Chicks in 2nd Grade

I love Ms. Swirhun. She is such a great teacher. She agreed and was excited to incubate chicks in her classroom. The hatch was quite sucessful. There were 11 chicks in all.  Some of the eggs even hatched during class time.

The kids loved to hold them and take care of them, the chicks even got read to. And if the kids were lucky enough they got to do their Math work by the chicks.  

I hear 1 chick even went into timeout, for picking on the other chicks. 

I went in 1 day after school to check on them and within 5 minutes of the kids leaving the classroom ALL 11 of the chicks were fast asleep. The excitement of all of the kids really wore them out.

What a fun end of the year project!

Early Mornings and Bottles

Oscar might be gald to have his new companions, but I know at few others that aren't so glad, at least for now. 3 Words.. Early. Morning. and Bottle

Our timing was off...  these little guys still need to be bottle fed, morning and night. That means getting up even earlier than they do to feed horses and get out the door for school and seminary.

The funny thing is, by the time school is over in 2 weeks the calves will be on a bucket which would take 1/2 the time. Oh well, it hasn't been too bad,
it's actually been kind of fun.

Look at the bright side, at least it is not snowy and cold like the last time we got calves.

Who said feeding calves isn't fun...

Lonely No More

Oscar has been lonely ever since his friend Fluffy passed away.

It was sad to see how this gentle guy mourned the void in his life. We spent a few weks looking and finally found some new companions for him.

He now has Brownie, Spots, Bump, Duke, and Valentine to keep him company.

Oscar was out to pasture when we brought the guys in and set them up in their new pens. We were still around when he came in that afternoon.
If you could see a cow smile, this guy was beaming from ear to ear. He even ran around for a while doing a few kicks and licked them through the gate.

For 2 days he wouldn't leave their side, only to get some food and then come back and lay next to them. It just goes to show everyone needs a friend.

.... After all, Hank had Elvis and Bob had Bob.

Word Parade

 Jen has a "Word Parade" tomorrow at school. She chose to be grapes. 

I thought she turned out to be a pretty cute bunch. 

Don't you?
(I started this post and never finished it)

Well, it turned out that she was sick and was unable to attend. To add to missing the parade she also missed the ice cream sundaes the class had in celebration of learning the multiplication tables. I told her that I would give her some ice cream. She asked if she could have a cherry on top because she earned it by memorizing the 10's. No one in our home likes the cherries except for her and me so it is not normally something that we have in the refrigerator. I felt bad that she missed pretty much "the celebration day" of the whole year for her 3rd grade class.
We will just have to do a little celebrating of our own here at home in honor of our cute Jen.

Glad it's over!

Victoria managed a smile for her Easter picture even though she was feeling miserable.

(Check out the group Easter picture   here  and you will see how she really felt)

We are finishing up a pretty dreadful week + for many of our family members. It all started with Victoria who had the stomach flu so bad that after going in to get an IV she was so dehydrated that they couldn't get it in, even after 4 tries. 
The doctor sent me home with a miracle drug, Zofran.
Oh man, that stuff is good. `
I really don't know how Victoria would have gotten over it without that stuff.
Brooke had it bad as well and almost had to go in.

(SSHHH...Don't tell anyone,

but I gave some to Brooke and that was the only reason why she ended not going in.)

Others of the children had it as well but not as bad.

I have never seen a bug like this that lasted so long and was so nasty.

It appears that we are out of the water with this one.

Good Riddance!!!

More Easter Fun

 We also had an egg hunt at the church.

Easter wouldn't be complete without 

Dying Eggs 

(brown eggs do color, but the yellow and orange do not work so well)

and Easter Pictures.

What a good looking bunch.

Easter Festivities

This is how we do egg hunts
"Bountiful Style"



TEAM #1



TEAM #2



TEAM #3



5 Baskets full of eggs to span the 40 acres.

(Mind you, the eggs were empty,
I am sure we will be finding more in the months to come.)

Especially since our chickens surprised us

and started laying colored eggs.

I wonder how long this will last :)





Is he FAMOUS?

Alison has an assignment to do a Biography at school. It is a written and an oral assignment. Today she asked her teacher permission to do her report on Joseph Smith.

The teacher asked "Was he famous?"

Alison replied very matter of factly, like everyone already knows, "He was a prophet."

I thought it was funny that the way she replied was as if everyone should know who he was, of course, he was a prophet.

When she came home and told us, my first thought was,

"Famous, is he famous?? Of course he is famous. Millions know him for good and for bad."

I don't think the teacher realizes and knows WHO he really is and the impact he has had on individuals of the world. Individuals because collectively and generally he is not always well known, hence the teachers lack of knowledge.

But individuals know him.

Every day thousands of individuals are taught about him by an army of young men in white shirts and ties who give up 2 years of their lives to tell people about this man. 

Yes, people know him.

They know him and love him and are indebted to him. He has made such an impact on their life that they have gone to great lengths to follow him and his teachings. Enough to give up their livelihood and all they possess to be a part of what he knew to be true. And what is even more amazing, now even over 150 years after he has died, his legacy and work still lives on in the hearts of individuals all over the world.

So, Is he famous???

Millions shall know Brother Joseph.

If she only knew...  if she only knew.

On FIRE!

Fire, determination, persistance, endurance, and strength...

 Wrestling

I never really followed wrestling until my boys wanted to participate.

 I have a newfound respect for this sport. It takes a lot of skill, thinking, and strength to do well.

Both Chad and Spencer got 2nd place at the tounaments they attended today.

Avalanche!

A few weeks ago Andrew came home with tickets to an Avalanche game.

The company he works for owns a sky box and will lottery out the box to the employees when they are not shmoosing the big boys. I had never been to a hockey game and was curious to know if it was anything like professional soccer (boring).

To my complete surprise and enjoyment, it was fantastic. The Av's weren't ranked well this year and they were playing what I heard was the #1 team in the NHL. I was setting myself up for disappointment in the Av's demise, a quick loss and not much excitement. Quite the opposite, just 4 words...
Victory in Double Overtime.
Exciting, YES!!

They created an instant fan in me. I felt like a kid in a candy store wanting more and sad at its end.

Go Av's!!!





Here are some fun pictures we took after the game.

Family of Snowmen

After our last big snowstorm Hannah kept asking me to make a snowman with her. The day of and the few days following the snow, it was too cold and the snow would not pack.
Eventually, it warmed up enough to make the snowman she had desperately been waiting for. We started out making just 1 and ended up making our whole family worth of snowmen and snowwomen. She had fun finding the eyes and arms, but she especially liked dressing them.

The other kids were surprised and impressed with our efforts of making the
 "family of snowmen".
 It was even fun to watch them progressively melt.



The Substitute Teacher From the Black Lagoon

The other day, Jen had her very own Substitute Teacher From the Black Lagoon. She came home seemingly normal in all respects, her attitude, her smile, and she appeared to have no damage from flesh wounds or teeth bites.

But then it happened, the truth came out as I was making dinner. The tale of the MEANEST, GREENEST teacher flowed out of the mouth of my 9 year old sweet girl...

It all started at about 8:00 in the morning when she walked into her 3rd grade classroom at SES. There she was, a woman she had never seen before. She was tall with straight blond hair, she even wore glasses.

She started the class by telling everyone her name. It was, it was, it was.... 
(Jen didn't seem to remember that one. I guess her demeanor was so frightening that her short term memory could not function.)

 Her name was... Mrs. Long, Mrs. Longer, Mrs. Longly, Mrs. Longston... something with Long. 

"She is MEAN and has VERY GOOD HEARING!" the sweet girl said.
"She has 2 children and they say she has very good hearing too."

(at this point, laughing hysterically to myself, I about fell out of my seat, well, I would have if I was sitting.)

The sweet girl went on...
"All day, she wouldn't let anyone speak at all. If you talked, you would get on HER LIST!"
Gasp...
"She even took Shane's toy away!"

The mother then asked, "Did you get on the list?"
The sweet girl replied with relief, "NO. No one did!"

(The internal laughter started again...)

The sweet girl proceeded to say that Lilly got to go home early.
"She is LUCKY!  Lilly was glad too."

And that is the story of the Substitute Teacher From the Black Lagoon.
It is all true, Ms. Long**** really did have GOOD HEARING and she really did have
A LIST, and she was REALLY MEAN!!!

I don't know what she did it, but she had that sweet girl and the whole class grasped in horror.
The proof was on the board... no one was on HER LIST!

But hey, maybe they learned something that day! 

SNOW!

We look forward to days like this ALL YEAR!

We all wait for those calls at 5:30 in the morning when you answer there is a computer voice on the other line that says:

"Due to weather conditions the schools are closed today and all practices and activities are cancelled."

Usually when we get calls that early on snowy mornings we know it will be a call from the school and let the answering machine pick it up so that the kids can hear the message from their cozy bed so that they can stay there a while longer.

Monday wasn't any different. We got the call, let the answering machine pick it up, and I smiled as I heard shouts of joy coming from the kids' bedrooms.

At this point Andrew anxiously calls up the Base Hotline to see if the base is closed to non essential personnel. To all of our dismay, it was just on a delay. He went out and cleared the driveway to go to work. The kids were already planning the day of sledding and snowmen.

He couldn't help but take the day off as well.

The weather was perfect! When the younger kids went down for a nap, the rest of us bundled up, started up the 4 wheeler, tied up the sled, and were off for some of the most anticipated fun of the year.

December

Our December was fun. I am sad to see it end.

Now we are in a rut trying to get back to our routine, schedules, and real life.

 Here are some of our highlights:

Hannah had her birthday that she had been waiting for forever!

 (I mean FOREVER!)

Here she is in her new birthday dress.

We had lots of fun walking the streets "downtown" meeting Santas reindeer.

We almost lost our cute pony Blaze to collic. He was born on our farm in April.

Here he is at the "hospital".

We made yummy gingerbread houses that we munched on during break.

Our furnace broke.

We were so cozy with our stove that we didn't even know it was broken for a few days.

We are so glad to have our wood stove.

Sometimes.....

... until the kids find the ashes. Lets just say big, mess, and baths.

 (I think they had fun though)

And finally Christmas! New PJs! And Fun times!

(And a little "Settlers of Zarahemla", our favorite ;) )

So, that is our update. There always seems to be something going on.

It makes life a bit more exciting.