Like a Rolling Stone

Like all good things, September is coming to an end.
Here are some of our September "good things":

I wish I could blow this picture up to life-size because....wow, that was a pretty sky.

Grace's Activity Days Mad Scientist party date with Grandpa.

MORE FOOTBALL!! I have to tell you, I am shocked by how much I am loving this experience. Noble's team is not only amazingly good (They have won every game except one, even though most of their games have been against teams a division up from theirs.), but we lucked out with OUTSTANDING coaches, and really cool kids. They are having some amazing experiences together. Sometime have me tell you about their game from this weekend. I almost cried.

This is where we found Abner sacked out one afternoon. I don't blame him. I'm telling you, that memory foam bathmat is a temptation for anyone looking for a place to take a nap. 

My canning efforts have been pathetic this year (as has been my garden). But I did manage to do about 14 quarts of peaches and make a few bottles of peach syrup this month. Peachy Cream o' Wheat. Mmmmm.

AND ->>>> THe BIG DAY ARRIVED AT LAST!  The long-awaited rock moving. It will forever live in Melton Family lore.
Here are  my dad and Mike poised to move some rocks.

But, mostly we all watched while this man and his machine did the delicate work of  maneuvering the boulders into place. (Thank you SO MUCH, Sean!)

A look from above at our new retaining wall as it took shape. We totally ripped up the back lawn (and left a mark on the neighbor's lawn as well, where we drove the cat through to get into our backyard). But , as I told Mike, it was "necessary destruction" (and Mike told me that would make a great name for a rocker band).
Now, the next step... We just need to recruit some help to move some more dirt, reroute some sprinklers, and grade an access in the back yard. Because Mike never wants to have to drive heavy machinery (or, his truck) through the neighbor's yard again.

More later. 

Adios, September 2012!

Sully's "Worstest Day EVER!"

Sully was sooo busted today. 

His explanation: that he and his buddy were "fixing the rocks". Their method? Dump 4 quarts of engine oil (2-cycle and regular) out in the garden. *I hear that's kind of bad for your garden soil.* Aside from creating an ecological disaster, he also spilled it all over the front of himself, completely ruining those cute leather high-tops I just got for him last week. To add insult to injury, as I walked into the garden to survey the scene, I stepped right into a sizable puddle of oil, camouflaged with a thin layer of grass clippings on the surface. 

With flip flops on. Didn't see it coming. 

When his sentencing came down (time-out after some soap and hot water), he threw one giant fit. He kept yelling, "This is the worstest day EVER!!" (That is his go-to protestation when things aren't going his way.) and, "I don't want to be in a lot of trouble... I want to be in a little bit of trouble!" He didn't get what he wanted. 

He is in a LOT of trouble.

Oh man, I don't have time for shenanigans like this.

...then Jessie said, "Mom, I really like being busy..."

...and I looked at her like she had two heads. Because her pleasant sense of busyness is made possible by my never-ending frenetic running. She said this during our conversation about whether she would be permitted to sign up for after school theater again. It went something like this:

Jess: "PLEASE, can  I sign up? Mrs. *** told me she was disappointed that I hadn't signed up. She has a part in mind for me."
Me: (blaming Mrs. *** for this) "Jess, we REALLY don't have time for anything else. We are way too busy already."
Jess: "I really like being busy. I don't know, it's just kind of exciting running from one thing to the next!"
Me: (now looking at her like she has two heads and NO CLUE)            **pause**
 "I'm the one who has to GET everyone to their stuff. You have no idea how hard that is, and keeping everything straight....yada, yada, yada." I went on to list all the things on her schedule alone: 4h, guitar lessons, volleyball, teaching horse riding lessons, school, YW, basketball...  

Unconvinced, she proposed a bargain &  I compromised. I agreed that if she could arrange a car pool, I would let her sign up for the twice-a-week rehearsals for 3 months + performances. What was I thinking? She, of course, found a carpool, but then I felt guilty that someone else was doing all the driving, so I felt obligated to offer to help drive. (I'm still hoping the lady won't ever need me to.) Add one more item to the schedule. On the up side, J. has been walking around the house singing show tunes, rehashing her try-out. And she is so excited about the production. (Good thing 4h and volleyball will be over soon.)

It reminded me of a story that I heard Marjorie Hinckley tell one time, about how one frantic day when their kids were young, she could not find their oldest son to do his chores. Hours later, he came strolling casually through the door and began telling her all about the magical afternoon he'd spent watching ants and basking in the cool shade of a tree, just enjoying himself. She resisted the urge to scold him for leaving her in a lurch, and neglecting his chores.

Many years later, when he came home from college, stressed about his demanding schedule and finals, etc. He reminisced about the carefree days of his childhood. Wistfully, he said something like, "Mom, we had the most wonderful childhood...." and described that magical day again to her. The way she told it, the first thought through her mind at that point was, "I'm glad you enjoyed it..." I couldn't help laughing to myself, remembering Marjorie Hinckley's story, and then thinking about how Jessie naively described  the 'fun' of being busy. I'm with you, Marjorie. ha ha ha.

You know, the point of her story though, was not necessarily to laugh about how oblivious our kids can be, (even though that is pretty funny sometimes). The main thing she expressed, was how glad she was that she had resisted scolding her son - and not ruined the memory of that day for him. She chose instead, in that moment, to reinforce her son's beautiful experience, and it had stayed with him and nourished him throughout his life.

There's a lesson for me in that story.

Another trip to Salina

If you've never been to Salina, Utah - you're not alone. Neither had I until yesterday.

This was Jessie's second year competing there in the State 4H Horse Show. She went down Wednesday afternoon with my parents and the horses. Mike and I got the other kids off to school yesterday morning and then drove down with the little brothers and Mike's Dad to watch Jessie.



The little brothers playing in the manure/dirt at the arena in Salina.    Nice.



In a show of support Mike got out earlier this week and soaped the car with encouraging phrases -  "Go Jess! and Dolli!"  "Go Majestic Riders!" And my favorite:

"Obviously, I'm not even kidding!!! Take State!!!"

That's kind of an inside joke. Jessie's horse, Dolli's official registered name is "Obviously, I'm Not Kidding" (why do people make up such crazy names for their animals? Like a dog named Jupiter the Space Donkey? What's with that?) which we all thought was hilarious - so he HAD to use it.

I tried to get a picture of it - but the glare off the back window in this picture makes it hard to see.

I've been driving around town since Wednesday showing my team spirit - and getting curious stares. I told Mike, next time he gets to drive the billboard.



After scoring blue in trail.

She didn't have her best show ever. Between a confused judge and a well-meaning loud-speaker operator, she had two of her events sabotaged - and scored white. Her other two events she won red and blue.

 

I can't wait for her to get back home. She stayed down there to cheer for the rest of her team competing today and tomorrow.

Have a good time in Salina, Jess! It was a great season.

Summer's End

Towards the end of Summer things were starting to feel a little bit "dog days" for me, if you know what I mean. Hot, smoky days spent refereeing the children, listening to whining and trying to keep up with a neighborhood of loud, dirty kids in and out of the house all day begging for Popsicles, band aids and other sundries. 

These are the salad days.

But when I look back through these pictures of this past month, I remember that we have made so many awesome memories.
The annual (AWESOME) Fathers and Sons outing to Strawberry Reservoir where the boys always catch a million crawdads, eat some GOOD food, and thoroughly enjoy themselves.

Grandpa Howard helping Sully catch crawdads off the dock.

Noble and crew rocking the dock

A day at the "beach", aka Blackridge Reservoir. We met Kay and her kids for another back to school bash - a picnic and swimming.

The kids are going to miss sleeping in (such as it is around here in summer - 8 AM)

LOTS of football. Lots. Daily, for the last month. Noble has learned so much.

Speedy Noble

And then there's that ever-present dirt pile in the drive way. You remember the one. My dad came over last week with his tractor to flatten it out in preparation for the delivery of...

12 tons of rocks. We like piling stuff on our drive way. Now we just  need to get a cat (I'm thinking a big one. They sent much bigger boulders than we ordered.) and move them into place in the back yard. And after that, the rest of the dirt. It sounds so simple doesn't it?

We camped out with the cousins at the Sullivan's last week. It is a good thing my parents have such a giant yard. So much fun for the dudes.

They buried Tillman in the sandbox.

After Noble's first preseason game on Saturday (which they won 32 to 0!), we headed to Provo (and Mountain West Burrito!) to hang with some old friends from the hood (High School). It was especially good to see the Truscott's - who we hadn't seen in many-a-year. They moved back to UT from the east coast a couple of years ago. Tadd's teaching engineering at BYU these days, and I am SURE is the most entertaining professor on campus. No doubt in my mind. 

Catching up with the Truscott's

Old friends

 We spent the afternoon/evening yesterday living it up at Seven Peaks in Provo (we've been in Provo a lot lately). The kids loved every second. We will do that again. Wish we had taken the camera.

And today...

they started back to school. I will miss them. But I will so appreciate being able to get some things done around here too. 

We take the same picture every year - except they keep getting older.

 Adios, Summer!

J. - 8th grade, N. - 6th grade, G. - 5th grade, T. - 3rd grade.

Night Boarding Provo Canyon

Mike's brother, Tim, finished up his optometry residency here in UT this past week. But before he left town we decided to have one last hoorah. Tim was telling me about riding Provo Canyon on a couple of massive long boards he and a friend put together themselves some years back. He promised that it was my speed, i.e., not too fast and under control - the way mom's like it. I was all over that.

Friday Mike spent a long day up at East Canyon Reservoir with the youth from church - (his new assignment is with the young men) getting beat up on tubes, and wake boarding. Then there was Noble's football practice and a scrimmage in the evening. Afterward Mike and I drove south and met Tim for dinner and a lovely night ride down Provo Canyon.

Dinner at Mountain West Burrito with Tim

We dropped one car at the bottom of the Provo Canyon trail, and then drove in the other several more miles up canyon to Vivian Park (good thing Tim had that Ozzy Osbourne CD playing in his car to get us amped up for the ride - ha ha ha). There was no moon, so it would have been a good idea to have brought head lamps. Instead we tried to stick to the white painted line that we could see down the middle of the paved trail. That worked pretty well except when we got under really thick canopies of trees where it was even too dark to see the line. It got a little exciting when we couldn't see anything at all. ha ha...Tim and I rode Tim's awesome homemade boards mostly luge-style or seated. Mike rode a regular long board, and they tend to wobble at high speed especially (apparently) if you try to sit.  Mike was awesome to ride upright, blind and on wobbly trucks.  His was the more dangerous option, so he wore a helmet and gloves, which was prudent, even though we all had a good laugh that he was the only one all decked out in protective gear. 

Isn't that board a beast?! SO much FUN.

What a beautiful ride! It lasted at least an hour. Wow.  Stars. Crickets. Hair whipping in the night air. Fire flies. Quiet except for the sounds of nature and ball bearings. It smelled so good. You know that perfect summer night smell? Mountains. River. Ahhhhhh. Therapy. I'm up for that again any time. Gracias, Tim.

Apparently, it's a BIG deal. And I am OK with it.

One of the first nights of practice - about 100 degrees out there.

We have joined the Bingham football machine. Who knew that the semi-rural school I went to 20 years ago would end up such a national football powerhouse (4th ranked high school team in the nation last year). With a program like that they have some serious machinery in place to develop talent. And they start 'em young. 8 years old for many. I have been very hesitant to get on this band wagon. My working philosophy with kids' sports has been about spontaneity, anti-establishment, less-is-more... and that is still part of the mix for me, but my thoughts have been evolving. The thing is, my kids are growing up and I am beginning to see the value of certain other experiences. In this case, letting my son choose something that demands a lot of him (and us) and let him see it through.
Noble has been interested in playing full contact football for the last few years, and I have put him off - for a variety of reasons. I was hoping he would change his mind. When he asked to do it again this year I couldn't say no. But we also had some conversations with him: about this representing a new level of competition for him, and a serious commitment (they practice 6 days a week for the first month). We reminded him that he would be getting hit. He assured us he was ready. We also told him how expensive it would be - and that we wanted him to earn $50 towards the registration fee. He did odd jobs, a few very successful lemonade stands with his friends - and (to my surprise) actually earned the money. Which said a lot to me about his readiness for this experience. Somehow he has seemed to grow up a lot this summer. And I am ready to embrace that. After all, the goal is to turn them out as capable adults some day, prepared, not only to take care of themselves, but to benefit the world around them in meaningful ways. I think that I needed to change, back off a little, and let him choose this, let him grow. Even if it dominates his free-time for a while, even with the risk of getting hurt...and especially because it is hard and will demand a lot of him.
Let them grow.

My growing boy.

J. brings it home.

Jess had fun this weekend. County Fair is always the highlight of her season.

With Russell, day 3 of competition.

J.'s cheering section - trying to fend off the heat. I wish I had a picture of Mike and Tim keeping time for one of the speed events, "scurry". They were hilarious.

With her coaches (these girls are tops) - and spoils - post season. Another State belt buckle.

With some of the team.

First season for this little friend, the girl who inherited Pumpkin from Jessie.

A good year all-in-all. She still has State in September. The longer we do this 4H horse program, the more I enjoy it and am grateful for all it has meant for J. These are good kids, good leaders, time well spent, life-lessons learned. At first, it seemed overwhelming and foreign for me...but I am so glad we just went with it for Jessie's sake. I wish I had been able to do something like this growing up. I think it does wonders for the kids. Much thanks to my dad and all those who have made it possible for her.

When the Sampson's get together...

I had some pictures of the Sampson reunion.They deserve a post.
This is my Mom's side of the family. Her 8 brothers and sisters and their kids...and now their kids. This is a big group. For a long time we have been holding the reunions with the Sampson's here in South Jordan  and surrounding sites - thanks to the organizers this get together has been perfected into a formula. Some highlights:

Day one spent splash-bouncing on 2 of these huge inflatable water slides, making giant bubbles with rope wands, air rockets, eating, chatting...and eating. 

Noble's birthday fell during the reunion. Here are Abner and "Peach" Hoffman trying out Noble's new birthday long board.

That night Casey, Helen, Holly, Emory and Casey's kids (calling themselves the Soggy Bottom Boys) opened up for the dance with their rendition of "Boil That Cabbage Down."  I told them after in my best Mississippi drawl, "That was some miiiighty fine a-pickin' and a-singin'! (If you haven't seen that Coen brothers' film, "O Brother Where Art Thou", then you probably didn't get any of those references.)

Then we brought on the big guns - my dad's little brother, Bruce, and his band added a little bit of "Sullivan flare" to the Sampson family reunion. You see, the Sullivan side of the family ALWAYS jam and dance when they get together. And for the past many reunions, the Sampson's have invited Uncle Bruce to play for them too.  Sadly, this may be the last time for a while. Uncle Bruce and Aunt Vivienne are leaving on a mission in September and the band is breaking up. What will we do without them?
Sully was pretty excited for them to get started - as you will see in this video. Here they are doing "Johnny Be Good".

MVI 5681 from Angie Melton on Vimeo.

Day two up Big Cottonwood Canyon - hiking, kid crafts (LOTS of them - including these trash can lid shields and PVC/foam/duct tape swords), food, family stories, tears, music and loving good byes.
This was actually a tough day for me. I had been stressed out running kids around to all their multitude of activities, appointments, and the reunion, managing solo for days with Mike there hit-and-miss (I would stink at being a single mom).  Sometimes you need a little melt-down and then you can get back in the saddle. Other than a little high blood pressure on my part, this day was a wonderful day.

I love seeing my cousins and aunts and uncles. They are an amazing example of how families should be united. I am grateful for them all. I am grateful to belong to them.

Pictures Worth Thousands of Words

There was a time when I thought that having a few little kids was overwhelming. Then I had more. And some of them grew into teenagers. And now I say to my stressed-out 27 year old self ... "Oh girl, if you only knew what was to come..." (And when I am 50 I will say that to my 37 year old self, and so on. Life is a revelation.)
I know you hear this a lot from me here...but I continue to be AMAZED at how much more can be jammed into a family calendar! It's like a hidden dimension ...or a black hole where somehow an infinite amount of stuff can be compacted into a finite space. Mind-blowing.
Mike and I calculated that this past week (actually, this last month) has set new records for our family.  We are learning more every day how to let go, laugh at ourselves, shrug off the small stuff, hang on for dear life, and TRY to savor the moments speeding past us at increasing speed. Could it be that just as the universe is expanding at an ever-increasing rate, we actually experience time passing faster as well? Or is it just the result of growing older? I really think having six kids was part of my plan in life because I needed to learn to swim against the tide of social expectation a little, and to RELAX.
Anyway...here are a few glimpses from life around here over the past week and a half.

Sully - fudgesicle face / moppy hair. I wish he would stay like this forever.

The kids rigged up a 37th birthday balloon drop for Mike - delivered a day late. Consequently, the drama of the moment was somewhat diminished...but the thought was what counted. 

Noble started football tryouts this week (AND somehow managed scout camp at Maple Dell as well). Here he is on  the first day they practiced with pads. He also recently got contact lenses so he could play... I didn't realize how much I had missed his face sans glasses. He looks so grown-up to me now. He turned 12 on the 27th of July (that totally blindsided us) and was ordained this last Sunday to the priesthood. That was such an amazing experience for me. I won't ever forget it. 

Grace wears this outfit whenever we go to the library...complete with accessory glasses. So - while Noble is breaking free from frames, Grace is embracing the look (at least for an hour every-other-week for our regular library visit).  She has been our go-to gal for babysitting lately -as we have been running shuttle services all over creation for the older kids. What would I do without her?

Jessie has the County Fair show this week. She showed her 2-Handed horse, Dolli, on Monday night - where she won several blue ribbons and a spot on the team going to state. Today and tomorrow she is showing with Russell (the infamous). Here she is today with a few friends from the 'hood who stopped by to show support. Jessie looks so old...and beautiful.
She's also done some community service recently. Earlier this week, giving some riding lessons for my sis-in-law's YW group. And last week a horse training demonstration at a boy's summer ranch up by Oakley with my dad. She is quite a girl.

I realize Tillman is the only kid at our house that somehow escaped being photographed this week.  We'll get you next week, T.

Also this past week: a Sampson family reunion here in SoJo / Big Cottonwood Canyon. (That was awesome.)  Girls camp. Birthdays for Mike and Noble (which we barely had time to acknowledge). Another RS service project/activity organized & completed. A new calling for Mike (more later).  Mike started teaching two new Econ. classes in addition to his day job.  And today Mike took Tillman and Sully to spend the last night of scout camp with Noble. With all this - the dirt pile has been on hiatus. I know you were all wondering about the dirt pile.

Somehow we are making things work. Thanks to "the village" (Mike hates it when I used that term - doesn't want to give Hillary Clinton that kind of credit). But really, we would NOT be able to do it all without the help people give. Thank you grandparents, church and scout leaders, aunts and uncles, friends and neighbors!  We are all in it together.