Mini Me

 It cracks me up, how people's kids look like THEM.  I know they are supposed to look like their parents and other siblings, but it just make's me laugh. Like at church and MOPS, you can tell who the siblings are.  

Same goes for us; Kylee and Jaxon look a lot alike, but then Maggie looks like a mixture of both of them.  Weird.

Jaxon, has been called a "Mini Jason".  Which is so true. 

His complexion, hair color, and dark eyes. Yes, that is all Jason. 

But, I'm here to tell ya, he ACTS nothing like Jason.  And, I am starting to think he is a 

MINI ME!! 

Yes, me!! 

This kid has a smile bigger than life. He is just happy to be here.  

Always hungry and ready to eat! 

Always ready for his bedtime, and enjoys his sleep.

Never meets a stranger, and will give them high fives, or even a slap on the leg.

Is thicker and more stout, not as lean and lanky.

When he smiles, his cheeks get real big.

Has the sweetest voice, and laughs at himself when he thinks he is funny. 

THIS IS NOT JASON, folks!! 

I think he is a "mini me"!!!

Relax a Little!!

Relax, let your hair go, and have a great weekend!!

We sure will!!

In 50 Short Days

we went from winter to SUMMER. 

In 50 short days, our spring came and went.

In 50 short days, we've had our Maggie with us. 

Yesterday, we had record breaking heat.  I'm not ready for the blazing heat of summer yet.  But, Kylee was begging to get in the water, so we did, they did. 

 It's also hard to believe that just 50 days ago, our little girl, Maggie was born. 

When she was born, we had not yet even experienced "spring" yet.  The night she was born a big, storm, cold front came in bringing, lots of rain and hail. Uncle Josh says she going to be our "hell raiser", but Daddy just stickin' to she's our little "rain maker".  

Either way, just 50 days ago, we brought her home from the hospital, and the high was 40 degrees.  A stark difference from today, or yesterday.   

In 50 short days, our spring has come and gone.  

My New Favorite Thing

Gosh, these things are good!!

I have made these homemade granola bars 3 times in the past few weeks.  They are so good; the kids are loving them, and Jason and I can eat a whole pan in one day. 

Here's the recipe I am using from my friend Wendy, from allrecipes.com. I only tweaked it a little; instead of raisins, I put chocolate chips! :) You could do whichever.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups rice Krispies
• 2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Stir together the rice cereal, oats, and chocolate chips.  Also, Grease a 9x13 pan.

Combine the brown sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Heat just until boiling, then remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. 

Pour over the cereal and oat mixture, and mix well.

Press into the prepared pan.  Allow to cool, or not because they are really good warm and gooey.  Then cut into squares. 

I made a pan on Tuesday, and they were gone yesterday.  Maybe I will make some more!!

Princess, the Cow

Meet Princess, the baby calf

Her mother died, and she is just 10 days old.  So dad brought her home for the grandkids to bottle feed. 

Each got a turn.

There was a big argument about the name between Addi and I.  :)  But, I guess, I'll let her win.  So, the name is Princess.  The kids are really only around for one feeding a day, so dad is doing it the other 3 times.  He said he was already tired of this newborn feeding stuff.  I asked him, why he isn't waking up in the night to give her a bottle. :) He said, "No way"!!

Oh, Burlap, how I love you!

This weekend, my friend Eve, told me about these Burlap Door Hangers you make out of, you guessed it, 

BURLAP!!

How fun is that!! She made a bunny at Easter that turned out cute, and she said there not real hard to do.  

I searched Etsy today, and found these.  

I'm so in love with you burlap!!

I think I might try to make one.  And I might try to make a Sock Monkey head for Jaxon's party.  

Isn't this pretty? Found this while searching for burlap.  I have a canvas I am going to try to cover and paint an "H" on it. 

I've also been addicted to looking at Digital Paper Files on Etsy.  I'm sure they had these things around for a long time, but I am just finding them, and I'm pretty excited about it.  

I'm going to go to Hobby Lobby tomorrow and get me some burlap.  

Sore Muscles Monday and Other Stuff

The kids have been outside nearly everyday for nearly 5 or 6 hours a day.  On Friday, they got to play on Uncle Josh's gator.  Uncle Josh needs a wife. :)

On Saturday, Maggie and I went to Fredericksburg with our church.  There were 9 of us, and I had so much fun catching up with Kaci and Eve.  I had an amazing chocolate milk shake; it was big, and it was delicious. :)  

And it absolutely did not help my waist line.  Over the past 10 days, I exercised 5 times, hence the sore muscles.  I ran 4 times, slow and not very long, and the other time, I went to a class at the Health Club called "Inferno" because I am DUMB!! It kicked my butt, and I am making my dad come with me this week, and I am trying to talk Brianne into coming with me, but she is SMART. :)

Kylee kind of had fever this week for a couple of days, now she is better, 

but Jaxon got it on Saturday and Sunday.  I think he is better today.  But, I stayed home from church with him yesterday morning, so we went for a walk. Maggie got to wear her bonnet. 

Jason's been sittin' around waiting for it to rain, and getting MRI's done.  Lovely. Hopefully, we don't have another knee surgery coming up. 

Kylee's been learning to write her letters because according to her "she's going to go to Kindergarten THIS year". 

Dad made 291 round bales of hay last week.  The kids watched the very first one come out of the baler, and they all clapped and cheered! I'm sure Dad was appreciative. 

Kid Size

I had asked Jason earlier in the week, if he could make a smaller picnic table for the kids to eat at (and for birthday parties) :).  So he did. 

The kids really liked it!! Even though Kylee was running away from the camera. They really wanted to eat lunch on it today, but it was a little chilly and windy. 

Our backyard is feeling up with toys!! 

The Black Sheep

Maggie is 6 weeks + 1 day.  We all have adjusted pretty well even though Jaxon's had a few rough days.  

She has been so different than my other 2 in so many ways.  Often times, I think she fits the title "the black sheep."

She is a lot more laid back, doesn't get upset as easily, can lay and play and look at things for about 10 minutes at a time.  If she does cry, there is a reason: she has gas or she needs to spit up or she is hungry.  That's about it.   All this is WAY different for me.  I remember vividly telling my mom, "that I can't even lay Kylee down for a minute, she wasn't happy, and would cry if she wasn't being held or bounced around."  She was very needy, and still is that way. Jaxon on the other hand, was crying a lot too, but I really think his was from having to spit up, and it just bothered him a lot more than Maggie.  

She also looks different than them, but then again the same.  Her complexion and hair color, and eye color (I think) are all going to be lighter.  I'm tickled that she is different.  Yahoo, maybe one like me!! Finally!!

So, what does she do?

She is looking around all the time at the shadows on the walls, at toys, at the ceiling fan, and she's tries really hard to make eye contact, so much that her eyes cross sometimes.  This always worried us with Kylee, but I think it is just them trying to focus.  She holds her head up for several seconds at a time, and on Sunday with Dad, she sat there for a good minute with him just supporting her back.  Aunt Bri was impressed, and that's pretty good because being the 6th child, it takes a lot to impress us!! :)

She does offer a smile every once in a while, but not all the time. 

She has pretty much put herself on feeding schedule, again, not like my first two.  For the past 2 or 3 weeks, she eats at 8 or 8:30 at night, and then doesn't eat again until 4 or 5. Which is AWESOME!! And she stays on the schedule of 8, 12, 4, and then again 8 at night, give or take a little.  She has just been super.

She is wearing size 1 diaper, which are a little to big, but ran out of newborn.  She is wearing 0-3 month onesies.  She takes a water bottle a little sometimes, if she gets cranky.  She does have about one cranky spell a day with her tummy hurting I think.  But, we work through it. 

I can't believe she is just a few weeks away from being 2 MONTHS.  Crazy! I can't imagine life without her.  As much as she needs me, I need her even more.  She's my little tag along, and is so content to go with me everywhere.  She has been a blessing to our lives.

Look Who Got Their Ears Pierced

Before Maggie was born, Kylee started asking about getting her ears pierced. Well, on Monday she saw a pair of earrings, and kept asking Jason if she could get her ears pierced, like Emma and Addi. We warned her that it was going to hurt a little bit, but then it would be over. She didn't blink about the idea of it hurting, and just kept saying she wanted to get them pierced. 

So, it worked out that Jason had to go to a dr. appt (with his knee again) on Wednesday morning, and we decided we could just meet up at the mall and all be there to get her ears pierced. 

So, that's what we did.  She was beyond excited!!

Starting to get nervous... 

Looking on!! :)

They did the first one, and she got the biggest tears in her eyes, and the biggest frowny face, but no crying, YET!! I started thinking she wasn't going to want to do the 2nd one.  But, she sat there, and after the 2nd one, she let out the biggest crying scream.  Oh, so much drama!! But, they handed her the sucker, and she finally quite crying. 

We ate at Chick-Fil-A, and she still was pretty mopey, but finally perked up, when we started to leave!!

She really loves them now!! 

Not Quite

 The big kids have been anxiously waiting for the day that Maggie could sit in the exersaucer.  So I put her in!!

Notice her little hand is hanging down there with her feet!! :)

But, I think she liked it!!

The Promise of Spring

I love Spring time here at our house.  I love that spring time returns every year.  The coldness of winter gone, and a hope of something better coming.  How dull would life be without the promise of spring.  I enjoy the warm days before the real heat of summer comes. 

 I love what spring time brings:

color

new life

 birds chirping

flowers blooming

rain

sunshine

unexplainable joy

Thank You God for your goodness!

Checkin' the Field

Did you ever do the "shadow your parents at their work for one day while you were in school thing?"

I never did that probably because my mom taught at the same school, but Kylee and Jaxon LOVE going anywhere with Jason. 

And ESPECIALLY to "work". 

 We all tagged along to check the field the other night to see if the maze that he had planted had come up yet. 

It had; and it sure looked pretty in the sunset. 

Everything with dad is so fun. I was the same way growing up. Heck, even now I still love talking to Dad about his plans for the cows and hay and farming. It's fun.  When I was pregnant with Kylee, I had quit teaching in May, and she was not born until September.  Over the summer I kept myself busy, but at the end of August, and everyone went back to school, I was SO BORED for an entire month until Kylee was born, so I would ride around with my Daddy.  We would go to Eola, Bronte, and Tennyson, and check all the cows.  It was nothing special, but it sure helped the time pass. 

Last Thursday, Kylee and Jaxon got to ride on the tractor with Jason while he plowed.  They had been begging for a few days.  Oh, they had so much fun.  That night I asked Kylee, what her favorite thing she did today was, and she said "Plowing with Daddy."

We also enjoy checking on the garden.  

Corn

Onions

Different Peppers

Squash (I think.)

 And there is cantoloupe, watermelon, and cucumbers.  But the bugs have been eating the watermelon.  We need to go talk to Tommy Olive. :)