Tuesday, November 24, 2015


     I am loving the winter weather in so many ways.  For one, it is not very cold yet, and the Mikkelsen's wood burning stove has glass doors.  It makes the whole living area extremely cozy.  I love watching the flames cast shadows and dance all over the darkened room when everyone has gone to bed.  I have decided that when I grow up, and get a house of my own, I want one for sure.  To top it all off, my Dad brought us a load of Cedar wood.  I love how it crackles and pops.  Yeah, I love the beauty of winter down here.  It never bites that hard with it's chills.
    Homecoming week was pretty eventful.  I realized after reading my last few posts that I had forgotten to discuss that week.  It was filled with all kinds of fun.  For one, the whole town gets involved with the happenings which is pretty fun.  I did struggle to some degree too because every night we were up late with stuff, and poor Dill had had it by the end of the week.  Jams and Sags had a great band and orchestra concert one evening, and it was great.  Dill kept trying to run around and get on stage which was discouraging though.  There was also a parade and a pep rally.  All of my older kids were in the parade.  Sags was on the FFA float, Rooshkie marched with the middle school drill team, and Wames was on the High School drill team float.  There was a pep rally after that, and it was hard because Dill just wanted to go to bed.  They had a tail gate party with free hot dogs and chips which all of my kids were excited about.  Wames danced in the program, and their dance was pretty cool because they turned out all of the lights, and danced with flashlights.  My biggest problem of all of that was Mo.  He was terrible.  He kept plopping on this random girls lap, and when he would sit by me, he would kick the young man in front of us.  I kept apologizing, and he kept saying that he didn't mind, but c'mon!  Who likes to be kicked in the back over and over again?  I must admit that when the Bishop came and scooped Mo up, and held him on his lap, I was all kinds of grateful.  This kind of a thing goes above and beyond the calling in my book, and I was able to keep some level of sanity after that.     
     The next night was the big game.  I forgot to mention that some kid had asked Rooshkie to wear his jersey.  It is kind of a sign of friendship or a bit more in this town according to Ryan. Kind of like wearing a letterman's jacket. She tried to sneak out of the house in it, because she knew that I would make a big deal about it, and I did...I mean c'mon it's my job.  I did snap a few pictures which made her extremely uncomfortable.  She kept making it clear that she was just friends with the young man, and that it was no big deal....whatever Rooshkie...you guys are getting married now for sure.    I will say that I was kinda a basket case about that jersey for the rest of the day.  I am aware, now more than ever, at how much sports cost a family to participate in...this jersey was beautiful, and heavy and expensive looking.  I hounded her non-stop about not getting anything on it, and not letting the kids touch her with weedo, or cheeto hands...needless to say that I heaved a great sigh of relief when she gave it back to him without holes or stains.                                  
     Sometime during the day, Mo had come across some green silly putty.  He had somehow gotten it into his hair, and had molded and shaped a nice horn that stuck out to the side at an odd angle.  Needless to say, that by the time I noticed it, it was time to go to the game, and I had no time to try to remove it.  To top it off, he wouldn't let me touch it, or try to remove it, or comb it.  Whatever....we arrived at the game with no shoes and a horn.  At least it was a green horn, and it matched the school colors.   
     Wames danced beautifully that evening.  I was way proud of her.  It was a number that they had joined with the cheerleaders on, and it was way fun to watch.  The kids were bawling and ready to go by half time though, and our team was winning easily, and so we left a little early.  Arden played a great game too, sacking the quarter back etc.
     My next confession is, that Mo carried the green horn on his head for a few days after homecoming.  He was just not letting me try to comb it out without having a complete come apart.  I finally asked Carol what she thought I ought to do about his green horn.  I must take a moment and say this about my lovely Mother in Law...she can figure out how to fix any kid mess or disaster.  She has seen it all, and has dealt with it all, and her fixes always work.  She took Mo's horn into consideration and told me to try some coconut oil on it.  So, that evening when he was watching Fatty Fats (Wild Kratt's)  I caught him unawares with some, and the putty came right out.  I was seriously thinking that we would have to shave his head bald.  Thank goodness for Grandma's that is for sure!
     Since homecoming we have all just been crazy busy with Young Women's stuff, drill team, and cow branding and working.  Ryan worked on the house for awhile too.  The other night I was displeased with Mo because he had brought his train to the dinner table, and had slathered a thick layer of butter all over it (what is it with Mo and butter???)  I started to get after him, but Ryan claimed that his tractor just needed a little grease, and so why was that a big deal?  Oh, I don't know maybe because Mo is kinda famous for wasting butter all the time.
     The other night for scripture study, I became aware once again, that Oak turned eight months ago, and I have yet to buy him a set of scriptures of his own.  I asked him if he had been reading any at all, and of course he hadn't.  When the girls were his age, I used to bribe them all the time to read their scriptures every evening.  I told him that if he would read his scriptures every night for a month, I would buy him a sling shot...this made Sags all kinds of upset, and she threw a huge fit.  She made it very clear that if Oak got a new sling shot, she would be getting nailed with it non-stop.  I cannot say that I disagree with her theories, but it was important to me, to get my kids into the habit of reading their scriptures every night.  So....he is getting a sling shot if he keeps up with his reading.  Hopefully, he will play with it outside.
     We had Grandma Great last weekend, and she is finally starting to recover from her hurt rib.  She does not get out of bed any more though, and I was really struggling that day to get her to eat anything.  I finally sat down on her bed and spoon fed her some pudding while she complained about her aches and pains.  I spacily left the pudding on her night stand as I tried to rub some of the pain out of her legs.  Well, I left the room, only to come back in and find that Dill had spread pudding all over her sheets as Grandma peacefully dozed.  Not good Dill!  I was also not amused to find that Dill had gotten into Ryan's stash of bullets and had sat and shoved a whole bunch of them into my body wash...yes, she took the lid off of my body wash, and filled all of the excess space with Ryan's bullets...not sure if the soap will ruin the bullets or not.  I was not ready for Dill to be starting into these messes.  I came home from a shrsh meeting on Sunday to find rice scattered all over my kitchen and living room....did someone get married or something?  Why was rice tossed everywhere?
     And speaking of shrsh...Mo decided that it was a good time to do the Wonder Pets cheers in the middle of sacrament meeting...right when it was nice and quiet..."we're not too big, and we're not too tough, but when we work together we've got the right stuff.. GOOOO WONDERPETS!"  He also began playing "the Wild Wild West" in the middle of the meeting...not good...if I didn't have my lessons and scriptures on my phone, I would leave it home for sure.
     The other night, Ryan and I went to the temple for our anniversary.  When I got out, I noticed that one of the kids had tried to call repeatedly.  I called them back, and it was Wazz.  She claimed that she had watched the kids all evening, and that no one had helped her, and she was getting tired of it all.  I must admit that I know this is true to a large degree.  The older girls get on their devices, Rooshkie, gets on her lap top, and yeah, Wazz ends up babysitting.  Ryan and I grabbed her a cotton candy at the Golden Corral as we were leaving, and it helped to reward her for keeping Dill happy.  However, I was not too pleased the next morning to find that someone had taken the little cone thing, that they wrap the cotton candy around, and had placed bandaids strategically all up and down the cone.  Why do I buy stuff?  All of the stuff I buy is largely wasted on such things.  It's either dumped down the drain, or on the floor, or wasted in some other way....not too happy about that.
Arden-painted and got the blue bus running...wow





     It has been weeks, and I feel bad about that.  Our computer mouse didn't work for a few weeks, and Ryan was out of town, and I just get so busy doing what, I am not sure.  Seriously weeks go by, and I look around and I have nothing to show for it.   For example, Ryan pulled the travel trailer here weeks ago, so that I could get it nice and clean to store or whatever...I haven't cleaned one thing in there yet.  Not one.  Hopefully, I am improving my attitude or something every day.  Hopefully, I will be a better person in the end, even if I cannot seem to get stuff done. 
     Mo has still been all sorts of high maintenance in his breakfast demands.  One morning he heaped himself up a nice plate of Doritos, because heaven forbid that I had made pancakes.  Huxti happened to text me that morning that he was also having issues with Tommy.  Apparently Tommy insisted on two different kinds of cereals, and I know that Huxti knew he wasn't going to like it at all.  These are the difficulties of the three year old kid.  Just this morning, Mo wanted nothing but "Oatmeal Sugar".  I had to ask him about several times, because I was more than willing to dish him up some oatmeal with brown sugar...but oh no...he just wanted the brown sugar in a bowl with nothing else....sorry Mo...not happening.  Some days I go along with some of the nonsense because hey, battles have got to be important ones, but I just cannot fathom dishing him up a bowl of sugar.
     We had our semi-annual dental appointment this past week.  It was a fiasco as it always is.  To start with, I grossly underestimated how much time it would take to stop by all three schools and get all of the kids checked out.  Seriously..Rooshkie especially took FOREVER.  I am not sure if she was doing the Charleston in the halls or what, but I guarantee a few spins and leaps may have been involved.  I was trying like mad to get there on time, but alas we were probably ten minutes late.  On the way through the gorge, Jazz had somehow found a candy cane to give Dill so that she would be quiet.  It worked, but she was a sticky, red, mess.  She kept throwing all of the neatly arranged magazines all over the office.  Mo immediately turned on the dumb ABC video and poked and prodded Dill anytime she came near to mess with the dials.  This would make Dill cry and cry.  Jazz had brought a toothbrush to clean her teeth with, but this ended up being bad because Oak would go and get it wet and then let Dill brush water all over the magazines.  Usually I can send the kids to the little water walk across the street when we are finished, but on that particular day it was rainy and cold.  I had things somewhat managed until I turned the reigns over to Wames so that he could check my teeth.  Apparently Oak and Rooshkie began messing with the radio dials.  Rooshkie would turn it on her favorite station, and then Oak would crank up the volume.  Mo also began slamming the door loudly until the secretary had to get involved.  No one would listen to Wameserz and her threats and demands.  I didn't even know any of this until we were on our way home.  What can I do at this point?  I thought about sending the secretary flowers or something?  Oh well, I guess no permanent damage was really done.
     I have trying to think about the last few weeks and some of our activities.  We have had Halloween, and Ryan and Dill's birthday.  Dill turned one on the 26th.  I hate to admit that there is a huge difference between her first birthday party and Wames' first birthday party.  It doesn't mean I love the Dill any less, I just know that really, she doesn't really know or care too much about her birthday yet, and for that I am grateful.  Ryan had traded a bin of winter squash for a bin of watermelons, and yeah, she got a beautiful squash cake that was actually quite delicious.  She, and everyone else loved it.  I broke down, and let the kids play and squabble over balloons, and she got a few toys.  For the most part she was just loved and sung to most of the day.  She is a big deal, but I didn't invite anyone and we didn't go anywhere.  I also let her go in Walmart and pick out a toy.  She chose a pink singing bear...perfect for my little ray of happy.  What a wonderful year it has been with my little Salem...I have to remind myself of her beautiful name, and it's meaning.  She is a lovely and happy soul.  My family seems complete.
     On the week of Halloween we had a ton of activities going on. Rooshkie got really sick that week, and I was trying to take care of her.  It was a bad virus, but she is such a little social thing, that some of the worst of it was just her missing out on all of the fun activities.  For Young Women's that week we were supposed to go and help with the Halloween carnival at the elementary school.  Wames was involved with the Drill Team in getting the kids to come and dance in their costumes.  However, on that same night, the FFA put on a haunted hayride, and Sags, and Wames were involved with that, along with Arden, and Falen Hafen and all of the FFA kids.  So, yeah, Wames was supposed to be in two places at once (three if you count the YW activity)  Oak was also supposed to play in a football game that evening.  Anyhow, it was kinda crazy.  Sags also had volleyball practice during all of this.  So, the kids scraped up some costumes (and when I say scraped, I mean totally thrown together)  Oak was a football player (being that he was still thinking about playing) Jazz was some girl off of  "Despicable Me" and actually looked the part quite well, but she isn't a real familiar character.  Some kid asked her if she were dressed up like a piece of trash???  That kinda took the wind out of her sails.  Mo was a super hero, Dill was just herself, and Chlo was a fairy princess.  When we got there, immediately Jazz and Oak wanted to go through the spook alley, but I was sure that Chlo could not handle it.  I don't know if I have ever discussed on here, how skittish Chlo is.  She is kind of spooked about everything.  She won't sleep in her room alone, or even go in her room alone, even if it is broad daylight.  There was no way she could handle a spook alley...which left Oak and Jazz to go alone.  Chlo and I went with Dill, and Mo to see how Wames was doing.  She had dressed up like a spooky doll and was awkwardly trying to get the little kids to come to the drill team booth and dance for candy.  I figured that was right up Chlo Bird's alley and so we went.  The girl running the booth had to ask what her siblings were dressed as though because no one quite knew including Wames.  It was kinda awkward to say the least.  The drill team did figure it out later though, and began playing the Macarena and some of the songs the kids knew the dances to.  Anyhow, Jazz ended up half scared to death in the spook alley, and kept trying to receive comfort and protection from Oak, who was indifferent and board to all of their scare tactics.  I will say this about Oak though...the carnival was getting ready to shut down, and I told him to go and buy his sister a cotton candy because she was home sick...he waited in the dumb cotton candy line for Jerusha for 45 minutes or so.  And then, all of the kids ate most of it on the way home without me knowing until I handed Jerusha a bag with a little smidgeon of cotton candy left...poor Rooshkie...it totally wasn't her night.
     The haunted hayride was fun, and is a totally different story.  It was an FFA fundraiser, and they had people ride through a haunted and spooky field.  We went over there to pick up Wames and Sags, when things were winding down.  Derek Hafen was getting ready to pull another load of people through the field when the kids began piling out.  He looked at them and told them to hop on, and that he would be happy to let them see the spookiness for free.  ( Did I mention I love the people in this valley?)  They all found a spot, and so Ryan, Dill and I hopped on too.  It was actually a ton of fun.  They had silent, spooky types follow after the trailer slowly, and scenes of blood and horror around every corner.  Chlo felt brave next to Ryan and shouted all sorts of insults just to show that she wasn't scared.  Wames was a spooky doll in a haunted play house, and I was secretly glad that Arden's chainsaw scene had broken down earlier.  It was a quiet, spooky, still night and a light rain was falling...seriously, thoroughly enjoyable.  We got home to a sad little Rooshkie, and I didn't even have hardly any cotton candy to give her ( I had purchased like four bags of the stuff).
     Halloween was fun.  Ryan worked all day, and I always feel like his birthday is largely over looked.  The ward does trunk or treat, and we also stopped at Grandma Greats to say hi.  She was really struggling that night, and Margaret felt like she had maybe broken a rib from a fall that she had had earlier in the week.  It didn't stop an extremely sticky Mo from shedding his costume at the front door, and wanting a glass of hot chocolate in his underwear.  Of course, Margaret got him one.  We gave Grandma a quick hug, and I promised to send Ryan over to give poor Grandma a blessing. 
     We ended up going over to Grandma's the next day so that Ryan and Cliven could give her a blessing.  She was in terrible pain.  She is way tough, and so to have her complain and cry like she had been was really concerning.  Margaret had given her some pretty powerful pain killers and that made her way disoriented.  I will never forget the way that the room felt as Ryan and Cliven placed their hands on her head.  She had been in so much pain just moments before that she was crying out and moaning.  In the middle of Ryan's blessing, peace came over all of us.  She began snoring softly as he finished speaking.  How grateful I am that the Lord shares his peace and power with us.  I cannot tell you how many times that the Priesthood has given me the boost that I needed to go on.  It was just what cute Grandma needed that day too.  I am also grateful for difficulties that require me to stop and ask for blessings.  I always feel such a powerful connection with  my Heavenly Father during those times.  I am thinking that I haven't written about it in this blog, but on the day that I was in labor with Moroni, I was just getting up the courage I needed to deliver him.  I was in a lot of pain, and my midwife asked if I would like a blessing.  I explained to her that I had already had one.  She looked at me kind of incredulous.  "Well, would you like another one?  I don't see it said anywhere that you can't have another one."  Ryan blessed me, and I was no longer scared.  Yep...I am so grateful for Priesthood power.  I believe in it wholeheartedly.
     Ok...we also have had to take several trips to Cedar so that we can work on our house.  It has been up for sale, and it has needed some work.  We have hired some of the work done, but most of the guys that we hired, had since found full time employment.  We went up on a long weekend, rented a room through Jeff's wonderful employer, and hoped that we could buckle down and get some work done.  The realtor wanted everything painted white, and all of our cabinets redone, along with trim on the exterior painted.  Ryan also needed to replace some flooring because we had some flooding happen when a pipe broke the previous winter.  I was quite pleased with my older kids...we stripped paper, and painted the whole living room on the one day that we were there.  Also, staying with the kids in a hotel is always quite the adventure.  We had checked in pretty late, and I was hoping that the kids would keep it down so that we didn't cause a disturbance.  Yeah, they all insisted on a swimming session, and quiet was far from everybody's behavior.  Yelling, and fighting in that echo-y pool room had me pretty nervous.  To top it all off, I had forgotten my suit and Mo kept jumping in willy nilly.  I saved his little body from death several times, but had gotten all wet in the process.  Needless to say, that staying at the hotel made the whole weekend fun, even though we had gone up there to get some work done.  Thank goodness for Jeff and the discount he can get us on rooms.  In the morning, Ryan and I woke up to a very disgruntled Sags.  She had gotten into the shower right after Rooshkie.  Rooshkie had used up all of the little shampoo and conditioner sample that was left in the shower.  That isn't really a surprise because it is just a sample, and Rooshkie has a ton of hair.  Anyhow, she hollered and yelled, and asked Ryan and I what we were going to do about Jerusha.  I was kinda dumbfounded.  What did she want me to do with her, squeeze any excess products out of her hair?  She was upset that she didn't have any shampoo or conditioner for her hair, but in my book, that isn't even close to a crisis.  I was going to do nothing about it, that was for sure.  Needless to say, Sags was ready to string Rooshkie up.  I knew that her hair would be fine if it wasn't washed that day...no biggie, we were going home that night for crying out loud.  Oh...the teenage drama, people warned me about it for years, and we are totally there.


somehow this was an indication that things were haunted?
     It has cooled off finally!  I seriously want to go outside and skip, and dance, and hop!  It is down to the lower 90's and it feels absolutely amazing!  One thing that I desperately miss about Cedar is fall.  We kind of get a fall around the end of November or so, but yeah...I miss going to look at the beautiful change of leaves, football, and cozy nights by the fire.  Bring it all on!  I am ready...I will take lower 90's though.  It was a long, hot and dry summer. 
     Jerusha made the drill team, and this has led her to spin and twirl and dance all over the house ever since she got that glorious news.  Sags has been busy with Volleyball, and has been involved with two games a week.  They have won some, and have lost some.  She loves to play, though, and she has become quite the player.  Jamie has also performed quite a bit, and her arm has pretty much healed up.  She performed three times this past week.  We had a game Friday night, and she danced beautifully.  My kids are busy and loving it.
     I received a new calling a few weeks ago, and it is going to keep me busy.  I am now the Second Counselor in the Young Women's.  I am excited about this new calling, and yet, I was so busy with the kids and all of their activities before the calling.  I have faith that if I give the Lord this time, I will be better at juggling the rest of my demands.  The only immediate problem with the new calling, is that I had just signed up Oak for flag football.  Tackle would have been ideal, but all of the tackle practices etc were going on during the craziest part of melon season.  I figured that he could at least learn the main points of the game by playing flag football first.  Anyhow....all of his games are held on Wednesdays at six...right during Young Women's.  Last week Ryan was able to go and he claims that Oak was great on the field, grabbing off flags, and he even made a touchdown.  Yeah for Oak.  I guess I will take it one week at a time, and hopefully I will be able to go to some of the games.
    Melons are definitely winding down.  We are struggling just to find enough melons to fill a bin.  There are quite a few small ones coming on, but I am not sure if anyone is going to want to buy them.  Watermelons are kind of a summer food, but hey....it is still in the 90's here.  Anyhow, the other day, Ryan and I had gone out to pick melons with the two babies.  It had been hot, and sweaty, and difficult because we had to search far and wide to get the bins filled....Dill had also bawled most of the morning.  It felt great in the truck in the air conditioning, but a strange smell filled the cab, and it got stronger and stronger until I felt like my head was going to explode.  I finally discovered that Mo had sprayed an entire bottle of spray lube all over the seat, saturating a sock until it was dripping and yellow.  From then on, the trip home was quite miserable....Dilly bawled and I couldn't get out of the truck fast enough.
     We have also had more incidents with Mo getting into the butter.  I don't know why he feels the need to mess with the butter, but for whatever reason, he is drawn to it.  Sags had begged me one morning to wash her green Volleyball practice shirt, so that she could wear it to practice that afternoon.  I had stuck it in the wash while I was getting the elementary kids out the door, and then I had grabbed it out of the washer and hung it on the back of the chair because we were heading out to pick melons.  I felt proud of myself for getting it done when I had a bajillion other things to do.  She would see it there, and it would be clean and fresh even if I didn't make it back before she did.  Well, we did make it home before her, and I didn't realize it, but Mo saw the freshly laundered shirt, and slathered it in butter.  Needless to say, Sags was not too happy with the little fella.  He has also been slathering it on the countertops again, which is never very easy to clean up.
     Mo's playing with pet rocks has also taken on a whole new level.  To properly care for the rocks, he sticks them in socks.  I have found many a rock/sock combinations in many various places.  I usually grab the stray sock with thoughts that it needs to be wershed, only to be met up by a rock inside.  I am never sure how fond of the rock he is, but I haven't gotten in too much trouble yet for simply chucking the rock outside, and throwing the sock in the wersh.
     I mentioned that Wams performed at half time the other night.  That whole evening ended up being a complete fiasco.  Ryan and I had the kids, and we were all set to go to the game.  However, as we were loading up, Ryan got a call from Cliven, because a bunch of heifers had gotten into the fresh alfalfa and had to be driven out immediately.  Cliven was taking care of his Mother and Arden was playing football....yeah, it definitely fell to Ryan to take care of this task.  This put me at the game alone with all of the kids.  Saggers had also been asked to babysit for a friend, and Jazz had already gone to the game with a secret friend.  So...this left Rooshkie and I to take care of all of the babies.  I got in there, and Rooshkie handed me some bracelets that she is supposed to be selling for drill team, and she disappeared.  There were some Nazi adults who wouldn't allow the kids to roll down the hill (I am sorry but this type of thing really bugs me! )  which left me trying to juggle a bored Oak, and a bawling Mo, and a busybody Dill on the bench.  Thankfully Jazz had showed up with her friend and offered to keep Chlo.  Anyhow...Rooshkie did finally show up and take Dill, but Mo made loud bawling noises for a good 45 minutes.  It all started because he wanted a drink of water.  Because of the last game, and the volleyball water demands, I had opted not to bring my water bottle.  Last time he refused it anyway.  He bawled and bawled for a drink, and so I went in search of a drinking fountain with no luck.  There was one, but it had not been in operation for awhile.  This bugs me too because I know why they don't fix the fountains, and it is so that you will have to buy water from the snack bar.  The current snack bar line was huge, the van was parked clear down the block, and on and on he bawled.  I finally located Jazz, and asked her to wait in the long line for a bottle of water.  She of course, said yes, and even kept Chlo with her.  Meanwhile Mo's sobs are getting louder and louder.   Our team was getting butchered, and no one's spirits were very good.  I finally went down on the grass and just let him cry. Wazz finally did show up with the water, but he refused to drink it, and only bawled louder because it was cold.  Yes, he wanted hot water to drink, and the cold water just would not do.  I could tell that he was just worn out, and as soon as Wams finished with her performance, we left.  He fell fast asleep as soon as we got in the car.  Seriously....Mo is completely unreasonable when he is tired.  The other day, he quietly wormed out of his seat, got in a melon box, and fell asleep as I was driving to the store.  At that point I was wondering whether I should try to pick up the whole box and just wheel him in, or what because I definitely couldn't leave him in his melon box bed while I shopped....yeah, it was still 110 that week.  I ended up having to wake him up of course...he wasn't too happy about it.
     Speaking of rogue cattle, Big Dummy has been at it again at the Casablanca golf course.  Someone always leaves the fence down over the river, which just gives Big Dummy the access to the golf course.  Apparently some triple a member went and yelled at Ryan and the kids last Sunday for being on the course.  Sags was like..."do you want to continue dealing with Big Dummy on the course?"  the guy then called the cops, which agreed that Big Dummy just had to go.  But, he just runs into the brush and hides there...and then saunters back onto the green.  Cliven mentioned last night that he is back on the course this weekend.  I am hoping Arden and Taylen went and chased him off again.  Seriously?  We just need to plant a golf course for Big Dummy...it is where he wants to be at all times.

    

 

    We are still running around like crazies.  Ryan is still selling a bin of melons here or there, and so we pick from time to time, and most of our time lately, has been spent just cleaning things up.  We have been stacking boxes and burning trash.  Things are looking more clean and organized, and the melons are still growing.  But, our market is pretty much gone.  That's ok...we lost enough money on melons for the year.
     With that being said, we have had football games, and volleyball games, and Wamers performances to keep us busy.  Rooshkie has also completed a course in volleyball, and her tournament was last weekend.  She has also thrown herself into the drill team, and they nominated her as "spirit leader".  I am not sure what the spirit leader does, but whatever it is, Rooshkie will give it 110%, which is just how she does everything.  She is very much like her Dad in that aspect.  If there is a contest of some sort, she is going to join, and try to win.  She does everything with all she's got.  One of her best friends is moving, and I know she is going to be way sad when that time comes.  In the meantime, she has kept busy, and some kid has asked her to wear his football jersey for homecoming.  I am not even quite sure what this means...it must be a Virgin Valley thing.  When I went to school, a guy might ask a special girl to wear his Letterman's jacket, but I realize that down here, the scorching sun makes it too hot for Letterman's jackets.  Maybe this jersey thing is somewhat similar...all I know is that she's too little, and she ought to go and play with her Polly Pocket set or something.
     Oak has had a couple of football games.  He absolutely loves to play.  He is learning the rules of the game and is extremely aggressive and competitive.  He and I have been practicing passes, and he has gotten pretty good at catching long ones.  Ryan has practiced with him too.  Anyhow, I was kind of disappointed last week, when he dropped a long pass.  The next time one was thrown to him, however, he caught it, and his flags fell off....I am not even sure how this happened, but yeah, we need to tie them on better.  After that, he got all kinds of aggressive.  He went after every kid that got the ball with an extreme vigor.  One little girl was open, and her coach was throwing her a pass....before it even landed in her arms, Oak had ripped her flags off.  I think in regular football, it would be considered a pass interference, but in flag, they just considered her tackled...before she even caught the ball.  And she did catch it.  Poor gal.  Anyhow...he loves the game.  He even invited a whole bunch of people to his last game.  His bus driver even showed up, and she casually gave me a Gatorade to give him after the game.   One thing about it, you just cannot beat the people in this valley.  I have come to love them.
     Sage has had a ton of home games lately.  I really enjoy watching her play, and she has come so far from our sweaty and hot practices in the summer sun.  Seriously, she has learned a ton.  However, lately, for one reason or another, I have had to bring all of the kids and that has been a regular disaster.  DISASTER!!!!  Oak is bored and awful.  There are a bunch of bucket seats at the top of the bleachers that are supposed to be reserved for school boosters and contributors.  At a freshman game, they are up for grabs though, and Oak and Moroni feel the need to walk around and slam them up and slam them down...as loudly, and next to elderly people if possible.  Then they run around on the bleachers, banging and stomping as they go.  I try to find them a section that is largely unoccupied if I possibly can, but they refuse to limit themselves to an area where there is no one to notice their loud ways.  Moroni went running down the bleachers last game and laughing and stomping out the door.  This forced me to run after him, and I clomped into a garbage can on the way down the stairs, which tumbled down the stairs and scattered trash all over the court at our last game.  Ryan also came to that game, and yeah, I'm sorry, but his heart and blood pressure cannot take the pressure.  He kept muttering and complaining about a particular player, who was having an off day that day.  Yeah, she messed up a lot, and he was going  nuts that the coach had not pulled her out.  I was so concerned about her parents hearing his mutterings, and combine that with Mo slamming chairs around, I had a hard time watching my Saggers play.  She did well though...and the coach finally did pull the struggling player out.  I swore off taking any of the little kids with me, but again today...a game, and Oak with a football game after it, and no time and extra gas money to run home...they will all have to come to the game again.  I am not looking forward to it.
     Another thing, was at the last game...I did not notice, but Mo had dressed himself in a neon yellow stained shirt, blue and white short shorts ( they did not come low enough to hang down under the shirt)  and he must have smashed up Doritos somewhere and knelt in their cheesiness.  He had Dorito knees...or Weedo knees according to him.  Mo has also been slathering on the deodorant lately.  He usually asks which kind is the boy kind, and then he generously applies some under his little arms.  The other day, Rooshkie was in primping, and he came in to use some deodorant.  He slathered her legs with the stuff, just for good measure.  Hey, at least he is smelling fresh!
     We were also somewhere with a large congregation of people, when Mo went to run off...he almost cannot resist doing this.  Jazz grabbed him by the waist, but he began to yell that she was choking him.  Ummm I don't think so.  He was also all upset the other day, because Jazz fixed his pancake with star swirl patterns with the syrup...and she cut it like a pizza.  He was not okay with this.  He bawled and howled, and Jazz wondered how to fix it.  I kept telling her to ignore the nonsense, which she did, and he finally ate the pancake with all of its short comings.  Seriously...when will this three year old stuff end?

    




     Well, things are still as busy as all get out, but with melons winding down, I have definitely enjoyed just being at home and getting things in order again.  I just couldn't keep up with the house, the laundry and everything when we were spending so much time dealing with melons.  Another thing, is that Ryan has been taking Moroni most days, and Dill and I are able to get way more done with him gone.  The only problem that has come up with this arrangement, is that Ryan lets him sleep most of the day, and then he is up most of the night.  Of course at night, he only wants Mom...this has led to many a restless night, but I know that he is learning a lot from his Dad and Grandpa.   I just hope he stays awake long enough to learn it.  I cannot figure out how Ryan gets him to sleep all day...I can't ever get him to nap much anymore.  Maybe it is all of the work in the sunshine that wears him out quickly.
     Last week, I had to run Jazz clear to Cedar for an orthodontist appointment.  I really like our orthodontist, but the trip to Cedar and back, is always a huge inconvenience.  Dill has gotten old enough that she hates her car seat, and Mo is still as unreasonable as ever in the car.  Ryan went to a Donald Trump rally that day, because with Rand Paul losing steam, we are still unsure who to vote for.  Trump has been getting a lot of attention from a lot of people, and when the ticket was offered to Ryan, he couldn't refuse.  Anyhow, so, Mo had to accompany me to the Orthodontist with Jazz and baby Dill.  Needless to say, it was a long day.  Dill actually slept most of the way up, which was a huge blessing.  Mo got kinda restless, and was way disappointed when the appointment was for Jazz and not for him.  Jazz had gone in to brush her teeth, and then ended up in a cool sort of chair.  Mo explained that he needed to brush his teeth, his feet and his hands with the brush and paste...he told me that he needed to sit in the cool chair too, as soon as he was done.  I told him that Jazzerz was the only one that would be in the chair that day, and I tried my best to distract him with their cool pumpkin display.  He wasn't really going for the distraction.  He was way disappointed that he couldn't be the one in the chair.
     I then stopped at Cal-ranch because Oak has been in need of a new white shirt for shrsh.  Mo got really naughty in there...squealing, and running, and hiding in the racks of clothes.  It got bad enough, that I hurried and beat it out of there, and found him a nice spot of grass to run around for awhile.  We decided to meet up with my Mom and Dad for lunch because it was my Mom's birthday and they were going to be passing through.  They bought us some McDonalds, while Mo played all over the equipment.  Dill got drenched and sticky with the ice cream cone and milk shake.  Literally she was sticking to me.
     Luckily Dill fell asleep on the way home too, but Sags called when I hit St.George and begged me to get her some supplies for volleyball.  This made my shoulders slump, but Mesquite doesn't have a whole lot of stores for that kind of thing.  I reluctantly stopped which was a huge fiasco.  I bent down to look at something for two seconds and Mo took off.  I noticed that he was gone pretty fast, but it is a huge sporting goods store, and I knew that he could be hiding anywhere at that point.  Jazz and I split up, and I immediately began looking down aisles, and under racks....I noticed an elderly employee escorting Mo to the front of the store pretty quick.  I yelled, and the man let me know that he was getting ready to page me.  I apologized and decided that I was just going to have to keep his hand in mine for the rest of the shopping trip.  The problem is, Mo has been faking injuries lately to get attention.  I cannot figure this out because the kid gets plenty of attention...it is non stop.  Anyhow, he howled that my grip was too tight and that I was hurting him, but I knew that he just wanted to break free so that he could run around, squeal, and hide.
     Sags had several items on her list, but I decided to head out to the checkout area with the one that I happened to get when Mo initially took off.  I have learned over the years, and I need to remember, that shopping with Mo and Oak really isn't worth it.  They win, I cannot do it.  I admit defeat.  I was calling it quits, while I still had his hand in mine.  We approached the check out, and I let go of his hand so that I could grab my card....big mistake.  Anyhow, we wormed away and ran behind a checkout desk that wasn't being used at the time.  Of course, the guy ringing me up freaked out about him being back there.  I hurried and gave him my signature, and went and grabbed Mo.  He freaked out and played injured once again when I grabbed him.  Owwww!  He screeched...your hurting my arm OWWWWWW!  Yeah, as loud as possible, which got everyone's attention.  Needless to say, that I was cussing Sags, and Mo at that moment.  When I got him outside, it was not his arm that was injured, but his legs.  He threw himself on the ground and was just too hurt to move.  I finally got him in the car, and was trying to get out of there.  I got him in the car, and I had Jasmine checking him over, just to be sure that he was faking, which I was 99% positive that he was.  He then began howling that his feet were too hot...TOOO HOTTT!  Jazz removed his boots and socks, only to find that his feet had been slathered in a grubby layer of toothpaste.  I had mysteriously smelled toothpaste wafting through the car, and wondered if he had been eating it.  I had yelled at him several times not to eat the toothpaste, and he always replied that he wasn't...yeah, he wasn't he was slathering it on his feet instead. He had mentioned at the Orthodontist that his feet and hands needed to be brushed with toothpaste too, I guess I should listen to his agenda. We checked him over, he stopped crying, and decided that he no longer wanted to ride in the car seat...this was no surprise because he hates it, but he decided that he wanted to ride on my lap.  I knew this was out of the question.  I think that he knew that it was out of the question, but it didn't stop him from starting his bawling all over again.  At that point I didn't care...so what?  Mo is bawling, so what else is new?  Jazz, however went and made a hut around him, and this made him way happy...however, he then began to demand treats, and books, and toys that were needed in his hut...he required all kinds of niceties in order for his hut to be comfortable and enjoyable.  Luckily, he fell asleep before all of his demands were met....usually the problem is, he is hungry or tired.  However, he needs to learn that hunger and fatigue are just a huge part of life, and we have to act reasonable, even when we feel those things.  He totally has not learned this yet.
     It was nice to get home, and get the two babies out where they could run and play.  I hope that Mo and his "fake injuries" don't cause me any trouble later on.