Sales

Part of the joys of spring are all the little garage sale signs on each corner. I, on occasion, will stop and see what treasures are to be found. Sometimes there are great things and sometimes it's a bust. Last weekend my friend and I went out during the garage sale weekend and I found some great things. One of which was an Easy Bake oven. Greta's at the age where she's toying with the idea of baking and this little thing is such a fun intro to that. Oddly enough, I've had more fun with the tiny oven than she has. It didn't come with any of the pre-made baking mixes (which is good, garage sale baking mixes aren't anything I'd use) so I got on Google and found all sorts of Easy Bake oven recipes. They're funny because they call for 4 teaspoons of flour, 2 teaspoons of sugar....and so on. Tiny little measurements that make tiny amounts of cake batter to go in tiny pans. After the kids went to bed last night I told Sean I wanted to make a tiny cake we can eat and not feel guilty about eating (because I could easily have made a big cake we would have eaten). The end result was a delicious tiny double decker chocolate cake and frosting.

One of the other things I found was an old dog house that's in need of a good staining. It's sturdy and well made and was just what I was looking for. The tortoises are outside during the day now if it's above 65 degrees. They needed a shelter in their enclosure but I just didn't want to build anything, so this works great. They've already thoroughly checked it out and gave it their stamp of approval.

On a (kind of) sad note, the hubby decided to sell his corvette and it was picked up by the new owner a couple of nights ago. Sean spent the whole winter tinkering around on it, replacing this and that, and he decided he was done. It was a fun car but I think he is ready for something newer that doesn't require the maintenance that a 20+ year old car requires. An older gentleman just south of us bought it so I'm sure we'll see it around.

Spring Activities

Spring has definitely sprung around here. We finally got a nice rain the other evening which has made everything green up nicely. The weeds are going nuts which is great for a five year old. Greta loves to venture into the yard and pluck as many yellow dandelion flowers as she can grab then she trots over to the horse pen and feeds them to the goats who are stretching their necks through the fence waiting for her.

We've started the daunting task of fencing in the walnut grove. Each weekend for about a month now we've gone out and pounded in t-posts. The east side of the property is finished with the posts and we'll start the corner posts and wire fencing soon. I can hardly wait to let the goats in there to keep it mowed (it takes at least 3 hours to mow it).

We have some crazy helpers most days.

The Birthday Horse

I was looking at some dates on the refrigerator and saw that one of our miniature horses was born on April 18, 2005 and he was turning 10 this year. I told the kids, half joking, that we should celebrate his birthday with party hats and a cake. Oh boy were they on board! Every day for more than two weeks Greta has asked me when Rocky's birthday was. Well it is today. So he got brushed out (he's still losing his winter coat) and got a lovely red party hat. Sean took pictures. Happy birthday Rocky!

Miniature horses routinely live into their 30's, so he's considered young.

Easter, Reenactments & Crazy Canines

Was Easter really a week and a half ago? Yikes, time flies when you're having fun! We did all the traditional Easter stuff: dyed eggs, hunted for them at the city park and at home. This year they put quarters in a lot of the plastic eggs and Greta made out with $5.50 worth of quarters. She was super excited. My folks came over for an Easter meal of snow crab and pork loin. It was a fun Easter weekend.

My parents are preparing for a reenactment of President Lincoln's funeral that is around the end of April. It's to commemorate the 150 year anniversary of his death. They've never been part of a reenactment before so for the past few months they've been doing extensive research on mid 1800 clothing. They wanted some pictures so I went over and took some while they posed in their period attire. I'd say they are having an interesting retirement.

I made her pose for this one. Definitely my favorite.

I had the fun experience of taking all three dogs to the vet for their shots. They were all due for them and I'd been putting it off since they are insane at the vet clinic. Oh who and I kidding, they are insane all the time. I had a slow day last week and decided to just get it done. So into the car Greta, Sophie, Chance, Cody and I piled. They are lunatics in the car and jump from front seat to back seat to cargo area and then back again. Sophie decided to start barking a few minutes after we left, so that was fun. Then Chance jumped up on the passenger seat armrest and pushed on the window control with his paw. He did this to two different windows. He'd lower them, I raise them back up. Greta thought all of this was hilarious. I was not laughing. Two hundred dollars later it is done and I don't have to think about it for quite some time. I often wonder what it's like to have well trained dogs.

Dogs don't pose when they're jumping around a car.

Kindergarten Round-Up

 Last week I signed my youngest up for kindergarten. I'm far more emotional during this process than I was when I signed up Wesley. I really had no clue how I'd feel when Wesley went to kindergarten. It was a completely new phase having a child in school. Now three years later I have a 2nd grader who is flourishing. I do miss him when he's at school but I have Greta so it isn't too bad. Now Greta's going to school soon and I'm kind of sad. It's going to be lonely around here for seven hours a day. It will be so strange working again. I haven't worked full time in eight years.

Now Greta on the other hand. She is very excited to go to kindergarten. I can't be happier for her. When she turned five she went through an anxiety phase that I was scared she'd never emerge from. She'd cling to me during preschool drop off, crying and pleading with me not to leave her. At bedtime she'd apprehensively ask if preschool was tomorrow and then start worrying if I said yes. This behavior overlapped into doctor and dentist visits. She'd freak out if I said we had to do to the doctors. She's not completely out of that phase yet but when it comes to school she's 110% better. She LOVES preschool again. She even will go inside on her own without me. The teacher and even other parents have commented on her 180 degree behavioral change. I couldn't be more happy for her.

I am not worried at all about her entry into kindergarten. She has her best friend from preschool going into the same school with her and I've been assured that they will be in the same class. Oh and she's excited that she'll get to see her big brother in the hallways.  This is a win win situation.

A Weekend Away

Well jury duty turned out to be a bust. I drove in, they put us all in a room and selected 31 out of the 45 people there. I was not one of the 31 so I got in my car and drove home. It wasn't a bad experience, it was actually quite interesting hearing the 31 people being questioned by the judge. I learned all sorts of things about those 31 people. I have to call back next week so perhaps I'll be one of those selected people soon enough.

I thought I'd share some pictures from last weekend. We traveled up to see my sister as it was my youngest nephews birthday. Little Bennett turned 4 years old.

He's such a cute little ham of a kid. He really worked at blowing out that last candle from three feet away. There was face painting involved and lots of cake and ice cream. What's not to like?

Children and adults alike enjoyed the hulk hands. Although I think my father might have appreciated them more.

There was plenty of playing and a nice walk to the park nearby. Walkie talkies were a big hit among young children and fathers alike. I find it hilarious that my daughter can strike a pose if I tell her I'm taking a picture.

I had my very first trip to Ikea (one of my parents favorite stores). It was a massive store full of great ideas. It made me want to come home and organize (which I've been doing all week!). It was great fun! We even ate lunch there which was very tasty. I'd definitely go back.

We stopped at a McDonalds for coffee on the way up there and found a very cool interactive table with lights that change colors with pressure from your hands. Wesley was quite intrigued. Good times! That was my fun weekend.