Rebecca's Birthday Party!

Rebecca wanted a sledding party for her birthday, so we were happy to oblige! Although from the looks of it, there was more snow fighting than snow sledding going on!















And we introduced my mother to the world of snowshoeing, and she loved it! Andrew and Jacob enjoyed the sledding, too, though Andrew did battle with a tree while sledding, and we aren't sure who really won.
















Rebecca brought her new firepit to set up for roasting marshmallows, and it worked out quite nicely!




















Happy 21st Birthday, Rebecca!

Anna and the Band-Aids

So we have this little girl Anna, who will two in just over a month. And ever since she was three days old, she has been positively enamored with her thumb. She has been one of the most easy-going children ever...give her her thumb and/or her blankie, and she's happy as a clam (although I've never actually understood how the emotional status of a clam was ever determined). She doesn't just suck her thumb when she's tired. If she doesn't have anything else for her hands to do, like when she's being read to, she'll suck her thumb. And, she sucks her thumb after nearly every single bite of food she takes, as though she needs to stop up her mouth with her thumb so that the food doesn't fall out!

Anyway, since her front teeth are starting to show the signs of it, we decided that it was time for her to stop sucking her thumb. She happens to not agree with us. The first nap of "no more thumb sucking," I put band-aids on both of her thumbs (she's ambidextrous when it comes to thumb-sucking), and she screamed for two hours, fell asleep in a exhausted heap for 1/2 an hour, then woke up slightly refreshed to commence screaming again. Bedtime was not much better, except for the fact that she was too tired to wake again after another two hours of screaming about the band-aids. Or so I thought. On inspection in the morning, the truth came out: she had simply finally gotten the band-aids off.

At nap-time the next day, we tried double-bandaging the thumbs. No luck...she still got them off. So, for bedtime, I tried a new trick. Rather than just put band-aids on her thumbs, I decided to put a band-aid on every single finger, so that she wouldn't have any fingers available with which to pick them off! Brilliant, right? Er, no. The smiles were short-lived, and she managed to get all of them off in record time.






















































We put the thumb-sucking cessation program on hold for a few weeks while we were anticipating the onset of chicken pox. (They had been exposed to shingles, so I was hopeful that they would catch them. But, after three weeks of "quarantine," they came clear without pock among them-better luck next time).

But, now we need to get back at it. They do make plastic thumb guards, to the tune of $75, but we would need two of them. And, a major part of ther thumb sucking is done at meal-time, so that guards wouldn't work then, anyway. She likes vinegar. I can't yet bring myself to put hot-sauce on her thumbs. The next best option I can think of is to try putting duct tape on her thumbs instead.

In the meantime, if anyone has any tricks that have worked for them, we're all ears!

A sampler

Andrew loves to take pictures. Some of them are actually really good, especially of people. But sorting through all of his pictures can be, well, see for yourself. Welcome to an Andrew Gallery.

Goatie girls hanging out

I'd like to order a double-cheeseburger and some fries, please.
















Let's see, what kind of soda do you have?
















Sure, go ahead and throw in some special sauce.
















The service here sure is slow. I'm outta here!

Bestest Buds!

Start 'em young

Howdy! My name is Anna. I'm fixin' to be two here, come this summer. I been helpin' out my pa this winter with this here snow an' all. Ya' see that pile way out thar to the right? I done piled that up las' week. And see that pile yonder there? That was my work yesterday, an' before breakfast, too. And right now I'm workin' on this part right here...shore, why let me just show you how it's done down on this here snowed-in farm.

Just Kidding!

A few weeks ago, we were invited to stop by a goat farm to meet some potential bucks for our does. And while we didn't get to accomplish what we went for because they were so busy with kidding, Andrew and I did get to stay and watch twin kids being born! I am so grateful I got to see a delivery before having to go through it with our girls, and Andrew got quite the science lesson!

Volcano Shots

Thankfully, Mt. Redoubt has settled down, and we haven't heard of any activity in several weeks. But last month, Rebecca and I were actually on our way to Kenai, within 10 minutes after she blew again. The clouds were surreal, changed quickly, and made me thankful I had brought my camera with me for that very reason!

Anna the Goat-Girl

Abby

She's happy and well-loved, that's for sure!

(Well, at least she's happy when she's not being tormented by that puppy that's now at least twice her size)!

Anna is...

...a pretty little girl,



















...who can get some pretty serious bed-head!

A doozy

In typical Jacob fashion, this was a bruise he was sporting a while ago. The culprit? The lid to Abby's dog food bucket, which Jacob dropped on his foot while getting food out for her. Poor kid...he cried a lot for that one!

Reading Buddies

Snowshoeing

Over the past few months, my sister Rebecca has come down to spend a few weekends with us, and part of her spring break. We had a delightful time (okay, perhaps I should speak only for me and my children and not Rebecca...her roommate Anna doesn't sleep in!), and on one occassion we got out for some snowshoeing! Brought along the goats and the dogs, of course.

Note to self: In deep snow, the goats will attempt to gain better footing by standing on your snowshoes, which greatly impedes motion. Leave the goats at home next time you snowshoe.