Micah's fun times lately

Micah has been enjoying his first year of soccer so far. He loves his new friends and it truly blessed to have such an awesome coach this year. Sometimes practices can be a little rough on him and he will get whiny and discourage when he doesn't play a practice drill/game as good as one of the older team mates. Each practice seems to get better for him.


To date we have played two games, which he has been excited about. He always asks who he is going to play and if he has any friends on the opposing team. Last week we played our neighbors team with his little boy and this next week we play a team with one of his friends from daycare and his dad. He mainly runs around trailing wherever the ball has just been and every once in a while gets lucky and is in the right spot to get a chance to kick the ball.


The Madera County Fair was the second weekend in September. This year one of the special features was Alaskan Pig Racing. Micah was really excited for it and ended up getting to be the section leader for the last race. He chose Sloppy Joe as his pig to cheer for. Sloppy Joe ended up getting third place, all the section leaders got a ribbon. Micah carried his around for several days and showed it to the neighbors across the street.

The pig racing involved four or so piglets at a time. They looked to be just a few months old. Each time they finished running around the track they got a cookie.

We also saw the 4-H and FFA animals along with a few other items. Jill bought some raffle tickets for a beautiful quilt, but we have not recieved a call yet so I think we didn't win. I also saw some of the giant pumkins that have been grown in Madera County (300 - 550 lbs) this year and I am thinking that I need to add this to my long list of gardening things to try some day.

Lucy has started to like playing with Micah and wants to be around him much of the time (unless she is off exploring). She really likes playing cars with him and with Mr. Potato Head when we are next to her too. Probably the cutest is how much she likes it when he has his orange "dragon" hoody towel on after a bath.

Micah (and daddy) got a new toy. A 56-year young 1955 Massey-Ferguson tractor with the 3 cylinder Perkins diesel. It is at the shop right now getting the engine tuned-up and a general review to getting a priority list for future work items (transmission, PTO and hydrualic system gasket are next on the list, maybe some day we will get to the headlights and a paint job). I am looking forward to all the fun rides we will have together on the tractor. Hopefully we will get things figured out to where this will help me get certain yardwork items done alot quicker and easier. There also is a tractor parade in Madera at Christmas time that I would really like to participate in someday.

Lastly, we went to our local small animal livestock auction house that has a sale every Saturday morning. Micah liked this light brown Alpine doe and there was not alot of other choices available that day so she was the one we bid on. She gets along well with the other two goats and has been named Bella "the Ballerina" by Micah. Next month will be our target breeding time so we will have to figure out what to breed for since both females are dairy goats, but there is also a good demand for meat goats in the area. This year it will probably come down to price and hopefully a neighbor and help us with a free option.

Lucy - 6 months update

This had been a huge month for Lucy. She has learned so many new skills. Just a few days after turning 5 months old she started sitting up for longer than a few seconds. A few days later she was able to actually get herself into a sitting position. She loves being able to sit and play.





But sitting didn't last long for Lucy. At about 5 1/2 months she decided that she was going to crawl. She had been getting up and rocking on her knees for several weeks. Then face planting because she couldn't figure out that she had to move her hands. Then one day she just took off. Life hasn't slowed down for her since this. She quickly began crawling up and over the shelf on the coffee table and over our legs. Lucy also worked really hard on learning how to climb up the 3 places we have a step out of the living room. When we put her down in the living room she heads straight to the concrete step that leads to our entry way. Yes, I said concrete, very dangerous. Once up and over she just sits up there. I guess the challenge of climbing the step is the fun part.

Lucy also began spending time in the swing. She has always loved being outside, so the swing has been a perfect place to chill for her.

Our favorite thing that Lucy has learned this month is shrieking (not!). It's so fun (not!). She will be perfectly fine and then just start screaming.

Well, we think she might be a super baby. Or sometimes I think crazy baby!!!

5 Months Old

Well, we are a little bit late on this post. I have been really busy with getting ready for school. It's now 10 days after Lucy turned 5 months and she has learned and done so many more things in those 10 day. I'm going to try and go back and only tell you things she was doing at 5 months just for my own record keeping.

Lucy has been doing much better with her spitting up. We found a formula that has really helped with this. Thanks to this, she has been able to spend more time on the floor and on her tummy. She rolls around very quickly and easily. She is laughing more and loves to give big smiles. She can sit up for a few seconds by herself before falling over. Lucy is a big wiggle worm so it's hard for her to stay up. She loves to look around and hates to miss anything that is going on. She likes to change activities a lot, so I'm always looking for something new for her to do.



Lucy loves the water. She loves her bath and the pool. When you hold her in the water she loves to move her legs like the breast stroke kick. She really looks like she's swimming. I love it!! Hopefully I'm going to have a little swim team girl.

Summer Fun

Well, it is about halfway through the summer. I haven't been very good at keeping up with Micah's activities. So, here is a catch up on all we have been doing. I probably don't have them all in the right order, but you really don't care about that.

One day we went to a pick-your-own farm in Hanford. There were all kinds of berries there, but we stuck mostly to picking blueberries. This is because blueberries are very easy to pick and the ones a person picks are all good. We also wanted some blackberries but it is hard to tell which ones are ready on the vine. So, we just bought them from their little store. We made a delicious berry pie and blueberry muffins. Yummy!!
Micah wasn't the best at picking, but he was sure good at eating. At the farm they let you eat as much as you want while you are picking. Crazy!!!

On another day we went to Playland. You got to love the groupon that lets you ride all the rides for $5.

Micah and I visited the Rancho's Firestation. It was a very hot day, but this firefighter still got dress in all the gear to show the kids. They really want the kids to not be afraid of them in their gear in case they have a firefighter in their house. Micah was a bit scared of him.

Micah loves to catch frogs and toads. He carries around his bug catcher and hunts for them all the time. Hint to parents, let them out at night or else they usually aren't living in the morning.

He's even willing to give this one a big kiss.

Last week we went to the Cat Haven. This "zoo" has all sorts of big cats. You walk on a trail to see the cats. Micah seems to have a hard time with this place. We went last summer and had about the same experience. He decides when he gets there that he absolutely cannot walk. That is a problem because in 95 degree weather and "hiking" I absolutely will not carry him. So, I think we will hold off on going again any time soon.

He's pretending he's interested and hasn't been throwing a huge fit the whole time.

Our summer has been a blast so far. It's going way to quick. After being off work for 5 months I'm feeling it all coming to an end very soon.

4 Months Old

Here we are at 4 months.
Lucy has found her toes. I love it when babies find this built in toy, that never goes away and can be found at any time. She tends to play mostly with this left foot.

Lucy can now roll from her tummy to her back and then back to her tummy. This is good because on her tummy always ends in spit-up. I'm not sure she will ever learn to crawl because I rarely let her stay on her tummy.

4th of July

So, in preparation for the 4th of July my mom helped me make this cute onesie for Lucy. Well, actually she made it I just designed it. It turned out perfect.
Don't miss the little ruffles on her bum bum.

Here are both my cuties ready to party!

We spent the evening with friends at the Isaac's. Because it was so hot we spent lots of time in the pool. There was probably 20-25 people in the pool at one time. It was crowded, but it cooled us off. We had delicious hamburgers and for dessert cobbler and home-made ice cream. Yum. The kids loved it.

Micah loved watching the fireworks. The dad's probably had as much fun setting off the street fireworks than the kids had watching them.

All the kids had a blast doing the sparklers. It was a very fun night!

Hume Lake

That's all you have to say to know that it was a great time. We went up to Hume two weekends ago and got to spend several days with some of my (Adam) college roomates and Bible study members along with everyone's ever growing families. It was super fun hang out and have meals together again, although I don't remeber the meals being quite as noisy or hectic as they were this time around.


That Monday morning we surprised the staff at the boatyard with five adults and seven kids (4 under age 4) and got all settled and went out for about an hour. Micah wanted to try and row the boat, maybe in a few years that will work out better. We also found out that Buzz Lightyear does not swim, so if anyone catches him while fishing sometime Micah would like him back.

Lucy and Micah also loved swimming in the heated pool, which we went to two afternoons in a row. With how cool it was this spring this was our first time in the pool. When we got home it was over 100 degrees and we went in everyday for a about a week.


We are also so thankful that we got to stay at Jay and Jen's house (Jill's brother). Micah missed his cousin Tanner who was in San Diego with her parents, but he enjoyed making friends with their neighbor Hudson. We also were not disappointed by the assortment of bugs to be found, Micah chased around butterflys, lady bugs, beetles and more. Of course what is a blog post without a picture of Lucy, who now can roll over to one side and is starting to grab her toes.