Pollywogs and Hoppers

When my parents were here last weekend my dad took the two youngest kids on a walk. They ended up at the pond. The kids were excited to see that the pond was full of pollywogs and baby frogs.

Monday after school the kids talked me into going to the pond. Okay maybe they didn't have to do too much talking, I'm a sucker for frogs! This is what we came home with.

6 little jumpers and 4 pollywogs. We fixed them up with a nice big jar with water and a rock and branches to climb. We made sure to put pond water in the jar so they would feel right at home.

The kids spent hours watching the frogs hop around their jar. I wish we could have keep them permanently as they provided so much entertainment! After 24 hrs I told the kids we needed to take them back home to the pond. I explained that Heavenly Father would not be happy if we killed his frogs. So back to the pond we went to release our friends.

The next day Little Man wanted to know if we could ask Heavenly Father if we could go and catch some of his frogs again. I think another visit to the pond is in order.

Hike

Grandma and Grandpa were in town this weekend so we decided to take advantage of the great weather and do one of our favorite family activities...hike. It was a beautiful day for a hike, sunny, breezy, perfect!

The happy hikers!

It was a nice easy hike, mostly shaded and everyone made it with out difficulty, including the little ones. The kids enjoyed seeing the horses that were out for some exercise.

Here's what the falls looked like when we arrived at our destination. The kids were concerned about a little baby duckling that got caught in the current and swept down the falls. He made it down safe but was being carried downstream despite his frantic paddling. Poor little guy!

The water was cold but that didn't stop the kids from getting their feet in it. After a nice stop to soak some little feet everyone was ready to head back. Especially when they were promised Foster's Freeze milkshakes as a treat after we finished. The perfect end to a perfect afternoon.

Sweet Sixteen

Seems hard to imagine but JJ turned 16 this past month. I have to say that I love this kid! Despite the teenage attitude that sometimes rears it's ugly head he is a just a good, kind, person with a good heart.

He is always truly appreciative of the effort I put into cooking for the family. He even washes the dishes every night with a minimal amount of grumping and grouching!

He is helpful and willing when I need something done. He is always sensitive to me and ready with a hug if I am having a bad day. JJ is patient and loving to a four year old brother who loves to mess up his stuff. I think he's awfully cute too!

Happy birthday JJ! We love you!

Goats and Sheep

One of the things we love about where we live is all of the wide open spaces. There are wetlands and creeks through out our community.

Because all the brush and grass causes a fire danger during the dry summer months it is important to find an effective way to clear it during the spring. The past few springs the city has brought in herds of goats and sheep to keep the brush under control. And they do a great job! It is amazing how much they can eat in a few days time.

The herd is comprised of 300 goats and 1800 sheep. In a few days time they will have eaten all the brush and grass down. Then they just close the road and move the herd to the next section of fenced off land and let them get to work. They are currently about a mile from our house. We hear they are coming to our neighborhood soon. The fence in the picture below is the back fence to someones yard.

The kids love to see goats and sheep and of course the baby lambs. They are always on the look out for the sheep dogs that stay with the heard to protect them from coyotes. Yes, we have those here along with wild turkeys and deer. It is great fun for the kids and "walking to see the sheep" is quickly becoming a spring ritual that the kids really look forward too!

Happy 13th Miss L

Miss L had a milestone birthday recently as she became an official teenager by turning 13. I think her birthday was about as perfect a birthday as a 13 year old could ask for. We had talked about what she wanted for her birthday in advance and and decided that we were going to do away with presents bought in advance and wrapped in pretty boxes with bows. Instead we were going to have a girls shopping spree for her birthday and pick out and purchase her gifts together.

We started the day off with an appointment to get her hair cut. She had about 10-11 inches cut of and got this cute cut. It's hard to tell from the picture but the back is lightly layered to make it flip a little at the ends.

Next was lunch at Noodles. The perfect place to take my picky eater. Then we hit the mall and several other stores in the vicinity. We got some really fun things. One of my favorites was this polka dot blouse. I had tried to buy it for myself a few weeks prior but the store didn't have my size. So I had to laugh when we went in to the same store and she picked it out for herself. Miss L's favorite thing by far was the fun swimsuit that she picked out. It's hard to find something fun that doesn't leave a girl mostly naked!

One of the sweet widow ladies from church has become one of Miss L's special friends. She sent Lauren a birthday card with a gift card in it. Lauren was so excited to be remembered by this sweet older lady. She got these cute polka dotted shoes which match her top! It's hard to tell but they have a ruffle at the top.

That night after her favorite dinner of Raviolis (more Pasta) she was kidnapped by the girls from her church group. The girls and their leader took her out for ice cream.

The next night was Friday and her BFF came over to make pizza and watch the fifth Harry Potter movie with her. We have a family rule that you have to be 13 to see PG13 movies. (Even then they have to be parent approved) She had been counting down the days until she was old enough to watch this movie.

She also waited until that night to have her cake and ice cream. It was such a fun couple of days and Miss L felt so special and loved!

Monopoly

I spent most of yesterday after church playing a prolonged game of Monopoly. After our busy

week Miss E had requested that I play a game with her and Monopoly was her game of choice.

She proceeded to dominate almost from the first roll of the dice. She had a knack for landing on

Free Parking while I seemed to always land in Jail. I even had help in my losing. Miss L took

over while I made dinner and traded away my ace in the hole, Park Place. She traded it for

Water Works. I suspect she was really working for the other team. Later in the evening Miss E

was still going strong when I left for a church meeting, so J.J. took over for me. I was still losing

when I returned. Lucky for me Little Man decided to do the humane thing and put me out of my

misery by grabbing every one's money and throwing it around the room. I love that kid!

The best kids

The last two weeks have been crazy busy! I've had an unusually heavy school load. Two multi-chapter test, two quizzes, one term paper, and 10 homework assignments. Yikes!

It wouldn't have been as bad but the kids have had the week off from school and I've had to spend most of my time doing this.....

It's left me feeling like a lousy mom, which is not a good feeling, that's for sure!

So it made my day when the boys came up stairs and told me to look out my window. This is what I saw.......

I've got the best kids!

Love Day

(I don't know why every thing I type is underlined and I can't figure out how to stop it from happening.)

My Valentine was gone most of Love Day. He is in the Bishopric at church and is busy much of the day with church duties.

With the kids and I having some extra time on our hands we decide to give Dad an extra surprise. We heart attacked his car. Although I think the surprise was on us as he walked out to the parking lot in the middle of our decorating. The funny thing is he didn't even see us until the kids called out to him. Pretend my kids are all looking at the camera and smiling joyfully at the thought of getting their picture taken.

Hope your love day was full of surprises!

(now it's not underlined...weird!)

Question of the day

Today my 4 year old asked me,

"Momma, when I sniff do the boogers go into my brain?"

Too Funny!

Our Super Star Kids

During the last six weeks we have had two of our children featured in their class as "Star of the Week". It is so fun for them to create a poster that tells all about their likes and dreams. They love to be able to share something about themselves with their friends at school and they LOVE the extra attention.

This is how Miss E answered the questions on her Star of the Week poster.

I am 8 years old. My favorite color is orange. My favorite animals are Cats and Dogs. My favorite food is sesame chicken.

If I had one wish it would be for a little sister. (Not going to happen!)

This is Miss E and her BIG sister.

The beach and camping at the lake are my favorite places to go.

My favorite thing to do is play outside.

When I grow up I want to be a vet.

This is what I look like now.

We love Miss E and her happy smiling face. She loves to help and sing. She is a great part of our family!

Our Super Star

Little Man was Star of the Week in December. He also had a birthday in December so he had a great month. Here is how he answered the questions on his Star of the Week poster.

All about Little Man. I am 4 years old. My favorite color is blue. My favorite animal is a Zebra. My favorite food is Pizza.

If I had one wish it would be for a dog. (This puppy took over my beach blanket at the lake last summer. Little man thought it was great fun!)

Camping at the lake is my favorite place to go.

When I grow up I want to be a Pilot.

My favorite thing to do is ride my bike.

This is what I look like now.

This is what I looked like when I was a baby.

We love this little guy and are glad he is a part of our family!

Milky Way

Having a fifteen year old man-child around the house is hard on a mothers self esteem. Especially if you are a mother who buys ingredients and cooks real food instead of prepackaged junk. Because fifteen year old boys want food, and they want it now! Which means they want prepackaged junk!

It is not uncommon to find the man-child of the family standing in front of a fully stocked fridge or pantry exclaiming "There is nothing to eat!!!!" Translated that means the pantry is fully of ingredients and there is nothing in here that is going to give me the instant gratification my stomach and taste buds want. The man child is not appeased by offers of fruit or other healthy alternatives. He is left to grumble and graze the cupboards unsuccessfully until moving on to homework.

Earlier this week while shopping I grabbed a few candy bars while in a PMS induced funk. Snickers and Milky Ways. Calorie and fat laden little bars of diet wrecking instant gratification. The guilt set in almost as soon as I got home and started unpacking. Almost soon enough to save me from myself. (Almost... I ate one in the car on the way home.) As I stood there unpacking I wondered what had possessed me to by not one but 4 candy bars. And what was I going to do with them now that the guilt had set in?

Tuesday the man-child went off to school with an extra little bit of love in his lunch. Just enough to satisfy his taste buds need for instant gratification. Just enough to make him forget that the rest of his lunch was full of healthy goodness.

I got a text message from the man-child shortly after lunch that read, "You're the best mom!!!" I guess the old saying that the way to a man-child's heart is through his stomach is true! I'm expecting another text today.