Excuses Excuses 2010

Okay, okay, I have been a real slacker…or perhaps anything but. My last email correspondence sent out to all of you that might care was in fact almost 2 full moons ago. So let me tell you all of my excuses as to why you have not heard from me by way of the cyber highway.
I was feeling SICK for most of the Month of May and several different days in June. I am NOT suffering from Morning sickness despite the many similar symptoms. My doctor put me on a once a day anti-acid and I have been feeling much better. I do not think that I am truly all better but after 6 kids I sometimes think that my body was freaking out that it was not pregnant and just going through the motions of morning sickness because I doesn’t know how to not be pregnant after my previous baby reached 9 months oldJ
My next excuse for my lack of communication. “It is JON’S fault” a few days prior to A Woodin Family camping trip to McCall Idaho our one of our two full time employee’s fell deathly ill with internal bleeding and literally almost died. The same day our other employee informed us of his new job that he had just been offered and his intent to quit working for us immediately. Jon was up a creek going from a 3 man operation to Him and Ethan Hall, a young man from our ward. Since then Jon has been going a mile a minute and Ethan is getting way more hours than he was previously promised but he is saving for his mission so it is a blessing for him. But I have been getting more hours than I signed up for too. I’ve been promoted from Water Girl to Water Master and most things around here a pretty green. There are some less that lush areas but We are getting to them as we are able. The Garden by the green house looks pretty awesome but the one by the chicken coup is not looking so hot. I really am ready to roto till the whole thing under and act like it never even happened. The cherries got ripe and we saved a few handfuls from the birds.
I had decided that my baby Wyatt was now old enough to be moved out of Jon and I’s bedroom but in doing so I decided that I would also move Stiles and Marcus to a basement bedroom and put Hunter, William, and Wyatt all in one room and give Erica her own room so that she could have some privacy...she is a girl after all. In the whole of this transition I borrowed my Mom’s rug doctor so that I could clean carpets after moving large amounts of furniture and decided that the basement bedroom would be much more attractive and maybe my boys would keep it cleaner if they helped paint and decorate their new bedroom. Stiles and Marcus worked hard and we painted a room one day, moved their furniture in the next, and cleaned carpets in their old room, and then the next day after, moved all of the stuff and ripped out the carpet in the adjacent basement room that had flooded…yes my house was in shambles…and still is. Still not good enough excuses for you. Well then William was sitting up to the table on the bench and Hunter decided that he wanted to sit in that exact spot and pushed William…right into the counter. 5 stitches in the back of William’s head and then we load up our new baby filly and rush her into the Vet because she has a hernia, this was on the same day, then the day before William is suppose to get his stitches out Marcus and Stiles were having a tug or war fight on opposites sides of the door and I don’t know who won but the door was okay but Jon missed Sacrament meeting that day as He took Stiles to the Dentist so that Dr. Hugues could fix Stiles broken left front tooth. And literally 3 minutes prior to the broken tooth I asked my kids to stop fighting and please go brush their teeth. Speaking of front teeth Marcus just lost one of his baby teeth as I was writing this. which reminds me that Erica lost one as well and the tooth fairy was not very prompt in exchanging cash for rotten baby teeth.
We have had some fun in all of our woes. We did a weekend overnighter camping trip to McTucker Ponds we didn’t realize that it was free fishing days there while we were there but when we did we got in line to get our free hot dogs and put our names into the raffle drawing. Wyatt won a fishing pole which Jon picked out (ahem). We did the ward campout the following weekend at Indian Springs and the kids all had a ball. The next weekend was the Woodin Family camping trip. Jon was not able to attend the camping trip to McCall so I went by myself with 6 kids and the Camper in tow…the camper was much easier to tow by the way. The trip was way fun we even got lost going to Riggins and ended up in Council. (never trust a GPS) but we found a little fishing hole and the kids all got to catch a fish. There were great ghost stories complete with a ghost. And We had fun one day at a hot springs, and then another in the sand by the lake. We did a hike with all of the little kids and that was not as bad as it sounds. The Food was good and the company great. However the moments when I could not find William were a bit gut wrenching. He had found a campsite that was blowing bubbles and joined in on the fun. After we found him we took a piece of Duct tape and wrote “I belong in site # 67” and taped it onto all of the kids three and under. A lot of our fellow campers from neighboring camp sites were kind enough to haul our kids back to us. I guess they had heard the saying “Don’t take any Woodin Nickel’s” and they were following that sound advice.
I have to tell you about my cat. When we did our over nighter to McTucker Our cat, Georgia, (My kids named her) got locked in the house. Well there is not a kitty litter box in my house because Georgia is an out door kitty who occasionally gets to come in and take a nap on somebody’s bed. Well when we came home She bolted right out and then the smell of cat poop hit me like a wave. “OH GROSS” I thought and since we got back from camping quite late I transferred my sleeping kids to their beds before I went in search of the offending smell. Well I looked and looked and I just really couldn’t find nor did I WANT to find it. So I decided that I had better at least climb in my shower and get the camping stink off of me at least. And there in my shower was all of my Cats business. I was so happy with my cat all I did was turn on the water and washed it on down the drain. I loved that cat that night. She has been the best cat with my kids. Especially with Wyatt. Since Wyatt learned how to crawl, Oh yeah Wyatt can crawl now, ( he even crawled himself off of the stage at the church, WHAM) I have been worried what their interaction would be but I have watched him crawl over to my cat Georgia grab her by the fur and the tail. Pull her closer and then crawl on top of her then lay on her. And Georgia just sits there, she doesn’t scratch or try and bat him away, So you can understand how sad I felt when Jon told me he found her out on the road a lot less alive than the last time I saw her. He assured me that he took proper care of her and “kicked her off to the side of the road so that the kids won’t see her.” Got to love that man!
We were suppose to go camping this weekend but that got shelved early on in the week so I set up the tent in the yard and put a TV and DVD player out there and my kids spent several nights out in the tent. I guess it beats making their beds in the morning. WE also spent some time out at American falls Reservoir me and the kids of course with out Jon. We had lots of fun both times. Erica and I managed to sunburn our backs pretty bad the second time we went and Both of us have been a bit sore ever since. She has been a trooper and I have been a wanny.
So lets see. I painted a room, had my basement flood, ran my kids to the doctor more than once and my baby horse, watered and weeded the majority of a 5 acre property, oh and I cleaned the shop and the barn and bucked a ton of hay one day. Haircuts ( I have 6 boys) , My cat got run over. The ward is currently building the 24th of July parade float in my big shop and I hosted an impromptu BBQ as part of that this Saturday and I have Pack night campfire night here on Wednesday night as well. The parade float is awesome and I expect to have many people in and out all of this week finishing putting it together. And I am trying to get ready to go to Powell without Jon again next week. Now all of these things all spread out over two months is just classic everyday life here at the Woodin nickel but you throw in Jon’s EQP calling, doing visits with the Elders, and kids in diapers, and Chickens, and Skunks under the chicken coop, Chicken for dinner (didn‘t get there from the store). Three meals a day and TONS of laundry, not to mention dishes and floors, did I mention my basement flooded too. Well I have been a bit busy trying to hold everything together… there is a reason I am not milking goats this summer, can you tell what it is?…..I need to go Visiting Teaching…
Anyway I want you all to know that I love you all and think that you are all super wonderful. I look forward to Powell and will miss my family who won’t be there, but hey you were invited. And to MJ…You may think that you live in Paradise there in Florida but I promise you that next week when I am surrounded by nothing but warm water and red rock you know who will truly be in paradise…J And to Brian. I am really enjoying your blog. You make me laugh. Keep your posts coming.

Monica and the Woodin Nickel mess that is mine and I love.