Going North

Mama prepared for our summer trip on Monday and Tuesday. Packing, cleaning, sorting, and preparing are full-time tasks. Tuesday evening was the boys last swim meet. They both have improved over the season and love to swim.

Underfoot won a race. He was so excited. Emma A., the boys' babysitter, came to the swim meet to help time and watch boys. She and her family will move this week to Texas.

On Wednesday Mama took the boys north. They started their trip with their last swim team practice for the summer.

Underfoot lost a tooth that morning.

They made it to Las Vegas in record time and stayed at the R. home. The R. family used to live 3 doors down from us. Now they live in Las Vegas. 

Underfoot and Miss Sweetness

Hurricane was reunited with his best friend and partner in crime, K-man. (Together they are known as the K-Men!) 

The K-Men

I'm not sure what all exciting things they did in the few hours they had together, but some of their past exploits include bombing the chickens with their own eggs, throwing just about every imaginable item over the block wall fence, and causing mischief and mayhem. The next morning they went to Red Rock Canyon and earned their Junior Explorer Badge.

Miss C. bought some fun road games and presents. The ball maze has become the popular toy.

Their next stop was in Salt Lake City, where they visited Mama's Grandpa Hoggan. 

The boys fed the ducks, turtle, and catfish at Grandpa's pond.

After saying their goodbyes, they went to Deseret Industries (like Goodwill) and shopped.

Lunch was at The Pantry at Temple Square, and on to Idaho.

We also went to see the Christus.

Mama commented that her whole body relaxed once she came within 30 miles of Pocatello. For her, there is something magical about returning to the land of her birth. She and the boys went to the Kirkham Cabin for a few days of fun in the woods. 

Underfoot reported that they went hiking, slept on the couch, and had a great time. Mama's brother taught Underfoot and Hurricane how to shoot a .22. They loved it. Perhaps we will take up a new hobby. 

This is the other brother.....

On a side note, I learned today that one of the men in our congregation was a shooting instructor for the military. I am hoping he can teach all of us how to shoot!

I've been holding down the fort here in Tucson. I have been working like crazy to save some of my vacation time. On Friday morning I helped my friend assemble an above ground pool. It was his second attempt. The first attempted ended in dismal failure when a gust of wind blew over the whole thing before he got the water in it. So, this time around he asked me to help him. I stayed for about two hours. He was able to get water in it before the wind started to blow. It was fun to help him. He is not one to ever ask for help!

There was a small 5.2 earthquake on Saturday night in Tucson.
 
At work I am learning about a whole new kind of math called statistics. Mama calls it sadistics. I thought I knew something about the subject, but the more I am exposed to it, the more I realize I don't know much at all. It is fascinating to me.

Saturday night I harvested 27 pounds of grapes from two of our vines. I got them inside and started inspecting them and realized that most of them were still a little tart. (I had harvested them about a week too early!) so I kept the most ripe grapes and fed the rest to the ladies. When I came out to check on them this morning, they didn't come running to me like they normally do. Instead, they just casually looked at me, like someone who had just finished Thanksgiving dinner. I guess when they are well fed they don't seem to be bothered to eat more or sick to their stomachs!

I visited a couple in our congregation on Sunday morning. I learned that the wife makes cakes for weddings, birthdays, and just about any other event. She had made a huge cake earlier and had all the left over cake tops. (The part of the cake that you cut off to make the cake level.) I told her that I would see some teen-aged boys later in the day who would love to eat the leftover cake. It was delicious! There was so much of it that I will take it in to work on Monday.

Lately I have been thinking about gratitude. There are so many reasons to be grateful in my life. I have a healthy family. I have the means to provide for them. I have hands that can work and a mind that can learn. I could not ask for a better life. The best decision I have ever made was the decision to marry Mama. All good things stem from her.

A brief recap of the week before:

- The boys finished soccer camp. Hurricane liked it very much. Underfoot felt more confident and liked it better near the end.

- We went to Mesa Temple to attend the temple with Alex A. Alex was in the priest's quorum (young men's group ages 16-18) that I am an advisor. Alex will be going on an LDS mission to Madagascar starting in July.

- Auntie Y, my sister, and her children came to visit Auntie M, my other sister. We went to Canyon Lake with them Friday evening. I always enjoy being around my siblings. The boys enjoyed playing with their cousins.

- The boys attended one away swim meet and both got to swim in a relay. Hurricane swam the relay with a goggle full of water. He wants to swim relays all the time.

Be well.

Plants and The Circus

In the news...

Hurricane continues to amaze us with his swimming prowess. At his most recent swim meet, he decided to wear a bracelet with plastic charms on his wrist. It came off at some point during the race and he spent the rest of the race clutching it in his fist. He smiled and finished, happy to be able to compete.

Underfoot participated in Junior Ranger Camp for the second time. Last year he really enjoyed it, so we enrolled him in it again this year.

Teaching about Teddy Bear and Chain Cactus

Another boy from his class (both school and church) also participated, so the two moms worked out a carpool arrangement.  Underfoot brought home an owl pellet with bird bones and bird skulls.

Underfoot and Ranger Emily

He was very proud of his discoveries. Mom was not excited to see the owl pellet pinned to his bedroom wall.

Mama has been a good sport about scurrying around, taking care of her boys, (young and old) and keeping our household running. She is preparing for our annual summer trek north, which includes shopping, packing, and cooking.

She has a meal calendar worked out for the next three weeks. She continues with her physical therapy on her ankle and shoulder. We look forward to the day when she can go back to exercising without any restrictions.

I continue to be super busy with work. Busy is good. I am involved in challenging but rewarding work. I love to see the fruits of my efforts.

I recently was able to change the way something was done which reduced a particular set of tasks from 23 seconds down to about 9 seconds. This kind of execution time reduction is huge when multiplied over may thousands (if not millions) of times over.

Mama spent time teaching  Underfoot how to sew. They both made wallets out of canvas.

Mama helped him learn how to do the stitching with her machine. I am glad she was able to teach them. That is one skill that I wish I'd learned.

On Wednesday I attended the Eagle Scout Board of Review for one of the young men in our troop. I was able to observe his final interview. He did great. It was good for me to remember what the boys must go through to qualify for the rank of Eagle Scout.

On Friday we took the boys to the Circus. We enjoyed 12 dollar popcorn and watching lions, tigers, and elephants.

They also had a steel sphere where they put 7 motorcycle riders inside. It was amazing to see them spin around. The high wire trapeze was breathtaking.

The boys both had a great time. After the show, we grabbed some lunch at a local sandwich shop called Eegees. I went back to work, Mama took the boys shopping. Later that night we went to the boys' soccer practice. After soccer practice we attended an open house farewell for a family in our congregation that is moving to Texas. We are sad to see them go. Their 16 year old daughter has been our go-to babysitter for the last couple years.

On Saturday we took six young men from our congregation to a nearby lake for a day of canoeing. We got to the lake at 7:30 in the morning and got home about 3. I was able to take the International Scout and had two 12 foot long canoes on top.

 Everyone had a great time, including  Underfoot and Hurricane, who played in the water and rode in the canoes. They both experienced what happens when the canoe tips over...

Hurricane wanted to jump out and swim to help his brother. Mama and I didn't see the exchange, but we heard about it from the young men.

In other news... Today we harvested our first fruits from the aquaponics system. We ate one small strawberry (which was surprisingly full of flavor) and 6 bell peppers.

The strawberry is a surprise because daytime highs are between 100 and 110, which is typically too hot for strawberries.

 We have about 10 tomatoes on the massive plants and the first one is beginning to turn red. The watermelon plant is growing nicely and the bell peppers have additional peppers in the works. The four tomato plants have grown so much that they are covering nearly the entire two grow beds.

We also harvested grapes from our grape vines this week. Next year I will have to pay more attention to how the grapes grow when they are little. If I take time before the grapes get big, I can route how they will hang and I can cover them in paper sacks.

The paper hides the bunches from the birds, so the grapes don't get devoured by them.  We let our chickens out a couple days this past week and they completely cleaned the one bunch from one of our newer vines. This year I didn't take the time to check where the grapes were growing, and some of the bunches grew in places where the grapes were difficult to harvest. The grapes would get inter-twined with the metal wire which supports the vine, causing some of the grapes to get lost when harvested.

Last week's new.....

The boys picked all the apples, and we juiced them.

The juice is currently sitting in the freezer.

We also had other activities like swimming, soccer, reading, and learning to sew.

First Week of Summer

Summer began with a party! Our neighbors, the Ryan Family, decided to move. (In reality the military decided they should move to a different desert in the United States.) We had a BBQ on Memorial Day and invited the friends that they associated with to come and welcome them to a new adventure. Cyndy, the CEO of the Ryan family, decided she didn't want to say goodbye but have a welcome to a new adventure.

Hurricane celebrated his birthday in a grand way. Since his birthday party last year, he has talked every single day about the birthday party this year. Sweetheart and I determined that birthday parties would be held every 4 years. This did not deter Hurricane in the least. He talked about his cake and the friends that would bring presents. There was no birthday party. Hurricane brought otter pops to swim team and shared with about 60 children as his birthday treat. He came home and did his jobs. As a surprise to Hurricane, Underfoot and I decided to take him bowling with our neighbors.

It was his "party." They all had fun.

We went and bought his birthday present old appliances to take apart and maybe put back together we came home to turn around for soccer camp. We came home to make a birthday cake and FaceTime with Kirky and Jilli.

He had a very full birthday.

Underfoot started summer piano lessons, and Hurricane got a clean bill of health from the doctor. The boys have chosen to participate in summer country learning class and learned this week about Nigeria. They participated in their first swim meet.

When each of them finished their first race they asked if they won first? They didn't but did the race.

They now have a point to move forward. We were surprised by our neighbors when showed up to support Underfoot and Hurricane.

Usually when there is something I can't control, I will cut my hair off. Over the past 6 months, 2 of my support system have moved with their families for new adventures. I decided to pull out the carpet in our bedroom instead of cutting my hair.

We have the goal to replace the carpet. My neighbor and I pulled the carpet out after Sweetheart left for the evening.

When they helped, they sang the song, "Team Work."

Our generous neighbors let me put our carpet and pad remnants in their garbage cans. Sweetheart has really struggled with allergies, and he has slept better since the carpet has come out.

Our friends moved on Friday. We had the great opportunity to have their children here while the truck moved their things. Saturday we went to the temple and saw Uncle Matt and Aunt Merris. The boys also did their soccer camp.

The week was very busy and full.

Be well.

Fred is an Organ Donor

We have a lot of news to share, and when there is a lot, we use bullet points for brevity.

Fred

• Fred is our 1992 Geo Prizm with Toyota design. Fred has been Sweetheart's commuting car for 3 years. In February Sweetheart decided to let the local high school auto shop fix a head gasket oil leak and to bleed the brakes. After multiple weeks and phone calls, Fred returned home for about 12 hours at the beginning of April. Fred came back without the oil leak fixed, the brakes questionable,  some of bolts on the engine block missing, a different battery than the original, and he sounded like a 747 airplane when on the road. That weekend we bought Finn, a 2001 Toyota Prius. All our cars have names.
  
• After returning Fred to the school, we heard nothing. I finally called the principal who lit a fire under the teachers to finish the car since school was ending. The teachers "fixed" Fred.
• I picked Fred up on May 16. Cyndy, my neighbor, brought me and followed me home. The teacher met me, and we exchanged our frustrations in a civilized manner. He told me that Fred was not fixed, but the brakes did work and the engine sounded like a speedboat. I drove Fred home - almost. He did sound too well. He ran out of gas 1.5 miles from home. We filled the tank up and then couldn't turn the key over. Finally the key turned over and Fred came home.
  
• We needed to make a decision since the fix was to unhook the alternator and connect the car directly to the battery. And really who drives a Prizm that sounds like a speedboat? We couldn't sell Fred with a good conscious as a fixer-upper car. We needed to decide if we should donate or sell him for scrap. Fred was sold to a scrapyard the next day.

Underfoot

• Underfoot caught a bug on the day of the parent picnic for school. He wanted to go only for the picnic and come home. Sweet boy wanted the party at home and school. He went back to school the next day.
• He read the most books for the accelerated reading program at school. He was awarded a movie in the library.
• He finished piano for the semester and will take summer piano lessons. He has learned a lot and enjoys playing but not practicing.
• He created with Hurricane a zoo for Mother's Day. It was a very sweet village with lot of animals, roads, and buildings. Their babysitter gave them the idea and got them started. They finished it over the next few days.
  
  
• He participated in field day at school. The fire department came and sprayed down all the children with the truck.
  
  
  He thought it was awesome and wanted the truck to spray down all the teachers and parents too.
  
  He brought extra clothes to change into as he got soaked to the bone.
• His last day of school he invited Hurricane to spend the day with him.
  
  He was excited to finish the 1st grade but not sure he wanted to leave his teacher. She has been spectacular for him.
  
  He has grown by leaps and bounds and is confident in his learning.
• We hosted a summer kick off night with ice cream. His teacher and some classmates came over for ice cream and watermelon. He played and played and played.
• Once a year, the boys get a clean up haircut by a professional.(Mama normally cuts their hair.)
  

  

  Before

  He got his hair cut short.

  

  After

  Not quite buzzed like Uncle Eric did to his boys in the summer.

Hurricane

• We hosted the last week of Joy School.
  
  Hurricane was thrilled to have his friends at our home as we learned about how important each one of them is in their family. He was a very good teacher helper every day and wanted to make sure there were plenty of treats.
  
  He and his classmates learned songs and played well together.
• Joy School Graduation was also on the last day of Joy School.
  
  The children sang their songs and thanked their Moms.
  
  After graduation, Hurricane finally decided that it was okay to be a kindergartener. He tells anyone that will hold still long enough to listen that he will be in kindergarten.
• Hurricane grew rather attached to Fred. Fred is the first car Hurricane attempted to drive as Hurricane took Fred out of gear, released the e-brake, and drove the car backwards down a hill. When we said Fred was going away, Hurricane melted down completely into uncontrollable crying. He wanted a picture with Fred.
  
  He called his Grandpa Kirky to tell him. Grandma Jilli talked Hurricane through having Fred go away. Hurricane said he wanted to take Fred all apart. Jilli and Hurricane decided that Hurricane needs his OWN tool box and to take apart things in a taped off square at the house. He is not allowed to take apart other things in the house without permission. He is also to put them back together. This consoled Hurricane with the promise that one day he could take apart a real car at Jilli's house.
• Hurricane was telling his friend, Noah, about Fred leaving and going to be a parts car at the scrapyard. Noah said, "So Fred is now an organ donor?" We thought that would be a clever advertizing for a u-pull-it junk yard.
• Hurricane also participated in field day.
  
• Hurricane got his haircut as well.

  

  Before

  He did want a shaved bald haircut.

  

  After

  I opted for crazy hair.
• Hurricane's friend, Mr. K-man, is moving in 6 days.
  
  Hurricane wants to play with Mr. K-man as much as he can and asks over and over again. They get to play quite a bit, and Mr. K-man came on our marathon day of errands. Hurricane talks about how we will visit them later this year.

Sweetheart

• Allergies have attacked Sweetheart something horrible. He itches after feeding the fish in the morning. That job takes 3 minutes. We have discussed pulling out our carpet and tiling/carpeting/staining the concrete. We think we have a plan and will pullout some carpet to test the theory. Any opinions of bedrooms without carpet for resale purposes? WE AREN'T MOVING. But we might one day and don't want to make a really expensive mistake.
• Work has been a highlight. He likes to go. He even gets up at 3:30 am and goes. That is partly because of allergies and he can't sleep.
• We had a game night at our home with the youth that Sweetheart mentors. They played games, laughed, ate, and stayed late. Our sons love game night because they get to watch movies. Sweetheart likes game night because he can play games I won't usually play.

Mama

• Physical therapy continues to be a constant in my life. I graduated from the spine and neck treatment and will be moving on to hip, knee, and ankle next. I continue to see someone for my tailbone that was readjusted from the bike fall I had last fall. I've done quite a number on the muscles in my body. As active as I was last summer, I'm not going to be this summer. It is frustrating, but I can recover and return.
• My funny with the physical therapist was that he asked if I had seen any swelling because of my injuries. I replied, "If you count the fat I've put on then yes there is additional swelling." He wasn't sure if he should laugh, but he did eventually.
• I continue to make monster pants. Mr. K-man wanted a few pair before he left. Hurricane is a great walking advertisement. He loves his monster pants.
• We have filled our 7 weeks of summer with lots of plans.

So that is our not so brief update. We hope you are each well and happy.

Be well.

Bump in the Night

Mama hasn't been feeling well today, so I will endeavor to write a few words.

This week has been busy with trying to get healthy, trying to keep ahead of household chores, and trying to get ready for summer. We've struggled for a long time (a whole month) being sick but had a break this week and were healthy. Hurricane started swim team with Underfoot. Underfoot has been a very good listener and is very obedient. He is a happy boy.

Hurricane finished his music class. He had a lot of fun at the celebration.

Hurricane and Mama hosted Joy School for 3 days this week. Also Mama finished the quilt for Underfoot's teacher to give to her on Friday for teacher appreciation week.

Underfoot promised it to the teacher on Friday.

The quilt was given to the teacher, but then returned home for the binding completion.

 Friday evening we attended the school community fair.

Sometime after midnight on Saturday morning, Hurricane came into our room, complaining about something. He came to my side of the bed. I could immediately smell that something was horribly wrong. When I got to my senses, I could see that he was covered, from head to toe, in vomit. I immediately got out of bed to investigate. I asked him if he had vomited. He said no. I couldn't believe it. I stumbled into his room, flicked on the light, and saw Underfoot, in a nasty puddle of vomit. The smell was incredibly powerful. In a dazed stupor, I got both boys into the shower. Whey they cleaned up, I got the bedding into the washing machine and went to work on the floor. Somehow Underfoot had vomited on Hurricane, and Hurricane had rolled around in it until he finally woke up. By some miracle he didn't join in the fun.

I had a really hard time going back to bed. Sometime around 4 I finally fell asleep. My Saturday morning chores were especially difficult. I got through most of them and took a nap. I convinced Underfoot to lie down next to me, but Hurricane had too much energy. Instead of falling asleep too, Hurricane decided to build a mountain of his stuffed animals by my head. He then got a blanket and covered Underfoot and me up. Lastly, he began 'reading' the story of the monkeys jumping on the bed. I drifted off to sleep thinking how kind my 4 year old was, to take care of me. It was a sweet experience.

The boys created a zoo for Mama on Mother's Day. The evening before we went on a date and the babysitter started making them animals. They decided to make a whole town. They continue to make animals and would like to turn the whole house into a zoo.

 

In other news, my aquaponics system has finally started growing things. Well, the plants are growing. I don't have any fruit yet. The water temperature is up to a steady 70 degrees. The fish are eating a lot more than earlier in the year, and I was able to get rid of a bunch of algae that was clogging up the system. I am grateful that Mama has been tolerant of my 'experiment'. I enjoy seeing the fish race to the food when I feed them in the morning and in the evening.

We have lots of fruit on our trees... pomegranates,  lemons, oranges, tangerines, apples. I haven't seen any cherries yet, but the trees are still young. Hopefully next year we'll see some buds.

Be well.

Sick

Sick. That is the one word that describes our past two weeks. Three weeks ago Underfoot brought home a virus. Precautions were taken by quarantining Underfoot. Sweetheart helped me out one day and drank from the same cup as Underfoot. He then proceeded to get sick for 9 days. He missed work for 4 1/2 of those days. Hurricane started after Sweetheart.

Moms aren't allowed to get sick. So we plugged along. Sweetheart started to get better. He went back to work. We were all back to normal until Thursday. I guess Moms get sick last is a better saying. I felt like my throat was on fire and have been coughing and blowing snot ever since. Lovely image uh?

Hurricane and Underfoot have resumed their normal lives. Hurricane's trains came back from the attic, and he has built track after track after track. Underfoot has gone to school and been very diligent in getting his homework done so he can go to swim practice.

The boys got the best surprise in the mail. Auntie Katie made them monster towels for swim practice.

 Now we have one towel to use instead of making 10 towels dirty for the week. The towels are darling!

My Dad's birthday was this last week. Hurricane found out about it and insisted we make a chocolate cake. We did. Three layered chocolate cake with orange buttercream and chocolate ganche icing.

 Hurricane wondered when my Dad would show up. (My parents are on a mission for another 2 years.)