Back-blogging: Hone Family Reunion

Over Labor Day weekend this year, we went camping with the whole Hone family (except for Wade, who couldn't make it -- we missed you, Wade!). It was a great trip, and we all had a really fun time being together. We got a great group camp site in Southern Idaho, with picnic tables, fire pits, tent sites, an amphitheater and lots of space to roam and play. 

There was lots of sitting around the fire, chatting and catching up...

And the little girls all had a great time playing with costumes from Grandma Karen's dress-up box. They even made up some dances and skits that they practiced and performed for us...

Oh, and actually, Piglet, in the above pic, is little *not* a girl, but he loved the dress-ups, too. ;)

This pic of me at the picnic tables is to remind me to tell about the bees... lots of bees this trip. They would come out every time we pulled the food out for a meal. And they were pretty annoying!! We had three people get stung -- BJ, Grandma Karen, and HP, poor things! We took turns swatting them, spraying repellent, doing battle. No fun!

We had a picnic lunch on Saturday, but we didn't find a very good place to eat it, unfortunately. So we all sat by the side of the road in a tiny piece of shade, kind of funny. But hey, at least there were no bees, eh? ;)

Natalie was our little fashion queen for the picnic. She insisted on wearing her swimming suit around her neck for most of the day, funny girl. The hat and glasses completed the ensemble! ha!

We decided to visit the famous Minnetonka Cave, near Bear Lake. A few of my brothers had been before and recommended it. Here's our group, about to go in...

Waiting for our tour to start...

It was a really impressive cave, actually! Three quarters of a mile long, with some amazing formations -- huge stalactites and stalagmites.

It also had 440 stairs inside the cave, leading to and from each cavern. We walked all the way in and all the way out, which meant we climbed or descended 880 steps! Kinda rough on Natalie, who ended up being carried by Brian lots of the time. My parents opted not to go on that adventure, and they didn't even know about the stairs... We missed them, but maybe it was better for them to save their energy??

After, we stopped at Bear Lake's drive-in restaurant for some delicious fresh raspberry shakes. Mmm.... good!!

Funny thing, the kids seemed more interested in the hammock behind the drive-in, than they were in the shakes. Oh well... more ice cream for me! ha!

Not pictured, right after our shakes, we decided to drive down by the lake, like so many people were doing. And... we got our van stuck in the sand. Badly. Our kids were pretty unnerved, and Brian and I weren't sure what to do. We tried digging out, then tried putting some boards down, then some blankets... Finally Brian just had to go ask some guys with a big monster truck if they could come pull us out. In the meantime, the kids had a BLAST digging in the sand, and Nat got to "use the facilities" in the bushes, which she thought was pretty exciting. Chalk it up to an adventure, I guess? And no more sand cruising for us until we upgrade to an SUV!

Here's Brian, messing with the settings on the camera... and messing with one of the tutus from the dress-up box, I guess? ha!

We had a little church meeting at the amphitheater on Sunday, and later, the kids did a little program for us, with all their songs, dances and skits...

These two seemed to be having a "who can get the dirtiest" contest!! They both deserved blue ribbons!!

Some of the audience, at the amphitheater...

More performers...

One cute thing, Samantha told me all the cousins had formed a "Cousins Club." The oldest cousins were part of the First Council of the Cousins, then the middle-aged cousins (including Sam) formed the Second Council of the Cousins, and the little kids were the Third Council of the Cousins. At one point, Brian and I were picking up a bunch of empty pop cans the kids had left laying around camp. Samantha saw them and said, "Oh! those belonged to the First Council of the Cousins! They should be cleaning those up!" We just thought it was cute that they had their own club. :)

The last day of our trip, it started raining right during breakfast. (And I took it personally, because it was mine and Brian's delicious breakfast-burritos breakfast!! how rude, dumb rain!) We all went running to my parents' trailer... all 25 of us crowding in to eat our breakfast in standing-room-only. Ah... it made a memory, I guess. And... it didn't let up until we were all packed up and ready to head home, with wet tents, wet bags, etc. Oh well!

Grandma Karen was extra nice and let all 15 grandkids stay in the trailer playing games and eating treats while the grown-ups packed up and cleaned the campsite. Fun times, huh?

It really was a fun, memorable, relaxing trip. We all went home happy and filthy, and we can't wait to do it all again next year! :)

Back Blogging: Back to school!

I know everyone else put up their first-day-of-school pictures a month ago. Well, it takes me awhile, but at least we actually did TAKE pictures of our cute kids on their first day. They're at a new school this year -- one with a bilingual curriculum. So, Samantha and Spencer spend half the day learning in English, and the other half of the day is in Spanish. It's been especially fun to hear Spencer come home telling me new words in Spanish -- colors, numbers, animals, etc. He's picking it up really quickly. Samantha is too, though she feels a bit more challenged, since most of the kids in her class started learning in Kindergarten, and she hasn't done any Spanish since preschool.

Anyway, they're both doing really well and they both really enjoy school so far. I just had parent-teacher conferences today, and got good reports about both kids. Spencer's favorite part of school is "making crafts and projects in art time." Samantha's favorite part is "history and geography -- in English." Here are some individual pictures of our cuties in their uniforms...

So, let's hear it for the whole back-to-school routine!! Happy kids = happy mom and dad, right?

Well, if I'm totally honest, the early mornings are about to whip my pregnant bottom., in a I-can-hardly-keep-my-eyes-open-by-2pm way!! Brian said the other day, "I was worried about the kids being really worn out by the long days and early mornings. But really, it's YOU that's getting worn out!" It's true. I still can't talk my body into wanting to get up at 6:45. It's just not natural to me, ya know? I keep thinking, man! I had sooo much more energy when I was expecting Natalie. Well, yes, and I had one preschooler who went to class twice a week at 9:30 a.m. Yeah, this is different -- an adjustment. Oh well. I'll survive, eh? ;)

Again, I say, let's hear it for the whole back-to-school routine! :) :)

Twenty-week scan... halfway to baby!!

So, we had our twenty-week scan of our little baby this week. It was super exciting to see all the movement and wiggling, etc. A few cute pics (that look a lot like all the other ultrasound pics we've had of our other babies, of course...)

And, if you're looking for some more specific anatomy pics... well... we don't have any, because this baby is a SURPRISE! That's right, we have 18-and-a-half more weeks to go before finding out if this little one is a boy or a girl. Are we old fashioned or what?! ;) Actually, this is Brian's special request. We had a surprise with Samantha, and he really, really loved it. So, after two "nonsurprise" babies (Spence and Nat), we are having one more surprise this time. Yes, that means I'll be buying pink AND blue, to resolve the "I have to plan" that every other mother tells me is the reason she could NEVER do a surprise. ;)

But secretly, I'm still thinking it's a boy. I'm not good at spotting things in ultrasounds, so I don't have very reliable information to back me up here. Plus, I really did turn my head and try not to look when the technician told us she was checking "down there." But hey, I might as well think it's one or the other, eh? And if it's a girl, well, then all the more a surprise it will be to me, right? Plus, we'll probably be more likely to agree on a name, if it's a girl, since Brian's very noncommittal about boy names. ha!

Anyway, even though we didn't find out what we're having, it was miraculous to see this little person on the big screen, kicking and wiggling and opening his little fists and pumping all that blood through those beautiful little heart chambers. Amazing!! It's a relief to know he's healthy and strong and growing according to schedule. Can't wait for him/her to get here... then maybe I will feel like I have more of a REASON to be so tired all the time??

My Cute Kids

This past Sunday was our church's primary program, where all the children sing and share scriptures, stories, personal experiences, etc. during the Sacrament Meeting hour. It took a lot of work to get everything organized, but we had a really nice program, and the kids all did a great job. I especially loved seeing MY cute kids be a part of it all. They were so cute and sweet, and said their parts really well. After it was over, I took some pictures of them, all spiffed up in their Sunday best....

Samantha had the idea to take some two-sibling shots, so we did. This one of Spence and Natalie is so cute to me...

And, a cute "sisters" picture...

And, some individual shots. Natalie would not keep her dress down. It's kind of one of her "things" we're working on, sometimes not very successfully. :) Look at that eager smile...

Our little Sammie Sue. She's wearing her baptism dress, even though it's still a couple more months before she will be old enough...

 Spencer, all decked out in his suit. Daddy had to be really persuasive to get him to wear a suit -- it's just not Spencer's thing right now. But I thought he looked so super handsome! We'll see if we can get more than one wearing out of the cute suit while it fits him, eh? ;)

And, of course, the photo shoot ended like this...

Samantha is old enough that she can be baptized by the end of this year -- once she turns 8! Her class consists of five or six little girls, all 7 or 8 years old. They each talked about the importance of baptism, and then they sang a sweet song about baptism, just the five girls, all in their little white dresses. It was really sweet and touching. We had them pose for a picture after, so cute...

That's all there is to share about the primary program, unless you want to hear about me being the lucky "helper" who got to sit my pregnant self right by the podium for the whole meeting, helping each child say his or her part into the microphone. Or, if you want to hear about how I stayed up till 1 a.m. making rice krispie treats for all 80 kids as a "thank you" for participating? Or, if you'd like to hear about how I carefully reformatted the program with bigger print, bold highlighted names, sleeve protectors, etc, so the children could read it more easily -- and then how I FORGOT it at home and had to go screeching back to the house to get it 3 mins before the meeting started? Or how I also got volunteered to lead the music, kinda last minute? Or, how nice it was for Brian's parents to come sit with our kids (and watch the program), since both Brian and I were up on the stand for the whole meeting?? Yep, it's been fun being in the primary! :)

Here's one last picture from last night. Brian and the kids went to visit our neighbor for a few minutes while I was at a meeting, and she took this sweet picture of my cuties and their Daddy. I love them all! :)

Oh, and one other thing I'd like to remember from Sunday... Brian didn't have any early-morning meetings, so he got to be HOME with us for once, all the way until it was time to go to church. It was heavenly! He's only been part of the bishopric for three months now, but it's been long enough for me (and him) to really appreciate a little break for some family time. We had a delicious ham-n-egg breakfast casserole that I had assembled the night before. And we leisurely took our time getting ourselves and the kids ready for our 11 a.m. meeting. It was sooo nice to have Brian home, and have his help getting us all ready and out the door! It didn't even get chaotic until the very end, when I was rushing around doing last-minute program stuff right before we headed out. :) Here's to being grateful for what I used to take for granted! ;) :)

About Not Blogging

"You haven't blogged for a long time," my mom told me the other night as we were talking on the phone. Should I take this as a hint? Or maybe... it's just that she's right, eh?

Well, so, I've been "not blogging" for a long time now, and the sad thing about not blogging is that the longer I "not blog" the less "bloggery" I feel. I know you know what I'm talking about, if you've ever tried to blog, right?

This will not be my most inspired attempt, but at least it's a starting point. I've toyed with the idea of just listing the things that make me not blog. But how boring would that be?

So instead, I will tell you about my last few days/weeks, etc. Might be just about as boring as not blogging, but hey, I'm baby-stepping back into this whole blog business. Cut me some slack, please. (And I write that mainly to myself, because I'm the one who reads back through and sometimes thinks, that was lame, Kam.)

So, starting with today:
I woke up at 5:47 a.m. to a piercing scream from Natalie, who had fallen out of her bed. Brian actually woke up first, and was out of bed and headed to her room by the time I was really stirring, so I let him put her back to bed while I took a trip to the bathroom. (Third trip since midnight, lovely pregnancy stuff.) I rubbed the backs of my legs awhile before coming back to bed, because they just ache in the night in a bad way, worse right before dawn. ouch! Then, of course, I couldn't get back to sleep, so I laid there and listened to Brian also not going back to sleep, until he finally got up around 6 and went into the other room to exercise. Then I eventually managed to get back to sleep for 20 minutes or so before it was 6:50, time to get the kids up for school. We made a deal that we'd start getting up ten minutes earlier, so there wouldn't be such a hectic rush to get out the door by 7:45. It was still hectic, but I managed to get them to school on time this morning, and didn't even yell. Whew! Then Natalie and I went for a walk with my friend, Kathleen and her daughter, Lydia. Nat feels humiliated to have to ride in the stroller with Lydia, but she endures as best she can. After walking, we came back home and Natalie hid with the iPad for a long time, and I let her, since she hasn't watched any PBSkids all week. And I worked on laundry and dishes from last night, and talked on the phone. After lunch I talked with Brian for awhile and worked on more laundry -- going on the 6th or 7th load today. That's basically all I got done all day, and it's still piled around me on the couch waiting for me to finish blogging and get back to work. :) Dinner was fettucine alfredo, with chicken and broccoli, and fresh corn on the cob and tomato slices. The kids trashed their room after dinner. We put up the bunk beds for them last week, and they usually trash the room every evening, playing some kind of "dodge whatever I throw at you off the top bunk" game. I ignore it and hope no one gets hurt, because that seems easier than trying to referee.  I left the mess tonight, figuring it would return first thing tomorrow since it's Saturday anyway, eh? No nap for me today, so I'm tired, crampy and nauseated tonight. But hopefully it will all feel a little better in the morning. Maybe the kids will let me sleep in?? I'm feeling this baby move quite a bit tonight. So fun.

But let's talk about yesterday, because it was more fun:
It was my go-out-and-do-something-fun day. But first it was not so fun, because the kids were draggy and slow in the morning, and I kept having to remind them to do things like put on their socks, put their homework in their bag, brush their teeth, etc. Then Samantha couldn't find her shoe, so we ended up being late. Spencer cried all the way to school and begged me to walk him to his class. So I did, in my just-woke-up clothes and hairdo. Not my best mothering moments there, in all the hysteria of being late. But I guess we all survived, eh? And then Nat and I went walking with our friends before coming home to start the fun part of the day. My sis-in-law Dalana and I planned a fun shopping outing, heading to some good thrift stores. And, we stopped at Kneaders for lunch. The shopping was good, and I came home with some new pregnancy sweaters and pants, as well as some nice kids clothes, including some "comfy shoes" for Natalie (her words, not mine). But the turkey sandwich from Kneaders tops my list of good-things-of-the-day. I could eat a turkey sandwich every day of this pregnancy -- and have, on many days! This one was on rosemary foccacia bread, with bacon, avocado and monterrey jack cheese, oh my! Pretty amazing. I tried their portabella artichoke soup as well, which I'd definitely get again. And, I also picked up a key lime tart as a treat for Brian and he let me have a bite later that night. Also pretty amazing. I love that Kneaders place. mmm! One funny thing about shopping with Dalana -- I went to pick her up, and we were both wearing three-quarter-length neutral color striped shirts, almost looked like matching (minus my belly!) I love when that happens, so funny! After shopping, I raced home to beat the kids off the bus, then got them started on homework while I took a little nap before picking up my nephew, John, to teach the kids piano lessons. Spencer cried about the lessons, for the third or fourth week in a row. So, I said we'll take a piano break for Spence until after the baby comes. Sometimes that's just the way things have to go, eh? We had a late dinner because of piano lessons, but the kids sang my praises anyway because I made mini-meatloaves in the muffin tin, which they adore. And then they had a somewhat rough bedtime, because it was nearly 9, and they were overtired. Brian and I were asleep by 10:30, which is good, for us -- and somewhat unusual.

And Wednesday:
That's the day I finally finished the salsa. I whined about it all day Monday, but the kids were out of school and I just did NOT want to drag out the mess and try to stay focused on it while doing all the kid stuff. Anyone blame me? So I got it started on Tuesday, even though I felt crummy (feverish, headachy, exhausted...). I peeled tomatoes and chopped them from 10:30 a.m. until nearly 3 p.m. (That's four and a half hours, people!! just sitting in a chair, chopping juicy, ripe tomatoes... 30 cups!) My plan was to chop the other stuff after dinner and kids were off to bed. But nope. No energy on Tuesday evening. So I saved it until Wednesday, and chopped all the other stuff all morning (the onions just about killed me, all that crying!) and put in the first pints to process right after I picked up the kids from school. That was my best batch of salsa, of the three batches I've done in the past few weeks. The tomatoes were really ripe and sweet, so it's a gorgeous dark red color. And the texture is thick and chunky, and has a great balance of flavors (though I secretly wish it had a little more zip to it... my kids and Brian don't like spicy, so we stay mild, sad but true). By the end of the day, I had all the canning stuff packed up and sitting on the counter to go out to the garage. Hooray! Ready to be done with canning for this season. It's been fun, but it is sooo time consuming. Now I can maybe get my house in better shape, or go do something fun when I feel like it?

Tuesday:
I already wrote about the canning, so I won't share all that again. But I will share a cute Samantha tidbit. She tried out for a local children's chorus last week, and she made it. yay! So, her first rehearsal was Tuesday evening. I got to go sit and watch her, which was thoroughly enjoyable. She is so enthusiastic and has such a sweet voice. I could pick her out, even with 30 other little girls singing. The teacher drew a staff and treble clef on the board and asked the kids if they knew what it was. Samantha had the right answer. When Mrs. Walker praised her, Samantha shrugged and said, "well, I take piano lessons, so I just know." (We'll work on modesty. ;) It was treat to spend some one-on-one time with her, and to see her doing something she loves. I was proud of myself for just praising and appreciating her, and for refraining from telling her to keep her fingers out of her mouth and other little criticisms that I could have mentioned but didn't. :)

Monday:
Kids were out of school for a teachers in-service day. I wanted to go do something fun with them, but I didn't have a lot of energy, and kept telling myself I was going to start on that salsa. So, instead, we spent a couple of hours completely organizing our upstairs family room/play room. We played a Simon Says game, where I would tell them Simon says to pick up 25 legos and put them in the blue box. They loved it. Funny how they MIND when Simon says... a lot better than when Mom says! ha!

Sunday:
Was a bit of a rough one. I went to bed too late, slept terribly, and woke up feeling very overwhelmed and under-prepared for church. It was one of those days where, if I didn't have responsibilities at church, I would have taken a sick day for sure. But instead, I .... well, I kept asking the kids to do things to get ready (put on shoes, find scriptures, etc.) and they kept doing nothing to get ready. So, when it was time to leave, there were missing shoes and tears and a mad mom who took Spencer's tithing and put it on the fridge because he wasn't minding or listening but was just playing with his money. By the time we got to the parking lot, the tears were mine (and Spencer's too, actually), and it was one of those moments where trying to stop crying only made it worse. Much worse. The kids were like, "why are you crying? And why can't you just stop?" And I was like, "I can't stop. I can't do this. I can't be the Mom today." Not fun. Samantha took Natalie and went to foyer to wait for me and Spence to pull it together. Spence got a grip sooner than I did, so he left me and went in to be with the girls. I let it all out for several minutes before I finally got enough control to apply some superficial mascara and lipstick. And... off we went. Brian was conducting and kept trying to make eye contact with me, to see why I traipsed in 15 minutes after the meeting started. And I avoided eye contact the entire meeting because if I looked at him, I knew I'd break down again, and I didn't have any tissues in my bag, of course. Ah... well, it all got better after that. I didn't relapse, and I was able to do my part to get our primary program in shape (it's this coming Sunday, wish us luck!) Then I went home and made sandwiches for the kids, put them in front of some church movies, and took myself to bed for a long nap. Brian had a long, busy day, and finally made it home for the night after the kids were fast asleep. Some days are like that. I wrote it all here, just to remind myself that it's okay, and it all ended up alright, and crying about it didn't really help anything, but in the long run it also didn't really hurt anything either. Chalk it up to pregnancy, I guess?

I'll stop with the daily journal. Okay? Can you see why I'm not blogging these days? :) I will take some more fun pictures of the kids and put them up here sometime soon, kay? Or I'll back-blog about our trip to Hawaii or our Hone camping reunion over Labor Day. I promise, I'll get back into blogging soon. And I'll make it real, and fun too.

Bye for now!