Very... we've got it all

Albion 'Normal' School

2012-01-21T22:43:00.003-07:00

I am slowly but surely working through all the pictures of the last few weeks. As soon as I get my camera that I left at the Hatch's in Franklin I will finish the month of December!

Our Patterson family spent a great weekend the week after Christmas at the Albion Campus Retreat in Albion, Id. The house was part of the old Normal School College campus that has been abandoned.

It has 16 bedrooms and tons of beautifully restored space. The halls are super wide with corridors of beautiful doors and the old brick is exposed through the plaster every once in a while. It is a beautiful house.

Each bedroom has an attached bathroom which was important because we had a nasty case of the stomach flu running through the house--Rustin threw up all the way from Twin Falls to Albion and Ashlee was hiding a barf bag behind her back in most of these pictures. I think every single member of the family had varying degrees of stomach sickness that lasted from 12 to 24 hours.

While we had everyone home we took pictures for the first time in years!

This was the first time we had all seven siblings home (from Ohio, Australia, Utah and Idaho...) together for a couple of years.

We missed Jeremy who had to work but the rest of us had a blast--little ones went skiing for the first time (I spent the day hiking up and down the bunny hill...), Lindsay made a bunch of 'Minute to Win It' games, we made pretty crafts, played games and of course we ate a ton of food.

It was a great week and a perfect start to the new year.

Writer's block, Paperwork and Pretty things

2012-01-19T14:41:00.002-07:00

This year for Christmas I printed the past three years (haven't done 2011 yet) of blogs into books. We love them! It's so awesome to find the kids looking back and laughing at the books all the time. It's fun to look back at past pictures and remember things we had forgotten...

There's just one problem--I am now suffering from the biggest writer's block I've ever had.

Why?

I think it's because I feel so much pressure to blog about everything. I keep thinking of all the things I should have written about that I haven't so I tell myself that I will go back and write about things that happened and add them to the blog and edit all the photos so they are bright and vibrant and suddenly I have a huge unfinished project looking at me every time I turn on the computer...

The longer I wait to write, the more things I miss and the cycle continues. So for now I am just going to write about today and worry about the rest later.

Speaking of procrastinating, I have a pile of gorgeous fabrics that I fully intended to make into gorgeous pillows-

Isn't this red paisley pattern beautiful?!

I was also inspired by these awesome organizing containers from Pottery Barn Kids.

I totally intended to head over to the wood shop and build a bigger version of the cubbies to organize all the kids' papers--kind of like this--

Then I was browsing on Pinterest (oh how I love Pinterest!) and I saw this--a cereal box covered with patterned paper.

I decided to combine all my unfinished projects and clean off the side of the fridge at the same time!

And now I have this-

I'm not sure I love the blue fabric mixed with the red but it is very colorful and fun and I LOVE having a place to put all the paperwork--lunch menus ball game schedules etc.

And best of all--I finished a project.

Rhyme time

2012-01-11T23:05:00.000-07:00

Christmas 2011

Our Christmas was warm
in so many ways,
Not snow, but fun
has brightened our days.

The wish lists for all
were short and sweet,
"Have our cousins come over!"
they each did repeat.

Parties and family and games and fun
We spent time with family-
every last one.

This New Year's Day
brought such a big change-
Our new ward boundaries
have switched all the names.

Our family's been loved
and blessed through three years
We've shared laughter and fun
and shed very few tears.

Twenty-twelve is exciting
great fun will be had,
driving (Dallin and Landon) baptism (Benson) and a deacon (Austin),
turning 40 for dad!

Most important of all
we surely will tell,
our dear friends and family
will stay safe and well.

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Queen Solomon

2011-12-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

We have six kids. They are quite messy. Fortunately they are also good at cleaning up at the end of the day. Someday they will learn to just to keep things clean and then evening pick-up time will be super quick but until that day...we have chores. Evening chores are usually just picking up, vacuuming as needed and dishes/dinner--Saturdays are for actual cleaning--when we get to it.

The way we divvy up the evening chores depends on the time of year. In the summer we have a job chart that we rotate every week. It works well because everyone gets a chance to do every job. However, the job chart doesn't work during then school year because we never have the same kids home in the evenings. We usually just assign each child who is home a room to clean. So that's where we were last Friday night.

Dallin and Landon had been assigned the big back family room but it had already been mostly cleaned so I reassigned one of them to help me with the dishes. Dishes are NOT the favorite assignment so they decided to let rock, paper, scissors make the determination about who had KP duty.

After a minute I heard one of them say, "Yes! I knew exactly what you were going to do! I won!"

Then they both came in to the kitchen and declared victory.
Hmmm.
Austin and I questioned and listened and questioned and we could NOT tell who really won. We went back and forth with everyone laughing hysterically.

"Dallin you lost--I can tell by the smirk on your face!"
Laughter from Landon.
"Okay Landon it was you. I can tell. You can't stop laughing."
Dallin bends over slapping his leg, shaking with laughter.
"Okay Dal it was you. I'm sure this time."
I'm not actually sure. I don't know whose voice I heard.

We couldn't tell.
So I had a brilliant idea.
"Okay let's just do it again. Rock, paper scissors..."
Dallin popped right up ready to go.
Bingo.
It was Landon who won.
Dallin did the dishes.

Ho Ho Ho

2011-12-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

So much to write about!
I have been busy with projects and kids and all kinds of good things. Updating our activities is on my very long and ever-growing list of things to do before this month ends...

In the mean time here is the family member that is most enjoying this season!

symbiotic relationships

2011-11-10T10:42:00.002-07:00

Beau misses the kids when they are at school.
So does Jackson.
So they help each other out.
Jackson pukes. Beau cleans it up (from floors, clothes, faces...)
Beau lays on the floor and Jackson practices standing up and slobbering.
It's awesome.
Except when Jackson has a runny nose and Beau is shedding.
That's not such a pretty sight...

Lessons of a football mom

2011-10-27T20:59:00.000-06:00

Benson and I went straight from the Emergency Room to join the family at Dallin and Landon's last game of the season against our middle school rival.

We lost 24-28 when the other team beat all odds and made a touchdown in the last minute of the game.

It was heartbreaking.

Landon started on offense and defense (and did great!) and played the whole game with his arm like this...

Dallin had his best game of the year. He also started on offense and defense and had a safety as well as lots of great tackles and sacks.

Five years ago I was completely oblivious to local football games; and yet, when it was time for my boys to play the other night, I worried about it all day. I made them their lucky pancake breakfast and I made sure they had plenty to drink. Is this a motherly thing? Suddenly caring deeply about something I was oblivious to in the not so distant past?

This year we had a blow-out undefeated season--only one other team gave us any competition and that team had beaten Robert Stuart. We had high hopes.

This loss was bitter. I think I felt as bad as they did. So many boys left the field with tear streaked faces. My boys couldn't sleep--replaying each disappointing second over and over. I knew they would feel better and forget about it within a few days' time but I also knew there were lessons to be learned. Lessons that needed to be learned. We talked a lot about finding peace even in disappointment and about letting time heal.

Unfortunately, losing the eighth grade end-of-year football game is preparation for a lifetime of experiences. Football seems trivial but now those boys know that-- indeed--disappointment does fade with time and hurts that seem really important in the moment lose their sting when viewed from a distance.

Maybe when they are alone and those hard experiences come {failing an important test, being dumped by a girlfriend, losing a job, death...} they will remember long talks with their mother after middle school football and they will find peace.

I can only hope.

Don't read this post if you have a queasy stomach.

2011-10-19T14:05:00.001-06:00

I knew we were in trouble when I pulled up to the curb and found Benson standing with the principal and the school police officer.

I had just finished taking some padding to Landon so he could play in the final football game of the season with a cast on his arm. On my way to get Jen and Ben a friend called and said to tell me she had picked up Jenna but couldn't find Benson because he had injured his finger.

I don't know what I expected, but what I found was this--

A seriously mangled pinky.
Yeowch.
This picture really doesn't do justice to the contorted appearance of the little finger but most of my phone pictures didn't turn out well. The underside of the finger was worse.

Benson got the honor of being the first Hatch child in Idaho to get an actual room in the Emergency Room.

Our new hospital is beautiful. Benson was quite proud of being the first of his siblings in the new center.

The bone in his pinky was fine but the tissue was pulled off and to the side (de-gloved) and some of the skin had to be trimmed off.

It took quite a few stitches to re-attach the tip in its proper place...

Benson was a trooper. He sat completely still (with Rustin by his side) for all the numbing shots and he watched all the stitches go in with comments like "it looks like you're stabbing my finger", and "that doesn't even hurt at all--it's a zero (on the pain scale)."

We packed up and went over to Dallin and Landon's football game which turned out to be more painful than Benson's finger. More on that later...

Third time's the charm.

2011-10-17T22:16:00.001-06:00

This is Landon.

He broke his thumb playing football last Tuesday. (cracked through the first knuckle but not displaced) He'll have a cast for three weeks but he will be able to play in the all important game against the city rival tomorrow.

For the record, that puts Landon up three casts to Dallin's two. We hope Dallin will just let him get away with the win in this department.

This injury happened when boys' football team was playing the only other undefeated team in the district on Tuesday so the stakes were high. They were tied 0-0 at halftime which made this the first competitive game to watch this season. Landon and Dallin both had a great game and they won 22-6. Landon broke his thumb playing defense in the fourth quarter. He came out of the game for two plays and had his thumb/hand wrapped and went back in the rest of the game. Trooper.

Tonight Landon taught the Family Home Evening lesson. He got the idea from a young men lesson.

He started with a beautiful scoop of ice cream--a "Sundae."
Then he added things to make the sundae 'better':

The other children watched in horror.

Rustin tried to pay them to eat the ice cream. No takers.

We then talked about how we add things in our house to our "Sundays" that ruin the day. The six children and I are usually alone most of the day and I am sad to say sometimes our day is less than holy. We are working on it.

The kids came up with a list of things that ruin the day: waking up late, playing too rough, tv/video games (we don't do either one), waking up mom when she wants to take a nap (!!-they said it...) and not being able to find clothes in the morning.

Of course tonight I had to physically separate Austin and Benson and I had to instruct Dallin not to talk to anyone in order to keep everyone from bickering during the lesson. I think the point was well taken though. Now I'll be able to say "who is pouring hot sauce on my ice cream?" when they are misbehaving on the Sabbath.

I think we all have a pretty good mental image of what a ruined Sunday looks like. Thanks Landon.

Fashion Handicapp

2011-10-14T22:28:00.000-06:00

Rustin has laid down an ultimateum: buy a new coat or he will buy one for me. Rustin buying me clothes means a trip to the mall where I will be forced to look at my post-baby (can we just say softly maternal?) figure in a three-way-mirror. I can barely stand the thought... So I am taking matters into my own hands.

I was inspired by this girl...

so I looked up some coats on-line.
Overstock.com had some good suggestions that are far less than Kate's $1000 Burberry trench. Did you know after Kate wore this coat in Ireland Burberry sold out of it in one day? How's that for advertisement?!

Are they cute? I can not have a wool coat. Wool and Golden retrievers are not friends. Cotton blend is the way to go.
Double or single?

The double has a hood. My curls don't like to get wet so that might be good but is a double breasted coat formal looking? I'm not really formal. I like the flared fit of the single. hmmm.
Someone give me a second opinion before my husband drags me to the mall.

boomerang baby

2011-10-09T21:19:00.003-06:00

We had a five day weekend. I love having kids home but we were busy with football practices and games the whole time. I was seriously tempted to unplug the phone and turn off the lights and pretend like we were out of town the entire weekend but I was outvoted.

We did get a few rainy days. Somehow I don't mind the rain--it feels like a good excuse to stay home. ( I'm afraid I am a bit of an agoraphobe these days. Or maybe just a bit lazy? Overwhelmed?) It also usually seems like a good excuse to make bread, soup, brownies, cookies, muffins, waffles... Rainy days are super healthy.

Jackson is now SIX months! He weighs 17.8 pounds and he is one busy baby. He scoots all over the floor and crawls on occasion when he remembers to uncross his ankles. He giggles and grabs and eats (this boy LOVES solid food--I've never had one eat so early...) but he also slobbers, chews and 'fusses' to get things he wants.

When he is in a particularly slobbery, chewy, fussy state he becomes boomerang baby. I send him out with Jenna and he comes back with Benson. Then I send him out with Benson and he comes back with Dallin. And then I send him out with Dallin and he comes back with Landon. You get the picture.

All I can say is it's a good thing he's so darn cute!

Jackson 7 months

2011-10-06T13:28:00.000-06:00

At seven months old here's what we have:

18 1/2 pounds
Crawls like crazy
Walks around furniture
Occasionally forgets to hold on to something and stands alone
Loves cream of wheat cereal
Just started going to sleep alone in his crib
Usually sleeps all night but sometimes wakes up at 4:30
Would spend all day nursing with mom. Mom doesn't mind!
Always falls asleep in the car
Has two bottom teeth
Chews on everyone and everything
Jabbers all the time in a very whimsical chatty sort of way

And of course he is in danger of being completely and utterly spoiled!

making me love my bed

2011-10-01T09:10:00.002-06:00

Last weekend Jenna and I had our own Night at the Museum. We got a group of girls together (thanks Shelly!) and packed our pillows and blankets and spent the night at the Herrett Center. We looked at stars and tasted all kinds of chocolate and made banana bread at midnight. Rustin kept Jackson and he had (and took!) his first bottle ever.

We slept under the jungle display.
I use the term slept liberally.
~~I don't think adults are meant to sleep on hard floors.~~
Adults are absolutely not meant to sleep on hard floors. I hope she remembers this forever. Over and out.

Year supply in 30 minutes

2011-09-28T12:21:00.003-06:00

Last weekend we took the kids to a giant field of dead weeds.

But there is gold in them thar weeds...

Idaho gold.

Gleaning potatoes is like a giant Easter egg hunt where there is no end to the eggs.

When potatoes are harvested, (check out this two minute video) the spuds are first dug up by a big harvester and then a big tractor with a conveyor belt-like attachment drives along behind the harvester and picks up the spuds and dumps them into a big truck. Back in the 'old' days farmers had to hire people to walk along with buckets and hand pick the potatoes. When my parents were kids in Eastern Idaho it took an entire community to harvest potatoes--'spud harvest.' Everyone was let out of school for a couple of weeks. Most of the communities in Eastern Idaho still get out of school around this time of year to help with the harvest.

Today the potatoes are mostly harvested by tractor but the tractor leaves a lot of potatoes behind. If you know the right people you can go to a field after the harvesters have gone through and glean the extra potatoes.

We are extremely grateful to have farmer friends who let us have a bit of their excess. Thirty minutes and we were loaded up. We packed potatoes in boxes and a bunch of huge Costco bags and hauled them to the root cellar where they will live in until they are needed.

Baked, mashed, fried, boiled and added to doughnuts--we now have potatoes on the menu for the rest of the year!

Manna in the form of nectarines

2011-09-27T13:09:00.000-06:00

I wrote the other day about how my life felt like a hurricane. It still does. Three football teams, scouts, activity days, music lessons and a husband who is usually gone are making driving and meal times ridiculous. In fact I've been feeling very sorry for myself lately.

Thursday morning I was feeling especially sorry for myself when we read in the Doctrine and Covenants 42:25 for morning scriptures. The Lord is talking about how sometimes he talks to us through "the voice of lightnings... tempests...pestilences of every kind" and still we don't listen.

It occurred to me at that moment that maybe my own personal storms are the Lord's way of reminding me to listen. I need to ask Him for help more often.

Later that evening I was rushing around trying to find food for everyone before they had to leave for the night and my hands were sticky, my hair was a mass of frizz, Jackson was crying, and my attempts to keep the house tidy were completely nullified.

Someone came to the door to bring the missionaries some food and she decided to bring some to me as well.

The best part?

She brought nectarines. I love nectarines because I can just eat them. They don't need to be peeled. I don't have to can, dry, freeze or make them into jam. They are just for eating. No guilt. My mom also brought some peaches that were cut up into beautiful little baby food size chunks and put into lovely jars. No work and no guilt for me.

I was reminded by a stranger that I am not forgotten.

Hurricane Season

2011-09-21T12:05:00.006-06:00

I don't know how the national news has missed this but hurricanes are running rampant in Idaho this Fall. Just this morning a gigantic storm caused the disappearance of one of
Landon's shoes (he had to wear basketball shoes...) and one of Austin's shoes (he had to wear size 11 shoes with totally frayed shoelaces).

Papers were thrown about the kitchen and sweaty shirts, socks and shorts were scattered about the bathroom and bedrooms.

Remnants of hastily packed food stuffs (lunch...) are visible all over the kitchen and floor.

In the midst of the chaos this morning one child was mysteriously compelled to play Tarantella over and over on the piano (help me!!!...).

I think we may have to declare this a disaster zone and call in the national guard. I fear it may take months to clean up the damage.

Who knew September was such a dangerous month in Idaho?

School began almost three weeks ago. Dallin and Landon started the first day of school with a football game. Benson is in school full time (1st grade!) this year leaving me alone in an eerily quiet house with Jackson all day. He is doing his best to keep me from being bored...and succeeding quite well.

Dallin, Landon and Austin are busy with football everyday which pretty much means I am driving all over town trying to pick-up and drip off to practices, games, scouts and school.

Landon (76) and Dallin (61) stand the exact same way on the sidelines. They have won every game by more than 30 points so far this year and both have had tons of sacks and tackles which is fun to watch.

Grandma and Jackson

Austin is totally enjoying football this season also--he had three sacks in his first game which is a huge improvement from last year. He's the biggest kid in the league (in height and weight) and he loves it.

I'm wishing an actual hurricane would come by and knock all the apricots from my tree so I wouldn't have to feel guilty about not picking them.

This year apricots are extra credit.

It starts now

2011-09-14T11:21:00.000-06:00

Notice anything different about this girl?

Look a little closer. See it?

Okay how about now?

Can't miss it here...

Two days before school started Jenna finally got up the nerve to get her ears pierced. We told her last year she could get them pierced whenever she wanted. For the last few months she has been putting little stick on jewels on her ears every morning to match her outfit so we knew it was only a matter of time before she asked to get the real Bling.

We cheated before the big event and put a couple of drops of numbing drops on her ears before we got to the store. I think it was more of a "Dumbo's feather" effect than anything but she did great. No tears at all.

Yesterday she asked if she could borrow my silver flower earrings when she can take her studs out.

I have a feeling this is just the beginning.

My arm amputation.

2011-09-07T19:54:00.002-06:00

Over the summer my baby went from this...

To this...

I underestimated how much the kids helped me this summer. They all went back to school on Tuesday which has left me with a permanent hip attachment. This babe is certainly cute but I am seriously getting nothing done.

I have never had one baby. Not ever. Jackson is in the stage where is rolls and scoots and wiggles and squirms. He can move just enough to get himself trapped or stuck everywhere but he's not big enough to get himself out of trouble. I'm not sure how I am going to manage this yet. Baby Jack is going to have to get used to playing alone a bit or I am in big trouble!

*For the record I did not touch up those baby blues. Who knew two brown-eyed parents could have such colorful children?!

Project organization: menus

2011-09-03T23:49:00.002-06:00

As the kids head back to school I am ready to get serious about organizing my life.

Organization isn't really my strong point but I am determined to have my weak things become my strengths...

Here's something I've been trying for a month or so now--

I write our menu on the front of the fridge where everyone can see what's coming up and I can plan ahead before it is 5 pm and everyone is starving.

I love the Crayola dry erase crayons. They come in lots of colors and the writing doesn't just brush off if someone bumps the fridge. They wipe off really easily with water. Awesome.

Before I can actually write the meals down I have to plan them. I hate thinking of things to eat. Isn't thinking of meals the worst?

To begin making things easier I went to my favorite food planning site at food storage made easy.net.

The site has lots of interesting food storage ideas but my favorite is the excel spreadsheet. It is programmed to calculate how much food is needed to have a one or three month storage of regular meals that we eat all the time.
I love it.
I went in and put in all the meals I could think of right off the top of my head and I had 30 meals before I knew it. I change some meals according to the seasons {in the summer we grill pizza outside...} but I still use pretty much the same ingredients.

I took the list of meals from the spreadsheet and printed them off on the computer and stuck them to some cute paper...

Whoever is helping me with dinner for the week can choose from the pile of meals and I know I have the ingredients for that meal.
Some meals are in more than once--we eat pizza at least twice a month so I entered pizza twice in the meal planner spreadsheet and I put two pizza strips in the pile. When we finish the pile then we can start over and I know I need to stock up on another month of food.

So far it works really well. I especially like having the plan in front of me so I can remember to get the chicken out of the freezer ahead of time.

Okay really---we don't always eat all the meals like I plan. Sometimes I just don't get it all done so I have a few easy meals in the freezer.

Sometimes I bring home roasted chicken when I go to the store. Actually we are a two chicken family these days and I suspect we are well on the way to becoming a three chicken family...

Sometimes I buy pizza instead of making it {we are now a three pizza family too!}.

Sometimes we just eat eggs and toast.

I tell myself that when I don't have a baby nursing 6-8 times a day I will have more time but I know it's not true. I never have more time. Something always comes up.

But having a plan always helps!

Next up in my organization plan--school stuff.

Million dollar view

2011-09-02T23:06:00.004-06:00

I love moments like this. Jackson has drifted off to sleep and I know I should go put him in bed but I am distracted by his long wispy eye-lashes. And those soft cheeks.

Then, two seconds later...

His little eyes pop open and he grins at me. And I know I missed my window of opportunity and now he will be awake for awhile.

He lays quietly for just a second before he starts batting at my phone determined to put it in his mouth.

He snuggles his face in my arm and he smells like baby shampoo mixed with that oh-so-lovely acrid yet slightly sweet smell of baby spit-up.

I am completely enjoying this baby but I think I have reached that point where it is time for me to choose bedtime instead of being held captive by the whims of an infant.

He has been sleeping through the night for about three months so I haven't really worried about putting him down awake--Rustin or I can usually just hold him until he's asleep without too much trouble. But, with school starting on Tuesday I think it's time for a more predictable schedule for all of us.

We'll see how it goes.

Summertime in Franklin

2011-08-28T22:59:00.003-06:00

I'm so glad I married This guy...

Because it means I can go to This place any time I want...

I love Franklin, Idaho in the summer.
I love it in the winter too but summer is really fun.

We finally realized that Rustin wasn't going to have time to come with us to Franklin. Missing two weeks of work with terrible eye infection took a big dent out of vacation plans for us so the kids and I loaded Beau up in the car and headed down ourselves.
It was a GREAT week.

Darren completely wore himself out keeping us entertained. We built two awesome bookshelves {in the 100+ degree shop} for Jen and Jack's room {more on that later},we got to meet the new puppy Milly, we rode horses and went canoeing.
Loalee showed us how to spin wool into yarn and made lots of delicious food. How's that for an awesome weekend!

All six of us got to go on a 'real' horseback ride. We went three at a time. Jenna fell in love with the new horse, Darksea, and spent some time riding both Darksea and MissQuito by herself. Jenna and Benson still had their horses lead by Grandpa most of the time but they are both doing great learning. Dallin and Landon are pros and spent a lot of time helping to saddle and brush horses. Austin also does really well by himself.
Not bad for city kids. Don't tell them I called them city kids.

Beau proved himself a total city slicker as he bounced around the horses and got stepped on. It cut the pad of his paw really bad--we are hoping it heals without getting infected. He had a blast.

We went to Johnson's Reservoir (one of many in the area) to canoe and swim. I don't have any pictures of that beautiful night. Beau learned that he loves swimming and Jackson loved it too! We were the only people at the reservoir along with Jotham and Jamie and their family. And of course Darren and Loalee. The cool water was perfect in the over 95 degree weather.

We came home tired and happy and ready to enjoy our last week of summer vacation.

Another one bites the dust

2011-08-22T20:38:00.001-06:00

Poor little Aust is the latest to get the eye junk running through our house. So far Austin has had the worst case of us all. He has both eyes hit at the same time AND he developed a complication called Filamentary keratitis .

This basically means that the mucus in his eye adhered to the epithelial cells of the cornea causing the outer layer of the cornea to slough off when he blinks. It hurts a lot. Rustin had to numb his eye and peel the filaments off the cornea. If you look closely you can see that his tears are bloody. ouch.

Dallin hasn't had any infection so far. Either he will get lucky or he will come down with red eyes just as school starts. Knowing our luck I would bet on the latter.

We are busy enjoying the last couple of weeks of summer. Too much to do and not enough time for sure!

There are no changing tables at the Sun Valley symphony...

2011-08-18T22:09:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday night we went to the Sun Valley symphony's performance of Mahler's 1st symphony. While I loved the music, there is something about the Sun Valley crowd that is completely irritating. I felt out of place.

I would have fit in perfectly if I had whitened my teeth, tanned my skin a few shades darker, put on my giant diamond earrings and worn a white linen skirt with a sherbet colored sweater draped over my shoulders.

And of course I should have thought to find a cute little dog to bring as an accessory as well because apparently I missed the memo that says that children aren't to be tolerated at concerts but dogs are totally welcome. My goodness.

The minute we stepped foot under the canopy I felt the collective 'snap' of the heads of every usher in the room sending me their "you wouldn't dare bring a child in here would you..." looks. One chartreuse-sweater clad gentleman grumbled "no babies allowed in here" as I ushered Jenna and Dallin and Landon up to the row where my parents were waiting. sheesh.

Jackson and I sat on the grass and completely enjoyed the concert without worrying about offending anyone. Maybe I'm a little hyper-sensitive.

Having complained about the attitudes of some of the concert-goers I must say that the symphony is extraordinary and the sound is just amazing. We've been to a couple of these symphonies now and the music is definately worth the drive and even worth feeling second class.

Last summer we went to see Itzhak Perlman and it was an awesome experience. To see that great Jewish man whose body is crippled from the effects of polio play the theme song from Schindler's List was unforgettable.

The entire place was absolutely silent while Mr. Perlman painfully and slowly walked out on to the stage with his crutches and took a few minutes to get situated. Once he began to play the place was transformed. It really was so beautiful. I don't know how they engineer the sound under the canopy but I've never heard anything like it.

The Mahler symphony was stunning as well. We saw/heard the Utah Symphony play Mahler's 1st symphony a couple of years ago and we were completely impressed but I have to say (my dad agrees!) this was even better.

Overall I have to say that I am grateful to the Sun Valley community for providing and sharing beautiful things with the world even if I have to sit on the grass.

Plain old summer. August 8-14

2011-08-14T22:13:00.001-06:00

We had a great plain old summer week. We ate lots of purple potatoes from my dad's garden and lots of raspberry jam from my mom's raspberries.

We had a visit from Trevor and Ashlee and Collin and from Emily and baby Sam and of course Beck,Jer, Ethan and Mia..

We went to our favorite water park..er..canal {the drops in Shoshone} and we went to see the movie "The Help" which is still making me chuckle.

Summer is wrapping up way too early.

Jackson is rolling all over the place which makes me sad for some reason. Little pill bug. Is it just because he's the last that I feel this way? We are still loving nursing which is a big milestone for me. I have always lost my milk at about four months with the other kids so this little guy is going to have to nurse until he's five to make up for lost time!

Sometimes the thought of backpacks and papers and homework makes me hyperventilate. I am in the process of reorganizing all our school stuff and I have a million plans to organize all the closets in the house. I'll report if we actually have success!

If at first you don’t succeed…

2011-08-09T21:32:00.004-06:00

Watching Jackson lately is like watching a caterpillar hatch from a chrysalis. It is complete torture not to reach in and help. That moment when he is just about all the way over but his little arm is still stuck underneath? That is the moment when I can barely stop myself from reaching in. The only thing that keeps me from intervening is that look of pride mixed with surprise when he does it all alone.

I think the times I spend watching my kids do difficult things alone are my hardest mothering moments. I am one of those moms who goes through the whole house covering everyone up because I woke up cold. I always will. And I will probably always be proof reading papers at 10 pm and combing knots out of Barbie’s hair…

I have seen the growth and compassion that comes from struggle—learning to read, ride a bike, tie shoes, talk to a new friend—my kids have been through all kinds of painful experiences that have helped them grow and I wouldn't change it. I love watching them grow in every way but I wouldn't mind if they would slow down a little.

Cold Turkey. {August 1-7}

2011-08-08T23:55:00.002-06:00

Sometimes we need to detox from electronics. There’s no easy way to do it so we just pull the plug. Anyone who knows us knows for which child this is most difficult (and necessary). Can anyone guess?

Getting rid of video games makes us really productive.

The kids make their beds without being asked…

They pick up all their toys…

And they smile all day.

Just kidding on this picture. Jenna took this self-portrait for fun—she’s actually been having a blast playing with Benson (and Rustin!) this week.

Dallin and Landon were at EFY this last week. I actually sent them to EFY just so we could have the music CD. I’m listening as we speak.

A few outcomes of a week of EFY—

Both boys have learned to text {that unlimited text plan is on its way…last night Rustin asked Dallin who he was texting with and he said he wasn’t sure—two girls at the same time}.

The boys gave a great family home evening tonight about “becoming.”

We have been practicing swing dance moves all week in anticipation of the next stake dance. Jenna is going to get more dance practice than any girl I know with all these brothers!

Jack still has an infected eye but the rest of us are doing much better. Viva la summer!

One little, two little, three little cyclops...

2011-08-04T12:00:00.004-06:00

Our adventures with adenovirus a.k.a. EKC (epidemic keratoconjunctivitis)

And possibly the saddest hing I have ever seen--a baby with his little eye glued shut in the morning.

Rustin's eyes aren't red anymore but his corneas are full of white blood cell infiltration which is the precursor to corneal ulcers so he (we) will all be using steroids for the next few weeks. Wish us luck!

8 seconds and other adventures

2011-07-25T10:41:00.003-06:00

This last weekend we went to Oakley to stay with our friends the Justesens.

When I say we I mean everyone except Rustin. He spent most of the weekend home looking like this...

He has keratoconjunctivitis which is one rotten adenovirus eye infection. It is extremely contagious and very painful. This is day 6 of the joy. Rustin is holed up in our bedroom to keep from spreading the fun--we are really missing our dad around here.

So, the rest of us headed to Oakley and the kids' rodeo on Thursday. Austin and Benson rode the calves and steers. Their 8 second attempt was more like 2 seconds but it was fun! Dallin and Landon were signed up to ride the junior bulls but by 10:30 pm with barrels and team roping still to go we called it quits.

The kids spent Saturday playing in the pond, catching frogs, riding four-wheelers and shooting bows and arrows. And of course Saturday night was the big dance for the twenty-fourth of July.

Neil and Rustin were mission companions in Portugal. It's amazing how some friendships just stick.

And remember my favorite cookbook author...

Neil grew up on the ranch next door to the Pioneer Woman in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. How's that for trivia!

If I had this view out my kitchen window I would never stop doing the dishes.

And the rest of their home is just as beautiful. Big thanks to Neil and Ginger for a great weekend.

pics of the week

2011-07-19T16:01:00.001-06:00

Happy Harry Potter Day!

2011-07-15T14:17:00.001-06:00

Oh yes we did. We went to the Midnight showing of Harry Potter in 3-D and we had a blast! The Harry Potter movies are some of the few that actually do justice to the books.

We've read the series together twice and we have seen all the movies in the theater. We enjoyed every second of cheering, laughing, sighing and crying. Opening night movies are an experience unlike any other. We loved it.

Non-contact sports and Jedi training

2011-07-13T22:55:00.000-06:00

The terms "non-contact" and "sport" don't belong in the same sentence with our boys. I'm sure that the average child would be able to make it through swimming season without any major injuries but we don't have average children. They are exceptional. They have the distinct ability to injure themselves in just about any situation.

Last week during swimming Austin somehow managed to get hit in the mouth hard enough to knock his bottom left front tooth loose. Actually it fractured the bony plate under the tooth killing the blood supply. He had a root canal Monday which will be finished next week. So for now his bottom teeth look like they had an extra tooth shoved between them. It's lovely.

In the mean time Jackson is in Jedi training school. Sweet little guy.

I'm hoping if he learns to use the force soon enough he can make it through childhood without any visits to the ER.

Either way he certainly keeps his siblings entertained....

....which keeps his mom happy!

July 4th in Idaho

2011-07-11T22:38:00.001-06:00

All these fun things to do and what was the most desired item?

We could have sworn this chair was a turbo charged roller coaster ride the way the boys fought over who got to sit in it. Seriously.

We had one of our favorite Fourth of July days.

Frisbee golf was a blast. They lost three frisbees and found three. The 'water obstacle' {a.k.a. the irrigation ditch at CSI} has claimed more than a few of our frisbees. In fact the boys just wear their swim suits and water shoes when they go to play.

Benson and Jenna are still talking about floating the drops in the canals at Shoshone. We do that kind of thing around here. Float in canals...

The fireworks on the lawn at CSI were awesome. Everyone in the community pitched in a little to keep the fireworks going. The band played at CSI (the oldest running outdoor summer band in the west!) and the tabernacle choir music was included in the radio station program for the works. Awesome.

July 4-10

2011-07-11T21:13:00.003-06:00

I'm still figuring out how to use Photoshop to make pictures look great and how to make them best fit on the blog page. I hope the layouts will print okay if I print my blog into a book. That's a project I need to get going on... Does anyone have pointers for that?

Go ahead and click on the pictures to see them better.

Hope everyone is having a fun summer. Come visit us!

Is your house a fun as ours tonight?

2011-07-07T23:11:00.000-06:00

It is 11 pm and here's what we have.

One Eight year old sleeping on my floor because she had a bad dream last night.

Two 14-year-olds who think they don't need to go to bed because tomorrow is sleep-in day. {Friday}

Three loads of laundry waiting to be put away. {Only three? not bad!}

One giant stack of dinner plates that never got thrown away. And a mom who is too tired to deal with it...

One little night owl who is content to sit and watch me type.

Maybe he will go for sleep-in day tomorrow too!

Awesome week!--June 27-July 3

2011-07-03T22:55:00.003-06:00

We had a great week!

This was the first week of the summer with nothing taking us away from home. I loved it. Of course I always love staying home.

Jenna turned Eight on Monday. This was a much awaited day as all birthdays are. We had cake and ice cream at grandma's house and Jenna got to be princess for the day. I think her favorite thing was going with Grandma Patterson to the store to pick out her own present. So exciting!

All the kids have a quilt from from Grandma Patterson for their baptism day that they use each morning at scriptures. Jenna has been waiting a long time to get her own "comforter." And it has really great soft fabric on the back. Perfect.

Jenna was baptized on Saturday. We had Grandma & Pa Patterson, Grandma & Pa Hatch, Kendra, Emmett, Josh and Ethan and Tom and Lindsay. And of course some great friends from the ward. It was a really nice, comfortable day. As parents, having our children on the right path is the greatest and most comforting experience of all. We know that Jenna is on the right path. We are so happy to have our little Jenna in the family.

A peek under my bed.

2011-06-27T21:57:00.004-06:00

I'm not actually putting pictures of the dust and hair balls (or should I say golden retriever tumble weeds?) that are currently under my bed. But I do have a this.

A giant box of wishful thinking. I am a window shopper. I rarely buy things {that would require making decisions} but I love to look. I have a cardboard box full of pictures of things I love. Most of these magazines are old Pottery Barn magazines. I live in Idaho--which I love--but we don't have Pottery Barn around here so items in the magazines are just pictures--ideas.
An actual store?!--Heaven!
Jenna and I visited Trolley square while we were in Salt Lake.

I love Pottery Barn furniture. I dream of completely furnishing my house...

One late night (or early morning? remember that little monkey that is currently attached to my hip?), I discovered a treasure chest of fodder for my imagination. It totally beats the box under my bed. Now I'm dreaming of becoming a carpenter. Next time you are up in the middle of the night you should check it out.

Then you will want to go buy a table saw. And a Kreg Jig.

Have a look for yourself.

Free Furniture plans Here.

I want to make this.

or maybe this.

or maybe I will start with something a little more simple like this.

I also have a thing for beautiful pottery with beautiful colors. Good thing it's my dad's current hobby. He doesn't know it yet but building Pottery Barn knock-off furniture is about to become his next hobby!

I really want this--

It's plastic.

They must have sent a product developer to my house when I wasn't looking because families like mine don't get along so well with glass containers.

But if we could refrain from breaking things I would also love this one--

I have a million mason jars around. As does any self-respecting Idaho girl.

So this would fit right in to our kitchen. Right after the dishes are done!

Click on the pictures to go to the web sites.

Happy window shopping!

Week three June 20-26

2011-06-27T11:41:00.006-06:00

Another great week. Lots more pictures to come--right after we get the laundry done!

The favorites of the week--

* perfect weather for swimming, hiking and playing

* new cousins--there will be four new babies this year when

Ariel and Sam have their baby in a few weeks. Very cute.

* A day at the lake included sand castles, canoes, watermelon football (they float!) and ultimate frisbee. Not to mention a few rotten sunburns. ouch.

*Climbing a 2600 year old tree!

*Delicious food. Peanut butter brownie s'mores

topped the list of favorite deserts.

* Water painting lessons from Aunt Heidi

*Family Dance

*Family testimony meeting

*exploring Minnetonka cave (888 stairs!)

*Soft quiet beds!

Summer week two

2011-06-20T00:23:00.000-06:00

We had a great and BUSY week.
We all went with Rustin to Salt Lake City for the National Optometry Convention.

A few highlights:

*Pushing elevator buttons.

*Having enough room key copies made that everyone could have their own.

*A Risk game on Landon's I-Pod touch that lasted three days. {Landon won!}

*Riding the trolley.

*Rodesio. {We got our money's worth there!}

*Dallin and Landon riding the trax back from Rodesio alone at night. {eek!}

*Hogle Zoo.

*Cousins. {Jackson and Braden went swimming for the first time!}

*Swimming, swimming and more swimming.

*Costco muffins for breakfast three days in a row.
*Kendra and Ryan's wedding on Friday. Congrats!

We got to see old friends from school in Tennessee. We have the best friends. We all picked up right where we left off. After we ditched the alcohol-laden SCO reception we went to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. We put all the kids at one table and all the parents at our own table. I'm not so sure the waiters loved it but we sure did! It was so fun to catch up with everyone. We missed those who didn't make it.

We are now back home with just enough time to do the laundry before we head out to a Hatch reunion at Bear Lake. Can't wait!

June 5-12 First week of Summer!

2011-06-13T00:22:00.002-06:00

We finally have warm weather. Austin, Benson, Jenna, Jackson and I missed our 'big boys' and dad all week. They went to Wyoming to reenact a handcart trek. They all had a great experience remembering the faith and strength of our ancestors. Rustin's great... grandmother was with the Martin handcart company. My Great...Grandfather was one of the rescuers.

Rustin and I had our 16th anniversary. Time flies!

While Rustin was gone I had a nerve pinched somewhere in my right arm that made my hand swell up and it felt like it was on fire. Nothing helped--not pain medication, cold or heat. My mom and sister were gone so I had two miserable days by myself. Thankfully my dad was home and he and all four missionaries from the basement gave me a blessing. It was a great experience. I had an MRI on Friday and it looks like my neck is fine so for now I am hoping that a course of steroids will fix the problem. My 1st finger is numb/rubbery and my arm is a little sore but nothing terrible.

Everyone is healthy and happy. We are adjusting to the summer schedule pretty well--I haven't locked anyone in their room yet! Next week looks like it will be great.

I'm dreaming of

2011-06-10T22:41:00.002-06:00

Flowers.

Even though I swore them off.

Flowers make me feel like all is right with the world.

This picture makes me want to move to France so I can browse the little outdoor markets.

Peonies can transport me like that.

Sometimes I fantasize about living in Buckingham palace. As in--I bet Princess Kate doesn't find crackers under the couch when vacuuming. I bet Princess Kate doesn't vacuum at all. I bet no one actually eats crackers in Buckingham palace. They eat baguettes. With tiny little shrimp.

There is something about the royal family that fascinates and bugs me at the same time. I just read a great book called "the Help" about black maids in the south in the 60's and I realized what bugs me about royalty. It's really one of the same things that bug me about slavery--that is the idea that a person is born into their place in life with no ability to choose or make it different. I have always known that I could be anything I want to be.

So today I am glad to choose to live right here in Idaho with my little bunch. Crackers and all.

accomplishments

2011-05-31T22:29:00.000-06:00

My list for the day:

1. Finish ~~all~~ the laundry

~~one load~~

Put the laundry in the basket.

2. ~~Make banana bread.~~

Eat the cake from Grandma.

3. ~~Update Quicken accounts.~~

4. Don't forget to go to Austin's boat race at Dierke's lake at 10:30.

5. Don't forget to go to Benson's Kindergarten graduation at 10:30.

quote from Benson this morning--"Mom, do you even know I'm here?"

6. Swipe Ketsup and Mustard from your mother's pantry because you

don't have time to go to the store and get some to take to Austin's class picnic. See #4 and #5.

7. Take Benson to Baseball practice.

When you get there, realize that the practice is tomorrow.

8. When you get back from taking Benson ~~to practice~~,

realize that Dallin is now late for his brain neuro-feedback appointment--
which you forgot last week costing $75.

9. Be thankful that Grandma took pity on her distant offspring and fed them all dinner.

10. Blame everything on the fact that you had mastitis yesterday and barely survived

the 16 hours it took for antibiotics to kick in.

Tomorrow is the last day of school. Hallelujah!

Pitter Patter

2011-05-18T15:48:00.002-06:00

Here's what's making my heart go Pitter Patter--I finally discovered how to download the Pioneer Woman PhotoShop Essentials Actions for my very own program.

This came with the usual amounts of frustration--learning new computer tricks makes me feel like throwing things. I only had a few moments of temper tantrum this time.

But here are the first few results. I have a feeling this is the start of a beautiful relationship...

Original

Boost plus fresh and lively

Soft and faded plus edge burn

Edge burn plus boost

Boost plus fresh and lively is a little harsh. I know there is a way to soften some of the effects but that will have to wait for tomorrow. I have six kids claiming near starvation to attend to.

Some gifts you just don't complain about...

2011-05-13T18:04:00.001-06:00

Jenna and Benson greeted me on Mother's Day with their present--they got themselves completely dressed for 9 am church. Notice the awesome buttoning job on Benson's shirt.
I couldn't bring myself to fix it. He was so proud of himself.

And Jenna got herself ready and got the Sunday bag all ready to go without any help from me. These kind of gifts are irreplaceable--along with the pots of flowers and bookmarks and necklaces from school...

My mom and Becki and I got pedicures in honor of the Big Day. My feet took twice as long as theirs because I wear open back shoes rain, snow or shine. It makes for really soft heels. The blue toenails look suspiciously like frostbite--perfect for summer!

Someone forgot to give this little monkey the "moms get to take a long, deep, three-hour nap on Mother's Day" memo. I snuggled with him anyway.

And the most awesome gift was from--ME--I bought myself beautiful baskets from D&B. I have to say I love to buy my own presents--I get it perfect every time!

Baby overload.

2011-05-06T22:40:00.005-06:00

We have had a newborn for one full month now. One of these days I am going to write and think about something other than baby. I don't think it will be any time soon though. Sorry. I am just getting to the stage where I am {sometimes} glad to have the boys hold Jackson in the other room when they get home from school. I'm tired. Really tired. But really happy.

Jackson snuggles. When he lays on the bed by me he curves himself up on his side and somehow scootches over. He does it with Rustin too.

I have to say that even though I am exhausted (did I mention I'm tired?) I am really enjoying this little boy.

Is there anything cuter than a yawning baby?

The only thing that comes close is a thumb sucking baby.

My dentist father informed me today that the orthodontic people officially say that pacifiers are better on baby teeth than thumbs. But I say a self-soothing baby beats all official positions. That's what braces are for right? He does like a binky. I guess we'll see how it goes. I've never had a thumb sucker (but not for lack of trying...).

And last--we think little Jack is going to be blue eyed like his sister and Grandpa Hatch. She is really more green now (so is Grandpa Hatch actually). His eyes get lighter every day. We brown-eyed people think it's awesome to see what the gene pool spits out. Very fun.

Tomorrow-- pictures from the blessing day last Sunday. If I get to it...

Just for Cinco de Mayo!

2011-05-05T12:25:00.007-06:00

How to make the perfect burrito...

First--grab one of these most awesome 'tortillas'--a big square 100% cotton muslin blanket. It is pretty and light weight so you won't end up with a sweaty baby. Fold down the top corner. Fold it more if you have small babe less for a big one.

Second--Place your chosen filling in the center of the wrapping (you want the ears to be about level with the top of the blanket)and fold the corner over the shoulder, across the tummy and tuck snugly under the back (make sure it is smooth so the little one doesn't have to lay on bumps or lumps).

Third--Fold up the bottom.

Fourth--Pull the top right corner down over the shoulder (snug the little arm in close) .

Fifth--Here's where this awesome blanket comes in handy--use the left-over fabric on the right side and pull it UP and around the tummy and under the back keeping everything in place.

Sixth--snuggle snuggle snuggle.

and Enjoy!

**Ashlee thanks for introducing me to this blanket. I love it so much I had to go get another one!

Easter, week three and injury

2011-04-26T23:24:00.000-06:00

This little one is three weeks old today. This picture was taken two minutes ago... I'm sure it is against the laws of the universe to have a nursing infant have a stuffy green nose. At least it should be.

I love his fuzzy clean mow-hawk hair. It smells delicious. Of course it is nearly midnight and he is still bright eyed. Speaking of eyes--we think he is going to follow Jenna's footsteps and be blue. Today they look completely purple. His eyes get lighter by the day!

We had a good Easter weekend though it was incredibly strange not to have a single member of our families here for egg hunts and baskets. We missed everyone! Rustin was swamped with a funeral and lots of stake conference meetings so we squished things in where we could. It was a gorgeous day outside for once.

You'll notice Landon is missing from all the Easter pictures.

He jumped off the play house onto the trampoline and after a few crazy bounces he ended up on the ground with a severely injured back. It has been four days and it was just today that he has finally been able to walk to the bathroom without tears and help. And lots of pain medicine.

This is Landon trying to enjoy his birthday candles on Monday.

It looks like he most likely 'just' tore the muscles in his lower left back--no broken ribs or vertebra. He isn't able to walk more than a few feet at a time so we aren't sure what to do about school. He is obviously done with track and basketball. Darn. We are praying that we will know what to do to help him recover in the best way possible.

I am off to sleep. May you all have sweet slumber and happy spring! {or winter if you are in Australia!}

Can it be?

2011-04-25T22:09:00.006-06:00

Dallin and Landon age 13 1/2

We have two fourteen-year-olds! It's true. It was fourteen years ago that our lives suddenly and completely turned upside down.

Kendra and Ryan saved the day with this ice cream cake when the cake I made fell to pieces.

We were just remembering that night (4 am...) so long ago. Rustin and I very naively thought we would have another month before babies arrived... (they came 5 weeks early) Rustin was in the middle of finals (organic chemistry and physics) and we didn't have anything ready for them.

I remember the next day when Rustin had gone home to shower and nap and the nurses left me alone in my room with two babies. That was the most overwhelming feeling ever.

My mom remembers scouring the mall and stores for any clothing that would fit barely their 5 lbs bodies. It is a lot easier to find tiny clothes today. I guess there are more premies these days?

We always love our crazy toddlers but Dallin and Landon were particularly full of it. Last night we were talking about their younger years. Kendra remembers them running along in the back yard and Landon tripped and yelled, "Dallin tripped me!"

Dallin quickly replied "I didn't trip you--it was my magic!"

I remember watching them boost each other out the ground level window of our Pocatello apartment so they could escape to the nearby swings.

Rustin and I both remember how {before 18 months of age} both boys could get out of their cribs faster than we could get out of their room.

Today Landon can make pancakes from scratch without a recipe. And he is the designated cookie maker. Dallin {more than any of the other kids} has taken like a pro to caring for baby Jacks. And he is very quick to compliment and encourage the younger kids with reading, math or whatever is hard for them. They set a great tone in our house--we couldn't ask for more awesome oldest kids!

Two!!

2011-04-19T23:23:00.000-06:00

It's been two weeks since our new arrival and we are all finally starting to find our new normal. Jackson is very peaceful. Of course anyone who could spend 18 hours a day nestled next to his warm, soft, food source wouldn't find much to complain about!

Jacks (or should it be Jax? I can't seem to stick to a name completely yet. Jack doesn't feel quite right and of course I can't always say Jackson...) is growing like crazy. He had gained 13 oz. in 8 days at his ten day checkup. I forget how fast they grow! We go to bed between 10 and 11:30 and he usually sleeps until about 3:30. After that we fall back asleep nursing until morning... I am working on having him go to sleep by himself at bedtime. Trying not to completely spoil this child. Can you spoil a baby? I don't think so.

We got to have Grandma and Pa Hatch come visit for a few days. We wished they could stay for a week.

This is Jackson's preferred sleep position. We need a grandma full time!

Dallin and Landon are busy with track (Dal set a goal to run two miles a day and so far he has stuck to it!) Landon is kicking pants with shot put. Dal prefers discus. They are also finishing up with AAU basketball. We will be so glad when that it done!

Rustin is swamped as always with funerals, baptisms, appointments, work and of course--his wife and babe. We can't wait for spring to hit here in full spring.

Week one with a newborn...

2011-04-12T19:18:00.005-06:00

Day one: If you are ever lucky enough to have a sixth child at the hospital make sure to go with an arsenal of comments like --"we love having a house full of kids!" and "I'm so glad I'm the one with these kids too!" or "we just take it a day at a time."

Didn't sleep one bit in the hospital. Jackson spent the night with the nurses who were all nervous about his grunting and choking episodes. We went home a little before our 24 hours were up.

Day two: Jackson still kind of chokes when he spits up. He isn't grunting as much as he was in the hospital since he threw up a bunch of mucus but he still makes me nervous enough that I am extremely hyper vigilant. He hasn't cried even once. Just kind of grunty. Not much sleep.

Day three: I've never been so swollen in my life. My hands and feet are shiny and my face has swollen so my eyes look like I belong to a raccoon family. I'm sure the copious amounts of IV fluids during labor and delivery haven't helped the situation. Even my jaw is so swollen that I can only touch my front four teeth when I close. Is my body going to recover from this?

Jack eats pretty regularly every three hours. He falls asleep quickly so if he acts like he's hungry within 30 minutes or so I feed him on the same side and count it as the same feeding.
Comment of the day comes from Benson. "Hey mom, are you done milking yet?!"

Day four: My mom is still coming over every morning and does a couple of loads of laundry and makes me breakfast. I'm spoiled. Jackson isn't grunty anymore and I am not nearly so worried about him choking. Night wasn't too bad last night.

Day five: I still don't want to leave my room. Thankfully lots of friends are helping drive the kids to all the activities. It was Sunday today and I slept the entire three hours with baby Jack. He cried for the first time today. Cute little wail.

Day six. I am starting to feel normal again. I can finally touch my teeth together. Jackson is adorable. He still very rarely cries but I am tired. I am not nearly as tearful this time around as I have been sometimes. Though I did almost cry today when I saw a picture of a newborn penguin and its mom...

One week: I seems like an eternity ago that I was pregnant. Almost immediately after Jack was born I felt the absence of his movements and his little spirit in my tummy. I found myself wishing I was still pregnant more than once. I can't believe I would say that. The difference between this time and the other times is that I know this sweet stage in life will be over in just a heartbeat. Missing a nap or two is such a temporary state of existence. I'm enjoying every minute--except the first few seconds when he starts to nurse--yeouch! As my mother always says--"this too shall pass" whether it is a good time or a bad.

The day we all fell in love.

2011-04-11T16:29:00.004-06:00

Jackson Rustin 24 hours old

It is amazing how we women like to talk about labor and delivery. I think it's actually therapy. It keeps us from having post-traumatic stress syndrome. And it is a magical moment we don't want to forget.

We had a baby last Tuesday. We were able to go to the hospital and have labor induced one week early. We started a little bit of pitocin and my more-than-ready uterus immediately started contracting every 2-3 minutes. Not painful, just uncomfortable.

After a couple of hours Dr. Coleman came in (about 11:00) and declared that it was time to break my water and he kindly and wisely suggested we get an epidural before the watery event.

The epidural was placed, my water broken and--as usual--intense contractions commenced immediately. That is when it became very evident that the epidural was working only on the left side of my body. ugg. After a good 30 minutes or so the anesthetist came back in to try to fix the problem and discovered that the catheter had pulled itself out. (about 12:00) During the course of the day we figured out that out that the anesthetist had a dental appointment later that afternoon with my dad; so I told him that I was going to call and tell my dad to only get him as numb as he got me. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything that could be done (short of surgical anesthetic) with the rapid intensity of the contractions/dialation and with the baby positioned against my right side.

By this point contractions were extremely intense and I put Rustin to work trying to keep me comfortable. (move my leg a little, I need some ice, help me sit up etc.) There is no one more comforting than Rustin.

The second epidural was placed to no avail. (about 12:30) The baby was posterior and grating against the nerves in my right side with every contraction, which were every two minutes lasting 60-90 seconds. My left side was completely numb. I was able to sit up and lean forward on a birthing bar and that was enough to take the pressure off my back. Rustin and my mom would press a hot blanket against my back during each contraction and things were tolerable. The effect of the epidural and labor made my blood pressure plummet so I had bags and bags of IV fluids and several doses of stimulants to keep me from passing out.

Before we knew it it was time to push. This was the only moment of true tears on my part but my worries were unfounded. Unlike my previous five deliveries, pushing brought total relief from the pain of contractions. Jackson flipped over and into position at the last second and three contractions later he was born--at 3:37 p.m. It turned out that he had the cord wrapped tightly around his neck so he took a little coaxing to get going at first.

All told it took about 7 hours, which is double my other labor and deliveries. I can't complain though--for a 'not perfect' delivery it wasn't so bad.

Baby Jack continued to have some distress for the first couple of hours after birth so he took a visit to the NICU to have some IV fluids and a little extra monitoring.

Jackson went to the NICU just after Rustin left to round up the kids and get everyone dinner. No new mother should ever be left alone after giving birth! I was almost panicked. I wanted my husband and my kids and my baby. I felt completely out of sorts. I was still feeling the effects of all the fluids and stimulants. I was saved from certain insanity when a good friend (Mitch Moffitt--also our pediatrician...) stopped by and offered to check out the baby and give me some grounding words of encouragement. Thanks. One of those tender mercies for sure.

Rustin and the kids arrived at about the same time Jackson was brought back to my room. I felt calm immediately. The kids couldn't stop smiling and the baby was as sweet and cute as ever. The kids offered to stay with me and sleep on the floor. I was tempted to take them up on it. It's amazing how strong the bonds of family are. We all felt it. It is completely different to have a baby with an entire support group of my husband and kids. When we had Benson the twins were seven. Today they are almost fourteen. The difference is immense and so comforting. I have been promised that my children will be my greatest joy in life and I truly believe it.

A Handsome Hatchling

2011-04-06T16:48:00.004-06:00

We have a baby!
Jackson Rustin Hatch
April 5, 2011
8 lbs. 6 oz
21 inches
3:37 pm

Really cute.

This is the first of our kids to be born with no facial swelling, no redness and hair. We are all in love. And feel truly blessed.

The day I fell in love...

2011-03-29T16:22:00.002-06:00

I have to admit I have been a bit of a whiner this last week or two.

Up until this point I have been able to avoid most of the fun-pregnancy-related things that have afflicted my previous pregnancies. That is until about two weeks ago. This last few weeks have brought on a wealth of fatigue, heartburn, nausea, swollen feet, stretchy joints, carpal tunnel and sleeplessness...need I go on?

My illogical pregnant mind fears that this might literally go on forever and suddenly a couple of weeks seem like unconquerable years.

My ideal delivery would include a set induction date ( a week early?) with the anesthesiologist waiting in my hospital room. None of this water-breaking-at-home with a mad frantic dash to the hospital in excruciating pain. (We've done that twice...) But I fear it is not to be.

It seems I have the pregnancy version of the Plague. I am a VBAC. (vaginal birth after cesarean) I have had two normal deliveries since Austin's large, posterior head and a failed forceps attempt forced a surgical delivery more than 11 years ago. But still there is dome increased risk of C-section if we induce labor. But not inducing labor increases the chance (and my worry) that I will have a giant baby and have to repeat the difficult labor that ends in the OR... So I wait and worry.

For some reason it has been hard to remember how much we have wanted and anticipated and looked forward to this little one...

So it was in this state of mind that I went to an ultrasound to check the size of the baby on Friday at 37 1/2 weeks.

Here's what we saw.

Instantly all my worries and complaints vanished. I mean instantly. My heart just wanted to burst with love the minute I was his little face. How could I have ever complained about carrying and sustaining the life of this cute little bundle?!

In that room I felt a rush of peace and calmness. This little (7 lbs. 14 oz. !!) boy is worth any amount of discomfort. Suddenly waiting a couple of weeks doesn't seem like such a big deal. Not when I know what is to come.

37 at 37

2011-03-20T16:42:00.006-06:00

I never thought I would be 37 weeks pregnant when I turned 37. Crazy! I am surprised how much I love the idea of having a baby now. Back in my younger/wiser days I was sure that I would be the best mom if I have babies in my twenties when my body was healthiest... While I agree that pregnancy and newborns were probably physically easier in my younger days, I love being a little wiser and more established. Love it.

And I can not say enough about having older kids around to help out. They can make dinner for themselves and me if needed. They can clean their room and do their own homework. And babysit. Awesome!

We believe in being honest...

2011-03-16T13:12:00.000-06:00

Today I walked outside into the backyard (actually I didn't make it off the steps...) where just two days ago I planned to plant so many beautiful flowers and trees...

I changed my mind. I decided that it is all too much work. I'm just going to buy a commercial size jug of season long weed killer and douse the whole place. One look at the bumpy lumpy 40 year old lawn and all its faults sealed the fate.

Apparently our lovely pooch has taken his personal responsibility to recycle very seriously. That big hole next to the soggy pile of mint is his personal attempt to assist me in my plantings. He filled it with paper plates and {I believe} a naked barbie. He didn't chew the barbie. Just took her on a sight-seeing trip.

It's a good thing he is cute and very sweet. And soft. Because some days he is about to become a 'Lady and the Tramp" dog. Any yes that is my belly in the way of the picture...

The Garden Spot. Complete with squash that has been waiting to be harvested since last year.

I have determined that growing babies and growing gardens are incompatible. At least for now.

Bloomin!

2011-03-12T12:23:00.001-07:00

Why is it that I am obsessed with the weather?

I love it when spring finally comes. It distracts me from the inside of the house and gives me fun things to think about. I actually have a seed catalog that I often fall asleep reading.

I know just what vegetables to plant in the garden. Last year we missed most of the garden harvest due to a really rotten case of morning sickness. This year I can't actually reach the ground to plant any veggies but I have hope that I will have a baby here sooner than later. Actually one month from now. Crazy!

I have to admit I am looking at and planning flowers to keep my self from sinking into the last-month-of-pregnancy-I'm-sure-this-will-never-end state of self pity.

Here's what makes me smile...

1--A cutting garden. Who needs vegetables anyway? Especially when I have a father who cannot restrain himself from planting every color and variety of potato available. This is going along the fence in my garden spot. Cone flowers, echinacea, black-eyed susan, verbena, daisy, and I need some good filler plants. I've actually rarely planted perennials because we have always moved so often. I've decided not to wait any longer.

2-- Knockout roses. I want these along the front of my house in front of the bushes we planted last year. Ever read about these beauties? Hardy, compact and disease resistant.

3-- Trees. My boys are obsessed with trees. I think they always have been. There is a beautiful weeping willow on the way to Dal and Land's school and they always say "Look at that tree! How long will it take to get one of those? I wish we could just transplant that big tree!"

London Plane

Look at that bark--it looks like a water color painting! These trees are all over temple square in Salt Lake City.

Navajo Globe Willow

fast growing and not as messy as most willows. Looks like a big umbrella!

Weeping Willow

(though most landscapers insist that this is a messy disease prone tree. It looks like a dancing girl and it is my first love in the tree world...)

And of course I can't go without a couple of

Blue Spruce

I also need to thin the irises and plant some day lilies in with them so we can have blooms in the late summer as well as spring.

Of course actually doing the work is harder than imagining but that's what kids are for right?!

What did that groundhog say?

2011-02-27T19:32:00.001-07:00

Our computer crashed. Thankfully we have a direct line to a good computer hospital. (Thanks Sean!). He managed to rescue our pictures. Yea!

The kids are playing hide-and-seek with all the lights turned off. The darkness hides the dishes and laundry so all I can hear are sounds of laughter. Good idea.

I secretly can't wait until basketball is over. And I accidently "forgot" to sign up for soccer for Jen and Ben. It starts the day after the baby is due... Dallin and Landon had two days this last week when they were home less than 30 minutes between 7:15 am and 9 pm. Exhausting.

Everyone had the flu one at a time over the last few weeks. There are still remnants of yucky coughs floating around. As Landon told me this morning (he and Dallin are studying viruses in science) "I have a cough now so I am probably getting better but maybe I need to stay home just for today". Hmmmm? Nope. Sorry Lan.

Jenna has a fever again tonight. Hopefully we aren't on round two...

In case you are wondering, it doesn't work to fill your ear (if you are using an ear thermometer) with really hot water in order to fake a fever. It does work to fill your mouth with really hot water before taking an oral temp but the guilty look on their faces usually gives the deceit away.

Rustin and the three big boys spent the weekend at the winter Klondike camp-out. I don't know why but it is the favorite camp-out of the year for them. They built and slept in a snow cave and woke up warm and toasty unlike their tenting counterparts. -2 degrees tends to blow right through tents...

The sun came out on Saturday and they all came home sunburned. They loved it.

We have six inches of snow outside. The snow forced Austin's school to cancel his ski trip. Ironic huh. Last week we had a day when the temperature reached 65. It made me want to put fake tan lotion on and go out and weed the flower beds. Except I can't reach my legs or the flower beds...

I have reached that stage of hugeness when perfect strangers look at me with pity and say "oh how much longer until your baby?!" My answer is always the same. "A year or so I think."

Actually it is only six weeks but oh what a long six weeks it will be. I am as big now as I was when I had Jenna. No wonder I loved being pregnant with Jenna. Cute little less-than-eight-pounder. Big babies are definitely harder to carry--good thing they are cute!

Pictures to come soon!

Love, bribes and other important things.

2011-02-15T23:06:00.005-07:00

Because it's Valentine's Day I am starting with a picture of pretty flowers courtesy of Rustin. I would show the chocolates he sent but they are gone...

Here's what I spent the morning doing. It made my family happy.

There are a few things I learned from my years (7+) working as a nurse and I've used a lot of those skills in my life as a mother--bandaging wounds, dosing tylenol and deciding whether injuries were ER worthy or not.

But I learned another skill that is just as important. What would that be you might ask? The power of a good bribe.

It's true. I don't know what it is about nurses and health care providers in general but there is nothing like a little food to butter them up. If you ever find yourself or your loved one in the hospital and you want to be sure to receive good care I have a tip. Find out whether the nurses work eight or twelve hour shift rotations and put together a basket of goodies for each shift. {Candy, lotions, popcorn--anything good.} Night nurses will be especially impressed because usually only the day shift workers get the goodies.
I have seen the magic work many a time.

So to apply this to my life--I try to send food/treats in to Rustin's office from time to time. Not only to make Rustin's life easier but because I really do appreciate them.
They often spend more time with him than I do and they can make things easy or miserable.

So for Valentine's Day I sent in a pan of cinnamon rolls. I have worked many years to get these rolls just right but this time I used a little different recipe. I used the recipe from The Pioneer Woman. I made the dough at night and I rolled out the rolls, placed them on the pans, covered them with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge. I wasn't sure how it would turn out but they were awesome! I'm so glad to know that I can make the rolls ahead and still have them ready and hot in the morning.

I spread the rolls on the big pan out to where they were just barely not touching each other. Perfect. I smashed the rolls together in the little pan and the rolls were doughy in the middle. I just put them back in the oven but next time I will spread them out a little bit.

I have to say--I like my frosting recipe better than The Pioneer Woman's. It is perfect. Not too sweet. Buttery. It can make a mediocre roll heavenly. Here we go:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tbs (about) milk

melt these together in a sauce pan until everything comes to a boil.

remove from heat.

add 1 tsp vanilla

about 2 cups powdered sugar.

Wisk until it's smooth and a little thinner than cake frosting. Frost the rolls when they are warm so it can seep into all the nooks and crannies.

Perfect!

Feeling Pioneer-ish?

2011-02-14T21:45:00.001-07:00

It all started one lonely night when Rustin was gone and I found myself home suffering from post-book syndrome. (You know that feeling when you finish a good book and find yourself wandering around the house feeling displaced and looking for something that seems to be missing..?).
My sister suggested I read this online book--Black Heels to Tractor Wheels--on the internet. It only took a minute and I was hooked! I read the entire thing way too fast and quickly found myself back in that post-book syndrome again.

Unfortunately I discovered that this particular story hadn't been published. So I quickly filled my time reading about photography, cooking and life on the ranch.

When I found out that not only was that awesome online romance story published, but that Ree Drummond was coming to Salt Lake City, I couldn't pass up the chance to get a hold of my own copy of both Black Heels to Tractor Wheels and The Pioneer Woman cooks. And it was a good excuse to get out of town with my mom and sister. After all, my days of easily leaving kids behind are numbered.

We had a great weekend and I love love love the books.

Ree was just as charming and down-to-earth in person as she is in her writing. It was fun to hear her speak about needing static guard and about wearing two layers of spanks to try to hide all the "lumps."

Many thanks to everyone for a great night! And to my sis--I got you an autographed copy!

Ree's cute kids watched from the balcony.

Did you notice I found my camera? Now I've lost my phone. ugg.

Janvier

2011-01-29T22:52:00.004-07:00

I lost my camera again. I keep hoping it will show up--this isn't the first time it has been lost... It's hard enough to find something worthy of writing in January. But to try to write without any pictures?

Here's a random account of the month.

Mornings here are dark and frosty. By afternoon things are nice and squishy so the lovely dog can track his big muddy paws all over. I guess I have an excuse for the unmopped floors.

I really should put up a picture of how big Baby Boy cinco and I are getting. 29 weeks now. Benson calls him baby Jack. Under what circumstances do you let your children pick your baby names?

We are busy with basketball season. I am really really, glad Dallin and Landon are on the same team (the middle school has two teams). I think one more set of games and practices might do me in. Here was my driving schedule last Thursday...

0730-Take Dal and Lan to school. (Dal's bari saxophone won't fit on the bus)
0820 Take Jen and Ben to school (they missed the bus...someone please tell the bus driver to stop coming five minutes early.)
1130 Pick up kindergardners and drop all five extras off at their respective homes.
1530 Pick up Austin from school and drop off other car pool kids.
1630 Get Jenna out the door for violin. (thank heavens she can walk.)
1700 Get Austin out the door for piano lessons. (same teacher)
1715 Pick up Dallin and Landon from basketball practice.
1800 Find Benson and Austin's clothes and drive them to the other side of town for basketball practice.
1930 get home and realize that everyone is starving and there is nothing easy to eat.

That's just the driving. Thankfully we live within 10 minutes of most things.

Benson slammed his thumb in the door and cut a big slice. ouch. It's healing well.

Most common phrase from Dallin and Landon lately--"I'm starving--we need more to eat around here." They went through two jars of peanut butter this week. Peanut butter should be fortified like cereal. I need to get creative with some easy to eat snacks and dinners.

Or I might go insane.

help.

Children are our future... and MLK Jr.

2011-01-18T23:05:00.001-07:00

Martin Luther King Jr. day will never be the same for me after living in Memphis. Before we moved to Memphis I really thought that all the fuss over racism and the need for affirmative action was completely exaggerated. Memphis corrected my thinking on that point in a hurry.

I still remember the time (working as an RN) I took a blood transfusion consent form to a patient. She asked
"Y'all don't have any black blood right?"
My naive mind honestly thought she was asking about the color of the blood down in the lab.

Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in downtown Memphis. It completely reshaped both the social and physical topography of the heart of the city. In the wake of the riots, the white folks packed up and moved to the suburbs. The good peaceful black families who didn't care to live in turbulent areas soon followed which in turn created a rainbow of constant color changing neighborhoods.

Melvin and Evelyn Alexander were our surrogate grandparents {black} while we lived in Memphis. They are about the same age as our parents. They still call to check on us now and then and it makes me laugh to hear that distinct downtown Memphis accent on the answering machine. They used to invite us over for Sunday dinner which always included fried chicken legs, mashed potatoes and spaghetti among other things.

One evening after dinner, Rustin and I had the chance to visit with Melvin about growing up in downtown Memphis. He grew up right in the thick of all the political unrest of the 60's. He talked to us about trying to make it home to be able to use the bathroom because there weren't any that were available for him to use while shopping. The same for trying to find a place to get a drink.

Can you imagine being a mom and having to tell your thirsty toddler that he wasn't allowed to use a drinking fountain?

The thought certainly made me shudder and I asked Melvin "did it make you so sad to have to live like that?"
His reply was enlightening. Actually kind of shocking.

"I didn't think anything of it. That's just how it was."

This man is my father's age. We aren't talking about people who lived hundreds of years ago. Had I been born in a different area these would have been my parents.

That's when I realized that the wounds of racism go deeper than I ever suspected. There are entire generations of people--our parents generation!--who had the desire to determine their own destiny squelched by the mind-numbing fogs of racism.

I think that's why Martin Luther King Jr. was so revolutionary. His view point was new even to many of the black population. At least it was new to Melvin and his friends. The idea that black people and white people could live together and be equal. Not in separate communities as many--both black and white--claimed to want. For MLK jr.the spark of ingenuity and excellence and personal achievement stayed alive. He could see through the fogs when most could not.

I don't know what it is going to take to heal the race divides. I just read that Frayser High School (in our ward boundaries and near our old community) now has 86 un-wed pregnant teenage mothers. 86. Inequality was ingrained in both white and black communities for so long that I think it might take many generations to overcome.

It may take generations as it did for the children of Israel.

Back to the older patient in the hospital who didn't want to receive 'black blood.'

Her granddaughter was embarrassed by her grandmother's query. I could see on her face that she wanted me to know that she herself didn't feel as her grandmother did. I'll always remember both of them and it gives me hope that with patience, all will work out as it should.

yumm.

2011-01-05T16:07:00.002-07:00

Which "something" won yesterday?
Banana Bread. Delicious.

And all is well.
This bread has kind of a crisp crust and it is very moist--unless it gets overcooked...

Here is my favorite recipe.

1c sugar
2c. flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp baking powder
mix all together

then add:
1/3 cup milk
1 stick melted butter
2 eggs (beaten)
2 smashed bananas
and to be extra healthy--
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips.

bake at 325 for about an hour. check at 50 minutes.
2 medium pans or 1 large.

Which "something"should I do...

2011-01-04T08:51:00.001-07:00

I feel like I got thrown off the boat. My re-entry to regular life {post-Christmas} has been Rough. Yesterday morning I had to drag all five of my sleepy-head kids out of bed making me feel like the worst mom ever. Even our little six-year-old, who normally bounces out of bed like Tigger, required some serious coaxing to get moving.

Part of that was because we started a great new book. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. We Love It. Couldn't stop reading. We need to start the reading at 8 pm instead of 9:30. But it's hard to move that internal clock back.

Dallin and Landon made waffles this morning because there was nothing else to eat. Should I feel guilty that my 13-year-olds have the recipe for waffles (from scratch...) memorized? I knew there was no bread, milk cereal etc. but I couldn't drag myself to the store yesterday. I did make powdered milk. Gotta love Morning Moo.

I did spend some time on my favorite food planning site. {foodstoragemadeeasy.net} I especially love the excel planning sheet. It even calculates out how much of everything to buy. I have 23 of our most common meals and all the ingredients planned out. For three months. Now I just have to figure out how to buy, store and rotate. I downloaded a shopping app on my new cute pink phone. Anyone have a favorite Droid shopping app? I am feeling overwhelmed with all the technology I need to embrace. I think I'll just go back to a notebook for a little bit...

We have two 3-D models of plant and animal cells due tomorrow. Dallin and Landon have basketball tryouts which stresses out my heart whenever they tell me of their private concerns...Benson is reminding me every two seconds to go get him a basketball (they use smaller sizes for kindergarten...) and Jenna and Austin have regressed a good two months on their music lessons, which we have to go to on Thursday. We have two personal management merit badges to complete and two eagle projects to get done by April. Who nominated me to help my kids with personal management?
Seriously.

Despite all our organization and great work over Christmas break (I actually love my kids to be home...) the house now looks like a tornado.

I think I'll take my sister's advice--"If you can't do it all just do something..." And tomorrow will look better. For Sure.

The merriest of merry!

2011-01-01T20:25:00.014-07:00

A poem in honor of 1/1/11...
Christmas brings feelings
so tender and sweet.
Time all together
makes bonds that run deep.

As 2010 ends
with so much that was good,
we know that this year
went just as it should.

Thanksgiving was snowy
and New Year's was too.
Our Christmas was brown
so what do you do?

A house we saw moving
across the back lawn...
With swings and a slide
for the kids to play on.

Movies and games
were a part of the fun.
In December we saw all our siblings (10 out of 11!)
'cept one.

Rustin was busy
with tithing and more,
visits with good folks--
the favorite for sure!

My favorite was family
and planning good food.
Why is it that chocolate
can cause a good mood?

MP3's and snowboards
took care of the teens.
Just shy of six feet,
those boys grow like beans!

Eleven years old
is a fun age to be.
Austin discovered
that he sure can ski!

Jenna loves books,
and drawing and such.
Of pet shops and ponies,
she can't have too much!

Keep Benson supplied
with some legos and swords,
and it's a sure bet
that he'll never be bored.

This year the holidays
brought so much cheer--
we know it will carry us through
to next year!

We hope you all had a great holiday!

Christmas thanks.

2010-12-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

Things I am thankful for today...

Big laundry machines.
Rustin--home.
Presents that are wrapped.
A dog who is as soft as a rabbit.
Brothers and sisters that all like each other.
Kids that laugh.

Happy Eve of Christmas Eve's Eve!

2010-12-22T22:41:00.001-07:00

We are loving Christmas break this year. It has been sooo nice to have the kids out of school all week. They have done a great job of doing their chores and they are only driving each other (and their mother) slightly insane with their impatience. They keep counting down the days until Christmas wishing time would move faster but I wish I could slow everything down. This is my favorite time of the Christmas season--once Christmas is here the best part is over!

Actually I have to admit--while I love this time of Christmas, I also feel really stressed out as the clock ticks. I am sure I am forgetting something that I will regret. I had to stop several times today and remind myself that my vague sense of anxiety is not based in reality...

Jen and Ben took the camera on a tour of the house. I always wish I had done more decorating sooner. If I had my way I would have Christmas quilts on every bed and trees in every room. I was slowed down this year by our forced smoke-damage-induced evacuation and a serious need for a nap every afternoon. Rustin will be home tomorrow though so things are looking great! Here are some of the favorites around the house...

My mom insists on calling this the Charlie Brown tree but I love it. It has all the little school decorations the kids have made over the years.

This mound on the counter top is what a four batches of sweet chex mix looks like while drying. I really should make at least four more (this filled 20 quarts!) if we have any hope of thanking all the people who have helped and supported us this last year.

And to be realistic this is what the mound of laundry looks like that I swore would not still be lying on the floor tonight. I only have four loads left in the entire house so tomorrow my Christmas present to myself will be clean and organized laundry then Christmas can come and I can watch Little Women and While you were sleeping all day guilt free!

Scrooge??

2010-12-20T21:29:00.006-07:00

We have lots of fun things going on this Christmas season that I really intend to write about. But I have a lot of distractions that are blocking my writing ability such as...the yucky cough attempting to rip my lungs out, class Christmas parties, rain a.k.a slushy snow, the lingering, lovely smell of a Burned (BURNED) pot of roast beef burned (did I mention?) (did I also mention that I can't smell anything?) completely to charcoal that is making me compulsively spray Febreese and wash the cupboard doors in the kitchen (honest to goodness smoke damage--which required yet another visit from Summit Restoration; this time they brought an Ozone machine...I can't really talk about it yet--my eyes threaten to let the floods loose every time the stinkin' subject comes up...). There have been some great things that I am determined to write about so they can be included when I print this blog out into our own family book! For now I am just going to share a video that made all five kids laugh last night. (Thanks sis.)

Hallelujah Chorus Flash Mob

little brothers.

2010-11-30T10:31:00.002-07:00

There are lots of great things about little brothers. Mine were only 5 and 9 (?) when I left for college so I didn't really get to appreciate all the joys of growing up with little boys. But I sure do get to see them here in my house.

This morning I was awakened by Benson saying, "Mom we need you to come help us right now."

Apparently Dallin and Landon have noticed that those big chocolate brown eyes of our youngest have the ability to make me do almost anything.

This morning the boys wanted me to help them make sausage for breakfast so they woke Benson up to have him come get me.

It worked.

What can I say!

Wonders never cease...

2010-11-24T12:44:00.002-07:00

For the first time in a decade...Twin Falls school district actually cancelled school for a Snow Day!

You can imagine the joy. (We told them they didn't have school after the ten pm call from the school district.) I woke up to the sounds of the kids playing some game at 7:30.

" You guys, I thought you would sleep in to at least 9:00..." I whined.

"Mom we usually get up at 6. This is sleeping in. When can we have pancakes?" was the only response.

I'll never understand why Sunday morning is the only day they actually stay asleep until after 8. All five kids will sleep late enough on Sunday to make us rush around to get ready by noon. We are all going to die in January when we go back to the 9 am schedule.

So, instead of making the pie dough, finishing laundry and updating the budget, I spent the day hanging up wet gloves, moving wet boots off the carpet and making endless batches of hot chocolate. And we watched The Princess Bride. It was a good day.

Snowballs and...

Snow fights.

Beau "rescuing" Jenna who was making a snow angel.

Today we have below zero wind chill and lots of snow but the storms passed just in time to travel for Thanksgiving. We hope everyone will be safe!

Injury number 5,789

2010-11-14T21:17:00.002-07:00

It should come as no surprise that we have yet another set of stitches. I honestly can't even remember how many sets of stitches we have had around here.

This is living proof that even on no-school days, video games are dangerous. (Kids were out all day Friday so they played and played and played...we don't have video games during the school week at all...) Dallin got frustrated and chucked his controller across the room nailing Landon on the eyebrow. What are the odds? Five stitches.
And a big fat swollen eye.

And here is a really pretty close-up.

For my Dad

2010-11-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

My Dad just had his birthday. I never quite know what to do for him--he doesn't like to get presents; he says it makes him feel anxious. What if the gift is something I already have?--how do I make sure the gift giver knows I appreciate the thought even if the gift isn't perfect? etc...

So what do you do for your dad? I still don't know but I do have a few great memories that I don't want to forget. One in particular was from my college days.

One year at college I had an crush on a boy in one of my study groups. Back then my dad went up to Rexburg for Army reserve training one weekend a month and he would usually come by to visit.

One weekend we spent some time together on Saturday and I told my dad that I was going to go to a play with "the boy" later that night. But as things turned out "the boy" totally stood me up. I was sad and rejected. I don't know how my dad knew but he showed up at my door and just said, "I was thinking of going to a play." I didn't have tickets so we went stood in the standby ticket line where after just a few minutes someone just happened to come by and offer us his tickets. I don't remember what the play was but I do remember my date that night and the feelings are still very tender to me.

Living in the same town as my dad as an adult has taught me more about his soul than the 18 years I spent under the same roof. My dad worries about keeping people happy. What I used to perceive as frustration or irritability I now know to be a tender heart that doesn't like to see unhappiness. He often shows up at my or Kendra's house to fix whatever is broken or to splice a vacuum cleaner cord bitten by a puppy (I should just happen to leave out the CD player, iron and fan). Or sometimes he "lets" me cut his hair so we can have a few minutes to visit followed by a hug. On his days off he works until he can barely keep his eyes open.

Friday night he spent a couple of hours playing Wii with Austin, Jenna and Benson. What more can I say.

I don't have a gift to give my dad but I want him to know that I see him. I know who he really is and that makes me feel lucky. I want him to be happy and to have peace in knowing that he has done well.

Warm fuzzy.

2010-11-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

Today I love my crock-pot.

Not so much because of the really pretty red color (thanks Rustin!) but because I really love it when five o'clock rolls around and I have already prepared food. It really makes my day. I should do it more often.

One of our current favorites:

Creamy Italian chicken

8-9 chicken breasts (frozen)

1 package cream cheese

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 envelope of dry Italian dressing mix

A bunch of sliced carrots

I mix the soup, cream cheese (warmed in the microwave) and dressing mix together and pour it over the chicken and carrots. It's done in about 3-4 hours. Not too long or the chicken gets tough.

We eat it with rice--I am currently obsessed with medium grain 'sticky' rice. I buy the big bags of Calrose rice at Costco. I don't have a rice steamer so I just cook it in the regular rice maker. It's not truly sticky but we still love it--it's sticky without being mushy. The perfect rice amount for us--3 cups rice and 4 cups water. Sometimes I use 4 cups of rice with 5 1/4 cups of water.

I need some more crock pot recipes. Any great ideas send them my way!

Life's not fair--or is it?

2010-11-05T11:15:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking lately about a conversation I had with the mom of one of Dallin and Landon's teammates. She didn't know which player(s) I belonged to but she was lamenting the fact that some of "those big boys get to play the entire game--all the time. It's not very fair." Dallin was out with a sprained ankle so I knew she was referring in large part to Landon.

Her comments took me back to my own feelings of sorrow at my children's struggles.

I remember in second grade Landon and Dallin having to go back to first grade for reading.

I remember Dallin crying at home because he was put in the out box at recess {again} for tripping over and on top of other kids playing soccer. As he would say--"it's just not fair, I'm just running along and the next thing I know there's a kid under my feet."

I remember spending hours and hours working and explaining why the boys had to go to extra "school" (tutoring) in order to learn to read. It wasn't fun.

So, now when I see these really big, very focused, hard-working teenagers of mine have loads of success in one area, I am completely happy. I want to tell the other moms not to worry because working through heart ache makes for hard working and well balanced kids. I know from personal experience.

I want everyone to remember that we can't compare our own kids' weaknesses with other kids' strengths. Life tends to balance out. I hope I can always remember not to look at a successful child with jealousy because chances are that there is, or will be an area of struggle. That's just how life works. And it would be good for me to remember that that rule continues to apply to adult life as well!

Neglected.

2010-11-04T14:40:00.000-06:00

I have been less than energetic lately. I admit it. I got over the horrible 'morning' sickness only to be bombarded with a massive wave of fatigue. Or maybe I'm just lazy, I don't know. But I think a couple of months of frozen meals and paper plates has convinced my children and husband that they are terribly neglected. Apparently this Halloween weekend they decided that they had had enough.

They teamed up and began the appeal--"why don't we ever get to have a good costume?" and "Gandalf's staff is white not brown" and "I thought you were going to make me a cape" and "we never get to do anything fun" and "Froto has to have a vest and SHORT pants mom." (Nicole Martin in Page Arizona, this is entirely your fault. They would never have expected me to make costumes if you hadn't introduced me to the art of costume creation! But I still miss you every Halloween...)

So Saturday morning I headed to the fabric store and here's what we got...

This is Gandalf the White (Dallin) and Raistlin (Landon--a character from one of their favorite books). For Dallin I just had to make a white cape--we already had the robe. For Landon I sewed the robe--we already had a red cape. Thankfully I've made a million capes and robes so I kind of had an idea of what to do. Obviously these weren't high fashion but they made everyone happy. Rustin did makeup (as always) and staffs.

Austin is just a wizard. I cut his robe too short so I had to add a big hem which was off center and drove Austin crazy.

Rough life.

Jenna is the easiest ever. A purple and black witch.

Benson gets the easy award also--Froto. I made this costume a couple of years ago.

I am hoping that I have earned myself a few brownie points so everyone feels well cared for for a couple of weeks. I think I'll go take a nap.

Growing up is hard to do...

2010-10-18T16:55:00.001-06:00

Mom this is hard. (note the awesome gloves!)

A little encouragement from Dad fixes the tears. But she still wants training wheels back on...

Maybe next week.

Go cubs!

2010-10-15T15:12:00.005-06:00

I have to admit it--I love watching the boys play football. Two hours every day of blood and sweat finally pays off at the game. Dallin and Landon were on the 7th grade team. As usual for us, Dallin ended up in the ER with a sprained ankle at the beginning of the season so he only played in the first and last games. Opposite foot from last time. Landon had a great year playing defensive line and he carried the ball a couple times on offense. The coaches created a new award (head hunter) for Landon after one particularly great game (more than 20 tackles).

Landon 67, Dallin 62.

Benson with a little half time show of his own.

Austin had his first year playing tackle football. The daily two hour practices were a shock to his system at first but he loved it. He played offensive line most of the time but spent quite a bit of time on defense. Rustin told him if he got a solo tackle he would buy him a milk shake. He finally pulled through on the last game of the year. Dallin and Landon knew they would benefit from Austin's success--we can't think of a better way to encourage brothers to cheer for each other!

ummm Fall.

2010-10-09T22:42:00.001-06:00

Tonight the boys are playing the card game equivalent of video games. Seriously. A couple of times we have found Dallin and Landon up at 6 am playing games. (They always get up at 6 am but they are usually more worried about eating and finding shoes than playing a game...)

Little Jen has been like this all day. Fever is currently 102.9 with ibuprofen and Tylenol. We (and the pediatrician) think it is probably viral. Yuck. She holds onto her head every time she takes a deep breath. Poor thing. I hope this bug doesn't make the rounds through the house.

Beau is checking on Jenna...I can't get this picture to turn the right way.

Rustin performed a really nice wedding today. (I filled in playing prelude music-I think it's my unofficial calling...) This is his third wedding and he has conducted 12 funerals in the last 18 months. He does a great job every time.

We pulled up the garden and I wish I had a picture of the Beverly Hillbilly trailer full of plants. For the record plants CAN grow really well in just six inches of a non-soil mixture. Next year we will try square foot gardening again. No weeding needed has made a believer out of me for sure! I really wish I had a before picture--everything grew great--no weeds at all in the garden (some around the edges where the lovely dog dug up the weed barrier). We didn't do a very good job of picking and pruning. Next year.

Dallin sprained his ankle in football. The coaches called us and said that they all heard a really loud 'snap' and we needed to take him to the ER. We were very relieved to see his leg wasn't broken. We know from experience that casts are a pain and they are very expensive. But he is just now hobbling without crutches. The coaches are really pushing him to play on Tuesday but we aren't sure if he is ready.

I feel much better and we all love the cool (finally!) weather. We have been having morning temps in the forties and afternoon in the high 90's. I am ready for pumpkins and leaves!

A re-do wish?

2010-10-04T22:49:00.002-06:00

I don't have a lot of regrets in my life. Only a couple. One of the biggest is that I don't remember the first six months to one year of the twins' life.

I really don't.

There are a lot of reasons--severe sleep deprivation, a bit of untreated postpartum depression (see previous reason...), work, and denial. I didn't realize at the time that my life with tiny twins was unique and would be gone in a second. I didn't keep a journal so I can't really trust my memories. I started writing a blog a few years ago so that forgetting would never happen again.

But, every once in a while it feels like there just isn't much to remember. There's nothing exciting to write about--I still feel nauseated. the boys love football. we had another trip to the ER. homework still gets ignored sometimes and the socks STILL aren't matched. Hmmm.

This line of thinking led me to a specific memory...

I do not like flying. I never have. I have a few stand out memories in my life that reinforce my dislike of airplane travel: A tiny, toddling Benson grabbing a strange man's water and dumping it all over the lap of his nice suit pants; running out of my stash of "desperation only treats" before the plane even left the runway; trying desperately (and unsuccessfully) to keep two pairs of three-year-old legs from kicking the seat of the glaring woman in front of me. Most of the time those things were just unavoidable and unchangeable side effects of flying with tiny children.

There is, however one particular flight that I really wish I could re-do.

I sat next to a businessman who was eager to show me pictures of his bikini-clad identical twin toddler daughters. He went on to talk (for most of the flight) about how he took his girls and the nanny ("who had her own separate room of course") on a business trip to Hawaii so his wife could have time to pursue her career.

"And sometimes", he bragged, "I have the housekeeper just take the girls outside to play so my wife can have time to cook whatever she wants".

And--he was quick to mention--his wife was busy writing a book about how to raise twins. *excuse me while I chuckle for a minute...*

He talked about interviewing preschools for his girls so they could start on "the right path-because you can't get into the right schools if you don't start in preschool." He talked about tennis lessons and music lessons. He went on and on. I felt like I was being lectured in a very subtle manner. Like he was trying to graciously show a poor woman what real life is like. For one of the only times in my life, I really didn't know what to say.

For the first time in my life I felt like a dowdy, uneducated woman who had a million (four at the time...) kids.

What I know now and wish I had said then is that I would never, ever trade my life for his. Not even for a trip to Hawaii with a nanny. I am sorry for all the things those kids will miss.

I love to see my kids ride bikes down the street and run barefoot to the neighbors to see if they can play.
I love having sweaty, dirt-covered faces show up for lunch every single day.
I love that I don't have to have a number and identification to pick my kids up from school. They see my car and come running.
I love sitting on the grass at football games while my kids play under the bleachers with all the other kids.
I love that I can go to the park packed with moms and kids eating lunch and leave to see that not one person (I'm not kidding here) has left their garbage on the lawn. Every other mom is saying "if you don't pick it up then who will?"

I love it. Love it. LOVE it.

I come from a long, long line of happy moms who are married to happy dads who have raised happy kids who have made great contributions in life. Who can argue with that?

Tennis lessons, fancy preschools and exclusive nannies are just poor substitutions. It's the regular old life that I want to remember. If I ever sat next to that man again I would tell him how sorry I am that he can't have my life. And I would completely mean it.

And I'm going to write about it so I don't ever forget one minute.

oh baby!

2010-09-21T22:44:00.000-06:00

Has it really been a month since I last wrote?

I have a really good excuse---oh Baby! do I have a good excuse.
or maybe BABY?!

Yep. We are expecting number six in mid- April.

I am just beginning to come out of a serious nausea-induced fog. (We are talking like--'I just rode the Gravitron at the fair three times in a row' kind of nausea.)

Don't get me wrong, I don't feel well enough to actually go scan the ultrasound picture (very cute and in 3-D!) into the computer and post it, but I did make dinner and attend a football game without desperately eating a pile of saltines the whole way through. I am hopeful that I may begin to feel like a normal person most of the day. And when that day comes I will clean the house. I promise.

The most frequently asked questions:

Is this a surprise?

YES. But not the way you think. We were not surprised by the pregnancy (actually waited a good 6 months...). We were surprised that we wanted another baby. We were truly content and happy with our five. Our last two kids are 15 months apart--close enough not to risk the "spoiled youngest child" syndrome--just like we wanted.

We happily gave away all the baby stuff and clothes.
Then--what happened?

It started with a little thought. It kept ruminating. I specifically remember when we went to the movie theater to see Ice age II (I think) and the mammoths had a little baby girl. It made me cry in the theater. Shocking. I asked Rustin if that movie scene made him want another babe. He looked at me like I was crazy and didn't even give my question a response. I'm still not sure how it happened. I mean the wanting of another one not...you know...

Were you missing someone? Did you think you had another one waiting for you?

Nope. Really. We knew this was our choice. We could have been done with five and that would have been okay. But the little 'what if' question just kept recurring. 'What would it be like?' 'Would our children and family be happier with another one?' We didn't know, so we prayed and pondered. I asked the Lord to show me what it would be like and He did.

I have come to realize over the last year and a half that life will have trials. No one escapes it. No matter what your level of spiritual conviction, something will be hard because we are always expected to progress. Progress is always hard. You don't ever reach a level of "righteousness" that means you don't have trials or temptation or sadness. Righteousness doesn't insulate from growing pains. I was reminded that whatever the Lord has in mind really will be the happiest and best life. It took about two years to get to that point of acceptance.

And then we didn't get pregnant for a long time. I had just decided that maybe the Lord was saying "thanks for the offer and demonstration of faith but I have other things for you to do that don't involve a baby."
And then I was sick.
And then I found out I was pregnant.

The kids are thrilled and so are we. I'm sure I will feel even more excited when I can eat normally again.

And one of these days I am going to catch up on all of the great end of summer things I have been meaning to write about...

Drive-in

2010-08-16T19:16:00.001-06:00

Our little hometown is one of the few remaining towns in America that still has and regularly uses not one, but two drive-in movie theaters. However, we decided to have our own version in our back yard.

The Feature:

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Screen time:

9:15

Concessions:

provided

We put a "screen" up on the side of the shed and we used a projector (thanks Wrights!) in the back yard. We had more than thirty-five people and we had a blast. Tons of popcorn and treats and no mess in my house! We should do this more often!

Laugh...

2010-08-15T11:35:00.002-06:00

The other day I forgot to take Austin to scouts. I took Dallin and Landon but left Austin home reading a book. I didn't even realize that I had ignored my middle child until Rustin got home and asked me why Austin didn't go to scouts.

When I called the scout master to apologize and explain that I am often unintentionally forgetful he just commented, "don't worry Sister Hatch, I had already heard that about you."

Great.

So...to keep my self-esteem in tact...every once in a while I need to read about a mom who is just as bad as I am.

You have to read this post. I'm still laughing!

Exposed. written by themeanestmom.blogspot.com

Eat my bubbles!

2010-08-11T21:37:00.001-06:00

We have loved swimming this summer. Dallin, Landon and Austin swam every morning from 8:30-10. All three made huge leaps in their times and technique. Jenna and Benson will be ready by next summer if I have any say in it! Here are some favorite pics...

Landon

Dallin

Austin

Jenna--the cheering section.

Benson--not so much the cheering section.

Cowboy Ben

2010-08-11T17:37:00.000-06:00

Who needs a horse when you have a good-natured golden retriever puppy!

Benson cracks us up.

Last week we were eating eggs for breakfast and Ben said,

"Mom, will you come over here and bling-bling up my eggs."

Bling-bling?

Then he wanted chocolate on his ice cream and he asked me to help him "you know--decorate my ice cream."

He starts kindergarten this year. I already miss him...

Hatch,Hatch, there's no match!

2010-08-07T19:53:00.041-06:00

Okay that's actually the cheer from Jotham's family--we all have a cheer that we do every summer--but I think it can apply to all of us 'Hatches'.

We had a great family reunion at Big Springs up by Lava Hot Springs. We had a huge camp spot all to ourselves and as usual the kids played like they have never been separated. Here are just a few favorite pics...

"magic fire"

Darren always has a baby tucked under his arm. He has done this since his first grandchildren. And I suspect with his own children...

Next year Rustin and I are in charge. We will have three newborns in the family so we will have to see what we can come up with to make it fun for everyone. I'm sure it will be great fun as always.

Oh what do you do...

2010-07-28T21:19:00.003-06:00

Rustin is gone for the rest of the week. Scout camp tonight, girls camp tomorrow, high adventure Friday and home on Saturday. I think this is the bishop's-job highlight of the year. He loves it. The Young Women particularly have him wrapped around their cute little fingers! He will really do anything for them.

So here's what it looks like around here with just me running the show---

Cereal for breakfast.

Cereal for lunch

Nachos for dinner. Awesome.

(not that Rustin makes dinner but if he isn't coming home then I just don't really worry about it...)

Actually we mowed the lawn and vacuumed under the couches and scrubbed the kitchen floor. We really did. Tomorrow we have a serious massive clothing sorting party planned. I have put this off for way too long.

I'm thinking ten shirts per kids for the school year.

Is that too many? too few? Two weeks worth (about)...

How do the rest of you manage clothing?

I have a hard time because the three big boys wear the same size of everything including socks and underwear. Actually Austin's pants are shorter but we are in shorts right now so we don't notice... I can't keep the sizes sorted so I just put everything together which ends up as a massive amount of clothes in a small space sometimes.

Shirts hang up in the closet and pants go in the bins but we never have enough pants (they wear them out faster than I can get new ones). Dallin and Landon have their "own" shirts for the most part. Landon is a bit more possessive of his clothes than his brothers.

Landon still tends to wear the blue shirts and Dallin tends to wear the red shirts. It helps kids and teachers at school call them by the right name. Poor Austin gets whatever is left. He doesn't complain though. Whoever gets dressed first gets good pants and the other two complain that someone stole "my" pants. I guess we need to go shopping.

Interesting fact: Rustin does the clothes shopping 90% of the time. He's just faster and better at it than I am.

I'm thinking of chucking the ENTIRE box of unmatched socks and buying 50 pair of plain white socks that the boys, Rustin and I can all share.

Is sharing socks weird or gross?

I think my perspective is skewed. After the twins were born I tried to keep pacifiers, bottles and burp cloths separate for about two weeks before I realized it was futile. I gave up, and it's all been downhill since.

We do have our own tooth brushes though. Except I steal Rustin's whenever I can't find mine. I don't think he knows that...

I miss him.

parallel lives

2010-07-12T22:10:00.002-06:00

We had cousins visiting for the last couple of weeks. Juli and I attempted to suggest that they sleep apart or have a day or two separate from each other--what were we thinking!
Of all the cruel suggestions!
A day apart from cousins who are a mere, tempting, three miles away?! (Can you hear the kids all crying?...)

Of course then we remembered our visits to Wilford. We can still both recite our cousins' phone number--which we learned before we learned our own home phone number. And we remember walking the ENTIRE long hot dusty mile to get to Kristi and Jenni's house becuase we couldn't bear to spend even one more second apart. The hours talking and playing and telling stories...

So of course we gave in and let them spend every single day and night together. I don't mind having them over and Mom and Dad don't mind either--they are actually a lot of fun. This time we got to learn to play Rugby and use all the cool Aussie slang. (pretty much just shorten every word and add '-y' to the end--chocolate=chocky etc.)

I don't know how we got so lucky, but I love to have all of my nieces and nephews over from both sides of the family. They get along so well. It must be because they all live parallel lives in their separate homes. We all have the same routines and habits. Roast beef and mashed potatoes on Sundays, sharing bedrooms with siblings and chores around the house. All of our houses are very similar so it's pretty easy to mix kids up. I love it!

4th of July

2010-07-05T17:13:00.001-06:00

The 4th of July always brings a tinge of sadness as it marks the mid-point of summer. I love summer. I love the smell of sizzling grass as the afternoon rain hits it. I love running out of popsicles half-way through every week. I love waking up to the sound of sprinklers and lawnmowers. I love having the kids around. Really--it's my favorite time of year. This year we headed out of town for the weekend.

We went to Logan to meet our newest cousin--Collin Wayne Thomas. He has the squishiest body (9lbs.3oz!) and most kissable cheeks ever!

We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Hatch and floated the river. It is an entirely different experience to do things like this now that the kids are all older. Way more fun and a lot less work for Rustin and me. Dallin and Landon blew up about a million inter-tubes and we packed them in Darren's truck.

Jenna and Benson "helped" by dodging the sprinklers.

Don't you wish you could move like that?!

We got to float with Trevor's family which was awesome. The the river was nice and warm from emptying out of the shallow reservoir. The water was just low enough to give us a few bumps and bruises in some tender places (in Ashlee's case on her face...) but we had a blast.

I am sad to see my favorite summer holiday go. One of these days I will have to write a post about my depth of gratitude for those who have gone before us. Rustin's great...Grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War. We are truly grateful. We try to make sure our ancestors are not forgotten by the up-coming generation. That's the best thanks we have to offer!

Camping--in pictures

2010-07-02T16:52:00.004-06:00

I'm pretty sure every single cousin got dumped out of the hammock at least once...

Juli and Snow at the top of the mountain.

Benson wore this knight costume every single day--he smelled great...

but who needs a shower when you have this...

and an afternoon thunder storm or two!

This photo is straight out of the camera with a slightly lengthened shutter speed in the late afternoon.
Isn't it a gorgeous sky?!
We ate a million marshmallows, the kids climbed rocks like mountain goats (thanks uncle Shon--Rustin was conducting a funeral) and no one complained that they were bored. Great weekend!

Concerned about oil in the ocean?

2010-07-01T22:07:00.001-06:00

Me too.

That's why we ambushed (or just asked?) Shon to explain the whole tragedy in the Gulf to us while they are here visiting.

Shon has been on off-shore oil well drilling engineer for many years and currently works in Australia and has also lived and worked on off-shore wells in New Orleans, Nova Scotia, Houston and New Mexico.

Take a minute and read his thoughts on the situation HERE. You will be glad you did!

And they're off!

2010-06-16T22:15:00.001-06:00

Scout Camp 2010

The Beverly Hillbillies got nothin' on a couple of Idaho scouts.

Dallin and Landon are off to Camp Bradley for a week of National Youth Leadership Training. If I had my way they would have had coats (not just a couple of jackets) and a couple more blankets stuffed in there but they were determined to carry everything in one pack.

Of course the weather forecast says it is going to be 25 degrees tonight with chances of rain and snow. I'm trying not to worry...

We are definitely missing our 'big boys' around here---there's an entire bag of chips sitting in the cupboard (unopened!!!) and neither Jenna or Benson has been dangled over the window wells in the last three days. And Austin and I have to mow the lawn all by ourselves.

What will we do...

In the beginning

2010-06-08T23:00:00.001-06:00

We had organization.

I am convinced that having a schedule may save all of us this summer.

But first we have to have good food. Job assignment always goes easier when we start with a good meal...

Is that bribery?

We brought back the job chart that has worked great for the last two summers. Only this year we added Jenna and Benson. So far so good. Now if it would stop raining.

Got fairies?

2010-06-07T11:28:00.001-06:00

Losing teeth is hard when you're little. Sometimes it requires a certain amount of incentive to keep the little ones from panicing at the site of a wiggly tooth. Thus the invention of the Tooth Fairy.

Anyone who know me, knows this is a sticky situation in the best of circumstances. Remembering to remember is not one of my strong characteristics.

Jenna has ultra organizing abilities and she can remember to put her tooth under the pillow without any prompts from her parents which usually means it takes a couple of nights before the tooth fairy actually shows up.

She lost a tooth on the last day of school and after two nights of disappointment she tacked this to her door.

But alas, the tooth fairy was sleepy, so it wasn't until midnight when a very thoughtful older brother remembered the look of disappointment on her face the previous morning when she realized she had been forgotten once again. He came up with a very fun plan. A trail of pennies (his own life savings...) lead from the pillow to the dining room with a note from the Fairy.

She loved it!

10 reasons the Hatches have never been to Disneyland...

2010-06-03T00:44:00.003-06:00

In no particular order and counting only the last two years...

And excluding shoes that last no more than two months per pair, cars that get totaled right AFTER they are paid for and scout uniforms...

10. Stitches

9. Broken Collar bone

8. Broken hand

7. Flooded basements

6. stitches (again)

5. Flooded basement again (x3 actually...)

4. Broken Ankle bone

3. Stitches (yet again)

2. tonsillectomy, tonsillectomy and ankle surgery (see #4)
and our favorite...

1. Puppies who eat tiny stuffed animals and have to have surgery to get them removed.

horse hoofs, sunflowers, swamps

2010-06-03T00:35:00.000-06:00

We spent an awesome weekend in Franklin. There's nothing prettier than Franklin in the spring I think...

I don't have most of the great pictures we took--they are all stuck on LoaLee's camera.

The kids had a blast riding horses, trimming horse hooves, and cooking breakfast on the porch.

Beau hung out with Mosey--the best dog on the planet and Clancy (who thinks he's the best dog on the planet...). He slept out in the tent with the boys, rolled in manure and chewed on horse hooves. yummm. Unfortunately, today Beau is recovering from surgery to remove Jenna's very tiny stuffed animal (what do you do with a teething puppy...) that was lodged in his intestine. We are glad he didn't have any terrible illness or twisted intestine but this is a seriously expensive chew toy.

Rustin and I got to sped Friday night in SLC city with my parents. We went to Utah Symphony's performance of Mahler's 1st symphony--Titan. It was really stunning. While (embarrassingly) the Mozart piano concerto in the first half nearly put me to sleep, the Mahler symphony was amazing the entire time. The symphony doubled in size size from Mozart to Mahler. The Titan symphony calls for more instruments than almost any symphony (so the program said...) The horns and tympani were amazing. We loved it all.

On Monday we visited the cemeteries. I'll have to write more about that later. It was a cool, clear beautiful morning. Sam played his bagpipes at the cemetery as we visited the resting places of Rustin's fourth great grandparents and down.

In the afternoon we went canoeing at Johnson's reservoir where the boys "accidentally" swamped the canoe three times. It wore them out. Actually I think we are all still tired.

Tomorrow is our first official day of summer so we will sleep in and then get organized. Positive thinking's important right...?

Go to mat training beginnings. Twelve weeks old.

2010-05-26T20:39:00.000-06:00

I started with 'go to mat' training for Beau. The goal is to be able to have the dog go to a mat and lay down and be quiet whenever we need him to.

At first my goal was just to get Beau to look at or sniff or even better, sit on the mat--but he wasn't interested in the mat, just dinner.. (actually I had the mat too far away--I should have put it where he would naturally sit on it...)

So to get him to notice the mat I just started tossing treats onto the mat. Then I clicked and treated rapidly before he could get off, even though I don't think he really realized that he was on the mat at that point--he was just happy to be getting dinner. Every ten treats or so, I tossed the treat away so he would leave the mat to get the treat. But he still wasn't intentionally going back on to the mat to get a treat. hmmm...

After a few minutes of this, I finally remembered to put the mat at my feet where Beau was more likely to lie down so that I could more easily reinforce the behavior--quickly treating about every second with two pieces of kibble. (he likes his kibble...?) And then throwing a treat off the mat to give him a chance to go back to it on purpose. For the first four or five times I had to draw his attention to the mat by patting it and then he went and laid down for another round of rapid reinforcement..

Finally, after about six cycles of 10 treats, he left the mat to go get his tossed treat, paused for a second and then trotted onto the mat. Yeah! So I click and give him the rest of the bowl for dinner. That's it for training today.

**By the way--I like to use meals/food for training, I like to have a dog work to get his food. Some people think it makes a dog who will only work if there is food around but I never had that problem with Molly and I don't think I will with Beau either. I think it makes a dog who is always trying to figure out what you want him to do. Works for me.**