Friday Foto - "O"

Taken in my dining room

1-6-11

Angle and clarity.

The quirkiness in my daughter's face! 

I hope I never forget how funny she is right now!

"O"

Aspen - 14 months

This girl brings so much joy to our lives everyday!  Everyone around her watches in anticipation for her smile because it will undoubtedly light up the room.  What a wonderful privilege we have to be her parents!

She isn't walking on her own but we can persuade her to walk back and forth to us.  That is unless she decides to fall face first and let us catch her.  In that case she would much rather play that game.  So there are times that instead of practicing walking, she just stands there, grins really big then purposely leans forward to feel the rush of falling only to be scooped up by an adoring bystander then giggles uncontrollably!

One of her other favorite things is feeding me while I'm feeding her.  A lot of times I'll put her in her highchair with a snack while I get her meal ready.  When I sit down next to her to feed her she has a few snacks left so she puts them in my mouth as I spoon her food into her mouth.

Oh, the music she'll play!  This girl loves music! We sit her in her Bumbo seat on top of piano bench and let her "play the piano" almost everyday.  She loves it and will often "sing along."  With every little thing in this house that has some kind of sequenced pitches, she dances.  Whether it be the music I have playing, a toy that has music or even my washer/dryer chime.  (I have front-loading LGs that chime a tune when they finish instead of that annoying BUZZ!)

Speaking of laundry, she also enjoys standing in front of the washer and dryer and "singing" to the clothes as they go round and round.  She does this several times a day.  Now if I could just get her to fold the clothes when they come out of the dryer! =)

Bath time is an instant spirit lifter for her.  She doesn't need toys, just a cup and a washcloth are plenty of entertainment!  Her new favorite bath time game is splashing.  She will slap her hands on the water and give a little chuckle.  Then she'll splash a really big one and look at you expectantly.  To play her game you must then act like you got splashed unexpectedly.  Once you do this the giggles erupt!

Jerrad and I are also doing well.  We have no excitement in our lives alone anymore.  It's all her and we can't imagine our life pre-Aspen!

It is, however, getting really busy on the farm.  It's February and that means calving season for us.  We had our first calves on Monday.  A first-calf heifer dropped twins all on her own!  We are very proud of her and her little ones, a bull and a heifer! We are working on names for them.  We usually only name a few here and there.  Like I told my SIL, when you have over a hundred calves in less than 2 months, it's hard to name all of them! 

Here's a little biology lesson for you. When there are bovine twins born, if they are bull+bull they are both fertile.  If they are heifer+heifer both are fertile.  But if they are born bull+heifer the bull is fertile but the heifer will be sterile.  Interesting, you think?

The weather is also warming up and that means spring is on it's way.  We are getting pastures fenced for new arrivals and unfenced from cows and heifers being out all winter.  Jerrad is busy getting machinery ready to hit the fields and penciling chemical, fertilizer and fuel figures.  This time of year also brings the joy and dread of counting down the days until Kitty leaves for camp.  We love that she is able to be a part of such an awesome ministry and yet we hate her being gone for so long.  We are praying that this spring brings a lot of moisture (In the right forms too! No hail or floods please!).  We didn't get the snow that much of the country did this winter so we are still pretty dry.  The wheat is starting to come out of its dormancy and needs a little drink.

I'm really trying to make myself blog at least twice every week.  Maybe I'll be better about keeping you all informed so that updates don't have to be this lengthy.  Ah, who am I kidding?  No matter how often I do it, I'll still manage to make it long!

Friday Foto - "Make a Wish"

Friday Foto is back!

Taken on my front porch

2-8-11

I love the angle, depth of field, coloring, and contrast.  All of it.

This dog has the most personable facial

expressions and while I love the looks he gives

his blinks are so full of character also!

"Make a Wish"

It's been a While

It's been a while since I've blogged... at all!  I have a list of different blog ideas and I need to just sit down and do them.  As my daughter grows up and learns new things everyday I look forward to homeschooling her.  One thing I want to do with my kids  in their schooling is some heavy journaling.  If they are to do this, I must also get back into the habit!

I know it's not the most popular decision, homeschooling, but it is one that Jerrad and I are passionate about.  There are a lot of controversial points in the home school debate but I'm not here to explain myself.  I just want to talk about a few things that I plan to incorporate into our daily curriculum. 

1. Journaling - As I mentioned we will be doing a lot of journaling.  It gets the brain and imagination going.  I'll start them with simple things like fun prompts and such, then I'd like to eventually get them into a more freestyle writing.  One of the in between stage ideas that I have is what I call the "A Picture's Worth" segment.  I have a ton of pictures and can't imagine how many I'll have by the time they hit this stage.  I'll randomly pick a picture and have them write a 1,000 word entry based on the picture.  Anything to do with the picture. 

2. Music - Jerrad and I are both very musical. While I know it is possible for our children to not be musically inclined, I feel it is our job as parents to help nudge that exploration.  Each of our children will take a bit of piano lessons and then go from there.  Whether it be to continue in piano, find another instrument, do voice lessons, or figure out that music isn't their forte. 

3. Sports - One of my favorite quotes is, "I only run to the bathroom and away from enemies." I'm not athletic, I try to stay active, but I am NOT athletically inclined.  This is another issue of us encouraging that exploration.  We have wonderful recreation departments around here that the kids can be involved in.  Also, the last time I checked home school kids can participate in  sports through the schools as long as they live in that school district.  So Aspen will be able to play sports for a school that she would be eligible to attend, but she doesn't have to actually attend that school. 

4. Science - One of the beauties of homeschooling is customizing curriculum.  I never thought I liked science.  But my mother in law has taught me that I actually do!  Cooking is just a series of chemical reactions.  Learning household science as well as textbook science will give my kids a grasp on things practical and things a little less tangible.

These are just a few of my ideas.  Do you have any fun projects and ideas to help and encourage your child's education?