March and April

I had some spare time this morning since one of my cleaning jobs was cancelled, so, thinks I to meself, I will blog! As I scrolled through our photos, trying to figure out where I'd stopped, I was shocked to discover I hadn't blogged in over a month! Yikes! Where does the time go?

Life has been one endless rollercoaster since Bible School...

March- I went for an orthodontic appointment on the 22nd to be evaluated for braces. I was so happy when they told me I was a candidate for Invisalign braces! That week after Bible School was crazy! Nate and Virginia were here till Tuesday, I cleaned 10 houses and was sick. It wasn't pleasant, but I lived to tell the story. 😅 We also heard some very special news that week... Nate and Virginia are expecting! They're due November 13th.

April- After being off for a week the end of March, it was back at it again the first week of April. Once April rolled around, it seemed like the pace picked up even more. I had another ortho appointment on the 10th to get X-rayed and fitted for my braces (I should be getting them anytime now). That was interesting! They take pictures of your teeth, an X-ray, then they have this nifty machine that takes 3D images of your teeth. It puts all the pictures together, creating a complete picture of your teeth. I had to rush back from my appointment, where I met Aunt Carol to clean a house. I barely made it on time! That week, we also had sisters' meeting, a Norwex party at Emma's house, and Mom and I went to visit Iris again. Iris is a 92 year old lady who had to go into assisted living due to one of her vertebra crumbling. She did not want to leave her house, so she's been very depressed. She also has had to deal with some family issues. Anyway, Mom and I committed to going to see her once a week. We've been visiting her almost every week for a couple months now. That next week, I cleaned 11 houses. My goodness. That was hard! By the time I got to my last house on Friday, I was beat. My finger tips hurt from scrubbing so much, my arms were sore, and I was dog tired. I was extremely grateful for being able to stay home that Saturday! The last week of April was crazy busy too. I cleaned three houses on Wednesday; Thursday, Mom, Aunt Carol and I cleaned a lady's windows (they were the old kind that are super hard to clean); Friday, I spent the morning making peanut butter cream pies for a party on Saturday, then, after Mom and I went to see Iris. We were up late that night finishing things up for the party; Saturday, we got up early to prepare for my uncle Mike's surprise birthday party. We got home around 5 that evening. (More on this in another post) Sunday, we had church an hour early to listen to a message from online. That was kinda fun, even though we were incredibly tired! After church, we youth gathered to practice our SOP songs. Surprisingly, it went very well! 😀

I think I caught you up to date.

Oh, yes, Ry and Kels have some exciting news too... They are expecting little Grice number four on December 3! Woohoo!!!

This was taken in March. Dandelions are always a cheering sight after winter.

Taking a walk with my best friends

Josh built Abi an enclosed chicken run one rainy day in March.

Oh, ya. KK helped too.

Dawse

The best parents ever!

KK had a children's lesson for the first time in March. He spoke about how Jesus washes the stain of our sin away. He dyed water red, then dumped bleach into it. The bleach took the red away, like how Jesus washes our sins away when He saves us. I was so proud of KK! He did a great job!

I'm sure there was some significance behind this selfie, but I don't remember what it was. 😋

We celebrated Gram's 79th birthday on March 26 with pumpkin pie.

Sam has been reading Hank the cow Dog books, so when these vultures alighted on our barn roof, they were quickly christened, "Wallace" and "Junior."

Terrible picture... 

We were going through a Starbucks drive through on our way to see Iris.

I made Iris chocolate truffle cookies. Yum!

Abi ordered 150 broiler chicks, 50 of which were for Aunt Carol. Josh and Abi went to pick them up from the Missouri Valley area. They needed a truck as the chicks came with one ton of feed.

They're cute now, but just wait a few weeks... 😝

Josh made Abi this nifty chick pen. Did I ever mention how amazing Josh is?!

Dipping 100 chicks beaks takes awhile...

Mom bought these bird houses for the littles to paint. It was so interesting watching their personalities come out in the way they painted.

Doughy gobbed it on and got bored quickly.

Lynna very patiently painted each part.

Little cuties!

We got a lot of colds this season. Poor Sam got them worse than anybody else.

The four us went out for coffee at Sweet Joy one Saturday morning.

Chai Latte

Watching these guys is so much fun!

It can also be quite the circus!

I made these peanut butter brownies one evening. They were so good!

We youth shared songs and testimonies from our week at Bible School. Ryan helped us, too, since he had been the moderator. It was a blessing to go over the week again like that!

All the kids, youth and anyone that wanted to, made cards for Ken Miller one Sunday.

Iowa- America's Front Porch

Doughy fell asleep clutching a pistol in his little hands. It was so cute!

This little girlie is so much fun!

Ryan came to get them later that evening. Doughy was still sleepy and fell asleep standing up. 😜

Yay! Fresh eggs again!

Dad and Abi went to look at a new milk cow one Saturday morning.

Her name is Sandy.

Abi's giant frappe

Mom and I took Iris some of the flowers from her yard. She loved them!

We decided one Sunday to take Fantons to the Rock Cut. I snapped a quick picture of Martins' old house as we drove by.

Ok, sorry about the dumb look on my face... 😙 Hey, I didn't know Abi was taking a picture!

The beavers have made themselves quite the dam back in there.

Mom and some of us and some of the Chupps helped an elderly man clean out the flower beds on his acreage. I stayed home to babysit the littles. 😊

I've been doing spring cleaning lately. I got all of our canning stuff organized. It felt so good to have that done!

I'm hoping to sell my sewing cabinet. I cleaned it out and posted it on Craigslist.

Anyone interested? I'm asking $100 for it, but might be able to cut you a deal. 😉

Emma hosted a Norwex party at her house one evening. It was wonderful to finally order their window cleaning cloths! They are the best!

I spring cleaned the back porch too.

Matthias brought their uncle's tiller over and tilled Abi's gardens. Great job, 'Thias!

Our magnolia tree was beautiful this year!

As were our flowing crab, cherry, pear, and apple trees. The lilacs did beautifully as well.

Our amaryllis had two big blooms.

Josh and Abi picked Sandy up and brought her home one Saturday.

Abi is working on taming her. She lived at a dairy her whole life so she isn't used to being handled.

The view from our bedroom window...

Ronnie was in town, so the guys planned a "guys only" cook out at Ry's house. They came over to our house later to see the mettle melting furnace our boys made. They all came in later and ate ice cream. It was great seeing Ronnie again!

We went to the park one Sunday afternoon.

Brie's birthday was April 15. We celebrated it with cheesecake and lots of fun. Someone taped these balloons on Laina's head. She didn't know they were there for the longest time!

Ever feel this way when trying to untangle something?

Abi has been working hard planting her garden.

This is how I looked after cleaning 11 housesin 5 days...

A friend sent this to me during my busy week.

A stray cat got stuck in our chicken coop.

As far as we know, Sandy had never been in a pasture. Abi let her out and she just went crazy!

Our laundry got piled up over my busy week. I think I did close to ten loads of laundry.

I took a test online and found out that I have moderate entomophobia. That is an irrational fear of one or more classes of insects. I definitely have a phobia of most bugs, i.e., grubby things, and beetly things (thankfully not spiders). So, please don't tease me with bugs! I really do have a fear of those kind that I listed above. I hate it, but I can't seem to help it. they make me feel panicky and like I could get very angry or pass out or get hysterical or something. I don't like to tell certain people because I know they'll tease me with bugs, but I need to face my fear and get it out there in the open. It's a risk I need to take. Anyway... I'll quit my babbling.

Daddy's family... Dad is the blonde boy with the geeky black glasses in the back row.

Canoyer's greenhouse is loaded with spring flowers!

Mom is in heaven there!

We went over to Chupps' house one evening to say hi. Since this picture was taken, they've gotten all the kitchen cabinets up!

Chuckles was holding her bone like she was smoking a pipe. 😂