Catch up!

Okay, So I just got done reading my last letter. It was ahem…Written a few moons ago. So I will try to catch you all up and repent of my ways. My last letter was just prior to our trip to Lake Powell and so I will start with some highlights from that trip.
William and Wyatt stayed home, Katherine was a gem and watched them during the day, and Jon had them at night. We drove all through the wee hours of the morning and arrived at the lake before lunch time. My kids were super excited. We got all set up at camp and permission had been granted to all of the children that “YES! You can go get in the water and play” The next thing I know I watch Hunter as he is falling off the end of the slide into the water in a belly flip flop fashion. This is his first entry into the water. There was no one to catch him, or even take a picture. He said it was fun but refused to take another turn. He did laugh and giggle every time his Mom went off the slide however. I was sure that Stiles and Marcus would be little boat hogs. I was only half right. Stiles did try to ski and did Okay on the boom bar. But his love was a tube ride. And he wanted to go on a “big kid ride”, not a “little kid ride.” I admit I was having a hard time staying calm as I watched him out there with his big uncles getting thrown out of their tubes and eating white rocks. But Stiles was eating it up. I think he though the best was when Grandpa managed to unload all three of them at once. Marcus is not the same adrenaline junkie type. I beged and pleaded and finally bribed him with not one, but TWO dollars if he would go on a tube ride. He consented if I would go with him. He would not let the boat go any faster than barely trolling. He kept on signaling for grandpa to go slower. I think that for grandpa to go any slower he would have had to pull out the paddles. (which they did have to use THE paddle and waterski to get back one time) I thought that if I could get him to go just once that he would go again. But once was enough for him, and He made me pay up the $2.00 bribe. Erica was happy to play in the water with Elena and Becca ALL day. Erica and Elena jumped off the back of the houseboat countless times and played well together all week. We decided it would be fun to give the three little girls a tube ride. Elena and Becca were fine with the idea and I think they even had some fun But Erica threw a rip roaring tantrum the ENTIRE tube ride. IF we would have known how crazy her Tantrum would have been we would have recorded it and posted it on you tube. And that poor girl was so tired every night that she just couldn’t even see straight and bawled herself to sleep most nights. It made bedtime a bit memorable and we were all so grateful when she would finally fall asleep. Hunter was so excited to go to Powell. He had no idea what it all meant, he hasn’t been since he was an infant, but he knew it was going to be something way awesome. He played hard and paddled around in the water and took a tube ride and jumped off the back of the boat and generally was just having a ball. Well after a long drive home and as we turned onto Tyhee road and Hunter recognized where we were he asked “ Mom. HOME?” I said “Yes we are almost home Hunter.” Hunter said with anxiety and determination in his voice “NO! POWELL! NO! POWELL!” Like all the rest of us we would rather go to Powell than almost anywhere else, even home.
So after we got home we had a fun crazy week of things I can’t remember probably mostly un packing and trying to green up all of the 5 acres that Jon had let turn brown while I was gone. And we looked forward to the Bannock County Fair. Now this fair is quite small, and not attended by many. But we made it a family goal in January to make entries in the Bannock County fair. So much of this week was spent in the gathering and preparing and entering and showcasing as many things as we could in the fair. And it PAID OFF. My kids all won a “Best of Show” Erica won 2 and I even won one. There were lots of blue ribbons and 2nd and 3rd place ribbons as well. Stiles and Marcus Entered some Chickens and The judge was so nice and Gave them a blue ribbon for the rooster and a red for the hen. The judge said to Stiles while he was looking at the rooster. “Now this rooster truly is a blue ribbon rooster but I am going to give you the blue ribbon because you are holding that chicken that is almost as big as you are!” The whole week was very busy and very fun, AND my kids learned a lot about having to help mom out so we can all do something together as a family. The pay day checks at the end of the week had all of my kids grinning from ear to ear all the way to the bank. Hunter even took home a paycheck for turning in the tallest weed.
Then the next few weeks were full of getting ready to go back to school and celebrating 3 birthdays. Jon and Erica’s birthday bash was fun. We decided that it would be a good idea to give her something to teach her about responsibility. After all the boys have the chickens and all of that. So for Jon and Erica’s birthday Date they tracked down a new GIRL kitty. “so Erica could have a sister” The kitty immediately went into hiding and it took quite a bit of hunting for the little feline before we located her behind the dryer. Erica named her Lily. Which is a big change from her usual “beauty” but since she has named all of her stuffed animals and pet ladybugs “Beauty” she decided that Lily was the perfect name for a kitty. I didn’t try to talk her out of it. It has been fun to have a pet kitty. And Erica is a good little Mommy to her pet. So much so I fear that Lily will be quite spoiled. Wyatt also had his 1st birthday and it was low key and without too much fluff. I got him one of those leapfrog stuffed dogs named Scout that you can connect to your computer and program in your Childs name and songs and Favorite things. Well it has been a challenge to keep it out of Hunter and William’s hands and in Wyatt’s possession since both older brothers are sure that it is THE COOLEST toy. Hunter has already told me that for his birthday he wants an Orange dog, like Wyatt’s. We shall see. Wyatt is pretty content with the monster truck that came from the dollar store and likes to push it around.
School is off to a good start. Stiles is in 4th, Marcus in 2nd, and Erica is repeating Kindergarten. Hunter is also enrolled at the Early learning center for Speech therapy and goes two afternoons a week. I am almost able to accomplish something. But the homework load is really putting a huge demand on my evenings to get all three of them through the things they are suppose to do and Erica’s homework load won’t hit hard for about 3 more weeks.
For Labor Day weekend we packed up the camper and headed up to the mountains above Arco. Up in the Lemhi range. Jon did some hunting with his hunting buddies and the girls back in camp tried not to freeze to death. It wasn’t that cold and we were able to have a fire but it wasn’t that warm either. But the kids had fun and fished in the stream and rode their bikes and built a secret fort in the trees and we went on 4 wheeler rides and ate good and burned up marshmallows over the fire. So far Jon has not taken a shot at an elk yet. But has had some fun exciting hunts and helped others to get their tags filled. We are down to two weeks left in September and the pressure to get something is increasing so I doubt I will see much of Jon or any of his hunting gear over the next two weeks.
SO I think you are up to date on most of the general details of our lives. There is much more to tell like the 2nd flood I had in my basement this summer that left me washing dishes in my bathroom tub for two weeks, the dead mouse behind the fridge, and the coyote that my kids watched carry off one of our chickens that engaged Jon in a “morning hunt.” I’ve been canning Peaches and Pears and salsa. I love that I am blessed with so much and that I have wonderful children and an awesome hardworking husband. I hope to be a better writer and keep you filled in on the details. But if not I hope that I am not totally boring you.

Love Monica and the insanity that as always happening at the Woodin Nickel.

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.

Baby girls at the Woodin Nickel

May 23 2010 Our new arrivals are PINK!
Lots of new Flowers!
Yesterday in the early morning hours Sugar finally had her foal. She is a beautiful buckskin filly with light colored eyes. We have named her Rose -n- Nickel and call her Rose or Rosy . We have had several visitors to see the new arrival and have loved showing her off. Rose is very calm and will come up to you for a little pet and a love. She loves to lick Stiles hands and makes her Momma a bit crazy, as all children do. She of course was born on the coldest day in all of the month of may and we spent quite a bit of time and effort to get her and her momma moved into the barn and out of the cold wind, rain and snow! Today it was a bit warmer and we let the two of them out on the football field for a chance to enjoy some sunshine and a bit of exercise and fresh grass. Rose immediately took off and ran the length of the football field and her mom was right there with her trying to keep her away from the rest of us.
Today While we were gone to church our White goat named Iris had 2 doe lings! We are so excited to have all these new little girls running around here. We named the baby goats. Jasmine and Daisy. William is thrilled with the baby goats and tries to pick them up like he does the cat. It is great fun just to watch William with the goats. It amazes me how fast those animals are up on their feet and running around. The first few hours on wobbly legs is so precious and fleeting. So now that you have been briefed on the Livestock report I’ll try to fill you in on the rest of things going on around here.
This is the last week of school. And we are all excited. I think that when I pull out my new summer chore list for my kids some of that excitement might die a little. In the mean time I am counting down the days when a 6 am alarm means I am getting up because I WANT to be up that early, not because I HAVE to be up that early. I am anxious for a less structured day and bedtime to be whenever I think it should be a good idea. Ask me again in 3 weeks and school in September will be looking REALLY NICE!
Stiles had a solo in the school music concert. He did very well. There were quite a few youth from our ward who had large parts and I really enjoyed listening to all of them. They all did really well. This week we also had our pack night. It was a talent show. Stiles showed off his plants and told about them. He even threw in some knock knock jokes and funny little puns. Afterwards many people asked if he could come over and plant their gardens for them. Stiles was pleased as could be with himself and his talent. It was fun to see all the other boys show their talents as well.
Marcus continues to amaze me with his new found ability to read and read well. He is reading everything he can get in front of his eyes and I am loving every minute of it.
Erica had kindergarten graduation this week. She received a certificate for completing 1 yr of Kindergarten.( apparently WE enrolled her in a two year program) But she sang the songs well and was So happy that her mom and Grandma were there to watch her. William however was NOT happy about being at the ceremony and was making life very miserable. In fact he has become such an independent little guy Jon and I are in agreement that we would rather take all 5 kids at once over William when it comes to having to try and sit still for longer than 10 minutes. Church is a trading game for us. William gets passed back and forth all through the meeting usually at about 10 minute intervals. Today Jon had him during the sacrament part of the meeting and Will managed to spill two cups of Water all over Jon before Jon was able to take the sacrament. It was NOT a very spiritual experience for Jon. Covered in Water and trying to Hold William while passing the tray to Marcus who is not paying attention at all. We will just say that William likes to go to nursery where He can run and play and be loud. We Love it too.
Wyatt has not made the transition from wiggly inch worm to crawling baby but I am sure that this report will change very soon. We are no Longer nursing and he has definitely plumped up a bit since he is getting more than enough to eat with the formula. Still no sign of sleeping through the night but we wouldn’t expect a restful night for the next decade of our lives anyway.
The snowstorm on Saturday made me very glad that I was feeling sick for most of May and that all of my plants were tucked away in the green house and that I was feeling to crappy to think that it would be a good idea to move them into the garden plot. However I did get the garden all lined out and fenced off so as to keep the chickens out of the Garden and hopefully the kids will not walk on the planting beds and the fence will keep them with in the confines of the garden for longer periods of time when it comes time to pull weeds. When it comes to feeling sick I am felling much better. It took a while though. I was wondering if maybe my gall bladder had died, or maybe I had juiardia, or perhaps an ulcer, I even took TWO Pregnancy tests!( (go ahead and Laugh but they were both negative) But in the end I think that my body has fought off whatever it was that was making me feel rather yucky and gross.
Jon has been up in the night every night for many weeks checking on the pregnant animals in the afore mentioned livestock report. He has been very tired and a bit bellyaching about how hard it is to get up a couple times in the night…….I gave him NO sympathy. NONE NADA ZIP! But you have never seen a more excited guy than Jon is about our new horse. HE is SOOOO tickled Pink! Sometimes I think he is more jazzed about the horse than he was about his own kids but I know that is not true. HE is such a good dad and I am lucky to have him. (whew now maybe I can be a bit off the hook when Fathers day comes around) Wait…I didn’t get anything extra special for Mothers day…I am totally off the hook! Just kidding.

Love Monica and the crazy Monkeys at the Woodin Nickel

the Hoover Dam!

Dear MJ and the rest of my devoted readers (all two of you)!

The OX has finally been pulled out of the mire. The hole were the septic tank is housed is now all buried and the ground is being settled back into place. As I was about to sigh a HUGE sigh of relief I fell very sick and spent 8 days not far from my bathroom extremely grateful that it was now working properly and I could flush, shower and wash when ever fancy struck me. I spent much time in bed and Jon was very supportive and did not mumble about how the maid, cook and nanny had taken a leave of absence without proper notification. I was even sick in bed all day on my birthday. My children informed me on this day that they could not sort their laundry in the downstairs laundry room because there was a large and very dirty puddle in that room. And sure enough the kitchen “stuff” was not making it all the way out of the house by way of the plumbing system. Our Neighbor Jim Sant, came to the rescue…AGAIN. And got rid of the stinky offending water…AGAIN. I guess that was a very nice birthday present. So I THINK that our Mire is now mostly cleaned up and the OX is back in the Pasture…just waiting… to get back into the mire. My experience is that the Ox will get back into the mire just when it really isn’t convenient.
So I had a Birthday. I turned 16. And I laid in bed or was being very friendly with my commode, not to be confused with comrade. At dinner that day which Jon lovingly purchased from Papa Murphys and put in the Oven all by himself…I said “Now that I am 16 and I can date maybe Jon can take me on a few dates.” to which Jon instantly replied “You know the Prophet said that you should only go on group dates and wait until you are older for exclusive one on one dating. So I guess I can’t take you on a date unless it is a group date.” So I suppose that since we are always with a large group I am ALWAYS on a group date!
Wyatt is very close to being purposely mobile. He is up on all fours often and spins circles like a top. He usually is stuck in back-up mode but I can see that he is going to switch gears here soon before I am ready for it and THEN I an in TROUBLE!.
I took Stiles to the Dentist…$$$$$$$$. Yep there goes his mission fund! And the Dentist told me that if I didn’t have a piggy bank to pay the orthodontist I had better get one started. This is the 3rd Dentist to give me such distressing news. So I guess I will try to believe them.
Erica has a tooth that just keeps on hanging on. Jon tried to pull it out but the only results was a screaming daughter and some blood in her mouth. And since the tooth was not fully extracted the promise of ice cream was not brought to a reality. Erica is ready for school to be out. Mostly she is looking forward to the end of school parties. I am looking forward to not needing to do her hair for her every morning. Because of course I never get it how she wanted it done!
Hunter is trying really hard to talk. He is adding about a word a day. The words he is adding are not full of great diction, syntax, and diphthongs. But I have a better idea as to what Hunter is trying to tell me. I have a meeting with the school district at the beginning of next week to start the paperwork process of getting some intervening help. I got his testing scores back from his evaluation and he was in the 1% for every part of speech that you could be in. I just sat there thinking to myself “well I could have told the evaluators that! Then we didn’t have to waste a whole afternoon. If a Kid does not talk at all…doesn’t that mean that everyone else who does talk, talks better than him?” But as Hunter is trying to make Language work for him I am so grateful that it seems like words are beginning to make sense for him. Before it just seemed like he was not making that connection.
William is being much better about staying off of the road. Jon and I still watch him like a hawk though. Will is picking up a few works and is totally adorable when he says “UH-OH” He says this a lot. Like yesterday when I found that he had taken half a pitcher of RED Kool-aid into his bed room where there is White Carpet that I very Recently cleaned and then spilled every last drop of the Cherry flavored drink…Who even manufactures White carpet??? It should only be sold to the people who have been contracted to build temples. It should not be available to the common village idiot! Mom, How soon can I borrow your rug doctor again?
Marcus is shooting up like a weed. I can hardly believe how tall he has got since spring break. His reading skills are awesome too thanks to the teachers at Tyhee. Reading Scriptures with him is very enjoyable now and we can tell that his confidence is growing daily with his reading skills. He use to get so frustrated if he didn’t know a word that he didn’t even want to try. Now I am impressed with the words that are flowing out of his mouth.
The irrigation water is available for our use. We have MANY MANY MANY broken pipes. Something to do with having a Baby right before hunting season and then of course the afore mentioned season did not result in proper winterization of irrigation lines and the Cold Idaho Weather does VERY mean things to such systems. Not to mention the horses can do lots of damage to the lines as well, and I will not rule out my kids as a contributing factor to the amount of repair that needs to be done. One of the first areas of repair that HAD to be addressed was our Head gate. Last year Fort Hall Irrigation District changed the head gate above us and cause much and many issues with the water. Just when we thought we had figured out the precise amount of water we needed then things would get all flooded and wash out, or dry up and stop the pump. We decided that if our Head gate by our pump was in better condition that we would have less stress and mess. We had in place just a dirt dam with a little culvert built in. SO since Jon has a concrete mixer we decided to fix the gate in a very permanent fashion. It felt like we were trying to reconstruct the Hoover Dam! Jon and I worked Hard all day and into the night on Saturday to get it finished before the water came down the canal. Stiles was a great help and worked his little tail off. Then as we were about finished with pouring the cement the cement mixer lid flipped over on top of Stiles and I. I took most of the force on my back but it caught Stiles right across the top of the head. We were very blessed that he was not seriously injured. Jon had his back to us pouring the cement, from buckets that we had been filling, into the forms. The Motor to the mixer was running and it is QUITE LOUD. I had to scream for Jon to look and see the predicament we were in Stiles was laying on the ground holding his head and I was trying for all I was worth to push the cement mixer lid back up off of me. Since there was very little cement left in the mixer I was able to get the lid off of me and get the mixer back upright. Stiles was not bleeding which I am sure was a miracle and as we were checking him over he said “Can I be done now? I just want to go inside!” We told him that yes of course he could be done and yes he could go inside. WE finished our new cement Gate/dam and now just have to finish putting together the rest of the pipes at the pump that we took apart for our dam building project and then many pipes to be fixed are on the to do list.
The Garden has been roto tilled for the second time and We have started to build a fence around it to deter the Chickens from eating anything we decide to plant. I hope to get many seeds in the ground this week. We shall see what really gets accomplished at a later date.
We are still waiting for a baby horse Jon is getting tired of getting up and checking the barn every two hours in the night. I do not feel too much sympathy for him. It has been rare in the past 9 years that I had the privilege of sleeping all through the night. We are also expecting one of the goats to have her Kids anytime too. We think she might have as many as three Kids. The poor goats and The poor horse look so miserable. And with all of the laying Hens running around the yard it is a wonder that the whole place is not dripping with estrogen! Jon goes out to the barn and the Pasture and asks “HOW are all my girls doing?” He has over 60 of them! All different shapes too!
So how does a Duck drown? We found one of our ducks has drowned in the water trough…Now you may say that that sounds like a very dumb duck, but also in the trough was a great big Chicken that has drown also. Our theory is the duck was going for a paddle and the Chicken was stupid and thought perhaps she could do the same thing. Well chickens DO NOT have webbed feet and they do not float. We think that in self preservation that the Chicken tried to get on top of the duck to save itself and drown the duck then drown itself.
Just a few more serious thoughts. Since the Passing of Tyrell and Rose’s little boy, Levi, I think about how we are all tried and tested in so many different ways I reflected quite a bit about how when I have gone through my trials and have felt the strength of others through their prayers offered in my behalf it is truly a humbling experience. As I sat in the church at Levi’s funeral and saw much of the family assembled there and knew of the eternal bonds within our family and I thought about all of the rest of my family and Jon’s family who were not physically with me in that meeting and of their love and support of me and my family, and I was truly humbled again. Forever Families are real. They are so precious and I am so blessed to be part of such a loving family who has great faith and strength. And I want to thank all of you for your love and support of me and my family and for the prayers you have offered in my behalf. They have blessed my life and fortified my faith in such ways that you can never know and I can never express. I only hope that somehow, in some way I can return the favor. This church is true. It is through trials that we grow and find joy in this journey. I know that it is hard and that there are many things I do not understand, but I know that Jesus is my Savior and that President Monsen is His prophet. I know there is real power in prayer.

I love you all!
Love Monica and the rest of the Dam building Woodin nickel dwellers

getting the ox out of the mire

Hello to all of my Family. May 2 2010
I am still band from using MY bathroom all though the two other potties and all other plumbing is not off limits. The Tank has been found and yes it was directly under a huge pine tree. The roots had destroyed the lid to the tank and a new lid still needs to be fashioned on the to do list for this week. The said tank in question had not been pumped in oh EVER. We even called some of the previous owners of the house and learned that they had no idea that there was a second tank underneath that beautiful tree. Hence a need to clean out the drain field pipes. President Loveland was very understanding and asked us not to destroy too much of his grain field. We were treading very lightly and managed to find that the job was not done “according to the law” the first time it was done…no surprises there, we are out in the county… SO we have just about cleared the drain field lines of yucky black stuff and we have big plans to put the drain field back to it’s original state with a bunch more gravel and big promises to pump the tank regularly so as not to have the sludge pile up. It took a bunch of crap for 30+ years… I think once we get it back together and throw the dirt back on it I might enjoy looking out the windows… The guy in our ward who pumped out tanks told us that when he went to dump the stuff at the plant that there were A LOT of toys and asked us if we wanted them back… We said NO THANKS and told him he could keep the toys as a tip…WILLIAM! I think this week we might actually get the ox OUT of the mire! But I am not going to hold my breath.
There is not much more to report on. The woes of our septic system has been heavy on our minds and I am not recalling much other interesting things to tell. However Erica has announced that she is “No longer a Kindergartener.” I confess I was concerned with her declaration seeing how we have decided that it is in her best interests to repeat Kindergarten next year. She then Proclaimed that she “Is a first grader in Training!” What ever makes your boat float kid. I’m happy to go along with it.
We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of a new foal. The Foal was due today and we have been checking the mare every few hours for the past three days. With all of Murphy’s luck that baby horse will want to come at 3 am on the coldest of all the nights we will have this spring… That is what our baby goats did last spring. Coldest night when all of the other nights around it were almost pleasant. But tomorrow is suppose to be a warmer day. Windy but not so rainy and cold.
The cold weather and lack of lots of sunshine has put the plants in my green house in a bit of a slow down mode. They have not grown like crazy this week. But like I said last week if anyone wants a few green plants to start their garden I could make you a sweet deal.
I love you all and miss you more.

Love Monica!

Proof of the mire... the OX was missing for the photo shoot

So if you have been following my blog or a friend of mine on Facebook you have heard that things are a bit "messy" at our house. My sister wanted pictures and origanally I thought that I did not want to remember these wonderful moments but as I watch the mess get messier and messier I figure I needed to prove that "YES THIS IS AWFUL AND I CAN PROVE IT!" so here is a little glimps of a tiny bit of the mess at the Woodin Nickel...

the "HOLE" a tree was planted exactly on top of our septic tank... the roots literally just broke and tore up the LID to the tank. We have to make a new lid before we can continue with our project. The beautiful Yellow badger in the background made it possible to dig out the stump and the hole that you see here. We are so greatful to Rusty for letting us borrow it and to Mike for helping us run it!

this is the tree about and hour before it was brought all the way to the ground. We decided that we should cut off all of the limbs one by one so as not to have the tree fall and break our house or our fence. You can see Jon is strapped to the tree with his Hunting Tree Stand Harness. His Hunting Habit did pay off a little bit. Jon lopped of the top of the tree not too long after this picture and then Jim came over with his chain saw and and dropped the trunk of the tree for us without breaking anything else. Then we cut it up and hauled it to a big pile for a big bon fire to be held at a later date...

Get out of the mire!

April 26 2010 If the blasted Ox would just get out of the mire we might be able to clean this mess up!!!!

Yes septic problems continue to rule the roost. While nothing has entered into the house again we have been searching for our septic tanks…note the plural form of the word tank. Jon spent much time digging and yelling for me to run around and flush everything so as to perhaps hear the elusive tank. We borrowed a little bobcat backhoe from our neighbor and finally found a pipe line. Jon and our neighbor Mike dug and dug and dug. Finally after much toil and questionable language emitting from the mouth of the EQP not to mention Rain, Jon found the tank. And in doing so Ripped a good size hole out of it…and broke the pipe to the drain field…oops. Guess where the elusive tank was buried….Right under a HUGE pine tree. What idiot planted a tree directly on top of the tank!?!?! The weight of the huge tree…any guesses as to why it was so huge and healthy?… Was crushing the tank. So now in order to fix.. Ahem… replace the smashed tank requires a chainsaw before the project can continue. I have been band from using my Bathroom and am now required to descend to the basement for all bathroom activities. (I refuse to use the bathroom on the main floor. While we are thankful for Hunter’s potty training success he is still a very poor aim) When the huge tree is cut down and removed we shall have a very big bonfire and you are all invited to bring your own hotdogs and roasting sticks…and a shovel. Then we will be able to finish digging out the crushed like a tin can tank… and then somehow we plan on dragging it out of the hole and putting a new tank in the said hole, next we will have to replace the drain field pipe which was ripped in half courtesy of Jon and then we will fill in the hole with some “roughed up dirt” It was earth day this last week I feel a need to plant a tree. I have a good idea where I will NOT plant one. However, some grass seed is now on my shopping list for this next week.
In other news Wyatt has sprouted two new teeth. Pictures on my blog show his smile with just the two opposite teeth. I called him my Hillbilly baby for two weeks but now his Tennessee Teeth are beginning to even out and he looks less and less like he in two tacos short of a combination plate. Wyatt is also a bit of a inch worm and is moving around the floor little bits at a time he is also developed a great love for tearing up paper and has got to a few books and magazines that now are a bit rumpled and chewed on. I do not have much longer before I am truly in trouble with the messes Wyatt will make.
Erica has NOT been doing well in school since Spring break. After three weeks of falling test scores her teacher called me in and we met with the principal and discussed her grades and behaviors. The end result is we are going to have her repeat Kindergarten this next school year. This will put her in the same class as Elena and Caleb, but Lyndsay, Wesley, Andrew and Mckay will be ahead of her. Which is fine. I think if I tried to push her forward into first grade I would be setting her up to fail.
This week we added 28 laying hens to our menagerie of pets at the Woodin Nickel. The birds were up in Howe Idaho and the boy who had them wanted to start some new chicks. His dad told him he had to sell some of his full grown birds to make room for the new chicks. He Sold us the birds for $2.50 a bird! There were many many people who wanted to buy the birds for that price but nobody wanted to drive clear out to Howe Idaho to get them. Kind of like no one wants to drive clear out to Kimama. But Jon woke the boys up early on Saturday and they Borrowed Fred’s truck with the camper shell and drove the two hours out there and picked up the birds and brought them home… Anybody want to buy some farm fresh eggs. I’ll make you a deal!
Speaking of deals If anyone wants a few Tomato, Pepper, or Cucumber plants from my green house Let me know and I’ll make you a deal on those as well. I might sell some flowers too but I am not sure how many of those I’m willing to let go. And Fred has got A LOT of Cabbage starts in the green house as well. If you talk to him I’m sure that he might let you get a few or half a dozen from him.
I have continued to Lose Marbles but I am getting better at keeping them in my marble jar and My children are getting a bit better at keep a hold of their Marbles as well. In the end if the Marble jars work I may not Lose my marbles.
Hunters speech evaluation was: HE qualifies for any and all Speech therapy. The question now is what program do we try to get him into. OF late though he is adding about a word a day and really trying to make the sounds. HE came running into the house the other day and very clearly said “Will on Road!” And sure enough William had escaped and was out on the road AGAIN!!! Just hanging out on the road AGAIN!!! That Boy of late will hang out by the door waiting for an opportunity to escape OUT to the great outdoors. He reminds me of how the Cat waits on the other side of the door waiting for a chance to come IN!
I don’t Know if I mentioned in Past letters that Stiles Achieved and was awarded he WOLF in the scouting program. HE was also awarded 3 arrow points. Most of which he earned courtesy of living here on the Woodin Nickel. This home has been such a blessing to us in so many ways. The biggest is that it is given us many opportunities to teach our children about hard work and responsibility. I hope Marcus can start “LEARNING” those lessons soon. HE likes to hide when it is time to work. Reminds me a bit of Crystal. Anyway… I think that for the most part you are up to date on the majority of the goings on of the Woodin Nickel. I am thankful for all that I have been blessed with even if it feels like the OX is ALWAYS in the Mire. One day all of my Little OX’s will grow up and move away and take their mire with them but then I have this funny feeling that they will bring their own little bits of mire back home with them. But I’ll just try to clean it up…like always…hey were is a washcloth and about a gallon of disinfectant?

Love Monica and the “HERD” Wallowing at the Woodin Nickel.