Lasagna Kisses

How can a face like this not make you feel so full of love?

In no time, Noah's mouth will fill with teeth and he'll be running around. It all happens a bit too fast.

Riding Case

Another year in Randolph brings another tractor parade to kick off the planting season. Last year there were 112 tractors in the parade being driven by young kids to seasoned farmers.

I dropped the Bigs off to Krista at 8am for her to bring them all the way back to school and me to follow All for the memories.

I look at my children's lives compared to what I was doing at their age. I never did half the things my kids are experiencing. I hope one day they look back and appreciate all I've given for them. One child in particular tells me frequently how s/he'd rather live with dad because he's nicer and loves them more. Things said can be hurtful, but I know what I'm doing is right. Life isn't all about getting/doing whatever you want. My kids have it good. They'll see that when they are ready.

Brown Chicken Brown Cow

Our friends have a beef farm that we visit throughout the year, especially in the spring. Last year we were a little late and the baby chickens were pretty ugly. This year we made it early enough to see the cute little chicks. The kids are all over them and trying to catch them. A few get the feeling of flight before hitting the bottom of their temporary home.

After watching them eat we headed to the pasture to check out the Holstein calf who came from Krista's parent's farm when they needed a new momma to adopt a calf in leiu of her calf who had the misfortune of being delivered on one of the coldest days of winter. You'd never be able to tell they didn't belong together if it wasn't for a black and white calf feeding off of a brown cow. 

The calf was hiding so the kids lined up on the fence mooing their butts off to call the cattle closer.

Adelynn, Cheyann, Zoey (big Adelynn), Seth and Josh. (Sam was at hockey).

My whole family loves going to the farm. Howard told me we needed one and I agreed. Being covered in manure isn't that bad and the smell is just another smell. If it wasn't so hard to start up a farm from square one, we would, in a heartbeat.

Back to the pool?

The kids celebrated J.A.M. with a pool party. Seth and Sam are fish and i feel really comfortable with their ability to swim. Adelynn on the other hand showed interest in swimming. While in Florida, she sat on the top step and watched the big kids. One slip of her step and she fell in on a deeper step. Sam rescued her but that was the end of her Florida swimming. At the pool party she showed how much more comfortable she was in the water. This summer should be interesting with lake swimming. I better get her signed up before she runs off into the deep.

Pushing Harder

JoHanna signed up for an April hockey clinic designed to push players further than what they are comfortable with. I asked Sam, and she wanted in on it too. She loves hockey. She decided to put some of her Florida money aside to pay for the clinic herself. 

She has come a long way in the months she has been playing. I would love to see her push harder. Although only she can decide to push herself further. I'll sit in the rink and cheer her on.

The last of basketball

Seth's first year of playing basketball has come to an end. He started the season playing less than a quarter of the game to finishing the year playing half of each game.

As a parent you are observant to how often your child plays, how often they sit, and how often teammates pass the ball to your child. 

Since working at the nursing home I've run into conflicts for a lot of his tournaments. The first one I saw, I had to say something. I appreciated the coach listening and saw changes in the very name game. The more he played, the more the ball landed in his hands. He even got some praise from teammates for winning jump balls. Best yet, his last game ended with him scoring a basket. I hope he gives it another try next year.

Next: baseball in two weeks. Same coaches, same teammates, same opponents from miles around.

Gators Galore

I love this girl. She willingly held this three year old alligator yet couldn't believe it herself that she was. 

Seth and I held the gator too. I couldn't believe how soft the underside was. Almost like a soft leather. I was also surprised to learn that they grow only a foot per year.

Seth was loving this time. He'd have a pet alligator or twelve if he could. 

We saw a lot of gators on the Midway Airboat Ride. They take you on the St. John's river which is just behind The Great Outdoors.

There were around 30 sitting here on the bank. Captain Duke told us the water is about 30 feet deep here and there's probably twice as many below us with a plentiful food supply.

I thought the three trunks were pretty neat too. You can see the water lines on the trees with how deep it gets.