FATHER'S DAY, SUNDAY!

Today is father's day. I decided instead of focusing on each other on this holiday we needed to focus a bit more on our parents.

We put a package together for Grandpa McKnight. Grandpa Craven got his present when we visited last. We made Dad a dinner fit for a king and a breakfast fit for a king.

He was very happy.

DADDY TIME

They love him.
Especially that little one in the crook of his arm. He is infatuated. He can't get enough of his daddy. He runs to him when he gets home.
They love to pile on the bed around him and wait till he grabs them and tickles them.
A few minutes after he gets home giggle explode from the bedroom.
I am usually cooking but this time I had to grab my camera.

DUCKIES

  Yesterday, Sierra was busy with 4H. We had to take her in and take a test on horses. She read her book for two days straight. She felt like that was a vigilant enough effort. Regardless of my coxing to put more effort into it, she wasn't going to study for one more second. We drove all the way to the fairgrounds. She took the test for five minutes. It was only ten questions long. She thinks she missed half the questions. Sigh. Then we ran home ate with the missionaries and then ran out the door to 4H again. I got pulled over a mile past the stop sign at the end of the road. I got a ticket for $83.00 for failing to come to a complete stop. The cop wasn't behind me. He was driving down the road I was turning onto. He said I didn't even touch my brakes, which was a lie, but he said him and his partner would testify other wise. I kid you not! On a country road. Who does that? Then he said, "Your registration is up by fifteen days, and I could impound your vehicle, but since you have kids with you, I won't." (Nice guy.) I didn't know my registration was expired. Sierra cleaned out my car days earlier and took my proof of insurance out of the car. I have to pay the fine and appear before a judge with proof of insurance. He was unrelenting. I cursed living in a small town. I am still a little upset about it. I came home and sat on the lawn and watched this little girl play with her duckies. I thought, if they have of charged me $83.00 more dollars to live here, would I have paid it. I thought of course. Looking at $83.00 in that light made it not hurt so bad. I still think the cop was being a complete pain but that was his chose and my chose is not to let it completely ruin my day. Look at her beautiful smile. 

SPRINKLERS

 Well, Nate got the sprinklers going again and saved the lawn at least the visible part. It still needs a lot of work. The kids have been having a blast running through the sprinklers. Ashton was soaking wet and then he face planted in the sand box. You don't even want to know what that looks like or the amount of sand in the bottom of the tub when he was done rinsing off. 

We have two new geese. Their names are Savannah and Caroline. They are both female and because of that they aren't as territorial as the male we had. They usually keep to themselves and we don't hear from them. My only complaint is the sidewalk and the gravel right in front of our gate are covered in goose poop. Brother LeBaron swears if we keep chasing them off they will re-home elsewhere but as of now I have a lot of poop to clean up every morning. 

It was family night tonight. Nate took us to the Chinese place for dinner and to the park. He had a really rough day at work, so it was extra sweet that he was willing to hang out with all five of us. He started to twitch as we pulled out of the driveway, so I was surprised he made it through the evening. He has twitched since dental school ended. His head starts jerking when he is really stressed out. The sacrifices that man has made for his family are not measurable.  

HAPPY SUNDAY and BABY DUCKS

 We have enjoyed Stake Conference the last few days. I took Leslie last night. She felt the spirit. She loved it and we went to pick up ice cream afterwards. Stake conference was great this morning too. I just wish I could sit and listen instead of chasing and disciplining children the whole time. Sigh. Those boys are a handful. Ashton is either running away or if you try to carry him, he is screaming his lungs out. James is whinning or tinkering with the chairs, doors, or cabinets. You just want them to sit still and listen. The girls sadly are only barely better. We showed up. I hope that counts for something. 

 Sister LeBaron hatched ducks and gave us four. We are so happy. They have swam in the bathtub, been hugged and loved to death, learned how to drink water and eat and have imprinted on my children. When ducks are hatched from eggs in an incubator they imprint on the first thing they come in contact with. They waddle after my children like they belong to them. They seem to be growing in beautiful ways. 

AFTERNOON AT THE LAKE

 We got a pass to the lake for the year. We can go whenever these kids want to. Today after an extremely busy day I thought I am tired of tackling my dirty house. You know it will just be a mess again tomorrow. I think we should go to the lake instead. We invited our friends and neighbors the Neff's and we played at the lake all evening. We came home and ate cereal for dinner and now we are off to bed. 

3 BABY CALVES

 We bought three baby calves today.  We bought them for steaks and hamburgers. They are going to live at Kay's farm. She doesn't trust us to raise them. Quite frankly, I don't trust us either. We will let her raise these ones and maybe the next ones we will be kept on our property. Sierra and Madison got to bottle feed them. I and the boys missed out on all the fun. We were waiting at home for Leslie to show up for her third discussion. She never did show up, but Ashton got in a long nap while the sister missionaries and I made smores in the oven. They were super yummy. 

 This is stormy. She has a name. She isn't a pet. However, look at those eyelashes. They don't belong on the same blog post as the word hamburger.

 Here is Ashton running all over the world and trying to kill himself again.

Kay was describing the large quantities of poop that come out of these little calves while Sierra tried to process the information. What the??? Really??? Glad there hangin' here.