Wonderful world of pets

The girls have had a great time learning about all sorts of pets in their 4-H group. At home, we have been enjoying our own collection of animals. It started with the typical pill bugs and lady bugs. :) Then we expanded our family with 2 Whites Tree frogs (sorry no pics, they hide in the trees and are hard to see). And soon after that we got 2 bearded dragons. Spike is the male and is Brookes.

Jaguar is the female and is Kelsies. They are funny lizards that really do have their own personalities. Spike is super active but also loves to be held. Jaguar is a bit on the lazy side and will sit under the running bath water for as long as we would let her. Unfortunatly, their huge tank is up too high fo me to reach in (even Mark has to climb the bunk bed to get in) so the girls have limited time playing with them.





Today we went to Petsmart to see the rescue cats they have there on saturdays just to get out fo the house. Well, after seeing some supper cute kitties, we (or I rather) thought how cool it would be to have an animal that the kids could actually play with on a regular basis. And since Duke (the over active, over huge Lab we had for a bit) was too much for an apt., these little kittens looked like the perfect addition to our family. Long story short (too late I know), we came home with Char. A female domestic short hair, charcoal gray (hence the name Char), 8 week old kitten. The rescue org is called Kitties of the Night. They are a non-kill rescue group that take in ferral cats, shelter cats that are about to be put down and kittens that are abandoned by their mommy cats. They spay, vaccinate, test, potty train, and socialize all the cats they get before finding them homes. (No, I'm not trying to advertise for them. I've been asked where we got our kitty and thought I'd just let everyone know). The kids just love Char. They already made toys with string and toilet paper rolls which the cat loves to chase. :) We are really looking forward to seeing how Char does in this household :)

Happy Birthday Shayna!!!

Shayna turned 4 today! Hooray!! She had a full day. While she was at preschool, Brooke, Kel and I decorated the house with streamers and balloons. When she got home, we opened presents. Of course the princess scooter was a hit. :)



Shayna was also excited to use our "birthday cup" for the first time since Uncle Jared gave it to us. :)
















All in all, it was a fun day but the celebration continues! Brenna is spending the night on Friday and we will have a mini party with her. Then on Sat. we get to go to the kids school carnival for fun and games. Hopefully I'll be able to get more pics up as the week goes on :)



(I just had to add this lol)

It's all about choosing the right book

Brooke has been reading for awhile now and progressing fairly well. She is at the "right" level for her age group, but has refused to try anything harder than what her teacher says is necessary. I haven't really pushed her to do so either. I didn't want her to start hating reading thinking it was some awful chore or something. I am also of the opinion that just because she isn't TRYING to read above her level, it doesn't mean she will be at this level for the rest of her life...Anyway, tonight at our family scripture and prayer time, Mark asked her if she wanted to read tonight. Without skipping a beat she picked up her Book of Mormon and started reading. We were shocked and extremely proud of her. She read 4 pages. Of course Shayna and Becca were gone after the first couple of verses and we lost Kelsie to sleep about half way through, but Brooke did awesome :) I am so happy she is comfortable reading the scriptures and that she is finally excited to be reading period!

I know, I know...

OK, some of you may know that I am NOT a big fan of blogs because of various reasons (if you really care to know, you can ask me) ;) However, a very nice girl in the kids 4-H club did computer programing as her Spring Show project. When she heard that I have very limited knowledge of this type of thing, she was extremely talkative and wanted to teach me everything. This was last night. This afternoon, she called me to see if I started my blog yet. ha ha. So, as not to disappoint (or rather, think up excuses), here I am trying desperately to follow her directions :) This will forever be a work in progress and when you check up on us next month, you very well may be reading this exact post :S But enough of that, and on to the boasting, bragging, and silly opinions ;)