Ice Cream Soup

We closed our incredible conference weekend with our wonderful friends the Fitzsimmons Family. We had a great dinner, with a new recipe that EVERYONE actually ate, and asked if we could make again! Kaeli prepared an amazing FHE lesson that really seemed to bring sweet understanding and comfort to one of the F Fam boys. It was perfect. Kaeli ROCKS at FHE!
Then we got treated to a new surprise that I think is going to become a Conference tradition at our house - ICE CREAM SOUP!

Kat & John softened the ice cream to thick milkshake consistency. Kat had brought TONS of yummy toppings, and combined with ours, the table looked like it does Halloween night! :)

The kids had tons of fun adding their favorite syrups and candies and then....

Voila! Everyone created their own Ice Cream Soup! This was Miss A's - she really made a work of art! I think the adults and big kids had as much fun creating their concoctions as the little people did! Thanx Fitz Fam for sharing such an awesome idea with us!!!
Just as a PS, something I didnt get a pict of, was that since Kels and I cant have regular ice cream, she got treated to any of the candies she wanted AND a homemade banana choc-chip muffin. She was a pretty content kiddo and didnt fuss at all about not getting ice cream. Such a big girl she is becoming! I think she was happy to just be with all the big kids and all the candy chaos that was going on around her. :)

Baxter Beanery

A couple of weeks ago, we got the unexpected opportunity to go pick green beans. There is a local program called Salem Harvest. It is a community cooperative program. Farms invite/allow workers to come into the fields to pick. Half of what is picked goes to local food banks and shelters. The other half goes home with the workers.

All summer I have lamented not having a garden, and my one wish was esp for green beans. Imagine my surprise when I got a message to my phone that green beans were being offered through this program. I immediately signed up me and Preston to go. There are usually very few slots available, and they go VERY fast. We were thrilled to find out we got to slots!

We found a sitter for the little kiddos. This was our first experience with SH, and we didnt realize that we could have brought the whole family to participate. It will be something to be sure we do for next time. For this time, though, it was Preston & I and the 3 big kids. The field was at the Salem School For The Deaf. It was a HUGE field. We all learned many things that night, and very much enjoyed the chance to serve others in the process. We were devastated when the light fled and we were asked to leave the field. They didnt have as many people show up as expected and it left a good portion of the field unharvested. It made many of us sad, and we all hoped that somehow the field wouldnt go to waste.

I was so surprised when Preston emailed this to me - I apparently had my pict taken on site by the SH team and it was published on their FB site! Kind of fun.

Since it was an evening harvest, we left all of the beans until the weekend. We spent a very enjoyable evening together prepping beans and listening to the local high school football game. It was an away game, so John was there instead of here with us. The little kiddos tired out quickly, so it was just the older kids and us again. The big kids and I were in charge of cutting and snapping beans to get them ready for the jars.

Preston stood at the sink and the stove almost the entire night washing and processing the jars.

Colton had a blast swapping out the strainers of beans between us and Preston. He also had the job to fill the jars for Preston.

I mostly used the camera on my phone until I saw how pretty the jars were. All that lovely green just waiting to go on our shelves!

I forgot that once they are processed, that lovely green changes color. I also forgot that old jars can be fragile - we lost 3 quarts of beans because the whole bottom of the jars just completely broke off! I was so sad. All that hard work, just for beans and glass to go into the garbage :( We spent all that night, and most of the next day processing jars. We had lots of fun when we asked John to guess how many quarts we ended up with. He kept throwing out numbers, just for me to respond "higher" and to watch his eyebrows shoot up when we told him we got 80 quarts (minus the 3 we lost).

It feels so good to have one of our favorite foods out on the shelf. It was a good experience for all of us to learn and spend that time together. It also feels amazing to know that Heavenly Father answered a prayer I didnt even know that I had offered. He knew of my desire, of our need, and filled it to overflowing. I hope that those we served with this bounty were as blessed as we have been.

Tenderhearted Boys

Last night we attended another CHS freshman football game. Several of the YM from our wards are playing this year. It is a great outing for the kids and I, and who can beat free and supporting our ward kiddos!

Last night during 3rd quarter there was a major pile-up, and a player from the opposing team was injured. After 10 plus minutes laying on the field with coaches and the boy's family, 2 medical teams finally arrived and took the young man (and his family) to receive medical care.

During this time (10 min can seem like forever) my boys were all in a dither. It was the first time they had witnessed a sports injury of this magnitude. I talked to them throughout the entire time, trying to explain to them what was happening. I thought all was being understood, and ok until the med teams arrived. Colton was very upset and wanted to do something to help. I asked him what he could do? He decided that he could say a prayer, right there in the bleachers, for the young man who was hurt. It was so tender and thoughtful. Ky was so upset that he was in tears. He climbed into my lap (which he NEVER does anymore) and cried for the young man who was injured. It touched my heart so deeply. I continued to talk with him and reassure him that the medical teams and doctors would do everything they could for the young man who was hurt. He didnt leave my lap until the end of the game.

Another explaination came when the crowd stood and applauded as the med team left with the player and his family. It was hard to try to explain to the boys that we werent clapping and cheering because we were happy that the player was hurt, but that it was in support for him, to let him know that others were proud of him for trying his best, and that we were sending our hope for him that all will be well. It was hard to help them understand. It is interesting that this experience went hand-in-hand with the multiple conversations going on in our home about the English/American language - how we can say or do one thing, but have it mean completely the opposite. This experience seems to apply to our odd way of doing things. I think it was as clear as mud to my boys even after multiple explainations.

When we arrived home about the same time as the girls (they had been at YW), the little boys immediately began to tell the girls everything that had happened. It was Caiden's turn for family prayer, and he was very sweet in remembering that young man and his family.

It has been very encouraging and has touched my heart in the last couple of weeks to see the kids' reactions to some difficult lessons and experiences. They have shown deep concern and compassion, no matter their ages. It continues to instill in my heart that we are doing something right, and raising our children, being immersed in the gospel is one of my greatest joys. They are learning great things, and it is shining brightly inside of them.

ORCA SPRING CELEBRATION I

Yesterday was our ORCA Spring Celebration. They chose a new place to hold it, it was smaller, but we found out they had the biggest turnout ever! It was so fabulous for the kids to get to meet their teachers and to be with so many other students and their families.
This is Caiden with his teacher. He has been so helpful and supportive of Caiden this year. We are hoping Caiden will have him again next year.
This amazing, funny lady has been Colton's teacher for the last 2 years. She has blessed our lives in so many ways, and she has been an angel for our family, and for Colton. She has become a good friend. We are pretty sure she will be Ky's kindergarten teacher next year. Lucky us we will get to keep her for one more year!

When we first arrived, Preston & Kaeli took the kids out to play and enjoy the small reprieve of dry weather. Kaeli did an awesome job with taking picts, and I cant wait to scrapbook them for the kids' books. Sabrina helped play with the little peeps too. I thought this was a great pict Kaeli got of Sabrina and Ky playing basketball.

This is what our weather looked like about every other 15 minutes. It was either very bright and sunny, or completely torrrential. It was often raining so hard that you could hardly see anything. When the sun came out everyone ran around trying to get to all of the activities. When the rain started, everyone scrambled to find some kind of shelter at the park. The wind picked up at the end and nearly blew away 2 of the booth awnings.

ORCA SPRING CELEBRATION II

This was the boys' favorite activity booth. They got a pretty good go of it before the torrential rain started up again. They made some awesome bubbles and Kaeli did an awesome job to capture them on Preston's camera.
This is Preston with the other members of the ORCAPA group. He has been talking with them and doing conference calls for months. This was the first time that all of them were together. I took picts on 6 different cameras to make sure to document this momentous occasion. The ORCAPA booth was very successful and the group talked to ALOT of parents, teachers, and even the new principal. They also handed out a lot of information that Preston and Anne Marie (in green) had put together to make people aware of the legislative process and where ORCA stands right now, and what bills are concerns at the state level. Preston was praised by so many people. I think it was a very successful day for the group, and a lot of validation for all of Preston's extra hard work. It was awesome to be there to see how happy he was in the work that he has been doing all year.

Part of our reason for being at Spring Celebration was because Sabrina and Kaeli were there to go through 8th grade graduation ceremony. It was so different from B&M schools. Personal, fun, cozy. It was very enjoyable for all who attended. I think there were maybe 2 dozen kids in the group. It is great being part of a small school family.

The theme for Spring Celebration was "Myth Busters" - this is one of the teachers who looks exactly like one of the hosts of the real show. Everyone was taking advantage of getting his picture :)

This is a pict of the girls with one of their favorite teachers.

Little Bits of Humor

Since I cant re-figure out how to post things to our "kids speak" tab, I want to post some things here before we forget them...

This has been an interesting week of things coming from little people and big people in our house. Hope you get as many laughs as we did!

Kels: "Mom, I am hungry, you need to make a DINNER plan" (this is our key phrase lately which usually results in pancakes, cereal, toast, or spaghetti. She would have been happy with any or all of those for breakfast)

Ky: (riding in the car with a friend) "Ew, what is that smell? It's John. John smells like green beans." Ky is NOT fond of green beans...

Ky: (him and me driving home from his karate class) "Mom, you can come to my birthday party, you are invited." Uh, thanx bud....good thing since we hosted it :)

Kels: (getting in the car yesterday AM, we heard a fire engine siren)
Kels: "Coyote!" (totally straight face, with head tilted and ears listening)
Me: WHAT!!!??? (eyes staring wide at this child and wondering where this girl came from)
Kels: "Coyote!" (with a look at me that said "duh!")
Me: "That is not a coyote, that is a fire engine!" (now laughing right out loud)
Kels: "fire engine" (totally straight faced, she shrugged her shoulders and got in the car)
What in the world? Thanx Diego.....Glad she is learning something from Nick Jr....

Interesting conversation between me/big girls, all of us who are extra, extra tired today, which always results in hysterical laughter and tears. We were sitting on the couch eating CHINESE food -

Kaeli: (in her best brogue, eating fried rice) "Mom, do Scottish men eat rice?
Me: "No, they eat Haggis!"
Kaeli: "What is Haggis?"
Me: (already laughing hysterically) "Do you really want to know?"
Ceana: "Do I WANT to know?
Me: "Sheep scrotum!" (now laughing so hard I have tears running down my face)
Ceana: (with her hands over her face) "Eww, gross! I probably should have said no, but you told me anyway."
Me: (laughing so hard I can hardly stand it) "Scottish men eat Haggis in KILTS!"
Ceana/Kaeli: (now also laughing hysterically, probably more at me than at our chat)
Ceana: "Eeewww! I am scarred for life!"
Kaeli: (in her very best, hard accent brogue) "Scottish men eat Haggis in KILTS!" (which made me laugh even harder, she nailed the accent right on!)

(OK, so I got my sheep parts mixed up - Haggis is actually sheep's lung, heart and liver - which BTW is actually banned in the US - and "Rocky Mountain Oysters" are the other part mentioned above, which BTW, you can find served in restaurants right in Portland! That's what I get for watching the Food Channel when it is way too late at night, and watching unusual shows about eating everything and anything) Just when you thought you knew everything about sheep huh? :)

Now Kaeli is saying the word Haggis, just to make me laugh. I am WAY overtired.
Kaeli: "HAGGIS!"
Ceana: "That is like a cuss word! Gross!" (Which made me laugh even harder)
Kaeli: (to Caiden who is wondering why all of us girls are in hysterics at the moment), pulled out an awesome movie quote from Disney's ATLANTIS that nailed it right on! (those of you who know us well, know we love pulling random movie quotes into conversations) Sweet to Milo: "Trust me on this one, you dont wanna know. Audrey, dont tell him, you shouldnt have told me, but you did, and now I'm telling you, you dont wanna know!" Works perfectly with the conversation between Ceana and Caiden!

Kels: "Mom, you need me."
Me: "What do I need you for?"
Kels: (arms held up to me) "You need to hold me."
Well...ok, cant resist that one...just make sure to not tell Dr Drew I lifted her to hold her...we sat in the chair with her snuggling and then we played "cat fight" with our extra long PJ sleeves over our hands with her giggling the whole time and giving Kaeli smug looks over my shoulder. Cant resist special little moments like these, esp after what a rough day all of us have had....

Hopefully all of us can actually get to bed on time tonight (which is highly improbable since Ky/Kels decided to finally crash late after all of their hysterics this afternoon) and we can hope that tomorrow will be more calm...

Thank goodness for little people who still help us find a reason to laugh amid all the the chaos that seems to reign these days....laughter is good for the soul.

FUN WITH FOOD

We got the chance to actually have a sit down dinner tonight, all the kids and me. Kels thinks she is big stuff these days, so we gave her a big job. She set the table like a pro, even though it was the first time she has done it. When we decided on pancakes (it is turning out to be that kind of week) Kaeli jumped right on being in charge of cooking.
If I cook, I make regular, plain old boring circle pancakes, but when Kaeli is in the kitchen, they are never plain or regular, and it is always exciting.

The little kiddos were ecstatic when they found out Kaeli was making them pancakes. She surprised each of them with letters, Mickey Mouse ears for Caiden (we LOVED our time at Disneyland), a Wizards of Waverly Place wand for Colton, Tinkbell butterflies esp for Kels, and she even made Ky a racetrack! Dont know how she did it, she is just a miracle worker I tell you!

Kaeli surprised Ceana with a "prom dress" pancake in honor of attending another prom this weekend. She even sneaked it onto Ceana's plate. Ceana gave it a puzzled look, and then her eyes lit up, and out came her signature "aaawwww". Kaeli has been the recipient of Ceana's hugs alot lately. They are well deserved to a wonderful sissy who is always so thoughtful of others, and has a talent to know just what to give to make others happy. She also received lots of whoops and hollering from the little people during our mini FHE, they were thrilled with their surprises, and it was their way to show her. Way to go sissy for an awesomely successful and fun family dinner!

Good News & Bad News...

It has been another week of Mondays...

Our Monday started out with a visit to the vet's office with a VERY sick Oreo...and no clue why he was so sick. I took him in and we saw Dr Archer's new partner. She was great and asked lots of questions I couldnt answer. She ended up keeping Oreo for x-rays and lab work. Ceana was NOT a happy camper when I returned without him. All we could do was wait to see what the dr said...

I came home from that appt to turn around and run down to my dr appt. It was not a good visit for me. He made some recommends about new specialists and a new sleep med he wants me to try (now that I am writing, I just realized I have that med still sitting at the pharmacy...another thing for my monster to-do list tomorrow) and then double checked with me that I had received the letter to let me know he is leaving the practice at the clinic - WHAT? I totally flipped out, while trying to keep my composure. I hadnt received a letter at all. I was mortified. I have only had him for the last several months. I had finally found someone to ask the right questions, to jump on tests, to talk and work with my other specialists....and now he is leaving...and I am going to have to start all over again.

I have an appt with a new Asian master actupuncture specialist next week. I have an MRI scheduled for tomorrow. I have dropped all my PT appts until we can get results from the MRI. I have info for 2 new personal dr, and still trying to decide to make appts to at least meet each of them and try to prayerfully decide where to go from there.

It was all I could do not to cry when I left the dr office. I just cant seem to find a good dr for me. It will now mean adding more appts into our schedule again. I am already feeling extra guilty for the fuel costs and cost of time away from home, and what the cost will be to the kids' grades with me coming and going....

On my way home from my appt, I got a call from the vet clinic with results from all of Oreo's tests and that he was ready to come home. I had a pretty intense discussion with the dr. His x-rays and labs came out clean, mostly. The x-rays indicated some calcification on his neck - the disc degeneration we have already had confirmed in LJ 2x now....Also, he had some labs that were unusually off. Sometimes the numbers can be off because of high stress, but the follow up appt with Dr Archer today also indicated she is concerned about the labs. We have a follow up appt for him in 3 weeks for more labs. Depending on what those results are, we may have lots more on our plate for Oreo (and maybe LJ) as well. Can only try to wait patiently. Oreo is doing much better after the extra fluids and care he received at the clinic, which we are very thankful for.

Tonight my heart is very heavy with heartbreaking news we received about extended family members. We are so far away, and there is nothing we can do but keep them in our thoughts and prayers, and let them know we still love them.

It has already been a very long, full week - and it is only Wednesday. The rest of the week and weekend look to be VERY full of lots of adventure. I will try to keep up with posts, more coming soon....

Ready To Rumble....Or At Least Spar...

This has been a BIG karate weekend for us. Lots of extra work and fun. Last night the big kids and I went to our first sparring class. We were all a bit nervous because we had no idea what to expect. We had no idea how challenging and fun it would be. The first thing we did was get on all of our gear. This gear includes "boxing" gloves, boots, a monster thick vest, and a padded helmet and face shield. We keep wondering how much extra weight we added just to gear up. We spent the hour of class time learning new skills and trying to learn how to even move with all the gear on. We were sweating to death even before we got going. We were all paired up with equal age/height partners. We have met a couple of other families in our classes and so all the moms were put on a team. Kat & I had both had a rotten mom day, and we were ready to duke it out on the mats. The other mom was pretty timid, so we went easy on her, but not on each other. We learned how to do a round kick and a hook kick. We learned that the power in your leg/foot is 5x stronger than your hand. We learned alot about control and discipline and making sure you didnt hurt each other in the process. Ceana felt a bit discouraged. There were skills we tried that we have not learned in classes yet. She also didnt get the whole point of "beating" on each other. We talked about how we are constantly learning new things, and that the point of this and our black belt class is for personal self defense. I think it is going to take her awhile to warm up to it. That is ok. I wish I would have thought to grab my phone during class and gotten picts and video. Just was so involved in everything. Our instructor had everyone pair up and actually demo in front of everyone else. Part of our training is learning to be comfortable in front of others whether we are successful or not, and how to handle each one. The kids were all paired up to spar each other, and I didnt even get it captured, except in my mind's eye. I also completely forgot to have the girls get picts of me too (sorry mom, will remember for next time :)) It was great to see the kids work with each other, to see the different levels of skills, to see everyone cheering and clapping and hollering. It was quite the adventure. Ceana & I discussed on the way home about the things she is really interested in, and would like to learn about. One of those things is weapons training. Little did we know that we would get an extra surprise this morning. Class today was our normal black belt class. Except it was anything but normal. One of our instructors is a high level black belt who has specialized in weapons training. We got an extra treat today as he did mini demos with each weapon before we started class. Again, wish I would have thought to grab my camera. He was amazing. It was exactly what Ceana was hoping to ask about today, and instead she got a full on demo. She was pretty stoked about that. Something she thinks she wants to try. She was extra excited when our instructor told us about special seminars that are only offered to the black belt and leadership students this summer. I know several of us will be signing up for those! Class today was working with one of our weapons and with bare hands. It was pretty intense and a great workout. We also had a board breaking exercise. Again, we had to get up in front of others, and success or not, be willing to go through with things. That is a skill that can always be improved. For our family, esp, it is a great thing, knowing that we are somewhere safe, with awesome support and encouragement, and win or lose, we can find success. The girls gave it good tries, and our instructor was great to encourage them. I was excited to break it on my first try. Kat & I did "high 5's" over that one. We really are loving class so much. It is amazing how much it has helped our family as a whole, esp in such a short time. I will try to remember to take my camera to the next set of classes. Our next post will hopefully be about our belt testing next weekend. I will be sure that Preston has the video and regular cameras to capture everything. It will be a BIG family day!

How To....Maybe Not...

Want to know how to add a little zing to your temple date night?

Try locking, not one but TWO, sets of keys in your vehicle and not figure it out until you try to leave....

We had extra blessings that night:

1) great session

2) NOT raining for once

3) Having roadside assistance on our insurance plan (have used it 2x in the last couple of weeks)

4) Having locksmith be really close to where we were. We were back on the road within 30 min of the initial call

5) Having Cold Stone be really close by too...after locking the keys in and adding a bit of stress to our life, the yummy ice cream added the de-stress....:)

PS - this date night started out with a very spontaneous detour off the freeway to a little dive restaurant we found online on the phone. It was Polynesian food, and for it being a little tiny place in a strip mall, the food was actually really good. It was also inexpensive. We got a combo plate to share, and it was enough for both of us. Somewhere we will for sure try again.

Dancin' Up A Storm I

Ceana has been wanting to learn how to waltz. When Preston's parents were here for Colton's baptism weekend we ended up having the afternoon/evening all to ourselves. We got to have private dance lessons! The girls thought it was great fun and mom & dad taught everyone lots of different dances.
Dad comes from a long line of wonderful dancers, so he was the perfect teacher for the girls. It was extra special for us because it is very rare for us to get mom & dad all to ourselves. It was extra special time for the big girls.

It was fun to watch Preston dance and talk with his mom. Not time he gets very often either. I think it was good for both of them.

Dancin' Up A Storm II

We cleared the dining room so there was space for everyone. I think the kids all really enjoyed their time.

Dancin' Up A Storm III

I got talked into dancing too. I was very clumsy, for all of my love of dancing, I just dont do it very well. We all had fun just laughing and learning together.
It was so fun to watch mom & dad dance together. Every step they took, every spin, every change, they moved as one - which they have been for so many years. I think it was a really special memory for all of us, and esp the kids to see Gma & Gpa having fun and having that special time together.

FHE With A Flair!

We have been wanting to put a FHE group together since January, and finally we were able to get an activity put together. Since the kids started with the ATA program a few weeks ago, we have been thinking that a self-defense class would be a great thing to start with. One of the instructors, Mr C, came out to the house to teach all of us some new skills.

This image shows Mr C showing and teaching the kids the ATA "mantra" - it is all about promising to show courtesty and respect to everyone, to honor teachers and parents, to always do your best every day. It is one of the things I love about the program. It just re-inforces all our own family values.
The first self-defense skill he taught the kids was a high block. The kids were all laughing hysterically as Mr C went around and tried to surprise them. Some of the kids were pretty good, and strong enough to surprise him.

This was a lesson in following directions. He had them turn in soldier style to each of his commands. The lesson was to just use a fun way to teach an important skill of remembering respect and discipline and honoring parents in our homes.

This is the one of the skills that Mr C spent the most time on. He taught the kids that if they are ever asked to keep a secret from parents that they should learn to yell "NO, WAY!" at the top of their lungs and then immediately go to an adult that they trust. He also taught them about stranger danger and about learning to yell "Help! This is not my mom/dad!" indicating that the adult in the situation was not someone safe. Teaching kids to use different phrases besides "No" or "Dont" or "I dont want to" (that are heard all the time from kids in tantrum modes) can be one thing that can keep them safe, and alert others around them who may be able to offer assistance where needed. I know this is something that really works. A gal who used to be in our ward shared this exact scenario happening to her when she was young. She got separated from her parents in a large crowd, and the one thing that brought attention and help for her was her brother noticing what was happening and started yelling that she was being taken by an adult that was not a parent or friend using similar phrases as Mr C taught the kids tonight. She said that got adults around her to respond quickly, and most likely the only thing that saved her life.

I couldnt stop thinking about that story while Mr C was teaching the kids. Maybe that one lesson is the reason I have felt we have needed to hold a class like this...maybe tonight will be something the kids will always remember and it will maybe help them one day. No matter what the reasons, tonight was a good choice and I am glad that we were able to share it with others.