Exhausting Day! **Edited**

(Erin with her 3 kids - Aubrey (1), Natalie (5), Aiden is in the orange shirt (3). Lisa with her two kids - Mallory (5 months) and Mason (3.5). Me with Ryan (3.5). Stacy with Conner (will be 3 in a month). Jenn with her two kids - Maddy (will be 1 in two weeks) and Jack (2.5).

**Several people have asked who everyone is in the group picture and how old the kids are so I have added a caption with the details.

Ryan and I had a great day!

First we spent the morning with some of our good friends. We met at The Playground for Kids in Ankeny then went to lunch. The boys are such good buddies and they had a blast running around, all of them were sweating.

After our morning with friends we went shopping. I got Ryan some new summer clothes. He had to try on a lot of different clothes this time because he is inbetween sizes. He was NOT crazy about all the clothing changes. We survived though. It is tough finding clothes for him right now. I have one big complaint about boys shorts...WHY DO THEY HAVE TO BE SO LONG?? Some of the shorts he tried on were like capri pants for him.

Ryan also got to pick out a new pair of shoes. He received a gift certificate that needed to be used before it expired. I let him pick whatever shoes he wanted. He picked the ones that I would have picked too.

It was a long day. We didn't get home until 7:30pm. We ate supper real quick, Ryan took a bath and went straight to bed. He was asleep in less than 2 minutes.

Now it is my turn to go to bed.

Ryan and Mason

Aiden, Ryan and Mason

The boys are so close in age. It is fun to watch them play together. Look at Aiden and Mason they have the same "teethy" cheese smile!

Rain, Rain Go Away!!

It just won't quit raining around here. Which leads to a reoccurring theme on the farm...mud, mud and more mud. Ryan is loving it though. It is impossible to play outside without getting into mud. I really don't mind, everything is washable.

Jenn, Jack and Maddy came up to visit today. Fun as usual! Jack got to experience all the mud and he got to see the chickens.

If you come to the farm, we put ya to work! Jack was choring the horse for us.

I really like this picture...The true joy of being a MOM! Watching the excitement on your child's face is one of the best feelings.

Happy Birthday!

We had a wonderful weekend!

Ben turned 30 on Saturday. He went to a farm auction in the morning. It was very cold so he froze his tushy off. That evening we went over to Brad and Donna's for a little birthday celebration. Ben got to choose his birthday dinner and the cake of his choice.

Hot Beef Sandwiches with Homemade Potatoes and Brown Gravy

Ryan insisted that we sing Happy Birthday and that Ben blew out candles. I am sure Ben could have done without all that but he played along for Ryan's sake.

Chocolate Cake with no frosting

Ben received one big gift from Ryan/I and Brad/Donna. A charcoal grill with side table. This grill catches the charcoal ashes so we can put it on our deck. We do a lot of charcoal grilling. Meat just tastes better when cooked over charcoal instead of gas.

SUNDAY: The weather was a little warmer on Sunday so we took the kites out...

We were so happy to see Elcina (Ben's great aunt) this weekend. She spends the winters in south Texas. She returned to Iowa a couple weeks ago. Ryan loves Cina. I think it is because she plays with him a lot and gives him her undivided attention. What kid wouldn't like that?? I bet Cina was worn out after a weekend of Ryan!

Playing in the grill box

Chicky babies

Our chicks arrived this morning. I thought it was weird that 335 chicks were shipped priority mail through the post office. Anyway, at 6am this morning we received the phone call to come pick them up. I woke Ryan up so we could go out and help Ben when he got back. Ryan was super excited. He got dressed so fast.

Surprisingly, we didn't have any chicks die during transport. Ben and Ryan went out to check on them around 9:30am and they found one dead chick. That is it so far. They seem to doing very well. Ben did a great job converting half of the old corn crib into a chicken house. I wouldn't mind going out there to live with the chicks, it is nice and toasty warm in their brooder. It has been so cold here.

Ryan's "shiftwork" (as he refers to it -he loves that song) is to crawl to the back of the brooder to make sure none of the chicks jumped over the board into the cold corner. He hasn't crawled on any the chicks yet. He is loving all this chicken business. We will see how long it lasts.

Ry's New Toy!

I knew the day was coming....my three old baby got his very own REAL 4-wheeler. Ben was pretty set on getting him the 4-wheeler so I guess my job is to make sure he is as safe as he can be. The speed can be adjusted. It is set on the lowest speed which is maybe 2-3 mph. It is so slow that Ryan can't even make it up the dips in the yard. It is a little difficult for him to control the steering because the machine is pretty heavy. He does do a good job though. He hasn't ran into anything yet. Ben took him out in the bean field and set the speed higher so he can practice controlling the 4-wheeler while going a little faster. Around the house and yard he will continue at a turtle pace for a long time.

Easter - a bit late!

I have been a slacker! I can't believe I haven't posted in over two weeks.

I love celebrating holidays with a young child. They have so much fun. We dyed Easter eggs the day before Easter. Ryan pretty much did it all by himself.

On Easter morning Ryan woke up and searched for his Easter basket (the Easter bunny always hides the basket and eggs). To a three year old who loves to play hide-n-seek, it was a blast trying to find his basket. Then we went to Brad/Donna's for Easter lunch. We had a wonderful meal and a wonderful visit with Ben's grandma and great aunt. We hope everyone had a memorable Easter and remembered the meaning behind Easter Sunday.

Oh, gotta tell you a cute story. First, let me tell you that Ryan doesn't get candy very often. He asked if he could have a bunny shaped Milky Way that he got in his Easter basket from grandma. I let him since it was Easter. He took one bite and exclaimed, "This is the BEST thing I have ever tasted!!!!!" I had to laugh. Then it occured to me that I don't think he has ever had a candy bar. No wonder the kid was so excited.