A very cool place to visit...

http://simplythisthatandtheother.blogspot.com/

Happy Halloween!

I cannot believe it's the end of October already. Yet three of the four boys think they need costumes for trick or treating so I guess it must be true! Time just keeps on flying by....sigh....

Nephi the knight being intercepted by Michael the wizard while ganging up on Christopher the pirate.

My littlest knight in plastic armour!

The wizard is prepared to do some wizarding.

Ahoy thar matey! Prepare yerself to walk the plank!

BOO!
Michael and Nephi asked me to help them carve their pumpkins. That translated into...Let Mom do all the work so we can play before bedtime! We (I mean I) did this Wednesday night.

Nephi made this pumpkin in kindergarten. I love the simplicity of it. Happy Halloween!

Parading through the Pumpkin Patch

Today Nephi's kindergarten class took a field trip. They went to their teacher's house to pick pumpkins and learn about plants and seeds. The weather was perfect! It couldn't have been any better.

Nephi with this pumpkin.

Learning about marigolds and where the seeds are. The kids even opened the "dead" flowers and saved seeds to plant in the spring!

Learning about beans and cucumbers.

Picking a "class" pumpkin. All of the teacher's pumpkins were still mostly green so one was picked to take back to school and the kids will be able to watch it turn from green to orange.

Nephi sitting next to his best friend Malachi. They are good buddies for each other.

All of the kindergarten class together with their little pumpkins to take home.

Ahhhhhhhhh....

Our eldest son is growing up. Today Russell taught him how to shave. Is he really old enough? I can't believe it! Yet he has the "moustache" to prove he is. Sigh....

Christopher's last Cub Scout pack meeting

The 24th was Christopher's very last pack meeting with cub scouts. He crossed over to the boy scout troop.
Preparing to salute the Cub Scout Webelos leader before crossing over.

Getting ready to "cross" over. (Usually we have a bridge. It's nowhere to be found so we improvised.)

"Crossing" over to meet the Boy Scout troop representative and salute him.

One of the cheers for the month was the silent scream. Ah.....don't we look lovely? :)

Dying....

There was a death. The modem bit the dust. It was a traumatic time as we missed our internet friends a lot. The new modem came today so here I am saying "Hello!"

School pics have all returned!

Donovan. Grade 7.
Christopher. Grade 5.
Michael. Grade 2.
Nephi. Kindergarten.

I found the pictures!

Is there a family resemblance? You be the judge. :)

Remember the last post when I thought Christopher looked a lot like his Uncle Neil and his Grandpa Dysart? Well...I did find pics of both about the age Christopher is now. On the left is my dad in 1955.. Grandpa Dysart. On the right is Neil in 1990.

We have a new Boy Scout!

This past Wednesday Christopher went to his first Boy Scout meeting! Me being the picture taking mom I am...well...I just HAD to take a picture! This particular facial expression though is totally reminiscent of my brother Neil and my dad. I will have to find pics and post. So you can be the judge!

I had a good chuckle this morning.

After taking Russell to his carpool and returning home - I asked the boys if they had brushed their teeth for school. A couple did. Michael went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and brushed them. When he was done he yelled "Nephi put SOAP on MY toothbrush!" "I'm going to get him back." I peek in the bathroom and he is trying to put the liquid hand soap on Nephi's toothbrush. I told him he couldn't do that. Then I asked Nephi why he put the soap on Michael's toothbrush. He swears he didn't do it. I am thinking otherwise. After you clean off the food/drink from your screen - have a nice day! :)

Doctor and de-thatching

I came out to the living room yesterday and Nephi had his yellow table (which he is too big for now) there with the chairs. He had his "patient" Mr. Turtle sitting across from him. I had to chuckle to myself because he had last week's homework in front of him. I asked if he was playing school. Nephi said no - he was playing doctor and was reading the chart. lol So - I went about what I was doing and sneaked a picture of him!


Then after dinner Russell went out to work on the yard. He needed to dethatch it so he could plant the new seeds. Any boys that wanted to earn extra money could go and help. Michael and Nephi were up to the challenge. Donovan was out there too. I just don't know where. Christopher thought having his computer turn was important to him - so that's where he was.

A visit from the best mother-in-law in the whole world!

My mother-in-law was up this weekend to Cannon Beach. She stopped here on her way home to go to church with us and spend a little bit of time with us after church. The boys love it when Grandma comes. There are usually treats involved! This time it was tomatoes for me to can :) and cupcakes! We sent Grandma home with a loaf of Pumpkin Bread and part of a red cabbage our neighbor gave us.
L-R Donovan, Christopher, Nephi Grandma Zaugg and Michael.
Michael reading to Grandma before she leaves. It was pretty sunny in the window so the picture didn't turn out super well.

Busy, busy, busy

Over the past two weeks - I have done beets (the non-pickled kind - they are nasty), chicken, chicken stock with meat, tomatoes, cucumbers and venison. For all interested parties - I will post the canning process for the venison sometime later today in the "Is Dinner Ready" blog.

I have had numerous people tell me I was born in the wrong generation. I think not. I like when I was born thank you very much.

Bee stings

After we had family prayers tonight - Michael informed me he got stung by a bee at school today. Twice. Under his shirt. I felt sad for him. Apparently he was getting on the swing at school and the bee went up his shirt. He put ice on it at school and that helped. I was tucking him in tonight and he was crying because he said the bee sting was stinging and making his tummy hurt. So we visited for a little bit and I told him dad could give him a blessing and that Heavenly Father could make it better. I told him Heavenly Father knows when good things, bad things, hurting times, happy times happen to us. I told him Heavenly Father knew he got stung by the bee before I did! He thought that was kind of funny. So Russell gave Michael a blessing and I tucked him back in bed and he's sleeping soundly.

Going to bed and waking up...

Donovan went to bed last night with all body parts functioning properly. He woke up this morning with a tooth that split in half. We get to go to Beaverton this afternoon for a tooth extraction. He really needs braces but we have put it off as the orthodontist said "X" amount of teeth need to come out first. These were baby teeth that needed to come out and the permanent ones needed to come in. Then these needed to be pulled before they could continue with the actual braces. His mouth is a mess. He has lost the teeth needed with the new ones coming in. Now everything just might be in order for the next step! Braces. For now though - we will deal with the split tooth. Bummer.

Saying good-bye...

We are saying good-bye. It's been an extraordinary 15 years. This past weekend Russell finished his final drill with the National Guard. He has proudly served our country for the past 15 years and spent 15 months away from us serving in Iraq. He has served with the Washington Army Reserves, Utah National Guard, Arizona National Guard and Oregon National Guard. We are so proud of our soldier husband/dad. The fine example he is of patriotism and I hope our boys can be just like him.

Russell just before boarding the plane leaving for Iraq. Taken April 2003.
Last night Russell was letting the boys try on his flack vest before returning it this Friday. Here is Nephi - the picture didn't turn out too well.
Russell helping Michael.
Donovan's turn.
Christopher opted for the helmet too! I even tried the vest on. The weight was tolerable. Russell said it was missing 45 lbs of ceramic (I think is what he said) things that are bulletproof. They have spots they slide into around the vest. That would be way too heavy for me.

Deer meat and vegatable gardens

Last night Nephi's kindergarten teacher called me. She wanted to know if we wanted some meat that her husband had just brought home. It was the hindquarters with some backstrap. The deal was all or nothing. The catch - I had to butcher it myself. Okay already. Stop laughing. I am happy to say - I did do the job. I thought I might find myself squeemish as these pieces of meat were part of a living/breathing creature yesterday morning. I thought of other things instead. I thought there would be the unpleasant smell I remember from a long time ago when I lived at home. There was no smell.

The bag. I hadn't opened it yet. For all I knew the deer hide was still attached. I was actually kind of nervous. I mean - I can cut up roast, chicken whatever. I have never contimplated doing a deer. Ever.
Wow. There actually was quite a bit of meat.

One hindquarter out. The other one was lots bigger.
I felt like I got all the meat off that I could get to. I think I did the hindquarters justice. AND it filled my bowl (32 cup) over half full.
After butchering all that was in the bag - I have 6 pint freezer bags for the freezer. I need to ask the neighbor if he has a meat grinder. I think he might. If not - I will can the rest tomorrow.
There is lots in the fridge.
This afternoon Nephi and I had a veggie fest in the garden. Look at all the stuff we picked! Tons of zucchini and yellow summer squash. Under the yellow squash is a handful of green beans. Under the cukes in the blue bowl is lots of tomatoes!

Donovan's in the kitchen!

Donovan is 12 and has to fulfill some requirements in his Faith in God book. One of the requirements is make 2 meals for the family. He made breakfast yesterday with a potato,bacon and egg mixture and tonight for dinner was Sweet and Sour Chicken. Here he is hard at work...

Slicing carrots for the dinner.
Watching him measure for the sauce was quite entertaining...
If you stand any closer Donovan it might be more comfortable! The pan and the contents really won't bite you.
After much chopping, slicing, dicing, measuring and stirring....dinner is ready! Good job Donovan!

Present choosing...

Christopher is not an easy child to shop for. Russell and I really did spend a long time looking but came up empty handed. Hence the shopping trip with dad.

Christopher's choice? A batman vehicle that does all kinds of stuff. He has been having fun playing with it with the younger boys.

He has a birthday, shout hooray! Christopher is 11 today!

On this day 11 years ago Christopher joined our family! He weighed in at 6 lb 8 oz and was 19 inches long.

My how he has grown into a handsome young man!
Christopher wanted all of our family together for his birthday dinner. We had to have it last night as Russell is gone from this morning until late Sunday night for his last National Guard duty. Christopher wanted pizza, strawberry jello and koolade for dinner. Request - granted!

Opening a present from Grandma and Grandpa Rogers.
Very cool! My very own alarm clock!
Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Christopher! Happy Birthday to you. :)

Chris wanted a jello cake. He must really like jello!