25 March 2018

It was a very quiet week with the kids gone, but I was able to make the most of my time and worked on several projects that needed attention.  I was in the yard almost every evening after work trying to get the new trees in the ground.  I made a trip into Tucson on Monday in search of a complimentary pear tree for the one I purchased last week.  I’ve been adding to a fact sheet that I’m maintaining for all the trees I’ve planted with information on the temperature at which to cover them, their bloom/harvest cycle, fertilization and pruning suggestions, and other species specific information. While adding to this sheet, I realized that I bought a variety of pear that requires another pear tree for pollination, so I went on the hunt for a companion tree.  I was able to find one at the second Home Depot that I visited, but only after buying a new orange tree and a cherry tree that is supposed to be acclimated to our growing zone (I’m doubtful, but also hopeful).  So, the moral of the story is: if you see me leaving the garden center of any store with a tree in my buggy, please roll your eyes and shake your head disapprovingly at me because I have plenty of trees for now!

On Tuesday evening I went out to dinner with my mom and then did my Grandma and Grandpa’s taxes.  When I got home I settled into a movie and a new cross stitch project.  Thursday morning I went to a friend’s house to see their bee hives and ask some questions and get some more information as I prepare to start my apiary.  It was very insightful and I’m glad I have a near-by resource as this will be an entirely new adventure for us.

I went to the temple on Friday morning and enjoyed my time there; I’m so grateful to have a temple near, I have the opportunity to go once a week if I’d like and I know that it makes a significant positive difference in my life.  I went to work when I was done at the temple and then in the evening Leona came over with dinner and the two of us worked on cross stitch projects while watching movies, just like we used to in college.  I love her so much and value the times that we are able to be together.

Saturday I finished planting all of the small trees.  I now have a total of 20 fruit trees in the ground. I measured and started digging the much larger holes that will accommodate the mulberry trees that are going in the front of the house.  While I was out working, one of my tortoises came out from under the dog house where they hibernated this winter and swam in the tree well.  Around one o’clock the wind really picked up and I couldn’t take the constant sand and desert debris in my face while digging anymore so I went in and cleaned the house and took care of the laundry and then ventured out for the weekly grocery shopping.  In the evening I prepared the Relief Society lesson I was asked to give.

Sunday morning I drove into Tucson to pick up the kids.  They had a fun time visiting with their dad, Arlo pitched a fit and didn’t want to come home; of course we were only in the car for a couple of minutes before he calmed down and was happily talking about all the stuff he was going to do when he got home, so I guess I can’t take it too personally! We attended church where I subbed in an eight-year-old primary class second hour and then taught the Relief Society lesson on remembering the Sabbath during third hour.  I’ll admit, it was not one of my finer lessons, owing much to the fact that we’ve been talking about different aspects of Sabbath overserve as the fourth Sunday lesson for the last four months!  There wasn’t a whole lot that hadn’t already been touched on.  It was somewhat of a bittersweet Sunday as Felicity attended Primary for the last time.  We have General Conference next weekend and then she’ll be at her dad’s the following weekend and so she will have her 12^th birthday before she has the opportunity to attend again.  The Primary sang her a happy birthday song and her Primary President signed off on her Faith in God award.  For some reason I can’t remember her first day of sunbeams, or who her teachers were, but it doesn’t seem like it could have been all that long ago.  I’m so grateful to many wonderful Primary teachers and Activity Day leaders and Primary Presidencies who have taught and strengthened Felicity and added to her knowledge of the Gospel and her own testimony of its truth.

After church I dropped the kids off at my mom’s house and then I drove into Tucson to help Grandma Lo with her TV which wasn’t working.  Once I got it fixed she asked if we could go to dinner.  Now typically I don’t eat out on Sundays, especially after teaching a lesson about keeping the Sabbath Holy not more than two hours prior!  But, when my 91 year old Grandma wants to go to dinner, how can I tell her no?  I figure the Savior said it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath, so I will justify it thus.  We had a very nice dinner and then I picked up the kids and we went home to get ready for the coming week. 

I’m excited to continue to work on the many projects I want to complete at Two Jack Ranch this coming week.  My goal is to get the mulberry trees in the ground, build flower beds around them, and get the pig pen ready for spring piglets.  We have our last week of soccer practice and games, Felicity starts track, and the kids have AZ Merit testing next week so we will be happily busy.  We love spring!

18 March 2018

We had a great first week of spring break.  It was nice to have a more relaxed schedule and to fit in some fun activities.  I got the kids’ third quarter report cards in the mail on Monday and was so pleased with how hard they had worked.  Felicity got straight A’s and Helen had all A’s and one B, which I in part, take responsibility for as it was her language arts grade and was primarily influenced by her lack-luster spelling test scores; I haven’t been quizzing her and working with her on that as much as I know I should be.  Arlo’s report card was awesome as well, this quarter he raked in eleven 4’s!  Again, the only 2 he had was for his sight word recognition and that is because I haven’t been working on it with him at home.  So my conclusion is that I earned a C in motherhood, at least in the area of homework help!  That being said, I’m extremely proud of the kids and their hard work. 

Felicity worked on two projects this week, the last two to check off for her Faith in God Award.  She helped Arlo with his sight words by making a game for them to play and then playing it with him.  She also worked with him on some other tactics for increasing the number of words he has mastered.  She also transcribed a version of “If the Savior Stood Beside Me” for flute. 

Since Helen had stayed the night at Nana’s house on Sunday, she got to spend Monday with Nana and Grandma Lo.  They had lunch and then got to go visit Grandpa Gene. 

Arlo had soccer practice on Monday afternoon and Felicity and I walked around the track and talked.  When we were done, we picked up Helen and then went out to dinner for Family Home Evening.  We had a really nice meal together, talked about the importance of goal setting, and then came home to watch a movie.  

 Tuesday afternoon the girls had soccer practice and Arlo and I took the ball and gloves to play catch.  He and I threw the baseball back and forth for almost the entire hour and a half that the girls had practice.  We played soccer with Felicity for the last 15 minutes of Helen’s practice.  When we were done with practice we went to McDonald’s for an ice cream treat, it was a lot of fun.

Wednesday afternoon we picked up Nana and went to see “A Wrinkle in Time” at the Harkin’s Theater.  We had the whole place to ourselves and the kids really enjoyed the movie, Felicity especially.  I liked the movie better than I liked the book, but I predict it’s going to fall on its face with audiences who didn’t read and love the book.  When we were done we had dinner at Chipotle and then went back to Nana’s house to visit for a while.  She and Felicity played a new game and Helen and Arlo got coveted time on the iPad which is a real treat as I won’t let them have screen time during the week and doubt I will ever hand over a device for them to binge; but they indulge when they are at Nana and Papa’s house. 

The kids have been enjoying lots of outside time in the morning while they’re on their break.  Felicity taught Arlo how to use the bow and arrow set and he spent a few hours target shooting this week.  Everyone had soccer practice on Thursday afternoon and in the evening I had an appointment with the Bishop.  That went well, he just wanted to meet with me to get better acquainted.

I was up early on Friday morning and went to the temple.  I headed home after the temple and worked in the yard planting another tree and weeding and making repairs to the apple tree wells.  In the afternoon we went to Skate Country and the kids had a blast skating.  This time I took a book instead of skating with them.  After I read A Wrinkle in Time, I read The Fault in Our Stars (which was Ok) and then I read Paper Towns (which was meh) and now I’m reading The Killing of Lincoln; this one I really like so far.  After skating we had dinner at Eegee’s which is always a favorite.   

 When we were done with dinner we went to Bookman’s to peruse the books.  The kids had such a great time. Arlo picked out some early-reader National Geographic non-fiction, Helen got a few fiction books, and Felicity picked up the third book in the Madeleine L’Engle series as well as another in series she is enjoying.  I bought a Beekeeping reference book.  Did I mention I’m getting bees?  If not, I haven’t talked to you in person in a while because I’ve been so excited to tell pretty much everyone that will listen that I’m getting bees.  I have a hive and equipment on order and am learning all I can in the interim.  I wanted bees at our Sahuarita house because I had problems with getting enough pollination in my yard, now I have plenty of space to explore an apiary. 

We were up early on Saturday morning for soccer games.  Felicity played at 9 and then Arlo and Helen played at 10:30.  They all lost, but had fun anyway.  When we were done we went to Walmart and Fry’s for our weekly shopping and groceries.  I picked up several bags of garden soil since I’m focusing on a container garden until I can get my garden beds constructed.  I was able to plant beans, spinach, onions, tomatoes, tomatillos, green chilies, artichokes, and beets so far.  I also got some bags of compost to add to my already established tree wells.  I am making plans to build a rabbit hutch as well and will be getting materials for that in the next week or so.  I also want to get the pig pen ready for spring pigs, so lots of good work and progress at Two Jack this spring.  We played some games in the evening and read our new books; Helen finished one of hers already.

Sunday morning our new Home Teacher came over with his wife and we enjoyed their visit quite a bit.  We attended our church meetings in the afternoon and third hour Felicity performed the piece she had been preparing for the Primary children.  She did so well, I was really proud of her.  Even though you’re not supposed to take photos/video in the chapel, that’s where the Primary was meeting, so I may have snuck a video to remember the occasion.  This was the final activity to check off for her Faith in God Award.  All she has left is an interview with the Primary President and then one with the Bishop when she turns twelve.  I’m so proud of the beautiful young woman Felicity is becoming.   

 After church I filled in for the choir director and led choir practice.  

 When we got home the kids went with their dad to spend the second week of their spring break with him.    I, like the old lady I’m becoming, fell asleep on the couch reading at 8PM.  I hope to be able to get a lot of accomplished with a quiet house in the coming week!

The citrus blossoms have the front of the property smelling so amazing

11 March 2018

It was kind of a sick week at the ranch.  Helen and Felicity and I all had colds and both girls stayed home at least one day this week.  We persevered, none the less, and accomplished a lot anyway.  Arlo had gotten into trouble at school on Monday and so he had to fill three buckets of landscape rocks to move to the driveway and spend time in his room instead of playing.  He also had to miss out on soccer practice, which meant I had to run on the road instead of the nice cushy track.  In the evening we had Family Home Evening after dinner and enjoyed a fruit and pudding dessert that Helen made.  We played Clue as our activity.

Tuesday was a very full day.  We ended up skipping soccer practice for the girls as they both had Activity Days at 6 and then Felicity had New Beginnings at 7.  Helen had her activity at the church and I had volunteered to teach infant and child CPR/Heimlich to the older Activity Day girls as their activity was babysitting classes.  I taught probably fifteen 10-11 year old girls and they seemed to have fun practicing on the CPR mannequin and they had lots of really good and insightful questions.

Right after Activity Days, Felicity and I attended New Beginnings which is a Young Women’s preview event.  They introduced all the girls who will be turning twelve this year and starting the Young Women’s program.  They gave an overview of the program and gave the new girls an opportunity to meet some of the older girls and familiarize themselves with the Young Women’s program.   It was very nicely done and Felicity enjoyed the rainbow theme which included brightly colored refreshments.  Arlo and Helen patiently waited for us to finish and then we all headed home. 

Felicity was home sick on Wednesday and then Helen on Thursday.  Since Helen was home sick she skipped soccer practice, so I just had to worry about getting Arlo and Felicity to the field.  After we got home and had dinner I worked on some pillow cases I had volunteered to sew.  A sister in our ward wanted to gift a pair of pillow cases to some girls that she sits for; their grandmother had passed away and the cases were to be made from her nightshirts.  I was very happy to help, and aside from knit fabric being nearly impossible to square, I was able to make two cute little pillow cases with coordinating cuffs. 

Everyone was back to school on Friday and I worked from home in the morning and then when Arlo got home at 11, we went to run some errands.  He and I had lunch together, got gas, and went to the store.  In an attempt to raise a gentlemen, I make sure Arlo opens doors for his sisters and me and recently have allowed him to pump the gas, telling him “that’s the man’s job”.  While we were getting gas on Friday I taught him how to clean the windows while the gas was pumping.  I hope someone out there is raising a lady, because Arlo’s going to be well trained by the time he’s an adult! 

After lunch and chores, we drove out to Copper Ridge for an awards assembly where Helen received an honorable mention for her science fair project.  They gave her a really nice certificate, tote bag, and cup with the school logo and her name on it.  I really love our elementary school.  She had come home excited to tell me several weeks ago that her project made it into the final judging round and she got to talk to the individual judges.  She also told me that she was sure to tell the director that “my sister won first prize with this experiment two years ago”.  (Mom face-palm moment).  So while she was a little disappointed her experiment didn’t win a ribbon, she was happy to receive her honorable mention.

I did my grocery shopping after everyone got home from school and then the kids were off to spend the weekend with their dad.  I was invited to sub at a Bunco game in the evening and had a really nice time getting to meet new people.  Saturday morning I was up early and in the yard as I had several trees that needed planting.  Unfortunately putting in a new tree on our property is a lot more work than just digging the hole (which is a chore in and of itself as the ground in Arizona is hard and rocky).  For each tree I have to dig the hole, create a tree well by mounding dirt in a 7’ diameter around the hole and then level the well.  After the tree is in the ground and covered, I have to create a circular cage from fencing and chicken wire to keep the rabbits from eating the leaves and nibbling the trunk.  The weather was beautiful and I managed to get five new trees in and one extra hole and well dug before it started to rain.  As of right now, the ranch has two apples trees, two nectarines, a peach, an apricot, two figs, two pomegranates, a lemon, an orange, a grapefruit, and a loquat in the ground and I still have two mulberries, a plum, a pear, another pomegranate, and another peach to put in the ground.  I’m really excited to see the orchard part of the ranch come together.  I also spent a lot of time this week going through all of the pots of bulbs and other plants I brought with me from the Sahuarita house and weeding, repotting things, and finding permanent spots for them on the porches.  I’m going to created raised circular beds around the mulberry trees in the front and the ash trees in the back and plant all of my iris and amaryllis bulbs.  Because of the rain I haven’t been able to get my concrete footings poured for my raised beds in the vegetable garden so I have started seeds in pots that I’ve lined up inside a fencing enclosure near the house.  I may just have to do a container garden this year and shoot to have my permanent garden set up next year.  Lamentably, I still haven’t been able to get my roses in the ground since I haven’t been able to get the landscape rock moved and a fence built to protect them from the desert critters, they may just have to spend the next six months in their five gallon buckets.  It’s slow but rewarding work and I have a lifetime to get it all the way I want it.

Arlo fell asleep on my lap, Henry tried to dethrone him

After coming in with the rain I showered and then cleaned the house and got the laundry done for the week.  I settled in with a movie and had a really relaxing evening.  Sunday morning I worked on some family history and then attended my church meetings.  I went to choir practice after church and then picked up the kids.  They are starting their spring break this week, so we were able to go over and have dinner at Nana’s after picking them up since we didn’t have to go to bed early.  Helen decided to stay the night and go with Nana to visit Grandpa Gene in the morning.  We have a lot of fun activities we want to do while the kids are on spring break next week and are hoping for a healthy fun week!

04 March 2017

I don't know if I want spring to hurry up and get here so I can enjoy the beautiful weather, or if I want it to hold off for just a little while longer since I am no where near ready.  Either way, we've been enjoying the chilly mornings and sunny afternoons.  Arlo had soccer practice on Monday afternoon and I ran the track while he played.  I'm glad to be finding my stride again.  In the evening we had tacos for dinner and then enjoyed a family home evening lesson about the importance of families and then watched Coco together.  I loved it just as much as I did when I saw it in the theaters, this one comes highly recommended by the Davidson family.

Felicity stayed home in the morning on Tuesday so that she could make her dentist appointment for a cleaning.  Another visit with no cavities, yay!  When we were done we popped over to the store for a few things and then we went out to lunch together for some girl time.  We had fun. 

Now that our hens are consistently laying eggs, we are bringing in anywhere from 6-10 per day so we ended up with an excess of about four dozen this week.  The kids want to start a weekly egg service to help earn money for missions.  I had Felicity sit and work out the numbers to determine what our costs are (feed, bedding, etc.), how many eggs we will likely collect in excess of what our family eats, and selling costs (transportation/delivery, cartons) to decide how much she will need to charge in order to turn a profit.  Then I had her determine average egg prices in the grocery store for a similar product.  She found that she would need to charge between $2.50-$3 per dozen and found it was within the market value for store bought eggs.  We will need to wait a little longer until we are getting consistently larger eggs, as some of the them are still smallish, but in the meantime, the girls sold the four dozen extra to members in our ward at a reduced price.   I also toyed around with creating a logo for Two Jack Ranch to put on our products.

I had my performance review at work this week and was pleased to get a very good rating and ranking for last year and I was also rewarded with a pay raise which is always nice.  We had soccer practice for the girls on Tuesday and a late dinner when it was over.  All three kids had soccer practice on Thursday which had me dropping Arlo off at Sycamore park with Nana at 4:30, dropping Felicity off at Cottonwood Elementary in Rita Ranch at 5:00, dropping Helen off at Andrada High School at 5:30, and then driving back to get Felicity, then Helen, and finally Arlo from my mom's house.  It was crazy and I'm more than a little annoyed that Helen's team decided to switch practice areas making it so that the girl's are no longer practicing at the same schools on the same days.  There's only a few more weeks left in the season so we will make it work.

Friday morning I was able to drop the kids off at the bus stop a little early and make it to the temple for the 7:30 AM session.  I enjoyed myself and was able to get back home to pick up Arlo with plenty of time to spare. He and I went into Sahuarita and finally had the car washed since we had all the rain and mud.  While they were washing the car, he and I had lunch together and talked about school and friends.

In the afternoon the kids and I did our grocery shopping and then went over to Copper Ridge for their Spring Fling PTA fundraiser.  They had all sorts of carnival games, a cake walk, face painting, a petting zoo, and jumping castles.  We had a blast.  We got to eat food truck hotdogs for dinner which the kids were excited about, and the highlight of the evening for Helen was getting to pet a capybara.  Who even knew you could keep those as pets?!  I didn't!  Arlo especially liked the jumping castles.  It was a fun night and we enjoyed spending it with our neighbors and friends.  I am really enjoying the sense of community here.

Saturday morning we had soccer games.  Arlo's was first at 8:30 and had a really fun time.  Helen and Felicity both had their games at the same time, but again, because one team was unexpectedly playing at a different school, we had to miss one.  Since I was providing snacks this week for Felicity's game, we missed Helen's game.  That leads me to a short rant.  I hate soccer snacks.  Am I the only one that thinks this is stupid?  Honestly, if your kid can't play for an hour without a Gatorade, an orange, and a granola bar, there's something wrong.  It adds one more layer of complication and expense to my life.  Oh, well, I have fulfilled my stupid soccer snack duty for the season as I have provided the aforementioned "necessity" for all three kids' teams now. 

In between Arlo's game and Felicity's game we went to Home Depot and I bought two Mulberry trees that I've had my eye on for a while.  After soccer I went back to pick them up.  The kids helped me get them out of the truck and when we were done I got to work planting some of the other trees I have accumulated, some bought last week and some delivered from Trico.  We were able to harvest some oranges from one of our trees and I thought for sure they'd be sour, but they were actually really sweet and delicious.  My apple trees are covered in blossoms and I am hoping that we get some apples this year.  As of today, we have three citrus trees, one is an orange, and I'm not sure what the other two are yet.  We have two apple trees, two nectarine trees, two peaches, an apricot, three pomegranates, two figs, a plumb, and a pear.  Since I still haven't been able to get the cement poured for the footings for my raised beds, I have started my garden in pots and containers for the time being.  This may be the way I go about this year's garden.  I have a lovely variety of herbs growing in my kitchen window right now that I really am enjoying.  We'll get everything worked out in the yard eventually, for now I'll just make do where I can.  Once it got too dark to keep working outside, I came in and had cleaning and laundry to do, it was pretty late by the time I got to go to bed!

We had a nice and relaxed Sunday morning.  Felicity and I worked on her Faith in God activities.  She only has three left!  We enjoyed our church meetings and then went to my parent's house for dinner and visiting.  I'm looking forward to another great week and hoping for some productive days!