Czech Team Pig Roast 2013

Yesterday we had our big Pig Roast Fundraiser for the Czech Team.  Steve and I are not going this year, but it pleased us to provide a nice location for it.

Steve’s pig roast partner in crime installed a new set of burners in the ends of the roaster.  The work pushed back the start of the cook time, and Steve didn’t come to bed until a little after 1 a.m., but then he was able to stay in bed and not check the temperature of the cooker every half hour.   The new burners kept the temperature in the cooker higher, so the meat was done earlier than normal.  Steve even had time to take a shower before the party started.  I don’t know that such a thing has ever happened before.

Some of the younger gals going on the Czech trip did face painting for the children.  Julia thought it was very funny to be painted with a classic Snidely Whiplash mustache.  She was sad at bath time to have to wash her face because she loved that Snidely Whiplash mustache.

The youth group came over in the afternoon to help with setup.  It was great for me because I had to do much less running back and forth to the garage where the food was being setup.  I felt like I did much less spinning around in circles and even had time to mingle a little before the food was served.  Another benefit of having the youth come to help was that they were much less prone to make messes or get into youthful mischief.

One of the activities for the children was a water balloon fight.  Paul got into the stash of water balloons prematurely.  First he lobbed one at P.R.  who was sitting in a group with Steve and the grandparents.  The balloon landed in P.R.’s lap but didn’t burst.  P.R. of course chased Paul down.  So next time, Paul crept up behind P.R. with a water balloon that had not been tied closed.  He squirted P.R. right in the back. 

Steve, ever the model of decorum, suggested that Paul launch his next attack on Tim.  Poor Tim had been up most of the night before with the youth group lock-in.  (Come to think of it, this might be another reason the youth didn’t get into any trouble this year – they were too tired.)  Paul came up to Tim and started shouting, “My Dad told me to get you!” as he squirted Tim.

For their next victim, Steve sent Paul after Josiah, one of the teenage boys.  Father admonished son, “This time don’t go yelling a warning.  Just sneak up and get him.”  Paul got him.   The other teenagers thought it was hilarious.  And Paul didn’t get creamed by Josiah, so I think it was okay.

Finally Paul walked up to Steve asking, “Dad, who should I get nex… I’M GOING TO SQUIRT YOU!”  Steve was impressed that Paul was devious enough to get him to lean closer before unleashing the spray of water.

Nathan handled his first Pig Roast pretty well.  I think he was tired of all the new faces by the end, but he didn’t fuss too much.

Petra had fun even though she was VERY tired by the end.  Today she kept telling us that one of the little friends she met was going to visit at Grandma's house soon.  The girl in the pink shirt and blue shorts.  Or was it pink skirt and blue shirt?  Anyway, if we ever figure out what her name is, she is invited to a playdate.

Thank God for the weather!  We were under a threat of rain all day.  Except for a brief shower when most people were under the tent eating anyway, the weather was clear for the party and corn hole tournament.  The team even finished cleaning up. The one thing left that Steve would have done was put the cover on our grill, but a rain shower started then.  It was the most perfect gentle summer shower you could ever hope for.

Midway Waste Month Assessment

Here's a quick review of my goals and progress:

1. Car pool to work at least 4 times during May.
   I'm up to 2 times.  Whoo-hoo!
2. Get my sewing machine running, and turn one of Paul's pairs of shredded-knee pants into shorts.
   I'm still desperately looking for 30 minutes of free time to do this.
3. Continue Petra's potty training efforts. 
   I can say that our diaper and pull-up consumption is down.  Not done, but down.
4. Actually weed and care for the vegetable garden.  Use time to pray for my family.
   The weeds are still so tiny in the veggie plot that there is not much to do here.  If I want to be serious about the garden, I will get some more carrot and cabbage seeds in the ground this week.
5. Line dry at least 50% of our laundry.  Pray for a short term mission team my church is sending to the Czech Republic during this time.
   HA HA HA HA HA - fail!  Steve pushed ~ 8 loads of laundry through this weekend and we could easily scrounge up another load or two today if we wanted to. I blame spit-up boy.  I have not had time for all that line drying.  Something I can do to help with the laundry and drier use is start explaining to my older children that it is okay to wear shirts or pants more than once before washing them if they are reasonably clean.  That, in fact, it is less work to put mostly clean clothing back in the drawer than to launder it and then put it back in the drawer.
6. Set up and play dropoly.com
   See comment on #2.
   On the plus side, Dropoly is mostly about conserving energy and reducing energy waste.  This month Steve is getting quotes from contractors about replacing the siding on our house.  When that project is done, there will be (get this) insulation on our exterior walls.  Crazy, no?
7. Take cold showers.  Pray for missionaries I know during this time.
   I'm doing it.  Water use is WAY down.  I don't pray for missionaries so much during the shower.  Mostly I am reminding myself that God is not impressed with self flagellation.  I pray for the missionaries during the morning whenever I notice how cold my hands are.  They get more prayer that way.

Cub Scout

Paul had his Cub Scout "Crossing Over" ceremony Saturday night.  He earned his Bear badge and is now officially a Webelos.

 He had the opportunity go camping with his pack Friday night, but it was rainy and we persuaded him to wait for a nicer time.  Camping in the rain is cold, muddy, wet, and boring.

My parents came down to visit last weekend, so Paul had both sets of grandparents come out for the ceremony.  Julia had a really good time running all around the campground.  Paul was playing with his buddy, Josh, until the two of them decided to wade through the creek in their shoes.  Afterward they were stationed by the fire while we tried to dry their socks and shoes.

"Paul," I said, "The first rule of camping is to keep your feet dry."
"No, mom.  It's SAFETY FIRST!"
"Okay, yes.  Safety first.  Right after that is keep your foot gear dry.  All kinds of bad things happen if your feet are wet."
One of the den leaders piped in, "Like hypothermia."
I added, "And blisters."
Somebody else threw in, "And foot rot."  Or something like that.
"The point is, Paul, your shoes need to be the last thing that gets wet.  Got it?"

He received his Bear Badge and walked across a bridge the scouts had assembled. The next day I asked if crossing the homemade bridge was scary.  He said just a little.  Then we agreed that the Webelos symbol looks like an ear of corn.

Just maybe, he will survive another two years without hypothermia or foot rot and make it to Boy Scouts.

Nathan at 1/2 year

Nathan had his 6 month check-up last week.  Congratulations, baby!  You've made it a half circuit round the sun.

He weighed in at 18 lbs 10 oz (75th percentile) and measured about 26 inches (50th percentile).  I call him a chunky monkey, but Steve claims he is slacking off in the chub department.

He seems to really enjoy eating his pureed rice, barley, sweet potato and bananas.  Be careful if you try to drink anything while holding him.  He is lunging for cups and glasses.  He's pretty sure that he knows how to get good stuff out of them.

Nathan can push himself backwards on the floor pretty well now and he turns a 360 on his tummy without much effort.  My attempts to keep a blanket under him on the floor are becoming increasingly futile. 

One of his fun little tricks to so grab the face of the person holding him, lunge forward, and try to suck on their face.  Sometimes it is a cue that he is hungry, but other times I think it is his big scary version of a baby kiss.

He has a full repertoire of vocalizations including gurgles, screeches, kissy noises, and giggles.

This weekend he was a little fussier than normal.  I don't know if he was stopped up or teething, but I accused him of acting like a baby.  He didn't seem too put out by that.

Nathan really likes it when his siblings talk to him.  It is so nice, because I can pop him in the high chair and they will entertain him while I prepare dinner. 

This weekend we handed off the baby swing.  It made me a little sad to see it go.  Nathan got more use out if it than any of the other children.  It is nice to have a little more space in the kitchen now. 

Can't believe how quickly he is getting big.

Spring clothing

Spring clothing ala Julia

Spring on the Farm

Here are some pictures from the last month or so.

Last year the daffodils were blooming on Saint Patrick's day. This year is was a full month later.

Camouflage Paul

Julia's First Grade Music Performance

Julia's performance didn't begin until 7:50.  Petra slept through the show.

Nathan stayed awake for the music.

Julia's show started with a star dance to the music of Pachabel's Canon.  Sorry about picture quality, but Paul had control of the camera for most of the evening.  Steve got some video.

I love watching my little girl dance and sing!

Dinner Time

Obligatory messy face baby food pictures.  Nathan is eating a blend of barley and sweet potato.  

Peas in a Pod

This is a picture of Nathan (age 5 months) next to a picture of Petra when she was about 6 months old.

TKD Tournament Spring 2013

Yesterday Steve, Paul and Julia had a Tae Kwon Do tournament.  There was so much good stuff that came with that.  It warms my heart to see Steve spend a whole day participating in an activity with the kids.  For Paul and Julia it was an exercise in waiting.  They had to sit and wait for at least two hours before their events.  Now, sitting and waiting for them looked a lot like talking to the other kids, messing around a little, and popping up periodically.  That is why it is good they practiced waiting for stuff that will come their way in the future.  It was also practice at paying attention to directions from the judges in the midst of a lot of noise and confusion.

They all participated in a tournament last fall.  Compared to then, this tournament was a little disappointing in terms of awards received.  This time Julia got a 3^rd place trophy for the event in forms.  She got defeated right away in sparring.  That was especially disappointing, because she had done so well in sparing at her last belt test.  I saw her hands going to her eyes afterward, so I snuck to the floor beside her and gave her a lap to cry on.  The little girl she had sparred was really quick and went on to earn 1^st place.  It was just Julia’s bad luck to face her first, because Julia really was moving to do well – she just wasn’t fast enough.

Paul’s performance in forms was not so good.  But in sparring he did really well, and defeated two opponents before being stopped by the third.  He was given a 3^rd place trophy, but he caught on to the fact that they were passing out 3^rd place trophies to all the participants in his group.  Steve and I are still really proud of him for how well he did in that event.  Both Paul and Julia had to compete against a bunch more competitors than last fall, and I think they deserve praise for their work.

Steve did great.  He competed in Breaking (boards) and Sparring.  He got a 3^rd place in breaking and 2^nd in sparring.  For breaking, they get points for how many boards they go after and how complicated a set of hits they do.  So Steve stepped back and broke two boards behind him with his fists simultaneously, then stepped forward to knife hand a board, and then turned to kick two boards at once.  He got all the hand techniques on the first go, but it took him 2 tries to get the kick.  We have video of him practicing and hope to get some video of the event.  Maybe we’ll link them to the blog soon.

This tournament was hosted by Master Kim.  He and Master Chung are good friends, and both of them are spry old guys.  Steve said that while the guys in his age group were suited up in their sparring gear, Master Kim came by.  “Oh, this is the dinosaur group.” He slowly stomped back and forth.  “I am 34 million years old and I move very slowly.”