Cuttin' Wood

Every summer we know we have to start thinking about wood. Thayne usually plans a few trips out to get wood for the winter because we heat our house completely with our wood stove. It saves us several thousand dollars a winter and it keeps the house so much warmer. In fact it's almost heaven when you walk into the house on a freezing winter day and feel that wood heat that warms you to the bones! Saturday was the first big wood day of the year... we are going again Friday so Jace and Tallin can help fill up the trailer because we are running out of time to get the wood that we are going to need. This time we went with Shalum and Candice. They took their big army truck too. We are all so sore. We live in the high desert, which means trees are not a commodity around here... we have to go searching for them, and they are not big trees like you would imagine if you think about cutting trees.... no, these are little scrawny, sad trees that have been burned out... so hauling wood means you get black because the bark has all been burned. Shalum at least could drive right up to the trees. Kailee and I, on the other hand were left to haul the logs down the mountain where Thayne was cutting them down. Did I mention how sore we are. My arms ache, my legs ache. We were walking on some really uneven ground and I somehow managed to kick the same rock 3 times in a row as I was walking up the mountain! My little toe feels like it's been smashed with a rock! We had a great time and look forward to going again. It's nice to know that we are doing something that helps our family so much!

Shalum and Candice (and Hayden) in the wee hours of the morning... ready to head out....with the beast of a truck!
This is the life... instead of having to walk to the wood, this beast of a truck just drives to it!

It was a perfect morning for cutting wood. After being in the 90s it had cooled right down and was in the 60's with wind and cloud covered most of the day.... in fact there were a couple of times it was actually cool!

Beautiful scenery headed up to get the wood!

An old, little town down off the road, over grown with trees.

The Beast....

Lunch break....

Enjoying lunch break... we worked hard!

Jace and Shalum taking a lunch break

Here comes the cavalry!!! It was so funny to look up and see the beast coming through the trees with the horn blowing. Before we could really see Tallin and Jace it looked like the military coming out to play war games!

What a work crew!!! Those boys know how to handle a chainsaw!

Finished filling up the truck and trailer....

Kailee is worn out....

Thayne getting the trailer ready to go and Kailee is relaxing.... we think we got the hardest job hauling those logs off the side of the mountain!

Shalum and Jace....

SHE IS WOMAN... HERE HER ROAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kim and Candice... sweaty, stinky and filthy and oh so ready for a shower!

Thayne taking a break... he said his hands were tingling from the chainsaw!

Thayne wanted a picture to prove how dirty I was... that's just rude!Shalum and Candice! ;)

Candice is always ready to cheese for the camera... even when she has soot on her face!!! haha

Yes, mom worked hard and is now filthy!!!

Shalum and Wyatt

We had a great system... Shalum and

Jace cut, Wyatt handed it to Candice,

Who handed off to me, then I handed

it off to Kailee who gave it to Tallin who loaded it into the trailer. We were an amazing team!!!

Jace is the man! He worked his rear end off. He isn't at 100% yet and was really exhausted by the end of the day and his leg was hurting but he is a trooper and just kept working till we filled the truck and trailer!

These are the scrawny trees we had to cut down. A fire went through and left lots of pine and juniper. They are definitely not the huge trees of say, Washington or Idaho or Wyoming... nope, this is our version of trees!!!

Kailee and I hauled the logs down the mountain next to the trailer where Thayne cut them up into smaller pieces.... we used muscles we didn't know we had!

Thayne working... he cut, we hauled... I am wondering who got the best end of the bargain!

Flies are of the devil...

Flies are of the devil... I'm sure of it. I am certain they were put here to torment the souls of man throughout our entire existence. Or maybe there were put on the earth as one of those 'opposition in all things'... you know, when Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, while they were earning their bread by the sweat of their brow the flies were here to almost make them wish that they never ate the fruit!!!

I HATE this time of year. I love all seasons, I really do. But I do NOT like August. It seems every August the swarms of flies move in and life as we know it changes. It doesn't help that for the past 12 years or so since we have been in this house, the kids will not leave the doors closed. And the neighbors have horses! Except I don't know why the neighbor worries about the flies bugging her poor horses... no, the flies don't like the horses, they like MY house! The horses stink too bad. No self respecting fly would be found hanging around a horses behind when they could be hanging out at Kim's house driving her crazy!

It's not bad enough that we have to contend with them at dinner time, or when we have company... but the cruelest form of punishment is when there are flies in the house in the middle of the night. I went to bed last night free of flies. At 5:30am Wyatt came to tell me he was going over to said neighbors house to... get this... shovel manure! Yes, this is the child that I cannot get to clean his room... but he is willing to shovel the neighbors manure at 5:30 AM! He has been grounded all week because he would not clean his room, so we punished him by not allowing him to shovel manure. It was torture for me! This morning he was finally set free... and off he went. Only he didn't close the door all the way... and I woke up to buzzing in my face! Did I mention I HATE flies???

Kami just told me to give her the fly swatter and show her the flies, she said, "I hate flies and I am good at killing them... come here flies... come on!" Oh, what a precious thing!!! A girl after my own heart. I would be concerned about her wanting to kill one of God's creatures... but well... Flies are of the Devil!!!

Why??? Why Nate, just why?

Okay, well to be honest, I actually have had another child do this... though I still don't understand it! Nathaniel has recently started doing something that just leaves me baffled, sickened even! I cannot find a reason for it. There's no reasoning. I just don't get it. He gives himself a swirly!!! Yes, you know... head in the toilet... comes out laughing. UGHHH... it makes me want to vomit! If the door is left open, he does it. I tell him no, he looks at me and laughs. See, maybe it's a boy thing... I am a mother who has given birth to 15 children, and I have had my share of morning, noon and night sickness that has left me hanging my head over the rim of the toilet. But honestly, I can say this with absolute surity... I NEVER had a desire to actually stick my head into the toilet and swirl my hair around in the water I was puking into! Of course I am assuming so far that the toilet water has been clean. I am just not going to go where thinking that the toilet was for some reason not flushed... I am just going to assume it was, since it has always been the boys that didn't flush and they are all big enough to do it... so even assuming that the water was clean, ummmmm... it's a toilet Nate! Maybe it's just because he knows that I will put him in the shower. I promise Nate... I always let you shower anyway. Just take my hand and lead me to the shower... without the swirly!!!

The Canyon...

We decided to ride up to the canyon and hang out and roast marshmallows! The kids love it there and I always feel bad at the end of the summer that we didn't spend a lot more time there. I guess I feel a little overwhelmed with the kids going in all directions and water... I don't care for water... especially water that could sweep one of my babies away. But that's my crazy fear and I really should get over it! Besides, there are lots of places for them to play in water that isn't fast and swift enough to sweep them away! It was nice to be up there, away from cell phones, people, life... just hanging out and laughing and talking and enjoying the time together!

Kami... not sure what she was doing, but she was looking for a marshmallow to go with her cracker!
Wyatt, claiming the perfect marshmallow... though to be fair, I think Tallin won... I just don't have a picture to prove it!

Kalli

Nate loves Kailee... I mean he truly adores her and she can rarely walk away from him without him melting down. She's brought it on herself since she always asks if she can take him to the store or wherever she is going... but she has created a monster!

See what I mean... wherever she goes, he goes too.

Just kicking back relaxing!

He did it...

Feathers and apples... all great finds on our little hike!

Enjoying the view

Beautiful....

Cheese.....

Tallin and Hayden enjoying the cold water...

I love it here....

Bummy... don't fall in!

Looking for garnets... usually they can find the pretty red garnets, but the older kids told Kami there were pearls in the creek so maybe she wasn't sure what she was supposed to be looking for???

Don't jump!

Kami still searching... are we looking for garnets? Or pearls?

Kinzee and Wyatt playing in the creek...

Kinzee Jo

Hayden... buddy!

William!!!! You're bad!

Peace out boy scout!

Playing in the creek...

Wyatt Thayne... what's up???

Sweet Kami

Nate wants in the water, and he wants in right NOW!

Still looking for the garnets...

Superman!

Best buds forever!Kassi... being Kassi as usual!

Sweet Kami AGAIN!

It's started... or maybe it's getting worse...

I have had some of the worst 'terrible two' children alive. I mean I really have had it bad... vaseline covered babies, vaseline covered bedrooms and tvs (yes Karrie and Kassi at one time covered my bedroom in vaseline including the tv!), toilets plugged over and over (one week we bought 5 toilet seals because in 5 days Willie flushed toys even when we thought we had locked the bathroom door!), we have had gallons of milk dumped on the floor, beans up noses, bowling with eggs, pounds of peanut butter spread, painted or smeared on walls, children, cars.... that's just the beginning and I won't even go into what Willie used to do at naptime! But I am getting old... I don't keep up as well! And call me silly but I was hoping with an unnatural and irrational hope that Nathaniel would be different. I guess I hoped that since he made me almost lose my mind when he was so sick, over, and over again, that he would actually be a nice boy to his mommy and not be a terrible two... or year an a half, or whatever! But nope... he had his glasses on, upside down I might add, because that is the way he likes to wear them best, strutting through the house. Pretty soon it became too quiet in the general area I knew he would be... and this is why..... I doesn't matter that I told him to stop, he laughed and threw more flour at me to show me he is the boss... and then he just sat back and watched as my head spun around on my shoulders and steam came from my ears!!! All while dragging his foot in it... and by the way, that bucket of flour isn't even supposed to be back there!!! Big brother that put it back there had to help clean up the mess so hopefully that helps with THAT problem! I doubt it, but I can always hope!