Garden Time!

Last year we were eager first time gardeners and had part of our garden planted in March. This year that didn't happen. The girls kept asking when we would plant and I kept putting it off. But in my defense, chances of anything growing earlier than now would have been slim to none due to some very cold temps we have had this spring. People up and down our street are just getting seeds in the dirt so I am not the only slacker! Plus I was waiting for a rototiller to prepare the soil. Sunday while we were at church, our very nice neighbors and friends from across the street, pulled weeds and prepared our little garden area. It was so nice of them!

Last night the girls and I played in the dirt (I just read an article that said you are smarter when you "play" in the dirt!) and planted carrots, peas, beans, cucumbers, onions, zucchini, watermelon, pumpkins, one tomato plant (Jaco is the only one who will eat them) and radishes. Last year we tried and failed with corn and lettuce so I opted out on those. Our pumpkins and watermelons did not grow last year either but the kids really wanted to give them another chance. We will see what we get!

While we were making the rows, we found some buried treasure, aka...cat poop. So when La-La said her prayer last night, she asked Heavenly Father to help keep the kitties from digging and pooping in our garden. Care Bear exclaimed, "You said POOP to Heavenly Father???!!!" It was quite funny!

Wheee!!!!

We have some friends with an awesome swing. It hangs from two really tall trees so you can swing really high. Last night we had dinner at our friends house and spent a lot of time taking turns on their swing. Miss Care Bear would have stayed on it all evening and threw a huge fit when it was time to go home. All day she has asked to go back to Chloe's house and her amazing swing.

FLEAS!

I love where I live. The mountains, the trees, the coast, the WEATHER! Only problem is with the gorgeous weather comes lots of 6 legged critters. Ants, ticks, and FLEAS! It doesn't get cold enough to kill off the populations of these buggers so with the good weather comes the bad bugs. You may remember the previous posts I did about ANTS and TICKSOnce these creatures showed up, I started treating Cody with Frontline and it works great! Only problem is it is expensive. We didn't have problems with fleas until this year. Treating 3 animals with Frontline would be quite spendy so I have tried other cheaper ways of dealing with the fleas. I read good reviews for Adams flea bath so the kitties, against their will, started weekly showers with flea killing soap. It seemed to work for a few days and then the fleas would come back. I added $5 flea collars into the arsenol and the fleas appear to be dead! Now I do the baths every other week much to the cat's relief. They really do very good with their baths as long as I hold tight! Once I let go, they BOLT! I don't mind doing the baths because then they shed less, smell so good, and it makes their coats so soft and shiny!Doesn't Aurora look like she LOVES her bath?

Mom's Day Campout

La-La REALLY REALLY wanted to go camping. Care Bear REALLY wanted to go too. I was game for anything. Jaco always says he doesn't want to and Dad wanted to but was worried about a sore on his leg infected with MRSA that had caused major swelling and pain. Finally about 11 Saturday morning, the decision was made: We were going camping! We quickly threw everything in the van including Cody, made a quick stop for those last minute items you always need, and we hit the road to Joseph Stewart State Park.

We found the perfect campground nestled in a group of trees with a gorgeous view of the lake. We were one of the few tent campers so we pretty much had our choice of campgrounds. The tent we used is the one Justin and I received as a wedding gift nearly 12 years ago. We have camped with it in 8 states now! Idaho, Montana, Iowa, Illinois, South Dakota, Washington, California, and Oregon!(While camping we saw this Blue Jay who loved Cody's food, deer, lizards, a bald eagle, fish and 3 wild kids!)

Once we had our camp set up, Dad attempted to catch our dinner from the lake. Thank goodness we brought pork chops to barbecue because all he caught was a bunch of snags.

Since the fish weren't showing themselves at the lake, we decided to drive a few miles to a fish hatchery. We saw teeny tiny minnows and big rainbow trout plus some large spawning salmon. Dad was really wishing he could snag a few of the large fish and told us stories of his uncle and how he sneaked into a hatchery and caught all kinds of fish!While Dad monitored the progress on dinner, the kids and I played at the camp playground. They jumped, raced, climbed, and played hard!

La-La had a blister from doing the monkey bars and it popped leaving a painful sore that kind of slowed her down; if that is possible!For dinner we enjoyed dutch oven potatoes, corn on the cob, and barbecued pork chops. And then once the sun was down, ...

`...we finished our day with ooey gooey smores!Care Bear was the first one to give in to sleep and miraculously, ......she was the last one to wake up Sunday morning! She even slept through Daddy chopping wood.My Mother's Day breakfast was bacon, pancakes, hash browns, and eggs all cooked over the fire. YUMMY!Once breakfast was done, we quickly packed up camp and headed home so we could make it to church on time, which we did smelling fresh and clean without a trace of campfire left!Camping was a fun way to spend Mother's Day Weekend!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

This year I want to tell you a little about my mom! I know everyone says they have the best mom, but I truly do!

My mom gave birth to 9 kids; 6 girls and 3 boys. 5 of the nine of us are born in a 5 1/2 year time frame. All nine of us married in the temple. All of us girls earned our Young Women in Excellence awards and all 3 boys are Eagle Scouts.

My mom fixed a hot breakfast every morning except Sunday which was cold cereal day. We got oatmeal, cream of wheat, pancakes, waffles, eggs, or biscuits all made from scratch. Nothing from a box. I won't lie and say we loved every hot breakfast. We became pros at hiding uneaten lumpy oatmeal and or drowning it in sugar and syrup! She would find cold bowls of cream of wheat hidden under coats and backpacks in the hallway.

My mom ground her own wheat and made fresh whole wheat bread. She always seemed to time it so it came out of the oven right before we got home from school so we had fresh warm bread with melted butter and sweet honey for our after school snack. If it wasn't bread day, we had fresh warm cookies to dunk in cold milk.

My mom was/is an incredible seamstress. She made Pound Puppies, Care Bears, Cabbage Patch Kids, and all kinds of "popular" toys so we still had "the cool" toy. I still have 2 of my Pound Puppies! My mom made everything from summer outfits to bathing suits to dresses. She drew the line at jeans but underwear was not off limits! Every Easter and Christmas all the girls received a new beautiful home-made dress of our choosing. Sometimes a birthday dress too! Many nights, we fell asleep to the hum of Mom's sewing machine. For my wedding and several of my sister's, she made our wedding dresses along with the brides-maid dresses. Mine was hand beaded and unbelievably gorgeous! I was a princess on my wedding day. She has also sewn many of her 28 grand-baby's blessing outfits. Tailored to fit perfectly and just what the new mommy wanted for her baby!

Each year for our birthday's, my mom made us a special cake. When you are one of 9, it can be hard to feel like an individual but we knew that on our birthday it was OUR DAY! No chores, whatever we wanted for dinner, and a fun birthday cake made just for us! This is a tradition I have tried to carry on with my own kids and I love doing it! The cake I remember the most was a carousal cake. It was beautiful with a lacy paper doily for the top. Someone lit the candles and everyone started to sing happy birthday. Suddenly that paper doily caught fire and things got a little exciting! Very memorable!!

My mom did a great job of allowing us to learn how to love living creatures by owning small critters. I can't tell you how many hamsters, guinea pigs, and other small furry critters we had. She drew the line at scales; no snakes or lizards allowed! Many times our little friends would die in the heart of winter and we could not bear to just throw our friends away without a proper burial. Sometimes she knew and other times we just did it, but we would wrap those tiny bodies in toilet paper and place them lovingly in a small shoe box and then freeze them in the extra freezer until it was warm enough to dig a hole in the ground. One time she even gave one of the frozen hamsters to a group of youth on a scavenger hunt!

This post may make my mom seem like she is perfect but she is as human as the rest of us. I can thank her for my amazing procrastination skills. Many times we received our birthday gift only partially sewn with the promise to complete it a.s.a.p. I can keep a clean house but I am not so good at conquering the daily clutter. I have Mom to thank for this skill!

My mom is an incredibly giving, loving, and accepting person. She does not speak ill of others, does not offer advice unless asked for it, and will do anything for you. She has a deep pure testimony of the gospel. She shows this testimony through her every action and word. I love my mom with all my heart and hope that my own kids will feel this kind of love for me someday! More importantly, I hope and pray I will earn this kind of love as my mom has with every tear wiped and hug shared! I love you MOM!