G.O.U.S. (Gourds Of Unusual Size)

Just in time for Halloween, we finally carved our award winning pumpkins. Here are the blank canvasses.

The top comes off and Cole pretends to be Atlas. The shell is about 5 inches thick at the top. A little thinner around the sides. The top weighs about 8½ pounds.

Let the scooping begin.

Proof that this GOUS is larger than my head.

Larger than Grant's head, too.

The boys suggested that we make the larger pumpkin look sad and the smaller one look scary. You be the judge.

Not the most artistic Jack O'Lantern I've ever done but by far the largest. Now if we can just keep old Peter Peter Pumpkineater away from our doorstep.

Keep on Truckin'

Words fail me. Fortunately, this picture is worth at least a thousand.

Things I Never Did Before I Was A Dad

I had originally posted this on my Thoughts From a Dad blog but Sue thought it belonged here also.

• I never felt like the hero of the world when I came home from work and a toddler squealed, "Daddy!"
• I never felt like the dregs of humanity after making that same toddler cry an hour later because I insisted that she put her diaper back on.
• I never struggled to maintain a straight face as a toddler's pouty lip pokes out when I later insist she stop taking her jammies off.
• I never had a boy call me and excitedly exclaim, "Dad, I made soup!"
• I never listened to the sounds of the night and wondered how I'd protect my family if one of those sounds came from an intruder.
• I never felt the sort of love that comes when my small child gives me a hug and says, "I ub you".
• I never found pacifiers, plastic animals or fruit snacks in the cushions of my couch, car or bed.
• I never bought so many band-aids, most of which will never cover a legitimate wound.
• I never knew how much worry a parent feels for children, even when they're young and healthy.
• I never removed slivers from so many little hands and feet.
• I never understood why children behave poorly in public. I still don't understand it but I'm now pretty sure it's not entirely the parents fault.
• I never wondered how to get Silly Putty out of carpet it had oozed into.
• I never held a sick child in my arms and prayed for them to feel better so we can both get some sleep.
• I never sent a child to his room.
• I never knew how a parent knows what to say to a child who has been sent to his room.
• I never knew how much of parenting is just making it up as you go along.
• I never held a slimy, sticky, gory, precious, newly born infant.
• I never knew how much debris a child leaves behind when merely passing through a room, yard, or vehicle.
• I never sat through a music recital with my heart bursting with pride and joy.
• I never had "There was an old woman who swallowed a fly" going through my head during a meeting at work.
• I never pinched so many noses, tummies and toes.
• I never read so many books out loud.
• I never caught so many crawdads, frogs, tadpoles and slugs.
• I never caught so many colds.
• I never shared so many bites of so many sandwiches.
• I never knew that dads like onions and spicy things so they don't have to share everything on their plate.
• I never wondered about the most appropriate response to the most inappropriate questions.
• I never knew how much time it takes to be a parent.
• I never felt such empathy for my own parents.
• I never gave and received so much love.

The Great Pumpkin

About six months ago, while eating buffalo wings with some friends, one of them challenged the rest of us to a pumpkin growing contest. Not one to take spicy food induced contests lightly we planted our seeds. We went for quality, rather than quantity and produced only four pumpkins. This is the smallest at 8 pounds.
This tall specimen tipped the scales at 52 pounds for a solid second place.

And by far the largest, at 94 pounds, the champion gourd.

Naturally we posed for photos with the winners. Here you can see the third place pumpkin which weighed 25 pounds.

Bryn sat for an especially beautiful pose with a cucumber.

Then she ran into the corn to hide.

Now, who's going to carry this beast out to the porch?

I can hardly wait to start carving...

Hired Hands

So long, farewell to the old cedar shake roof, and all the moss that was growing beautifully over the top of it! We finally got a new roof. And although we did not demand a discount for all the labor Grant put into the job, his contribution was not small.
For literally hours, Grant kept filling his little wheelbarrow with the shake, and took it around front, unloading it all with his bare hands....
always careful to lift it up and empty every tiny piece into the contractor's trailer. (I at least made him wear his helmet to avoid falling debris on his noggin.)
The guys doing our roof were both impressed and perplexed at his dedication. So were we.
While posting this, I said, "hey Grant - come look at the pictures of you working!" He said, "Mom, I really did like doing that." Cool kid. I don't think he'll be on the parental "dole" for long with that attitude.

Happy Hunting

It must be fall!! Hunting is in the air. Grant has been hounding me about going hunting, even though we don't hunt, and have never even talked about it much. Everything they know about hunting is from Nephi's broken bow story and the story of Enos.


So, we set off to the great wilderness (a.k.a our neighbor's field) with backpacks filled with provisional Nilla Wafers and buckets and nets.
Once in the tall grass, we were attacked by several praying mantis, and managed to track down a little snake. Hunting trip a success!
Then we headed home to make sugar cookies for our out of town, but soon to be returning, dad.
They were hideous, but dad liked 'em (once they were covered up by a bunch of frosting.)Next day, we did it again. Pretty much caught the same things.
And it was just as cool.

This stuff never gets old, even to me.

A Paragon of Reverence

As we were getting ready to go to church, Grant asked, "Can I bring a real (battery powered) train to church? When the prayer doesn't come I will turn it on but when the prayer comes I will turn it off."

Meet the Beetles!

Grant: Dad, did you see how big of a punch I pulled?
Me: What?
Grant: It's right here!

Ah. Punch = beat = beet.

Later I heard Cole asking Grant, "Where did you get such a big punch?"

Clearly, I need to beet them more often.

Someone's Been Watching MY Cartoons...

I told the boys the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears tonight because we had Bryn in the room and I was hoping she'd like the animal aspect of the story (she didn't care). As I was telling about Goldilocks eating Baby Bear's porridge, Grant said earnestly, "Dad, Goldilocks is really Bugs Bunny."

Yes. Yes he is...



Just wait 'till he discovers who Santa Claus really is.

(For those of you who aren't paying attention, it's the Grinch)

Crawdads Beware

I've had to limit our trips to the creek to once a day. I know, I'm a mean mom.
If I were a nice mom, I would just set up a tent and we would live at the creek,
because Grant has developed the eye for catching things. He's been honing his skills all summer, and fills our little bucket with creatures every time we go to the creek. The challenge of the hunt, and a love of all things alive and kicking is something I can totally identify with.

Every time we drive by our favorite creek spot, even Bryn yells, "CEEK, mama, CEEK."



(Notice our fancy new camo childrens waders. Snazzy.)

The Wrong Side of the Bed

We may not know the "why", but we can see the "what" a mile off.

Money Well Spent

We invested $53 bucks (the price of this pool on sale - including a filter, so we've never had to empty and refill it) and here's how it's paid off so far: Championship paddlers,
divers, swimmers,
spitters,
and more smiles than we can begin to count.
Brynnie will be up to speed soon.

Caught red handed...

...and red cheeked!

Reunioning 2010

What was the most fun about the Simper Reunion at Olympic Nat'l Park (Olympic Peninsula, Washington) this summer? Let's see...

Fighting over the tractor was fun...
Grant might say holding hands with a girl was the best (even if it is his cousin)...
Hiking in the Hoh Rain Forest was cool...

riding bikes on the beach was a hit...
Sea otters were cute, and the tide pools amazing...
A lot of people wonder what to do with a star fish, well...
here's a brilliant idea:

Evan drew quite a crowd of cousins with his crab.
Brynnie learned the fine art of burying others in the sand.
And she ran around wet and cold for a few days, blissfully unaware of how chilly it was.
Bryn just liked the sand the best. It was good tastin' stuff!

The amazing thing is, Evan's parents and all 6 of their kids (+ families) made the journey up here, many from Arizona. Thanks for a great party, everyone!!