The Chaperone

When we first moved to Idaho 9.8 years ago, I remember thinking that I couldn't wait for my baby to be in the 4th grade so I could learn some Idaho state history. Well, time flies; my baby is in the 4th grade, learning Idaho history and teaching some to me.

Ever since Sabrina started school, I wanted to be a chaperone on a field trip - even more after Sabrina came home from the all day field trip to Zoo Boise/Julia Davis Park in the first grade when she was so excited to have sat next to the "chapperphones" on the bus. I finally got my oportunity last week when her class went to Bown House. Bown House was constructed in 1879 by Joseph Bown and family. Boise School District purchased the land that the house was built on for another elementary school and decided to renovate it to use for field trips. The house has 6 rooms in it that show off different aspects of life in 19th century Idaho. Farming, School, Kitchen, Parlor, Geography/Oregon Trail, and History/Newspaper.

In the farming room the kids got to play a game where they picked crops to plant, purchase tools that would make cultivating plants easier, pick a part-time job for Ma and Pa to do in the off season.

In the school room, there was a real live school marm with all the rules that you see in Little House on the Prairie or Anne of Green Gables. The students totally joined in the role play. In this picture, you see Sabrina having her penmanship looked at and the teacher is doing a "hygeine check" which was look at their hands and behind their ears. She was very shocked to see pink nail polish on one of the girls. They read from a reader, did math problems on a slate. Sabrina says it is hard to write in cursive on a slate.

In the kitchen, they got to pump water, churn butter (pretend), slice an apple (and then eat the slices, yum) and roll out biscuits (made out of play dough).

In the parlor, they got to dress up in period clothes. The kids were surprised that they would only have 2 pair of clothes to wear during the week. One pair for Monday-Saturday and one pair for Sunday. The girls got to work on some quilt blocks; all of them could look in the Bown family bible, and play with a moon spinner or a Jacob's ladder.

In the Geography room, they answered questions about the Oregon Trail and played a game. Mr. Bown came west first, to get rich in the gold mines, but when that didn't work out too well, he decided to move his family to Idaho to farm and make money selling stuff to the miners. In order to get back to Iowa for his family, he traveled from Boise to San Francisco to Panama to New York. I never realized that was an option I figured you'd just go backwards along the Oregon Trail.

In the Newspaper room, they learned about events that happened during the lifetime of Joseph and Temperance Bown. Like gold strikes, communication advances - Pony Express, telegraph, telephone; electric lights, automobiles, airplanes.

What a fun morning! Next time I'll have to stay at school with Sabrina and eat lunch with her.

Happy Birthday Keturah!

Happy Birthday to my big sister, Keturah! I am glad that we are close in age so that I could have so many awesome memories with you. Like the Singles Ward at WSU, Jr high choir with Mrs. Loughton, the classes we took together at WSU - Chorale, Tennis, French -, learning barbershop - with our other sisters - singing the National Anthem at the Buzz baseball game and the Grizzlies hockey game, JTPA, "Me and My Girl". I hope you have a good day.

Hair

I've had a lot of hair styles over the years. This is me at age 10. My hair is growing out from a really short cut that my mom gave me because another mom mentioned to her that my hair kept getting in my eyes, making it hard for me to play softball.

Next, I was barely 16. I had dyed my hair black with a temporary black dye for the school musical. The 3 weeks of the temporary dye came and went and my hair stayed black, so my sister and her friend (both cosmetology graduates) started doing all sorts of things to my hair to strip the color out of it. What I ended up with was a calico hair color. This is how I went to Junior Prom.

As soon as prom was over, I had my sister cut my hair really short. I got my first driver's license with this haircut, of course it was better styled - here I had just woken up in the morning on a camping trip to the Tetons.

Through my senior year, I kept with the same short style. It was so easy to do, just wash and go. Even though I grew my hair a couple of times, I ended up cutting my hair two months before Ryan and I got engaged, so my hair looked like this again.


Now my hair style is long enough to cover my ears (if I would just stop pushing it behind them) but short enough that it is not possible to do pony tails or braids.



Enter Roderic. He has a fetish with my hair. I first noticed it when nursing him. I thought he would outgrow it. He hasn't, yet. I have hope that one day he will stop petting, pulling, twisting, pretend cutting my hair. We'll have to warn his future bride, for sure.

Do you think that maybe if I cut my hair really short it would cure him? I've got an appointment with my favorite hair dresser who isn't my sister in March, and need to start prepping Ryan if it's going to be drastic.

Cheese

How can you not be completely under the spell of a child who smiles at you like this?

Questions and Answers

Q: How many pictures must be taken to get a good one of the whole family?
A: 17


Q: Did you make the clothes for the picture?
A: Yes. I made a dress for me, a jumper for Sabrina and vests for the 3 boys.

Q: How many hours does it take to get from your house to Grandma's?
A: 4.5 hours

Q: How many hours did it take to get from your house to Grandma's on December 26, 2008?
A: 7.5 hours! The freeway was closed from Burley, ID to Snowville, UT, so we had to take a 2 hour detour through Pocatello, ID and drive much, much slower due to the snow.


Q: Why on earth did you travel to Utah on such a snowy day?
A: I had to be in Utah to sing "O Holy Night" with my sister in my parent's ward on that Sunday, and there was a big Gibby Christmas party on that Saturday that we wanted to attend. When I spoke with a friend after our return, she said that Saturday it snowed all day (from 5am to 5pm) - we wouldn't have gone. When we left on Friday, the sun was shining all the way to Twin Falls.




Q: How many batches of peanut brittle did your mom teach you how to make?
A: 2 and they are delicious (still!) I hope I can remember how to make it again next year.

Q: How many relatives do you know who got a Wii for Christmas this year?
A: 3 and my children had a blast playing with them all! And I also had fun playing Wii Sports.


Q: How many times did you go to Salt Lake on this trip?
A: Twice. Once on Sunday, our anniversary, to see the lights on Temple Square with the Biddulphs and Gibby parents. And once on Wednesday (ie New Years Eve) to attend the First night festivities at The Gateway with Daniel & Michelle and fam.





Q: How many Laser shows at planetariums do you think you'll attend in your lifetime?
A: One was plenty for me. I have never enjoyed music I don't like played too loud. I spent most of the time with my ears plugged. Hyrum and Roderic, on the other hand, fell asleep. I was bummed that my seat didn't have a good view of the shapes the lasers were making. I had to crane my neck while balancing a sleeping Hyrum on my lap.


Q: What is Hyrum's new favorite sentence?
A: "I an a ide a nain!" (translation for those of you not fluent in Hyrum "I want to ride the train!") We mentioned on 12-29 that we should ride FrontRunner to SLC on 12-31 and ever since then Hyrum has asked to ride the train. Unfortunately there are no passenger trains for him to ride in Boise. He had a blast riding the train. As did all the cousins. Parents of this generation are so spoiled by having laws enacted to have children strapped to their seats in cars. There were numerous 'games' of musical chairs all the way to and from SLC.




Q: Did you lose anything on this trip?
A: Funny you should ask. We misplaced the diaper bag I made and it hasn't turned up in the lost and found at the Planetarium or UTA. Inside that bag was diapers, wipes, scarves, gloves, hats and the noise makers that Roderic, Hyrum and Jaron made at the Gateway Discovery center. Without the scarves, hats and gloves we had to forgo the sledding we had planned with the Ward's. Without the wipes, I had to use a washcloth to clean up a stinky diaper at my parent's house. Without the noise makers we had to...nope they were all plenty noisy at midnight. So the thing that makes me so sad is that the bag is gone and lost forever! I hope someone is getting good use out of it now.

Q: How many cousins did you get to spend time with?
A: On the Christensen side -- 0. Milaka was in OR, Cortney in SC and Shanda in MT. On the Gibby side -- ALL 21! It was neat to see our GA cousins for the first time in years, and the Vidmar's new house and the Ward's new house, and have Aunt Genette take the kids to McDonald's while Ryan and I were at the Ogden Temple for a sealing session.




Q: How many loads of laundry did you do upon your return home?
A: I lost count after 6.