23 June 2024

What an odd week.  Phil stayed at work Monday, working an overtime shift until 5PM.  When he got home we went to dinner to celebrate his birthday since we were finally all home.  We went to Red Robin and had a fun time.  Jude was even fairly well behaved for most of dinner.  We had cake when we got home.  

Phil went back to work on Tuesday for some more overtime.  We're grateful the availability of overtime has picked up significantly, we're making progress once again towards out retirement goals after a slow start to the year.  We were down one person this week as Helen set off for girl's camp on Mount Lemon.  It was her first year as a YCL (youth camp leader) and she was excited to go.  She had herself all packed up Tuesday morning, ready to set out.  

Wednesday after I was finished with work we ventured out to see Inside Out 2 with the kiddos.  I was hopeful that Jude was old enough for the movie theater.  I was wrong.  He was good through the previews and then it progressively got worse from there.  I was more comfortable with his antics in a children's movie because I knew there were other little kids in the theater, but he got too talkative and refused to sit so he and I spent the last twenty minutes of the movie out in the truck.  Its a shame, I was enjoying the first part of the movie.

On Thursday I caught Jude cutting his own hair in the bathroom.  If nothing else he keeps life interesting.  Luckily, I caught him early on in the trimming and his hair is long so you can't really tell.

We had a frustrating morning Thursday aside from Jude cutting his hair when Phil called to check the status of Felicity's scholarship application with EAC.  She decided on EA at the end of February and academic scholarship applications were due March 1st so I did quite a bit of scrambling to make sure those got in.  We are supposed to be paying our balance in July and hadn't heard whether she'd gotten a scholarship yet.  I figured since all the in state universities offered her at least a partial tuition waiver she should get something from EA.  We hadn't heard anything so Phil called the scholarship office where he was told that they never received Felicity's transcript so she wasn't considered for a scholarship.  I had a little panic and then pulled up the portal I used to order transcripts (I'm way too detail oriented to have neglected to send a transcript) and found that the school sent an official transcript by mail on 2/28.  We were frustrated.  Phil called back and talked to someone in the records office and it just so happened she was someone he knew (surprise, surprise, he knows EVERYONE).  Anyway, she requested a new transcript from the school and said she would talk to the scholarship office.  She called back an hour or so later and said that she found the missing transcript.  Because we applied for the scholarships and admission at the same time, Felicity didn't have a student account set up when the transcript came in, so there was no file to attach it to so it went in a drawer and was forgotten about.  The gal in the records office said it was time stamped (thank goodness) showing it came in under the March 1 deadline and that she would hand deliver it to the scholarship office explaining what happened.  That being said, the guy in the scholarship office had already told Phil that they had allocated all their funds for scholarships already.  It felt so unfair!  A misplaced piece of paper was going to cost us a few thousand dollars.  I wish they had sent a reminder that they hadn't received the transcript so I could follow up, but lesson learned, I should have followed up sooner.  Long story short, Friday morning Felicity received an email that she had be awarded an Alumni Association Scholarship for $1,176 per semester. I'm grateful they found some funding for her, I'm disappointed it wasn't more.  I'm hopeful that between this and the other scholarships she's received we won't have any out of pocket expenses, at least for this first year.

Friday was overcast and windy;  after work I did our neighbor's grocery shopping along with our own and while I was gone it started to rain in earnest.  I got turned turned around on Sahuarita road west of the "S" curve on my way home while Green Valley was rescuing a motorist that got caught in the flood water.  I drove to the fire station and hung out with Phil for awhile until the road open back up and I could get home.  I was shocked to find that our goat shelter blew over in the wind.  I have no idea what kind of crazy wind could have rolled it over the fence, but that's what I found. 

Phil went into town Saturday morning after getting off of work to check out a car he found online.  We have been saving to buy an extra vehicle for Felicity to take with her to college.  He negotiated a relatively good price on a 2023 Toyota Corolla with about 20,000 miles on it.  When he got home we used the tractor and some ingenuity to tip the goat shelter back over.  I still can't believe the wind blew something that heavy!  When we were done I drove back to Tucson with Phil to pick up the new car.  Felicity seemed pretty pleased with it.  We drove it to Sahuarita and picked up some Dairy Queen to celebrate.

Helen got home from camp late in the morning Saturday, stinky and dirty, but she had a great time.  I guess it rained on the mountain quite a bit so they had to make some adjustments and I guess some of the girls ended up with wet bedding.  She told me all about camp on the drive home.  

While Phil was out buying the car I was wrapping up a quilting project instead of cleaning house (which is what I should have been doing).  I started this one awhile ago, but abandoned it for something else.  I'm glad I picked it back up because it turned out lovely.  There are a LOT of seams in each block.  I'm looking forward to having it quilted, this is one I'm going to keep for myself.

Phil worked on Sunday and so the kids and I went to church without him.  Felicity attended our ward instead of the YSA ward so that she could turn in her tithing.  It was fun to have her in Relief Society with me second hour.  We had a relaxed afternoon and enjoyed another day of overcast weather.  

When we got home from church I noticed a quail flew out of the yard when we walked up to the porch.  I had noticed her in the yard the other day as well so I looked around briefly for a nest and found a clutch of 9-12 eggs under a dog dish that was leaned up against a toy tractor.  I hope we can tip toe around mama quail and her nest until her babies are born.

16 June 2024

Summer vacation in all its glory continues.  This week it was mostly just Felicity and Jude and I as Helen and Arlo are still visiting their dad and Phil has been working any available overtime that comes up.  I think he worked Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday this week.  

Since finishing Felicity's tee shirt quilt last week I have been debating on what to work on next.  I have a couple of quilts that are in progress: a traditional pieced quilt and a very large applique project, but the serger that Phil got me for Mother's Day has been calling to me from the corner of our closet.  I got that out and all set up on Monday and pulled out a vintage 1960s dress pattern to work on.  I found some fun fabric at Joann and put the dress together in an evening or two.  I love how it turned out.  I lengthened the hem a little bit, but the darts in it are so pretty.  I wish I had a dress form to put it on.  The only down side was it was too small when I tried it on.  Instead of making adjustments I'm just going to put it in the closet and bring it out when I get closer to my goal weight.  I want to make some more 1950s and 1960s dresses, they're just so much fun.

Felicity was out and about on Tuesday, I think she picked up Helen in Tucson and they spent the afternoon together shopping.  While she was gone and I was working Jude stirred up trouble, which is not unusual.  I caught him pouring copious amounts of water on the carpet...I think he was getting it from the bathtub.  I put him in his room for a "time-out" for that offense and went back to my meeting.  After a bit he came up to me smelling strongly of toluene and with a new raccoon mask.  He evidently had broken into the girls' room and painted himself with gel nail polish.  Needless to say a bath was rather ineffectual at removing it and I didn't think putting acetone that close to his eyes was a good idea, so we just let it be and waited for it to wear off naturally...it took until Saturday or so.  He never ceases to amaze me.  Phil was home on Thursday and enjoyed going to lunch with his aunt and mom to celebrate his birthday.  I was working, so I didn't get to go.  We had the missionaries over for dinner in the evening which was a nice treat for my family because I actually cooked a real dinner.  We had a nice visit and Jude appreciated getting to have ice cream for dessert.  

Another fan favorite this week was our new ice maker.  I bought Phil a nugget ice maker, like the ice from Sonic, which is good because Sonic is dead to me after the after-graduation Sonic app debacle. It came in the mail this week and we got it set up and everyone has loved trying it out.  Jude wasn't done with antics for the week, on Thursday he came up to me while I was in a meeting with feathers in his hands and told me "the turkey chick got dead".  Ahhh!  What?! I had to excuse myself from my meeting and rush to the brooder where we have a turkey chick that hatched last week.  Luckily it wasn't dead, although it didn't look too good.  Based on the evidence, Jude was trying to take it out of the brooder and knocked over the heat lamp onto the chick burning his foot.  I'm grateful that by the end of the week the chick was healed and back to himself (and that Jude didn't start a fire).  On Saturday morning I caught Jude licking the edge of the counter top in the kitchen.  When I asked what he was doing he said "the ants are yummy".  I walked over to see what was going on, assuming I'd misheard him and there was a line of tiny ants that had gotten into the kitchen from a crack in the window...and Jude was eating them! I have no conceivable idea what was going through his head, but I advised him that it probably wasn't a good idea to lick the ants off the counter.  If he survives toddlerhood we'll have a collection of good stories to tell.

I will say that I appreciate Jude's work ethic, he demands to come outside with me each evening to do animal chores.  He is, of course, more of a hinderance than a help, but this is how they learn.  Most of the time his chores are completed in nothing but a pull-up and cowboy boots.  And no, we are nowhere nearer to having him potty trained.  Phil was home on Saturday which was nice.  We ran some errands and did some chores including, but not limited to cleaning the house and doing the laundry.  Lucky for me the laundry was on the light side this week seeing as Helen and Arlo were gone, Phil was barely here, I wore like two outfits all week because working from home and not leaving the house demands so little of my wardrobe, and Jude wanders around naked all day.  We were supposed to go the temple in the afternoon but I neglected to make a reservation and there weren't any available at the time we needed.  It ended up that Felicity worked at the estate sale with my mom anyway so we didn't have a babysitter, but I was a little bummed.

Sunday was Father's Day, but we were without our father as he was working.  I did take the opportunity to call my dad and chat with him for 20 minutes or so, we'll have to go over there with a Father's Day treat when everyone is home again. Felicity attended the YSA ward so it was just Jude and I at church.  I filled in for Felicity as chorister when her substitute didn't show up on time...it was disastrous.  Jude sat on the stand with me causing mayhem and he refused to sit and stop talking so I had to take him out of the meeting in the middle of sacrament meeting.  I taught the adult Sunday school lesson second hour and I feel like it went alright.  I'm still trying to find my groove if you will, so I hope everyone is patient with me as I figure that out. Felicity picked up Arlo and Helen for me from Tucson as the end of their two-week visit has finally come to an end.  I was excited to hear about their adventures.  In the evening the kiddos did a me a solid and had a "sleep over" in Jude's room.  He has refused to sleep in his own bed for weeks now...and its driving me crazy.  The big kids took blankets and pillows in his room and set up a movie to watch until Jude fell asleep.  It was mostly successful as he did sleep most of the night in his bed before bursting through my bedroom door at 4AM and climbing into bed with me...and then peeing on me in his sleep.  Joy.

Even though we didn't get to celebrate Phil on Father's Day I would be remiss in not mentioning what an amazing father he is.  He sacrifices so that our family can have everything we need and a lot of the things we want.  He is patient and loving and fair.  He is great at rough housing and teasing and annoying the teenagers.  He loves easily and calls the kids out when they're not doing right.  He shares his loves and passions with the kids, is nosey in their business, and has expectations of them that will help them become the best versions on themselves.  He is a natural and we love him.

10 June 2024

I love summer!  I loved having so few obligations this week. I rolled out of bed at seven most mornings just in time for my 7:30 work meeting and had something on my sewing machine all week.  On Monday Helen joined Arlo in visiting their dad for two weeks.  I'm going to miss them!  I'm grateful for Felicity's help with Jude this week since Phil was yet again gone most of the week.  He worked his regular shift on Monday and Wednesday and overtime on Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday.  To be fair he came home for three hours on Tuesday before turning around and getting called back in.  I teased him that three hours at home with Jude sent him running back to work!

I finished up Felicity's tee shirt quilt this week.  It turned out cute, although it was quite a pain.  She's small, so her tee shirts are all small or extra small which means I couldn't make standard size blocks. It ended up being a whole row longer, 24 blocks instead of 20, than the last one I did, but still smaller in overall dimensions.  I dropped it off to be quilted on Thursday afternoon.  Felicity and Dad went to the bank on Thursday and she opened up her own checking/savings account.  She has had a child account under ours, so she was excited to get her very own adult account.  She's hitting all kinds of adulting milestones lately!

Our little ranch is surviving through the heat.  All the new trees are doing well and we have fruit on most of the rest of our trees.  My porch garden is doing well too.  I'm hopeful we'll get some veggies from that in the coming weeks.  However, we have been struggling with our turkeys.  We have a breeding pair of bourbon red turkeys that we use for chicks each year.  This year we've had four start to hatch but not survive and one that hatched, but was crippled and died after going into the brooder.  So far we've only had one chick live and *knock on wood* so far is doing well in the brooder.  I have several more eggs in the incubator so I'm hoping our luck turns.  I also left half a dozen eggs in the coop for the mama to hatch, so we'll see how she does too and so with some luck between the two methods we might have turkeys to sell at Thanksgiving.  I may have to replace our incubator because I don't think its holding steady humidity which could account for the lame chick that hatched and the others that got stuck while hatching.    I've said it before, most of the time the homestead life is one step forward, two steps back!

On Saturday when Phil got home we drove to Buckeye for his niece's baptism.  It was such a great little baptism service and we enjoyed spending time with family and friends after.  Jude especially liked playing with cousins and throwing the ball with Aunt Salina's dog.  We got an ice-cream on the way home and he fell asleep before he even finished his treat.

Phil had his 46th birthday on Sunday although we didn't get to celebrate since he was back at work.  Jude and Felicity and I went to church and enjoyed a quiet evening at home.  Phil shared this cute story and picture on Facebook on Sunday and I thought I would immortalize it here:

02 June 2024

 I was so grateful to not have to work on Monday.  We didn't really have any plans since Phil was working.  Summer is definitely upon us with warmer temperatures.  I spent time planting some more things in my container garden on my front porch.  We'll cross our fingers that the dogs stay out of it and the critters don't eat it!  

We didn't see much of Phil this week.  He worked his regular shift Monday and Wednesday and overtime on Tuesday and Thursday.  He was home on Friday and back to work Saturday, Sunday, and he'll be working Monday too.  Ugh!  That's a lot of overtime!  He did get to work a house fire on Tuesday which is always exciting.  Arlo enjoyed a swimming activity with the deacons quorum on Tuesday evening.  On Wednesday the girls used our Broadway in Tucson tickets to see "Mrs. Doubtfire".  They had a great time and said it was entertaining.

Helen attended a church youth conference this weekend, with activities kicking off on Thursday evening at the Tucson Stake Center.  She was asked to be a group leader and come up with some getting-to-know-you games and lead some discussions.  Even though it was outside of her comfort zone she agreed and had a good time.  They had all day activities on Friday including some water games at the ball park and a dance.  They took a trip to the temple on Saturday.

On Friday afternoon Phil and I took my mom and his mom out to lunch for a late Mother's Day gift.  We went to Mi Casa in Benson and had a lovely time...and the shrimp fajitas were delicious!  We should have taken a picture!  Friday evening Arlo watched Jude for us and Phil and Felicity and I went to have dinner in Tucson with the Arrington's.  I was in a church ward with Liz and Eric Arrington several years ago and became friends with Liz.  It just so happens that Eric grew up in Morenci with Phil.  Liz and I reconnected when we realized both our girls will be attending EAC in the fall.  The girls are going to be roommates when school starts so we thought we would get them together so they could get reacquainted.  We met them at Aqui Con El Nene on Valencia and had a great time.  9PM rolled around way too fast and we had to call it a night to be able to pick up Helen on time from youth conference.  I'm glad Felicity will have a roommate she knows.

Phil was back at work on Saturday and Jude and Arlo helped me with some errands on Saturday morning.  We went to Home Depot and got some mulch for my tree wells.  The boys were a big help, if you can call riding on top of the mulch bags while I pulled it around the garden center helping.  We stopped at two Tractor Supply stores, grabbed lunch, and then I took Arlo to his dad's place.  He and Helen will be visiting for a couple of weeks.  With Arlo at his dad's, Helen at youth conference, and Felicity and Phil working it was just Jude and I for the rest of the afternoon.

Phil worked Sunday as well so I was grateful to have Helen home one more day since Felicity went to the Young Single Adult ward.  Helen sat with Jude in Sacrament meeting while I filled in for Felicity as chorister.  I taught Sunday School second hour and I think it went alright.  The remainder of our Sunday was quiet.  I've been struggling with a kidney infection for the last few days and just did not feel well; I spent most of the day resting.  I'm annoyed because I had one at the beginning of May and after spending a week drinking cranberry juice I gave up and talked to our NP who prescribed an antibiotic.  I felt better after a week of meds, but then it came back.  I was able to use an online telehealth service to get some antibiotics so fingers crossed I can get to feeling better soon.  

Phil should be coming home on Tuesday morning of next week, so I look forward to that.