Who Knew?

This was WAY back on March 7th.....

I guess you could call this a late entry.

Who knew that one day,

the kids would be

OUT OF CONTROL

and I would send them outside to do something....

they chose the trampoline.

Who knew,

they would need coats to jump in,

be jumping with tiny ice crystals,

come in with frozen toes,

want to drink hot chocolate,

and be just as crazy as they were before!

I had to put this picture in.

It looks like Victoria is missing her head!

Circle C Beginnings

 Victoria has been busy reading through the

Circle C Beginnings series

about a little girl named Andi who lives on a

cattle ranch. 

I think that this little girl and Victoria have a lot in common.

As it teaches lessons in character throughout the story

it also teaches about the time period.

Victoria has identified with this little girl frequently

getting really quiet and hiding a smile when

she reads something that Andi did that she has experienced

as well.  It is actually kind of funny. 

I don't have to bring any of it to her attention,

she reads it for herself and identifies with it

knowing if she made a good choice or not.

I love that the books are good wholesome reading.

When we were packing to move, Victoria and I came across the other kids

soda pop horses that they had made long ago during

co-op when we were working through a curriculum called

the History of the Horse by Beautiful Feet Curriculum.

She wanted really bad to make one for herself,
so I told her when we got settled,

she could make one...or two.

Now, the part of the story that we all reflected on was that when the
kids were making their horses long ago,
I was pregnant with Victoria and in labor the day that we met for co-op.

Our kids, the Lowe's and the Darts were all sitting

at the table assembling their horses. 

Chrissy had brought a big bucket of soy beans,

which I have no idea where she got so many.

The kids were pouring the beans into the feet to

weight the horses down with so they don't fall over.

The funny part was when I would hear the beans hit the floor.

Here I am in the middle of labor, having to stop
frequently for the contractions to pass, determined to

get a co-op day in,(it is amazing what you do with your 4th)

and everytime I heard the beans hit the floor I would

have to take a big breath and tell myself

"I will just vaccum them up later"

Of course it was mostly my kids spilling the beans

as they bounced and skittered all over the kitchen floor.
They didn't care, they were kids. And it was funny listening
to the beans hit the floor.  I was on the edge of freaking
out over spilled beans.  I DID NOT want to give birth
and return to a messy, bean infested house!

I remember I was thinking that I just couldn't stand the beans

hitting the floor anymore when I heard  it again.....

I turned around and my eyes met sweet Emily's,

she looked at me like

oh, no,

I had to smile and laugh.

We got it all cleaned up, kids bathed, bags packed,

and shipped to friends house in time

for Kirk and I to make it to the hospital for
Victoria to be born.

I just remember feeling so tired when she was born

and then remembered,

oh yeah, we did co-op today!

Easter is on it's way!

I am very proud of my new Easter wreath.

I sold so much of everything before we moved that when I went to

pull out springy decor, there wasn't much left.

And what was left was not much appealing either.

So I hammered the idea for quite a while because there

is an intense lack of funds for us right now.

Hmmm, how can I get a new wreath for the door

without spending money.

This cost 3 dollars.

Kirk practically had to dumpster dive for a pice of styrofoam.

Once he cut it, and sanded the edges....what a guy,

The rest was pretty easy.

I even had a remnant piece of ribbon.

I think it turned out beautiful.

I love turning something worn out and dirty into something beautiful.

That is what Jesus does with us,

He takes all of our souls and washes us clean

making us pure white

so I figured that this wreath is very appropriate for the season.

Paintin' Nails

 My cousin Kathy is so pretty.

She was in town doing a little shopping, so she stopped by and had dinner

with the kids and I..

Afterwards, she painted Victoria's nails a pretty blue for her.

Victoria was in 7th Heaven.

Kathy is awesome.  She knows what interests kids and pays attention to them.

Acting Goofy!

I have to laugh when we are together.

After all of these years of being apart

we have so many similarities.

We both have a certain way of freaking people out instantly.

It keeps things interesting.

I think Victoria may be in training.........

St. Patrick's Day

 Here is a little sampling of

St. Patty's Day for you.

 We celebrated early because

Kirk was on his way to Dallas, Texas for a week

to paint a mural.

So we squeezed in a leprechaun and read about

St. Patricks and the awesome things he did for the people

of Ireland.

Court of Honor

You gotta love boys....

who grow up to be men.....

At the Court of Honor in early March

the troop was celebrating their 101st Birthday as Troop 1.

It is the oldest troop west of the Mississippi and they

take great pride in that, doing everything to uphold their reputation.

Anyway, when it was time to cut the cake you would have thought

there was going to be a stampede.

And they all had their opinions as to how and which way to cut the cake.

This isn't the whole troop.

But as you can see Jared and Cameron are a head taller than all the kids.

Cameron nicknamed Jared "Arizona".

He calls Kaleb "Little Arizona".

It is kind of funny but the name has stuck.

This is a really good troop with a great group of boys and leaders.

Almost ALL of the Dad's are involved.  Even Kirk.

The three of them have made some great friendships.

They come home on Tues. nights after the meeting,

always late, and very energized, excited, happy and talkative.

I love it when my boys are happy.

Oh, I am always on Jared for always having his hands in his pockets

and I give up because three quarters of the boys that were standing up in front had

their hands in their pockets.

I guess it is a "guy thing".

Walk along Logan River

Way back at the beginning of the month,

March 4 to be exact,

we took the dogs for a walk along the Logan River after Church.



 It is hard to believe that there was moss growing on this downed log.

This has to be the healthiest moss I have ever seen.

 Victoria is very proud of herself.

She convinced us that she could manage a dog.

Though we had to wait until he got the crazies out before we let her walk him.

Then he was so sluggish I thought we were going to have to attach

wheels and pull him along.

I guess that is the Basset Hound in him.

 Proof that they were all there.

There is just something about being outside with rushing water nearby

that can bring peace to any moment.

But only if the kids and the dogs about half a mile ahead of you

will there be peace.

Otherwise it is just chaos.

Winter is so pretty.

Snow Camping with Scouts

Feb. 24, the boys and Kirk and all the other Scouts/Leaders ventured

into Logan Canyon to camp overnight

in the snow structures that they built the weekend before.

I don't know how they did it but they got there after dark on Fri,

repaired their structures if needed,

set up their bags and gear,

ate dinner

and survived the cold, wet climate in pitch black.

They used sleds once again to pull most of their gear up this hill that had a

layer of ice with snow on top.

They said it was tricky making it up with snowshoes.

First they had to "find" their structure.

It had snowed during the week and all of the entrances were buried.

Here Jared is discovering where the entrance was.

Just a little piece of blue tarp sticking out of the snow

was his indication that he was close.

 Kirk was able to catch Jared all snug as a bug wedged in his structure!

I think that is a little too close for comfort for me.

Incredible!

Kirk caught a glimpse of someones flash light glowing through

the wall of their snow cave.

What an awesome experience!

The next morning Kirk found Kaleb to be dusted with powder.

He was so cozy in there that one of the leaders rode

a snow mobile up the hill to bomb him and his buddy out of bed.

They were not budging!

You can barely make out his face.

Kirk said that he had a little sliver of skin exposed.

 There were two kids who crawled through this opening and slept in a

clearing inside.  It reminded me of a bunny hole.

Kirk said that they had to crawl down and then turn a corner before

they entered the clearing.

Just crazy to me!

The next morning they had to take down their shelters and

pull up their tarps. 

Jared said it was easier said than done.

They had to carry their all of their gear down the mountain

 to the vehicles parked at the base.

These kids didn't want to waste any time getting down. 

My cautious, Jared said they went really, really, fast.

They went so fast, they drug the other kid behind.



 Going,

 Going,

Gone.

About this time, everyone was exhausted with the amount

of energy it was taking to pack up and disassemble their

structures. 

A blizzard moved in (which I watched from our kitchen window.

We can see the entrance of the canyon from the house) and

gave them almost no visibility.

The wind was blowing, it was heavily snowing.

As a group they were hiking , or sledding, down the hill.

Kaleb's hands just gave out and he dropped the black trash

bag that had his new 0 degree sleeping bag

 in it that he had just gotton for his birthday.

So the bag is just slidding down the mountain like

nothin'.  Kaleb takes off after the bag.

Jared looks over and sees Kaleb booking down the hill with snowshoes on

about to become a cartoon character rolling up in a

giant snowball, and he can hear Kirk yelling at Kaleb that he is going the

wrong way.  Jared called the visibility a complete

"white out" making it really hard for Kaleb to actually see where

he was going.

And no one was anywhere near to help catch the bag because it took off

down the other side of the mountain.

Needless to say, he found the bag!

Whew!

And he survived.  Very tired and sore, but alive.......with the bag.

 They were in the process of taking down their structures. 

 This was a partial lean to.

 This literally looks like a bunny hole.

It is hard to believe that there were boys crawling in there.

 This looks like they dropped something.

One of the kids did drop Kirks heavy scissors in the snow and just dissappeared

into no where.  I am sure they will turn up in the Spring.

And probably a little rusted by then.

I love this picture of Kirk. He looks like Grizzly Adams (he said he would

trim his beard AFTER this campout.......

he promised me).

I love it here.

SO.....my men came home exhausted and barely able to move,

their muscles hurt so bad.

They stayed warm, had a great experience,

and I haven't heard that they never want to do this again

ever in their life, ever again!

Our First Official Snow Day!

We started the day just like any Thursday.

Excited because it was Co-op today.

And PJ day.

Though Victoria was the only one brave enough to wear her PJ's to co-op.

We have lots of PJ days just not outside PJ days.

Everything was going as it usually does until

Jared comes back into the house from outside with a

baffling question.

"Okay, so how am I supposed to get the trash barrels

unstuck from the ground!!!???"

"What?"

"Yeah, how am I supposed to put the trash out if I can't get it

unstuck from the ground!??"

I have to admit, we have never quite encountered this one before.

So then, I get a phone call that we need to cancel co-op today

because there is just too much snow falling.

With an 80% chance of snow all day until tomorrow afternoon

we thought it best for everyone to just stay home for the day.

Some of our families drive a little far.

I would hate for something to happen to them.

So......

we are home for the day!

Hmmmm, what can I get done!

 Victoria and Kaleb played a game of chess and
then ventured outside to play in all this Snow!

 Sammy loves the snow.

Henry just wanted to eat it.

Dummy.

He gets excited when  you run the ice machine on the fridge too.

Victoria has decided that she wants to build her own quincy like what the boys slept in.

I never heard of avalanche shovels before.

The boys used it on their trip.

Victoria loves it because it is just her size.

 It amazes me how the kids can be outside for 2 hours and not get cold.

The dogs have been in and out.

They get cold and come in to warm up in front of the portable heater

and then out they go again.

This is funny.

Kaleb is throwing snowballs for the dogs to chase.

Sam will literally go to where it plopped into the snow and

then pick up a mouthful of snow

to run with.  He pretty much eats it half way back to Kaleb with

no recollection of where the snowball went.

I don't think he even notices.

Or cares.

 Victoria built her own snow shelter with Kaleb's help.

She used the chair.

It is a little hard to see the snow piled up.

A little bright.

 You can just barely see her face under the chair with her legs sticking out to the right.

Love'n the Snow!