Father/Daughter Dance

For the Cotillion Dance this month,

Ranae got to bring her father.

They had a great time.

I only wish this had been around when the boys were younger.

They, on the other hand, beg to differ.

The Night Parade

After the children's parade comes the nighttime parade.

It happens a week later and every float is covered in lights.

It is one of the biggest night parades in the country.

Well.....

On this day Sarah woke up with a cough.

And she didn't stop coughing all day.

Even 30 minutes before the parade, I wasn't sure she could do it.

Plus, to make matters worse, it was cold.

I mean, real south Florida cold.

Like 47 degrees cold.

Which to us is positively freezing!

But Sarah stopped coughing.

And she got to ride that float.

With her crown.

And sweatpants and two shirts..... under her dress.

And a jacket and a blanket.....on top of her dress.

And like a true princess, she smiled and waved through it all.

America Delivers......

.....3 Bucklings.....

On Valentine's Day!

The sable brown one we named Delano.

The one with the black jacket we named Dreamer.

And the runt with the black dorsal stripe we named Diplomat.

But we call him Little Dipper.

Ranae just loves the baby kids.

Sarah cannot get enough of them either.

Thankfully baby goats earn their keep.

First, by being so cute.

And secondly.....

they make it much easier for the girls to get out of bed

EVERY morning and help me feed:)

Talk about incentive.

~ Oh my goodness ~

The runt.

Why does everyone always love the runt SO much?

I guarantee you that when we take these guys to the fair,

I'll get more offers to buy him than any other.

What is it about the runt?

Let's just call it the "Wilbur Syndrome".

The runt is irresistible.

Charisma tells Cocoa,

"Something's up!"

Coca tells Ballerina,

"Somebody new is coming!"

Ester knows:

There will be kids born on our farm soon!

On the other hand,

barn cat Prince is not impressed.

He says,

"Wake me when it's all over."

Caterpillars Everywhere

My 4-H group is studying butterflies this year.

So, I thought it would be a good idea if we raised some.

Well.

Little did I know.

This was the container that the monarch caterpillars came in.

If you can't see any don't feel bad.

I'm here to tell you they were microscopic.

My job was to separate them into individual containers,

after I located them with a magnifying glass.

I really think a biology degree would have helped in this case.

The Painted Lady caterpillars proved to be easier.

That is another way of saying, BIGGER.

Easy to see with the naked eye, bigger.

So if you are thinking about growing butterflies this spring.

My advice is to stick to Painted Ladies.

Unless you have a serious magnifying glass and a biology degree.

Parade Time

Today was the Children's Parade

and Sarah got to wear her crown.

Before the parade we practiced the crowning ceremony.

Then we met at our parade float.

It was a beautiful day for a parade.

You can never tell what the weather will be like in February.

But today was perfect.

She got to sit by an old preschool buddy.

In fact, several children she remembered from preschool.

Then they practiced waving and were told to not stop.

Just before the parade started, the Queen of the parade came by.

She talked to each of the children on the Junior Court float.

Sarah was thrilled to speak with her.

Sarah was also thrilled with her crown.

Wow.

Then it was parade time!

Ranae Plays Soccer

Ranae made the soccer team and is loving it.

In case you were wondering,

she tries out for every sport offered at school.

Willingly.

With gusto.

And with every ounce of energy left on the field.

~ ~ ~

I can still remember her first wanting to try soccer

when she was in the second grade.

After several years of ballet she wanted to try something new.

We thought soccer would be a good fit.

This is the girl whose preschool teacher told me,

"She sure gets her monies worth at recess.

She just never stops running!"

~ ~ ~

So, the first day on the soccer field Ranae was shocked.

She came up to me and said incredulously,

"Mom, these kids are bumping into each other ON PURPOSE!"

I looked at her and said,

"Ranae, we're not in ballet any more.

Get back out there and play. 

It's okay if you bump into people now and then."

~ ~ ~

Kevin is 18

Kevin.......is.......18.

I'm glad one of us is happy.

It just seems like yesterday when he was cutting his first tooth.

And now he's all grown up and poised to graduate.

And move away to college.

Well, that won't ever stop me from loving this boy big.

And my prayers for him are big too.

Happy Birthday Kevin!