Fieldtrip to the Animal Doctor

Carter frequently has school groups and scout groups, etc requesting to come to the clinic for a little tour. He always enjoys showing them what he does, and the kids love it. It seems like every kid thinks they want to be a veterinarian at some point in their growing up years - I know I did. I realized that even though our own kids have spent quite a bit of time at the clinic, they probably don't know a lot of what Dad does, or what lots of the equipment is for. So I asked Carter if he would mind giving our little preschool co-op group a tour. He said to come on down.


First we checked out an exam room and talked about what kinds of pets everyone has at home, and discussed how animals sometimes get sick, just like we do. Entering the surgery room Carter had the children put on surgery caps, which they thought was a hoot. A tech had set up the room for a mock procedure so they could see all the instruments and stuff. Carter showed them the laser and he burned each of their names into a tongue depressor.





Kyler was so proud when he diagnosed a broken leg on an x-ray. I did manage to recognize a litter of unborn puppies, but for the most part I am mystified at how they can pick up such crucial, minute details from those cryptic pictures. Next, they had prepared a series of microscopes for us which were focused on some interesting critters - a louse, a flea, and a tick. The kids looked and looked again. They couldn't get enough.



Their favorite part was probably just petting the puppies and kitties. The kids got to watch a dog having a bath and also see the groomer in action, which was cute. And they pretended to be big dogs and sat in the boarding kennels. It was sweet how concerned the children were to see the critters with bandages and "owies." Thank you to the wonderful staff for being patient with us and preparing such neat things to see, and thank you to the hot doctor who showed us around. I think all the children loved it, and Kyler and Shaylie were proud of their cool dad.

My Great Brains

I'm definitely NOT referring to my own "great brains." But Jayden and Makenna both elected to participate in the Great Brain Project at their school this spring. They each had to research a topic of their choosing, then present what they learned in some creative way. Jayden chose to study Sasquatch, (because who doesn't need to know a little more about that?!) Makenna chose koala bears, because they are cute. They had to present it first to their own classes and then in an assembly-of-sorts in the school library before the other kids and their parents. They both did beautifully and I was so proud of all their hard work, so I wanted to showcase their projects.


Jayden had Carter help him make a plaster mold of a "Big Foot" which was kind of fun, and he downloaded some recordings of "actual" Sasquatch screams, which was hillarious!


Makenna shared what she learned by writing a couple adorable poems about Koalas.

Kyler and Shaylie also felt the need to get in on the action and they made their own projects. They cut their favorite animal pictures from Ranger Rick Magazines. Shaylie's is about butterflies.

Stitching Up Brennan

Last week Shaylie and Brennan were running laps in the house while I clipped coupons (My new hobby...) when I heard, "Tag! You're it!" Crash!! Followed by screams. I hurried over to find poor Brennan holding a cut on his head. As soon as I had him cleaned up enough to get a good look at it I knew he needed stitches. I loaded up the van and we took a trip to see Dr. Dad. Brennan was remarkably unphased by the whole thing. Once he got over the initial bonk, he happily rode in the van and munched on a snack. I couldn't believe it. He calmly explained to Daddy that he bonked his head. Carter agreed that sutures were in order. The nice tecnicians came running in with little toys and a sucker, but I can't say they helped much. This part was awful. After he was numb, I had the horrible task of holding my sweet baby still for the procedure. Poor Carter had the even worse job of stitching him up. I could tell it was hard for him. These pictures were taken right afterwards.









The good news is that it has healed up beautifully and the stitches can come out probably tomorrow. I think I'll snap one more picture to add to this post of the stitches as they look now. Thank goodness for Dr. Dad and Diego band-aids!

Spring is in the Air

....And the birds are in the grill!

So a few weeks ago we spent a weekend up at the cabin watching General Conference with the family. When we came home we discovered that a pair of birds had decided to build a nest in our BBQ grill! I couldn't believe it. And at first I was adamant that they had to go. I opened up the grill and was planning to toss all the grass and garbage out, but I didn't quite have the heart. Then I got a better look at the birds and noticed that one of them has a broken foot. The poor guy hobbles and hops on one twisted leg. Well, there went my resolve. Needless to say, a bird family lives in our grill. It was so amazing how hard they worked - they must have made thousands of trips back and forth carrying more stuff for the nest. The children have really enjoyed watching the birds (so has the cat) and they have completely stayed away from the grill so they don't frighten them (the cat, not so much. She is banished from the back deck).



I don't think they have laid any eggs yet. We've been afraid to peek for a week or so. And if any bird experts out there know what kind of birds we've got (you can click on the picture to see it enlarged) please let me know. Specifically, what their nesting habits are and how soon we might get our grill back. And Carter says "Do your part; save the birds...invite us over for BBQ."

Happy Easter!

We hope everyone had a terrific Easter holiday! We hunted eggs with the Andrews cousins and with Loughney cousins, and we hunted eggs in our jammies Easter morning.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Here are a couple pictures that wouldn't fit in the slide show, but I liked them!

Nearly Two (Buckle Our Seatbelts!)

My first two boys were the epitome of easy-going and mellow babies. My two girls were not, but that is another story. From the beginning Brennan has been determined to make his own pattern. He has been a funny combination spunky, snuggly, feisty, and sweet. He already has a terrific sense of humor, and he cracks himself - and us - up constantly. He likes to jump out from behind a door or wait for me in the pantry and then yell, "Boo!" If he gets bored he'll climb under a table and call out "Where Brennan??" He has a goofy game of pretending to be asleep while riding in his carseat, and he giggles when we all pretend to shush each other so he can sleep. He is talking like crazy now, and he has a LOT to say. And when he gets mad...Wow! Watch out! 'Sorry' was one of the first words he learned because he was constantly whacking someone in the head with a toy.

So I shouldn't have been surprised at the new phrases that have just popped up in his vocabulary recently. Such as: "My do it!" "No want to!" and "NOOOOOOO" as he runs full speed away from a diaper change, or shoes, or jacket, or vegetables. I remind myself that independence is an important developmental step, and a good thing. But that doesn't make it easier to deal with. Then he flashes me that impish little grin and I decide it's all worth it.

High-Flying Home Evening

We've had such windy weather lately, we decided that for Family Home Evening we would fly our kites. The kids looked forward to it for several days beforehand. I was secretly worried that the wind would fizzle out on us, but it blustered all evening. As soon as Dad came home from work, we grabbed our kites and headed to the park behind our house.



Unfortunately, all three of our kites broke within the first fifteen minutes. (I guess you get what you pay for when you spend a buck a piece on kites). But Kyler was undaunted. He must have run twenty laps around the park, dragging just a few feet of string and a kite which occasionally bounced up and caught some air.


THAT'S determination!
Eventually the activity turned into a game of family tag on the playground, and that was fun, too.

Wilson Pond

Saturday afternoon the weather was mild and we had some cabin fever, so we packed up some junk food and the kids and went fishing with the Williamsons. We headed to Wilson Ponds, just a few minutes from our house. Unfortunately there was not a fish in sight, but we did some bird watching, ate junk food, and still had a fun time. It was just nice to be out. We felt lucky to get a cool little spot all to ourselves, but now that I think of it, maybe no one wanted to come near the crazy people with nine children. hmmm. Anyway, the older boys tried fishing for a while. The younger kids didn't even want to pose with a fishing pole and the only shots I got of them were climbing trees - or eating.


Cool hat, Parker!


Brennan nabbed four cookies at once!





After a while we switched from fishing to tossing worms to the ducks. Then there was an interesting but R-rated incident with the ducks. It prompted some uncomfortable questions, "Mommy! What are they doing?!" Of course, Oscar got the whole thing on camera. I joked about whether or not to include that on the blog. Oscar said, "Oh, you KNOW it's going on mine!" So, if you are over 17 years old or accompanied by your guardian you may check out Williamsons blog for the details if you are curious. (Unless Vicki found out and unplugged the computer first. ha!ha!)

And then just as we were packing up and I was congratulating myself on keeping all nine kids from falling in the water, Shaylie fell in. She screamed hysterically, naturally, but since the water was only eight inches deep it didn't cause too much panic in the rest of us. She was completely soaked, though. Ah, well.

Grandma's Hungry Ducks

My wonderful mother has been sweet enough to keep my monkeys for me while I take an institute class every Tuesday morning. The kids cheer every time I tell them it is "Grandma Day." Last week I came back in time to tag along with them on one of their walks to feed the ducks. Grandma lives on a beautiful green belt. If I remember right it was 35 degrees that day. But the kids didn't mind, and neither did the ducks.

What shoe are you?

My calling at church right now is Activity Days Leader. Last week we held our special recognition night; our theme was a twist on the scripture in D&C 19:10. It was called "The Worth of 'Soles'." As part of the activity, we set up a display table and invited each girl to bring the pair of shoes they think best describes some part of their personality. There was a little card attached for them to explain. I had to do it, too. I had a hard time, but finally decided on a pair of hiking boots. I wrote, "I chose these shoes because like me, they like to be outdoors (as long as its sunny). And like me, they're not very stylish but they are made to go the distance."

When I came home, Carter had not seen what I brought and I asked him for his opinion of what shoe best describes my personality. He thought for a minute and then said, "Maybe your Uggs? They are warm and comfy, and you like to be warm and comfy." Hmmm. I suppose that's true, but I hope that's not the defining characteristic of me. I was also fairly offended that he picked such a big, sloppy, clunky shoe. "Is that how you see me??" I asked. Poor Carter...I don't know if there would have been a correct answer. He hates it when I ask him stuff like that.

So, just for fun, I'm opening it up to you. If you had to pick a shoe that describes some part of you, what would it be?

Bearack Obama

The photo below captures a trend that is beginning to affect wildlife in the U.S. Anticipating the Obama presidency, animals that were formerly self-sufficient are already modifying their behavior to take advantage of what they expect to be a new set of societal norms in the next four to eight years. This black bear from Montana has ceased hunting for a living and is sitting outside the US Fish & Wildlife Service office in Kalispell, apparently waiting to be fed and to have his winter den dug by government employees. The residents of Kalispell are calling him 'Bearack Obama'. (Thanks, Suzanne, I had to share this!)

Wintery Play Day

Last Saturday we took a chance to get away and have some family adventures. The Winter Festival was going on in McCall, so we drove up there to see what's happnin'. This was our first time making the trek. It was a gorgeous day for playing - clear blue skies and mild temps. Can I just tell you, the ice sculptures were INCREDIBLE! The theme was fantasy so there were sculptures of dragons, castles, wizards, and a really fun one where they re-created CandyLand! It had a candy cane forest, lollypop land, bridges, paths, and slides. Amazing. Here are some of my favorite pictures, although I didn't do the sculptures justice since it is hard to photograph snow.

Jayden taking a pit-stop:)


Carter putting in a day at the mine.


This sculpture won first place. Beside the dragon was a big castle, complete with a dungeon underneath, a king and queen on their thrones, turrets, and a tunnel and a slide!


The girls are standing in front of my favorite one, although it is hard to appreciate how cool it is from my pictures. There was this enchanted forest, with faces on all the trees, and layers of detail carved inside, like walls and doors, and sitting atop the forest rose a beautiful castle.







I know this post is getting long, but I can't forget the second half of the day, when we went ice-fishing at Horsethief Res. It was such a pretty lake, we agreed that we have to come back here in the summer, too. Carter has this terrific little ice hut where we set up chairs and stay cozy in between running around like crazy people on the ice. We pulled the kids on sleds, Jayden had a good time shooting this bow and arrow at nothing, oh, and Carter fished. The fishing was a little lame, unfortunately, but the kids were fascinated by Dad's fish-finder and they played with worms and rolled bobbers across the ice. Once poor Brennan stepped in somebody's old hole and soaked one leg. After my heart started again, I kept him much closer, as I could just picture my whole baby slipping down through a hole next time. Ahhh! And note to self - bring dry socks for everyone next time!



Nice air-conditioning in those jeans, Carter!