It has been another lovely week.  The weather has been so nice and things are warming up.  I am starting to smell the stinky purple flowers and I love it.  Spring seems to be here and it makes me way happy.
     We have been busy this week.  Ryan is doing everything he can to help his Dad prepare for the BLM.  They plan on gathering all of Cliven's cattle in the coming weeks.  This makes me want to cry and I must admit that I have been seeking out anything to divert my attention in the evenings.  Reality just makes me too sad.  I have been reading, or listening to an ipod.  Really, I am glad that Ryan is better focused on getting things done.  We did spend some time in the office this week.  Chlo was hesitant to go to the office and I was interested to hear her reasons why.  She explained that Ryan's office is haunted.  This theory made me laugh out loud because Ryan's office isn't your typical haunted spot.  His office is new, and has modern computers and desks etc.  I must admit that the kids have spent quite a bit of time there, and I am sure that they haunted the place in their little brains for entertainment purposes.  Chlo was convinced that the place was haunted with many ghosts and monsters and "old computers."  She explained that Jack the Ripper was on the loose in the office still.  This really made me raise my eyebrows.  Jack the Ripper?????? How in the world is Chlo even aware of Jack the Ripper?  She told me that Jerusha had told her all about him.  Of course, Jerusha denied the whole thing.  In fact, none of them really seemed to know any facts about Jack the Ripper which was kind of a relief.  The true story behind Jack the Ripper is pretty ghastly.  I calmly tried to explain to Chlo that Jack the Ripper terrorized the streets of England and was long since dead.  She didn't seem to be convinced.  No, according to Chlo, Jack the Ripper is haunting Ryan's office.  Luckily, she doesn't have to spend a whole lot of time there.  In fact, they usually demolish the office in a matter of seconds and so we try to keep them out of there.
     Mo has been on quite the tirade this week.  He gets up early, insists on getting his coat on because he wants Ryan to take him down to feed the horse.  If this all does not happen, he hounds me all day.  "Dad, gluck, hoise, glack.  (Dad, truck, horse needs water.)  I finally told Ryan that he might as well just take him down to feed the horse every morning so that Mo can settle down and enjoy the rest of his day.  It works too.  We tried to take him one morning in the van though because we had errands to run...oh no, this was not okay in Mo's eyes.  He has to have Oak's coat and cowboy hat on, they have to go in the toyota, and Ryan is the only other person allowed on these excursions.  Any old errand won't do.  He has all kinds of expectations.  The horse has been grazing in a pasture and really requires no maintenance too.  Oh well, try telling that to Mo.
     On Saturdee I came in the house to find Chlo bawling her little eyes out.  It sounded like she had been bawling for quite some time because it was really only engine type noises at this point.  I started tearing into cleaning the kitchen, but the bawling went on and on.  Finally I asked her what kind of problems she was having. She struggled to explain, but told me that all she really wanted was to draw a cookie.  No one would let her use a notepad to accomplish her desires.  Ryan heard only the "cookie" part and agreed that he would also like a batch of cookies.  I explained that I had no cookies, and that Chlo was bawling because her wishes to draw a cookie were unfulfilled.  I finally just hollered that she was being ridiculous, there were numerous ways to draw a cookie, and that we had plenty of resources to make it happen.  Whew....if Chlo ever has a real hardship, I am unsure of how she will handle it.  She is currently spending a few days at Grandma and Grandpa H's.  She will receive all kinds of spoiling and one-on-one time which is probably what she needs.  Just a little extra attention.
     Yesterday was sheer fiasco with Mo.  I have come to realize that a single object or two can completely ruin Shrsh.  If I am not careful about what goes into the diaper bag, we can face some serious regrets when it is time to be reverent.  Last Sunday for Confernce I was way prepared with hand selected items for Mo.  The only problem arose because I had fished some of these toys out of his bath.  They left little wet drips on everything.  Anyhow, this week, we took the same bag, but Oak got his hands on a little matchbox car.  Mo plays quietly and respectfully with cars, but Oak went up to the bottom of the pulpit, and drove up the pulpit until Ryan noticed and whispered some scary threats.  Really Oak?  This is another reason why Ryan and I disagree about the front row.  I hate it, but somehow he always gets in ahead of me and parks the family on the front row.  We have a nice High Councilman speaking on the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy, and we have Oak racing his car up the pulpit underneath him.  The matchbox car was huge regret number one.  Jams took Mo out during the last speaker.  He had done really well until then.  Anyhow, she took him into the cultural hall, and someone had left a bunch of balloons in there.  I am sure that someone had actually lost a batch of balloons on the ceiling because most of them were still up there.  However, Mo was able to grab one that was floating near the ground.  This stupid balloon caused problems...all kinds of problems. 
     My true feelings about balloons are not good.  They always end in misery.  They either pop, or float away.  This doesn't stop Mo from being a true balloon lover.  Once he got his hands on this balloon, he was not about to let go of it.  Anyhow, he refused to go to nursery.  I am not sure if he just wasn't up for other kids wanting to play with the balloon, or what.  Ryan claims that he refused to cross the threshold into the nursery room, and that his landing gear would not go down.  When Mo doesn't want to be put down he lifts his legs up higher and higher.  Anyhow, this put him in class with us with the silly balloon.  He would let go of it, and it just had enough float left that it would hover around our heads. There were also issues because there was another balloon stuck to the ceiling and Mo spotted it.  He was making all kinds of demands of Ryan to get it for him.  This of course, could not happen without a scissor lift of some sort. It became such a distraction that Ryan finally took him out.  Somehow in the hall he ran into Rooshkie who was more than eager to take him to class with her.  I would never have agreed to this, but Ryan came back into class without the Mo-ster and I just assumed that he had finally settled down in the nursery. 
     I was enjoying myself and talking to some friendly people in the hall when Rooshkie and Mo spotted me.  Mo wanted his mom.  I took him and tried taking him to nursery again, but he refused to even enter the room.  This put me hanging with Mo, and his balloon which kept bonking me in the head.  My hair ended up standing on end and all static-y thanks to the balloon.  Mo would also sit and slobber all over the ribbon that was attached to the balloon and flip slobber all over me.  He also kept insisting on a truck every 2 seconds.  Relief Society was out of the question after several attempts.
     Our next problem arose when he thought of Sassy down at the ranch.  He insisted that I go and get Sassy a drink of water (glack for Sassy).  At first, I thought that he wanted a drink.  I took him into the kitchen in the shrsh and got him a nice glass of water.  Oh no, he wanted me to go with him to feed and water Sassy.  I finally explained that Sassy wasn't at the shrsh...that she was several hours away and that Stetsy was always good to see to her needs.  This seemed to satisfy him for a minute, but he mentioned her several more times during the day. 
     When we got home, the balloon popped and I was so glad.  Chlo was wanting it badly, and Mo refused to even let anyone else touch it.  He got really difficult when a package of skittles was found and he would scream and bawl every time someone took one.  I told all the kids to eat as many as they wanted because I was not going to allow him to act like he was.  He bawled and bawled and finally quit when no one would listen to him or pay him any attention.
     My mom sent us a nice picture of herself with Chlo and Maddy.  Chlo has some nice "hello kitty" sunglasses on.  Mo got all excited about the picture of "Bump Bump" and "Bean."  Bump Bump?  He would point at Grandma and say "Bump Bump!"  Sage and I laughed and laughed at this new nickname.  My mom has had many over the years, but never one from Mo.  He called me Bob for quite awhile too.  He also still calls all of the girls Jazzerz except for Bean.  Anyhow, I should have known that he would come up with something interesting for Grandma.
     This week I have been so nervous about so many things.  I have been praying and wondering if Heavenly Father is listening.  Sometimes I get so impatient waiting for answers.  We tried to buy a house last month...after praying and hoping for years that we could get out of town, and everything...EVERYTHING went wrong.  It all fell through.  We had everything arranged...finally after a lot of research and scrambling, and someone quickly paid cash for the place before we could get an offer back in.  I seriously cried.  It seemed so perfect and an answer to all of those many prayers.   Now what?  Our home is still for sale and people are looking at it often, but I don't want to sell it until we find somewhere else to go.  The problem is nothing looks as good as the other place we wanted.  This and many other prayers of mine seem to be on hold.  I get nervous and sometimes very impatient.  Well, we had a horrible incident occur that reminded me that where it really counts, my Heavenly Father helps me. 
     Jamie, Sage and I were loading up some corral panels into the horse trailer for Ryan.  He, the horse, and a lot of tools and equipment were heading south this week so that Ryan can help his Dad.  We had the horse tied to a squeeze chute while we loaded the panels and Mo was running around the pasture.  I was watching him pretty close, but he had wandered into a trailer that Ryan keeps some concrete tools in.  I kept watching for him to come out, but felt that he was actually pretty safe in the trailer.  The tools in there weren't sharp or dangerous, and I didn't completely trust him around the horse.  Well, he somehow slipped out and wandered over by the horse without my knowledge.  Part of my view was blocked by the squeeze chute.  Well, before I knew what was going on, the horse was raring up and stomping and Mo was bawling on the ground.  I panicked and screamed, and Sage ran over and grabbed him before the horse could kick him.  I was just shaking I was so upset.  Well, somehow he came out of the whole incident with a little bruise on his nose...that is it.  It scared him, and he cried for a minute, but I just realized that things could have been so horribly bad.  I knew and felt that Heavenly Father is there...he is always there and I just need to recognize his help when it comes.  As horrible as the incident was, and it makes me sick to think about what could have happened...it did a lot to boost my faith in a time when I desperately needed it.

 Mo with his Dad and the horse

 Jazzerz sitting in a blindfold because she wanted to be surprised at Wam's nail art

 

Mo's rice and stir fry dinner...seriously four mile radius mess

Chlo made herself a nice soft bed out of styrofoam pieces

    

     It has been great to have some lovely spring weather this week.  This winter has actually been really nice, but it has warmed up and Mo, Chlo and Oak have raced around outside a lot this week.  We also got some new neighbors across the street, and they have a bunch of kids.  My kids have befriended these new neighbors and have played hide and seek quite a bit in the nice afternoon weather.  Bring on the spring.
     This week was pretty crazy with school activities and shrsh activities.  Jams and Sags have joined some volleyball club at the school which takes them away from home another afternoon every week.  Rooshkie and Jazz and I had activity days, and this week the parents were invited to come to Young Women's.  We have also had a few meetings that Cliven has been involved with educating other ranchers.  Ryan has also done something to his neck and shoulders which has kept him up most nights in extreme pain.  He has either done some nerve damage, or he has maybe even fractured one of his vertebrae.  Needless to say, we haven't had a lot of sleep this week. We haven't done a whole lot this weekend except rest and attend stake confernce which has been really good.  Today I am feeling much better, after feeling quite zombie-like all week.  Ryan also seems to be healing up.  He still has some pain, but he has at least been able to sleep.
     Mo, Chlo, Jazz, and Oak have raced around a lot this week on stick horses.  Mo hasn't quite figured out how to gallop.  He just kind of stomps around and trots around on his horse.  It has been really funny to watch.
     Mo has been a naughty boy this week when it comes to his baths.  Mo and Chlo love to soak away the hours in a warm bath, and if there are plenty of cattle and horses to herd around the bathtub, Mo will spend a lot of time.  However, he has successfully flooded my bathroom four times in the last two days.  It has cost me every dry towel in the house.  Yesterday, I was in my bathroom as he was bathing.  I was getting ready for conference when I noticed a wave of water lapping at my heels.  He flooded the joint when I was standing in there with him.  I finally figured out that he was taking a cup, and pushing it up over the tap.  This caused the water to spray backwards all over the floor.  I am glad that I figured it out.  No more cups in the bath for Mo.  When we returned from the adult session of confernce my bathroom was flooded yet again by the Mo-ster, Jazzerz- who felt quite sheepish about the whole situation, was using what few dry towels I had left to mop up the mess.
     Confernce was good last night and today.  They have made a new guideline that they would like the youth 12 and up to attend the adult session with their parents.  My girls had actually practiced with the youth choir, and were all geared up to sing as well.  Their song was absolutely incredible.  I was so happy with them.  The last hour of confernce, however, they began making me mad.  They were shoving each other, and pinching each other.  Jams was nicely leaning her head on my shoulder at the beginning, but by the end she was shoving her chin into my shoulder until I was about ready to screech in her direction.  I finally asked her if she was just unable to hold herself up.  I clompily tried to lean into her to show her what I meant, and she just couldn't take it.  We ended up laughing as reverently as we could.  I guess even my older kids have been trained to be reverent for an hour only.  They really struggled that last hour.  I was really tired of being leaned into.
     We got up this morning to attend the general session.  I was really not looking forward to two hours of trying to juggle Mo.  I must admit that maybe I wasn't in the best of all spirits.  I just dreaded juggling the kids.  Ryan took Mo, Chlo, and Oak an hour early to get us a decent seat.  When the older kids and I walked in, I just began hoping and hoping that Ryan hadn't got us a seat on the front row....please no.  Sure enough, we were on the front row, squished in with another family.  I frowned more than a little at that news.  We had a member of the seventy, and I so badly wanted the kids to behave.  Looking back on it, they did pretty good.  Mo had to be taken out most of the last hour, but he was pretty good for the first.  I brought some puzzles for Oak and Chlo, and they were really busy and quiet putting those together.  There were a few quiet scuffles over puzzle pieces, but overall, pretty good.  Mo was only horrible during the closing prayer.  He shrieked and twisted and turned and screamed.  Am I supposed to take him out in the middle of someone's heartfelt prayer?  She was really crying, and I felt it might be rude.  Anyhow, to me it was one of the longest prayers ever thanks to Mo.  I am sure that for everyone else, it was sincere and heartfelt.  I couldn't hear anything other than Mo's shriek's.
     Chlo has really been on a bawling trend this week.  As we were leaving conference, she learned that she was going to have to ride home with me instead of Ryan.  She cried and cried and cried.  Her cries turned into a low throttle sound.  I was seriously ready to run headlong into traffic at that point.  If the speeches had not been so good, I might have done just that.  Seriously Chlo?  Is a two minute ride around the block worth all of that crying???  But, it has been that way all week.  If someone leaves the house and doesn't give her a hug goodbye it is another round of howling that will last and last.  Ryan finally just told her that she can do all of her crying outside.  This has seemed to work.  Why cry if no one has to hear you?  Because she and Mo have soaked my bathmats with their tub flooding program over and over this week, my mats have frequently been hung in the backyard to dry.  This has turned into an odd game for Chlo.  She takes the mats, and rolls around in the grass with them for a time.  I am not sure what this does to boost Chlo's mood, but I am all for it if she doesn't bawl.  I also got after her for kicking Mo earlier...instead of an apology she just said, "Mom...why would I kick a human baby?"  good question Chlo.  Maybe there are no baby monkeys available.
     Here is another interesting bit about Chlo.  Mo has been super crabby today.  He refused to eat lunch, and he threw a fit when anyone would try to eat anything.  We couldn't figure out if he just wanted us to sit around and admire the sights and smells of lunch or what.  He sat on his Dad's lap and threw a complete tantrum when Sager ate a string bean.  We were so confused at this behavior that we finally set him outside and let him cry.  I can't let him that kind of power over everyone.  I did set his plate outside on the porch with him in case he got rational and decided to eat.  All he did was lay his head in his mashed potaters and gravy and cry. Anyhow he bawled through lunch and just got hungry and ridiculous.  Chlo got quite irritated with him and could not believe that he was crying so much.  What???? I brought up the fact that Chlo had spent much of the day bawling about stupid stuff.  She just shrugged and reminded me that all she wanted was to ride home with her dad.  True Chlo...your bawling fits are completely reasonable.
     I just wanted to mention that I am completely grateful for all of my blessings.  I am so glad that I get to be a Mom to so many great little people.  We definitely have our moments, and it is those moments that I like to record because they make me laugh.  If everything always went wonderful, life would be pretty boring.  I ran into a friend at confernce that was hustling her son out the door early because he had peed his pants.  I laughed with her at this because what else can ya' do?  I will always look back on my mothering years and want to recall the funny and exasperating things that my kids do.  There is so much good in all of them though.  I know I need to mention these qualities more often.  I just want to mention Jams in this post.  This week Mo has been really difficult.  He seems to get quite restless in the afternoons, and he just gets kind of upset.  She has been taking him out when he gets like this, hands him a little nerf baseball bat, and she plays baseball with him.  He absolutely loves the time and attention that she gives him.  She could spend that time chatting with friends or listening to music, but she spends it with her little brother.  She loves to make him happy.  Yep, I have great kids and I love them tons.  Jamie will never know how much I appreciate the fact that she tries to take care of all of her younger siblings.  Another great thing she did this week was, track me down and get me to sign a bunch of papers for Saggers Disneyland trip.  She did this without telling Sage, and it was funny because on Saturday, Sage gasped and realized that her permission papers were supposed to be in last week, and she had forgotten all about it.  I reassured her that Jamie had taken care of all of that stuff for her.  Thanks Jamie...I am so grateful for all you do.

 Maddy was our FHE friend this week

 Maddy and Jazzerz

Sager's friend Katie putting her face in her birthday cake...nice.

    I am grateful that we are on another Monday.  The sky is cloudy, and the air is fresh and cold.  Whenever we are coming off of a weekend, the house gets trashed, and I already have my kitchen straightened back up which is great.  I try to kind of ignore stuff on Sunday, and pay more attention to Ryan because his work weeks are really time consuming. I also try to do my best to keep the Sabbath because I am constantly asking for blessings. I always pay the price on Monday morning, but it is a price worth paying.  This morning, I was greeted with about four card games that had been tossed and scattered around my living room and kitchen.  Dishes, popcorn trails, and Mo's favorite toys were also found in the rubble.  At one point, someone had pulled a really ripe banana out of the freezer and stuck it on a stack of cards.  I like to freeze brown bananas until I have enough to make banana bars, but this banana was soggy, and had spilled its juice all over the cards creating a sticky, and unattractive mess.  It feels way good to have it all cleaned up again.  Back to reality is always great.
     Last week largely went by in a rush.  I encountered some issues with Oak's school attire about mid-week.  I noticed that he was going to school with holes in his knees.  I was not about to let him do this.  I do have some pride.  Anyhow, I went digging in his drawer and was frowning when I pulled pair after pair of hole-y jeans out.  I did find one pair and instructed him to change.  I just bought him a whole bunch of pants at Christmas, so how can every pair he owns be riddled with holes?  I scowled when I went to pick up his dirty laundry the next morning to see that his only pair without holes...currently had holes.  What in the world is he doing in his pants???  At scripture study that morning we had a discussion on what Oak was doing in his pants.  Our horse is in a pasture down the street and by a freeway underpass.  Apparently Oak has found it to be enjoyable to slide down this concrete slide that is the freeway underpass.  Now he has holes in his pants everywhere, so he must be experimenting with different ways to slide.  We had a patching marathon and fixed them all.  I wasn't about to buy him new ones until I know that his sliding days are over.  Maybe Oak should get a break from feeding and watering the renegade horse.
     Oak caused quite a bit of trouble last week in many ways.  Last summer I bought a few cases of frozen pops from Costco.  I usually avoid them because they are usually high fructose corn syrup, fake dye, and nothing else.  Costco had some that were the Otter Pop brand that were 100% juice.  They tasted just like the fake ones, but cost more.  Anyhow, I apparently forgot about a case of them and Oak found them.  They got into them and began drinking them by the dozens.  Mo would largely spill his, and I am now finding sticky spots in many locations.  I keep finding empty little sacks sticky with juice.  I told Oak no more unless they are frozen.  Ryan had fixed the kids a swing in the garage and so they spent a lot of time swinging and slurping unfrozen Otter Pops apparently.
     We also had a neighbor that needed some help distributing flyers for the upcoming caucus meetings.  This was no big deal, the kids had it done in no time.  She kept insisting on payment, and I kept refusing.  Really, service brings blessings, and we are in need of blessings always.  Finally she gave the girls a large sack of assorted lotions and perfumes.  They were thrilled.  I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention until a few of them came near me.  My head began to throb immediately.  Oak had really been spraying some stuff around.  She was so nice to give this little token of appreciation to my kids, but wow...It got to the point that I had to leave for a little while.  I ended up in a clothing store, and a young man asked me if I would like to sample some perfume.  I just started laughing really hard and said, ummm no.  I wanted to explain that the whole reason that I was at the store, and that my husband just unknowingly purchased me a new skirt for shrsh, was to avoid perfume for a little while.  Needless to say that the kids are smelling fresh now, because they have learned to use their gift in moderate amounts.  I am glad we figured all this out.  I am also grateful for thoughtful neighbors who feel like they can call on us if they need something.  Usually doing something for someone else makes my whole day great.
     Our days this winter have been pretty nice.  Mo usually is content to play outside, but Fridee things got quite cold.  Because of this, Oak, Chlo, Jazz and Moroni spent a bulk of the day in a homemade hut.  They were being puppies.  It was hilarious.  Mo was the cutest little puppy ever.  The game turned from puppies to house, and Chlo was Mo's mother.  She took good care of Mo and sheltered him in her little hut for most of the day.  What kept making me laugh, was the hut wasn't very well built.  It was just a blanket, held up with books.  The books kept crashing on people's heads because Mo didn't know how to enter the hut carefully.  And just to pay Chlo some compliments, she and I had quite the discussion about being a good big sister this week.  Oak gave her the best example that she could possibly get.  He took really good care of her, shared everything with her, and always made sure she was happy.  Chlo has struggled with Mo.  She usually steals his toys, or gives him a shove.  We talked about what being a good big sister means, and she has done so much better.  She has been way more thoughtful.  Nice Chlo.
  The girls had made me a little tissue holder in achievement days.  It was held together with yarn, and was meant to be carried around in a purse or diaper bag.  Somehow Chlo came across it, and claimed it as her own.  It became her cookie holder.  Oak got quite upset when he saw her using it so frivolously.  He said, "Chloee, didn't you know that that thing came all the way from Guacamola???"  She didn't care either way, and I have no idea where he came up with the thought that the tissue holder came from Guacamola.  Jams and Sags made it years ago in achievement days.  It makes a fine cookie holder for Chlo.
     We went to shrsh yesterday, and I finally gave up with trying to get Mo to be a reverent warrior.  I sent him out with Sager, who was more than happy to chase him around the halls.  Chlo refused to let anyone use a hymnbook, and so we all crowded around Jams and Sager's ipods.  Oak kept leaning into me and putting his head in the way as I was trying to read my scriptures.  Jazzerz was once again being way goofy.  Seriously Jazz?  Why are you giving me grief?
     We had some friends over for Sunday dinner.  I had put a ban on the swing in the garage because Jazzerz fell off of it and cracked her head pretty good.  The garage just isn't a good place for the kids to play, but Oak kept leading the kids into the garage.  The next thing I know he is in the rafters.  I was ready to put a boot to his rear at this point.  He had given the kids an unfrozen otter pop, and was chasing around the rafters.  I mean, can he get any naughtier?  He got in some major trouble, but is acting way better today.
     A cousin of Ryan's lost a daughter this past week.  They were having a viewing in St. George last night, and we felt like we really wanted to help this family through such a difficult time.  She had a lot of problems with her body, but she was only twelve years old.  I was completely amazed at how well this family kept things in perspective.  I hugged the fourteen year old, and told her how sorry I was about her sister.  She smiled, and said that she was not sorry.  "Heaven is a happy place!"  she said.  I know that this little girl was in a lot of physical pain for a lot of the time.  The family seemed to be happy that she no longer had to hurt or struggle in her imperfect body.  I was so impressed as Chuck ( who was her dad) took Jazzerz by the hand and led her over to the casket where her little body lay.  He explained to Jazz that the best part of his daughter was no longer here.  The family comforted me as I tried to contemplate their loss.  I am sure that this little girl had taught them all how to be strong and deal with adversity in her short life.  I am so glad that we went.  Ryan has an incredible family and I love them all.
     For the record, Mo still refers to anything liquid as "glack."  His new word is "bone glack."  This is his word for lotion.  He likes getting his feet rubbed with "bone glack" at bed time.  He still falls asleep on my neck, but I can at least move him out of my bed for a bulk of the night.
     Sags has been disappointed this week because her the Principle at the school cancelled the play that she and some of her friends wrote.  I am hoping that with some extra time she can continue to improve it, and I will push to see if he will let them do it next year.  He felt that the kids had too many activities because of all of the preparations going into the Disneyland festival.  To a large degree he is right, but Sager and her friends worked really hard on the script, and I want her to be able to direct it at some point.  Thank goodness she still has another year at Gateway.  I am a basket case contemplating Wames' debut at the high school.  She is way too young, I swear.

 Chlo's giraffe...she has been sleeping with it every night, but it is hard and extremely clunky looking.

 Oak and his bow

 Grandpa H brought Jazzerz some lemons...seriously that is one happy Jazz

 Chlo

 Mo's peep...Grandpa brings him peeps, he licks the sugar off and smashes the 'shmallow into various things

 Another unwanted 'shmallow from Mo's peeps

The hut coming down...most of the homemade ones fall down a lot

     It was nice for the kids to be back in school this week.  Oak, especially was excited to go back.  I know that the kids are behind and have some catching up to do.  Sager assigned parts to her play.  Jerusha got the part of one of the wicked stepsisters, and Rooshkie's best friend Emily got the part of Cinderella.  It all ought to be interesting.  Sage and her friends scripted this play, and got it approved by the principal.  Luckily, they are only practicing one day a week at this point. 
     Mo was extremely testy this week.  I am assuming that he is cutting teeth or something because he was way cranky.  He did seem to find delight in doing naughty and messy things, but these things have a tendency to make me frown.  For example, I tried to have a nice shower on one occasion, and I came out to find that he had emptied all of the ashes from the wood burning stove in a large heap on the floor.  He seemed rather pleased with what he had done, and heaven knows why Oak just watched him do it.  I realize that halting such activities is ultimately my responsibility, but Oak is old enough to realize that the results of ashes all over the kitchen are not good.  I cleaned it up, but have noticed a thin sheen of ash on most surfaces all week.  Sometimes it takes weeks to recover from some of Mo's activities.  He also dumped drawers from my jewelry box into the sink.  This was also a tedious task to clean up. 
     We ended up going to the ranch this past weekend.  The BLM are planning on gathering my father in law's cattle in a month and the sheriff wanted to meet with Cliven.  We are all hoping and praying that the sheriff will stop the illegal gather, but he has said that he is not going to.  All of the sheriffs of the past have stopped it.  Ryan wanted to be there with his Dad when the sheriff came by.  Ryan also has a horse that he wanted to spend some time on.  He purchased this horse a few weeks ago, and every time Ryan has tried to ride him, he tries to buck him off.  We bought it so that Ryan could rope cows at the ranch off of it, and we were told that he was "ranch broke" whatever that means.  Anyhow, Ryan was able to ride him quite a bit this weekend and he actually did really good down there.  Maybe he just needed some wide open space who knows?
     When we arrived on Friday it was raining.  It actually poured down rain that whole day.  The rain did not hinder Chlo, Oak, and Braxton from frolicking around on the haystack and in the grain hill.  It was also kind of funny because Ryan and Cliven had been working in the rain all day.  They had been irrigating some fields and were up to their knees in mud.  When the sheriff and his deputies arrived, they were in their spanking clean uniforms, with shine-y black shoes.  They ended up having to tromp around in the mud to meet with Cliven....welcome to the ranch world I guess.
     I had to laugh at Bailey too, because Braxton came in at one point and sprawled himself out on the couch beside his mom.  She took one whiff of him and told him in no uncertain terms that he stunk really bad.  I started laughing and asked her what he smelled like.  She explained that he smelled like wet hay and grain.  Nope, you cannot keep the kids away from the haystack with a little rain.  This trip, they actually built a steep slide out of hay bales and slid down them over and over again.  It looked like kind of a rough ride to me, but hey, whatever keeps them happy.  I decided that my number one criteria for a new home is not a huge kitchen, or plenty of bathrooms.  It is a spot for a haystack.  I want it figured into the cost of the loan....let's buy a load of hay and the kids will be happy forever.  When we went to put Chlo in the bathtub this morning she had her clothes and underwear chock full of hay and grain.  Poor Chlo, I cannot imagine that her hay and grain clothes were very comfortable to sleep in.  Her Dad had also bought her a humongous ice cream cone on the way home from the ranch last night.  When she got up this morning it looked like she had fallen asleep with it, or bathed in it possibly.
     Sassy was being her usual frolick-y self.  She chased us around everywhere begging constantly for a bottle.  The puppies are big enough now that they were hopping on and scratching Mo all over.  He got a little upset about this a few times.  I was also informed by Stetsy that I posted the wrong picture of the infamous big dummy.  I will definitely have to set this straight.  She claims that there is a picture of him on Arden's wall on facebook.  I am going to see if Sags can get it off there for me and we will post the real picture of him.  He looks way bigger and way more intimidating than the bull I posted...I can only imagine that Big Dummy scares the pants off of the golfers when he shows up.
     Rooshkie got stuck in the tree at one point.  She and Oak had been getting in the tree and climbing ridiculously higher and higher in it.  I made Oak get out of it at one point because he was getting way high and it was pouring down rain.  I figured that he was going to slip and fall.  Rooshkie got up there and got singing loudly.  She sang and sang until she noticed that she couldn't get down.  I wasn't sure how to help her because there was no way that I could even begin to climb the tree.  It was seriously going to take a crane.  I told her to try to figure it out and went in the house.  Ryan came in at that point and I asked him to go talk her out of the tree.  He said that he would get to it but didn't get out there immediately.  Rooshkie was pretty mad and scared by the time he went out there to help her, but he did explain to her how to get down.  She was pretty mad at me, but hey, I couldn't imagine climbing up there after her.  She should've just kept singing.
     We had to get home because I had to give a lesson in Rooshkie's class.  Mo threw a fit this morning when I was trying to get him dressed for Shrsh.  Apparently he wanted his dad to get him ready.  He yelled at me, called me Jazzerz and told me to go away.  Jazzerz huh?  He calls all the older girls that try to mother him Jazzerz.  I guess that is what I have been reduced to in his eyes.  Ryan finally did come in and get him dressed which pleased him just fine.  Chlo kept having the desire to hop on one foot back and forth and back and forth across the front row where we were sitting.  She was also having issues with keeping her dress down again...I swear she just needs a good pair of bloomers.  The lesson went well in Rooshkie's class.  We told the story of Abraham when he was younger.  He is a powerful example of keeping covenants and loving his family in spite of their shortcomings...I mean come on, his Dad tried to have him sacrificed and he continues to pray for him anyway.  What a guy.  We kind of got into a little bit of trouble in singing time.  One of the girls in the class brought a whole bunch of elastics so that they could weave some bracelets in singing time.  I actually thought that this was a stellar idea.  Hey, the girls were still singing and participating, and yet they were sitting still as they kept their hands busy.  I even jumped in and worked on Rooshkie's bracelet a little.  Finally the song leader got irritated and yelled about us making bracelets.  It just goes to show that maybe I still need to grow up a little still.  I thought that the bracelets they were creating were just lovely.  Rooshkie and Jazz got chosen to participate in a choir for stake conference which is coming up in two weeks.  Sounds like a good plan if Jazz can behave.  She got giggle goofing in sacrament again.  Boo boo to you Jazz.
    

 Arden and the real Big Dummy

 Bean and her slide

 Stetsy and Wazz

 Oak on the slide

 Jazz on the slide

 Bailey and cute Jaylee

 Grandpa and Rooshkie

 Grandpa resting his head on a ....horse, nice.

 more of the slide

 sliding bean

Rooshkie attempting to surf down the haystack with Oak and Braxton in the background.