First Half of October 2021

 We took advantage of the lower prices on Homeschool Day out at the Farmstead and went with the Fogles. It wasn't as big as corn belly's, but not as small as Peterson Farms. Perfect scale! The kids had lots of fun with all the different activities. 

Conference with the Elders! In between sessions, the hay slide provided the perfect place to get out the wiggles.

Fun Activity Days with a toilet paper dress fashion show :) 

Wish we grew all of these!! One day. Ridley's was having a sale on their pumpkins and I couldn't help myself! We get to enjoy them during the fall, and then the animals get to eat them in the colder months! win win!

Garden Clean out! Our potato harvest wasn't huge, but it was probably our biggest ever, so it felt significant. We got a whole wheelbarrow full. 

The Church has the best leaves! Post church fall play. :)

Water bead play always starts out innocently enough, but by the end of the day, there are water beads all over the kitchen. :)

Benson and I got to preschool too early one day, so we hung out on the grass and chatted and took pictures. :) 

Second Half of September 2021

 I have wanted to hold a clothing swap for a long time. I tried it once many year ago and it bombed. I was so excited when some friends in the ward mentioned wanting to do one! I've really enjoyed getting to know Clarissa and AesaLina better this summer. We've had regular park play dates and it's been so fun for us and our kids. We asked for clothing donations online and got quite a bit! Friday night we went and organized it all, then Saturday we put a sign up on the chalkboard in front of the church that said, "FREE CLOTHES". I loved picking out clothes for my kids that I needed without feeling rushed. I loved hanging out with Clarissa and AesaLina, and I loved that so many people came and left with free clothes they needed. 

Homeschool hike to Celebration Park with a few other ladies in the ward. Only 2 other young children came, and the hike wasn't really so much a hike as it was a walk around and climb on rocks for a little while. But the kids liked exploring somewhere they hadn't been before. Me too! I liked chatting with Lacy, Jill and Stephanie more too!

Our last chicken harvest day of the year. This was the first time we did it completely on our own with no other helpers. We butchered 20 something Freedom Rangers, and got another 100-ish pounds of chicken. I had to get more involved with the eviscerating process and feel like I have a pretty good handle on it. Not my favorite job though. Gwen supervised the younger boys inside and was our official bagger/weigher/recorder. She did it all on her own like a champ! Miles was mostly in charge of collecting the chickens, scalding and plucking. Lindy helped wherever she was needed. I was proud of us.

Miles had a football game all the way up in McCall! It was a good game-they won. Miles was paired up with this giant, aggressive kid. Miles held his own, and in between plays they were giving each other first bumps. :) Gwen got carsick twice on the drive. We did manage to get yummy ice cream in McCall, but then we had to haul back down the mountain so Richie and I could get to our date that night.

Richie and I went to a swing dance with a live band held in the Warhawk Air museum. So cool! It was pricey, but so worth it. Next year, we are totally dressing up. Most people were in period costumes.  We were probably the only people there who knew how to actually swing dance. We are getting older and slower on the dance floor, but we still managed to win Best Dancers after a small competition! We came away with a year pass to the museum! We're excited to take our kids. 

Finally found a farm with tomatoes! They let the little boys and I into their greenhouse to pick, since they didn't have any ready, and thus charged us less per pound! We all worked on sauce the next day during school and I got a some spaghetti sauce made, but I would gladly take triple the amount. Just no tomatoes anywhere this year!

Extras: Lindy found a quiet reading place at the library, Benson got himself some sweet Pokemon face paint via Gwen, decoration our porch for Fall, Lindy and Davy on the swing, Henry and Davy at co-op, Another eggplant with a face that we just had to give eyes too. It turned into a weeklong game of hiding the eggplant in unlikely places. Whoever found it got to hide it again. 

Scenes from the homestead:

First Half of September 2021

 Benson turned 5!! He is really growing and maturing at lightning speed these days it feels like. His mischievous side is still there no doubt, but it is slowly taking a back seat to his sweet side...and sometimes his stubborn side. He frequently tells me how much he loves me and thinks he's going to marry me when he grows up. When Miles had the same thought, I broke the news to him and he was heartbroken. With Benson, I'm just letting him think it will work out that way and all is well. :) He loves to kiss me on the lips in front of Richie and say, "See Dad!! Now we're married and she's mine!!"

He got his #5 pancake, and then spent the morning making a marshmallow catapult with Miles. When the Fogle's came over for co-op, we had a giant marshmallow fight! He loved getting cards in the mail from grandparents! We waited till that Sunday to have his "official" party because we had more time over the weekend. He was very specific about his cake. He wanted it to be a marshmallow chocolate cake on the inside, and a prehistoric marine reptile cake on the outside. Tall order! The cake was so rich, everyone could only take a sliver. He also requested sweet and sour chicken for dinner. (That's becoming the tradition it seems!) We facetimed with lots of the Garner fam and they sang him Happy Birthday. He opened his presents, the biggest one being a bigger bike. But I think the hot wheels race track and the Whowassit game have gotten more attention so far. That night he and I stayed up later after everyone had gone to bed, to watch a movie of his choosing. He wanted to watch "Home Alone 3". :) I hope he felt pretty special. 

Chicken harvest day! Richie's cousin Dallin came over to help, which was awesome. We are getting a little better at this process every time. This week we processed about 23 Cornish cross birds and harvested about 100 pounds of chicken- plus lots of amazing broth.

Bribing the boys to stay well behaved while I waited in line for my 2nd covid shot. Such mixed feelings about it all. I was adamant I was not going to get it. But a once in a lifetime trip to Italy with my family trumped my stubbornness.  Here we go!

Benson had his first day of preschool with Miss Cherri Cherry (yes that is her real name). I was thrilled he got into this preschool after being on the wait list for 2 years! She lives 5 minutes away from us and does it in her house.  Such a better fit than the rec center for our family. I think he's really enjoying it!

Homeschool group studying Volcanoes, so we obviously had to do coke and mentor explosions.

Richie was gone all week for inventory at work. It's hard being away from him. The girls knew it was hard for me, so one day during quiet time they pampered me in a big way. They rubbed my hands and feet with lotion, did my hair and make up, picked out a nice outfit for me (so that I would look nice for dad when he finally came home  that night :) ) What thoughtful girls I have!

Benson doing his chores that day (collecting eggs) turned into playing in the barn and jumping on the tramp in the rain. :)