This morning after Evan woke up he came and sat on my lap on the couch. He was sitting there all snuggled up and cozy. Apparently, though, his mind was somewhere else. What came out of his mouth was, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Time for candy!"

Friendships Take a Long Time

Yesterday I went to a scrapbooking day at the church. It was a chance for lots of female fellowship, but it ended up being a pretty hard day. It's true that sometimes you feel the most lonely in a group. I felt very alone and kind of had a stomachache a lot of the day.

Friendships just take awhile. Several weeks after moving here I naively told Kendall, "I'm going to give myself 4 weeks to feel comfortable around someone." I thought I was being generous and realistic. Well, I wasn't. It takes a long time. It isn't that people aren't friendly. People have been very friendly and happy to have us here.

But I'm realizing something: Friendliness is great and helpful and makes you feel somewhat welcome, but it isn't enough when someone needs friends. I think of many times at Siloam when someone new came. Kendall and I tried to do a decent job of introducing ourselves and meeting new people. There are people there that I was very happy to have and probably even said that to them. I enjoyed talking to them Sunday mornings and was happy when they showed up at other functions. But somehow I never got around to inviting them over. I wanted to and always meant to, but never got around to it. Now I wonder how lonely they felt.

I know it's summer and people are busy. People really have been friendly and I appreciate that a lot. But I'm also learning some lessons from this side of things that I hope I can keep with me.

And this morning I prayed that this lonliness won't be wasted. I want to make the most of it and learn what God has for me in it. I want to learn a new level of dependence on God when I don't have a lot of friends here to confide in.

On the cheerier side, I still usually feel hopeful about certain relationships here. I think there is potential for good friendships. Kendall and I just need to do some of the initiating instead of waiting on others to initiate. And when I talk to Iris about some of this I am aware of people like her and Carmen who are living cross-culturally. Their friendships with other women will have many different challenges and probably take much longer to develop than my friendships. So I will try to keep feeling hopeful and grateful even when I feel lonely.

Fast Food, Walmart, Toilets, Showers and Other Luxuries

Well, tomorrow we're off again. This time we're going to a genuine campground! That's practically a hotel! Tomorrow night is going to be fairly cool with a low of 49. I tried to get an electric site so we could put a heater in our tent, but the most private sites were non-electric so I gave that up.

We're going to Blue Lake. It's supposed to be really nice. The lake there is so clear you can see down for several meters.

Tomorrow before we go to the campground we have to go into Dryden (2 1/2 hours away) to take care of some stuff with the car. While in town, we will take advantage of Walmart, less expensive groceries, and FAST FOOD. That makes me happy.

Our Little Commune

A week and a half ago Iris and Arthur Lyndaker and their family of 5 children came to stay in the guesthouse. They live in Poplar Hill, a reserve. Arthur leads Akwachink, which is a wilderness and leadership training for Rosedale. A group of youth go out on a 2-week canoe trip with him.

The first week the Lyndakers slept upstairs, but shared our kitchen and living room. Iris and I spent a fair amount of that week doing food prep for the trip. I helped her bag all kinds of food and make bannock mix and trail bread and hot chocolate mix. Our kids, of course, have absolutely loved having them here. Their kids are ages 3 - 11.

Arthur and the Akwachink group left Sunday morning and Kendra, who lives on the other side of this duplex, went along to help lead. So since then, Iris and the kids have been using her kitchen and living room. Even so, our kids are together all the time and we've still been sharing some meals. We've been eating breakfast together and tonight we had supper together. Iris and I are back and forth all day. We both took turns running errands today and leaving our kids. I've really enjoyed her.

At one point today, Iris asked me, "Do you think this is how it is for Mormons?" She meant, two women, each with their own children, sort of living in the same house and working together. Hey, if you take out all the bad stuff, like sharing a husband, competition, jealousy, etc., I think I might kind of like it!

We Really Like Each Other

Eli gave me a hug before I left for the evening last night. This is the sweet conversation that followed.

Eli: Mom, I like you a lot.

Me: I really like you a lot too.

Eli: I really like you. You're fun to be with. You do fun things with me. But Daddy's funner to be with. He does more fun things with me. Like wrestling. He's funner to be with. But you're fun to be with to. I still like you a lot.

"Stop the Yelling"

I'm starting a "Stop the Yelling" campaign at our house. Unfortunately, I'm kind of alone in campaigning for the cause. But then again, I'm the main one it applies to.

I confess, I am a bit of a yeller. So I've effectively taught my children how things work with me. When I say something to them, That's Nice But Who Cares. When I raise my voice a bit, Maybe We Should Think About Doing What She Says. When I really raise my voice and turn into Godzilla, Okay, She Seems Serious And We Better Follow Her Instructions.

So since I've been training them how this works for several years now, I'm expecting that it may take some time for all of us to learn to communicate differently. Somehow, I need to teach them that I'm serious even when I don't raise my voice or transform into some horrid monster.

I'm at somewhat of a loss of how to work on this, so any good ideas would be welcome. And I'll plan on posting in a week or two to let you all know how it went and how I was totally cured of being a yeller. (Or maybe I won't be really cured of it until I get to Heaven and I don't think you can blog from there.) But I'll work at it anyway.

A Triumphant Discovery

Sometimes I just need a little peace and quiet, you know? Well, I've stumbled upon a no-fail method to grab a bit of this precious peace and quiet.

You see, quite by accident, we discovered that our smoke detector, which is positioned close to the bathroom door, is sensitive to steam. One day when I was taking an especially hot shower, the boys came in and out of the bathroom and left the door open. Then the smoke detector started screaming. I yelled for Eli and made him run around the house and make sure nothing was burning. A day or two later the same thing happened again. I yelled for Eli and he came and said in an exasperated voice, "I know what you're going to say! Go look for a fire!"

Well, the boys are not too fond of this interruption into their play (or fight or whatever they happen to be doing at the moment). Eli admonished me, "Maybe you should just take warm showers!" and they have checked to make sure that I'm not taking too hot of a shower. I told them that if the door stayed closed, the steam wouldn't go out of the bathroom and set off the smoke detector.

This morning just as I had turned off extra hot water from my shower I heard a fight brewing outside the bathroom door. Evan came barging in to the bathroom. "Evan," I said, "you better close the door. I'm taking a hot shower and I don't want the smoke alarm to go off!" He went out and closed the door! But then he opened it again and said, "You not taking shower!" "I just turned it off," I said, "and there's still a lot of steam in here." So he went out and stayed out! And I just stood there with a triumphant grin on my face.

Toy Library and Simple Happiness

This morning I went to a toy library activity with the kids. We all met at the dock and took the ferry across the lake to Mackenzie Island. There were a lot of moms and kids there. Many of them I hadn't met before.

Showing up at toy library activities still always makes me nervous even though I usually do it 2 times a week. But even though I'm not completely comfortable there yet and even though I don't know that any of the women would be classified as 'friends' yet, I do feel a certain amount of community with them. The group changes quite a bit from week to week, but little by little I am getting to know people. Unfortunately, two of the women I've felt more connection with are leaving soon. Both of them grew up in Red Lake. One is only back in town visiting family for a month and the other one is married to someone from the States who is in Iraq right now and comes home in a month. Then she will move back to the States to be with him. So even though I'm disappointed about that, it still feels good to connect with someone.

Anyway, we had a pretty good morning at the island. And I found out some valuable information from the women- there is a "Veggie Man" who comes to town every Tuesday during the summer. He comes to Balmertown (a neighboring community) from Manitoba with a truckload of produce. So I stopped in there on the way home. I was so happy to find corn and cucumbers and green beans. So I pulled out of there and headed on home to Red Lake. The sun was bright and the sky was blue and I realized that I felt very content. Just then I saw a huge bear cross the road a ways in front of me. That is not that common of a sight. So I felt very happy! (Yes, I have been greatly influenced by my outdoors-loving husband.) Granted, within a few minutes my contented state was broken by a piercing howl from the back seat as Big Brother flung the heavy seat belt buckle at Little Brother. But it was a good 2 1/2 minutes of simple happiness.

A Scary Dream

Last night I dreamed that all of our Indiana friends were mad at us for moving here. Are you mad? Please don't be mad at us! Do you still want to be friends? Let's still be friends, okay? Deal? Promise?

Anyway, not sure where exactly that dream came from, but it was a serious matter. :) And I know I just put a smiley face, but I'm still feeling a bit insecure.

School!?!

I'm experiencing a low-grade panic right now. Eli and I just got home from enrolling him in school. I have to say that I didn't really expect these feelings I'm having. Eli loved his daycare last year and really seemed to thrive there, so I've been thinking about how this will be good for him. He's very social. At school he'll be able to make friends and have a good social outlet. Personally, I love one-on-one time with my kids, so I've been looking forward to some of that with Evan. Also on a personal level, I look forward to being able to be involved in the community this way and meeting more people.

But about 2 days ago I experienced my first bout of anxiety about sending Eli off to school. And today when he and I walked down to the school together, I realized that he wasn't that into holding my hand. He wanted to run ahead. As he was running ahead of me, I realized that he looks like a kindergartener. Then we got in to register and it all just felt so out of my control. They told me how many days a week his class will be meeting. They gave me a schedule for the day. They gave me a schedule for the school year. They told me who his teacher will be.

I'm not ready to be controlled by a school schedule. What if Eli gets to bed late and needs to sleep in? What if he's struggling and needs to sit on the couch with me past the time school starts? What if we want to take off and visit Indiana for a week? Or Winnepeg for a couple days?

As far as Eli goes, he's excited about school. He already met a boy who will also be in Kindergarten. (I met his mom at the toy library and she told me that her husband is a paramedic. So I have dreams of Kendall and him becoming friends, Eli and her son becoming friends, and then our families becoming great friends. She just might be my great friend someday! I have lots of scenarios like this worked out in my mind, but maybe I'll save those for another post.) But back to Eli...He really did well in preschool last year. I was glad that he wasn't going to kindergarten for another year, but was hoping to put him in preschool here a couple days a week. But once we got here, I learned that any child who turns 5 by the end of 2008 is eligible for kindergarten. So Eli would have just missed it in the States, but here he just makes it. This is one of those times that it would be so nice to know what the future holds. If I knew that we were going back to the States, I would want him to be in Junior Kindergarten here. (This is optional. This year Junior Kindergarten and regular Kindergarten are meeting together this year, but the younger class only goes for 2 days a week instead of 3.) Then he would be ready for Kindergarten in Indiana next year. I don't really want him to be in 1st grade next year in the States- I don't want him to be way younger than everyone else in his class. So anyway, it works out well that the 2 Kindergartens are going to be together here. That way I feel like I have some flexibility to go either way next year. I think that socially and academically, Eli could do Kindergarten. Physically, I'm wondering if he has my family's genes (scrawny late-bloomers we are) and I would rather have him be older in his class rather than way younger. I'm rambling and maybe not making sense, but that's how my mind is working right now.

By the way, I'm sure my mild panic was not helped by the fact that when I was filling out Eli's paperwork I did not know our street address (everyone uses PO boxes), my kid's have no doctor (I don't even know the name of a local doctor), and I had to provide an emergency contact (Who? And once I decided who, I had no idea of her phone number or PO box). The last one there brought me the closest to tears.

So next Wednesday marks the end of an era. For the next who-knows-how-many years I will be a mother of school children. I'll be happy for Eli, but it's taking more work for me to be happy than I thought it would.

A Humble Admission

This afternoon on the way home from Stormer Lake we stopped to do some blueberry picking. (Still no bears.) I will make Twila very proud when I say that Kendall was a superhero picker. At the end of our time in the patch, my bucket was 1/3 full. Superhero Blueberry-Picker Kendall's was....FULL. I admit, he's fast. I may be woman, but he is Canadian.

Silly Evers

Evan thinks he's pretty funny when he plays in the outdoor fireplace in our yard. Okay, for some reason he's not laughing here, but since then he thinks he's so funny when he comes to me with black extremities.

Blueberries for Sal

We went blueberry picking the other night with Kendall's parents. We found a nice spot with lots of little blueberry bushes about 45 minutes out of town.

For those of you from the Midwest, you might not know that blueberry-picking here is quite different from Michigan. I remember the first summer I visited the North. We were walking through the bush and Twila was commenting on all the blueberries. I quietly looked around and never let on that I did not see one blueberry bush in sight! Of course, I was looking for Michigan blueberry bushes, which are 6 feet tall. The bushes up here barely reach 12 inches. But they are plentiful and wild and free.

So, back to my story… So we went out to look for blueberries Sunday evening before the big hunt on Monday. (My wonderful mother-in-law is hard core when it comes to blueberry-picking, so we needed to prepare the night before.) We, of course, took 4-wheelers out with us to scout for berries. So some people (I'll let you guess which gender) took the 4-wheelers and the boys and drove around looking for good spots to pick. The others of us walked around and started picking. As I picked I got very involved in what I was doing. I would pick one area and then raise my head just enough to see another clump of bushes a few feet away and move over there. I was aware of sounds around me, but had to remind myself to look up from time to time. (I know, you're thinking that a bear cub is going to come up behind me and start trying to steal my blueberries.) That didn't happen, but as I picked I was thinking about Blueberries for Sal. First of all, I heard the kaplink, kaplank, kaplunk of the blueberries in my bucket. Then, I was aware of the fact that bears like blueberries too and they hang out in good blueberry spots. And I realized how involved I got in picking and how it would be easy to keep your eyes on the ground as you moved around, just listening for the sound of a child with you. So every once in awhile I made myself stand up and look around, just to make sure that a bear and I were not going to surprise each other.

By the way, to raise my awareness of bears even more, Kendall came back from scouting and told us that he had seen a mama bear and 2 cubs. A bear by itself is one thing, but to come across a cub with a protective mama is a different matter. So when we returned Monday morning for the real hunt I was extra aware (but not terribly afraid) of the probable nearness of bears.

After a couple hours Twila, Leonard and I had picked several gallons. (You may notice that there is a name missing from that list. The other person was very busy "scouting" for blueberries on the 4-wheeler.) I was proud just to get about half of what speedy Mom got. We came home and stayed up until late cleaning blueberries and chatting.

The next morning was the big event. Mom, Kendra and I took the boys back to the same general area. The boys and I lasted until noon, then we headed home. But in that small amount of time I did get to hear whining about "I'm hungry." (In the middle of lots of blueberries and raspberries!) And for some reason the already-picked berries in my bucket were so much more appetizing to Evan than the berries still on the bushes. Twila and Kendra were out there all day long. They were rather pooped by the time they got back that evening. But they did get lots of blueberries- enough to last them the whole year.

And (not sure if I'm disappointed or relieved) no bears were spotted on the day of the big blueberry hunt.

I love my sisters!

O joyous reunion! Eli and Evan hadn’t seen their aunts for awhile- Kirsten, not for 8 months.



Mom brought beans for me(okay, us) to put in the freezer.

Canoeing

First, the routine bug repellent.



It was a beautiful night for being out on the lake.





We stopped a built a fire to make s’mores.

No joke.

Karissa wanted this chair, but it was decided that it would not be allowed in the van. So she just wanted to try it out a bit.



We saw lots of bears at the dump. I thought they were cute and cuddly compared to the wolves we heard, but at the dump I was reminded how big they really are. I sort of changed my mind.





This is the naughty boat. (I mean the people in it.) Dad was a bad influence on the rest of us and we decided to play a trick on the other boat. Dad decided that he wanted to jump out of the boat when everyone in the other boat wasn’t looking. Me and Kirsten were supposed to duck down in the bottom of the boat. And the desired effect would be “mystery.” We were game for a little fun. So he slyly took off his shoes and socks and when everyone in the other boat looked at something else, he jumped in the lake. We ducked down and when I expected to hear the others making a ruckus, I just heard silence. They heard a splash and looked over and only little Evan was sitting in the boat. I think it kind of freaked them out. They were slightly shocked and bewildered. But we thought it was funny.



Later Eli decided that he wanted to join Grandpa in the lake. So he was also lowered over the boat. I don’t think I could have been convinced to do that with all the fish we were attempting to catch in that very spot.

Kirsti and Eli

Camping again

We went camping again this weekend. It was a bit of a last-minute decision to make the most of the precious nice weather. We only went for one night because Kendall had agreed to teach Sunday School. It was good we did because it didn't go quite as well as last weekend. For one thing, Mom and Dad were grouchy. I wish I could come up with a good reason for this condition, but I can't. Secondly, we did not sleep well at all. For as hot as we got during the day, it was freezing at night! We started out the weekend tired and not sleeping well didn't help. For the last few hours Evan was zipped into my sleeping bag with me and we were squished.
The most exciting part of the whole time was when Eli ate a tadpole. I heard him go over to Kendall, who was tending the fire, and say, "I just had an idea! I could catch tadpoles for us to eat!" (He was serious.) Kendall said, "Okay, you eat the first one, then I will." (He was not serious.) Next thing I knew, Eli was standing in the water with a freshly-caught tadpole. He stuck it in his mouth and swallowed! I could not believe it. That is not like him at all! We all laughed and gagged simultaneously. Then Kendall, being a good dad who keeps his word, took a tadpole that Eli caught for him and popped it into his mouth too! That is not like him either! He said he felt the feet on his lips! Eww! I am so glad I'm a girl! (Although, I think I would usually be more likely to do something like that than my husband.) Well, Evan and I were not convinced to follow suit. We were happily grossed out just watching.
The best part of the weekend for me came when we were mostly packed up. We were supposedly going to go swimming, but swimming in the same water that we catch fish out of kind of psyches me out. So I floated around on my air mat, careful to keep all appendages out of the water, while the boys caught a ride on a giant turtle. It was a bit of a surreal experience for me as I floated a little ways from shore. The lake looks a lot different from eye level. It was a beautiful sunny day with a bright blue sky and green trees reflecting on the water. I could hear the boys laughing and playing close to shore. We had the bay to ourselves and their voices were echoing in our solitude. I can't really explain it, so people will just need to come up here and experience it for themselves.
We left sunburned but really happy (after nearly 24 hours of trying to just act happy). Evan was the one singing away on this boat ride back- for about 5 minutes until he fell asleep.
Saturday night we cleaned up and Kendall finally ran for some food (Subway and poutine) for a late supper.

Camping photos again

The boys happy on their turtle.


I made pizza over the fire and it was actually good! It's like I'm a bushwoman or something.


Fast asleep on the way home.

Semantics

Eli has had some confusion when it comes to languages. The other day he had this whole complicated talk with me after I told him that his little friend probably speaks Ojibway. First of all, he got this mixed up with Marcus' name and has occasionally called him "Subway." Then he talked to me about people speaking "Goshen," meaning, I think, English. Oh well, we'll keep working on it. In Goshen he did seem to have the concept of Spanish and English down, so we'll work on the idea of more than 2 languages. (I do have to note at this point that one time Eli did say "Gracias" to a friend from Nepal after she served him some food. Like I said, we have to work on the idea of languages beyond the 2 that are most familiar to him.)

While I'm talking about language, I will cautiously report a conversation that just took place between Marcus and Eli. Like I said earlier, Marcus doesn't seem to know English well. I gave them both some peach-flavored water to drink. Eli told him it was peach water. Marcus repeated, "Beach water." Eli said, "Peach juice." Then Marcus, not understanding, said, "Beach stupid. Stupid beach." Eli had no idea what kind of language Marcus was repeating and I quickly intervened and told him, "Talk nice, Marcus." So we'll continue to monitor their playing together. He seems like a gentle, loving boy who has seen and heard way too much.

A New Friendship

The sad little boy next door has become a treasured friend to Eli and Evan and a face at our window peering in and wondering if his friends can come out and play. One night I heard "ha-yahs" and all kinds of karate chops coming from the yard next door. Surprised to hear such happy sounds, I asked Eli, who was outside if it was "Sad Boy." Eli rightly told me, "He's not sad." Then a day soon after that, the little boy was swinging when I was out at the washline with the boys. He still wouldn't talk to me, but I pushed Eli on the swing beside him. Pretty soon the little boy said, "Bubbles!" He ran over to his porch and showed the boys his bubbles. Then he blew big bubbles for the boys and talked a bit. And since then, the three of them have become fast friends. We found out that his name is Marcus. One night as we completed one of our rituals- saying the best and worst part of the our days- Eli's best part was playing with Marcus and Evan's worst part was "leaving Marcus."

After being around him more, I think he knows more Ojibway than English. I haven't been able to understand much of what he says and when he talks to me, his sentences are pretty short and basic. (Like just now he showed me his car and said, "Fast.") Eli, however, claims he understands all of what Marcus says. Today he told me that mostly he hears "Canada." When I asked Eli if Marcus knows Eli's name, he said, "He just calls me Friend." He also says that Marcus understands everything he says. I'm not so sure… But at any rate, they communicate very well. Right now as I type I am looking at the two of them sitting on the rock wall outside our window comparing their cars. I can hear them having an important conversation, though I can't understand anything. (Now Eli just came in and said, "My friend asked if I want to play Capus." I asked him what that was and Eli told me it was a card game Marcus made up. I said okay, if they played on the picnic table right outside the window. Then Marcus came back over and Eli popped his head back in, "I guess he wanted to play 'bubbles.'" So much for understanding everything.)

I am concerned for Eli and Evan when Marcus leaves. (Not to mention my concern for this little boy that is really growing on us.) Today as we walked to church I told Eli that Marcus probably wouldn't be living next door much longer. Eli has referred to the various adults that are at the house with Marcus as his mom and dad, apparently not noticing that they change daily. I told him that Marcus is from Pikangikum, a different town, and that his parents are still there. He is just staying here for awhile. The boys will miss a friend when Marcus moves on.

The photo is of the boys playing in our yard. I took it out of our front window where the computer sits.

Dreams of a Little Cabin in the Woods

I don't know if you can see it, but there is a "For Sale" sign on this piece of property. This was out where we went camping- a 30-minute boat ride from Red Lake. There were a few docks out along the lake and up in the trees you could see little cottages. I told Kendall that if we live here a long time I would love to have a little cabin to go to whenever we needed to get away. I would love that. (Later I heard what the land is selling for, but I'll keep living in my little dream world.) We saw different pieces of land for sale and talked a bit about what we would do with it. It's fun to dream anyway!


But then we saw that this cabin was already there. Surely we could afford this! I guess maybe a secluded cabin in the bush doesn't have to be an unattainable dream after all!

Camping photos

How the boys spent much of the weekend- minnow nets in hand. Here Kendall is washing dishes. As he told me, sand cleans bettter than soap. Hmmm... We did use soap most of the time.


Kendall trying to communicate with the loons.


He really was annoyed at me here.


Candace swimming with the boys.

Camping photos

Fishing


At our campsite


A boy after his camping father's heart


Silliness


Eli showing beaver marks

We live next to a house that is part of the Tikinagan program. Tikinagan is for native children, run by native people. They help with children who need to be removed from their homes. From what I understand, the house here is only used for children in a transition such as waiting for a foster home. Sometimes the children are flown out from a reserve. There aren’t always people there and it is usually only a child and an adult. My washline is on the other side of the house by a swing set, so I get little glimpses of life there.

The other day I was out at the washline with Eli and Evan. I turned around and there was a little boy sitting on the swing set just watching us. I said, “Hi!” He just looked at me. Then I said, “What’s your name?” He just looked at me. He had a nasty cut by his eye and his hand was in some kind of splint. I said, “It looks like you got an ouchy. What happened?” He just looked at me. When we headed inside I said, “Bye.” And Eli chimed in with, “Bye!” He just looked at us.

This little boy has been here longer than most so we’ve seen him other times. After my one-sided conversation with him the other day, it hit me that he probably didn’t get his injuries from falling off his bike. I hate to think what put that sweet boy in protective custody.

He still hasn’t said anything to me, but I say hello whenever I see him. It seems like sometimes he tries to come out to the swing set when he sees me at the line. And the other day when I walked by he threw his paper airplane for me to see.

Logistics

Eli made Evan cry. I took his toy away and said, “You hurt him for no reason!” (As soon as I said that, I knew that wasn’t the best idea.) Eli replied, “Yes reason! Evan was throwing money at me!” I turned to Evan, who was now standing beside me crying broken-heartedly. “Evan, you threw money at him!” Evan had his own reply, “No, threw it OVER him!”

Take a shower! Do laundry! Air out everything!

At bedtime after we got back from camping Eli and Evan requested their special pillows and blankets. I found Eli’s still packed with the stinky camping gear. I smelled it before I tossed it to him and said, “P-U!” Then I said, “Do you like that smell?” And Eli, a son truly after his camping father’s heart, said wholeheartedly, “Yes!” I thought he might.

Monday morning I decided to wash their stinky things. Evan started whining about me washing them. I said that they were stinky and that’s why I was going to wash them. Evan, while following me around whining, said, “No! Me want them be stinky!” Finally, I said that he could play with them now and I’d wash them later. He retrieved his prized possessions from the laundry room floor and smelled them. “Mmmm! These smell good!”

It makes me laugh. I am truly outnumbered by the males here in fragrance preferences. Kendall loves the smell of fire and fishing and outdoors. It's fine when we're out there, but when I get home I want to smell something nice! One time I asked Kendall, "So if there was a perfume that smelled like this, you would want me to have it?" In all sincerity he answered me, "Yes."

Happy Campers

We had a great weekend of camping! By the time we got home we were exhausted but happy. (And even though Kendall and I did a lot of clean-up when we got home, I was slightly overwhelmed by the work that needed to be done the next day.) We left Friday evening and took a 30-minute boat ride to our campsite. The boys and I had the privilege of seeing Kendall in rare form. To say he was happy would be an understatement. Giddy and gleeful would be two words that would help to explain his state of being at the time. As we set out on the boat, Kendall let out a whoop of jubilation. It made me happy just to see him so excited.

Thankfully, the place Kendall had in mind to camp was unoccupied, so we built a fire and put our tinfoils on. Then we set up camp. That night was so clear and calm. We went out fishing over sunset and saw beavers swimming around. (And heard a wolf howling. It was only one and across the lake from us.) Then, after the boys went to sleep, Kendall and I sat outside by the fire and enjoyed the stars in all their glory. We were even treated to some shooting stars and a chorus of loons.

Sleeping peacefully turned out to not be that big of a deal. The tent gave me a false sense of security. Saturday evening as we were sitting by the fire, we saw a rabbit hop right up to our tent, then push its nose against the side where our feet would be when we were sleeping. When we went to bed that night we laughed to think what our reaction would have been if we would have been inside at the time. We would have heard something outside our tent, then seen it pushing its nose at our feet and heard it sniffing us. We probably would have freaked out. Kendall said that he would have gone through the tent with the chainsaw. (Yes, he did take his chainsaw along but we didn't actually sleep with it.)

Saturday was beautiful. Evan and Kendall went out fishing when Evan woke up and me and Eli slept in. It was sunny and warm and peaceful. The boys spent a huge portion of the weekend patrolling the shallow water with minnow nets and telling me whenever they caught one. We went out fishing in the boat in the afternoon and saw dark clouds moving in. When it started getting closer, we headed for camp and tore around to make bannock and filet and fry the fish. We ate and cleaned up with only a few sprinkles. After supper it was only sprinkling so we decided to go exploring. We walked back into the bush and found lots of strawberries and raspberries. But no bears. I was both relieved and disappointed. We were stinky and hot by this time and looking for an adventure. So when we got back to camp, we went into the water with our soap and shampoo. It was cold! It was bathtime, but most of us stayed mostly dressed. One of the boys decided to strip all the way down and run into the water like a banshee. The rest of us washed, then gathered on the shore wrapped in towels to watch the show. The unnamed banshee screamed like a girl every time he went under water to rinse the shampoo off his hair. I won't tell you which male it was because he might be embarrassed. J (I did get his permission to share this story.)

We went to the tent then because it was raining. We were tired and disappointed to see that it was only 6:45. Especially since the boys were bouncing off the tent walls. But after awhile it stopped raining and we went out and made bedtime snacks over the fire. That night we all went to bed early.

The rain was done by morning and it was beautiful again. We caught fish for lunch and in the afternoon Walter, Sue, and Candace visited us. They are related to Kendall and a family that Kendall's family went camping with a lot growing up. Eli and Evan were so happy that Candace was more than happy to swim with them. So they played in the water while we chatted.

They left and we could see that rain was coming once again. We packed everything into the boat and it started raining. I wish I had a photo to share of our trip back. Our boat was loaded with all our junk, mostly in big totes. It was raining. Evan immediately fell asleep on my lap. Eli laid down on top of one of the totes and pulled a foam mat over him. It was noisy, windy and rainy. And Eli was under the foam mat, completely happy and singing away. And that made me completely happy.

Camping

Well, we're off for our first camping trip this weekend. The weather hasn't been the best ever, so we were just planning on leaving tomorrow morning and being there one night. But today it is actually staying sunny into the afternoon and even bordering on hot! As I was pushing the boys in the stroller today I decided that I would like to go tonight. Kendall was in agreement. Of course. So we're setting off in a boat for a 40-minute ride to a place Kendall remembers. My only requirements were that it wasn't too far away and that it had a sandy beach. So hopefully Kendall will remember how to navigate the lakes and rivers and we'll get there in time for supper. I'm really looking forward to it even though after we heard the wolves I said that I would only camp in a campground. So we'll see how I sleep and if I'll interpret every noise as a wild animal. Pray that we make it back alive and happy and that we catch fish- we're counting on that for 2 meals. Happy weekend!

Discovery

Eli had a discovery that he shared with me:
Mom, my thumb's bigger than my pinkie. That's not the whole point. My pinkie's supposed to be bigger than my thumb. That does not make sense. Know how I figured that out? I was sticking my finger through that thing I wasn't supposed to play with (a friend's food processor) and my thumb reached the egg, but my pinkie couldn't.