Knowledge is Power!!

Whoever said that ignorance is bliss is full of it. There's never been a time in my life when I wasn't glad to know something or sorry I didn't know more. You'd think that being into my thirties meant that I've learned most everything there is to know but I've been shocked this summer to learn so many new things that really, I should've known by now.

For instance, on Monday (9.14.09) I learned to bottle. For the first time ever, I will serve my family things from a jar that did not originate from a factory. My good friend Katie came and spent the day teaching all the tips and tricks to successful canning and Voila!! Every jar sealed on my salsa and spaghetti sauce.

This summer I learned to drive a tractor. Mostly because Matt was moving pipe and when I got there to help, the tractor was in low gear, rolling through the field with Cody in the drivers seat. I jumped in and learned how to shift, turn, brake, and stop, all by Matt yelling at me through the back window.

I learned that one must be careful when running a nail gun. A little pressure goes a long way. (And can shoot a lot of nails in a very short time.)

I wanted a brick pathway to the little garden shed we put in last year so I went to the library and got a book on brick laying. I also found an old pile of bricks that I got permission to haul off. With a little help from Matthew and many hours on my knees, I have this cute, little path.

Chickens!! Oh my, if this had been all I learned about, it would be enough. These little ladies are just looking for ways to die. Luckily, we've only lost two and have hopefully learned how to maintain the correct food and water to keep them happy, healthy, and laying eggs.

And last, (of the things I can think of right now anyway) is how not to pull a swather out of the ditch. Matt was cutting hay when he got stuck in a very slimy, muddy ditch. He had me run and get the truck, hook onto the back of the swather and as he was backing up, I was to drive the truck forward. I did just what he said, (in addition to all the knowledge I gained from watching truck pulls on TV), and nearly blew up the engine in the truck. Round two: Now I'm in the swather and he's in the truck pulling. After several hard yanks and a near whip lash, the swather is moving backward, toward the truck, and I'm in the drivers seat, with absolutely no idea where the brake is. I got stopped by accidentally dropping the cutting blade and sliding to a halt, as Matthew is trying to yell that the brake on a swather is controlled with your hand, not your foot. Who knew??

See, knowledge is power and after this summer, I'm feeling like I should've taken a few more FFA courses in school. At least now I can laugh at how much I didn't know. (And still don't.)

A Peachy Weekend

This weekend we went to Ferron for Peach Days.

Matt's grandpa Clyde got to be the Grand Marshall for the Peach Day parade. It was a great parade with lots of candy for the kids.
Matt took me to the Grub Box for lunch on Saturday. It was so fun to eat the greasy food I remember loving as a kid. My all time favorite is the English Chips.

We all went to the desert to shoot guns. Matt took turns with each of the three kids, teaching them how to aim and shoot at a target.

The weekend went pretty fast, like these kinds of things always do, but it was fun to be able to spend time with Matt's family, and remember so many things about the little town I grew up in.

Back to School- Back in Time

Last night was Back to School night at the Middle School for Jaycee. Brit had gymnastics so she came with us. We started out with a small assembly in the cutest antique auditorium, complete with fold out wooden seats and brass vents in the floor. Then we went to each of Jaycee's classes to meet the teachers. Each classroom has dry erase boards that were inserted into the old framed black boards. There was crown molding almost everywhere and the old radiator heaters are still sitting around the hallways.
You see, this beautiful old building was built around 1937 and used to be Montpelier High School. My mom went to high school here in the late 60's just as Bear Lake County combined the two high school's in the valley. Last year we had a vote to either tear it down or renovate it. For reasons that are both good and bad, the county decided to fiexit up some and let the kids use it for at least another ten years.
How fun that my kids get to go to the same school as their grandma. And that even though this building could actually be turned into a museum, it's still an excellent place for learning.

Brit's To Do List

Britnee's usually the first one up at our house. She'll get something to eat and then quietly entertain herself until someone else is awake. Saturday morning when I got out to the kitchen to make breakfast, Britnee came and told me that her day was all planned out. She then pulled out her piece of paper and showed me all the most important things in her life that day.

In case you can't see it very well, this is her list:

0. help mom with dishes. (That wasn't on the original list, she added it so she could check it off first thing.)

1. call Gabe

2. play the games

3. play some ball

4. macke something for Kaylee

5. ride to rope swing on bikes

6. look at watch (her birthday present for Thursday.)

7. ask mom if I can try it on

8. count and name stuffed animals

9. pick out dress for Sunday

10. make bed

11. brush your teeth

12. get in bath

13. macke something for Katelyn

Oh that my To Do lists were that simple :)

The Perfect Picture?

Once a year! That's all I ask. Okay, maybe twice if you count a family picture. But I love having updated pictures of the kids and I want those pictures perfect. I know, a little quirky, but that's how I am. We woke up Monday morning and the clouds were spotty in the morning sky, so I told the kids to get ready as fast as they could and called our neighbor to ask if I could use her old log cabin for the backdrop.

We ran up and used the few seconds that the sun was shining to get in position and then as soon as the clouds blew over, I'd yell smile and start taking pictures. The first half hour was pretty much a disaster and then it got worse. I made everyone stop and do the hokey pokey to get our smilers working again after my many statements of "If you don't smile beautiful, I'm gonna smack you" didn't work.
Across the road I found this old fence and had the kids sit on it for the one perfect "framer" picture for my wall. This was almost two hours later and the effects of the hokey pokey were long gone. I kept telling them that I was going to stand here all day if I had to to get my picture. But really I couldn't because the clouds were quickly rolling out.
Finally I felt like the pictures I took could maybe work. At that point Cody sat on the fence and refused to move until he could get the "perfect picture" of him pushing the girls off the fence. One more round of family harmony and Cody was satisfied with this picture.
It really wasn't all that bad looking back on it, but there actually were times when Jaycee and I just stood and laughed at how much Cody hates to sit still and have his picture taken.
I am pretty pleased with how a few of the pictures turned out. If I could just take a deep breath and have a little more patience, I'm sure that we could get these things done in a fraction of the time. But, in the meantime, I don't think I'll be doing this professionally any time soon.

The STAR wore Sketchers

Today was the first day of school for us. Cody's in first grade this year. Because his teacher is in our ward she asked if Cody wanted to be the STAR on the first day of school. He got to make a poster telling all about himself, be the teachers helper and most importantly, the line leader. We worked on his poster yesterday morning and last night he was so excited that he couldn't wait.

I went in to wake him up this morning and found that my star had worn his new school shoes and shorts to bed, "Ya know mom, so I was ready faster."
Anyway, my little munchkins went off to school bright and early and had a great day.

Summer is wonderful, I will miss it terribly, but having all three kids in school all day is a little exciting to me.

My Little Girl is growing up

My Jaycee turned twelve today. It's funny how fast time flies. I have been so blessed to have this daughter of mine and I can see time going so quickly.

Just last week she was four and had the cutest smile in the world.

And then she lost her first tooth on her sixth birthday. She also got glasses that year which just added to her character.

I could really start to see the little girl leaving and some independence show up at nine. She got contacts and started having quite an opinion on clothes and hairstyles.
And now we're onto middle school, braces, make up, mood swings and (ugh!) boys. Yet I love her more every day. Happy Birthday my beautiful girl!!