Scout Camp

The four older boys all went to scout camp the first week of vacation.  The older boys went on a little side camp consisting of hiking, events and spiritual lessons.  I wish I could give a more detailed account, but I only have what I can remember from the ramblings of boys when they got back.  They started off with a bang by getting lost the second day there, first day of hiking.  16 boys from our ward were lost for most of the day.  They now call themselves the Lost Boys and have some pretty great stories to tell.  Briefly, they did a lot of walking, a lot of praying, a lot of bonding and a little bit of playing.  They found a place to swim while they waited to see if any leaders came along the trail.  This proved to be fun until Stephen carelessly through a rock and hit Rhett in the head.  It bled pretty good and that freaked Rhett out.  Honorably, all the boys pitched in to take care of him.  I worried about them teasing him because he didn't handle it well, but Stephen said they were all very sweet.  Eventually they were able to find a hill with reception and one of the boys who defiantly brought his phone, called the leaders to arrange for a rescue.  They pulled into camp about 9 pm that night.  They weren't ever really scared, but said in the end it was a really great experience that taught a lot of lessons and provided for some close relationships.

Camp ended with a very tearful testimony meeting that even some of the leaders said they haven't had many more spiritual experiences than that.  All my boys participated, even Nick who didn't necessarily bare testimony, but a desire to have one.  My take on the whole situation was that these boys came back better and stronger for their time spent there.  I'm so grateful for all those that made it possible.

Rhett's wound

Dalin, being younger, stayed at base camp with the other younger scouts and worked on merit badges.  He got the award for most badges earned, ten.  He was very proud of that.  Other than not showering for a week, he had an awesome time too!

Brooklyn was away at girls camp during the same week.  I have no pictures, but she came back talking a mile a minute and sounded like she had a great time as well.  I mean, who doesn't love girls' camp??

Christmas in June

So all the kids were at scout camp and Chelsey had taken Bo and Katy for the night leaving Whitley and Me home alone.  Glade was working late.  On a sudden whim to not be normal and boring, we ventured out on a night of Christmas Spirit.  We donned our cutest snow hats, dressed all in black and gather up our finest TP.  We made a quick stop to Subway for some cookies and milk and headed toward our victims home (Whitley's boyfriend).

Once there we placed our "Merry Christmas" sign and cookies on the doorstep and proceed to give them a taste of snow.  They had the perfect yard for it too!  After our work was done, I went to the getaway car while Whitley did the dirty work of ringing the doorbell and running to meet me.  We made a clean getaway and came home to post our doings on FB.  Yes, we gave away our secret (which wasn't really a secret) and promptly went to bed.  We need sleep around here.  Fun was had by all, including his nieces and nephews who got the pleasure of helping to clean it up the next day.  One of them could not understand why if you liked someone you would ever do something like this!

Brooklyn got Braces

After a very long wait, about a year, we finally made the appointment and got Brooklyn some braces.  She was beyond excited.  I bought them at an auction last spring but didn't want to put them on her till she was a better brusher.  She's still not great but time is ticking so we did it.  Her excitement only lasted about a day.. when she could no longer bite or chew anything because her mouth hurt so bad.  So far she has taken great care of them, but we'll see if that continues.  Isn't she cute?!

Baby Chicks

We (meaning the hens) finally hatched baby chicks!!  We only kept the rooster in hopes that we could repopulate our supply of chickens naturally.  Well we had 3 hens sitting on eggs but not much was happening.  We were about to give up when finally two eggs (out of 12) hatched.  As soon as babies hatch, the mama desserts the rest of the eggs.  Well one egg was hatching so we took it to where the mama was and she pulled it under her and sat on it.  Within a couple of hours, it hatched, but didn't live.

Two days later one more baby hatched (out of 17).  This was the batch of eggs that two chickens were sitting on.  Neither would give it up so they sat together, sometimes on top of each other.  Once the baby hatched, they both left the nest to care for her.  We kinda joke about our alternative lifestyle hens, two moms and a baby.  Anyway, I went to clear out the rest of the eggs and when I got the basket inside, I heard a little "cheap" coming from the basket.  One egg was hatching and you could hear the cheaping inside.  We took that egg back to the mamas and it eventually hatched.  But again, it didn't make it.  So now we have 3 little baby chicks wandering around.

It's super cute to watch the hens with their babies.  They seem to be doing fine and hopefully will grow up to give me more eggs and maybe more chicks.  It has been a really neat experience to watch it all happen. ♥

My Blog's not Broken

Here I am again wishing I wanted to blog and had lots of fun stories to share... but I don't.  Summer is in full swing and I'm ready for school to start, well not exactly.  On purpose, the whole family does the summer play at the theater.  Our performances are in a week so when June begins, so does practically every night rehearsals.  That means that by 4 pm our day is basically over.  At home anyways.  We eat dinner or pick some up and go to the theater till 9 pm.  This makes our summer fly by.  It also makes it hectic, but summer flying by is totally worth it.  Now, it also means I barely cook and we eat way too much fast food as well.  My kids are definitely not complaining about that though.  With all that said, I'm just going to give a quick run down of what life is like here for us.  A summer day looks mostly like this:

- wake up late cuz we were up late at rehearsal
-kids have to do chores listed on white board before they can watch tv or play wii
-wii or tv cannot come on before 10 am regardless
-MWF Brooklyn and I go to church for workouts
-Thursdays are summer movie day and usually a stop at Goodwill
-Occasional play dates or pool visits
-A lot of tv and wii and board games
-early dinner or takeout
-3 hours of rehearsal
-4th meal when we get home because now everyone is hungry and wound up
-Mom slinks into room to hit the sack before everyone else

That's pretty much our every day.  Add in some grocery shopping, church on Sunday and a date night and that's all there is.  Not a lot to blog about.  The play is done this weekend, bittersweet. But after that, we leave for 4 days over the 4th for camping, then leave a week later for a week at the beach.  5 days after getting back the first kid starts school with the rest a week later.  See, summer flies!!

Ending with a Bang... or Crash!

So just when I thought the insanity had ended... I made it through Friday.. no more school!!!  We were in Fountain Hills that night helping some good friends celebrate their 10th anniversary when I got the call.  Yes, the one I have been anticipating for about 5 years now.  The one that says... "Mom, I got in an accident".  Actually I've had a few of those already, but they were little bumper things, nothing that has been too worrisome.  Until now.

Stephen was driving (I gave him 6 months, it's May 31), we aren't exactly sure what happened, but in the end he wound up hitting a curb, over correcting into oncoming traffic, over correcting the other direction and back up on to the sidewalk hitting a tree.  The damage is all on the rear passenger side.  Both tires on that side are flat, one blown.. and the back side window smashed. The bumper is a little twisted and missing the piece that covers the back corner.  At this point we are not sure if there is actual damage to the underside or anything.  He was a wreck and I felt so bad for him.  There is good news though.

He wasn't hurt.  No other vehicles were involved and it's truly miraculous that our huge van made it through two spaces between a whole row of trees lining the street.  There are big trees on the side of the sidewalk by the road and then little trees on the other side of the sidewalk.  He made it though the big trees, hit a little tree (smashed the window) and then back through big trees to get back on the road.  The fact that no other cars or pedestrians were involved is such a blessing because it could have been really bad.

I'm getting really good at not worrying about my things, but it's still frustrating and costly.  Being without a van for us is a real handicap.  But I love him, and I'm sorry for him for how scary that must have been.  Though we will probably never know exactly what happened or what the true cause was, hopefully lessons will be learned and love will be felt.  This is not eternal,  just inconvenient