Meeting new calves

We needed to borrow Grandpa Craig's pick up to pick up sticks

and get rid of some of our old water-damaged carpet this weekend.

So when we returned the pick-up back, it was a family road trip

to the farm Sunday afternoon.

The girls liked riding in the back of the pick-up

Aubrey got to meet her newest calf she named "Flower"

(she puts on a good fake smile since she was terrified of the calves)

And Avery got to meet her new bull-

she was in tears before this pic as well ;)

Aubrey was a bit more brave with Avery's little bull

since he was only a couple days old and not so jumpy.

Mom and the girls

All the baby calves by Daddy while the Mommas were eating

Aubrey had an old piece of corn (from the Fall)

that she brought along and fed to the Mommas

Brrrr...a much colder afternoon than yesterday's balmy weather!

Wine and Canvas

As a Christmas gift to my friends Leah and Renee, I got them certificates 

to attend a Wine and Canvas event. This one was held at On the Green in Oskaloosa.

Leah and Renee before it starts! Eeeek!

Yes, we really did start with a blank canvas

First steps were outlining some main pieces in yellow 

to divide up the space

starting to fill in the the blues and greens

Leah giving some good advice to Renee :)

Yikes, is this really going to turn out?!

There was a lot of blending and "messy lines" so that helped

us non-painters :)

Still having fun, thanks to a glass of wine (or two;))

THE FINISHED PRODUCT!

It's called "Monet's Bridge"

We had a great night and will definitely do it again!

Ink on the sheets

On Monday night as were putting Aubrey to bed, we noticed she had colored all over her sheets with ink and not just by accident. We found out she probably did it during her Sunday nap. She used the pen she was using to cross off dates on the calendar until her birthday. 

You can see a cloud, a worm, a sun and a person she said.

Posing now...but she did feel really sorry and was sobbing. She didnt want coloring taken away since "Its the best fun thing to do!"

Her Consequence: spend time cleaning it with hairspray, soap, and cold water.

I kept hearing grunting and sayings like "I am going to get you clean silly head!" "Mom can you check on me?" "Im doing a great job!" "I think I got it all out!"

After about 15 minutes later, much to her dismay it did come out, even after throwing it in the laundry. 

So now we will go to walmart and she will use *some* of her money to buy a new sheet and it won't get to be a cute one ;) 

Lesson learned. Hopefully.

Aubrey's Date with Daddy

On Saturday afternoon Daddy and Aubrey had a little date.  First they went to the Mango Tree for frozen yogurt.

Aubrey wanted to say, "It was super sunny and windy."

They went to the Missoula Children's Theatre production at the Middle School of Aladdin.

The cast from our community.

Her friend Mia was in the show as a penguin. You had to be in Kindergarten or older to audition. Next year Aubrey says she wants to try out :)

Avery the climber

They say your second child is more of a terror than your first, I would say this is true of our Avery Leigh.

She is always getting into something and lately it is climbing onto things by herself and then yelling,"I stuck mommy, help me!" In the past two days she has climbed up the changing table and couldn't get down. She has climbed up on our computer desk and couldn't get down. And then I found her in her high chair standing on the tray!!! I have no idea how she climbs into these things since she usually just quickly sneaks away and gets stuck. I know now not to let her out of my sight for long.

A few other funny things lately have been her nose diving straight out of the bathtub all slippery and wet to get a toy and she yells, "Baby overboard!" Aubrey and I laughed at that for quite awhile.

And since Avery is often being a stinker, we have a nice little nickname that Aubrey and I often use. When she gets into mischief we both say, "You naughty little HEIFER!" Yes, you read that right. I think it stems back from my Dad (Van Grouw) whom I clearly remember calling his children "little heifers" when they were being silly or naughty. I don't know if that is an accurate memory or not. Can any Van Grouw family member confirm or deny that? ;) And now when bossy bear Avery sees her older sister being naughty, too, she yells, "No, no, Aubrey, you naughty heifer." Oh dear, what have I done :) 

Bracket win upset!!

Although Oskaloosa has had a losing season of 3-18 going into post season, there was still a game or two to be played. Post season basketball is officially underway and Oskaloosa had their first regional game tonight. It was a late 7:00 game on a school night, over an hour away, so the girls and I stayed home but Craig and Char went there to cheer the team on.

We had played Washington earlier this year and had lost by three, so this was a winnable game. However, the rankings predicted Oskaloosa losing by 20. Well, that just wasn't so tonight. 

It was a slowpaced game back and forth all night, with Oskaloosa maintaining a lead for most of the game. At one point we were up by 9. But of course going down to the fourth quarter we got panicky and it became a two point game with about a minute to go. Unfortunately our starting, leading scorer post fouled out so it was hang on for dear life. In the end, our Freshman post hit a clutch shot to give us the lead by two with thirty seconds to go and somehow we hung on! Osky wins! Osky wins!

Definitely a great win and some glimmer of hope even for the next year's team. Unfortuantely we are set to play a tough Fairfield team on Saturday that we have played before and got shalacked...we shall play and give it our all, I'm sure. Stay tuned. 

Congrats girls and Coach Kaisand!

(PS...the girls and I made a congratulatory banner for Daddy to come home to...we made it before the game even started...we were confident :)) 

Aubrey's 5 year old interview

Although Aubrey isn't QUITE 5 years old (24 days), here is her 5 year old interview:

What is your favorite color? 
pink

What is your favorite food? 
pizza

What is your favorite treat? 
tootsie rolls

What is your favorite thing to do in school?
do computers 

What is your favorite sport?
probably soccer

What is your favorite hobby? 
coloring and painting, crafts

What is your favorite movie?
Rio

What is your favorite tv show? 
Little Charmers

What is your favorite book?
Fancy Nancy series

What is your favorite animal?
giraffe 

What is your favorite song?
Let it Go!

What is your favorite restaurant?
Pizza Ranch

What is your favorite vegetable? 
corn

What is your favorite fruit?
strawberries

 What is your favorite place to visit? 
Grandma Van Grouw's house

Where do you WANT to visit some day? 
Chicago

Who is your best friend? 
Kate 

Who is your favorite cousin? 
Camryn and Kailey

What’s your favorite thing to do with Avery? 
play tag

What’s your favorite thing to do with Daddy?
play tag and games

 What’s your favorite thing to do with Mommy? 
cleaning the windows or coloring 

 Where do you think you’ll go to college? 
at Daddy's school

 Where do you think you might get married? 
in Texas

What do you want to be when you grow up? 
a firegirl

 What is one of your greatest talents?
dancing 

 What is something that you wish for? 
I wish to go to DisneyWorld

What is something you wonder about? 
Why don't sunflowers grow in the winter?

Who is someone that you miss? 
Grandma Van Grouw

What makes you nervous? 
wolves that might come in our house

What makes you happy? 
playing Barbies by myself 

What age do you look forward to – and why?
6 because then I can do cool stuff

Valentine's Day

On Saturday morning the girls each got a little balloon.

Jammies and staticky morning hair

Cutting her teeth on her balloon stick

Then after naps Daddy surprised Aubrey with her own rose

She loved it :)

Aubrey got pink and Mommy got red

Nothing like getting up from a nap with a rose in your face

Awwwwww

She loves it too

Daddy and his girls

Three lucky girls with our roses

Sunday morning with another little gift of chocolate and activity booklet