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"...)

Botanic Gardens at Thanksgiving

 When my parents were visiting for Thanksgiving, we took an afternoon to go play at the Botanic Gardens. It was beautiful weather and we all enjoyed getting out. My kids are getting too big. I'm going to have to start putting books on their heads to keep them from growing...
Here are the kids in the giant pumpkin...

 We were playing in the leaves when I mentioned to my parents how I had seen something on Pinterest about recreating old family photos (and how awkward that would be, given some of the poses we used). Bekah overheard this and wanted to pose just like my siblings and I had posed as children - so this picture is a re-creation of that. Can you imagine grown adults re-creating this pose?!

 I cannot overstate the love that Marianne has for her Grandma Cutesy. She cries for Cutesy when she is away and keeps her within arms length when she is visiting. And if she's it a good mood when missing Cutesy, she will sing an "Ode to Cutesy" that goes like this: "I LOVE my Cutesy...I LOVE my Cutesy!"

 I kept trying to get family pictures of all of us. I don't know why...I was wearing grungy clothes with my hair in a ponytail, and my kids were in random clothing - Jacob's shirt especially I would like to mysteriously disappear. And Marianne had crazy hair. And every time we took a picture the sun seemed to single out my face. I think I was channeling the last time I was there with my good friend and photographer Sarah and she was taking our very cute and well-planned family photos...

You may notice that Bekah has a cast. This was our first child with a broken bone, and it was so incredibly lacking in drama that it is barely worth mentioning. Rus and I went on a date, and sometime during that time Bekah stood on the arm of the couch...and then fell off and broke her wrist. When telling me what happened she said (and I quote), "Mom, remember how you told me not to stand on the arm of the couch? Well I guess I had to learn the hard way." Radial buckle fracture. Three weeks in a cast. Exciting amounts of attention. Dirtiest hand I ever saw (after that three week period). Anyway...back to the gardens...
 As much as Marianne loves her Cutesy, Grandpa Cutesy is not far behind. She seems to turn into a blushing, darling, sweet little thing whenever Grandpa dotes on her. And in turn, Grandpa melts a little each time Marianne takes to him. Their relationship is so sweet, I, as an onlooker, also melt...

And that was our day at the gardens...I feel so blessed every time I get to spend time with my parents. They are such amazing parents and even more amazing grandparents to my sometimes-crazy kids.

Happy? Halloween!

When I asked the kids what they wanted to be for Halloween, Beau didn't even hesitate.

"Scorpion!"

My reply..."um, I don't know how to make that happen..."

Bekah was just a moment behind him.

"Artemis!"

I had to ask her who that was, and learned that Artemis is the goddess of hunt. Bekah liked this idea because then she was able to carry a bow and arrow.

Jacob just sat and pouted.

"I don't know..."

We talked about it for a while, and then inspired by a video I had watched with Beau, I said, "How about you're a man being eaten by an anaconda?"

"YES!" He loved the idea. "And I need clothes that look like I'm on safari!"

So we went to work.

Bekah was easy. I altered a dress for her and Rus helped her make a bow and arrow. I made a quiver out of some faux leather and that was it.

For Jacob, I found some awesomely cheap fabric at Walmart that was perfect - black and brown with a shiny smooth texture for 1.99 a yard. I cut out two long, looong strips and sewed them together to make a tube. Then Jacob and I took them outside and spray painted each side with some fabric spray paint we had - copper and silver on the top and yellow on the bottom. Then we figured out how to best sew the mouth to make it open and be able to go on his head. Carla was visiting and we were trying to figure out how to stuff this 10 foot snake. She suggested sheets and stuffed animals. We tried this, emptying our linen closet and Jacob's animal bag...the thing weighed a ton. Jacob couldn't even lift it on his own. We mused on how to fix the problem for several days before appealing to the employee at the UPS store for help. They had a packing peanut dispenser and we just positioned the snake's mouth under the opening and brought that flat snake to life. It was perfect, and with a little bit of genius and effort, it wound around Jacob's body in a light adequate anaconda squeeze.

After all of that work on Jacob's snake, I was ready to work on Beau's scorpion. I have made a dragon and a basilisk lizard costume in the past, and I followed the same format with the scorpion: the same fabric as Jacob, bumpy segmented body on a sweatshirt top, awesome bumpy tail with stinger, and cool gloves. The gloves turned out awesome as a result of several mistakes and then a little divine revelation and a pair of mittens to use as a template. I utilized some boning in the tail to help it curl up, and again felt like a genius when it turned out so well. I spied some extra sprinkler hose in the garage and knew it would be perfect and light for the legs, and Rus helped me figure out how to make the legs bend in the desired shapes (thank you, heat gun), and how to attach them to the body (thank you, pneumatic staple gun). The entire costume was epic-ly amazing. I know I'm bragging. When I die and am asked what great things I accomplished, this will be on the short list.

 

So you can imagine how on the morning of Halloween, when Beau was supposed to get in his costume so he could go to the school and show it off in the storybook parade, but instead he was lying on the floor in his jammies, kicking and screaming and refusing to wear it because the legs were "so jumbly," I went into a kind of resentful, mournful daze.

Well, I say daze, but I was also trying to get all of Bekah's fruit cut up and 24 individual sodas labeled and Marianne's costume on, and lunches packed and myself dressed (along with my normal duties of creating world peace and topping the invention of velcro...)

Beau and Bekah missed the bus. The anaconda, with Jacob inside of it, got on the bus. That is why he was my favorite that day, up until he refused to walk in the storybook parade and instead sat by me coiled in his snake and capturing the attention of all of the kids walking by...(The same attention he wanted to avoid by walking in the parade.)

Anyway, I digress. Eventually all the kids made it to school and Beau decided he liked his costume after all, and Bekah's food got to her classroom relatively unscathed. I watched the parade, Marianne at my side...

and then I went home, swearing off Halloween for the rest of the day.

That night we ate dinner, carved pumpkins, and trick-or-treated.

There are only about 10 homes on our street that participate. We love that about our street. Marianne caught on super fast and was very possessive of her bag of candy. The kids got their loot and then engaged in the same ritual that children for decades have enjoyed - organizing, sorting, and trading every piece of candy.

 Marianne doesn't really care much for candy...

I'm not sure if I'm going to be up for making costumes next year. In fact, I'm pretty sure I swore off costume making more than one time this year, promising Jacob and Beau that they would never have to wear a costume I made ever again. (Because they both at various times cried and refused to wear what they had once begged me to make).

But...

A year might be just long enough to make me forget...

A Visit With Mr. and Mrs. Hartman

I've just had the best few weeks, beginning with the Chones Expedition and ending this weekend with the Balloon Fiesta. My mom (aka "Cutesy"), and dad came up for the Chones Exp. and my mom stayed and played with me while my dad camped with the boys. (He had a great time, was hailed as a fantastic cook and invited to every campout from now on, and was adopted as a surrogate grandpa by all boys in attendance.) My mom and I shopped and crafted. (As per usual - she helps me spend all of my money and then we just have to hunker down and craft.) It is so fun to have three kids in school and just Marianne to tote around. She's a handful, but she actually likes shopping (Beau hated it), and she can hang in there for a full morning before crashing for an afternoon nap. My mom and I shopped thrift stores the most, hunting down wool sweaters to transform into pumpkins and witch boots.
When it was time for Cutesy to head home with Grandpa, she just wasn't ready, and my dad found sympathy in her tears and decided to leave her here on condition that she find some way home soon. So she called my brother Tyler and asked him to come visit. As he and his wife are newly, albeit temporarily unemployed, they were able to make the trip to visit and take her back to AZ when they left. We had a great time - Tyler and Gina and my Mom were all able to go on Beau's field trip to the pumpkin patch, and we ate good food and played at the park and they visited the temple. Gina was working on some super cute baby/halloween sewing projects and got me itching to make a candy corn skirt for Marianne. Tyler was so fun with the kids, especially playing on the playground with Jacob. I'm so glad they came!
Then a few days after Cutesy, Tyler, and Gina left, Rus' cousin Tom and his wife Suzy came to visit for the Balloon Fiesta! These two newlyweds are some of my favorite people!
(Here they are checking out the aspens in Santa Fe. I love that Suzy always poses so Tom looks a little bit taller than her...)

They flew in Friday morning, and the kids held a private "kid meeting" before they arrived. Bekah and Beau determined that they would make Suzy bracelets, and that they would make Tom and Suzy's bed every morning and put mints on the pillow every time. (They totally did it, too!)
We had lunch and visited for a while after they arrived and then decided to take advantage of the afternoon and go see the fall leaves in Santa Fe. Thankfully the leaves were still there, but we were surprised by the SNOW! It was cold! Especially for Suzy's bare feet in flats and Tom's in Chuck Taylors. But the colors were beautiful and the kids enjoyed throwing their first snowballs of the season.

I love this picture of myself and Bekah...with our pink noses (it was cold!)

Rus took this great shot of a little stream in a canyon

Saturday was a super busy day, and it started early, early. We went to the Balloon Fiesta, leaving at a dark 5am (and sitting in mild traffic until arriving at a great parking spot). The mass ascension was a flop, but a bunch of balloons still went up and Tom and Suzy were still impressed. I showed Suzy how to run between the balloons as they were being inflated, and that was her favorite part (mine too!).
We met up with Officer Steve O. at the Tag Your Tots truck.
 
 Don't Suzy and Tom look so great here with their two children?

 There was a classic-style fire truck chase vehicle there, curiously named "The Gentle Stripper." Tom had to have a picture with it, of course. He wants to be a fire truck when he grows up...
 
 Kudos to ARIZONA!

The rest of Saturday was a blur of soccer games, piano lessons, a birthday party for one of Jacob's friends...culminating in a great date night with Tom and Suzy. We ate at a dive - but it was tasty! (Mary and Tito's cafe on 4th street - New Mexican food - You've never had a "turnover" like this one...) ...And had dessert and ran some errands and talked and talked.

I'm so grateful for good friends and family (especially when they are one in the same!)