Hard Work

James tried an experiment with the boys on Monday of this week.  Here is how it was to work:  mom and dad were to try not to ask the boys to do anything (within reason) and that the boys were supposed to try to watch for things that needed to be done and just do it without being asked.  It started out nicely with the boys trying to watch for things to do and just do them.  By lunch things deteriorated a little but were still ok.  Then, dinner hit and dinner cleanup was a nightmare.  It took an entire hour for dinner to get cleaned up.  So, for family home evening we discussed the experiment.  James asked if they preferred being asked to do this and that all day or if they liked just trying to do it on their own.  They, of course, preferred not being asked over and over to do things.  Fortunately, we liked it better, too.  I mean really, what parent likes to ask their kids to clean up this and clean up that all day long.

But then we had to discuss how things didn't really get done well all day long without mom and dad asking them to do things.  But we talked about how this would take practice and hard work.  In particular we discussed how they had wasted so much time during dinner cleanup because they didn't just work hard and get it done.  In the end because they had taken so long we ran out of time before bedtime to get a family home evening treat.  So, they went to bed without one.  Now this is not such a big deal to you or me, but this was devastating to them.  Family home evening treat is something they look forward to all day long.

So, Tuesday was a new day and we started over.  It is really hard for me not to ask them to do things that I see need to be done, but I did pretty good.  During breakfast cleanup someone actually took the garbage out.  I even heard that person ask someone else to put a new bag in.  Impressive!  Lunch and school cleanup went well, but they were motivated by a trip to the pool with their friends.  I did have to tell them what needed to be done before they could go, so it wasn't a true test.  But after dinner it only took them 15 minutes to clean up (and it was a bigger cleanup than on Monday).  This was obviously a marked improvement over the 60 minute cleanup the night before.  They then asked me if they could watch something on Netflix and because they had time (because they worked hard) I said yes.

So, have they mastered hard work, not yet, but they are seeing the effects of hard work, watching for things that need to be done, and enjoying not being asked to do the basic things they are expected to do every day.  It is a win-win for all and will hopefully continue to improve with time.

Back to School

By the end of summer we are always ready to start school again and that time has come.  When I told the boys last week that we would be starting school soon they were super excited.  This is always a good sign.  I was a little concerned about doing school with a baby, so I spent all of last week prepping, and it paid off.  We are two days in and everything is going great!  Having all of my materials prepped ahead of time is a must now and it sure relieves stress when trying to take care of a baby and run school.

In June we decided to 'redo' our school room.  When we say redo we mean that we moved it out of the small room downstairs and into the family room (the big room).  It is perfect!  We have tons of storage, great bookshelves, a round table to work at and plenty of comfortable seating.  The boys like checklists, so I created new checklists for every day.  These were even more exciting this year because they could see what new things we were going to study, like Latin cognates.  It is amazing how easily wowed these guys are.  Another fun thing we are doing is memorizing scriptures-this may involve candy, and who can complain about that!

We learned which activities are best to do while Hyrum is eating (like Mommy reading time), so we always save them for that time-that was definitely an answer to prayer.  Lucky for us Hyrum usually sleeps through most of school.  I know this won't always be the case, but I will take it for now.

It is nice to be back into a routine and feel more normal-normal being defined as not pregnant.  I had my follow-up appointment today and everything looks good, so not only do I feel great but my doctor says I am good to go.  This is good because that is how I have been acting.  :)  So, we are back to normal (well a new normal) and enjoying life and school!

(I will add some pics tomorrow of our new school room and the boys hard at work.)

Hot Summer Days with our "New" Family

After enjoying a nice mild winter we are continuing to enjoy abnormally warm weather, though, now it is not as pleasurable.  Fortunately, the older boys have been able to enjoy camps to get them through.  They started with Cub Scout Day Camp (fortunately it wasn't quite as warm this week), basketball camp and next week they have Lego Robotics camp.  The last one is new to us and I am curious to see how it goes.  If it is amazing I promise to share.  While the older boys have been away Jacob has been at home trying to entertain himself.  Last week we had a couple of play dates to get him through.  Thank goodness for play dates!  

I must admit that I have missed the older boys just as much as Jacob . . . maybe more.  I found that on some days breakfast didn't get completely cleaned up until lunch time.  On Saturday after being gone all week, Michael just cleaned up breakfast without being asked.  It was great having him back!   And  I like seeing him, too.  :)  

Having a newborn definitely throws off your schedule.  I am glad, though, that he likes the swing and that the one we found is portable enough that I can take it anywhere in the house.  Hyrum is doing well and has been consistently sleeping through the night-that is defined as sleeping from about 10 or 11 PM until 6 AM.  Awesome!  And I just have to say that getting a good night sleep is fabulous!  During the day I am still learning how to figure out his schedule . . . when he is hungry, tired or just wants to cry for some undetermined reason.  

The boys LOVE having Hyrum around and are ready to have another baby.  That is not an announcement of any kind.  Michael and Joshua are getting really good at holding and taking care of the baby.  Jacob loves being involved and wishes that we would let him do more.  He is still just a little too young to do everything he wants and gets frustrated by it.  Soon, though, Hyrum will be big enough to play with and I think Jacob will become his favorite form of entertainment.

Michael loves getting Hyrum to do things, like hug him

and getting him to sit up.  He was so excited that he could get him to sit that he had to take pictures to share.

And EVERYONE, including James and myself, love trying to get him to smile.  

 And as you can see it is worth every ounce of effort we put in!  He is especially smiley in the morning after a good nights sleep!  I mean really, who isn't?  So, for these hot summer days we are enjoying fun camps, doing a little work, lots of gardening and canning, and playing with our newest family member!

More Flowers

Our grocery store is having their annual Rose sale, so for 50¢ each, I had to get some. Roses, alone, however, do not a beautiful display make.

One of my ambitions is to have a garden with enough beautiful things in it that I can keep some fresh, beautiful flowers in my home all through blooming seasons. My vegetable garden is a marvel, but I'm still slowly figuring out flower and landscape gardening, although a lot of things could have gone better for us this year. I really think my new house will have sprinklers. Yes, definitely.

Some examples:

• Our siberian irises almost died because of lack of water while we were in Utah. As a result, they never bloomed. Their greens remain, though, and I am hopeful for 2013.
• Our peonies, in the same bed as the irises, suffered the same fate, and I just pray they return for next season.
• Hydrangeas ditto. They'll be dynamite next year, vibrant and blue. 
• Our roses are beautiful on the vine, but not hardy indoor display. They are loose buds, better suited to the outdoors.
• Our lilac tree took a freeze just as the buds started to appear. I didn't think the branches full of tiny, dry black buds would be very attractive on our dining room table.
• Daylilies are just ugly in the house. Actually, I don't really like them outside, either. End of story. They must die. This time I mean it.

 So, I'm going with what I have, and I figure if it grows outdoors, I might as well bring it in to enjoy more often. As a result, I've been experimenting with different greens, flowers, and fills. My herbs are awesome this year, so I'm using them extensively in flower arranging. As long as I don't use basil, which isn't very pretty, anyway, they don't smell so strong. Thai basil works, though. So, here's a walk through of how I've used things from my yard in my arrangements. Only now am I regretting pulling out those statice bushes. It's alright, though, because they smell like dog crap. True.

• Bushy fill: Oregano. Right now I have some with buds, so it's extra fun. Also, it's so prolific; I can't even tell I cut it for the last arrangement, and after a severe cutting today, it still looks great. I have also used Tarragon for this, but it doesn't wear as well because it's a more delicate herb. It does have a nice spindly, wild look to it, though.
• Leatherleaf lookalike: Mexican Heather. Also has some purple buds, so it's a flower and a fill.
• Ruscus: One of my favourite greens, I use vinca vines to get the look. I also threw in some vertical Thai Basil that mimics the look. I also just looked out at my monster, out of control patch of mint and realized that it would have filled that purpose, as well. It's in flower, though, and I didn't want to fight the wasps for it.
• Bear/Lily grass: Last time I used garlic chives, but this time I used the scapes, or the unbloomed flower shoots from them, to create a dramatic, strong arch. Little bunches of Sage also give a nice firework effect here and there, much like a loop of grasses would.
• Salal: This one I cheated on. I bought the roses and used the leaves as large-leafed fill. They didn't come from my yard. 

Today's additions included some garden phlox (big purple bunches down low,) and the greens from our thread leaf coreopsis, whose bright yellow flowers have faded. I also tucked one little bright rose from our climbing bush into the back, although it doesn't have much time left. I weeded out some Queen Anne's lace earlier this week, and i was just thinking about it and how lovely it would have been in my arrangement today. Alas.

So, there you have it—my magical fake cutting garden. Good thing there was a rose sale . . .

Canning Season Has Begun

Last year was the first year that I really canned and now that I am no longer pregnant I am excited to do it again!  I decided to start with peaches because they were on sale and tasted amazing!  I picked up 45 lbs of peaches on Tuesday.  All of the boys were going to be gone on Wednesday, so I thought that Hyrum and I would see what we could do on our own.  I got everything prepped in time for his usual nap, but then he decided that today would be the day that he would eat every 1 1/2 to 2 hour with little sleep between.  Hmmm. . . canning under those circumstances was a new adventure for me.  Sometimes he enjoyed the swing, sometimes he would lay on the floor and sometimes he would cry no matter what I did.  Finally I pulled out the Baby Bjorn which a friend gave to me.  It was the first time I used it and was pretty excited when I figured out to get myself in and then Hyrum in as well.  I am sure it would have been entertaining to watch, but alas no one was around to enjoy the show.

In the end I had to prep all of my supplies, go feed the baby, peel and de-pit the peaches, go feed the baby, but then I worked really fast to put the peaches in the jars, process them and get the next batch of peaches ready.  By the time I got the next batch ready to process I was feeding the baby again.  I'm pretty sure he is going to be giant by the end of the week.  So, why do I have time to sit and write this blog?  Because now he is sleeping, finally!  I am pretty sure that he will sleep all day today after staying up all day yesterday.  I should find something to do!

I am pretty excited about the peaches.  They look great.  I got 14 quarts, but two didn't seal and one broke during processing.  I have never had a jar break on me, so I was perplexed to see peaches floating in the water when I opened the pot.  I couldn't figure out what had happened until I lifted the jar and everything else fell out the bottom.  Yes, I am still a new canner.  :)  Other than that the peaches look great and I can't wait to do another batch tomorrow!

2 weeks

Adventures with Boys

As always every day is an adventure with our boys.  It amazes me the things they will do.  For instance, they all now have battle armor made out of cardboard.  Joshua even hung his in his closet.  It is pretty impressive and if it protects them during battle I am all for it!

Last week Michael found a new place to read.  Yes, it is in a tree.  He learned to climb up the tree with a little help from the trampoline.  He started taking books up there to read.  As usual he would spend hours reading but now he prefers the tree to any other place.

He even helped his brothers get up, so they could check out his new place of rest.  They thought it was pretty awesome!

Not all adventures turn out the way they plan.  They decided they wanted to be abel to sit on the trampoline and stick their legs through the bottom.  So, they grabbed some hedge trimmers and made a hole.  Well, they made several holes.  They were sad to learn that the trampoline is now unsafe and off limits.  When I say sad I am understating the fact severely.  But even though we miss the trampoline (and yes as parents we miss the hours of playing they do on the trampoline) we are trying really hard to help them see the consequences of their actions.  Fie on good parenting.  :)

Then, today we went to a cold-blooded animals program at the library.  I must admit that it was much more impressive than expected.  They had just a few animals, but they were all HUGE.  Actually the picture below may have been of the smallest animal of them all.   Michael loved getting to hold this young alligator.  They had a full size gator as well that was completely trained and even gave rides to a couple of small children.  It was awesome!  We did learn that while he has managed to train alligators, crocodiles have a menu that includes humans, so he will have to stick to gators.  I thought this was very good to know.

Our greatest adventure, however, is with Hyrum.  The boys love holding him, kissing him, hugging him and anything else I will let them do (which isn't much).  They sure can't wait until he quits sleeping and eating all of the time.  I am pretty sure they think I am hogging all of the baby time.  Soon enough they will get all the time they want to play with him.  But for now they get a few minutes here and there and will cherish every moment!