The Bounty of the Earth

My dad plants a garden every year. I've missed this garden since I've moved away from home. We were reaping the fruits of the garden before our trip to Utah, but when we came home, it was a little out of control. This is what we saw:
Those plants behind Dottie are all weeds. The weeds are mostly taller than me.
The corn's just as high as an elephant's eye . . .
Dottie's touching one of the many pumpkins in the garden. Several are already jack-o-lantern ready.
If you glance over Dottie's shoulder, you'll see a variety of enormous squash. The zucchini and crookneck got particularly large while we were gone.

So, every day since I've been home, I go out to the garden for a half hour or so, fighting the weeds, searching for life. I've found plenty. The green peppers are the largest I've ever seen, there's a bounty of basil for me to make pesto with, and the tomatoes are beautiful. We've had delicious meals from this garden.
While I'm out picking, the kids play on the rusty old swing set. We really are becoming more rustic every day we stay in Towanda.

Jar O' Slumber Party

Confession: My children have behavioral problems. They have been magnified since we've moved. These are the problems: tantrums (Elliot), "I want to go home" comments (Dottie), incessant bickering (tripping, kicking, hitting, taking toys: mostly Dottie to Elliot, although he now fights back). I've been beside myself with what to do, how to make it stop. I've prayed, received words of wisdom from others, tried to control my own temper better, etc. Time out has worked to some extent. Dottie will be repentant for awhile afterwards, but then the cycle will start again.

Last night, however, I think I got some inspiration on what to do. I read Dottie her current favorite book before bedtime:

Now, the concept of "Slumber Party" is somewhat cloudy in Dottie's four-year-old mind. She knows that there's popcorn and soda at slumber parties because of this book, but that's about all. So, as I read this book last night, she asked me if she could have a slumber party. Now the wheels started turning in my mind. "Slumber Party?" I replied. "Sure, Dottie. But you have to start being nice to Elliot. We're going to have a slumber party jar. I have ten marbles. Everytime you do something nice for Elliot, a marble goes in the jar. Everytime you do something mean to Elliot, a marble comes out of the jar. Once you get ten marbles, you can have a slumber party with me and Grandma." Our slumber party will consist of staying up a little past her bedtime, eating popcorn and drinking soda.

Brilliant? I think so. Granted I stole the jar idea from my third grade teacher and Primary. But I think it may work on my daughter. Let's hope so. Otherwise, I may have a nervous breakdown. I'll let you know when the slumber party happens.

Elliot thinks the jar is a great idea.

Dottie and her jar.

Trip Out West

Go Cougars! Er, I mean Bryan. Bryan does a mean Cougar imitation. That's right, my brotha is done with BYU! Yay!

We had a nice family reunion in Utah for Bryan's graduation and my cousin's wedding. This may turn into the longest post ever. Well, it was a long trip. 3 weeks. My camera broke during this time, so all of these images are from other people's cameras. Also, the chronological order is incorrect. Sorry.
Bryan and his special friend, Kelly. She's the best. She wrestled my kids during commencement and convocation for me.
I like this one because Elliot is pondering Bryan's greatness. Yes, you're impressive, Bry.
The celebration dinner at Tucanos. Mmm. Good food, good company.

We dressed the kids in BYU gear to celebrate Bry's graduation.

This is Carrie and her special friend, Lon. He's wonderful! We enjoyed getting to know him as well. My dad talked his ear off, which is a rarity.

The next group of photos are from a weekend I spent in SLC. I stayed with Joe's sister Mary and her husband Jesse. We visited Grandma and Grandpa Hollstein, and also saw Uncle Mark, Aunt Yoshiko, and cousin Kris who were visiting from Japan. My kids loved seeing these family members!

Elliot quickly warmed up to Yoshiko.

Yes, it appears my kids are very loving, but this is actually pretty rare to see them this close together without someone crying.

Dottie and Grandma.

That's my Dottie: posing for the camera.

Elliot saying "hewo" to Grandpa.

These next pictures are my favorite. My kid can do the Rubik's cube!

Fanangling . . .


Pondering . . .

And he solved it! I guess I should mention that Uncle Jesse is an expert and helped just a little.

The last group of pictures are from our visit to Denver. It was Baby Ryan's baby blessing, so we stayed for a few days. It was great to be with our first cousin!

The group who came to the blessing.

Happy parents!

I like this one. I think Ryan's saying: "I'm so happy I'm blessed!"

Ryan has become an expert thumbsucker lately.

Grandma Weed holding her two grandsons. I think Elliot's slightly harder to hold than Ryan.

Dottie on the day of the blessing. She's sporting her scary smile.

My best friend from Colorado Springs, Serenity, was a pal and came to visit me during one of the 3 days that I was in Denver. We went to a park with the kids. Dottie was in heaven to be with her boyfriend Beau again.These two are experts at posing like an engaged couple. I know it's silly to predict these things, but hey, it could happen someday.

Well, this is all for now! More normal posts are quickly coming in the future. If you want to see more of our adventures, my mom has just downloaded a bunch of pictures on facebook.

Joe? Is that really you?

Joe wanted me to share with you the extraordinary transformation that is occurring in his life right now. My mild-mannered husband is becoming a "G.I. Joe": tough, buff, and ready for action. I really never envisioned him in fatigues until now.

That's right, climbing a log. I wish I could comment more on what's happening here, but I just don't know. I imagine it's in case there's a natural disaster and you're trying to save a village, and there's logs everywhere.

This is Joe with his flight, a group of 15 individuals, with whom he undergoes the training.

Joe, ironing? The military really is changing him. They undergo cleaning inspections. If you fail, demerits ensue. Part of the cleaning inspections is having your clothes perfectly ironed. If there's a wrinkle in that shirt, watch out.

I miss you, Joe! As for the rest of us, we are still on vacation. We're currently visiting my sister in Colorado. My camera is busted, so when I get home, I'll try to chronicle our visit with my mom's camera.

We're moving to . . .

San Antonio, TX! More to follow once I know the details.

More Fun in the Sun

Goodbye, Joe! We miss you!

Boy am I behind on the blog! We've been busy. When Joe was here, we lived it up as much as we could. A few days after Joe left, Carrie's roomie from college, Lizzie, came and visited for a few days. Of course, we had to show her all of the sights and sounds of the East Coast. So, once again, here is a conglomeration of pictures representing what we did.

The two pictures above are actually before Joe left. We went to go see the outdoor Hill Cumorah Pageant in upstate New York with our good friend Courtney. I had to get a picture of Dottie falling asleep, since it's pretty rare that she ever falls asleep.

Since Joe flew out of Philly on his way back, we stopped in Amish country, treating Joe to an Amish smorgasbord (hey, it's a real thing. Think giant buffet.) before he flew off. Carrie and I had to get a picture in Intercourse, PA. You've gotta love the name.

The day that Lizzie came, we had a church picnic at a local state park, Mt. Pisgah. Dottie stepped on a bee, for the first time ever. Thus, she was traumatized for the rest of the day and wouldn't swim. This is how I held her all day long. By the way, I am wearing a bathing suit. I'm not nakey.

Of course, we had to take Lizzie to Rickett's Glen. We've been there a lot this summer. But it never gets old! Even when the water is FREEZING!

Another day, we took Lizzie to Palmyra, NY, the birthplace of our religion. These pictures are taken in the Sacred Grove, the place where Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ.
This is Dottie sitting in a hollowed out tree.
Elliot sleeping. It's also rare for Elliot to fall asleep when he's somewhere besides his bed.

We found raspberries and blackberries in the Sacred Grove! Yum yum!

Dottie is showing you Akeenie, the inchworm. You wanna hear the story?
Dottie found this inchworm on a bench in the Sacred Grove. She's never met an inchworm before, and she was enthralled with how it crept along. So, for about an hour, she held her arm out like this and let the little fellow explore her body. She even named him Akeenie (don't ask me where that came from). She went into great detail telling us about his home, how he decorates his home, and his friends. She was very sad when she realized he got lost somehow. She still talks about him every day.


Lizzie's last day, we went to NYC. This time, I was lucky enough to get a babysitter for the whole day (weaning is completed, by the way). Carrie also brought her friend, Kristen. Here's Kristen, Lizzie, and Carrie trying to look portly like the lady in the painting. They aren't very good at looking fat.

This picture is especially funny because, if you'll notice, there are boys in the background imitating the girls. We had no idea until we looked at the pics in the car ride home.
Here we are in Rockefeller Center. It's been a whirlwind lately. So next time I write, I'll be in Utah. We'll be there for 3 weeks!