Sunday, March 20, 2011

A Glimpse

L4: We worked our guts on Saturday. I went to the LDS dry cannery, processed 40 pounds of chicken that  we got through Zaycon Foods, cleaned the shed out, and finished the evening at a Moon party. The moon  was the closest to the earth that it has ever been recorded. On Friday, Mama and I went on a fancy date curtesy of Raytheon from last December’s holiday party. We went to a highclass fancy restaurant. We  probably won’t eat out like that again any time soon because it was a very expensive place. Thanks  Raytheon! After eating, we retired our Spain-acquired wallets and bought new ones. The old ones were worn  out. They were handmade from a Spanish leather worker. We acquired them when we visited in 2007. On Wednesday I attended Boy Scouts and we talked about the requirements for Tenderfoot, 1st class, and  2nd class Scout. Mama made green pancakes for breakfast on St. Patrick’s day.

Mama: We went on several adventures this week. I like the go very much. Especially when we can go with  good people. We went to Phoenix Zoo, the swimming pool, and Bountiful Baskets while L4 was at the  cannery. The boys loved all three. Underfoot continues to talk about the zoo and the animals we saw. The zoo  Currently has a a koala exhibit. We learned that koalas sleep for at least 18-20 hours a day and eat the other 4 hours. We got to see sleeping koalas. I’m not sure if I was disappointed or not. Underfoot didn’t “see” the koalas and wondered why we were going into such a hot tent. He did like the elephants, monkeys, and the farm animals. Those animals are the ones that have been talked about the most. Also we got a reminder of the heat that is to come. When we left the zoo, the temperature was around 95 degrees. That is just a warm up. No pun intended.

We start swimming lessons tomorrow, and Underfoot is scared to go to swimming lessons. We got invited to go swimming. The water was cool but both boys got in and played to their hearts content. It makes going  tomorrow easier.

Underfoot and I were having a conversation. I told him that I was happy he was growing up in some ways and sad he was growing up in some ways. He looked at me and said, “Mama, I know. But  when I am 5, I will go to high school.” I don’t know that I am ready for kindergarten let alone high school.

Hurricane is also growing and improves on his diction every day. He continually increases his vocabulary and  will repeat words from the scriptures we read as a family. I changed his clothes out to the next bigger size. I  wonder at times if I will pull those clothes out again. I hope so. It is always a sad day for me to have boys  grow up. I know that it is the nature of children but I like the stage they are in now. I have found myself saying a lot lately, “Hurricane you drive me crazy.” He is curious about everything. L4 will show him how something works, and he will do it over and over and over again.

The shed looks marvelous.

Underfoot was playing with the toy chest this week by picking it up and dropping it. He dropped it on his  foot. He tried to walk over to me in his tears and collapsed. I was concerned he broke his foot. The foot  turned purple and was scraped up with blood. We iced it, and he sat on the couch for a while. He then decided he was better and went out to play.

Underfoot: This week I did church. I saw an elephant that was big, another that was small. I went swimming  with Thomas and Abigail. Abigail grabbed Hurricane when he fell in the hot pool. We had to come home  because I was disobedient and got in the hot pool when mama said no. Emma came with us at home. I saw  Dr. Baye and she gave me a book about cars and my favorite guys- Mater, Sally, Sheriff, and all the other guys.

Hurricane: Um. Um I played with choo choos. I like marbles. I like mangos. Choo Choos. Yup. Choo Choos. CHOO CHOOS.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Name Calling

Underfoot Says: I played on my birthday and popped balloons and opened presents. I got cowboy boots. They went really well with my guns. Grandma Locey sent me a towel. Hurricane & Jilli sent me a Cars play mat. I got a helmet, a breast plate, and a shield. I call it my armor of God. I went one day to Joy School because I have a cough and am sick.

Dad Says: I’m tired. I’ll sleep when I’m dead.

Mama Says: Hurricane has learned how to say Underfoot’ name this week. I was very excited when he first said it. It now is a continual Underfoot, Underfoot, Underfoot, Underfoot. He is very concerned for his brother and wanting to find him at all times. That is except when his Daddy walks into the room and then there is no one else. He is talking more and more. He will sometimes use sign language and sometime his voice.  When he is really tired, he just screeches like a vulture with big tears down his face. He will not talk except for a spoonful of frosting.

Underfoot taught our family home evening lesson on Monday. He taught about the plan of salvation with nifty  cut-outs that his awesome Mom found on-line. We colored it. He passed out each part and ask us to tell what that part was about. He did a great job!

We cleaned up our backyard on Saturday. It is amazing what a day in the backyard will do. We cleaned up the extension cords, heating lights, extra lumber, and some weeds. There will always be weeds. One day we will sterilize the ground and put down fake grass and have only a few weeds. Here is to saving more money and hoping for it one day. L4 and Underfoot built a rock and dirt sifter. I took care of our grapes and trellised trees. I also nominated myself to clean out the chicken coop. They have a cleaner and more secure home after doing a few repairs.

On Tuesday evening I helped with the annual celebration the Relief Society. We had a get-to-know-you game inspired by Anita Younker. It was adapted but the idea is to give an unknown fact about yourself that is positive and let people guess who it is. I was the MC and didn’t put anything in our fish bowl about myself. I also blew up 72 balloons by myself with a compressor. The compressor was a suggested buy by my Dad on New Year’s day. It has proved invaluable! Thanks Dad!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Super Heroes

Underfoot Says: Thank you for my birthday party. I had Sister Kartchner cutting my hair. She likes to cut my  hair and I like to get my lollipop. I came home. I got a book about the Zoo at the library bus. I watched Star  Wars (Episode IV) too. The robots are my favorite. Those ones are in Star Wars. The big one has teeth but  his mouth can’t move. He went on a rocket ship and fly away from the bad pirates. A woman was with them.

Dad Says: The big event this week was Underfoot’ birthday party. Mama and I have adopted the ‘Birthday  Party every 4 years’ policy. On Saturday we had about 30 children and 15 parents and siblings for a two  hour Super Hero training session. We did a watermelon eating contest, cupcake decorating, an obstacle course, a balloon popping event, and a pinata. It was a lot of fun. Mama worked really hard to make it a wonderful event.

Saturday morning was also our semi-annual community yard sale. Mama went to train someone to be a  baskets coordinator. I took the boys on a treasure hunt. We got an outdoor table (with 6 chairs), a 3 person  swing with a sun shade, a booster seat for K2 that will stay in the Scout, and a bunch of clothes for  Underfoot. Mama also picked up a full sized rocking chair that matches the one we got for Underfoot while living in Pennsylvania.

Midway through the week we treated the boys to a movie- STAR WARS. We watched Episode IV  together. Underfoot and K2 both fell asleep midway through (it was in the evening, right around bed time.)  Underfoot talks about Star Wars and how he wants to watch the other two episodes.

Mama has been dealing with some new challenges in her role as Tucson Coordinator for baskets. She has to  ensure that all the distribution sites in Tucson are running smoothly. She does a good job handling the quirks of  the various site coordinators. Bountiful Baskets has given her an outlet where she can contribute to the  community, contribute to the well being of our family, and interact with adults about a subject other than  children. I see it as a great thing for her, our family, and our community.

Mama Says: K2 has learned quite well how to say thank you. He has not grasped the concept of please. He  will say thank you to ask for anything when prompted. Also K2 likes to store food in his left cheek. He  never stores it in the right cheek. We will ask him to spit out whatever he has been storing in his cheek at  various times of the day. Tonight we learned that if we squeeze his cheeks it forces him to eat what he has  stored. Some time he spits candy with the wrapper still attached or half masticated. Sometimes it is bread. I  don’t know where he finds the bread or the candy at our house. Candy is eaten around here at light speed. So if you ever want us to store your candy, we will enjoy it thoroughly but will probably only return wrappers.

I spoke with my Grandpa Hoggan this week. He told me about Hilda Augusta Amelia Carlson Hoggan. She  was born in Norrkoping, Sweden and moved to the United States. She married James Morn Hoggan, and  they had 6 children. My great-Grandpa Frank was one of her sons. As I talked with my Grandpa we talked  about his Uncles and their various occupations. One story he told was that his Uncle Dutch sold chickens to  the first Kentucky Fried Chicken when Colonel Sanders started. Another interesting story is when Grandpa  Frank bought his first house, he sold all the chickens that were in the backyard for the down payment on the  home. The cost of the home was $6,000. One more thing is that my Grandpa wanted written in our family  history that he gave blood this past week for a cookie and some apple juice. He really is a very positive man,  and I truly enjoyed our conversation.

On Monday there was a car accident on the main road where we live. The motorist hit a telephone pole and  broke the pole into 3 sections. This knocked out our telephone and internet. The whole community was  without for about 18 hours. I forgot how much of a convenience the internet and the telephone are. Even  though I had a cell phone, it frustrated me to not have immediate access and caused me to think of how much  of my time is spent into quick information. Information use has come so quickly and easily. I wonder at times if  I also base a lot of my self importance to how many emails I get a day. The event made me realize I need to make some changes.