*Valentine's Day*

Joe and I always like to stay up the night before a holiday and give gifts to each other at midnight. This is the necklace he gave me for Valentine's Day. Totally unexpected! I'd say he did pretty well this year... ;) I LOVED it! (Yes, I said, "Loved." Saturday before we went out, I was vacuuming. Our vacuum is VERY powerful. I didn't see the necklace on the floor and by the time I heard the clinking sound making its way up the hose, it was too late. We managed to find the diamond and the heart, but the chain was just shredded in pieces. :( I was not a happy girl.

Saturday day, our friends Bren and Rebekah invited us over to Bren's parents house out in the country. Bren and Joe both like to Mountain bike, and they have a course out there, so they worked on getting it back in shape. They also have a calf, sheep, chickens, pigs, and a turkey. It's lambing season and so some of the ewes have had their babies; one in particular had a black lamb this year, and so of course we HAD to go see. It was a really, really fun day and we had a blast!

Momma sheep was not too thrilled with us holding her baby. But how can you resist?
This little guy is less than a week old and Connor just LOVED him. Both Haylie and Connor got to see twin lambs born that afternoon too, and so they were named "Haylie" and "Connor." :)

He couldn't figure out why the chickens wouldn't let him pet them...

Notice how everyone is heading in the same direction? Poor guy... I ran to the store, and Connor stayed with Mr. Norman. (Surprisingly. Usually he freaks out if I leave w/out him. This time he just said, "By Mom!") Anyway, right after we left, Connor decided that he WAS going to pet one of the hens. Well Mr. Rooster didn't like that too much and attacked him, knocking him to the ground and pecking him on the head. :( Kinda funny?

This little calf was NOT Connor's favorite. But he was so cute and tame that we just had to include him in the blog.

Just a good one of the kids NOT trying to kill each other HA!

In case you are wondering....

.... what a diaper park looks like, this is it.

Last weekend, we made a trip to Costco to refuel our diaper supply. Joe took them all out of the box and lined them up in Connor's dresser all neatly. I love "organized" so I was happy. Apparently Haylie doesn't share my enthusiasm of being tidy. So while I was sitting at the computer, I heard her tell Connor they were going to "get dressed and go to the park." I thought, 'Oh no... how am I going to explain to them that it's too cold to go to the park, without causing a huge meltdown?' Well "park" turned to "Diaper Park."

Diaper Park?????

I walked into Connor's room and this is what I found:

I mean, come on. A diaper park, duh!
Whatever, I guess. At least they weren't fighting. :)

Priceless...

Louis, (pronounced Loo-wee :), our pet Mini-Schnauzer, running under the deck, catching a nail on his back, on a Sunday, which left a huge gash, forcing us to take him to Pet Emergency.........

$570.00

Danner, our pet Yellow Lab, getting Parvo, being sick for 4 weeks straight.........

a whole lotta stress and $760.00

Lady, our pet Beagle, scratching her eye, causing an ulcer (TODAY).........

$130.00

3 sick dogs in 6 weeks and $1460.00 later.....................

PRICELESS.

(but not really)

Don't ask why.

{BAD DAY}

Today- I completely lost it and I am embarrassed to share details, so we won't go there. I don't know what's wrong with me. I think Connor figured out how to purposefully push my buttons which obviously shouldn't be pushed. He was SO naughty! Maybe it was all just too much. We've been stuck in this house with our sick dogs and I think I finally snapped. Haylie kept changing her clothes. I have been wanting her to get into dress up for a long time, and when she finally did, it irritated me. Really? What's the harm in a messy room? Most nights before bed, we clean up anyway, so what's the big deal?The big deal is: every time I would clean something up, Connor would grab the first thing he saw and pull it out, rip it up, mess it up, knock it over, kick it, push it, hit it, bite it and/or spit on it. And then to top it all off... he left me a nice little diarrhea surprise.

I've contemplated getting a part time job many times, and I know it wouldn't be worth it because the money I'd make would go straight to child care. I also know that staying home with my kids is for the best. BUT, sometimes I think about having a job, and it sounds sooo nice; which is why I started doing Pampered Chef. I bought the starter kit and got all ready... but when it comes right down to it, I don't do public speaking. Now, I know it's just a few people, but I'm so afraid of being center of attention. I'm so afraid of messing up or not being able to answer somebody's questions, that it terrifies me. Not to mention, I tried getting some shows and got turned down about 5/5 times.

SO, what to do about the kids? Put 'em to nap!!!

Now, how could you be mad at these?

Well... as soon as they woke up, we picked up right where we left off. It's been a LONG week. Good thing Joe doesn't have to work tomorrow. My mom got me a facial for my birthday, and I am SO READY!!!

Afternoon Prayer

I was doing something on the computer this afternoon, and looked over to this: Haylie and Connor praying under our entry table (in their underwear/diaper nonetheless). I guess we're doing something right. :)

Mom

This is my mom. She has been in Scottsdale, Arizona since January 6th. I miss her so much... I guess I never realized how much I see her or like to do things with her. She comes back in 3 weeks, and we can't wait to see her!My mom and my Grandpa (her dad).

WHOOPS!

Apparently, I shouldn't leave used paintbrushes where Haylie can reach them.