Swim lessons! All the kids took swim lessons for two weeks. Callista started out in level 2 (very very basic) and after the first couple days (Sarita helped her out in her class or helped the teacher not sure which it was) she had lots of fun. In fact by the 2nd week when she finally figured out that swimming is easier once you take your feet off the bottom of the pool she took off!

Dallas was in level 4 and Sarita took level 5. For Dallas that meant being introduced to formal swim strokes. For Sarita that meant 30 minutes of fun in the pool. They really want her to join the swim team and I really so do not want to get up to have her at the pool by 7am!

Nathan took level 1. Last year he did not want to get his head wet. This year after the first week I took him to the pool with his swim ring, his goggles, and his little arm floats and he took off yelling "mama, look I swimming!" We have one month before the next set of lessons for both Callista and Nathan to improve their skills. The pool manager figures that once Nathan figures out that being splashed is not bad (oooo shades of Sarita's first year at the pool) that he will just be a little fish.

Callista did not get in any of these pictures. They are from the last day of swim lesssons which is just a fun day. My battery went dead when it was her turn. But never fear more pics will be coming!

Nathan with his instructor or as he told me "the big boy help me swim"

Nathan forging ahead on his own.

Sibling swim-ahh, look they still like each other.

Dallas down the slide at mach 3

Sarita went down so fast my camera barely caught it

This is what summer is all about! Fun times at the pool!


Dallas takes a dip

Sarita has a whale of a good time

Whoa will this ride last?

Apparently not - splash down!

I notice that I have been shamefully remiss in keeping my blog up to date recently. My only excuse(s) can be seen in the activites that have happened in the meantime.

First - Cherry Festival. I will not go into all the driving, running around, and OMG, we forgot the jazz shoes that went on in the two weeks leading up to Cherry Festival - not to mention the actual dance recital, the picture taking, the end of school activities, and so on. Shall we just go there?

Sarita has been dancing in ballet for 2 years. This is her first year in Jazz. I am sure you will be able to see the difference in costumes so I will not have to point it out to you :).

I would like to point out that Sarita did forget her pink tights. I did not notice until halfway through the performance. Her teacher did not notice at all. Thank god for tan legs.

Cherry Festival pandomonium - makes you want to be a dance teacher in a small town doesn't it?! No really. LOL

All that Jazz!


Sarita loves Jazz. Ballet is harder for her - more challenging. This is just fun.

Speed of Lightening
Roar of Thunder
Fighting all who rob and plunder
Un...der...dog Unnnnder dog!!!!

Ask me how I know that tune. I dare you - ask me. And then I can direct you to the little guy whose super puppy is now named Shoeshine.

4 year old wisdom:

Mama, I need 5 cookies

5?

Yes, in a bag

5 cookies in a ziploc baggy?

Yes, 5 cookies in a bag and in my bagpack. That's the way it works, Mama.


And I never knew that was the way it worked. I learn something new every day.

Last year we went to grandma's for Easter. So there was an Easter basket for Nathan but no real easter egg hunt. We did color eggs and had some fun with that at home but again the concept of Easter was pretty much an unknown for him.

This year we went on the great Easter Egg Hunt. Since we do live in a small town and the hunt was not far from home there were many neighbors and friends to be found. Hundreds of kids and thousands of eggs. Callista went off with friends from school and joined the third and fourth graders in their section. Sarita decided to stay with Nathan and help him out. Good thing too because we all know Nathan. He would be out there studying one of the eggs and trying to put it back together in a field of thousands more. Meanwhile little kids would be scampering here and there picking up colorful eggs by the basketful. Big sis Sarita took him in hand and helped maintain a sense of purpose.

At the starting line waiting for the Easter Bunny to say GO:

And they are off! Check out the kid way out front. Nathan and Sarita were much more sedate:

On the move, picking up them eggs:

Note Sarita's hand on his jacket to keep Nathan in forward motion:

Check out the goodies! They recycle all the plastic eggs for the next year so you get to dump out all your goodies into your basket and then put the eggs in these tubs. Some of the eggs had little tickets that you could win stuff with. Nathan won a chocolate bunny and some more candy. Sarita got the pop he won.

Here comes Peter Cottontail...Hopping down the .. c'mon everyone - Sing with me!! Easter has arrived early but beautifully. This year I decided to be an involved parent and actually DO something fun with the kids. I was going to take them to the park in Emmett for the big Easter Egg Hunt in the park there but voila! they have one 2 minutes from my home in Letha.

The kids are up and dressed. The sun was coming out although it was a cozy 28 degrees when I was out feeding the horses at 7am. The hunt was at 10 am so it actually got warm by the time those kids were greeting the Easter bunny!

And here comes the Easter Bunny with Sparky the firedog! Nothing like having the Easter Bunny as a hitchhiker:

Callista found some friends and then discovered the Easter Bunny:

Wow, mom - trick or treat? Nope, honey this is the Easter Bunny! It's all candy so it's good!:

How many friends can a little girl from China already accumulate... Let's see there is Brittany and Kaylin and Bren and ....

I believe that Callista may not have understood what all was going on but she liked getting candy and playing with her friends. Maybe next year she will understand the whole concept of Easter a bit more. She does understand the concept of getting candy by picking up little eggs out in a park pretty well for a newbie :).

Spring is in the air! Another cycle of life is beginning - really it is. So check out the pictures.

Tishka's first foal in 4 years is a beautiful bay colt:

Colt is going to get named Trouble with A Capital T - trying to kick at mom (he is one day old here):

Nice blaze and oops did someone eat something yukky?

Ruby gave us one dang gorgeous filly one week after Tishka's colt:

Already named her Katana:

Awww - they grow up so fast. Nathan keeps insisting he is a big boy. Generally he does this right before he puts his thumb in his mouth and lies back to take a nap. I, of course, am happy for him to remain my little baby boy but he is striking out on his own and taking matters into his own hands ... and feet.




Notice the focus. Wonder if he will use that power for good in school?

How can you tell if you live in the boonies? And what exactly is meant by that? Since I have moved to Emmett we have several new traffic lights, a McDonalds, several modern gas stations and the prerequisite Albertsons. Yet somehow I get this feeling that since I have to drive to Ontario, Or or Meridian or Nampa,ID to find a Walmart that I am not living in an industrialized hub of activity.

Or maybe because when I round a curve in the highway and see someone standing in the road with their dog I do not just blaze by them at 55mph but stop and ask if they need help. And that person then answers "oh no hon, we just got some cows up in the road ahead". So I round the next corner and stop behind all the other cars patiently waiting.

And maybe it is the boonies because this is not an unusual sight here in Emmett. Cows, sheep, or horses - someone is always moving something up and down the highway. Although I must admit the sheep and their dogs are quite an impressive sight to see.

Some more party pics.

Who had a party and where was I? (hint: sleeping).

Callista and Nathan do some of their own partying after the whole napping during the bday party scene.

Grandma scores the bestest shoes a girl could ever want for Callista.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you -- whoops I better not finish that or I will owe an estate somewhere some royalties. At any rate Happy 11th birthday Callista! She is still not completely sure about being the center of attention (especially when it comes to having her picture taken) but she sure does love the presents!

Princess cake! All of her favorities. Sarita reminded me that she had the same cake for her 8th birthday!

Princess for a day. The tiara actually lights up.

Presents, yes I get this. She had so much fun opening them. There were t wo boys at the party but I think that Nathan was asleep and Shane was in hiding.

Loves her dresses! Callista is a very girly girl!

Sarita reads the cards!

More Christmas pictures. After the mass hysteria and chaos of present opening.

The boys hang out around the food - oops I mean computer.

Callista with grandma.

Callista with Tia Vida. I had to get special permission to publish this picture :).

What happens when you allow Marc access to toys - er, I mean my camera.

I would also like to point out that after driving back and forth to grnadma's I then went home, cooked an entire turkey dinner (yes, including the turkey), fed and watered horses, took care of dogs, allowed more gift opening at home only and presided over a complete Christmas dinner at 7:30 pm.

I then went into a stupor for the rest of the evening.

The Christmas Post! Yes, finally I get around to talking about the big event of the year. Callista's first Christmas, Nathan's first time understanding it, and all the kids are older (boo hoo).

Once again to grandma's house we went. After a couple days of slippy slidey snow and slush it was beautiful and clear. I like doing the brunch thing because it is much more relaxing then a formal huge dinner and I can still move well enough to drive home with excited kids and numerous new presents. Callista likes this "christmas" thing but I am sure in the future that she will be a little miffed that her birthday falls just two days later. I got the girls these little MP3 players and they scored many many clothes. Just what they needed. Nathan still likes unwrapping best and seems to get stuck on that first present. He wants to start playing with that and just leaves the pile of other presents for someone else to deal with. Ahhh to be so young again. And could someone please explain how he gets his pants off and why?

OK from left to right: Shane, Dakota holding pants-less Nathan, Callista (Still trying to figure out this family picture thing we do), Sarita, Dallas, and Katelynn

OMG - Callista spots the pink hoola hoop. Yep, that was what she wanted and got courtesy of Tia Vida.

Nathan is like - ok start here and tear right? Oh this is so much fun - Sanctioned destruction!

Hmmm, Dallas and Katelynn already absorbed.

Mom's (or grandma's) tapestry hanging behind her couch. It is a picture of a Tuscan street in Italy. She decided to add Christmas decorations.