Opera in Church

We were singing the closing hymn today, when out from the middle section there arose one voice to stand out above all the rest. It sounded to me like she was a middle-aged Relief Society sister. It was a little young to be taking the position of ward opera singer, but she probably couldn't wait. To be honest, I can't wait either. One day I hope to be the one woman in the ward who unabashedly belts out the hymns louder than everyone else, an octave higher, and with a healthy amount of vibrato. The position is vacant in our ward, so either the woman singing was a visitor, or one of the members in our ward was trying out for the part. Maybe next week I'll try out.

Tree Hunting

We went to the mountains to cut our Christmas tree yesterday. It's a fun tradition we have, and it gets more fun every year as the kids get bigger. Here's some pictures of the adventure.



The view. I don't know if you can see it or not, but the mountains are really beautiful in the background.




Cute little girl...



Jacob was so excited to get out and play in the snow.



Jacob had a great time decorating the tree. This is the first year our tree won't be systematically dismantled. (Bridget can't reach it yet.)

Through the Ceiling

David was working upstairs last night while I was making dinner, when suddenly David's leg came crashing through the ceiling preceded by about 3 square feet of plaster and lathe. We haven't been able to reinforce the ceiling yet, which consists of a bunch of 1x2's randomly nailed together around a couple of 2x4's. I've decided that old construction=bad construction. So I guess we'll be remodeling the kitchen sooner than we were planning.


The hole, along side another hole that David made earlier which is now covered by a piece of OSB until the Spring



The debris. I was making dinner and holding Bridget, and Jacob was following me. Luckily we were off to the side and not underneath it when it happened.


In other news, we were going to go to the mountains and cut our tree tomorrow, but both of the kids are sick, so we will have to get it another day. I was looking forward to it...too bad!

Sun Valley

We went to Sun Valley this weekend for a mountain trauma medical conference that David attended. He really enjoyed it, and we all had a pretty good time. My camera battery died, so I only got one picture, but some of the highlights were:


running into a cattle drive just outside of Gooding

swimming in the heated outdoor pool while it was freezing outside

David enjoying a Finnish-style sauna (you didn't want to see pictures of that anyway)

taking a walk in the snow with the kids

and me trying to get the double stroller in and out of buildings while rich people distainfully looked on


If you haven't guessed I didn't enjoy hobnobbing with the wealthy. There were a lot of unhappy looking ultra-skinny women up there. I went into a shop to get Jacob something to eat, and none of the sandwiches had mayonnaise, and the yogurts were all fat-free. I guess they know who they're catering to. Other delightful interactions with the wealthy include me smiling at a cyclist and him retorting, "Oh @#*!, here we go!", and an opportunity to listen to a group of high power executive women discuss how much they hate their employees personal lives and clothing, while munching on brie and drinking wine.

An actual comment from one of the women, "I couldn't talk to him. How could I take him seriously when he was wearing THAT. I'm seriously trying to find someone to replace him."

Just so you know, "that" was a pair of khaki shorts and a t-shirt. I have a hard time stomaching snobbery. Being together as a family was fun though, and we had a good time all things considered.


The cattle drive

Culinary Adventures

I've been out and about sampling new foods, and I have to report on how edible they were.

Chipotle Cheese: (a cheddar embedded with chipotle pepper pieces) This one gets 5 out of 5 stars. It's especially good mixed in with scrambled eggs.

Capers: 3 out of 5 stars. Good as a condiment on Italian sandwiches which include Kalamata olives, pepperoncini peppers, basil, tomato, and pepperoni. I don't know where else I'd eat them though.

Parsnips: (look like a big white carrot) 4 out of 5 stars. We had it in chicken soup, and it was pretty tasty. It has a carrot-y flavor.

I haven't decided what to try next, but next time I'm at the store I'll find something.

Visit from Family

My little sister. She's so cute and red!
Three little munchkins: Jacob, Audrey and Bridget
Three big munchkins


Tim, Tara, Molly and Audrey came and spent time with us this weekend. We had a lot of fun! Molly and Tara even let me cut their hair, although I didn't get pictures of it. Good times!

Flash of Insipiration

Jacob informed me a little while ago that he was hungry and would like a snack. I started to go down the list of healthy things that he could have, with a firm "No" from Jacob after each one. Then he told me that he wanted pancakes, eggs, and sausage for a snack. I don't know if anyone else has a picky eater in their house, but Jacob is picky and stubborn as well, and these discussion usually end in tears. I was too tired to argue with him today, and was trying to think of something else he might eat, when it hit me. I'd give him pancakes, but I was going to hide last night's vegetables in the batter. Why didn't I think of this before? We had sweet potatoes, and it turned the batter orange, but Jacob didn't seem to mind, and he really enjoyed them. I figure that he probably won't be able to taste other vegetables either if he has syrup on the pancakes. Heh, heh, heh. I've got a new weapon in my fight against vegetable refusal.

Caught in the Act

I was bathing Bridget yesterday morning, when I heard David come home after a long 24-hour shift. He popped his head in the bathroom door and told me to come and see what our son was doing. Uh oh, that's never good. We went into the kitchen to find that Jacob had pulled a chair up to the kitchen counter, reached the candy, and was happily eating chocolate before breakfast. In fact, he announced it to David as he came through the door. David heard a muffled, "I'm eating chocolate, Daddy!" Here's the aftermath.




In other news, Bridget officially has enough hair to put a bow in now. If you look close you can see it perched on top of her head. Also, I had to put her in 6 month clothes yesterday. She's only just 5 months old, but she's getting so long I couldn't snap her onsies or keep her shirts down.

Fun with Grandpa

We went to see my parents this week, and had a really good time!

You Might Be A Redneck...

...if your advertising strategy includes a can of spray paint.
...if lawn gnomes guard the entrance to your trailer.
...if keeping your dogs on your roof seems like a better idea than keeping them in your yard.





I love living in rural Idaho, my walks are always entertaining!

Friends

Jacob is learning what friends are, and tells us who are friends. Usually it's a couple of cars that are friends. The other day he was helping David outside when he stopped and told David, "Mommy is Daddy's friend". David looked at him and told him, "Mommy is Daddy's best friend". It's moments like that one that make your heart full.

Happy Pants

Yesterday was a good day. I bought happy pants. Happy pants are pants that you actually feel happy about wearing, instead of feeling like you'll never be comfortable in them, and the only people that could possibly enjoy wearing them are super-thin clothing models who have never had children or anything except a salad for dinner in their entire life.

Jeans are not happy pants. I found happy pants in the athletic department a couple of years ago, and they include a draw string and sometimes a nice comfortable waistband. I had to buy these after having my first C-section, when putting on jeans was painful. After having my second C-section, I've decided that's all I'm ever going to wear. There's no struggle to place my scarred and unsightly abdomen into pants that are just a reminder of what my body used to look like. Nope, happy pants let me feel happy about having had those sweet little kids, and let me go about my day in total comfort. So three cheers for my new pants!

(Mom, I know you're horrified, but that's what I'm wearing.)

Wrong Line

I ran to the store the other day to grab something real quick. I buzzed in, grabbed what I needed, and hurried to the checkout lines. I was real pleased with how fast I was getting in and out of there, until I saw the lines at the checkout. They were long, and moving slowly. Drat! Just my luck! Next was the tricky part, choosing a line. I seem to have the uncanny ability to choose the line that moves the slowest, regardless of which line-choosing technique I employ.

This time I decided to make a quick mental addition of all the items in each line, and get in the one with the least amount. There was a line with just two people in front of me. Yay! I picked that one. As soon as I got in line, people started getting in the line behind me. That meant I was committed, because if I decided to get into another line, it would be an even longer wait. I figured it wouldn't be too long though, so I decided to enjoy the wait and do my usual grocery line things....which include going into the grocery line altered state of mind. Some may call it meditation, some may call it a trance. I call it somewhere between a zombie and a coma.

The zombie-coma begins with a glance at the magazines and their highly intelligent headlines. "Such-and-such famous person may or may not be dating so-and-so". At this point the higher brain functions turn off in self defense, and you are left an empty shell that stares aimlessly at the candy and toys until it's your turn to checkout. You will note that checkout line designers were quite aware that your intelligence slips to that of a farm animal, because they've designed checkout lanes like long stalls.

So there I was in my zombie-coma, patiently waiting for my turn to be free, when a cashier opened up another lane. The five people behind me stampeded toward it, leaving me no choice but to stay where I was or risk being in a line longer. It was okay though, there was only one person in front of me now and it wouldn't be too much longer. It was just one little old lady and her care-giver, and they were buying cases of things. That should go pretty fast. And that's when it happened. Confusion on the part of the little old lady that was quickly compounded by confusion on the part of the caregiver. And then they brought out the Ad...and started to argue with the checkout cerk. Nooooooooo!

I gazed at the other lines enviously. At least they were moving. I watched helplessly as the people who were part of the stampede checked out one by one. I should have done that! That could have been me!Resigned to my fate I slipped back into my zombie-coma. Having looked at all the magazine covers and candy, I started looking at the ceiling and counting the spiderwebs. There were a lot. Eventually the confusion cleared up, but I think I was in that line for at least 7 minutes (it seemed like 20). Next time I have to choose a line, I need to remember to factor in the age and disposition of the people in front of me , and maybe quantum mechanics as well. They probably have something to do with it too.

Apple Rings and Silly Things

Jacob has turned into my little helper. I was finishing up the apples by drying them into apple rings and making apple pie filling. Jacob was really interested in the process, and wanted to try making apple rings. The apple is now mangled and inedible, but he had a great time trying.
We all got colds this week. Here's the convalescence.
Someone is just a little bit jealous of the fun his little sister has.


In other news this week, we got most of the roof tar papered, and the rest of the redwood bark insulation out. I also ended up tending a little boy for a friend, who just happened to be contagious with cold sores. He had 9 of them. I barricaded him into a part of the front room, and spent the entire day with a can of Lysol and a bottle of hand sanitizer in my hands. Never again.

Another Life Saved

David just called me to let me know how his day was going, and told me about a patient he saw today. He saw this person within the last month, and one of the local docs sent her over to the ER because she was acting so strangely, she couldn't even speak. David sent the patient to a neurological doc, and a couple hours later he called David back. Apparently this patient had a vertebral artery dissection. That's a tear in one of the arteries that goes through the vertebra on the way to the brain. A clot had formed and traveled to this patient's brain, causing a stroke.

The sad part about this case, and the reason I'm even mentioning it is because of the reason she got the tear in the first place. It was from a chiropractic adjustment 2 days prior. David and I had just seen a segment on Scientific American Frontiers a couple of months ago talking about this very thing. Chiropractors turn the neck in ways it wasn't meant to be turned when they do their adjustments, and it can cause tears by putting too much strain on the artery.

I know that I'll probably ruffle a few feathers by saying that chiropractic adjustments cause harm, but if it's going to save someone's life, then I'm going to go ahead and ruffle. I'm including an excerpt from the show, and I'll leave the website address for this episode in case anyone wants to read the transcript or watch it. They take a scientific approach to alternative healing, and it's very interesting...and besides, it has Alan Alda. He's always entertaining. The website is http://www.pbs.org/saf/1210/index.html

Invented by Daniel Palmer in 1895, chiropractic aims to correct blocked nerves - what Palmer claimed were the cause of all disease - by re-aligning the spine. But as former chiropractor John Badanes tells Alan, chiropractic has no basis in anatomy. Conducting a typical examination, Badanes explains how patients and chiropractors alike can misinterpret the popping sound that accompanies spinal adjustments. In fact it's dissolved gas being released in the joint fluid (the same thing that happens when you crack your knuckles) and not a sign that vertebrae are changing position - an anatomical impossibility.

This device, called an "activator," is used by chiropractors as one of many ways to adjust the spine.

Like Badanes, physician Robert Baratz, executive director of the National Council Against Health Fraud, takes issue with chiropractic. Baratz is concerned about the risk of injury during neck manipulation, which can place severe strain on a vertebral artery, leading to blood clotting and stroke. Although chiropractors maintain this type of injury is very rare, a recent Canadian study estimated that 20 percent of all strokes caused by artery damage could be a result of neck manipulation. That figure translates into more than 1,300 strokes a year in the United States.

We made the news! (technically)

Okay, so maybe the story wasn't about us, but we were in the background so I think that counts. They had a ground breaking ceremony for the new hospital today, and since David is one of the friendly faces of the ER, we had to attend. I'm not a pomp and circumstance kind of girl, and I really don't enjoy long-winded speeches full of buzz words such as 'partnership', 'cooperation', and 'future'. But I think we did pretty well behaving ourselves during the speeches, and that's what the camera caught us doing---standing in the back with our children and trying to keep them happy and quiet. It was only 3 seconds, but I'm counting it toward my 15 minutes of fame. I recorded it on the DVR so I can play back those 3 glorious seconds when we were all being good. I'm going to watch it on Sundays when we come home from Church wondering if we're raising children or monkeys.

Mystery Meat and Mustard

Last night I was scrounging through the fridge for some dinner, when I began to contemplate food in general. At that point I had found something, but I don't know if it was worth putting in my mouth. It was a hot dog, with lots and lots of mustard to disguise the flavor. I hated hot dogs as a kid, and the only way that was semi-enjoyable was when Mom would make weenie men out of them, and give them mustard and ketchup faces and buttons. Or as we called ketchup and mustard, 'roo-up and sardeenest'. Don't ask me why we kids came up with those names. I can only assume it's genetics. The Strong cousins are notorious for coming up with strange names for things. Some of the more memorable ones are Kweefer (a poor, beloved and mangled doll who had new tatoos every summer), bahoonawhiffer, and blinkenshlumpshlahotski. I have no idea what those things are. You'll have to ask Carrie. Grandma has also been known to come up with a few: Ishkabibble and GorKenDeanel being two that I know about. It must be her that we get the word genes from. But I digress....

As I was chewing on my mustard, it occured to me that I have never tasted some foods that are probably American, but never talked about...maybe for good reasons. Parsnips, turnips, and rutabagas came to mind. I've never had those things, and they've been sitting on the produce shelves my whole life! That's a very sad thing in my opinion, especially considering my foray into new foods during my single years. At one point I decided that I was going to try one new food at the grocery store each month as a way to bring some excitement into my life. Yeah I know, I was really living on the edge, but this is ME we're talking about. It was edgy.

So into my life walked kippered snacks, sardines, 'seafood medley' (which is octopus, squid, mussels, shrimp, scallops, and probably some other stuff that got caught in the net), papaya, key limes, kalamata olives, fresh ginger, fresh trout, and some weird wild orange berry that grows on a penisula jutting out into the ocean by Netarts, Oregon. Okay, so maybe I should have left that one alone. But in any case, some of those were keepers, and some probably should have been left on the shelf, but at least I found out and didn't have to go through life wondering.

So I think that I may have to revive that tradition and continue my culinary quest of the American grocery store. Next on my list: capers. What are they? I'm going to find out.

Good People

It's been a busy week. We finished tearing the shingles off the roof, and have removed most of the redwood bark from the attic space. We covered the roof in plastic because it was going to rain, but the winds tore it too pieces. David had been talking to the maintenance man at the hospital, asking his advice about how to do the attic space, so he came over to take a quick look at our roof. He noticed the plastic, and then offered to go get his own tarps and nail them down over the plastic so our house wouldn't get rain in it. He brought a friend and they did it in 2 hours. Super nice guys!


I've also been super busy with canning. I got 41 quarts of plums off our tree, and the next day our home teachers gave us a huge box of sweet corn (they had planted some of their field in sweet corn), so I ended up canning 20 pints of corn. It was the first time I've used a pressure canner, and I managed not to blow us up. I think I should get a gold star.

2 days later, our neighbor brought us the peaches off his tree, and I got 21 quarts out of that, and 11 jars of peach jelly. This morning I picked the golden plums off our tree, so I'll be canning again, and our peaches haven't ripened yet, so those are still to come. Combine all that with a 2 year-old, a fussy 3 month-old, helping David clean up shingles and insulation, mowing the lawn, making bread, doing laundry, and a run into town...I'm pooped!

It's a good kind of pooped though. We got a lot done, and we are really grateful to have such kind people in this town. I tell you, I never want to go back to big city life. Give me small towns with big hearts any day!

More Remodeling

We've started on the roof since we're heading into the fall months, and need to get it done before the snow flies. As David started into it, we found that there were 2 layers of wood shingles, and 2 layers of asphalt shingles on top of that. No wonder the rafters are buckling!

This is up in the attic space. Note that it's filled with sawdust as an insulator. Now I'm no expert, but to me that says "fire hazard" all over it. We're going to remove the sawdust, and if the city will let us, we're going to turn this space into another room for the kids. (We only have 2 rooms in our house). They're making us consult with a structural engineer to see if it's possible. If they say we can't, then I think we'll have to move again within 5 years. We'll probably outgrow this little house by then.

Bad Word

David was working outside the other day, when in a moment of frustration he let slip a naughty word. Jacob, being the observant 2-year old that he is, promptly repeated it...several times in succession.

When David told me about it, I thought for a minute, and then came up with a pretty good punishment. Each bad word will carry with it either drops of hot sauce or drops of soap, according to how profane that word may be. For example, #@&%! would be 1 drop of soap, while *$&%^&$@!! might be 3 drops of hot sauce. If he decides to run a string of profanities together, we already know what the consequences will be...4 drops of soap mixed with 3 drops of hot sauce, for instance. I'm quite pleased with myself, to be honest. Creative discipline is FUN!

And as for Jacob, he's too little to know what those words mean, and if he says them again we'll have a talk...but I don't think he'll be hearing them again once David has his first 'profanity cocktail'.

Fair Time!

Every year we look forward to the parade and fair. Here's Jacob waiting for more candy.











Petting the finer end of a Holstein.











Checking out the pigs.











Bridget enjoying the fair in her own way.

The last 36!

Today David starts his last 36-hour shift before the new guy starts, and I'm excited! It's been a long 6 months of just him and his boss covering the ER, and we're really ready to go back to a normal work schedule. We feel a little cheated this summer because he's been so busy, so next summer we'll have to do some fun family things.

In other news, Jacob picked our first ripening tomato. He loves tomatoes, and I guess he just couldn't wait, but that made me a little bit sad because we got a slow start on the tomatoes because the spring was so cold and windy. *Sigh* guess I need to watch him closer if I want to get any at all. Speaking of the garden, there is a mystery squash growing. There is a hill of it, so obviously I planted it, but my brain must have been so muddled by pregnancy that I've forgotten what it is. It's putting on fruit, but it's not familiar to me. Maybe I'll take a picture to see if anyone can identify it for me.

Flowers from our Yard

Cute kid pictures

I just had to copy the picture of Bridget from my Dad, it was such a good one. Here's Jacob playing in the irrigation water. Note the swimming suit hanging out around his knees.

Tornadoes?

You wouldn't think of Idaho as being the place for tornadoes, but recently it's become that way. The last 3 summers that we've been in the Magic Valley, we've had tornadoes. Yesterday was the latest one. Crazy huh? The first year we actually got to watch the one form that went through Hagerman, and we got pictures...but our hard drive died, and with it the photographic evidence. Too bad.

RVers

As we were driving back from the coast, our attention turned toward the RVers on the road...or more specifically, avoiding the RVers on the road, seeing how they are usually being driven by the elderly. We wondered how it was that the population with the slowest reflexes came to be behind the wheel of such a large vehicle, and all without those pesky CDL licenses. We can only conclude the conversation at the dealership went something like this:

Dealer: "You've been hitting small animals, curbs, and the occasional pedestrian for years with your luxury sedan. Here's your reward."

Rich retired person: *Gropes blindly for the keys and mistakenly climbs into the lavatory*

Dealer: *After redirecting him toward the drivers seat* "Have fun taking up one and a half lanes and blocking intersections! And remember, if you get tired while you're driving, that's why we put lazy-boys in as the captains chairs. Feel free to fall asleep, it's your home now, and the road is your front yard."

Rich retired person: *Pulls out of the lot and promptly drives over the curb, on his way to make the world a better place."

That's the best we can figure anyway.

More Vacation Fun

Me, and Jenais holding Bridget in the background. She was singing to her, and it was really sweet.
















Cute picture of Mom White, XaraKali, and Helena. (For those who are wondering how on earth to say those names, they're Mexican names, and we can't say them either, but we try. XaraKali = ZAraKaLEE, Helena = AyLAYna)

The Beach

Beautiful day on the coast.













Jacob, a little unsure about all that loud water.













Building sand castles.


















David was standing in the waves when one that was a little higher got his shorts wet. That cold Pacific water made him come running out pretty quick. It didn't stop him for long though, and he ran back in for a full body dip a minute later.









Antonio, XaraKali, Helena, Mom White, Jenais, and Holly.

Oregon Vacation

We went to the Oregon coast this last weekend for our annual vacation with David's family. We had a great time, and thought it was too short. We took the scenic route there, and ended up being on the road 16 hours. The drive back we took the interstate, and it only took us 13. The kids were angels, which was a very welcome surprise for David and I.


This is the view from the beach house where we stayed.












Me and Jacob (who was too busy combing his hair for a picture)



















Bridget, momentarily unhappy.
















Jacob, still combing his hair.







Jacob and cousin Helena