One down, sixteen more to go...

One year down, sixteen more to go until all 3 kids are out of 4-H. Not that I am counting down, just looking forward! Kaylee had another amazing night of strutting her stuff (her stuff being her two Angus calves, Abby & Emily.

Here she is pulling leading Abby around the show arena as the judge looks on. 

 

The next picture is of Kaylee setting Abby up, just right.  I have to brag on her a bit here.  When she was showing Emily, the judge originally placed Emily 3rd in her class.  Kaylee led her into the 3rd place spot and continued working with her, setting her up, getting her into the perfect stance.  She did such a great job of this that the judge ended up changing his mind and moved her up into 2nd place!

Proud girl with her Champion Angus Heifer!  Great job!

Then Kaylee had to go back in the arena with Abby for Grand Champion Heifer.  She was competing against all the other Champion Heifers of each breed.  He picked out four that made "his cut," Abby being one of them.  He kept going back to her and looking at her and said several times that it's very difficult to judge a young calf like her against a full grown heifer because with her, you THINK you know the cow that she will become, but you really can't give her Grand Champion based on that.  Here she is.  She is the 3rd one there in the front row, just behind the white cow.

Here is Kaylee & Abby, pictured with Justin.  Justin raises Angus and is who we bought Abby from in March.  He was very proud as well and wanted a picture with her.

Kaylee is on cloud 9 today!  She has come so far!  She worked very hard, got beat up a bit, but stuck with it.  She's already looking forward to next year!

Here's some more pictures from the fair...

Here's Jacob on Monday morning in the Pre 4-H Goat Show.  He showed one of his cousins goats.

Kaylee didn't take any goats to the fair, but her cousin Emma had two goats in the same class, so Kaylee showed one of them for her.  That's Emma, right behind Kaylee.

Jacob and his buddy Mason.

I think this little calf was as entertained with Anden as what Anden was with him.

Here's Jacob showing in the Pre 4-H Swine Show.  Jacob showed his cousin's pig.

It was pretty wild in there.  The kids literally chased their pigs around the arena, bumping them with their canes to TRY to get them in front of the judge.  It was pretty entertaining!

Here's Jacob showing Emily for Pre 4-H.  The judge is asking him about his calf here.

My Little Showman doing a great job with Emily!

Shaving cream fight this morning.  Here's Kaylee with her cousin Isaac.

And Kaylee with her cousin Emma.  Such sweet girls!

Got a picture this morning of Jesse & Anden walking through the Cattle Barn.

4-H Fair Beef Showmanship

Big day today for Kaylee.  She showed her calf Abby in the Beef Showmanship at our 4-H Fair.  She did AMAZING!  Prior to arriving at the fair on Saturday, Abby had given all of us a run for our money.  She'd gotten away from Jesse a few times out in the barnyard, jumped onto the hay wagon while we were washing her, literally drug Kaylee through the gravel a few times.  Since getting to the fair though, she's been a baby!  Our other calf Emily who was a breeze to work with at home, got to the fair and decided to take over where Abby left off.  She's been a stinker.  Kaylee had planned to show Emily for Showmanship because she had such a calm demeanor about her.  I think she made the right choice though when she decided to show Abby instead.  Hoping Abby keeps this up and Emily calms down a bit for Wednesday evening's Beef Show.  Kaylee will show both of them in the Beef Show and Jacob will show one of them.  He'd originally planned to show Emily as well, so we shall see!

Doing a good job keeping her calf calm and eyes on the judge.

Here's 1/2 the class she was showing in.  She is to the right of the brown and white cow.

She's looking so calm and cool here... much calmer than her Mama!  I was in the stands shaking like a leaf.  Not sure how all my pictures aren't one big blob of blur from me shaking so much!

Proud Papa looking on from just outside the show arena.

Again, so calm and cool!

Kaylee with her Grandpa and Grandma and her Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa who all came to cheer her on.

And my FAVORITE picture of all...

Kaylee with her calf Abby (and her Blue Ribbon!)

When I Grow Up...

Springtime Fun

Such a fun weekend we had...

Jesse had a ton of paperwork he needed to get done but Jacob was not in the mood for Dad to spend the weekend buried in paperwork.  Fortunately, Uncle Jeremy came to the rescue.  He took Jacob fishing and mushroom hunting.  Jacob is so lucky to have such an awesome Godfather!

Here is a picture of Jacob and Isaac with their big catches.  It was Isaac's idea to have his fish look like it's gobbling up Jacob's fish.  Such sillyness!  You can tell by the look on Jacob's face that he is in heaven.

 Fixing tile in the field...

Pure sweetness...



Times have changed

Fifteen years ago, I spent my Friday nights hanging out with my friends,

going to ballgames, cruising "The Strip", going to the movies...

Let's just say TIMES HAVE CHANGED.

This was my Friday night tonight...

Oh gosh no... that's not me in the tractor... that's Jesse. 

I'm behind the camera, doing what I do best...

STAYING OUT OF THE WAY!

Oh and manhandling 3 munchkins who wanted to take turns riding with Jesse.

And guess what...

I wouldn't have it any other way!

My father-in-law might though... when we came past his place, he asked me which field Jesse was in. You'd think by now he'd know not to ask me such questions... I told him, "The one with the purple flowers." Never mind the fact that nearly all the fields in the county have purple flowers in them. He loves me!

Here are the kids playing with Grandma & Grandpa's baby goats.

Spring is Springing!

Well, I almost titled this entry Spring Has Sprung, but given the dreary, wet, nasty, and cold day we are having today, I changed my mind.  This past weekend however, was GORGEOUS! 

We were able to get out and enjoy it yesterday after a busy day on Saturday.

Saturday we cheered our Rangers on to their Regional victories!  Can't wait until Semi-State this weekend.  The kids have really enjoyed following them this year.  So proud to be a part of Ranger Nation!  Jacob talks about a few of the players as if they're his school friends.  He was outside shooting baskets yesterday and told me that he'd made SO MANY 3-pointers.  I asked him how he does that and he said, "I guess I am just really good!"  He's modest too, can you tell?

Took the kids to the State Forest on Sunday... the kids on their bikes and Anden in his stroller. 

We spent Sunday afternoon picking up limbs out of the yard and the field behind the house from the dozer-work we had done late last fall.  The grass is beginning to green up, the spring flowers are peaking out from the soil, and some have even started blooming!  Such a pretty day!

Here's Kaylee & Jacob having a little 4-wheeler fun in the field behind the house.

Jesse & Anden in the tractor.  Anden loves it so much...

Gets to ride in a tractor AND hang out with dad. 

Looking forward to Spring Break next week!

16.  Seeing the first red robin each year.

20.  First Communion dress shopping with Kaylee.

23.  Birthday parties.

Wordless Wednesday... A Day in the Life of a Farm Kid

Harvest time is here!

Fall is here! Spring and fall are my FAVORITE times of the year. I can't really say I like one more than the other... each winter, I'm dying for spring to get here so we can get outside, open the windows, and look forward to the summer. And towards the end of summer, after I'm sick of the smoldering heat, I look forward to pulling out my sweaters and jeans, decorating with pumpkins and mums, having a warm pot of soup simmering on the stove all day long, and baking cookies and breads. Jesse on the other hand loves this time of year for a COMPLETELY different reason... because he gets to drive the combine! He's been one happy farmer the last couple of days. He shelled the corn behind the house yesterday and has been working down in our bottoms today. Jacob and Kaylee have been loving it as well. Jake rode with him for several hours yesterday and today. He cries when it comes time for him to come in and take a bath. Kaylee rode along yesterday, but spent this evening in the house helping me out with Anden while I made supper.

Has it really been a month already?

My oh my, how time flies. Has it really been a month already since my last post? A few weeks ago, I could tell I was in my nesting phase. Baby clothes, bedding, etc. were washed, the house was pretty well spotless, and I had more energy than what I knew what to do with. Let's just say though, I'm definitely not feeling that way this week. I don't think I've ever felt so exhausted in my entire life. Between the 4 or 5 trips to the bathroom every night, the heartburn that keeps me up, and the aching all over, I don't really sleep too much at night. Then I walk around all day feeling like a zombie. I don't ever remember feeling like this with Kaylee or Jake. The end is in sight and I just keep telling myself it could be anyday, although I've been saying that all week now.

Kaylee and Jake are counting down to the end of school. Tomorrow should have been their last day of school; but due to all the snowdays, they have to go to school tomorrow, next Tuesday, and then a 1/2 day on Wednesday. I really think they're more excited about the new baby than they are about getting out of school. Ever since we told them we were having a baby, they've known it was coming some time around the end of the school year and that's all they've talked about.

We had Jake's Case Conference meeting at school today and his Preschool Teacher and Speech and Language Pathologist are in agreement that he's ready to be placed in the General Education Classroom. Up until now, because of his speech and articulation delays, he qualified for the Developmental Preschool. Beginning in August, he will be in a preschool class with typically developing peers that he will then move on to Kindergarten with the following year. I'm so happy because I think being around other kids who are good speech models for him will really help him. He'll continue to see his Speech and Language Pathologist 2 times/week while he's at preschool to work on some of his articulation issues, but overall, he's doing great. He's really come SO FAR. He's such a social little guy, he loves being around other kids, and will make friends with anyone, I know he'll love it. Jesse swears he's going to be the class clown.

Kaylee has achieved all the Kindergarten goals/standards that are expected by the time they enter the First Grade. I'm going to brag on her a bit here... she got a letter from her Religious Ed. teacher and was able to read the ENTIRE letter to me. And it wasn't your typical easy-to-read, geared toward a Kindergartner's reading level. It had words in it like 'beginning,' 'different,' 'taught,' 'kindness,' 'religion.' She didn't skip a beat when she got to those words! She blows my mind.

Here are some pictures that kind of sum up what we've been up to the last month or so.

Here is Kaylee performing at the 4-H Share the Fun Contest. Her group came in 3rd place!!!!

That's her with the red bandanna.

Here are some turkeys... I mean turkey hunters.

Jake had to take his gun along too, just in case Dad missed.

4/26- Here is Jesse planting his corn crop.

He planted his soybeans last night.

Hey batter batter batter... SWING!!!

Here is Kaylee with her T-ball team.

So that pretty well sums up what we've been up to lately. Hopefully the next time I update, it will be with some BIG NEWS!!!