WHAT KIND OF MOTHER.....

It was Wednesday night, Scouts was over, and the kids were in the van waiting, waiting, okay, waiting on me, because I always seem to find someone I just HAVE TO talk to. I finally get out to the van and tease, "Geesh, you guys, here you are, I've been scouring the church for you, it's way past time to go, so let's go". I don't think they find that funny anymore ;) As we leave I realize I have no gas, so we have to go a different direction. I turned onto Highway 79, which tends to be a fairly busy road, and after a minute I hear a "thump, thump". James asked Jacob if he remembered to take his Webelos book off the roof of the van. Holy Cow, you've got to be kidding me, I can't tell you how many Cub Scout books I've bought over the years! I don't think I hid my annoyance very well, poor Jake. A half mile later I pulled into the gas station and James, Matthew, and Jacob jumped out and started running toward the road. Here it is, almost 9:00 at night, pitch black and 3 of my boys are running down a highway. I figured they wouldn't get very far and I'd grab them as soon as I filled up. But, a full size van holds a lot of gas. As we pulled out Joey and Rachael were very passionate about finding their big brothers. I was surprised at how far they were able to travel. I pulled into the suicide lane and talked to them through my open window as they continued to search the road. It wasn't too much longer before Matthew spotted the book and rescued it from the oncoming traffic. The book is miraculously still in one piece, albeit, quite dirty. So, I ask, What kind of mother allows her children to walk the highway at night?!?!? Apparently, this kind of mother.

My Hero

A couple of weeks ago the kids and I were out by the barns when I accidentally disturbed a nest of hornets. I don't know how it happened, I'd been walking around the area for at least an hour, but I guess I took a wrong step. Several hornets started attacking me. Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing my usual mucky boots, but rather sandals. Thankfully, I did have on long pants. The hornets attacked the tops of my feet, my hands and my arms. They weren't able to get through my clothes. As I ran into the house the kids were brushing them off my back as I flicked them from my pants and shirt front. I was stung 7 or 8 times and the areas ended up getting quite swollen. The next day I was pretty sick and didn't feel well for 2 or 3 days. The swelling went down fairly quickly, but then the itching began!!! Trent was still out of the country, and I was very nervous about going out in search of the nest. It needed to be taken care of, I certainly didn't want the kids getting stung or myself again for that matter. We all avoided the area as much as possible, and everyone was fine.
Then, a week or so after the incident my sweetie finally came home (2 months feels like FOREVER!!!). He found those culprits that harmed his wife and suited up. Here it is the end of the summer (85 degrees and super humid), and he's putting on heavy pants, his thick army coat, boots and a hat. He armed himself with wasp killer and headed out for battle. The enemy is no longer a threat, thanks to MY Hero!
*insert picture of white knight in shining armor* ;)
It's good to have Trent home, thanks Honey

Dahlke Beach

(Kaitlyn 8, Rachael 2, Jacob 10, Trent - old)

We were able to spend most of June at Grandma and Grandpa Dahlke's house. I loved being able to catch up and spend time with all the amazing family. The kids have lots of cousins they haven't seen for a few years and it was great for them to be able to spend time together.

(Joey 7, Kaitlin 7)

Joey has really taken off with swimming this summer. It helped that Grandma has an awesome pool right outside her back door. The kids swim at least 3 times a day.

Rachael discovered the joys of the pool as well as goggles :)

(Emily 6, Ashley 2, Rachael 2, Kaitlin 7)

We were even able to invite my brother, Mark and his girls over for a visit and a swim.

Uncle Garth

Trent has an eccentric uncle that lives in the high desert, near Palm Springs. When we are out visiting our California family, making the trip to see Uncle Garth is one of our favorite things to do.

Garth is extremely talented and has truly made his patch of desert blossom like a rose. We love climbing on the rocks and discovering the wildlife. This time the older kids and their cousins were allowed to go off on their own. They explored caves, searched for Indian drawings, and challenged one another to see who was the best climber.

Several years ago Garth made the "magnet pond". He collected iron filings and put them into a pit. Over the years many magnets have been brought in and we all love to make unique creations with the filings and magnets.

Joey and his best cousin friend, Ben spent a lot of time feeding the fish their peanut butter sandwiches and trying to catch glimpses of the frogs.

A few weeks after school let out the Dahlke family hit the road. We had many places to see and we decided to begin with my Grandma Gray. We drove North to Nebraska (about 14 hours) and stayed the night in a hotel. The next day we headed west through Wyoming and by that night we were in Salt Lake City, UT and at Grandma's house. Within 10 minutes of arriving, my Boy Scouts had a couple of tents set up in the back yard, very impressive! Our plan was to stay in Salt Lake for several days, but had received a phone call during the drive informing us that Trent's Grandma Bowles had passed away. Therefore, we needed cut our visit short in order to get to California for the funeral. It's alway fun to visit with family. I love being able to take my kids places that I used to visit with my family when I was young. Grandma has a little park behind her house that I used to love to play in. Now my kids enjoy spending time in the same park.

My Grandma is a neat lady and I'm so glad my kids are able to get to know her. The Sunday before we left we had a big family barbeque so we could visit with much of my extended family. We live far away, but I'm grateful we get to see everyone at least a few times a decade;)

Horsemanship

(Troop 560 enjoying some down time at the campsite, they also found a water hole in which to swim as well as fish...What a great camp out!)

For years our Scouting program was broken. Recently we've had some amazing men called to be Scout Masters, and they've helped fix many of the problems. Our newest Scoutmaster makes sure the boys have plenty of camp outs to attend and merit badges to work on. Our latest merit badge has been horsemanship. To finish it up the boys went on a camp out to a members home who has several horses. My boys were not too thrilled about going (anything that pulls them away from video games is frowned upon), but once there, they all had a great time.

(Matthew, 13 years old)
All three of them learned how to ride, control (sort of), and generally care for a horse.

(James - 16 years, Bryan - 17 years)

Trent told me that once the basic lessons were over the boys were allowed to saddle up and ride at their leisure. James took advantage of this opportunity and rode for quite a while. He also made sure to properly unsaddle the horse and rub it down. Good job boys, and thank you Brother Collier for your horses, knowledge, and patience with a bunch of teenage boys!!!

Ahhhh, Country life

I love living out in the country. When we lived in Loa, it was great having horses and cows for neighbors. I remember one time I was talking on the phone and I looked out the window to see a flock of sheep grazing on my lawn, how cool is that!!! That never happens when we live closer to the city. Occasionally, I might see a group of squirrels, but it's just not the same as a flock of sheep. Friday I was out walking the hills around my house and I saw some large objects coming down the street. As I got closer I realized they were peacocks, yes two male peacocks. I was close to the house so I ran in and got the kids. We watched them walk down the street until they disappeared. A bit later Trent and Rachael joined me as I finished up my miles for the morning. As we were chatting Trent pointed toward a neighbors house....sitting on their porch railing were the peacocks. We waited for a few minutes to see if the people would emerge, but no such luck. I REALLY wanted to catch their expressions as they opened the door and found themselves face to face with my two new friends;)

Spring storms

(Trent, Savannah, Charlotte, Rachael, Joey, Matthew, Isaac, and Jacob)

Spring in Tennessee means rain, lightning, rain, thunder, rain, tornadoes, and did I mention rain. This has been an extremely wet spring for us. Our grass/weeds are green and healthy and growing faster than we have dry days to mow. A few weeks ago a large storm came through and brought with it huge amounts of rain. At some point the accompanying wind began to move in a circular pattern and the kids in school ended up having to get into tornado safe places for several hours during the day. The afternoon buses had to run late because the school district didn't want students on the roads in the case of a 'touch down'. I decided to pick up the younger boys so they would get home before dark. While driving home I asked them how their day was. Joey complained, "I had to stand in the girls bathroom for more than an hour." Poor Joey, guess his class is assigned to the GIRLS bathroom in the case of tornadoes. Jacob was thankful his class was assigned the hallway and not the bathroom. He informed me that he hopes he doesn't get a certain teacher next year because than he would have to stand in the girl's bathroom for tornado drills, Yuck!!! When the storm finally passed we went exploring. We discovered the woods behind our house had flooded. Matthew and Jacob ran down to further investigate and quickly discovered the usually dry area now contained over 4 feet of water. As they played in our new "pool" I ran in and got Trent. He decided it was plenty deep to pull out the canoe. Once the boat was settled we called our neighbors and invited them to come play as well. They all enjoyed hours of fun and it was a good thing they took advantage, because by the next day the water was gone, in fact by that evening it was dry enough to mow our overgrown lawns/weeds, YEAH!........the boys were thrilled;P

Why were you crying?

Today I was given the opportunity to teach the 'Temple Marriage' lesson to the Young Women. Heidi (the new YW president) asked me earlier in the week, and I really enjoyed getting the lesson ready. I loved being able to wander HobbyLobby and let my creative juices flow as I reflected on what to make as a handout. By Sunday all came together and the lesson went well (thanks to lots of prayer and prep time). Of course I cried as I was able to testify about the importance and blessings of the temple. Anyway, we came home, made lunch and once done Trent and I went into our room for our Sunday afternoon nap.

Joey followed and stood at the edge of the bed talking about little things. After a minute or two I said to him, "Hey, Joey, I cried at church today". He looked at me and asked why. Rather than answer I asked him why he thinks I cried. Joey said, "Maybe because you had to do a talk, sometimes people cry in a talk". I told him, "I did cry when I gave my talk, but why do talks make some people cry?" He thought for a minute, "Maybe because they say the wrong words." We laughed and then he added, "or, maybe because they don't want to give a talk." We continued laughing, but then were able to use the teaching moment to talk about the Holy Ghost and how sometimes we can feel the spirit so strong that we might cry. Also, we talked about when the Holy Ghost might talk to us and how. The whole incident was about 5 minutes, but I sure am thankful for those small opportunities to teach my children, times when they are truly ready to listen. I do love being a mom:)

My 2 year old teenager

Yesterday Rachael was angry because I was chopping veggies and couldn't pick her up. By the time Trent came in she was into a full blown tantrum. After raising so many two year olds I can pretty much ignore anything, but Trent was having none of it. He firmly said to her, "If you can't stop, than you can just go to your room!" To my surprise she stopped, looked at him, and then turned and stomped to her room. Then, just to give us the full "teenager" affect, she slammed the door. After a couple of minutes, her door opened and our happy little girl emerged, and crawled into her Daddy's lap. They sat at the table snuggling until I finished. It was funny and cute.... this time, but I'm not sure how cute the stomping and slamming will be in 10 years.

What's that smell?

So... I have a two year old in the house. You would think with her being child number six I'd remember to keep things up and out of the way. Honestly, I thought I was doing a pretty good job. I have a door knob blocker on the bathroom and try to keep all the sharp and poisonous stuff out of sight and out of reach. Rachael's latest passion is cool, creamy, gooey stuff. Doesn't matter if it's lotion, butter (which she loves to eat and feed to the dog, by the way), medicine (we've gone through several tubes of Neosporin in the last few weeks), glue (we have to really watch where we keep glue sticks, she thinks they are chapstick) or toothpaste. The first time it's kind of funny, but once the numbers get into the double digits, it sort of stops being funny and I'm tired of cleaning it all up. A few nights ago she walked into the kitchen completely covered in toothpaste. I did snicker, but I think Trent thought it was a sigh of exasperation. He grabbed her and volunteered to clean it all up. I was fine with that, and continued to work on the computer. The next morning we were in a bit of rush and as I was brushing my hair and heating up my flat iron, I was telling Rachael to find her shoes. Still distracted, I grabbed the flat iron and started straightening my bangs.... I immediately heard a strange sizzle sound and then smelled something burning. I quickly pulled the iron away from my hair and took a closer look. I guess Trent didn't see the big globs of toothpaste all down the side of my straightener. I touched my hair and, yep it was nice and crispy, but at least I smelled minty fresh.

Opposition in all things

Life has been a little stressful... About 10 days ago I woke up to a horrible smell coming from somewhere in the house. It smelled like the geysers at Yellowstone, if you know what I mean. As soon as I thought they'd be open, I called Sewer Bee. The guy was able to come out in the afternoon and said our septic was full, so he pumped it ($200), but that really didn't explain the smell. He recommended we call a plumber... not something I wanted to hear. I called the one that was recommended and he was able to come the next day. He looked up at the pipes for a long time. He asked several questions, like if we had any drainage issues, which we do. He figured out all our drainage issues and then fixed the smell!!! He also replaced a pipe coming from the kitchen (it wasn't giving us any problems, but he said the T-joint was upside-down and eventually it would cause problems. He didn't write it down or anything, I think it just bugged him and he had to get it out of there) He also fixed the pipes under the kitchen sink so they would stop leaking. ($400)
I was starting to feel like everything was back to normal when I went out to check on our newly acquired lambs. The one that had been the most frisky was now hobbling all over the place and was very thin. I called Trent and then my friend Heidi. Heidi brought some of her sheep supplies and we fed it a bottle and forced some medicine down its throat. After a few times of doing this and a few days rest it was much better.
I'm not used to so much drama and was so glad to relax a bit. Friday night Maddie came over, she's the other Webelos leader. We were planning out the next few months when I noticed how hot the house was. The ac was running, but it wasn't blowing cool air. I turned the unit off and planned to call Budget on Monday morning. Monday morning the bus took the boys to school and I planned to feed the animals before I called Budget. I noticed the little white lamb wasn't looking well. I picked her up, and she was almost dead! I brought her out to the back of the truck and looked her over. Her stomach was blown up like a balloon and she was quiet and limp, not a good sign. I called Trent and then ran and got the sheep book. I made a mixture the book suggested to help with the bloating. Trent called several people and finally we decided to have her checked out by the vet. I know we're raising them for food, but we decided it would be good to talk to a vet about our little flock, get her advice on what we can do to possibly help this one and keep the rest of them healthy. It was a good call. She thought the sheep was too far gone, but gave us some things we could try. She also gave us advice on what immunizations to administer and what we could do with the rest of them. The little guy actually pulled through. When I called the office to thank the vet, she was shocked it had survived. We did all the things she suggested for the rest of the lambs as well and all seem to be healthy, Yeah!!!
After this crisis was over I called the ac guys. The Budget people who installed the system 3 years ago told us it was still under warranty,... the parts, that is. He told us it would be $950 in labor to repair the system! What!?!... are you serious!. We paid the diagnostic fee and sent him on his way. I'd had a good experience with Hiller so I called them again. Nathan, from Hiller, was able to fix the problem in less than an hour and the grand total was $209, a far cry from the $1000 the other guy would have charged, what a Wiener!!!
Things seem to be going well now, Thank Goodness. I sure am glad life isn't like this all the time. We're told there is an opposition in all things, I guess I needed a lesson in appreciation for the good things in my life:)

"Mack"

Rachael loves all her brothers, but she absolutely ADORES Matthew. She has always called him "Maff-yew", but lately her usual name for him has turned into "Mack". I think it is very cute, but Matthew keeps trying to teach her to say MaTT rather than the less favorable MaCK. Over and over he'll say "MaTT", then she replies "MaCK".

Earlier this week she was playing in the back of the house when the bus pulled up and a few seconds later the door opened. She joyfully screamed ,"MACK", and then ran to the door to jump into his arms. Matthew is very good to Rachael and I can understand why she adores her kind, gentle, even tempered big brother.

Spring Break

(Jacob and his friend Justin)
Spring Break was more than a week ago, but because it takes so long to upload pictures and then the writing (I have a dial-up connection) it's taken me forever to find the necessary time to sit down and write about it. Anyway, the kids had 5 days off and Trent was able to take 3 of those days off himself.
If it were up to the boys they would spend their entire week sitting in front of video games and the computer. The weather was a bit crazy, one day it would be gorgeous outside and then the very next we'd be on the alert for tornadoes. On one of the nice days we took advantage and went to a park on Post.

(James and Matthew enjoyed climbing in the trees. Once on the ground a group of them found fallen limbs and a 'sword' fight ensued)
Originally, it was going to be just the little ones and myself, but after all the sitting around I informed the rest of my brood we'd all be going. I told them we'd have a picnic and then they could go fishing. Of course, most of them grumbled and complained, but they did help with the food and found all the fishing equipment. Once at the park the majority of them took off to find the lake. James stayed behind and played with Rachael. They fed the ducks in the stream and then he pushed her in the swings. When everyone returned we ate, and then some fished while others explored the very large and inviting trees. (My boys love the movie 'Swiss Family Robinson'... can you guess why?)

During some of the other days Trent decided it was time to put everyone to work. We have a pole that carries electricity to the barn, and whenever the wind blows it takes the pole with it. So, to stop this from happening, Trent made a cage and needed it filled with rocks. Ah, rock collecting, sounds like a perfect activity for sedentary boys, and a busy little girl. While they were doing that, Trent kept working on his duck pen.

We bought some Mandarin Ducks several months ago and Trent has been building a pen for them. Working full time, being a dad and a husband affords him little time to actually work on the pen. These few days he took off allowed him the time he needed to finally complete it!!! He did an amazing job, the ducks have places to nest, swim and get out of the sun or storms. Rachael and I are outside quite a bit, watching the ducks, and they really love their new home.

(Until the pen was complete the ducks were in the chicken coop with the chickens)

Joey's 7th Birthday

When I was growing up, it was a tradition that about a month before our birthdays my mom would have us look through "The Cut-Up Cake Book". We would then decide which cake we wanted her to make to celebrate the upcoming day. Of course, it was never an easy decision and I'm sure all of us changed our minds many times within that month.

When I became a mom, I was given a copy of "The Cake Book" to continue the tradition. Over the years I've accumulated several different books and my kids love to look through them. This year Joey picked Firecrackers. I find this pattern a bit boring and tried to talk him into a more exciting one, but he stuck with his original choice. So, here is a picture of the firecrackers I made for Joey's 7th birthday. (Not very exciting, but quite tasty.)
Another tradition we've established is to take the birthday child out of school at lunch time and take him to lunch. Rather than return to school, we do some shopping for a gift or just go home (so they can play with said gift before the rest of the brothers get home). This year, Joey's birthday fell during Spring Break, so we let him pick a friend to go with him to his choice of restaurant. Joey picked his best school friend, Noah. As you can probably tell, they chose to go to Chuck E. Cheese. Only Joey, Noah and I went, and the boys had a wonderful time. I had a coupon for a good deal on over 100 tokens and since it was just the two of them splitting the tokens they were able to play for a couple of hours!

After eating and playing, we made our way to Toys R Us. Joey loves to play board games and so the plan was to let him pick out a game and that would be his present from Trent and I. After going through all the games (twice) it was time to use the restroom. On the way back to the game aisle we passed the Fisher Price Imagination toys. Joey saw this (see pic) collection and asked if he could have it for his birthday. This from a boy who told me a few months ago, "You can give away all my toys because I'm too big to play with them." Heck, it was his birthday, so that's what he got. It was a bit pricey so I told him it would be from us and his grandparents (I used the money his grandparents sent to pay for the set additions) Once home, the kids had a blast setting it up and playing for a while. Then they went outside to play swords and explore the woods.
All in all I think it was a very nice 7th birthday.
(I still can't believe my little boy is 7 years old!)

It Was Bound to Happen

Rachael (2 years), Joey (7 years), Matthew (13 years)
After years of Poke Mon, Transformers, Knights and Dragons it has been so much fun to have baby dolls and 'pretties' (necklaces, bracelets and tiaras) around the house. Rachael loves her babies and I love when she makes her brothers hug and rock them.
But..., one girl surrounded by 5 boys, I suppose it was inevitable. The other day I walked into Rachael's room and I found her playing dinosaurs with her brothers, Noooo! I know, I know, there's no such thing as boy and girl toys... Whatever!
I guess it's okay for her to play with their old toys, but I still better be able to play babies and dress-up with my long awaited GIRL.

Hibernating Bears

Sunday, after church, Joey came into our room and announced that he was bored. As anyone knows; when one comes home from church, one eats lunch and then takes a nap. Joey said he's too old for a nap and climbed up next to Trent and tried to convince him to play a game or something. Trent told him he's got a great game, Joey stopped him and said, rather loudly, "Not hibernating bears!" (Guess he's pulled that one a few too many times) They compromised and played, 'Let's see who can keep their eyes closed the longest'. Apparently I lost, since I'm the one who took the picture.

As a side note: Joey slept the rest of the day, woke up to use the bathroom and then slept until 7:00 the next morning. I'm guessing our little "hibernating cub" is on a growth spurt.

Where is the egg?

I'm sure that Rachael is actually "Supergirl". In the time it took me to answer the telephone she poured a half gallon of milk all over the kitchen floor. She must have super speed or something. Perhaps I should have her race a train or a bullet:)

Earlier today while putting away the chickens and collecting eggs I was reminded of a similar situation on Monday. We were doing the same thing and usually Rachael likes to carry the eggs into the house and put them into the cartons in fridge. This time she handed me one and ordered me into the house to put it away. I thought she was right behind me, but I guess she got sidetracked and never made it inside. When I found her I didn't see the egg. I figured she must have thrown it down the hill into the woods or something, I really didn't think much about it. The next morning I was trying to find something in my purse, and then the mystery of the disappearing egg was solved. I must have left my purse in the car the day before, because nestled between a brush and a diaper was the egg. Thank goodness it was still in tact. As I looked further I found a whole bunch of partially chewed gum all over the rest of the things in my purse. I'm thinking she wanted the egg to keep the gum company. I chucked the egg into the woods and then when Trent saw me trying to clean all the gum off of everything he had quite a laugh. He's lucky I'd already gotten rid of the egg or he may have had it thrown at him.

You'll have to excuse my bragging

I'm going to take a minute to brag about my oldest, Bryan. Bryan is a very bright boy and excels in most things he does (because he works his fanny off), but he does not, I repeat, does not like sports. Anyway, this is the time of year for the annual stake basketball tournament. Normally, he avoids it like the plague. But, this last weekend Trent and I were out of town and the boys stayed at friends houses. Bryan's friend loves basketball and so Bryan felt obligated to go to the tournament. Saturday Trent and I got home and I took James and a few of his friends to the stake center that evening for a dance. I hadn't seen Bryan yet (he just stayed with his friend all of Saturday). I walked into the stake center and a boy hurries over to me and tells me, "Bryan was on fire!" Then I see the bishop and he basically says the same thing. I hear this several times and finally get the story from my son. He got roped into playing and ended up making several 3 pointers, yes, I said 3 pointers, not just baskets (although he made a few 2 point baskets as well)! He was exhausted and hurting from all the sprinting up and down the court, but just beaming with pride at his accomplishment. It's always so fun to see my kids succeed. Good job Bryan:)

Mmmmm, Peach Jam

Last night I was toasting a piece of sour dough bread, and while I was anxiously awaiting my treat (I love sour dough) I decided to clean up a little spill by the sink. I guess when Bryan was doing the dishes earlier he didn't notice he'd knocked over the dish soap. Finally, my toast was done and I slathered it with real butter and peach jam, yummy. I took a bite as I walked to the table and then noticed I'd gotten some jam on my finger. I licked my finger and... gagged. I guess the dish cloth didn't get all the soap, a big glob of it made its way to my finger. I ran to the sink spitting out soap and then repeatedly washed out my mouth. Unfortunately, dish soap leaves a lingering, very distinct aftertaste. I tried to finish up my snack, but it just wasn't the same. Thankfully, I'd snuck a bite before I'd sat down.

I must admit I haven't eaten soap in years, but my kids do get that lovely privilege every once in a while. If I've had it with talking back, being rude, etc. then BAM, it's time to eat some soap. I think if I ever received that as a punishment I'd clean up my act (ha,ha get it). Yet, I have a few boys who have probably consumed enough soap to wash several sinks of dishes. Perhaps soap is an acquired taste, it's gross the first or second time and then it becomes desirable to the pallet. I'll have to ask my kids, I don't think it's a taste I want to acquire.

Middle College Acceptance

(James at Christmas 2008, the most recent picture I had)

At the beginning of this school year a new type of High School was introduced, the Middle College. They pulled students from all over the district and put them on the local college campus. The students take high school classes at a building on the college campus, but they also take college courses (which are paid for with scholarships and grants, we don't even have to buy the books!!!). Bryan was accepted into this program last year and absolutely loves it. He's taking the classes he needs as a junior in High School, but is also taking Anatomy (lecture and lab) through the college. He has to work his fanny off, but he thinks it's totally worth it. There are less than 200 students and if there are any problems the student will immediately be sent back to his High School of origin. I'm guessing the teachers are exstatic not having to deal with discipline problems. Anyway, James applied for this next school year, and has received his letter of acceptance to the Middle College. He is excited to be leaving the traditional High School and experiencing the freedom this school affords. We're hoping he realizes it will be hard work, but if he wants to do well we know that won't be a problem.

There are several things I like about this program: The low student teacher ration, no discipline problems, Every semester each student is expected to do 18 hours of service in the community (Bryan has been working with the Red Cross, that will look great on a college application), they are introduced to a College environment with lots of supervision and help, the students are expected to do well on their college entrance exams, and the school offers prep classes.

Why are you bringing a baby doll to school?

In our home, the kids are expected to do their homework right after dinner. Occasionally, when I'd sit down with Joey and go through his backpack we'd find that he'd forgotten his reading book. Without this book he can't do a good portion of his homework. To help him stop "forgetting" I had to implement a rule of him showing me the inside of his backpack as soon as he walked in the door. If he didn't have his book, then he would get no computer or television privileges (by the way, he has only forgotten once since his day of "nothing to do" and he realized I was serious). A few weeks ago he came in the door and gave me his backpack. I looked inside and this is what I saw. I started laughing and asked him why he was bringing a baby to school. He got really upset and adamantly denied putting it there. Trent said that he'd seen Rachael carrying his backpack around the night before calling it her purse. Obviously we didn't check his backpack before he left for school the next day. It wasn't until poor Joey got to school that he discovered this baby doll. I asked him if he'd shown it to the class for show-and-tell. He didn't like my teasing and turned red, but shyly admitted a few of the kids in his class had seen it. I guess it's not nice to laugh at him, but that boy, and his expressions crack me up.

Pinewood Derby

(Jake is holding his car in one hand, and his grand prize of a harmonica in the other)

We recently had our Pack's Pinewood Derby. This is the first one in three years that I have not had to be at least semi in charge of (released as Primary President last June). I am the current Webelos leader, but whenever anyone asked me any questions I plead ignorance and steered them to the Cubmasters, it was absolutely wonderful! I sat in the audience with friends and was able to just enjoy the races. Jacob and Trent had fun coming up with a very unique design, that happened to be well weighted. In fact, Jacob not only won his division, but also the entire competition. Jacob is a Webelos scout, therefore this was his last Derby, what a way to go out!

Guess I should add a side note: The front of the car is hollowed out, so Trent and Jake pushed straight pins into the two front points and then strung dental floss between them. This was so the car didn't begin 3 inches ahead of everyone else, they didn't think the other scouts would have liked that.

Our Trip to Germany

Blogging is a new thing for me, and I'm not really sure how to begin. I started by introducing our family, and now I guess I'll just talk about some of the fun things we've done, and go from there.

Trent travels quite a bit with his job, sometimes for months at a time. When he comes home from a long trip, he and I like to be able to get away for a bit. Last year my parents offered to stay with the kids so we could plan a trip. So, in September we took them up on their offer and went to Germany for 10 days. We worried how the kids would do, especially Rachael. But, we needn't have been concerned, Rachael took to her grandpa fairly quickly and loved being spoiled.

What a gorgeous view!

Our boys love knights and castles. We thought we'd see suits of armor all over the place, but that was not the case. I took this picture on our first day in country thinking it would be the first of many. We never saw another suit of armor, thank goodness I had Trent pose for this picture.

In Heidelberg we took the tram to the top of the mountain. It was a very rainy day, and fairly deserted. That was fine with us, that just meant we got special treatment at the birds of prey sanctuary. We received our own guided tour and took advantage of the opportunity to hold a hawk!

It was hard for us to leave Germany, it is a beautiful country. We also enjoyed all the wonderful foods. It's a good thing we walked for miles every day because we had a hard time passing up the amazing pastries in the many bakeries.

We left the day before Oktoberfest began. My parents were very glad to see us. They love their grandchildren, but are not used to the stressful schedule that comes with raising 6 kids. Thank you so much for taking over the role of mom and dad for a few weeks, Trent and I truly appreciate it. We love you!

18 event filled years later...

We are the proud parents of 6 wonderful children and are a very busy family of 8!

My how time flies

Long, long ago in a place called Utah two people entered the temple and made some promises...