Okay, everyone here's my late update. My ducks are not babies anymore, as you can see, they are now fully grown and dumb as a box of rocks, but I love them! For Halloween this year Mitchell saved me the trouble of sewing a new costume on my broken machine and decided to be a zombie. He really looked dead. What can I say -Mom's got skills!

Gracie was, as usual, a ballerina. The picture really doesn't do her justice (my camera refuses to focus), but she was lovely.

Noah WAS Luke Skywalker- no doubt about it! He grew his hair out all month so that it would fall properly. He still refuses to let me cut it!

This isn't the best shot in the world, But what a shot! Mitch was the tooth fairy. He was even covered in sparkles! Now I just need to figure out what I do with a Daddy sized tutu.

In other news, I STILL have hives, but my ulcer is all but healed. We were expecting a baby in June, but sadly that is no longer the case. We'll keep trying! I am really feeling the Christmas bug this year, and I can hardly wait until after Thanksgiving when Mitch will finally let me put up our tree. I started listening to Christmas music Sunday, and I'm hooked. Last week we went down to help Mike with his house, and to see Dan, and the funniest thing happened! My older brother and I officially have weird homeschooled kids! Mitch came in the living room after dinner and said that the kids were all playing politics. Mike and Dan jumped up and went to eavesdrop. They came back laughing and said that the game went as follows:

Jacob: I'm Barack Obama!

Mitchell: I'm Glenn Beck!

Jacob: I'm going to take over everything!

Mitchell: How are you going to pay for it?

Jacob: I'm going to tax everybody!

Mitchell: That's a terrible idea! You're going to bankrupt the country!

You get the idea! We all died laughing and the funniest thing is that they kept going for quite awhile. Maybe many of you will think we put too much emphasis on politics at home, but I have to say I'm pleased to know that my kids pay attention to what's going on around them! In case I don't update again in time have a great holiday! Happy 11th anniversary to Mitch and I on Wednesday!

Back in the Saddle!

Well, I am delighted to announce that my beloved husband found my camera! For this phenomenal feat, he has once again firmly cemented himself as my personal hero. I have a ton of things to cover, so here goes! This is a shot of the kids and a bunch (not all) of the kids in our homeschooling group at the first field trip of the year. We spent an afternoon at the zoo and had a great time! You can't beat having the place and all the people that work there entirely to yourself! This is one of the new hands-on exhibits that they've added. It recreates living in the bush in Africa, and some of the things a scientist might study and use there.

Now this is something entirely different! This is just a couple of shots of the work we did to change our garden into a duck pen. It took about a week of really back-breaking labor to make it happen, but I am happy to say it was worth it!

This is our new flock! We were so excited to get the call from the post office to come and pick them up. One died in shipping, but the company sent an extra just in case, so we got our flock of ten. They were so tiny I thought that they would break apart when I took them out of the box!

They are a month old now and aren't so little. We unfortunately had a terrible pond accident yesterday, and two of our ducklings drown, so we're down to eight. The kids were very upset, but we plan to replace them in the spring.

For those of you who haven't heard, I've been really ill lately. I am getting better, but here's a quick recap. A little over a month ago I broke-out in unexpainable hives head to toe. The doctor put me on immune supressing meds to try to fix it. In the meantime, I discovered I have a bleeding ulcer and was put on meds for that. The meds for the hives didn't fix that problem, and they supressed my immune system so much that I developed shingles (chicken pox on your nerves-very painful!). So, they put me on high doses of anti-virals and anti-convulsives. Thankfully it knocked the shingles out of the park! My meds for my ulcer are doing wonderfully, and hopefully in a couple months I'll be healed of that. The hives are still head to toe, but I think I may have a handle on what's causing them, so cross your fingers! I am so grateful to my family and friends who brought in meals and minded and taught kids while I was out of commission.

I have also recently joined an online group called asamom.org, and lessons are going well for the little people. That about covers it for now!

End of Summer Update

Well, the summer has roared by, and I haven't updated my blog in months. So many things have and are going on, so I'll try to just hit the highlights. I'll start with the terrible loss of my camera. I have no idea what has become of it, but I will happily award my undying devotion to anyone who finds it. So, if you were looking forward to the extensive photo documentation of my family's summer, I'll have to disappoint you. We have enjoyed a family reunion, high school reunion (Mitch's), house building, baby and maternity shopping for our many family members who are expecting, family member moving, new business beginning, ducks growing (soon to be dinner), scout activities, play producing (Much Ado About Nothing by our kids and their friends), and every other traditional summer activity. Currently we are busy preparing to begin lessons on Monday. The kids have all been chomping at the bit to get started, but of course I'm the only one who's not ready! I had to clean out more cabinet space this year to hold all of our school stuff. This year all but one of my children's friends are homeschooling, so they're all totally excited. We've formed a homeschooling group with five other families in our ward for this coming year, and I'm in charge of September. We're meeting weekly, and I can't wait to share all our fun this year. Our new ducks are ordered and will be arriving on the 16th. We will now have a flock of 10 for laying. We decided that with so many we should have an enclosure instead of allowing them to roam free, so my never-been-planted garden spot will be put to real use as the duck pen. Mitch and I are taking a latin dance class with some of our friends at the college. We thought about it and decided a weekly 2 hr date for 2 1/2 months for $28 was too good to pass up. That about covers it. Hopefully some kind soul will find my camera soon, and I will be able to share some great shots.

Duck Watch

Well, our fuzzy little babies are all grown up! They're big enough for eating, but we'll probably wait until August or September.

W've really enjoyed having them. I never realized ducks were so easy to raise! The only problem we've really had is that we need a fence to keep them off the patio and deck! Sometimes I watch them in the backyard. They're so funny!! We only have one drake, and even though they're all really quiet, he's the loudest! He always has something to say whenever we go outside. They are VERY friendly and love to eat out of our hands. They have become very popular with the neighborhood children. We plan on eating these, and getting layers to keep next year!

Memorial Geo-caching

Memorial Day we went geo-caching with our good friends the Bairds. This time we even got Steve to go along! In case you don't know what geo-caching is, it could be described as a GPS treasure hunt. People make geo-caches and hide them ANYWHERE. Then, they go online and enter the coordinates so that other people can use their GPS to hunt for them. You take something and leave something and sign the logbook. You'd be surprised how many there are and how close they probably are to you!

Along the way we stopped at Mesa Falls and Big Springs. It was a Beautiful day!

The Bairds have become some of our very best friends, and ,as you can see, our kids get along great!

This is one of the caches we found that day. We found enough for all the kids to get something. This one was at the Warm Springs overlook where Mitch and I had our first kiss!

All Hail, Pomp and Circumstance!

Yes, it is that time of year again, and even I have a graduate. Today was Gracie's preschool graduation in the park. That's her in red.

Her teacher, Kathy Davis, has taught all of my children. Mitchell and Noah had her for one year, Grace for two. She's fantastic with little kids!

Congratulations, Chicken!!

Holy Cheese and Quackers Bat-Man!

Well, here's an update on our ducks. They grow FAST! We can see obvious changes DAILY. This is bath-time. We put them in the tub for about fifteen minutes everyday. Sometimes they even swim under the water.

They really enjoy being outside. We have to make sure they don't get too cold, but that should only be a concern for another week or two.

As long as we stay with them outside we don't have any problems with hawks or other birds trying to carry them off. They put on at least a pound a week, so it won't be long before we won't even need to do that anymore! The only downside is that they are quickly becoming too messy for the house. We will move them outside as soon as Mitch finishes the duck house under the deck. They're also really sweet and very friendly!

New Arrivals!!

Saturday we made the mistake of going by Valleywide to pick-up some things for our garden, and they were giving away chicks. Now most of our neighbors have a few chickens for kicks and giggles, and we have been kicking the idea around for a while. Later, we were in Cal-Ranch, and they had ducklings. Well, we decided to grab a book about raising ducks and check it out! Turns out for us, ducks are a better choice than chickens. By the time we made it through the book Mitch was hooked! It was 15 minutes until they closed, and he decided he couldn't wait for Monday! This little guy likes to nibble on Mitch's beard.

We are keeping them in the kitchen in an old dog crate for about the next month. After then, they should be able to handle the backyard. Mitch is making a "duck house" under the deck, and they will be able to be free in the yard most of the day. We think these are Pekins or Muscovies. Hopefully Pekins because they don't fly. If they are Muscovies we'll have to clip their wings. Both are meat birds, so if things don't work out in the next two months we'll change their names to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

They're so sweet. They like to nibble on your fingers. Bogus stuck his head in for a closer look, and one of them jumped up and nibbled his ear. He jumped back a mile! Now he just sits in front of the crate and stares.

Here we are at the Rexburg Tea Party! There were a couple of hundred people there to protest!

These are shots of Noah and Grace dumping tea out of tea bags into the river.

Ahhh! My sweet little extremists!! According to the Department of Homeland Security my family qualifies as possible right wing militants and a threat to national security. You've got to be kidding me.

Mom's in the red coat right in front. We were listening to brief speech by the protest organizer, and yes, that is a Don't Tread On Me flag!

Sorry I've been MIA for a while, but I've so much to do and so little time!! To catch up, Noah lost his first tooth. Hooray!! It took about two weeks for him to finally let us pull it! We have also started sharing the benefits of one milking cow with some friends of ours. They can't legally just sell us the milk, so we buy feed instead. The kids love it! Grace always asks for the "cow milk" not the "other kind." The concept that it all comes from the same kind of animal is not really sinking in. Most interestingly, though, was today's tea party. First, if you don't know what a tea party is it might be time to get internet and cable in your cave, second, it was a good time. Tea parties are protests that mostly took place today (Wednesday) and are about curbing government excesses. We took the kids and went with Mom and Dad to let our voices be heard! There were more people than we expected, and we even got on the evening news! I've been so active in politics lately; I really didn't feel I could call myself anything other than a hypocrite if I didn't go and stand up for all these rights I've been teaching my children about. I've been studying the founding fathers, particularly Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson, and I am amazed and humbled and deeply grateful for the monumental task these men had to institute a new kind of government never seen on the Earth before. A government that operates only if the people take an active roll and maintain a strong moral center. They were guided in every step by the spirit, and the job they did was nothing short of miraculous. How fortunate are we to live in the country the Lord designed for the restoration of the gospel. I hope you will all take a more active interest in your local government. Without vigilance there is no freedom.

Mitch made these end-tables for a friend of ours as a gift, and they turned out beautifully! He was kind of out of his element with the style, but our friend was very excited.

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Well, I sat down to read a book yesterday and about ten minutes later this is what I saw. I jumped up and snapped this picture. Noah then looked up and said, "Mom, did you know that dolphins use echo-location just like bats?" Inside my jaw dropped, but I just said, "Why yes, I did know that!" Sometimes I think my kids are really little know-it-all aliens in disguise.

Hi, Everybody! I wanted to say to all of you who have signed the parental rights ammendment petition THANK YOU!!!! I am so pleased with the response of all my friends, family, and neighbors. I'm happy to report that all is going well with our family. The kids are keeping up on their studies and anxiously gearing up for a new unit on George Washington. We spent most of Monday making St. Patricks Day decorations for our kitchen. We now have a somewhat psychotic looking leprechaun on our pantry. The funniest thing that has happened is that Mitch was asked to speak at our temple chapel session tomorrow night. He's the only speaker, and he's terrified. Luckily, there is this huge school thing going on that night and the bishopric doesn't expect much of a turn-out.

Hey it's been awhile! I've been pretty busy with some volunteer work that I'm doing, and I'd love to share it with you. About a year or so back, I was doing some online research for homeschool and I came accross a website called parentalrights.org. Now some of you may have heard me talk about it, or you may have noticed the link to the site and blog in my sidebar. What you may not know, is that this is an organization whose purpose is to protect the traditional role of the family, specifically, from the UN treaty called the Convention on the rights of the Child (CRC). Many places in the media the CRC is trumpeted as protecting children, but it does this by putting children and the government in charge of raising children. In the CRC children are guaranteed rights such as freedom of association, freedom of information, and a right to leisure. What this means is that as a parent if your 12 year old daughter wants to stay out until midnight on a school night with a 20 year old boyfriend you can't stop her. It means you have to provide access to whatever information you child desires. You can't curtail their internet access or keep them from harmful influences. In Italy it has been used to pass legislation requiring parents to support their adult children until they find a job "to their liking." This treaty states that the government has the right to assess whether or not your decisions as a parent are in the "best interests" of the child, but gives absolutely no criteria for determining what the best interest may be. The real kicker is that we've already signed it. Madeline Albright signed it during the Clinton administration, but never sent it to congress to be ratified. Well, guess what! Just this week Barbara Boxer has started petitioning to not only bring it to a vote, but to fast track it in 60 days. She's not alone. Hillary Clinton has been an outspoken advocate for the CRC, after all, it takes a village remember? Also, President Obama has stated that he is dedicated to strengthening our ties with the UN and making sure all treaties are ratified. Now, constitutional law states that if we ratify a treaty that enumerates specific rights that are not mentioned in our constitution that treaty becomes the law of the land, so the only way to gaurantee that this doesn't become the law of the land if ratified is to pass a new constitutional ammendment that protects the rights of parents as the authority over children. I'm Helping to get signatures for the petition. I ask everyone who is over 18 who reads this to take a little time to check-out the website, and become informed about this assault on the family. You can sign it online, but even better talk to the people around you and keep informed. We have an obligation as believers in traditional family to be proactive in protecting it. I hope you feel the same way.

Well, we finally took a family snow machine trip today. We took the kids up to Mesa Falls. They all had a great time! Kaden helped us out by driving Mitchell around. No amount of coaxing could convince Steve to come with, but I will not give up!! Maybe next time! Grace was true to form. She refused to ride with anyone other than her Daddy because he goes the fastest! She tuckered out on the way back, and when we pulled into the parking lot she was asleep. There were so many people out! We saw hikers in snowshoes, dogsleds, and even a couple of guys riding motorbikes. All in all, it was a great trip, and we plan on repeating it.

This is what it's all about!! Mitch got the day off today, so I asked him to take over the boys lessons while I finally took down Christmas. About half-way through he decided that they all needed a break. This is what followed. I don't care who you are, some things in life are jsut too much fun!!