So Long Ordinary

I've got an insane amount of homework to get done before May 15. I'm really looking forward to being done with it all and finally having that elusive College Degree. Ugh, but I have so much to accomplish. Obviously, the two huge papers and umpteen tests I've yet to complete take precedence over pretty much everything in life but the basics! Three weeks. Thanks for being patient. You probably won't be hearing much from me until the end of May. If you think of it, I'd really appreciate your prayers. I'm feeling the crunch on getting everything done and with three little people vying for my attention all day, it's been difficult getting anything done. I know I can do it...but I sure could use a little extra Help!

Real Hope For Haiti from Corrigan Clay on Vimeo .

Here are some pictures from our snowy, white Easter. It was a great day. We woke up to more snow coming down quite heavily. We went to church dressed in new Easter dresses and sandals anyway. Brrrrr. Sean's parents and mine were here at our house for (a very late) lunch and some Easter egg hunting. It was a really great time! Easter Baskets! Decorating eggs with the grandmas. Hunting for eggs (inside) The table, Easter lily, and a foot of snow outside! Fun, fun, fun!

Yesterday. Playing outside, sunny, beautiful. Today. Snowy, cold, beautiful. Huh?

Ah, fun times. Do you realize that this is the first time we've been able to dye eggs for Easter? Everywhere else that we've lived there were only brown eggs available!

Sharing the workload Careful, that steer is hungry! Herding chickens We've been doing chores for my parents while they've been out of town. Yesterday, it was nice enough for the girls to get out and "help." I've really enjoyed going out there each morning and evening. There's something about the simple farm life that really appeals to me. Plain old manual labor, raising your own beef, gathering eggs, feeding the horses alfalfa harvested in the field behind the house....it's just all so nostalgic and self-sufficient and satisfying.

This was an awesome, beautiful, gorgeous Colorado day. I just can't get over how pretty it really was. The girls and I spent a lot of time outside today, just hanging out and listening to the birds chirping away in our trees. I've been kept extremely busy watering our lawn. Sean seeded the backyard on Sunday, so now it must stay moist. The front yard was already established and it's greening up nicely. It's been very time-consuming without a sprinkler system but I actually really love it. Not sure if it's just because of the challenge of it or the excuse to step outside several times a day... We also have some plants started in the greenhouse. We won't be transplanting them anytime soon, but we did want to have a head start on them so they'd actually have time to produce. So far all we have are several kinds of peppers (which will stay in the greenhouse all summer along with some tomato plants, most likely) and some corn that we'll put out in the ga

Paige loves her bouncy seat. She's getting pretty long for it, but nothing else will do...except possibly Mommy's arms and I can't hold her all time - even though its all I really, really want to do all day. I love her irresistible cuteness when she gets that thing bouncing, and, boy howdy can she get that thing going ! And then when she's all tuckered out she sucks her thumb and goes to sleep (with screaming sisters running around her and everything). Ach, she's just too precious. March 29, 2009 April 5, 2009

Okay, so "sweet" wasn't the word I was thinking when I came around the corner this morning. She's so TWO . See that fistful of brown sugar? I want it known that she can have a very strong grip when sugary goodness is at stake.

I came across these pictures that Sean got of Brooklyn a few days ago. She's growing up way too fast. Being the oldest, Brooklyn ends up getting less of the attention and more of the responsibilities. Brooklyn winds up doing more chores around the house. She is asked to help when Mommy or Daddy is busy with the baby. She gets fewer perks now that she's older...and she really takes it all in stride. Brooklyn is an excellent helper. Don't get me wrong, she complains sometimes. But other times, she runs to get Maddie's blankie for me before I even ask. She loves her little sisters and, though there are often days she wants to be left alone, there are other days that she plays so patiently with Madison. She's bossy like any big sister is (I should know, I have one. hee, hee) but she's also very kind and thoughtful. Brooklyn is becoming quite the little lady and some days, I feel sad for her with all the unfairness of being the oldest child. I wonder if

A little newsy news for you direct from Cannon Acres (okay just one acre but that doesn't sound as cool): Paige is getting big! She's up to 15 lbs already. I can't believe it. I took her in for some immunizations yesterday and she was devastated. Broke my heart. The nurses were so sweet and talking to her and got her all smiley and then they jabbed her in the leg. I think it bothered her more that they betrayed her friendliness than the actual needles being shoved in her chubby thighs. Poor baby. But she's all better now. And WOW what a different experience I had at the County Health Nurse's office than I did at the clinic where I took Madison for her immunizations in Ecuador. It's actually comical. And a post in itself. Our cat ran away. I'm not surprised. I'm hoping he'll show up again. But really, why would he stick around? Good grief, we locked him in a shed for a week. (Only because we were told to do that by the guy at the animal shelte