Back to School!

Abi started first grade on Monday. This was her first experience with a full day of school. Packing her own cold lunch was particularly exciting. (She started asking if she could pack it Sunday morning and had it done before church.) She likes her teacher, Mrs. Colligan, who is a new teacher at our school. When we ask her what her favorite part of the day is she always says recess and lunch. (Last year her teacher rarely gave her recess and this was a huge source of stress for her.) The biggest problem so far is that she has so many friends that she doesn't know who to play with at recess. If you are going to have a problem that is the kind to have. We are really proud of Abi and how she is growing up.

Wheeler Farm

We went to Wheeler Farm with our play group this past week. Porter was just a few months old the last time we went, so it was a whole new experience for him. He was so excited to see all the different farm animals (chickens, turkeys, pigs, sheep, horses and cows) and ran from pen to pen moving a bit to quick for my pregnant body to keep up with. (The stroller I brought was just too confining for this activity!) And then we saw the tractors! I think all three of the kids could have spent a few more hours pretending to drive the tractors. We fed the ducks and geese around the pond. Porter was so funny trying to get them to eat out of his hand until one of the geese nipped at him. After that incident he wouldn't let me put him down and thought the I was going to be eaten too. It was a beautiful day to be outside and picnic. We will have to make this a summer tradition.

The Fruits of Our Labor

We put a lot of work into planting a garden this year. Jesse built some boxes and we added a lot of compost and manure to our "wonderful Magna soil" . We decided to start small and if we were successful we would build on that next year. The cucumbers we planted just didn't take, but the squash and zucchini plants are huge and producing a lot. They just seem to grow in front of your eyes. We neglected to check the plants for just a few days and ended up with this huge zucchini. We also have our first red tomato on the vine and are excited to start making fresh salsa and pasta sauces in the next few weeks. I can't believe how much I have enjoyed having a garden. I must have some of Grandpa Thornock's jeans in me.

Oh Hannah Montana!

Porter has become obsessed with Hannah Montana (Or "Ontanna" as he calls her). He has always liked her TV show but lately he has taken it to a whole new level. Whenever he is missing I go strait to the girls' room and there he is all propped up on their bookshelf. He has taught himself how to run the CD player. He can find the CD, put it in the machine, and get it to his favorite song , "The Best of Both Worlds". It is even more amazing because the radio has some quirks and is often difficult for me to run. We tried unpluging it and switching it to radio but it only took a day for him to figure out how to plug it back in and switch it back to CD. The girls get frustrated because he tends to destroy their room in the process. He will literally stand there on the bookshelf for an hour signing to the same song over and over. There is never a dull moment with Porter around.