Pig Roasting and Cow Wrangling

I've been getting behind on my blog again because we have been busy living life and so this post is to document two unrealted but similar events.

Part 1- The Pig Roast

Our church congregation decided to have a traditional Hawaiian Christmas luau! Somehow, Max along with the young men in the church were assigned to get and roast a pig. Max put a lot of time and energy into the planning aspect of this party and it turned out great!

The pig supplier sold the pigs frozen so naturally i had to pick up the pigs a day before the event (while Max is at work) and thaw them in our bathtub....oddly enough, it wasn't the first time we had a pig in our bathtub.

Anyway, After I dropped Miles off at preschool. Edwin and I went to the store for the pigs. We picked up a 75 pound and 40 pound pig. Thankfully the store employ loaded them into the car. After I got home, I got the 40 pound pig up the stairs with no problem, the 75 pound pig I was able to pull into our living room but thankfully my good friend Marie who is super strong, raised and showed pigs as a kid and is a highland game champion, came over and helped me take the larger pig up. (They were frozen in boxes.)

Since this was such a unique event my friend Heather came over too with her little boy and all the boys loved watching the pigs.

 

 

And it really was so weird to see a whole pig in our bath, I had to continuously change the water and at one point I walked in and the pigs eye was wide open...staring at me. I had to run out of the bathroom, take a moment to compose myself then go back in to change the water. (The ear was frozen over the eye when we first started thawing the pigs so I didn't know if they still had eyes.) 

 

Ok, so this is not really the point of this post but it seemed pretty significant and memorable for me so there it is. The next day. Max was going to be gone all day roasting the pig and Charlie got to go with him and the other young men from church. 

Thankfully we didn't end up doing it in our yard. (The original plan) Our friends already had a pit in their yard so they got to use that pit.

All the boys chopping wood for the fire. (Charlie is totally wearing his little brother's sweatshirt...)

Charlie was a great helper and interested in every little bit of it!

Charlie thinks he's one of the big kids.

 

In the meantime, I was home with the little boys trying to find islander clothes and making my hair look like Moana. haha. The only Hawaiian thing I could find was this lobster shirt.

Anyway, the party was amazing, the authentic food was excellent, and no one got food poisoning (I had nightmares about this before picking up the pigs, i was worried the tub wasn't going to be sanitized enough or that I would thaw it too fast then not have a fridge to store it!) And there are no photos from the party. Also, Max's river grandma came with us, so that was fun!

Event 2: Cow wrangling
This event isn't really related except that it involves more quality time with the kids and livestock.
The following Saturday, Max uncle let Max know that their cow was about ready to take to the butcher. Max's Uncle Jay raises meat cows on his property and Max and his brother have been helping Jay work on his ranch house in central Oregon in exchange for a cow.  We were going to get our Christmas tree that day but decided to get in the Friday night before (that will be another blog post) So Max could go out to Central Oregon and have some one-on-one time with Miles who really needed it. They went Saturday morning and stayed until Sunday afternoon. They went and checked out the cows and worked on the ranch house. It was cold and snowy there. And they had a good time. For some reason, there was so much going on with the house that they decided not to wrangle the cow and take it to the butcher. But they did get to visit and feed the cows. Miles loved it!

 They pulled these large hay bales across the property and dropped them off the back of the truck and the cows would come running. Miles thought this was hilarious.

In the meantime, I wanted my time with Charlie and Edwin to be extra special.  We started our Saturday morning with cleaning the church. One of Charlie's favorite things. They were actually great helpers with cleaning the fingerprints off the windows that they probably put there.

 We then made our way to Chik-fil-a for a late breakfast. I have never been to an Oregon location and only went once when living in Utah, but everyone swears that it is amazing so we finally made the 20 minute drive. And we were pleasantly surprised by the food and the excellent play place. And since it was Charlie's day, we just played for a long time. not rushed at all to get to the next place.
Funny Side Story: There was another family cleaning the church with us and as soon as we pulled into Chik-fil-a, they were there too. haha, (did I mention it was 20 minutes away and he hadn't told anyone our plans?)

 After a long time of playing, we made our way to the nearby Target so Charlie could pick out his Christmas gift for Edwin. So that was fun.

When we got home we worked on writing Charlie's talk for church the following day. It was fun to actually put time and study and thought into his talk, so he could feel confident with reading it for his primary class.
 
We also enjoyed some game time, making ornaments designed by Charlie, and making cookies from one of his birthday cookbooks. 

It ended up being perfect. Charlie kept talking about what an amazing day it was, and Miles loved his time with Daddy. Neither boy was jealous of the other. And we can just appreciate our chilren more when they get some one-on-one time. 

Max and Miles got home about 15 minutes before our gingerbread decorating party started on Sunday evening....which will be in another upcoming blog post.

Charles the 7-year-old

Charlie turned 7 a couple weeks ago and boy oh boy has he got me pondering these last 7 years! So much wondering "what the heck am I supposed to do to give this child the best life possible?" and even more "How can we love this human so much?" The day before his birthday we got to go on a little mother/son date to one of Charlie's favorite parks. It was the perfect outing for us. He had so much fun posing for photos and taking photos and we loved playing together. It was one of the longest time frames where I didn't need to ask him to correct his behavior. Like, the whole experience was positive! This may not seem like a big deal to most, but I will just say, Charlie has been a challenging, high energy, not-so-focused child. And I say this with all the love of a Mother, I'm not complaining or angry, just keeping it real. I do want to remember that this child raising is hard, and be grateful for the journey Charlie and I have to go through together.  But one-on-one time is usually great for Charlie and Me. 

So here are some photos from that.

  

So, I have had a hard time figuring Charlie out, He has so much energy and difficulty concentrating, unless it's something he's super excited about. He has such a good heart and loves to be a friend to everyone, he's so confident. 

Charlie is a natural leader. He thinks of great games, inventions, creations, crafts and grand ideas that never come to full fruition...(like the outdoor library where he pulled multiple boxes of books onto the deck, made signs, wanted to invite the whole neighborhood...but then had to put the books away before it rained)

Charlie had a rough start in First Grade. after a couple weeks, he started to dread school. After trying a couple things, we let him start riding the bus and he hasn't had any problems since. He is on track with his reading and we are still searching for a way for him to have better focus during writing time. (Please, we are totally open for suggestions!!)

This boy loves his family. He fights a lot with Miles but they also play amazingly well. He loves bossing Miles around and Miles usually loves to go along with Charlie's grand ideas. Charlie loves making Edwin laugh and play all sorts of games with him.

I promised him that he could take some photos too. it was so fun to see him behind the camera. He instructed me on where to walk, how to stand, where to look, how to tilt my head, and how to smile. He really had a vision.

Then we decided to go on a little hike. I can't keep up with this speedy kid anymore. But luckily he gets easily distracted and I'm able to catch up.

He is a constantly curious! He is always wondering how things work and making inventions.

He had lots of ideas for photos too, so I tried to humor him.

For his birthday I realized he had been inviting people over for awhile various days before his birthday. No one at his school knows where we live yet. I planned him a simple party and invited two close friends and their kids since our living room is small and I didn't want to cram any new friends in there. But before the party, he woke up and he got his favorite meal for breakfast, Puffy Pancakes! (Dutch Pancakes)   

We made Charlie's cake, he requested the same cake we made him last year, a doughnut shaped, super chocolatey cake with blue frosting.

 

After awhile we drove out to pick up Max from work and we went to Red Robin for a birthday lunch! (All birthdays here revolve around food apparently) 

After lunch, my mom and Don picked up charlie to take him to pick out a Build-a-Bear and get some ice cream. 

After he got home, he decorated his cake. 

We got out the ingredients to make personal Naan pizzas and our friends came over and we all made pizzas. (and Apparently no photos of pizza were taken) After pizza time the kids got all sugared up with cake!

Charlie's theme for his birthday revolved around his goal to be a chef. He got some kid cookbooks, a rolling pin. He also, got an umbrella he's super excited about. He said his big goal is to be a chef and his little goals are to cook something everyday, and to take a cooking class when he's eight. It has actually been super fun to cook with him. He has gone through his recipe books and marked recipes he wants to try. Then he picks two each week and writes the ingredients on my grocery list. (He's mostly picked treats so far) I seriosuly get so excited for positive activities i can do with Charlie. I know he gets super overwhelmed at school and home for people correcting his behavior or scolding him. So when I find something that both make us happy and we get excited about it and he can focus and listen and have fun, it just feels amazing.

And here's Mr. Charlie's interview

Name: Charles

Nicknames:Charlie

How old are you? 7

What is your favorite color? Blue and Red and Gold

What is your favorite animal? Cheetah

What is your favorite book? The Book with no Pictures

What is your favorite TV show? "I have 2, PJ Masks and My little Pony"

What is your favorite movie? "I don't know which are movies or not"

What is your favorite song?A made-up song, goo goo ga ga"

What is your favorite food?I have 2 favorite foods, macaroni and cheese and Puffy Pancakes"

What is your favorite drink?"juice, all kinds of juices."

What is your favorite snack? Treats

What is your favorite treat? Ice Cream

What is your favorite outfit? My blue pants and My light blue shirt

What is your favorite game? Don't Eat Pete and Duck Duck Goose

What is your favorite toy? My magnet Car

Who is your best friend? "Gwenevere and Grace and Everett and Their whole family"

What is your favorite thing to do? Playing with My friends

What is your favorite thing to do outside? "Play with friends"

What is your favorite holiday?"Christmas"

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? "My Stuffed animals"

Where is your favorite place to go? "Fun Friday at School"

What is your favorite restaurant? Red Lobster

Where do you want to go on vacation? Disneyland

What do you love? My family
 What did you do on your birthday? "Have cake, friends come over to my house"

What do you do really well? "Ride my bike"

What makes you laugh? "Jokes"

What are you afraid of? "Monsters"

What do you like to do with your family? "Fun stuff, stuff that I like"

What do you love to learn about? "Science"

What is your mom good at?"Playing with me"

What is your dad good at?"Playing with me"

What is Miles good at? "Learning at Preschool"

What is Edwin good at? "He's learning how to talk"

Tell me a joke? "What did the blueberry say to the air?" "What?" "Umm..I'm thinking...why are you writing whatever I say? can you erase it..ahhhh, You're getting blew-berry"
Charlie didn't seem to like that I wrote all the out so here is a new joke...
Charlie's new joke: What did the strawberry say to the hot water?" "What?" "You're getting strawberry hot?"
What is something you learned this year? "Uhhh...I did not learn anything!'
 What makes mommy laugh? "Knock knock" "Who's there" "goo goo ga ga" "Goo goo ga ga who?" "Why are you doing whatever I say"
 What's a nice thing you have done for someone? "give them cookies."

And there is a whole lot about our Charlie. Everyday is a learning experience with him but boy do we love him, he is amazingly helpful and an exceptional Big Brother!