Transplanting Trees

The following post has sat, uncompleted, in my draft box for about eight years. It is about transplanting trees. I had initially written out detailed instructions for proper transplantation. I had spent several hours over a span of days writing instructions, drawing diagrams that I then scanned and pasted into the post. It was going to be great. I only had a few paragraphs to finish when my computer had a hiccup and the post was gone! I was able to recover a partially completed draft, but that was it. Everything else was lost. And I was too disheartened to redo the work. I put it in my draft folder. And there it say until tonight. I hope you enjoy. Changes and additions that I am making today will be in italics.

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I love fruit trees. Planting and maintaining them is one of the joys in my life. When we moved into our Yuma house, I planted several fruit trees. However, after living there a while, Jeremy began talking about adding on a family room...right were I had planted my apple trees! He told me not to worry about it, that we wouldn't be adding on for a few years, if ever.

The problem is, transplanting trees can be a tricky operation. Younger trees are easier to move and more likely to recover from the transplant. Older trees have more expansive root balls. They've also become accustomed to the ground in which they are planted. I have seen older trees that were thriving in their original location shrivel up when moved to a new location. In order to ensure their survival, we had to move the apple trees while they were still young. 

We waited until the trees had gone dormant for the winter. A tricky thing in Arizona! Often, apple trees never fully go dormant in our warm weather. 

Picture of the smaller apple tree. I mistakenly watered this tree a day or two before we moved it. I thought it would make the ground easier to maneuver. I was correct. BUT it also made the rootball heavier! All that water added a lot of weight to the rootball.

Benjamin (age 5/6?) and Grant (age 2?). They are now 13 yr & 10 yr respectively.

Picture of the larger apple tree. To safely transplant the rootball, first you dig a donut our around the rootball. Then you can get your shovel under it while keeping the rootball intact.

Keeping the rootball intact. This thing weighed several hundred pounds.

To give perspective, when we removed the tree with its rootball Benjamin and some of our neighbors got in the hole. It is a big hole!

The rootball was so heavy and awkward to manuever. We called a bunch of our neighbors to come and help us. In order to keep the rootball intact, I wrapped a blanked around and under it. Professional people use canvas to do this part. 

It took five grown men to lift the tree from the handtruck to place it in its new home in the front yard.

At this point, the neighbor in the red shirt said something along the lines of: "I can't believe it took five of us to lift that tiny tree. I feel like such a wimp." Hahaha! He's not a wimp. And neither were any of the other guys that helped us. They were all great workers. Dirt just weighs a lot!

The large apple tree in its new home, waiting to be backfilled.

Baby Grant watching Jeremy backfill around the rootball. 

There were other pictures of the trees, along with diagrams. Sadly, those were lost all those years ago. We have since sold that house. The large apple tree still stands in the yard. Its trunk is quite thick now and it produces the most lovely little yellow apples. I hope the new owners will cherish the tree as much as I did. 

Fixing It Up

We've spent the last few months in limbo trying to purchase a run-down house in the county. On June 18, everything finally went through! The loan funded, the title recorded, and the keys were officially turned over to us.

We had done many renovations on the house during that time, trying to get it fixed up enough for a lender to agree it was worth the risk. We got the well running, installed a new water heater, put on a new roof, put in new carpet, fixed a faucet, fixed a door, fixed some walls, put on baseboards, removed three abandoned vehicles from the property, removed several truckloads of garbage from property, added a ground wire for the electrical, fixed a few jerry-rigged electrical problems, installed a couple light fixtures to replace the naked & exposed wiring that had been left behind, and crossed our fingers that those things would be enough.

Thank heavens it was!

But now that the place is ours, the renovations have kicked into high gear. 

Here's what we've been working on the past few weeks:

Taking more garbage to the dump.

Ripping out the bathroom. Please note the dirt. 

A gopher had been living under this tub...

Finding honeycomb & a dead beehive in the bathroom walls.

Taking another load to the dump.

Taking time out to nurture the garden at our current house.

Those are giant pumpkin vines around my kids.

Ripping out the kitchen cabinets. Please note my rounding belly.

Getting a 2-Yard bin for trash. That's right people...I have a BIN!!

Turning into a ghost painting the ceilings & walls at the county house.

Painted living room.

Installing new bathroom pipes & fixtures.

Framing in a unnecessary, heat-increasing window in the kitchen.

Cleaning up blood after the windowpane shattered, injuring my dear neighbor.

Still framing in the window.

Installing new cabinets in the kitchen.

Installing counter tops too.

Having a yard sale. Necessary when moving to a house 700 sq. ft. smaller.

Moving a HEAVY tool shed to the new house.

Please note the Dad in the blue shirt. He is instructing his sons to 

hold on tight and not die. They are sitting on the front of the ATV 

to add weight so the thing won't pop up.

I am happy to report that no one died...yet.

Hubby and I have been very blessed with loads of help from family and neighbors. We appreciate the time and efforts they've spent on our behalf.

Unfortunately, the work is only halfway done...

Wish us luck. :)

4-H Fun

We signed up to participate in 4-H again this year.  

Rose and Anne signed up for Cooking, Sewing, Photography, Shooting Sports, Arts & Crafts, and Rabbits. Miss S signed up for Shooting Sports and Rabbits. I informed all three girls that Rabbits were out of the question this year. I will be student teaching in the spring and cannot be their chauffeur to all the rabbit events.

Joe and Prof. X signed up for Cloverbuds. This is the group for 4-H kids who are too young to compete. They have a new leader this year and she is turning out to be FANTASTIC! She wants the Cloverbuds to have a thorough 4-H experience so she has arranged for them to participate in a ton of different events. It is wonderful!

Here's what they've all done so far:

Cloverbuds

Joe & Prof. X toured a seed sprouting facility. We saw acres upon acres of baby plants: lettuce, cabbage, artichokes, celery, broccoli, and more! The place was a dream. The month before the boys (& Rose) painted pottery at a local studio. This was a combined activity with the Arts & Crafts group. The Cloverbud leader is also the Arts & Crafts leader! She has planned for the two groups to do an activity together once every other month. Very fun!

The most recent Cloverbud activity was a tour of a local bakery. I was informed halfway through the activity that is was also an Arts & Crafts activity, so Anne & Rose were invited. Tough luck for them. Fortunately, they were at other activities that Saturday so didn't feel bad about missing the bakery tour.

The boys in their baking aprons

Reading the recipe

Rolling out their dough. Prof. X chose that small pin. Goofy kid!

Joe decorating his cookie

Prof. X showing his decorated cookie.

Can you tell he's been taking bites of the frosting?

Shooting Sports

Miss S., Rose & Anne are working on perfecting their aim every other Saturday using air rifles and bows & arrows. No pictures.

Arts & Crafts

The arts & crafts leader is also the Cloverbud leader. She is lovely. On the Arts & Crafts side, she has arranged for 4-H members to paint pottery at a local studio which was then fired. Anne was sick for this activity. Rose painted a Halloween monster mug.

The other activity they had was to decorate t-shirts. They used iron-on pictures, puff paints, jewels, and more, to jazz up the plain white tees. The end results were crazy! 

Cooking

Rose & Anne have experimented with pancakes. Their leader had them try different kinds of flours and rising agents. They also made some sweet potato pancakes and vegan pancakes. Then they tasted all the varieties to see the differences. 

For their meeting just before Christmas, they baked all sorts of cookies. Their leader told them to pick out any recipe, but no chocolate chips allowed! She wanted them to try new things. Anne made sugar cookies and Rose made toffee bars. Rose's toffee bars were Excellent! She used the recipe that I used growing up and the bars turned out delicious.  Poor Anne's cookies were not so good. In all the excitement of baking, she forgot to add the baking soda, and the baking powder. It is amazing the difference that a teaspoon of each can make!

Sewing

Rose & Anne have done nothing. The youth sewing instructor they had last year did not return. The main sewing instructor, who took all the advanced sewers last year, flat out refused to take any new students. So the girls were left with no instructor. Except, I know a little about sewing and my leader status finally went through...  So I volunteered to be the sewing instructor for my girls and any other potential sewers/quilters. We haven't done anything yet. We will have our first meeting in January.

Photography

Rose & Anne have been meeting once or twice a month with the photography leader. She is helping them become familiar with the cameras, teaching them how to set up shots, and other photography related things. One of the things she has stressed is the need to Practice, Practice, Practice! 

Here is evidence of the girls' practicing:

Photos of Desert Flora at local park 

Photos at Wal-m's Garden Center

 I think they are off to a good start. :)

Quick Update

Wow. It has been almost three months since I have posted. The non-posting is due to a combination of business and laziness. I think that is most summers can be described as a combination of being busy and being lazy. Haha! Anyhoo, here is a quick update on things we did this summer.

• Hubby took Joe and Cakes to Father and Sons. Camping, fires, throwing things, and general male goofiness was had by all.
• I studied for and took two AEPA: Elementary Education Subject Knowledge and Professional Knowledge-Elementary Education. I passed them both. (Thank Heavens!!)
• Our family recertified to do foster care.
• Miss A participated in a dance concert. She performed a hip-hop number with schoolmates. It rocked! 
• Miss J & Miss L participated in a dance concert. Miss J performed in two group numbers and Miss L performed in one. They were fantastic! 
• Miss L graduated from high school. It was a crazy day. Miss L went from being super-happy about graduating to freaking out about what she was supposed to do know. The roller coaster of emotions continued throughout the summer. Poor girl!
• Rose participated in a band concert. She has played trombone this year. She sounds good...which is saying a lot!
• Rose attended band camp. There were four classes each day: Theory, Intermediate First instrument (trombone), Beginning Second instrument (flute), and Choir. They had a concert at the end of camp. It was wonderful.
• Miss Q has shown back up in our lives. We are quite relieved by this. She has been wandering for a while. She was able to graduate from high school. We are helping her get started in college (hopefully) and get on her feet. It will be slow work...
• Rose, Anne, and Joe won awards for their Top Readers Group at school. They rocked the competition, each receiving awards and prizes for their reading amounts. They were so happy.
• 4-H had their year end banquet. It was an interesting night. Rose and Anne ended up being elected as Junior Officers for this next 4-H year. Rose will be Junior Vice President and Anne will be Junior Secretary. This will be a good chance for them to experience responsibility in a new way and to develop leadership skills. It will also be a good chance for me to perfect my driving skills as I chaufer them here and there. ;)
• I had a birthday. I spent it driving to the San Diego Temple with a friend. It was an excellent way to spend my birthday.
• Our whole family plus the Sisters Three attended Hubby's family reunion in Strawberry. We went to Fossil Creek to swim twice, took a hike to Clover Springs, attended a Fourth of July breakfast, played tons of games, and laughed uproarously as my teenage nephew blatantly (and poorly) attempted to flirt with Miss J and Miss L. Good times, people. Good time!
• Saw Harry Potter 7, part 2. As expected, the screen writer completely changed the story in disappointing ways. But I am so happy that I saw it because now it is done!!!  I never have to watch the wretched movies again. I can stick with the glorious stories that J.K. first wove.
• Miss A turned 14. She usually celebrates with her Mom, but was stuck with us due to the circumstances. The goose had quite the list for her birthday. We took her to Chuck E. Cheese, had a chocolate Hannah Montana cake and vanilla ice cream, sang Happy Birthday about fifty million times (each time she blushed and beamed), ate her favorite breakfast of cheesy eggs and her favorite dinner or burritos, had a pinata filled with candy, and watched shows that she wanted to watch. Miss A is quite young at heart. She had a wonderful, wonderful day.
• Our family (minus the Sisters Three who were visiting their Mom) drove to San Diego with another family. It was great. Hubby and I attended a Temple Session while the Mom and Dad watched our kids at a park.Then they went to the Temple while Hubby and I took all the kids to the beach. Afterwards we split up. The other family went to Sea World. We took our kids to see the San Diego Temple then went to the Morman Battalion Historical Site. It was a lovely, lovely day.
• Physical and Legal custody of the Sisters Three was granted to their dear Mother. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am by that!! Their Mother was so happy she came right over after court, packed up all their things, rented a trailer, gave me a hug, and drove off into (literally) the sunset. The Sisters Three are all doing well and are happy to be with their Mom.
• The very next day a sibling set was brought to our home. The girl (Miss Nita) is 4 and the boy (Professor X) is 6. They are cuties!
• And the very next week a teenage girl (Miss S) came to live with us too. So we have a full house again. We are in the process of rearranging our home to best accomodate everyone.
• I completed four Master classes. That is twelve more credits out of the way. Hooray! Only a year left. :)
• Everyone went to the Dentist. It was pathetic. Our teeth are all super clean, but we still got cavities. Only Rose had no cavitities. Hubby has one near an old filling. I have TWO! One near an old filling and one in between my very back teeth...the teeth that are too close together for me to fit a piece of floss through. It is very depressing.
• School started again. Joe, Rose, Anne, and Prof. X are in elementary. Miss S is in high school. It is going to be a great school year.
• Hubby built me a compost pile. It is 8 foot long, 32 inches deep, and 36 inches tall. It is beautiful.

Currently, I am studying for another AEPA: Middle Schools Social Studies. I think I am going to fail. History is such a broad topic and there are so many interpretations of events, I'm not sure that I will have the "correct" interpretation that the test requires.

I'm also getting ready to teach preschool to Cakes, Miss Nita, and a couple of boys from the neighborhood. It should be fun.

February in Review

For such a little month, February was sure jam-packed with adventures, projects, and excitement! From start to finish, all 28 days, our family was busy, busy, busy. So what did we do?? Too much to record here!

But here are some of the highlights:

• Hubby and I became the proud pseudo-parents to three gorgeous sisters. Miss L is 17, Miss J is 15, and Miss A is 13. This is a long-term placement. I couldn't have asked for nicer girls to join my family. I think I'll call them the "Sisters Three".
• Elementary School Pictures for Joe, Anne, and Rose.
• Doctor appointments, counselling appointments, court hearings, etc. for the Sisters Three.
• Awards Banquet for Miss A. Hubby took her. They both got all dressed up and Hubby treated it like a Daddy-Daughter Date. Miss A beamed the whole time. She was so happy.
• 4-H Meetings and Projects. Fair is just around the corner!
• Favorite Foods Contest for Joe, Anne, and Rose.
• Hubby completed the TV Bookcase that I designed.
• Trimming trees, digging water holes, planting a garden.
• 5K Fun Walk! All Blue family members participated.
• New church calling for Hubby.
• My Masters of Education program hits full swing. I've spent countless hours reading about methods, techniques, theories. And countless hours writing up lesson plans according to this instructor's criteria or that instructor's. It will be nice when I only have to use one format.
• Teaching loads of songs to the Primary kids. I'm still loving this calling.
• New Glasses for Rose, Miss A, and Miss J.
• Dentist appointments for all Blue family members. Rose and Joe both earned $10 for having no cavities. Poor Anne and Cakes were tortured as punishment for having cavities. Hopefully, everyone involved has learned their lessons and will respond to the negative/positive reinforcers in the future.
• Rose attends Masters Class for Trombone. Very informative class.
• More court hearings for the Sisters Three.
• Hubby, Rose, Anne, and Joe got to Disneyland and California Adventure! Remember back in September that I won a four-pack of 2-day passes? Well, they have officially been put to good use. Hubby thought we all should go. I absolutely did not want to though! Fortunately, I had common sense and frugality on my side and got to stay home. Just so we're clear on this, I am not a ride kind of person. I am a great person to take to Disneyland with you if you are planning on taking your kids. I will be happy to stay by the strollers or hold babies while you go on crazy, vomit-inducing rides. I will wave and smile. It really made more sense for me to just stay home. And I had a lovely time. :)  Cakes, Jim, and I took the Sisters Three out for dinner and then to see "I am Number Four". FUN!!
• Allergy Shots begun and Caveman Diet concluded. The results of the Diet:
• I am not allergic to Oats. Hooray!
• I am not allergic to Eggs.
• I am allergic to Milk in large quantities. One glass is alright. Or one bowl of creamy soup. But no more.
• I am allergic to Cheese. My allergist thinks it's the mold of the cheese that is the problem. I'm okay with a teeny, weeny, little bit.
• I am not allergic to Corn. But am allergic to Popcorn. How does that even work???
• I am not allergic to Wheat...kind of. I'm alright in low quantities, but my body doesn't like to process to much at a time. Weird!
• I am allergic to Yeast. A lot. So I'm pretty much avoiding that. Except that I love bread.  :(
• I am not allergic to Soy.
• I am allergic to Walnuts and Pecans. But I already knew that. Still, it was nice to test those out again. I haven't eaten either of those in years! My kids were excited to watch me test the nuts...Until my throat started itching and my eyes started watering, then it wasn't so fun to watch me.
• I am allergic to Apples, but only certain kinds. I can pretty much tell just by sniffing them if I'll be alright eating them.
• I am allergic to Carrots. But I already knew that too! Carrots are one of those weird things that I am allergic to in Raw form, but can eat when cooked.

And that's about it. Factor in parental visits for the Sisters Three, chauffeuring kiddos to and from various appointments & school activities, and rocking the Baby Jim to sleep in the afternoons and you can see why I haven't posted in a while. :)

4-H Values

Our family joined 4-H this past year. It is a great organization and my kids are having a wonderful time.

One of the requirements for showing at Fair is attendance at Community Club meetings. At these meetings the business of the particular 4-H club is conducted. Reports are made on things like how much money has gone out of the club and how much money has come in, events that are coming up, service opportunities available, and so on.

Recently, they have started reporting our members' results at various animal shows. Attending these shows has been quite the eye-opener for me.  "How so?" you might ask.  Well, let me tell you...

When showing swine, beef, or lamb, you strut that animal all around a ring, showing off the animals to the judges and audience. The judges look at the size of the body. They watch how the animal carries itself, how it walks, how it stands. They judge their personality and demeanor.

The animals are then taken back out of the ring by their handlers. The judges then "call-back" the animals that they liked. Those animals walk the ring again while the judges scrutinize their every move. This process goes on and on until finally the judges declare a winner. A winning animal is worth a lot of money. That animal is quite a prize!

What's so astounding about this process...

It is just like the try-outs/auditions for actors, models, Miss America, and more! In particular, it reminded me of the musical "A Chorus Line".

Now, I feel that I must make a disclaimer. I am not trying to belittle anyone. I'm not bringing this up to bag on anyone or any organization. Frankly, I love watching the Miss America pageant every year. Mostly, I love see the gorgeous gowns and imagine how I could make them for myself but modest. Haha!

The reason I'm posting this is that I am amazed a the similarities between the two processes. Anyone who really knows me knows that I love to see how things are connected. To see how things have evolved over time. It seems to me that the one process evolved from the other. Can't you just picture the original casting directors--people who had maybe grown up attending Fair and seeing how the animals were judged--adjusting that type of judging to fit their own purposes? Because that's what I see!

I wonder if that's how it actually happened. So interesting!

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Another great thing from 4-H: it is teaching my kids wonderful values and skills.

For example, one girl proudly reporting how she did in a show said:

"Well, I showed my goat at XYZ Show. I didn't place. But I didn't get last place like last year either."

We all clapped and cheered for her. It was great! She might not have won, but she was getting better and that's what counted.

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Also, our family is getting ready for Fair. It is crazy! We aren't doing animals this year. Thank goodness! I don't think I could have handled all the time and effort required for an animal. I'm too busy with my dear children. :)

We do have projects that have to be finished though. Anne and Rose are sewing their hearts out to have their quilts ready. Joe and the girls are all testing recipes to see which will be best to enter. They have a pre-Fair contest coming up next week for cooking. Anne and Rose are in the same category, but they're being good sports about it. They are just hoping that one of them places and they don't care which one. Hooray for being good sports! And sweet Joe is in the non-judging category. 4-H doesn't let the little kids be judged. They feel that the little ones can't handle it. I completely agree. My little Joe would be quite discouraged if judges told him his entry was too dry or a bit under-cooked. The bigger kids, while not liking the criticisms, don't get discouraged...they take the criticism as advice and use the information to make their cooking/baking better the next time.

I'll post pictures and results after we finish the contest next week.

We are loving 4-H!!!

Return to the Family

My dear sister, together with her partners, has launched the 2011 Blogging Campaign.

Okay, first of all I have to say, it sounds absolutely crazy saying that about my sister! I mean, she's my sister...a regular person. To the ordinary onlooker she appears to be only a Mom, crafter, and hair guru. But just like Clark Kent and Kara Zor-El, she has another side-a super side. It's a bit unreal sometimes to realize what a big name in blogging she is.

As I was saying, my sister has launched the 2011 Blogging Campaign.

The theme is "Return to the Family".

She introduces the Campaign by stating:

"In today’s world, the family unit is often discounted, and even overlooked, so we are calling for a revolution. We would like to invite you to return to YOUR family, by using these two steps: 1) having regular family dinners and 2) having uplifting art in your home."

I completely agree with these two principles!

I am a firm believer in having regular family meals. We eat breakfast and dinner together every day. It is a time to grow together as a family. We use this time to talk about our days. We listen as family members cheerfully tell of the good things that have happened that day. We talk about the trials they passed through and discuss ways to overcome them in the future. We plan for future activities. And sometimes we just try to see who can tell the funniest joke. No matter the topic, we grow together and strengthen our familial bonds.

And I have always felt that beautiful, uplifting art was an integral part in changing a house into a home. At some point, one of the general authorities had stated that every LDS home needed Five pictures to truly make it a Gospel-Centered Home:

1) A picture of Christ

2) A picture of the Temple

3) A picture of your Family, must include Children!

4) A picture of their Heritage: Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, etc.

5) A picture of the Prophet

I used to have one or more of all these pictures. In our last move my Temple picture broke and I have yet to replace it. And I still haven't hung my picture of President Monson. I love the man and support him as the prophet. It's just that putting up his picture requires taking down President Hinckley's picture. I just haven't been able to part with it yet. Maybe I'll just hang President Monson next to President Hinckley. Hmmm...  Decisions, Decisions.

As part of their campaign they teamed with artist Liz Lemon Swindle** to provide Christ-centered art for the project. I'm still going through all her paintings,trying to decide which one I want Hubby to get me for my birthday. ;)

Anyhoo, I think that this is a wonderful program! They're trying to get the word out to everyone. So I'm doing my part in this little corner of the blogosphere. I hope you'll take time to check it out.

**Isn't it great that her name is "Liz Lemon"! Haha! When I read that name my interest was sparked immediately. Of course,being the nerd I am, I was thinking more along the lines of Liz Lemon as played by Tina Fey in 30 Rock. I was quite surprised to see pictures of Christ when I followed the link.

Hello Again

It's been several weeks since my last post. I'm not the most consistent blogger. Many times, when I sit down to type, I feel guilty for not spending that time elsewhere...in more productive ways. After all, I do have a big house to clean and maintain; five kids to feed, clothe, teach, and entertain; and a myriad of unfinished projects to complete.

I'm also about five years behind in Memory Books. I've kept up with the births of my children, but not their birthdays, Christmas, Easter, or growth and development. And a nagging little voice always reminds me of these facts each time I sit down at my computer to update this blog.

As I sit here now, my kitchen is in shambles, clean laundry is piled high on the couches, dirty laundry lies in piles around my living room, my floor is covered in candy wrappers, and my bed is covered with Halloween costumes. There are so many things that I could be, probably should be doing. And yet here I sit.

Because I realized...I get more done when I think somebody cares about what I'm doing.

Yes, yes. I know that Hubby and the kids care. But it's not the same as having a girlfriend who cares and sympathizes and cheers one on. And let's face it, I am a slow one to make friends. It takes years for me to feel comfortable with others and to truly develop trust and friendship. Blogging helps me stay connected to those dear friends and family members that live far away.

This past month, I purposely avoided blogging. I listened to that nagging, guilt-filled voice. And you know what? My house isn't any cleaner and I've only made a teeny little dent in the projects galore. The only thing that changed was my heart...I have felt so lonely and isolated this past month. And instead of creating more time for myself, I felt as though I had less time and more work than ever!

Looking back, I've realized that I am most productive when I have someone to share with.

I started blogging so my Dear Sister could "stalk" me, as she so sweetly put it. We lived in different states and blogging provided the perfect way for us to stay connected. But, as the popularity of blogging grew, random people began reading my blog and, quite frankly, it weirded me out a bit. I started thinking I needed to write a certain way or only include certain topics. I began to over analyze everything I wrote, worried that someone who didn't know me and my dry, sarcastic sense of humor, might take offense. And for the people who do know me, Offending others is the last thing I would ever want to do. I became bogged down...taking weeks to write and edit a post that should have only taken thirty minutes to type up and post.

And I've decided that I'm done with that.

I am who I am. A nerdy, introverted, sarcastic, homemaking intellect.  And I am done worrying about what others think in regards to this blog. Especially when they are faceless names in the cyber-world.

I'm going back to the way I was when my blog was private. I am writing the way I speak. Nothing fancy. Just a nice conversation between sisters and friends.

I'm not vain. I'm not perfect. This blog is only a sliver of me. Reading it does not make you an expert on me or my way of thinking. It only provides a glimpse into my life. But for family and friends who truly know me, the sliver is all they need in order to catch up with my family and I.

People I don't know are welcome to read. Though I may be slow to make true friends, I am friendly to everyone I meet. But if you are going to judge negatively or get your feelings hurt by a person that you haven't even met (namely me), please move on. There are plenty of other blogs to read.

This blog is addressed to my Sisters and Friends.

Testing, Testing...

So...Blogger has an updated editor. With lots of cool new features. You may have noticed dots between my paragraphs in previous posts. I had to use them to keep the paragraphs separate. Otherwise, all my words and pictures ran together in a big, jumbled mess.

But that doesn't seem to be the case any longer. Wahoo!

Putting pictures in also seems to be easier. So without further ado, here's this week's update:

Rose has been growing her hair steadily for two years to donate to Locks of Love. Rose, Anne and I all donated hair in January 2008. We've all reestablished the length. Anne and I love our long hair. Rose was hating it. She wanted to wait a few more months before donating, but the maintenance just became to much. I took her down to get her hair chopped and styled. We mailed the locks and Rose is enjoying her new shorter do. I think it is quite becoming.

Anne and I have decided to be selfish. We are not donating our hair. We are keeping it. Sorry.  Although Anne says she will keep growing her hair down to her bum then chop off ten inches to donate. That way she keeps her long hair and still helps with wigs. We'll see how it goes.

Joe is a Dangerous Boy. As such, he is required to build a go-cart. The Iggulden brothers suggest going to the local dump to get the necessary supplies. Joe and Hubby opted to go to Harbor Freight and the local hardware store instead.  The purchased four wheelbarrow wheels, saddle straps, threaded 36 inch dowels, 2 x 4 x 8's, and a few other items.

They got busy putting the cart together. Joe kept calling it a "Goat-Cart". We're not sure where he thought the goats would fit.

Cakes helped too. Mostly he helped by demonstrating to Hubby and Joe that things were or were not put together sturdily enough not to be broken.

They took the cart out for a few test runs. The front wheels could pull a ninety-degree turn on a dime. The guys learned this when Joe, unknowingly, pulled hard on the strap and went flying. Hubby added a wood block to limit the turning degree. They are still working on it. Taking it for rides to test then making the necessary adjustments. It is Wonderful to watch Hubby, Cakes, and Joe work on this "dangerous" activity.

I have fattened up my baby. He now weighs a bit over 15 pounds. He doesn't look much fatter though because he is such a TALL baby. It will be interesting to see if his height follows him into adulthood or if he will just hit 5 foot in third grade and never grow again. Cross your fingers that he makes it to at least 6 feet before the growth spurt stops.

This little cutie is also starting to get teeth. His poor little gums are swollen and he is drooling up a storm-hence the bib. But do you think that would upset him or cause him to grumble? NO!! He is still as happy as ever. I sweat there is nothing that can get this kid upset. He laughs and smiles and coos, just happy as can be. And doesn't he have the prettiest mouth that you ever did see???  SO HANDSOME!!

I have finally figured out how to arrange my living room. I mapped everything out and Hubby is implementing my plans. The blue tape is a rough outline of a bookcase that Hubby is going to build for me. The yellow line represents the TV. The bookcase will be 11 3/4 inches deep and 98 inches tall by 72 inches wide. We purchased BEAUTIFUL solid-Poplar pieces. Poplar is my new Favorite wood. It is a gorgeous hardwood- creamy colors with streaks of green and gray. I LOVE Green and Gray!

I'm counting this as my Anniversary present from Hubby. Now I just have to get him something. He's easy though. He considers a date night with me (sans kids) to be the epitome of grand gifts. So that's what he's getting...except I am bringing the Baby Jim. Hubby agrees-we don't leave babies with sitters until they are one and the Baby Jim is only four months.

And that is the end of my testing. I just "Previewed" this post. Everything stayed in place! And my pictures corresponded perfectly with my text. Hooray for this new editor!