The Bunch Finally Dry Out and Poor T has a Run of Bad Luck!

T made a heart shaped cinnamon roll for Valentines Day breakfast. I am loving his cookbook!

It has been fairly dry the last couple of weeks so our pasture has really dried out, thankfully. However, we still have the unwelcome "pond" in the middle of the yard, but as much as D and I dislike it, the kids love it, at least the younger two. The eldest daughter doesn't like bugs, dirt, or pretty much anything outdoors, taking her camping is always a challenge. The younger two on the other hand are out wading through it looking for craw fish(yes, we have a ton and thanks to all the rain they have now migrated from the ditches to the entire yard!), trying to find worms for the chickens, or looking to see if we have tadpoles (last year we raised about a million toads and now we have tons of holes in the yard so I really hope we have no tadpoles this year!). The horse pen has mostly died out, but I think their "mud boots" won't come off until they get their spring baths. I really can't wait until we can bathe them; they stink. All in all everything here is good and I am so ready to start camping again. We haven't been anywhere since the Waco debacle in Nov., which by the way is still the record for the coldest, windiest, and longest stretch of winter weather this season. Literally any other week would have been better, but not many people are able to complete their entire Magnolia experience in 30 minutes including: the store, bakery, lawn, AND the coffee shop, so I guess that was good thing, but boy was it cold and windy!

T has had a run of bad luck lately. First, at his basketball game last week there was a girl who ran into him and her bow stabbed him just above his eye. He got a nice shiner and a little cut by his brow. Not even two days later, he was helping me out at volleyball practice and ran into the steel pole causing a broken big toe and a black eye on his other eye. He tried playing in his basketball game that week, but ended up having a hard time moving because players kept stepping on his toe and he also jammed his finger. The icing on the cake was when it was nice enough for us to finally ride the horse and she completely flipped out with T on her causing another arm injury to him and injuring D's arm when he was trying to keep her from flipping out and running off with T by pulling on the lead line. T did really well through it all; he stayed in the saddle and held all for dear life while Iris tried bucking and rearing back. D also managed to stay out of her way while she behaved badly. She had never done this before so I don't know what happened this time, but needless to say she was made to keep working after the incident only with T off of her. The horse has thrown her little temper tantrums in the pasture occasionally. It is usually when she wants alfalfa or grain and all she gets is plain hay, but she has never done more than a mini buck here and there when someone is on her. Good news is everyone is fine. Their arm injuries are healing nicely and as soon as it is nice enough T wants to go ride her again and show her who is boss.

A driving down the highway! She asked me to quit taking pictures.

A is doing so well with driving now. I have had her drive us to the library in town and she was so proud of herself for driving on "real" roads. She did great though. She has commandeered D's little car because she doesn't feel so overwhelmed in it. She says it feels little and safe. I told her the bigger cars are actually more safe, but she still prefers his tiny mirage. Therefore, I think we are going to sell the navigator and get another small economy car for the girls. My husband does not like sharing his little car. I am surprised by how much we have loved having such a small car. It only takes at most about 8 gallons of gas once a week and gets about 40 mpg. It is also surprisingly roomy for such a small car.
She even drove to my parents house today! That is about 48 miles and several highways away! It took about an hour and I could tell she was starting to get overwhelmed and tired, but she did great and we had no issues. Her anxiety did get to her a little bit when we were done and she was really trying hard not to cry, but she did have a few tears escape and said I was mean for making her learn to drive, but I once again reminded her that there is no bus services in the country and I am NOT driving her back and forth to college and work for the rest of her life (I haven't told her I also won't take her to various Dr appts., but that will be a battle for another day.) She is very attached to having mom with her. She has always been afraid to do anything by herself since she was little. In fact, when she was younger she would have her little sister go down the slide first so she could make sure everything was okay before she would try it. My younger two are fearless and I generally have to keep them from doing stupid stuff instead of forcing them to do something.

I am almost getting this selfie thing!

The fearless duo! T has achieved his life's goal....he is now 1/4 of an inch taller than L!

I am so excited about taking the camper out soon. I love spending time outdoors with the family making memories! It may end up just being down the street at the lake, but it will be fun! We went to the zoo last week and it got us ready to get out and do some exploring.