Firsts

A list of new experiences this week for each of us: L4 attended his first military
concert. We went and saw the Air Force Academy Band on campus for free. It is paired with a recruiting event for the Air Force Academy. They did a tribute to 1940s Big Band music featuring Glenn Miller. The uniforms were even period. My favorite part of the concert is when they play the different military branches songs and see the current military or retired military. The audience was comprised of mostly octogenarians. I overheard one gentleman say that he was 80 and if he could “up” again he would. His career was 21 years and 17 days. Underfoot and K2 would lead the music or bob along with the beat. Underfoot liked the tuba and trumpet. K2 fell sleep 1/2 way through the concert and stayed asleep. We enjoyed our evening together.

Underfoot had a few firsts this week. He played in his first t-ball game. During his turn at the pitcher mound, he took a line drive to the throat. He said it hurt, and he cried a few tears. When he recounts the experience, he makes the sound of a few fake sobs. He is very happy to wear his uniform. Another first was he went to climb on his bicycle and saw a snake wrapped through the sprocket. He came and told me that there was snake. We called the fire department. It was hilarious to watch Underfoot yell at the firemen as they came to the house, “Firemen come and get this snake!!!” The bull snake they took was about 2 feet long. The bull snake has similar coloring to a rattlesnake and will shake its tail to mimic the sound of rattlesnake. We were proud of him for even recognizing that there was a snake on his bike.

K2 has moved to a big boy bed. We took the crib down. He loves to sleep in a bed. The draw back for me is that he can now get out of his bed at night and walk down the hall to our room. He almost always comes to my side of the bed and sleeps right next to me. He also is a very helpful little boy. He will take all the dishes from the table to the sink after a meal. He likes to pour fluids from one container to the next and back again. It makes quite the mess but he finds all sorts of things to pour.

I organized a meet and greet for the Bountiful Baskets site coordinators with Tanya and Sally, the organizers. The boys and I went to the park and enjoyed the afternoon. My first for the week was that I made caramel popcorn with the recipe I got from my Auntie Kathy. The first batch was enjoyed by neighbors after the HOA meeting. The second batch was enjoyed by Bountiful Baskets get-together-people and L4’s coworkers. I dropped it off at L4’s work as a surprise after the Baskets eeting. We ate enough to have our caramel popcorn fix for a little while.

BYU Homecoming

Happy Anniversary to Dad and Mom! They have been married for 41 years! What a great accomplishment! We wish them many more.

The weather has been cooling off. We had only one day over a 100 degrees this week. The other days have be dipping from mid-90s to high-80s. Last night cooled off to high-50s. It was awesome! Finally it feels a little fall-esque. Yesterday we bought 36 bags of manure to put into our garden so the soil can be enriched again to grow plants.

All of K2’s clothes have been changed because he is growing. For me it is always a sad day when my children become bigger. I hope that I have taught them the lessons they need to know. It is part of the life cycle but do I enjoy the stage of life they are in currently? I really hope so.

As for adventures, we went to the Children’s Museum and co-hosted a local BYU homecoming event. With the Joy School and a neighbor we went and explored the museum. It is the perfect age for Underfoot and K2.
The favorite exhibits were trains and the music room. Underfoot loved getting food in the shopping cart. With two boys going two different directions, the boys were dressed in bright colors so I could find them easily. It helped on a few occasions.

That afternoon we went shopping. I have started to learn about how to coupon shop. It is a whole new world. My favorite part was at the register- the initial total was $94.02 and then the coupons were added into the mix. The final cost $24.77. It was a 73% savings. I keep smiling.

BYU celebrated 50 years in acoustics research this year with the theme “Dare to Discover”, and we really wanted to be at the homecoming events that would highlight that part of the Physics Department for L4 this year. Instead of traveling to Provo, we brought homecoming to us with food, football, and even shirts.
H L and I brainstormed and planned a “banquet” for adults only, a Fun Run and Pancake breakfast, and a tailgate with the game!
L4 and I participated in each event and hope that others enjoyed the festivities as well.
We noticed that we referred a lot to our Penn State experience since that is where our relationship began.
We hope to create more memories for ourselves and our boys.

Pumpkins & Apples

K2 started talking more this week.
He says Lu-ca for Underfoot. He can also say up, down, yo-gurt, and a number of other words. K2 loves to climb up the plastic slide we have in our front room. He slides to the bottom, giggles uncontrollably, and the repeats the process.

On Monday Mama cleaned out three of our garden boxes. She harvested 8 pumpkins as well as a number of watermelons and gourds. After Family Home Evening we stopped at a friend’s house who gave L4 a roll-away toolbox. (L4 was very excited to finally have a full-sized toolbox.)

On Tuesday Mama and the boys were invited to go swimming. They all had a great time. That evening Underfoot participated in his first T-ball practice. It was fun to see him learn how to hit, throw, and catch a ball. On our way home from practice we acquired a used bicycle for Underfoot, training wheels and all. After a little bit of work, Underfoot now has a two-wheeled bike to ride.

Underfoot enjoyed Joy school on Tuesday and Thursday. On Thursday afternoon Mama picked up about 150 pounds of beef and about 80 pounds of pork. On her way home she picked me up from work. When we got home we scrambled to get all the meat packed into our freezer.

On Friday we went to the Temple in the morning. After ward, we went on an adventure. We visited Apple Annie’s- a u-pick orchard and vegetable garden. We also went to an organic apple orchard. Mama bought a 40 pound box of apples for 20 dollars. The apples were fresh and did not have a wax coating on them.

On Saturday we worked and watched General Conference. Mama finished staining the bench that we got from our neighbors who recently moved back East. She also finished painting the bathroom. L4 reorganized the Garage to make room for the new tool box.

Mama picked up a baby rattlesnake while weeding. It was purely by accident. It scarred her (and the snake) quite a bit. We won’t be weeding around that bush any time soon.

Last night while L4 was at Priesthood session Mama hosted a pot-luck dinner. She invited a number of women to come and bring their children to eat and visit. Underfoot had a lot of fun with all of his friends.

Super Busy Saturday

A sweet story from this week is from Underfoot. The boys were getting ready for bed and taking their bath. Underfoot and K2 were playing really well together. Underfoot looked up at me and said, “K2 is my best friend.” It touched my heart. They played and laughed together. They can get each other to laugh better than anyone else.

We went to Mount Lemmon on Tuesday night to check out Camp Zion.
In October our ward has the opportunity to use the camp ground. I wanted to see what the facilities are like. We went with Grandpa and Grandma Massey and had supper. The air was crisp and cool in comparison to the 100 degrees in our neighborhood. The sunset was beautiful, and it felt like fall for a few minutes. I miss the fall colors and change of seasons.
It was a late evening, but we enjoyed being together.

Joy School was at our house this week. Underfoot was THRILLED! He woke up on the morning of Joy School by himself with no encouragement. He opened the door and welcomed everyone. He really didn’t have a sense of time so he would ask if it was time for Joy School about every 5 minutes. We learned about taking care of the earth by not littering and caring for our natural resources. We also learned about gardens and made bread. We went through all the steps from grinding the grains to baking it in the oven. I was very nervous, but all went well. We look forward to having Joy School in our home again.

K2 has not slept super well this week. He is getting a molar and will stay up throughout the night. He is starting to laugh more and more. He likes to play cars, go down the slide, be outside, and wrestle with Underfoot. He also likes to throw things. He doesn’t yet understand about how he can hurt others that way. L4 went with the 11 year old scouts to an overnighter on Friday. They were participating in a council clean-up at the scout camp. Since so many fathers went up, he came home late on Friday night and slept in his own bed.

Saturday was SUPER busy. We were involved with our HOA yard sale by putting out and picking up the signs, a parent meeting for t-ball for Underfoot, and Bountiful Baskets distribution. We also went and looked at a 1914 Model T Roadster. In the evening was a community fair in a neighboring community and the Relief Society broadcast. L4 also got in the mail his Arduino system and put it together. He is very excited about it. We fell into bed exhausted.

Paint and Pie Party Changes

The big news this week is swimming. Underfoot and K2 finished their swim lessons. Underfoot had a great day and really enjoyed swimming on Wednesday. This is a big deal because he’s had some reservations about swimming recently. When Underfoot left the pool, he was all smiles and wondered when he could go swimming again. He swam the length of the backyard pool multiple times on his own initiative. K2 loves to swim. He always wants to be in the pool.

Underfoot signed up to play t-ball this fall. We will see how it goes.

On Friday we pressure washed the play structure in the sand box. It got a coat of paint on Saturday. On Friday morning L4 woke up with an idea for how to solve a problem at work and went in for a few hours to implement the idea. (Friday was his “off” Friday.) He was pleased to solve a problem and grateful for the divine inspiration to get it implemented.

On Friday we went to the Temple and left the boys with a sitter. It was nice to be out for a few hours. We stopped at Home Depot on our way back home and got the paint for the play structure.

On Saturday night we went to a local festival put on by the Catholic church that our neighbors attend. It was fun to be out. Underfoot really liked playing in the inflatable play structure.

Tonight we had our adopted grandparents over for supper. It was fun to watch K2 interact with his adopted grandma. He would laugh and laugh as she chased him and tickled him. K2’s serious demeanor is giving way to a playful streak.

We’ve been reading Louis L’Amour’s book Lonesome Gods. It is great to read his novels. The only problem is that they suck us in and we want to read them and disengage from the rest of the world. Children and engaging books don’t mix well.

For Joy School, this week a chicken went. When asked if anyone had a pet for Joy School, we responded that we had a few chickens. The chicken did very well along with the children. I am surprised that I did so well picking up the chicken and carrying her.

CHANGE IN DATE: The infamous pie party has been changed from Saturday, November 20th to Friday, November 19th. All are invited to attend. We will be starting around 5:30 pm and will play games after the party slows down a bit. We hope to see you there.

Labor Day

On Monday we labored. We started the day by moving our mailbox. I dug it up, then dug a new hole in a different part of the yard. By moving the mail box, Mama can now sit in the kitchen and watch Underfoot walk to the mail box. It also makes it easier to get the trailer in and out of the back yard. Hallelujah!! We also pulled and pulled weeds. We were sore the next day from so many weeds.

Underfoot has started to use his imagination a lot more. He gives each family member character names like Lighting McQueen, Sally, Mack, Buzz, Jesse, or Woody. They are all characters from different movies he’s seen. Mama remembers as a child playing make believe like this with the different StarWars characters. Her favorite to play was Princess Leia and her least favorite was Chewbacca.

Underfoot also slammed his finger in the car door. Mama didn’t know that a fingernail would bleed. Underfoot took it in stride and cried a little. He asked for a band-aid and moved on. He’s got pain receptors like a rock.


On Thursday Mama was working diligently to clean the kitchen floor. K2 needed a diaper change, so she took a break to change his diaper. She set the poopy diaper aside and went back to cleaning the floor. A few minutes later, K2 came into the kitchen with a dripping diaper. He had taken the loaded diaper, carried it to the toilet, and washed it out. Mama didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. She was grateful that K2 did not “experiment” with the contents of the diaper. K2 helping with the laundry.

On Friday we had some friends over for supper and to play Ticket to Ride. It was fun to make and eat homemade pizza. We were able to eat watermelon from our garden. It was delicious! Also on Friday Mama took me to a yard sale after work. We picked up a gas powered pressure washer and an electric fan for the scout for 40 bucks. I got the pressure washer running on Saturday. We will use it to prep the play structure in the sand box for painting. On Saturday we worked. Mama did Bountiful Baskets in the morning. I made up signs for the community Yard Sale that will occur in two weeks.

K2’s personality continues to blossom. He has taken to smiling a lot more, especially around people that he doesn’t know. He has discovered the joy of jumping on our little trampoline. He puts his arms in the air, jumps up and down, and then giggles and squeals in delight.

Funny Stories

This week we’ve had a couple funny things happen.

Today during church K2 was a little bit fussy. Mama was holding him tightly on her lap when the sacrament bread tray was passed to our pew. Underfoot was the first to get it. He passed it to Mama. As she passed it to me, K2 took a huge handful of bread and stuffed it all in his mouth. It happened so fast that we were all shocked. Mama laughed so hard she turned red and started to cry. Underfoot consoled her, saying, “Don’t cry mama.” I’ve rarely seen Mama turn red from embarrassment, but it happened today. The family in the pew behind us watched the whole episode. The mother (who has six grown children) leaned over and told Mama it may have been the first time, but it certainly wasn’t going to be the last.

This morning K2 decided that he wanted to empty one of the drawers in the kitchen. He did multiple times. He then wanted to turn on the stove. He started by moving Underfoot’ stool in position so he could get to the knobs. I took the stool away. K2 then found another, shorter stool. I took it away. He found a laundry basket. I took it away. He then got a box. I took it away too. How do you spell persistent? K-2.

Some friends from PA, came for a short visit this week. They were out west dropping children off at College and came to visit family in Tucson. They brought Mama a new supply of Amish treats- various spices and elixirs available only in Central Pennsylvania from a wonderful Mennonite store called Peight’s. My mother-in-law loves the place, as does Mama. We’re grateful they took the time to come visit us.

On Monday after I left for work, Mama awoke to the door bell. A neighbor who walks her dogs every morning let her know that we had a bee hive growing in the tree in our front yard. I looked t it when I got home that night and it was scary! A mass the size of a football with bees completely covering the outside. On Tuesday I called a bee hive remover. He said to wait 24 hours. On Wednesday it was still there so Mama called to have him remove it on Friday morning. When I left for work Friday morning, the hive was totally gone. All that was left were three bees. We’ve checked the rafters on our house and our trees and shed. There is no sign of the bees. We’re grateful they are gone because some bees here are “African” or “killer” bees. We don’t want to find out the hard way.