8

We love parties at Grandpa's cabin!
12 of Brett's friends, Happy Birthday BML!

8... my first born baby turned 8 a few days ago. She had a birthday party with 12, yes 12 little girls. We survived, one little girls got sick at the party, we got new baby chicks (we had 10 die on the first night), clean house, wine tasting, cake decorating, 2 more birthday parties, church, a rodeo meeting, no conference time at school this week, a MAP assembly at school for the upcoming tests, order meat trays for Monday's PD, half a day of school tomorrow... I SURVIVED! Ready to plant my potatoes on Good Friday or not? I WILL SURVIVE! Ready to relax and enjoy the wonderful weather!

Books

The Pig Who Ran a Red Light is one of my favorite books to read aloud. It is about George and Gertrude, a pig and cow. George wants to be more like Gertrude and not like himself, until Gertrude the cow starts acting like a pig. Be yourself, George!

Melt Away!

The Lough Ranch welcomed 16, cute, fuzzy, four day old, baby chicks into the chicken house today. Half-pint and I dunked there beaks in water and settled them in after a quick trip to town with Super Feed/Seed Lady and her keys. Don't worry they are not with the hens. They have their own fresh sawdust, chick-go feed, and water in the cozy Rubbermaid tank in which they will call home for a few months. Then they will move to a bigger, scarier pen outside in the real world. Hopefully in 9 months they will begin to produce farm fresh eggs. Dally may never get off the chain again, unless she promises never to eat young chickens. We also have cucumber, chives, and basil spouts in the eggs carton, window garden. Springtime is great, melt away snow!

Sunshine

Yes, that was my adolescent nickname... does that mean my father compared me to the wonderful feeling we all get when we feel sunshine, maybe or probably not. If I recall, he gave me that name because I did not like to "rise with the sun." (some things never change) Yesterday, BL and company pulled a calf and fought the mud, he tried to get stuck in his truck a few times, and almost lost his boots a few time. Ever single shoe and boot is muddy. If it wouldn't have been so muddy, he might have hooked up trailer and sold every animal on the ranch. He doesn't enjoy any part of mud! We have ruts everywhere. At least the snow is gone. But today, with that good, old, vitamin-D producing sunshine, everyone is in much better spirits. All the drown-rat looking calves love it. Half-pint even rode Tilly this afternoon. The girls played on the hay bales and jumped on the trampoline. I dug around in the flowerbeds looking for new life. The forecast calls for 50 degrees and sunshine for the rest of the week, bring on the spring fever!

56

We have 56 days of school left, not that I'm counting down... but just wondering. Wondering if this is the longest quarter in history? Wondering how I will entertain this class for another 56 days? Wondering if they have learned everything they need to know for the MAP test in a few weeks? Wondering if the playground will ever dry up? Wondering how bad our school will suffer from the budget cuts? Wondering what I will do for a week while I'm out of school and both of the girls are still in school?

Garden?

Time to start thinking about a garden? Just picture it, cute little rows of peas popping though the moist dirt, me in my boots looking for the first sprouted potato plant, picking lettuce and radishes because they hopefully will be my first new crop, me pulling every weed that jumps up... I will keep my garden clean this year (for the first month anyway). Will there ever be a garden here? Maybe I should start some seeds in the house?

Giggles!

Last weekend the girls stayed over night with Grandma Vicki and Grandpa Jim, with their cousins. Sunday they went sledding behind Grandpa's Ranger. The little ones, now 4 and 5, rode together. We all heard the giggles from the house!

The non-rides giggled in the back of the Ranger. Everyone enjoyed the snow... again! Thanks for the fun rides, and thanks to Grandma for lunch!