The Dairy Farm

The little girls trying to feed the cows.

Feeding the pigs.

I have a wonderful friend from my time in Virginia named Amy. Her parents own a farm in Blackfoot which is only about 30 minutes from here. She came out to visit them in early September with her 3 boys and while she was here she gave me a call. I just found the pictures and realized I have never blogged about it. So, because this is kind of a journal/family history thing for me, I thought I'd go back in time and blog about our time at the dairy farm.

Watching Amy's Dad milk the cows! He was so wonderful and kind to them. He even let them help a little which both Hannah and Sarah thought was way cool. :)

Ben on top the hay bales. This was his favorite part of the farm.

Floating boats down the canal with Amy's boys and their cousins.

When the kids got home from school on September 2nd we headed out to Blackfoot. It was so nice to see Amy and the boys. I love seeing my Virginia friends again, it brings back such happy memories. The kids, of course, had a wonderful time on the farm. We looked at the cows and the pigs and then headed over to the dairy part of the farm. Hannah and Sarah loved watching Amy's Dad and brother milk the cows. Sarah was full of a million questions that Amy's Dad patiently answered. Ben had fun with the boys and their cousins who came over. They played on the bales of hay, floated toy boats down the canal, and played in the barn. Gracie loved roaming around seeing what everybody else was doing and trying to find something to climb on and drive. Amy allowed the 4 oldest kids to feed the calves and Sarah Kate was even lucky enough to feed one that was born that day. It was such a fun afternoon and I think Dan enjoyed himself even though he spent most of the day in the stroller (letting a crawling baby loose on a farm didn't seem like a good idea to me.)

Gracie found a 4-wheeler to drive. I love the VRRRROOOOMMM on her lips.

Dan enjoying the stroller.

Dan REALLY enjoying the stroller. He's such a goofy boy.

Farms are such wonderful playgrounds for kids. I'm grateful my kids have been able to experience a farm and to see what happens on a farm. I think that's something important for kids to learn and I feel fortunate we were able to spend time with good friends while there. Thanks for the invitation Amy and we'd love to do it again next year (if you come out.)

Feeding the baby calf in the barn.

Amy helping Hannah and Gracie feed the calves.

Sarah feeding the brand new calf.

Sink Full of Water

One thing I've learned as a mother: Never leave a sink full of water unattended unless you want random, clean dishes put in it and water all over the floor. :)

Cheerleading Camp

In early September some cheerleaders from the local high school were in the neighborhood seeing if any of the girls wanted to go to a cheerleading camp. Sarah was outside playing with friends and came running in to ask if she could do it. She said all her friends were going and she really wanted to go too. I talked to Kenny about it and we decided that, because it wasn't too expensive and because Sarah doesn't get to do much, we would let her go. When the cheerleaders came to the door we found out it was for girls ages 4-12. So, we decided to let Hannah go as well. A few days before the camp I found out none of Sarah's friends were actually going. Apparently they all wanted to go, but their mom's said no. I guess to Sarah wanting to go and actually being told you can go were the same thing.

Hannah doing a cheer.

The morning of September 18th came and I loaded the kids up to go to cheerleading camp. Both Sarah and Hannah were excited until we got there and then they were very nervous. The gym of Hillcrest High was packed with girls of all ages. The cheerleaders were there leading all the girls in cheers. This was the first time the cheerleaders had done a camp and it wasn't very well organized. I can totally see why my girls were overwhelmed. I stayed with them for a few minutes and waited for something else to happen. Finally they sent the girls up in the stands and had the cheerleaders introduce themselves. This was a perfect time for me to leave so I asked Sarah to help Hannah, made sure she had the cell phone in case she needed me, and headed back to the car. Kenny and I stopped in to check on them during lunch. They were both having fun and making friends. There were a few girls from Sarah's 2nd grade class that were at the camp and she had fun hanging out with them.

Sarah's turn to cheer. (She's in the back in the pink shirt.)

At 2:00 there was a performance of what the girls learned. Kenny was working, but I took the 4 other kids with me to watch them cheer. Hannah's group was first and it was a lot of fun watching her do her cheer and the little dance they learned. Hannah was more interested in watching us in the stands and chewing her hair (couldn't tell you why) than doing the dance, but she did shake her hips around a lot and that was very cute.

Hannah and her new friend getting ready to cheer.

Sarah's group was next and she was in the back on the opposite side of the gym. I didn't get many pictures or video of her because other girls kept getting in the way. One of her friends from her 2nd grade class has a sister who is a cheerleader. Because of this Sarah got chosen to help hold one of her friends in the air. She thought that was very cool and definitely the best part of the day.

Sarah helping to hold up her friend Alli.

So, overall the girls had a great day, once they stopped being shy. I've been hearing, "Red, Black, and White! Fight, Fight, Fight!" for weeks now and they've both informed me that they want to do it again in February when there's another camp. We'll see!

Hannah's Backpack

Hannah with her new backpack.

Last month Hannah got a package in the mail from Aunt Nancy. Now, if you know my kids, you know getting something in the mail is one of the coolest things that can happen to them. Hannah was so excited. When we opened the package we found a cute little purple polka-dot backpack with Hannah's name on it. Hannah, of course, absolutely loved it and immediately took it to fill it up. Nancy said she was at the Pottery Barn Outlet and found a huge bin of backpacks with little mistakes on them. She found one that said Hannah and thought it would be the perfect surprise for a middle child. Well, she was right. Hannah loves it and so do we. Thanks Aunt Nancy and don't worry, I don't unpack it every night. What's the point, it'll just get packed again the next day. :)

More pictures just for fun.

Adam's Rolling Over

OK! Not really, but if he gets mad enough he just might.

Here's Adam sleeping peacefully on the couch.

Here's Adam mad that he was left laying on the couch on his belly.

This boy has some strength to him. None of my other kids could get their legs in the air like that at 3 weeks old. I don't think it'll lead to early rolling over, sitting up, or crawling, but I was way impressed with him. I guess it shows what a baby whose mad can really do.