An update for May

Praises: (so much to be grateful for)
-We had a wonderful visit with my parents. Always great having them here. I wish our visits were more frequent, but it's nice to know I am where I belong right now. They definitely gave all of us kids roots and wings. Now if my dad would just win the lottery he keeps playing they could have the travel fund they always wanted, ha!
-I was able to get a lot of things cleaned out of store room and basement, as well as closets while my parents visited. I also had time for work projects uninterrupted and feel a lot less stress with work going into this next few months.
-We had a fun-filled weekend with family. We attended a local cattle show. Both girls got to show. It was Emma's very first time out with a heifer and she did awesome. Definitely a novice, but we couldn't have asked for a better first-show experience. She had fun and didn't let her nerves get the best of her. Her little Hereford heifer behaved really well. We celebrated my SIL's college graduation that night and the kids stayed and had fun at G'ma/G'pa's house. Josh and I had some much-needed time alone the next day.
-It's raining!! That's a huge praise. I know so many parts of the country are still in drought, but hopefully the rain coming this spring is starting to help. I planted some flowers and picked up some veggies to try some container gardening. Jayten was so excited he said, "So now we can grow our own food and don't have to buy it from the grocery store anymore." Umm, well, yes, we'll try son, but not sure you should depend solely on my green thumb just yet. Love that little guy!

A few recent happenings

Jayten and Pork Chop, the pig. He enjoyed helping with the pigs this winter. I think he learned a lot about how they have to be fed and taken care of every single day, no matter what the weather was like or what we wanted to do—just like the cows and horse. We have to take care of our animals and give them the best feed, water and shelter we can while they are with us.

Bryn loves to doodle. She's really getting into pretending with dolls and toys also. It's so fun to see her personality come out.

Look Mom! I'm an F!

4-H Presentataions-MJ did hers on the importance of hooves-care, structure and byproducts. J did one on his Duroc Pig Project. E showed everyone the parts of a sheep.

 

A "hair" bow for Crazy Hair Day during Dr. Seuss Week.

Aww, working together to make some cornbread. Loved listening to MJ be the helpful instructor.


Just a little photo recap of recent happenings. I have so many more, but at least wanted to get these down before I forget!

Happy 6th Birthday, Jayten!

Happy 6th Birthday to our little man! He decided he wanted a football birthday as we were having his party on the day of the SuperBowl, so it worked out perfectly. He also had a football birthday when he turned three, so I had a few things around I could still use. He asked for Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes, which MJ made for him (she loves to bake). She and Josh also made an Oreo Dip in the shape of a football as a dessert.

Looking back, I can't believe how much has changed. I had a hard time when he turned five last year knowing he would be going to Kindergarten. But I think six is even more bittersweet. He just looks so much more grown up. He's a great big brother to his baby sister, and he loves his big sisters too. He comes up with the best one-liners. I still smile thinking about one in particular. We came home from a family Christmas in December, and it was dark and late. He started putting on his work clothes and said, "If I'm going to call myself a man, I have to go out and check my pigs right now." Oh it was the funniest thing.

He still loves going with Josh to help with cows (and pigs) now. He plays cows at home, but also loves cars, trucks and trains—really anything he can push around. He enjoys building things whether it be with paper, tape, glue and cardboard or Legos. He loves to help cook and with chores. He's looking forward to wrestling practice (which starts today) and already talks about playing football when he's in first grade. Slow down, son! You don't have to grow up so fast! Love this little guy of ours!

A look back at all his birthday parties; John Deere 1st Birthday, Orange Creamsicle Cake for 2nd Birthday, Football Party for 3rd Birthday, Angus Cow Party for 4th Birthday (I have loved them all, but this is one of my very favorites!) and a store-bought cake for his 5th birthday. (I love making the kids' cakes, but some years you can only do so much. As you can tell he still loved it!)  

B by the Tree

I loved capturing these precious moments of my baby girl by our Christmas tree. She would just sit and look at it, gingerly touching it as if she knew it wasn't something to mess with. Every now and then she'd get brave and remove one of the ornaments and try to replace it again. I love her little pointed toe as she tried reaching up.

Happy Birthday to the State of Kansas!

Happy Birthday to the state of Kansas! I will always remember that little piece of Kansas trivia I learned growing up—Kansas entered the Union Jan. 29, 1861 as a free state. (More Kansas Info)
I've actually always had a pretty good memory for numbers and such. When little J was marking off the day on his calendar this morning I mentioned it was Kansas' birthday. He said, "Well, we should have birthday cake for dessert tonight. You have to have birthday cake when you celebrate a birthday!" Oh I love that kid! (I also remember it's my cousin Coy's birthday—so I guess another reason to celebrate, ha!)

I have come to love the state of Idaho. In fact, I didn't realize how much I really love learning about history, but I can't get enough of it, especially after going through Idaho history last year when MJ was in 4th grade. And now that I'm working on the cattle history book, there is just so much cool stuff to learn from the past. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise though because I've always been sentimental and big into preserving memories.

I'm all about learning as much as I can about the state I reside in now, but I will never forget my home state of Kansas, especially western Kansas. I am a Kansas girl at heart. Wheat fields, sunflowers and beautiful sunsets will always remind me of my home. And you know I bleed purple...go Wildcats! It's been awhile since I've been in a Kansas wheat field; so glad I have these images to remember it!

Blogging

I started blogging to help my family and friends far away to keep up with our growing family. It was getting harder to find time to scrapbook, so our personal blog became my online journal of our lives as the girls were growing, then we added another little one to the mix when J was born. Then life became even busier. I joined Facebook, quite reluctantly after a friend sent me several requests. I finally gave in. I loved my blog, but I realized I was spending so much time with it. I got caught up in reading lots of other blogs from all over the world. II was connecting with other people, but it took so much time. And I couldn't figure out who I was blogging for or to. Did I want to grow my blog? Was it just for family and friends, was it just for us? Then once social media came, my blog went by the way side. Now I look back and wish I had kept up my blog. We added a fourth child to our family and her first two years have not been documented nearly as much as I would like. I had even printed out blog books and my kids love looking back.

I need to connect with the little people in my real life. I have a love/hate relationship with social media. I don't miss it when I'm away from it, but I enjoy it when I'm on it. I just want more time and I know I won't get more, but I have to create more space in my life by letting go of some things. I'm in a real journey to find what it is I have to let go of. Work is so busy and yet I keep adding to my plate.


I've been wanting to start blogging again. I need a place to share stories of the kids and to put my thoughts down. I have been trying to journal every night, but truly I type faster than I write. Maybe if I get back into blogging then I'll also get back into scrapbooking. I will probably be random and weird and all over the place. I'll try to get all my grammar correct seeing as I am a writer by trade, but I'm sure they will be occasional typos. (My mom will catch those.) I may write to you (whomever happens to read this) or to myself or to my kids. I'm just going to do it; if no one reads it, no big deal. I just need to stop putting off keeping track of our life and our memories. I'll have professional pics and phone pics. Sometimes I worry that since I am a pro photographer all my photos should be perfect. But really, nothing is perfect and something is better than nothing. I take phone photos all day capturing my kiddos, our life, funny things, food I make, etc. Better to put them somewhere than continue moping because I've done nothing with them.

And because I said I was going to be random, here is a random photo. I guess you can post photos from your phone so I clicked on it. This happened to be the only photo that came up. Our little guy, probably around age 2 at the time. He'll be turning 6 next week, oy! Can't believe that! But, what a fun memory right here.

 

Our 2014 Christmas Card