Our puppies “Woof Woof” and Patch.
Month: February 2016
Sledding
Megan does not always like to go sledding.  She dislikes snow in her face and she does not like to be out of control.  Occasionally, she enjoys going downhill fast! Her favorite sled ride is a calm, slow, giggly one.
Snowman
Mark and Andrea still enjoy building snowmen together.
Snowdrops
Audrey wins the award for finding the first spring flower! 
Megan’s Self Portraits
Megan asked to borrow my camera. We set it up on a tripod and gave her the remote control. She enjoyed getting some fun self portraits.
She took a lot, but my absolute favorite is the upside down one.
Hearts
Bragging on Audrey
In January, Audrey was invited to a nearby elementary school to meet with three teachers. They were hoping to raise Monarchs with their classes and maybe help with a few gardens in the area and around their school and wanted to find an expert to help. They questioned Audrey about Monarchs and then invited her to speak to their students.
On Thursday, Audrey spoke to three fifth grade classes. The classes had only been told that a Monarch expert would be sharing with them. The teachers thought the “shock” of seeing someone just a few years older them them would be good for the groups.
The students were interested in what Audrey was saying and asked some great questions. Audrey did a wonderful job talking with a 60+ audience! She offered to help with their Monarch project and even gave the teachers her butterfly e-mail so the students will be able to ask questions. She is excited to help and see where this leads!
The Barn Cat
Yesterday the kids asked me to come to work with them. The neighbors have an extremely friendly barn cat named Paul. Mark says the cat acts like a dog! Adrian and Paul enjoyed playing together by the heat lamp for a little while before I went out to watch how the kids walk the alpacas.
This Year’s Soap
Between what we share and what we use, we needed more soap. We decided to experiment this year.
Most everyone liked the orange and the peppermint soaps last year but we wanted to make them prettier. Josh requested a soap using bacon grease, beer and coffee. So we learned how to use lard in a few of our recipes. We know that pumpkin is great for the skin, so we tried adding pumpkin. Mark wanted more licorice mint because that is his favorite, but he requested a few changes.
Some of the soaps turned out great! Others we do not plan on making again. It is fun being able to take what we have learned from our friend Mrs. Klaussen, improve on it and be able to share.
Espana Cani
Daddy’s band has been practicing the song Espana Cani. They thought it would be fun to have a bull come and entertain some students at a school they were giving a concert at.
Daddy volunteered the kids. We said sure. Mark was supposed to be the bull, but he was too tall and could not see out of the eye holes very well and the outfit pulled and looked funny while he walked. So Andrea became our bull.
We kept playing with ideas and finally decided to portray “Ferdinand”. Megan was a baby bull who kept trying to get Ferdinand and the Matador to fight. It never worked. After a temper tantrum from our matador, Ferdinand apologized, gave the matador the flowers she loved and the new friends skipped happily away with the little bull following.
The students seemed to really watching the girls’ performance. The band was slightly distracted and Daddy said that they made a few mistakes–I doubt anyone else heard!