I know it has been a while since the blog has been updated when I start getting emails from faithful readers wondering where we are. We are here. However we have been traveling, both near and far.
This morning we went up to the city for the 2nd annual Turkey Trot. One of the clinics that The Man works at started a 3k walk/5k fun-run last year with about 50 participants. This year they didn't advertise as much and only 16 showed up to participate, including the six of us.
Along with the Dog we started and ended the 3k walk together with a time of 29:44. The best part was the surprise that a local grocery store donated 10 $25 gift cards to be raffled off. That's right...sixteen participants and ten gift cards. While walking we discussed the probability of all six of us getting a card vs. none of us getting a card. It was decided that statistically, we probably wouldn't get them all, but we probably wouldn't go home empty-handed either. The Man, S, and I, along with 7 other non-related participants, were the ones who got the cards. We stopped by the store on the way home and allowed the kids to pick out anything they wanted. Mushrooms and fresh pineapple topped the list as well as sundry items such as flour, onions, and yams. It was definitely worth the trip over the mountain for a little morning exercise!
We spent the beginning of the month partying. The Man's birthday came first, mine was the next day, and The Man's grandpa had a birthday the next day. We all went to help him celebrate the big 99! Here's a picture of the 3 birthday boys.
As you can see, we also celebrated S's birthday, which followed 2 days after Great-Grandpa's.
We arrived back home just in time to celebrate S's birthday again. He requested a garter snake and mouse cake, along with green leaves and vines around the edge. I aim to please, although Grandma did think I was crazy (or mean, or both) when she called and I told her the cake was iced and the garter snake and mouse were in the freezer. The silence that followed told me that I needed to explain the mouse and snake were made out of icing that was hardening in the freezer. 
Whatever would possess a child to ask for a garter snake and mouse on his cake? It must have been J's request 2 years ago for rattlesnake and rat cakes. I aim to please.
We're back! Actually we've been back since last Wednesday night, but I'm just now getting around to updating things here. It was quite a busy week. While unloading the van curbside at the airport we discovered that M's carry-on bag was not in the van. I was sure that I packed the bags and placed them by the door for The Man to carry to the van the night before. The Man was sure that he carried all the bags by the door to van. Fortunately it only contained "stuff to do on the plane" things, so he was able to share with the others. From now on I think he will take care of his own bags.
M was a good sport about it and helped me lug all the bags through the line while The Man went to park the van. We filled out all the little paper luggage tags for our checked and carry-on baggage. We had one left over.
It had been three years since the boys had flown (2 for A), so they spent most of the flight becoming reacquainted with the aircraft. While The Man tried to nap, S studied the plane evacuation procedures. He is now able to explain, in great detail, that in the unlikely event that our plane goes down on water we are not to use the back exits. And, you'll be happy to hear, there ARE flotation devices under the seats. S checked.
They had a wonderful time at Grandma & Grandpa's. While there, we were able to spend a few days at a Restoration International family camp, spend time with cousins, aunts & uncles, and visit a children's science museum. That's J and A exploring the 2-story grapevine. 
Soon it was time to pack up again and return home. S and A followed the flight attendant's instructions and "flapped their wings" to make the plane go faster. She said they were the only two on the plane that followed through. It was because of them that the plane was only 30 minutes late due to headwinds. Really. An airline employee said so, so it must be true. S was so proud.
We didn't get home until 11:30 that night (that's 2:30 a.m. in the time zone we had left). By 11:35 everyone was in bed and sound asleep.
The next day I set out in search of the missing carry-on baggage. I found it packed, in my walk-in closet. It must have walked in there.
***
Q: What do you call a deer head in a paper sack?
A: Carrion (Carry-on) luggage.
***
The dog missed us while we were gone. At least he sure was excited to see us all when we returned. The critter sitter said he was rather ill the day after we left. I didn't get all the details, but I did use my carpet cleaner when we returned. Maybe it had something to do with the deer head he found and consumed the day before we left. Could be.
A's dolls are all loaded up and ready to go. I wish I could say the same for the rest of us.
All the laundry was finished yesterday and the science experiments from the refrigerator were given to the chickens. Most of the kids' clothes have been packed. I still need to go to town today and get some food for our journey and make a list for our house/critter-sitter. We're leaving the house at 3:30 in the morning (yawn) to drive to an airport 4 hours away. Eight or nine hours later we (hopefully!) will be at our destination to relax for a week with Grandma & Grandpa. Then we get to do the journey in reverse.
The children are doing all of their own laundry. A needs a bit of help, of course, but the kids' new chore chart was a smashing success last week. They each have a different day to do their own laundry—washing, drying, folding, and putting away. I feel so free!
We took our school pictures on Tuesday. The air has been so bad due to fires, so I hadn't wanted to spend much time outside. Tuesday we finally got outside and spent 1 1/2 hours taking 217 shots of the kids. Only about 20 were worthy of being uploaded. Email me if you would like to see the album.
The hot air balloon fair came to town. In previous years I have found out about it as I see the balloons up in the air, but this year I saw the announcement in the paper a few weeks ahead of time. The kids were excited and wanted to go see the balloons lifting off at dawn. Great. Dawn comes kind of early in the morning.
Since the paper didn't give an exact time and I didn't know how long it would take for the balloons to be set up prior to lift off, we left early last Friday morning. By 4:30 a.m. the kids and I were on our way to the field 40 minutes away. We followed the signs and found the launch site. It seemed rather empty, so I asked the older couple coming out of their RV if I was at the right place. Yes, I was, but they were in charge of parking the cars, and they weren't going to start doing that until 5:30. At 5:30 we parked and walked over to listen in on the pilots' briefing. About 6:30 the crews started laying out the tarps and unrolling the balloons.
It was cold, but exciting as the kids watched the process of the balloons being set up, filled with air (J got to help one of the crews with this), be rolled back up, and put away. Huh? As the sun was coming up the wind picked up, and the mass launch was scratched.
Disappointed, we piled back in the truck and returned home to take care of the critters and have a mandatory nap time since everyone was a bit cold and cranky.
Sunday morning we tried again. This time we dressed in many layers that included winter coats and mittens, opened the chicken coop before we left, fixed some breakfast sandwiches to eat on the way, and didn't pull out of the driveway until 5:40 a.m. 
Sunday morning was quite a bit more eventful and happy since the launch actually happened and the kids were fed and warm. By 8:00 we were on our way home. The boys spent the rest of the day with plastic groceries bags and hair dryers.
Yesterday morning we again got up early to visit the Sheep Dog Finals. It was fascinating to watch a dog herd four sheep through a series of gates with the master simply blowing on a whistle. We met up with some friends from med school who live in the area and went to their house for lunch. They have 2 little girls, so A was thrilled to play girl stuff for the afternoon. The Dog was also thrilled to have a few doggie playmates for the afternoon. The Dog got to attend the competition with us, leashed, of course. But he was able to run around and play in the afternoon. We decided to make a side trip on the way home to visit Costco and the discount grocery store, so after 13 hours, 298 miles, and half a tank a fuel, we returned home. Whew.
On a sad note, the friend who celebrated her 100th birthday a few weeks ago died this week. S still sleeps with the huge stuffed bear she gave him last year. He was pretty sad about it even though, at 100, it wasn't a huge shock. We are all looking forward to that new day dawning.
It has been very busy around here the past few weeks. The hay needed to be cut, but The Man was occupied with more important things. I decided that I was perfectly capable of cutting hay, so The Man took the equipment to the field for me. The cutting was fairly boring and uneventful...except for the irrigation line wheel that I got a bit too close to and the broken bushing. We do have a spare wheel that we can swap for the one I munched and the bushing was only $14 to replace (that was probably due to the old equipment and not my driving). I had noticed the mower started making a louder-than-normal banging noise, but since it always makes noise, I didn't stop to investigate until the cutting-thingie quit cutting.
So, while trying to catch up on all the laundry from the recent backpacking trip I noticed the dryer was making a weird noise. Suspecting rocks left in little boys' pockets, I emptied the dryer of clothes and rocks. Even running empty, the dryer was still making noise. Since I had to make a trip to the local Fluff & Fold to wash the sleeping bags in the commercial washers, last weekend the kids and I loaded up every piece of laundry and $30 in quarters and set off to the laundromat. Three hours later we were home with many baskets full of clean, folded clothes.
One of the sleeping bags was unwashed and one load of clothes wasn't dried since my quarters ran out and the coin machine at the Fluff & Fold was empty. As I was showing M how to hang his clothes on the clothesline at home M handed me the quarters left over from when he was helping load the machines. I thought my $30 had disappeared very quickly!
I washed 12 loads of laundry, but the little machines only hold about 1/3 of what my machine can handle, and there were only 3 functional dryers. After spending 3 hours there with four kids, I was inspired to take apart my dryer later that day. More rocks were found. The dryer only makes drying noises now. I hope to never return to the Fluff & Fold. Although the lady that runs the place did tell me that Coca-Cola will remove oil from clothing. It has to be the real stuff, not generic or some other cola. I probably never would have discovered that on my own. Now I know!
After spending the morning in the laundromat with the kids I spent a quiet afternoon in the field raking the hay I'd already cut. I got most of that done before the rake started making a horribly squeaky noise. Given my recent history with the equipment, I quit while it was still functional. The Man & S greased all greasable parts yesterday, so I hope to get the remainder raked today. 
The kids are all doing well. Above is one A's favorite drawings. She's been drawing quite a few of the example on the left. "This is you, Mommy, when you get out of the shower, before you get dressed." I finally asked if she could draw one with clothes. I find it fascinating that not only does my body and hair change color when I am dried and dressed, but I look taller also.
The Man and boys returned safely from their backpacking trip on Sunday. Yesterday we went to a Labor Day picnic at some church members' house. That's A with the "Look Ma, no hands" pose on the tire swing. I didn't take any pictures of the boys on the swing...I couldn't bear to watch.
Speaking of bears...The Man called as soon as he got to work this morning. I'm not to let the kids outside unattended today. It has something to do with the big pile of something The Man saw at the end of our driveway this morning. Yes, he's sure it is from a bear...or a HUGE dog that eats lots of berries. Maybe I'll go take a picture of it...or not.
Total Weights: The Man—238 lbs., S—64 lbs., J—70 lbs., M—91 lbs.
It seems so still. The Man and boys went backpacking. We were all going to go, but since I still don't feel up to walking long distances, all the boys went and A stayed home with me. The dog misses them all greatly. I'm sure I will also once the long weekend is over, but right now I'm enjoying the stillness.
It isn't quiet here. A talks a lot. I never realized before how much she talks. Maybe she's just not used to the quietness and she's trying to compensate for it. She enjoyed playing with J's legos for awhile, but her favorite thing to do has been reading her Bible.
She can't read, but she thinks if she puts her finger on the words and talks really slow, it sounds like she is reading. She is very good at it. If it wasn't for the fact that I was following her finger I might think she was really reading. Today she asked me to read some verses to her from the first part of Luke 8. I did and she promptly told me I was wrong. "It act-u-ally says, 'My peaceness I give unto you.'"
Tomorrow she and I are going to attend the 100th birthday celebration for one of our church members. The boys will probably be home on Sunday. We've been out to collect eggs several times today. A enjoys doing that and M doesn't let her do it often. We need to go out now and top off the water for the horse and chickens. Have a wonderful weekend!
Along with the Dog we started and ended the 3k walk together with a time of 29:44. The best part was the surprise that a local grocery store donated 10 $25 gift cards to be raffled off. That's right...sixteen participants and ten gift cards. While walking we discussed the probability of all six of us getting a card vs. none of us getting a card. It was decided that statistically, we probably wouldn't get them all, but we probably wouldn't go home empty-handed either. The Man, S, and I, along with 7 other non-related participants, were the ones who got the cards. We stopped by the store on the way home and allowed the kids to pick out anything they wanted. Mushrooms and fresh pineapple topped the list as well as sundry items such as flour, onions, and yams. It was definitely worth the trip over the mountain for a little morning exercise!
As you can see, we also celebrated S's birthday, which followed 2 days after Great-Grandpa's. 
Whatever would possess a child to ask for a garter snake and mouse on his cake? It must have been J's request 2 years ago for rattlesnake and rat cakes. I aim to please.
