thankful: day 4

i am thankful that my boys go to a school that they love.  we never have the fight over going to school...how many days left...do i have too?  i think the things they love the most are the teachers.  they hug their teachers past and present.  the teachers know them by name.  and the best part for me is that when we say our nightly prayers one of the boys thanks God for his teachers and school almost every night.  someone is doing something right for him to be grateful for them.  the teachers go out of their way to tell me things the boys have done, or how great they are.  for my boys to be a part of a school where they are loved is a wonderful thing...maybe that's why i haven't ever cried when i sent one of them to school.  i know they will be in great hands until i pick them up.  except that one time tayte's teacher lost him....

tara

thankful: day 3

i am thankful for my boys... all five of them. the one thing i am most proud of is being a mother. in my opinion it is the one thing i have always done well. like anyone i have my moments that aren't stellar, but i come back better than before. it is one of the few things i will never quit being and i am grateful for that.

baylee: he makes me a smarter person. he has always questioned EVERYTHING. i have googled more things for him, things i have forgotten or things i never knew. he has a kind heart and tries to keep the peace. that's why so many people like him. he has taught me to have a kinder heart, and for that i am blessed.

tayte: he has the sweetest heart. i love that every teacher he has ever had he still goes out of his way to hug them. he is a head first hugger, from that you know that he wants to hug you. he has taught me unconditional love in a way no one else has. he is a thinker too, you can see in his face and the comments he makes that he thinks about things. but, most of all his sense of humor and laugh is contagious. he tells a joke and laughs before he gets the punchline out.

payton: he is strong. he sees the way things should be and he sticks with the path he thinks will lead him to his goal. he is also extremely sweet. he loves his brothers and doesn't bat an eye at showing them. he as taught me there is a balance between stubbornness and gentleness.

trayce: he is in heaven waiting for me. even though he was only in my life for a short period of time the lesson he taught me is one that i needed to learn the most. and because of him i am a stronger more empathetic person.

kayson: when we were looking for names i kept coming back to this one. and when i realized what it means i knew that was going to be the name we would use boy or girl. kayson means "healer". and in his short life he has healed me. he has made me as whole as i can possibly be. for being so small he has done such a huge job. he has taught me to slow down and to cherish the time we have together.

i am grateful to be called mom to these boys. even though they are so young they have taught me so much. and as the parent i thought i was supposed to be the teacher. funny how this whole thing works.

tara

thankful: day 2

i am thankful for lee. he is an amazing man. i am so blessed to be able to call him my best friend, my husband, and the father of my children. he works hard so i can stay home and raise the boys. he provides for all our needs. he is a wonderful role model for our boys, showing them how a man should treat his wife and raise children. the quote "my father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it."[Clarence Budington Kelland] is lee. he lives and shows these boys how to live. he is an involved dad: he coaches the boys in almost all sports, he helps with cub scouts, and in fact as i type this he is in the living room playing catch with payton and tayte. we are all better for having him in our lives. i thank God daily for giving me lee.

tara

thankful: day 1

last year i saw this and it was well into november when i finally did see it, so i said i would play along next year. well, it's next year....

i am thankful for a loving God. a God who believes in me even when i don't. a God who is my father and loves me unconditionally. He loves me so much He asked His only son to suffer for my sins. And Jesus did just that. suffered a horrendous death so that i have the chance to spend eternity with them. and the Holy Spirit to help guide me in my daily life and choices. i am blessed by Him beyond measure and for that i am grateful.

tara

payton's pre-k program

the pre-k did a pre-game signing program at the coaches vs. cancer game the other night. hence all the kids in pink. and they were stinking cute.

they did the cha cha slide (i think that's the name of the song).

clapping

hop one time

stomp one time

now cha cha

and then they sang a train song.

chugging away.

toot toot

and for their final song they did a song all about wiggles

wiggle my hands.

wiggle my hips.


wiggle my feet.

payton knew every word, every action, and he loved singing them all. we were way up in the stands and could hear him screaming the words. i am so glad we got this one on video too. yes, lee and i are "those" parents. both of us have a camera strapped to our faces. we went a long time without videoing anything and now i regret it. so we are trying to be better.

tara

tayte's first grade basketball program

so last friday we weren't just in the middle of a stock show, we had tayte's basketball program. during halftime of the varsity girl's game the first graders walk out dribbling onto the court and perform a variety of basketball skills.

throw the ball up, clap and catch it. dribble right handed. dribble left handed. dribble while getting down on one knee. rotate the ball around your head.

sit down and dribble on one side then switch to the other side. oh, and did i mention that they are all sychronized? dribble while getting down on their tummies

so they can end the show like this.

pretty impressive if you ask me. i knew girls on my varsity basketball team that couldn't do some of those things.

tara

our first stock show

baylee has been raising a pig for his first stock show. he decided he wanted a duroc, how he knew the different kinds was beyond me. but, he knew what he wanted and that is what we got. luckily for us since we were new to this whole ordeal, a guy lee works with LOVES this kinda stuff. so, tyler was on the look out for a duroc. at the end of october we became the proud owners of a pig.

a pig named doug. doug's mom weighed about 1,000 pounds. so when we got this cute little 50 pound (i think that was about his original weight) pig, i made sure that all 3 of the boys got in the pen with him so he could get used to them. there is not telling how big he could get. so the boys played with him everyday when we'd go check on him.

and doug ate a lot. and he got big. and on january 23rd baylee showed doug in their first (and for doug his last) stock show.

i never in my wildest dreams would have guessed how much work goes into showing a pig. payton and tayte had a good ol' time hanging out at the ag barn.

payton was so excited because his best friend "coltkeys" had a sister showing pigs too, so they ran all over the place in hog heaven.

tayte turned into a monkey and every time i looked at him he was climbing on the bars, just swinging away.

so, we (and by we i mean lee) moved doug from the pens to the ag barn on thursday afternoon. thursday evening we (this we is baylee and lee) had to wash doug. baylee washed his sides and that was about it. which makes me wonder how well he is bathing himself? anyway, he wouldn't really scrub anywhere else all that great, so lee grabbed the brush and got the rest of doug presentable. now, we wait so doug can be weighed.

getting 113 pigs weighed was interesting to watch. people standing arounding, people opening/closing pens for the coming and going of the pigs, others driving pigs, and pigs driving people. controlled chaos. doug weighed in at 218 pounds. and ended up in the lightweight class. he was 5 pounds shy of the heavy weights. so both classes were really close. after that it was just a waiting game.

friday they showed all other animals, so it was just a matter of making sure doug ate and had water. and then that evening they clipped him. i guess it never dawned on me that you should give a pig a haircut (there isn't a book about that, lol), but you do. and that was an experience. some people just cut their pigs hair in the pen they are in. tyler suggested we don't do that because it can poke him when he lays down and irritate his skin. we don't want to have a pig with irritated skin now do we. so we (and by we i mean lee and tyler) took doug to the cage set up for clipping. and snouted him. since, i didn't know what this meant i'm sure someone reading this won't know either. you take a rope and wrap it around the upper part of his snout, and pull real snug. then you take the other end and tie it to the end of the cage. and pigs don't really like this. so doug squealled. a lot. and finally after he calmed down some tyler cut his hair. baylee did about 2 swipes and wasn't so good at it and tyler took over again.

so, saturday morning baylee showed his pig. he walked around keeping doug moving. he did a great job. and if you were like me and have never been to a stock show you really have to pay attention to the judge because he is sneaky. he walks up to a kid and puts the number of fingers out that tells what place they got. and i'm not sure if he gets low because it's a bunch of kids but, it's almost like he is trying to hide his hands. anyway, baylee got first in his class. he was so glad. that meant he got to show again after the second class of durocs.
since he got first they put you in a holding pen like this waiting to show again. and this thing is big enough for one pig and one kid. nothing more, nothing less. and while we waited one of the pigs tried to climb out of there. i never knew pigs could climb, but they can.

baylee showed for best of breed and WON. he was grinning from ear to ear. and someone told me that the 1st place from the light weight class rarely beats the 1st place from the heavy weight class. but, really it was just 5 pounds difference between classes.

and baylee's first showing was in class 5. there were 20 classes. so now it was a waiting game again.

baylee got to show again for grand champion. well, i heard a hundred times that durocs never win grand champion, so i wasn't holding my breathe. and the judge never really even looked at doug during this round. as soon as baylee and doug got in the showing area, doug and another pig to into it. so the guys with the big red boards separated them. and it was downhill from there for baylee and doug. doug kept trying to get out of there, i don't blame him he was attacked by another pig. at least that's my version. so the guys with the red boards kept hitting him with their board and pissing him off. and poor baylee couldn't get enough strength to push him away and get him walking.

and with all those pigs it was mass chaos. everyone of them trying to get their pig over in front of the judge. looking pleadingly at him.

but, for his first show baylee did a fabulous job. and he even wants to show again next year.

i now i have 3 boys who are way to attached to this pig. friday night they all 3 were in their beds crying because they didn't want to "lose" doug. crap.

tara