Yet some more fishing....

For FHE we went fishing (again) and this time we went to the dock where Ben keeps the wildlife boat. It was a little shaky but fun. The pictures of Zach and Dani on the boat are as the boat is docked. I doubt I would let them do that on the open water. The best part had to be when Jordynn caught the only fish of the night. She was excited and then when the fish actually made it out of the water she had Ben grab it, she wouldn't touch it. Don't worry we threw it back.

A funny Michaela moment...

Today it was hot in the house while I was cooking dinner. I had the oven going, the crock pot, and the stove top. So it was quite warm.
Michaela (noticing the heat) said, "I wish there was a thing like a heater that blew out cold air." Well isn't that the best idea EVER!!! I explained that there was and it was called and air conditioner. What prompted this thought was the kids had a room heater in their room this winter to help stay warm. To her it made sense that if it gave off heat, there should be one that made things cool. What a smart girl. Never the less I thought it was funny.

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Well that's true but here's a few more words. We went out last night and had a great time. No fish were caught but they kids were trying out their new poles and they all did great. Even Dani was getting the hang of casting. It was a nice time together as a family. By they way I was taking pictures and NOT fishing because, well, I don't like to fish and I didn't have a license and heaven forbid I get caught without a license by the conservation officer....

Training Aggie

We went to go get Aggie this morning to work with her. Someone told Ben to have her run behind the truck at a trot or gallop pace. So we went out to get her (it took an hour to catch her) then we started running her. The first picture is on the way out TO the lake (no saddle) then we saddled her (she doesn't like that) and ran her back. In the saddled picture you can see other horses. Those are her friends who waited for her to return and ran along side her to the gate. This all seemed to work because she let Ben on her, as you can see. And she let him check her feet. Both of which she never allows. So she's getting better. We'll go back tomorrow to try again and hopefully it won't take an hour to catch her.

Every boy needs a bug vacuum

When Nana was here this past week she wanted to go shopping for the great-grand babies. So my mom and I went with her to help her pick out what to get the kids. Zach's present was this bug vacuum. I knew he would love it and he has been "hunting" bugs to catch ever since.

This is a picture of a cricket that actually Ben vacuumed up in our bathtub last night. We saved it for morning so Zach could see it. Then he had to save it to show/scare the sisters.

Happy Birthday Michaela (and Sarah)

So this past weekend was birthday party overload. First Ben and I had the joy of going to dinner with Ben's brother Kevin and wife Monica. Kevin's birthday is the day before mine. It was his 50th and my 30th. So we went and celebrated together. While we were at dinner a surprise party was being set up at his house. When we got there I was happy to see he was really surprised. It was a nice evening.

Now we come to the embarrassing part of the story. My mother thought it would be fun to have a Double Dare party to remind all who came to the party of their youth. It was fun but VERY wet. And most every one who came was a good sport and participated. That party was just for me. THEN we had yet another party for Michaela on our actual birthday (Monday). For this birthday my mom made each of the kids their own cake to decorate. YUMMY!!!!

Through all this was my sister Morgan who came with her 2 kids from Kansas. My Nana (mom's mom) who came from Texas and my Uncle Wayne who came from Colorado. Then we got to meet my sister Kelsey's boyfriend Brian, and my brother's girlfriend Bailey. It was fun to meet them and spend time with family I never get to see. So far 30 seems pretty normal. We're still in moving limbo and that's the next big hurdle to get through (well except for Zach's b-day next Sat.!!)

The shearing of a sheep!!!

Well we finally got Peep sheared and well...I think the pictures tell it best. She did NOT like it but I have to believe that she's cooler and happier. What was funny was Bo never left her side so basically he was in the way the whole time.

We had 2 boys from the area come do the job. They do sheep for 4H and they said they would get her done for us. I don't think they thought it would take over 2 hours. Thank goodness she's just a miniature sheep. But they did a good job. She doesn't look done because she got away and it had been 2 hours so we decided it was good enough.

I learned some interesting things watching them do this. First, once they cut for a while they get down to the clean wool. Since wool is so thick the dirt doesn't get all the way down to their skin. So it was cool to watch her go from gray to white. Second, if you don't shear your sheep they can suffocate and die. The wool around their neck gets too thick and they get too hot and die. So I guess it was a good thing we did it. Third, our sheep have pink skin. And most breeds (according to my sheep shearing experts) have white skin.

Zach had a friend come over today and they had a great time watching the shearing, playing on the boat, playing rodeo and then Zach got stung by a bee. That sort of ended the days fun. But all in all it was a good, hot, fun day.

Manila Days!!!

Trying to hit a balloon w/ a dart!








One of Dani's prizes


Zach shooting a deer
Jordynn learning how it all works

Michaela aiming for a balloon. See the dart in the air?

Today we went to Manila Days at the city park. It was just a few hours of games for the kids and some crafts for sale and karaoke. What would a city party be without someone singing La Bamba? Anyway there were about 6 games for the kids and they used tickets I bought at $.25 a pop. But they had fun and got lots of fun toys (aka crap to throw away) But it was a nice way to spend an afternoon.

10 years!!!!

Well today is our 10 year wedding anniversary!!! And here's the exciting things we did today, Swim lessons 9 am-12 pm; Summer Library 1 pm-3 pm; Scouts 5 pm; Open Gym 6-7:30pm. So that was our LONG fun day. It's o.k. we knew we would be busy and not really have time for us. But we are trying to make it for a weekend away EVENTUALLY. But it's been 10 years and I love Ben. He's a hard worker, great dad, great husband and funny. We still have so much fun together. We work well together and get through all the issues together. We love to just hang our together. It doesn't happen very often but we do enjoy time just the 2 of us together. I love him and look forward to many more 10 year anniversaries to come.

Near Death Experience....

Well not really but hey I got you reading right? Today was the first day of swim lessons. Here's a basic breakdown, we go to the high school at 9 am, get on a bus for a 50 min. drive to the rec center in WY, swim for 45 min., get back on the bus and come home. We're home by noon but what a long morning. It doesn't help that I get VERY car sick. So I went to our little market and got some motion sickness drugs, we'll see if they help. While me and the 3 big kids were gone, Ben and Dani made a dump run. It's free to dump today so we filled up a horse trailer FULL of crap and Ben took it over. Then we got home from swimming and we went to get our horse Aggie to work with her. Well she's a dork. She got an attitude over the winter and she was quite disobedient. She also wouldn't let Ben get on her. She lets him handle her, and lead and saddle and brush, but NOT get on her. Well she let me on. So we worked with her for a little while and then she got irritated and reared up on her back legs. Remember I'M ON HER!!! But don't worry I didn't fall off. Quite the opposite, I leaned forward and down and held on. What was funny was Ben's reaction. He was worried about me and didn't want me to get hurt. But then when Aggie returned all 4 legs to the ground and I was fine, Ben was shocked! He said "wow you didn't fall off!" He was honestly shocked. His reaction was so great. Anyway we took her back to her pasture and came home. We barbecued dinner and now Michaela is getting quizzed by Ben about 4-wheeler safety. All kids ages 8-15 have to take a 4-wheeling class in order to drive a 4-wheeler on their own. We don't have a 4-wheeler but it's good stuff for her to know.

Tomorrow...more swim lessons YIKES!!!!

Rainy day play!!!

Sorry for the blank post - not sure what happened. Well we've been busy here. The weather has been crappy. Lots and lots of rain. But all in all we're enjoying our summer. Next week we start swim lessons. We'll see how it goes. Today Zach was playing with his toy cars and a trailer hooked onto one. I thought he had a toy horse in the trailer but actually he was hauling around a dinosaur. He told me it would be fun to have a REAL dinosaur in the yard. I didn't have the heart to tell him that wasn't a possibility.