Summer!

July and August were busy, fun months! The children had a blast playing on the farm, going swimming every day and being kids. They were able to go to Las Vegas with their Dad and Kathryn to visit Matt and Kim. Then they spent 3 weeks with their Dad and Kathryn. They had such a great time. They loved swimming, exercizing, playing, going to the zoo, visiting friends and just hanging out. Jamey and Kathryn were married at the end of their stay and the kids loved being involved in a wedding and all the excitement around that. They were so glad that they got to see the entire Cecil family, they loved being with Sitto and Poppy and their aunts and uncles.

We came back to Missouri in just enough time to get JC ready for school. We did some last minute school supply shopping and got to meet the teacher right before school started. His teacher is Dale Nichols, the only male teacher in the whole school, JC's best friend is also in the class and he also knew some of the other children. I am so pleased with how well it all worked out for him. He loves his teacher and class. He is doing fantastic getting A's and B's on all of his assignments. He is loving cub scouts and did well in the pinewood derby that Grandpa and Dad helped him with. He is also loving his art classes every Monday afternoon. He keeps busy. He has also made friends with the 8 year old boy down the street. His name is Zachary and they have a lot of fun riding bikes up a ramp that they made and playing outside in the dirt and near the animals. JC loves having some freedom to ride his bike up the street since we live in such a low traffic area he can ride safely and goes up to the neighborhood by the school to visit with a few friends up there. He has really matured in the last two months and is becoming more responsible and helpful around the house. I love it.

Julia is still the farm girl. She can check for eggs like a pro now. She will even reach right in under the chicken and grab the egg, never mind that the chicken is there! It is hilarious, the hens don't mind her though and seem to trust her. She loves to help Grandma clean up the manure in the horse paddocks and is always outside near the horses.

Ethan is growing up so fast. He is very much in the middle of being two. He pushes boundaries and is trying to assert some independence. He is starting to show interest in potty training. Every time I change his diaper he goes potty and does fantastic. He doesn't want to wear underwear or anything like that yet, which is fine. I think he is doing really well already. He is completely into trains now and thank goodness for all of JC's old Thomas the Tank Engine toys. Ethan plays with them constantly and is able to build some track for the trains to go on. He asks me to make a track and then he alters it. It is fun to see him figure out things as he is learning how things work. He catches on quickly and gets into trouble. He also loves to climb and will be found on the top of the fences or ladders. Of course we are right there, but he lives for the thrill of climbing. His favorite food is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and will eat 3 halves at one sitting.

We have moved to the property now and are living in the barn where my parents were living. They are camping out in the house. It now has drywall, floors and electricity. We are priming and painting it right now. The light fixtures and toilets are going in the rest of this week and next. It all looks so nice and beautiful. It was fun to pick out the colors of the walls. JC's room is a almond color to be a backdrop for the jungle mural he wants on his walls, Julia and Ethan's room is a light lavendar. My room is a deep passion pink of all things! The living room is toasted coconut and the kitchen/dining area is blue! Who knew I would be so wacky on colors, but it is fun and we can always change it if it looks terrible! We anticipate being able to move into the house in the begining of October when the floors are finished and cured.

The pigs were taken away today to be harvested (slaughtered) the proper term is harvested now, we look forward to home grown pork, the kids have done really well with all of that and they seem to understand that the animals purpose is for food. I have been really impressed with that. I am loving being in school and I am learning tons about animal science.

The photos are from the Pinewood Derby and Julia and Ethan goofing off!

Ethan's birthday photos

Here are the photos from Ethan's birthday party. He couldn't actually blow out the candles, but he thought that the flames were pretty cool! Actually he realized that it was hot and said, "HOT" it was cute, he didn't get hurt. He recieved a "bike" from Grandma and Grandpa, cars, motorcycles and a toy horse from mom and a cute bus, stuffed puppy and a movie from Sitto and Poppy. Ethan loved all the presents and loved that they were all his and he didn't have to share them.

He weighs 29 lbs, is 35 inches tall and is very healthy and happy. He loves riding his bike everywhere and being outside.

All three children are becoming golden brown. They play for hours in a wading pool Grandma bought and love it.

We are enjoying the lazy days of summer. It is so humid here and we are learning to cope with it, thank goodness it doesn't get any hotter than 89 degrees though. Our house is moving a long we have a roof and the plumbing and electrical are being started. We have an anticipated move in date of the end of August, our apartment contract ends at the end of August, pray for us that it will all work out, please.

June

Wow, time flies when you are summering! We have had a great summer so far, the children are all a golden brown and all smiles! Of course they all have farmer's tans! JC was sad to have school end, but has been grateful to have a summer school program to be able to attend, it is a really fun prep program for 3rd grade, he has loved being called a 3rd grader already! His best friend attends with him and that has been perfect for him too. JC has continued to enjoy art lessons and has created some beautiful work, I will get some pictures of those up asap for everyone to see. The highlight of his summer so far however has been the arrival of Sadie the dog! JC has spent more time with her than anyone else including Nathan who is her owner. She is a black lab/heeler mix about 1 year old. He takes her on walks and she plays fetch really well. JC loves to just be outside and enjoy being around the animals. We had a nest of killdeer birds that we all were watching very intently, however their nest was 5 feet away from the construction and one of the large delivery trucks disturbed the nest and two eggs were lost, our contractor is trying to incubate the other two eggs, but JC loved watching the parents and how protective they were of their nest and how they acted hurt to lure you away from the eggs. It was a great opportunity for the children to see them up close. I am hopeful that they will try to nest again next year and hopefully it will be much safer for them. JC's asthma has completely gone away, he is breathing just fine and doing great. It must be allergy related and I am so grateful for it not being year round, I am keeping an eye on him and his breathing for now. JC also had a lot of fun working on and painting his first pinewood derby car! He loves Cub Scouts. He was able to shape and sand it with Grandpa and paint it with his Dad, that was a real treat that he could work on it with Jamey. The derby is scheduled for latter this summer.
Progress on the house is going well. The roof is almost done and it is beautiful. The house looks huge with a 18 foot tall roof on it. We have had some set backs because of rain, it rains almost daily and that makes it very slippery on the roof not to mention having the wood be wet. We are praying for a move in date of the end of August. Any prayers offered on our behalf are greatly appreciated, I have to be out of my apartment at the end of August.
Julia is doing fantastic! She is in the process of potty training for real now and is managing to have fewer accidents daily. She struggles with pooping, but it is getting better. She is loving the horses. We now have 10 horses on the farm with 4 mares pregnant. Cindy and Roger have decided to have a mini horse ranch and have named it McIntyre Miniatures. They are having a ton of fun doing that and Julia just soaks up all the horse work. She is outside with them constantly and is able to walk and work with them with Grandma and Grandpa's help. She is small enough to be able to ride the horses as well and that is a treat. I have been called as her sunbeam teacher at church and she has loved having me be her teacher. She loves the library and asks to have stories read to her all the time. She knows her right hand from her left and she is interested in learning her letters. Her favorite letter right now is B, she knew the sound it made from her therapy we did to help her speak more clearly. It was so cute to watch her make that connection from the written letter to the sound it makes.
Ethan is definitely 2! He is looking forward to his birthday as he knows that Grandma and Grandpa are getting him his own "bike", he loves to ride around on Julia's pink Barbie trike so when he gets his own they will run races around each other. Ethan has done so well with the addition of the dog. He has always been terrified of dogs and so we were really cautious with Sadie, but now he will pet her and talk to her, if she makes a sudden movement he is scared, but calms down right away. I found out that he doesn't like olives last week. It was so funny, he wanted what I was eating and so I gave him an olive, I am sure he had never had one before, he loves to try new foods, but this time he started eating it, turned to me, took it out and said "no, thank you" turned around and walked away with a sour looking face, I laughed out loud, it was so funny and cute. He loves peanut butter and will eat spoonfuls of it straight out of the jar. He will eat up to a 1/4 cup at a time, he just downs it. He loves pbj sandwiches and every morning he has to have pancakes, he will eat up to 4 regular size pancakes, this kid eats like there is no tomorrow! He is totally into throwing things, especially balls, tonight he threw one of Julia's necklaces up high enough it hit the ceiling fan and became a projectile necklace! Needless to say that was the end of throwing necklaces! He has also decided to try and climb everything. He gets into everything. He doesn't make the messes like Julia did at his age, thank goodness, but he certainly tries to find ways to put himself in danger of falling like climbing and standing on the toilet tank.
The children's highlight for this month has been the opportunity for them to see their dad for Father's Day weekend. They all had a great time and loved swimming and playing with him. I am grateful that they were able to see him. They are getting excited for July and spending even more time with him and seeing the rest of the Cecil family!

Humidity and Horses!

It has been another great two weeks! We have had the experience of full humidity and have handled it really well. I will tell you that Wheat Thins don't taste good soft! Ethan didn't mind though as he ate a ton of them regardless! Ethan has been eating like crazy still. He will out eat me on a regular basis. I am in trouble when he is a teenager, his metabolism is amazing. He is running almost everywhere. He just got some Thomas the Tank Engine sandals and wears them everywhere. He even wants to wear them to bed. He is learning his colors and can say white, red and green and name them correctly. It is fun to see him picking up on things like that. He also loves to build with lego blocks. He really has great coordination. He is doing a little better with Nursery at church and he is becoming more and more independent which means that the terrible twos are starting, but it is really nice to see him doing more for himself.
Julia is doing great. Her hair has started to grow faster and it is getting longer finally. JC really did a number to it and now it looks almost normal. Her bangs are almost a good length. She is in heaven with the miniature horses on the farm, they came last week. We have 4 horses with one more to come in July. There is a gelding, neutered male, that is trained to pull a cart, a cute little female who is shy, and two stallions that are beautiful. The fifth will be a mare that is pregnant. Julia helps Grandpa walk and brush the horses. She just loves it. My parents are in heaven they love having all the animals and taking care of all the farm chores.
JC finished up school and that was hard for him. He had a great last two weeks that ended in a fun field day and celebration. He loved his teacher Mrs Brock. He made some good friends and is looking forward to seeing them this summer. JC has mucked out the horse stalls already and did really well and enjoyed the hard work. He loves the horses too, but can't wait to get a "real" one, a standard size horse, so that we can ride it, I have no idea when that will happen. Julia is small enough to be able to ride a mini, but JC is too big already. He tops 70 lbs, he is so solid. JC continues to enjoy his art classes and he loves being a Cub Scout. In art he has made ceramic wind chimes, a watercolor painting and a paper/fiber collage. In Cub Scouts he has done service projects, made a mother's day gift and made dessert creations.
We went to the local zoo this past weekend and the kids loved it. Ethan was way into the birds, Julia loved the giraffes and JC loved everything. It is a really nice zoo, and it is close. We also went out to eat to celebrate Nathan's birthday on Memorial Day, the kids did great eating out and we all had a lot of fun.
The house is completely framed and the roof is being put on. It looks great.

Spring time!

We have been doing great! The children are all taking to farm life marvelously. Everyone has rosy cheeks and has grown a ton it seems. Ethan has gotten taller, JC has too. Julia is just getting more and more beautiful every day.

The children continue to love being with the animals and are very anxiously awaiting the arrival of the miniature horse. Julia is a pro feeding Teddy the cow. He knows her and waits for her to feed him every morning. Julia also spends quite a bit of time in the chicken coop every day and the hens love the attention from her. As soon as we get to the farm she jumps out of the van, dons her rubber boots and tromps off to the animals.

JC is still enjoying school, he had a great time at the school carnival and even won a cake on the cake walk for Julia and Gracie to enjoy. It was a princess cake. He also really enjoyed Science night at school where we got to see hissing cockroaches and learn about different aspects of science. JC's grade taught about vertebrae and JC knew all about the bones in our backs.

Ethan is doing great. Julia and he had a virus that wasn't fun, Julia has recovered and Ethan is getting better now too. He loves playing in the rocks that are there in preparation for the concrete around the house. He thinks they are great to slide down on and climb up. They are the perfect size hills for him. He is starting to be more comfortable around the animals. He has always been more leary around animals except for Duke. It is nice to see him more comfortable around their noises. He loves to see the cows, but when they moo he gets scared. He has also decided to eat again. He is eating huge portions at every meal which great to see, but we sure don't know where he puts it. He just keeps eating and eating. I am sure that since it is close to his birthday that he is just getting ready to grow.

The house is moving along quickly. The framing is almost complete and then the roof will go on! The anticipated finish date is the end of July. We will see when the actual is! The kids love to see where their rooms are going to be and try to imagine where they are putting thier beds and toys. It is so fun to see the house actually going up. We can't wait to be living there.

Cow Girl!

What a great week!
Ethan is talking in complete sentences and every day is crying less and talking more and asking for what he wants instead of crying for what he wants. I love it and it is so much easier to help him now. My baby is definitely not a baby anymore!

Julia is a total cow girl and has been feeding our smallest calf all by herself every day. She loves it and so does the cow. It is so cute. She helps grandma make the milk, get it in the bottles, carry the bottles out to the paddock, and feeds. The cows are starting to learn to graze and eat grain too. Julia also loves the chickens. She will often be in the chicken coop just hanging out with the hens.

JC is doing awesome. Sally gave him a insect/animal habitat for his birthday and he went out and spent the entire day at the watering hole/pond on our property getting inhabitants for his habitat. He had a bad sunburn that night, but loved exploring. He found several very small tadpoles and a leech! We killed the leech promptly, and placed the tadpoles in the habitat. They died a few days later. He was really bummed about that and tried to get some more today without luck. He has loved having something so cool to do!

The house is finally moving a long! We have a foundation and the base flooring is going in now. It is almost done too. The framing should start late this week or next! We all can't wait to see it going up. I will include some more pictures next week!

Baptism

JC was baptized this past weekend and it was such a special experience for him and us. Jamey and his parents were able to come out and visit and we are so grateful to them for coming out. The children loved seeing their dad and Sitto and Poppy.

JC lost one of his teeth on Sunday, that was a relief to him. He had a good week enjoying his various activities and also getting to see Sally. It was so nice to be able to see Sally and have her come and enjoy this weekend with JC.

Julia is doing fantastic. She continues to be a big helper to Grandma and Grandpa and daily finds mud puddles to play in.

Ethan seems to get taller each day. He is loving becoming more independent. He is starting in the testing 2 year old stage.

We have 4 brand new calves! We named them Tom Braum, Milky Way, Whodini, and Teddy. They are super sweet and we have enjoyed feeding them. As you can see by the photo Julia and Ethan pretend they are calves too.

Frost!

It has been another great week. It has also been very cold and rainy/snowy. If you remember a few weeks ago I was talking about how beautiful and green it was, we had 70 degree weather, with the flowering trees being so pretty, well they were all frosted and all the pretty flowers are gone and the grass turned brown too, so we lost a few weeks of spring, but I am sure it will come back. The kids miss pointing out the purple, pink and white trees that were all around us.

JC started Cub Scouts this week and absolutely loved it. He got the handshake down immediately and is working on memorizing the pact so that he can pass off Bobcat at Pack meeting at the end of this month. He is really excited to be involved with Cubs finally. He also enjoyed his art class again and is so glad to be able to do that. He told me this week that he doesn't like recess anymore, at first I was concerned and then he went on to tell me that he doesn't like recess because it is time away from his classroom that he could be learning and he loves to learn now. He really has just taken off at school and this week was even elected as the caring kid of the week in his class. That is a major compliment in the class and he has only been there for three weeks. He has two very loose teeth that are bothering him, but he is handling it well, he can't wait for them to come out. We attended our Branch's baptism preview this week and JC is so excited to finally be baptized. He can't wait for this weekend. He really wants to be a member of God's church and he wants to be clean and get the Holy Ghost. He has such a strong testimony of the gospel, I am very proud of him. He was invited to a birthday party and attended yesterday and the only option for a drink was Coke and he knew that it had caffeine in it and he told them he didn't drink Caffeine and opted to not have anything to drink. I was very proud of him to keep his standards, what a great example he is.

Julia is doing great, she loves playing in the dirt and puddles and is in heaven with the animals and helping feeding the pigs and watching the chickens grow. Sorry I don't have any pictures of the pigs yet. The pigs are named Hot Dog and Pork Chop. She decided to help Gracie paint my parents bedroom walls which are a deep red color. Julia chose light blue and Gracie chose yellow! Needless to say the girls got in big trouble, fortunately most of the paint came off and was easily repainted. The things 3 year olds do! Julia's hair is growing in pretty well from the chopping it received from JC and it is still so curly and beautiful.

Ethan is doing well, his teeth are still bothering him but it is getting less. He is running all over the place now. His vocabulary has soared and he is talking in complete sentences asking for the things he wants. He also says Thank you, which sounds like tak ooo, it is super cute. He says wa wa for water and tanky for Blanket. Otherwise his words are pretty clear. He favorite word is juice still but he is branching out in his liquid choices to milk which is great. He isn't real fond of it but at least he is tasting it since he hasn't done that before. I can truly say that he is sleeping through the night for real now. I love that. He is also starting to become aware of the potty, we are still a long way off, but he is getting ready. What would life be like without diapers? I don't dare to imagine! :)

I have been able to find a very good doctor for the children, that is something that is really important for me. We are all feeling settled now, know our way around places and a part of the community which is great.

Happy Easter!

We all love this wonderful time of the year! Easter is such a great time to reflect on the Ressurection of our Savior. The children loved celebrating Easter this year and sharing why they were grateful for the ressurection. Julia was grateful that Jesus came back to life and JC was grateful that Jesus made it possible for him to be able to be baptized and to be able to repent to live with Him again.
The children were beautiful in their Easter outfits. We all enjoyed a wonderful Sacrament Meeting and a yummy ham dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house afterwards.
We have had another great week! Ethan has found out about nursery rhymes and absolutely loves Ring around the Rosey and will sing the Ashes, Ashes part all day long. He will just be sitting or playing and break out in song, "Ashes, Ashes, Ashes, Ashes, Ashes" It is really cute and silly. He has a great voice already, so who knows he may be a great bass singer later on! He is talking more and more and is using complete sentences too. He will tell you, "I want juice" or "I want this" He also today told me, "Look at this" He speaks pretty clearly too which is great because I can understand him. I think he has grown an inch in the last week, he just looks taller.
Julia found the joys of pethood this week. She found her first pet, an earthworm, she called it Wormy, she loved it and bathed it and petted it. Then it was time for dinner so Wormy was placed in the dirt again. She was sad and wishs that Wormy would come back but is glad he is home with his family. She so loves animals and asks me to tell her all about bugs while we are driving. I rack my brains to think of something fun to share about bugs that I haven't already told her. She likes the new pigs that are on the farm now, sorry I don't have a photo yet, but is staying a healthy distance from them. We should be getting calves pretty soon. Julia loves to hold the baby chickens still and they are half grown now. She just scoops one up and holds it on her lap. The chickens are really tame and sweet which is nice.
JC started art lessons this week and is hooked. He looks forward to each Monday now. He is doing well in school and is loving learning and being challenged. He wants to read now and doesn't try to get out of reading like he did before. He had a lot of fun at his friend birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. He had 4 school friends come which I thought was great because we had such short time to send out invitations. I met the parents and we should be able to have some nice play dates over the summer for JC. The kids had a blast playing arcade games and doing rides and getting tickets! Chuck E Cheese is the best!
I have been able to find a very good psychiatrist for JC and he has recommended very good therapists and family practioners so the children are in good hands medically for which I am very grateful.
We were able to pump up tires and pull out bikes this week and took a great bike ride exploring our street and the ponds nearby. The kids really enjoyed relaxing and JC loves to race me and win, of course, I can't even try to compete with his energy! The ponds have bullfrogs that we can hear, but as soon as we get up close the frogs stop croaking so we have yet to see a frog, they blend in too well for us, and we have seen turtle heads poking up out of the water, JC enjoyed seeing that they weren't floating sticks, but were in fact moving and swimming.
JC is getting more and more excited for his baptism and is looking forward to seeing his Dad and Sitto and Poppy.

Happy Birthday JC!

I can't seem to get the photo to upload correctly sorry about the sideways.

Happy Birthday to JC! He was so excited to finally be 8 years old today! He loves having his birthday on April Fools Day too! The photo shows some of the presents he got today. He is growing up so fast!

JC has had a great week at his new school. His new teacher's name is Mrs Brock and she is wonderful. He has made two great friends already, but will tell you that his whole class are his friends. He only has 16 kids in his class which means better attention from the teacher, plus the education he has gotten this week is far better than anything he was getting in Utah in a month. He loves the challenge too, he says it is perfect learning. They are currently working on Fractions in math. He is reading now willingly too! He gets to do art, music and PE throughout the week too. The district is very well organized and has money to fund nice things. There will be a spring carnival which we are all looking forward to as well. I am very impressed and grateful to be in such a positive learning environment for the children.

We were able to go to the circus last weekend and JC and Julia loved it. We enjoyed cotton candy and popcorn. The elephants and horses were the big hits of the day but the motorcycles in the steel ball were amazing! I didn't take Ethan and it was a good thing I didn't it was too loud and crowded, but I am sure in a few years he will enjoy it too.

JC has been a good help around the farm already. He has picked up the cut grass in the front 2 acres, helped stretch fencing and fill mud puddles. He has loved every minute of it. He just beams when he is done with working on the farm. He is getting quite the tan too and his hair is lightening up.

Julia has loved playing outside even more as she has discovered that rubber boots let her go in all the puddles she can find. She loves making mud pies and squishing in the water and then climbing up to the top of the topsoil that has been mounded for construction. It is about 12 feet tall so she feels like the queen of the world. JC and Julia play hide and seek around the mountains of dirt. Ethan follows behind them as much as he can, but he isn't able to climb up the mountains and he doesn't like that much. Julia also loves Grandma and Grandpa's play room upstairs in the barn. Grandma has pulled out all of her Kindergarten school toys and the kids will play happily exploring and learning during play.

Julia has forgotten about TV and movies and still hasn't watched one, what a change for her that has been. Her imagination is taking off. She is such a good girl, but every once in a while I hear her tease JC, so she has some firecracker in her too! She loves seeing all the horses in the fields when we drive. Today we met the neighbor on the corner and they have 3 horses and 30 calves, Julia was in heaven. The calves suck on your fingers still, Julia was laughing and loving that, the horses they had were so sweet and gentle, Julia just hugged them. It was the highlight of the day for her.

Ethan is doing great, now! He cut 3 molars in 2 days!! All four 2 year molars are now cut and out, he is still uncomfortable but is feeling less pain. So this week was hard for him, but he still found time to play and enjoy being outside. He wants to be outside constantly, he also loves to play in the car, which I don't let him do, but he wants to. The buttons are too cool and he wants to push them all. He is using more and more words when he wants to. He is working on his throwing arm still and has thrown the ball up to the ceiling several times. He landed it on the table today right in the middle. He will have to work on aim, but the strength is there. He loves to sit on the tractor and drive it.

We went on a walk today and found a bird nest and enjoyed the beautiful blooms of a dogwood tree. (See photos) We all love how much wildlife there is around us. We haven't seen any yet, but there are wild turkey living in the woods in the back and the birds are all the colors of the rainbow. JC and I love looking out for beautiful birds. The meadowlarks are all over and they are pretty and have a pretty song too. I have seen some turtles trying to cross the roads, but JC hasn't yet and he is hoping to see one soon.

This week we will be celebrating JC's birthday with his classmates at Chuck E Cheese and JC will start private art lessons.

Fun Farm Photos

Weekly Update March 23, 2007

Hello from the beautiful state of Missouri! We made the three day drive very well and were able to move into a beautiful brand new apartment that we all love and are very comfortable in.

The first hour of our three day drive was the hardest of all. We picked up Duke, my macaw that a friend has been keeping for me, on the way out of the state and Duke screamed for the first hour. Everytime he screamed Ethan was terrified and so he screamed right along with Duke. For the entire first hour! I seriously contemplated turning around and returning Duke, but it wasn't really an option so we plowed on. Ethan realized that nothing was going to eat him and fell asleep while Duke realized that screaming wasn't going to get him out of the cage and he calmed down too. The first day was the longest as we left much later than planned and couldn't find a McDonalds to save our souls. Every single one was either on the wrong side of the freeway and unaccessible (no exit or overpass) or was hidden and I couldn't find it in the posh towns of Vail and Aspen where signs aren't allowed. We finally found an A&W that was run by a Jewish man and was decorated with Bible quotes and playing religious music. It was an experience, the kids didn't really notice, but the man was very nice and helpful and I was grateful for a friendly face in a confusing town. A mom with her kids were eating there also and it turned out that she was from Springfield, MO and knew right where we were moving to and told us that the schools are really good and it was a nice area. Cool huh? We made it to Denver by 8pm and we all went right to bed and slept really well, in fact it was the best night sleep the kids have had in a long time, they all slept until almost 9am. Then we loaded up after a good breakfast at Denny's and drove another 9 hours to Salina, Kansas. The kids did so well through the drive. Julia's carsickness didn't bother her and Ethan and Julia did really well being confined in their car seats super well. We stopped a lot and stretched, changed diapers and ate lunch. Thank goodness for finding a McDonalds with a play place that night. It was great to let them run and play, plus it was brand new with an all new playground layout which was even better for the kids. I loved it too. The last day, last Friday, went well too. Kansas City is huge, landwise, and it felt like forever to get through it but it felt great to be in the homestretch for all of us. The kids couldn't wait to get out and run and see the farm that we have talked about for 2 months. It is greening up here very nicely. The trees buds are opening up. The magnolia trees are in full bloom with daffodils, tulips and other spring blossoms showing up every day. There are rolling hills everywhere with farm houses dotting almost every hill. Cows and horses graze lazily in almost every field. There is extensive ice storm damage to all the trees, but I am sure that spring will do a good job covering up the torn trees.
We arrived in the afternoon and enjoyed a home cooked meal from my mom and loved the open space and fresh air that the farm provides. My parents have the barn finished and the foundation of the house dug and ready to have the foundation poured. My dad has outdone himself again in building the barn almost completely by himself. It is really nice with a huge canning kitchen and living areas in one half and bedrooms and excersize/TV rooms upstairs and the animal and tool section in the other half of the barn. We slept in the camper trailer for the weekend while the moving van was unpacked and our apartment was set up. I loved being able to look up and see all the stars in the sky. I love living in the country and I always will, this is a dream come true. The children are really loving being here too. They have gotten filthy every day playing in the dirt and running around. James has loved exploring the land and finding an abandoned old house, a pond complete with frogs and deer tracks, finding some neighbors and helping Grandpa get the enclousures ready for the animals.
This past week we have spent our time playing at the farm, unpacking and getting our apartment organized, buying rain gear and ordering James' glasses and getting settled. We have had a great week. It has rained several days and this is real rain, not the typical Utah rain. It pours and we get soaked right away, it is really fun for us, I guess the locals are used to it of course but it feels like a real treat to us. The kids love that they get rain boots and slickers! I do too, I feel like a little kid again too!
Duke has adjusted to all of us crazies really well and it is nice to be reunited with Romeo our cat and the gerbil, Hazel survived the drive and adventure just fine too.
This weekend we are going to go watch the circus which James and Julia are very excited about. James has decided to change his name to J.C. which is short for James Curtis since he is starting over here and no one knows him by James. He has talked about doing that for the past two years and he is excited to finally do it. So I will refer to James as JC and James as I am still trying to adjust to the name change. He says that he will answer to both names so which ever you prefer is fine. He will start school on Monday and he is very excited to meet some friends and get going in school. He is also looking forward to having school be challenging as he felt that his old school was too easy.
Julia is looking forward to starting dance lessons again and I am trying to find something close for her. Her hair has really curled up even more in the extra humidity here, I love it she is so beautiful. Ethan is doing great. He just cut his first 2 year molar on the top and that is bothering him considerably, but he is handling the animals and farm really well with all the changes he has gone through. He is sleeping through a lot more noise now than he ever has and that has been a real blessing. He is such a easy kid with a sweet personality.
We have baby chicks right now that are growing up really fast, the kids have loved watching them grow. JC has named on chick Snickers because it looks like the candybar. Each grandchild gets to name three chicks. JC took a picture of them that I am including here, I will post more pictures hopefully tomorrow or Sunday for you all to enjoy. We look forward to two baby calves and some pigs within the next two weeks. It is so fun to see all the baby animals and see Spring chasing Winter away! This next week I will be spending getting all the grown up stuff taken care of, various insurances, vehicle registration, bank accounts and other boring stuff. I will keep you posted!

Weekly Update March 4, 2007

James doesn't really enjoy school, but he loves his teacher. We just took him to an eye doctor and found out he is slightly farsighted. He has some loaner glasses to see if they will help him with his reading and he claims that they do. He has enjoyed the glasses despite their ugliness. The eye doctor was very nice to help us determine if James was just trying to get out of reading or if his eyes were really bothering him which is why we have the loaner glasses, they look straight out of the 80's solid plastic very nerdy, geeky looking and James wears them with pride! Amazing! James' intelligence continues to astound me. He absorbs so much information, he is truly amazing and destined to do great things!

Julia's imagination is blossoming. She loves to pretend almost anything, one minute I am a horse and she is a princess riding me and the next she is chef Julia cooking up a delightful supper! It is so fun to watch her and hear her talking so much more clearly. I can understand her now 95% of the time which is a huge improvement from the 70% 2 months ago. She keeps wanting it to be her birthday though and is severely disappointed when I tell her that she has a very long time to wait still. It is no fair that her birthday and Christmas are all at once in her mind. She loves princesses and animals and is just a joy to watch learn and grow.

Ethan is doing really well. He is skinnier than skinny. I call him my grasshopper boy. He is walking and running really well now. He is doing better at staying in nursery at church as long as I am not the one to take him to nursery. Ethan uses new words every day. His latest phrase however is straight from Julia, "I'm sick" He will say it at any time and I don't think he has a clue what he is saying, but he loves to say it with her little whine and tweak on it. It is really funny. Ethan is the biggest eater of the three kids and the skinniest. I guess it is the metabolism. He had 3 eggs this morning! His port wine stain has almost completely faded on his body and most of his arm. It looks like his hand and wrist will be fairly purple permanently. The laser is not as effective the further away from the heart the stain is. Weird, but I am glad that it has worked so well for him on the rest of his body. He is sleeping better now at night and he will come up to me and say, "night night" and I know he is ready. He loves to go to bed and he loves his crib. I am very grateful for that! What a precious boy!

Dad and the Kids pictures

I took the kids to get some pictures taken. We had a blast.

Just hanging out.

Ain't she cute!!

Having fun.

If you want any of these pictures let me know (I have them in larger sizes on a CD) I also have others from the photo shoot.