I'm A Domestic Goddess...

Okay, maybe that's going a little too far, but I've done some pretty cool domestic-type things this last few months that I'm awfully proud of. You know how when you want to grow up to be a wife and mommy, you plan to be able to do all the cool and amazing things your mom did? Then, you get married and learn that you're also expected to do all the wonderful things your husband's mom did, too? Well, for the first 18 years of marriage, I have hated ironing, almost never (except one disastrous meal and one special recipe) made gravy from meat drippings, failed miserably and gave up on my mother-in-law's "no fail pie crust" recipe, and never made a loaf of bread with my hands, from scratch.

Well, I've decided to call this my Season of Growth in the Homemaking Arena. Since Father's Day, I've made four amazingly flaky and delicious no-fail pie crusts, made chicken gravy from a roasted chicken that even our friend who doesn't like gravy said was wonderful, bottled 12 quarts of peaches (water bath canned) all by myself, made beautiful twin loaves of yummy sourdough bread (from my own sourdough start), bottled 22 quarts of green beans (pressure canned) all by myself, and made a "just right" lemon meringue pie that looked as beautiful as my mom's and caused a great big grin on my husband's face. How's that for developing my talents? I know that He who created me is the one that gave me these hidden abilities, but I'm so excited, I've allowed myself just a few small moments of unrighteous pride...

Oh, yeah. And thanks to those who gave me tips, pointers, encouragement, recipes, and you know, ...helped me!

Back into the Swing of Things...

Well, we've been back in school for... a month for my Charter School kids, and 3 weeks for my Junior at Century High School. Yeah, I can't believe she's that old, either. Rachel is in 8th, Bryson 4th and Joshua 1st grade. I can't believe any of them are that old. The first day of school was pretty exciting. Sarah was still sleeping (she still had another week of summer break), Rachel was spending record time in the bathroom with the spiral curling iron, and the boys were dressed by 7:10 and making their sack lunches in the kitchen. Nathan was all caught up in the excitement, too, making his own lunch and packing his "pack-pack". (Sarah and I had to take him to the park to eat his packed lunch that day.)

Joshua, Rachel and Bryson on the first day of school
August 14th, 2009

...And Nathan on their first day of school...

Sarah's first day of school
August 20th, 2009

So, after a month, how are things going? Bryson had a major homework meltdown and Joshua had a little period of "bad choices" at school the first week, but everyone seems to have settled in and is doing great now! ...Whew! We love the kids' teachers, the new administrators at the charter school, and the new routine that comes with school schedules. Rachel's life changed a little bit this year with some of her good friends leaving to the traditional jr. high, and the new homework load of 8th grade. But, she's been busy, involved in student council and mostly happy. Sarah has only had one "sick day" so far, and we're thrilled that she's enjoying her classes and strengthening friendships. Nathan and I hang out all day at home (if we're lucky) and plan to have lots of trips to the library for storytime and special mommy-time at home. All in all, I'd say school is going great, and things are good. I'm holding my breath that life won't get much crazier and that homework time won't put me in a mental hospital this year!

Baby Blues is one of my favorite cartoons. Steve clips it out for me at least once every couple of weeks as it seems to apply so directly to my crazy mommy-life with my great kids! This was one he cut out last Spring, during burn-out season, but it also seems so applicable now....

A Weekend in Utah

We headed to Utah for a quick trip the first weekend of August to attend Teagan Stoddard's baptism and baby Brigham Stoddard's blessing and a short stay at Grandma and Grandpa Brown's house. The boys are the two sons, 1st and 4th kids, of Steve's youngest sister, Becca. The baptism, confirmation and blessing on Saturday were really special, followed by a nice luncheon afterward. It was nice to see everyone again. It's been a while since we've been there.

Since we were in town with the afternoon to kill, we decided to take a trip to the Hill Air Force Base Aerospace Museum. The kids enjoyed the museum, but we might have pushed it a little too long. They were getting pretty crabby by the time we got home. I guess even boys get tired after seeing that many airplanes.

Sunday we had a nice day with church and at home visiting with Steve's parents and eating a wonderful dinner, mostly from their garden. Yum! We love Grandma's cooking. Monday morning, Steve went on a fishing trip with his dad (that was very long overdue), and the kids played in the hot tub. Then Grandma bought us lunch at McDonald's. The boys loved the new toys, but the girls...well, not so much anymore. But, we did have a wonderful visit and enjoyed Grandma's company. After another home-baked treat from Grandma's kitchen (cinnamon rolls which Rachel had suggested sounded good...spoiled kid!), we packed up and came back home. As always, we were sad to leave, but had a great time just enjoying each other again!

Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart!

We celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary this month on August 9th. Actually, we celebrated together on the 7th and 8th, and with the kids on the 9th. Lacking any funds for a traditional romantic weekend getaway, we got a little more creative this year. Steve and I have never ever been camping alone. So, we thought we'd give it a shot, since it's a pretty cheap place to go. We packed up some yummy things to cook an anniversary dinner over the fire (ginger sesame pork and shrimp, red new potatoes and salad, complete with sparkling juice and frozen mint pies), sleeping bags and pillows and a few other camping essentials. We had such a wonderful time!! It was kind of weird not having all the kids there, but so nice to just sit together and talk, stare at the fire, watch an old movie in bed (in the back of the Suburban...not as comfy as we'd imagined) and spend some much needed private time together. We slept in (til our old bladders forced us out of bed) and cleaned up camp in the rain. What's camping without rain, anyway. It was a beautiful weekend.

As I reflect on the last 18 years, I am truly humbled as I realize how much the Lord has blessed me. I can't imagine how my life would be without the incredible man I've married beside me. I can't even describe the depths of love I have for him and the gratitude I feel. We've been through so much in the last 18 years, health problems, work issues, financial problems, the unknown in so many struggles... and through it all, we cling to each other and work through it with the Lord's help. We always seem to know what the other needs. Steve has made me a believer in Soul Mates, and I'm so grateful he found me, and knew I was his. He's everything to me. I love you, sweetheart.

"Um...I Think....Let's Sell It!"

In an effort to "de-junk" our house and help Rachel earn some money for her American Heritage Tour next spring, we decided to have a yard sale this summer. Looking at the calendar, the only weekend we had free was the one just before girls' camp. So, although the date was bad, it was our only shot. We spent 3 days cleaning up, cleaning out, piling and pricing. By Friday morning, we had a pretty good selection of goodies for sale. As we went through the toys, Bryson and Josh very carefully selected a few choice items they no longer wanted. As I held up each of his old toys, Nathan would reply, "Ummm...I think...let's sell it!" I don't think he has a clue what that really meant, but who was I to argue? Actually, I didn't sell anything I thought he would miss. He was pretty sad as the girls' old toddler bike got hauled off by someone else's mommy. Oops.

It went pretty well. Our neighbors donated at least half the stuff we sold and gave Rachel half the money of everything she sold for them (turned out to be $120 donation). A good friend and Grandma & Grandpa donated some stuff, too. Rachel had a bake sale and also collected donations for her trip, which added about $15 more to her profits. After everything, we cleared about $600. After Rachel took her $300, we paid the neighbors their $120, Sarah got her $50, Josh and Bryson each got their $10, and Nathan got his $5, I think Steve and I got to keep $105. What's wrong with this picture?? It was worth it, though, helping the kids earn a little money, and getting rid of some of the stuff I won't have to pick up anymore!

It was a pretty big deal. Really. We were even featured on the news!

Pioneer Day Celebration

Pioneer children sang as they walked, and walked, and walked....
Sarah and Rachel walked with the float in the Pioneer Day Parade and held signs with some of the other young women in our ward. They were wearing cute little blow-up alligator swimming floaties around their waists. Of course, Sarah thought they were cute and funny, and Rachel was embarrassed to death. We brought the quick shade and lawn chairs and found a pretty non-populated spot on Center Street with friendly and polite neighbors. It was really fun this year. After the parade, we did our usual run up to the fairgrounds to fight the crowds and heat and stood in line to get our traditional Pioneer Day lunch: hamburgers or hot dogs and corn on the cob, watermelon, and snowcones. Yum! That's what summer's all about. It was really hot that day, and I opted to hold everything while Steve took the boys into the petting zoo. When they were done, we made a bee-line to the car before they noticed anything else to do or eat.

We got home and Steve was watering the plants in the front yard. Rachel opened her water bottle and dumped it down his shirt. Pretty soon, there was an all-out waterfight going on in the front yard, and my poor husband was without his hose. A few minutes later, I heard footsteps on the roof and Steve opened fire with the backyard hose. Rachel didn't stand a chance.

Sarah and I were hiding and laughing on the porch, using picture-taking as my excuse so I could stay dry. Before I knew it, he bent the hose around the roof and squirted me and Sarah down. So, of course we joined the fun. Afterall, we had to get him back! We all had a great time, except Josh, who loved being the hose guy and squirting everyone when they came to fill up their buckets and pitchers, but cried everytime somebody dumped it over his head. We finally got smart and gave him an umbrella as a shield and had him sit on the sandbox and watch.

After an hour of drowning each other, we called a truce so we could all clean up and dry off. Of course, we did have to stop and pose for a picture first. What a fun, fun day! Spontaneous moments are usually the the stuff great memories are made of!

Contemplating Waffles and Eternity

One night when the girls were gone for mutual to a camp certification night at Scout Mountain, we decided to take the boys and have a little dinner of our own in the mountains. We made some sandwiches and drove up there, too, hoping to grab a picnic spot and have a little quality time with our boys in a setting that they love. We were disappointed to find out that Scout Mountain doesn't have any day use picnic areas anymore. They're all camping spots and cost $10 per use. So, we headed back down the mountain and stopped at Cherry Springs. Steve and I ate in the amphitheater area while the boys ignored their dinner and picked flowers, played with giant leaves and caught caterpillars. We had a fun time together. We decided to head home when the mosquitoes got so bad Bryson was running around in circles so they wouldn't land on him. Funny boy.

On the way home, Steve and I were talking softly while the boys sat quietly and stared out the windows. (I think they were tired, but really fighting sleep.) All of a sudden, Josh said, "Dad? Do you thin the girl I marry will like waffles?" Trying to stifle his laugh, Steve answered, "I'm sure she will son." Josh thought about that for a second and then said, "Good. Because I really like waffles and the girl I marry has to like them so we can eat them all the time for breakfast." He settled back into his thoughts again and all was quiet in the back seat. Steve and I joked about him taking all of his dates to IHOP and making sure they order waffles before he considers them marriage-worthy. What a sweet thing a six year-old perspective is. Life is so good when all that really matters to your future is whether or not your wife will eat waffles with you.