ABC DEF GHI

Well the last post was the middle of April, we had just gotten Gloria and it was snowing the beginning of each week.  Six weeks have passed and a lot has happened. Where do I start? The bees, the chicks, track, school projects, piano recital, the list goes on...

A - April
April showers bring May flowers for most folks, for us it brings mud.

B - Bees
Every farmer who is allergic to bees (Steve) or scared of bees (Jake) should have some anyways. Steve's manager and another guy at work have bees and when guys get talking... we ended up with 2 hives.  We've just started and it takes a long time to get any honey, but I can't wait for all the fruit we get.  We had some fruit trees from last year and planted at least a dozen more.  How many do you need for an "orchard"?

C - Chicks
Spring time on the farm (and at the farm stores) means babies.  I had to stop at the farm store one Saturday afternoon and had the kids with me.  You can see where this is going... We have 5 new baby chicks.  Why 5 you ask.  Well, I told each of the kids they could pick 1.  MaKenna and Kyler each picked the same kind which meant they were siblings. Jake picked a different kind.  His chick would have been lonely if he didn't get another one - that gave us 4, but also left just 1 at the store.  We can't have a lonely chick, so we had to get it too.

D - Dad
Steve's Birthday was the beginning of May.  The kids made him Choc Chip muffins for breakfast and used his Dukes of Hazzard tray to bring it to him in bed.

E - Eaton

May 5th we got up early and went to Eaton, a small town east of us.  The were going to implode the old Sugar Factory.  I thought it might be pretty cool to go watch it.  It didn't exactly turn out like we (or the City for that matter) was expecting, but none the less, it was fun. (The water tower, smoke stack, and some of the center of the building tumbled).  The town webpage has a good video that you can watch.  It took them all day and several tries to get it down.

Before

After

F - Four H & Fair

For 4-H this year, MaKenna is in cake decorating.  She has to make 3 cakes before the fair.  She has to keep records of how much she spent, what kind she made, what she learned, etc.  This was the 1st one she did.  O, and it has to be decorated with candy, or other edible items.  The boys couldn't be left out, so they also decorated a cake.

MaKenna's Cake - Girl Power

The Boy's Cake

G - Graduations

This time of year mean graduations - high school, middle school, kindergarten, etc.  We had 1 high school graduation invite and 1 middle school invite.  These are the gifts I put together (I love pinterest!)

Perfect for after an all night study session

How to survive high school

H - Had enough yet?

I - I have...

Gloria and Spring Moisture

Confused yet?  This is just a random catch up post.  Like I have mentioned before, I need to post everything in order.  That means before I can post pictures of our beautiful Spring moisture,  I need to post about Gloria. So here it goes...

Meet Gloria.

No this is not another picture of Gilly.  There are now 2 of them...

Gilly (the billy goat) is facing the camera.  Gloria is checking out her new home.  Does she look chubby to you???  (I'll be posting how that turns out in a couple weeks... stay tuned)

Now on to our Spring Moisture.  Yesterday being Fast Sunday, we were encouraged to fast for moisture.  Colorado is in a severe drought.  I think I heard one news report that 2012 was the worst year (lowest moisture) since they started keeping track in 1895!

I have never been fond of snow, but I love the rain and actually miss the Oregon Coast rain. Praying for moisture was easy - we need it and I love rain.  I was not specific in my request for moisture, after all, it is Spring.  I know Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers, I have seen many instances of this.  This morning was yet another example. 

 

 

Since you can't read this... It's almost 7 inches

Next time I'll be more specific in my prayers and ask for rain!  We had almost 7 inches on the patio table outside.  Some had melted through out the day so I'm not sure what the official amount of snow is.  We are suppose to get snow all night.  There is a Winter Storm Warning until Tuesday 6AM, then it is "just snow" until Wed about 6AM. 

I do have to say that this time the snow seems beautiful and doesn't bother me.  I might even like it this time.

Wrestling is over... now what?

What does one do when wrestling is over?  Track of course! 

Jake started 6th grade off with Cross Country.  Practice for that started about a week and a half before school started.  Right after Cross Country was done - Wrestling started.  Track practice started while Jake was still had wrestling practice for Regionals and State.  Jake had double practice (track and wrestling) on Tuesday for a couple weeks.  He's been on the go for 8 months!

Track meets (like everything else it seems) are on Wednesdays.  That means that Jake had 3 track practices before his 1st meet.  I think he did very well.  I told the coach he should line him up and tell him to run - but don't forget to tell him when to stop!

For the 1st meet he chose to run the 2 mile and the 1 mile. They run the 2 mile first, so they were starting to line up right as I got there.

For only a couple practices, I think he did awesome. He ran the 2 mile in 14:10. 

I asked him how he was able to do it and if cross country helped. He said he thought about wrestling practice and what his coach had said.

"You never give up!"

"You always keep going!"

"You can get tired at practice, but not on when its real!"

He had signed up for the 1 mile, but the relay team needed him to run with them.  I was a bit concerned since he hadn't practiced short distances or hand offs.  Of course he did great.

I don't really worry about losing him on the field or in the crowds of kids... I can see his shoes anywhere.

Easter

The Easter Bunny is not nearly as clever, sneaky, or creative as the Leprechauns.  Instead of a hunt (of any kind) the gifts were simply left on the table for the kids to find when they woke up.

The Easter Bunny must have been watching a wrestling tournament instead of preparing. It seems as though he needed some help from the Duck.

Easter Sunday was a beautiful and sunny spring day.

2013 Wrestling Season

Well, because I have a little OCD (obviously the person coming up with this "disorder" didn't have any amount of it, or the letters would be in order - CDO!), I need to post Jake's Wrestling Pictures before I can post Easter or track pictures.

I loved watching Daniel wrestle, now I have the opportunity to watch Jake wrestle and I love it even more.  I think he's great - but maybe that is because I'm his mom.  His coaches have told me that he has great mat sense and has a natural ability.  The area we need to work on is him being more aggressive.  They say that will come eventually.  He's just a "nice", "happy", and "laid back" kid - which is wonderful... most of the time.

He's always smiling when he wrestles, he works hard, does his best, and doesn't worry too much if he loses here and there.  He's got a great attitude about sports and competition.

After the District tournament was over, and most kids moved on to track, Jake decided that he wanted to give Regionals a shot.  He continued to practice everyday with the 9 other boys going to Regionals.  He got 6th at Regionals - which led to a spot at State.  He gave up his Spring Break to practice and prepare for the Middle School State Tournament. 

State was an experience.  It was huge!  They ran 14 mats at a time, brackets had 25 - 30 kids, it was 2 days in Denver...  I had no idea what to expect, and when we got there I know I was a bit overwhelmed.  Jake didn't seem bothered at all (back to his personality of not letting pressure get to him).  Jake wrestled once on Friday night and once on Saturday morning. He didn't win, but worked hard and was OOOO So Close on the 2nd match.  I'm proud of him for working so hard and finishing the season with a smile.  He had 9 pins, and 3 wins this year!  He had a great experience and can't wait to wrestle next year. (picture me doing the happy dance - OK, don't picture it, but you get the idea).

Here are some pictures from the season:


State - I tried to get a picture of all the mats,
but even standing at the top, looking down it was hard.

After a tough match at Regionals - Jake won and his coaches were so proud.

 

 

 

The Green Little Man...

You might not have known that Leprechauns are a protected species under European law?  Or that Portland, Oregon has the worlds smallest park - dedicated in 1948 as the only colony for leprechauns west of Ireland.
 
I'm sure you did know however ,that according to legend, each leprechaun has a pot of gold hidden somewhere, and he must give his treasure to the person who catches him.  The kids tried so hard to catch a leprechaun this year.  They had traps all over the house.

So how did the traps do?  Unfortunately, not so well this year.  We have evidence the little guy was here though...  The water bottle holding up the gold in the 1st trap was green and the gold was gone.  The 2nd trap had been opened and the gold replaced by green glitter.  The 3rd trap had the money gone and green all around.  The pesky little guy also took the gold candy from the cake and ate through the Nerd Ropes. Maybe next year...

 

Leprechauns like to play tricks and have fun.  While he was taking the kid's gold, he hid their presents all around the house so they would have to search for them.

Clues were up high in the hall, under the table, in closets, and even outside.  The kids took turns reading and doing exactly what the clue said- even walking backwards up the stairs.

As they went through the house looking for clues, they found more evidence that the leprechaun(s) had been there.  He must have taken a bath in the sink - and forgot to let the water out.  He used a paper towel to dry off and was thoughtful enough to hang it up (unlike the kids that throw towels on the floor).  The toilet was green too! 

St. Patrick's Day is observed on March 17th because that is the feast day of St. Patrick - the patron saint of Ireland.  It is believed that he died on March 17, 461.  St. Patrick's Day is a worldwide celebration of Irish culture and history.  It is a national holiday of course in Ireland.

We had corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots for supper along with Irish soda bread.  The kids aren't fond of cooked cabbage (I would have to agree), but they ate dinner without too much complaining.  They "have to eat it every year" according to MaKenna.

Hope your St Patrick's Day was full of fun!

 

Papa by Kyler

I should have posted this yesterday since it was daddy's Retirement and Birthday. (I'm really behind and just realized I haven't posted since Valentine's Day.)

If you can't read the pictures they say:

Papa

by Kyler

My person is Papa.  He is my grandpa. We like to play games, take care of the cows, and rides the 4 wheeler together. He's funny. My Grandpa is my family and he is a cow boy.  I feel happy when I am with Papa.