The Canyon

We went up the canyon last week. As a kid we went on the deer hunt with my Dad every autumn. Now its totally ingrained in me. When the weather starts to change I have an overwhelming desire to be in the mountains. I pretty much always have a desire to be in the mountains but this time of the year I just cant fight it.
So instead of catching up on the housework like I should have last Tuesday, we went up the canyon for a small but exciting (or in my case relaxing) adventure.
We love living so close to Payson canyon. Its literally up the road from us and we can get there in no time flat. If you have never been up this canyon I highly recommend it. It is honestly one of the most beautiful canyons I have ever been in, especially in the fall when all the leaves are changing.
We didnt really do much. Just drove up to Maple lake and explored. My kids were in heaven and so was I.

AnDee is way up there at the top. If you look closely you can see her.

 Following Sissy

 They really are best friends. Even if they yell and scream at each other on a regular basis. Best friends do that, right?

 They found tons of acorns (which they were both calling apricots no matter how many times I corrected them)

 They also found about a bazillion snail shells. 

 Pep was convinced he could just walk out in the water and catch the ducks. He was not pleased when I told him no.

 She is always way ahead of us. So independent.

 Patient baby that hardly made a peep the entire time.

 If you were wondering how to get the snail shells out of the water without getting your feet wet.... this is how.

 Surprisingly, no one fell in. Not even once!

It was fun. Much needed. I'm hoping to make it up there sometime this week too. Especially if the weather doesn't permit us to go on the (next) elk hunt with Andrew.

Shouldnt Be

(disclaimer: This is a boring post. One I have used to hash out my feelings about old news. In all honesty I wouldn't suggest anyone else read this. I selfishly used this post to remind myself and revise my previously stated opinions.)
I'm writing just to write today. I shouldn't be. I should be doing the 9 million things that are on my to do list right now as a result of the mass amount of time soccer is taking up but... I choose to write. The real reason I am blogging is because of my dear friend Kira Dee. When I got home from my run with the boys this morning I sat down at the computer to find a blog post from her. She is getting to the end of her pregnancy and isn't sleeping, is totally miserable.. you know, the usual.
She will be having her 4th baby in a hospital. The first three were home births but due to circumstances beyond her control she will be heading to a hospital for this one. She is  one tough chica and is going without the pain meds again on this one. What does this have to do with me? Nothing. Nothing at all actually except it got me thinking about this post. I wrote this post shortly after delivering Ike in the spring. It talks about the epidural and I think my actual words were "give me the drugs" or something to that effect.
My thoughts have changed... well... sorta. You see, when I went into labor with Ike I was really unprepared. The thought of going drug free had crossed my mind but I hadn't made any decisions. And despite having  two previous children I really didn't know much about labor. When you have an epidural it kind of prevents you from feeling what is really going on. I'm a loser and don't read up on these things. I was essentially going in to this blind even though I had been through it all before I hadn't REALLY been through it all. (if that makes any sense)
When I hit the transitional part of labor I had NO clue what was going on. I had never felt that change before. I mean the first part of labor was hard, sure. It hurt, definitely but then I hit those transition contractions....
I did even know this was a part of labor. I thought you just had contractions and they got closer together and you dilated and then you pushed a baby out. The end. Transitioning was intense and me being really uneducated about it was a bad idea. In my mind I was thinking that: 1. something was wrong (i couldnt even catch my breath and I was drenched in sweat. A world apart from my basically sleeping throught labor with Pep or watching a Man vs. Wild marathon with AnDee) or 2. This could last for hours. I didnt know I was at the end of it. I didnt know that this was a good sign cause my body was ready for the very last part of the whole process.
Im fairly certain that I would not have asked for any meds had I known this. The fact that I didnt know this made me nervous and the nervousness made me want the easy way out. Plus if we are being honest the meds didn't do anything until after I had already delivered and then I just had numb legs for no reason.
Does this change my opinion on epidurals? No. Not really. I think they are great! I dont regret having the peaceful comfortable births I had with my first two.
My only regret with Ike is that I didn't take the time to educate myself. It was my own fault that I felt that little bit of nervousness at the end. 
Will I get an epidural if/when I have my next baby?  I don't know really. I guess I will have to see what feels right for that particular situation. However, I do know that I absolutely can do it without the meds if I choose to and it wont be scary because now I know. I should have known before but now I really do know. Knowing is a very important part of the process.

Its a Big One!

Lots of Pics, lots of randomness... you know, the usual.
I keep telling myself that I am going to do a post at the end of the harvest season to show off our bounty. If we are being real it probably wont happen so here are a few bits and pieces of what we have enjoyed so far.
My kids love carrots.... I love that they love them. Carrots are so easy to grow.  Definitely one of my favorite garden items

 Plums. Oh Plums. Plums coming out my eyeballs. And we still have another entire tree that isn't ripe yet. So much work. So SO much work. Pictured below we have some plum jam and dried plums. My children eat the dried plums like candy (so do I) and the jam is good BUT.... We also made a couple of batches of plum syrup! It is probably the single best thing I have ever thought of. I just want to drink it, it is so delicious.

 Our little chickies finally started laying about a month ago. We also have eggs coming out of our eyeballs now. We have one hen that lays these GIANT eggs. (ill have to post a pic some time) and every single one of them has two yolks in it. We have a hyper-ovulating hen. (is it weird that I can say things like that and still have zero problem eating the eggs?)

Dont worry. Our harvest season is far from over. Like I said we still have an entire plum tree, and apple tree, tomatoes, more carrots, squash, melons and last but not least honey to harvest. Im sure you will be seeing more pics.
The kids love being able to go out and pick their own fruits and veggies. They often come in looking something like this... 

AnDee is starting to slowly try and work her way out of taking naps. Some days we just do a "rest time" where she has to find something quiet to do while the boys sleep. But sometimes she thinks she is bigger than she really is and her body takes over and reminds her that naps are sometimes necessary... even if they are face down and in a completely uncomfortable position.

Costco has sweet jackets...

 Pep, Ike and I go running a few times a week after we drop AnDee off at school. Lately with all the rain there have been huge night crawlers all over the roads. This has been a life saver for me. I give Pep a few worms and he is completely happy for the rest of the run. The only problem is getting him to let them go afterwards. He is a firm believer that they should be taking naps with him, in his bed and under his blankets. He takes very good care of the creatures he captures.

 This is what AnDee's hair looked like for church yesterday (the pic doesn't do justice. It was quite the do) I did that. Me. Chantal. Who can barely accomplish a successful ponytail on herself. Im proud. Therefore, I'm bragging. Look how good I did!

 The girl drew this pic in church yesterday. Its a self portrait. I knew this without asking. How did I know this? You might ask. One green eye, one blue. She is one in a million (no seriously. Less than 1% of the worlds population has heterochromia) and she is proud of it.

This boy is happy. Adorable and happy..

 He eats his toes a lot lately.

 And thinks its really funny

He has finally mastered rolling both ways! He isn't a huge fan of solid baby foods still but he sure does pack in the oatmeal at bedtime. Seriously... He eats bigger portions than I do.
I say he is not a fan of solid BABY food but that does not mean he doesnt want big people food. The kid has a serious case of food envy

 He has also become a real fan of giving kisses. You know, the big slobbery, have-to-wash-your-face-after kind? He sure is good at them and escaping is next to impossible with the death grip he gets on your hair! Its awesome! I love it!

Onion Days

The sad truth is that we pretty much missed Onion Days all together. Between moms soccer and dads hunting there was little time left to enjoy the festivities.
I was feeling fairly guilty about this on Saturday morning. Andrew was out hunting and so I wasnt sure if I dared brave the parade with the trio all by myself but I sucked it up and went for it.
The kids loved it and I'm glad we went... even if I do get sick of AnDee hunting down every flyer that every person is handing out and then bringing them to me.
I do however enjoy the Onion Days parade a little more than the Strawberry Days parade for this one reason: The Strawberry Days parade has (in my mind) turned in to one big walking advertisement. You get a few marching bands and other little bonus things in there but for the most part its just businesses trying to get some publicity.
The Onion Days parade is a little more old school. Tons of floats and dance teams and old people choirs. Its lovely in that regard. Plus there are multiple bagpipe bands in it.. what more could you ask for?
The other bonus is that the street the parade goes down is like 3 blocks from our house so its easy to get in and get out with a stroller and we dont have to worry about a car and finding parking and all that jazz.
Im glad we went. Im also glad my kids were ok with leaving a little early. It was getting fairly warmish towards the end.


We brought sidewalk chalk for pre-parade entertainment.

 Of course the wee one slept through most of it. Even the sirens. (no he's not deaf, He's just Andrew's child)

 This is a great shot because generally when Pep "covers his ears" he just puts his hands on his cheeks. But I think he might actually have his fingers in his ears on this one.

I have a confession

Im a bad mom. My little Ike is 6 months old. Ask me if he has been vaccinated. Nope. Ask me if I have even taken him to the doctor since the whole jaundice thing ended. Nope. I know I need to do these things  but holy smokes my life is busy and he is just so healthy and happy just they way he is! Ill get there... soon.... I hope.
I am completely in love with this kid. He has the most sweet and gentle demeanor ever. Andrew said the other day. "I think Ike is just about as close to what Jesus would have been like as a baby as you can get." This made me laugh but its pretty true. He is just sweet and loving and patient. He gets beat up and hauled around and left of the floor or in his bouncer for embarrassingly long amounts of time and he hardly ever even makes a noise. He always has a smile for anyone who is willing to look in his direction and his laugh is just about the cutest thing to ever happen.
I cant even express how grateful I am for this kid. He can calm me down when I am feeling overwhelmed or angry. His spirit is undeniably good.... I hope I don't ruin that. :)
I wish I could tell you stats on him. You know.. the height, weight, percentile thing... but I cant as  I haven't taken him to a doctor in ages. I can tell you however that he is growing like a weed. He still eats for like 3 hours straight before bed time. Luckily he is eating some solids now so my body is getting a little break in that department. Lately he has been going through one of those growth spurts where when you pick him up in the morning he is significantly heavier than he was when you put him down the night before. Its crazy how much weight he has been packing on. He is getting squishy and I love it.