Spring Break with the Harrisons

The highlight of our spring break was having Kate and her boys visit us for a couple of days.

Nathan, Hyrum, Korben and Logan played so well together; they were the best of buddies! While Logan and Nathan were jumping on the trampoline it started to rain. They didn't want to get off and it was a warm rain so we just let them go at it. They laughed and jumped and slid around and laughed some more.

We attempted to feed the ducks at the Nature Park but those ducks must seriously be over-fed. They wouldn't even come to us and the few that did were chased down by excited little boys yelling "here ducky, ducky" as they threw big chunks of bread at them. I think Kate and I had more fun laughing at the boys and the ducks than the boys had feeding the ducks.

Though I feel like I'm getting a little too old to stay up all night long, it was good to visit with Kate while everyone else was asleep. With a 14 year age gap between us we have always been in different seasons of life but now our little boys, motherhood, common interests, similar worries and struggles seem to dissolve the years between us as we share and grow from each other's strengths, weaknesses, and experiences.

Building and Hunting

Derek's final physics project for school was a choose your own adventure kind of thing. He had to pick a project, do a report on it, build and demonstrate it, and write up a quiz for the other students in the class. True to his medieval fantasies, he chose a battering ram to be his project. Because it was something that really interested him and went along with his love for building, this was one homework assignment that he didn't need any nudging on.

When he informed the teacher what his project was and that he was building a demo the teacher asked if he would need a full desk or table to demonstrate. Uh. . . how about a truck, trailer and an outdoor demonstration? The thing turned out to be almost six feet tall! It was so windy that day that during the trip to the school the thing was blown around a bit even though it was secured to the trailer. Before the trip it actually stood rather level. Those chains blowing to the left were whipping all over the place.

Those cute little people in the bottom right were his cheerleaders. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the class to come outside so during the wait we had a little pep rally to keep them entertained. Even though Derek couldn't see or hear them while doing his presentation, they were rooting for him with all their toddler energy and the "make a silly face" cheer.

He built, he studied, he practiced and was very excited with the actual ram. He was nervous about the presentation but once he got into it and his classmates showed there awe at his creation, he got into it with humor as well as information and earned a solid "A".

I wanted to take a video of his presentation and when he rolled his eyes I promised that I would be sneaky about it and not embarrass him in front of his teacher or peers. I held up my end of the bargain but the wind was so bad that the recording didn't pick up much of what was being said, except for the teachers comment, "we love destruction".

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We consider Derek and Chris to be the scarecrows for our raspberries. Maybe I shouldn't be so enthusiastic about the killing but we are country folk and we protect our crops. Though we have joked with the boys that they are now the meat providers of the family they refuse to pluck and clean them so we now have a bird cemetery in our back corner.

The Bodyguard

Harrison took on this position of bodyguard when Nathan was only 2 months old. The two first met at Kara's house in Utah.

Three years later he moved to our house. Not only does he protect our home from any creature in the mouse family but he fills his role as evening nanny doing their bedtime routine with them and purring them to sleep.

He seems to sense who needs comfort on any given night and sleeps there.

He follows the boys around during bath time, brushing their teeth, watching tv, and playing outside.

During a very tough sick night for Nathan, Harrison stayed indoors and sat by him while he puked, snuggled next to him as he whimpered and finally they both dozed off for a couple of hours.

He makes a great potty training coach. During a lengthy bathroom stay, due to fear of number two, Harry seemed to get a bit bored but he didn't leave.

Such a big job can be exhausting.

Prom 2011

After nearly an hour of unwrapping cellophane, Erika found an invitation to Prom.

She rented a beautiful dress and spent oodles of hair time with her friend Brianna. As usual, she looked gorgeous.

After humoring me with 4 pictures, all in the same pose and a variety of facial expressions, Erika and Trent met up with Bridget and Brandon to share a home cooked meal prepared by the guys. After eating a delicious, hearty dinner of steak and rolls they freshened up and went to the ball large new building in Rexburg for an evening of dancing hanging out with friends. It was a Prom night that fit their personalities, left them with good memories and a happy ending to the school year.

Brothers

Watching these relationships grow is one of the greatest rewards of motherhood.

Cousins Weekend

As soon as the clean up was done from Nathan's birthday party and my two littlest pirates were snug in their beds, I began packing for a trip to Cedar City, Utah. I wanted to leave a note for my kids since I would be leaving on the early shuttle and there was a chance none of them would be awake. I intended it to be big enough, and in a place visible enough, for them to not miss it so I made it poster size and put it on the fridge but it took every magnet I had to hold it up.

The shuttle ride to Orem was uneventful; rather relaxing actually. I don't usually have that much time to be in my own head and it was kind of nice to just be. Once I met up with my sister, Kate, in Orem we headed towards Cedar City in her mini cooper. Those things are tiny but soooo fuel efficient! Little did we know that being so economical would lend itself to adventures in winter wonderland as the storm began. Every time someone passed us the entire vehicle was sloshed with spraying snow and slush and we had to stop 4 or 5 different times to clean the ice off the windshield wipers so that we could see. Then we would head off again, passing the same semi-truck each time. We must have looked like the epitome of blond as the poor driver of that truck witnessed each stop. He even waved at us the last time that we passed him.

We thought that we would be hiking on this trip but the weather had other plans. When we later discussed what we did for the weekend we realized that it sounded kind of anti-climatic but we really did have a great time as we bargain shopped, went with our aunt to get her ears pierced, ate, stayed up late visiting, cooked together and, again, ate. We stayed at my cousins bed and breakfast, the beautiful Henley Manor, which gave us a full kitchen for all of our meals and enough rooms/beds for us to all stay together.

Really, it was the company that made the whole trip worth it. This is a part of the family that I have only seen once a year for the past few years and before that just occasionally when we were children. What a rejuvenating boost to my spirit to spend time with distant cousins and aunts who quickly and easily became friends, almost sisters to me. It was magical to see our ages disappear. We ranged from ages 18 to the late 50's and yet we all seemed to blend into one season of womanhood. Even with our differences of single life, married life, teens, babies, husbands, sister-wives, a range of financial situations and even differences in religion, we were simply family.

Back: Me, Mary, Aunt Sylvia, Aunt Alice, Sandra

Front: Kate, Fawn holding Billie, Robyn, Sara holding Maya, Taralyce

Since then we have stayed in contact and been a support to each other through struggles and joys that have come up during the summer. I'm so grateful for my extended family and for the nudge to do a weekend like this. It certainly won't be our last.

Argh, Nathan is Five!!

Nathan was so excited to have a pirate party for his birthday. We dug out random fabric from the craft closet to make bandannas to go with our eye patches and gold earrings (or nose ring as Justin wore it). Nathan and Hyrum wore homemade felt pirate hats since they were our captains.

Our bandanna fabric naturally labeled us the "war" and "peace" teams which was perfect for our game of cannon shoot. Luckily, the peace team won but by only 2 cannons, it was a close match. I was worried about the older kids claiming boredom during the games but they were all in. Throwing ping pong balls at each other across the ping pong table trying to get them into the other team's basket while they were blocking them was evidently not too immature for them. We were laughing hysterically as we bombed each other while racing against the sand timer and some of us ended up in bit of pain from the occasional welt. No one under 6 was injured during the war.

For his gifts I had arranged a treasure hunt. A crumpled brown grocery bag and some Pictionary-esque drawings provided the clues as he ran from room to room looking for his treasure. He was thrilled to get a stick horse (which he had been begging for from the moment Hyrum got one for his birthday 2 weeks earlier and it has been a great investment into the imagination games so that they can ride together on their adventures). I also stained and decorated a treasure chest for him which has since held his weapons and costumes as well as the fake coins that he collected from his pirate party. He was also very happy with his leap frog reusable school book that will help him "get ready to be smart in kindergarten".

The cake was a huge success. Each birthday I struggle to come up with a cake that Nathan will like. He doesn't like cake. So this year I did a rice crispie "cake" in the shape of a pirate. He loved it!

*LeRoy was in Texas helping his sister re-wire her house.

The Dynamic Duo

Nathan and Hyrum bring a joy to our family that could not come any other way. They make us laugh and smile and play. They say things that are silly and wise. They express unconditional love to each of us, no matter how grumpy we have been to them. And they are the best of buddies. Even with minor disagreement they end every day as best friends. In an attempt to visually preserve their friendship, my files are chuck full of snapshots of the two of them together. Here are some of my favorite.

"I'm a maaan" and "see my way huge muscles" are the exuberant expressions that come with bare chested muscle flexing.

They seem to think that being tucked into bed is the invitation to jump on the bed.

"Time out" is always better with a buddy.

During one of my less than patient moments I had Nathan put his nose on the wall. I left for a minute and came back to find Hyrum standing in the hallway with his nose on the wall as well. He has such a tender heart for Nathan that even during the sad, bad, angry times he is right by his side.

Sunday mornings require the mad search to find matching ties. Not because I care, believe me I don't. It's because the boys care.

Saving the world is easier with a partner
first thing in the morning
in jammies

Friends teach each other and learn from each other.



Sharing, laughing, playing. . . together

Kara's Baby Shower

We are anything but ordinary, my sisters and I. We planned to do a baby shower for Kara but she was all set for the baby so instead we planned a baby room deco-party. Because of the type of party it would be, we kept it in the family instead of inviting friends. I love hanging out with my sisters and daughter(s)!

Back: Cami, Kara, Caytlyn

Front: Kate, Erika, Kimber

"Before"

Kara had a colorful vision in her mind of how she wanted her boy room to look and we did our best to make it reality. The first night was spent clearing the room, taping, primer and the first coat of paint. Getting schnockered on paint fumes on top of the late night silliness made it a reeeelly fun night.

The next morning we did the second coat of paint, moved everything back into the room, added the curtains, set up the crib and by noon we were ready for naps.

"After"

However, not very often do we all get together so we (minus Kara, who needed to take a nap and focus on growing a baby) went shopping. It was more looking than shopping (though Erika did get some really great deals at Plato's Closet) and of course, we ate. We were a teensy bit loopy from our partying-painting-project so after one clothing store we were headed back to Kara's for a movie. A really lame movie. We only watch about 7 minutes of it before we turned it off. Instead of wasting away in front of the TV we helped Kate finish the stuff for her primary lesson and then laughed our way through a few rounds of Nertz. Again, we stayed up waaay too late but we did soak up every possible minute together before we zonked for the few remaining hours of the night. Caytlyn and I chose to sleep in the basement, thinking we would sleep better away from the others who were still talking, and off to bed we went earlier than the rest of them. We talked in the dark until just past 3 am. It was like having a college roommate again and I felt young . . . until the next morning when I needed to drive home. Luckily, she stayed awake to chat with me for the entire 4 1/2 hour drive while Erika snoozed away in the backseat.

Baby Zane joined the family just a few weeks later.

April Fools' Day 2011

April Fools' day to us is more about silly food than pranks (though I did pull one over on LeRoy that wasn't very nice and I am going to be spending the next 20 years groveling for forgiveness over it). We have a neighbor that gets so excited for our yearly prank food delivery that she even takes pictures of it. The boys have fun tricking their brains by looking at what they think is one food and tasting another.

This year our brain fooling April dish was spaghetti.

White cake made in pot-pie size tins, soaked with red jello for moistness and color effect, topped with noodle-y cream cheese frosting and chocolate "meat"balls dipped and drizzled in strawberry jam.

We already have next year planned.