Our (dam) cup runneth over . . . .

Since I have lived here, there has always been a drought. The reservoirs are always low. It has been the story of our lives (especially since we are farmers!!) However, we were blessed with so much snow this past winter, that the dam is actually running over!! The water was expected to go over the spillway on Wednesday, but I think it actually did on Friday.

Yesterday we drove out to see it and take pictures, and document this amazing day in our little town's history! We are so excited.

I took the girls to see where the water was running out of the dam and down into the canyon. They thought it was pretty amazing, and so did I!

How to Dally 101

Jensen got another course in how to be a cowboy. During the horse clinic, Shamus helped the guys with their roping, and especially helped two people learn how to dally. For those of you who don't know, once you rope a cow, it is important not to let it go! Jensen loves to rope, but Shamus helped him learn how to properly Dally after roping the cow. Here are some hints: It is important when dallying to always keep your thumb up not down or sideways and continue to look at your target. You should never look at the saddle horn. Also remember if the rope gets tight let it slide through your hands as you are dallying. Don’t try to pull the steer to you. There’s no way to get hurt if your keep your hands separated, the coils will straighten therefore they can not pull down small over a finger. Keep separation between your hands.

Jensen was pretty excited to learn how to dally. His was extremely focused! It was so fun to watch him! He kept trying to watch the saddle horn instead of the animal, but he was getting better and better at it. It just makes my heart happy to watch him learning and becoming better and better at the things he loves!! I am constantly amazed at how determined he is.

Green?

I haven't ever been a real "green" kind of person . . .maybe the opposite in fact, since I feel so strongly about cows and the ozone. But, for earth day in the library, we went all out. (kind of).

Wed, Thur, and Fri we had "earth day" activities and made crafts out of recycled items . . . . what more could you want? Wearable gargbage. It was great.The kids had a bunch of fun, (and let's admit it, so did I). On Wednesday we made "pop top" bracelets. I had strips of ribbon, and they just wove the tops of pop cans onto the ribbons . . .but then the kids got creative and made bookmarks, bracelets, pendants, rings, earrings, and even bows for hair with them.

We also made starburst chains, (bookmarks), but the kids didn't have as much fun with those. I think it was probably a little bit too tedious, but fun nevertheless.

Thursday we made magazine beads (which actually look pretty cool). The kids didn't believe I actually made the beads on my bracelet, but I did, and it was super easy. Some of the kids used scrapbook paper and made way cool, coordinating bracelets.

Thursday we also made bottle cap creations, which were definately the hit of the week. We were just going to make magnets, but the kids ended up making bracelets, necklaces, key chains, magnets, and all kinds of fun things.

Friday we made toilet paper roll picture frames. This one was more "girlish" than any of the other projects, but the frames turned out cute. I printed pictures of the students working on their earth day projects and put them in the frames I made. I think they were cute, if I do say so myself.

I was truly surprised at the students who got involved in these projects . . . especially the guys. It was even more surprising to the see the kids that actually sported their creations all week long.

All in all, we probably wasted more than we saved, but we sure had fun doing it!! Green? Sure!

Programs Galore

Brittany had her second grade musical program yesterday! She did great! Their program had some songs about earth (It was earth day, after all . . .) and a bunch of cute songs about friendship. What a cutie!

Cowboy in training

A horse trainer (and good friend of the family), Shamus Haws, came to Blanding to put on a horse clinic for some local cowboys. Yesterday, Jensen got to get in the ring with the "big guys" and work his horse a little bit. Shamus has a pretty cool training tool . . .a little fake calf that goes back and forth on wire, remote controlled, so that it goes one way, stops, turns, goes forwards, etc. The idea is for the cowboys to really teach their horses to watch the cows and get some "good cow sense". (I am sure there are way more technical terms than that though).

Jensen got to work his horse a little bit using this calf, and he was in heaven! The look on his face was SOOO serious, it was life or death! I couldn't believe his concentration. He really did so good at getting his horse to stop, turn, go, follow, etc. I was super proud of my tiny cowboy. (Who isn't so tiny anymore, he just keeps growing on me, and I am struggling with that!!) Way to cowboy!!

Fun in the Sun

Since we have been waiting FOREVER for spring to hit down here, we titled the spring dance review "Fun In The Sun." Overall, the program went okay. It was super short (a lot of people thought that was the best part), but I think it went okay. There are always things I would change, but it is over, and I hope all the dancers had a good time and the parents feel like their child did well.

As always, I am super proud of my girls! Brooklyn loves to be on the stage - - - -LOVES it! She eats it up. This probably sounds a little prejudice, but I think she shines. Brittany has decided it isn't so bad to have people think she is cute, and she really played it up this year. Her memory always amazes me! She remembers the dances better than I do for sure!!

Way to go girls. Love you both!

Beauty Is . . .

Last month was the final due date for "Reflections" entries. The topic for this year's reflection was "Beauty Is . . . .".

Brooklyn made up a dance to one of her favorite songs, "Who I Am". The song is about being able to be who you are, as you are. She thinks that to her, beauty is being able to be yourself.

So, we got another fun surprise phone call from the PTA president to let us know that they were having an assembly to hand out the awards.

Brooklyn won first place in the older division in the dance category. She got a certificate and $10. She was pretty excited!!

I asked her if she was going to share her money with me since I helped her video her dance and put it on dvd. She just laughed.

Way to go Brooklyn. To me, YOU are beautiful!!

Paging the tooth fairy!

Jensen has wanted to a lose a tooth for quite awhile now. Nearly all of his friends have already lost two teeth, and he hadn't even lost one. He kept asking me to feel his front teeth, because he was pretty certain they were starting to feel al ittle bit loose. (they weren't.) But finally . . . . .he really did lose a tooth! We kept teasing him the night before that he should just be brave and pull it out, but he kept saying it hurt too bad. The next day, after school, he had a very mischievous grin on his face. I asked if he had a good day at school and he just nodded his head, then his mouth went into a huge grin! He had finally lost a tooth. He pulled it out at school, and thank goodness, he said there wasn't any blood. He had been brave after all . . . . maybe he was just being macho in front of his friends, and pulled it out himself at school. His teacher gave him a big tooth container to put his tooth in so he could get home with the lost tooth. He was pretty pumped the next morning when he saw the fairy dust left on his pillow during the night, and even more pumped when he saw what was left in place of his tooth.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!!

I got a surprise email a couple of weeks ago from a specialist at the elementary school. She called to let me know that Brittany had won a bike! Each quarter the schools draws out names from kids who had perfect attendance and they receive prizes. The grand prize for one boy and one girl is a new bike. We were super excited! They took Brittany to the local store and she got to pick out a new bike. She was kind of bummed that they didn't have bigger bikes. (she is certain she needs one that pedals backards.), but very please with what she got!!! Thank you to the sponsors!!

Spring Break In Reverse - Saturday

So - to kick off our spring break, we went to Moab to watch Brooklyn in her last volleyball tournament. We had been going to tournaments for about a month, but this was the last one. Brooklyn was super happy to have Grandad and Gramma J come and watch her.

She did SOOOOO good in this tournament. I was so proud of her. She had been struggling with her serves, but the day before the practice, some good family friends helped her for several hours. The hard work and practice paid off. (HUGE thanks for those who helped her - you know who you are.) She was on fire! Her serves with good and very consistant! She had two serves that even clenched a win for her team! It was so exciting to watch her!

I can't believe the progress that she made in such a short time. Her team placed and every tournament they went to! They ended up with two 2nd's and 2 3rd places! Way to go Dixie Chicks! The team was full of super cute girls who all got a long, and their coach was great. Thanks everyone!

Spring Break In Reverse - Monday

Monday was time to clean day!! We hadn't been home for a Saturday in so long, our house was making me CRAZY!!! So, we took the day to clean up and then in the afternoon the kids played outside. It was a good thing they played that day, because the rest of spring break, the weather was not very nice!!!

The kids made mud pie creations - they even had a huge, three tier cake that had a fountain in the middle!

There was still some snow at that point, and since it had actually been sunny and kind of warm, there was a lot of water running down the gutter and the dip in the road. Brittany and Madi decided to take the opportunity to wash off their "war paint" in the running water. It was sight to see. They straddled the dip, trying not to get their clothes wet, because they didn't want to get cold afterwards. They did manage to get most of the mud off of their arms and faces though, without being soaking wet.

Spring Break In Reverse - Tuesday

Tuesday we pretty much just chilled. The weather was cold and yucky, so we just played indoors! Brittany was in puzzle mode, so we put together a bunch of puzzles and hung out.

Spring Break In Reverse - Wednesday

Wednesday -

We started the day with our traditional St. Patricks day breakfast - green eggs, green pancakes, green milk . . .. and then went to have some fun!

Ivin's were branding, so we went along to "help". The little boys had TONS of fun roping the calves - they could have cared less about sitting on them or branding them, they were all about catching the calves.



Not to be outdone by the boys, the girls had a great time too. They didn't use any ropes to try and get the calves, they just used brute strength, trying to catch the hind leg, and I think they even sat on the calves more than the boys did.



Everyone had a good time - even those of us who were really just there to take pictures! And, since it was St. Patricks day, it is pretty safe

to say that nearly everyone involved ended up with a little bit of green on them before the day was done . . . .icky, sticky, stinky, green, if you get the picture!!