Life in the "Farm" Lane

My classes are officially over, which means I have some additional time on my hands.  It is weird logging into my classroom and getting this message: "Our records indicate that you are not in a class at this time."  No class?  What is that like?  Three and a half years of continual classes coming to a close.  Am I sick to be sort of sad that school is ending?  Can I take some extra credit courses?  Something?  Anything?  Graduate school can't come soon enough!  No, it is a much-needed break away from school for before I start student teaching.  I am very excited to meet all of the 2nd-grade students that I will be working with this fall!  Ella and Brock had hoped that I would be in their classroom, but unfortunately, it's against the rules.

So what to do now that school is done for time being?  Work.  Labor.  Sweat.  Blood.  Tears.  It is no longer life is the fast lane; it is life in the farm lane.  Although we don't necessarily have a farm, we I hope to get some goats, chickens, maybe a cow, a pig, and a duck (for Carter, of course).  All things needed for a well-rounded meal of meat.  Chad has agreed to the chickens and possibly a cow, so I am really working on a goat and pig.  I will have a goat and name it Clyde.  Oh, and did I mention that I have found seven (YES, SEVEN!!!) mulberry trees??  Childhood friends, welcome.  Enter the land of mulberries.  Chad keeps trying to cut them down saying something about birds and messes, but I try not to listen. =)

Anyways, life in the farm lane has produced a colorful array of work and chores to be done.  Holy cow is it a lot of work!  So much for 5 a.m. workouts.  You will find me in the garden shoveling horse manure all day.  Nope, no horses.  Just their manure, and in the eyes of a gardener, it is gold and we are saving all of it (insert picture of me doing snow angels in the manure piles).  

So although school is out for me, hard work still remains, but it's the fun kind, and the kids have fun with it, too.      I guess now would be a good time to catch up on my emails.  Heidi - you are probably reading this thinking WRITE ME BACK!, so I will do that now.

Father's Day 2013

Happy Father's Day to a wonderful father and husband.  You get an A+ in our book, you hunka hunka burnin' love! Although there are countless reasons in which we love and admire you, here are just a few of the most important ones.  ;)

Gifts for Daddy!

Among the gifts, I had the kids fill out a survey about Daddy in which they had to answer some serious questions.  It was very entertaining to hear what they came up with.

Brock's

Sophie's 

Ella's

The kids' choice for Daddy's supper: ribs and corn on the cob.  One of his favorites!

The day was spent cutting trees, mowing, weed eating and doing some much-needed mosquito and tick control (fun fun!).  Seems like that is all we do anymore!  Ha!  To end the evening, Brock and Daddy went to the Crete legion game and finished the night watching the Heat vs Spurs game.  All in all, a wonderful day! 

Mother's Day 2013 and Others

In looking through my phone, I found some pretty old pics, so I figure now is as good of time as any to post them!

For Mother's Day, Ella made me breakfast in bed with my favorite things (peanut butter banana oatmeal, yogurt, an apple, and tea).

The plethora of gifts from the kids.  So thoughtful!

 These two are quite the pair.

"Move over, Big Mama."  "Move over, Big Daddy."

Ice Cream Break (at the smallest table ever!)

Playing Chess 

(one of our favorite past-times)

Grabbing Clouds

With the windows down, the kids say that it feels like they are grabbing clouds when they try and squeeze the air while traveling.

First Lost Tooth!

And four days later, her second tooth came out!