This boy!

Ira is quite the character. Right now anything that is over a foot long becomes a rifle. If it's made of wood, even better. He usually dresses up in long sleeved button down shirts (usually his church shirts), jeans with a leather belt, and boots.When those are all dirty then he'll settle for short sleeved t-shirts.

He LOVES to help me in the garden. I show him what weeds to pull and he does a very thorough job. He also likes to change the water on the garden rows. It takes at least 30 minutes for a row to be watered (on a slow drip). The other day we worked in the garden and then went in to the house to do other things while a row was being watered. Ira asked if he could go change the water when it was time. I sent him out and watched from our deck to see what he would do. He first ran to the bottom of the row to make sure the whole row received water. Then he went to the top and moved the hose to the next row. I thought he would come in but he decided to climb trees in the orchard instead. About 30 minutes later I yelled out to him to change the water again. He repeated what he did before, checking to make sure the whole row was watered before moving the hose. He went back into the orchard to play. 30 minutes later I walked out to turn off the hose. I could hear Ira singing in the orchard. I stopped to watch him. He was dancing and singing "Bet on It" from High School Musical! It was hilarious! He had the moves down and everything. When he saw me he stopped and said, "Hi, Mom! I was just singing."

Ira has an ear for music or, rather, learning any type of music well and quickly. He's well rounded in his choices. He'll sing High School Musical songs one minute and then sing the theme song to "Savage Sam" the next. He also enjoys singing Primary songs and hymns. Another favorite of his to sing is "All We Like Sheep" from Handel's Messiah. He learned it from watching Perfect Harmony. I think I'm going to expose him to Josh Groban, El Divo, and the Ten Tenors now so he'll grow up liking them. ☺ Then when I'm old he can serenade me.





Ira gives me huge hugs and tells me "I'm dad's son but I'm your boy." That he is!

Delightful Debbie

Debbie has really been funny the past week or so. She is very excited for spring to come. She dutifully talks to her tulips every day. They sprouted a couple of weeks ago and, boy, is she excited!

All the girls have been watching High School Musical 3 several times a week and the littler girls have been singing the songs non-stop all day long. The other day we listened to Debbie singing "A Night to Remember" as she colored at the table. The proper words go something like "Where's my purse? Lip Gloss?" but Deb was singing "Where's my purse? It's lost!"

Last week Ira wanted to watch the cattle auction on RFDTV. He likes to see the cows and listen to the auctioneer. I was in the kitchen preparing breakfast when Debbie came in to talk to me. We talked for a minute then I asked her, "Deb, aren't you supposed to be doing your morning chores? What's your chore this week?"

She smiled and answered, "blublublublublublublublbulbublublub....LAUNDRY!" just as if she was the auctioneer on tv. It was hilarious!

Ira's Haircut

Last week Ira got a haircut. Here are a few pictures of him getting his haircut.

He was so still, and quiet.
Looking at the light just like Mom told him to.
Isn't he so cute!!!
Marie

An American Girl Doll Tea Party!

Abby turned eight years old on Nov. 13th. For her birthday party she wanted an American Girl Doll Tea Party.

All the girls brought their favorite dolls. First they each made matching bracelets for themselves and their dolls. Then they played "Don't Eat My Doll" and a American Doll matching game.

Abby wanted a polka dot cake. We made a Funfetti cake and decorated it with frosting and huge dot sprinkles that we found.

While the girls played thier games, I set the table for their "tea".

Since we don't actually drink tea I made Hot Orange Punch. it was delicious!

Each doll also got their own cake and tea cup. I went to the thrift store and bought clear glass teacups for 25 cents a piece. It made the girls feel so grown up being able to eat of my china plates and have their own tea cups. They got to take their cups home. ☺

The tiny cakes turned out so cute! I posted the instructions for making them on my other blog.

Everyone got to help blow out their dolls' candles. The candles I got for the real cake were sparklers that said they had to be exstinguished in water. What I didn't know where the candles on the doll cakes were relight candles. The girls thought they'd blown them out only to have them magically relight. All their blowing blew out the sparklers and we had to exstinguish their candles in water instead. We had a great laugh about it.

Eve's Surprise Birthday Package

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! (And Aunt Rebecca for suggesting it!)

Ira Turns 2!!

Ira turns two today. I can't believe how fast the time flies!



He was so excited with his tractor cake. Two year olds are so easy to please with horribly decorated cakes.


Here is his embarrassed face. He realized everyone was looking at him while we sang Happy Birthday.

It took Ira six tries to blow out two candles. Oh and there was quite a lot of spit involved too. :D

He received a lot of new tractors and cars, an I Spy book , and new cowboy boots. We also ordered a set of All About John Deere Tractors DVDs for hom. He's been watching them all afternoon.

Debbie is 6!

Debbie turned six last Friday. She was so excited the night before she had a really hard time going to sleep. Here's how we celebrated her special day:

She requested Chocolate Pancakes for breakfast.

It's tradition to write a special message on a plastic tablecloth cut it into strips and hang it in a doorway. The kids love this!

The only present she asked for was a Care Bear.

Thanks for the books Grandma and Grandpa Ventura!

Deb loves flowers. She saw a version of this cake on Family Fun. We made ours bigger to accommodate the whole family. The flowers are made from gumdrops and green toothpicks, the "dirt" is crushed up Oreo Cookies.

We are so glad to have Debbie in our family. She is such a happy little girl who likes to spoil us with pictures, hugs, and smiles.

We love you Debbie!

Bad Breath

I can't remember where we first heard this parody of Faith Hill's song Just Breathe but it seems to be Laura's theme song at the moment. The poor girl can have some really bad breath at times!

Global Warming?

Joseph left the sprinklers on last night so we woke up to a frozen landscape. Debbie came into the house after sliding on the icy hill for about half an hour.

"Are you having fun?" I asked.

"Yup! It's like the ice age out there!"

Splash!

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky. The Opinionated Parent was having a giveaway contest so I won these kids' boots from Plueys. Aren't they just adorable? (I bet Athena could tell me easily what the Pluey name is a play off of.) It was perfect timing. I gave them to Debra a week early for her birthday. She loves the rain and more especially puddles. And the boots are her favorite color. Can you tell I've been playing around with different actions on my Photoshop?I can't post about winning the boots without also posting a photo of Laura and her new shirt that I won from MommyKnows. She loves it because it has 'sparklies' on it.

To Laura

You've grown so much this year. You are no longer a baby but a little girl. Dolls and dress-up occupy the majority of your day. You are quick to laugh. You are quick to cry. And you have Daddy wrapped around your little finger. That's why his phone is labeled 'Laura's Slave'. Your hugs are heartfelt. Your kisses are wet and sloppy. I love to hear you singing for I know you are happy. You are great at playing games and teasing back, especially with your Uncle Ammon. But my favorite thing is when you say, "Mommy, guess what, guess what, guess what? I LOVE YOU!"

Happy 3rd Birthday, Laura!

I love you too.

Laughter is Contagious

Rapunzel, Don't You Dare Let Down Your Hair!

What would you do if a very nice elderly lady commented on how lovely and beautiful each of your children are?

Why, you'd graciously say how kind she was of course.

Then what would you do if she asked how old your oldest is and then watch her gasp in surprise when you tell her she's eleven but will be turning twelve in a month?

You wouldn't do anything but you'd be thinking "Why all the fuss?"

Then what would you do when she answers your unasked question by telling you, "Well I know for a fact that ______ (subject will remain anonymous), my grandson, is smitten by her."

Inside your stomach will give a lurch, while outwardly your composure remains splendidly calm as you reply, "Really? That's interesting. It's a good thing Eve's not into boys just yet!"

Let the worry begin. Said grandson was just ordained to be a priest last week. How many sixteen-year-olds do you know have a crush on an eleven year old, not to mention, let slip they have a crush on an eleven year old? Maybe Grandma was just saying that to be nice. But just to be sure I'm going to lock Eve I mean Rapunzel up in her tower for the next ten years. As Joseph so bluntly pointed out - said boy is probably not the only one.

Chompers

Ira is now armed and dangerous with four new teeth. They've all come in in the past two weeks. The girls think he looks like Grandpa V in this photo, partly because of the curly hair he has after his baths.
And I couldn't resist taking pictures of him when he was pressing his face against our filthy sliding door.

Sara's Sew-Doku quilt

Sara won a 'Superior' ribbon for her quilt at the fair. She did a fabulous job. The quilt was a lot of fun to make and, as you can see, is the perfect size for Sara.

Beginner's Luck

Eve and Marie showed their chickens for 4H at our Tri-County Fair last Saturday. We've never participated in 4H before so we really didn't know what to expect. Competition started at 8:00 am with Cloverbuds showing their chickens. Then Marie's Junior group showed their's and then Eve's Intermediate group. Here they are anxiously awaiting their turn with their friend Megan. Most of the other competitors were wisely off looking at exhibits or showing other animals. Like I said, we didn't know what to expect so Marie had to wait an hour and a half before presenting her chicken. Eve had to wait three hours!

Marie presents her chicken Dove to the judge.

To present their chicken to a judge the participants talk about each part of their chicken in great detail - how the wattles , earlobes and comb look, count their primary and secondary feathers, check their vents and then walk the birds. The judge will ask questions throughout about the breed of chicken, what different terms mean, etc. I'd really be flustered if I had to do something like that.

Eve bonds with her rooster 'Prince Pete the Pathetic'

The kids have to get their chicken and hold it when there are still two people ahead of them in 'line' then wait patiently until the judge calls their name. Eve was extremely nervous. One fellow, who was there to watch his brother compete, asked her if she wanted to win. She said no. He told her not to worry about it then, to act natural and just have fun. She took his advice and was very straightforward with the judge. If she didn't know the answer to one of his questions she just looked him right in the eye and said, "I don't know." She was still relieved when it was all over.

Then came the time came for the judge to announce the champions. Marie and Eve both won Grand Champions for their division!! It was really funny, especially to watch Eve's reaction. She really didn't want to win. While everyone clapped for her she groaned and put her head in he hands.

After that the judge had to look at all the chickens and judge them on quality. And guess what? The girls swept the competition again!

Marie's chicken, Dove, a Belgian Bearded D'Uccle breed and porcelain variety, won the grand champion bantam.

While another of Eve's birds, Titus, (Belgian D'Uccle breed also) won the Reserve Grand Champion.
And not wanting to be left out, here's Sara holding my Barred Cochin, Bengal.

Let Us Pray

It all started when Joseph called Laura 'Dumbledore.' We were sitting down around the table to eat lunch. Laura then started to call everyone a name of one of the characters from the Harry Potter books. The girls have been listening to the books on CD so she was quick to spew the names out matching them up with whoever she thought was the best fit.

After a couple of minutes of this Joseph cut in and said, "Okay we need to say the blessing. Whose turn is it?"

"It's Eve's."

We all quietly bowed our heads.

"Dear Harry Potter. . ."

We laughed so hard there were tears streaming down our faces. Joseph was the only one who could gain enough control to actually say a proper blessing on the food. So who do you pray to at your house? Obviously there's been a little too much Harry Potter madness at ours.

Gravel Pit

First a little background info. There are several gravel pits in our little valley; holes cut into the ground where trucks can back up into them and be loaded with gravel. I should post a picture but I'm too lazy to go take one.

I was on the computer the other day when Debbie came walking in to talk to me. I noticed she was playing with her belly button.

"What are you doing, Deb?"

"Oh, just cleaning out my gravel pit."

How to Crawl

Hi! I'm Ira and I'm going to show you what I've learned to do!

See that remote? I'm gonna get it.

My mom should have dressed me in my camo shorts because I crawl like I'm in the military.

See how easily I did that?

I'm going to try that again crawling the real way this time.

First, I get on my hands and knees.

Then, I try to reach with my hands.

Whoops! Sometimes I lose my balance. I think it's those big cloth diapers my mom puts on me.

But no worries. I know how to sit myself back up.

See!

And my sisters want to get a puppy!