Big Green Tractor

The kids and I have been enjoying Ryan farming around us the last couple of days. Last fall we bought the neighboring farm so now we own as far as the eye can see (almost) out my kitchen window. It is going to be so pretty when all of that corn is growing tall this summer! The kids and I went out to ride and have a picnic, but they didn't last 20 minutes and were both (all three) lulled asleep by the big green tractor!

Jaci's 4th Birthday!

Jaci turned 4 yesterday! She is such a fun little girl! We are lucky to get to see her often, Claire asks almost every morning if we can go to Jaci's house! She had a yummy princess cake, and lots of fun presents!

I am just loving these family shots at every birthday, we are going to have some nice ones to look back on! What a good group of kids!

I couldn't not post one of this little man, he is growing too fast already! I got to get some snuggle time with baby Kaleb, he can hold his head up so strong. Here he was sucking on his wrist, he is such a good baby!

Girls Day Off

Ashley and Emma had the day off from school yesterday so we planned a really fun day. We were going to open their very own savings accounts, do some swim suit shopping, and some other fun things, but we didn't do any of them! We decided to ride up to Arco with Ryan and stay the night Sunday night. The potatoes started rolling at 4:30 AM and Ryan didn't want to have to drive up that early, so we all went up to stay. We had a fun time anyway, the girls were a little sad about missing our trip to town, but we will do it another day. NO ONE wanted to go to school this morning though, Ryan didn't even want to go to work, which is NOT normal for him. We enjoyed our little overnighter thoroughly! Check out those mountains! They are so close, and BEAUTIFUL!I am still unsure about this whole dog thing, of course we had to bring her along. I was afraid we would loose her so she slept in the mudroom and Claire continuously unloaded her dog food!Bella is NOT photogenic, taking a picture of a dog is even harder than taking one of a kid! And NO I did not take more pictures of Bells than I did of my kids, it just appears that way.....

Parent Teacher Conferences

The girls both had great reports from their teachers. We were glad to hear that! They each got to pick out a soda from Pipers because of their good grades. It is nice to not have to worry about them in school, they are both excellent students, they must take after their Dad! Emma with her 1st grade teacher Heidi

Ashley with her 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Scott.

Past Weeks' Pictures

I slacked a little on the blog this week, but life was still happening around us! We had our first meal at our new table.

The kids got to enjoy the warm weather with cousins, we almost made it to 80 degrees that day! We had some inside rainy/sick days too. Ashley had a trip to the DR. and both girls got a sick day from school. We are all doing better now, must have been that swimming in 78 degree weather? We enjoyed having Ryan around, he got rained out planting beets and potatoes, sometimes we like that though! OK so I like it ALL of the time! The kids went to the book fair and have been reading as fast as they can trying to read ALL of the books in one day! Emma with a couple of new books! (some were from a yard sale we went to this week also) And then we have had lots of exploring: And trying to be outside enjoying the BIG mud puddle, it got dried up so quick after the snow that the kids didn't get to play in it earlier, but it was back from all of the rain! I did get my first freshly picked bouquet of dandelions and my lawn is growing greener and greener with all of that rain! I cant wait to get out there and mow it! Where did those warmer days go?

The Details

Out with the old, in with the new! We only had a few tears shed over our old table, most of them were from Justin only one or two from Ryan! They both loved their BIG manly chairs and were/still are sad to see them go! Not to worry though men, Ryan made me store it, but SERIOUSLY, this thing is NOT coming back in my house!! We do have lots of good memories around this old table though, some are scribbled right into it as a matter of fact!

We were a little unsure of the new table, it just seems so hard, there are no soft corners, no cushy chairs, it really isn't very kid friendly, BUT we have really enjoyed it so far! I think we will get more used to it, I may have to change my kitchen decor a little to match the style, it would go perfectly in a cabin, maybe someday!

The rustic benches were quite quick and easy, I didn't dare try to change Knock off woods plans
because I am NOT a builder, I can follow directions, but not change them at all, so I just made them to her specs. We didn't add the cute supports like she did on hers though, but they work just great. We can fit all of us, but Ryan is still sitting in a chair on the end, we will have to wean him slowly! No, I did find some awesome chairs at Pier One I think they will really help soften this MASSIVE table. I picked a dark walnut stain for the entire table, but once we got it on the legs and I realized how dark it was we thought we had better go a little lighter on the top, it is called golden oak. The benches are golden oak also. We did two coats of everything and then I put polyurethane on the tops of the table and benches, 3 coats each. We have had rain for two days so we did all of that in the house with as many windows open as we could stand, it was cold too! We are pretty excited with our new skill and Ryan is thrilled that I am building stuff, we went to Home Depot on our date this week and he told me he wanted to get me something. He got me my very own jig saw and belt sander, he never let me use either one of them, but he did assure me that they were mine! HA! Funny man! Now I have got to decide which project I am going to do next?

Farmhouse Table

Having technical difficulties, here is a little sneak peak! I will post details as soon as possible!

LOOK What I Made!!

I built a kitchen table! Yeah! It was quite a project, but actually not that hard! I am not sure about the style for our house, although it is called the Farmhouse Table, and well, we do live in a farm house, so it should work for us. We will try it for a while anyway!I got the plans from knockoffwood.blogspot.com, Ana is amazing at her building skills. She takes pieces from Pottery Barn and other more expensive places and draws up plans that are easy for people like me (who are not builders). I was a little nervous at first putting the legs together, I wasn't sure I was going to really love it, but once I got that top on, It all came together and turned out awesome! I totally recommend Ana's plans to anyone!

Now the hard part is picking out the stain color, I know what I like, but it doesn't really match with the rest of the kitchen, so we will see. Also I am making two benches for each side and then I will get the x back chairs from Ikea for the ends.
Total cost so far $89 bucks!!! The only thing I still have to afford is the stain, and then the bench materials, pretty good deal I think! Now if I could just get some help to get it into the house???? AND check out our LOVELY Idaho weather! It has been so nice for a change! I think I got a sunburn while I was out sanding for hours! Well worth it! Kiley I think we need to build one for you during the Sister reunion!!

Claire and the Chicken

Claire loves my "new to me" chicken. When Sara went to get her "new to her" table (that she found on craigslist) the lady had this chicken in her garage. It was too cute for me to pass up! I offered it to Sara to buy but she thought I was CRAZY to want a yucky old chicken! Anyway Claire was feeding it some hot dogs the other night. Claire also Loves hot dogs, her favorite food lately, she is really going to ♥ Summer time!

Some little girls have My Size Barbies, our little girl has a My Size Chicken!

SPRING!

LOVING IT!