Recovery

This week has been dedicated to Pie Party Recovery. See image below:
For Thanksgiving we celebrated with friends. It was different for us to not have family visiting from out of town. This is the after-party foThis is the first year since we married that we didn’t have family to our home for Thanksgiving (except for the year we flew to California and had 3 dinners before continuing to Hawaii).

We decided to try something new this year for expressing gratitude everyday. Mama created a gratitude tree. The idea came from a friend who covered a wall in orange paper and wrote down items of gratitude. Mama changed it to be a tree. We would put a leaf on the tree with something written on it to remind us of the bounty we have been given. It was a daily reminder and a lot of fun.

Mama decided to participate in Black Friday shopping starting at Midnight at Toys R Us. She got home around 7:30 a.m. and slept until 2 that afternoon. Underfoot and I made a pathway from the patio to the shed. On Saturday we went to the Mesa Temple. After that we went to a friend’s house for supper and a round of Settlers. I came through with a victory. Mama was pleased that no one lost their temper.

K2 is eating real food. His favorite is raw pumpkin. He does not particularly care for store bought food. Eating is a total sensory experience for K2. He likes to take control of the spoon and chew on it. K2 has to stick his thumb into his mouth in between each bite. Lesson learned this week: do not dress baby until after he has been fed!

Underfoot is a budding soloist. He likes to perform in the car, the tub, and other family friendly locations. He also likes to ‘play the piano’ for song time during Family Home Evening on Monday nights.

Pie Party

The 2009 Party Pie was lots of fun!!! Thank you! Thank you to those who helped. The week was spent in preparations and going hard. My brother has a saying, “If you don’t go hard core, you’re not hard core.” This week we were hard core.

The following tasks were completed this week, not necessarily in this order: carpets cleaned, made 8.5 quarts of applesauce, made curtains, had a plumber come, got ready for guests, L4 felt sick and came home from work, got family pictures printed and hung, went to Tombstone, got haircuts for Underfoot and myself, did an impromptu Bountiful Baskets distribution, and did some of our other everyday chores.

Randy and Kathy R. visited us for the pie party from Wisconsin. They came Thursday and left early on Sunday morning. On Saturday while I was gone to Bountiful Baskets, they cleaned the house with cleaner and bleach to make it beautiful. Payment was a game of Settlers of Catan. We played 2 games, Randy and Kathy, respectively, won the games. Lindsay K. (my ISU friend
from Utah) came on Saturday afternoon. Between the R. family and Lindsay, the kitchen was run very effectively for the pie party.

The racetrack and sandbox paid for themselves as over 30 children ran, chased, dug, and yelled in delight throughout the play area. Parents watched from the patio as their children did what children do best. People offered to bring items this year. We had a variety of different goodies including garden salad, chicken pot pie, banana bread, cookies, fruit plate, pumpkin ice cream, a cake, and Italian Christmas cake. L4 guesses that we had over 100 people. Over all we are
pleased and exhausted. We were so happy that so many different people could come from work, community, and church. We were happy to see my former roommate, Hannah and her family from Mesa. We are planning for 2010. So mark your calendar for November 20, 2010.

Flag and headaches

On Monday I installed the flag that my mother-in-law bought for us when we first arrived some 15 months ago. (It was up for Veteran’s Day.) By Thursday, the fierce winds snapped the plastic bracket that was holding the flag into two pieces. We are now looking for a metal replacement. On Saturday we get about a half hour of monsoon strength rain, which is highly unusual this time
of year.

On Thursday Mama went out to our garden. After a few minutes of picking tomatoes, she returned with 5 quarts worth of tomatoes. She and a friend worked all morning to produce 11 pints of spaghetti sauce made mostly from our garden.

On Friday night I got an incredible headache at bed time. I finally fell asleep around 3:30 a.m. At 5, Mama was up to go clean the church. She was kind enough to let me stay home and sleep with the boys. She returned around 9 after finding a number of treasures at local yard sales including rocking chair number 6 as well as a box of pirate treasures.

We went to do Bountiful Baskets about an hour before the delivery semi was scheduled to arrive. We were surprised to find it there with most of the produce already on the sidewalk. Mama has been worried about bountiful baskets all week. She was concerned that there would not be enough interest by local people. Everyone we talked to at the pickup site was pleased with the amount of produce they got in exchange for 15 bucks.

Saturday also coincided with the delivery of bulk chocolate that we ordered several months ago. A friend in our congregation made arrangements to get bulk chocolate from Guittard. We were very pleased with the quality and quantity of chocolate. Mama now feels like she can use her chocolate because she has an ample supply. I am excited for the forthcoming delectable desserts.

Later on Saturday we had delivered two more compost barrels. These two represent numbers 5 and 6. We have finally decided on a composting system and won’t be getting any more!

Somehow, life doesn’t seem to get any easier. We will likely always be busy. We are grateful for the blessings that we enjoy and ascribe them to the kindness of a Benevolent God.

Front Yard

I asked Underfoot what he would like to tell people in the weekly email. His response was “Temple”. Underfoot likes the Temple. Baby K2 can roll over from front to back. He can also sit up some of the time without assistance. He is smiling a lot. Underfoot can make K2 laugh, which causes Underfoot to laugh even louder which causes K2 to laugh even more. In engineering we call this a feedback loop, like when a microphone gets too close to a loudspeaker.

The action this week was on Saturday. We got up early. Mama took the boys in the Scout to the north side of Tucson (just over an hour away) to pick up three mesquite trees. The electric company offers cheap trees once a year to help provide shade in Tucson. On her way home, she made several pit stops. She stopped at Costco, Lowe's, and a tree sale happening near our home. She was surprised to find out that a local neighbor has a small nursery and sells trees at very reasonable prices. (We could have bought the mesquite trees from the local guy for less than the electric company, and not had to drive the two hours to get them!) Mama arrived at home with three mesquite trees, three beautiful red bougainvilleas, and three lantanas. The lantanas are a ground cover.

In the mean time, I was busy at home working on several projects. I sprayed the block wall, sand box, and exterior of the house for bugs. I dug three holes for the mesquite trees. (I was pleasantly surprised that the digging process was relatively easy- our lot must be on fill dirt!) After the digging, I repaired the gate it had come loose as a result of the concrete work. By the time I’d finished with the gate, it was already after 1 and I was expecting Mama and the boys at any moment, so I went inside to make some tuna fish sandwiches for lunch.

Mama got home and we devoured lunch. We unloaded the Scout and went about placing the various plants and trees in the front yard. At one point we decided to employ some redneck landscaping techniques. (Some of you may recall when this technique was employed at our former residence with Chuck the Truck.) This time the Scout made quick work of two ill-placed bushes in our front yard. All that is left of the original landscaping is one tree in the front yard and the Chilean mesquite tree in the back yard. Everything else has been removed, although there wasn’t much to begin with!

We spent a bunch of time figuring out where to place the lantanas. I then dug holes for the bushes, planted everything, and started working on the irrigation system. This involved sending Mama and the boys on an emergency run to Ace Hardware for drip irrigation connector pieces. It seems I always run out at the must inconvenient times! Mama returned home with the needed supplies and we went to the local American Legion building for a Boy Scout dinner. The local troop has a fund raiser each month on a Saturday night. Our neighbor is in the troop, so we like to support their efforts. (It is also nice for Mama to not have to cook on occasion.)

After dinner, I returned to working in the front yard while Mama got the boys ready for bed. I finally finished everything in the front yard around 9 p.m. At that point I came inside and Mama went into the back yard. She planted flowers, a honeysuckle plant, mint, and in the process removed a bunch of plants from one of our raised beds. It was all over at about 11 p.m. It was a long day.

Cold like 50s

This week has been unusually cold. We had highs in the 50s and lows in the 30s. (I know, in the rest of the world this is normal, but here it was soo cold. . . ) We compensated for the cold by putting Christmas tree lights on our trees and the banana plant. On Monday I started exercising in the mornings outside on the new patio. It is neat to be outside when the world changes from night to day.

Here’s the rest of the week by day:

M: For supper Mama made Spring Rolls. This was a major deal because I really liked them. I’m not a huge fan of Chinese food, but Mama is helping me to broaden my palate. We made homemade chocolate ice cream with the ice cream maker that my mother-in-law got me for my birthday. It was delicious!

T: K2 had a well baby visit. He weighs 14 pounds, 12 ounces and is 26.5 inches long. He is healthy and happy.

W: Underfoot made pumpkin crafts at school and learned about how a pumpkin starts out as a seed, turns into a plant, and eventually becomes a pumpkin.

Th: Mama and Underfoot had a pumpkin carving party with friends. Underfoot made a Larry the Cucumber (from Veggie Tales) pumpkin. I had an HOA budget meeting after work.

F: I had an eye doctor appointment in the morning. The doctor said that everything looks healthy. He also gave me a prescription so I can get a new pair of glasses (Underfoot has given them lots of ‘Love’.) We then went up to Mesa to attend the Temple. Later that night we had a Church Halloween party. It was a busy day!

S: In the morning we did Bountiful Baskets. I spent some time fixing flat tires on several bikes. We went trick or treating. Underfoot loved getting ‘canny’ at each house.

In all, we’ve had a great week. We are excited for the upcoming Pie Party, which will be held on November 21st from 5:30 to 8 p.m. All are welcome. Have a great week.