The last week in July

Tuesday: Morning ritual - let the chickens out of the pen, let them run a bit and then catch them, sing to them, and pet them nice. Since early morning is the only time of the day that the heat is tolerable (only 90 at 6:30am) they get to play with their chickens then. Danny has Skunky and Faith has Henny Penny (and yes, Danny has barretts in his hair, he likes having 'tiny-tails' done in his hair when Faith gets her hair done, no worries, he doesn't get to go out of the house with them in and usually rips them out himself).





Wednesday: Bridges. Yet another way to use the couches as their jungle gym. I can't keep the cushions on the couch during the day. I figure if they can't play outside I may as well give them some liberties inside. Danny is in big-boy underpants now during the day and doing a fabulous job of potty training. As long as potty time involves stories our chocolate chip rewards he is a very compliant little guy.

Thursday: Cleaning the bathtub. Never mind that Danny is getting his rag wet by dipping it into the toilet water, at least he is not washing his hair with it this time. I am just proud that my kids have learned to wash and clean from my example, honestly I did not ask them to do it, it was imaginative play!

Moments of Faith: Jesus is our Brother and Jacob's ladder

Sunday my little darling was very attentive to the Holy Ghost. During the sacrament portion of Church she pulled me down to whisper to me;
"Momma, why does Jesus love us so much?"
"Because he is our brother." I responded
Faith turned back for a few minutes to process my answer.
"Why is He our brother? She further inquired.
During that holy moment Faith and I had a wonderful conversation about family love and about Christlike love which she swallowed whole.

As we were driving home from church, the sunlight was streaming down through the clouds in visible rays. Faith pointed out the window and said "Momma look, the angels are coming down!" Yes they are. "Why do angels like the light so much?" Because Jesus Christ is the light of the world and they want to be close to Him. "The angels are coming down to help Jacob." Yes, they are coming to help. And then it occured to me, where did she learn of Jacob's ladder? That seems a bit much for nursery. I need to pay better attention to the lessons she is learning and from where.

A picture a day makes them seem not so far away

My parents reported to the Missionary Training Center on Monday to start their two year mission as temple workers in the Kyiv Ukraine mission. I am so proud of them for being so selfless in serving the Lord Jesus Christ and His Church here on the Earth, on all the Earth - even the Ukraine. It has been a very special blessing for our family to have our parents be such a very good example of service and the Lord has eased the void of not having them around with increased blessings for us also. Yet, they will be gone a long time and my little family changes oh so very fast. So, I will see if I can keep up with our life on a daily basis and they can catch up with things whenever they are not in the Lord's service.
Saturday night: Sweater revelry.


Sunday Morning: proud curls

Monday evening: late naps on Momma.

Ugh, Arizona

According to a few books I have been reading lately Arizona is the most un-sustainable state in the US. That doesn't come as a surprise to me. With people flocking toward the cheap housing and the cheap housing creating nothing more than housing, more heat and more water consumption, there is a problem! I have not been a fan of it, to say the least, since I got here.

But since I am here, I am going to look forward to the winter months and plan to make my little plot of land the most sustainable in the state, or close. With a few solar panels, some lasagna gardening techniques, rain water storage and chickens, I might be able to pull it off. Of course, a cow or goat would be nice for both the dairy and meat aspect......I wonder how many times we will get the HOA looking at us a bit askance. Hey, the worst they can do is throw me out of this inferno anyhoo! Haa! Joke's on you, you lousy desert land.

Perhaps if I were an native indian I would feel different about the resources at hand....but casinos are hardly sustainable...although the Navajo have been doing a fabulous job of actually using their own waste to build there own houses, read about Navajo FlexCrete, fascinating.

I find it no coincidence that Arizona State University has the first and most burgeoning master's program for sustainability in the nation. At least they can see there is a problem....and now how to get the rest of the ciztizens on board.
The only problem with knowing more about all this is that I want to do more and tell more people but people hardly care right now. Ah well. At least I have scientific evidence as to my distaste toward my current host state. One positive for me right now with all this jumbled mess; Arizona has the highest rate of people in the Department of Economic Security, the government (federal and state) branch that takes care of such programs as welfare, disabled persons, food stamps, and foster children. With a 56% increase in cases applied to the system in one years time, that means there must be a baby just waiting to come to our home, or several, for a little bit of our love. Now if only the case managers would have enough time to put through there loads of cases so that we can actually get a liscence processed before the end of the year.....ugh Arizona.

Japanimation in real life

Today we went to play at the Arizona Museum for Youth and they had new exhibits! All about Japanimation and Baseball (how'd they get in the same place at the same time?) and, as always, I was impressed. Mostly we went for the kids to play in Artville where Faith had the most fun playing in the 'preforming art' center with dress ups and music and dancing, dancing, dancing. I am so glad for culture passes and a few days of the week that I am not watching additional gremlins. I so love this place cuz I can sit back and read some books and enjoy my kids making a mess in someone elses' place and not feel guilty because there are several teenage volunteers just standing around waiting to clean it up for me!

Chicken stories

We have found that chickens are fine pets. Some are very smart, others are just bird brains. Example: a while back Chicken got under the back gate and went for a little walk about sometime in the mid afternoon. I thought she would return for dinner, whereas she didn't we went looking for her, taking a walkabout the block in 100 degree weather. The children were concerned and yelled loudly for her. When we came home round the corner I sent the kids in for much needed water and began a brief look around the house again when I noticed Chicken pecking on our front door. She had responded to the kids' calls and was trying to get back in. Smart bird.
This is Chicken. She is one of our Rhode Island Reds, who are the smartest and friendliest of the bunch. As for the rest of the bunch, they all have their personalities.
Cinderella (the white one pictured above) is cautiously skittish around the kids but likes to hang out with the reds so usually is close to the action of picking up and petting.
Tubs is being more resigned but runs for the most part. She gives me the snooty look when I try to get her off the patio, and as soon as my back is turned she will sneak back on the patio.
Pink, much to his chagrin, has turned into rooster. He will be leaving us soon. His pathetic crow and his very rude behavior toward the other hens is getting him ousted.
And Skunky is the loveabley dumb one. Talk about bird brain! She observes but doesn't compute much. She noticed one day that I exited the backyard via the sliding glass door into the house. She did not compute that I had not just liquidated through the glass door but shut something solid behind me. A few minutes later I hear a feather thud at the window and there is tubs, looking shocked. I thought it was funny, yet couldn't help but laugh out loud when she gave it a running start and came right back into the window again. Apparently Skunky rules by 3 strikes and you are out because she took a new angle and tried once again to get through the glass. Dumb sweet bird. The hits may have affected her brain even more because she is even more disconnected since.

One more chicken story for memory. For a few days Danny would come and grab my finger and pull me to the guest bedroom saying "A chicken under the bed Mommy" I went, dutifully knelt down and looked under the bed. Admittedly the first time I was scared that there actually was one of our chickens under the guest bed, not good. But there was nothing under the bed. Danny pointed right to where he saw the chicken and I congratulated him for such wonderful imagination. He did that two days consequitively. The third day Faith came in on the game. I again played with their imaginary games, a bit surprised by the shocked looks they gave me. It wasn't until a couple of hours later when Danny brought me a chicken nugget from the back room with the 'here don't you get it now fool' look on his face and said "Chicken under the bed Mommy." Boy am I glad for his persistence! Now how did that chicken get under there in the first place?

Moments of Faith: the good sister

Recently Faith and I were reading her Book of Mormon stories picture book. They have severely boiled down the stories from the book to say the least. We were reading the very blank synopsis of Jacob's encounter with Sherem, the story went something like this: Jacob was a missionary teaching people about Jesus. A wicked man Sherem said he would not believe in Jesus unless he had a sign from God. Jacob prayed to God to give Sherem a sign. Sherem recieved the sign and got very very sick.
About this point, while looking at a very stricken looking man in the picture near death, Faith coughed. Here eyes widened to full doe capacity and she asked with a bit of fear in her voice "Why am I very very sick?" I reassured her immediately that God had not stricken her, she merely had a bit of phglem in her throat.



Later that evening, after Faith had fallen asleep she cried out for Mommy, Daddy! She was very scared. I was alarmed by her moving into the stage where she is having vivid nightmares. As soon as I got to her side she said "Danny has fallen!" No, I said, Danny was safe in the crib (an unusual punishment for him for having gotten out of his big boy bed so much during the middle of the night and crawling into bed with us, he loves cuddling). "Danny fell out of the crib." The earnestness in her voice nearly convinced me to go and check on him even though I knew he was safe asleep. I then had some tender moments with my little one assuring her that Mommy and Daddy were always close to save her and her brother. Oh I love my little girl.

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

descriptions from the interior

these walls are full of air
there's nothing really in there
shiney, bumby, stucco shells
just cover up the empty well

sure wish there was something more substantial
to bolster up this pompous place

but. no.

underneath is nothing more
than the emptiness I said before

Before I actually fall asleep

Darkness
Evening heat settles in
Little voices yell for attention

Numbness
Daily existence wears on
My voice yells back

Hollow
Echoing commands fade around
Yelling back toward me
Haunting

Nothin like a small town parade

Notice both of Faith's cheeks abnormally rounded? Salt water taffy for each.
The girls got their fingernails done pretties with stars and stripes.
Boys got their hair sprayed with red, blue & silver. Punk rocker Danny is a good look for him.

My nephew was in the marching band this year, and he was doing so good that the rodeo clowns wanted to be just like him! (we had gone to the rodeo the night before and the kiddos loved it) They other sprayed hair in the foreground are other nephews.
My favorite part of the parade - my jumprope team! They got grand master's championship this year at nationals! Oh I am so proud.
Danny waited for the candy to come to him.
Our spot staked out at the middle of the parade, old fashioned way, blankets and chairs, and yes, it was 60 degrees that morning for the parade.

Yellowstone

On our trip to Idaho over the Indpendence day weekend we made a northernly dash up through Wyoming and Montana to give our kiddos a taste of the wonderful national parks starting with Yellowstone.
Lunch at Old Faithful, yes, on vacation cheetos counts as lunch.
Josh and I have a picture identical to this from when we were first dating and took a trip to Old Faithful. Proud to say, neither of us looks a day older. ;)

Thank heavens for the guard rails, my kiddos would have loved a hot boiling bath right then.
Beehive gyser, actually way more impressive than Old Faithful, all spit and fire. This was the first time I saw Beehive go off in all the years I have been to Yellowstone.
90 minutes late, back at Old Faithful for a second show from the west side.

Helmet Head

Danny loves Daddy's scooter helmet. Every day before Josh goes to work, instead of the customary kiss good by, Danny has to hit his Dad on the helmet. Funny little guy. Even funnier is the fact that the helmet almost fits his head already!