K.I.S.S.

Remember that famous adage Keep It Simple, Stupid?

 

Yeah, I thought I remembered it, but I've got a lot to learn.

 

I found a lovely pinterest wheatgrass centerpiece for our annual Relief Society Broadcast.  The instructions described it as "uncomplicated". "Easy." "So simple a child can do it."

 

It was on pinterest. It had to be true.

 

So my counselors and I began to soak wheat to sprout.

Except it didn't sprout. Not even for my counselor who grows wheat in her backyard.

 

I did some internet research and found you can't use wheat from your food storage ( although multiple websites said you could). Finally my counselor realized we should use the wheat they use to grow beautiful wheat fields on their farm. Success!

 

I don't know why it was so hard to sprout wheat.

I got Stan to build me 20 boxes to plant wheat in. Each box is made from one fence board. He whipped them out one Saturday afternoon.

 

 

Now the hard part began.  You have to water these suckers twice a day, but not too much because the boxes have no drainage.  You've got to mist them between waterings to keep them from drying out. You've got to lug these boxes out into the sunshine in the morning, then back inside at night to keep them from our Montana weather. You've got to stay calm when they're struck by a bug infestation and patiently spray them with organic, nasty chemical-free stuff to kill the bugs, but not the people who will be sitting at the table with them.

 

AND you've got to keep them all going for 10 eternities days until the night of the broadcast.

Really? So simple a child could do it? I'd love to meet this child.



 I grew some extra on jelly roll pans, "just in case".

 

Did I mention that between the three of us, we grew 20 boxes of wheatgrass?



They did look lovely. We added burlap mats and faux flowers for a bit of color.



 

They were interesting, gorgeous, different, very, very popular, but they were NOT simple. I feel more than a little embarrassed for signing us all up for this unsimple centerpiece creation.  I can only say I don't think I'll be in this calling a year from now.  I'm pretty sure my counselors are ok with that.

 

I guess this need to be complicated is genetic. This is Hailey's official soccer hairdo for the day, courtesy Amy. 

Please ignore the mountain of tablecloths in the background, waiting to be washed.

 

Can I retire now?

 

Gone Baby Gone

Today was a sad day. Today the Pearsons left. Some blah blah blah stuff about time with the Pearson side and getting back to school. Really, do they have to come up with such good, rational reasons to leave me????

 

Now that they've left, who is going to teach Brinlee important sentences like, "I want Lucky Charms?"

 

Who is going to pick out the colorful "marsh", leaving only the super-sweetened wholesome oat cereal behind?

 

Who is going to whine about the noise Grandma makes in the morning, preparing her daily breakfast smoothie?

 

Who is going to brighten our day?

 

Who is going to line up toys on the steps for Grandma and Grandpa to trip over?

 

Who is going to tap tap tap around the house in Makayla's future church shoes?

Who is going to let us read endless stories?

 

 

Who is Grandma going to spoil with super-cute early Costco Halloween costumes?

Seriously, is it legal to be this cute and live so far away?

 

Who is going to misplace all of my reading glasses?

Oh wait. I'm doing fine on that one all by myself.



 

Who is kindly and without condescension going to show me yet AGAIN how to find "Super Why" on the I-pad?

 

Who is going to read me a story about "Who-Hi" and the broken bow?

 

All I can say is that it's fortunate I can go seamlessly from a granddaughter morning good-bye to a double granddaughter afternoon hello.

I guess I can still



 

find reasons to smile.

 

 

 

Family Fun

We've had a great time with the Pearsons and Butlers this week. We spend a whole day at the soccer fields on Saturday. What could be funner than several hours in the hot sun watching 5 year olds scrambling around, almost kicking the ball sometimes?

 

Makayla is playing this year

 

and Hailey's back for more fun.

 

Brinlee REALLY likes Hailey and Hailey REALLY likes Brinlee.

We've had tons of rain, and the sun on the wet grass made for very uncomfortable, humid heat, but the fans still came out in droves.

 

Hailey downing some soccer power food.

 

What a cute little soccer star.

 

Megan! Here's a peek at your future!  But not yet,

 

because over the summer, Megan was accepted into BYU-I's nursing program. She will graduate December 2014 with a technical RN, serendipitously the same time David will graduate from his MBA program from ISU.

 Go Nurse Megan!

 

Did I confess mention we stopped for frozen yogurt on the way home from soccer?

 

Amy had to work on Sunday for her company's charity drive, and these party animals slept over Saturday night at our house.

 

On Monday we drove to Red Lodge to take a hike.

 

 

 

It was a perfect hiking day--slightly cool.

 

We had a hard time seeing the trail. Not.

Dang it! We forgot our skis!

 

You can see a few spots where the leaves have begun the transformation from summer green to very early autumn less green.

 

Brinlee calls these glasses "lights"--no one knows why. Maybe she means "darks" but it's opposite day?

 

Awwhh, our cute newlyweds!

 

Brinlee was cracking me up, waving enthusiastically at the people walking behind her.

 

We searched and searched, but didn't see any bears. 

 

We stopped off at Wild Bill Lake, where Stan learned to scuba dive. Yes, really.

Only in Montana.

 

On Tuesday, we had a mom/grandma-taught master class in making wheat bread the old-fashioned way (without a mixer).

 

Let's just say Megan got the hang of it first.

 

I love this little girl. She's wearing a pair of sale shoes I purchased  that don't quite fit Makayla yet, and she clackety-clacks around the house all day in them, arranging her toys on the steps for us to trip on, and encouraging us to "Sit down, mom", "Sit down, Grandma". She's such a happy soul.

Megan and David left us too soon. They headed back to school on Wednesday.

It was so great to have you visit! Thanks for making our week even funner! We can't wait till next time!

Birthday Bash

Friday, September 6th was Makayla's fifth birthday. We celebrated at the place of Makayla's choice--Chuck E. Cheese.

 

Makayla's birthday fans Brinlee and Hailey were there.

 

We didn't pay for a Chuck E. Cheese birthday, but when Chuck made an appearance at someone else's party, we rushed over for photos.

 

The pizza this year was actually eatable.

 

Oh look! The Butlers came for the party! Good thing we got a cake large enough to feed several armies.

 

Brinlee, making sure she gets a piece before it's all gone.

 

I don't want to think about how much frosting we ate. The kids seemed only interested in the frosting, not the cake.

 

There's enough food coloring to coat one's insides for months, maybe years.

 

We did some present opening--including the Ken(s) Makayla's Barbie has been wishing for.

 

Makayla really liked this drum contraption.

 

Look at the tickets Birthday Girl has been racking up.

 

Brinlee does everything on tiptoe.

 

Grandpa and Hailey playing ball.

 

Brinlee admiring Hailey's skill.

 

I'm not exacting going to call it cheating, but after these three played this one person game, the machine refused to spit out tickets.

 

Cute little monkey.

 

Tiny girl vs. giant machine.

 

Choosing what to trade your tickets in for at the end is a looonnnngg process. So many items of trash treasure

 

We may be here until next birthday deciding.

 

Happy birthday, Makayla! We love you!