Ya...We grow our own!

Last spring Caleb's 2nd grade class took a field trip to Cotton Days in Washington. Caleb was so excited to show me his cotton seeds when he got home. Little pieces of lint is all it looked like to me. He of course went right outside to plant his treasures. After about a week I noticed they were actually growing plants! I mentioned to Mat that Caleb had planted his seeds in the front planter so they weren't mistaken for weeds. Mat said he had already realized that only after he had pulled all but one plant out. Well, who woulda thought that it would grow so well! The biggest drawback when the kids plant their seeds from school is that they don't really use the uniform way of planting that I prefer in my front planters. Needless to say this plant was just about to get pulled until last night...

Easton came running in saying "Caleb! You have COTTON!" Both boys rushed outside and came in with the first fruits of Caleb's crop. A handful of cotton!Seriously? This stuff really grows this well here? I suppose if we ever REALLY need to be self-sufficient we can grow our own cotton, spin it, weave it, and make our own clothing. How ambitious is that?!! SO glad I'm not a pioneer in so many ways! For now I'll stick to ordering our clothing with a click of the mouse and wait impatiently for my packages to arrive.

Top Ten Dumbest Purchases Ever!

I will fully admit that when it comes to my kids, money doesn't seem to be an object (whether we have it or not). Mat and I both decided long ago that we didn't want to have to limit the amount of activities our kids did based on finances. Basically we figured we would rather go without or work longer hours to be able to give them the opportunity to participate in sports, dance, music, whatever was within reason for a child to do. Somewhere along those lines, that type of thinking completely took over our attitudes toward our kids. Mat was joking last night that Bailey has a new pair of jeans for everyday and I have "A" pair for everyday. One little word but it explains so much. Then of course the guilt settled in and I thought about the addiction I have with buying my kids clothes. (After all I had just spent another $60 on an outfit for Peyton that day...WHO DOES THAT???) I would NEVER spend that on myself and thought I would never spend that on my kids either. Well, I became a parent and things changed. What I wish sometimes that I COULD change is all of the CRAZY things we've spent money on becoming adults (which we are still working our way on becoming). So here it is, as good as I can think of...Our top ten dumbest purchases ever!

10. A pair of True Religion jeans (along with many other dumb clothing purchases) for a 10 year old.
9. The ski boat we bought when Bailey was a baby. We took it out once in April and sold it that summer.
8. A big-screen TV for the upstairs family room. We don't actually have a TV in the downstairs family room so we thought this would be where we watched movies and spent time. WRONG! The only use it gets is by a bunch of 7-9 year olds playing the Wii on it.
7. Our house. Don't get me wrong I LOVE LOVE LOVE our house. It was nevertheless a dumb purchase. We owed 1/3 of what we owe on this house on our last one and the timing and everything when we built just wasn't the smartest. Disclaimer: Even though the home is worth FAR less than originally and we've put a TON of our own cash into it we still are not upside-down in it and we wouldn't trade it for anything!
6. Stamps. Rubber scrapbooking stamps, many of which have never been used. Although I've actually sold a bunch from my stash there are still those that remain collecting dust, while the ink dries out, on the slight chance they'll actually get used one day.
5. Pretty much all of Peyton's furniture and baby accessories. With the first 3 kids we didn't have much income as we did with Peyton. In fact with the first 3 it was crazy tight! We actually did need to purchase new items for Peyton since we had given away all of our previous baby things, we just didn't need to get as many or as fancy of items that we did.
4. Exercise equipment. This includes everything from the elliptical (I HAD to have) to the "as seen on TV" items that I was positive would be easier than going to the gym.
3. A gym membership. 'Nuff said.
2. Cars. This includes the SUV's that my ego thought it needed that were so NOT practical I really don't know what we were thinking. Yes, I now drive a minivan, my ego is no longer...It can't be when driving a minivan.
1. Seriously, I can't just narrow it down for the last one. We have made MANY dumb purchases and been very careless with the direction we've allowed our money to take (not all bad purchases were our fault but WE allowed the bad purchases to be made with OUR money). I think of the financial security we would have without that darn ego always working its way into our lives. I admit though, I'm HAPPY! We gave ourselves to the end of the year to pay of a credit card that we had allowed someone else usage of and it subsequently reached over $20,000, and it is looking VERY likely that we will meet our goal. We have been able to refinance our crazy house payment and lowered it by $450 a month! We have been able to KEEP our house while others sadly have not. :( We have been blessed in so MANY MANY ways that I can't dwell on the past and just hope to have gained insight for the future. :)

Once a year, whether we need it or not.

Since I was old enough to complete the hunter safety course and officially have my name submitted for "special" hunts my dad has dutifully done just that. When Mat married me I believe that this knowledge was what eventually cinched the deal for him at least. Well, a few years ago all of those "points" I had accumulated over the years paid off. Mat, finally got to "help" me hunt in a special unit for archery. Like I said though...archery. Which means that you have to hike quite a bit, scout quite a bit, and frankly I knew I wasn't going to be spending a lot of time at home that year during the hunt. Mat and I talked it over and we decided that if he was going to drag me up the mountain for weeks on end that a tent wouldn't quite cut it. We bought a camper that summer. At first it was used quite a bit. It was after all hunting season. My hunt was successful and all was well. The following year Mat drew out for the same tag. The following year my dad did. Each year the camper has come out of the dirt lot we park it in less and less.

Well, with Labor Day weekend upon us we decided it was finally time to charge the battery, fill the tanks, and take the family camping for the first time this year! Of course I assume it will be the last as well.
We still took the family up to Panguitch frankly because it's just become tradition now. We had the Green's join us and had a blast. I admit, I really do like to camp. I don't like to go out to the camper to load up and have it be a disaster that's sat there for a year or being the maid, cook, and babysitter while Mat hunts, but he promised me that wouldn't happen this time. Well, the camper was in fact in shambles so after I wiped up all of the spills that has sat for a year and washed all of the bedding we were on our way!

Mat ended up being very helpful and didn't spend all of his time hunting. Peyton was in heaven riding on the 4-wheelers and stealing snacks from the camper. The boys had a blast building huts with their cousins, fishing, and doing all the things boys do in the mountains. Bailey spent a good portion of her time perfecting hemp necklaces for a boy at school she likes. Haha!

One thing about camping is we ALWAYS eat well. Sure the utensils probably aren't near as sanitary as they are at home, and the food does get a bit of dirt in it here and there, but dutch oven potatoes, fruit, snacks, all of it, are just some of the best things in life.

I can never understand why the bunk in the camper is so exciting. There are miles and miles of trees, streams, 4-wheeling trails and such, and the camper is still one of the favorite places for the kids to hang out.

We finally allowed Bailey to drive dad's 4-wheeler by herself and she certainly loved it. It's never been an issue of not being old enough, she's just so darn tiny we've worried about her ability to control it. I think she's officially done driving the kid 50 around. Of course 3rd gear is all she's allowed to put it in still.

We all came back late Saturday night so we could make it to baby Ryder's blessing and the boys headed back up for an extra night while the girls have stayed home where there's showers, clean bedding, and not so many bugs. I suppose we'll be treating ourselves to pedicures tomorrow while the boys can clean out the camper for once!

48 Hours

Ever since Caleb was little Mat and I have teased him that he had "convenient" hearing. It seemed that whenever we wanted him to do something he couldn't hear us. We joked that he couldn't hear and such and then we'd say something we knew he'd want to hear and sure enough he could always hear if there were treats involved. Caleb's also had a constant runny nose every time the cold weather sets in. Chalk one up to bad parenting because Caleb really couldn't hear! His runny nose was really fluid build up behind his ears. Who knew? Needless to say we felt awful when we had him tested several times and each time his hearing failed.

Well, at least we could do something to fix the problem. :) Caleb went in on Friday for his first surgery! He had tubes put in his ears and his adenoids removed. When I talked with the surgical center the previous day I mentioned Caleb really wanted to attend his friend's birthday party the day of his surgery. They basically said that wouldn't be happening. They said he'd be down most of the day and he'd need the weekend to recover but could probably attend school on Monday. He was super excited about his surgery (crazy kid) but he was really bummed that he'd have to miss the party. We didn't want to break his heart so we told him we would see how he felt.The surgery only took about 30 minutes before they were calling us back into recovery. Caleb was wide awake and smiling. The first thing he asked was "Can I go to the party?" He really seemed fine but we told him we'd see how he felt in a few hours. We left the surgical center and gave him a bag of "get well" gifts. You know, pj's, a DVD, and cream soda thinking that he wouldn't be able to eat solid foods. Of course who knew that no one would ever know he even had surgery if they'd seen him that day! Caleb did not slow down all weekend. He went to his party after all and had 3 giant pieces of pizza! I filled his prescriptions and not once has he needed his pain medication! He's amazing!
Well, since Caleb seemed to be doing well, Mat called around Friday afternoon for a babysitter and his sweet Grandma Wilson said she'd love to take the kids overnight! So, once again great parenting and all, but we took off to Las Vegas for the night. We went to dinner and then hit the Stratosphere rides with Sandi and Gabe. Of course we didn't realize what wimps we had with us. Sandi barely went up the elevator to the top and would NOT go near the edge, much less on any rides. Gabe did go on the rides and it wasn't until we saw the pictures taken of us on the rides that we realized how scared he really was. Of course Mat and I were smiling so we'd look good in the pics but Gabe looked terrified! Oh how I wish that we'd have purchased that one!
Saturday morning we woke up early, grabbed some breakfast at the hotel, stopped and stocked up on health food from Trader Joe's and hurried home. We had a High Priests Social in Duck Creek so as fast as I could throw a salad together once we were home we loaded up the kids and headed to Cedar Mountain. We had a great time at the social and Bailey seems to have started a new tradition for herself by falling out of the swings on her face two years in a row. She's looking forward to next year! After the social we took the kids fishing. Peyton was a bit tired and so was I so while the kids caught grasshoppers to fish with and plenty of fish, Peyton and I took a much needed nap. Although they caught quite a few fish they were all rather small and a few swallowed the hooks so the kids got a lesson in cleaning their fish. All three of the older kids cleaned and gutted their fish themselves. Me...never in a million years!
We had such a fun weekend but I was a bit relieved when Sunday came and we were able to relax a bit. The kids made their traditional huts Sunday morning while Mat and I slept in. Mat made dinner and I made the traditional batch of chocolate cookies for Sunday. We are blessed beyond measure with our beautiful family and all of the fun things we get to do!

I'm worried...very worried...

Top Ten Reasons Why I'm Afraid We've Created a Monster

1. Peyton knows EXACTLY how to find the "I Want it All" music video from High School Musical on the itouch and plays it constantly.

2. If you ask Peyton if she's pretty she immediately puts her hand up to smooth her hair and smiles.

3. Peyton says hi to EVERYONE out and about and blows them a kiss.

4. Peyton thinks clothes are optional but shoes are ALWAYS a necessity! (Of course they have to be pretty.)

5. When we go shopping and Peyton likes something she says "OHHH MOM!!!" and of course she gets it.

6. Peyton has mastered "facials".

7. When we watch Bailey at cheer Peyton thinks she needs to run on the mat and perform herself.

8. If Peyton's hands or anything else are even a bit sticky or dirty they MUST be cleaned right away. If her binky (yes she's decided she needs them again) touches anything other than her mouth it needs to be rinsed immediately. (Her rules not mine. By age two I'm not quite so concerned about germs anymore.)

9. Peyton does not like ANYONE but Bailey to get her out of her crib in the morning. This has been a challenge with Bailey leaving to school three hours before Peyton gets up.

10. We love Peyton so much she can basically get away with anything and we just smile and think she's adorable. She knows she is and we love it and her!!!

Are you kidding me?

Living in Southern Utah I'm used to the fact that our school district always begins the year earlier than most. This year however, I feel has just really come to fast! I can't believe the boys are in 2nd and 3rd grade!
Caleb has Mrs. Paulson this year and has a ton of friends in his class.

Easton has Mrs. Brey this year and we love her! While Easton doesn't have as many friends in his class he does have his best buddy from the neighborhood so we are thrilled for him!

Bailey...I'm having a bit of a freak out about this morning! I took her to her new school yesterday and we walked her through her class schedule and the whole bit but I am having a really rough morning wondering if she's okay. I swear she grew up overnight and very much looked like a teenager as she left the house this morning. She is so very nervous and excited to start at the intermediate school. I can't believe she's no longer in elementary! I have kept the tears in check so far and as long as I don't think about today I should be fine. Although I still have my little Peyton our house just seems too quiet. :(

Why we LOVE weekends...

For some reason unbeknown st to me Mat has been crazy busy every summer since he went out on his own. I used to dread the holidays because that meant the parade of homes was just around the corner and there were always several homes he was working on for it. Now, however, the summer seems to be his busy time. Having work is great and we are blessed. With that said, we LOVE weekends because Mat is home! Even though the only Saturdays that he has taken completely off this summer were for the weddings we still have a blast when he is home. We love barbecuing and hanging out with friends and family so a couple of weekends ago we headed up to Pine Valley to escape the heat. Lucky for us "Uncle Jeff" said we could use his family's cabin because the campgrounds were sure to be full. We had the Gardners, the Despains, and the Greens join us and enjoyed a gorgeous evening! "Uncle Jeff" put the kids to working hoeing weeds in the garden, Easton caught 2 snakes, and we enjoyed YUMMY beef brisket cooked by Mat. ;) Even if we end up sticking around the house and doing yard work everything just feels complete when we are all together. Love those Holt's.