The Ferens Farm

Austin loves to crawl through tight places and tunnels, so after a morning of doing things for the other kids like art and playing games, Brandon and the kids made a huge fort tunnel in the living room and they had a blast playing in it.  We cleaned it all up last night, but first thing this morning Zac was creating a tunnel of his own.  I guess Austin isn’t the only one who loves tunnels! I have a feeling this tunnel construction might go on for a while…

There are time periods with each one of my kids that I do not want to relive.  Zac between the ages of 2-3.5 was A LOT of work, I wouldn’t care to go back and revisit that time frame because I don’t know if I have it in me to do it again!  Zoey has been challenging on and off, but last summer was especially challenging and I am glad we are through it.  Up until now Ally has been really nothing but sweet, she has made me want to smile and cuddle her.  That all changed about a week and a half ago when she changed into Miss Mischief.  Don’t get me wrong, she is still sweet and cuddly, but she is also messy and “making bad choices.”

Ally has a best friend named Sierra.  They have been buddies since day one.  Individually they have both done a good job of following rules, but together they have gotten into trouble exploring.  They encourage each other to do things they know are wrong, and because the other one isn’t stopping whatever they are doing, they egg each other on until caught.  This behavior has been going on for about a year now, so when they are together we just keep a closer eye on them.  As a team they have wondered off in many directions, made a mess of the bathroom, played in the sink, “washed” their hair with hand soap and lotion, painted the church carpet and themselves blue, etc.  This  behavior has caused problems on and off for me, but now Ally is making these kind of choices alone and it is almost too much for me to handle.

The bathroom sink has always been a very attractive place for Ally to play.  She lingers when washing her hands, brushing her teeth, getting a drink of water, etc.  She loves to see how much water she can get on the counter and herself, as well as play with a drinking cup that used to be near the sink (this has been relocated.)  This behavior has been bothersome, but in all actuallity easy to deal with, it is just water.  As of last week the sink playing has been taken to a new level.  Ally started her new identity as Miss Mischief when she decided to wash her hair in the bathroom sink with hand soap, alone.  This is something she has tried with Sierra, but this time she was flying solo.  Then she got into Austin’s diaper cream and smeared in all over herself and Austin’s window sill.  She has also been getting into my bathroom drawers and pulling out dentalfloss to chew on.  She is on a quest for siccors and keeps cutting things up when she finds them.  Ally has also drawn all over herself with marker several times in the last week.  Then yesterday she decided to get into my bathroom drawer and cover herself with my expensive face cream (she used almost the entire container, which was 3/4 of the way full and costs $30) and hair cream.  It was all over her arms, neck, face and hair, as well as all over my bathroom counter, knobs, toilet seat cover, and her babydoll.  Oh yeah, did I mention that she had Sierra in on this one too, so there were two 2.5 year olds to clean up, as well as the bathroom.

Can you believe all of this in less than 2 weeks time?  I have been at my wits end with her.  It seems like every time I turn around she is doing something wrong and messy.  I can not relax when she is awake.  She has even started playing with her dirty dishes at the kitchen table, covering herself, the table, and floor completely in whatever she just ate (this happened before at a tolerable level, now it is just over the top.)  After yesterday’s incident, in which I nearly broke down into tears, we had a good long talk about making “bad choices.”  I think she got it because the rest of yesterday and all day today she kept saying, “Mama, I making good choices.”  And when I picked her up from my parents house tonight she said, “I didn’t make bad choices Mama.”

I stayed on her like a hawk today,and it was a mess free day (well, as mess free as a day can be with a 1 year old, a 2 year old, a 4 year old, and a 5 year old.)  The problem is, I have 3 other kids to watch, and when I am preoccupied with one of them she will likely strike again.  I am scared to think what she will get into next…

Oh Ally, little Miss Mischief, please control yourself, Mama feels like she is about to go crazy watching you and trying to make sure your baby brother doesn’t kill himself climbing up the walls and pulling glass bowls out of the cupboards!

As long as I can remember the importance of family has been instilled in me.  It was obvious in my family growing up that nothing came before family.  It was expected that I would choose a family event over something with friends and, for the most part (besides a few times in high school), I made this choice.  It is not just my immediate family that feels this way, the Haskins’ family as a whole places a high importance on family.  Because of this we have an annual family reunion where nearly everyone is present, nearly every year, and there are around 100 of us by now!  We spend the weekend on family property camping along the river in Rochester, WA.  My kids play with my Dad’s cousin’s kid’s kid’s!  Since I began going to this reunion around 5 years of age I have never missed it, I think this is the only thing I have done every August of my life for the last 25 years!

Every year the reunion looks a little different, depending on which family (we are broken into 3 groups based on which if the 3 brothers your family originated from) is in charge that year.  But there are a few things that are consistent: family golf on Friday; community breakfast, river float, softball, and BBQ on Saturday; community breakfast, worship service, egg toss, candy in the hay, family trivia, and community lunch on Sunday.  As you can guess when 100 get together  there is a lot of diversity and not everyone does everything, but that is okay.  We don’t have any major family arguments or tension.  We are all fairly accepting and very loving and it is fun.  I am so thankful to be part of such a “functional” family and pass on this legacy to my kids.  I LOVE my family, all parts of it, and so do the kids, it is a special blessing to be part of this kind of family here on earth.

This year’s reunion was HOT, around the mid 90′s all three days!  We spent a lot of time in the river and the shade, doing a lot of  trying to stay cool.

One “extra” thing we did this year was the kids tie-dyed shirts, here are my 4 kids sporting their shirts at home.

We made it to Seattle this weekend, it has been nearly 3.5 years since we were there last time!  The trip was motivated by a doctor’s appointment we had at Children’s Hospital for Ally.  Since she began walking we have noticed she walks with her toes pointed in (called intoeing) and since she still hasn’t grown out of it we wanted a specialist to examine her (turned out she is just fine and will continue to grow out of it!).  Since it is a big deal to take 4 kids to Seattle and get to an appointment by 10am we made a night of it.  We headed over on Sunday night and, thanks to Priceline, we stayed in a 4 star hotel in downtown Seattle, on the 17th floor, facing the water!  It was very fun, the kids LOVED watching the city out the window and looking for “stretchy buses” driving by.  When we got to Seattle, we checked into the hotel and then headed to Pike Place Market before it closed.  We met up with a good friend Anne Marie  for a walk through the market and dinner.  It was great to expose the kids to the variety and culture the market provides and even better to see Anne Marie!  Back at the hotel we took a dip in the swimming pool, which was located on the 28th floor.  It was so fun being that high up and swimming.  The kids wanted to know how they got the water all the way up there!

The next morning we headed to our appointment and then spent the rest of the day at the Seattle center playing at the Children’s Museum.  The kids were so interested in all the city had to offer.  They couldn’t believe how big it was and kept asking, are we still in Seattle? as we drove around.  It was fun to watch them as more of the world opened up.  They were interested in all the buildings and didn’t understand why the trees in the city had to be planted, as opposed to just growing where a seed fell.  We had a great time all together, hopefully it isn’t another 3.5 years until we make it back!

Austin was with us too, he is on my back in the other Ergo, out of sight of the camera.

This is a photo taken in downtown Seattle on out last trip, April 2007.

Our church does the BEST VBS you have ever witnessed, it is called Camp MooseFeather Falls (CMFF) and we were at camp every evening last week.  For the last two years Zac has attended CMFF, but Zoey has not been old enough, this year she was a camper too and having two kids attend made the anticipation just that much greater as the week approached.  Just days before camp we were talking about what camp is like and dreaming about the puppets and crafts and snacks and games when Zac informed Zoey, in a very matter of fact kind of way, “I used to call it Camp MooseFeather Falls (which is actually the name of it) but now I call it Camp MooseMeather Falls (what he thought it was called)!”  Brandon and I laughed so hard, it is a mouthful and he has just simplified it!  By the time camp began he had the right name down, but Brandon and I continued to use the Zac version.

The first night we checked Zac and Zoey into the WoodChuck Cabin and then stayed around to see what lay in store at camp this year.  It was a western theme and they were talking about fear and who to trust when you are scared.  The memory verse was Psalm 56:3-4.  The kids were encouraged to dress in Western Gear, bring a friend, and memorize the verse.  As Brandon and I stood and watched we couldn’t believe how many kids there were.  Typically there are around 100 kids that come, this year there were close to 150!  It was clear to us that more help was needed so starting the second night, and the rest of the week, Brandon and I went to camp too, as counselors in the WoodChuck Cabin.  The funny thing was, that when Zac heard we were going to help he got mad.  He told me that we could come, only if we stayed away from him and didn’t talk to him at camp.  I agreed and Brandon and I took charge of a different group of kids.  The first night we stayed away and at the end of the night Zac asked why we didn’t see how he made his art project.  When I reminded him of his request he smiled at me.  On Wednesday we got some attention from him and by Thursday he had moved into our group, so much for the “tough guy” attitude!  Zoey, on the other hand, stayed away the whole week, clinging to her leader and shooting us a smile every now and then, if we were lucky!

Ally and Austin stayed in the childcare all week while we helped.  They both did great and had fun at camp too.  Ally is still singing the camp songs, she was so thrilled to be part of it, even though she wasn’t an official camper.  I know this week was just the beginning of many more summers for the Ferens Family at Camp MooseMeather Falls!