Sh Welly Side, Dude Side

Yesterday I decided it was time for Emily to find a way to say 'Jason.' She hasn't had a name for him yet, and she usually refers to him by pointing. When Katie was here we got Emily to say her name by letting her say 'Tatie', so I thought I'd try the same thing with Jason's name. At the breakfast table I asked Emily to say 'Jason' but she just looked at me like I was nuts. So I shortened it to 'Ason' and she still just looked at me blankly. I know she can say 'A' so I was prompting her to say the sounds separately and then put them together, but all I got was to the 'A' and she spit out 'Dude!' 'Dude' is now Jason's name. It fits right in with her other fun nicknames for family. 'Tatie' for Katie. 'Papa' for Grandpa. 'Bobo' for Grandma. 'Honey' for Aunt JB. 'Eeth' for Ethan. 'Sh Welly' for Shelly.

So, this morning the kids are outside playing. Shelly and Jason were the first to head out. Emily sat on the couch informing me 'Sh Welly side, Dude side' (meaning Shelly and Jason are outside). She had to have told me this about a dozen times. Repeating what she said back to her didn't make her stop, neither did agreeing with her, nor offering to help her go outside... I think she just enjoys the idea that she now has a name for her brother. She finally decided to go outside, and on her way out she told me 'Annie, weeping, bed' (Annie is sleeping in her bed) and 'nother one, shoe, on' (I need my other shoe on)

We have a lot of fun listening to her talk!

Emily 2 Year Check-up (and shots)

Emily had her two year check up. I took her and Annie while Mark took Shelly and Jason to the library for reading time. The kids enjoy reading time at the library.

Emily did pretty good at the doctors. She was playing and talking up a storm until the doctor came in, and then she turned shy on me and wouldn't leave my lap. About that same time Annie started crying and needed to be picked up. It was an adventure that involved not really being able to hear anything the doctor said, but it all worked out and Emily is healthy (at least, I'm pretty sure that's what the doctor said...)

Here are her stats, just in case anyone is curious:
Height: 35 3/4 inches - 92%
Weight: 28 1/5 pounds - 75%

I confess that with her cheeks and her buddha belly, I'm surprised to find she's taller than she is fat... Oh well.

Update: I just noticed that her buddha belly isn't as much buddha as I remember... I struggle. Can I blame lack of sleep?

More Camping

The first night in the tent was a success! Partly. Ok, not really. Annie and I didn't plan to sleep in the tent. Mark had to work early and I didn't want to deal with the kids & baby all by myself in the morning, so Grandma said she would take the kids in the morning, and I could sleep in my bed. Then it turns out that she also volunteered to let Mark sleep at home too, and it would just be Grandma and her Grandkids camping. I think she likes her grandkids... :) Julibeth came out to sleep with Ethan, but at some point (I heard it was when the kids were fighting over who got to sleep by Ethan) Ethan and JB went in the house, and then it was just Grandma and our three oldest kids. Around 5 or 6 in the morning Shelly went in the house to try to sleep on the couch, and Emily kept sticking her head in Grandma's face saying 'Sh Welly, side, Honey, side - Sh Welly, side, Honey, side.' No amount of Grandma agreeing with her that Shelly and JB were inside would stop her from relaying the information. Grandma's a trooper!

Side Note: Shelly had the funniest dream. She was sleeping on the couch, and in her dream she was riding in the car. She was trying to put her seat belt on, and 'Oops, I fell off the couch.' I laughed so hard when she told me that story! Anyways, back to our regularly scheduled programing.

So, we decided to leave the tent up and try it again on Sunday night. This time Mark and I both stayed. There was plenty of room to have the foams for the kids, a port-a-crib for Emily and the bassinet for Annie, but instead we all just used a foam pad, air mattress, or blanket and 'roughed it.' Emily likes to wander when she's not in a crib. That was a mistake. Annie likes to scoot off her blanket. That was also an adventure, but she only did that twice so it wasn't as bad. Our air mattress was fine. That was a good idea. :)

And, as always, when sleeping in a tent, dinner must come from a fire. Or at least dessert.

I had spent much of the morning on Saturday making these chairs for the 4 oldest kids (Ethan, Shelly, Jason and Emily).
Elaine sewed the fabric, and LaMont drilled the holes for the drills, but I did the design (I stole it, and then altered it on accident) and all the pvc pip cutting and most of the putting together - the first time anyways. They came apart a time or two during drilling and fabric sewing.

The kids love to play on this mound of gravel.

Like the joker look? He had some punch to drink...

Mmm, smores... Although I think that's the end of my hotdog, and not a smore. Smores are still good.

Annie loves to sleep on Grandpa

He usually doesn't mind too much.


I love this way of roasting things. Mark is brilliant.

The kids found some farm equipment to play on.


She had some punch too...

I love the smile I can almost see behind the cup...

He's fairly high up. Grandpa was nervous.


Nanon came to join us and show off her new car.




This is the stuff that really made Grandpa nervous

We kept trying to tell him to turn around

Grandpa, not Ethan. Ethan was fine, Grandpa was not.

Although there are quite a few sharp edges on this thing.



Falling and getting cut is a real possibility

He finally felt better when the kids decided to get down

and give Grandpa a hug

Annie wasn't nervous at all, not even once.

The tent experience went fairly well. I found myself unable to go back to sleep after I had been woken up by kids around 1:30. Mark agreed to bring the baby when she needed food, and I was keeping him up anyways. So around 4 I gave up and went home. Other than that, it went much better than the last time. Julibeth and Ethan stayed in the tent with us, and woke around 6, Emily and Jason were in the house before Mark brought the baby over around 8, and he thought Shelly was still asleep, but he was wrong. All things considered, I think we'll enjoy the new tent.

Watering the Corn

It's a summer Saturday tradition. Watering the corn. It's a wet, muddy business, but someone has to do it or there won't be any corn. And this is not the kind of corn you can buy. This is the kind of corn that only hard work, water and sunlight can produce. It's super sweet and super tasty. Once you've gotten accustomed to garden corn (the kind the in-laws grow - not just any variety of corn will do) you can never go back to store bought corn. It just doesn't work. All other kinds of corn are vastly inferior and suddenly don't taste nearly as good. It's a curse, really. But it's such a blessing to have such nummy corn!!

All of the watering work seems to fall on Grandpa. He's a good guy though and waters the corn every Saturday during the summer so that we can enjoy good corn all year round. Watering the big garden (where the corn is grown) is a messy business. Boots are required. Here's how it works (at least in my mind, I could be wrong since I've never actually watered corn - just watched others do parts of it): Water is acquired from the canal. The canal is a stream of water from Provo River that the settlers dug so they could have water in these here parts for farming and drinking and other water necessities. Water is turned 'off' and 'on' at a box in the middle of canal that diverts water down the ditch. All the people along the canal that use the water have a box or an equivalent, and their own ditch. The box for this ground is on the other side of the rail road tracks. It's a hike, or a mini drive with the 4 wheeler. Once the water is turned on and heading down the ditch, it gets turned to head into the garden. Then the hard work starts.

During the planting phase of corn growing (and much field work, really) you dig furrows in between the rows of corn (the tractor does most of this work). The furrows allow water to get to the roots of the corn without washing out the seeds.

So, as the water is heading into the garden, Grandpa digs out an opening for the water to head down the first few furrows. Once the water hits the bottom of those rows (about an hour later), he closes up those furrows and digs openings for the next few furrows. This process takes most of the day, and is a lot of work digging in wet dirt.

The kids love going with him, just to make more work... And he is really good about letting them tag along.

Grandpa leading the way to check to make sure the water is all the way down. Ethan, Jason and Shelly are following.
This is the bottom of the garden. The water is already down some of the rows and is heading to a drain that takes the extra water to the pasture across the road.

Jason and Shelly are both stuck (Jason is almost to his knees! Hilarious!). They are not used to walking in mud and thought the water was the smartest place to walk. I'd love to say they learned quickly, but the next few pictures would prove me wrong, so there's no point...

Grandpa helping Jason.

And then Shelly

Emily wanted to come, so we got her boots on too. It took longer than the others, and I walked up with her. I was in flip flops. Can I just warn you guys and let you know that flip flops in tilled and/or wet dirt is not a good idea...

Just missed the best part of that adventure! Emily trying to cross the stream all by herself.

She made it, but she came out much wetter and dirtier than she started.

Jason's stuck again... And we haven't even made it to the top of the garden yet!

Heading up to change the water.

Crossing the row to get to the other side. :) (I just cracked myself up! I need help.)

I'm trying really hard to not get loose dirt in my flip flops.

The kids aren't the lest bit worried about dirt... Shelly did not get that from me.

Emmie Sue needed help getting across.

These kids sure had fun.

They found a shady spot to sit and relax and play while Grandpa did all the heavy lifting (of the wet mud! :)



Thanks for all your hard work Grandpa! We appreciate all you do for us! (not least the corn we get to enjoy all year round!)

Camping!

No camping experience is complete without a camp fire... We made hobo dinners with chicken breasts, potatoes, carrots, onions and our favorite spices!

Annie took to the camp fire fairly well

Emily got sticky and tried to use a napkin to wipe it up... Poor thing. We had lots of fun laughing at her. She didn't get it.

Annie sure likes Aunt JB.

Just hanging out with a blanket to protect from mosquitoes.

With some help from Grandpa Emily found some water to wash off her sticky hands (and the napkin that was stuck on them)

I got a turn to hold Annie!

Seconds after getting her hands clean, she fell in the dirt... She just can't win.
At least she took it well.

Shelly enjoys any outside time she can get away with.

Washing off the dirt...