Ooooo, What a Beautiful Day

Yesterday was an absolute gorgeous day. Our trusty sitter Bobba had knee problems yesterday and was unable to keep Henlee so Henlee went to work with me for a few hours, then we went home, and then Dad came and stayed with her so that I could come back to work and then pickup Reagan. (Whew! I'm tired just writing that sentence.) Anyway, as I was reflecting on our day, I couldn't believe how much I could get accomplished when I had just a few more hours. I washed two loads of clothes and then folded, carried away, and hung up all the clothes that had been washed over the weekend. Yea for me. Also, I put a chicken in the oven while I was home and we had baked chicken, German rice, green beans, and gravy (the girls favorite). ALSO, I even had time to take the girls outside to enjoy the warm weather and sunshine. We played with Iaka, with the cats, Reagan practiced her dribbling and shooting, and Henlee and I blew bubbles. Henlee loved it so much that she threw a little tantrum when her Daddy made her come in for dinner.

The pictures below are kind of random shots that I took throughout the day. My sister hasn't seen Henlee since the first week of January so I really did this for her. Love ya sis and miss you more, if that is possible.

Lisa, this is Henlee's face when I don't pick her up exactly when she thinks she needs to be picked up.

This is Henlee's face when you catch her doing something she doesn't think she is supposed to be doing or when you park yourself in the chair and don't move so that she can happily play with her toys without having to worry about you going to the other room. (Both my children have great anxiety about being left. You would think that I left them all the time.)

The next two pictures are of Henlee helping fold clothes. Just this past week she has started putting things on her head or trying to put shoes on, etc. The first picture looks like she is sizing up Reagan's underwear to see if they fit. Then she decided that they might look better on her head or around her neck.

I so enjoy my time home with my children. Don't tell anyone this because they may think I am sick -in the head-because I like being home these days.

Finally, Some Pictures

Here are the pictures I promised from the storm we had a week and half ago. My computer was down because of the storm but ole DW fixed it for me on Friday but blogger wouldn't load the pictures on Friday. Anyway the first picture is our neighbor's barn. He has several horses and thank goodness, none of them were seriously hurt. A Church is right next door to the barn, and it sustained no damage. One of the members from that Church said there wasn't any damage except that on the inside it looked like someone had taken a bag of grass clippings and blew them all around.

This wagon was underneath our carport and ended up here in the middle of our pasture. I sure would have liked to have seen the ride it took

Here is our barn.
See that nice green circle, that is where our trampoline used to be.
And here it is on the opposite side of our house.

Twister

Okay with this post are supposed to be all the pictures from the storm we had the other night. Last night I went to do this post at home and my computer will not connect to the internet. Long story short, I finally convinced the guy that maybe someone needed to come out and look at the equipment to make sure some of it didn't blow away along with the trampoline. Ms. Reagan's trampoline is in a million parts in the backyard, our neighbors' barns blew away, and some of our barns need repair. But as Reagan said, "The good thing is that we are all alive and so are our animals." Maybe Mr. Internet Repairman will show up to my house today and then I can load the pictures.

Pennies

My sister just sent me an email entitled, "Do you pick up pennies?". It is basically about a wealthy man who picks up every penny he finds because on every piece of currency we have it says "In God We Trust" and he takes a moment to say a prayer and to reflect on putting his trust in God.

At the top of the email, my sister said, "Rylee tells me to pick them up because God sent it but to put it back down to share with someone else."

This is my 15 year old niece that has all this wisdom.

Where in the World Have I Been?

That is a good question. If you find out, would you let me know?

Anywhoo, I have completed a blog marathon below. I was so far behind and so much has happened that I had to get it all down. I have been on facebook lately catching up with some old high school buddies. Facebook is almost as addicting as blogging, but I think that will grow old, whereas talking about my children, family, and friends will never grow tiresome.

We have started basketball and Reagan is doing great. She scored 12 points her first game and 6 points today but to me that doesn't make a good player. She also passes to her open teammates, hustles for the ball, and is a mean defensive player (defense wins games, right?).

We had quite the scare a week ago. Reagan and her friend Madison were on a horse and the horse fell down with the girls. Madison ended up with a concussion and Reagan had a very swollen ankle (thankfully not broken) and lost some hide. We are on the mend. Thank you Jesus for healing hands.

Hope everyone is doing well and maybe next time I won't get so far behind.

Stock Show and Pig Paradise

I love stock show time. People running around in their coveralls, washing their animals, boots with poop, little girls and boys all dressed up ready to put their animal out there for the world to see. Well, this is Reagan's last year to participate as a Clover Kid. She entered banana nut bread and earned $10.00 for her effort and then she was one of the Pee Wee Showman in the swine division. By the way she was the only girl.

Here Reagan is with her coach. He did such a good job with her and she really listened to him. We hope to have him on our team next year when she gets to show her own pig.
Look at that intensity. Making sure the Judge sees her pig.

We are already in the process of planning for next January. Reagan plans on showing her own pigs. Her Daddy is mapping out where we build the pens and plumbing the water. I am sure we will also enter something in the home economics division as well.

The children learn so much about life and responsiblities through this process. For 6 months they have to feed, water, brush, and spend time with their animal so that by the time the show comes around, both the pig and the kid know what to do.

Henlee's First Birthday and Family Party

Happy First Birthday Henlee Kyle! On December 26, 2008, we celebrated your first birthday with all the aunts, uncles, Momo, Papa, Grandma Jane, cousins, Dave and Beck, and Bobbie. We had vegetable soup and chicken and dumplings. You weren't too sure about digging into your cake so I had to hold it up to your mouth so you would take a bite. After that, the cake was history. You are wearing 12-18 month clothes, size 4 diapers, size 3 shoe, drinking out of a sippy cup, and you love to take a bath. You are going to be a water baby. You started really walking about 2 days before your actual birthday. Our family is so complete with you and you light up our world, Punkie.