Who has time to blog? Life is so busy. I know I always say that but it is just always a fact. Calvin is walking and finally today spent more time on his feet then knees. He took his first steps the dayAFTER his first birthday. He and I have had a horrible last two weeks. Screaming at night, hanging on my legs all day. Finally a molar popped through and I guess that explains all the crying, two weeks of diarreah and I can't believe that I didn't know it all along and thought there was something serious going on. After 6 kids and how many molars have we been through? . . . I am a slow learner.

We had fairly large snowfall yesterday and woke up to find school canceled.  It is beautiful when it snows and you live in the woods. Especially if there are christmas lights strung on those trees.

Kennon finally joined a high school team and is running indoor track. YAY! It's great to cheer her on again. Camille is trying out basketball again and it's not near as enjoyable as watching her run and pass all those girls. She basically doesn't have a clue on the court and we aren't surprised since she hasn't picked up a basketball since last season. Brent came home from watching her last game and cleared out the garage for a serious dribbling/passing/defense bootcamp.

Savannah is spending enormous amounts of time in her bedroom. I would be seriously worried about her reclusiveness if it weren't for the fact that last year we also had a reclusive eighth grader and I know the ropes now. Thankfully Kennon made a complete recovery from the "I hate hanging out with my family stage" and we maintain high hopes for Savannah that she will follow suit once the now infamous 8th grade year draws to a close. Will this really infect Camille also in a couple years? I can't fathom it but I thought Savannah was a piece of cake a year ago and she is not even close to sweet most days now.

Camille was featured on her school's facebook page last week when she won the school slogan contest. Her winning submission was, "Be Brave, Be Bold, Be A Bobcat". They pulled her out of class to tell her that the whole school had voted and she had won. Her slogan would be printed on the new school shirts and she would be getting one for FREE! ! as the grand prize, of course  . . . but did she mind if they just dropped the A? The school shirts are printed with "Be Brave, Be Bold, Be Bobcat".

At a recent teacher conference I was happily surprised to find out that our third grader, Caroline has caught up and is finally reading at her grade level. A couple years ago when I was concerned  I was told, don't worry, almost every kid catches up in 3rd grade.  Hmm, maybe so, but I tend to think it had more to do with Marcus hot on her heels than statistics.

He is officially a 4 year old book nerd. He is currently reading the magic treehouse series and the Book of Mormon. Not the book of mormon illustrated reader version. The actual book that Joseph translated version. He's still a sunbeam mind you and has yet to even be old enough for 1/2 day kindergarten.  He is just as sweet and sincere as can be and is soaking up everything I can teach him.  I guess I am perfectly happy raising him up to be as nerdy and goody goody as possible. We really need to quit bragging about him all the time but hey we waited long and hard for our first son and we just love him to death.

Calvin is shaping up to be quite different so far, but who knows? He pushes cars all over the house, dragging them up all our flights of stairs. He hasn't fallen down the stairs in forever, thank goodness he is done with that. He throws everything the second he is done with it and plays ball with me way more often than Marcus ever will. He doesn't say much for being a one year old though we work so hard on that every day.

These two little boys are already the best of friends. Marcus calls him Pumps. He had a very pronounced soft spot for his very first year. He is pretty bald up top and he has an enormous vein that happened to run right across the the middle of his fontanelle (the soft spot name) and it was always pumping. It was almost disturbing to watch all the time. Marcus was fascinated the beginning with it and couldn't keep his hands off "his pumpy". So that's why he calls him pumps. His hair and soft spot have started filling in finally now he is no longer "zero" (another Marcus term for Calvin) but the name has stuck.

Brent is completely enjoying his new dental digs. There is still much more money to be spent but overall it is just such a nice place to practice dentistry compared to our little rental across the street.

He does complain frequently though that he would like his private upstairs suite renovated since that kind of got skipped when we were busy building him a nice beautiful office.  He has his own bathroom up there and 5 other rooms that he keeps telling me has big plans for.  A work out room,  a bedroom to stretch out and rest his back in between patients,  a TV up there of course, and maybe even a band room since I keep telling him the drums that he dumped in our basement are cramping up our craft room style. Every time I tell him we don't have room for something he just says he will move it over to his office. I see the way this is going.

Naa, it ain't gonna happen.  We are going to have to leave it bare bones up there so we wants to come home to the zoo every night.

So it is past midnight and I only came down here to shut off a light left on. Good night and Merry Christmas to all if I don't ever get to my Christmas Cards. They are still being shipped to my house so that isn't looking good on getting them to your house in less than a week.

I am so grateful for my faith in my Savior Jesus Christ. We live in an ever increasing scary world and I don't know how others can have any peace in their lives without a deep faith that someday we will all be safe, well and happy on the otherside together with all of our loved ones. I hold on very dearly to that faith and it gives me the hope that I need to go on and not despair when things seem to be melting down everywhere.

Some October pictures

 I learned something new about this child this fall. She is a fierce competitor.

 This was post throw up since that is pretty much a constant for all races.

 The grand daughters had a great time with Grandpa when he fell asleep.

Halloween 2012 - Somehow we always make it through another holiday of candy and dress-up without a very willing mom. Least favorite holiday due to my lack of visual creativity buiding up to it and all the wrappers and cavities that come later. As usual my kids make up for what I lack and come up with their own fabulous costumes on the day of the event.

"You've got a business?"

"Hey. . . . You didn't build that!"   - President Barak Obama 

On the campaign trail this fall. . while we were busy building our small business.

It's all done! I can't believe that this was taken less than two months ago and now patients are POURING through these finished walls. 

Applewood Family Dentistry is now open for business in a new building that . . . okay we didn't build the building but we renovated it. Close enough. 

So I wrote a great post about our hard work finally paying off last week the day we opened our new office. It was two days after our DISMAL election results. I should've been elated. It looks great and our days of  putting our kids to bed and going back to the office every night to burn the midnight oil are over. 

But all I felt on opening day was great sadness and disbelief. Are we seriously continuing to choose this course for America after all we have seen the last 4 years? 

I also wrote about hearing the news on Thursday that my niece's 3 year old daughter died after a 18 month fight with cancer.  We have all been praying for her to pass on and be relieved of her suffering. Two days before her death a message was spread on facebook to fast and pray for Clara.  Our heavenly father is mindful of us and this life is not the end. I felt such a strong faith in that moment that she was free finally and that we would all see her again.  Here is the blog of this beautiful family. Please read about Clara and her beautiful life and the loving people that surrounded her. It will change you as you read their great words of faith. 

  Clara's story

  They are such amazing people and have inspired many as they have maintained faith in God's love even as they suffered so much for so long. 

The weird thing is that I know that I published a faith filled  political post on November 8th. My blog still says that I published last on November 8th. It was up for about 4 hours. Then suddenly there was a blogger error and my post dissappeared. No one believes me I know. But where did that post go? So weird. 

I am going to test post this before I waste anymore time.

Eleven months old. Not walking. Always smiling. A joy everyday.

It is beautiful fall foliage time in New England but we barely have the time to notice with our pace of life right now. 

My Dad was here this week for a quick visit. Brent gave him a gold crown. I assisted. He feel asleep and snored through much of the appointment. 

The majority of his visit was spent alongside me helping out with the new dental office renovation. At night he played a lot of UNO with his grand daughters. Camille showed me a list they had made of Grandpa's favorite sayings while playing cards. "For Heaven's Sake" "I'll be Darned." For some reason these kind of outbursts really cracked them up and he was confused and asked them, "Don't you say these things?"

This has been a busy fall with six kids, running one dental office while building a new dental office next door. We are scheduled to move from the old to the new in a week and a half. It's an easy move right across the street from the little building we have been renting the last two years.  This last month with this deadline looming we have not had a spare second.  I am over there at least once a day for as long as my two boys will last - usually painting- and the last couple weeks Brent and I often go back after the kids are in bed to get in a few more hours. I am exhausted from juggling all this and I am sure Brent is equally. The good thing is when we both go back to our old days of just One dental office and a stay at home mom -it's going to seem so nice and easy.

Camille came in 23rd in the state for 5-6 graders at the  XCountry Meet last weekend. She "runs to the point of exhaustion" (in quotations because that is something her father - a non runner- instructs her to do every race) and throws up at the finish line every time. She ran with Kennon this week at a family/faculty meet to end the season and kept her in her sights the whole race. Kennon crossed the finish line 7th and Camille 15th. I sprained my ankle at the state meet last week, so I just cheered them on. I love watching my kids race. It really is my favorite sport. . .  to watch. 

10 months . . yesterday

Camille's First Race

Camille ran in her first cross country meet yesterday for middle school. There were six schools there and she competed against 5th -8th grade girls.

Camille came in 2nd!  Pretty impressive start to her middle school running career. 

She seriously came out of nowhere. We were amazed. 

And We forgot the Camera. Hopefully next time we can catch her coming across the finish line and I don't have to post old stuff like this shot from Camille in a family boxing match.

Quick Update

9th GRADE

Kennon started her high school career with new braces thanks to Dad. She has only been waiting for a year and he finally squeezed her in. 

Her first day she caught a ride with her friend Kaitlyn and her older sister. I had to snap a picture of the first day my daughter left with just students in the car. Since that first week early morning seminary has begun so that won't be happening anymore. We leave our house at 5:30 am now to pick up the only other Mormon girl in our town and and then have them to seminary by 6. The early morning scripture class will be taught this year by a part time BYU professor that lives 5 minutes from us. Unfortunately the girl who needs a ride lives in the opposite direction so isn't quite as convenient as it sounded at first. Kennon is loving the class and hasn't complained at all since it began. She wakes up at 4:30 every morning to shower, read the New Testament, pack her lunch, and paint her nails. I crawl out of bed at exactly 5:30 and leave exactly one minute later with bad breath and jammies on. 

             5th GRADE                       8th GRADE 

Camille enters middle school with her upper classmate sister Savannah. Savannah has promised to meet and walk home with her every day. Savannah created her first day shirt with a little bleach out of a shirt she picked up second hand. Who would've thought that those baggy chambray shirts would ever come back in style again? Savannah wears it with a lot more style than I did back in the 90's. 

3rd GRADE

And for the first time in 9 years I have just one child at the grade school. 

Caroline has a new bus stop and it stinks for me because it is no longer our driveway so we are actually going to have to bundle up and walk outside with her all winter I guess. All the grade school kids in the neighborhood meet up in the middle. 

And so now I am just left home with my two boys which is easier and harder. Easier because we don't have any pressure to go anywhere and not "waste our summer" Phew! But harder because now I am solely responsible for keeping Calvin entertained all day. 

Calvin is crawling and he loves traveling up the flights of stairs. We have 5. They are short flights, so his falls haven't caused any permanent damage but enough to scare him to death about attempting to come down once he goes all the way up. I am having the hardest time finding him now. Our house is so "open concept" that I can't tell where his cries are coming from. This morning I heard him doing his stuck cry. He was getting more and more frantic as I ran up the stairs checking on the usual places he gets stuck. On the 4th flight I heard a series of thud, thud, thud, thud and knew I was too late. Please don't tell me I need to install gates on each flight because that is just not happening. We can't all hop that many gates constantly.  I think Calvin is about done with the falling. He's actually only fallen twice and he's been crawling for almost a month now. 

 Brent is head coach of the first 3-4th grade football team in town. His team won all their games at the opening jamboree. The 5th grade team lost their's so after that they stole Brent's best two players. He is way too busy to be coaching football this fall and I don't know what we were thinking but I am happy that he has this fun diversion.

 These are the Portsmouth Ward young ladies and leaders at a Youth Conference where they met the General Young Women President of our church. 

Kennon and Georgia posed with the beautiful (inside and out!) Elaine Dalton after the meeting. 

I am so grateful for these special opportunities that we really need out here in the east where our members are few and far between. 

Brent helped Camille make a pinata for a back to school party she had last week. I'm the mother who hates big friend birthday parties and so I always try to make it up to my kids by letting them have a big  party once a year and invite whomever they want. We had a cookout, swam and roasted marshmallows till dark. Then a pinata that turned out just great. Even after Marcus woke up the morning after this fun project and popped the balloon inside and smashed it in. Daddy fixed it. 

We have been busy people lately. This is the only picture I could find of 9 month old Calvin. I am really disappointed in Kennon. 

Remember back in December when Calvin, Marcus and I went to auction? We are still renovating the new office I bought for Applewood Family Dentistry. It is really busy for Brent to juggle running a dental business, being a Dad, high priest group leader at church, football coach, and then general contractor for the new office. We missed our August Moving Deadline and we are now shooting for the first week in October. I am trying to help out in anyway I can and Calvin is very uncooperative in these efforts. So that explains why I am not out in the backyard doing monthly photo shoots with this cutie. 


Kennon: Started a facebook photography site and I decided to get on there and like it. She had 99 likes and I could make it 100. Tried and apparently it had already happened. Kennon uses MY facebook way more than I do. 

Savannah: Doesn't like the WALK TO SCHOOL FRIDAYS I started. I walk with them . . . and that's the problem. She kept speeding up or slowing down to create some distance between us and every time we met up again it was the same old. "Why do you have to follow me?" Uh, because we are going the same place. . . remember? 

Camille: On the other hand, Camille still likes me. She walked by my side and even ran back to give me one last hug and kiss right in front of the school when I turned around. Please don't corrupt my fifth grader. Camille is my perfect girl and yet she is always the one I am losing my patience over.  Of all my kids she leaves the biggest and widest trail. So many projects started and stopped and there all the stuff lies.  

Caroline: She carries Calvin everywhere on her hip. Which is great except for she insists that he immediately go to my hip if she needs a potty break no matter what I am currently in the middle of. She refuses to let him be on his own because she doesn't want him to cry or fall down the stairs. I get lots of lectures from her about my lack of mothering. She is the only one who really cares about him. . blah blah blah. 

Marcus: Continues to give me heart palpitations by his risky behavior. He climbs to the top of everything and then leans over the edge. He roamed the office while I painted last week and found an awesome scary ledge. He confessed later where he had been and I was adamant that he never go there again. 

"Marcus do you promise?" Yes, I promise I won't go there. . . " and then a quieter but determined voice behind me as I turned to walk away thinking the matter was settled. 

"Unless you aren't here. . . and then I WILL go there."

Calvin: Still has the biggest smile of any baby you've ever seen and has one for everyone. Anyone can hold him. He is indiscriminate. He loves his new mobility but hates all the doors shut in his face as we try to keep him away from his favorite stuff like toilet brushes, the outside deck, and Savannah's busy busy room full of lots of interesting stuff in his path. 

Two weeks out west

 I left Boston airport with five kids at 8 p.m  bound for Portland, OR for a two week vacation in three states. Brent joined me three days later after working for a few more days.

Kennon had flown out a week earlier and met her cousin Katie for EFY Tacoma.   It was so amazing for her and we will be sending all of our teenagers to this awesome program.  

Then she attended the Fielding Reunion at the Cameo Heights Mansion, one of the top ten Bed and Breakfast in the country and owned and operated by my parents. Please check it out and you can be a guest at my parents home if you are in Eastern Washington and want to have a truly beautiful experience. 

Sadly we missed the family reunion by a week but still enjoyed dining at The Vine in Mom and Dad's dining room and staying in the English Tudor Suite.  Well, at least as much as you can enjoy it when you have six kids tearing through a luxurious bed and breakfast not exactly designed with grandkids in mind. 

Before heading to Washington we hung out with our cousins in Portland and visited the new visitor center at the LDS temple there. Marcus took a sweet picture with his hero President Thomas S. Monson. 

We met Ciana and Dave and six cousins at the temple on their way home to California. They had just been at the Fielding reunion without us and made a detour to say Hi before their ten hour drive. We hadn't seen each other in two years so it was a fun reunion. We went to the visitor center and visited while the kids played in the back of the truck Bryan and Jenny let us borrow for our two week stay in the west.  We hated leaving our sweet set up at Bryan an Jenny's. They have an awesome guest suite that is better than anything I have ever before stayed in. And though we haven't hung out with them in 6 years we had no problem reconnecting just like old times. 

Marcus is fascinated with the farm life and can't believe that he was so close to being a farm boy if it weren't for Dad's mid life crisis and his decision to convert from farmer to dentist. He went right out to pick apples off the trees surrounding my parents bed and breakfast. He brought his cousin buddy from last summer, Laura. Of all people we saw, Marcus loved his cousin Laura the best. Three times this last week he has looked at me and said, "Mom, don't you just miss Laura?"

After all that apple picking he was pretty upset that Mom made him throw away the little green apples he had picked.  I saw the tractor out spraying that morning and decided it wasn't worth taking any chances. 

This kid just might love being a farm boy. He kept telling us that he loved it. . . every single place we went in the west.

Every morning my parents are busy in the kitchen preparing breakfast. It's funny for me to see my Dad spending so much time in the kitchen. It was a rare occurrence growing up. So were the wine racks in the kitchen.  :) Camille helped him prepare fruit trays. Savannah and Mom were busy whipping up lemon waffles that were out of this world delicious. 

 Over at the Casper farm there was a party planned to welcome us. 

Brent's family held a BBQ/Swim party at Grandma Casper's old place now rented by Brent's brother Brad. After two years away it was so wonderful to be back at a place with so many warm memories. These are just a few of the Casper 1st cousins. There are 51 total. A few great grandkids are also in the picture. It's all a blur in that family who the cousins, aunts and great grandkids are. That is one thing I love about it. Some of my kids Casper cousins are more like sisters to me than nieces.

These are 5 of the 9 siblings Brent has along with his 81 year old Mother.

From left to right Brad, Brent, Linda, Teresa, Mama Jo, and Jill.

Brent's Mom met her 51st grandchild- Calvin for the first time at this party. It was wonderful to have Brent be with his Mom. I wish I had a picture of me showing up late for church that Sunday and finding Brent in the row with his arm around his beautiful mother.

During the party Brent and the kids left to tour our farm. This is above the orchard overlooking the Columbia River. It's really sad to come home and see all the beauty that we left behind. Farm AND Family.

I really wish that I didn't have to choose just one life to lead. 

We actually spent very little time in Washington. We spent the majority of our time in Oregon with Brent's brother Bryan and wife Jenny and then six days in Idaho at Priest Lake at Brent's parents cabin.

We get one week a summer that is ours to reserve. This year we invited my sister Candice, My mother and Grandma Pieper (I am still looking for a picture of her on this camera) and my niece Chelsea with her family of 5. 

We were surprised and delighted when they brought up jet skis. The cabin boat broke last summer so the jet skis were a big hit. We invited them initially just for their company alone but may invite them back next year just for their equipment. :)

That's Camille on Brent's back this time.  He always insists on skiing with passengers. He's even skiid with me on his back before. We should head to Sea World and join their show team. 

Camille was hilarious because she wouldn't let go. She was barefoot skiing by the end of this ride and still had the back of his pants in her fist. 

Our nephew Cory also came up and was a great help with these two second cousins Chelsea's Brooks and our Calvin. 

Calvin got his first two teeth in Idaho. He didn't sleep as well but besides that was his usual happy self. He is now 8 months.

The last evening a storm like nothing I have seen at Priest Lake arrived. Just as it began us ladies decided to take one last dip in the lake, as we would be leaving in the morning. From left to right -Savannah, Kashann, Chelsea, Kennon, and Katie. 

The storm's damage was extensive and we lost power for several hours. This live power line was down right outside our back door and a tree blocked the road. It was just like being in New England.

When we found out the power was out and we wouldn't be doing laundry or washing dishes anytime soon to get out of there we decided to head out to take some family pictures. So here's all of us.


 We found out that our kids travel very well on the red eye flight. They ALL slept the entire five hour direct flight from Portland, OR to Boston, MA  and it went by in the blink of an eye- East Coast to West Coast!  Unbelievable!   This is coming from a mother who has driven the distance three times and seen all that can happen from the east to the west in the course of a very long drive. Many diaper changes, multiple car sick throw ups, cooler spills, fights, arguments over hotel or no hotel, way too many $2 plan trips to McDonalds and Wow, I just feel so grateful to have avoided that this time around. I am glad we can afford the red eye . . . finally.

Goodbye to the West! Until next time. We are already looking forward to Summer 2013.

Caroline's Baptism

Several months ago Caroline made a plan. Her eight birthday was approaching and she had her own ideas about this big event. She wanted to be baptized like her sisters were but her favorite person would be the one to do it.  (Incidentally later in a conversation about this favorite person. . . Grandpa Fielding she let me know that he was number one and Grandma Fielding was #2. So were was I on the list I wondered out loud. She counted in her mind and then told me that I was #5. Grandparents first, then Calvin, Dad and finally I squeeze in at the last minute to make it into Caroline's top 5.)

So she came home from church after a lesson on baptism and asked for her Grandpa's number. Then she took off upstairs for a private conversation. Then later on in the afternoon my mother called telling me that they working hard to get Grandpa out here to baptize Caroline but she didn't think that she would be able to come.  She also wanted to know if Brent was okay with Grandpa doing his job. So this is how her parents found out that her Dad wouldn't be the one to baptize his last daughter. Ultimately Dad was okay with it and the decision was made to bring Caroline to Grandpa rather than visa versa. So May 23rd came and went and Caroline just kept on waiting. Waiting for her July trip to Washington. 

Grandpa surprised her and picked out and purchased a new white dress for their big day together. Grandma said he just came home with it. 

Here is her father giving his daughter in white away. 

She sat by Grandpa and held his hand during the meeting. Often she snuck in a kiss. Either on the hand she was holding or she just whipped her head around and planted cheek kisses. She was just so happy to be with Grandpa and have everyone come and see her get baptized. 

I felt she was as prepared as she could be at this young age to choose to follow Jesus her whole life through. She asked me to let her speak at her baptism and with out any prep she got up and went on for a good five minutes about this and that beaming from ear to ear. Just in case we couldn't tell she let us know that she "feels so Happy!" She also let us know when she stepped into the water that it "feels like a hot tub" and that of course brought a huge smile to be go down into a hot tub with Grandpa to be baptized.

What a special day for our girl Caroline!

There was Grandpa, 3 Grandma's and tons of cousins and aunts and uncles in attendance. 

And even a rainbow.