Old Fashioned Forth of July

I have to say, Sterling does the 4th of July right! This year the boys and I got to ride in the parade and Jeremy's family was here. And, as has become the tradition, our friends Nate & Joy were here. It was a great weekend!

Jacob was beyond excited about this new development (which I have a feeling is going to become another tradition!). We had such a fun time riding in the "modified" manure spreader with Carrie, Kate, & James!! Thanks Greg for letting us ride along!

They were trying to be patient as we waited for the parade to start. 

After the parade, one of the families with horses let the boys sit in the saddle. This was Bryce's first time on a horse and his smile was a mile wide!!!

He likes horses, but he'd much rather be driving a tractor! ;)

But this one...he prefers horses! He was not happy when I said it was time to go!

This year we had very comfortable, non-crowded seats for the fireworks...Jeremy's house! Papa & Binga took the kids up on the porch roof to watch. 

They really have a good view of the fireworks! We couldn't have had nicer weather for the holiday. Thanks, everyone, for helping make this a fun couple of days-family and friends helping with meals, the chamber and volunteers for all the work put in on all the activities, and Carrie & Greg for the parade ride!! 

Harvest 2013

Let's see if I can get this one to post. I have several posts that will not go through, for whatever reason. So I've really been blogging all this time, they just haven't been making it all the way onto the blog!

Harvest 2013

Aaron's first farming accident.Missed the   last step coming off the combine. Landed in a rut. Thought it was broken. Severely sprained. He scared 10 years off my life. 

Camping

We went camping last weekend with my brothers and college friends. There were 12 kids and 8 adults (and I use the term adult loosely with this group!!). It was an experience! The kids had a blast. The old folks had a little rougher time. 

First off, Aaron hurt his knee playing ultimate frisbee. 

Then my allergies kicked into overdrive. Lovely, aren't I?! I haven't had allergies this bad since I was a kid. I woke up in the middle if the night with my eyes matted shut. The last time that happened, I was spending the night at Grandpa & Grandma's farm and Grandma came in with a warm washcloth and gently cleaned my eyes. I couldn't have been more than 8. And she broke open my allergy capsule and mixed it in some Cool Whip for me to take since I couldn't swallow pills. Thanks, Grandma, for taking such good care of me! Back to the present... :) I had almost no allergies last year. That's never happened to me before. So I wasn't exactly prepared for this massive flare up of allergies. Turns out the grass pollen for that area was very high last weekend. Not fun at all. 

The most entertaining part of the weekend was watching the men "gather" firewood!! We brought a couple boxes of chopped wood, but we quickly went through that between cooking and keeping warm in the evenings and mornings. So the men went in search of more firewood...with no tools except their bodies and an extension cord!! The results were comical. I'll have to try posting the videos I have sometime. All I have to say is that those 4 guys...once they get together, they act like college kids again!! :)

All in all, it was a great weekend. I'm excited to camp many more times this summer!

Busy Summer

Alright John & Toby....here are some pictures of your cousins!! :)

Things could not be any busier this month! My brother Jeremy and his family are moving to Sterling!! I've been busy helping where I can as they try to move in a few loads at a time, while still working (Jeremy) and starting a new job (Alisha). This week Kaedyn and Bryce have been staying with us. In the evenings I try to make it over and help Alisha paint. They bought the oldest house in Sterling, which has been a bed & breakfast for many years. It has wonderful charm, but it's also covered in Victorian style wallpaper! Most of which is not exactly their taste. :) All the kids think the huge house is a great play place-especially since it's mostly empty! 

Isaac found a super hero costume among some toys. He loves it. And I love how he posed for me! Such a silly boy!

Since the walls are all lath & plaster, they can't remove the wallpaper without having to put up Sheetrock. So they found some primer that is supposed to work over wallpaper. I actually don't mind painting and even more, it drives me crazy to leave a room almost finished...no matter how late it is! So I sent Alisha home to bed and I stayed one night to finish this room. I actually like the color of the primer, but the walls will not remain gray. I like the paint colors she picked out, too. Now, whether we get all the painting done before Saturday morning.......

Early this week, a big storm came through. Very high winds, lightening like I've never seen, and a downpour. So the kids and I spent the next day(s) picking up limbs and raking up little sticks. This load was from Jeremy's house-and that was just the "small" stuff! At our house, we didn't have any large branches, just some smaller ones and lots of twigs. Our neighbor had his trailer hooked up so he took our debris to the burn site for us. 

In the middle of cleanup it started to rain again. The kids decided to take a break and play on the rain!

He didn't want an umbrella...I think he regretted his decision after becoming totally soaked!

Last Friday, Rhys stayed with us. I got her to leave her hair fixed for just a little while! She looks like Pebbles, but she acts like Bam Bam!!! She is a beast! But she probably has to be, being the youngest of 4!!!

Brothers :)

Grandpa & Grandma came to visit and celebrated Anna's birthday early. They let her choose a place to eat. She chose Carriage Crossing! Their pie is to. die. for.  Really all their food is delectable. 

Special surprises from Grandpa & Grandma!

So there you have it John & Toby...I found some more ink! ;)

Oh Isaac

At breakfast this morning, Isaac told me he had something stuck in his nose. I asked if he wanted a Kleenex and he said "ope. Yet me yit it!" (Nope. Let me get it.) He then proceeded to pick his nose. I told him, "that's a little bit gross."

and he looked at me, as only a boy could do, like I was completely crazy for thinking nose picking was gross! Oh Isaac. 

 

Too Many Goodbyes

Today we said goodbye to our 3rd college foster kid. Donnie stayed with us for a couple days before he left to go home to California for the summer. And the kids had a BLAST! They pestered him non-stop to play and he obliged. Jacob was his shadow. One morning he even sat outside the bathroom door while Donnie showered! 

Aaron took him to the bus station tonight. After I got the boys to bed, I found Anna sitting in the front room staring out the window. When I called her to bed, she turned around and started crying, "I can't wait 'til August to see Donnie and Amanda and Beth again!!!" I pointed out that their families probably missed them even more since they're gone from home for 9 months. I think it's safe to say our kids have fully accepted having these three college kids in our life! We will all miss them this summer!

Summer is Almost Here!

The weather has been gorgeous this week! We've taken a lot of bike rides and spent as much time as we can outside. 

Anna is flying through the Rose series (about Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter Rose) so we make several trips to the library. Our library is awesome. You don't have to whisper, they don't mind Isaac wandering around. But I do love it when I peek around the corner and see the boys sitting on the bean bags reading books!

This week, for 3 days, the college put on a soccer clinic! Anna and Jacob both has so much fun!! Their good friends Elli and Zachary were there, too. Stacy and I decided this officially made us soccer moms! ;) I told her I only wanted to be one if she was one with me...she makes it enjoyable because we can laugh at our kids together. Ha!!

Anna the goalkeeper

They surprisingly did a decent job of playing a game on the last day. Jacob even scored 3 goals! He also spent a lot of time giving hugs and tackling (mostly Zachary and the college kids)! 

Isaac is *loving* speech! Miss Karen is phenomenal. She even lets the big kids join in on the fun. 

I finally got my tomatoes in the ground!!! And thanks to my Uncle Randall, I have these incredible cages! And, these are all ones we started from seed!! I really didn't think they would survive, but they did. 

We bought a few tomato plants to give us a little earlier harvest, so Jacob used his tractor to deliver them to Stacy down the alley. He's a farmer! ;)

Papa made Anna her very own flower box to put on her little red stuga. It says "Anna's Rose" and she thinks it's pretty special!

Last weekend, since we found out Anna didn't have chicken pox after all, we went to Colorado to celebrate Aunt Carol's graduation from the Doctorate in Nursing program. Isaac tackled Uncle Elry and wouldn't let him up! :)

Now we have to call her Dr. Aunt Carol! ;)

Being silly in the big bathtub. 

Having fun in the hammock with Sarah.