To Love

Meg "decorated" our boys this afternoon.

Last week I stayed home with Andy, Maisie and Nick because the boys were sick. This week Austin stayed home with Maisie and Nick because they were sick. When I arrived home, around 1 pm, I found all three sitting in the fort. Here is the picture of that.

T-mobile kicked me off! How amusing that last year I called them and tried to convince them that I needed my contract to end early because I had little coverage out here in the middle of Kansas. They said I would have to pay $200 per phone in order to do so, of course I did not do so. And so today when I tried to call my husband to tell him that I was outside the office with his lunch, my phone would not dial. I came home to find out the scoop from one of those obnoxious 800 numbers, and the chick on the other end of the line called me an "extreme roamer" and said that my phone had been disconnected. Funny that instead of me cancelling them, they cancelled me. Hum. What next?

"My share of the work of this world may be limited, but the fact that it is work is precious. I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief joy and duty to accomplish my humble tasks as though they were great and noble" (Helen Keller). The children have been sick for over a week now, and perhaps my only accomplishment is that they were dressed in clean clothes everyday. Here is proof -- Nick in his clean jammies.

Maisie loves to find a loose marker around the house, help herself to paper, and then draw her family. This is our family. Count the heads. There are six!

Meg and I love this picture Whitni captured. We think it shows Maisie's personality at its finest.

Austin hung three baskets on the front of our house after FHE last night. I asked Meg to take pictures of them for the blog. I think she did a nice job.

Yesterday I sent Austin out to help me deliver a meal, and he took all the children with him. They were gone quite a while, so I knew that Austin was giving me a little break (perhaps because he had just awakened from a two hour nap). Nice of him, eh? Upon arrival the children each brought in a stalk of wheat and reported that they had stopped to watch the wheat harvest. Austin then sat on the floor and explained how the combine works and showed them the wheat berry as the end result. Only in Kansas.

Until Kansas, I would have never understood fully what "amber waves of grain" meant. These are pictures of two local highlights, acres upon acres of grain and dirt roads. Although Kansas is humid, it is beautiful.

My memory card is not working in the SD drive on my computer, so I can't post the pictures of our morning -- cherry picking, pie making, and running in Kansas wheat. But if you read this today, think of Andy because he has a fever and is not feeling well. He is just a nice, nice boy, and I am sad that he is sick today.

I told Austin to record my trick. He did. I wonder if he regrets it. I don't, though. The only regret I do have is that we didn't bolt our trampoline to the ground, and it blew away in a recent storm. That's right. Andy found the mangled trampoline 200+ yards from its prior "permanent" location.

Today Maisie told me that her best friend was Nicholas. I then asked her who Meg's best friend was, and she said Andy. Finally I asked her who my best friend was, and she said, "Daddy."

While Austin and I did dinner dishes, Maisie pushed Nicholas on the swing. (Meg was standing by just in case.)

How does your garden grow?

Here is one of two planters that frame my front door. The huge storm last week took many bicopa blooms with it.

This morning I finally transplanted the seedlings grown from seeds from Grandma Goodell's rock garden. From the looks of the picture you can see that my front flower bed needs to bloom.

My herb box is overflowing. Last night I made minestrone and used fresh thyme, oregano, and basil from my box.

The garden plants are also growing rapidly. We even have a baby cantaloupe.

A movie for Austin, his dad, and my dad.
This movie is merely an attempt to show the fathers in my realm that I love and appreciate them.

Finally, a park in our backyard. (Nicholas was asleep during the inaugural slide run.)

Today I planted more flowers.......Nick "helped" me.

The kids' friends invited them to Vacation Bible School this week; Meg and Andy attended together. Yesterday, however, I got a call from Andy's teacher. She said that he blew chunks, and I needed to come and pick him up. This second photo is of Andy with his barf bag.

"Sweet! Can I pick just this one pea?," Meg questioned during our first pea harvest.

 
I've decided that all I need to entertain the children on a muggy afternoon is a hose.

We refurbished our 72-hour kits for FHE tonight. We also discussed the possibility of tornadoes and our emergency evacuation plan. My lovelies were interested until they realized that they would not be able to eat any of the snacks we were putting in the packs. Maisie then declared, "Dad, there is a tomato in my bed. I need my snacks." Only the faith of a child can change a deadly tornado discussion into delicious tomato dinner.

 
My boys match. That's all.

Karen invited us to breakfast. Of course the instructions were to come in "pajams" and bring suits. Karen made us each our own special order, and she set the table for the "cowboy egg" theme. Afterward eating until stuffed, we swam until exhaustion set in. (Yes, Karen IS heaven-sent.)

I have about 30 minutes each day when everyone is asleep, and I am not. I quite often read my scriptures and then watch "Saved by the Bell." During this time I form complete thoughts, and prepare myself for another routine day made glorious by recognizing the mundane as a blessing.

Andy worked hard on his journal this afternoon, probably because he was really happy about his new skills.

 
We of course had a testimony meeting after church on Sunday, and all of us were happy (something to mark down in history)

Because our swing set takes "two moderately skilled men 20-24 hours to complete," only the sandbox area is ready to play. I went out to check on Maisie and she was singing, I hope you can recognize the number of her Article of Faith.

We spent Saturday swimming in the Julian's pool. Austin even enjoyed in the wholesome recreational activity. (Although there are no pictures of Maisie, she did get wet -- just not her head.)