Christopher

Christopher with his newest lego creation. I think he got help from a brother or two putting it together. He sure enjoys playing with it though.

My baby lost his first tooth!

Nephi went to bed last night. Never a single word about a loose tooth. Ever. He woke up this morning and shyly comes out with his tooth in his hand. All we can gather is that he pulled it out in the middle of the night. So Michael of course gave Nephi the discourse on the tooth fairy and to put his tooth in a cup and go back to bed right away so the tooth fairy would come. I quelched that little myth and told Nephi the tooth fairy wouldn't come until he went to bed tonight. I love childhood tales of tooth fairies and the like! He had to pull down his lip a lot so I could get a decent picture! This is THE last time there will be a first tooth lost in our family. I am sad.

26 July 2008 - Donovan returns!

Donovan came home from his week long boy scout campout. He had a blast. I am so glad he has awesome scout leaders. He earned the Wilderness Survival badge, Rifle, they are finishing up Nature and Geology. Certainly very exciting stuff! For the Wilderness Survival his scoutmaster gave each boy a tarp, sleeping bag, blanket, pillow, jacket and beenie hat. They had to find their own little camping spot in a designated area and sleep there overnight. I will say those boys are brave! I wouldn't want to do that. They were in Eastern Oregon and there were snakes. I will post pictures when I get Donovan's film developed. I am glad he is home. Our family is complete once again. I am glad he had fun.

25 July 2008

Our ward had a Pioneer Day celebration/potluck this evening. In case you're reading this and wonder what the heck I am talking about....I will explain. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints celebrates Pioneer Day every July 24th. It's when we remember the pioneers who trekked across the plains and ended in Salt Lake City, Utah. We remember their hardships, why they came west, what we can learn from our ancestors and how we can be pioneers today in our own families.

After the potluck we were outside having a watermelon eating contest. The men were up first. Then my camera disappointedly (is that a word?) died. No warning. The lens part just wouldn't shut. So here are the guys....
Here they are getting ready! Russell is third on the left. He "got" to participate since he is the Bishop.
The race is on! I wonder who will be first....
Russell thought he was being smart by breaking his watermelon in half. Smaller pieces + bigger bites = victory. Right?
Wrong! Mike Foote was done in just a matter of seconds! He scarfed down his watermelon amazingly fast. Good job guys!

That time of year again...

Every where I turn, it's time for kids and parents to think about the fall and heading back to school. I am happy to say - I bought ALL of their school supplies/clothes thus far on sale! School supplies are done. So are clothes. I just need a really good shoe sale now. The older boys wear men's sizes now. Sheesh! When did that happen? I am looking forward to school starting though. This year ALL kids are gone. Nephi for just 1/2 day though. I think the school does that to break parents in for when their kids are gone all day. :)

Blogging

I'm tired of having to log into my own blog EVERY time I want to use it. I am making it un- private. As you will find out for yourselves! :) Hopefully I won't get anymore "weird" postings that freak me out.

A quilt for our family - for IF we ever go camping :)

I love denim. Especially old denim jeans/overalls the kids/Russell/me have outgrown/displaced the knees, etc. I have been saving them since the boys were little. I didn't realize it I was such a packrat until I found all these tiny pockets. :) I am so glad I saved them though - I guess this could be called a memory quilt. I think of all the "remember whens" when I see certain overall pockets. The material I got from my mother-in-law. I cut various colors (mostly reds and blues) into 1 1/2, 2, 2 1/2 , 3 and 4 inch squares with pinking shears. I sewed them on the non-pocket squares for color. Russell loves this quilt. He can't have it. I don't want to share. It will be warm. The quilt itself probably weighs close to 5 lbs. I have a hard time lifting and maneuvering it. Yep - it will be warm alright.

Speaking of Cub Scouts....

Next year's Day Camp theme is Western. I am the Program Director and got to thinking. In the old western towns people really went out of their way to help others. If they didn't - neither would survive for long. At day camp next year - one of our stations will be quilt tying. I have 2 tops mostly done - need to add borders still. Just thought I would post what I've done so far. I only need to do 4 more tops now!


The boys will present these quilts they tied to a local sherriff who will then use them specifically when they have accidents involving a child. The child is the recipient of the quilt. I thought this would be a great idea to get these younger boys to think about others besides themselves.

Pack Meeting is tonight!

I am so excited for pack meeting tonight! My little cub scouts have been working so hard. One of my Bears has earned his Bear badge and our brand new Wolf will earn his Bobcat. Christopher has earned his Outdoorsman activity pin and will be awarded the Geology activity pin and belt loop he previously earned. Seven of our scouts will also receive BB Gun and Archery belt loops from earning them at Day Camp last month. These seven will also receive the Day Camp segment to have sewn on their uniforms. Leave No Trace has also been earned by 8 of our boys. What a busy month!

Our garden is finally growing!

SE corner. Silly me - I should have put what is growing! Thanks Ellie for asking! In the front is pumpkin and a couple other plants that I don't remember. Just behind that is nasturniums and a couple other things. Nephi and I made milk jug planters at cub scouts in May with a variety of seeds - and they are now in the garden. :) Off to the right and up is our tiny zucchini. They've been in the ground since the end of May and are now starting to take off. It's been so cold here. Going to the left is our two rows of tomatoes with carrots growing inbetween.
SW corner. The corner contains our lettuce variety and onions. Just on the west side of the tomato/carrot rows is eggplant. There are more tomatoes directly NE of the lettuce. Just above the lettuce/onions is our cucumbers.
NW corner. Corn and green beans. Mostly beans. The corn didn't all come up. And I just re-planted a couple rows of green beans. There should be plenty of time for them to do their thing.
NE corner. Corn. Good tasty corn. I can hardly wait!
As much of the garden as would fit in the camera. The tiger lilies got in the way. :)

22 July 2008 - Today is our 14th Anniversary

Russell's favorite engagement picture.
My favorite engagement picture.
We were married in the Portland Oregon Temple.

In the past fourteen years...
I have spent 15 months plus 1 weekend a month/2 weeks a year as a single parent.
I have made approximately 15,330 meals over the past 14 years.
There have been thousands of hugs and kisses good morning and good night.
Hundreds if not more - stories read almost every night.
We expanded our home by 8 very energetic feet.
We've had lots of diapers to change and laundry to wash.
We have moved from Oregon to Utah to Arizona and back to Oregon.
We have always had what we needed.
We've made many friends in each of the places we've lived.
We feel so blessed with what we have and who we have to share life with.

Monday 21 July 2008

The time...3:15 a.m. Why? Our oldest son is going for a week to Eastern Oregon for boy scout camp! The picture I took is too dark - I was disappointed with that. Donovan sure is a ham when it comes to him and pictures. It's the end of Monday and the house is noisy with boys - yet not noisy enough. We miss Donovan. We don't miss the teasing of younger siblings - just him as a person with all his mannerisms and characteristics that make him unique. Happy camping!

The Army thread...A time to leave...a time to come home.

http://drckmana.blogspot.com/2008/07/army-threada-work-in-progress.html

Complete! :)

Peter Iredale shipwreck over the years...

The Peter Iredale shipwreck -then and now. The picture on top is in 2008. The one on the bottom is 2004. There really isn't much left.

Blog background

Michael helped me pick out a new background for our blog. I think it can describe our family in some ways. Our house is always "buzzing" with activity and the boys are sometimes "busy bees" when they do their chores. And they are the "sweet golden honey" that bring us joy every day.

18 July 2008 - A day at Ft. Stevens with the Zauggs...ALL of us!

We left our house a little after 7 a.m. and arrived where everyone was camping just before 9 a.m. People were just starting to get up and around for the day. It was so COLD. There can't be global warming going on at the Oregon Coast - we had a fire and everyone had at LEAST two sweatshirts on at all times.
Good morning Ladies! L-R Wendy (SIL), Andrea (SIL) and Carrie (SIL)
Riven (cousin to boys) is playing in the sand/dirt with Nephi and Michael (both ours).
Christopher had to go on one more hike to earn his Webelos Arrow of Light badge. So...we took a 2 mile hike from camp to the beach and the Peter Iredale ship wreck. This is Russell, Donovan and Christopher walking down the bike path.

Nephi and Candace having a picture break.
About 1/3 of the way down the hike there is this bench. The little boys needed a quick break. Russell took this picture. L-R is Christopher, Michael, Candace, Donovan and Nephi.
Grandpa and Grandma Zaugg snuck up behind us on their bikes. You can't ride well in the sand - so I guess they would be pushing their bikes here.
At the shipwreck. There isn't much left to it after being here for years and years and years. Our boys have never seen it before though and immediately thought it was the remains of a pirate boat. They would. They are into that kind of thing. A LOT! We couldn't explore it much as the tide was in. Michael wanted to climb it.
We snagged a passing beachgoer to take a family picture at the shipwreck. Maybe we will use it for our Christmas picture this year! The wind wasn't even blowing at the beach and we were ready to peel our 2 layers of sweatshirts. L-R is Michael, Christopher, Donovan, Russell, Candace and Nephi.

Christopher and Nephi took off to the top of these really cool sand dunes and proceeded to roll down. Then they got in trouble from Dad. The sand wasn't wet - and came right off - SO - I don't know what that was all about. If I didn't have back problems I would have wanted to roll down it too!
Russell and Candace. I think Russell is squinting cuz the sun was trying to peek out and was kind of bright.
On the way back from our hike - we saw a mommy deer and got quite close. The kids were really excited.
Making foil dinners. L-R Carrie and Andrea are working hard making theirs for their families.
The Zaugg clan. My there are a lot us! Everyone was able to come. What a fun time we had!

What do you use to do chores?

I came into the kitchen this morning after breakfast. Look what I found! I am pretty sure the vacuum was up to no good - having been placed there by one of the boys....
Each boy has chores to do each day. I am pretty sure the boy who had the family room was in need of the vacuum. Even the boy in charge of the living room. The bathroom boy definitely did not need it - and thank goodness I didn't find it there. For the life of me - I can't figure out what use a vacuum would be to the kitchen boy! Maybe the vacuum makes a good step-stool for reaching high places - or a good handle to hang the towel. You decide! :)

S'More Family Home Evening - Lots of pics!

Playing "I Spy..." while waiting for the coals to get really nice.
Russell handing out sticks and marshmallows.
A dad and 4 sons roasting their marshmallows.
Christopher

Nephi
Michael
Donovan
Candace
Oops - we forgot to get a picture of dad with his! Oh well. He is back for seconds with Nephi.

Candace cleaning the sticks so we can use them again. Soon I hope!
Russell playing stick fighting with the boys. This is a favorite game of the boys. They like to re-enact Star Wars, Lord of the Rings - anything pretty much that has swords or light sabers.
"Move away from Donovan's tent" says Dad. Okay. We'll play here. Until someone scrapes the car. "Move away from the car!" says Dad.
On the way to the front yard to continue the fight. Watch out Russell - Donovan is sneaking up behind!
Oh No! Our first casualty. Nephi got bopped on the head. The pain lasted - oh - 2 minutes maybe and he was back at it.

Pictures posted

For those of you watching the boys' and Russell's blog I am doing for them - click on the link to Candace's pics. There you will find links to all the boys. They each have something in their blog now. Some more than others at present - but that will change. Happy blogging!

The Webelos work on their Outdoorsman Activity Pin

Getting the kindling ready. It was really really windy today at the beach.
One cub scout and younger siblings of other cub scouts playing in their own little fort area they made.
We had a nice fire for hot dogs and of course S'mores. And as usual we had sand on the side. Our insides should be well scrubbed by the end of today!
Four cub scouts and siblings playing together in the sand. They sure had a grand time. I love cub scouts.