Pony Rides

Everynight the girls beg for pony rides to bed and some nights i feel guilty enough to give them one. the other nights their brothers give them pony rides. it dawned on me that i don't have pictures of me giving any of the kids pony rides. they all got them until they got too big. and when these girls get to big there will be no more pony rides. ACK!! and seeing how they both weigh about 40lbs each i got 80 lbs of bouncing love on my back, this pony may not last that much longer.

so to make a long story longer.......i had dan take some quick pics before the girls get too big for this fun.

then dan desided to take a parting shot. i told him, "NO PICTURES OF MY BUTT!!" he said, "i have to before it gets too big to take a picture of." he should out of the body cast in four to six months. as for he jaw being wired shut.......that could take years to heal.

easter

First off we take egg dyeing very seriously in this house. it is a science and an art. we had a huge easter egg hunt in the woods at the end of our block. we had 10 kids show up and 100 eggs for them to find. everybody was a winner.

Heading off to the egg hunt

Jakey!

on the hunt

Ike and Ray dividing out their goods

Anna found one!

Ria showing me her purple egg in her purple coat. the girl loves purple

The On Going Project

Whew! this has alot of pictures so i will be brief with my words.

we spent two days out at the homestead getting some spring cleaning done. i have a goal of spending a weekend a month out there getting stuff caught up and cleaned up in the meadow. we burned, cleaned slash piles, and helped dad finish his bridge. we just need to put up the ramps now.

Maria, Anna and Jakey watching the current flow around their sticks. i love playing this game. it is so relaxing.
Daniel and his buddy Jake Forbush hauling a small tree off to the fire.

Daniel feeding the fire.

A very well deserved lunch break.Still on lunch break and hoping to strike it rich paning for gold in Moon Creek. This is the old bridge by the way.

Ike and my parent's dog, tigger.

Still paning for gold. i am sorry to say that no one became rich that day.

Anna age 5

Moon Creek. it is so pretty down here, that is why i want to get it cleaned up so badly.

Our beautiful fire and Jakey heading off to gather more wood.

We worked for about six hours on thursday and it just wore poor maria out so she grabbed a power nap in the wheelbarrow next to the fire.

We took the opportunity to do a small controlled burn while we were working too. the boys manned the lines and had their buckets of water in their hands at all time.

Hard days work followed by what else.....roasting marshmellows in a fire!

The next day this is what was left of our grand bonfire.

our bridge to nowhere. ha ha ha

The mighty work crew. they did a fantastic job. i mean we got done so far ahead of schedule. i am so proud of them.

Playing in the coals and roasting fresh water clams on shovels. no worries, nobody ate them.

now we have to pull the metal pipes out that held up the old bridge.

it was a fantastic time. i love working out there. it is so more rewarding than housework. you get a job done, you do it well and stays that way for more than a day. i LOVE it.

Bubble time

We had a brief break from the rain this morning so we all ran outside to play with bikes, bubbles and neighbors.

Ria cruising down the street.

Anna showing her skills on Jakey's old bike.

we also had our bubble machine going. always lots of fun. ike showed me a new trick he learned from the last time i washed his mouth out with soap. (yes, it happens often) i dunno what to do now that he has made a game of it. anyways, he thought he could out do the bubble machine. well he could not pump out as many at a time, but he made up for that with them being totally gross and disgusting to watch.

learning to french braid

I grew up in a house of french braiding. inside out, diagonal, corn rows, fishtails. well you get the idea. but i was lazy, i always had a sister or mom nearby that could do my hair when i wanted it done. now i have girls of my own and i wanted to do their hair the same way mine was done. we always had fabulous hairstyles and our hair was down past our bottoms. we were not allowed to cut it.

last week i finally got brave and started teaching myself. the girls are very patient. they watch their favorite tv show while i slowly work. i know i will get faster with time. i just need to stick with it. soon i want to master the inside out french braid.

East Valley Tournament

We has our last wrestling tournament of the season this past saturday. we were at East Valley, where they like to keep their gym at a cozy 98 degrees. YIKES! ike got a silver. this year was his hardest year yet. we are really proud of him and how hard he has worked.


Daddy with the girls
Ike getting ready to wrestle. he gets so nervous.

Jakcy and Ray playing.

Daniel's new toy

sure, it may not be the wisest thing we have done as parents. but, he promised not to use it around our house. and he did buy it himself.