New Beginnings

It has been a very long while since I posted. Happy 2011! The new year always brings about reflection on the past and hope for the future. I hope that your new year has dawned bright for each of you and your reflection spurs great hope in your hearts!!

For Updates on the Farm....

To see what we are up to lately, check out our new website: rockchalkgoats.webs.com

B's First Day of Preschool

Here's my cute B all ready for her

first day of school! She has had a great

time and we are so pleased that she's
done so well!

Some Things I Love...About My Family

• I love my family. :) First, foremost, and perhaps very basic, but so very true that I must put it first on my list.
• I love watching my husband from a distance. He's seriously adorable.
• I love listening to B play. I love her imagination, her ability to go for hours with random, delightful stories, where no one dies or is mean or gets hurt....:) It's wonderful.
• I love that my girls love me to sing to them before bed. I don't consider myself a "singer," but I love that they enjoy my voice enough that they don't like to go to bed without a song from me.
• I love coloring with my girls. It's so soothing and relaxing (when there is no fighting over crayon colors. lol)
• I love my girls' faces. Every mother feels this way about her children, no doubt. But I love how T's eyes are so expressive, so deep, so lovely. And B's smile! LOL! She has the most engaging smile. She changes the course of a person's day with one of them.
• I love to cuddle with T. She is the best cuddler.
• I love that T loves to clean her room. I mean, not to start with; she whines about it like any other kid. But once she gets going...that girl can CLEAN!!
• I love how resourceful my husband is. He truly astonishes me sometimes.
• I love how much my family can get accomplished in a short time when we all work together.
• I love that people always comment on how affectionate my husband and I are with each other.
• I love how people always comment on how amazing our daughters are. ;)
• I love how my girls are usually the best behaved any given event or location. :D
• I love how I can brag all I want here, because it's MY blog!!
• I love B's spontaneous rock concerts. Girl's got skillz!
• I love what a great big sister T is.
• I love when B comes to T's defense.
• I love how everyone runs to Daddy when he comes home.
• I love that B is potty-trained!! (That joy won't be growing old any time soon.)
• I love how my husband lets me warm my frigid feet on him.
• I love how my husband will give me back/shoulder rubs (and this is no small feat, trust me; I need it deep) even when he's tired, because he knows it helps relieve my pain.
• I love my husband for his generosity.
• I love to watch my girls play with their daddy.
• I love the laughter in my home. There is a lot of it! :)
• I love that T understands a lot of why we make the choices we do, the importance of choosing the right, of taking care of our bodies, and being kind to others, etc.
• I love that my girls are such wonderful helpers.
• I love to hear T's excitement when someone calls her on the phone. It's sooooo cute.
• I love listening to B talk about marrying a boy from her Sunbeam class in a blase manner.
• I love that the entire family can fit on the couch together and share the same blanket.
• I love that we do that. :)
• I love that I can write a list like this, and all these things I love just spilled forth, without having to think about it. I love that I could go on and on. I love that I am so very blessed in my family that I have so many things to love about them.
• I love that my family is made of up strong individuals who love and desire the best for one another. I love that people can feel the spirit when they are around my family. I love that we are different, and that we preach that different is special. I love that my family is guided by the goodness of the gospel, and we know we can weather any storm, if we link ourselves to our Father in Heaven.

I love y'all for reading this! :) I'm truly, truly blessed.

Review of a Discriminating Palate

While at the store yesterday, surveying the yogurts, B announced, with no lack of conviction, "Don't get the chocolate kind. It is like poop."

There you go, folks. I take that as a firm two-thumbs-down on this product.

Consider yourselves warned.

(P.S. I'm still quietly laughing about this.)

Back to School

Wow, is this year flying!! T headed back to school last Wednesday. It's been an exhausting experience for her. Bless her heart! She keeps saying, "Second grade is soooo much longer than first grade!" :( Poor baby. It will take some getting used to. But, at least she loves her teacher!! Yea!!

B starts school on the 30th. That's going to be an adventure. I can't wait to see how she loves it. :)

Just a quick update, to let you know a bit of the craziness we are up to lately. I hope you all are having a great end of summer!

Conversation with B

B and I were cuddling in my bed this morning and she retold me a story.

"Last night, T came in my room when she woke up and she told me to sink [think] about good sings [things]. Not bad sings."

I said, "She did, huh? That was sweet of her."

She nodded solemnly. "But now, I want to draw bad sings."

I drew my eyebrows together, confused. "You want to draw bad things?"

She nodded again. "Yeah!" she chirped. "Monsters biting me and bugs biting me."

"How come?" I asked.

"Cuz I'm not scared! Now where are the crayons? And, Mom, I need lots and lots of pink paper."

Evidently the formula for curing 'fraidyness is a sisterly pep talk and lots of pink paper.

LOL. I love my kids.