4th of July Celebrations

Fun filled day that began with flag raising and singing patriotic songs at the church with the ward. The Primary put together A fantastic breakfast which followed. It was the perfect way to begin celebrating our country's birthday. 

Patiently Waiting for Parade 

George & Martha Washington started Parade 

Dad, Grandpa and many of our friends from the ward, Including the Willits who stayed all day worked on the barn. We were only able to pull them away when the sun finally went down (and threats were made to join the family).

Grandpa Payne & Jackson-actually had quite a bit in common

Tractor Rides

Kids were thrilled to take a few laps around the property and get a better glimpse of the many, many bigger firework shows that were going on the hillsides. We enjoyed our little show in the front yard with the kids. McKenna did observe that this was the 1st year she and her siblings were NOT afraid of the fireworks or sparklers anymore. YEAH!!!!

Sparklers

 For Big and Little Kids

Happy Fourth of July 2012!

The Pond Wildlife

This post is a tad bit late, kind of. The pictures were taken back in June, but the situation is actually an ongoing thing for us. It mainly consists of Frogs. Yep, the pond is full of them and last June when we had a few nice days and towards the end of the school year the kids decided we should catch some and take them to school.

We first caught some itty bitty lil black tadpoles, and then a week later we found this little baby. He's bigger and looks closer to what you would imagine a tadpole to look like. I've seen a couple with legs and a tail, but they are too far out to catch and too fast to photograph.

 

 6 months pregnant and out catching tadpoles-John was impressed. :)

This is the 1st duck family that used the pond for swimming. There were 5 lil ducklings which have already grown and flown off.

Currently there is a 2nd family that only has 2 ducklings that are getting pretty close to leaving. It's amazing quickly they grow up.

There are also a coupe of little blackbirds with red on their wings that also have nests around the pond in the reeds and a Muskrat (although haven't seen him in a while.)

Mostly the frogs are taking over and I'm wondering if anyone is craving frog legs. Come and get them, they are big and ready to go (and we're ready for a few of them to go too.

Can we Ride P-L-E-A-S-E!!!

We love living on the farm, but unfortunately since the horses aren't ours we don't get to ride them.

Well until today, when Drue was nice enough to let the girls have a ride. They couldn't have been more thrilled.

Best Day Ever!!!

 One night when we came home as the sun was going down we stopped the car and all the horses poked their heads out to see who was there. We thought it to be pretty funny!

 Sunsets are awesome!

Playdough Makeover

With Tate's new love for playdough we've run out, and so we decided to experiment and try and make some. Not as easy as we thought. We found a few recipes on Pinterest and decided to make playdough using Jello for color and smell.

This is Tate showing you how sticky it is F-U-N, but just not the results we were looking for.

Kellogg's Return

Actually love this view of the house, carriage house and barn-taken from the back pasture where the kids are at the gate. Thank Julie for taking so many great pictures! Pregnancy has made me LAZY!

Kids would run back and forth between barn and pasture to deliver stray hay to the  horses.

 Kellogg Boys Working hard to get this thing reframed before tearing down the walls.

While the menfolk worked the Women and Children went to the Zoo.

The New Outdoor Theater Show with Captain Adventure and the Evil "Stayindoors" 

 Camel Rides which were a big hit!

 During a slow moment they even let us pet the camel

 Lincoln a lil unsure eventually took a turn

  Connor & Josie Kellogg

Bringing in the horses became a part of our bedtime routine. :) 

 You ever notice how One kid's work is another kids fun?

Our Egg collectors, Ready at a moments notice!

Riding Lawn mower Rides always a fav

 Thank you for coming Kellogg Family! We had a great time with you and look forward to getting together with you again!

Tate & Preschool

Tate qualified (in 4 different areas) for Preschool last March through the school district. So as soon as we got back from Utah, at the end of March he joined a new preschool class they had just started. It was hard for me to start my lil boy in school, nervous at how well he would do without me around. :) He was excited (as was I at the deal we found) to get a new backpack-not being pink, purple, Barbie or Princess related.)

 This is Miss Annette, who works with Tate on M/F. She was also McKenna's 1st Preschool teacher at Liberty Ridge 4 1/2 years ago.

Tate's 1st Day of Preschool

 Tate isn't full of alot of information when he comes home from school. He usually tells us that he played with trucks, and he rode he bus, but that's about it.

With school ending he came home with all sorts of projects that he had been working on.
This included a pape version of himself-Tyler was thrilled since she had done one too.

 Chocolate pudding painting

 The Hungry Caterpillar Book

 This was his last day on the bus. He's always a little nervous in the mornings as the bus pulls away, but all smiles when he comes home. He LOVES riding he bus!

Tate's Teacher Miss Terry and para Miss Maureen

They told me that he was finally starting to stick up for himself. I was confused as he's usually the one bullying others. There were some pretty confident and outgoing kids in his class that must have intimidated him?

Overall I think it was a good intro to school and he's already excited to go back.