Lyfsgud - The Apple Picking Episode

This morning, as I texted Lucas, was one of those golden mornings...or moments (it doesn't just have to be morning), when I am doing exactly what I want to be doing with exactly who I want to be doing it with.  Sure, there was only a little window this whole fall when I wouldn't have to fight with work and I wouldn't have to take kids out of school, etc., etc., but we grabbed that moment and went for it.  Excuse Daphne's hair because I was going no matter what, and we were not going to be late and so hair was not done.  We just headed out early and enjoyed this day.

Last time we apple picked, Lucas was with us, and we enjoyed it lots.  It's been a couple of years...felt too poor and frazzled last year, but we made it this year, and it was so much fun.  The kids loved it and were very helpful and everyone cooperated and I just don't have a single complaint. Daphne was even easy to keep pleased.  She found an apple and just slowly wandered around the orchard near us munching away the whole time.  Happy campers, yes we were!  Thank goodness for Lily who is pretty much as strong as me, because we got 130+ pounds of apples.  We may have inadvertently picked some under ripe Fujis at our second stop (the lady told us to disobey the arrow when we should have obeyed it), but even they tasted delicious.  We should have slightly tart but CRISP (key, people, key!) eating apples for a few months, AND the Jonagolds are going to be made into Crockpot Applesauce (bless the internet for crock pot hoopla) which is super easy and which my children, especially Matthew, love.  In case anyone was wondering, all 5 of the kids and I were there.  Apple scouts, such as the illustrious Ben, and open space just mean everyone is going everywhere the whole time.  The drive back was pretty fabulous too.  I LOVE THE COUNTRY.  Maybe, someday, Lily and my hobby farm dream will become a reality.  Unfortunately, I have romanticized country living in my head.  There are a lot of rodents (eek!) and way more flies.  Who knows if I would love it now.  Meanwhile, golden moments are pretty spectacular to me.

It is Better to Look Up!

I feel today how Daph looks in this picture.  I'm sure in all actuality she was thinking, "Could you please give me the Oreos, Twizzlers and Skittles you have brought for movie treats.  I need them NOW."  But to me, her face looks  tired, uncertain, maybe a little overwhelmed.  Thankfully, Dafferdil go to to sleep after hours of torturing me and other moviegoers (let's be honest, it was pretty much just me getting tortured and kicked in the head by a baby trying to go to sleep).  But me, I don't get to go to sleep.  Have to face each new day, and I want to face each new day, just with more hope, more joy, and more energy.  So many challenges to overcome.  So many little details that have to be taken care of.  And so little time.  

 I did go the the temple and get re-energized and refocused on what really matters.  Being able to go where it is quiet and calm, just stepping back from the piles and mounds of crazy that I have to manage in my life, just gives me the healthiest dose of perspective and hope and the feeling of strength that I can keep pushing on and that I should be finding the happiness in every day instead of focusing on what is/could be going wrong.  Also, took my man to dinner last night with some gift cards, and we talked some more, and that did seem to help.  It's just once we are back in the thick of our lives, it is so easy to forget what really matters and is of most worth.  It's a constant struggle for me.

But, with some renewed vim and vigor today, it has been going well, and I like this picture of the clear blue sky and sunlight playing in the treetops on a walk that Daph and I took on an early Saturday morning this summer.  Looking up and hoping and dreaming is way better than looking at my shoelaces.

Nobel Peace Prize???

Got a call last Thursday from the Summerwind STEM counselor.  You must realize I have had 1 child who should probably start paying the counselor for therapy sessions, i.e., my mom is having a baby, can I handle this?  I feel kind of sad today, better go to the counselor's office.  I think I was just raised to suck it up, whereas we are more soft and fluffy round here.  Anyway, I was a little worried, BUT it was just to let me know Ben would be surprised as student of the month the next day which is...AWESOME.  To me it is a big deal that even with the speech struggles he's had, he has pulled off being a good friend and a good student rather than acting out, getting angry and frustrated with the extra challenges his brain and muscles have decided to throw at him.  Needless to say, when my work scheduler totally ignored my urgent request for 30 minutes to an hour off which I would make up whenever she wanted, I was sending some unpleasant vibes her way.  I will have a special essay on work someday, but no point in burning bridges now.  I decided I would just clock out, run over, come back and to heck with the consequences.  If SHE met my son, she'd get it.  It's just that since I work from home and my supervisor/scheduler don't see my face, they forget I'm human...just like I forget they have souls and hearts.  So, really bad pictures, but the least blurry one is the back of Ben's head.  He's wearing purple!  He had no idea idea, even as the principal spelled out his name, reading a comment for each letter.  Then he got high 5's from his class on the way back to his spot.  

 The N - that one stumped me.  Actually several of the letters.  Ben (so far all my boys, actually), lead secret school lives.  Lily would come home and still often does and just verbally throw up every little detail about her day.  At times, it was overwhelming, but I knew everything.  The boys, whelp, you can interrogating them with all your might or casually try to start a dialogue and the response is about 3 words.  That N, though, his teacher said future Nobel Peace Prize winner.  I learned from his ward that he is a peacemaker in his class, a comedian, as well, who makes everyone laugh every day.  Wow, he is just blooming (can boys do that?  I now girls can.)

Side note:  It is fall, but it barely feels like fall.  It is hot, but hardly in AC and no heat, so we are raking in the dough on electricity and gas savings.  Freezing temps will come soon enough.  I have at least 2-4 kids who are bursting with excitement about Halloween.  I would be if I could nail down my husband to a costume theme that he can get excited about.  Sigh.

And lastly, such an unflattering photo.  I need contacts...if I can stand them...which I probably can't, but I really don't like glasses all the time.  Still, Lily and I went to General Women's Conference and listened to a 4 speakers.  It was VERY REFRESHING and just what I needed after a week that involved more tears and gnashing of teeth than I'd like to discuss.  And I braided Lily's hair as she laid on her head on my lap.  Attention spans can only go for so long, so we make the best of it for my 12 year old.  Every year, they also have random photo getup so you can take a photo for memories, and since they did pioneer trek this year for the older youth, they went with a pioneer theme.  I am glad I was not a traditional pioneer.  I do not like the look at all. . If I lived in that time, I would go for Southern Belle...except maybe head north before the Civil War...or to California, but I would always have the best dresses and go to balls and stuff.  I am kidding again; I am sure I would have been poor working class and desperate to head west whether for my religion or a fresh new start or adventure...just like all our ancestors did.

Can you tell school started?

I actually pulled off a weekly post for, what...4 or 5 weeks, and then BAM!  A lot has happened, naturally, with all the bodies in this house.  Here's just a taste because who wants to try to write about 6 weeks of glorious regular days?  Not me...condensed versions are best sometimes.  In no particular order:

1.  Preschool.  Why do moms have to take pictures when all you want is to see and to meet and to do and to play?

 2.  Cleaning...not nearly enough, but here is documented evidence that some took place.

3.  Back to school feast.  This years was about bees.  We should be busy little bees in all the best ways.

 4.  Lots and lots of stealing the siblings' things after they leave them lying around within reach...destruction of said things is likely naturally going to happen.

 5.  Building train tracks.  It's Shawn's jam right now.

6.  Back to school survival of first day.  Middle school start was rough for my Amazon woman, but she is starting to, dare I say, thrive...at least a little.

 7.  SO MANY 1-YEAR-OLD-MADE messes.  So, so, so many.  Living up, this little one is.

 8.  Some beautiful recharging and calorie burning walks.

 9.  A lot of naps, none of them by me, darnit.

 10.  Birthdays!!!  I captured Lily's on my real camera...and some rather incriminating videos of her party; however, here is a lovely shot of this darling duo making my birthday treat.  They did well!

 11.  See, I said, SO MANY MESSES!

Ben 6 (not 10)

Oh man, a draft I never completed.  A birthday not recognized.  What is wrong with me!!!  So here it is in it's incomplete form, written 2/3/15...better late than never.

There once was a boy named Ben.  He was the type of kid who spent all year counting down to his birthday (I kid you not).  He made birthday cake plans ALL YEAR LONG.  A hundred different things were want he wanted his cake to be.  It changed a lot.  I pinned him down to one decision a few weeks before.  Whenever I checked back, he stuck with that final decision.  He also had a bunch (a whole bunch) of ideas what he wanted for breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts for his special day.  He ALSO had many, many present ideas.  I tried to make what I could a reality.  We do believe in keeping it simple, but we did get him an awesome present, and he was very thrilled with his new LeapPad from Grandma Laura.  He also loved the thrill of cash from my mom and dad.  I cannot say he saved the money or spent it wisely, but he had fun.

First a little flashback.

BTW...his cake was a Castle Crashers character Fruit Pizza because that is just what he wanted.

 We celebrated our first ever birthday party in the morning as his Thursday birthday Dad had to go to class all that evening.

1. Seems to get very anxious and worried if he feels someone is not safe and could get hurt.  My other kids kinda shrug their shoulders, but he is always aware of things like this.
2.  Looks up to his older brother and sister.
3. Finally plays well with Shawn...most of the time.
4.  Has become an amazing reader.  It's hard to believe we were worried to the max when he started Kindergarten.
5.  Love his prayers which often just consist of gratitude and not asking for anything.
6.  Hoping he makes some good friends in first grade...I know that even though he is easygoing and doesn't complain about it, he felt a little sad to get bounced from one group of friends to another and often end up playing by himself last year. 

One of those they grow up too fast posts

No point in lamenting, but Lily just went to her first Young Women/Young Men combined activity.  Girls from 12-18 are in Young Women in our church.  They do a lot of fun activities at least once a week and actually have a 4-day camp once a year.  I used to be a YW leader, so I know these things...except for the horse riding wasn't very fun (I always get the crazy horse who hates people).  She is a tad young for YW, but the leaders are excited to have her join the girls and so they invited her.  All of the sudden she is ready to leave Primary and move on.  This is what she looked like after zip lining, playing king of the mountain with rafts in a pond, jumping off a high dive, wrestling lots of kids...you get the idea, for 3-4 hours.  Lily Heaven!

 Her birthday is such that this is A BIG YEAR.  It is her Golden Birthday.  She will be going to YW; bye-bye Primary where she has been since she was 3 (really 18 months if you count Nursery); entering middle school which is SO DIFFERENT from elementary school; not to mention she is growing up, having to purchase legit ladylike (I'm so discreet) underclothing, etc.  Yet there is so much of her that is still little girl.  Yep, she's liked the occasional boy through the years but kissing is gross, legitimately dating or going steady seems absurd.  Boys are to be beaten in competitions, not flirted with and obsessed over.  How I wish she could stay this way for longer because I know with all the beauty of growing and learning there comes the really blech and painful parts, too.  I've loved watching her grow so far, but I don't like to see her suffering.  That blue baby I held in my arms nearly 12 years ago hardly seems like the same person who is almost eye-to-eye height-wise with me.  Not only has she grown super tall, she has grown in personality and humor and opinions.  She will have to make new friends and do a lot of hard things the next few weeks, but though she may be a beautiful, beautiful young lady, she is by no means weak.  She is a strong person, and as I told her today when she was feeling overwhelmed, if she will just rely on the Lord and her parents she will make it.

See my poor, stressed out girl above.  Apparently locker combinations do not come naturally, right tighty, lefty loosy, exactness, taking your time, nada.  She was so frustrated, and talk about new parenting territory for me, but she figured it out (not enough that she isn't fully planning on just carrying all her books with her everywhere in her backpack, but she did do it successfully on some of our attempts).  It is a delicate time as a mom.  I'm supposed to treat her normal, be very careful what I tease about, completely be there for her but let her do things on her own without giving any advice or tips.  What a ride it shall be.  I don't think I fully realized until we went and did her registration and fees and got her schedule just how different this year will be for her and for me (and maybe us as parents, we'll see).  Deep breath.  I had the pitiful thought that if I thought dropping this wee girl off at kindergarten and having to walk away and leave her all alone was hard, how much will it make me feel powerless to drop her off at a middle school full of profanity, drugs and perversion?  (Hey, the Puritan in me comes out, okay), but she isn't used to hearing swear words every other word, and she feels very awkward hearing boys or girls talk about private sexual things in lewd/slang/disrespectful ways and looking up nasty stuff on the Internet, and I hope that it is always so, though I realize in some situations that will make her stand out like a sore thumb.  I love her, and we will take it day by day, and I will get really good at JUST LISTENING.  That's really what teenagers want, so I hear from several wise moms I admire, to be heard and not judged.

On lighter notes:

 Our neighborhood night out.  Lucas spent a whole burning hot afternoon/evening/night setting up and taking down as he is HOA Pres.  The kids were mildly impressed...well, Lily loved it, except her bike didn't win the decorating competition.  I thought it was quite fun to watch a movie under the stars...until 2 kids started saying, "I'm cold."  The little girl also was trying to fall asleep during Malificent , um yes, that was fun.  She thrashed and kicked my head and fussed and did a few naughty things, but after 11 and when the lights went up for people to head out, these were my little ones.

Here we have some end of summer but it's too darn hot activities going on.  Well, Daphne's year round activities at present involve taking all the things from drawers and bins in one room and scattering it through the house like fairy dust, being sure to carefully place the really important items in a black hole, the location of which I am unaware.  The masking tape on the floor was a roadway for cars.  I had grand plans...Shawn loved it...but before the day was through Matt compulsively decided it needed to be cleaned up.  Too bad he doesn't feel that way about everything else in the house.

And flash back to earlier in the summer and earlier in the spring:

Matt and Ben's private swim lessons.  Matt is so close to me feeling confident, so close.  Just straighten your darn legs and use your big arms, Son!  (I only think it in my head...I don't say it out loud).

And lastly, this was Daph's first hair cut, if you can call it that.  We just evened up her bangs...before I let them grow wild and back into their native environment.  See above picture in plaid dress.  She was so serious during this haircut, not sure what to think.  I was concerned she'd be all like, "Scissors?  To cut the hair with?  Yes!!!" but so far when she has laid her hands on scissors her sibs have left lying around, she goes for paper, not lamp cords like Shawn...whole other story.  Yep, so that's all I have to say about that.

SO PRETTY!?!

Wilderness Survival

So, Ms Lily and I went on a lightning fast adventure this week.  My sister, heretofore known as Ja, and my dad have gone to the Wind Rivers Wilderness for some camping and fishing for several years now, around my sister's birthday.  This year, Lily and I got to go too.  I debated a little if Lily could handle it, but I knew fishing was involved and that she had hiked a 6.9 mile hike with me a couple of months ago without any real problems, so, throwing caution to the wind, I did invite her to come along.

We drove to Wyoming on Tuesday.  So strange to see familiar places that I haven't been to in many, many years, and to also note the changes that have taken place.  It was fun to point out all sorts of little things to Lily (for me, at least, haha).  The girl had a 1 track mind, wanted to fish, wanted to fish.  It's like young Price blood runs through her veins or something.

We camped that night, dined on delicious tinfoil dinners, the mandatory hot cocoa and smores.  We were above 9000 feet...pretty impressive to me.  The mattress was comfortable, the tween a loud sleeper.  I did have an incident somewhere past midnight where I was a bit concerned as I saw our fire going.  I woke Ja but she seemed unconcerned.  Then I could not go back to sleep.  Most every night I have camped for my whole life, I have awhile where I contemplate bears, other wild creatures, the criminal element, invading my tent/campground.  I get gripped with fear lying in my sleeping bag...and then I work through it and/or fall asleep.  A few hours after my little prayer/self therapy session, Lily asked me to go to the restroom with her...poor teeny bladder.  All in all, it was an entertaining night, and again, the mattress and not freezing made it all ok.  After some pancakes and bacon...oh, memories...we packed up camp and got to hiking.  

We were slow but steady, and long story short probably ended up hiking 6 or so miles in and then 6 or so back out.  No major (?hopefully?) injuries and some wonderful views.  Many cute squirrels and chipmunks.  I love the rock formations up there.  I love memories and thinking of so many good times had as a family.

 When we reached Miller Lake, the fish were catching flies all over the surface.  Poor Lily was itching to try, but we decided to hike the extra 1.5? miles to Sweeney Lake to eat lunch.  Sweeney Lake=not a fishy soul in sight, not the whole time we sat there, ate and stared at the lake.  There was enough of a breeze the lake wasn't smooth, as you can see below.  Ja did teach Lily some casting skills and Lily at least got to practice that.  Then we moved back down to Miller Lake again...where unfortunately the same breeze had killed the fish activity.  Ja got some bites but no luck for Lily.  I was praying she could at least feel 1 little nibble, just 1...nothing.  It had been a beautiful day, but we needed to leave pretty soon.  We worked our way down the lake.  The water looked still toward the inlet....fish were making ripples...gasp.  Was it even possible after so much unluckiness???

Our birthday girl caught the first fish, a Brook trout, a special birthday fish just for her, and that got Lily really desperate, and after a few more tries, she FINALLY caught her first fish.  It was a moment that should have been recorded for posterity, I tell you.  She was so excited, no idea what to do but thrilled to death.  She giggled and kept gleefully, high pitched saying, "I caught a fish.  Finally.  I did it!  I caught a fish!  I CAUGHT A FISH!"  Over and over, so, so excited.  My dad thought she might hyperventilate.  It was the most precious moment.  And then she was thirsty for more and caught one her next cast.  She wanted more but all that mattered was that she got one.  Oh, sweet girl!  It was a fun fishing frenzy for awhile.  I did feel for my dad - 3 girls, none of them with any desire to kill fish or tie on flies or any of it...just the fun fishing part.  He is a great sport.  I realized how much he loved and probably always has loved doing the background work in a situation like this to bring his children so much joy.  Good guy!

Then back out we came, a little mostly obscured moose sighting, a tween breakdown (with actual attempted hyperventilation) when we really only half a mile or so from the trailhead, but with no ambulance or psychotherapist to come get her, we rallied the little lady and out we came.  She was all in all a trooper considering it was a 12-13 mile day without buffet style feasts at every meal time.  Her face when she caught that fish.  Sigh.  These are the days...

Now the right back to Eastern Idaho was wild, in my opinion.  We were dead tired and that included Dad the Driver (Did I mention that our pickup starter gave us grief off and on? -lots of silent prayers, very earnest, full of faith, and we made it home), but he got us home safe.  There were grazing deer right next to the road and sometimes we were maybe a little too left or a little too right but nearly always between the white lines on the edge of either side of the road.  It boggles my mind to think how many times God literally keeps the car on the road when it isn't our time to go.  I think that happened last night a few times at least.  We made it, though, and Lily and I showered after 1 a.m. at Aunt Ja's house, slept until 6 and then we got home where we were missed.

Ah, sweet reunion.  We won't mention the part where after a couple hours of me being home, Daphne erupted like a mini Vesuvius, was placed into a bath for cleanup...and then flung poop out of the tub after she had a little accident in there.

I know without a doubt that there must be opposition in all things.  Lily's excited exclamations wouldn't have been nearly as sweet and grin inducing (and life wouldn't be so amazing sometimes) if I didn't have to clean up barf in my house (and in my life) sometimes, I'm 100% positive.

Thank you Father of Mine and Ja for a wonderful couple of days.  You did the planning, packing, driving, etc., and we surely enjoyed it.  And thanks to Ja for letting us be with her on her birthday in the Wilds of Wyoming, one of the best places to be for sure.