy self."