Shooting Sports

After a skunk started getting my chickens, we decided to invest in a BB Gun. I was worried some kid was going to shoot their eye out, but Mark (being a little more knowledgeable about guns than I) decided to teach the kids a bit of gun safety and introduce them to a BB gun. After all folks, if you are going to have a gun in the house, you better teach kids how to respect it.

The girls were hesitant at first, but actually took a liking to it. Katrina was pretty good for a girl who was afraid of guns at first, getting all 5 targets. Even Caroline and Mason got 4/5 usually. The BB Gun we purchased was too large for them but they did the best they could.

Since then, we let the girls shoot a 22 and they love shooting targets now. We'll see if they get into hunting the "cute little animals" someday.

Our Jack and Jill O'Lanterns

Here are all the jack o'lanterns from our Halloween party. The girls had a fun time carving with us, the boys gave up about 2 minutes in.

Whatda think?
Mark's Autobot Transformers Pumpkin It won firstplace in the Carving Contest!
Caroline's Bashful Pumpkin

Jack's Head from "A Nightmare Before Christmas" Katrina's Pumpkin

Cannibal Jack O' Lantern by Lexa

The winning pumpkin, all lit up!

Happy Halloween!

My Birthday and California

California was SUCH a good idea, I'm glad Mark's work decided to send him there for the week of my birthday :) I wouldn't of gotten away any other way. Our hotel room in Ontario had a Mall View, what more could a girl want?


Oh I know what more a girl could want. Her entire birthday cruising Ontario Mills Mall (with all its outlet stores) with no kids (or even husband) telling her how long to stay at any one store or what stores to go into. I even irked the kiosk gals because I had them try extensions in my hair, and the latest sea salt scrubs and a professional curling iron and flat iron. No, I didn't buy any of it, but it was fun to listen to their spill and play around! The best fun? Perfumania. I spent an hour picking out a new perfume (which eventually some day I'll be able to afford). I think I decided on Hugo Boss Deep Red. Or Angel. Or DKNY Midnight something or another. You can see why I didn't buy any now. But to be able to sit and browse stores for 5 hours straight without anyone getting tired or upset was absolutely great!

That night we went out with Aunt Sue and Uncle Jerald (Mark's side) and they took me to Claim Jumper. I have only been to one once 7 years ago, and the food was the absolute best! Here was my birthday cake and me.
Red Devil YUM!

The next day we went to my brother Malcom's house (after visiting Hollywood Blvd. and Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. Awesome Waffles by the way!) As we stopped to get a Mt. Dew Slushie, Lindsey mentioned that Brooke White's house was right around the corner and we should drive by it. I am a big fan of Brooke and love her music, but I didn't want to be the stalker, but Lindsey said it would be fine. So I made Malcom ride with Mark and Lindsey drove me up to Brooke's house.
Isn't it cute? I can see her designer touches. Anyhow, as we're turning around and leaving, their garage door starts opening up. And this house is in a small cul de sac with one way in and out. So as we're trying to leave, Brooke and her husband Dave are driving in right by us. Of course we're caught like the canary, so Lindsey rolls down her window and says Hi. I'm hoping she doesn't put two and two together and think I'm a stalking fan. But Brooke is so down to Earth, I can see why everyone is friends with her. After chatting about movies to watch and going to the beach for 5 minutes or so, we're off to Santa Monica Pier.

I'll let the pictures tell the stories for a minute.

Recognize the Zoltar from the movie "BIG" ?
We ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for dinner. Everything is based on Forrest Gump, so there are ping pall paddle menus and you flip a license plate that says Run Forrest Run to Stop Forrest Stop to get the waiter/waitress to stop and help you. Well, since Malcom and I have birthdays so close I joke that we should tell them it's our birthday today, that we're twins, and see if we get free dessert or something. Lindsey says "Oh yes, we are so telling them it's your birthday, this is still your birthday weekend." Now none of us have ever been to a Bubba Gump restaurant before so I was wondering what big hat they were going to put on my head or song they were going to sing. So instead, when they came over, they asked me to stand up for just a second. Then they asked me my name and how old I was. I thought it a little weird to be standing their, answering questions about myself, when he says "That's great, I don't want to make a big deal about your birthday but, "HEY EVERYBODY, I NEED TO TELL YOU ALL SOMETHING" (Still yelling) "My friend Lexa here, she and I go way back. She's 31 today, and she told me that the only thing she wanted for her birthday was to be able to dance for all her friends here tonight. So if you'll clap along side me and give her a beat, let's let her dance!" So he starts singing some nonsense song and everyone in the entire restaurant is clapping and watching you, and you're supposed to DANCE! I tried to be a good sport about it, but it was SO very embarrassing. But I gave it the good old college Disco Dancing try. Even though it was embarrassing, the food was outrageously good and pretty affordable too. We got plenty of souvenirs, and headed back to Mark's Aunts house.

The next morning we got ready to head back to Ontario for the Airport, but ate cereal with Aunt Sue first. The funniest thing was when she opened the cupboard and pulled out huge serving bowls to pour the cereal in. "This is what my boys always ate their cereal in" she said. I believe it too! Mark now has it in his head that I need to get a set of serving bowls for his cereal addiction.

I have not had more that a few hours with Mark alone since our oldest was born, it was a great chance to hang out with other adults and act like normal humans instead of just parents!

Strawberry Shortcake, Banana Split

I am known to be impulsive and spontaneous. If you are reading this blog, you know that by now. Most of the time, it is a little crazy, but works out fine. Other times...not so. I was shopping with the kids, and was in the beauty isle, when I decided to dye my hair. First of all, shopping with kids, I don't always make the wisest decisions. Second, I'm usually rushing, and trying to do three things at once. NOT the best time to be choosing a hair color. So instead of going with my gut feeling, I picked up the "logical" choice. I came home and looked and looked at it for 24 hours. Didn't think it was right but "logically" it was going to be alright, right? I had a bad feeling about the color, but did the research and this was supposed to be the right color/brand/etc. Nope, Here's what it looked like.
Yes, ORANGE, with splotches of burgundy and BLONDE that didn't even take. I don't know how it went all so terribly wrong, when you follow the directions implicitly. So I had to head to the store again and try and figure out how to fix it. Mark met me there after work where he saw it for the first time in real light and his jaw dropped open. Yes, it was BAD. So I knew I couldn't go back to blonde, but was scared what the red would do if I went to brown, so I did another red. It's not bad, but it's not exactly what I was going for.
Yes, It's that exact shade. I had this doll as a child and played with its hair often and it looks (and feels) just like the hair on my baby strawberry shortcake. I am thinking of getting some strawberry scent so I can smell like her too. The good news is, I can just tell everyone I did it for Halloween and get it fixed at the salon Monday right?

Our First Solo Turkey Butchering (Not for the weak of stomach)

As many of you know, My mom is now living with us during the week, and her normal day off is Tuesday so we had plans to clean and purge and get ready for the rest of the work week. Little did we know those plans quickly changed when she saw that my turkey had prolapsed.

For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, We bought a female hen turkey at the County Fair Auction. I thought I might be able to keep her around for breeding, but with the mutant crosses they do now to get these guys so huge, she was not going to be able to live and she was going to become thanksgiving dinner. When a hen prolapses, the egg she is trying to lay becomes attached to the lining of their insides, and basically they turn inside out. For cattle and people, you can sometimes just put it all back in, but with poultry they are pretty much done, and will only get infection and die.

So, judgment day came a little early for "Tonya" the Turkey. I told the kids not to name it, and not to get attached, but they all did anyway. So the first real butchering we did by ourselves began yesterday in a rush.

The last time we butchered (the proper word is processed, butchering is actually the act of cutting up the carcass later) we skinned the chickens. But who pictures a Thanksgiving Turkey without skin to golden over? So the only way to pluck a turkey is to scald it first. But you have to do this right after killing, so the water has to be just the right temperature (145-150 degrees) and you have to dunk the entire carcass. One problem with this scenario: Tonya was 30+ pounds. I didn't have a pot big enough, including the turkey fryer. So we are trying to find something to put boiling water in. Not a wash tub or a galvanized tub, if you heat it up you can let zinc out and possibly get zinc poisoning. Not a Laundry Hamper, the hot water will melt the plastic. So we finally found that our 55 Gallon Water Storage Barrell (Heavy Duty Plastic) was to become a turkey dunker. After we cut it in half.

Ok lets cut it in half....Anyone have a skill saw? Nope. Oh wait we have a battery operated Saws-all. Zippppp, Ziip... Zzzzz. The battery dies. Ok, what now? We have a branch saw by hand, does that work? No, not really. Finally we find a jig saw with a small little blade. Yea!!

Now, how are you going to heat the water to fill the 50 gallons? You can't light a fire under it, You have to boil the water on the stove top, and pour it in. 50 gallons? Yup. And yes, by the time you pour it in, it starts cooling. No problem, water boils at 212, we only need it at 145 right? Easier said than done. 2 hours later, we have the water in the tub at 145, the chopping block set up and Mark has agreed to kill it so I don't have to watch. Heavens sake, we named the thing, I can't kill something that ate out of my hands. Then Mark says, "Wait, I'll kill it, but someone has to hold it in the right spot." I had not mentally prepared myself and my stomach was churning at the thought. And my mom, who had all the answers on how to do this, refused to be a part of the actual killing of the bird. In the end, we all had to help, Mom positioned it and got out of the way, I had to stretch the neck out with a wire (I at least got to turn my head) and Mark had to do the deed. After that you have to hang the carcass up to bleed it, and it took two of us to pick her up. It was SO heavy! We then carried it over (one on each leg because one person couldn't hold it by themselves) and started dunking it and scalding it. The water was a little cool, but got the job done. We all got in and plucked and cleaned it off in record time (well, record time for us!). Then came the fun part. How the heck to clean out the insides without hitting something you're not supposed to! We were very careful and it took us another hour to figure it out (even with all the great picture tutorials we studied before trying this again). We all laughed how our grandparents (and Uncle John for sure) would be laughing at us not knowing how to clean a turkey out.

We just finished cleaning it out and making it look like dinner instead of a pet, when the kids showed up from school. It was quite a shock to them they all stopped mid-sentence when they saw this bird! I'll post pictures later, but this bird weighed in at 22 lbs. I guess that's average, but she was huge to us!

No, August can't be over yet :)

I always have friends who get mad when I have no posts for a month. August is both a month of extreme relief and extreme busyness. Relief because the kids are back in school, schedules are made again, and life can go on as planned. Busy because of the preparation to get them to school, and on schedule again. Never fear, I will post again soon. I have lots to tell, especially after this weekend. My 31st birthday is Friday, and my husband and I are taking our first weekend without kids in 11 years for a weekend retreat in California. I would really love to be the sweet mother who says she's going to miss her kids terribly, but I know they will be safe with Grandma and Grandpa :)

A lunch out at the Horseshoe.

We hadn't gone out to eat in a long time, and I decided it was time to see if the Horseshoe was as good at it used to be here in Benson. Unfortunately, it's not even close (They put BBQ pork in my chimichanga because they ran out of Green Chili Pork). But we had a fun time waiting for the food. The kids were bored so I jokingly told them to stick a spoon on their nose. Now, I have NEVER been able to do this and thought it would keep them busy for a while. Little did I know that all four of my kids and husband could do it immediately. My 4 year old Taylor doing it caught me off guard I laughed so hard watching them all do it. So much for good manners!



Show Off :P I don't think I have enough vapor in my breath or something.
Doesn't work with a fork Mason :P

Farmer's Market

We started a booth the Farmer's Market June 27th. We did it two times until I didn't have anything to sell, but I will continue when I have more eggs and produce. The opening Farmer's Market had a St. David fire Department BBQ and Cotton Candy . I only got a couple of pictures, since I was too busy selling corn like it was Pillows at Macy's the day after thanksgiving. Crazy!Katrina next to my table.
Mason after the water hose down from the fire department and blue cotton candy.

The Cove

We went to The Cove almost a month ago, but I wanted to post pictures! The Cove is an indoor water park that the city of Sierra Vista built. I just read in the newspaper that Thatcher is going to make one like it, and is talking to Sierra Vista about how to go about it.

Katrina after the day of play. I was proud she went down the water slides! (Dark, small, and fast)
The Wave pool with Mason after it's closed. The bridge in the middle came up so they have a lap pool. During the day it has waves start every ten minutes, and kids hold on to intertubes for dear life.

The Joys of Independent Children

Mason LOVES Nintendo. I mean, he could eat sleep and breath the thing. We have an original NES with Super Mario Brothers and no other games, and the kid can find all the warps and make it to level 8 (He hasn't beat it quite yet). Of course Dad is helping him find all the little tricks.

Anyhow, I needed his help to get under the girl's sink, so I mentioned that Mario and Luigi are PLUMBERS! Would he like to be a plumber with me? Of course he jumped right in after that (when I asked for his help earlier it was "Eh, Maybe later").

Our sinks don't have those little stoppers in them that keep stuff from going down the drain, and Taylor enjoys seeing what fits down the sink! Every so often I have to go under the sink and unscrew the plastic fittings, drain it out and clean out the crud. I figured it was time to get Mason in on the deal, so I showed him how to do the left sink. Being a boy, he thought disgusting crud coming out of the pipe was AWESOME! I let him do the right sink (after loosening it for him) and we drained out marbles, toothbrushes, and whatever else the kids found fit. Great job! I have working sinks again and Mason learned a new skill. I was really proud of myself.

Until today when I used MY sink and the water just ran out the bottom onto the floor. WHAT? Yes, Mason dropped his bouncy ball in the sink, so instead of telling me, he unscrewed the bottom and tried to get it out! He couldn't get it out, but didn't bother screwing it back together. Now, how many 6 year olds try their own plumbing? You have to give him props for trying. Unfortunately, it was really stuck, and took a vaccuum from the top. And then I made him promise never to do plumbing without me or dad there again, and I screwed it on a little tighter this time :)

After All These Years....

I'm still a clutz. Spaz. I can trip on flat surfaces. I make Bella from Twilight look Graceful. It was worse when I was younger, I admit. I have had sprained ankles yearly since I was 13. But Sunday, it was really REALLY bad.

I got up and went to get out the door, I put on my heels (Mistake #1). I went to get coloring books and crayons off the book shelf, caught the heel on the carpet, wobbled, so the other foot came down and wobbled, and I fell against the bookshelf and then fell against the wall. Knocked the breath out of me, and I have a bruise on the back of my arm the size of a baseball. Mark helped me up, and realizing it was going to be a rough day, quickly changed to flats. I got to church, and tripped out the door of the van on my skirt.

During church they talked about the importance of a journal and keeping records for your posterity and I thought about writing the fall of the morning down. Little did I know I would have more to add to it.

When we got home, it was time to do chores outside. I tripped over the garden hose, and fell into the awning, hitting the top of my head on the railroad tie. As I recovered from that I fell backwards over the garden tools and fell on my behind.

I decided to come in and make lunch. While doing that cut myself with a knife and Mark told me to quit while I was ahead. I decided to go sit down at the kitchen table and let him take over lunch but as I was walking over to the bench Taylor pushed it into me and rammed my knee with it.

I was looking for old family pictures in the closet to hang in our newly re-remodeled front room, and found some in the hall closet. As I got one picture out, the frame and back seperated, and the glass fell out and shattered on the floor. Very nearly missing my foot. I gathered up the pieces, throw them away and pulled out another picture. I told Mark to stay back, he'll catch my clutzy, but he didn't believe me. He took the picture from me, and sure enough, the glass snapped in his hand with NO pressure of anykind. We started putting it into the trash can, and a piece fell out and landed on the inside of my shoe, cutting the top of my foot.

Later that day, as we were discussing my being a super trouble magnet, we found the curtain rod brackets we were looking everywhere for. We decided it was most likely best I NOT be on a ladder, I decided to at least carry it over to Mark. I carefully released the side braces, and slowly lifted it towards me. SLAM, the opposite side of the ladder slammed toward me and one step hit me squarely in the forehead.

I really, REALLY was careful the rest of the day. The only other strange thing was we took a basket of flowers down from our top "loft" shelf (dust bunny shelf for decorating). We tried it in different places around the room, didn't like it, so I tried to place, and then throw it back up to the shelf. As I threw it up there, it turns sideways and a steak knife comes out and hits me in the chest on the way down. Thank GOODNESS it was dull. And how did a steak knife end up in a basket of flowers that has sat up on a shelf for two years?? Good question.

Now, they say the purpose of a journal is to "direct and convince all to come unto Christ". I'm not exactly sure how that story will, except that it is only through him that I am still alive with my innate ability to be in the middle of one accident or another. Those who don't know about the Falling Out of the Truck Story (while driving), or the Almost Got Kidnapped at the Public Swimming Pool Story, those will have to wait.

Pistacho Ice Cream

Sounds good, huh! We used to make it with Grandma Sanders in the summer time, using Pistacho pudding mix, cream, milk, and sugar. No cooking eggs, just quick easy mix! I loved it. I think I will make some on Memorial Day.

But actually, that's the color I painted my family room today! I purged all the furniture out, cleaned out years worth of stuff, and since I was moving my Front Room furniture up there, I figured I better paint before I move the couch in, or I won't do it.

My artist children over the past 4 plus years we have lived here, have created graffiti over most of the hallway and behind the couches. Let's say Crayons and Markers are BANNED. So it took two coats of KILZ Premiere and two coats of Pistacho Ice Cream in Satin Finish. I'll post pictures when I get the furniture arranged (over the spot of paint when the can tipped), and pictures on the wall!

Birthdays!

I am a horrible mother, Mason had his birthday on the 4th, and he celebrated at school, and at his T-ball game, and we picniked at the park waiting for Katrina's practice to get over, and we didn't even get a picture. Happy Birthday Mason!

Taylor had his birthday last Friday, and since it wasn't a game day I had more of a chance to relax. I hadn't made a "fancy" birthday cake for a number of years now, so I made Taylor a Lightning McQueen cake. I am no pro, my cakes aren't pretty, but the kids like them. Especially with the heat and the cooler not working downstairs, the frosting was melting everywhere. But here are the results of his cake!



Birthday boy with a dirty face from licking icing all day. Notice Ferrarri in his hand? We found one about 8 months ago that we are keeping as a collectors piece (it has the wrong package with that car) and he saw it and has been digging in our closets since Roswell. We got him this one and he hasn't let go of it in 4 days. Yup he's obsessed.




Yes, I realize it says 05 not 95. I changed it in honor of his birthday year, 2005. Only I left 95 on the front light! Ha.

Little League Season

It is very tiresome and busysome to keep up with three kids on three different teams. For six weeks straight we have been living 4 afternoons a week at the baseball field, two nights until 7, and 2 nights until 9. And it always changes which nights are late, so we have been juggling poultry, 4-H, school spring programs, and baseball, and haven't had a chance to post all the great pictures. Here is a sampling.

Here's opening day of Kat


And Carlie's first day
And Mason's

You have to blow them up big to even see them, but hey, I don't have a zoom lens. All of them have really been improving in baseball, Mason has been playing Catcher and now Pitcher for his T-ball team. He really hates when he can't go after a ball across the field, he still tried. Caroline hasn't had as much of a chance to expand, since she is playing on a coach pitch team that has super athletic boys. I think she will really get to show her stuff next year in Softball. Katrina has been doing wonderful in softball, considering she hadn't played the game before. It's really difficult for her to jump in when these other girls have been playing since 4. She loves the camaraderie among the girls, and her team wins almost every game.

I love watching them play and I'm glad they are in sports, I just wish it didn't have to be all of them all at once! I guess I should wait until Katrina and Caroline will both be in high school and Taylor and Mason will both be in Junior High to complain?