Growin' like weeds

I can't get over how fast My kids are growing.  Chance seems to be changing a little more every day and Mikelle is less and less my baby.  Chance is super smart.  He understands just about anything we say to him.  When we say its time for PJ's and bed he starts running back to his bedroom and trying to take his clothes off.

Chance loves hats...mostly Daddy's
dirty stinky work hat.

He is a Daddy's boy for sure he chooses
Danny over me all the time.

He loves to play peek-a-boo with the
hat.

 Mikelle is a regular little copy machine.  She mimics everything I do and say.  She likes to mother Chance and gets him drinks and snacks.  Chance is a much better play mate for Mikelle.  They can play "ring around the rosie" without dragging Chance behind her.  They jump on the bed together and climb on the furniture.  Granted those activities aren't ideal but I love seeing them play so well together. 

Mikelle and Chance were doing her pre-school books.
Chance just ate the crayons but they have a good time.

We had an umwelcome addition to our home lately.  Someone dropped a house cat off on our property and it does not know how to fend for itself.  It's a very pretty, gentle cat but it always tries to sneak into the house and hide under beds and behind couches.  The kids love it of course but I had to by food for it because it was watching it waste away and i felt guilty. 

Who does this remind you of?  Anna perhaps?

It has been pretty annoying.  It has been a few days since I've seen it and I am not missing it.  Danny's sister's cat just had kittens so we are thinking about taking one of those so it can be a nice outside cat the the dog will be used to and the kids and carry around. 

It's hunting season for Danny.  He took me with him a few nights ago.  It rained on us and we gor soaked but we had fun.  Hopefully he'll shoot a buck this weekend.  I've actually gotten used to venison.  I still prefer good ole beef but there are alot of yummy things to do with venisen.  I can the deer meet and it is great for stews and BBQ meat sandwiches.  We make jerky out of it too.  The elk meat makes great roats and steaks.  The ground elk meat we make into pepperoni and sausage.  So, I am actually looking forward to having the free meat.  Danny is enjoying himself a little too much.  He has a good spot where he knows he'll get a buck but he won't go until he has spent a good few days just hiking around stalking some sneaky big bambi. 

Despite how sad it is to see my kids growing up so fast I love to see them change and learn new things.

Playing outside on one
of the last warm days

Watching the river at the park

This time of year is very fun.  There will be carved pumpkins and cute Holloween pictures and come!!

Birthdays, Balls and Summer Fun

I'll admit this is not my best blog post.  It's mostly pictures and not a lot of details. 

Mikelle turned 3 in July and we got her a pool.  She loves it and plays in it all the time.  She doesn't like to get really wet but she loves to play with lots of toys in water.  Chance even enjoys it.

Testing the water in her new pool

Getting a feel for the water...slipping a little

"Ooooh look the the purple balls"

Sally thought the water looked good too

We got her a few small presents, a Snow White doll and some play dough.  I'm am finally getting the hang of getting gifts for my kids.

I made cupcakes for Mikelle and put too much baking soda, but she had fun making them with me.  She is quite the little cook.

This is a really busy time for Danny.  He works long days and all day on Saturdays. So we try to go out of our way to spend time with him.  We go ride in the tractor with him while he bales hay or ride in the dump truck while he gets a load of gravel. 

Helping Daddy change the oil in the truck

They both LOVE to "help" Daddy

I know this looks like he is eating an oil covered
wrench...Mikelle snatched it from him

.

Helping Daddy change the blades on the swather

Driving the dump truck

Lately I am convinced the my kids get sick of me. They are so excited to see their Dad when he gets home. They ambush him.

This is how Mikelle and Chance help with the dishes.

 Now that Chance is walking and holding his own a little better he and Mikelle have a lot more fun together.  It is making things a little easier for me because they entertain each other really well. 

Chance climbs on and off this rocking horse 20 times a day and loves it!

While daddy fixed the dump truck Mikelle followed Sally's lead and found a shady spot.

B-E-A-UTIFUL!!!

I thought about titling this post "waiting on summer", then I realized how often I mention the weather.  This post will be no different but I'll leave the name of the season out anyway. 

Easter and Liz's wedding came and went since I posted last.  Easter Sunday we had mikelle hunt for eggs around the house and dressed everyone up for church.  Mikelle LOVED the dress she wore.  I bought it on- line dirt cheap but it is gorgeous.  She looked like a little Princess.

 Liz's wedding went well.  Just Chance and I drove down to Utah.  There we lots of babies to play with. Chance, Max, Lincoln, and Reagan all enjoyed each other's company.  Chance didn't seem to mind all the new people and places.  We had a really good. time. 



These pictures are blurry but Chance and Max were having a good chat



Outside Salt Lake Temple just after the sealing.



Jess sang and played his ukelele at Liz's bridal shower.
Chance couldn't take his eyes off him 

It's a beautiful day.  It's been rainy and cold but we are being patient.  We have a lot of hopes for this summer.  Mikelle loves to play outside and the yard is nicely fenced in.  That should help with all the canning I would like to get done this year.  I have finally gotten ahead with my flower beds thanks to Danny.  He came home early from work a couple of Saturdays ago and went to work weeding for me.  When the kids were napping he sent me to the greenhouse.  By the time I got back the beds were cleared and ready to be planted in.  Things look really nice and we even got some rose bushes for the back of the house.  Danny is great! 

I planted almost 40 tulips last Fall.  A nasty gopher got all but three...sad.

Mikelle is potty-training.  FINALLY.  She decided she would stop fighting me on it at the same time that I decided I was going to put my foot down.  She wears "big girl undies" all day now.  She can make it through naps, and through the night, but we're not quite ready to make to leap to undies at night yet.  She really likes it.  We still have some kinks to work out in the daily bathroom routine but we hope by her third birthday she should be pretty well set. 

Mikelle is wearing a princess tutu, carrying a pink patent leather purse
on one arm, a sunglasses carrying case is under the other arm, and she is
also wearing her favorite purple headband which makes her slightly resemble Rambo

Chance is walking along the furniture and gets into anything and everything he can.  He laughs a lot, very spontaneously at times.  He'll be playing by himself and just laugh out loud like he just remembered a good joke.  We find him very entertaining.  He is branching into new foods and will eat just about anything we...or Mikelle, give him.  He has grown out of the baby seats and swings and generally doesn't like to be stationary anyway.  He claps and kisses and is well on his way to waving...and Danny hopes...fishing and other father-son activities. 

That would be dirt around Chance's mouth.  Now that he is so mobile he
is also a detector of things he shouldn't have in his mouth.

I took these two photos after I realized that Mikelle had switched sandwiches
with him, taking his jam and giving him the peanut butter. No allergic reaction so we're good.

When chance started spending more time climbing on this than sitting in it
I knew it was time to put it away.

The kids get along great.  They play really well together.  Mikelle likes to play mommy with Chance.  She copies things I say telling him to "spit dat out Chancy...thas yucky" and "don't cry chancy...is a-wight".  She tries to be very helpful.  Chance is a very fast crawler and sometimes when I am a little distracted he disappears.  Mikelle always knows where he is.  I just ask her and she says it matter of fact, "oh chance is in da office" or "he's pwayin in my woom". 

Danny is very busy as usual.  He and Brad Feik have some plans for a good side job this Fall.  They've been offered some straw standing and their making plans to cut, bale, and sell it.  His business sense about these things never ceases to amaze me.  He has me making spread sheets for cost/profit analysis, he's got his feelers out for good deals on equipment, and he a Brad have been making contact with local dairies.  It will make the fall a little busier for him but it should be really good for us all around. 

I am still running everyday and trying to get in shape.  I'm not sure about the half marathon in September, that may depend on whether or not any of my sisters can run with me.  I am planning to run the 5K fun run in Haines on the 4th of July.  Beyond that I am not sure what my next goal will be.  Danny's is my coach.  He gets me up in the morning and even runs with me on days when I am not very motivated.  Things are good.  We hope to have our first family campout sometime this summer and now that Danny got a taste of hunting again I am sure there will be a bit of that too.  With the help of a kiddie pool and a lot of sun it should be a good summer. 

These are the blossoms on our biggest apple tree.  The smell wonderful.

Our Orchard, apple and plum trees are blossoming.