Julianne and her Kitty

The other day I mentioned that the kittens are not that tame, but there is one that Julianne is able to catch on a regular basis - this is the one Dallas has named Otis.

Sugar can't get enough of him! (and luckily, Otis takes the "cuddles" all in stride)

Until next time...

Happy Birthday Reba!

Happy 5th Birthday to our spunky, sassy, intelligent, loving, thoughtful, and silly girl!

Reba doesn't go for her 5 year check-up and kindergarten shots until the end of December, so I'm not quite sure of what her stats are at this point.  I'll update them at a later time.

In honor of her birthday, the kiddos get a day off of school!  Yep, we got enough snow through the night that schools were canceled.

It was rather nice outside, so Dallas and Reba bundled up and went out to play!

They love to use the garden hoe and "move" the snow for us.

They also like to "dig" tunnels with their hands

Our cats didn't know what to think

Until next time...

Fall Memories

As a kid I always loved playing in the fallen leaves.  I'm happy to say, my kiddos love it too!

Doug and I were surprised how many leaves have fallen, yet there are so MANY green leaves still on the trees.  Dallas decided that we needed to spend yesterday raking and picking up the ones in the yard.  Notice that his sister and dad are the ones working to make a pile...

Daddy had the idea to get the "power" rake

Time to start jumping!

Daddy, Dallas and Reba having a leaf fight

Reba and Buddy snuggled in their nest

Dallas driving Big Red and hauling off some of the leaves

Until next time...

Fun Friday Fotos

Reba and her mini-twin after church

Dallas loves to sit with Julianne and "hold" her while watching TV (aka: Reds baseball) in the evenings.

The kittens have grown so much, and they are much more curious!  Let's hope they continue to stay around...

Until next time...

Kittens

On May 5th, we noticed Rhonda had had her babies!  We decided not to go looking for them because we knew she would then move them.  Over the next couple days, I heard them in the barn while doing chores, but I still didn't search for them.  After 3 or 4 days, I wasn't hearing them anymore, and Rhonda seemed to be spending a lot of time on the patio.  I began to think something found her kittens and she lost them.

Fast forward to today.  I was mowing the backyard inside the fence, when I noticed something odd in the flowerbed.

Rhonda's babies were alive and well!

Reba fell in love instantly.

We have 5 kittens: two black and white ones, a gray one, a yellow tiger, and a calico.

Needless to say, we couldn't keep the kiddos out of the flower bed for the rest of the afternoon.

Until next time...

Garden Work

This past weekend we spent most of our time in the garden.  It started with Daddy and Dallas tilling the soil

Luckily, we had a great supervisor on the job site!

Then, the boss got restless and Big Sister had to help out

Dallas also tried to work the planting wheel, but then decided to give that job back to Daddy!

Our supervisor was pretty tuckered out on the second day...

All in all, we planted onions (both sets and seeds), tomato plants (cherry, roma, and early girl), bell peppers (red, green, and yellow), chile peppers, green beans (top crop and blue lake), radishes, leaf lettuce, spinach, carrots, snap peas, kohlrabi, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, pickling cucumbers, eating cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, and zucchini.

Since the kiddos did a great job helping, we celebrated with a trip to Dairy Queen.

The kiddos love these starkiss bars

Doug and I love how they turn the kiddos tongues funny colors!

Until next time...

Random (Kiddo) Photos

Dallas hanging out with Buddy and Rhonda.

Reba and her tall tower (yes, she hangs out in her jammies most of the morning when she doesn't have school)

Julianne trying to block me from getting a picture of her smiling...

Until next time...

Snowman and Sledding

I can't believe that on Dallas' birthday (Tuesday, March 11th) the temperature was in the 70's, and the following day it snowed!  The temps stayed below normal for the rest of the week, but on Saturday, it warmed up again - just in time for the birthday party!  Little did we think we would being playing in the snow once again Sunday afternoon...

Daddy, Dallas and Reba wrapped up and headed outside to play.  I stayed inside with Julianne (until she went down for a nap, then I went out)  The snow had just the right amount of moisture to build a snowman.  Daddy rolled the ball for the bottom, while Reba worked on the middle section.

Dallas then started working on the head section

Unfortunately, the snowballs picked up a lot of dirt and leaves, so we gathered more snow and covered the dirty spots.

Reba and I found some dark rocks to use for the face, and Daddy and Dallas found the sticks for the arms and the hat.

Once we finished the snowman, the kiddos wanted to get out the sleds.  Reba wanted me to pull her and Daddy to pull Dallas.  I hurt my back earlier in the week, so I didn't think it would be a good idea to pull a 30+ pound child around.  Daddy had a better idea - and got the Wheel Horse out to pull them!

Off they go!

I'm not sure who had a bigger smile - Daddy or Dallas and Reba

One last ride, with Buddy?!?!

I was even able to get a few videos...enjoy!

Until next time...

Snow Day

On the 2nd of March, we received quite a bit of snow causing school to be canceled on Monday.  Thankfully, the temperature was not too bad and the kiddos were able to go out and play!  Julianne and I stayed inside and watched out the window.

Dallas decided he was a bulldozer and was making paths all across the yard

Reba was also making paths...or just crawling around with Buddy

Of course, the best thing about playing in the snow is to come inside and sit on the register all wrapped up in a blanket.  A cup of hot chocolate helps too!

We also practiced our letters in the "snow" (aka: salt)

Dallas was pretty proud of his "Mm"

and Reba had to show off her "Pp"

After finishing our letters, Dallas decided to make a snowman in the "snow"!

Needless to say, the kiddos slept great that afternoon for naps, went back out to play in the afternoon, and slept like rocks that night!

Until next time...