MODELING

We thought we'd try encouraging some warmer weather by buying some summer clothes! The kids wanted to show them off to dad so they hit the runway! 

GRASS

We decided to get some grass going in the side yard even though we didn't have a sprinkler system in yet. We wanted the animals to have some nice grass to hang out in. So we spent weeks picking out rocks and getting it ready. Ty built this big sifter that dropped the good dirt and rolled the rocks into the wheelbarrow or our little trailer. It works great but it is a TON of work! To top it off the BIG prize I promised the kids for helping with rocks wasn't going as planned. I was going to get them a big above ground swimming pool, but everyone else in the world stuck at home this spring had the same idea and not only were they hard to find but they had quadrupled in price. Oy. Probably not happening this year. But I told them if they keep working, I will keep looking and get one eventually even if not till next year! So we have continued to work on taming the wilderness we call our yard! But despite the wind debacle above, we have little bits of grass growing in the side yard now! Never thought I'd be so excited about tiny blades of grass!

 

KIDS

Sometimes they get along. Actually they were forced to spend a lot of time with each other before we started hanging out with friends -- outside (which has made the cold weather this spring that much harder). I love seeing them happy and enjoying each other's company. It's one of the reasons I had them so close together because I wanted them to have each other. Trust me, on more than one occasion I have questioned my decision as the three of them can be a handful, but moments like these remind me that it is worth it. Hopefully my heart survives them! 

COUSINS

First Livie is adorable, even when eating pancakes! Cousins have had a lot of time to spend together since this pandemic hit! It has been one good thing about it!

RIGBY WIND: 524

NEIGHBORHOOD: 0

Soooo, we had just spread grass seed in our side yard like the day before and this massive wind storm came out of nowhere. I ran out back to turn the water on the grass seed so it wouldn't all blow away but the wind was so strong it wasn't doing any good. I didn't want to walk through the side yard to get to the sprinkler so I walked back through the house out the mud room door, opened the garage and walked to the other side of the side yard near the sprinkler. I picked it up, pointed it downward, wind at my back, and let the wind take the water across the yard. Once it was all wet I went back inside thru the garage, leaving the garage open. WHOOPS! About 2 minutes later the wind suddenly hit HARD and CONSTANT. I can't say I've ever experienced anything quite that strong and sudden. We opened the back door a crack (wind was hitting the front of the house) to check things out and wind was suddenly tearing through the house! I ran to the mud room and wind was coming through the dog door to the garage. When I opened the door I realized I had left the garage door open and wind was pouring dirt and debris into the garage. I thought oh boy, Ty isn't gonna like that I forgot to close the garage door. It was a bit of a mess! 

The neighborhood FB page filled with the damage. About 5-10 backyard playsets had been knocked to the ground, a neighbor's pergola fell apart, siding was missing and believe it or not most of the houses on the same side of the road as us had dented or completely destroyed garage doors! One of them curled up under the pressure from the wind and others just developed dents in them. It was crazy luck that I forgot to close the garage door and prevented more damage to the house! 

Ty went to help our neighbor across the street clean up his pergola. I walked out to see how it was going and found trim to something sitting on the concrete. I looked up above our garage to find the entire section of shakes waving in the wind! The entire section was being held up but one screw in the very top shake! It was crazy! I quickly waved Ty back over so he could fix it before it went flying too! Haha. 

TY AND THE CHICKENS

I just love catching pictures of Ty outside with the chickens. They flock around him when he's out there. Either they expect him to always have treats or they kinda like him. Not really sure which. Maybe a little of both? Also, our baby chicks are not babies anymore. And they are still flying everywhere, over fences, onto the roof of the shed and they aren't afraid of the big chickens. Usually the newbies get jumped on and pecked out a little as they get used to each other but first thing these leghorns did when they god jumped on was jump back... and let me tell you, they won. Haha. They seemed to start getting along more quickly this way though so that was good. 

 

SCHOOL AT HOME

First, I had to smile when I walked into the room while Lily was playing Animal Crossing and saw her leaving a note for a friend. She was typing stay safe and stay home ... words she has heard a lot of over the last couple of months. This COVID thing has been crazy. This whole stay at home thing was only supposed to last 2 weeks. Now we are 2 months in and it's just getting worse. People are starting to argue with each other. There are food shortages ... toilet paper of all things is hard to find. My family hasn't thanked me enough for considering toilet paper a food storage item. We totally already have a year supply and won't need to buy any for a while. I don't think they fully appreciate this fact. Haha.

Now to school. It changed pretty drastically from the first day (them all at the table, seated properly, healthy snacks) to the last few days of school... laying wherever, rarely sitting up, eating popcorn/candy, sometimes literally in bed. I didn't care anymore. I was just happy they were getting it done. Haha. It didn't help at all the the weather wasn't cooperating at all. It was hard to even go for walks or play outside because it was cold and windy all the time. We did have an occasional 60 degree day ... in which my kids of course insisted on swim suits and water (BRRRRR!). Seriously though of all the years for a wild and cold Spring! We survived though. We survived 2+ months of online school. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE open schools again in the Fall! These kids need their social time away from mom and dad!