My Cup Runneth Over

Steve

 Steve is our newest family member. He belongs to Hunter, though we all enjoy him immensely despite his extreme orneriness! This is one sweet, fiesty, loveable, funny, CURIOUS kitty! We brought him home about a week before Christmas. Chase's cat, Evie, hated him at first. But, then she became quite sick not long after he got here. And for a few days she did nothing but lay and sleep. Well, Steve took advantage of that and cuddled up next to her. By the time she was well she tolerated him a lot better! Sort of a blessing in disguise we decided.

He was such an adorable kitten - very distracting during the busy days leading up to Christmas when I should have stayed very busy shopping, wrapping and baking! He is a great diversion from serious homeschooling through out the day! We find him quite entertaining. I love all animals and have enjoyed having dogs all of my life. But, if I had to choose one pet - it would definitely be a cat. 

Here are some of the WAY too many pictures I've taken of him since he arrived. I always tell the kids that whoever is the current baby of the family is the one my camera will be pointed at the most - and animals are no exception.

  

  

 

 

   

 
 
 
 

  
  
 

  

 

 

    

  
  
 
 
 
 

 

    
 

 

   

Harvest Farm Fun!

We had a grand time at Harvest Farm again this year. We went on a weekday afternoon and it was fabulous. The weather was mild and we practically had the place to ourselves! Harvest Farm is a part of the Denver Rescue Mission - so all proceeds to to such a great cause. The folks working at the farm are so friendly and great with the kids. We enjoyed our entire afternoon - wandering through the maze (though a tad muddy from last week's rain/snow!), a hayride, kid-sized maze, and more. But, my favorite had to be the petting zoo area since Ren was having SO much fun! The moment she spotted any animals while walking around she went crazy! It was the cutest thing. This photo below made me laugh. It looked like these guys all 4 lined up for the photo! Very cute.

 

 

This cute little goat Loe is feeding below was not interested in staying in the pen - but instead hung outside with the people.

 

 
  

 

 

When Trevor was taking the girls through the little maze he sat Ren up on one of these big bales of straw and she immediately turned to jump into Trevor's arms. He barely caught her since he had no clue she was going to do that! Then she asked to do it over and over again! No fear!

 

  
 
 

 

Love the scenery at the farm - good looking boys, beautiful clouds, buildings and fields.

 

 

  

Ren begged over and over again for us to do the 1-2-3 swing her up in the air thing. She, like most other kids - thinks this is big fun.

 

 
 

She would have stood here feeding these guys as long as we let her! Once the goat nibbled on her finger a bit when she didn't have her hand totally flat and she turned and "told" me all about it and made this face below. Then went right back to feeding it some more. Oh...it was a good day at the farm - fall is my favorite season. These kind of days are a big part of that!

 

  

Cozy Cow Dairy

Last week we went on a field trip to the Cozy Cow Dairy. We've driven past this place several times, but had never been there. What fun! They have an observation room for kids to watch them milk the cows. The gal that gave us the tour was very knowledgeable and the guy that was bringing the cows in and hooking the milking machine up to them was so fun! He squirted the window with milk at the kids. Then we watched a video about the dairy, listened to Clara the cow talk about what cows eat, their digestive system (all those stomachs!) and how they make milk. Then we got to try fresh cheese curds and fresh milk. (Ren has a very cute milk mustache in the last pic!) The kids got to feed some calves and goats. I loved seeing the Jersey cows and calves. We had one when I was a kid - Dolly and she was such a sweetheart! The babies are adorable! They also have a shop where you can buy some of their milk, ice cream, cheese and other products. You can eat lunch there - but we didn't have time. We had to zip over to dance class right after the tour. Thanks for planning the trip, Lara! We loved it and want to go back! (I won't go into just what Kristen was laughing about so hysterically in this photo - but I got her back by taking her picture! Ornery sister-in-law - what are ya gonna do?!)

  

  

  

 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
  
 
  

Linus - the lazy

                         

I think when Linus was a puppy I read that Great Danes sleep something like 20+ hours a day on average! Talk about lazy dogs!! It's true - he is content to sleep and sleep and sleep. Their laid back nature is one of the reasons they have always appealed to me. Along with their handsome appearance and sweet faces! (And another factor that might have played in was Trevor's choice for our first family dog was a yellow lab and anyone who has ever owned a lab knows those dogs are anything but lazy and laid back!) 

However, Linus does enjoy going outside to "stand" in the sun. Seriously - he will stand there for several minutes - just soaking up the warmth. And when he has a burst of energy he might run around a bit and then roll around on the grass. I was sitting on the step and just stuck my hand over to snap these pics - one after another. (I'm a little, ok - a lot like Linus in the laziness area!)

 

 

 

 

  

 

Puzzles & Pets

Loe has enjoyed puzzles for a long time. Last year she would pick one up in the dollar section at Target every so often. Then over Christmas she got these three for gifts. She loves to put them together over and over again. She does these 100 piece ones on her own. But, she has put together a couple of bigger ones with Grandma. Puzzles sure keeps her busy. :) And notice - she's up on the pool table to keep "somebody's" hands out of the way. This day she decided to put all three together and was kind of bummed when we said it was time to clean them up. So, we decided a picture was a good idea. (This works well with artwork, too!)

                     

                     

Ren is still completely fascinated with all kinds of animals. She loves Evie. Even though the feelings are NOT mutual! Evie still swats at her - and Ren thinks she's giving her a high five. She has even bit her a few times (breaking the skin once). Yet, Ren still goes back for more. Evie is NOT tolerant of any little kids getting into her space. She's a brat. But, we love her!

                       

                           

Patience

                       

Linus is 8 and for a Great Dane - he's getting up there. He's still pretty healthy. And thought Danes are known for being 'gentle giants' these girls do try his patience. He's never once snapped or hurt either of them intentionally. (He has knocked them down several times when he didn't see them or chose not to notice them!) I trust him completely. But, I don't let them climb around him if one of us isn't watching - because I know they might unintentionaly step on him or trip and poke him in the eye or something like that and he might react differently. (More then likely he would just try to get away from them!) He really is such a good dog. We love him!

                        

Parenting can try our patience. I have found myself praying for more patience over the years. Then at times thinking that in order to become a more patient person I needed more practice - well that wasn't something I wanted to pray for...situations in which I struggle to exercise patience! Then recently while reading scripture I was reminded that patience is a fruit of the spirit and it's the Holy Spirit who fills us up - so I need to be mindful of if I'm allowing the Spirit to flow through me or not. So many things in my life can block that from happening. But, God has given me many wonderful opportunities to test whether or not the Spirit is filling me up or not. Here is one of the biggest ones right now! I know - hard to imagine - isn't it?

                                         

She loves him a LOT!

                      

Ren continues to fall more in love with her bear. I didn't think that was possible! It was clear in China that she had strong feelings for the furry fellow. (You can follow that link to see Ren loving on her bear in China and read more about about how she got her bear here.)  But, I think the love affair has grown even stronger. She insists that we hold him and her when I give her a bottle. And oddly, while she loves every part of him, her favorite part to hold during bottles is his tail! She turns him all around until she can reach that! She likes to fall asleep on her side - hugging her bear. In fact I just put her to bed. She is sleeping on our bed - in exactly that position - hands locked around his neck. Throughout the night she flips him around as she rolls, flings him over her head - sometimes over her face, only to drag him back down and hug him again later. (And she swings him into our face or the back of our head depending upon which way we are laying in bed! Good thing he's soft!)

Upon awakening, she insists on bringing him out of bed and complains loudly if we don't grab him. I always remember so that she doesn't wake up Loe in her complaining. :) She doesn't drag him around all day. But, she does light up with the biggest smile and has arms ready for hugging if we bring him within her view. She plays with him a bit - bites his nose or ears or tail and pats him - sometimes followed by flinging him away! She does request him over and over again when she climbs onto the couch. Something about sitting up there makes her think she needs him there with her. She doesn't usually say the word 'bear' -though she has said something close to once or twice. But, she usually just yells some sound over and over and we know what she means. I ask her, "Do you want your Bear? Say Bear, Ren!" And she says, "Yeah!" And that's it! Guess we should work on a sign for bear.

Here she is below with both bears. (We made a 'back-up bear' for her at Loe's Build-A-Bear party last fall!) She usually prefers whichever bear has the shirt on. So far neither bear has any tears or holes and we haven't lost either one. We probably won't ever lose one since we have two. You know how that kind of thing goes! It is handy having two - I can wash one and she still has the other one available for naptime snuggling. It really is the cutest thing to watch her with her buddy! That is why we had her pictures taken (above) with the bear. He may not last until she's an adult, but the pictures and the memories will continue on!

                          

                          

                      

A cat and her boy

Since my Mom is allergic to cats we keep Evie downstairs. She is spoiled and very well-cared for. She has the run of the whole basement, a windowsill she sits in, a light in the hall that is very warm and she takes inside "sunbaths" under it! She sits by the rat cage and watches them! She snuggles with us and is her regular ornery self. But, she does like to go outside. Since she's always been an indoor cat - Chase puts her on a leash and takes her out while he reads now and then. She ventures all over checking out the yard like some kind of lioness on the hunt. It's a crack up. Sometimes she curls up next to Chase and just watches the goings on. Chase loves this cat and spoils her rotten! He's always loved animals and I so enjoy watching the kids interract with our pets. They are all so much work between feeding, cleaning up after them, bathing, trying to keep up with pet hair, etc.. But, I can't imagine not having pets. I know Linus is aging and I can't even think about losing him at some point. But, I know at 8.5 years old he may not have many years left. Great Danes lifespan is 7-10 years. I have pondered what next. Sometimes we feel like a break from dogs and their mess might be good. I'd love another cat - but cats aren't Trevor's favorite animal. (Though that won't stop me!) I really like Hunter's rats and maybe I'll try that next! Who knows!

Photo shoot on the dogbed?

                         

                        

Mom and John gave Linus a new dogbed for Christmas (which he LOVES!). The girls think it is the greatest place to play! (Which we'll allow for a short time before it gets too stinky and hairy!) Ren isn't the least bit intimidated by Linus and crawls right up there with him to pat him. A few days later both girls were up there and Loe was having Ren sit in her "lap" - which she thinks is so fun since Ren actually listens to her and does it when she asks her to. I'm guessing Ren will soon find that boring and stop, but for now it provides a few cute photos here and there...even on the dogbed! (Trevor can't figure out why I always mention it when the girls are wearing a hand-me-down in conversations. Guys don't get that. Guess it's a girl thing...it's always a score when the kids are dressed in something cute, but extra points when it was cheap or FREE!) Yep...these two sweaters - both hand-me-downs. Gotta love that...what a blessing from the Lord and friends. :)

                                             

                        

Trip to Harvest Farm

                       

As is our tradition each fall, on Sunday we ventured out to a local corn maze/farm to hang out with our friends - Jeff & Laurie along with Katelynn, Mara & Ailah (Nikki had homework - though I can't see how that is more important then time with us!!). Last year we got rained out on the day we tried to go together and ended up going as separate families. This year we were blessed with great weather, though it was a bit windy. We decided we were too close to Wyoming for it not to be windy! (We were really blessed considering yesterday and today were cold and/or rainy - VERY rainy!)

We have to wonder what the little girls think of this whole business of traipsing around on skinny paths through a corn field - round and round we seem to go with no apparent point of being in there! Loe and Mara have figured out that it means a very fun day they get to spend together. (Loe's first request on our drive to the farm was if Daddy would buy another bag of "that yummy popcorn" like he did last year. They do seem to have some of the best kettle corn around!) They have kid and adult questions throughout the maze. Mara and Loe did great at answering the kid ones (homeschool kindergarten is working - woohoo!) and we often skipped the adult ones since we were a big, slow group - often stopping traffic for those coming behind us. We made it through the first half of the maze and then went on to check out the rest of the farm.

                         

                             

                       

                       

Ailah is deeply fascinated with Ren. She wanted to have her close by when she was in the stroller and loved to touch her cheeks! It was very cute. It's amazing that these two are 15 months apart even though our LIDs were only a month apart! They did request a bit older child and we ended up being referred a very young baby. That combined with the long wait equaled a big age gap. Last time around we were logged in a month apart as well and our older girls are just 4 months apart. But, we imagine age won't matter and hopefully they'll all be great friends.

                         

Mara and Loe had fun playing in the cornbox (farmer's version of a sandbox). Not very moldable, but still plenty of fun to pour into buckets and bury your friends!

                         

                         

They have an area set up where the kids can go in to feed and pet several farm animals. Loe liked feeding some animals, but not others (especially the loud, smelly pigs!). This cute goat thought Mara's shirt was mighty tasty! Ren wanted to see all the animals and seems to have no fear of any of them. (It probably helps that she's around Linus - who appears to be big as a horse - at least to her!) Ailah was not impressed with the animals - but she makes the most adorable "moo" face when asked what the cow says!

                       

                         

                          

Here is Loe posing on the very cute John Deere tricycles. See Trevor pulling her around the track? I'm guessing the bikes outweigh her by quite a bit! This past summer she could ride her little bike all around our neighborhood with us on walks that took 30-40 minutes without too much help. But, we haven't biked much since then and so she must have lost some leg strength. There was NO slowing Mara down though - she was going around so fast that both of my pictures of her were blurry!

                          

                        

Mara, Loe, Katelynn and Ailah took the traditional ride on the "train". They don't seem to mind the bumps, dust or wind and came back smiling and laughing.

                      

Oh ya just gotta love redneck entertainment! The kids had fun walking around inside or on top of the big hay bale maze and yes...the sign is true - they had pig races...free pig races. How can you beat that for free entertainment? It was actually kind of a hoot - the announcer had fun with the whole thing - they let the kids run around the outside of the pig race track and encourage the pigs to run faster. Their names were very creative - Sarah Jessica Porker, O-Spama, and many more. It was good for a laugh, but Ren didn't seem to find it very interesting! Though it was 2 hours past her naptime by the time we left. Poor thing - look what kind of a life she is in for! All in all a fun day with our friends! I can't believe it's been a year since last fall already. Time is going by way too fast. I'm glad we have fun traditions to mark the passing of the years. What good memories! Looking forward to next year!