Pioneer Week - Pioneer DAY!

It was finally Pioneer Day!

We had hoped to visit some Ohio church history sites that day. Some internet searching quickly revealed that it would not be the quick drive we'd hoped it would be. The nearest historic town was at least 3 1/2 hours away, in northeast Ohio. That's a lot of driving in one day with 4 little bodies.

(checking out the pigs in the mud)

SO we settled for a fun second- Carriage Hill park. http://www.metroparks.org/Parks/CarriageHill/Home.aspx

It's a functioning historical farm, complete with old buildings, and daily demonstrations. We've watched the blacksmith at work, the carpenter made a top for Gregory. There were ladies dressed up like from Colonial times in the big house where they were going about chores and telling about life in the 1800's.

(Charla and Gregory loved the chickens)

They have some cows, pigs, horses, chickens, and lots of sheep. A real treat was seeing the 5 brand new lambs and calf.

(gazing at bitty lambs)

As you can imagine, talking about pioneer life was effortless in that setting. The kids really enjoyed checking out the old tractor plows and other farm equipment.

(Leora was too scared to go into the big barn to look at the equipment, so when we came out, she ran to me and flung herself into my arms for a good snuggle)

When the park closed, we headed to the lake just down the road. We brought a lunch with us similar to what pioneers probably enjoyed, mostly after they'd settled: bread with meats and cheeses. We also brought along leftover beans which led into how they had to eat their leftovers since they didn't have refrigerators.

(Fred observed that our stroller looked remarkably like a covered wagon - this shot was his idea)

Then we headed to the lake's edge and fed the ducks and geese. That was so much fun! There were also a ton of little fish frantically trying to get to the bits of bread- Gregory focused on them, giggling as the little guys demolished the crumbs in seconds.


We stole a few good shots of them tolerating each other before heading home.

(sweet sisters)(Charla administering the Vulcan death grip)

home time... like Leora's tail pinned to her dress?

Pioneer Week - Friday

Friday was a busy day- sewing day!

(our cat claims pretty much anything I'm working on as her throne- this fabric was meant to go into Kai's quilt because it's soft and cuddly, like he is)

I rummaged through my fabric stash and laid out about a dozen different fabric designs for the kids to choose from for their patchwork quilts.

Gregory chose 3 prints: a dark blue with silver stars, camouflage (for the Air Force, he told me), and a cat print.

The girls chose 4 different princess themed prints plus a kitten print. For anyone who doesn't know, my kids have a passionate obsession with cats.

I cut out the majority of the squares, but they got to wield the rotary cutter a few times.

(no, we never left Charla alone with that blade)

TA-DA!

Then the kids got to lay out the squares in any way they wanted to.

Gregory came up with a pattern. He would first lay out 1 block of each print, from left to right, and then 2 blocks of each print in the same order, then 1 of each again... repeated until they were all laid out.

I was afraid that it would be too obscure to even follow. But it resulted not only in a recognizable pattern, but resembled Gregory's favorite plane, the B-2! He was BEYOND thrilled! That boy never ceases to amaze me.

Using yarn, I laid down a grid on the carpet for Charla to use to arrange her squares. She was so delighted, prancing around the room, daintily laying those girly squares at random.


Charla often begs me to let her sew. Unfortunately, the sewing machine I got her is currently out of commission. She was sure excited to use mine to piece together a few blocks! She was so careful when feeding the fabric into the machine.

(all ready to be backed... sadly hers is the only one that is complete at this point. I still need to back Gregory's and piece Leora's and cut out Kai's!)

I cooked up a pot of dried pinto and white beans with some spices. We also whipped up another batch of fresh rolls. It was a simple, yet delicious dinner. It really reminded me of my grandma's beans- sure made me miss her more than ever!

(Eating only by candlelight that time!)

(My favorite picture of my dad's parents)

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