I've been a bad, bad blogger. I'm sorry, I've tried. I keep writing posts in my head, but just can't seem to get them down. It's not that I don't want to. It seems I'm on the computer so much with work that I can't get motivated to stay on here to get the blog updated. But, I do want to get things journaled and pictures shown and our life updated. So, please forgive me.
Anyway, we are doing well. I have been really busy with deadlines, but finally sent the March issue and the Resource Guide to print a couple weeks ago. It's been nice to have some downtime. The last few weekends have been beautiful, so the kids and I have been outside a lot.
March 6th-7th: The girls played "fair" Saturday afternoon. Each had a heifer, steer and a horse. Emma even had a pig. They used shovel handles and sticks tied with baling twine. They walked their animals around the show ring (yard). It was so cute. I love their imaginations. Josh pointed out the other day that Mackenzie could be showing a Hereford heifer next year. Wow-really?! It's both exciting and a little crazy to think she's almost old enough for that. On Sunday after church we headed outside again this time to hang out with the real horse. The girls brushed and sat on her. Then, we started picking up rocks in her corral. We started to make a pile, so Josh could come in with the loader. The girls loved it. It was like a scavenger hunt to find all the rocks and garbage lying around. Mackenzie kept saying we needed to clean up our Earth.
The last few weeks, the girls have continued ballet lessons, learning new routines and new steps. MJ is quite good at remembering the French terms and Emma is a little repeater. She walks around the house, "Jump, Passe! Jump, Passe!" I will be taking their dance studio portraits this year, so I'm excited about that.
March 13th-14th: Another beautiful weekend, which was nice as the weekdays had turned cold and rainy again. On Saturday, Mackenzie lost her 4th tooth. It was getting so loose, so I wrapped a piece of floss around it and it just popped out. I think it's the only one she's kept. The others just got lost. And she really isn't into the tooth fairy. Not a big deal to her, so I don't worry about it. That afternoon, we got their new red wagon out from the garage. All the summer toys are making their appearance again. I pulled them around the yard several times. I thought I was probably going to pay for it the next day, but actually I think it was about Monday or Tuesday when my muscles decided to let me know I had overexerted myself. Hopefully, I can get in some better shape again! Sunday evening was probably one of my favorites days lately. Josh told us all to load up and we headed down to the barn. We checked on some new mamas and babies, then walked along the bunks, feeding hay, looking at the new heifers that arrived from Laflin Ranch in Kansas, and talking about the bulls we have for sale. I love this family time. It was the first time Little J's really been out to see the cows, walking and tagging along. The girls love to help Josh. And I love to listen to him talk about the different animals, pointing out things, etc. I feel extremely blessed to be raising our kids and living where we do right now. After we were finished at the barn, the girls begged to go out to the pasture to see the new babies. Another favorite time; I love spring and seeing all the new calves. It always gives you such hope to see the new animals. All the decisions about genetics, feed, etc., come together and you see the fruits of all the labor. I'm not a huge fan of daylight savings time, as I love sleep, but it is nice to have more daylight hours, longer, warmer days. It was the perfect end to our Sunday.
Last week, I had a couple meetings in Boise then MJ had two friends over for a playdate. The girls were out of school Thursday and Friday for Parent Teacher Conferences. Both of them had excellent reports.
MJ's teacher said she is one of the most responsible in class, is very smart, helpful and a good friend. Her reading is improving and she loves math and science. It's always good to hear your child is doing well and helping other students in class. She's been bringing home library books every night and will start taking AR tests after spring break. The other night, she picked up a Dr. Seuss book from our shelf and just started reading it. She was able to get through all of it with just a little help and much less hesitation. I could tell she's starting to recognize words more.
Emma received an excellent report too. She's the only girl in her class, but seems to hold her own even with the rowdy boys. I guess there are a couple boys she really likes to follow around, mother and take care of, but they don't seem to mind. Her speech continues to improve. She's mastered many of the target sounds we set goals for at the beginning of the year, so we will make amendments to her IEP. We are trying to work more on the language and getting longer sentences with each word being clear. She's starting to know her alphabet, is counting and learning shapes and colors.
Little Man is such a sweetheart. He's practically running now. He plays well by himself but is very social too. He loves any kind of cup and spoon and carries them around the house. He's also starting to really like things with handles, especially his sister's little purses. Ha! I have to laugh because I think it's so cute to see him toddling around with a little bag. He also carries around a little Bible book that has a handle. One morning in church, the girls both took purses and he picked one up. Emma started taking it away and he let out this horrendous screech. I said, "give it back, give it back!!" He went back and forth in the pew the whole time. It was kind of cute. He is definitely starting to be more vocal when he's not getting his way or the girls are bugging him, but he's still an easy baby and laid back. He's taken a few tumbles, but seems to just keep on trucking. He LOVES to go outside and always wants to go with Josh when he leaves. He's still just kind of babbling, but has added to "ooo" sound, usually when he sees cows.
March 19-20-The girls are on spring break now until the 29th. It will be so nice to not have school and extra activities for a little bit. Yesterday afternoon, we went to town for a few errands then to the park. We hope for many more days like that as the weather continues to warm. This weekend Josh left for Nebraska for a bull sale. The girls were invited to M&C's to spend the night with them and Carla's niece and nephew. They must be having a good time because they called and asked to spend another night. Little J and I spent the day in Nampa. He was with Nana and I helped Stephanie paint her house. I kind of swore off painting anything again after painting our whole house, but I think enough time has passed, I decided I could pick up a brush again. Ha! And actually, I don't mind helping someone else. I just don't want to paint my house again. It was really fun too! You don't mind that kind of work when you're hanging out with a good friend, chatting and catching up. Nana also watched my niece this afternoon so J and M had some good time playing together. Although at one point, Jayten had woken from his nap and Nana was having to hold both babies, both crying at each other. She got them fed and calmed down and they played better together. At one point M reached over and started giving Little J hugs and kisses. He's 13 months, she's 7 months old. And when we went to pick them up he wanted to give her more hugs. Plus he was really clingy with Stephanie. He wanted to hug and love on her more than me, which I didn't mind. It was cute to see him so lovey with his Auntie Steph.
Well, enough of my ramblings. I have a ton of photos to post!
