Harvest Festival: Day 2

ahem...
So, a week later I'm finally posting about Day 2 of our Harvest Festival. Ha ha. That's life.

We started the day with abel skivers-a yummy Danish dish that basically tastes like pancake balls.

Mmmm.....
Then, we went for a hike down to the river.

Whoops. Forgot to rotate this, and I'm too lazy to change it now. Me and Jack in the Moby.

We found some tracks....raccoon, I think?

Next up...waterfight! If you ever ever ever buy waterguns again in your life, buy these! They were so much fun. They refill in seconds, and they shoot out large amounts of water at a time.

The "littles" preferred to just jump in the refill buckets.:-)

We also had a pie-making contest scheduled. It sort of happened. Last time I totally won with a killer blueberry pie, so I think Sam was a little intimidated. He is pretty much better than me at everything in life EXCEPT making pie crusts (oh...and having babies).

So, basically it turned into me making 3 different peach pies over the span of 3-4 days. I was trying to find the best recipe. Suffice it to say, I didn't fall in love with any of the recipes...and Sam didn't make any pies. :-(

We also had a strobe dance in the evening...you know-the good ol' strobe light days? Yeah, they actually make me sick now that I am old and no fun anymore. So, the kids and Sam danced away while I hung out with baby upstairs. The pictures of that didn't really turn out.

Well, that's Day 2 of the Festival!

Livin' the Dream!

Harvest Festival: Day 1

About 3 years ago, we had a "Harvest Festival". It's kind of a "Celebrate our family and have crazy fun for three days" kind of thing.
We planned on making it an annual tradition, but two babies later and some other "life" stuff and...we missed a few years.

But, this year we are back on track. So, here's the lowdown from

Day #1 of the Harvest Festival!

We love food at our house, and we like to take pictures of food, too. I'm not sure why. So, here's breakfast!

We started the day with some yummy homemade doughnuts and fresh fruit.

Next, we were off to get Family Pictures. (if this doesn't take you to pics,
you can enter my first and last name with LTTT0799107601TAR as the password to view)

After every meal we had a raffle where the lucky winner got to pick something from the raffle box. No, the workout video was not for the kids.

Here's Emily in the Balloon Chamber! This is our downstairs library/guestroom filled with balloons. I think this was the favorite for the kids.

The "Chalk Walk". Here's Olivia working on her "purple mountain majesties".

My finished sidewalk square. I think my inspiration came from the cloudy, cool weather we've been experiencing a lot lately...in AUGUST!

And we ended the day with shishkabobs for dinner. It was a great day and I was wiped out by lunchtime, so we must've been having fun, right?

I have to give most of the credit to my wonderful man for putting everything together. He planned it all and we just showed up!

The egg sac

There have been two spider egg sacs next to our front door for several days.
On the underside of the siding.
So, last night my hubbie and I went out to water the blueberries. I decided this would be a good time to jet off the front entrance and zap those egg sacs (along with all the other bugs that have made their home there).

I don't enjoy killing living things. But...if little critters are on my turf, they just have to go. It's as simple as that.
So, have you jetted an egg sac lately? They are tough little cookies. I had to spray for a good 3 minutes before the things would come free.

I don't enjoy killing living things. And when it takes longer than a few seconds, I start to feel sick inside. It gives you too much time to think....
I started thinking about the mommy spider who worked so hard to make a safe sac for her babies. She did such a good job securing them to my siding! They were well protected. But, I am a big, bad human with a powerful stream of water, and I won.

So then I came inside and got out Charlotte's Web to read to the kids. What chapter are we on?

"The Egg Sac"

That's right.
Charlotte, the loyal and selfless friend of Wilbur, creates her "magnum opus" in that chapter. 514 baby spiders wrapped securely until spring. It took all she had left in her.

There I sat reading this beautiful and sensitive writing. Me! The one who just pulverized not one, but two "magnum opi".
Sigh...
I felt horrible.

But, then I thought of 1,028 spiders by my front door and I didn't feel quite so bad.

BUSY BUSY

I'm a country farm girl at heart.
I WANT to be a country farm girl....
even though I'm not one.
I fantasize about being Laura Ingalls Wilder or Anne of Green Gables,
even though I like my curling iron and I kill most plants I come in contact with.
Animals? no experience with them.
so Why do I have this dream?
Well, one reason is because "back then" life was simpler.
Quieter, slower, thoughtful, peaceful.
People knew how to appreciate real entertainment back then.
Like a sunset.
Or a string of notes slipping from violin strings.
Or a book being read out loud...while the fire crackles...and mom knits in the corner.

Can't you see it?
Perfect, right?

But I was born when I was born and honestly I'm happy to be here now, at this time.
It's exciting, this time on earth.

But I do pine for simpler times sometimes.

Today I had a revelation while reading this article about BUSYness
in my monthly church magazine.

The revelation was simply that I choose exactly how simple or busy my life is. Not necessarily just how many activities or events I fill my life with, but my FRAME OF MIND.

Do I truly listen when my 6 year old spouts the 100th dinosaur fact of the day to me?

Am I wholeheartedly playing a game of pretend with my 3 year old, forgetting any lists or obligations?

Am I taking time to meditate on God's will for our family and myself?

Do I look into my childrens' eyes every day and think about how amazing they are and how precious they are to me?

Do I do something small each day to show my husband how crazy in love I am with him?

The things that show I'm not too busy to listen, to care, to know what's most important.

If I face the facts, I have to admit that my A personality back in the 1800s could be just as "Busy."

I could be baking bread, washing clothes with a washboard, harvesting my bountiful garden, and never take the time to memorize every curve of my baby's face.

So, since Heavenly Father has been tapping my soul about this lately, I'm guessing I'm not the only Mom out there who has to fight the same balance: relishing each day but also doing the things that must be done so everything doesn't fall apart.

So to all you Moms out there, here's a great poem that is now on my fridge to remind me NOT TO HURRY my way through life.

Duties are pressing upon me,
And the time for work is brief,
What if with purblind vision,
I neglect the very chief?

What if I do with ardor
What a thousand could maybe,
And leave undone forever
What was meant for only me?

--Charlotte Fiske Bates

I love kids...

Apparently, I took too long in the bathroom to receive this gift in person.

A Wedding, A Birthday, and Sightseeing

Recently we went to Utah for some family fun. Most of our family lives there or is kind enough to travel to Utah whenever we do. :-) It was a lot of fun.


Sam's brother got married to a beautiful girl. We all agree he married up:-). And that's saying something since he's quite the guy.

Kennecott Copper Mine.

We toured Brigham Young's house in Salt Lake City. We've done this a few times before, but the kids keep getting older, so it's always a new experience through their eyes.

Brigham Young's Dinner Bell that inspired us to get our own dinner bell. (One of the best purchases we've ever made!) Bells work to summon husbands, too. :-)

The entertaining room in BY home

My dear Papa with baby Jack

Adorable brother and his wife. Talk about marrying up! :-) Just kidding Dr. O. But, not really.

We invited family to come to a bouncy house for Kevin's birthday.
Emily on the big slide.

Poor Kevin fell and smashed his nose the morning of his big day! But, that does seem an appropriate way to start being a 2 year old (officially), doesn't it?

Me and my sis. I'm planning on being just like her when I grow up....Hmmm. I need to hurry.

Awesome brother-10 years my senior. So good with the babies! I also got to see him graduate. I'm going to have two brothers with doctorate degrees by the end of summer. Crazy.

It was a fun trip. Sorry my posts have been a little picture-happy lately. I promise I'll settle down into my boring life now and you probably won't see many pics for a while:-)!

Livin' the Dream!

Vancouver

I'm a little behind....
Here's our trip to Vancouver

The temple was beautiful. I especially liked the murals in the Creation Room. Lovely art with local landscapes.

One of Kevin's many "looks".

Dashing Dad and kiddos

Here we are at the Suspension Bridge after. Everyone crossed! Emily was upset and crying for the first crossing. The bridge does move quite a bit:-).

Forgot to rotate this before posting. oops. Beautiful tall trees.
On the other side of the bridge there was a bunch of tree houses with bridges connecting all of them. I felt like Peter Pan.

Emily poses in the totem pole.

And what trip would be complete without a picture by the iconic Canadian bear. ???