15 October 2017

It was a fairly quiet week without the kids at home.  They spent their last week of fall break with their dad and I was home alone with the kittens and the chickens!  I did quite a bit of work around the house there is always something to do. 

I had my first pack rat encounter this week and it ended in a blood bath, well, sort of.  Early in the week I discovered, after hearing some weird noises in the kitchen, a pack of fruit snacks that had been dragged out of the pantry into the middle of the floor and chewed up along with a ¼ stick of Crisco that had been eaten.  I couldn’t find the culprit and figured he might be holed up for a while sick after eating so much Crisco!  A couple nights later, just as I was falling asleep, I heard the familiar scratching shuffling noise again and jumped out of bed to find a very large (its body was about the size of my fist) pack rat hanging out in my pantry.  I put the kittens in the pantry with the rat and then went to get Arlo’s BB gun.  My brilliant idea was to simply shoot it with the BB gun and then toss it and go back to bed, pretty simple.  Well, it didn’t go down that easily.  I shot the rat, twice, at relatively close range…and it didn’t die.  It just proceeded to run and jump all over the pantry (and my food) bleeding profusely while the kittens both chased it and ran from it.  It was a huge mess. It was jumping all over the place so I couldn’t even trap it in the mop bucket long enough to take it outside.  Finally, I went out to the barn-shaped shed and grabbed a sticky trap that I remembered seeing and threw it down in the pantry and then chased the rat over it.  The fight was over and at this point the rat was pretty much on his way out anyway.  I felt badly that he suffered, worse that he made such an epically disgusting mess in my pantry, and stupid for believing that Arlo’s Daisy Red Rider was any sort of threat…that mother from “A Christmas Story” was worried for no reason at all, that thing couldn’t take an eye out, or kill a pack rat at close range.  I’m sure I looked like a right fool running out to the shed in my PJs and slippers, with a headlamp on and a BB gun in my hand.  It took me another 30 minutes to clean up before I could go back to bed.

Jeff brought Felicity back on Wednesday so that we could have some more shooting practice.  She is getting better on the big gun and even had her dad take a few shots too.  She is getting excited for her hunt next week.  I put in a few extra hours at work so that I won’t have to take any PTO days next week for our hunt and I also continued to crochet the kids’ Christmas hats in the evenings.  I made them all camo hats with deer appliques with different accent colors and fingerless gloves, but I made Arlo an extra hat since he really loves his hats and wears them almost every day.  I made a blue ninja Ninjago hat for him and since I couldn’t find a free pattern I made one up.  I feel like it turned out pretty well and I think he will really like it.  I also worked on making Halloween costumes.  I bought one for Felicity and Arlo and will just need to make some minor adjustments and make some accessories, and I am modifying a dress-up outfit for Helen’s costume.  I just couldn’t find the right patterns or the time to make all three from scratch and the kids don’t seem to mind so I’m going to consider it a victory.

My visiting teachers came all the way out to the house on Friday and I was able to recount my harrowing tale of pack rat slaying and then was able to show them around the property a bit and tell them about all my lofty plans for our ranch.  If I get you out to the house I will probably bore you with all of my plans for this area or that area.  In the evening some girlfriends and I went for a walk in Sabino Canyon and then out to dinner.  We had a great time and really enjoyed each other’s company.  I got home really late and enjoyed sleeping in a bit on Saturday morning.

Saturday I spent time making lists for our hunting trip, planning food, and last minute shopping for gear.  In the evening I picked up the kids from their dad’s place and we went out to dinner and then to Sam’s Club for lunch-box items for the upcoming week.  It was good to have everyone home again.  We enjoyed our church meetings on Sunday and then got together with some friends from church for a pot luck picnic at the park to say goodbye to the Crofts who are moving.  We had a lot of fun.  I hope we are ready to go back to school after a long fall break with lots of fun adventures.

08 October 2017

 We had our second week of our three week fall break and had a lot of fun.  Felicity had an orthodontist appointment on Monday and had her braces adjusted.  She was a little sore, but a good sport about it.  Her teeth are already coming along nicely; we’re just waiting for her to lose her last three baby teeth to tie everything together.  When we were done we took my mom over to my grandma’s house and we all went out to lunch.  We had a really nice time.  When we were done with lunch, Arlo and Felicity and I went grocery shopping for Grandma while Helen and Mom stayed and did some chores for her.  The kids and I had Family Home Evening when we got home and watched a movie as our activity.

 Helen had her last dentist appointment on Wednesday and has all her dental work done.  We did some grocery shopping when we were done before coming back home and going back to work.  Felicity had the opportunity to babysit most of the day on Wednesday and did a super job.  She was so responsible and patient.  It was a lot of fun for her.  

 We went out shooting in the evening so that Felicity could get some practice on the larger caliber rifle.  I think she was a little surprised at how loud it was compared to her rifle and she only shot a few times before her shoulder was sore.  It was fun to get out and practice and she talked about how excited she is for her hunt on the drive home.

We got to spend a lot of time outside this week.  I didn’t change the rule about screen time during the week, so the kids got creative with games and other things to keep them occupied.  We pulled out our archery equipment and Helen and Felicity spent a long time shooting on the south fence line.  They had so much fun, right up until it was time to collect the arrows that had missed the target and gone past the fence.  There’s a large wash adjacent to my fence line (I think it’s actually part of my property) and they had to leave the yard, climb down in the wash and back up the embankment through the cat claw, quailbush, and mesquite.  They were successful, but also a little disgruntled.  I made a target from a cardboard box for Arlo to shoot at with his BB gun, so he happily did that while the sisters were playing with bows.  The kids have discovered that playing hide and go seek on the property is a lot of fun too and did that a few times this week.  

 Our kittens are doing really well and have warmed up to us nicely.  I’m by far the favorite, followed by Felicity, they still hide from Arlo; I don’t blame them, he comes into my office at least once a day to tell me “I caught a cat”.  I’ll be happy when they are big enough to go outside as I am not a fan of cat boxes in the house.  

 I went running several times this week in the evening and also walking when I had the opportunity.  Sadie and I walked around Sahuarita Lake for an hour on Thursday.  I’ve been busy in the evenings getting some extra time in at work and also working on Christmas and Halloween projects.  I’m toying with the idea of buying Halloween costumes this year.  It will be the first time I’ve ever done that, but I couldn’t find a good pattern for either Felicity or Arlo and I don’t know how I’m going to fit it in before the 31^st anyway.  We’ll see.

 The kids went to visit their dad on Friday night.  They’ll be gone all next week, spending their last week of fall break with him.   I worked on some projects around the house.  I finished putting all the shelves up and got everything laid out the way I want it in the family room.  My next step will be to start framing it all together and drilling holes for the Audio/Visual equipment and installing molding around the whole thing.  Saturday morning I worked out by the barn, I finally got everything sorted and put away after securing all the shelves to the inside.  I also sorted through and put away all the stuff that came out of storage and was sitting by the barn.  It’s really nice to need something and be able to go out there and find it right away!  I also did some more trash/junk burning and I’m almost ready to haul my pile off to the dump.  I have so many things I want to get done at Two Jack Ranch and its exciting to see progress happening.  I had a very quiet Sunday and am both looking forward to and dreading a week without kids.  Wish me luck!

01 October 2017

We had a fun start to our three week fall break, I only wish the weather would have been as cool this week as it was last, but you can’t win them all.  Helen participated in an enrichment camp at school this week, so she had to be on bus at 7:30.  It meant we got to sleep in a little bit!  I dropped her off at the bus stop on Monday and then Felicity and Arlo and I drove into Sahuarita to get a tire fixed on the car and to get an oil change.  We also did a little shopping while we waited for the car.  When we were done with the repairs we drove over to my friend Cindy’s house and picked out two kittens to take home.  Her cat had had kittens a few weeks ago and I was very grateful she let us have a couple to keep at the ranch.  She also let me dig up some trees that were sprouting around her property so that was an added bonus!  We have a little orange male who the kids named Jack Sparrow and a gray female they are calling Pepper.  They are just the sweetest things, I love kittens.  We’ll be keeping them inside for a couple of months and then they’ll be indoor/outdoor cats, I’m hoping they’ll grow up to be great mousers so they earn their keep!

In the afternoon I met Charlotte and Lisa for lunch in Sahuarita.  I was able to enjoy fun conversation and lunch with my friends and knock out September’s visiting teaching in one delicious afternoon!  When we were done I dropped in on the other sister that I visit teach and got to chat with her for a little while, it was a very productive afternoon.

We've been playing a lot of games this week to stay entertained

Since I didn’t attended Felicity’s parent-teacher conferences last week, they mailed her report card to me, along with her certificate for making High Honor Roll for the quarter.  I was very proud, although quite honestly expected nothing less.  She is such a hard worker and a responsible student.  

 On Monday evening, we were invited to a friend’s house for Family Home Evening.  She is taking some classes through BYU and had an assignment to organize a Family Home Evening.  We had dinner over there and then our lesson.  She did a great job and my kids were excited to participate in the lesson on how keeping the commandments bless our lives.  Arlo was especially excited about the brownies at the end!

My mom unexpectedly ended up in the hospital this week.  She had surgery to correct a twisted bowel.  I went to see her on Wednesday and stopped and picked up lunch on my way home.  I sure am glad that I am able to work from home from time to time.  Helen finished her enrichment camp on Thursday and really enjoyed it.  She had a fun time and felt like she built on to her math and writing skills.  I love that the Vail School district has such fun and enriching programs and that they provide transportation for them. 

On Thursday evening I was able to finally get the rest of my stuff in storage moved out to the new house.  I took my dad’s truck and my friends Sadie and Kevin came with me in their truck to load the rest.  I am so grateful for their help, it went really smoothly and with the exception of some Christmas stuff and a few potted plants over at my parent’s house, all of my stuff is now at Two Jack Ranch.  I am grateful I was able to store all of the excess stuff from my home when I put it up for sale, I know that it helped in showing and selling my house.  After getting everything unloaded I took the girls to the Stake Center for Activity Days.

I was able to attend the temple on Friday morning, and since I didn’t have to worry about getting the kids on the bus, I was actually there early and didn’t feel as rushed.  I really enjoyed my time at the temple and then came home and worked for a few hours.  In the afternoon the kids and I went to Home Depot for a few supplies to finish the chicken coop.  When we finished getting the coop ready, we went to the feed store in our area to look at the chicks that they had.  They had some little chicks, but I was more interested in pullets that were coop-ready.  They had a ton in the back and the kids had so much fun helping the guy catch them for us.  It was funny to watch swarms of pullets move around in the coop running from outstretched kids arms.  We ended up going with four Buff Orpingtons which I’ve never had before; they are big, friendly, dual-purpose birds (eggs and meat) who will give us large brown eggs.  We also got four White Leghorns, they’re sort of the quintessential, iconic white chicken with red comb and they lay extra-large white eggs.  I’ve never had them before either, so it’ll be exciting to see how it goes.  We got them all squared away in their new coop and they seemed pretty happy.  The coop is probably a little more than 100 square feet, so I may go and get another few birds to round out our flock in the next week or so.

 Friday evening we had a backyard camp out.  The kids were really excited to set up the tent and cook dinner over a camp fire.  We roasted hot dogs and made S’mores for dessert.  We did have a mishap, however, after getting his hotdog just the way he wanted it, Arlo tried to eat it right off the roasting stick, not realizing that the metal stick would be very hot.  He burned his lip really badly and I felt so awful for him.  He didn’t let it bother him too much, as he roasted marshmallows with the sisters and enjoyed his dessert.  The kids blew up the air mattress in the tent and slept the whole night outside.  There were quite a few howling coyotes throughout the night, but it didn’t seem to bother my happy campers!

We were up early on Saturday morning and got all the camp stuff put away (and now my closet smells like a mesquite fire) and then started working on some projects around our property.  We got our burn barrel going and everything we could burn instead of adding to the “dump” pile went in the burn barrel.  I completely emptied the barn.  When we moved in, I just piled the boxes of outdoor stuff, tools, garden supplies, etc. into the barn (aka the barn-shaped shed) and it’s been a real pain as I have needed things out of there to dig through the boxes.  It’s been too hot before now to work in there, but with everything pulled out I was able to put all of my cabinets and shelves (that were moved from storage this week) in there and started unpacking and organizing it all.  We stopped at 9AM to enjoy the first session of General Conference.  We were back at it between sessions of conference and while I didn’t get it all unpacked and organized, I feel like we made some great strides.  I still have a huge pile of stuff that needs to be hauled off to the dump and I need to organize all of my lumber and bricks and blocks and garden pots, but we are getting there. 

Try to look past the clutter in the craft room

After the last session of conference on Saturday we went out to dinner in Tucson and then went to the thrift store to find Felicity and I some camo for our hunts in a couple of weeks.  We had found some things at Walmart, but the thrift was a good idea because we found quite a bit of stuff for a very reasonable price.  We went grocery shopping when we were done and then on the way home the kids convinced me to stop at the Halloween store.  You know the store I mean?  The temporary Halloween stores that pop up this time of year?  They had an absolute blast!  Arlo and Helen love activating all the scary decorations and then they tried on every funny hat, mask, or wig they could get their hands on.  The nice thing about it was that they were able to get ideas for costumes and I have finally nailed them all down to a specific costume and now I just have to get sewing!  We watched a movie when we got home and cuddled with kittens.

We enjoyed donuts and muffins for conference on Sunday morning and there was lots of coloring and notes taking and even a rousing game of General Conference Bingo.  We really enjoyed the talks that were given, and I think this is the first year that Felicity not only watched and took notes during every session but had favorite talks and we could meaningfully discuss some of our favorite speakers.  It’s hard to see her grow up, but then I get glimpses of what an amazing human being she is and what a kind, compassionate, and responsible adult she will be. 

Our home teachers came over after conference was finished on Sunday and then we went to visit Nana who is now home recovering.  We had dinner and enjoyed our visit and really enjoyed not having to rush home to get ready for bed since we still have 2/3 of our fall break ahead of us!