Kaitlens 2!

Kaitlen loved her "Birdy Party"(Birthday Party) and especially her "ba-yoons" (balloons) She even got excited about unwrapping clothes. She is such fun spunky little girl!

Hibernation

Up here in the Northern part of the state I have found that we hibernate for the long winter months. We see each other at church each Sunday and occasionally at a basketball game but for the most part we stay in our houses to keep warm, take care of sick kids, and.........well I haven't exactly figured out what else it is we do all winter? This weeks warm weather has finally melted the snow, brought the birds in from the south and chased away the bitter chill of the north. The streets and yards are once again filled with children's laughter, bike races, sidewalk chalk, and most importantly mothers on their front lawns visiting with friends picking up where they left off the previous Fall. It always amazing me how much the Spring weather and day light savings lift my spirits it seems to give me new life. I find myself cooking, cleaning and even changing diapers with a smile. I try to tell myself that I wouldn't enjoy the spring nearly as much if I hadn't gone through the long and dreary winter months, but to my friends who live in warm sunny places do you appreciate your weather all the time?? or does it just become something you are used to?? As for us up in the North we are happy as can be to be coming out of our long winter Hibernation!

Disappearing toes

7 weeks left to go and the toes are basically gone. Someone asked how the belly is going, well it is growing. I feel pretty good but boy I forgot how miserable sleeping is when you hit your last trimester. When I first got pregnant I thought wow 4 kids this pregnancy can take as long a possible cause 4 sounds a bit overwhelming but now I really am ready to be done being pregnant, I'm up at night anyway with numb ribs, hips, and an occasional Charley horse so why not be up feeding a baby.....

Limbs

This weather reminds me of one of my least favorite childhood jobs, raking limbs. Every year when the snow melted Lisa, Jesse and I knew that the winter rest from our orchard labors was over and we'd be back in the orchards starting off the season with one of our least favorite jobs, raking limbs. My dad would hire people to prune the trees and we were the crew that would go behind them and rake all the limbs out to the middle of the row so the tractor could scoop them up into a big pile to burn.

After we walked home from school we would grab a snack and head out to the big old orchard behind our house and begin. Lisa and I hated this job and tried everything we could to get out of it; it was cold, muddy and often times wet. We found all kinds of things left in the orchards from the long winter; dead mice, rotten apples from the prior years harvest, and sometimes even an old dead orchard cat. My least favorite part was getting whipped in the face or arms by the limbs. Now that I look back at it I feel bad that Jesse always had to be our Foreman keeping us motivated and working.....maybe that is why he is such a great dad now, he had lots of practise with me and Lisa. Funny that at the time I dreaded this job and now more then 15 years latter I look back on those times and smile and would love to be out in our orchard with my brother and sister raking limbs.