Cub Scouts

My Wolves and I at Home Depot Saturday morning. I have 5 but one was missing that day. By October I have 10 and then in December the numbers will start going down. Waiting on an assistant and been relying on parents and primary leaders lately.

Nathaniel is my most regular assistant. He is the den chief (or whatever you call it.) He is teaching the boys to tie a square knot before he teaches them to properly knot a tie.

Daddy Grandpa Nite

Rebecca & "Daddy" Grandpa
So cute.

The annual Daddy Daughter Achievement Day came and this is the first time they have held it this early I think. Peter missed it by a day. Rebecca was all excited to give him her invitation and then threw it away and went all drama-mama when she found out he wouldn't be there. I kept level headed and told her many kids don't have any daddy or worse a daddy that doesn't care about their kids and that she was very lucky because there are plenty of people who would be happy to step in for Peter. I knew Grandpa would be the perfect one and told her we would bring the invitation over that night. She perked right up.

They had a great time. It was a progressive dinner where they did the main dish, then the appetizers, then the salad, just to shake things up a bit I guess. The dads were supposed to share some things about the girls at the end when they met up at the church for dessert and Grandpa wasn't sure what to share so I gave him a story and here it is:

When Rebecca was three she was more than just a handful. No need to delve into that one though, suffice it to say we didn't think we'd ever survive it. One day our neighbors, the Gambles, were having a welcome home missionary party across the street. We went, socialized a little, then went back home and went to bed. The next morning I found a plate of food by Rebecca's door in the hallway. Thought that was weird since I didn't remember anyone bringing home any food, but I forgot about it quickly.
Later that week Brother Gamble was talking about Rebecca being at the party when they were playing a game. I assured him she wasn't there for that. We were all in bed by then. He was sure she was there. After the game he watched her walk her back across the street to our house.
"Was there any lights on?" I asked, "Did anyone come to the door?"
Come to think of it, he said, he didn't think so. She just walked into the house.
Turned out Rebecca had a busy social life after we all went to bed.
We installed a latch at the top of the front door and started locking Rebecca in her room at night. I was more afraid what she might do if she got out then of a fire. Sometimes I'd get up in the middle of the night and unlatch her door just to ease my conscience, but then I couldn't sleep for worry she might get up before I was up.

I have yet to look back on these days with fondness.

Deer me...

We planted hundreds of bulbs last year and I've been very excited to see them start coming up but the bleepin' deer keep eating my tulips--chewing them down to the nub and sometimes even pulling out the bulb. Everybody around here has a different take on how to deter the deer from eating your plants. Grandpa says he heard you can pee on your tulips. Sadly I've actually contemplated collecting my pee to pour it around the tulips but my dad assures me it won't work. So here is my brilliant device for keeping them out of at least the front bed:

So far it seems to be working. Dad also suggested I could rig some kind of an electrical wire and put it on a timer. Easy for him to say since he's an electrical engineer.

Pictures of the family room, finally.

Before pic of the family room:


And after...

We finally got a new TV and stand after all these years. We knew if we waited long enough the prices would just keep dropping and the timing was right, still I was vacillating on buying a luxury item like this when our other one was still working. Then in February our old one suddenly up and died so then of course I was happy:)

We went a few weeks with this little tiny TV we drug down from upstairs and it was very annoying. So one day I picked Peter up from the airport and said we were going shopping for a new one right then. I pondered a great deal over the selection at Costco. I was worried about going too big. I don't like it when you walk into a house and the TV is the main focal point.
At least make it appear like we don't watch it that much, right?
The one we bought turned out just right. We are finally in the age of HDTV folks. Let me tell you--it is so nice.

Peter and I both love this quote and I found it on Etsy.

I am very happy with how everything turned out. I think it looks so much more open and I finally dared to go with cool colors. I've always loved them in magazines but just hadn't made that leap yet. I painted the kitchen 3 times trying to get a color I liked with the blue in the family room. When I decided I didn't like the 2nd color the kids were just shaking their heads.
"Again mom? Are you serious?"
I don't like to change things around all the time so I want to get it right. I ended up doing something I never thought I'd do--I went white. Surprisingly happy with it.

We bought the shelving at IKEA and yours truly assembled all but one piece. Their instructions are the best I've seen and they don't even have any words! I'm all about picture instructions. Don't you hate it when you are given 3 instructions and one picture? That is why I don't make clothes. I truly can't follow the patterns.

And this here is why I don't do electronics:

Just looking at this picture makes me feel stress. How can a man, who is supposed to be the more rationally minded of the genders, make any sense of this?
I mean, come on.
Turns out not only my husband but my son can.
I feel very dependent on them because I'd never figure this out on my own.

Piano

Kids had their first piano recital with their new teacher. He has a PhD in piano. It is a good thing we don't have a car payment anymore or we couldn't afford him. Actually, I still don't know if we can. The kids practice a lot and Nathaniel is starting to play in seminary. Sarah played her recital piece for her choir class yesterday.
I asked her if they were impressed and she said, "Mom, I am in junior high."
Well, that is true.
The recital took place in a large narrow room of a basement. It was so loud my ears hurt for a long time after we left.
That piano was taking a beating!
I kept thinking, "Why so loud? We're right here! A crescendo! I get it!"
I'm wearing cotton or something in my ears next time.
There was this one woman who played incredibly and I told Nathaniel as soon as he could play her song we would let him quit. He said she has been self-teaching for the last 13 years or something and that she only recently starting taking lessons with his piano teacher because she was "stuck." Wow. I'd get stuck after 13 days--maybe 13 minutes?

Nathaniel was telling me the other day how he gets through his week-- Monday is Monday. Tuesday is the day before, the day before, the day before Friday. Wednesday is the day before the day before Friday. Thursday is the day before Friday and Friday is freedom.
Do you know what else Friday is? The only afternoon our teacher teaches piano in Springville. Also the only days for recitals and "performance classes"--where students practice playing in front of other students.
Nathaniel and Sarah are not impressed with this schedule and they frequently try to get me to agree not to make them go. It never works. I mean gosh, what else do teens have to do on Friday nights anyway, right?
What they don't get is that we hope we are making an investment in their future. Why else would I want to pay more money than I like to think about, only to listen to the complaining about the lessons, then get someone to watch John so I can sit at a recital where I think I can actually feel my eardrums vibrating? Not to mention the times I get to listen to the same song over and over and over and over as they practice for the recital. Do they think I do this for my own sick pleasure? Come on! Really?!
Don't get me wrong, we love to hear them play the piano. There are always hymns playing in the background in this house and we are really hoping they will be able to take that talent they've developed and use it in their lives in church, or as a missionary, or just in their homes for whatever.
Do you think our kids will ever really appreciate the things we try to do for them?
Let's just say I'm not feeling the love right now.

Carpet

There is no place to eat in this house that isn't over carpet. Unless you stand in the kitchen and eat at the counter I guess, which I frequently do. Not because I'm trying to keep the carpet clean but just because that's what moms do way too often.
So last year the plan was to get wood flooring. Our next door neighbor, who is strangely unfriendly, does this for a living and I had him come over to take the measurements and give me a bid. Then the pergola and the piano happened and the cost of flooring went out the window. So the grand plan was for us to do it in March of this year. As you can imagine, this has been a highly anticipated event for me. I have been keeping one eye closed to the carpets thinking, "(x many more months, days, etc) and it will be gone." But this lurking guilt was nagging at the back of my mind, as is always there. Should I really spend this much on floors? The bid was one thing, but after putting in the pergola I learned all about bids and how they can double on you in the blink of an eye. Even if the bid was on target did I really want to spend this much?
I am Bob in What About Bob--"I need! I need! I need!"
Except it isn't a need. I knew that. I am praying, "I know it's selfish, but I just really want this wood flooring..." knowing full well it is a ridiculous thing to be praying about. But all around me people are really struggling in this economy. Especially our self-employed friends. Oh the joys of being self-employed--the seasons of feast and famine. I knew that if I got these floors, even with Peter's blessing, I could be walking around on what he may need to make payroll in January.
Not to forget those student loans for that master's degree that we've never used but maybe someday we will . . .
Once I made the decision I felt a whole lot better. I knew I could live without wood. So I went carpet. The most indestructible, multi-colored, no vacuum marks, lots o' brown, bordering on commercial grade carpet I could find.

Here is the installers on Thursday ripping out the old stuff.
I went outside as my friend and the carpet installers looked on with wide eyes and proceeded to pour bleach straight onto a piece of remnant. Not a mark. Came back an hour later? Not a spot. Overnight? No color change--nothing but the faint scent of bleach.
Kid proof?

We'll see about that.

This will give me a good five years to save for wood.
Or pay off student loans.
Or my house. I'd take that too.
Psshaw--who am I kidding?

Checking in again

So here I am again finally. I haven't really had much to blog about. When people ask me how I'm doing I just tell them its the tax season and that pretty much sums it up. Its all good though and I'm grateful for the work we have. We are hugely blessed.

The situation in Japan has had me thinking about just how blessed we are. Among our little group of exchange students we've had over the years there have been three Japanese students. Two girls, Mineko & Eri, and one boy, Yuuki. I wonder how they are doing. I've been so impressed with how the people there are working through this. I love Japanese people. They are respectful, humble, curious, hardworking, and the way they honor their elders is such an example to me. In the aftermath of this horrific tragedy they are orderly and calm. So inspirational. Just good people going about their lives and within an hour their town is gone. I looked over the list of individual names and unless Yuuki Matsumoto is the name of more than one in Japan, someone has confirmed that he is alive.
I wondered how long it was between when the earthquake hit and when the tsunami rolled in. One hour. Can you believe it?