Ice Fishing

Grandpa Baxter took the boys ice fishing.  It was a beautiful day and they had a great time!  

Sitting by their fishing holes...;)

An hour later...

Is there anything down there, or are we just sitting out here for nothing???

Well, at least we can warm up in the Cabela's Ice Team tent!

I sent some hot chocolate and snacks so they wouldn't go hungry.

Yay!  Success!!

The boys went straight home and cooked up those poor little fishies! 

Parker loves dissecting things.  I think the kid has a future in medicine.  He is showing Connor part of the bone and the marrow inside.  Connor was like, "yeah Parker, uh...cool..."

They made up their own batter and fried up the 

catch of the day!

Day to Day...

January has been unexpectedly fun this year.  

The kids are busy doing good things, the weather has been nice (although I personally would LOVE a good snow storm!) and everyone has been relatively healthy, other than a slight cold or stomach discomfort.  Here are a few of the highlights:

So much fun!!  NOT!  But when you live on a farm...ok, so not really, but we do have chickens, so it counts...

the coop needs cleaning, 

even in the Winter!  So glad it's not me!!!  :)

Connor was on the Honor Roll...smart kid.

Ashlyn plays indoor soccer...so fun to watch her!

Taylor has had a ton of school projects lately!

It started with a Science Fair project.  

I must be lazy because if it's not "required", I have no desire to do a Science Fair project!  However I have a couple science kids that love to participate.  So we helped Taylor put together a magnet project. 

Karl was awesome to work on the project.  My talents went into the display poster.

Each of the kids in Taylor's class chose a Canadian Province to study.  

Taylor chose British Columbia.

Do you know what the BEST part of British Columbia is?

Psych is filmed there!  

Nope, not Santa Barbara...the coast of British Columbia!  

True Story!

When Taylor was listing off the interesting things about BC, he said the kids were "kind of paying attention", but no one had any questions. But when he talked about Psych being filmed there, the kids all raised their hands and got really excited!  

So cute!  

Notice the pineapple in the top right hand corner...did you know every Psych episode has a pineapple in it?  

Finally, Taylor had a book report due.  He read the Magic Tree House Mystery, Perfect Time for Pandas.

He loves pandas and made this awesome salt dough (by himself!!!) and put it in a display.  He also hand wrote a two page summary of the book!  

Hopefully he'll get a little break from projects!

New Fridge

What is the best part about getting a new refrigerator??

(other than the fridge is all clean and it's like opening a spaceship...:)

......The BOX!!  

Taylor created an entire maize.

Gotta love the little dog chained up.  :)

Welcome Back!!

Have you ever had a home project that just seems to take forever for one reason or another?

 Well today is a monumental day!  

After a few months of using Connor's bathroom...Our master bath, (toilet room) is finished!!!

A new color to boot!

Parker now knows how to install a toilet!  

I just LOVE IT!

A New Driver!

After a long year of getting 40 hours in, yucky Driver's Ed, even yuckier Road (5 am every morning for a week)...several near misses (one hit) with the garage door entrance and the dreaded Driver's Test...We now have an official, licensed driver to add to our insurance!

Yay!!  

Parker is going to be an awesome driver, and we are so proud of him! 

 The other day he needed supplies for a Physics project and when he asked me if I would take him to Walmart, I was thrilled to reply..."you're welcome to go on your own if you want."  I keep a Walmart gift card in my wallet for my kids to use, so they can pick stuff up for me.  It works out great!

A New Year

Yesterday I was in a store and found myself walking by a young mom with her 3yr. old son dragging his feet behind her cart.  With a tired face he looked around a bit and said slowly and defeatedly,

 "Mom, I guess we're going around in circles."   :)  

I gave a little chuckle, but really identified with that little boy...and the mom.

I personally don't really make "New Year's Resolutions".  I do better just making appropriate changes and goals throughout the year, however I do feel a sense of energy and anticipation of what this year will bring. So riding on that energy, I have decided to make a goal.

 This year I hope to do a little better in the area of 

priorities and energy distribution.  

I don't want to "go around in circles", wasting time and energy, so I'm devising a plan to just do a little better every day at planning out my errands, my children's schedules, meals, housework and personal time.  Maybe it sounds like a lot to chew, but I hope one bite at a time will find me a better person next year at this time.  ;)

Stay Tuned!

Snow Shoeing with Grandma

Can I just say these guys are 

CRAZY???!!

Yup, they totally get it from their DAD!  The boys especially were all over the mountain.  Making up their own sledding runs, trying to not crash into a tree etc!  The trail was pretty steep the first mile or so, but then it leveled out a bit and the kids all started several snow fights and started exploring.  Super fun to be around!  Grandma was a good sport!

After I took a picture, Parker pulled Grandma into the snow!  

Good thing she is in SHAPE!!

Connor keeps thinking he is like WAY taller than me...he's NOT!  Only a fraction of an inch!

We warmed up pretty quick!  Alyssa has done a great job of tying all her gear to her waist!

You let that one fly buddy...and YOU my friend are 

DEAD MEAT!

We saw all kinds of 

WILD ANIMALS!

Solar Slab

This year Parker was having a hard time coming up with a Christmas present he would like, so Karl and I decided to give him a trip.  Parker loves the outdoors, and has always wanted to do more rock climbing.  He earned his rock climbing merit badge a few years ago, but hasn't really done much since then.  Karl's brothers love to climb, so he planned an awesome trip to Nevada as a present for Parker.  The boys set out for Nevada on Sunday, drove with Lee, stayed at Karl's brother's house in Vegas and the four of them set out early Monday morning.  

They had a fantastic time!  

I think I would have had a heart attack if I had been there, but having them both home safe and sound, looking at pictures is ok....:)

I'm sure there will be more where that came from...he's addicted!

Cousin fun!

My brother and sister and their families were visiting from out of town, and we decided to go to the local indoor pool and have some cousin fun!

The Big Day!

Christmas morning is a whirlwind!  

We get ready the night before by putting cookies out for Santa.  Taylor wanted to make homemade sugar cookies, which I had no energy for...then I realized I had bought an "emergency Oreo cookie box" for the holidays...so glad I did!

All ready for the 

big day!

The kids all slept in Connor's room. :)

Breakfast table was all set the night before with my Christmas dishes that I bought 20 years ago!  

The boys beat the girls..up at 4:30am looking at their stockings.   We told them we weren't going to stay up, and that we'd get up at 6:30am...the kids were so tired, they went back to bed and slept until 8am!!! Yeah!

Here are some of the present highlights:

Connor sent Parker on a note scavenger hunt all around the house, and even outside to find his present.

Parker also got a harness and a rock-climbing trip with dad to Nevada...more pics to come on that.

Connor received a LONG BOARD!  

The quilt!  She loved it!

Taylor got another scooter...his got broken and this one is a spark scooter!

A bow and arrow from Alyssa.

Christmas breakfast...always something yummy!

Taylor received a train set from Grandma and Grandpa and was 

absolutely thrilled!!!

We took Connor to a nearby trail...but then...

his dad took a turn with the board...:)

Finally Connor's turn!  His good friend Keaton got one too (Mom's talk you know), and they spent all afternoon together riding their long boards.

It was a wonderful Christmas!!!