The Children's Farm 2

Today we had our second class at the Children's Farm in Stillwater!  It was great!

Logan loves tractors.

Making friends with the lamb.

NOT making friends with the cat.  After this little chasing incident, Logan got a lesson from Nancy, our teacher, about how to treat the cat nicely.  He took the lesson much better from her than he has when I have tried to tell him!

When class begins, our first chore is to feed and water the animals.  Each bucket has the appropriate food for the animal labeled.  The children get to choose which animals they want to feed.

They had just gotten some fresh hay, so we were able to load up the little wheel barrels and feed the horses.  This was Logan's favorite task of the day!  

He did a great job with the wheel barrel - no help from me!

Feeding Midnight.

Next Logan chose to feed the rabbits.  We took their little dishes out of their cages and filled them up with food.  Then Logan said, "Here you go Bunny!" and gave them a little pet.

It was a little rainy again, so most of the other activities were set up in the barn.  We spent time outside between sprinkles, though.  We got eggs from the chickens again (another of Logan's favorites! He went into the coop all by himself and picked out his egg - a brown one this time and washed it up all by himself); here Logan is grinding up some corn for the new piglets at the farm; we painted; made a corn art projects; played in the hayloft again; played with the kitties (they're already getting big!); and planted beans in the garden.

Here is Logan planting beans with Megan, one of the farm staff (his new best friend at the farm!).

Then we spent some time just digging and playing in the mud.  I figure this is a good time to get down and dirty!

WHAT FUN!

My Mother's Day

Today marked my third Mother's Day!  With two amazing little boys, I couldn't ask for more!  We've had a  very crazy, very busy spring, but John got home from Colorado yesterday, so we were able to all celebrate together at home.  John made the day very special to me: sleeping in, yummy latte, pictures created by the boys, and even the night "off" from baths and bedtime.  We went to church, enjoyed lunch, a late afternoon walk, playing at the park and just lounging in the grass at home.  It was a great day.

Thanks to John and the boys for making me feel so special today!

Love From Colorado

John was so sweet and sent me flowers from Colorado this week.  He was in Buena Vista taking a YL/Seminary course - and enjoying the mountain air.  The boys and I have spent our time in Stillwater staying with my parents, visiting Baggie & Bopbop, seeing aunts and uncles, and just plain relaxing.  I think its been a good week for everyone, but we have really been missing John.  The way our spring schedule has panned out, we have not seen John much.  Logan is SO excited to pick Daddy up at the airport when he comes home.  He will be home in time for us to spend Mother's Day together, but the surprise delivery of beautiful tulips was very special!

Thanks for the LOVE...sent all the way from Colorado!

11 Months Today!

Out little Bennett is growing up so fast!  He is 11 months old today...in just one short month we will celebrate his first birthday!  Thinking back to this time last year, I can't believe how much life has changed for us all.  Managing a family of four is much different than three.  Logan has a little brother to love.  John and I have experienced the blessing of two beautiful boys - each so unique and special.

Bennett is starting to show some more of his personality and he is feisty.  Don't get me wrong, he is still the sweet, smiley, content little boy we've been talking about for the last 11 months.  But, now that is so mobile and becoming more independent, he is showing that he WANTS what he WANTS.  And now.  It's so fun to see him grow and change.

In the last week, Bennett has begun cruising along the furniture, standing every chance he gets (even in the bathtub - yikes!), and playing more and more with Logan.  Bennett really wants to keep up with any other kids who are around and he is doing good at keeping up by crawling superfast!

Big boy Benny....almost ONE!

The Children's Farm 1

Yesterday Logan and I went to our first of four classes at The Children's Farm in Stillwater.  I signed up for a four week Harvest Learning class because I knew Logan would love it so much!  It only takes us one hour to get to the farm from our house in Eau Claire, so its worth the weekly trip for just four weeks.  Our first experience was so wonderful, Logan ran around loving every minute and already can't wait for "farm school" next week!

"Come on, Mom, let's go!"

The Children's Farm is a non-profit pre-school - they even have regular preschool that runs all year where the kids do farm chores and learn about animals, gardening, etc.  A few of the moms in our class actually attended classes at the farm as a child!

Our first task was to feed the animals.  We picked up our buckets of feed and took them to the appropriate animals.  Logan chose the steer (cow) and the horse.  So, we fed Tye-Dye, the steer (here is our new friend Oren feeding the steer after us) and we also fed Felicia, the horse - right out of our hands!  Logan carried the feed buckets all by himself.

After giving the animals food, it was time to fill their water.  We learned to use the water pump.  The farm emphasizes children learning to do things on their own, with only some guidance from their grown-ups.  Logan did a great job of trying everything on his own.  Its also a very relaxed learning environment.  After all the feeding, they rang a bell and we circled up to learn about all our activities for the day.  Once they are all explained, it is up to you and your child to decide which activites you would like to do, and in what order.  You can take the learning at your own pace, which seems great for Logan (and most little boys, especially, I think).

Logan first chose to gather eggs from the chickens.  He picked this egg out of the chicken's nest.  Then we took it and scrubbed it,

rinsed it, and put it in an egg carton.

Then we went to the garden, where Logan dug holes, planted potatoes, then covered the holes with a rake.  He really loved this task and we did it several times!  The garden is really neat, with lots of vegetables and herbs.

The rain started, so we went into the barn and the teachers brought the baby kitties in for the kids to meet and hold.

Logan called this "my kitty"!

The little bit of rain didn't bother anyone.  We spent time painting in the barn, reading books, playing with the kitties, and...

Playing in the hayloft!  We climbed a ladder to the hayloft where bales and boards were set up for the kids to climb on.  It didn't take long for the rain to pass and the sun to come out!

Logan got to ride a pony named "Gertie"!  Grown-ups had to stay back by the fence, so Logan walked into the pasture...

hopped up on the stump...

climbed onto Megan's knee...

and mounted the pony!  Way to go, Logan!

He learned to shake the reigns to "go" and pull the reigns to "stop".

He kept saying, "I'm doing it, Mom!"  I was so proud of him for following through without me by his side.  Logan is probably one of the very youngest kids - he just made the cut-off for the class, but he did a great job keeping up!

 By the end of the day, we were plenty warm, we even took our jackets off!  Logan loved this tree swing!  We ended our time singing songs about the farm and its animals.  Its amazing to watch Logan learn in such a experiential way.  Being on the farm are certainly things he would never experience anywhere else.  What a great day!  Can't wait for next week!  

My New Talent

I don't consider myself to have many outstanding talents, but I will admit that I have mastered multi-tasking quite well!  With two somewhat needy kids (I realize I may have a part in creating their neediness as a very protective, doting, stay at home mom), I rarely have free hands or a minute to myself.  Bennett is getting some new teeth so he's been especially clingy lately.  This is how I get ready...one arm, baby on the hip:

I've gotten pretty good at it....if you consider minimal makeup and hair in a pony tail an acceptable appearance.

Fridays Are Fun!

While Bennett napped this morning, I got out a new art project for Logan and I to work on.  Usually, if B takes a morning nap, Logan and I do something special together.  Today was rainy so it was perfect for painting!  These dot art projects are awesome!  Logan literally has done twenty pictures already.  They are all hanging up in the play area.  He's really taken  to coloring and painting in the last few weeks which is so fun because I love it, too!

Dot art

The first of many!  I started by saying how beautiful the pictures were and hanging them up.  By the fourth picture, Logan caught on saying, "Mommy, isn't this beautiful?! Can you hang it up?!".  Well, how can I say no to that??

Just as B was waking up, our friends Carter and Brynna arrived with their mom, Leah.  Logan and Carter usually see each other every week at playgroup but it was fun to have Carter at our, house to play! The boys are very similar and both so sweet - they play really well together.  Carter is about 6 months younger than Logan, so I think they will be good buddies!  

The boys also worked a lot with the tools - they both know how to fix lots of things!

Bennett (post blow-out) was busy keeping up!  At point, while Leah and I finished lunch, the three big kids were playing in Logan's room and before I knew it, B had crawled to Logan's room and joined right in.  It was so cute!  He doesn't want to miss a thing!