July

Naomi had to stay away from gravel, sand, bark chips, ticks, chiggers, pools, etc for three weeks because we didn't want to get objects/bites/mold trapped under the cast.  Having two chicks living inside of the house helped- waaaay too fun.  After the cast came off, she still had to be gentle with her arm, but she's been a good sport and followed the rules (mostly).

Hannah and her friend wanted to stay after an activity "to finish crocheting our washcloths"... and it was such a nice evening that I couldn't resist.  I pulled out the camp chairs from our car, we got settled in...and right after this photo they put down the crocheting and went to check out the next round of tadpoles in the pond.  🙄

Back to KS

Our friend Kelli usually takes care of things at home for us while we are on our long road trip.  This year we asked her to not collect the eggs. We were curious if any of the hens would stay broody long enough to hatch a couple of chicks.  None of our hens had done that before, but we figured it was worth a try.

Less than a week after we got back to Kansas:

Eleven eggs hatched!  We had to take two chicks inside to raise ourselves because one was runty and the other was stuck inside the egg (it had poked a hole the size of its beak but then stopped for over 24 hours, so we helped it finish hatching).  Nine chicks stayed with the two mama hens.  It was nice having a couple inside to watch closely and cuddle, especially so Naomi wouldn't be tempted to run outside every ten minutes to see the chicks.  I was certain that chiggers and ticks would crawl under her cast and bite her mercilessly.  I was even happier to leave the remaining nine chicks outside with their mamas, considering all of the extra noise and smell.  ;o)  Two chicks in the house are more than enough.

Funny thing about the mama hens: many people warn that you should always separate broody mamas because they will attack each other's chicks.  When we left town, only one hen seemed broody, but when we got back, two hens were sharing a nest.  They would take turns sitting, and steal eggs when the other wasn't looking.  We tried separating the eggs into two nests but they rolled the eggs right back to the shared nest.  We started building a second pen for mama number two but before we finished, the eggs hatched!  Fortunately, the mama hens have never fought over chicks and are handling co-parenting beautifully.  See the little chicks peeking out?

ID to UT

We stopped in Soda Springs on our way down to Utah.  Rusty's mom grew up in the area and he wanted us to visit Hooper Spring.  We were most impressed with the playground.  You can't see the massive metal teeter-totters but they were a BLAST!  All of the old, scary, handmade playground equipment from our childhood in one beautiful location- we loved it.  My picture is lousy but it's better than nothing.

















After dropping off Rusty and the older two kids at Bear Lake, Naomi and I went down to Salt Lake for her follow-up appointment.  Ben and Emma came along and we had a great chance to talk about anything and everything.  Naomi's new x-rays showed a buckle fracture on the tip of her elbow and she got a very pink cast (I was glad they cast it instead of putting it in a brace because she kept freaking me out by trying to bend her plaster splint).




















Then we all picked up Madi from the airport.  She had just been to Peru and despite being up for the last 36 hours she cheerfully told us all about her trip on our drive back up to Bear Lake.  I loved it!

Cases of all kinds gathered at the cabins by the lake over the next few days.  We took a cave tour:



















We flew kites:



















We ate yummy food, we rode on Tony's boat, we ate mandatory raspberry shakes, we talked, we hot tubbed, we relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful view.  By the end of the visit, cousins and second cousins who didn't quite know each other's names a few days ago were now much better friends.  Success!

OR to ID

Over to Idaho to visit Rusty's family.  We had a blast hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma, swimming in their fancy lap pool and relaxing on the deck.  We saw more friends and hung out with cousins galore.  We had so much fun that I kinda forgot to take pictures, but I promise we really enjoyed every minute.

We also visited Nate's grave.  Of course, we had to bring him a touch of Kansas (sunflowers).

UT to OR

Heading north, we stopped and visited for an hour with a couple of Rusty's friends in the Boise area.

On to Oregon, where we got to go camping!  Kinda.  At my suggestion, Dad found a huge tent and an airbed and a cot and sleeping bags, and had it all ready for us out in the orchard.  Hannah stayed in the house with her cousin for most of the nights, but the rest of us got to camp out in the yard!  The nights were deliciously chilly and I slept like a log.  I sure miss Oregon's climate.  While hanging out with Grandpa and Nana and everyone else, we admired the chicken's Taj Mahal of a coop and run:



We also simply relaxed and helped a little with chores.  I also spent a fun afternoon catching up with a couple of high school friends!

KS to CO to UT

Annual road trip!!

This year's trip West took us through south Denver.  Just before we arrived, we saw a double rainbow and we could see the full arc of both of them!  Pictures never do full justice to rainbows.

We planned a special stop while we were there:  

Project C.U.R.E. collects unused disposable medical supplies and gently used durable medical supplies and distributes them to hospitals, doctor's offices, and individuals worldwide.  Many organizations will find homes for used medical equipment, but I discovered that they cannot always accept the more unusual equipment such as a cough assist machine, a percussion vest, and supplies for subcutaneous infusions.  Project C.U.R.E. can find a home for just about anything, however!  Their network is extensive, and when we saw their massive warehouse, our jaws dropped.  What an incredible organization!  It was a bittersweet experience to drop off the very last of Nate's medical supplies.

Next we drove to see family in Utah.  Cousins, chickens, trampolines, so much fun!  But of course we had to add an unplanned adventure the very first night:

Oh, yeah, ER trip while out of state.  Every family needs a story like that.  At first the x ray only showed swelling, so they put Naomi's arm in a splint and we made a follow-up appointment for the next week.  (Scheduling that SLC appointment was kinda tricky to do since we had planned to be touring through several states over the next couple weeks, but we figured it out eventually.) 

An injured arm didn't slow her down at all, and we went to Boondocks the next day.  Hyrum's wish to spend a day in an arcade finally came true.  Naomi LOOVED the air hockey table.

Summer Goals

My friend April and I are both hermits, and neither of us enjoy exercise, but we are trying to break out of our ruts and motivate each other to go walking at the track early in the morning on weekdays.  She works next door, and I am far more willing to stick to something like exercise if I know someone is expecting me to show up.

I have frequently dragged my kids out of bed to be there by 7 am (now, 6 am), since April isn't always there and I don't feel comfortable alone.


On "Day One" I took Hannah.  The track was wet and she had a blast rescuing every single slug she saw.  She was shockingly really liking the early morning walking habit... until we moved it back to 6 am.  Ha!


Naomi literally cried when she discovered that I had let her sleep in.  This was also a shock, since she is notorious for staying up as late as possible and sleeping in until at least ten in the morning.  So the next day I entered her room and said, "Naomi, do you want to go walking?" She was awake and on her feet immediately.  I need to try this on school days...


You can guess Hyrum's opinion.  When I force him to come with me, he prefers to work on his series of Gravity Falls journals.  He has a copy of Journal #3, and has made his own journals 4-9.

End of school year

Okay, school was over the third week of May but... well... here we go.


Naomi had fantastic teachers for Kindergarten!  Her para was my good friend Kelli (Nate's para for the last five years, so she knows Naomi very well).  Her main teacher was Mrs. Downs, who has an astonishingly soft voice for someone dealing with kindergarteners all day long... and she manages her classroom beautifully.  Naomi loved every minute.  Her best friend is Eli.  She loves him unabashedly and often prays that she and Eli will grow up at the same time so they can get married.  Oh, boy!


Hyrum brought home a recipe for Cookie Cats and we made them shortly after school let out.  Hyrum had a rough second half of the school year, mostly related to his meds but also the frustration any teen faces when expectations don't meet reality.  His teacher and paras had some great ideas (and a few iffy ideas) to keep Hyrum engaged in school, such as researching this recipe, writing a persuasive essay on why we should let him play a banned video game, etc.

Hannah has made several good friends in middle school, a handful of whom are pictured here at lunch following her state science fair presentation.  She's really looking forward to eighth grade, when they are all "at the top" of the 6-8th grade realm.

Plague of Frogs

This spring and early summer were extremely wet (the water level in the nearby dam came within two inches of spilling over...eek!). 

There is a holding pond next to our church.  Occasionally, it will stay full long enough for tadpoles to turn into frogs, and as it dries up, they will hop across the church parking lot looking for new homes. It seriously feels like a plague of tiny cute frogs.  This year, the frog migration began during the youth activity, and Hannah and Naomi couldn't just abandon the poor froggies to the hot sun and crushing car tires.  So, we spent the next hour catching frogs:

I talked Hannah out of dumping them in the city park's pond...they have cameras there, you know!  So we took them home to the dry creek next to our house:

Yeah, I'm a softie.

Adventures with Naomi

Naomi is a true joy to have around.  We really love her.

She's a pretty awesome artist:


She's eager to prove how she can do big things, which we may or may not exploit shamelessly:

(okay, I don't think that loaded right.  It's just a clip of Naomi vacuuming.)

Speaking of exploiting Naomi's six-year-old charm and innocence...

Hannah participated in a competition called "We the People" in which she and her teammates studied the Constitution, determined how it applied to some complex situations, and prepared answers to questions posed by real judges (the kind in a courtroom).  They did well, and were asked to attend a school board meeting to be recognized for their hard work.  Well, I chose to watch from the lobby because Naomi and Hyrum were NOT going to sit quietly.  To keep Naomi occupied, I gave her my phone and suggested she take a picture of Hannah.  She took this from the doorway:















I looked at the photo and told Naomi that she was standing too far away and needed to get closer.  So, she turned around and walked right into the room for a closer shot!

By the time she came back to me I was stifling laughter and several people in the audience were smiling and watching her come and go with the phone.  Pretty quickly the school board finished talking with Hannah's group and they gathered for a photo.  Laughing rather harder than necessary, I told Naomi to go back in there and get a photo from the front this time.  Sure enough, she waltzed right in, stood right in front of Hannah (blocking the teacher taking the photo), and said she wanted a picture.  Everyone said "Awwww..." and I was laughing my head off in the lobby.

The principals from the two grade schools and the speech therapist were all there with the school board, and since they all know me very well, quickly spotted me in the lobby laughing like a loon.  Yeah, they already knew I was a bit crazy... ha!  Hannah was pretty embarrassed, but when I showed her the "butt shot" in the parking lot she started laughing with me all the way back to the car...we got a lot of stares...it was fun.

Naomi enjoyed it too, even though she didn't see why it was a big deal.

Hyrum was miffed that I didn't let him chew out the school board for all of their "unfair" policies.  He tends to blame the Board of Education for all of his school woes.  That's the other reason we stayed in the lobby...Hyrum would definitely have made a scene.  I wonder where he learned that...

Catching Up

Not in any particular order:

Hannah and her friends’ science fair project made it to State. 

Naomi, what are you making?

“I’m making my own present for my birthday.  We can just leave it in the living room.“

Nate’s school made this memorial area called Nate’s Nook  (okay, the bench was already there but they  painted, decorated etc) where kids can stop, rest, try his toys and braille books, or even give Nate’s handprint a high five (off screen). The plaid pillow is from Nate’s shirt and the red pillows are from his blankie. These boys are a couple random kids from school. 

Hyrum has been begging me to post this video from last Halloween. Hopefully I did it right this time. 

The Squirrels are back

Yeah, I took a couple month's break purely because...
1- I started to change the password to this account then remembered the old one, quit halfway through, and now cannot access Blogger or any of the blogs on two of our devices (they think I'm a hacker or something)..
2- I forgot that password again and couldn't log in (on any machine) for a long time.  Technically this blog is attached to Rusty's email account that I don't have regular access to, so... yeah.  Excuses, excuses. Today I finally remembered to pester Rusty while he was at home and he graciously signed in again for me.



Toto statues are all over town, with different paint jobs.  This one is next to the war memorial by the park.

Icicles

My kids are having a great icicle season!  Hannah was especially proud of hers.
Naomi also found one almost this long, but hers broke before I took a photo.  Sorry Naomi.
Hyrum is rather notorious for eating the dirtiest, grossest icicles, usually off of cars, but surprisingly this time he didn't search long for his own icicle.  Instead, he ate a small portion of Hannah's (WITH permission, this time) and then rushed back to his room.  I think he was mid-chapter in writing his latest book (a mash-up of Ava and Lala, Baba Yaga, Trollhunters, Howl's Moving Castle, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a Studio C sketch, and who knows what else).

Can't wait to turn 6

Naomi and I have the flu.  This morning I asked her if her body aches.
She said, "Yes.  Because I have been five years old for a long, long, time!"

One more month, kiddo.  One more month.

Better late than never

Yes, it's been over a month since Christmas, but...well, it was a hard one.  Nate would have turned 11 on Christmas Eve.  It was the first Christmas since he died. Things like that.

We did have good experiences over the holidays, but they were bittersweet and even typing about it seemed too emotionally draining.  Today, however, I was going through my photos and decided I had better post these before I forgot the significance behind them.

Rusty's parents put these on Nate's headstone a several days before Christmas.
On Nate's birthday, all of the family in the IF area wore plaid shirts and gathered to put together this sweet wreath.  (From about age 2, Nate wore button down shirts because it was very hard to dress him in anything that had to be pulled over his head.  Since most little-boy shirts that button down are plaid, he wore it a LOT.)



















I knew we should do something here in Kansas to commemorate Nate's birthday but just couldn't bring myself to plan anything.  I figured no matter what, I'd break down crying.  Fortunately, Rusty's sister was inspired to send a tender note and this beautiful ornament for our tree.  It was a perfect gift.  I cried anyway...but they were tears of gratitude.


The week of Christmas, one of our plants (a peace lily) from the funeral services bloomed for the first time in five months.  I'm pretty sure it was Nate's Christmas present to us.

Cat-sitter's Club

Hyrum wants to be a cat-sitter when he grows up.  He calls it the Cat-sitter's Club (he currently likes reading the comic book form of the Babysitter's Club).  We are trying to expand that concept to Pet Sitting, but he loves cats best.

He is getting close to 16, so the school is working on building his life and job skills.  At home, we have begun offering his (our) services to friends for free, as a way to train Hyrum and hopefully get a few referrals lined up for whenever he officially starts advertising.

We just finished his second cat-sitting job today.

Hyrum with his first client.

Rusty had fun taking pictures!