Sunday Afternoon Hikes

One of the benefits of living where we do, is the opportunity for hiking right out our back door - or front door for that matter. Sunday afternoons and evenings are a great time for our family to enjoy the area by taking a family walk. Here are some pictures from one of our recent hikes through the park.

Tom and Ethan playing tag on a "rest" during the hike. Tom would let Ethan get pretty close and then jump out of the way before Ethan could tag him. For some reason, this didn't seem to bother Ethan. Just the opposite, in fact. He started laughing so hard he couldn't even try to tag Tom!

Logan during the game of tag. He loves this fire shirt Gary brought him back from Florida even though it is three sizes too big. Every weekend he seems to wear it.

Gary decided to have the boys build a rock tower along the side of the trail. He told them that each time we came along this trail we could add to it and watch it grow. Ethan was all excited to build the tower and started finding the biggest rocks he could carry.

Not to be out done, Dylan also started picking up rocks and throwing them at the pile. By some miracle, he didn't hit anyone. All he wants to do is be big!

The completed first stage of the tower with the mighty builders and the ferocious watch dog.

We found a tree that a woodpecker bored a hole into. Each of the boys had to have a look inside the tree. I'm glad Gary was with us. I can't lift Tom and Logan anymore and it was just high enough that they needed a boost.

The journey home. Dylan "hiked" most of the way on Gary's shoulders. The boys each carried their back packs with water and snacks and jackets in case it rained. Ethan's looks HUGE on him but he insisted on carrying it the whole time.

Giddy Up!

Church doesn't start until 1:00 here in our little branch. That gives us some time to kill in the mornings before getting ready. Last Sunday, this is how Dylan came out of Tom and Logan's room. Logan is really into costumes and, for some reason, Dylan was in the right mood for Logan to dress him up. I may be the mom, but I think he is adorable!

Fundraising Nightmares

Let me just start by saying I understand why the boys have PTA fundraisers. I know the PTA is important and does great things for the school. I know they need money to do that. I know they search for the best fundraisers they can. I know. I know. I know.

BUT,

The boys are in the middle of a fundraiser for the school right now. The pool of potential candidates is very limited in our neighborhood. Almost half of the people living in our neighborhood right now are seasonal employees that won't be here when the fundraiser comes. They've had two orders from our neighbors and I count that as a success.

This fundraiser has an Internet option for out-of-town family and friends. Gary registered online and I sent out the mass email. My great Aunt Karen placed an order and sent me an email letting me know how many "prize credits" the boys receive. Who can't live without another downloadable game and book of puzzles? I checked their website to see how many orders they've received and it shows zero. I called and the nice lady on the other end of the phone says that she can't find the order. I have to send Karen an email back saying she has to do it all over or send me her confirmation number and I'll call the company again. How many other orders are out there in the black hole of the company's website? Grrrrrrr.....

Oh, and the deadline is tomorrow and Gary is out of town for the day. Won't get back until too late to deal with any of it. Of course.

Four-Year-Old and a Family Home Evening Lesson

Last night was the night we try to have our weekly Family Home Evening. I say try because we don't always succeed at having it, and sometimes we only get through half of it before someone makes someone else cry and then they have to go to their room, or something else happens that is totally unforeseeable.

Last night, was a bit more successful. A bit. Ethan was in charge of the lesson last night and I kept asking him if he would like some help preparing - you know, since he's four and can't read words with more than four letters. He repeated the same answer over and over. "No. I can do it. I'm going to give my lesson about clocks."

Clocks. Hmmmm. Okay. Who am I to judge. In the back of my mind, I had the whole tie-in. Clocks tell time. Heavenly Father has given us time. We need to use it wisely to do good things. Gold star on my forehead for a wonderful lesson from one word. The self confidence I felt should have been my first clue.

After a rendition of "I am a Child of God" that made me laugh because we were all singing at different paces and were more off-key than usual, we ventured into the lesson. Ethan, sitting next to Gary, started off, "I am going to talk about clocks."

He then turned and gave the rest of the lesson while STARING at Gary. His expression-filled eyes were even bigger than usual. He was serious. He had given this a lot of thought and knew exactly what he was going to say. He went on to tell us why clocks are important. You know, you need them to know what time it is so you won't be late for school and work. If you didn't have them, oh the horror, you might be late for work or school because you would get up late and then just hang around and play and not leave on time.

At this point, I am crying from laughing, on the inside of course, and Gary, bless his heart, still had most of a straight face. It's here that the humor became more than I could take. Tom raised his hand and Ethan diligently called on him. Tom went on about the different types of clocks, digital and non-digital. They talked for a minute while Gary and I just sat there trying to keep our laughter stifled. Next, Logan's hand shot up. He too had some comments on the importance of clocks and the different noises they make from the alarm clocks that are useful for waking him up in the morning to the tick-tocking that the annoying clock buried in his top drawer makes. It makes it hard for him to sleep you know.

Well then. What a lesson. It had some of the best audience participation we've had for some time. Spiritual message? Not sure.

One Omlet, with Lettuce Please

We have a list of things we want to do and see while living here but we've been so busy with fires and gathering firewood that we haven't had much time to tackle our list, until Monday. Every weekend (and I guess holiday) there is a Native American art and craft show in the square in town. They have booths full of beautiful jewelry and trinkets made by the Navajo tribe as well as dancers. Monday, as Gary was heading out for his two loads of wood, he noticed that they were also selling Navajo tacos. We thought, in order to reward the boys for all their hard work during the weekend, we would head over about four o'clock and see the art and dancing and then wrap it up with dinner.

We got there about 4:30 and found many booths full of jewelry and a live country band playing. No dancers. As we moved our way around the circle of booths, we got closer and closer to the end without spotting a Navajo taco. Apparently, they just sell them for lunch, not dinner.

Not easily dissuaded from a dinner out, we reassessed our choices. McDonalds, Wendy's, the pizza place, a steak house that promised high prices, or the Tusayan Cafe. We opted for the Tusayan Cafe. Off we went and boy, were we in for a treat.

Tom and Logan weren't interested in any of the choices on the children's menu (except for maybe the Prime Rib- yeah right!) so we let them order off the adult menu. They are really on the edge of the child's menu anyway, at least this time they would be assured adequate food to fuel those growing bodies. They decided on an omelet. The waiter then asked if they would like a baked potato, rice pilaf, or french fries with that. I thought that was a bit odd but what kid wouldn't like french fries with every meal? Then he asked if they would like soup or salad. Their answer? Nope! We ordered them salad, with Ranch dressing.

After the waiter left, Logan started in about how he didn't want lettuce on his omelet. They had never had so many choices with their dinners out before. Ordering from the adult side of the menu was a whole new experience and Gary and I hadn't properly taught them about the complexities of sides and starters.

Logan didn't even want the cheese on his omelet at first that we talked him in to having so it wouldn't just be scrambled eggs. How could they put lettuce on an omelet!? He was sure it would be all put together until his meal came. Salad first - with blue cheese all the way around, yuck! - and then the omelet. It was then that he was asking where his ham was and why Tom got ham and he didn't. Seriously!

The food was, well, awful. The company was, well, amazing. The experience was, well, one we won't soon forget. I guess we're down to choosing from the pizza place, steak house, or the two fast food entries!

The Late Bus

Kids at the Grand Canyon School have a few different options for riding the bus home from school if they are in elementary school. Since the junior high and high school kids also attend the same campus, there is the early bus, the late bus, the late late bus if there is a practice for one of the teams, and the night bus for times there is a sporting event at night.

The early bus leaves after elementary school dismisses at 3:00. The late bus leaves after the older grades are done at 4:00 and the late late bus and night bus leave sometime after that - I haven't had to deal with those yet. My boys ride the regular 3:00 bus that gets them home by 3:30 most days.

Today, however, there is an after school activity for the 2nd graders. We have a school/community garden and they have been invited to participate today by spending time helping in the garden, and eating the fresh produce the garden has ready. Just like a field trip, we sign a permission slip and let them know that they will be walking home from school or riding the bus or we will be picking them up. I also need to get Tom from scouts tonight, so the timing made it right for Logan to ride the bus home. I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous for my little second grader to be riding the bus home with all those "evil" older kids! Even though he rides to school with them, coming home will be a bit different. He won't have Tom with him this time.

Luckily, there is one other kid from our branch that rides the bus in our neighborhood. I use the term "kid" loosely because he's in high school. I asked him if he would look out for Logan and he agreed. Keeping my fingers crossed here that it goes smoothly. I never thought that I would be sending my boys to school at 7:30 in the morning and not see them again until 4:30 or 5:00 when they were in 2nd and 4th grade. Crazy!

Scouts

In Idaho, Gary and I served as the Cub Masters for our little, but growing, pack of scouts. I thought it was a great job. One meeting a month to plan and one to put on and in between I could schedule my time around the boys. There wasn't a weekly obligation that I needed to plan and carry out. That was my problem. I think I said that out loud.

Here, there isn't a church sponsored pack. Since it is community run, they rely on volunteers without the calling from the Bishop. They needed someone to help with the Wolf and Bear dens (2nd and 3rd grade here) which contain six total boys. The mom that volunteered in the past is mid-chemo and, although she wants to do it again, can't get it started for a few weeks. I told her I'd help her.

That's when the guilt started to set in. Here I am, healthy, sitting at home, wishing I could meet more people, hoping the boys actually advance and have regular meetings so Logan's first experience with scouting is a good one. What excuse could I possibly come up with that is more worthy of not doing it than chemo? Really?

So, long story not quite so long, the boys are all coming over to my house today and we will be having our first scout meeting. I should be scouring the web for information and planning helps. I should be creating my advancement tracking spreadsheet to be filled in when the boys bring their books today and I can see what they already have passed off. I should be doing anything other than blogging but, in blogging defense, writing down this commitment helps me to get my head around it and figure out just exactly it will work. Wish me luck!