Corban update and more

First of all, the city of Wasilla out did themselves with the new library. It is beautiful inside. There are private rooms for study, tons of computers, an entire children's room and even a large room for classes or lectures. It's great. It opened about 5 days ago so Corb and I decided to go and check it out. 

As for Corban, he is doing well. I have struggled this week. I am a learner that likes to read or view information then apply it somehow. Corban would rather skip straight to the apply. He is super hands on. We try to cover Math, Reading and English every day. Somedays are more of a struggle then others. There have been two of those in as many weeks and both times Corban has thanked me for 'helping him'. I have questioned this week if I am actually helping or not. I contacted two other moms who homeschool and felt a little better afterward. I just really need to find ways to help him learn that are not the same ways I learn. It is a challenge for sure. I also worry about him not being a self starter, but having to be dragged along. That is not going to work for long in his life. 

In other news...
After I took a walk/run this afternoon, the weather was so nice that I walked down to the lake. I sat on the paddle boat that is turned upside down so it doesn't fill with rain water and just allowed myself to breathe. It was so quiet I could here the chickadees having a conversation. I heard the leaves falling to the ground and the splashes in the lake of fish popping up to catch bugs. I thought about where I am in life. I very easily could be 1/2 way done with this mortal journey. I hope I have 42 more years. I thought about how I am so incredibly blessed. I can't even believe it some days. How can one person be so blessed? I thought about my Dallin who is serving his mission. I closed my eyes and just breathed in the afternoon. I wonder if this will always feel like the most blessed time of my journey or if the next forty something years will as well. As I look back over the last 8 years (maybe longer) I remember feeling this same way- grateful. Maybe gratitude is actually magic and it makes life feel more blessed then it actually is. Or maybe it actually is blessed and gratitude helps us recognize it. It's probably the last one. 

Also, one more thing to note. In January I started on a journey of changing my diet to a whole food plant based one. No one else in the house was on board. That's putting it nicely. Then 2 1/2 weeks ago Matt came with me to a VegFest and he has been on board since. Here is his dinner from tonight. I roasted root veggies- red and yellow beets, yukon gold and red potatoes and onions. The beets and potatoes were from our garden. And he also had the leftovers from last night, teriyaki chickpeas over rice. It was such a beautiful plate I had to take a picture. 

  He says there are so many reasons he loves eating this way. He as lost almost ten lbs, he sleeps better, he doesn't have aches when he wakes up, and I have noticed that he is just generally happier. That is a blessing to all of us. I hope he continues this with me. 

As for this way of eating...well, basically we eat plants. We'll have meat very sparingly so I don't call it vegan or vegetarian. I feel so much better. I have even started running again, which for me is a VERY big deal. I thought my running days were done. The thing is that I believe that every person has a specific amount of time on this earth. That we will each live our appointed life spans- in fact Elder Ricard G Scott said that in the April 2012 General Conference. I believe that if people take care of their bodies it doesn't mean they get to live longer, it just means they get to live better. More abundantly. I don't want to be a 70 year old in a nursing home, but a 70 year old that can still do every thing for herself and I believe this way of life is the key. Plus, it follows along with the Word of Wisdom exactly. Basically if you take the WofW and eat the foods it says to eat and nothing else you are living a Whole Foods Plant Based diet.

Anyway, I hope in the process I will lose a lot of weight that needs to come off and have the ability to be healthy enough to bless the lives of other people. 
Whew. That is a lot of words and I don't normally share that much. But there you have it anyway. In closing here is a picture of beets. 

 

Questions I asked myself today

How can I 'strengthen my brethren'?

What should I have for breakfast?

Is homeschooling the best thing for both Corban and I?

Am I teaching him enough?

Should I eat a second brownie?

Why in the world did she give me 20% on that assignment?

Should I make homemade enchilada sauce or have Matt pick some up?

When will Dallin email?

Should I eat a second serving of dinner?

Should I make a pumpkin spice steamer?

Should I try running for only 10 fence posts?

Should I do it again?

It's only 715, that's not too early to go to bed right?

Potatoes and peas

I love when we work together as a family. 

Seriously.

There is really no complaining to speak of and everyone has fun. 

It sometimes takes a while because of the ADD that seems to permeate our very existence, but we get stuff done and have fun together. 

Yesterday was potato harvest time.

We had 12 rows to harvest. 

I ave no idea how many pounds we got.

Our hands and knees were dirty. 

The girls and Corban decided they were hungry and wanted to eat the peas.But their hands were dirty so they got creative.

I seriously love these crazies! 

It was a great afternoon. PLus Matt was able to get one of the heaters hooked up in the greenhouse which means heat for the winter out there. That is VERY exciting! 

Here's more pictures from the day- 

 

Of sandwiches, snow and rainbows

Tonight we had the most wonderful surprise. 

A double rainbow that went from our farm into a farm across the street. 

It was so vibrant and beautiful.

When we noticed it from the porch, Bri and I ran out and got on top of the trailer to get pictures.

It was raining on us.

I left my shoes in my house. 

It was totally worth it. 

We were rainbow chasers once again. 

I love rainbows. 

You could even see the purple! 

Today my Dad came out to the farm to help Matt with the heaters in the greenhouse.

About one thirty they came in the house hungry. 

I made my dad a BLT. 

I had this strange feeling when I made it. 

It was love. 
It had the tomatoes and lettuce we grew.
I cut up the bacon into small pieces because dad doesn't have any teeth to speak of. 

I felt like I was able to do something for my dad and that felt amazing. 

He's always been there for me all my life. 

ALL OF IT! 

And even though it was just a sandwich, it felt a little like a sacred moment to me. 

This afternoon Matt and I took a walk to get Makenna from the bus.

The termination dust has fully flow on the mountains.

And not just a little bit. 

It's super beautiful but winter is coming and I'm not so fond of that.

The Farmer's Almanac is claiming a serious winter with lots of snow. I wonder if it will be wrong. 

Last winter was so mild. It was really nice. 

Last night Matt convinced the girls(aka gave them no choice) to help him with canning tomatoes. 
I am arm pit deep in school work so I didn't help, but
I got this great picture of the three of them working together. 
He's a good dad.
I'm glad I and they have him.   

Surprises

Matt has been coming home earlier in the day for a little while now.

It's nice because we can have lunch together.

He usually works in the greenhouse for several hours.

Today I asked him if he wanted to go on a walk with me and he said yes. 

It is gorgeous outside.
Autumn is in full splendor. 

I love every minute of it. 

We walked down our road which was lined with leaves that had fallen from the trees and then got brushed to the sides by passing vehicles. 

The air was crisp, the sky blue and the sun shining. 

My favorite. 

As we almost got back to the greenhouse I looked over at the raspberries and noticed a lot of red.

We headed over there and found tons of beautiful red berries.

The were so sweet.

Late this season, but definitely worth it.

 

Pota 'toes'

Today Matt and I took some afternoon time to dig potatoes. We had a light frost recently, which means it is time! After that we decided to pull plants and start to put the garden to bed for the winter. It's kind of sad but it has been such an amazing summer growing things. We have never had success like the kind we have had this year. I love growing food!

Breathe

Today, after church, I got some news that has weighed very heavy on both my mind and heart all afternoon. Sometimes figuring out what to do in situations can be tricky and delicate. Anyway, this evening I decided that I needed to be outside. The sun was shining on the mountains just enough so it appeared that you could see every crack and crevasse. Matt decided to come with me and we found ourselves in the garden consorting with the pumpkins. We noticed that the plants were all basically dead and so we decided to do some picking. Then we took them and lined the front porch with them.

There is ALWAYS good and wonderful things to focus on even when other things are really hard. I'm so thankful for pumpkins and Matt Hale.

The Good Life Returned

I knew today would be better.
There were still a few bumps like the mechanic telling us it would take $3500 to fix Bri's car 
and an issue with a child,

but

it all seems balanced because Matt and I went hiking. 

We hiked for 2 hours and I loved every minute of it. 

It was so beautiful with all the autumn colors.

Red, green, and brilliant yellows. 

The smells. 

And we found a patch of blueberries that were so good. 

They tasted like little honey crisp apples.

I was so glad to have Matt with me.

We explored and just took it all in. 

Those are the moments(or hours) that give me strength

to do the hard things. 

Today feels like poop

Sometimes we just have a bad day.

I remember reading a quote once by Neal A Maxwell that basically said if we didn't have a bad day once in a while we wouldn't know what a really good day was. 

I need to find that quote and do it proper justice. 

Today the girls didn't get up for seminary when they were called.

One of them was late.

I was impatient with Corban trying to talk to me while I was trying to get some schoolwork done.

I didn't get much school work done. Classes started this week. 

Then I spend 3.5 hours in Matt's office, which has no natural light, working on the taxes. 

Which I hate. 

I hate very few things.

But I hate doing the business taxes. 

As I was looking for his carbon copies of checks I noticed his filing system, as seen above. 

We need to hire someone. 

It is obvious neither of us have a strength to do business paperwork. 

Then I had to pick a kid up that I hadn't planned on and 

ended up yelling at another kid for not being one time.

To top it off, I just walked into the pantry to put something in the fridge 

and stepped in dog poop. Grrrrr.

They were in the house all day because no one was here. 

I feel like it is time for a shower and bed. 

Who cares that it is only 7:40.

An Abundant Day

The day started out with mummies, piano and multiplication tables and then moved to hours of visiting with my friend, Ashley . Then I took Kenna and Bri to the dentist where Kenna had two teeth pulled and Bri one. Bri did great and Kenna was a champ. I couldn't believe how well she did. They had to put numbing stuff in 4 times on one side and 3 on the other and she could still feel stuff.

Then they had to break both of the teeth to get them out. 

She's not 100% today but she did so great! 

After the dentist I took a breather on the lake. The sun was going down and it was incredible. There were probably 100 ducks on the lake when I first got down there but they didn't like to share and flew off. I watched the fish jumping out of the water, felt the setting sun on my face and breathed in the autumn smells that I love so much. It was the perfect end to my day. 

 

The Ginny-ologist!

When I was a little girl we sang a song in Primary on Sunday's.

It was called Genealogy: I am doing it. I remember thinking that every one was singing my name.

I could not have known that singing that song would come to fruition years later.

I think it may have even planted a seed in my heart. 

I am passionate about several things in this life and one of them is my ancestry 

and the work of family history.

When I was around 12 my dad gave me all the family history he had. It amounted to a small file folder with a couple of sheets of paper in it. 

Those few sheets have miraculously multiplied over the years in two, three 3" binders full of information. 

I love finding dead people!

And I have found that my ability to do so is a gift. 

I have had the opportunity to do research reports for several people who thought they would never find their family. 

In the last 3 weeks I have found generations

 for two of those people.

The excitement they have when they find out I located their ancestor is intoxicating for me. 

When I get to explain how they were found I get excited again.

The first excitement came when the windows opened and they were discovered right here at my computer. 

I still have unsolved mysteries in my own family line, but I could spend the rest of my life finding dead people and be completely content. 

Basically, all I want to do with my time is 

grow food and find dead people. 

A robot arm and random text

Part of Corban's science curriculum this year was a kit to build a robotic arm. 

We finished it yesterday and he has not put it down since.

This morning it fed him his cereal.

He took it to the neighbor to show him.

He has picked up every thing he could with it.

Today a wire came loose and he soldered it back on.

He's amazing!

I also forgot to post that on Monday I got a text from a random person with this photo attached.

 Those kinds of things calm my heart. 

Especially when he makes that face. It means all is fine! 

Although his companion does not look amused. 

 

Kneeling in Gratitude

Last night, right before getting into bed, I thought about my day. 

I thought about all the good things that happened. 

I then decided that I would tell Heavenly Father how grateful I was for each of those things. 

Some of them included the following:

*Seminary was awesome. We had good discussions about the gospel.

*The sun decided to come out in the afternoon and I got to work in the greenhouse

*I counted how many pumpkins we grew this year and it was close to 50. They are a BEAUTIFUL deep orange. I harvested all of them except the pie pumpkins. 

*Good food. Yesterday I made a lentil, sweet potato, kale soup. It was so yummy with rice. 

*Homeschool was a little frustrating as Corban had a hard time focusing. At one point he laid his head on my shoulder and said, "Thank you for helping me." melt

*Excited for the blessing of being able to pay a HUGE chunk on our payroll taxes this month. It's been hanging over our heads for a long time and we can finally see the light. 

*Matt and I had the chance to help about 20 youth try and find names for temple ordinances. I love doing that. 

I am grateful for the good days. It feels like I have lots of them. 

What a beautiful life! 

 

Andy Grammer and the last day of the Fair

This afternoon we went to the Andy Grammer concert at the Alaska State Fair. I knew of several of his songs previously but I was so delighted to hear just a lot of good music. He has really good messages in it. He sang to moms and those married for over twenty years. He sang about it being good to be alive and how waiting for the right one is good. I loved it. Kenna and I danced and sang along. It was a great concert.

 Makenna did try to stuff her entire fist in her mouth before it started because she was bored, but you know...genetics...

Before the concert started we ate our way through the fair again. It was the last day and Fair=Food! Between the three of us we had three cream puffs, two spinach breads, 2 stuffed pretzels, a funnel cake, crab cakes, two ears of corn, fried mushrooms, a soda, a water, and a berry shake. All in under two hours. Ya...I'm still not sure where we put it all. 

We also saw the record breaking giant pumpkin. 

It weighs 1469 lbs. GOALS!!!

Krispy Kreme dreams

Yesterday we went to the temple. It is always a wonderful day when I get to go there. It made it more wonderful that I was there with Matt, Bri and Makenna. I wanted to get a picture but when I came out they were waiting in the truck and people were right outside the doors waiting for a bride and her groom to exit so they could get pictures. I'm happy for them. Marriage is wonderful.

But I am still sad that I didn't get a picture.

After that we went to the newly opened Krispy Kremes. 

It is the first one in Alaska. They opened this week.

The wait on opening day was hours. 

We only wanted glazed donuts and that meant we waited 5 minutes. 

Then the pig out commenced which a few hours later was followed by upset stomaches and headaches. 

We may have eaten too many. 

Actually one is probably too many. 

The ride home was full of sugar induced laughter

and dancing from our seats. 

There was also a lot of loud singing. I'm surprised Matt didn't leave us on the side of the road. 

 Then Jamie came to have a sleep over, Makenna played dead so we could get a smiley picture of her, and Brittan sat in a laundry basket for 25 minutes. She said she couldn't feel her feet after that. 

 And then I tossed and turned having weird dreams all night. 

No more Krispy Kremes! 

Wonderful

This afternoon, after Bri got home, we sat on the porch swing and messed around with the dogs. Bri played with Trapper. The sun felt good and there was a slight breeze. Absolutely perfect weather. I love being a mom. These kids Matt and I have been blessed with are really incredible. Before sitting on the porch together we ate Pumpkin Pecan Lava Cake with coconut ice cream that I made and it was so, so yummy. It took everything I had not to eat three or four servings. I plan on eating it for breakfast tomorrow.