Austin entertains with Kalai

I am not really sure where March has gone.  I can't believe how fast time flies...well, except while I am working, then it drags.  We all know how that goes.

This week was full of fun experiences.  We had some awesome friends who received some VIP tickets to the Utah Jazz game.  So Kevin and I went with them and got to go to SLC and watch the Jazz and we sat on the 2nd row just next to the basket.  We even made it on TV and I caught a free T-shirt.  We were treated to a yummy dinner before the game too.  We were sitting so close we could read that tattoos on the players...if you consider that a bonus. Unfortunately we could also read lips of the coach. Let's just say that Jazz being behind and losing by 20 points was not making coach a happy camper and he said a few choice words.

Monday night Austin and his buddy Jesse played guitars to entertain the single adults in our stake.  I heard they did a great job.  It was fun hearing them practice it here.  We were lucky to have grandparents come over to make sure they got where they needed to go while we had a night out.

Wednesday night our ward had a fundraiser dinner/talent show in which Austin and Jesse again played 3 songs.  It was fun to see all the talent in our ward.  Some things were displayed such as quilts and needle work and wood work and some were performing talents.

Friday Kevin guided bird hunters at the ranch.  They brought Kalai down for a concert Friday night and we got to go see as well.  Kalai and Austin performed Folsom Prison together.  What a unique experience for Austin.  I'm sure Kalai had never played a country song before (he asked how this song went and Austin helped him learn it).  Country is pretty much the majority of Austin's songs.  He was an amazing guitarist and entertainer and you wouldn't know Folsom Prison wasn't in his play list.  He told Austin he had a "barn yard" quality to his voice which is refreshing because most boys now days don't have that clean crisp sound.  I was flabbergasted that Kalai used his fingernails as picks and didn't rip them off at some point during his performance as he is one heck of a guitar player and he is also really funny.

We are lucky to get such experiences.  Enjoy the video.

Withdrawals

Well, apparently I am to the point where I have to admit that I am a social media and Kindle Fire addict.  There, I said it. 

This weekend is our stake conference.  Our stake presidency has asked us for the week before our stake conferences that we participate in millennial week.  This means no TV, no unnecessary use of social media or games.  They want us to use that time to study scriptures or spend time as a family playing games or things that will bring us closer as a family and closer to the spirit.  I've participated in the challenge at least 3 times.  I can tell you that it is very rewarding.  You should try it sometime.  I know what you are thinking...."I'm can give up TV, Facebook, Candy Crush and Words with Friends any time I want."  Yes, I thought the same thing.  I do it too, but today for some reason I am having withdrawals.  I think it is because it is so quiet as I sit here working listening only to the hum of my computer and the howling of the never ending Spring wind blowing inches of dust into my window seals.

However, that being said, during my work day is when I feel the withdrawal, not after I get finished.  Here's the reason.  Let me just give you an example of my evening schedules.  Yesterday I had to get off a little early and take Austin to guitar practice (50 min drive one way).  While I was there decided to drop off some Stampin'Up catalogs and invitations for a workshop I'll be doing in a few weeks.  Grab a $5.00 hot and ready pizza and head on home (another 50 minutes).  Take Austin by the neighbors to feed his cats and horses and finally get home.  Talk to the hubs for 5 minutes before he heads out of town while I wash a few dishes.  Remind Austin and Stetson about homework and piano practice.  Then at 7:30 head us to the neighbors to have some root beer floats and help with some computer stuff.  9:00 home and nagging for 30 minutes to get kids to go to bed knowing that 6:30 comes way too early.  Me, no TV or games at night so I am reading a book Storm Testament II).  10:15, lights out.

Tuesday, here's my schedule:  Off work a bit early again to get Stetson at piano at 4:15.  Then on to Castle Dale (15 min drive) to grab Austin from piano lessons.  Stetson has wrestling practice at 5-6 in Castle Dale.  Then at 6:15 Austin is supposed to be back in Ferron to go to scouts swimming in Castle Dale.  Haven't figured this out yet, might just take dinner and eat in the car and drop him off at the pool.  6:30 book club in Ferron for me.  Then hopefully at some point we do some homework and practicing guitar/piano etc.

I'm exhausted thinking of it.  Just glad I am not single mom and have to do it all the time alone.

I love the idea of millennial week freeing up my time, but in reality, I haven't had time for TV or Facebook or games other than a break from work or putting myself to sleep.  Nice idea though.

I'm glad I have mornings to listen to my scriptures (the LDS app on my Kindle is a lifesaver, it reads to me while I get ready).

Kudos to you single parents who do this daily.  My hat's off to you!  Happy millennial week!

Pigs

The last 6 months or so we have been raising pigs, or should I say the kids have been raising them. Their names were pork chop, ham and sausage.  This is to avoid the awkward moment at the dinner table when the kids ask what we are eating.  The hubs took the pigs to the butcher today.  While I think about the cost and the time, I'm not sure we come out ahead.  When I mentioned that to the hubs he said, that's not the point, we just needed to teach the kids."  We love bacon, sausage, pork roasts etc, but mostly we got pigs so the kids would learn.  That old quote, "I'm not raising pigs (inserted your item here), I'm raising children" applies here.

Our pigs were not as cute as the ones pictured.  I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of them.  I gotta work on that.  Maybe some point I will get a smart phone and will have my camera with me all the time, right?

I learned a few things while we were raising these pigs.  First, you can't just raise 1 pig at a time.  They like to have pals.  Can't we relate?  Who likes to be alone in life?  That being the case, we had 3.  We had neighbors who wanted one and we got 2 figuring we could sell one.  Even as little piglets they were surrounded by a lot of flies.  I also learned that they love water.  Their snouts are super strong.  The blue clay that we live on was not a challenge for them.  The used their noses and created all kinds of holes, especially around the fence line.  These critters will eat anything...I mean anything.  I kept an empty ice cream bucket on my counter and any time we had left over food or scraps from peeling and cutting veggies, we filled the bucket and sent it out for the pigs.  A few times the boys forgot to take the bucket and some green stuff may have started growing.  Ya know what?  The pigs didn't even care, not even a bit.  I guess they can't tell the difference of mold or the dirt they are eating it off of.   My boys, especially Stetson, would get in the pen with them from the time we got them.  He played with them and chased them and spent hours in the pen.  As they got bigger he spent less time with them, but they were still nice to him.  One other thing we learned is not to feed them meat.  Our friend's family owned a butcher shop and would feed the meat trimmings to their pigs.  The boy disappeared and they thought he drowned nearby, but later found his shoe in the pig pen and figured the pig ate him.  Morbid yes, but we took that to heart and kept meat out of their slop bucket.  Better safe than sorry.

I haven't figured out if the whole process saves us money.  Between us and our friends we figured the price for food per pig was $240.00 and the cost of the pig was $70.00.  We will probably have another $200.00 or so to have it cut and wrapped.  But when bacon is $7.00 a package, it might just be worth it.  I do love the fact that we know exactly what they have been fed, and even more, that we appreciate the meat because of the work that was put in, whether by us or the kids.

Moral of the story, in a month we will be having a yummy breakfast, maybe 3 times a day. Don't be jealous.  Eat Bacon.

Fun fact:  I have a pig collection that I started in high school.  Anything from salt and pepper shakers, dish towels, ice cream scoop that oinks, pillows, stuffed animals, figurines.  Even after raising them, I still think they are cute.