The Corn Maze

Now that Tanner is 8, he is a Cub Scout. He loves scouts and he is already jumping in with both feet to get his badges earned. In October, we had a scout activity where we went to a local farm and took on the challenge of the corn maze.


This particular farm has a corn maze every year and they always change the design. Last year it was a giant bird of some sort. This year it was a pirate ship and the decorations had a pirate theme and you could see the mast of a ship over the tops of the endless corn rows.



At night, they make it a haunted maze with scary things that jump out at you. Fortunately, we were there during the day.
With that said, it is still not an easy trip through the maze and it takes quite a while to get through.






Tanner and I decided to join forces with his good friend Josh and his family and we entered the maze.


Tanner and Josh took the lead and with all their scouting confidence were determined to get us through to the other side.

The maze is set up with 10 check points along the way to help you find your way through. Once you find the checkpoint, you can use some trivia questions to help you determine which way to go as you continue on the journey. We had picked cards with varying trivia topics to increase our chances of getting it right.






Here we are at checkpoint number 3. Only 7 more to go.




Can you see the confidence in our fearless leaders?








Part way through the maze we came across this old scary bus. The boys had to go check it out of course.



It all flashed me back to the old movie Children of the Corn. Corn stalks all over the place. A bit creepy.



Josh's nephew Deacon LOVED the bus and did not want to move on. But his mean mommy did not let him stay.









We could tell we were getting closer to the pirate ship and the boys were getting very excited. I was just getting excited that we seemed to be moving in the right direction.











They found the pirate. Unfortunately, the pirate was not in the best shape. The boys still thought he was pretty cool.


So, we were able to make it through without getting lost. I was proud of my Cub Scout and his friend. They were good leaders and they did a great job getting us to the other side. I think that what I admired the most was that the did it right. There were some kids that just ran through the maze and tried to figure out where to go by trial and error. Josh and Tanner took the time to find the check points and to answer the questions. That tells me that they are going to be good Boy Scouts and even more than that, they will be good men.

And that makes me proud to be Tanner's Mom.

The Latest in My Life

To update....here is what has been keeping me busy lately.

On August 18th, I started my 9th season as the JV volleyball coach at Marist High School.

I have a great group of girls this year with a lot of talent and potential. So far, our record is 13-2. They have really started to come together and play as a team. Last Saturday, we had an all day tournament in Stayton, Oregon. We were the champions of the tournament for the 3rd year in a row.

However, it WAS a long day and during the down time, they have to find things to do. This years challenge? Build a human pyramid. Yes, I realize that it doesn't sound like the smartest plan considering there was still a lot of volleyball to play, but it was fun. So, here is the photo evidence.

After MANY attempts and discovering that Brittany can not be on the bottom, they finally achieved the 10 person pyramid.
However, once this was achieved, they needed to go bigger and higher. So, they recruited me and Hannah's sister to join in to go for the 15 person pyramid. It was not nearly as successful...

Here is one attempt....
Then we almost got it!
Alas, it was not meant to be....
Now, I will admit it was not the best idea for me to participate in this venture, and my aching back reminds me every day. But, I would do it again in a heartbeat. This is why I coach. The wins and losses go away, but the memories of the pyramids last forever. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Tanner's Baptism Day

My sweetie boy is growing up. I keep telling him to stop but he just doesn't listen to me. I can still picture him as the little pink baby stretching out his toes in his first bath.

And then dressed in all white the day he received a name and a blessing.


It is hard to believe that so much time has passed
and he has grown into such a smart, handsome boy. He is determined and a bit stubborn at times. I just can't figure out where he gets that from. :) He set a goal to learn to ride his bike before he turned 8 and he worked hard to do it. We didn't have as much time to work on it as we hoped this summer but he didn't give up. He rode for the first time completely on his own the last night he was 7. He wanted to do it and he did it.

I am so proud of him and the choices he makes. Today he made the choice to be baptized. He looked so grown up.


















He planned the program all on his own and even though the bishop got confused on the time and it ended up starting almost 45 minutes late, it was a very special day. It was made even more special by the fact that we had family members here to celebrate with us. Because we live in Oregon, and our families are in Utah, Colorado, Idaho and Texas, Tanner doesn't usually have people here for his special events. This time, was different. We invited people to come for his baptism and they came. He was so happy. We had a house full of people with beds all over the place. They came from Utah, Idaho and Colorado It was wonderful and I loved every minute of it.

I will never forget walking across the mall parking lot and having Tanner look back and say,"Look at that crowd of people that is here for me." It was amazing. He was so grateful. I too am grateful to have such good examples for him to look up to. When it comes down to it, there is nothing more important than family.

To Tanner Luke, I say I Love You! And, I am so proud to be your mom.
And to my family, I say, Thank you! Thank you for being there for my boy on his special day.

My last few months in 30 minutes or less....

Just kidding. I would not make anyone endure 30 minutes of my life but there has been a lot going on since my last post. Thought it would be nice to at least get current.

Fathers Day:
We were able to have the whole family together to honor Steve on Father's Day. Since it was an Indiana Jones year, most of his gifts had that theme. He is a great dad and it was nice to be able to honor him on his special day. I love this photo of my most favorite people. I am definitely blessed.

Disney World:
At the end of June we were able to go to Florida and spend a week with Steve's family. It was a lifelong dream for him to be at DisneyWorld with his kids and his parents. We rented a great house that was 15 minutes away from the parks and spent 5 days with the Mouse. It was a great time. The only downside for me was that the first day my back kicked in with MAJOR spasms that did not let up the entire time we were there. It really put a damper on my fun as I was very limited on the rides I could go on. It was still great to see it all through the kids eyes and to see Tanner's face as he finally was brave enough to go on the rides. And he went on ALL of the rides. He did not back down from anything. It was very cool. He went on some that I would not have gone on even with a healthy back. It was also great to have the time with the extended family and for the kids to all get to know each other. For more details of the trip, you can check out Steve's blog www.stevebarth.blogspot.com.

Kennedy Space Center:
This was part of the overall trip to Florida but for a science geek like me, this was very cool. We got to go through the museums, check out a flight simulator, and went on an up close tour that took us out as close as an average person can get to the launch pads. It was a very cool experience and one I was very glad to have done.

US Olympic Track and Field Trials:
In our community and on our college campus, I am a trainer for the Community Emergency Response Team. This year we were asked to assist with the Olympic Track and Field trials that were held in Eugene. It was a very neat opportunity as I was actually chosen to be a captain for the shifts I was on. However, the trials overlapped our trip to Florida. So, I got back to my home on Monday night at about 11:30pm and had to report to Hayward Field on Tuesday at 1:30. There wasn't a lot of time to transition. It was a lot of work but very cool as I got to see a lot of the athletes. I am a big track fan so it was nice to be a part of the experience. The irony of the week came on the 4th of July. Steve and Tanner came to check out the festival that was going on with the trials while I was working and then we were going to all go together to watch fireworks somewhere. They were there for about 15 minutes when I get a call from Steve telling me that he had won tickets at one of the booths and he and Tanner would be heading in to watch the race. They not only won tickets but the tickets were right on the straightaway not far from the finish line and they were only about 10 rows up. I put in all the work and they got to kick back and enjoy it. Tanner loved it and it was a great opportunity. He also got his photo taken with Sanya Richards. She is the American record holder in the 400 meters. It was a very neat opportunity and I am glad I got to do it.

Eugene Oregon Santa Clara Stake Girls Camp:

This was my second year as the assistant director for our stake girls camp. It is a project that actually starts way back in January as we have planning meetings with the Youth Camp Leaders and make plans for the camp which is held in July. There is a lot to be done and planned for. It is a busy time but very rewarding. This year the theme was Ordinary 2 Extraordinary and the girls definitely lived the theme. It is such an honor to be associated with these amazing girls. There is no question that these are those that were saved for the last days. I was definitely in the presence of greatness. I will write more about girls camp in the next couple of days.

Well, I think that is more than enough for now. So for those of you that have been asking, this is what has been happening in the past month and a half.

Summer is here!

Another school year has come and gone and I am now the mother of a 2nd grader. It seems like the year just got started and here it is already over. Where does the time go? The past couple of months have gone especially fast because Tanner has been so busy. He had a chance to play the fiddle at school. The parent association paid to have a fiddler come in and teach the kids. Each kid got their own fiddle to play while he was there. Tanner did pretty well. I was very proud of him. He didn't want to give the fiddle back when it was over.

Here he is sawing away on the fiddle.

Tanner also had a busy spring sport season as he played both soccer and baseball. He missed some time when he was sick but he did pretty well. It kept me busy as I was trying to coordinate his practices and games to get him where he needed to be. He was a really good defensive player in soccer and was very proud to learn how to hit in baseball. Here is one of his hits from a baseball game.


He was quite the slugger.

Tanner also had a chance to do his first science project complete with an oral presentation during the last couple of weeks at school. He decided to do it on ants. He made a poster that showed the life cycle of an ant, an ant tunnel, what ants like to eat, different types of ants in a colony, and a queen ant laying eggs. I was able to be there when he did his speech and I was a very proud mama .

We wrapped up the school year with field day at school. Too bad the weather missed the summer memo. It was a bit chilly but the kids still enjoyed being outside. The parents had several stations set up around the school and the kids rotated every 15 minutes. At one station, they had a water brigade challenge and they got a whole lot of water on each other and the ground as well as in the bucket at the end. They all had a great time.

All in all, it has been a great 1st grade year for him. He loved his teacher and at the end of the day today he told me he already misses school. I am glad he loves it and that he loves learning. He has great friends and great teachers. So as much as it is tough to say goodbye to 1st grade, I know there is much to come next year. Bring on the 2nd grade!

Two trips....one to the hospital, one to the coast.

I know these are weird things to post together, but that is what has been going on in our family.

We had a rough time about a week ago. Tanner came home from a soccer game and said he didn't feel well. He had a fever so I gave him some ibuprofen to get rid of it. The fever went away but he was still not feeling well. He started vomiting and we couldn't get anything to stay down. On Tuesday the fever came back so we had to go to the doctor. After some blood tests, the doctor said that his cells looked a bit suspicious and there was a chance he had a bacterial infection in his blood. That is NOT what a mom wants to hear. The doctor admitted him to the hospital and started him on fluids and IV antibiotics just in case.

He was not a happy boy and I actually had to carry him in. That is so different from his normal personality. That was a huge sign of how sick he was. He did not like getting poked so many times for the blood work. It was especially bad because they broke on of the vials in the lab and had to do another draw about an hour after they had done one. It took about 48 hours for the blood culture to grow but fortunately it was negative. I have to think that the priesthood blessing had something to do with it. He was a whole different kid once the fluids got in his system.

He is feeling much better now and is actually back to his normal self. His soccer coach even commented on how much better he looked. Thankfully it was a short lived experience. For Tanner it wasn't all bad. He got to play video games and since I won't allow them at our house, it was a treat for him. And the nurses gave him presents for being so good when they had to redraw the blood. I doubt he would want to do it again, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

When that finished, I got to spend a week in Scappoose Oregon at a training in advanced incident command systems. I know, it sounds WAY cool. And let me tell you that you will wish you were there :) The first 2 days were rough because of the group I was in but the last 2 days were enjoyable.

I was able to be home for one night and then we packed up and headed out to the Oregon coast for the holiday weekend. Luckily the weather man was wrong. We had great weather and enjoyed the time.

We went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium and checked out their new exhibit. This picture was taken inside the shark tube. Kind of cool eh?

After it all, it is kind of nice to be back home.

My sweetie boy is growing up....

I found out today that Tanner has grown 4 inches so far this school year. That is just crazy to me. He keeps telling me he is almost as tall as I am and before long he will be right.

I have also seen the outward signs of his growing up emotionally. When we first moved in to our house, Tanner was about 8 months old. I decided to paint something fun on his wall to make his room more interesting.



I like Tigger so his crib bedding had Tigger on it. (We always thought it was cool that Tigger is T-I-double G -er and Tanner is T-A-double n-er.) I decided to try to paint a Tigger on his wall. Much to my surprise, it turned out pretty good even if I do say so myself. I then painted little dashes around the room to make it look like Tigger had bounced around the room. And Tanner's room version 1 was born.

I have to tell you that Tigger will probably always be on his wall. It will be my reminder of my little boy. I just can't bear to paint over it.


Fast forward about 3 years and we have a little boy who loves transportation. Planes, trains, cars, boats, you name it. So, the Tigger bounces were painted over and I painted a mural of a city on his wall.

This took me quite a lot of work and Tanner was so proud of his city and especially the blue Wiggles truck on the road. He was a Wiggles fanatic whether he will admit it now or not.

Unfortunately, now that he is almost 8, the Wiggles truck is definitely not cool anymore. Tanner and I put our heads together and came up with a new plan for the room. He got to use the paint roller to put the first paint on the wall. Wouldn't you know it....he went straight for theWiggles truck. To see a video clip of this you can go to my husband's blog at www.stevebarth.blogspot.com

It didn't take much to come up with the new plan. Tanner's new obsession is Ben 10. Ben is a cartoon character that is able to change in to aliens to fight bad guys. The colors for Ben 10 are black, gray and lime green. Yep, that is the new big boy room. I got out the sewing machine and sewed some curtains. I even designed them myself! And a little bit of extra fabric got the bedspread to match. We also decided to pull out the desk from his loft bed now that he is old enough to have homework all the time.

For the main wall, we painted an Omnitrex (which is what Ben uses to change in to the aliens) surrounded by the silhouettes of 18 of the aliens Ben can change in to. It was a lot of work too. But it is definitely a bigger boy room.

I got all the aliens painted. Some parts were traced from printed out copies of the aliens and some parts just had to be free handed.

I thought my hand was going to fall off by the time I was finished. It was a lot of fine detail work. And I thought it would be easier than the city was! Shows you how much I know.
Here are some thoughts from Tanner himself:

I like how all the aliens look. The one I think looks really cool is Wildvine because it looks like mom worked really hard on him. It is better than the city. I like the Omnitrex in the middle. It was a really good idea. It looks like my mom worked very hard.

Back to mom.


We added in some extra organizational stuff and declared it finished.

No one ever said being a mom would be easy. It is hard to see him growing up so fast. I miss that sweet little boy that used to beg me to wait at the train tracks to wait for the "bing bings" to come down. Funny thing is, I am sure a day will come when I will long for the days when he had a lime green room with an omnitrex on the wall. It is hard to imagine but it will be here before we know it.

That is why I hold on to Tigger. And I am grateful to have a little boy that still loves to cuddle with his mama. There is nothing better.

What is a mother?

Today is mother's day and I got thinking about the concept of "mother". The day does have a different feel now that I have kids of my own, but I have a very different concept of what a mother is. Throughout my life, I have come in contact with so many women who have had a hand in shaping who I am and have played a part in being "my mother."

First, there is Vicki who gave birth to me.
She became a mother way too young and wasn't ready for the responsibilities that come with it. We didn't have contact for a lot of years and are just now having contact through mail. But, without her I wouldn't have life, so she is a mom.

Next is my Grandma, Millie.
She has chosen to be my mother in so many ways. She was there when I came home from the hospital and I know she is still there for me today. She gave me a home and taught me how to make my own. She loves me no matter what and she is someone I look up to, she is a mom.

My Aunt Lesli.
She was always there in the stands cheering for me at my high school sporting events. People always thought she was my mom even though we know she is way too young to be my mom. She has been through a lot and has made choices to be in the right places. I admire her determination to do what is right, she is a mom.

My Aunt JoLynn.
She was the "older sister" I wanted to tag along with when I was a little girl. She tolerated me and continued to be there for me as I grew older. Hers was the first car I drove after getting my driver's license. We have been through some tough times together. Lots of laughter and lots of tears. She is a righteous daughter of God and I would trust her to raise Tanner if anything happened to me. She is someone I look up to, she is a mom.

My Mother in law, Ruth Barth.
She is a woman strong in her convictions who did her best to raise a family in righteousness. She taught her son to treat women with respect and how to be a father. She raised a strippling warrior who has become my husband. She gave me an eternal companion, she is a mom.

My Aunt Beverly.
I didn't get to know her until I was in my twenties. She is the sister of my father. It is a lesson in genetics. We are alike even though we didn't know each other. She has chosen to be a mom to 2 young men who are growing up strong in the gospel. Even though we don't always talk, I know she loves me, she is a mom.

Dorothy Rich.
She was a mom of some of my high school friends. She also chose to be a mom to me when I needed one the most. I was able to watch her interaction with her kids and it helped to shape the kind of a mother I wanted to be someday. She was there in good times and bad. She told me when she was disappointed in me, yet I always knew she loved me. She was a blessing from Heavenly Father, she is a mom.

Sandy Toftdahl.
She was assigned to be my visiting teacher in my ward here in Oregon. She was the first visiting teacher I ever had who actually took the time to get to know me and made me feel that she cared. She helped me to learn that asking for help did not mean I was weak or a failure. We have developed a great friendship and she has stepped in to be a Grandma to Tanner on more than one occasion. She is a friend I can lean on, she is a mom.

I realize I can go on and on but I won't. I guess the point is that Mother's Day is an important day for so many reasons. We need to not only recognize the mother that gave us life, but those other mothers around us that have taught us how to live. To all of you wonderful women that I know, thank you. Thank you for helping me to find the right path and for helping me to be the woman I am today. One who proudly states, "I am Tanner's Mom!"

Here it goes

Who knew that I could get so much joy from entering a room and hearing "Hi Tanner's Mom!" It is kind of funny that I worked so hard to create a personal identity and to stand on my own, only to find out that I am happiest as Tanner's mom.  Since so much of my daily schedule revolves around this role, I decided that was the best name for me.  

So, I decided to enter into the world of blogging.  I enjoy reading other people's blogs so much, I doubt mine will even come close, but it is a good way to keep people up to date.   To get started, I am going to pick up on a tag from another blogger and fill in the blanks.  Here goes!  

8 Things I am passionate about:

• My testimony of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ
  
• My family
  
• My role as a mother 
  
• Marist Volleyball
  
• Teaching CPR (The more people I teach, the more people there are to save me if I need it)
  
• Reading good books (Always looking for suggestions if anyone has any)
  
• Giving my son all the opportunities I never had
  
• Reality TV (I love watching the Discovery channels)

8 Past books I have read:

• The Book of Mormon
• The Memory Keeper's Daughter
• Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo (A recommendation from a 10 year old.  I am now starting volume 2)
• The Alliance
• The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich
• The JP Beaumont series by JA Jance
• Almost everything by Lisa Gardner
• Almost everything by Mary Ellen Edmunds

8 Things I often say:

• For future reference...
• Whatever
• Tanner Luke!!!!
• I have no summer
• You are my bestest sweetie boy (to my son)
• You left the light on again (to my husband)
• I have so many things on my plate it had to be bumped
• I didn't get as much done as I had hoped

8 Things I look for in a friend:

• Trustworthy
• Random
• Someone I can call even when I don't want to (Does that make sense?)
• Honest 
• Willing to tell me things even when it is hard
• Funny
• Someone able to carry on a real conversation
• Someone that is still a friend even if we haven't talked in a while.  

8 Things I want to do before I die:

• Fit back in to my pretty clothes
• Visit a tropical island
• Visit Germany 
• See my kids grow up and have families of their own
• Learn to play the piano better
• Swim with dolphins
• Go scuba diving somewhere warm (Where I don't have to wear a wetsuit!)
• Become fluent in another language. (I have studied German and ASL but I'm not fluent)

8 Things I have learned this past year:

• I don't have to be afraid of a sewing machine
• Good things happen when we listen to the promptings of the spirit
• Sometimes righteous desires are not the ones the Lord had in mind.
• Kids grow up way too fast.  (It wasn't a new thing to learn but I am constantly reminded)
• I can teach Gospel Doctrine
• Girls Camp is an amazing experience
• I love being a classroom mom
• I love my job and I really enjoy doing disaster response training. 

8 People I want to complete the 8 things questions:

• Well, most of the bloggers I know about already did it.  So, pretty much anyone who reads this.  I love reading about what is going on with others.

Well, I have officially completed the first one.  Don't know how faithful I will be but we will see where this new challenge takes me. 

Tanners Mom