Jacob the Great Eight Year Old

Holidays usually have a way of sneaking up on me. I know they're there, pending, imminent, and I think I'm prepared, and then suddenly it's the day of and I'm out of butter, or something equally disastrous.

Birthdays, on the other hand, "sneak" as well as a toddler carrying marbles. My children plan out their special day for months. Breakfast: German pancakes. Lunch: Class party that day. Dinner: Homemade pizza. Presents: Transformers. No, transformers are dumb. Art desk. Desk is too big for my room. Art kit with easel. Too expensive? Knife, a real gun, new clothes...

Activities: NO HOMEWORK!

The night before his birthday, Jacob said, "So you'll get up at four or five, right? To make sure my breakfast is ready when I wake up?"
I laughed, a little, and then assured him that it would be ready pretty soon after he woke up, but I wouldn't have to get up at 4am to make that happen.
His birthday fell on the last day of school this year, which was really nice because all the activities that day were really fun and he didn't have to be tormented by too much actual work.
Jacob opted out of birthday cake that night in favor of mini cheesecakes.

He blew out the candles, devoured the cheesecake, and then immediately turned his attention to his present: An art kit in a nice wooden case with an easel. He was delighted and treated it like it was gold the rest of the night. We had a fun surprise drop in from cousins, so Rachel and Wesley are in this picture.

The next day we held the much-anticipated Fossil Dig Birthday party. Only slightly marred by an unexpected midnight snowfall, the boys had a great time cracking open rocks to find plastic dinosaurs, searching for fossils in the snow (Jacob and I could work at a museum making replicas. We are that good), and eating dino-themed food. 

Did you know that blowing bubbles into jello makes it sound like it's farting? Neither did I.

And of course no birthday party with six boys involved would be complete without a nerf gun fight.

Three weeks later on January 4th, Jacob was baptized by his dad. This was not something he was super excited about doing at the start. He didn't want everyone watching him - he really, really does not like a lot of attention. But after many conversations and a little time, he became super excited about his big day and eagerly took a dip in the font.

I was so glad my mom was able to stick around for the baptism. I think Jacob was excited too...

Of course we had to document our little family on this occasion. They are growing up too fast!

I am so grateful for Jacob. He is my sweet, tender-hearted boy; the first to comfort me if I am having a hard day, and so eager to please. He is a blessing in my life!

It cracked me up that Beau and his cousins were so enthralled with these lace up cards that Marianne got for Christmas. They were seriously occupied the entire time.

And on the other side of the room sat these lovely girls. So cute.

Since Jacob has outgrown or out-worn every piece of Sunday clothing he owned, we had to go find him some new rags. He insisted on buying a full suit. Such a classy, handsome kid, huh! He is holding his scriptures that Nana and Grandpa bought him. Nana wasn't able to come up because she had strep, but Grandpa was there to represent.

Jacob, I love you and I'm so proud of you and your good choices!

All are safely gathered in...

 If I were a Christmas card writing gal, I would have used this picture on my card. I love how everyone is in their colorful pjs and how the snow is still falling. I love how Beau's coat is covering his mouth, but you know he is smiling because his eyes are crinkled up and happy. I love that Marianne's hat covers one eye. I love that Bekah is wearing the hat she made two years ago, and still wears so proudly because she loves telling people that she made it herself. The big black mitten on her hand is mine, and she's wearing to protect her bright green cast - souvenier from a fall off the couch. Marianne's mittens are mismatched because I couldn't find two the same. It's such a happy picture.
I think if I were to make a sign to hang in my home that described the circumstances of my most peaceful times, it would say, "All are safely gathered in." I LOVE having all my children all around me. Maybe not when I am making dinner or using the bathroom or typing on the computer...but in general, I feel most content when they are all nearby, safely esconced in their rooms playing, or sitting on the couch reading or even running down the hall yelling at each other. I know that all too soon our simple lives will get so much busier and I won't be able to keep them nearby all the time anymore.
Now don't read in to this too much. I'm not a saint. I did a little dance when my kids went back to school today after the winter break. I love bed time because I have a little space and time to do what I want to do. I hate it when they fight and bicker and tease and are selfish and mean. I have been known to kick them off my lap because I feel like I can't breathe.
But.
The mother hen in me loves having all my chicks safely in one nest. Peace, contentment, joy - I feel all of these things when I know they are in arm's reach.
I so love my children.
Here is Bekah in a rare moment after she let me blowdry her hair. I had to record it for posterity.

 Jacob, so handsome in the snow.

Making Bookshelves, Making Friends

 A few months ago (August?), my friend Kristine (pictured above), emailed me a picture of a bookshelf from the Land of Nod. "How hard do you think this would be to make?" she asked. I did a little research (thank you Ana White), and replied, "I think we could totally do this. I'll make one too." She was happy to hear this, and a few days later when we were talking she said, "I'm so excited! I told Cecy about this and she wants to make one, too. It won't be too hard to do three, will it?"
This is what I love about Kristine - she knows exactly what she wants, she asks, and she pulls in as many people as possible to do it with her. So I spent a little time drawing up plans, figuring out dimensions and cost and how much of what we would need, and then at the beginning of September Kristine and I went to buy wood. I knew it would be a fun project because just picking up the wood was fiun. Have you ever seen two women wrestle a 4x8' sheet of plywood, 3/4" thick? We did. And it was heavy. And with each selection, Kristine would quiz me as to what it was for and if it was enough and exactly how it would be used and put together. Thankfully, I passed, and by the end of the night she was confident that I knew what I was doing. (I think. You were, weren't you?)
Soon after that, the three of us had our first Woodshop Friends meeting. Cecy, Kristine, and myself, and a welcome surprise visitor - my dad. While Cecy and I cut boards on the table saw, Kristine and my dad set up the pocket hole jig. It was a Kreg jig that I had excitedly purchased a few weeks earlier - reward for two paintings that I had just finished. We cut out most of the wood that night and routed the edges that needed to be routed.
Side story** The next night we met, we wanted to attach the trim to each shelf and do some sanding. We had only been working about fifteen minutes when Cecy's husband called and said, "The stake president is at our house, you need to come home." Kristine had a good laugh about this - you see, Kristine's husband was the bishop of our ward, and had been for over five years, and she knew that his release was imminent. So Kristine and I continued our work until another phone call from Cecy: "Kristine, I'm done here, but I need to come and get you because now the stake president is at your house." Oh the timing. The next day our entire ward got an email saying that a special stake meeting had been called to discuss leadership changes and ward boundary changes. I saw Cecy that morning, she came over to help me sand boards, and she said, (I QUOTE), "All I can say is that Jason isn't going to be your bishop." Unfortunately for me, I didn't catch the emphasis on "your." At the stake meeting a couple of weeks later, Kristine's husband was released as bishop, and Cecy's husband was called as bishop, but the wards were also split and both of them were in the new High Desert ward while I remained in the Bear Canyon ward. And, she was right, Jason was not my bishop.
Anyway, back to the bookshelves: Cecy and Kristine soon learned that the most time consuming part of this project was the sanding and painting. We sanded and then primed. Sanded and then painted. Sanded and then painted again. If you can imagine, each bookshelf consisted of over a dozen parts. Multiply this by three and I'm sure you can envision my entire garage floor being covered with tarps and boards.
We carried on until everything was painted and sanded and ready to put together! I assembled my bookshelf a little ahead of theirs, to work out the kinks (because I was so excited), and then spent time one on one with each of them to put theirs together. Assembly took under two hours each time. The pocket holes were awesome. The trim was attached with finish nails. Kristine and I assembled hers out on my driveway. As it came together, I got more and more excited until I was ready to tell any random passer-by that we had made this beautiful thing ourselves. I did, in fact, tell a couple of my neighbors who saw us out there...
Here is Cecy with her bookshelf. We forgot to paint enough molding for the top - so she touched hers up later.

Me and my bookshelf. I decided not to do the bin at the bottom because I wanted mine for the living room. Cecy and Kristine were using theirs in their daughter's rooms.

We were finished with this project by the beginning of November. (I think.) I loved our time spent in the garage, talking about everything and working together. I'm pretty sure it's the best formula for making friends, as my best friends have always been ones that I've worked in the garage with. (I love you Tara and Taffy!).
I'm so glad Kristine suggested this project. I expect any day to get another email from her, "So, how hard to you think it'd be to make this..."
I can't wait...

Middle of Nowhere Affirmed

 Do you ever get done with the holidays and sort of wish that you could crawl in a hole and ignore the world for a few days? Well, lucky for me, and my family, we have the perfect "hole" to crawl into. Enter Lordsburg, New Mexico, the affirmed "Middle of Nowhere."

I don't mean this in any derogatory way. Truly. It really is wonderful to have a place to go that is slower, quieter, less demanding...And BONUS, my kids all slept well, every night of the three nights we were there. (I feel like I've arrived!)
A few months ago, as an incentive to Jacob to do his daily reading and homework consistently and without complaining, Rus promised a trip to Lordsburg to go coyote hunting. Jacob came through (barely...oh the trauma of nightly homework), and Rus came through, too. Rus' dad has a trap line for trapping coyotes, and Jacob and Rus were delighted to go Monday morning to help set up the trap line. They also did a little coyote hunting, albeit unsuccessfully, but had a great time. Jacob is his father's son, to be sure.
The next day, not wanting to leave the rest of us out of the fun, Rus and his dad took us to inspect the trap line (no coyotes), do a little geocaching, visit a [dry] lake, and roast hot dogs on an open fire, all made possible by miles and miles [and miles] of beautiful back country.
The geocaching was a huge hit.

 It had more than a little to do with the fact that Roger made these geocaches and they were filled with things each of the kids loved - an arrowhead for Jacob, plastic dinosaurs for Beau, frog key chain for Bekah, a necklace for Marianne...

I will freely admit that I knew (and still) know nothing about trap lines. When we went out to see if we'd trapped anything, Roger would point to a cow pie and say, "See the dirt next to that? That's where the trap is." It could have all been a ruse, really. I didn't see a single trap, just a lot of dirt and cow pies..

 "The trap is right there!" Riiiight... Whatever excuse you boys need to spend hours in the great outdoors...

 After the geocaching and mystic trap line, Roger and Rus promised the kids they could go play at a lake. "You kids can go as far as you want into the lake!"
Then he took them here:

 I guess that when it rains hard in Lordsburg, this dry lake bed fills up with water...but the other 364 days of the year it looks like this: Dry, endless, and actually sparsely beautiful, in my opinion. Grandpa had us doing a little hitchhiking here...

At first sight you may think this picture is washed out...but it's not. There's just nothing there...

 

 

 After the lake and miles and miles of more driving,
(passing this windmill...)

we found ourselves in Granite Gap, a rocky area that Rus prefaced with this: "If it doesn't have thorns, it's a rock." True, true...The kids loved climbing on the rocks and creating their own little kingdoms defended by yucca stalks.

Handsome Beau, King of the Rocks:

*Side note here - Rus decided to educate our children on Star Wars on this trip. They watched all six in the last five days. AND THEY LOVED IT. Rus is very proud. I'm breaking up light saber fights...*
Roger and Rus made a fire and we roasted hot dogs, chowed down on chips and chips ahoy and sodas. Low brow chow. Then we went bear hunting with Jacob's BB gun - man, the kids love plinking around with that little gun...(Rus in this case qualifies as a "kid") And then we drove home. Miles and miles of more backcountry. Rus and his dad avoid the freeway like it's the plague.
I also sewed a pillow top on this trip - a cute little thing that was paper pieced and Louise was kind enough to help me with. I ran, but it was a "vacation" sort of run in that I was able to go in the middle of the day. (Also it should be noted that it's the first time I have run looking over my shoulder to be sure a wild roaming bull didn't decide to test my sprinting abilities.) And I started a book...I don't think I've sat down and read a book for months. And I napped. (I'm not really a napper). It really was a great vacation. I love Roger and Louise. I love how they spiritually lead their family, taking real time to sit and talk and even preach about what's important. I am truly blessed with such wonderful second parents. (Even if they live in the middle of nowhere and at times define redneck, or "country"...)