Kids and Kids

When I was little, one of us kids' very favorite family activities was when Dad pulled out the ol' slide projector and we'd look at the slides from when we were younger.  We'd turn the lights down and project the slides onto one of our walls.  I can still hear the hum of the projector and even smell the air that came off the fan.  Wow, that brings back some memories!  My dad spent plenty of time hunting, so we would laugh as a large majority of the slides included plenty of dead birds and deer!

So where am I going with this?  My childhood pictures are filled with pictures of pheasants, geese and deer, and my children's childhood pictures are going to be filled with pictures of GOATS.  Yep, it's goat kidding season again which means we are adding to our collection of memories and pictures with goats. The snow and freezing temperatures offer prime conditions for such an event.  Please take note of the sarcasm. 

Let's see, where do we start.  Oh yes, how about the (inevitable) yearly picture of goats in my house:

It seems inevitable that we end up bottle feeding goats.  Goat kids are such finicky little buggers.  For these two, their mom's don't have enough to feed them and their twins so we get to be the surrogate.  It's a good thing they're such cute little nuggets, it can be pretty time consuming taking care of these furry critters.  Three times a day gets really old.  Not to mention the amount of milk we go through- sheesh!

We had a new experience this year to add to the goat memoir.  One of our mama's started kidding but hadn't made much progress in about 8-9 hours.  We called an amazing lady in our ward who is a vet tech with the university.  She had come out a few weeks earlier and saved our bacon by helping pull a very large baby out.  I'm sure she was super thrilled to come out for a second visit.  It wasn't too long before she discovered that the mama hadn't fully dilated and there was no way to get the baby out without doing a lot of damage to the doe.  We basically were left with two options: spend a few hundred dollars and do a c-section to save the doe, or shoot the $1000 doe.  I really struggle seeing animals suffer so was grateful that after a few phone calls, we had everything arranged to head over to the USU farm for a c-section.  Well now that wasn't on the schedule for the evening- for any of us! 

Here is mama goat getting prepped for surgery:

Being the nerd that I am, I was so intrigued through the whole process.  The injection for the spinal block went in right above the tail.  For some reason I would have thought it would be further up along the spine.  Whaddayaknow?!  This was the point where I had to sit down for a bit lest I become a casualty.  Thankfully after that I got over it and watched the rest of it.  Yep, I'm a nerd.  I thought it was absolutely fascinating.

More prep (seriously, this goat is getting a lot of blog attention- I am so weird.  I was so intrigued!)

There we have our amazing neighbor Sara in the black who is the vet tech, then Lexi Sweat on the other side in red.  Lexi didn't do the surgery, but assisted the doc-whose-name-has-escaped-me.

Unfortunately, the goat had been in labor too long and the baby didn't make it.  Big sigh.  We knew going into it that would probably be the case seeing as though Sara could tell part of the placenta had detached.  I hate hate hate that death has to be part of it.  Later that night we brought home a weak triplet from another mama, but she didn't make it either.  The life cycle can sure be rough sometimes.

I have one more pic of the goat getting sewed up, but I'll keep that one to myself to spare anyone the ick factor.  But, here is the poor doe after it was all said and done and she was back at the farm:

My sympathy meter was just through the roof for this poor thing.  She had a rough day for sure.  Thankfully she is doing well.  Probably a little chilly with a quarter of her hair gone (funny not funny). Add that little experience to our memories, huh? 

Basically I'm ready for goat kidding to be done.  It's much too nerve racking for me.  Yet for some reason, we do it year after year.  When I say we, I mean Jacob.  Oh fine, let's be serious.  That inevitably means me.  How do I always get so invested in these furry, smelly beasts for crying out loud?!

Wait a minute, did I seriously just devote an entire blog post to goats?  Who am I, and how did I get here?  I need help.

Science Fair

The kids' elementary school gave students the option of participating in a science fair.  This year Allie decided she wanted to give it a whirl.

This is another area of parenting that really stretches me- science fair projects.  Science.  Hmm.  Not my forte.  I did the minimum requirements for science.  Something about the periodic table of elements and chemical explosions and dissecting frogs just doesn't do it for me.  But, I had to gird up my loins and dive in with Allie to come up with a project.  Fortunately, the world wide web gives lots of options!

We finally decided on a little experiment about how the pH levels in soda affect teeth.  After following the directions perfectly, we didn't get the results we were hoping for.  It kind of backfired.   So basically we didn't come to any great conclusion, but it was a great learning opportunity to realize sometimes you have to just try, try again! 

She decided to share her experiment in an oral presentation to some judges.  I didn't get to go in with her when she presented, but she did awesome when she practiced with me!  They had an evening for all participants and families to come and see all the other projects.  When we got there, we realized Allie was one of 4 other first place winners!  We were so proud!  I suppose a large part of the scientific method requires multiple attempts at experimenting, which Allie discovered. The judges must have agreed.

 Way to go Allie Gallie!  We're sure proud of you!

Snippets

The end of January, Jacob headed out to Nevada for work for a few days.  We were on goat feeding duty, so of course had to send a picture to let Jacob know the high caliber crew he had left in charge of the herd.  Perhaps he's a bit too trusting?

One morning while he was gone I headed out to the garage to go feed, but when I tried to open the garage door it would only open 2 inches then stop.  When I pushed the button again, it would go down to the ground, start to go back up, then stop again at 2 inches.  I tried to use the manual release, but the door just slammed back down to the ground.  It was stuck solid, there was no way I was going to pull that door up. Yippee. This is the part where I realize how incredibly fixer-upper-challenged I am!  Fortunately after a few phone calls, one including Jacob- mostly for moral support seeing as though he was 4 hours away, I managed to get hold of Wally Orton who was able to make it out in an hour.  After he finished, he said I was lucky- he was supposed to be in Tremonton that morning but had a cancellation so was able to come out fairly quickly.  I consider it a huge blessing!  He also managed to have the part in his truck!  Hot diggety dog! Suddenly I realized how grateful I am for a garage door that goes up and down without much thought.  Also very grateful for a husband who usually gets to be in charge of these fun little adventures.

Apparently that big long spring thinger up at the top should NOT be in two parts.  I'm so happy that we now have one long continuous spring.  Hoo-double-ray!

When Jacob came home, we decided to head over to Tremonton that Friday night for a little rodeo.  It was a fun night.  We always are glad when daddy comes home!

Allie, Ty, and Lexi are all doing the school musical this year.  The musical is The Little Mermaid Jr.  They have practices a few times a week and will perform in March.  Parents are required to help out at a few of the rehearsals for the smaller children, so I've gone a few times with Lexi.  She is a "poor unfortunate soul."  Seriously, so cute!  There are 5 little Kindergarten girls who will be the poor souls. 

This coming week I will help out with Ty's group, the sailors.  Allie will be debuting as a seagull.  It will be pretty darn cute!

January

Well, January is off and running.  Here are the happenings as of late:

Kenna and her fellow 6th graders have a challenge this year to read 50 books.  Thankfully not 50 novels, but that is still a great undertaking for 11 and 12 year olds!  For those who have reached 22 books so far, they had a reward at the ice skating rink.  They needed some extra parents so off I went on a bus full of 6th graders to get some grooves on at the ice arena.

Thanks for a fun little trip, Kenna!  I love that she still thought it was a-ok to have mom tag along. I couldn't pass that one up!


Later that evening we were able to go to the viewing for Dan Calderwood.  I couldn't help but notice all of the flowers around the church.  They were so beautiful.  As we were standing in line I realized I never took much thought to flowers and the interesting role they play at funerals.  What is it that causes us to turn to flowers during the time of ones passing?  It's amazing how something so simple can be so profound, really.  They are a way for us to show love and compassion.  They even bring about a beautiful peace and calm at a time of such incredible grief and sorrow.  Perhaps the most incredible aspect of flowers, however, is that they are a sign of life.  Why would we choose a symbol of life and growth at a time when we are grieving the loss of life?  Almost a contradiction, yet when we view time and life through the lens of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a flower is the perfect symbol. As heartbreaking as it is to see a family in such deep sorrow, how beautiful it is to know that in the Lord's garden, we are constantly growing, changing, and blooming on our journey in this life.  Death is merely another part of that.  Oh my heart aches for the Calderwoods and the Petersons.  I remember Dan as the class clown in my seminary class in high school!  You never really know the impact you have on people, as was evident in the many who showed up to pay love and respect.

Our stake has been planning a community service project for quite a few months now, and it finally came together on the 13th.  We put together meal packets that will stay here to help people in our community.  We managed to put together over 45,000 servings in about an hour!  It was so neat to see the gym turn into a little factory of assembly lines to put together the packages.  The packages were a lentil jambalaya.  We put in some salt, dried veggies, rice, and lentils then sealed them up.  One hours worth of work will bless the lives of so many!  If only we as communities could rally more to help those around us.  I certainly can do better myself.  I loved having a teeny tiny part of a beautiful project.  Our Stake RS Presidency put A LOT of work into organizing and implementing it.

We all had the day off for MLK day, so headed up to Hardware Ranch.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day!  The sun was shining and we didn't freeze!  The wind kicked up a bit during our ride it got a bit more chilly, but it was such a fun afternoon together.

Split Lip Lexi

On the night of Dan Calderwood's viewing, Jacob and I didn't get home until fairly late.  I have to hand it to our little monkeys, they have done really well lately in being responsible when Jacob and I go out.  Granted they're in the 5-12 year age range, therefore the term "responsible" is used loosely.  But, when they can get themselves to bed at the time they've been asked to and the house and all parties residing therein are still (partially) in one piece, I consider it a victory! 

Since we were gone, Lexi ended up sleeping down in Kenna'a bed.  It's not too often, but every once in a while if she doesn't go to the bathroom before bed she has a little accident.  Well early Friday morning Lexi ended up wetting the bed, and while she was still half asleep and fumbling to try to get to the bathroom she managed to tumble out of the bed and smack right into Kenna's night stand.  I could hear her down in the bathroom crying and figured she had wet the bed.  I thought she might come upstairs, but she just kept crying down there so I fumbled myself out of bed to go down and help her out.  It took me a minute to get my bearings, but I noticed she had a little bit of blood on her nose and forehead.  She had her hand over the side of her mouth so I pulled it away to see if I could figure out where the blood was coming from.  I thought maybe I'd see a bit of a bloody lip, but instead I found a pretty nasty gash right above her lip.  It was pretty darn obvious this one was a doozy that would require some stitches.  Yup, happy Friday!  Let's get rockin' on the ol' deductible for the year! Here's my poor little split-lip:

This is one of those ambivalent situations in parenting I really don't like.  It's 6:15 in the morning and my child has a gash above her lip that needs some attention.  Well now what!?!?  Jacob and I didn't feel like a rush to the ER was necessary, but didn't know how long an open wound could just hang out for.  The Instacare was option 2, but they were closed.  But then again, I don't want some Joe Shmoe who's assigned to the Instacare to sew up my daughter's face.  Fortunately, the Pediatrician has an after-hours option. I was put through to whoever was on-call that morning (who, by the sound of her voice, had obviously been in a deep sleep just moments prior) and she told me we were good to wait until the office opened to get her in.  At least we could sit tight for a minute.  As soon as they opened I called and got an appointment at the pediatrician's office.  While we were waiting to head in, my mom called and suggested we go to the Ear, Nose, and Throat doc where they're trained in facial reconstruction.  Brilliant!  I was able to cancel the pediatrician and get her in to see Doc Bennion at Cache Valley ENT.

Random sidenote: Bennion works in the same office as Doc Wood who was on-call when my sister, Stephanie was in her car accident in high school and pretty much got scalped.  He did a fantastic job sewing her back up.

My parents were in town waiting for another appointment for my mom, so they stopped in to give a little love while we waited.  A mom can always use backup!  I will never outgrow my mom.  And dad, of course. 

When we got in, the Doc agreed stitches were needed.  Now I was faced with yet another great parenting decision:  We could give her some meds to make her loopy while they sewed her up, or we could do the quick shot to numb it and then sew it up.  He was happy doing either one, but said the mom knows best so I just needed to decide.  Normally Lexi does really well with needles and doctors.  She is always a champ with vaccinations so I figured the quick poke with the numbing medicine would work out fine.  I also had flashbacks to when Allie split her forehead open and was (surprisingly) able to tolerate the shot.  Allie was quite the toddler, so if she could handle it I figured Lexi could definitely do it.  Besides, I hate seeing my kids drugged up. 

Well, I think I chose wrong.  It took 3 of us to hold the poor little thing down while he put (shoved) the needle in to numb her up.  After that fiasco we sat and snuggled for about 20 minutes waiting for it to get good and numb.  I was starting to get a little worried how we were going to get those stitches in, so tried to butter her up so she would even consider letting the doc get close to her again.  She was pretty apprehensive, but we managed to get her to lie down again.  She was SO brave as he stitched her up.  The poor thing was so scared.  I was holding her hands down on her belly trying to think of anything and everything to keep her focused on something else.  We ended up singing "Where is Thumbkin", "The Wheels on the Bus," and "Five Little Monkeys."  Fortunately after the last monkey got snapped out of the tree by the crocodile, it was almost done.  Whew, I was exhausted and my poor little lady was too.  I told the doctor and nurses they didn't know they were going to get serenaded that day!  They were all super sweet about it.  Oh but I felt like such a horrible mom making her suffer like that!  Needless to say my mom guilt got the better of me and I let her pick out a pretty darn nice stuffed animal at the pharmacy right next to the doc's office.  I don't regret it, either.  That stuffed animal has been the love of her life for the past week!

We had to head back in a week later to get the stitches out and put some surgical glue on it.  She was pretty nervous, but was a good little champ.  We go in once again this next week to have some steri-strips put on just to make sure and keep it together.  Fortunately the doc thinks it will heal very well. I sure hope so! 

So glad that little event is mostly over and done with.  Another fine mom moment down in the books.  Now that we're on the other side of it, the lump in my tummy about making her suffer has eased a bit.  I think she'll be ok.  If anything, maybe she's learned that sometimes rough things happen and we just have to endure.  And of course that mommy is there to snuggle through the worst of it!

Shake Off The Dust

Hello?



Hello?



Anyone there?



(tap tap tap) Is thing even on?



Oh wait, wait, yep, someone is still here...



.....Of fine, FINE!  Yes, it has been a whole year since I've written.  Yes, I missed out on an entire year's worth of documenting things I will forget all about and wish I had written down.  Yes, I need to preserve our family history.  Sheesh, enough of the guilt trip already.  Let's just get on with this!

ahem.

2018 is upon us!  Even my kids say the last year went fast.....I don't think I EVER said a year went fast when I was a kid.  Times definitely must be changing.

So far the year is going well.  All 5 days of it.

New Year's Eve was on Sunday, and after church we pretty much just holed up for the night.  We ended up watching Moana followed up by the original Parent Trap with Haley Mills on KBYU.  And of course we'd come up for air every now and then to feed our faces with whatever junk food we could round up (oh holiday eating be gone, be gone I say!). 

About 10:00 we pulled out a bag of fireworks that never got set off from a few years worth of 4th of July.  We only had about 5 or so, but it was so dang fun!  Thankfully it wasn't life threatening cold our there so we could sort of enjoy being out in it for about 10 minutes.  Aaaaaaand I left the camera inside so no pic.  Before we knew it the clock struck 12:00 and 2017 officially came to an end.  From downstairs we heard Kenna and Allie holler "Happy New Year!"  Lexi and Ty didn't quite make it to welcome the new year until the next day.

Tuesday was our last day off for the Christmas break, so we all (minus Dad who had to work, bummer) decided to head to the ice rink.  It was actually fairly crowded, but we really had a lot of fun skating.  It's quite refreshing to be able to head out alone with the kids and not feel like I am completely outnumbered.  The oldest can help out a lot, and the youngest isn't so young that it's still especially demanding.  At first Ty and Lexi used the walkers, but by the end they figured it out enough to hold their own.  Just as we were finishing Jacob was able to stop by to see us for a little bit.

insert little tidbit here:  

I still get a little flutter in my tummy when I see Jacob show up.  I love that.

The past few days Ty has been begging Jacob to pull out some of his Australia stuff.  Last night Jacob came upstairs with a box and a tote, and the kids loved going through all of his mission memorabilia.  It was fun to see them get so excited about all the little books and trinkets he had.  They each scored a little something to keep.  So fun!  Amazing how time flies and you're quickly approaching 20 years post mission...

Aaaaaaaand there we go!  Another blog post!  Now I only have to do one more to beat last year....

The Ankle Update

I forgot to mention that as of a few weeks ago, Jacob is officially free from the boot he was in since the middle of November.  I was even able to finally free up some space by returning his scooter and shower bench.  Hooray!  I need to insert here how very grateful I am that we were able to utilize the services at Options for Independence for the use of the scooter and shower bench.  Both of those items were so extremely helpful.  Every single person I interacted with there at Options was so incredibly genuine and kind, I was so impressed at what a wonderful organization they are. 

Jacob now just has to wear a lace-up brace that will fit into (most of) his shoes.  Even though his physical therapy sessions have ended, his muscles are still a little weak and his ankle gets sore easily, but hopefully over the next few months he will be back into full motion. 

As I was looking back at pictures from December I forgot to document this:

I can't help but be curious if Jacob is perhaps one-of-a-kind when it comes to cleaning hay/straw/manure out of his boot.  With a toothbrush.  One can't help but wonder.  And now when you come to visit us, you also can't help but wonder if the cup you drink out of happens to be one that was in the sink when said boot was being cleaned..... 

Guess I'll just be grateful for my one-of-a-kind!  And you can be grateful for Clorox.