Adventures of the Week

It's 8:42 a.m., and I'm sitting in my garage (but not in my garage recliner because it's inconveniently wedged against Scotty's motorcycle, and moving it to a "sittable" location would require some effort on my part. Meanwhile, there is a perfectly good camp chair set up) watching my girls color on the sidewalk. Zoe is drawing a colorful heart, and Eva is drawing a pig. Daisy is sitting next to me trying to gain access to my phone.

As long as my girls stay busy, I have some time to catch up on what's been going on around here for the past week or so.

Last weekend we went camping. We've gone camping over Father's Day weekend for the past four years (1, 2, & 3). It gets a little easier every year as far as managing children. Last summer I bought a new tent, and it has been worth the investment. It's a pop-up tent, so we have it set up in five minutes, and it has lighting inside.

On Saturday morning, we got out early to hike to Donut Falls before the crowds. The canyon was crazy busy!

We had a really great time in the mountains, though. I came home feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world (that feeling went away quickly, but it was nice while it lasted).

What I woke up to

That's two and a half successful camping trips so far this summer with hopefully more to come (the "half" was in May when we camped in my in-laws' backyard).

This week we had another batch of baby birds hatch in one of our birdhouses. I think they might be sparrows, but I haven't seen the parents to confirm. They are much smaller and uglier than the starlings, if you can believe it!

We got our state-issued masks in the mail the other day. They are quite random - various shapes, sizes, and colors.

One looks like a jock strap.

Classy

You can't really tell from the photo, but the elastic is green. So I'm imagining it as some sort of school-colors athletic protector. Maybe from Kearns High.

My girls have their dance performances this week. 

Eva in "Cruella de Vil"

Dance classes have been outside on a tennis court since resuming in May. They are having two classes perform at a time on the tennis court with socially distant seating for the parents. The dancers have to have their temperature checked first, and the marley floor has been taped down to the court and is sanitized between dances. 

Strange times!

Fortunately, Zoe and Daisy's classes ended up scheduled back to back, so there's one less trip to the dance studio. They will be dancing tonight. Eva danced last night. The performances span three days. We lucked out and don't have anyone scheduled on Saturday. I'm happy about this as I'm very protective of my Saturdays. 

Earlier this week, my niece, who recently came home from working as a photographer at Disneyland, did a photo shoot of my girls in their dance costumes. It was a lot of fun...

...other than dealing with grumpy Eva who refused to wear shoes or get in any photos. 

Zoe, on the other hand, worked the camera and came up with all her own poses. She has always been the most photographed child. Every year I compile Chatbooks for my kids for Christmas, and Zoe's is always twice as thick as everyone else's. 

Zoe's dance is to "Walk the Dinosaur," so she wanted to have a dirty face like a cave woman. I had her take some photos with a clean face first, and then I let her put "dirt" on her face. I've never seen anything more perfectly "Zoe." 

A few years ago, when The Good Dinosaur came out, Scotty and I both concluded that Spot was Zoe. 

We basically paid to watch our child on the big screen (except that we got to see the movie for free, so never mind, but you know what I mean). 

In other Zoe-related news, Zoe had to have a small filling done this week. 

She really does take her poop everywhere. And it doesn't help that she calls it "my turd." 

"Mom, where's my turd?" "I can't forget my turd!"

And when she talks about her turd in public, people don't understand her because she can't pronounce her R's, so then, as people try to clarify what she is saying, I end up having to explain to them that she is talking about her turd. 

And like I told the pioneer, Zoe got the poop as a reward for participating in the school fundraiser. Imagine my surprise when I picked her up that day, and kids were pouring out of the school carrying plush turds. Not all the kids got poop emojis (most got silly faces), but the ones who did were sure excited about them!

Thus, the turd has gone everywhere with us ever since, and heaven help us when the turd gets misplaced because Zoe is inconsolable. 

Well, it seems it's time for me to return to responsible parenthood. Deep breaths. 

An Amateur’s Chalk Art Tutorial

Lately, I've found solace through simple activities like coloring on my sidewalk. It may seem like a silly way to spend my time, but it's keeping me stable, and it's something I can do with my kids that we all enjoy.

Since there is very little in the way of "how to's" on the internet when it comes to sidewalk art (or "street painting" - as the cool kids call it), I thought I'd do a little overview of techniques and supplies. Here's the thing, though: I am super amateur. I know next to nothing about art and art supplies, so I feel like I'm the wrong person to be doing this. But someone should do it, right? So just know that this is what I've discovered in my experiences with chalk art, and it may or may not be quality information.

First let's talk supplies.

Traditional children's sidewalk chalk is always fun, but it's very limited in colors, and it isn't very vivid. 

To expand your color palette, you can use soft pastels (not to be confused with oil pastels. Don't use oil pastels!) Soft pastels can be found in most craft or hobby stores or on Amazon. I recently found some very inexpensive sets at Ross. 

This package of soft pastels was $3.99 at Ross

Fresh pastels give me that "new crayon" feeling from elementary school

I've purchased and tried several brands, and thus far, they’ve all seemed equal in quality. That might not be so if I were doing "real art," but with coloring on the ground, I haven't noticed much of a difference between brands. I've bought packages that come with very small pastels and some with larger sticks. There are pros and cons to both. Either way, they “spend” quickly.

My container of "scrap" chalk of various sizes

This gives me the "old crayon" feeling, but they are still useful

With the smaller pastels, I obviously run out of a single color faster. I've started blending multiple shades to make my colors last longer. For example, if I'm coloring something blue, I’ll usually color the outer edges with a darker shade of blue and then color the inside with a lighter shade of blue (Or vice versa) and then blend the blues together with foam. 

I like to have a good supply of black chalk for outlining. I go through a lot of black chalk, and the multicolored sets usually only have one stick of black. 

A package of black chalk

A package of "grayscale" chalk

I like to use inexpensive white chalkboard chalk or sidewalk chalk for my initial drawing (no reason to use the expensive stuff for this part).

Another supply I like to have is some type of foam for blending. Most packages of pastels come with a foam insert like this:

Foam insert from a package of soft pastels

This is perfect for breaking off a piece and using it to blend the chalk. I also bought this square of white foam to use for blending. I just tear off a piece when I need it. As you can see, we've touched it with our very messy hands, so it's taken on chalk dust color, but it still does the job! I use a fresh piece of foam for each color, otherwise they mix.

Break off pieces of foam to use for blending

Speaking of messy hands, I like to keep a package of baby wipes in my supply bucket so I can wipe the chalk off my fingers when I switch colors. My kids wander off with the wipes sometimes, so in that case, I rinse my fingers with the hose or wipe them on my pants. Just a note: don't dress nice while doing chalk art. In fact, if you can't handle "messy," this probably isn't a great pastime for you. 

The mess is part of the experience

A cheap can of hairspray is handy for setting the color and helping it stay longer. With using hairspray as a fixative, I'm able to drive over my artwork with minimal damage - maybe just a minor tire streak or two. Prior to hairspraying, the drawings smear easily. 

Tempera paint really ups your street art possibilities. When I wrote this post, I hadn't yet tried tempera paint. Within the next week, I purchased some and gave it a go. I really love using the paint for large areas. It's a lot easier than trying to fill it with chalk, and it gets much better coverage. 

For example, Olaf's white base is paint, and then I used the soft pastels to do all of the details. It would have been a pain to color Olaf’s entire figure in white chalk. I used two coats of paint. It dries pretty fast in the heat.

Olaf is mostly made of paint

Mike Wazowski's green base is also paint. I then used chalk to add darker green shading and other details to Mike. 

I originally bought a multi-pack of washable paint to experiment with (the brand was labeled "washable" and did not have the word "tempera" on it - either is fine. The goal is that it is washable/temporary). It worked fine. But then Daisy and I found tempera paint at Dollar Tree, which was pretty exciting! 

Tempera paint from Dollar Tree

Obviously if you use paint, you're going to want to have some paint brushes, too! A small roller is great for covering large areas. I've found that small pieces of rock/cement get embedded in the rollers and won’t come out, but it hasn't been a problem. I've washed and reused my rollers with the tiny rocks in them, and they still work just fine. I'm painting on cement, after all.

Paint brushes

Here's a consolidated list of chalk art supplies:

• Soft pastels
• Cheap white chalkboard chalk
• Black pastels
• Foam for blending and smudging
• Baby wipes or a wet rag for wiping fingers clean
• Hairspray 
• Tempera paint
• Paint brushes and rollers

Now let's talk about some techniques. 

I have to have a visual to draw from, so I always search images on my phone for inspiration. I find that "clipart" is usually pretty easy to replicate as it's simplified. 

I start by using my cheap chalkboard chalk (or a piece of "scrap chalk" that is light in color) to draw my picture. This allows for errors. As you can see here, I redraw my lines over and over to get them right.

Sketch of Baby Dory in white chalk

If I end up with too many extra white lines, I use some foam to blend the lines I won’t be using so they cover more easily when I start working with the color.

I usually fill in the "biggest" color first. I don't try get full coverage by coloring with the chalk (this will make the chalk run out very quickly). Instead, I just do a good scribble, and then I use a piece of foam to blend it - which spreads the color and fills it in.

Blue scribbles to start with

Blending the color with a piece of foam

Chalk dust

There will be some chalk dust that lingers. I used to try and blow it away or make it settle more into the cement, but it made things messy and sometimes ruined my pictures. I've found that the better option is to leave the dust alone and spray over it lightly with hairspray. Hold the hairspray kind of high so it doesn't over-saturate the chalk. If the colors lighten or fade from the hairspray, touch them up after the hairspray dries. They spray them again. 

Dory's first spritz

I usually do my base color and give it a spray to set it. Then as I add additional layers of color, I spray again on top of each layer. 

Starting the details of Dory's eyes

A quick note on smudging and blending:

Using my finger to blend the white of Dory's eye

In large areas I use foam to blend the chalk, but there are times when I prefer to use my finger, such as when there are fine lines or small areas. I use a very light touch because I have rubbed off the tip of my fingers before. It's painful and doesn't heal quickly. Make sure to wipe the colors off your fingers before you start using your fingers to blend. If you have magenta fingers, and you start rubbing the whites of an eyeball, you will quickly find yourself with a case of pink eye!

Once I've added all the details and blended the colors where needed, I usually outline my pictures in black. 

The outline helps make the shapes more distinct, and it also helps cover up flaws. I trace my finger lightly over the black outline to help it blend a bit. Then I give everything one last spritz of hairspray!

Now we better talk about the worst part... clean-up. I mentioned this in a recent post, but I'll go over it again just so the information is in one place. 

Everything washes off... eventually. Some colors, like red and black, linger for a long time. One way to speed up the cleaning process is to spray a little water on the painting and let it sit for a minute. Then put some Dawn dish soap on it and scrub it with a brush. Obviously this is more work than anyone wants to do, but if you need the pictures gone faster, this is one way to do it. Even with that effort, some of the color will likely linger. The longer the picture has been there, the harder it is to wash off. Another option is to use a pressure washer, but even with that, there will still be a little bit of lingering color. With time, it will come off.  

I've really enjoyed making chalk art creations - it’s keeping me sane right now. Pretty soon, I'll retire for the season because it will be too hot, but in the meantime, I'm happy to have a hobby that brings me joy. 

Where I Live

I've lived within the same five mile radius my whole life. Sometimes I've had a Magna address, and sometimes I've had a West Valley address, but I haven't gone far. The same can be said for Scotty. 

West Valley doesn't have the greatest reputation. People who live outside of West Valley think very poorly of our city. My nephew who lives in another county recently asked my son, "Aren't you afraid of being shot all the time where you live?" 

A lot of people have a goal to get out of West Valley and live somewhere "better." Sometimes I, too, wonder if there is somewhere "better" I could live. But when I think about what would be "better," I draw a blank. What really makes a place "better?" Different places just have different problems, and some are masked better than others. A friend of mine often jokes, "We could move to [insert more affluent city], but the drugs are just more expensive there."

For the time being, we feel like we are where we belong, and when we start wondering if we should  live somewhere else, I always get a reassurance that we are right where we are supposed to be. Maybe one day, we will receive an assignment through work or church that takes us elsewhere, or maybe we will be given a strong push from the Spirit that it’s time to move, but right now, and for the foreseeable future, there is nowhere "better" for us than in our current home in West Valley. 

One of my favorite features of our city is the red and white water tower. As a child I was always captivated by it. I could see it from my house, and I remember going out on my deck from time to time to look at it. 

The water tower has always been a symbol of home. You can see it from an airplane or the east mountains and know where where you are. The tower is a beacon by which we West Valley residents can orient ourselves.

At the beginning of this year, Sister Sharon Eubank came spoke at a tri-stake fireside in our area. Sister Eubank grew up in West Valley, less than a mile from where I live.

She had such wonderful things to say about our city, which was a refreshing change from the usual rhetoric. She made me feel so good about living here, and she even brought a picture of the red and white tower. She told us how her father, Mark Eubank, a well-known meteorologist in Utah, used to take the family and park near the tower when it rained so they could hear the sound of the rain hitting the tower. She then spoke about water and living water. She shared some experiences of bringing water to communities through her work with LDS Charities and how water has the ability to change lives. She urged us to look at the red and white tower as a symbol for Christ - the living water. I loved her message. Not only did she make us all feel like her best friends, she took something from our city and made it more meaningful to us. The tower has always been special and nostalgic to me, but now I'll never look at it again without thinking of the Savior. 

So maybe West Valley isn't everyone else's ideal place to live, but it's where I live, and I have full access to living water here as much as I would anywhere else. 

Coronavirus Updates - Day 104(ish)

Update #1: One of the things I hate the most about the coronavirus is how it has affected my condiments. Let's be honest - I eat out at least once a week, and I can't tell you how many times I've pulled away from a drive thru (or curbside pick-up) only to find that I've been given inadequate sauce or the wrong dressing.

This can't go on. It just can't.

Update #2: Since I've been using online grocery ordering for most of my shopping, I've lost my ability to navigate a store. I have been to Walmart a couple of times, and I've started going to Sam's Club again, but until yesterday, I hadn't done any of my routine, weekly grocery shopping "in-person" in months. Yesterday I went to the store for groceries, and I had a heck of a time. I was trying to obey all the stickers and arrows (which weren't there last time I went in the store - that tells you how long it's been), and I couldn't find what I was looking for. I just kept circling around and around - up one aisle and down the other, following the arrows. I couldn't remember where anything was! Plus, lots of things have changed.

Then when I checked out, the cashier prompted me to enter my phone number for my rewards, and I was confused about what she was asking me to do. I had completely forgotten about rewards cards, and I had to think really hard to even remember my phone number (which is our old landline number that we've never updated).

Update #3: Scotty is still working from home. I remember when his boss called to talk to him about working from home. He said to plan on months. At the time, that sounded absurd. Today is Scotty's 70th work day at home. His office is open, and he is allowed to go in, if ever needed, but he hasn't had any reason to go in. His office is in downtown Salt Lake, which is rated orange or "moderate-risk" according to Utah's COVID color code (everywhere else in Utah is yellow or green. Our city is in yellow).

If/when Salt Lake moves to yellow, Scotty's work will wait two weeks and then begin going back to work in "phases" (obviously that hinges on whether Salt Lake stays yellow). Scotty is in the later phases, so we anticipate he won't be going back to work for a long time still.

Update #4: Utah has had a big increase in COVID cases in the past few weeks. For a long time, we had 100-150 cases reported per day, and that stayed pretty steady. It was good to see that the cases weren't increasing exponentially. Now, 350 is a low day, and we had our highest day yet last Friday with over 640 cases (today was 394).

Update #5: In July, Scotty was supposed to go to Washinton DC for three weeks to get the temple ready to re-open. He has been on this project from the beginning and was looking forward to seeing it to the finish (I was also excited to see this project completed, but I wasn't thrilled about having Scotty gone for such a large chunk of time in the middle of summer). We figured the trip would likely be canceled, and last week that was confirmed. Scotty is sad but understanding at the same time. The work is being hired out, which is disappointing to those who have been working on it for the past few years.

Update #6: Our church service started up last weekend. We are assigned to attend the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month. Scotty doesn't want to go back yet. I'm undecided. I feel like the amount of work going into holding sacrament meeting combined with the risks of "gathering" are not worth it, but I have a little bit of FOMO/curiosity. Regardless, we aren't going back until at least mid-July, but who knows what will be going on in the world at that time!

Update #7: I think my kids have changed a lot over the past three months. It's hard for me to see the differences since I'm with them all the time, but people who haven't seen my kids for a while have commented on how different they look. For sure, everyone has gotten taller. Nicky and Zoe especially. Nicky has thinned out a lot and has a different hairstyle. Zoe's hair has gotten longer. Eva's bangs have grown out. When I look back at photos from February and March, I can see the changes.

Update #8: I've said many times that I hope I change for the better during this turmoil. When I started saying that, it was just a pandemic. Now there's so much other stuff going on that I don't even know how to orient myself anymore. I feel completely lost. I can handle COVID life and all its inconveniences. As much as I hate the lack of fry sauce in my take-out bag and having to home school kids and walk a certain way down the grocery aisle, I can do all that.

What I am not handling is the butting of heads between political parties, the vandalism and violence, and the overall feeling of hate and unrest in our nation. I'm experiencing heavy waves of despair and hopelessness - as I imagine all of us are, and it's not depression.

I have changed since this all began, but I don't know if I have improved or become more damaged.

Update #9: Today I went to the DI (thrift store) for the first time since it re-opened. I got some books for my kids (that will end up going right back when they are done with them) and some shirts for Daisy. The supervisor there was really adamant that we stand on the designated stickers while in line. Like, if your foot was even slightly off the circle, he would come tell you to stand inside the circle. It was intense. I've never been so scared of stepping over a line in my life!

Update #10: We got a bidet attachment for our toilet now that they are back in stock. We have the cleanest bottoms on the block! (Assuming we are the only family on the block with a bidet. I'll ask around...)

------------------------------------------------

And now, a few non-coronavirus updates...

Update #1: A while ago I mentioned several instances where I've had to bake things for much longer than the recipes say. Some of you suggested that I get an oven thermometer. I did, and I've been watching the oven temperature closely. My oven sometimes is not at the right temp when it beeps to indicate the pre-heat is done. But other than that, it's pretty accurate. So I've been letting it preheat a little longer to make sure it's up to temp when I put the food in. I haven't used any of the recipes that I had problems with (it was a lemon bar recipe, a roll recipe, and a bread stick recipe. I don't care to make the rolls or lemon bars again, but I'll try the bread sticks again).

Update #2: I started drinking soda again a couple of weeks ago. Scotty and I went on a date to Crown Burgers (yum), and I decided to order a root beer. It was Day 135.

You guys. I cried when I drank it because it tasted so good. I had another root beer the following week, and I got weepy again. Then later that week, I drank a Pepsi, and I just went nuts. I can't drink it in moderation. I love soda. I love Coke. I love Pepsi. I love root beer. It has to be all or nothing for me. So Yesterday was Day One of no soda again. I am now 1.5 days soda sober. Unfortunately, I'm just not a person who can drink a soda once a week or so and call it good. I want it constantly running through my system.

Conversations with Pioneers

Sometimes I imagine what it would be like to give someone from the 1800's a tour of our modern world. I think some of our conveniences would blow their minds while others would seem so silly and pointless.

What would pioneers think of our transportation? Our methods of communication? Or our food? If one of my pioneer ancestors saw my home, what would she say about it? Would she think, "My goodness, you've really got it made?" or "Wow! How over-complicated your life must be! Look at all these frivolous things that demand your attention."

(Probably a little bit of both).

When I played a pioneer

Here is how I envision some of the conversations going between my pioneer (I've named her Pearl) and me.

----------------------------------------------------

Me: Oh no! Zoe's poop pillow is missing.

Pioneer Pearl: I'm sorry, I think I misheard you.

Me: Poop pillow. It's a pillow that's shaped like poop. Zoe takes it everywhere.

Pioneer Pearl: You can't possibly mean she has a pillow that resembles fecal matter!

Me: Oh yeah! Kids love poop. There's a whole market for poop - hats, socks, stationary. Zoe won her poop pillow by participating in her school fundraiser.

Pioneer Pearl: I can't imagine being attached to anything so inappropriate!

Me: Well... it has a face. So it's fine.

---------------------------------------------------

Me: I need to go to the store and pick up a bag of carrots.

Pioneer Pearl: Oh, did your carrot crop not work out this season?

Me: Well, I have carrots in the garden, but I don't feel like picking them, washing them, and peeling them. So I'm just going to save myself the work and get some baby carrots from Smith's.

Pioneer Pearl: What do you mean by "baby" carrots?

Me: You know... a bag of carrots that are small.

Pioneer Pearl: Why are they small?

Me: We modern folk like our carrots to be uniform in size and shape. We buy them in bags. They are already peeled, and they're all the same size.

Pioneer Pearl: How do they get that way?

Me: They are whittled.

Pioneer Pearl: Someone whittles your carrots for you?

Me: Yep.

---------------------------------------------------

Me: Let's go to Dairy Queen and get a treat!

Pioneer Pearl: Wait! Does America have a monarchy now?

Me: No. Dairy Queen isn't a person. It's a place!

Pioneer Pearl: So a queen is a place now?

Me: Not always.

Pioneer Pearl: What about a king?

Me: Also sometimes a place.

The Kind of Week it's Been

It's been an interesting week - a week of slight misfortune. I say "slight" because it's not like I've had to amputate limbs or anything. I've just had enough things go wrong this week  to constitute a theme.

For example, it's been the kind of week where I try to pepper my egg, and this happens:

You know that kind of week? 

On Tuesday, I woke my kids up early so we could go hiking. There was much resistance from the three girls. They whined and cried and told me how much the hate hiking and that they weren't going. In my most delightful mom voice, I repeated, "Everybody's going. We are leaving at 8:00, so be ready. Make sure you eat something!" I was met with many harumphs and excessive foot stomping, but I stayed cool as a cucumber. No yelling. No threats. 

I planned to go to Cecret Lake - which is a bit of a cursed trail for us. The first time we hiked it, we got stuck in a thunderstorm. The next time we hiked it, I was by myself with my four kids. There was no parking at the trail head, so we had to park at Alta and take an extended route. We never made it to the lake. When we turned back, Eva was asleep in the backpack, and I was carrying Zoe on my hip, who was also asleep. I honestly didn't know how I would make it back to the car (which was about three miles away). Another mom with kids saw me and begged me to let her drive me to my car. I was trying to be tough, but I knew I would never make it. We piled in the stranger's van at the trail head, and she took us back to Alta. 

This time, I really thought we were going to make it, but when we got to Alta, the road to the trail head was closed, and there was no way I was going to try hiking from Alta again alone with four kids.  

I turned around, and we went back down the canyon to Lisa Falls. I was really disappointed because I wanted a longer hike this week to keep us out of the house for a while. I had packed lunch and planned to use up at least half the day. But it wasn't to be. 

Before we arrived at Lisa Falls, my gas light came on (I'm not used to filling up the gas tank anymore - one of the side effects of quarantine). Then when we arrived at the parking area, I got out of the van and smelled my brakes burning. Oops. 

I decided to ignore it and do the hike, and then we could deal with car crises when we got back, if needed. 

Lisa Falls

Other than getting my shoes soaked in the river while keeping Eva from falling off a rock, the hike was fine. We got back to the van, and the van was fine. 

We tried going to the temple quarry on the way out of the canyon, but there was nowhere to park. This is my biggest anxiety about hiking and other mountain activities - the parking. 

We ended up going to a park for lunch where we were quickly bombarded with two buses of daycare children. 

That night, my kids and I had plans to draw a bunch of Sesame Street characters. We had these ones in the works when it started raining:

Side note: our driveway is really stained from the chalk and paint. We are now drawing on top of old stuff that hasn't washed off entirely. I'm not worried about it - I think it will all come off eventually, but some of it clings for a really long time. Particularly red and black. I go out and scrub my driveway once a week with a brush and Dawn dish soap, but it doesn't get it all off. 

Overnight, it poured, and in the morning, Elmo and Cookie Monster were just black outlines, and the Sesame Street sign had no lettering. It's always funny to see what sticks around and what washes away. When I drew Mike Wazowaski, it rained right after, and all that was left was his iris. In fact, it's still there, and it's been three weeks. 

But back to the adventures of this week. There are still tales of slight misfortune to tell. 

I've been very prone to tripping, spilling, and dropping things this week. If there's a cup of water on the counter, I'll bump it. If I'm trying to pour something, I'll spill it (especially if it's something like vegetable oil or the juice from a watermelon - my kitchen is currently very greasy and sticky). 

So I wasn't surprised at all when I went to put cookies in the oven last night, and two cookies fell off the sheet pan into the bottom of the oven. I knew I needed to get them out as soon as possible so my smoke alarms wouldn't go off as they burnt to a crisp, but that's difficult when the oven's hot! I used a pair of tongs to pull the bottom rack out of the oven so I could get to the cookies. Then I didn't know what to do with the hot oven rack. I couldn't put it on my floor or on the counter, so I just stood there holding it with tongs while I grabbed a second pair of tongs and tried to get the cookies. 

It was complicated and dangerous and required me to yell at my kids multiple times to get away from me so they wouldn't get burned. I got the cookies out and then I just stood there holding the oven rack until it cooled down enough that I could set it down. Since I'd pulled it out with tongs, I was kind of stuck. I couldn't get oven mitts at that point because I was immobile with one hand holding the rack with the tongs. I couldn't maneuver the tongs to put the rack back in the oven (I tried). 

Now I know I need to have a cookie removal protocol for the future. 

I urge you to come up with your own plan!

Just to make things even better, the cookies burned. Not horribly, but enough to be disappointing. I baked them on parchment paper instead of the silicone baking mats I normally bake them on. Did that make the difference or was it simply because this is a week of slight misfortune? Can I bake on parchment next week and have my cookies turn out just fine? 

The misfortune doesn't end there, though!

Now I will tell you the most unfortunate part of my week (so far... hopefully it doesn't get worse. It's only Friday morning, after all. There's still time...)

Yesterday morning our pipes started vibrating really bad. Any time we turned on any type of water in the house, it sounded like a freight train was passing through. Luckily, the kids and I were out of the house for most of the day because Scotty was on conference calls, and freight trains and conference calls aren't a good combo. 

In between conference calls, Scotty tried to figure out what was going on. After having no success, he had to cut into our brand new ceiling in the basement to access the pipes - the ceiling we just started painting two days ago. He spent two hours messing with pipes and trying to solve the problem. He was in the house and out of the house. He turned the water off and on and off and on. He ran every faucet in the house and flushed every toilet over and over, and he couldn't figure out what was causing the problem. 

Then he went outside and found that the backyard hose had been left on with the handheld sprayer in OFF position. 

Who did it?

Me. 

I planted strawberries yesterday morning, watered them, and then failed to turn the hose off. It was on all day.

And all it cost me was a hole in our brand new ceiling. 

Slight misfortune indeed. 

Tales of Creatures: Part II

Animals have continued making a presence in our lives over the past few days. My last blog post was Saturday, and on that morning, the eggs in our BIRDhouse started hatching. I was able to see the first bird right after it was born. Then when I checked back a while later, the second one had been born, and the third was trying to get out of its shell.

I noticed that the fourth egg had the tiniest crack in it, so I checked over and over all afternoon to see if it had hatched. We had game night on Saturday, so we were gone for a few hours, and when we came back, I peeked in the birdhouse to see if the final egg had hatched, but the mama was sitting on the babies, so I couldn't tell. I assumed it probably hatched while we were gone, but it didn't! On Sunday morning, the egg was still in tact, and the crack hadn't changed size at all. But a couple of hours later, the baby finally emerged!

It was so cool to see! It was hard to get a decent photo because the babies' heads flop all over the place, and they're in a pile of flesh and fluff, but I have a few video clips that show the baby trying to work its way out of the egg. I am so captivated by this little corner of nature!

That's one nice thing about the starlings - the type of nest they build and their temperaments allow us to peek in on them. The parents are pretty chill about us being around, so for that reason, they are nice tenants. 

After we had the sacrament on Sunday (still at home for us), we went to Scotty's parents' campground. They are serving as missionaries at a church-owned camp. The camp is closed for the summer for coronavirus, but they still need to be there for part of the week to maintain the grounds. We went to visit and make a dutch oven dinner. Scotty's mom has a few HUMMINGBIRD feeders in the trees outside her trailer, and they attract so many birds! There are often 10-12 hummingbirds flitting about from feeder to feeder. 

They are such beautiful birds, and I enjoy watching them. Sometimes they remind me of my kids because they fight with each other like crazy, but they amaze me... also like my kids. 

While we were watching the hummingbirds, Scotty's step-dad was trying to fix something on the bird feeder when he almost stepped on a baby RABBIT. It came hopping out from under his feet, and I nearly died from cuteness overload. 

Bunnies that can fit in the palm of my hand? Yes, please! I'll take a dozen! 

Then, as if that wasn't enough creature goodness for one day, we drove past this GOAT sitting on a picnic table on our way home. 

Goats are my favorite animals, and this is the exact type of scene that makes me love them so much. 

With all the chaos in the world right now, I feel like baby birds, fluffy bunnies, and silly goats are the simple delights that will keep me going. 

Tales of Creatures

We have a lot of creatures in our lives right now. This morning I was out in the garden, feeling dismayed about the ANTS crawling all over the place and the mystery BUG that is chomping on the leaves of my plants.

As I watered and picked a bucket of peas, I listened to an audiobook about ELEPHANTS. The more I learn about elephants, the more I believe they are my soul sisters. I mean, large-bodied animals that need to rest in the shade or cover themselves in mud because the heat takes a toll on them? Are we sure we're talking about elephants and not me?

After I finished watering the garden, I peeked in our BIRDhouse and found the most incredible thing!

I wish I could watch them all day, but I gave them their space and checked back in an hour and a half later to find this:

They are so ugly and so miraculous.

About a foot to the right of the birdhouse lies Zoe and Eva's MOUSE trap.

I mentioned the other day that we have quite the mouse infestation at our house. We always do. They're in our garage, sheds, and yard. Our neighbors have a field behind their house, so that's where they come from, and the mice like to come steal our chicken food.

We take measures to eliminate them, of course.

The other day, Scotty was taking said measures, and the girls decided they wanted to help, so they built this trap:

The mice are supposed to follow a trail of peanut butter. They go up the ladder:

Across the box and through the cup:

And into a popsicle stick cage:

They worked so hard on it, so Scotty and I decided to reward them by leaving a dead mouse in the trap. When they discovered it, they were confused as to why it was dead. We didn't consider the fact that they were trying to catch a live mouse. Oops!

I adore Zoe and Eva's creative minds and love that they worked together to build this mouse trap. 

Yesterday we went FISHing. 

Scotty took the day off work (for the first time in 2020) and we headed to the mountains. Normally fishing isn't my activity of choice, but I go along to be a good sport. This time I actually wanted to go. I even bought a fishing license, which I haven't done in years. 

And I actually caught some fish! 

In fact, all of us caught fish! Multiples! They were all really small, but for our current family situation, quantity is more important than quality when it comes to catching fish. 

The kids had a great time. Daisy, who is normally squirmy and finicky about everything, loves to hold the fish and release them into the water. I've never been okay with touching or holding a live fish (I'm not that hip on dead fish either, but I can touch it to cook it... sometimes I have to rely fully on tongs). Water creatures weird me out, and I scream and run. I can't help it. I make a total fool of myself. Their floppiness and their sliminess just get to me! And their weird, little mouths and unmoving eyes. Oh gosh! I can't even visualize it without getting riled up. 

(Hopefully you've concluded that the hand in the photo above is not mine). 

While we were fishing, I had a bag of Cheetos in my backpack. My backpack was unzipped, and I went to grab the Cheetos, and a CHIPMUNK came running out of the bag! 

Since a rodent had been in the bag, I wouldn't let my kids eat anymore, so we fully surrendered the Cheetos to the chipmunk. 

Well-played, you little chipmunk punk! Well-played!

The funny thing is, this isn't the first time a chipmunk has stolen my Cheetos while fishing. Years and years ago, it happened at Strawberry Reservoir, but it was a bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos. The little guy just kept eating them and eating them. It was hysterical!

And thus ends the tales of the creatures for now. 

Take care of your Cheetos, friends!