4 Years and Getting Smarter

Caroline was easy to please this year. She wanted a friend party. I didn't.

Well, some of our favorite people in Buffalo, dental student grads Michelle and Devon, are leaving to join a practice in El Paso this week. When I approached them about a going away party, the only day left that would work for them was last Friday, Caroline's birthday.

"Perfect!"

So we hijacked Devon and Michelle's farewell party for about 10 minutes to break open her unicorn pinata and sing Happy Birthday. She was perfectly happy with the event until things began winding down and she realized we'd never made it to the big finale -Where you open a big pile of presents!

Apparently at this point she decided to confront some people about this. After Adrian Dayton gave her a dollar she was emboldened and started hitting up all the men. I didn't realize this till I heard her interrogating the real guest of honor, Devon, with "Why didn't you bring me a present?"

Before I could stop him or her she had another dollar in her hand. Later when I told Brent about it, he said he heard her talking to several guys asking them the same question.

Unfortunately for Caroline though we invited too many poor students. She only came home with $2 dollars and they both came from the only two grads there.

Our Stage Queens

For these girls the spotlight is where it's at. At a recent faculty/student talent show, Savannah enjoyed using a clip on mike for the first time, while Kennon decided she's grateful we forced her to play piano.

Savannah sang a silly song about a girl who can't pronounce her R's dating a boy named "Clawence".





Kennon played, "Little Spring Song". A million thanks to her piano teacher Krystal King, for her recent love affair with the piano.

Also here's a Note to all mom's involved in school PTA's. They charged $3 a person for the show, held it 2 nights, sold candy and popcorn, and All the proceeds went to the upcoming musical. It was a wonderful show and really seemed to bring the whole school together. Kid's love to see their teachers singing and dancing on stage.

I was completely happy to participate in this fundraiser. 100% went to the school, and none of it to some business and Most Important -My kids didn't have to sell candy bars or candles to all our neighbors. We hate those kind of fundraisers and won't let our kids participate. If you want to generate money for your school either do a direct solicitation (suggest each family donate $35 dollars at the beginning of the year) or hold a fun event and you get all the money!

Enough of those Arabs and their oil!

This is how the Caspers are going to church for the rest of the summer, rain or shine. Kennon and Savannah already put their bikes away but they did a great job of keeping up. Kashann refused to ride the ten speed with Caroline on the back so she got the workout of the day lugging Camille and Marcus and all the clothes, books, and snacks. 6.5 miles each way makes for a pretty healthy ride for those little legs. Kennon got to wear jeans to church for the first time since she "forgot" to bring her skirt. Its not that big of a deal in our ward however.

The greatest part of the ride was that we all got to be in our first marathon. We stumbled onto the route of the Buffalo marathon and got a police escort most of the way to church. We passed the 7th and 8th place runners before we had to turn off and head for the church. We probably went through 10 intersections with police stopping all cars but waving us right on through with the runners.

2.5 months and 14 lbs.

Marcus wore his hawaiian shirt to Caroline's party. Brent is pretty proud to have a son to wear "party shirts" with him for special occasions. For those not lucky enough to party with Brent, he has some great ones. His favorite one is older than me, and has gold buttons. He is always bragging about it's authenticity because his Dad paid good money for it in the 70's on his vacation.

Top Ten Reasons why we SHOULD go sailing

10. Because I currently don't have a church calling (?)
9. Brent needs a tan
8. See NY finger lakes, Hudson River Valley, and all the locks on the Erie Canal , (and maybe even the Statue of Liberty, but we are thinking that might be pushing it)
7. Play endless games of scum
6. Have Brent all to myself (no Mac, right honey?)
5. Roughin' it is good for you (Isn't it?)
4. Neither of us have a job so why not?
3. Talk to my children without distractions
2. Just for the Memories
1. CUZ We may not ever have the chance again.


I've had one of those weeks where I don't dare step on the scale. Two reasons, RAIN, EVERYDAY (and One batch of cookie dough)! OOPS!

I miss park weather. I just can't bring myself to go running now it is wet and in the 40's and 50's. Tomorrow the sun is supposed to be back and I think we are all looking forward to it.

Speaking of Weather, I would have to say it is going to make or break our Sailing Expedition. Bad weather means we are stuck below in a rocking boat and I know that won't be good. In the days since our purchase I have thought about countless stressful items that never came up when we were making the deal. No shower, no laundry facilities, no dish washing facilities (I can't remember if it had a sink, it did have a toilet which is going to be pretty stinky to sleep next to every night.)

So there are all those camping worries that I have going on inside my head. At the same time I have to say I am completely fired up about the endless days of sunshine, battery operated radio, and plenty of card games. My favorite family vacations are when we are stuck somewhere all together for several days. For instance, 3 solid days in a Buick is a real bonding experience. I am thinking 10 solid days in a sailboat should be that much and So Much More.

A cousin's warning

I just found this today on my family.com posted by my cousin Ashley (who just delivered a baby in China the day after the earthquake there). She posted this last Friday, after reading on our blog that Brent was sailboat shopping.

headlined: Why Brent and Kashann shouldn't buy a sailboat

Ashley H. Friday May 9, 2008

Kashann, I hate to ruin the fun, but I have some comments about the whole sailboat thing. Dan's family are big sail boaters. His dad rents them not buys them because they are so expensive to maintain. You might look into renting one. As far as the sea sick, we went on a 4 day trip to Catalina island and I was sea sick the whole time. Just like morning sickness, but worse. It started within the first hour into the trip, we were on the Ocean however and that has more waves. The other thing is I'm pretty sure you have to be certified to sail a sail boat. Dan and his brothers all got their certification in High School. Don't let Brent know I told you all this stuff I don't want him to be mad at me, but maybe you could suggest he go with some of his brothers. From my sail boating experiences I would seriously rather stay home alone with five kids than take them on a Sail boat for one day. To quote someone else in the family, "100% not fun."


Read what others had to say:

Kashann - May 15, 2008

Ashley your advice is 100% too late! He bought a 1970 something sail boat on Monday for $1500. It actually is cheaper than renting what we would need, but that is really besides the point, isn't it?

Life jackets came with it. (That comment was for Erica since that was her #1 reason why Brent's friend Richard shouldn't go in with Brent and buy one.)

But we have to find a parking spot for it, buy an canal pass ($25), and I'm not sure about the certification. There is sure to be lots of random expenses but then there are with any vacation right?

I think we will sell it right after the trip because we have nowhere to put it really. He has been planning our trip ever since Monday. The latest is that we will sail all the way from Buffalo on the Erie Canal, head down the Hudson River and out into the NY Harbor (Did I miss any waterways there, U. Brian?) I am actually a nervous wreck about this idea, but also pretty excited. We are all about the memories, good or bad. You know it will be something unusual that we will never forget. (Especially if we are seasick the entire 2 weeks right?) Actually I am hoping that doesn't happen. A canal is pretty narrow and that should make a huge difference, I think. Most likely I'll be so doped up on Dramamine that the whole vacation will just be a blur in my memory.

I am worried about the sleeping arrangements, (7 in one boat!) but then Brent reminded me that they are far better than the Double Decker Buick. And Ashley I also have had two experiences in the ocean that were the worst ever! If it is anything like that I will definitely be turning the boat around.

" . . .Rebop a Rubop a Rhubarb pie"

If you don't know the song, you need to get out a little more. Or just tune into Prairie Home Companion on PBS radio, and you'll hear it.

Around the Casper's the favorite dessert is Rhubarb pie. We both grew up on it. It was made from a big plant in the backyard with large leafs (that are poisonous as I was always told). The stalks below the leaves resemble celery, except for a slight pink color. Both of our families had a bush that lended many pies for summer parties over the years.

By Father's Day last year I was missing the farm, and was planning to suprise Brent with a rhubarb pie. But the only Rhubarb I could find was $6 a lb! I just couldn't do it. So, Instead I planned ahead for next year's father's day and bought a plant at Home Depot. Finally a year later for Mother's Day we had about 8 puny stalks and we picked about all of them for our first NY rhubarb pie. Unfortantely the timing was not so good. My no sugar diet meant that I couldn't have any, but I did slice a very small sliver just for a taste.

I am so pleased that even city folk like us can grow a garden! I didn't have to leave that hobby behind on the farm. Today I planted Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Zucchini, Cucumbers, and Pumpkins in my backyard. In the front yard Brent planted spinach, lettuce, peas, and carrots a couple weeks ago when I was in WA. Still have to plant our starts that we grew from seed like tomatoes, peppers, and onions this week. I've already had my first fresh spinach salad and am looking forward to another yummy summer of plenty of fresh veggies, and hopefully at least one or two rhubarb pies that I might just eat all by myself to make up for Mother's Day.

My Mother's Day

Just one more post and then I will take a break, I promise. I realized that I never mentioned celebrating Mother's Day. I have a fabulous husband who . . . usually forgets to buy a gift. The trade-off is he tries to make up for it all day long and yesterday HE DEFINITELY DID.

Early morning foot rub, Washed all the dishes, cooked the meals, brushed, flossed, read the books and did all the tuck-ins, and plenty of other things just in case I forget to mention one and get in trouble, BUt best of all he Gave me Free Use of his Laptop All Afternoon. (Which explains the monster post yesterday.) This was the one that really killed him. Last night I was in bed still taking full advantage, his Mac on my lap. He kept looking over and I was starting to feel so guilty. The guy really is addicted to Craigslist, and he couldn't believe what boring stuff I did during my use of it-Blogging!

Also my girls wrote FOUR songs that they performed in a special mothers day program just for me right after church. They took some randomn karaoke music and wrote lyrics to the entire songs. It was a totally opposite melody than the artist sings it, since they don't even know the song they wrote to, but it was still real good. And of course there was choreography to go with it.
If my mom ever gets on here, I want her to know that she is the mother that I strive to be. She is my #1 Cheerleader even when I don't deserve it. That always has inspired me to be a little better since mom thinks so much of me. She is a beautiful, talented lady that is juggling so much right now along with being #1 Grandma.

I am so grateful to be a mom to these 5 happy and healthy children.

The Very Last Post about our Vacation

I have been so anxious to make a trip post, that I just dumped them all on at once and now I can't get them where I want them to write about them.
These top pictures are glimpses of the Fielding Family Tradition of roasting the newlyweds. The kids are singing words written to "Fur Elise". Stephen Beus is a world famous piano player. Alainna is a BYU Opera famous soprano. Then my brothers and sister's and I sang a rewritten song from Sound of Music because like Maria, Alainna never stops singing, is spontaneous, and always late. This is our favorite part of the wedding. Writing the song the day before when we all get together. We think we are pretty hilarious.

The reception was held at my parents new mansion and these are some of the pictures I managed to take before the event. The orchard was in full bloom for the occasion. Kennon was so sick by then and the baby didn't like the wind so unfortunately I missed any pictures of the actual reception and no good pictures of the wedding. Later that night, when the guests were leaving I saw Caroline wandering around stripped of her dress and undies. I sent her upstairs to go to the bathroom and get ready for bed. Apparently she only got to the first half of her instructions. I found her like this in our bathroom 1/2 hour later. I had been searching all over the house frantically looking for her when I thought to check behind the closed door. How do you fall asleep next to the toilet. At least there was a nice soft rug to pillow her.

Good night Sweet Caroline! Family Reunions are so much fun, but so exhausting.

The Two reasons we went to WA

1. To see youngest sis Alainna tie the knot with Stephen

2. So Camille could get a pretty pink new dress and be a Flower Girl. She was so excited before the fact . . . a little dissapointed after the fact. (She didn't even get to go to the wedding!)

Cinco de Mayo Fiesta

We found some fellow westerners who miss mexican food as much as we do. The Smith and Cundick's came over to experience some of Brent's homemade tortillas and other stuff that we think are way better than what is available at the so called mexican restaurants here in town.

Our baby is blessed

Finally Marcus got a baby blessing. He is well over 2 months now and didn't fit into the fancy outfit that his Grandma bought for the occasion. :(
After church we went to Delaware Park (one of my favorite places here) just to take a few pictures of his big day.

A couple other BIG things happened at church. Brent started his new calling teaching prospective elders during priesthood, and I was released as Relief Society President. I feel like I am entering a new chapter in my life. Being RSP has been such a huge part of my buffalo experience. I have learned so much.

Like
how to navigate around a city with a map, an undependable car, and countless new addresses. . .

And,
how to have a little more empathy as I have worked with women that have completely different challenges than anything I have ever faced. . .

Also,
How I have to rely on the Lord to feel in for my inadequecies

And finally I have learned to love so many women all over this city!

I am so grateful that our church emphasizes strengthening families and I have a bishop who understands my need to have a little more time for my 5 children. I will miss the blessings that have come into my life leading in the ward relief society and appreciate the close associations I have had while serving with so many different women that have taught me so much. I wonder what will be next?

Losing Camille

Last night Brent and I planned to go out to celebrate another year down. After the usual kid's date night fare of mac and cheese, Brent told me he was going to ride down to the corner store and get them each a $.25 ice cream bars. The corner store is 4 blocks away- 2 blocks north, then another 2 blocks east. I heard some of the kids asking to go on my way upstairs to get ready for our date.

In a couple minutes the house got quiet and Caroline came up to join me. Ten or 15 minutes went by and we heard them come home. As they came in I saw Kennon and Savannah but NO 6 year old Camille.

"Where's Camille?" I said.

"Huh? Camille didn't come with us," they both said while I insisted in an increasing panic that "Yes she did, because she definitely hadn't been here with me!"

I hollered out at Brent who was putting bikes away the same question, "Where's Camille!!!!"

He didn't know. She had been in the living room when he left.

Ten seconds after that we had already interrogated the neighborhood and heard from a 12 year old boy that he had seen her race off toward the river, in the opposite direction of the store, right after they had left. ( Apparently they had pedaled in that direction initially to turn around.)

So Brent raced off down the block on his bike, toward the busy road that runs along 190. He was relatively calm, compared to my hysteria, figuring he would find her somewhere between there and the store. He found her a couple blocks later racing back home headed straight for him. She was smiling and hollering, "I went all the way to the corner store all by myself! Where were you?"

In the course of the rigorous pedaling in the cold wind, a large drop of water had begun descending out of her father's eye. As soon as Camille got close enough to see her "Crying" Father, obviously overcome to tears, who was hollering out, "Camille, we were so worried about you!", she immediately stopped bragging about her incredible journey, and began bawling.

This is when I came on the scene, driving up in the van. I picked her up and brought her home while she cried and cried. She had been "Jumped on by a big dog, and Why did Dad leave her?, and Why weren't they at the store when she got there?".

Finally she stopped crying and talking so I could explain to her to NEVER DO THAT AGAIN! And then I explained to my husband to PLEASE tell me next time which children he was taking so I knew which children I was keeping.

None of my other children would've have ever done this, though I should've known this was coming with this girl. I lost her twice during the airport when she disappeared out of the bathroom as soon as she was done even though the rest of us were still in there. I couldn't get through to her then but maybe Dad's "tears" will do the trick.

We still went on the date and tried out a new restaurant, "Taste of Thai" on Hertel avenue. We shared the "Pud Thai" dish. I didn't want to blow my diet the first couple days and figured that sharing was a good way to at least portion control, since I was sure they weren't whole wheat noodles, and the sauce was definitely sweet. It was yummy food but then I have never tasted any Thai food that I didn't love. The service and presentation were also excellent. I told the waiter we would definitely be back. He said, "Next time order more food." What he meant was SPEND more then $11 dollars. Everyone around us had multiple dishes, and all were sipping something considerably more expensive than lemon water. But we left him a $4 tip, and how can he complain about that on a slow Thursday evening.

A couple blocks down on Hertel we joined friends at Cafe Allegro to listen to Kristen and Jonas perform. Jonas is a dental student and Kristen is a classmates wife and also my friend. They really are talented, I love the music, and we would never be going out to listen to music at night with friends if it weren't for them. We haven't ever participated in the "hanging out on the town scene" before so it is nice to have a reason to go chill at a cafe and enjoy their wonderful talent. So thanks, guys and keep it up. But stay out of the bars. We like the cafe gigs best so we can bring our baby.

What's going on?

In Breaking news
As I write Brent is taking his FINAL final of 2nd Year!
Next week - on to third year with a short spring semester of clinics. Meanwhile he'll be studying for the boards coming up at the end of June. So happy to be done with ONE MORE YEAR!

He'll be so relieved if he passes all his classes, and I will be so relieved to not hear "I don't know if I am going to pass Removable" Ever Again. Good luck, Brent!

And after the boards. . . . . We have 6 weeks till he starts up again.

It is looking quite possible that the head of this family is finally turning into a FAMILY MAN. First . . .He eventually broke and bought the minivan.

And now he seems to have given up his dream of being a Harley owner while in dental school. He finally stopped looking at them online, deciding his Puch would do for a couple more years.

Now he's looking at . . .

SAIL BOATS! The kind BIG enough for a small family of 7 and OLD enough that they are in our price range. We all thought we might spend the summer cruising the Erie Canal.

MINOR PROBLEMS- Where does one store a sailboat? And how does one get it back to Washington in a couple years.

One other question? Can you get seasick sailing the Canal or Great Lakes? His wife once spent the entire day throwing up aboard a snorkel boat off the coast of Hawaii.

But he might just throw caution to the wind and get the sail boat. When else in life might he have the time and access to the Erie Canal?

In other news:
I've started my post baby diet. First I celebrated Cinco de Mayo in a big way with homemade tortillas and all the other stuff we have learned to make to go along with a fiesta because you simply can't find the good mexican stuff here in Western NY. But once that was over with I was ready to begin. I decided blogging about it was a wonderful idea. Then I am committed and know that everyone will notice what I put on my plate the next time we all get together. My goal is a loss of 12 lbs. so I can be back to pre-pregnancy weight. Sounds like a lot to me. Brent said, "That's great! But doesn't 130 sound a lot better than 140?" I made the stupid mistake of getting down to 130 once in married life and he has never forgot it. Get over it, Brent.

Here's the low down on the diet:

No sugar or honey
No refined starches like white rice, white flour , regular pasta
No potatoes

I will be eating lots of grains, brown rice, ww pasta etc. and fruits ,veggies, and nuts
I can eat all I want of dairy, oils, and meat but I don't concentrate much on that. I am not a big meat eater, and I won't be eating too many fats since I can't have the above ingredients that they are all in.

My goal is one pound a week so that means I'll be ready for a swimsuit by August. I know, I should've started a little earlier, but I was kind of hoping that the pounds would just drop off on their own like the first 17 did.

Exercise plan:

Take the kids to the park near my house. Run around for 30-45 min, giving Caroline an "Underdoggie" on the swing every time I go by and pushing Marcus in his car seat/stroller when ever I hear him peep. The last two days it has worked perfect. Today it's raining.

And the whole family is on the diet because I don't want to be cooking 2 meals every night.

On Tuesday night: We had homemade 100% whole wheat pizza with ham and lots of veggies, very light on the mozzarella. Everyone ate at least one piece without complaint. I thought it tasted fabulous.
Wednesday: Bean and Ham soup with modified corn bread (whole wheat, less oil, applesauce, and a little Splenda) Once again a success with the whole family.
Kennon asked me to make cookies for her class party today. I politely refused. There is no way I can make cookies and not eat cookies. My homemade cookie dough is just too tempting.

I went to Wegman's yesterday and got all the emergency items for when I feel a cookie baking urge coming on. I have them frequently. Diet soda, and a little sugar free this and that. Hopefully I won't need them to often because I know they are just empty things to eat but I need to be prepared so just in case.

I am really enjoying focusing on eating healthy. So far I haven't had any emergencies. But we are still only in the first 48 hours. I can't help beaming with pride so far though.

Yesterday In the Principal's office:
Camille had to visit the principal yesterday to register a complaint that the boys in her class keep trying to kiss her. She is really concerned about it because it keeps happening. She turns around to find them puckered up in her face. When she turned two of them down yesterday they decided to slap her instead. Poor girl. Parent teacher conferences are tonight and I am looking forward to hearing the whole story.

Next week Performing on Stage:
Savannah will be singing her famous, "Clawence" for the school talent show next week. It's a song about a girl who can't pronounce her R's and has a boyfriend name Clarence. She has been performing it since she was 4 and really couldn't pronounce her R's. It was much easier to rehearse with her then and so cute. Now it is all just a farce, but takes a lot more talent I guess.

Kennon had a hard time deciding which of her many talents she would exhibit but finally tried out with a piano piece, and easily made the cut.

The Hungry and Oppressed
Our hungry little girl recently thought she was going to starve to death at her Grandma Casper's. Grandma, noticing she was one of the chubbier ones of the bunch, decided that it might be due to a snacking habit, (where did she come up with that?) It might have had something to due with hearing, "I'm hungry Grandma" a zillion times a day. So we all ate 3 square (and quite small) meals a day. I was pretty famished myself. She came to get me one time after Grandma turned her down once again and said, "I wish I was a mom so I could cook food!"

And finally
What is there to report about Marcus? He will finally be blessed Sunday. Apparently the RS president has been too busy to attend Buffalo Ward the last two months. He no longer fits in the blessing outfit Grandma gave him so we will be making do with something else less traditional, but guaranteed he will be plenty cute either way. He just can't help it.

A tidbit from the trip

"I hate the new pool!"
I kept saying it over and over again the whole time we were staying at my mom's new house. I'd just get the kids bathed, hair fixed, etc. and they were pretty for the next event. Then I'd sit down and relax and feed the baby when suddenly there goes my soaked children running by in their swimsuit after an uncle or aunt had said, "Hey kids, who wants to go swimming!" (These adults either have no kids or only short haired boys and have no idea about blow drying and tangles.) So the whole week they were a ratty mess because I gave up on hair brushing. Not to mention the 6 pairs of underwear each everyday because I can't stand to put a used pair back on a kid. Then they always needed another hot bath after coming in. And you can't just run the water for 3 minutes in a tub that size. Ten minutes and it is still only up to their ankles.

But it wasn't until the Swimmer's Ear, started that I had a really good reason to hate the pool.
After 3 full days swimming in the 80 degree water Kennon came down with this the day before the wedding. She was feverish and did nothing but lay there Saturday through Tuesday. Her ear was so swollen inside the antibiotic drops couldn't even drip their way in to do any good. Finally the oral antibiotics kicked in and she was well enough to get out of bed and fly home on Wednesday.

What I learned? No matter whose wedding it is, and how inconvenient or costly it is to take your kid to the doctor out of state- just do it. I thought I was handling it because I talked to no less than 3 Doc's at the wedding and they all told me it would clear up on its own. One doc said I needed to rinse it out using a bulb syringe, another said to clean out the wax. . All of these remedies exacerbated the problem and maybe even created it in the first place. I really missed having my husband there to make the call on what to do.

This final episode of our vacation really wore me out. All I did for three nights it seemed was feed the baby, burp the baby, change the baby, get Kennon medicine, a drink, and drops for her ear, AND then . . . start the whole thing over again.

And this is all the time I have to write now, unfortunately. I am forced to do things in short spurts the last couple months. Life with a baby is so good, but sooooo different.