Catch Up Post

DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS!!!

Or, alternately titled: In the process of sheet-rocking.















Miriam and Cowen in the new hallway. Notice, there are two new doors on the bedrooms. With locks. Thanks, Tim!!

















Miriam demonstrating her escape plan. Do not be alarmed. Timothy put boards up to cover the escape option. We're smarter than we look (as Dad would say).















My good-looking man putting up sheet-rock.
















Cowen helping Grandpa Young. Cowen LOVES helping Dad and Grandpa, and he actually does a pretty good job of not getting in the way. Tonight he got a leaf on the tree for standing in his room and yelling at Dad when the lights went out. Tim was shutting off the electricity for something. I'm not sure what.

However, Miriam and Emeline are not allowed downstairs under any circumstances. I was hoping Miriam would be more upset, learn about consequences, that sort of thing--but after I explained that she needed to learn to not touch things and get into things when Daddy says no, she pretty much lost interest in being downstairs.



For school someday last week, we joined forces with Julie and Ahnika so that Julie could teach Miriam (and me) how to sew up a doll dress. Miriam made the little outfit on her doll.















Julie added the button--she's much cleverer than I.
















Miriam wanted a matching outfit, and so--I made one. It looks pretty good in this picture, but I'd rather you didn't click on it to look at it big. It has many, many flaws as I cut it out and sewed it in about 20 minutes and I have zero sewing skills. However, Miriam was THRILLED--so that is the important thing.















Yet another thing that needs to be done that I might just never get to--pulling up the garden.

First--I have too much else to do, and second, the entire garden is covered in a mat of poky weeds and burrs, and pulling it out is unpleasant.






At the back is a huge weed pile--that's what Lindsay Ann did for me while I worked on digging window wells. In case you were wondering--digging window wells beats pulling weeds any day. I'm glad Lindsay Ann was willing to help because the bending over involved in weed pulling sets off tons of braxton hicks and then I'm in a perpetual state of needing to use the bathroom and not being able to move.

I'm sure some of you can relate.

You might have noticed that I took an extended break from blogging. It wasn't that I didn't want to blog--it was that I was too busy partying with all of my siblings. That's right--all of them. Amy is here from Phoenix, Derek from North Dakota, Kami from Chicago, Kayli from Indiana, and the rest of us Utahns were already here. Everyone came, believe it or not, to watch my baby brother Ethan play a ball-game. I spent most of the week at my mom's house in Logan. In the course of the visit we all went out to Chinese, watched Wyatt and Derek and bro-in-law Jared play b-ball, ate a lot of fudge, played a little rook, made a Christmas craft (alright--Kami made mine for me, some things don't change much), celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving, and passed around a flu bug. What would a family visit be without someone throwing up?!

On Wednesday night, Mom found three babysitters for the youngest grandkids (there are currently 26 grandkids, the oldest is 11, and there are two on the way--my mom is 52), and the rest of us headed to Ethan's football game. It was one of their hardest match-ups and the big valley rival. Very intense. People were putting out blankets Monday night to make sure they would get a seat and there were many fans who stood the whole game as all the seats were taken.

Ethan caught the first kick on the 20 and ran it back for a touchdown breaking at least six tackles on the way. It was AWESOME! The crowd went wild (especially the three benches loaded with siblings and neices and nephews). The game was crazy though. As Megan said, "I have to leave--I'm aging!" By half-time, we were down two touchdowns. After the half, Ethan leaped up to catch a pass and caught it while he was sideways in the air. We all assumed he would catch it and fall as there is this whole gravity issue. Instead, he caught it, managed to land on his feet, break several tackles and run it 22 yards for a touchdown. It was AMAZINGLY AWESOME! He also caught several critical catches to get first downs.

With five minutes left to go, we made the tying touchdown. Then, we held the offense pretty well on their drive. We got the ball back and tried to run it to take time off the clock to go into overtime without giving up the ball through an interception. Unfortunately, our kicker kicked it into the sidelines on the ten yard line, so the other team got it back with incredible field position. Argh. With one minute left, they tried a few plays and we pushed them back. Then, they missed their field goal. It was crazy. Ethan was halfway down the field when he realized they missed the field goal because he "couldn't watch." We were all having a heart attack by that time.

Around here, in high school ball overtime consists of each team getting one possession. They start at the 25 yard line and have four downs to make something happen. The opposing team had it first. They got nothing--mostly due to Ethan tackling the runner three times in a row. SWEET! They made their field goal though, so we went into our possession down by three. Fortunately, we made a touchdown to win the game. It was the best football game I've ever seen. My pregnant bladder had a hard time holding up to the strain--but that was a minor detail in the overall greatness of being there.

After the game, you can go greet the boys before they get on the bus. When Ethan came out, all the grandkids attacked him, yelling, "We love you, Uncle Puma!" Yet another great memory. Ethan pretends to be tough and gruff and mean, but he liked it. The next day he showed me all his bruises and his "jacked-up" hands. It sure is fun to watch him--but man, it wrecks his body.

On Thursday, Megan and Lindsay Ann threw a Halloween/birthday party for all the October birthdays. It was a costume party, which was really fun, and there were lots of fun games/pizza that sort of thing. I made the cake-- a sort-of Frankenstein bride. I'll post pictures when I get some (I didn't have my camera).

And despite it being a total blast--I hit melt-down point by about 5:00. I needed some Tim-time in a serious way. Of course, after spending the night at home with my honey, I felt so much better the next morning that I felt a little foolish at how insane I was feeling the day before (Miriam wandered off in the church and I looked for twenty minutes before my dad found her, and then she and Cowen both had accidents, and then she pooed in her diaper and I had to change that, and none of us had slept enough all week so we weren't at our best anyway--you all know the story as you've all spent time away from home with kids). So pulling into my own driveweay and seeing Timothy--ah, nothing in life is better than your own house and your own man and your children locked in their own rooms.