Catching up

Can't believe June is almost over! I have been in total summer mode and that means only getting to things if I am really motivated. So that means updating the blog has been on the back burner. I just went through a bunch of pictures from the month of June so I thought I would share a little of what we have been up to.

Rebecca played another season of Bam Bam Ball and this year and was on the Purple Team. It's always a little awkward watching 3-5 year olds play an organized sport, but she improved over last year and had fun.

Blake is as happy as ever and growing fast. He is starting to sit up and eat baby cereal. The last 5 months have flown by, but we rejoice in every day with our precious baby boy!

Rebecca is fascinated with the frogs we find on our deck. They love to hid under the grill cover. Although Rebecca will not touch them with her hands, she likes to play with them and let them swim in her pool.

My parents (Grandma and Grandpa Pontier) came for a 3 day visit last week. My dad got to meet Blake for the first time and Rebecca loved spending time with her grandparents. 

I always try and find a little sewing project for my mom when she is here and this time we made pillow covers for our living room pillows. My mom created the pattern for the pillow covers and sewed the tan ones. I followed her instructions and made the dot pillow covers - which include gussets and zippers!

In between all those activities, we are just enjoying the mostly slow summer days as a family!

Branding

This spring I decided to freeze brand my cows.  After having several cows loose their tags over the years I wanted to have a permanent number on them.  Freezing branding will cause the hair to grow back white.  Cow #43 below is a cow born on Rebecca's birthday.  So it is 4 1/2 going to 5 years old this Aug. 31.   I know, I know, this is a boring post to most but I am pumped that they turned out well.  I give credit to my friend Scott and my neighbor Marv for helping me.  

 These cows below are just a second and third example of how they look.  I anticipate the only challenge to this could be at sorting time when the cows are crowded together and their hindquarters are hidden from view.  I choose to leave the number tags in to help with this but they can be ripped or pulled out anytime.

Farm life updates

This past spring I had to install a creek crossing on one of our farms.  Here is the excavator doing some dirt work to finish installation.

 And after much shopping my bro and I bought a dozer.  We used it to clear some trees on my farm and will use it extensively to shape waterways and land repairs in the years to come.

 Rebecca came along to help do some dozing and after getting a thorn in her foot went to wash her feet in the creek.  The creek is quite the oasis even on a hot day.

On this occasion this spring Rebecca helped fill the planter and had the job of putting the lids on.

This past week I was spraying soybeans and tried my best to take a picture of Rebecca driving.  She is excited at the thought of helping but low on attention span once she is in the tractor.  She has the idea that the other parent is always having more fun and insists on going home to be with Mom or going to see Dad and help me.

And finally, we were out this afternoon checking the cattle and took a picture of how tall the corn is.  The corn is officially head high on a 4 1/2 year old.

P.S. If there are farm questions or requests for blogs about anything farm related let me know.  

Preschool Wrap-up

Rebecca finished preschool last week! She did a great job this year and grew a lot in all areas. We agree with her teacher in that she will be ready for kindergarten in the fall. Here are a few pictures from her last day of preschool - Beach Day, and also from her final program for the parents.

Playing in the water table.

Playing with the ducks with Nash and Tanner.

Final program for parents, Rebecca is in the back row under the calendar.

The kids sang a lot of the songs they learned throughout the year.

Rebecca and her teacher, Mrs. Albert.

Rebecca with her classroom helper, Ms. Brianna. 

Quick Trip

Last weekend we made a quick trip down to St. Louis to see my sister Rachel before she moves even further away to Houston. It was Dan's first visit to St. Louis and although we didn't get to do any touristy things, we did get to drive past the arch and the Cardinal's stadium. Thanks for the great weekend Rachel! And thank for taking a great picture of our family of four :)

tired and busy

That pretty much sums up my life in the last month - tired and busy. I went back to work a month ago and I've been busy and tired ever since. I really enjoy teaching, but the time in the morning before work and the time between coming home and going to bed have been packed full of business. Nothing too special, just busy taking care of the kids and Dan. That leaves little time for some of the relaxing things I like to do like read, blog, watch a good movie, and keep the house clean (yes, that is one of my relaxing activities).

Only 10 more work days left until summer break! I can't wait to...
- read a good book
- sleep in with the kids
- go for a walk with the kids
- lay in the hammock
- mow the lawn while the kids sleep
- have time to make doughnuts for breakfast
- plant flowers
- get caught up on the kids scrap books
- and so much more...

I have a lot of projects around the house that I want to get to this summer. Hopefully I will find time to do those and find time to blog about them. So until then...

It's Greek to Me

I realize that I am way behind the band wagon on this one, but I finally tried Greek yogurt. I'm not sure why it's taken me so long, but I think the main reason was that I did not want to admit that my current favorite yogurt (that I ate almost daily) was not that healthy. Anyway, I finally decided to go Greek :)

I first bought the Oikos plain greek yogurt to try. I wanted to know what plain greek yogurt tastes like without any added sugars or flavors. Let's just say it's not my favorite and was a little hard to eat even with fresh strawberries and granola. On the back of the large container there is a list of recipe exchange ideas. They suggest using greek yogurt in recipes that call for sour cream, cream cheese, or mayonnaise. That sounded like a better idea to me than just eating it plain.

I first tried swapping greek yogurt for sour cream in a corn casserole dish. I love baked corn casserole, but can you really call it a vegetable it all you do is cover corn with sour cream and butter? Swapping greek yogurt for the 2 cups of sour cream that the recipe called for saves about 250 grams of fat and adds protein. When it was all said and done, you couldn't even tell a difference. I also tried greek yogurt in banana bread and mashed potatoes = success. I'm convinced that using greek yogurt is a good alternative to sour cream in recipes.

I still wanted to be able to eat greek yogurt plain so I bought it sweetened with strawberries. And although it is about twice the price of my regular yogurt, it is very good and I could see myself switching over - I'll have to watch for some coupons and sales :)

Have you gone greek yet? What kinds of greek yogurt have you tired? Have you used it in any recipes? Anyone brave enough to try Creamy Yogurt "Cheese" Cake found HERE and can you really call it "Cheese Cake" if you don't use any cream cheese?