Song of Solomon

Summer didn't have a Sunday School teacher today so the 2nd counselor in the bishopric suggested the class study scriptures together and he would quiz them later.

They started in Psalms, moved to Proverbs and happened upon the Song of Solomon. It was a bit shocking for the group. The five girls and the lone boy were all traumatized and decided to stick with 2nd Nephi for the rest of the hour.

Gwen's Birthday Rocket

Just over three months after her birthday, we finally set off the rocket Gwen got from Grandpa Dale and Grandma Buppie for her birthday. It took some time and instruction reading to get it set up.

Gwen and Stan filled the reservoir with water.

We took it to the south forty and Gwen started pumping it to get the pressure up.

Heather and Kelly got bored waiting, so they visited the neighbor's dog.

Rachel pitched in and helped.

Gwen tried and Rachel tried, but it took Stan's strength to set it off.

I'm dreaming of...

...lots of pomegranates!



A volunteer pomegranate bush grew from the compost Stan put out by some raspberry vines a couple of years ago and we harvested our first edible fruit last Saturday. Michael and Rachel peeled it for us. It was delicious :)

Not a Baby Anymore

This morning, while I was drying my hair, Naomi didn't want to be left alone, so she brought her project into the bathroom.

I turned around to see this...and was struck by how grown up she looked, like a kid, not a baby.

Pushing on the stapler took two hands, but she got the hang of it pretty quick.

Here is some of what she accomplished with all that effort.

Kelly has taken to...

...wearing an old pair of Rachel's glasses frames (sans lenses) around the house.

Not a Malfunction, Just a Runaway

Click on the picture to find the kid with the escaping wardrobe...

Congratulations to Steph and Matt on their new addition.

Now they have three adorable girls :) They posted some new pictures last night and I was struck again by how much I think their oldest (of course, I see Steph in her, too, and she is prettier than Matt ever was, but still) Ruby looks like her dad...


What do YOU think?

Does Ruby look like Matt?

Happy Halloween

Summer took all the pumpkin carving pictures, including the one below.

Rachel isn't really mad, she is just teasing Summer by being photographically uncooperative :)

I like the contrast between their expressions.

Michael was so excited to be a frog, I had a hard time keeping him from hopping during the picture taking.

Heather and Kelly - pioneers

Gwen - cowgirl

Michael - frog

Naomi - fairy princess

Stray...

You've heard of stray dogs...

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.

.

and Stray Cats...

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.

.

but have you ever heard of a stray CHICKEN?!?!?!?

Yep, we have adopted a stray chicken.

She just showed up in our yard a few months ago and moved in.

It happened at a fortuitous time, since we lost three chickens to what I'm guessing was the bird flu (have you ever heard a chicken hack and cough?) and so it was nice to get an addition to our little flock.

The girls christened her Snapdragon.

Stan says she is a game hen.

Here she is with Daisy and Buttercup, the extent of our poultry :)

Ruth Parker Jewelry

A friend of our family is building her jewelry making business. Lauren has impeccable taste and I love her sense of color. She does a wonderful job of combining old and new to make beautiful jewelry.

Here is link for those of you who like pretty shiny things or for those of you who might be buying Christmas presents for someone who likes pretty shiny things...


Ruth Parker Jewelry

She even has a weekly giveaway and a new one went up today (just for you Alyssa).

Ode to Gwen

This evening, Summer and Heather wrote a song about Gwen, to be sung to the melody of "For the Beauty of the Earth."

For the beauty of Gwen's hair,
For the moonbeams in her eyes,
For the rubies of her lips,
For the roses of her cheeks,
Gwen thy lovely face we praise.
Please don't stomp away in haste!

Michael is Five

Happy Birthday Michael!!!

...and, yes those are tea lights, because I was prepared as usual...

Sunday Afternoon

Not today, but on a recent Sunday afternoon, one of the girls made a cookie ice cream pie.

It was delicious.

We needed a walk after we ate it, so we went to a local park with a small lake.

We saw an egret and...

...some obese geese.

Naomi is so glad her Dad picks her up and carries her. What luxury!

Mermaid Hippopotamus

Rachel is taking a ceramics class this year in school and made this mermaid hippopotamus :)

Monsters

Kelly is getting ready for Halloween...

getting in the spirit of things...

drawing monsters!

Stuff

Rachel convinced Naomi to let her curl her a hair a couple of weeks ago for church. Too bad I didn't get an after picture...


It is nice for Michael and Naomi to have a reader at home with them during the day, especially right after we get home from the library with a new stack of unread treasures.

A few people have asked me what I am doing about my toes since I broke my back and the answer is nothing. They are going unadorned. With brace on, I can't really reach to shave my legs very well, much less paint my toes. One of the girls shaved my legs for me once (she's still traumatized by having to put shaving cream on them and won't do it again) and Stan has a couple of times, but mostly, I am going around as the wild woman of Borneo.

I have to admit, I can't get that worked up about it. On the other hand, I was very excited when I saw a doctor five weeks after the accident and was able to take the neck part of my brace off. Then, I saw another doctor a little over three weeks ago and he told me I could stop sleeping with the brace on. It has been so lovely to sleep without it!

I am slowly feeling less pain, but not nearly as quickly as I would like. This whole experience is a lesson in patience :)

Anyway, back to my toes. Stan has been keeping my feet in good shape, buffing and lotioning them, and would be willing to paint my toenails. My daughters would be kind enough to do it also (as long as it didn't involve shaving cream), but I have gratefully declined. So much of the enjoyment I get from painting my toes is the artistic part, I have been fine with putting off having decorated toes until I can experience the whole shebang. I have painted my fingernails a couple of time, but since I hate the way chipped polish looks and I used my hands for washing dishes instead of my feet (and aren't we all grateful for that) I always go for something subtle (boring!).

Trivia

Naomi is left handed.

Misery is...

...having the flu. I had a temperature of 103.1 today. I haven't had a fever that high since I was a kid. Bleh!

Prayers

This evening, I was helping Naomi say her prayers and asked her what she would like to thank Heavenly Father for. She replied after thinking about it a second or two, "Mine Jesus, and Him died."

She likes to look at pictures of the Savior. I asked her the other day if she remembered being in heaven before she was born and if she remembered Heavenly Father and Jesus. "Yes, "she said. I asked her what they told her and she answered, matter of factually, something that sounded like, "They get rowbeetoo."

I wish I knew what she meant :)

Ends & Odds

Rachel is on the frosh/soph volleyball team at her high school. Here she is in her uniform just after hitting the ball during their first scrimmage against another school.

We saw this car in the grocery store parking lot and just happened to have the camera. The driver slowed down to let me get a picture. I imagine he gets that a lot. Notice the suitcases on top and the mannequins in the backseat.

Today, we went on our annual library reading program sponsored local amusement park trip. Fun, fun fun!