Pioneer Week - Thursday

Of course, we had every intention of carrying on the traditional pioneers them that night, but we got a last minute invitation to help welcome some modern day pioneers.

Wright-Patterson AFB is enormous. It's actually like 3 bases squished into one. Fred works in finance for one part of the base. There's also the materials command. Then there's AFIT (Air Force Institute of Technology). It's basically grad school for Air Force officers.

What does that have to do with pioneers? Aside from existing to further the education of US military officers, there are also many officers from countries all around the world who come to Wright-Patt to further their education. It can be really neat to go grocery shopping and see other shoppers in uniforms from various different countries.

Much to our delight, there's a pretty well-represented group of Brazilian officers. There's one couple in particular, Kezia and Alan, who we have made good friends with. They are both in the military, but only Kezia is in training. Her husband, Alan, stays home with their 6-year old son. Neither of the guys speak very good English, but they're certainly determined!

Kezia called Fred that Thursday to let us know that a new family had arrived from Brazil and that they were throwing a welcome party. I had a grueling day that day and at first told Fred to go on without me. In the end I decided to go along, and boy, am I glad I did!

(driving to the party)

Brazilians are some of the kindest, funnest, most relaxed people you'll meet anywhere. We immediately made friends with everyone there. Our kids played with their kids. We all ate tons of yummy food.

The new family consists of the father who is here for training, and his wife and 2 teenage daughters. The ladies don't speak a lick of English, although the wife's name is "Deborah"! So cool. They plan on putting their girls in public school. Sink or swim, I guess.

It was so funny how some of the Brazilians just couldn't get over how well Fred can speak Portuguese. This one lady would randomly burst out laughing, exclaiming in the cutest pitch, "You are amaaazing! You speaky suchy good Portuguese!"


She adored Kai. He wasn't sure about her at first, but warmed up quickly once she let him gnaw on her necklace.

It was just such a warm evening of laughs and fun stories. We were sad to go.

It also opened up the opportunity to tell our kids about modern pioneers. They were in awe when I explained that my mom (their oma) is a pioneer, since she moved here from Germany to marry Opa.

(I didn't have access to many pictures of them for this post.. although this one captures their fun relationship pretty well)

While the evening was completely modern, it was a beautiful experience!

Pioneer Week - Wednesday

(Charla unrolling homemade pasta)

I was determined to have at least dinner of each day remotely Pioneer-ish.

I found a pretty neat website that had a bunch of recipes specifically shared for people participating in pioneer reenactments.
http://heritage.uen.org/resources/Wcd053250dbb55.htm

I decided to try a first and make homemade pasta. Let me just say, if I decide to do it again, I want a pasta maker- the kind that rolls and cuts it for you. It was delicious, but tedious work!

The kids had fun mixing, kneading and rolling out the dough. I then used my quilting ruler and our pizza cutter to slice the dough into long noodles.

(no, I didn't let them hack away at it with that knife - I did it... it looks like an albino leak to me)

We laid them out on cookie sheets and let them dry while I prepared the soup.

I am NOT a sweet potato fan, but I wanted to be adventurous, so I prepared the Cider Pork Soup from that website. HOLY W-O-W!! It was DELICIOUS and really pretty healthy. The kids weren't as thrilled with it, but oh well. They did love the noodles!

(The kids thought the sweet potatoes were carrots. I let them think that since I figured they probably wouldn't eat them if they knew otherwise... does that make me bad??)

We added one lit candle as a reminder that the pioneers only had firelight to eat by in the evening- it was Gregory's idea.

Pioneer Week - Tuesday

Yes, I am unforgivably overdue for blogging. Oh well, better late than never, right? I am an excellent Facebooker, though.

Looking through the literally hundreds of pictures taken over the past few months from dozens of family adventures, I've decided to post about our family's Pioneer Day celebrations that we stretched out throughout the week leading up to July 24th, Pioneer Day.

I got the ball rolling that Tuesday before Pioneer Day.

Throughout the day (and the week) I pointed out conveniences that we have in contrast to our pioneer ancestors. Things like running water, toilets, anything running on electricity, grocery stores, AC/heaters, motor vehicles.

(ok, this picture isn't remotely related to anything pioneer... unless you count swinging in general... Kai is just adorable)

But we also talked about how much our ancestors valued what they had because they had so little, especially in comparison to all we have. I pointed out how they depended on each other- that everyone had to do their part just to get by- even the youngest children. And that their families were strong for it.

Charla loved helping me mix, knead, and bake fresh bread. Since I've overcome my fear of yeast, the world of bread baking has opened up to our family- it's SO fun... and yummy!! And since that first day that she helped me, Charla asks almost daily if she can help me bake some more bread.

Fred helped the kids saw some old limbs I had hacked away at a couple months ago. It was certainly sobering to think that they depended on wood for so much- it was hard work! The kids loved it, though.

(Leora going through the motions, holding my Popple)

We meant to grill hot dogs and then marshmallows (I know, pioneers probably didn't have those), but we got rained out! We improvised and the kids roasted marshmallows over our gas stove in the kitchen. While it would've been fun to eat outside, it was also very sobering to realize that when it poured on those early saints, they didn't have a dry, comfortable house to retreat to.

Throughout our activities we recounted the story of the pioneers. We started in Europe when they were converted, then how they had to sail across the Atlantic, then board trains as far west as the tracks extended, and then on foot for many grueling weeks.

All along we took turns shaking a baby food jar of heavy cream.

By the time we sat to eat dinner, we had a jar of rich butter! YUMMY! On Sunday I did the same thing in Primary :)

(Fred pretending to steal a bite)

Gratitude Journaling

Like everyone, Gregory sometimes gets all wrapped up in what he doesn't have (not that he has a deficit of Lego's... though I'm sure it's impossible to have "too many"). While it may not be unique, it can be wearing on the parents.

Fred had this great idea: he got Gregory a spiral-bound notebook to be his gratitude journal.

Fred has a matching one. Every night, right before bed, they each write down 10 things they're grateful for. It's so fun having a child who can write (at least phonetically)!

(labeling Popsicle sticks for the garden)

This is a video of Gregory showing me his latest entry. He usually finishes writing before Fred, so he illustrates. This will be so special in years down the road! Despite the trouble he can be, he is such a wonderful boy- I feel so privileged to be his mama!



(not sure what was up with the camera's coloring..?)

Giggle-Bug

Ever had one of those days where no matter how hard you try, you just can't get yourself moving?? Today was definitely one of those days!

By lunchtime I had tried several times to get motivated to clean up the kitchen, living room and other various parts of my house, but I felt like I was stuck in one of those dreams where you're trying so hard to run but are stuck in slow motion.

In exasperation I mimed wading through mud and starting wailing about how I felt like I was trudging through molasses... a truly pathetic sight, I'm sure. Then I caught up short when a delighted giggle came from the high chair.

In my dramatic pity party I'd forgotten that Kai was a little captive audience, treed in his high chair with bits of pancake and Cheerios. He was giggling hysterically. That got me going- I had a huge laugh over how ridiculous I'd been, and that my not-quite-yet one-year old son could laugh at me.

Within the hour my kitchen was immaculate (it's a wreck again since dinner, but for 1 blissful hour it sparkled). Gotta love those tender mercies from the Lord. Today mine came in the form of my little giggle-bug... such a classic example illustrating his cheery personality.


Here's a recent video of Kai doing his happy dance. He jerks his whole little body all over the place. He was a bit burned out by the time I go the camera rolling, but if he doesn't make you laugh, listening to me trying to motivate him probably will.

One more of him. He loves making that thing bounce with all his might

Family Scavenger Hunt

Every once in a while, inspiration strikes. And sometimes it even materializes! Luckily Sunday night was one of those moments.

We did our first Family Scavenger Hunt. It was SOOO fun! We'll definitely do it again!

I baked a pan of brownies and placed 5 bite sized pieces on each of 6 plates. I also assembled a collage of pictures (see below), printed it out, and cut out each picture like a puzzle piece. Each plate got a puzzle piece picture. The last thing I added to each plate was a question that was a clue to the next location and the next family member.



While Fred got the kids ready for bed, I distributed the assembled plates to their various spots.

We all met in the kitchen and this was the first clue:

What does this person like to do in the living room that sounds pretty?
With some prompting they guessed, "Mama likes to play the piano!" So they ran to the piano and found the first plate of brownies, with the picture of me confirming that I was the right answer.

The clue stuck in one of the brownies read:
What does this person like to do that gets him all messy?
It didn't take long for them to deduce that it was Kai, who loves to eat. So they found the next plate on his high chair, with his picture and the next clue which went:

What does this person like to do outside?
Charla knew right away that it was referring to her and they bolted outside. She begs to eat outside every night and she loves swinging on the swing set. They found the plate, Charla's picture puzzle piece, and the next clue on one of the patio chairs.

With great excitement and mouths full of brownies we read:
What does this person like to wear to bed?
I was afraid the clue might be a bit obscure, but they figured out it was referring to Leora who wears a froofy dress over her pajamas every night. The next plate was found hidden in the chest that holds the dress-up clothes. We stapled the picture of Leora into place with the other pieces and read the clue:

What does this person like to do that uses Lego's and Star Wars?
I hadn't realized how misleading it was, since Gregory's passion right now is playing Lego Star Wars on the PC downstairs. I clarified that it was something upstairs. Eventually they figured out that I was referring to the numerous Star Wars creations Gregory makes from Lego's in his room.

After savoring another bite of brownie (ok, the kids horked it down) we read the final clue:
What does this person like to with the kids right before bed?
Fred reads to the kids every night right before lights out. They raced to the girls' room and found the last plate and the last puzzle piece on the bed.

We finished assembling the puzzle and then took turns saying things we liked about another family member. I started with complimenting Gregory, who then complimented me, so I got another turn. I paid Fred a compliment and then he said something he loves about Charla, etc. I was afraid I'd lose them at this point, and eventually did, but we actually kept it going for a while!

Then they went to bed.

It was such a wonderful experience! I LOVE having such a spread of ages, but all still so young and eager. There is truly nothing better in life than having a family.

Adventures in the Garden

I'm carving out a few minutes to finally write about something fun our family has started: our own garden!

Since these houses are built on an old landfill, we're not allowed to plant anything that we'd eat. I'd heard about Square-foot Gardening a while back and finally bought the book. I've heard from MANY friends that they've had great success with this method of gardening, so I have high hopes!

This is the first garden I've attempted. We've already had a few adventures. Probably the most impressive was when I turned out the backyard hose and flooded the other 1/2 of our duplex, which caused most of our bottom floor to flood. The hose bib had cracked during the winter, so the pipes were broken. Maintenance came and sucked up most of the water. They left us with an enormous, noisy fan for a few days after that.

The big guy let our a yelp when the elusive mouse scurried near him- we've been trying to catch that little beast for months.

our front hallway- good thing there was a heap of dirty blankets to stop the water from spreading too fast!

When they moved the fridge we were reunited with most of our alphabet magnets!

Luckily, nothing was ruined and the kids were happy to eat lunch at Burger King that day.

Tonight we mixed up the soil according to the instructions in the manual. The kids had a blast mixing and shoveling- and they got thoroughly filthy! Good times!

We've attached a sheet of plywood to create a bottom so that there's no contact with the existing soil. It works out especially well since we're putting the garden plots on the sloping front yard.

When we were done, Fred showered them off and then we enjoyed a yummy dinner of spaghetti (sauce enhanced by my mostly-Italian neighbor), and homemade wheat rolls.

I love it when I feel like a good mom. Now if only I could get someone to do the dishes....