Reunion Trip Adventures With Ma

It's cornrise again, in Iowa.


But wait...Stalwart Ma was up before the sun, on Saturday. Just the beginning of a 15 hour drive to Texas for the family. A mere trifle, really.

With vehicles converging on Des Moines, luggage and children were distributed evenly amongst the three eBay procured cars.

Ma and Pa drew the short straws for Nolan and Trevor.
Both of which demonstrated their masterful abilities in tying gummy worm knots.

Mmmmm. Makes them taste even better!

Trevor kept extremely safe, while pining to ride in Jason's car.


Many fearsome encounters occurred....
....but the Hoyt caravan bravely drove on.

Safely arriving at their destination in the Lone Star state, relatives were greeted and handed this organizational plan.


Looks like a great time will be had! And now, Tired Ma must get some sleep...

And that's all...

of Adventures with Ma\ 

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"MOVE 'em Out !

"Get along, lil' doagies"

"Forward....HO !"

Just brushing up on my Texas language skills before heading toward The Lone Star State.

Good thing I'm so linguistically talented.

Of course, the three boys were down, dressed and eating breakfast, before I even got out of the shower.

We should go on a long trip every day, ha, ha (said the slightly deranged woman, with toothpicks holding up her eyelids)

Amazingly, despite going to bed early, I didn't have any trouble falling asleep. There's nothing like good clean living and being driven off your feet all day, to give a boost to the ol' somnolence.

As I was checking the cooler to see if I had all of the 1000 cookies required for admittance to the reunion, Ethan kept asking me random questions from across the room, like: "Is it over a 1000 miles to Texas?"

(count the mile markers, baby. count the mile markers)

I think we are all ready.

The young lads are milling around the kitchen, waiting for Loren to finish eating his nutritious breakfast of cold cereal, testing their manhood by hoisting their overladen backpacks upon their...backs.

Trevor's weighs around 25 pounds and is half as tall as he is.

Now I know who can carry my extra chocolate, if need be.

Must be off. Loren is planning to shut down my laptop soon....OOooo, that reminds me...I have to transfer a picture over to my "C" drive...

(Ugh, is that a sore throat and sniffle coming on?)

See y'all later, in Texas!
 

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A Night and a Day and a Night

Whee doggies! It was a three-coke day.

We done got the whole lawn mowed. Many thanks to Ethan and to Kendra, who spelled her younger brother and kept that mower hummin' all morning.

Even so, I was surprised that it took the two mowers almost 6 hours to complete the lawn. We kept at it from 9 to 5, with several breaks, including a 2-hour hiatus at lunch.

But seriously, I distinctly remember doing that whole lawn myself, in five and a half, in the old days. The other mowers had wider widths and I think that helped. There was even one time, in a crunch before visiting relatives, that I whipped off the lawn in 4.5 hours. The last part whilst it rained.

Ahhh, to be young and thin again.

We've also kept the washer going most of the day, not only with clothes, but comforters and blankets for the kids to sleep on. We old folks will have a bed, naturally. After trying, twice, to sleep on a bare hospital floor and failing miserably, I certainly know my limitations.

I wouldn't even go camping these days without a queen-sized mattress, air conditioning, Internet and pudding bar.

Well, I could get along without the Internet...but only for a couple of days, ha, ha. One misses the verbal interplay on Facebook. I keep close to my kids by mocking them, as all good mothers do.

In other preparatory news, Kendra and Carolyn baked up the required 8 dozen cookies. I've laid in a fairly generous supply of snacks, as well as 3 bags of chocolates, the latter of which should be enough to get me through the first 2 or 3 days, depending on the noise level of all the little first-cousins-once-removed (of which there are legion).

That brings an interesting notion to mind...imagine, if you will, a new kind of reunion. A reunion where the adults and kiddos are occupied by different activities throughout the day.

Possibly in different states.

It's just something to think about.
 

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'Nuther Countdown

Last time it was Family Camp.

Now it's the Great Late Summer Hoyt Reunion that needs...nay, de-mands our preparation.

--searching all corners of the boys' room for lost socks and underwear belonging to Trevor and Nolan, those shining examples of meticulous clothes care.

--making lists of things to take

--rounding up backpacks and duffel bags

--removing imprudent packing choices of Nolan, such as Jason's old tennis shoes which are way too big (Nolan's wearing his own tennies, but you can never have too many pieces of foot-ware, apparently).

--mowing the entire lawn in one day (tomorrow) to leave time to pack (Friday)

--planning food and snacks and activities for the trip

--keeping the younger boys out of the food, snacks and activities be-fore the trip

--weeding the garden (have to settle for half the strawberries)

--pawing through the fat clothes to find apparel that is: a)cool, b)slimming, and...OK, forget "a" and "b"

So we are all aflutter, including Loren who just finished fixing up the old blue Toyota, has parts on order for the Lincoln, and will attach said parts to the Lincoln before it gets aligned the day before we leave.

Oh yeah...this is all gonna work out.
 

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Life in the Yard

We had a furry visitor a couple days ago...
...who seemed enamored with the mini-van. When I went out to get a closer look, the woodchuck climbed up the wheel and into the engine.

Opening the hood and clacking around with the yardstick did little to dislodge him. I'd worry about it, but that's the vehicle Kendra drives, so....

These Cosmos are quite the attraction to the sulfur butterflies. Here you can even see it's proboscis (if you click on the picture), snaking out to get nectar.


A gaggle of annual Black-eyed Susans and pink Cosmos


This next one is just weird...

A dead grasshopper, wings outspread, clasping the upper reaches of a Scouring Rush.
Once would have been fine, but I saw another one, in exactly the same position. Suddenly, music to The Twilight Zone was "doo, doo, doo-ing" through my head.

Again with the cosmos?

But they're so easy to grow. So carefree and beautiful :-)
 

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Pretty Posies and other Fade-able Fancies

Despite copious drenching rains that practically beat some flowers into the ground, I managed to gather a few for my "door basket."
This is the place I occasionally hang flowers, waiting to see how long it takes Loren to comment on "the weeds."

But he can't help it, since he's partially colorblind.

So anyways...up above--besides the cobweb in the left corner--there are:
--annual black-eyed Susan
--Rubeckia (the REAL black-eyed Susan)
--pink cosmos
--tansy
--cool sedge from the ditch (which you can't see as it's in the back)
--whorled milkweed
--forget-me-nots
--pink coneflower
--white yarrow

In other news, I've completed the homeschooling forms and attached lists of subjects, texts, publishers, etc.

There was a brief interruption this morning when I realized the 3rd grade English book I was looking for might be in the dreaded toy closet...*all the children shiver collectively*....so I called Nolan and Trevor to help me paw through some stuff, since they are chiefly responsible for any mess in there.

I did find it, and the boys were forced to put away numerous small erector set pieces, as well as pick up small bits of cardboard that looked like they might have been a puzzle. Once.

They were also forced to listen to me ranting and raving, off and on, about their slovenly habits, which they quite possibly picked up from me.

But getting back to homeschooling...I've been thinking about this for several years now, and I believe I've discovered a fatal flaw in the/our system.

I mean, besides the mother having to do almost everything on top of have babies, nurse them, discipline the kids, cook meals and make odd attempts to keep house (see two paragraphs above).

It's the whole grading and accountability system.

We've never given grades in the elementary and junior high years. If someone didn't quite finish their math by the end of the school year, they just continued on for a week or two until they were done.

This isn't too bad for the younger years, but when we get to high school, there have been problems.

So what do you do when someone doesn't finish an assignment on time? Lower their grade for that paper/project?

OOooo, THAT should get them. They will be SO embarrassed when they have to tell their parents. Except, I am their parent. And teacher. And curriculum picker-outer.

I feel like I'm working against myself.

If I were a teacher at school, and the child wasn't utilizing self-discipline or budgeting their time wisely, I could talk to the parents on teacher/parent conference day and encourage them to get on their kids' case.

And if the student didn't shape up, I'd simply give them the deserved grade and wash my hands of the matter.

But when they don't put out in homeschool, whether by laxity, perfectionist standards that never allow them to finish, or the general environment that they don't have set-in-stone time periods for each subject, no one can be blamed except the parent/teacher.

Perhaps the PT assigned too rigorous of an academic schedule. Or neglected to check regularly to see if assignments were being completed in an appropriate manner.

Whatever the case, I'm getting pretty frustrated with the fact that there is no one to blame, but me.

And don't even get me STARTED on preparing high school transcripts.

I was up to this pressure for the first five kids, but frankly, it's getting very, very old.

Not that I want to pack them off to public school. And we certainly couldn't afford a private school.

It's somewhat like dieting. There are things that work well when you are younger. But as you age, as the metabolism slows and you realize that just cutting back a little isn't going to....cut it, you think to yourself, "Well, I can't stop, or I'll gain even faster.

So I can't stop homeschooling or I'll encounter a whole new set of problems (aside from the obvious admission of failure).

But cheer up, Ma! Trevor is starting 3rd grade, soon.

Only 10 more years until retirement.
 

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The Daring Young Man in the Flying Crop Duster

Well, I don't know if he's young, but he sure seemed daring to us...


..almost like he was going under the wires...but he wasn't.
Just bobbed down below their level IMMEDIATELY after clearing them.

(notice my nice lilies I gleaned from the ditch down the road? They have saved me a lot of aggravation from mowing that steep side.

There's almost nothing you can't fix with flowers, trees, bushes or rocks)

Some of the kids were up in the lookout post...


...where one can get a nice view.


Noisy, but exciting.

In other news, I got most of the subject and text lists made out for this fall. Just have to tie up a few loose ends with one or two concerning electives.

What? You say you didn't know Ma offered electives?

Oh sure! Something like:

"Which one of these three course that will totally dominate your time all year, would you like to take?"

I'm very reasonable.

For instance, I would probably never fly a crop duster.
 

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Why are People so Common Sense-Challenged?

Two words that should never be heard in Iowa...pet skunk.

Really now, bad idea. BAD IDEA! All skunks in Iowa are carriers of rabies. Some don't manifest the disease themselves, but all can transmit it to humans.

Okay, enough on the skunk rant. Let's see what else occurred on this day in Hoytdom:

Ethan and I finished up the lawn mowing for the week. Only one more mowing before we leave on the big reunion trip!

I will really miss the sweat dripping down and stinging my eyes during our vacation.

Also, got more than halfway through the huge mess of green beans that were picked, yesterday. One more day should do it. I think they're slowing down since they weren't picked during Family Camp and it's been fairly dry.

Speaking of water, or lack thereof...we should have the water shut off for a couple hours, tomorrow. The well guys (no, these are not health personnel) are coming to install a heftier motor onto our well pump. It involves pulling up all 190 feet of pipe and changing out the old motor for a new one.

There's nothing wrong with the old one, but Loren has figured out a way to save more money with a higher horsepower. The old one will be kept for a backup, or, as I haven't mentioned to Loren yet, used to power a miniature waterfall in the water garden I'm going to construct. Someday.

But now for the BIG news...Kendra passed her final written and skills test for her class, and is now an official Certified Nursing Assistant!

Yes, it took a lot of coaching on my part, but she did very well, scoring a 94 on the written and a 99 (!) on the skills section.

What a relief. Now Loren and I can fade away into physical decay and be assured of someone to wipe the drool from our faces, ha, ha.

One of the funniest things to come out of all this was what Kendra discovered today: her instructor had thought that she was in her late 20's all this time :-)

Must be because she acts so reasonable and mature.

You know...(un)-like ME.

Well, that's OK. At least I have the sense not to try and make a pet out of a fledgling smell-factory.
 

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Ruminant Marauder

Oh goody. Judging by the spots, more deer have come into the world to chew on Ma's roses and other prized plants.



This bold whitetail was walking along the edge of the garden on Thursday morning, just before we left for the first full day of Family Camp. Didn't seem to mind Loren messing with the van in the driveway, either. I suppose it had the whole day to browse the Hoyt garden buffet.

Someone needs to tell these deer they're supposed to be sleeping during the day.

In other news, Ethan and I mowed the hard half of the lawn, somewhat hampered by his mower cutting out. Loren discovered it had a bad spark plug and fixed it, so I guess we still have to mow, tomorrow, ha, ha.

And now, haphazardly gleaned from Dictionary.com while looking up a word, we have this interesting tidbit:

How did the word for a common kitchen instrument become slang for marijuana?

Actually, the origin of pot has nothing to do with the culinary tools. The word came into use in America in the late 1930s. It is a shortening of the Spanish potiguaya or potaguaya that came from potación de guaya, a wine or brandy in which marijuana buds have been steeped. It literally means “the drink of grief.”

Always interesting to discover the etymology of words!

It doesn't relate to deer or being worn out from mowing, but now we know there's an actual reason behind the alternate name for marijuana.

Plus, I spelled "ruminant" and "marauder" correctly, the first time.

Bonus points for Ma.
 

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Family Camp 2010

Here we are, folks. The Picasa Album of this year's Allison Bible Church Family Camp.

Snappy captions included for the 54 photo album. Only two repeat pictures! (I think)

I tried to give a flavor for how the day progressed, with some compression of days for the sake of keeping the activities (mostly) in order.

Allison Bible Church Family Camp 2010

 

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Family Camp...all done

We are home again, fully napped out and starting to recover.

I try not to think of the beans that ripened and were left ignored, out in the garden these past four days.

Or the stuff sitting in the fridge that needs tossing.

But Family Camp turned out rather well, I think, thanks to the great efforts of many folks, none of which were me.

No one was hurt, beyond scrapes from the slippy slide.

No accidents during skeet shooting (there never have been, PTL).

No skit disasters.

And best of all, no booing and throwing of eggs and tomatoes at the evening speakers (this too has never happened).

I have my pictures loaded onto Picasa, and hope to get an album up, tomorrow. Already I am thinking of people and activities I missed. Ah well...

Must get back into the swing of things, with summer school for the boys, mowing, and trying to get the garden back in the the decent shape it once was.

Read emails and catch up on news.

Also need to get my school forms filled out for this fall.

And then, there's that little matter of a huge Hoyt reunion in Texas, in two weeks...
 

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Family Camp - Day Duo avec Pictures

Well. THAT only took 45 minutes...uploading the pics. We're just going to have to be satisfied with being a good day behind.

On to Thursday.

Elizabeth Weikert is teaching the missionary story this year.
Elizabeth...weren't you just a little squirt, not long ago?

Before lunch, the crew went out back to play something called "Egg."
Debbie tried to explain it to me, but it sounded complicated, including having to spell the word "Egg."

Lunch was the popular BLT's.
Janet practically forced me to take a picture of her and the grand-kids in matching T-shirts. Emily adds a bit of class by eating a cucumber slice in slow motion.

After lunch, we traveled over to Hampton, for the Franklin County Fair. This is always a great time to revisit the little historical town.

Beside the old school house is a merry-go-round.


They had a sheriff's office with a real jail cell...which the kids promptly started climbing.
Oh yeah. I definitely need one of these for our house. And not as a climbing toy.

There were other attractions, such as the blacksmith shop, newspaper & telegraph office, rug weaving, bank...lotsa good stuff.

Happened onto the chainsaw artist, making a buffalo.
This is the first time I've gotten to see one of these presentations, from start to finish.

The kids wanted to ride a little fake train. Hey, it's only 50 cents per person.
I made sure to get Kendra in on this shot, just to prove that not ALL my pictures are of Trevor.

Nolan: on what he didn't realize would be his only ride of the day...
...and Ethan: doing his best to look nonchalant while itching to get back to the church and ride dirt bikes.

After the evening chapel, they bring out the desserts, much to the delight of Cambria Novak.
MMMmmmm, chocolate. Good choice, Cambria :-)

Besides being gone to Family Camp from 9:30am to 10:00pm, my day includes washing dishes that the little kids don't have time to do in the morning, washing a load or two of clothes each night that got dirty during the day, missing my nap(s), and letting food spoil in the fridge because we're not here to eat or see it.

More stuffs tomorrow, if website and Internet cooperate.

And now, to go check the dryer...
 

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Family Camp - Day Duo

It may be after 1:00am, but Ma finally has some time to herself, so WOO HOO for moi!

Unfortunately, Blogger is refusing to post my pictures, so that will have to wait for tomorrow.

In Camp news, we had a good day, with afternoon time at the Franklin County Fair. I was very glad not to miss this, as it's one of the best around. Great little historical town you can visit. I'm tellin' ya, seeing the jail never gets old. I sit and dream about having one in my own home.

As far as I know, no one has gotten hurt yet, so that is pretty stinkin' good.

However, tomorrow is skeet shooting.

Personally, I don't see what all the hoopla's about, but I would never say anything negative, as that would clearly be un-American.

I'm kidding. We all know our Founding fathers risked their lives for the freedom to shoot disks that are slung up into the air.

Okay, OKAY!

Don't get your knickers in a twist. I'm just killing time since the pictures won't post.

In other camp news, I may have the kernel of a skit in mind. It would require almost no practice and the implicit trust of the kids.

A win-win, in my opinion.

OK, that's it...see you later this morning.
 

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Family Camp - Wed Night

(hafta post small pictures, due to the quantity. Click, to enlarge)

Instead of the usual first night potluck, we had a baked potato dinner, with rolls. Everyone brought their favorite toppings and...
...creatively decorated cupcakes. Trevor appears ever so slightly interested.

Oh goody, the Bells are back!
Looks like it was a long, hot day for James.

Before the evening concert, Jacob Novak and the Johnson boys enjoyed hassling the Hoyt children.


Then we had our opening song, wherein Steve Bell attempted a pentecostal takeover by encouraging clapping to "He's Changing Me."

The womenfolk saw it for what it was...a blatant ploy to cover-up the fact that females always drown out males on the last verse.

But enough frivolity...time for Pastor John to toss out the ceremonial T-shirts.
Nolan was pleased to grab this green one :-)

Ahhh...the yearly kick-off with the Johnson Family Strings. It was another grand night of music!
We thought they looked pretty stupendous in their snazzy dress togs, which amazingly enough, only get worn if there's air conditioning.

Family Camp evening services are always followed by good times of visiting and fellowship.

People share burdens.


Mrs. Jo shares hugs with Janet's grandkids.


The ice cream machine shares its wares with Dee Severs.
Ma: "Hey Dee....let me get one last picture of you before you go into surgery tomorrow..."

Kris Helmke: "THAT didn't come out quite right, Becky."

Ma: "Oh...you know what I mean."

(Dee's having gallbladder surgery tomorrow)

Outside, young lads share the dirt bikes so helpfully provided by Steve Bell.

Ethan is just delivering Trevor after his ride, while Nolan eats ice cream and Steve demonstrates the fun of trying to start a recalcitrant bike.

More Family Camp doin's--including the latest updates on all motorized vehicles--tomorrow

(or sometime within the next 24 hours...whichever comes last).
 

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Life in the Yard, et plus

Despite wild preparations, Ma is not too busy to post a couple of pictures.

Thanks to Kendra, for alerting me to my favorite blue visitor, the Indigo Bunting.

He is gorgeous, and that you can't deny.

Common Squirreltail or Foxtail Barley, Hordeum jabatum (everything's cooler in Latin)
Even common things can be beautiful.

One of my favorites, Pink Cosmos.
It's from a group of white, light and dark pink flowers that I planted last year. This year I moved the volunteer seedlings around to various spots and so far, each flower has been this same color.
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On to the Countdown Report:

Ethan and I mowed a good two-thirds of the lawn, today. I forced myself to do extra so we wouldn't have to knock ourselves out before the first meeting, arriving with pink cheeks and wilted personas.

Good thing, since Kendra tells me we'll be under a heat advisory for Wednesday. (hope that whole driving-to-Waterloo-for-your-class-in-a-car-without-air-conditioning goes well for you, ma chère).

Carolyn prepared and baked the Runzas, which were rather time-consuming but nonetheless quite fun. Kendra made her famous soft chocolate chip cookies, and I ended up doing the cookie bars. This last change of plans involved the MLB All Star game and Ethan's sudden sense of being lead to watch, thereof.

Also had the kids pick and snap beans, much to Nolan's chagrin. Besides a whole mess for supper, I have two trays freezing up to be put in zip-locks, later.

Loren's been at work on the big platform, adding a trap door, a chain ladder, and more stabilizing....stuff. Not all of that was done today, but he is plenty tuckered out from these protracted labors.

Practiced our special music, but alas, still no skit.

A very profitable day, though.
 

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The Countdown

Two more days until the start of Family Camp. A few things are starting to gel.

Besides some unknown leftovers in the fridge, that is.

Got all the food bought and safely home, despite my eyes blinking open unexpectedly on the way home. Meaning they had been closed. It's been a long time since that happened. I am not sleeping well because my back has been hurting me, which I suppose is better than my back hurting someone else, though I'm not sure...

My fault for not drinking any caffeine, today.

ANYWAYS, Ethan is frying up the bacon and I have browned all six pounds of hamburger. Tomorrow, Carolyn will make the Runzas (something we have to bring that's made of hamburger, cabbage, etc, cooked up in bread dough--sounds GOOD!), Ethan will make the cookie bars, Kendra will make the cookies, and I will start on the lawn (with Ethan's help).

Wednesday, Carolyn will make "creatively decorated" cupcakes for that evening's dessert, and I will browse through my closet for the latest in Family Camp-appropriate, fat-wear.

I think we've finally settled on a piece for special music, thanks to aid from my wonderful relatives across the world. They looked up a piece of music that wasn't in any of the hymnals I have.

Looks like I won't have to put sacred words to "In the Mood," after all.

Don't know if we'll come up with a skit or not, but ideas percolate around and around, with my favorite being, "If Helen Reddy Were Teaching the Sunday School Lesson."

People are always a little scared when I'm involved with a skit, so maybe I should just give them a break and sit out, this time. My biggest problem is having too many ideas and not enough minions willing to embarrass themselves alongside their chère maman. You'd think they were afraid of a little ostracization, or somethin'.

I keep telling them there's a Witness Protection Program for Outcast Conservatives, but they seem cool to the idea. As if they're scared of the thought of leaving this hotbed of activity masquerading as an Iowa cornfield.

As a last resort, we could just get up front and start throwing cream pies, I suppose.

We'll see...
 

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Layla and John's Wedding

Not my best efforts, picture-wise. I didn't have the greatest seat, and then proceeded to muff several shots. And I try not to take too many for fear of being a distraction. But here are 32 photos of the wedding, with only a minimal amount of my family and friends.

Layla Helmke and John Lurhring. Hope no one minds my mentioning Layla first, but since the wife often takes the husband's name, I figure giving her a one-time first billing, as well as the maiden name, isn't going to kill anyone.

John and Layla's wedding

I apologize for the untreated red-eyes. I did the best I could but still couldn't edit out all of it. Also, any misspellings or typos...please let me know so I can correct.

All pictures are welcome to be copied.
 

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Finishing Up Day!

I got the last 2/3 of the lawn done, today. And more importantly for the kids...

The platform is finished!

Loren was working right up until supper, which I conveniently held off even later than usual.
Kids anxiously held their breath on the boring ol' ground.

At last! Time to shinny up the pole...
...as Loren holds the ladder out of the way.

A few instructions on what not to do:
"No shaking, no climbing the sides..."

"Mommy...why don't you come on up?"

"Oh alright...since there's a ladder."

"WHAT? Mommy's coming up! I can't believe it!"

Had to get a picture or two. This is looking down...
...Ah, the lovely curvy corn.

And this is looking east...
...definitely a room with a view :-)

I think we'll all sleep well tonight.
 

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Have Weed, Will Pull

Apparently, I have this compulsion to pull up grass or weeds as I pass by the beds doing other things.

I went out two different times today, ostensibly to check on a plant and come right back in, but then remained pulling grass and weeds for an hour, each time.

Would that the same neatening frenzy might overwhelm me in the house, but no, it does not. Quite the opposite, in fact. The more that needs to be done inside, the more I ignore it. Except for laundry and dishes. I do manage those chores.

And fixing meals also get done, though sometimes an hour or two after normal people eat.
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Today was fairly good with the boys' summer school. Nolan likes his logic activities (finding patterns and evaluating numbers), as well as his science workbook. I'm just waiting to hear from the Department of Education...I figure it should be no later than the end of next week.

Hopes that the flooding in Des Moines destroyed records of Nolan's test results are starting to fade...

Other than the remedial school work and my weeding, the lawn needed attention. There's a wedding on Saturday afternoon, so I knew that something should get started today by way of mowing. I finished a third by myself. The boys are often watching Loren, these days, and with the one mower acting up, I just decided to go ahead on my own.

The post-mowing medication has been downed, and perhaps a little ice cream therapy is in order.

Once again, it is too, too bad I cannot show you my bruise-of-power. Instead of the dark, black and blue (emphasis on the black), I'm now seeing a beautiful dark, raspberry effect, with a tasteful green border.

*WHOOSH*

Oh...sorry. Having a hot flash. Must----get----ice---cream.
 

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Better Him than Me

Facebook is being extremely lame tonight, not letting me post a picture. But Ma will not be thwarted!

Here is Loren up on the Swing-Set-of-Power, working on the platform for the boys.

As you can see, a boy or two is already up there, but alas, motherly forebodings are not enough to keep lads from shinnying up the pole and watching their fearless leader.

After supper, I persuaded Loren to fire up the skid-loader-that-needs-a-new-battery and move a mammoth rock (you can see it on the ground). Ethan found it underground as he was digging a seven-foot hole for one of the poles, last summer. The rock is so big that even I could not have moved it without herniating several disks.

That sounded like a lot of trouble, frankly. So I gave in and asked my husband if he could do it for me. He did :-)

Hopefully there won't be permanent skid-loader marks in the yard. But you know what they say, "If your husband is willing to let you stick rocks randomly around the yard, at least allow him a fun tool with which to move them."

And now that I see how easy it was, I told Loren I'm going to be looking for bigger and bigger rocks.

He said to keep it within five mile radius.
 

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The Shakespeare Project - Act 2

Guess what, everybody....LE PASSPORT EST ICI!

I am doing my little happy dance! Or would be, if I weren't so old and decrepit.

No matter! Ma is terribly excited, as this not only means I am one step closer to Ontario's Shakespearean-festival-of-goodness, but even more importantly,

MY PASSPORT ARRIVED IN JUST OVER TWO WEEKS!!

Beating Kendra's record all to pieces.

I WIN. :-D

Now to the exquisite details:

As I stated earlier, the picture wasn't the greatest. I was just about to blink, so I have that sleepy, slightly sultry, sorta look.

Now normally, I wouldn't be happy with "sultry" (just ask Loren), but in this case, I do believe it's a welcome distraction from the four double chins around my neck.

Visagely speaking, we're talkin' net gain.

There is one potential problem arising from the hair style...it wasn't even. Hair was pouffed out on one side, more than the other. And this begs the question: Do I have to replicate this bad hair day for all of my trips? Shall I be detained in customs for too good a coiffure?

I can't find the answer anywhere in the passport pamphlet.

Though I'm assured, "With your U.S. Passport, the world is yours!" there's absolutely no information concerning asymmetrical hairdos.

Clearly, the Department of State needs to elaborate in their glossy, power-travel tri-fold.

Also, I think it would be real nice if the post office that processed my application installed a small salon.

A few night courses in cosmetology, and that postmaster guy could be raking in the dough.
 

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The Dangers of Yardwork...

...or how going green can turn you purple.

But before we get to that, it's been a jim-dandy day-o, hereabouts at the Hoytstead :-)

It all started with Ma running in to get groceries for the big cookout. With Jason and Derek driving up, I knew we needed plenty of man-food on hand. Three kinds of bratwurst, hot dogs and hamburgers, to be exact. And that was just for me. (I'm kidding, of course. Only had two jalapeño-n-cheese brats. YUM!)

My regular store was closed, so I was faced with the prospect of hitting expensive HyVee. But even as I pulled into the parking lot, I was confronted with yet another dilemma: Over the radio came Earl Scruggs, playing Foggy Mountain Breakdown!

Well, there was nothing for it, but sit there with the car idling and listen. And as the air conditioner doesn't work, I had 3 of the windows rolled down and the volume cranked up to elucidate great bluegrass to the surrounding environment. I noticed a couple of young, male upstarts walk by and glance over. It was all I could do to refrain from yelling out the window, "Beats the cr** out of rap, DON'T it...."

Living proof that I have self-control.

Well, we had a nice chow-down with the male programming progeny, including homemade apple pies of Carolyn's that were almost too pretty to eat.

The rest of the day is mainly devoted to digesting the noon meal.

Now for a recap of what I did on Saturday. I call this THE GREAT ROSE PROJECT. It's nothing special and the pictures aren't great, but it did take up a significant amount of energy, spread over two days and mixed in with much, sweaty mowing.

The "Before" picture. I had planted my roses along a curvy row, with Scouring Rushes placed behind as a backdrop.
I did not anticipate how invasive the rushes were, however, and as you can see they were infiltrating the roses, despite repeated selective applications of Roundup.

(by the way, I have seen these same rushes used as decor in a fancy TV lawyer show, so I am not the only one who appreciates them)

I decided this empty bed would be the roses' new home.


And after much digging and stone laying, here it is...
(taken from the opposite angle)

There is still room for another rose bush at the end, plus space to tuck in a climbing miniature rose, some day.

Speaking of mowing, I'll relate a bit more about that incident I referred to in the last post (Kendra and Loren can disregard, as you've already heard this...but hey, how can I pass up more opportunities for sympathy?)

So then...I was finishing up a punishing day. I'd been mowing in extreme heat, and then transplanted the seven roses in the new bed. After that, it was back to mowing, in-between starting supper and getting a kid or two into the bath (really, it would be so handy to have a wife to take care of these things so I could just spend all my time outside).

ANY-way, the mower started acting up, spitting and misfiring and just generally threatening to give me a hard time. I increased the throttle and was hoping the crazy thing wouldn't die on me with just five minutes to go.

Somewhat preoccupied, and aware that darkness would soon fall, I forgot about a wooden fence post I had laid down as part of a small bed. The post is overgrown, but the bed is easily seen by the surrounding plants. When you're going forward, that is. I was not. In fact, I was doing something I don't allow the kids to do....pulling the mower backward.

First came the trip. Then the loss of balance. And then I fell hard on a metal pipe that sticks out of the ground for a boundary marker.

Now, I like to think I'm a tough ol' frau, but this really hurt. I actually yelled, "OW!" followed by, "OW, OW.....OWWWW!"

It's hard to remain erudite when it feels like a large piece of metal has made a hole in your hip.

Stopping the mower, I leaned down to catch my breath and see if any parts of me were strewn about the ground. None. Then I started up that little beast and finished off the last 30 seconds (yes, I was that close to being done).

Tiredly trudging the mower up the drive toward the garage, I was met by Ethan and Nolan, both of whom I had seen by the swing set. Let's just say they were within earshot, the entire time.

"Mommy...did you fall down and get hurt? I thought I heard something..."

(Oh really. Because the mower stopped and I was yelling, "OW, OW, OW!?")

"Yes, well....I guess I'll be alright."

I definitely need work on my screaming skills. And I'd love to show you the black-n-blue spot, except it's located on the ol' seateroo. But it's definitely the most awesome bruise I've ever had. Around 15 square inches, I'd say.

And that's how I spent my holiday weekend.
 

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Sorry, Sorry, Sorry

Know I haven't posted in a day or two, but we have been working the land like crazy peoples.

Loren and I are plumb tuckered out, from different projects. He was out much of yesterday and today, working on a platform for the boys atop one of the swing set/utility pole/posts.

And I was getting a bed ready for transplanting roses and mowing, mowing mowing.

Today was not that friendly with us, with a dew point of 72 and heat index of 97. Ma had to implement her Lawrence of Arabia cloth diaper tucked into the hat, effect.

It was brutal

There will be before and after pictures, but that will have to wait.

As well getting the bed fixed up and planted, Ethan and I mowed yesterday and I mowed all the far lawn today.

Can you say, "SORE ALL OVER." ?

Including the place where I fell when pulling the mower backwards, tripping over a wooden post and falling onto a 3 inch diameter metal pipe that sticks out of the ground. I think it's supposed to be a quaint boundary marker, but baby, that thing hurt!

Luckily I have a fair amount of padding where it hit. And thankfully, I didn't land on my spine.

Now we await the storms...
 

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Fits and Starts and Getting the Old Folks Out of the House

After hauling muchos weedos from le jardin on Monday and Tuesday, I have suddenly fallen into slacker mode for the last two days.

The worst thing is that library books are due on Monday and I still have 2.75 books to read.

Ah well.

I did finish up one book and clean the accumulated chocolate wrappers out of my purse, providing 25% more room to store stuff. Like chocolates, for instance :-D
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Looks like Jason and Derek will drive up for a 4th of July cookout on the 5th, so that will be a fun and meaty day. The younger boys can't believe their older brothers haven't volunteered to come for the entire weekend.

Hmmmm. Let's see. Stay in a nice, quiet apartment with blazing fast Internet for most of the weekend, or go to the old homestead where allergies and kids abound.

A difficult choice.

Maybe I should go down there for the weekend.

Speaking of entertainment, the kids are watching The Sound of Music tonight, and eating up last night's burrito leftovers in the form of a taco salad.

They just love it when Loren and I go out, every other Thursday night. A couple days ago Trevor smilingly said to me at the lunch table, "So, Mommy...when you and Daddy go out later this week because us kids are annoying you..."

"I never said that!" (did I?)

"Can we watch something?"

"Huh. You just want us to leave, so you can see a movie...."

"Well...yes."
 

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