Are you my mother?

How would I ever handle 5 kids without the oldest two? Having a baby this time around has been so different. . . and so awesome. I love my two babysitters!

"Savannah, Take care of Marcus!"
"Kennon, Change Marcus's diaper!"

Does Marcus even know who his mother is? Is it the one who feeds him milk or the ones who teach him to sit up? . . . and also several other tricks like this one. . . that I learned about for the first time when I found this picture on our camera! "GIRLS. . . !"

A "Who" Do

I cut Savannah's bangs earlier this summer after being begged repeatedly.

Unfortunately she decided afterwards that she hates bangs and absolutely hates the fact that now she has to DO HER HAIR.

Fortunately, for the first time ever she has started fixing her own hair, just to get the bangs out of her face.

Unfortunately her choice of styles has resulted in being labeled a "Who" by Kennon and other random people.

Fortunately, the girl has way too much confidence to listen to style advice from anyone. She likes her "Who Hairdo" and wears it with pride. She is way too fabulous to listen to ANYONE.

Our girls VERY LAST yard sale

We tried to make the best of the complete lack of neighborhood support of the yard sale run by our children. I just couldn't stand to let them go the whole day with no customers. I threw a quick disguise together and did a little light shopping after a couple very slow hours, but no one was fooled. Our second customer of the day however stole the show (and my best wig).

Last days of summer

Unless we are away on vacation, it seems like the majority of each of my days is spent running around making futile efforts to remedy an overcrowded, overfilled, messy house. Brent watches me scurrying around all the time, and listens to me complain about it even more. Since school starts again for the kids this week, it seemed like a good time to address this complaining and present a solution. He thinks there is one for everything.

He gathered all the family around on a blanket in the backyard tonight for a family meeting. It was time for us to join "Team CASPER". Then we huddled for a while as Coach Casper laid out the game plan. From now on, Dad and the kids would all be in charge on a weekly rotating basis, of the cleanliness of specific areas of our home. They all received a signing bonus- a very generous $5.

Kennon was completely against Team Casper till coach mentioned magical words like signing bonuses and salary. She then wondered what her mother possibly will be doing now that all the jobs are divied up between them. I'll try to think of something.

I appreciated the fact that this was initiated by my husband completely out of love and concern for his wife. Something that I have come to like about being with Brent is that he always has a plan. I am hoping that this new one will bring about much happiness for me as I am able to live in a cleaner home, have more time for the kids, and ALSO make sure we are raising our city kids to be responsible adults.

I don't rave much about Brent on this blog. Actually I probably don't rave at all. It's so much more fun to make a joke out of him. I hope you all catch the underlying message in all of my posts that I am truly in love with the man. I promise it is always there right beneath the sarcastic surface. I love being on Team Casper, even if I have to put up with him as the coach. And I have loved each adventure that he's given us.

Even here -livin' in our neighborHOOD. I get a lot of comments from ward members like, "Do you feel safe in your neighborhood" or, "Do you really like living in that neighborhood" or invitations to trick or treat in a safe neighborhood. All this leaves little doubt in my mind of what many think of our stomping grounds. So hey if ya gonna live in the hood for 4 years, why not live it up a little? Here is one way to embrace the hood you live in:

We ain't only white trash, we swimmin' in the trash.

This is what creative children do when their parents are too "cheapo" to actually buy them a pool. I used to swim in a cow trough growing up. I thought it was the best ever. Caroline thinks this is the best ever. It's so deep she has to wear a flotation devices. Problem is, it's also too deep for her to climb out. She's peed in it twice in the last two days and has now been banned by her older sister from trash can swimming for a week.

Yesterday we moved a new mattress in and an old mattress out for a lady in our ward. After tossing the old one in the alley by the dumpster, Brent mentioned something about this being the only chance they might ever have to legally jump on the bed. Darnit if we didn't forget the camera so you could see how our kids in the hood jump on the tramp.

Even as I type this I can hear a neighbor 2 doors down at 11:50 pm shouting at her dog in her loudest voice. I can't hear the dog but I can sure hear her shrill, "Shut up you stupid mutt".

Gardening

This picture was taken in early July this summer in our backyard. You should see these sunflowers now. Next year I am going to plant sunflowers all the way down one this same side. What a great tall fence! I have always wished we could see less over this side of the fence.

Does anyone need an extra zucchini? Last week my sister mentioned that she grated some in her enchiladas. Since then I have been zucchinnizing everything and no one knows the difference. Muffins, Cake, Chili, Tacos, Salads, Stir fry. . . everything but eggs. Don't put them in your scrambled eggs! So if you want some deceptively delicious zucchini to increase your families veggie intake feel free to drop by.

I also have lots of fresh basil. It smells so good in my yard.

The Tomatoes are finally on. We've had rain about every other day all summer till this week, so they were really slow.

The Green Beans are producing well but have an infestation of some pests. Every time I pick them I am covered in bites that itch me for days. I made Brent do it yesterday and he had zero problems like I expected. On summer evenings mosquitoes don't even bother with him, while they are eating me alive.

Our Pumpkins are a big waste of space this summer. They have done nothing but blossom. I checked someone else's patch nearby and they are having the same problem, so I don't think it's the seed.

Gardening is one of my favorite hobbies. I have never gone a summer in my life without one. My own gardens have been way smaller than the ones I used to take care of for our family when I was in a kid. We had a five acre yard growing up and over an acre was just a fruit and vegetable garden. We grew everything. In my family the boys worked in the fields driving tractors and the girls worked in the garden. Pretty much all summer. And there wasn't a sister for 5 years after me so I remember doing it mostly by myself by the time I was in Jr. high. I was paid by the hour just like my brothers on the tractors, so I didn't mind. I think I had got the better training since now neither of my brothers drive tractor or garden.

Someday I want to grow enough fruits and veggies AND live in the right location to have a produce stand nearby. Every time I go to a farmer's market I get jealous of the $1 a lb they are making off their tomatoes. Someday it is gonna be me and my girls. That sounds like the life for me. Working in the garden together, selling our wares, and also teaching the girls to can the produce.

I haven't done any canning/freezing/bottling since I moved away from the farm.
I don't have enough space to grow enough and I refuse to pay $1 a lb for something I am going to can. Too spoiled I guess.

About 7 years ago Brent and I planted 50 Elberta peaches above our home in Washington. They always are ready to be picked the last week in August. I am missing them . . . so much.

Zucchini muffins . . .? Peach pie. . . ? Not much of a contest.

Switching summer gears

I haven't blogged much lately because my husband and his mac went back to school last week.

And what is there to blog about now that my #1 source of blogging material has left the building? (that's you Brent)

Two more weeks of summer for the kids though. We are doing girl stuff now. Playgroups, park dates, slumber parties, $1 yard sales (that doesn't mean every thing's a dollar, it means we only made a dollar), hanging out at the kiddie pool, organizing bedrooms, Oh and my personal favorite. . . Shopping! I haven't done any all summer because of Brent. If he sees me get the van keys out and head for the door, he starts in on, "Where ya going? What do ya need to get? Why don't you just make the bread? Don't our kids already have clothes? Why don't you take the bikes? " And by the time I get through the twenty questions I can barely remember why I married the man, let alone, what exact item I thought I needed to be wasting gas for. So there you go. A whole summer with No shopping. I have a lot of catching up to do.

Brent is walking and talking like a dentist now he is a third year. He actually drills on patients at clinics and they have absolutely no idea how very clueless he is still. (I know because he worked on me last spring). But don't worry all you future patients out there. I am sure he will be a lot closer to the real thing by the time this third year is over. He spends three out of 5 days in the clinic now.

Here are some things that I want to post a picture of, but will have to wait for the use of Brent's mac:

Pretend customers at the yard sale so my kids wouldn't be so disappointed.

It was a Monday and raining. After I piled up stuff for the donation to Salvation Army my kids insisted on taking it out right then and selling it, even though I was adamant that no one would come. Then after only the pretend customers (each of us taking turns dressing up with a wig, sunglasses, etc and trying to create a buzz for the neighbors) they brought it all back in and brought it out again last Saturday. Only two people dropped by that day so by noon I was finally allowed to make the donation. Of course by then they had been missing their stuff all week and tried sneaking most of it back in before it made it into the van.

Brent, Marcus, and I at the Buffalo Bison's game with the San Diego Chicken.
Briste gave us free tickets. It happened to be the night the San Diego Chicken was in town for a visit. He was hilarious. Why can't our bison do some funny stuff? He is so boring! What do you expect when you pick a bison for a mascot?

Brent hard at work with the drywall mud finally getting to the "honey do list".
Last winter he built an extension onto my closet for Marcus to sleep in. We had planned to make it look a little less like a storage room and at the very least finish the drywall in there so I could paint it, but we haven't got to it yet.

He sleeps in there with ugly unfinished walls, my sewing table, my clothing rack, and anything else that we need to shove somewhere. Kennon was in there with me yesterday as I was feeding him and after looking around at all the furniture pulled out to the center of the room( like it's been for a while now so the wall is accessible for drywall mudding), she remarked how sad it is that my her little brother has to sleep in here, while MOST mothers make a nice nursery for their baby. "MOST mothers paint the walls, and hang up pictures, and put the baby's name on the wall." Yeah, Yeah, I know. I reminded her that when she was born I did all those things for her room. Things are just a little different now. Luckily he isn't old enough to know the difference. I've been planning on finishing up where Brent left on last Saturday, but unfortunately all this week I haven't had the foresight to lay him down in another room for naps so I can work on it. So every time I have a free moment he is sleeping in there and so . . I can't.

Like right now. So I am just blogging instead.

Art Park afternoon

Marcus is all better. And after all the throw up, I'm thinking Spit Up? What's the big deal?
It did help to put things in perspective. And I am thinking it is all a valve problem with him not a diet problem with me. However, he has picked up a new habit. Yesterday he stumbled onto his bottom lip, and now he just can't let go of it.

Brent is back in school, after a summer of fun that never stopped. Brent and I had some different goals this summer. As I anticipated the summer months I wrote up a point system for our girls and told them that we were all going to be in Reform School for the summer of 2008.

Breakfast and scriptures at 7 a.m., 3-4 hours of chores, a couple hours of fun, then service in the community, and bedtime at 9 p.m.

I posted The Routine on the first day of summer break and heard "You are ruining our summer!" all morning. This just made me more determined that my city kids needed some serious reform. I was going to have them working in the yard without complaint, a lot more parental respect around the home, and everyone was going to have a clean room every night when they went to bed.

Brent thought it all sounded good and was completely supportive in word. But not in deed. He distracted us repeatedly from the reform school for the past six weeks with the morning question, "So what are we going to do today?" That question either led to Boating, kickball in the park, bike rides, concerts, or my personal hatred -cell phone or computer games. So much for reform school. Pretty much all we did was play, play, play. No one earned any points and my house has been the messiest ever.

But the miraculous thing is that somehow the kids seem like they need less reforming after I have been playing with them all summer. We all like each other a lot better.

My messy house needs some serious reforms though. Brent is back in school so I think it is time to take another stab at reform school and get on a schedule.

But of course we can't just skip the free concerts that are still going on this summer.

Last night we went to Art Park in Lewiston. It is a beautiful spot on the Niagara River Gorge. We love it because of the:

Kids Crafts (last night they made their own dinner plate and painted it)

Kids Costumes and Face Paint (tons of racks of stuff and the kids just help themselves to costumes and apply their own makeup)

Concerts

Great view of the gorge

All of this is FREE every Tuesday during the summer at Art Park!

We have seen Little River Band, Kenny Loggins, Kansas, and last night Leahy -( a Canadian group we had never heard of, but they were great) And we have missed tons of others because of all our darn vacations.

When I look back on the past 6 weeks I think we did the right thing. Next year things will be way busier for the future dentist. We just experienced the very last summer in our lives where we had almost zero responsibilities. I am glad we didn't squander it by working. But oh, how I hate a messy house!

Marcus sick, Kashann on a diet

Marcus is still running a fever and has been to the Dr. twice already since we got home on Tuesday. I figured that it was an ear infection, but they couldn't find anything wrong with him. Most likely just a summer virus but because it is lingering and he is so young they also did a blood test this morning. Maybe it's typical but I can't stand to see a needle get wiggled around forever in my baby's arm and a finger pressing on the vein to get it going. They finally gave up on that arm after several minutes and tried the other, which was much more willing to give up some blood. He screamed while I cried. The Dr's office called back just now and said everything looks good as far as his tests go so I guess now I am just waiting for this virus to pass.

He has had a miserable last 3 days. He usually is constantly spitting but now it has turned into constantly throwing up.

On top of that his Dr. suggested that I alter my diet to help with his reflux. So now I am on a NO dairy, tomatoes, acidic fruit, leafy vegetables, chocolate, or spicy food diet. I am basically eating all bland boring food and I hate it. And it's not like I am going to lose any weight because she thought fats and sugars are just fine. Basically I just have to skip all the healthy stuff and my wonderful garden! And the worst part is I don't even think that is the problem. I think he's not ready to hold much food no matter what it is. And so far it is definitely not working.

But I am going to stick with this for a while yet and see if he stops spitting up, (that is once he stops throwing up) then slowly just add stuff back into my diet and see if it starts up again.

Now the summer is complete

I really love my husband's crazy ideas. I mentioned in my last post that he wasn't much of a beach bum. Everything is just too predictable on the beach. Sand, Sun, Salt, and Seawater. Cruising the canal may seem boring to some. We found it to be many things, but definitely not boring. This trip has been in the works for awhile. But when we finally got around to it, it was completely last minute. We checked out a book and maps from the library, threw a few things in the boat and were off, putting the boat in the water just a couple miles from our house.

The kids were very excited about the idea earlier this spring. That's because we were checking into renting one of these for a week.
Instead Daddy bought this sailboat.

It had a cabin too. Even a potty. This picture was taken Tuesday morning. We tied up at Lockport to spend the night on board next to the above boat. We made the mistake of taking our neighbor's up on their offer for us to come aboard. After touring staterooms with closets and queen-size beds, a dining room and a kitchen, and two bathrooms complete with a shower, our little piece of heaven on the Erie Canal seemed more like a little piece of junk, at least in the kiddo's eyes. Far be it from me to even think of complaining on this trip.

Meals were eaten on board (chips and cookies) or we would tie up to a marina every 5 miles or so and warm up a can of ravioli holding a propane torch under a pot. If only we would've known that there would be electrical outlets at all these stops. What Brent would've given to have the pancake griddle Tuesday morning or the rice cooker Monday night. Now that would've been sweet. Homemade pancakes on the Erie Canal. We wouldn't have even had to use the bathroom outlets this time.
We went under lots of lift bridges. Finally by the last one we encountered we got the system figured out. It doesn't work to just pull up and honk. The operators sometimes are in charge of a couple bridges and they could be ten miles away. No worries, though. This vacation was all about life in the slow lane.

Here's where some of the less boring parts came in.

First I'll mention the . . . .

Fiberglass Buns.
I found out on this adventure that sail boats are made of fiberglass. I guess most boats are, but apparently 0ur's has been sitting out in the sun a little too long and needed some surface sanding. Just as we were getting the kids all settled in for our first night all aboard they suddenly said that that there skin was all prickly. We figured it was due to swimming in the Niagara earlier in the day and we suggested that they just hurry and fall asleep and it would be better in the morning. It wasn't. They all had rashes on their legs. I leaned over to inspect Caroline's that morning and saw they were covered in sparkles. Tiny pieces of glass. She had spent most of the previous afternoon sitting on the front of the boat in her swimming suit sliding back and forth. She had some pretty sore cheeks for a couple days.

Locked Out
Our departure from home was also a little exciting. After locking all the doors and windows in our home Brent grabbed the shed keys instead of the car keys. We went out to leave and realized we had no keys and couldn't get back into our house. Luckily we had a really tall tree house ladder that reached up to the only window that we had any hope to enter. After removing the air conditioner from the window of the top floor Brent crawled on through and we were back in action.

Kennon protests
A little too much action for Kennon, though. Boating the Niagara is not a calming experience and Kennon really hates a rockin' boat. She had only come along after we promised that the Erie canal was completely dead calm. So as we motored down the Niagara to the canal entrance there were multiple screaming tirades from our ten year old, "Get me out of the boat now! I didn't want to take this trip!" Finally we just turned off the motor, put life jackets on them all and threw them over board to float down along side us. Kennon found out the waves were no big deal once she got off the boat. That calmed her down just in time to start the real trip. So far nobody was seasick! I definitely acquired my sea legs this summer.

Entering the Erie Canal was an awesome moment. It was a busy summer destination. Canoes, kayaks, and water bikes cruised by us in the water while on land bikers kept pace with us. Even the occasional runner. We were only going about 6-7 mph. We went 18 miles that first afternoon before we stopped for the night at Lockport. In the morning we would pass through double locks and head east for who knows where? We had packed for three nights and were very flexible. Kind of like traveling in a double-decker Buick. Amenities on board make it possible to be so.

Throwing Caution to the Wind
Some of our friends from Rochester used to work on canal boats and they both warned us, "Don't swim in the Canal!" But we both grew up swimming in canals and ditches and don't get as squeamish about green water as our city friends. Actually I never dipped a toe in myself once, but the kids had a blast getting pulled through the muck on the air mattress. Caroline lasted just long enough to be pulled directly over a dead fish about half her size. After that she believed her sisters lies about sharks swimming in the canal and let them have the fun while she joined her parents in the boat. She kept asking, "Was it real, dad?" Yes, Caroline it was really dead. Hopefully none of them come down with any diseases in the near future.

KRASHann
Caroline's favorite cruising spot is standing at the bow. I was semi-ok with this because we were only going 5 mph. But once I went up to join her, I decided it was unsafe. If she fell, we might go right over her and possibly even chop her up with the motor. So I went back and talked to Brent about this. He asked me to take over steering while he went up to check things out. He turned back on his way to the bow twice to check with me and make sure I felt secure enough to take control. I gave him an iffy nod. He had rigged the boat up to make things more comfortable for motoring all day by duck taping a pole to the short handle on the motor. It all seemed a little backwards to me now. I did fine till I panicked. Before I knew it we were heading straight for the sharp rocky side of the canal only a boat distance away. Brent dove back, knocking me out of the way just in the nick of time, and we had experienced one extremely close call.


The Amateurs
Besides this close call, on our way back to Lockport we were all feeling great about how things were turning out. The kids and I were all using the phrase, "next time" since it had been fun enough so far. We waited for quite a while before getting the green light at the locks. We were discussing our plans for the evening. It was 6 p.m. and we needed to find somewhere we could pull over and cook our mac and cheese. I thought we should stop again at Lockport and spend the night. Brent was unsure about that because he was intent on making it to Darian Lake the next day by 10 a.m. Finally we made it in and past the first lock. We were becoming quite the pros. I would stand at the bow and catch a line, while Brent caught a line from the stern. The doors opened for the second lock and we both untied and prepared to switch places with a tour boat that was going the other direction.

Brent was unable to get the motor to start however. I looked up and saw a crowd gathered above us to watch the boats go through the locks. Then I realized I better get busy because without a motor we were about to ram into the tour boat. I stayed busy bouncing us off the walls and the boat while Brent spent the next five minutes mixing gas for his two stroke engine and refilling the tank. It was VERY embarrassing. What a time to run out of gas! When we started her up again, they all cheered above. I'm sure it was a great time to watch the family of seven scrambling around looking like amateurs next to the pro's.

How it all ended
Light rain started up as we left the locks, and instead of pulling over for dinner and battening the hatches for the night Brent pressed on. That left Kennon and I to scramble to lower the lid on our boat as the rain intensified. We got it down without getting too soaked and I handed an umbrella back to Brent. The same umbrella that only a couple hours ago he had complained about as an unused item, "taking up too much space on this boat".
Brent enjoyed motoring in the rain at first. He was MR. POSITIVE. I was stuck in the bottom with all the kids growing increasingly grumpy. I was sick of the ants that I had to watch scramble around every time I sat down in the shade of the bottom of boat to nurse for the last two days. I was sick of Marcus screaming which suddenly seemed to take on new urgency. And now I was wondering why he was steaming hot like he had been all day. It was no longer hot outside, so he should be cooling off, shouldn't he? That's when I finally got smart enough to realize the poor kid had a fever. I kept looking out to check on Brent and there he was smiling away, like nothing was going wrong. He wasn't going to ruin his trip with a frown.

But this was no light storm we would be weathering. Pretty soon it became a torrential downpour that lasted two hours and not only was the red umbrella not cutting it, but neither were the windows and some sections of the roof of our boat. I soon noticed that I was sitting in a puddle, and the floor was now swimming with dead ants. This is where I have to object (Brent). The only reason the floor was wet is because Kashann left the hatch open and the only leak worth mentioning was from one of the windows that dripped once every 5 seconds. Sure there were a few carpenter ants but its not like the place was infested. You would have seen many more insects if you had been camping in the woods.

And while I am on a roll, after a three hours in a cabin, my back was killing me from all this hunching over in the middle of the boat holding a baby and dodging wet spots. The kids had all gone to the front and were "watching" a movie on the laptop. They couldn't hear a thing since we were getting pounded on so hard. Caroline and Camille fell asleep, but the rest of us down there demanded that Brent pull over about 9:30 in Amherst at the West Canal Marina. I had been looking for the last hour for the cell phone and the flashlight. I finally found a flashlight just as things got really dark but still couldn't find the phone. I had made up my mind that there was no way that I was going to A: sleep in this boat tonight or B: press on for 3 more hours to our Buick and boat trailer up the Niagara. I could remember one number by heart and she happened to live in Amherst- Alaska! So we pulled over. WET Brent came down and found MAD Kashann not functioning very well. I had gone through all of our bags 20 times each with no luck. That's when Brent checked his soggy pockets and found the phone on his wet person. Mosquitoes were swarming us, so he joined us and closed the hatch.

Alaska to the Rescue
Alaska dropped everything and came to our rescue. Brent was protesting that we needed rescuing but Marcus's fever finally convinced him it wasn't going to be a good night on board the Good Ship Lollipop. He did say as we pulled out in the minivan that after Alaska dropped us off at our house he was heading back to spend the night in the boat, and would bring it home in the morning. ? ? ? And what would be the point of that?

Back on Land
When I first walked in our tiny house I was amazed how huge it was. I never realized that we were livin' in a mansion. And it was so nice to be home from vacation. Was it really that bad?

And then a weird thing. I was in the shower and suddenly I felt like the stall had swayed. I briefly thought about an earthquake but as the swaying continued I realized what was happening. I was readjusting to life off the boat. I was pretty surprised to find I did fine on the boat this time, only to get sick now I was off the boat. By 11:15 I had all the kids in their beds and Brent was home, the boat safely parked in our neighbor's parking lot. I never stopped swaying until I was asleep.

Camille came into my room the next morning, waking me up with this phrase, "I don't know what happened." Here she was in the midst of the family boat trip and suddenly she wakes up, it's morning and she's home with absolutely no recollection of marcus screaming, a flooded ant ridden boat, mosquito marina, or Alaska to the rescue. Somehow I don't think I am forgetting these circumstances anytime soon. And this may very well be our last Erie Canal trip.

But maybe if we can fix those windows. . .

What have we been up to lately?

Pretty much all Play, No work! Unless you count sailing which is almost more work than it is worth. Not much time for blogging during this summer.

We woke the kids up about 5:30 a.m. the morning after we got home from our east coast trip so we could drive all the way out to Wheatland hoping to see the sunrise balloon rising. It was the first time any them could remember ever seeing the sun come up. Man, have we turned them into city kids or what! No reason to get up early in the summer when there isn't any water to change.
But it was a lousy disappointment. Canceled due to an extremely light breeze. None of us on the ground could even detect it. They did blow this one up just to appease the crowds.


Most of our friends hit Crystal Beach on Lake Erie in Canada every other week in the summer months. We finally talked Brent into going (after trying all summer). He isn't much of a beach bum. I had forgotten how great it was. We have seriously been missing out going on so many vacations and leaving no time for the beach! I don't think you can beat this beach.

Lake water is WARM and FRESH! I don't think anyone misses the salt or the cold of a pacific ocean beach.
White sandy beaches just like the ocean
Shallow water that goes way out making it great for kids swimming. (I still stress like mad trying to keep track of four heads at all times. Luckily Caroline was the only one wearing orange floaties and we also had the only air mattress that day)
Overall -A very short drive to paradise!
Of course Brent would disagree, since he can't handle bumper to bumper for an hour on the bridge to Canada. He's way too uptight in traffic because it messes up all of his gas saving strategies when he is forced to idle.

Now I am gearing up to write about the . . . . (drumroll please). . . Erie Canal.

Yep, that's right, we did it baby! Not 15 years, or even close to 15 days (whatever the heck the song says) but we have recently returned from our maiden voyage of the Erie Canal. I wish I could say, "I can't wait to do it again". But I am still thinking about that one. A vacation tends to leave a bad taste in your mouth when you have to be RESCUED!