Corn Maze at Linder Farms

One thing that grows really well in our valley is CORN! We LOVE corn. It grows in a field behind our house and I was a bit nervous that one boy or another would go into the corn field and get lost. After taking them to a corn maze they know what it is like now. Our cub scouts sold discounted tickets to the Linder Farms Corn Maze (what a great fund raiser!). So we actually went to the corn maze as a family. It was an adventure we'll probably do again with a few adjustments. Dallin went with his friend a few days earlier so he was a bit unfun and bossy with his brothers--teenager time. He got in big trouble and did much better by the time we went to pick out pumpkins. So next time, he'll act better or we won't let him go with friends first. Thayne enjoyed the corn maze until the corn pollen or dust or something caused him to have an asthma attack. The poor guy could not breath and we didn't have an inhaler with us and we were as far in the corn maze as we could get. Next time: Thayne takes allergy meds before we go and we take an inhaler with us. He'll have much more fun when he can breath.

The rest of us had a great time. Hunter and Luke have an amazing sense of direction. They did really good getting us to the check points.

The boys loved the bridge between a couple of the mazes. Thayne, Bruce, and Hunter. We were just starting so Thayne still had some good smiles in him.
Hunter in the corn. After a few days people try to take short cuts through the maze, so the flags are put up to prevent cheating!
Bruce really had a great time finding the check points.


Here we are all together. I find it interesting that strangers volunteer to take a picture, but they don't look at the screen to see that most of our eyes are closed when it was taken. Poor Thayne. I can tell he doesn't feel too well in this picture.
Left to right: Melissa, Dallin, Lance, Hunter, Luke, Thayne and Bruce

After the maze we went on a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch to pick our future jack o lanterns! Bruce was pretty happy and Luke was thrilled. Luke LOVES LOVES LOVES hay rides. He went on his first hay ride that he could remember on July 24th. Well, he went on several that day because he liked it so much. So we had to go on hay ride in October too!


After we picked our pumpkins, Lance asked anyone if they were hungry. Then he whipped out a loaf of pumpkin bread out of his trusty fanny pack! Okay, it wasn't a full sized loaf. It was out a 2/3 sized loaf. I was just shaking my head at him, but I was secretly grateful he brought food. Dallin was so funny! He took his chunk of pumpkin bread, looked at the pumpkins, and put his other hand up by his mouth to shield the pumpkins view of what he was eating and said, "I'm so sorry you have to see this, pumpkins."

Football Fever!

One reason fall is my favorite time of year is because it is football season! I have always loved watching football! So I am quite happy that Dallin really loves playing football. It is the best sport that he has tried. Soccer was fun to practice, but not too fun to play. He was a great goalie,but he didn't like running after the ball and he's a bit like his dad and not aggressive enough to steal the ball. That's okay--there were more sports to try. Basketball was the same as soccer. He only did one year of that. Baseball was better once Dallin figured out how to hit the ball--sometimes it's hard being a lefty. But baseball players really don't spend a lot of time at bat--they mostly spend a lot of time standing around--especially if you are in the out field during little league! So football. Okay. Dallin LOVES hitting people. He loves TACKLING. He loves playing DEFENSE! He doesn't even really mind doing up/downs (or down/ups) for conditioning. He is getting some serious muscles too!

The whole experience is made even better when you get to play on a team that won every game by A LOT! They had a great year and the Kuna 8th grade is the District III Champions. They ended up playing South Middle School, which is the team they lost to last year for the District Championship. So it was a really sweet game.

Through the season Dallin played on special teams for kick off. Which means, he got on the field lots since his team scored lots. I really should have kept track of their scores, but I didn't. Now I'm bummed. I have this number though plus or minus a few points--Over the session they scored something like 181 points and the defense only gave up 34 points! Impressive. I hope Dallin continues to play and that he works really hard at it and runs faster! Congratulations to KUNA 8TH GRADE FOOTBALL TEAM! GO KAVEMEN!

Dallin is #73. This is on a kick off against West Middle School.

Dallin is in his three point stance playing left defensive tackle against West Middle School.


Dallins says, "Football is AWESOME! It's the best sport in the world and I wish it didn't have to end."

Hunter's New Career

Hunter has always liked coloring and drawing. He really does have some pretty good skills. This past month he's had much success. I think he should make it a childhood career!

All the first graders at his school entered into a coloring contest at the Nampa Edwards theater. Hunter won 1st place in his class and he got two tickets to go see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. He took me on a date there the beginning of October when we were out of school. It was a fun movie and Hunter had a great time. I really enjoy going to the nice theater and enjoyed the comfy chairs and nice smell (the cheap theaters have a scent to them that takes a few minutes to get over--but hey, I don't mind it since I spend less money.)
His picture was with the other winners in the lobby of the theater for a month. His picture is the top left corner.

The week of Halloween Hunter and Luke both colored pictures for a coloring contest at Paul's Market in Kuna. I got called on Halloween morning and told that he had won the contest for his age group. He won five dollars! Luke was bit bummed he didn't win too, but he got candy while he was there--so he was okay.
Hunter used his money at the book fair at school to buy a Sponge Bob book. The book only had black and white drawings in it, which he colored immediately!


So now I'm on the prowl for more coloring contest! Maybe he'll win a big prize sometime! I got a $75 saving bond from a fire prevention poster contest when I was in fourth grade. I cashed it out my freshman year of college for$72 and some change. It would have been one more year to reach full value--not worth it to me to wait--I needed a homecoming dress! I think Hunter enjoys the immediate rewards more! He's quite rich!

Trick or Treating Time

Lance and I dressed up this year for our couples party as Fred and Daphne. I think Lance looks great in the pictures, but I was not too photogenic this year. But I liked my costume--I felt like a cartoon character.

Yeah for Halloween on a Saturday! It was fun this year. Our neighbor, Alex Sawyer came with us around the neighborhoods. We do our street and a few places close by. The houses are pretty far apart so we drive. The boys get about 1/2 a bucket full of really good candy. They even scored some full sized candy bars too. We don't get many trick or treaters--about 7. I think I'll get some full sized candy bars for them next year too! The boys didn't even get ONE Tootsie roll. Yes, I'm complaining. I really like them.

Here's our cute younger boys as Santa Claus and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

We took them with us to Paul's Market in Kuna and they entered into a very casual costume contest. I think they won 2nd place--it was based on the applause of about 7 employees. They went for the little 1 year olds both times in pretty normal costumes. There were some really creative costumes there that were much better. The boys both got some candy from the service desk so they were really happy.

Thayne was much more excited about dressing up on Halloween night since Alex got to come with us. Bruce is on the left, then Alex, and Thayne is on the right. It's a good thing that they have different shoes!


Dallin, who had professed to be too old to trick or treat, stayed home to scare people coming to our house. He decorated the porch a few days before Halloween and he made a stuffed person to sit up on the porch. Then on Halloween night as we were getting ready to leave he brought the person in and started putting the clothes on! I had no idea he was planning to do this. He dressed up just like his stuffed person and sat in the same chair on the porch. It was great! Too bad for him we get so few trick or treaters. He sat out there for an hour. He did get to scare a couple of Alex's siblings when they came a bit after 7:00. The others didn't come until almost 9:00, and it was bit chilly by then.
Dallin's Trick: Sorry this is sideways--I forgot I was holding the camera that way.

Happy Halloween

The boys, except Dallin, seem to be super excited for Halloween this year. Luke has been asking since September, "When is Halloween?" I'd say, "Next month." "ugh! That's what you said last time!" Things got better when we got to October and I could say weeks.

Wednesday was Hunter's school party and the ward party, so we all got to dress up. Luke is the most excited of them all. He is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and so cute. He just bounces around all happy. I found him some brown valor sweats at Savers to turn into his costume. They have worked out very well. We added fur, ears, antlers and a tail. He didn't get a red nose for the school party, but he came and reminded me for the ward party.
(Hunter's 1st grade class & Luke --Miss Recanzone's class)



Hunter is Santa Claus. He has been trilled to team up with Luke. He has also put lots of people on the Naughty List. If anyone teased him about his costume or told him he had the wrong holiday, etc. he told them, "I'm putting you on the Naughty List!" It always brought a chuckle. Those that told him what they wanted for Christmas, asked if they could sit on his lap, or said "cool costume" he put them on the nice list.


Thayne and Bruce both wanted to be Ninjas. I just bought costumes and they were happy with that. They were even okay with the fact that they matched (I wasn't willing to spend and extra $10 for a different costume so they could have different ones--they got the matching cheapest ones I could find!) until it came time to get dressed Wednesday night. Thayne was refusing to match Bruce. He wanted to spray paint his a different color. We told him NO. Then he said he'd color it with a marker--still a NO. I finally told him if he didn't wear it I was going to make him pay me back for the costume out of his commission over the next month or so. He finally got dressed!

Dallin is TOO OLD to dress up this year! But, he still had fun at the ward party in the deacon's booth. They had a William Tell theme. A piece of plywood with three characters on it and holes for the deacon's faces. Then the kids got a toy bow and arrow with a large marshmallow dipped in pudding. Fun shooting those at the deacons! It didn't work out as good as they hoped, but the deacons all had a great time doing it. Eventually the kids just started throwing the marshmallows at them.

At the party I got to hang out with Luke the whole time. He really liked the donuts on a string. It was fun to watch. The wind was blowing enough that it was hard for the kids to get the donuts in their mouths (we were at the Nampa South Stake Center Outbuilding). I was actually relieved to not be working at that booth with the MiaMaids since I got released. I hope they had fun doing it, even though it was cold, since I gave them the idea. The Priest and Laurels did a spook alley in the huge winter scout tent. Luke was bouncing with excitement to go in. He was so brave and he looked for the jokes once he got in. He would be a little scared and nervous at first to touch the "brains" or "eyeballs" but then he laughed when he figured it out.

Next update will be a Halloween recap!

Lucky Luke

A few weeks ago, I had a night campout with the Young Women on a Wednesday night. I got very little sleep. When I got home Lance asked about how I slept, then he informed me his night was just as bad. Hunter threw up several times (on the carpet really good--had spaghetti for dinner--not pretty!) and Luke was up crying and fussing at his itchy feet.

His feet were looking really bad with eczema after running around in the grass bare foot (he's allergic to it we think) and two weeks of swimming lessons (chlorine irritates eczema too). But then the spots weren't just eczema and he got more up his legs and few on his belly. Lance thought maybe it was chicken pox. Nah! He's had both the shot and the booster! Well, maybe it is. I got on the Internet to check things out. The effectiveness of the shot numbers look like this: in 85-95% of vaccinated people it is effective against an outbreak 100 % of the time. So that means 15-5% of the people receiving the shot will have a case of the chicken pox, but the cases are usually very mild. I have 5 kids who all got the shot--so that is about right--one should get the chicken pox--Lucky Luke! After looking at pictures, a call to the doctor's office, and a chat with nurse, I was convinced. After several days of watching it progress there was no question. He really did have a mild case and never ran a fever. Lots on his feet and legs, a few on his torso and armpits, two on his hands and several on his head in his hair. None on his back, privates, face or mouth (those are the probably
the worst places to get them). He was pretty good about the whole experience. The hardest part was keeping kind of down and not letting him ride his bike, which he had just learned to do!

The Indoor Campout

For about a month we had planned to go camping August 8-10th. Menus were planned, spot was researched (I even tried to get reservations, but it was a first come campground), boys were excited, and then the weather report started looking really bad. Okay. I've camped in the rain. It stinks. Lance has camped in the rain. It's miserable. Wet. Cold. No getting warm. If it pours, you are in the tent. Imagine trying to keep five boys from touching the fabric of a tent so the water doesn't come in. That was enough right there to keep me home! Then Dallin woke up SICK Thursday morning. Poor guy, he really didn't feel good: coughing, then eventually throwing up, chills, low fever, weak. We stayed home and had an indoor campout.

Thursday we started the day out wet. Lance got drenched at a site meeting in Boise (he got to do a good mornings of work--that was worth being here!). While he was gone, Thayne and Bruce made rain gauges for a Bear arrow point activity. Eventually Thayne moved his rain gauge to see how much water he could catch under the rain gutter. It filled the can. By early afternoon we figured we had about 1/4 inch of rain. We had a lunch of Pasta Roni's White Cheddar Cheese and Shells and hot dogs. If we had been camping this would have been made at home and then made into a "tinfoil dinner" and heated up in camp fire coals (Thayne's request). Lance and I would have had regular tinfoil dinners, but we had leftovers instead.

We decided seeing a movie fit with staying home. Then the boys could eat some of the camping snacks on the way to the theater: handisnacks (cheese and crackers with little red cheese spreading things--Hunter's request) and Doritos! We went to see Monster vs. Aliens in 3D. So fun, even though it costs more than the $2 we thought we'd be spending. The $4 per person really was worth it. It was so fun to look down the row and see everyone in their nerdy looking 3D glasses. It was the first time for any of us to see a 3D movie. We really did jump as things flew right at us; I saw Luke reaching out with his hand trying to touch stuff (I think I may have done it too). Lance thought it was freaky when it looked like things were coming from behind us and I thought that was the COOLEST effect. I think we'll be doing that again.

We came home and had Root Beer Roast, Sour Cream Potatoes, and roasted marshmallows over candles at the kitchen table then made smores with fudge covered peanut butter cookies. Yummy. Then the boys, minus Dallin, all took their sleeping bags upstairs to sleep. Bruce and Luke both ended up in their beds before falling asleep. It POURED all night!

Friday we started the morning out with Mountain Man Breakfast in a Dutch oven and Hot Chocolate. Still very wet outside. Weather forcast--100 % chance of rain. After just hanging out some and kids riding down the stairs in their sleeping bags, we had a lunch of tuna sandwiches. Then we made trail mix with a choice of peanuts, raisins, yogurt covered peanuts, mini baking sized M&Ms, and pretzels. Packed hiking backpacks (another Bear activity) with trail mix, water bottles, and pudding cups. We headed up to park our van in a parking lot by 12th and the stop light going into Walmart, and we hiked the greenbelt. Where we started it is paved, but then the paving stopped and we had a hike through some mud along the Wilson Drain. It was a trail, but just really wet. Then after crossing Iowa the trail is paved for several miles. It just follows along the Wilson Drain. There are trees most of the way, so the drizzling rain didn't bug us too bad. We crossed several roads and got to us the fun orange pedestrian flags, we saw lots of ducks braving the "rapids of death," a cat that looked a LOT like Cali, a moose (wood cut out) and several really fun backyards. We hiked just to the westside of Midland Blvd. before turning around. One really cool highlight was the snails we found on the trail between Midland and Amity Road. We had no idea there were so many around Nampa. On the way back we took a street to avoid the mud after we crossed Iowa again. We hiked close to 4 miles. Then we took our wet selves to Albertson's to buy chicken for Dutch oven chicken and potatoes and rented The Pink Panther 2 for a evening movie. It rained 100% of the time during our hike.

The four younger boys all slept upstairs. They stayed up super late (after 12) watching another movie, but they were being very kind to each other and having lots of fun.

We slept in super late on Saturday (that never happens when I camp outdoors) and then we made bacon and eggs in a paper bag and muffins in an orange and more hot chocolate. The muffins in an orange turned out great! We really liked that and it's simple to do. Cut the top off an orange (we used small oranges) and scoop out the insides, fill the orange 2/3 full of muffin batter, wrap with tinfoil leaving room at the top for the muffin to rise, cook on hot coals for about 10-15 minutes. Dallin made all the orange pulp into orange juice for himself. The bacon and eggs were awful! They took a long time to cook and didn't taste good. The bacon stuck to the bottom of the bag and was soft instead of crisp--except for the parts that were burnt. We won't do that one again. I thought for sure that it was really good when I did it at Girls Camp as a Young Women years ago--nostalgia will do that to memories! The breakfast experience pretty much ended our campout. Then we went back to doing laundry and weekend jobs--bummer!