Sheep Wranglin'

Some friends from DeSmet invited us to go with them to meet and play with the family's lambs. Our friends, M, G, and G went with us.  David and Kassy had so much fun! These five month old lambs are a lot less intimidating than a baby calf. They sure can run fast and enjoy running and jumping. There were about 10 kids there yesterday, and it didn't take long for all of the kids to move past being content with petting a caught lamb to chasing them and trying to catch one for themselves. David loved getting in the middle of the herd to try to chase them around again but he wasn't quite big enough to pull one out. He had fun trying though!

Spiderman wrangles sheep too!

 Kassy wasn't quite as brave as David, but the lambs were definately bigger than she. She did like to chase them and play with the cat that wandered into the lamb barn.

Sittin' pretty!

 

See Spiderman in action, wrangling sheep! 

We ate lunch in DeSmet, picked up our car at M's house then we were off to preschool! We were just getting into Brookings when out of the blue David said, "Russia is a long ways away." I wasn't sure I'd heard him right, so I asked him to repeat what he'd just said. He said, "Well, I think that when Aunt Jo comes home for a sleepover at Grandma's, she better fly because it's a long way for her to come from Russia." What a smart guy!

About 10 minutes after we put the very tired kids in bed last night, darling daughter Kassy came out of her room and said, "Mommy, I have something to tell you." I told her to come on over to the couch where Allen and I were sitting. She came over to me, put her arms around me, gave me a kiss, and said in the sweetest little voice, "I love you, Mommy!" Then she went over to Allen, reached to give him a kiss on the cheek and said, "I love you, Daddy!" My tender-hearted Kassy brought tears to my eyes and a lump to my throat. What a special girl! We are so blessed that God has given us these two precious babies!

Gone Fishin'

 This is a post from May 2011 that for some reason didn't get published. I'm not sure why, 'cause it's pretty cute. Please bear with the lapse in timeline!

This past Saturday the kids spent a couple of hours with Grandma Pam and Grandpa Mike. They like to go fishing, and welcomed the kids to go with them. I packed sunscreen, bug spray, drinks, and at least one extra set of clothes for each kid. Grandpa offered David the opportunity to put the worm on the hook but he wouldn't even touch the worm let alone bait the hook. He sat with Grandpa for quite a while, as Grandma chased Kassy through mud puddles. She's one girl who's not afraid to get dirty!
Petty soon David's pole started jumping! Grandpa helped him reel in a pretty big fish! Of course, this is a fish story, so it's a really big fish. No exaggeration though, because it was his first fish. After they got the carp to shore, David's eyes got really big and he said, "put it back, Grandpa, put it back!" Now what is Grandpa supposed to do? Put the fish back, of course! Grandpa obliged, and when he caught a bullhead a bit later, put that back too, just for David.

David's description of the size of his first fish. You can tell from his description that it's a fish story.

This photo was taken a week after the fishing trip. David was still talking (and the fish still growing) about how much fun he had.

DQ and Museum Fun

Tuesday is a great day to eat at Dairy Queen! For each combo meal you buy, you can get a kids meal free. We haven't been eating out all that often, but on some Tuesdays, I'll make an exception. Today we had lunch with our friends, Heidi, Kendis, and Teyton. They are a special family because we met them at DQ on a Tuesday and their family looks a lot like ours. Grandma Pickard and the cousins also joined us. After lunch we played at the museum for almost 3 hours. Usually my limit is 2, but due to cousin fun, we extended the play date. The kids all had fun.

Row, row, row your boat!

 The kids both fell asleep on the way home, no easy feat, because they are both pretty smart and know that it's not that far home and if they stay awake, they may get to miss nap time. Maybe. Kassy's big request on the way home was to have a 'nack (snack) of cheese crackers with dessert afterward. I didn't want to disappoint, so they each got a bit of cookie dough. Who says grandmas are the only ones to spoil the kids? After all, the poor cubs did have to drink water....

Sitting in the Hall and Children's Sermon

 This past Friday, we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa Pickard, who also happened to have the other three grand kids for the weekend. The kids were asked to stop running several times and finally Grandma asked C to sit by her for a few minutes. He grudgingly complied.

Grandma: What does your teacher at preschool ask you to do if you are not listening? (David is in another class but has the same teacher as C)
C: She makes us sit in the hall.
Grandma: How many times have you had to sit in the hall?
C: Two times.
Me (to David): How many times have you had to sit in the hall?
David: Not that many! (referring to C's two times)

I knew that their teacher did make kids sit in the hall for not listening, but I quite naively did not believe that my kid would ever have to be "one of those kids." I'm pretty sure that I know which day David had to sit in the hall, as his teacher told me that it had been a difficult day for him. Since then I've tried to remind him (without lecturing) that it is very important to listen to his teacher and Teacher has not had any poor reports for me since then. Lesson learned? We'll see!

David (in his "new" Bumble Bee pajamas) and cousin C with Grandpa's erector set crane.

We went to church with my folks today at the church I attended as a kid. One of the memories that I look back on attending a small church was the Children's Sermon. The pastor took a few minutes to talk directly to the youngest members of the congregation to help them understand a key concept to the sermon for that Sunday. The church we attend now is too big for the pastor to have all the kids come up front and visit with him, but it is tons of fun to go to my home church now and have my kids be a part of the children's sermon. It's kind of hard to hear all that is being said on the video, but it blesses my heart just to watch my kids.

A couple of weeks ago, David, Kassy, and a couple of their friends were joking and calling each other names. I heard David say, "You be careful. That's my sister you're calling names." I thanked him for being a good big brother and looking out for his sister. It was amazing to see the spark in his eyes and the look of pride on his face.We are proud of him for doing the right thing and Kassy will appreciate knowing that David's "got her back."

Kassy Dances

We've known for a while now that our Kassy loves to dance and sing. She is a very beautiful little girl with a sweet spirit and lots of energy. Now here's proof!

While David was at preschool, Kassy and I scheduled a "girl's afternoon" with our friends and painted our fingernails. I suggested to Kassy that she go "dance in the sun" until her fingernails were dry. She had a good time dancing, and I enjoyed watching her. No inhibitions, just free to dance and sing!