Houston...We Have a Successful Launch!

Today ROCKED! It has been a wonderful day and we still have a lot of the day left. YEA!
This morning started out with not waking up until I wanted too! YEA! That was very nice. However, the whole family was up and going by 8:30am. Guess that is part of having 5 small children- lol.

We had a nice breakfast as a family and then my wife and I dropped the kids off at grandma and grandpa house so we could do Bountiful Baskets. There were 24 orders that were placed. The truck came early, so we were able to get every thing unloaded off the truck and into the baskets in a pretty quick fashion. We had lots of volunteers today as well, which was AWESOME! We were done by 11:30am. It was a great variety today. I can't wait for the next order in two weeks (the 16th- order on the 11th- go HERE to register and order.). We got grapes, plums, apples, bananas, cantaloupe, strawberries in the fruit department, and for our vegetables we got leaf lettuce, artichokes, red peppers, tomatoes, cauliflower, and a bag of potatoes. It was great. YEA FOR FRESH PRODUCE AT AN AFFORDABLE PRICE!

Here is a picture of the truck that brought the produce. He got lost this morning, but STILL ended up early!

I like this picture (of course it may be because I took it!). These are baskets all lined up and ready to be filled with the yummy produce!

Same picture (opposite direction) AFTER they have been filled! I am grateful for my wife and Heather. They have put A LOT of time and effort into this and for it finally have happened is such a wonderful experience. Our little community needed a way to bring in affordable, fresh produce for our families.

This is what the baskets looked like today. When you come you get one basket of fruits and one basket of vegetables! Totally worth $15!!! 

After Bountiful Baskets we went with my parents and we were able to get pumpkins. I love going every year and watching the kids run around the field trying to find the biggest or the fattest or the tallest. They proudly stand by their choice and wait for grandpa to come and cut the stem from the vine so I can haul them the (seemingly) three miles back to the car. (Sigh) What fun. Below are some pictures from the experience!

 When I chose my pumpkin, I lifted it up and we found that there was an entire colony of mice living under it- lol. They were running in circles and going kind of crazy for a while. You can see the head of one of the mice in the picture below!

The faucet trauma is now over. It doesn't even leak. So I guess I do have a few inkings of handyman stirring in me after all. Not that I EVER want to experience that again- not EVER! (And NO- I will NOT elaborate on that anymore!)

As a family we watched conference this afternoon and my wife helped me add about 30 new books to my class library (we have to add them to my library checkout program, barcode them, and write on the top of the book with the correct information. Not my favorite part, but I LOVE that I can keep better track of my books now with my students and community members that check them out.

We also harvested all our carrots today! We thought these two carrots were pretty cool. They twisted around each other. Pretty amazing how things grow. We ended up with a three-gallon bucket completely full. I am not sure WHAT we are going to do with them. We also picked the tomatoes that were ripe and harvested the  bell peppers (we are going to chop them with the red ones from our Bountiful Basket and freeze them to use this winter- yum). 

Well, I want to do something besides sit in the house all day. So, I am going to get off here and do something.

Later...


Update: I had to leave the pictures uploading while I attended priesthood session and I just barely got everything added and labeled. After priesthood I came and picked up the family and we went to a local fast food restaurant and ate dinner together. It was very nice to spend time with my little herd! Now we are all chilling. My two little ones are about out and the rest are watching tv or playing poptropica on the computer. I LOVE being a dad.

Don't Judge Me...

Okay, I know, I know. It IS true. Yes, I have to admit that I am going to go and see Eclipse tonight with my wife (and another couple). I am excited to spend time with just my wife. I love my kids and all, but it is always nice to have some time with just my wife! :)

We are heading out as soon as my wife gets back from Moab. She went down there with Heather Parsons to start training on bountiful baskets. I guess you have to train three weeks before you can open your own local site. I think I will call my wife right now and see how it is going...

Okay, I just got off the phone. Everything is going great. They made it there safely and are about done with the pick-up. Then they are going to have sit down with the ladies that are running it there and figure out all the "stuff" they need to do to get a site started. I am excited. My wife said that this week we got (and this is only what I can remember): cantaloupe, grapes, blueberries, oranges, nectarines, brussels sprouts (YUCK!), asparagus, lettuce, tomatoes, corn... That is all I can remember, but I DO remember that it only cost me $15!!!! Now THAT is a deal!. I am very excited about that fact that we can eat more fresh produce and not have to pay a fortune at the local store to do it! YEA!

Last night was SO hot! I don't think it got below 75 degrees until almost 3 am. I was sweating and tossing and turning all night. It didn't help that two of my boys were in my bed most of the night. I do not like it Sam I am, I do not like...when my kids get into my bed. It did finally cool off though and I did sleep. I was so tired when my alarm went off that I hit snooze twice and finally gave up all together on walking this morning.

After getting ready for the day, we had a good breakfast of cold cereal (don't judge us on this either. We had orange juice, fresh baked zucchini bread, toast, and lemon-poppy seed cake with it!). My wife headed out and I have been hanging with the kids. We have caught grasshoppers, looked at a praying mantis, played on the swing set, and played on the computer. I do feel a little guilty about not walking today. However, I did walk to get the mail with my kids (I was amazed at all the bizarre little comments that people made about the fact that I was alone with my 5 kids- what? Is that some kind of miracle or something?) and then promptly ate some candy to make up for the calorie burn- :).

I am trying to get the garden watered before we leave to watch the movie. It should be done. Our garden turned out SO nice this year. We didn't plant nearly as much as usual and it has been nice to have less to worry about. Our squash is going crazy. We will be able to freeze lots this year so we can enjoy vegetable pizza, zucchini bread, and cooked squash all winter- YEA!

Our tomatoes are taking FOREVER to do anything this year. We have had a couple of little cherry tomatoes so far, but that is it. Our spinach is growing well. We had never grown it before so it has been a learning experience. But I LOVE fresh spinach. YUM! Our radishes and carrots are growing like crazy. We have eaten radishes many times- Phew...They are HOT!!! Our apple trees have rooted and are putting out tons of new growth. I am VERY excited about that. I can not wait for the day we get to pick FRESH apples off the tree out the back door.

Well, I guess that I should go and check the water, read the last 200 pages of my book so I can START my paper (however, three cheers for me- I spent about 2 hours yesterday writing out an outline. That will make the actual paper MUCH easier to write), and make sure I have everything read to go when my wife gets back.

Later...

Drying Carrots is fun to do, fun to do, fun to do...

Okay, Not really!
But it is a good way to preserve them. I dug up all our carrots this morning and my wife peeled them and we have been cutting, blanching, and drying them all day (only got a few of them done too :( )

After digging up the carrots the kids and I turned our attention to building a giant spider in the front yard for Halloween. We used the irrigation tubing and some wood to build it. It looks awesome! And, we were able to also decorate the rest of the house. I also mowed and trimmed the lawn in there as well.

The rest of the day was spent in a nap (which is VERY rare for me- but I was exhausted) and spending time with the kids.

On a school note, I was able to get ALL my math tests corrected. That was all sorts of fun (NOT!) but I was very pleased with the results. That brings us to the last 1 or so. We have been waiting up for our 9 year old. He has spent the last two days with his grandparents at the car races in Price. We just found out they are going to be VERY late and will just take him home to their house. We will get him in the morning before church. While we were waiting up, I have been doing some research on attention spans and the brain science behind it. It have found some very interesting things from the effects of music to chemicals needed to have an attention span. However, it is late, I am tired, and I am heading to bed. Have a great night!

Later...

A Week From Today...

OK, so I am freaking out a little bit. A week from today (almost exactly) my wife and I will make the hour journey to the hospital to have our 5 and final child. I am excited, but it all seems surreal. We are still up in the air on the name. We like Eli, but my wife isn't 100% sold in it. We are also discussing Jeffery. I don't know. Guess we better work that out soon!

This week is my first "real" week of summer as both of my classes are over, and I am almost a little lost. I can't work in my classroom because the district still has not laid down my new carpet. I can't really plan anything until that gets done. I hate the feeling of knowing I need to get things done, but can't do them.

We have ourselves a busy week planned out. We are hoping to head to my sisters on Wed. and go swimming in the new aquatic center's outdoor area (like a mini-water park). I am not a fan of swimming, so it doesn't do much to excite me, but it WILL be nice to see my sister. My brother is also talking about going to Junction this weekend, just the adults, and seeing Harry Potter. It will great to take time to go and spend an evening with my brother and his wife. We don't do much with them and it will be fun. Friday is a church social that I am responsible for. Thank heavens for some good counselors that help out a bunch. I think that it will be a great event.

We had a major rain storm on Saturday night here. I was a little nervous wondering if the shed would leak. Well, it didn't as far as I could see. So yea! I still have some touch-ups that need to be done (caulking the trim and vents, etc.) and I will do them eventually, but I am done working on outdoor projects for a while. However, Saturday morning, I spent my 20+ minutes (more like 2 hours) cleaning out my tin storage shed. Since we were able to move a majority of items out of my shed that we had been storing there, I was able to clean out the area and de-junk it. Now when I go in the shed, I don't have to trip over bikes, scooters, and other "treasures" from our house. I can walk in, go right to what I need, and leave. The only down side to that shed being my shed, is that being tin, it gets a mite toasty during the summer and arctic in the winter. But, it is MY space! :)

We made a horrific discovery last night too! Something is killing one of my squash plants. I have checked it carefully for bugs and I water it frequently, so I am a little miffed that it is croaking. My grass is having issues again. I don't understand what is happening. Guess you just keep working and doing your best.

---update now complete---

Later...

T-Minus 5 and counting

WOW! I simply can't believe that I am in the home stretch. I have so many mixed emotions. I am very excited that it is over (it has been a long year), yet I will truly miss this class. I guess I feel this way every year, but I don't remember feeling that way. I simply hope this means that I am finding a balance in my life when it comes to school and personal life.

I am WAY nervous for my first master's class tomorrow. The professor said he would send more info before the class, yet I haven't seen anything yet. I have no idea what to expect and that is the hardest part for me. But I know that I will survive.

Tonight was great. After school I was able to come home and water the yard and garden. The corn is up, the carrots are up, and cucumbers are just breaking the soil, and the tomatoes and bell peppers are growing like crazy. So, long story short- It is doing well. I think it is the prayers that are helping ;).

Well, I need to finish planning out the Hughes Bank Finale for tomorrow. (I run a banking system in my classroom. We have Hughes Money, checkbooks, auctions, business, etc.- My hope is to introduce the students to financial literacy.)

I guess this will have to suffice as an update for now. I will let you know how the class goes tomorrow.

Later...

Thursday + Friday = 3(Saturday)

See, I am good at math! I like the title equation. It means that I get 3 Saturdays this week. What more could you ask for?

I had a fantastic day. It started with tutoring (We did math today and it went fairly well), which moved straight into cleaning up the garden. What a relief that was. I guess I still need to work on the whole "taking pictures and adding them to my posts" thing. After we hauled off all the garden material we went up to my parents and we took out all of their tomato plants for them. As a reward for the kids helping, we took them to out to eat. We tried burger king, but a tour bus of Asians had just beat us in so we decided to try somewhere else. We ended up at Arby's. It as pretty good. Then we came home and finished the yard. The wife and kids cleaned up all the toys (threw out all the broken ones/unsafe ones) and winterized the backyard. I, meanwhile, was using the blower and cleaning up the front yard.

This all lead to us deciding to clean the car. So we went down to the local car wash and used their vacuum since it would suck up all the big garbage. It was nice to finally clean "Bessy" (that's the name I have given our van). She got new floor mats and a new storage bin for the kids to put all their coloring books, reading books, etc. in.

Next came a voice lesson. She was fun today. Since she is a/the lead in the musical, we worked on School House Rocks songs. One of the best parts about all this is that I will be able to keep the CD and music. So I can start teaching my 6th graders the songs. They are really fun! A good friend stopped by again as well. Brent J. It is always fun to have him come over. He loves our kids and plays well with them. What a blessing to our family he is.

My wife had BUNKO tonight, so she went to that around 6pm. I watched TV with the kids and made dinner.

That's about been the day. It has been wonderful to get lots of the little odd job things done we have been putting off. I hope to make it to the school tomorrow and get the same thing done there.

Anyhow, I still things I would like to get done. So,

Later...

Finally, I Feel Ready! (Almost)

Ok, So I am not 100% done in my room, but I have my first day ready to go, the tables are ready with new crisp folders, and the room feels clean and welcoming. I agree with Damien Riley, a 4th grade teacher in CA. Teachers deserve praise the public doesn't even know they should be giving. (Read about it by clicking HERE.) He had a great point. I am very excited for the new year, just worn out from the long drawn out summer. But that is okay.

I think I found a new favorite quote. My kids were watching a new Garfield cartoon. Garfield was having a hard time getting what he needed to do done. He had this to say, "Every time I think I've hit rock bottom, someone hands me a shovel." This totally reaffirms the fact that it can ALWAYS be worse, so buck-up little campers and get on with it. So remember that as you go about this school year- someone could always hand you a shovel. It could always be deeper. Of course, when you are in trouble is not the time to be looking for the shovel... However that is another topic all together.

The last couple of days I was in a training session for level 5. I can't remember if I explained that, but whatever. It was long and I struggled to stay awake after all the long nights of watching the Olympics.

I was able to make it home by noon and water the garden, grass, pick the cucumbers (WOW we got lots), and work in my room. All this before my parents invited us up for pizza. My dad is going in on Monday to have his other knee replaced. So I will be mowing their lawn and other odd jobs for the next few weeks.

I think that about catches you up on my crazy life for the past few days. Remember to tell your friends about my amusing life! (and have them check it out!)

Later...

8 Lousy Days!

Yep, That is all that is left before school starts. But in a way I am excited as well. It will be nice to be back on a schedule. Today was a good day. I woke up late for my meeting and was a little late. My counselors were waiting outside the locked church door for me when I arrived.
I hate being late.

When we got home from church I went to water the lawn only to find that the irrigation water was STILL out of the gravity ditch. So I had to start watering with city water (and we pay almost $4 per 1000 gallons- OUCH!) Thankfully half way through our friend and neighbor called and informed us the water was back in. So I was able to get our lawn watered for a much cheaper price.

Here is a picture of our yard:

Okay, maybe this is more of a picture of our house than our yard, and what a mighty fine home it is! :)



Here is another view of the house that has more of the yard in it:


We have really worked hard to get it looking this nice. When we bought the house almost 3 years ago, the weeds in front of the house were so tall that you couldn't see anything of the house but the roof! It took a long time but we slowly got the front yard ready to go. For two years all we had we a dirt yard. We were able to add flowerbeds last year and that really helped the yard. This year we added the grass in front. It really improved the house and yard. It actually looks like a house now. At least that is what my wife says!

Unfortunately this is happening to our lawn:

I am frustrated that these dead spots are popping up ALL over my lawn. We have tried just about everything from grub killer to more water to less water. I think that I just might be the neighbors millions cats using our lawn as a litter box. I hope I don't EVER catch them doing it or there is going to be a HUGE problem!


Well! I hope that you all have a great evening! I am enjoying the last 15 minutes of the Olympic coverage. Have a great night, and thanks for reading!

Later...

Finally, A Day Of My Own

Ahhh,
That is the word of the day today. I have had a relaxing and enjoyable day. I made it to my tutoring gig around 9am. Found out that I am going to be tutoring in a lot more than just math! I spent about 1.5 hours getting him set up with assignments and will be returning again tomorrow to check his work and set him up with more work. Then I was able to work in the yard, help my mom make an invitation for her counsins reunion, and went shopping. Now I am sitting here trying to think of something to tell that will entertain you.

Well, I really can't. So I know that this is a short, boring post, but I wanted to check-in with everyone today.

Oh, I guess I could tell you that I got an e-mail for the CORE Academy asking me to teach the presentation before mine in Logan. I told them that I really didn't want to teach for 5 hours straight. So I would rather not. I haven't heard back, so I assume that they know I am not doing it. They tried to use the "You owe us one since we didn't get mad about the books and dice you forgot".

Speaking of which, I guess I do have an entertaining story to share. I last left you with the knowledge that my books had been shipped, and that they were in Spanish Fork. At least that is what the confirmation results showed. I even called the post office, but they were of little help (which is kind of typical of most post offices). I got to the school and Ami, the assistant was on her phone outside. She told me they hadn't shown up yet. I went ahead and set up for my presentation. Had lunch with Allisha and the kids. Still no box. I went and talked to the school office staff. They said the mail is rarely later than 1:30. My presentations start at 1:20. I just know that with my luck the post truck will go up in flames and my items will be lost forever. Right on the dot at 1:20 I start my presentation. I had told my wife if they came to count out the number I needed and bring them in to me. I kept looking at my watch. it was 1:35 and still no wife or box. I am starting to get VERY worried, almost to the point of NOT being able to focus super well on my presentation.

To Be Continued...

Home Again, Home Again...

Seriously- NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING beats coming home. We made it home around 7pm and I set up the new lawn pump and watered our lawn. I am frustrated in that I fertilized and now the lawn is acting like I poured gasoline on it or something. Good Grief! Anyways, got the lawn watered, and am currently working on watering the garden. Visited my parents and got the low down on the family.
My presentation today was okay. I don't think it was the best but it was far from the worst. My facilitator (the lady who works with the teachers before they come to my presentation) jumped in at the end of one of my activities and basically invalidated what I had just said. That was awkward! I was upset, but went with it. I can't believe that after tomorrows presentation (in my own district-scary) I will be almost 1/2 done. WOW! The downside is that my summer is about 1/2 over as well.
Our van is heading back to the shop in the morning (my wife has to take it as I have to be gone by 6:30am-YUCK!) She is also leaving for a reunion Thursday morning so we have to get her ready to leave.
I am getting anxious to start working in my classroom and share the funny things are I am positive will happen- not to mention, next summer you will get to live through my masters in admin with me. Lucky you!
Well, off to move the water in the garden (The plants got HUGE while we were gone- Miracle Grow REALLY works!) and then go to bed! I promise to do a podcast this week- so look (or listen) for that. Happy day and evening to all!

Back from Grand Junction!

Well,
We went to Colorado and bought enough paving stones to put in a 35.5 ft by 9 ft patio in our backyard. That wasn't exactly cheap, that's for sure! So tomorrow is "Patio Day!".
Starting shortly after lunch we are going to start putting it in. I will try to post the before and after pictures here so you can see the amazing transformation! I am tired and it is hot! Oh, SUPER good news, our central air conditioner started working again without any problems, at least for now, so we are back to very good cooling if we could only afford to run it long enough to actually cool the house!
Well, off to other things like finishing water the garden and taking a nice cool shower!
Until tomorrow...