Work and Play

Here's a few random pictures of our recent activities. 

Our wood shed/sheep barn needed a little TLC so Grandmpa VDB came with a bunch of gates and wood and he and Ethan went to work. It's so much nicer now that we have a quick latch gate and nicer wind break for the sheep. Ethan did a great job helping!

Next we did a little painting. Yes, I know better than to let for kids paint. Anton was "fired" after he painted a doll chair, the hydrant and then the metal gate. Seriously, I think he painted every thing except the shed! It wasn't long before the rest pooped out and I was a one woman crew! :) 

The kids had their K-4th track meet and both Ethan and Amelia got first in their races. They run like their daddy! On a side note, Sunday I went for a 1.5 mile run as part of a fitness program I'm trying to do. Amelia went along, lets just say, she's in way better shape than me! :)

Elijah showing off for the camera. 

Ethan had some birthday money burning a hole in his pocket, so I helped him pick out a new bike online. We picked it up on May 3, in the snow!

"I don't know" 

I chaperoned for the 1st grade field trip to the zoo. This is actually the first time I've been able to go on a field trip with a class. To many babies over the past few years to care for. :)

It finally warmed up enough for shear the sheep. Here we are washing Lucy. 

Rick started shearing her and I finished. I actually enjoyed it the sheep are very tame and stood still for us. 

Next was Rocky, he's looking fresh and clean!

We can't believe how different they look! 

April

April is a special month for Mark and I because it's the month we got married. We've spent many anniversaries riding in the tractor planting and the other's were a nice dinner at home or maybe we'd go out to eat if it rained. This year I planned a head a little to insure I'd get a date. :) We bought a gift certificate from the school auction for a dinner at the local winery in February  We picked a Murder Mystery Dinner which was the week after our anniversary, perfect! The week after I made the Murder Mystery Dinner Reservations we got a voucher for a free hotel stay at a casino. Since it was rainy we did that too, although we lost enough at Black Jack to pretty much cover the room cost. :) And the added bonus was they still weren't in the fields on our anniversary so we had a nice dinner at home with the family too. Yep, I milked the anniversary celebrations this year. :)  With unseasonably cold weather and rain Mark was around more than usual, so the boys took full advantage and have been riding motocross a lot more. Here's a few pictures of  our April happenings.  

Ethan and Elijah ride most nights when the track isn't pure mud. It's fun to see how much they're improving as they get older and spend more time on their bikes. 

Mark's been doing a little riding as well. The kids love when he's out there with them!

Elijah is so proud to be riding on the "big track" now. He even asked Grandpa and Grandma to come watch him. When Grandma said she nervous and didn't want to see him get hurt, he looked at her like she was crazy. :) The kid has no fear!

 I'm not sure who these guys are, but I thought they were funny on their little bikes.

Ethan's class was in charge of chapel in April and Ethan played the part of Jacob in a little skit. 

Ethan's 4th grade class.

We had a late Easter egg hunt this year.  I, I mean Allison, loves finding eggs filled with money! :)

What a crazy, messy kid! She makes a total mess eating blueberries during breakfast. I thought I would take a picture and she says "Cheeeese". Hence, the funny facial expression.

Cruise'n the web on a rainy evening.

The drought is over, at least here. Our road was flooded for a day but the poor bus driver had to go around for 2 1/2 days because the county left the signs up. 

No spoons? That's o.k. I can eat my cereal without one just fine.

Want to know how to turn a perfectly healthy snack of unsweetened applesauce into a tastier and unhealthier snack? Add your favorite jello! 

More blueberries.

Easter & Signs of Spring

Over the past week we celebrated Easter and enjoyed some warmer weather! Here are a few pictures from some of our weeks activities. Our first activity was Resurrection Cookies. I've made these before with Ethan and Amelia a few years ago and Ameila's teacher sent home a copy of the activity last week so I thought I would do this again with all the kids. This is a simple recipe that allows kids to take part in making the "dough", it has meaningful scripture to go with each part of the recipe and gives kids a good "hands on" activity on the true reason we celebrate Easter. 

Here we all are ready to start, everyone is happy and excited to do their part for the recipe.

Well that didn't last!!! It wasn't long before this activity went south! By the end everyone was fighting, crying and certainly not listening to me read the Bible verse that went with each ingredient addition. I guess no one got enough turns to do something, somebody got to add more things to the bowl and somebody else got to sit next to the bowl and see better the whole time! :( While our kids ended up going to bed after this because of bad attitudes I would still recommend trying this activity with your kids. It really is good. Thankfully the next morning everyone was in a better mood and enjoyed the cookies. :) 

The kids dreaded group picture before church in Easter outfits. Some day they'll thank me for all the pictures they have of themselves. :) 

Allison is so cute, she says "cheeeese" and puts her hands over her mouth for a picture.

We have some spring color! Our first little crocus' are in bloom.

 Allison and I looking for signs of Spring in the garden.

The sheep continue to grow and are doing well. The kids and I have enjoyed working with them and getting them to lead. So far our little ewe is doing great, and Rocky is gaining, but still  pretty stubborn.

They love eating alfalfa out of the kids hands and the kids love feeding them just as much.

I helped Allison go down the slide for the first time this week. She loved it, I now have the full time job of being a slide attendant. :)

Ethan turns 10

Ethan turned 10 years old this month! Wow how time flies and how quickly kids grow up! In this post I'll tell you about a couple fun groups you can start when you hit the 4th grade. They are Cadets (similar to boy scouts) and 4-H. I'm there's more but those are the two Ethan is involved in.

This is Ethan on his birthday, playing lego's with his brothers and sisters.

Grandma VDB brought him over a birthday cake and a gift. This ramp has been so fun for all the kids! They had been launching small toys off it, until I had them relocate it to the shop. Now they are busy riding bikes over it.

This year Ethan will do poultry and lambs for his big projects at the fair. These cute little chicks hatched last week and we got them when they were just a day old.

I think Ethan will have some good help doing chores. :) 

After settling the chicks in their new home we headed out to the wood shed to get a pin ready for the lambs.

Ethan had fun working on his first cadet car. He chose to make blue truck.

These are the cars for the 4th graders at our church.

Group picture of his cadet club.

The sheep are here! This little ewe is the sweetest little gal you'll ever find. She is so tame... and naughty! :) She just jumped right out of the back of the truck and Mark caught her in mid-air. 

Rocky is the white one and Lucy the black. Although I'm not sure Ethan has approved "Lucy" as her name yet. 

Yesterday Ethan, Amelia and I went to the Cadet-O-Rama. The kids had a fun time looking at each others cars and racing again. I must say there are some very impressive cars out there!  Those pictured above are of the area 4th graders. 

These are the sculpture projects Ethan's class displaced. They all got blue ribbons for their work!

Winter Fun

I love the snow, but I'm to the point were I'm ready for warm weather and gardening! We did enjoy the snow while it lasted and here a few of the pictures I took. 

Allison will ride a 4-wheeler in any weather. She's way heartier than I am! Elijah taking full advantage of sledding all by himself and not having to take turns. 

Aunt Ang was here for a while and enjoyed pulling two kids! Yes, that is a guy holding a gun on the road. Crazy coyote hunters! Thankfully he left shortly after he saw a bunch of little kids running around.  

It's been years since we had a sledding party, so we were due! 

Watching all the big kids and loving the outdoors!

Ethan flying over the ramp at the bottom of the hill.

Wipe out!!!

Six Girls + One Tube = Popped Tube by Bottom of Hill

This guy never takes a break!