Book Club Retreat

The Taylors - well, Blake initiated the whole thing - invited several couples to participate in an couples' book club earlier this year. Each month, one couple chooses a book and hosts the meeting. Rules: non-fiction only. We leave the kids at home (for the most part). And have FUN! Chadwick and I have been loving it.

The non-fiction genre is a step out of my fiction comfort zone - John Grisham, Nicholas Sparks, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, Smoky the Cow Horse, Jane Austen, and Stephen R. Covey have been my go-to novels or authors in the past with a sprinkling of others in between. I don't mind historical non-fiction and have enjoyed Gerald Lund books in that genre. Blake is a stickler for this particular rule....Erin and I are working on opening up our minds to this new world. Ha!

The Stewarts' know someone who owns a large cabin in McCall and they put together the idea of creating a book club retreat. Genius! The Ericksons subbed in for our normal couple, the Dunkleys and are going to be a permanent fixture in the group.

It occurred at the end of October and was a glorious weekend of chaos, games, sleep deprivation, food, games, and constant minor boo-boos. There was an outing to the lake, catching frogs, manly competition for who could throw a rock the farthest, and a run-in with some good friends from Meridian.

Love that this looks like their first baby, not their sixth. 

The Stewarts

10 adults. 18 children under the age of 11. You do the math.

The cabin was amazing. I've never stayed in a place that actually had enough beds and bathrooms for a large group. Two fridges, three ovens and two large eating tables accommodated us perfectly. The kids dove into the bunk room. This room had vaulted ceilings, 6 bunk beds plus a day bed, large floor space, a television/DVD player, a second story play area (reachable by a ladder), and...the slide. The kamikaze slide. Starting at the upper level of the playhouse 14 feet above, it shoots you down with great speed and into the wall not very far from the end of the slide. To minimize damage to the wall, there was a large, round bean bag at the bottom. Rather than landing comfortably on the bean bag, sliders normally end up between the edge of the slide and the bean bag. Smashed uncomfortably with your back in the tough edge of the slide. The kids minimized the problem by loading the gap with pillows and blankets. Our parental joy of the slide lasted about an hour; the kids slowly started coming to their parents for a kiss on a bump. To whine about a new bruise. To complain about someone banging into them. It was constant!

Amazingly, the largest injury occurred to Spencer two hours before our departure Sunday morning. The kids tried to tell him to not come down the slide, and either he didn't hear or listen, but he ran into Morgan at the bottom of the slide and she fell onto his face. Hard! Blood and instant swelling....I was so worried he had broken his nose!! The next day, things looked more normal, thank goodness.

The television was on. It was off. It was on again. And repeat.

Aside from attending the boo-boos and feeding the hunger, we really didn't see the kids much for the weekend. They played so well! And Tally won the award for the best baby. Ever.

The adults gamed hard all weekend. With the kids, with each other, there was always a game being played in one of the many corners of the house. Or shenanigans of a sort.

The big debate over whether a triathlon is a swimmers' sport or bikers' sport. Not sure who won. Mostly I love that these three tall men are cozy on the couch.

We were up way past midnight both nights playing Code Names, boys vs. girls. The girls handily won the first five rounds Friday night and the boys wanted a chance to vindicate themselves from the constant losses. Saturday brought new rounds, and the guys won! Multiple in a row. It was ridiculous. All the while, we were trying (rather unsuccessfully) to stay quiet so the kids could sleep. But after Logan finally got his team to guess the word "pasted" for the win, he went ballistic. And Cyndi turned the celebration into a meme that will forever reside in our memories. This picture basically sums up the evenings for the adults.

The Katseanas organized a talent show Saturday evening for the kids who wanted to participate and adult couples. I was so proud that all of my kiddos got up in front of everyone for a few brief moments. It's a terrifying place to be. I won't elaborate on our particular "talent," let's just say it involved breaking an apple in half with bare hands and $2 in quarters. =)

Sunday was cleaning, avoiding catastrophic collisions on the slide, and booking it back to Boise for sacrament meeting.

I love these people. They are a group that I feel safe around, where I can be myself. Where we aren't judging others or their children. Honest, hard-working, fun-loving, solid people. Whom I would call my family any day of the week. I feel uplifted when I'm with this group and so grateful to be part of their lives.

We all voted to make this an annual thing. Perhaps without children next year. 

Photo Dump

What have we been up to....

Juicing grapes. We got 25 beautiful quarts from our grapes.

I brought some concord grapes home several weeks later and in the process of juicing them, the pot overflowed and created a burnt mess on the stove. Unfortunately, the smoke "smell" leached into the beautiful purple juice and likely ruined all 15 quarts. There's no amount of anything that can cover the burnt flavor!

A random chain of events landed our little piece of the world in the middle of a photo shoot. We had 6-8 photographers, editors, and story writers on the property along with two super sweet Asian children and their parents for like 3 hours one afternoon in September. The photos were for a children's book about a day at the farm. The crew was at our neighbor's with cows and bees before our house. They rounded off the photo shoot with our chickens, sheep, dog, picking beans/grapes/apples and the red barn. I am pretty sure we will get a copy of the book. The children held up amazingly well for being told where and what to do for over 4 hours. And I laughed as most of the group showed up in straw hats, trying to look the part of country folk.

We made it up to High Valley on multiple weekends - to work on the driveway, to admire the driveway, and play by the shriveled up lake. There was not a lot of water but tons of sticky mud and cat tails! The kids had a blast making snow in the fall. Poor Darwin really wanted to be with Chadwick and the others in the canoe. He swam out to about the middle of the lake before I could get him to come back to shore. While he was paddling back to me, I asked myself if I would be willing to jump into the frigid, dirty water to save my poor, sputtering dog....luckily, he made it back without incident and I didn't have to answer.

The school carnival - hosted each year as a fundraiser, the carnival was a huge hit! Games, food trucks, and a silent auction completed the night. My kiddos were such troopers as we were there early to help set up and late to take down. We met Kenzie and her girls which added to the fun of it all. The weather was perfect and not too hot as it's been in years past. The event went smoothly and everyone seemed to have a good time. Mallorie got to try a pizza in a cone...to which she gave a thumbs up on taste. I volunteered my artistic husband to create the backdrop for the photo booth (castle/knight theme) and he went all-out. Using dot markers, he colored the dragon and castle on the garage floor. Turns out, dot markers bleed through fabric and we were left with a dragon and castle on the concrete for about a month. It was a nice welcome as we parked the car each day!

October brought cooler temperatures, general conference (What?? Two hour church rumors were real!), fallen leaves, and canning applesauce (we purchased apples from the Caldwell orchard again this year. Mallorie cried the whole way there and back because her ear was hurting, poor thing.)

A beautiful weekend camping in the Sawtooths and a cabin trip to McCall rounded out the first and last weekends of my birthday month, but those will need to be separate entries to keep this one from turning into a full-blown novel. =)

Surgery

At the beginning of September, I made a last minute trip to Albuquerque. For over a year, we've known that Mark needed jaw surgery to correct some anatomy he's dealt with since a kid. The plan has been for him to wear braces for the last year and a half to adjust what they could before going in surgically to cut and move his upper jaw forward.

The week before the surgery, Mark called to ask if I would be able to be more in touch with my mom than usual the week of the surgery as she was having some anxiety over the procedure. From what they heard and read, the recover was going to be a bit of a bear. What started as reaching out via phone turned into a full-blown discussion about how I could get myself - sans children - down there for the week to play moral support. With the help of amazing friends and some young adults who hadn't yet left for college, the children were taken care of, my ministering sister brought over a dinner for Chadwick to feed the crew, and I was off!

Not gonna lie, the trip came during a time when I was feeling particularly run-down by my life as a stay-at-home mom of three amazing, busy children. I badly needed a break and the trip was perfect. I slept on the plane the whole way to Albuquerque, had quality time with my dad over a quiet dinner, and chatted with Mark until my mom returned from choir rehearsal. Surgery was Wednesday morning and we got there on time.

The staff were nice and professional and check-in went smoothly. Mom and I expected the procedure to be about 3 hours, so after Mark was wheeled back to surgical prep, we went for a walk in the glorious (if slightly hot) sunshine outside, wandered around the hospital corridors, and had a snack in the cafeteria. It's worth noting that this was the same cafeteria in which my mom and Bop-Bop spent many hours eating/drinking while Nana was having various procedures done over the years. Their favorite dish to pretend to love? Meatloaf.

It was a pleasant surprise to see the surgeon head out to the waiting room to let us know that everything was done, all went smoothly, and he was headed to recovery. I was impressed that the actual surgeon, not a nurse, did the post-op debriefing. Seemed like a nice guy. I went home for a while and let Mom be with Mark in the immediate post-op hours. I took a nap in the quiet of their house and it was glorious. Visiting hours were over at 8:00 and we went to Garduno's for dinner. Mom admitted to being extremely nervous about the whole ordeal prior to the actual day, mostly because the last two times she had been at a hospital was with her parents, and they both passed away soon after said visit. We were able to have some really good discussions and catch up during the time at the hospital, her and I, for which I am grateful.

Recovery turned out to be uneventful and rather speedy for Mark. He never developed any of the predicted bruising, had minimal swelling, and with the exception of a headache that wouldn't go away, had very little pain. He kept the "jaw bra" full of ice on his face almost non-stop for several days and wore a mask when in the breeze of the sun room to try and prevent an allergy attack from the constant pollen (he couldn't blow his nose for 6 weeks).

His diet of clear liquids for 48 hours followed by smoothie-consistency foods was going to get old very quickly, and he started blendarizing everything from Sadie's burritos to spaghetti. Turns out, the surgeon used a new technique for Mark's procedure; the clinic staff couldn't believe how good he looked at his one-week post-op appointment.

Dinner Thursday night was with my Dad, Marilyn, Colleen and her crew, and my Aunt Jan whom I haven't seen in years. Good old Dion's hosted the event and it was nice to catch up. Friday evening was spent with Betsy and her family! I haven't had a chance to meet her husband and step-sons since their marriage and it was really nice to get to know them. She seems more content and confident than I've seen her in a while.

I flew home Saturday morning with the idea of making it back in time for book club. The weather had other plans and my flight was delayed like 6 hours from the get-go. Instead of moping, Mom and I went shopping and had lunch at Jason's Deli before my new flight. Unfortunately, we missed book club which was a huge bummer.

The week away was refreshing and the kids did great with the different schedule. I remember being very stressed out while trying to arrange for sitters prior to the trip and decided to say a quick prayer. After the silent "amen," the stress lifted off my shoulders and I was able to focus on other things. The schedule easily fell into place as if guided from Above.

It's amazing how events fall into place when they are meant to be, and for that I am grateful.

Question of the Night

Morgan reads before bed each night. Tonight, she asked, "Mom, what's an encyclopedia?" After my explanation, her reply was, "Huh. Interesting."

Now my mom wishes she had kept her set as an educational tool of how things were done "in the past."

Six Candles

Our little Bug-A-Boo turned six this month!!

I was in labor with her FOREVER the weekend she came into the world. She wound up in NICU for observation for 2 days. Chadwick went back to work the next day (he was not happy about that), leaving me to fend for myself in the hospital and make the trip every two hours to nurse our newborn. And I came home from the hospital - without Mallorie - to a very sick, little Morgan. I remember finally walking into our house, seeing Morgan with a high fever on the couch, and turning right around to head down the street to the nearest Urgent Care for an exam on my oldest. I remember thinking, "Why do people have more than one child?? Welcome to having multiple children, Julie."

Our Mallorie is a curly, golden-haired little miss with a radiant smile and contagious laugh. She loves dresses, accessories, and her friends. She's my social butterfly and good with friends. Mallorie is also my home-body. I get the best snuggles from her in the morning. Spencer is her best little friend at home. She's blossoming in her ability to read, loves artwork, and playing outside.

We had several friends over for a party and she was on Cloud 9 the whole afternoon. She chose a purse cake and unicorn decorations - the perfect combination for this sweet girl.

Happy birthday, Mallorie-J!

2018-2019

We have a third grader.

We have a kindergartner.

We have a preschooler.

And the constant feline supervisor.

Both girls were ecstatic to start school at the beginning of August. Mallorie was almost more excited to ride the bus with her sister I think, than actually attending school....almost. She put herself to bed early Sunday night to make sure she got enough sleep. And I asked her to stay IN her bed until I woke her up as I had visions of her coming into my room at 5:30 ready to go for the day. While adjusting well, Mallorie is also tired! Several afternoons a week she will put herself to bed for a much needed nap. She likes her teacher, is making friends on the playground and bus, and is adjusting well overall.

Morgan is thriving in third grade. She came home with an academic planner that we are parents are to sign each evening. It has notes about upcoming events, their spelling words for the week, etc. The organizer in her was so thrilled! New this year was testing into the gifted/talented program. One day a week, she meets with the GT teachers with other third graders from several schools. Right now, they are finishing up a segment on Picasso and use of colors. They put together a PowerPoint presentation for their classmates and are working on learning the basics of Excel. She's going to be teaching me things in those programs pretty soon!

Poor Spencer has struggled with the new schedule. His constant playmate, Mallorie, is gone in the mornings. He got a head cold, which always makes him edgy. And he's three, which I think causes the rest of the tantrums/attitude/tears that I see on a regular basis. He cried when I left him at preschool the first morning! After the first 30 minutes of sadness, the teacher said he did great and Day 2 was much improved (perhaps because I wasn't the one dropping him off?). He and I have yet to find a good groove, but we are trying.

Reading books, PTA, music class, enjoying the cooler days of late summer. Life is good!