Due date...

...has come and gone. The girls are getting quite anxious for the baby to come. Started packing bags the other day and Nicole was ready to go then. Every day, more than once, she asks "go? baby?" We'll see...

Here we are at slim and trim 40 weeks:

Girls wanted a shot of their baby bellies:

Nicole is still saying that it's a girl and Hannah has switched back to wanting a brother. One of 'em outta be right. :)

Happy Fourth!

 
Rodney was haying on the Fourth, but the girls and I went down to Ennis for the parade. Wow-you better get there before shortly before the parade starts and bring a chair to sit on. Or the back of your vehicle, like many people did. We were fortunate as the kind people we were standing by had an extra chair that they let me use and let the girls come up to the front so they could see. But it was a HOT day, so we were happy to get back to the van afterwards. Enjoyed seeing Eric playing his bagpipes in the parade. Stopped in VC on the way home - lots of people there too! We grabbed a pizza for lunch and a sandwich to bring to Daddy in the field. We talked about going back to VC to see the fireworks that night, but Rodney got done haying late and the girls had already fallen asleep before he got home. Hopefully next year they can stay awake for them. VC puts on a good show.

Some red, white and blue cuteness-

Nothing like a popsicle on a hot day:

Or playin' in the mud:

This is usually a daily occurrence with the girls, in some form. Some times they remember to get their swimsuits on before turning the hydrant on, but mostly they go through many changes of clothes each day. I think I better start teaching them to wash their own clothes :)

Father's Day 2014

Rodney was home for Father's Day this year. That was a long time ago, don't remember if we did anything "special" for it. Except grilled lamb steaks. But he had to share those with Hannah and Nicole after they tried it and liked it. Oh yeah, we did try fishing again at the kids' pond. After meeting Dale, Bonnie, Paige and Jace there. But the fish weren't biting and the rain came. Guess it's not the best time to go fishing after they had a fishing derby there the day before.

Happy Father's Day - you're the best! :)

Giant Springs & Great Falls children's museum

mallard right at home in the springs

Wednesday morning was a bit rainy, but it was fun to check out the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and the Giant Springs park with the Isaacs. The highlight at the park for the girls was the fish hatchery that was attached to it. They had a pool there that you could feed the fish. Some of those fish were quite big! After lunch, we were joined by Jenny and Jason, then it was back to the hotel room for a nap before Bible Study. Met up with Kenny & Lichen for meeting and went to DQ for some ice cream afterwards. Hannah still talks about Ryla and Buster.

gotta have your hat on :)

in her element

climbing and sliding

back to dressing up

Thursday morning the girls and I went to the children's museum. Wow! That's quite the place; should've spent more time there. Next time. After a bite to eat and a quick trip to the mall (they have an awesome kid bathroom there, by the way!) to return a couple things, it was time to load up and hit the road home. Both kids fell asleep on the way home, so it was nice and quiet :)

June 2014

Howdy-

Wow, June email already. Hopefully by the next email we'll be able to add another name to our family. This month brought the end of school. Rodney's taught for 7 years now. The last day of school was the Wednesday of Ronan and we were able to get there partway through the evening meeting. Had a wonderful time there, as usual. When we got home Sunday night, Rodney needed to get ready to head to Great Falls early Monday morning. Was there for his Ag teachers update conference for the week. The girls and I went up Tuesday afternoon and came home Thursday afternoon. Rodney enjoyed seeing the place where Tracy works, as they gave the teachers a tour. The girls and I had fun checking out Giant Springs and the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center with the Isaacs. Feeding the big fish at the hatchery was the highlight for them. Dale and Bonnie came down Sunday evening and they brought Jace and Paige with them. We tried fishing with the kids, but nothing was biting and soon the rain chased us home. Monday morning we brought the cows over to summer pasture. Was able to vaccinate, but it decided to rain that morning so branding was outta the question. They left after lunch. Thursday brought a trip to Highwood for Rodney, he brought some FFA kids to the Alumni Leadership Camp. Went back on Sunday to get them. Manhattan convention was this past week. We were able to get Wednesday evening, we brought Gene Halsey over with us for the meeting. Then were able to get the weekend. In between this and that we had quite a bit of rain this month, which we really needed. Made everything nice and green, but also brought a good batch of mosquitoes. Girls look like they have chicken pox, with all the bites on their arms and legs. Girls enjoyed all the puddles. Went through multiple changes of clothes each day. With the rain, it's pushed the haying back. Rodney started cutting yesterday, the 30th. Now we hope for no rain. :)

"Life's a struggle. Struggle for the best."

'Til next time-

Rodney, Amanda, Hannah and Nicole

A few random pics from the month:
 

who put who to sleep?

naptime snuggles

a june sunset

did some decorating with rocks, grass and flowers

grass has since died out - need to try something different with that

more things to climb on now!

the lilac bush that didn't last more than a couple days - molly chewed it off - it's slowly coming again, but it's considerably smaller

molly took out the chive plant, some flowers outta each pot/bed, the strawberries, the basil plants, some veggies outta the garden - guess we'll try to get a strawberry bed going next year - and the dog better leave it alone

they're "sleeping"

dad made me the cradle for my dollies back in the day

Girls' first time fishin'

We tried out the kids' fishing pond down by Twin on Memorial Day. The girls were excited to go fishing, so they did hold unto their poles for most of the time. Until something started messing with it and then it was a quick hand-off!

We weren't there very long before something was messing with Hannah's hook, bobber was bobbin' about. Rodney was busy getting Nicole's pole ready, so Hannah and I reeled it in to make sure the worm was still there.

Yup, this fella took it - hook and all! Since it was hooked somewhere inside, Rodney just cut the line and we let him go. Guess we should've made sure to keep the line away from the shore. Never crossed our minds there would be turtles at the spot.

This girl was quite enamoured with the worms:

Girls kept wanting to move. Hardly get the lines in and they were ready for the next spot.

Got to the end of the pond and we finally had some action. Or else we were there long enough for the action to start. :) Wasn't too long and Hannah's bobber went down. After a quick hand-off to Dad, they reeled in a nice trout. While they were busy getting that one off the hook, Nicole's bobber went down. Nicole's fish was a big momma trout. Should've threw her back in 'cause as soon as we reeled her in, she was squirtin' out eggs.

Hannah kept a safe distance away at the beginning

Hannah needed a potty break and by the time we got back, Nicole had caught another one. That worm was good for 2 fish and could've used 'em again, but it was time to go. Headed home and had a fish fry that night.