Park Day

Last Friday Julia had no school because it was a teachers' work day. We had a busy fun-filled day out and about. First we went to JCPenney's to get pictures taken of the three kids together, and for Julia to get her 8-year pictures done. I did not feel like taking them myself this time. After the photo session we wandered through the store to the restroom (it seems I have to wander there in most every store these days.... :D ). On the way back through the store, going to our car, I stopped to look at a few things, and Julia and Austin made it clear that that was not what they wanted to be doing on their day of fun! I'd told them the next two places we were going, and browsing at Penneys was not on their agenda! So, we went to McDonald's for lunch, and then to Waller Park. I considered eating lunch at the park, but it was very windy, and decided against it.

Brian met us for a little while at the park, on his way back from visting a customer, then went back to work. First the kids played on the playground, and I didn't take any pictures of that, as it was enough work just trying to keep track of all of them running around. Next we walked over to the duck pond so the kids could feed the ducks. We had a big bag of moldy-ish stale bread and rolls that has been accumulating in the freezer, just for this purpose. It was so nice for the kids that the ducks were hungry! We've been there before when they could care less about the food, and what fun is that? ;)




Not content to just feed the ducks, Austin spotted this group resting under the tree, and instead of tossing bread to them, proceeded to run after them, waving his arms and racing through the bunch. There was not a single duck left under the tree by the time he was done!!


Worn out from the big chase


Our big bag of bread finally ran out. Austin and Lauren found some dry slices of bread under a bench and fed that to the ducks, but that finally ran out too. So back to the playground and swings we went. The kids were getting pretty tired out by this time and were content to swing. That was easier for me, as they weren't running around all over!




All three of them sat on the tire swing for a few minutes, but Lauren soon had enough and wanted to play in the dirt. Austin saw that and joined her shortly. They weren't doing much digging or anything though. As tired as they were, they decided to lay in the dirt... I pushed Julia on the tire swing for awhile, and then decided we better leave for our last stop. We drove into the Kohl's parking lot, and immediately Austin started crying, saying he did not want to go to that store! Lauren caught on quickly to him protesting and joined right in.... Julia, being older, waited to see where we parked, and never did start fussing about going to Kohls. We went to Yogurt Creations, where again Brian met us. We all got frozen yogurt and chose toppings. You pay for your "creation" by the ounce, and can add any variety and amount of yogurt and toppings you want. Julia went a little crazy adding more and more candy to her yogurt! She ended up taking half of it home. Austin, Lauren and I took naps--Austin telling me he was not tired, and that he was going to keep his eyes open the whole time! I asked him when he woke up if that happened, and he said, "I slept a little bit...." :)


Now, onto other things. On February 28 a decision was made in a California Appellate Court that in effect makes homeschooling illegal in our state if the parent is not a credentialed teacher. Link to Decision Even if parents are credentialed for elementary or secondary education, it will be illegal under this decision for them to teach the other (elementary or secondary grades). We do not homeschool, but may want to at some point. Even if our family never homeschools, we believe others should have that right. There is a petition you can sign to show support for California homeschooling families, that I understand is going to to be presented to the California Supreme Court. What if you live in another state? Even if you do not live in California, you can sign it. Link to Petition You can read more information about the decision, and what they hope to do in response on this site also (and no, you don't have to join HSLDA to sign). There is also a very interesting broadcast by Focus on the Family, regarding this decision, linked on the HSLDA site you might want to listen to.

Round Up

Last Saturday we went to a round up for one of Brian's customers, who also happens to go to our church. Brian told him (Daniel) that he wanted to do an inspection, and Daniel invited Brian to come do it at the round up, and said to bring the family. We got there shortly before noon. The kids played on a haystack in the barn for a little while before everyone went to the house (Daniel's grandparents' house) for lunch. There was SO much food: BBQ'd tritip, pasta salad, taco salad, lettuce salad, fruit salad, baked beans, Li'l Smokies in a crockpot, chips, salsa, a veggie tray, and garlic bread. Then for dessert they had homemade chocolate cake and apple cobbler. I ended up going home with the recipe for the cobbler, from Daniel's grandma, and a baggie of dried persimmons that she gave me too. They have a (more?) persimmon tree along with many other fruit trees, and she cans and dries the fruit. I'd never tried persimmons before, and thought they were good, at least the dehydrated ones.


Little girl on a big stack of hay. Austin wouldn't let her go up any higher. He told her it was too dangerous!


Cute calves--they will eventually be sold for beef.


The two big kids on the haystack--guess it was safe for them to climb a little higher. ;) And a lovely view. Some of these cows were mother cows whose babies were being rounded up. A lot of the mothers were calling for their babies.


The cowboys (and girls) roping the calves allowed in the corral. The calves were already separated into different areas, and they'd open one gate at a time to let a new group in the corral. These guys had already been hard at work early this morning, castrating the male calves. I talked to one girl (who taught Austin's Sunday School class when he was 3) who said her job was to cook Rocky Mountain Oysters later that afternoon. See link for explanation if you don't know what they are. :D I asked her if she eats them, and she said she does not. I don't care to try them either. ;)

Anyway, after lunch, the calves were getting branded, eartags, and vaccinations. It was really interesting to watch. They had a system going, and the calves were moved in and out of the corral pretty quickly. First the cowboys/girls would rope the calf. If only one leg was roped, a man would hold its other leg down while another branded the calf. Then a lady sprayed some disinfectant on the calf and someone else inserted the eartag and someone else quickly did the vaccination. The whole process was repeated on each calf and was really efficient. Julia and Austin were very interested in watching it all, but Lauren got bored and started playing in the dirt and dried horse manure :P :P :P on the ground in the corral we were standing in.



It was a beautiful day, with temperatures probably in the mid/high 70s. In fact, Daniel's grandma said they were probably wishing for some cloud cover and a nice breeze instead! My kids certainly didn't need to wear long sleeves. The views on the ranch were gorgeous! The sky was actually this blue--no photo enhancing here. ;) The wild mustard was blooming, and some lavender wild flowers. These pictures are so small here and don't do the views justice. That brown shelter is the "barn" where the kids were climbing on the haystack. The corrals were a little to the back and left of it.



Walking from the calves to the goats. We stopped to see Daniel's grandpa's goats before leaving. They sell the goats to people who eat their meat. I didn't get any pictures of my kids feeding the goats because I was too busy keeping an eye on Lauren who was playing in the mud and muck outside the pen. :P She needed a thorough hand-washing that is for sure! Actually, all the kids had baths at home before the younger two climbed into their beds for naps. They loved being out at the ranch, and none of them wanted to go home.

Eight is Great

Julia turned 8 February 27. She brought cupcakes to school to share with her class: pink strawberry cake mix cupcakes with pink frosting and butterfly sprinkles. It's all about pink these days (still ;) ). After school we took these pictures in the backyard.




March 1 we celebrated Julia's birthday. Brian's mom came up for the weekend to join us. That morning at 9:40, Julia had auditions for the spring musical for choir, at church. She ended up getting a solo part. I am relieved she doesn't have a drama part this time--with drama she had to practice most Saturdays, so we were running up to church a lot! She only has one Saturday practice with solo (SO glad). Julia is happy about her solo too, as she has never had her "own" solo part in a song. She was part of a trio in the Christmas play, plus her drama part as Joseph's angel, so this is a nice break. :D

For her birthday, Julia wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese. We said she could invite one friend (I am burned out on the big, kid parties.....), and Julia chose her friend, Julia, who was in her class last year. Austin and Lauren were thrilled to go to Chuck E. Cheese too--that is the place to be!! ;) They both said they want their birthdays at Chuck E. Cheese! Austin ran around playing games. Lauren did a few rides and games, but spent most of her time in the jungle gym play area. I think she just liked being independent in there!


The kids played for awhile, then we ate our pizza and salad lunch. They scarfed down two slices of cheese pizza each and ran off to play some more! Julia G's favorite thing was this artic adventure "thing". Look at these girls; they look like biker chicks, so seriously playing their games!! Our Julia played on it for awhile, then ran off to do activities where she could get tickets. LOL Tickets are most important, after all. ;)


All the kids pondered their choice of prizes very carefully before making final decisions. Here are the two Julia's with a Dum Dum sucker they each chose (among their other prizes of plastic jewelry and nail stickers, etc. :) ).


When all the tokens were used up, and tickets redeemed, we all went back home where Julia opened her presents. Of course, all the other kids were excited about that too! They all had to be right there, in on the action.




Julia wanted a pink kitty cake, and strawberry ice cream. Here is her cake I made and decorated the day before. Kitty's face makes me laugh--quite the diva kitty with those long black eyelashes! Julia blew out all of her candles with one breath! After partying all day (and someone (....me....) forgetting to take out the chicken for Brian to BBQ.....), no one felt like cooking, so we went off to Olive Garden for dinner. That is Julia's favorite restaurant, and all the rest of us like it as well.


What else has been going on? It doesn't seem like too much exciting right now, though we are busy! It's been beautiful weather, in the 70s, the last few days. Today our street was repaved. Brian is the HOA president and had to research and choose a company to lay the new asphalt. Austin, Lauren and I went to brunch at my friend, Teri's house. This week is Missions Week at church, and there was an all-church lunch (Indian food--very good! And corndogs for the kids....) on Sunday after the services. Several missionaries spoke briefly about what they were doing. Saturday we went to a round-up for one of Brian's customers (he invited us all), and I have pictures to share from that, in another post. It was a lot of fun!