How cool is this??

A' getting ready to help daddy cut the ribbon.
Governor Gregoire, governor our state. Kevin Maas w/Farm Power NW.
My Brother-in-Law giving his speech. Well done, E'! He was great. :)

J', sr., A', Governor Gregoire, D', and I.

Today, Farm Power NW celebrated the completion of the methane digester near the dairy. There were quite a few local "celebrities," as well as our Governor. She was a very nice lady, and the only thing that would have made it better would have been if she was a Republican. :) Thank you, Farm Power NW for making today possible, and thank you for all of your efforts in making the digester happen!

Friday fun....

Since Friday seems to be the only day of the week that I don't have some type of therapy appt. for Miss A', I try to do fun things w/she and D'. We started off the morning a little patchy, however. I had a hard time getting out of the house on time to bring J' and M' to school. No one wanted to move very quickly, including mommy. I even spilled my coffee all over myself on the way out of the house, so I thought it might just be one of those days. Happily, I was wrong!

I had my 13 wk. appt. w/my OB doctor today. D' and A' accompanied me to the appt., so I was PRAYING they would behave and happily.....not a peep from either one of them. YAY for mommy! D' was very interested in all of the "swishing" going on inside of mommy's tummy (doppler.) I tried to prepare him beforehand by letting him know that he would be able to hear the baby, but I think he was expecting a "hey big brother" kind of a noise, not swish, swish, swish. He seemed impressed, though.

After, we headed off to my dear friends house to enjoy a playdate w/her darling boys. The three year olds played, Baby B' happily nursed/rocked/slept w/mommy, A' just kind of hung out and pestered the two boys, and the mommies enjoyed Starbucks while catching up. Thank you, Auntie K' for the hospitality!

Next, we headed back to town to watch my nieces soccer game. Hubs called and wondered what was for lunch (so typical, but I love that he likes to eat w/me!), and we went for an impromptu lunch at the park.

Then, A', D', and I headed off to the game. It was awesome! D' and A' were such good sports and cheered along w/the rest of the crowd. A' happily clapped her hands (she is very proficient at clapping!) and D' enjoyed rolling down a large hill next to the field. Niecey-poo did magnificent. She was on FIRE!!! She scored 2 of the 3 goals for her team....very proud of her!

You may ask, "could your day get any better?" Well, I say YES!! After picking up M' and J' from school, we headed back to watch a few minutes of the boys game and polished off the night w/ice cream and 75 degree weather. PERFECT DAY!

Thought this was cute......

My mom recently sent me this email, and I thought it was cute and "blog-worthy." I copied and pasted it directly from the email, and I'm too lazy to undo capitalization, etc. :)

MOTHERS
Real Mothers don't eat quiche; They don't have time to make it.
Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils Are probably in the sandbox.
Real Mothers often have sticky floors, Filthy ovens and happy kids.
Real Mothers know that dried play dough Doesn't come out of carpets.
Real Mothers don't want to know what The vacuum just sucked up.
Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?' And get their answer when a little Voice says, 'Because I love you best.'
Real Mothers know that a child's growth Is not measured by height or years or grade... It is marked by the progression of Mummy to Mum to Mother...
The Images of Mother
4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mummy can do anything!
8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mum knows a lot! A whole lot!
12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn’t know everything!
14 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother? She wouldn’t have a clue. .
16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's so five minutes ago.
18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!
25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!
35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mum's opinion.
45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mum would have thought about it?
65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mum.
The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure she carries, or the way she combs her hair.
The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, Because that is the doorway to her heart, The place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she Shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

Mommy's night out....

From L to R. Bri's friend, Kina, Dan, and Bri
Bri and Dan

My sisters and I. From L to R....Auntie A., Auntie D., and I.

My sister was in town for the weekend to watch her daughters soccer game, so my other sister and I decided it was only fitting to go out to dinner together to celebrate. We invited my niece (her daughter that lives w/us), her boyfriend, and her best friend along for the trip. I have been CRAVING Mexican food, so guess who got to pick the restaurant? YUM MO!

Darling hubs stayed home w/all the kids, so it was a very relaxing and fun outing. Thank you, Darling hubs. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

.

Look grandma's, I'm almost standing alone!

Miss A's physical therapist has really been working on getting Miss A to a standing position on her own. At first, she was very resistant to standing alone (without mommy, or daddy holding her hands.) Up until this week, she would not stand without resting her hips up against something (ie. coffee table, chair, etc.) Today, she decided to stand next to the chalk board w/out anything around her. She didn't even complain about it, and she actually seemed quite intrigued w/the chalk. Silly girl!

Look at me!

Miss A' has been going thru some pretty intense physical and occupational therapy sessions since our return home. She isn't very keen on getting pushed to do new things, especially when it comes to pushing her body. I mean this in the nicest possible way, but the girl is a little bit lazy:).

She loves her therapists, but doesn't love it when they try to maneuver her in a manner in which she doesn't want to be maneuvered. At first, I used to get a little upset watching because she would cry and complain to them. The therapists assured me that it was quite a normal reaction, and she just needed to work thru it all.

Above, you will witness one of Miss A's newest accomplishments. She can now use her hands to feed herself, which didn't exactly come naturally to her. She didn't realize that those adorable little hands of hers were meant to be used.

We are so excited! I think I showed this video to just about everyone that I saw today. What a blessing to be able to witness another one of our little girls milestones!

Corn Season!

Alas, (*sigh!) it is that time of the year again. Darling D, Miss A, and I brought Mr. J., Sr. his lunch today, and D' insisted that we take a picture of daddy's "chomper." So, these pictures are for you, Darling D. :)

Maternity pants. . . who would of thunk it?

Yes, folks. You read that correctly. J' and I are happily expecting child number 5 in April. The news caught us COMPLETELY off guard. I was in denial until our ultrasound confirmed the news. It's still "sinking" in, but we are elated and can't wait to welcome baby VK into our family (a newborn.....it's been a while since we've done the whole "baby" thing.)