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.