The Randall's Road: February 2013

We have had a good month but we are ready to have it be over. We have Spring fever and can’t wait to get out and work in our yard. The garden is calling to us and we look longingly out the window at it. It is, however, too cold and muddy still to do anything with it. Brady and Ellie have planted some carrots and onions in pots here in the house so that they can be transplanted in the spring. They just started to sprout within the past few days.

Our chickens are doing great and are excited about the weather being a little nicer the past few days. We did discover though that one of our “hens” is actually a rooster. So we now wake up to two Cock-doodle-dos (lucky us) we might just have to have chicken nuggets in the next day or two (don’t tell the kids).

The best thing about February, of course, was Brady’s baptism. We are so glad, Grandma, that you were able to come and wish that Grandpa could have come too. Brady thought the water was pretty cold, but he said that afterwards he felt so clean that he felt like he had showered for three days. What a cute and great kid!

We are part of a fun school group. We get together once a week to learn various things, play, and go on field trips. We went to a natural history museum and a movie theater this month for our field trips. Both places were very interesting.

This month we also learned about Ernest Shackleton. He was an amazing man. We learned that he took a group of men to try and cross Antarctica, but their ship was trapped in the ice before they made it to Antarctica. They had to spend the winter in their ship and then abandon it when the ice broke the ship and made it sink. They camped on the ice for months while it drifted around. Then they got in the life boats they had saved from their ship and sailed to a tiny, uninhabited island where no ships ever came. Shackleton took 5 other men and sailed 800 miles over the world’s stormiest ocean in a 23 foot boat to get help. They made it to an island with a whaling station on it, but landed on the wrong side. The boat and two of the men were not in any condition to sail the 150 miles to the other side, so Shackleton took two men, left one to care for the sick ones, and crossed the interior of the island to get help. The interior had never been crossed before. It was very mountainous and had many glaciers and crevasses. They did not sleep or rest. They made it to the whaling station in 36 hours. All three men later wrote that as they crossed that island it seemed their group had a fourth man helping them along. That was my favorite part. It reminded me of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. Shackleton eventually got back to his men on the other island. It took four tries because there was so much ice around the island. They had to wait for him for 4 ½ months. However, he rescued every one of them and after 2 years they finally went back home to England. It was such a neat story and all the kids really liked it.

Bryan got released from the Elder’s Quorum Presidency this month. Now he is the in the Sunday School Presidency. I got to speak in Sacrament meeting about Scouting because I am the Primary Counselor over Cub Scouts. We also had our Blue and Gold Banquet this month. Tons of people showed up and it was really awesome. Brady is really busy with Cub Scouts and loves it. Afton loves nursery and talks about singing “temple” there. She wants to sing “I Love to See the Temple” every night at bedtime.

Ellie and I just read a book about a girl who sewed a sampler and Ellie wanted to learn to do that. Brady was interested, too, so they are both learning to sew a little bit. I am the wrong mom to teach them, but I’m all they’ve got, so we are trying.

We have had some fun learning this month. We’ve learned about Galileo, about China’s only woman emperor, and Beowulf. We finished The Black Stallion, Matilda, Stuart Little, and are almost done with the Bobbsey Twins (the 1^st book). They want me to read them Mary Poppins next. We are hoping to be able to take them to St. George this summer to see the play of Mary Poppins at the outdoor theater down there.

Brady's first day of Cub Scouts

The Beauty Queen

Bryan's very cool Keva Plank creation

After a few warm days, collecting eggs was a challenge for Brady and Ellie. By the time they got inside, they had both fallen several times and were covered in mud. It was hilarious watching them try to walk through that sticky, deep, clay mess.

Fun with some of the Grandparents who came for Brady's baptism.