Camping!!

All of my very dirty family, aren't they beautiful!

Last night we went camping! It was the first time we have gone camping with eight. We had so much fun.  We are all wiped out now ;) but it was worth it. 

Scouting out our site

Clearing a place for our new tent

Setting it up with helpers

Poor Hadassah was relegated to the pack and play to keep her close while we were preoccupied setting up.

                            As was anyone else who needed it ;)

Our new tent that sleeps 10.  We were very pleased with it and even had extra room.  It is a Coleman Weathermaster 10. 

Trying out the tent

We were also able to use our stove for the first time.  We bought this stove for emergency preparedness.  It can use three different kinds of fuel.  Stephen was thrilled with it.  Anyone out there who is into preparedness  - here is the link Volcano 2

Hadassah was in love with the nature.  She kept bringing me leaves and sticks with a look of awe.  Then when we went on a hike, she rode in a pack on Stephen's back.  She would suddenly bubble over into giggles for no reason but sheer happiness.  Stephen said it would have made the whole trip worth it just to have her giggling in his ear the whole hike :)

Titus' version of roasting a marshmallow.  That is quite the stick.

This is what being a little boy is all about!

Stephen really thought we needed a picture of this.

Hadassah taking a drink

                                               Getting ready to go to sleep . . . .

Good morning, mama.

We actually slept rather well.  I made it without having to go potty all night :) which made me very happy.  My children were fine with braving the dark though.  What can I say, I was a sissy.

My handsome man

Camping was a great success.  We can't wait to do it again.

The Long Story Part 6

The first thing to go is always the plan . . . . . .


             The day Stephen was coming to visit I had to work.  I worked at a little resort up in the mountains, booking guests, running the little store and the little restaurant, cooking, and cleaning.  My mind was preoccupied that day with how things would go with Stephen.  I went about my work thinking through all the possibilities.  It was getting close to closing time when I saw Stephen and a friend of ours pull up in front of the office.  He was early!  I remember going out to hug him and saying hi.  Then we suddenly had a huge influx of guests.  They all wanted food and before I knew it Stephen and Matt were cooking in the kitchen while I was bustling about taking orders and filling drinks. ( Stephen - Yeah, she put me right to work.)  We were very busy for the next hour and though we were getting to see each other it was usually me telling him to put another burger on the grill :D  Remember, I hadn't seen him in months.  
               Eventually things died down and I was able to close for the day.   We got in our separate vehicles to head down the mountain road to the base.  I was the first one headed that way and because I was still a little flustered and I wanted to get back before them I was driving faster than I should have been.  The roads up there are on the narrow side and winding.  Well I came around a corner and there was a big truck coming at me and it was either hit it head on or swerve.  I swerved and the car went off a small cliff.  I remember, while being airborne, thinking, "I need to stop locking my arms, when you tense your body in an accident you get more injuries."

Then all went black.


_________________________________________________

We are taking the whole family camping and I look forward to blogging that soon.

Videos

So I am experimenting with putting videos on the blog . . bear with me :)

In one of the last posts I talked about how Titus is very independent.  Here is a video of him playing by himself :)  I am sorry it is so hard to hear him.  A little girl was really in the mood to sing when I was trying to capture him . . . .
At the beginning of the video you can hear his Iron man tell the other guy " SORRY"  and the other knight say "FORGIVE YOU" right before they punch each other again.  At least they are polite ;)


I do love near the end where he tells me the knights name is "captured". 
Well I guess I should see if uploading worked . . .

Chaos to Create

Why is it that to organize, a huge mess is made in the process? or when I am creative chaos ensues? :D
Do any other mamas out there know what I am talking about.

I had a burp cloth order to fill and we have been so busy that by the time I got to it I was feeling the push to get them done.
I did make ten of them in between cleaning the rest of the house and school.

Ahhhh, I feel much better! I am afraid I do not handle chaos well. ;)

The Long Story Part 5

      The day of my graduation dawned a beautiful sunny day with everyone hustling and bustling about.  It was late May up in the mountains.  All of the students and staff were cleaning, ironing, cooking and packing. 
      My parents came a little early because they hadn't seen me in 2 months. When we sat down to dinner I moved chairs around so Stephen and his little brother could sit with my parents, sister and I.  My parents chatted with Stephen. We all laughed and were goofy. My mom also started a food fight at our table which was not that unusual for our family.  ( Her story might differ a little bit ;). 
      After dinner we had the graduation ceremony.  I had to speak and was super nervous.  I survived, and then after the ceremony my parents headed home.  I remember talking with Stephen afterwards on the front steps in the light falling from the doorway.  Everyone else was just getting started at having fun when I went to bed but I had to work the next morning early.  Stephen offered to get up and drive me to work.  He was waiting by his car for me the next morning.  He drove me to work, gave me a hug goodbye and I told him to have a good summer.  He would be traveling to Mexico and Nepal. 

     I found out later that as my parents were driving home my mom told my dad that he had just met his future son-in-law.  Which does explain why my dad called the next day and said, "if you ever want to invite Stephen over for dinner that would be fine."  ?!  That had me befuddled for a while and was so out of character for my dad at that point.
      Less than a week later I was moving things into my new room up at the base, since I would be living there while I worked up the road.  As I passed my mail slot I saw a letter for me.  I paused and grabbed it.  When I saw the postmark I remember putting down the t.v. I was carrying and sitting in the middle of the floor while I read it.  Stephen actually wrote me, which knowing what I know now I should have been even more surprised then I was.  For the next couple months we wrote letters back and forth. When he was in country he would get my letters, send one to me and then leave country again. They were boring, friendly letters but still letters.  I have all of them.  We worked out plans for him to visit at the beginning of August and then I would go to Durango to meet his family.  At this point I was so nervous.  I was nervous about seeing him,  wondering if he was interested in a relationship beyond friendship, wondering if I was too. 
          I planned everything out ( remember I am an obsessive planner)  for when he would get there.  I had a picture in my mind of what it would be like and how I would look.  NOTHING could have been farther from what happened . . . . . . . . . .

Next - the CRASH



Silly pictures from my graduation

Kadin's Super Surprise Fruit Salad

This morning I heard a little someone busy in the kitchen. When I leaned over the railing to see what he was up to, Kadin looked up at me with a beaming smile and said, "I am making a fruit salad!"
I was a little surprised because I could see he had a lot of color in the bowl and we were running low on fruit.

Kadin's recipe (shared with his permission) :
3 bananas sliced
a handful of grapes
1 chopped red pepper
2 handfuls of chocolate chips (because when it come to chocolate more is always better)

He had made enough for everyone :)

After his first couple bites, he looked thoughtful. Then he looked at me and said, " maybe I should leave the red pepper out next time." :D

A New Day

Today was a much more peaceful school day!   Titus and the girls all played quietly while I worked on math with the boys.  Titus has been our most independent little one.  Everyday he will play by himself for hours.  He likes to play with siblings a lot too.  He is just content to be by himself.  Here he is making a "slide" for his block people.  

Isabella today was reading to me from the Mcguffy Readers and she was doing great sounding words out . . then she got distracted by the pictures and confidently "read" Walrus . .( my eyebrows shot up and I tried not to giggle ). . no, no Penguin, she said . . now I am chuckling as I say, " honey look at the word not the picture"  . . ."OH hen".
:D  It is an old fashioned black and white illustration in her defense.

It was brought to my attention by Bailey that I have deprived my children of cotton candy.  My kids don't normally eat sugar but I thought I would splurge and let them try it. 

Ironically Bailey couldn't stand it and wouldn't eat any after the first bite.  He said it tastes like paper.

Our cute little peanut after she had rubbed dinner in her hair.

I am working on the next part of Our Story and should post it tomorrow . . . hopefully.  This is when it gets good :)