Snow Day!

We got some much needed moisture in the form of snow on Thursday.  Jenae was so excited to not have to go to school.  The roads were not very good, so I ended up staying home Friday also.  We managed to keep busy on our days at home.  We had lots of Buster time.  He got to come into the mud room & turns out that he is a very good baby sitter for Whitney.  She hugs on him & loves on him & he seemed thrilled with all the attention. Aubree kept busy raiding my refrigerator finding treats for him to eat.  So much for the Black Forest Ham I just picked up at the grocery store! 

By Friday the sun had come out & we have had some really nice sledding weather for the kids to enjoy.  It got to the mid 30s & no wind.  Not often in Nebraska can you have snow, sunshine & no wind! 

It is going to be hard for Jenae to go to school tomorrow after a fun filled 4 day weekend!

The first of the start of the snow.  I took this picture on Thursday morning.  I cleared a path to walk & it was white again with in a couple minutes.

The pile of work I  brought home to get done during the snow day.  They were forecasting the snow & I was pretty sure when I left on Tuesday that I would not make it in on Thursday  I did get a lot of State Farm work done on my work from home day.  I was thankful Susan allowed me to stay home :-)

The kids Skyped Kyle when we went over to Marilyn's house.  Whitney really liked being able to see her Daddy!

7 1/2 inches of snow was the grand total.

Aubree doing a snow Angel.

Whitney is not sure if she is a fan of the snow!  She had a few head first falls into the cold wet snow.

When you live in the flat lands of Chambers, sledding down a hill is a sledding down a pile of snow Grandpa pushed together. :-)  The girls had fun just the same.

Jenae in the pile of snow.  It was so bright out with the sun shining it was hard to get a picture of Jenae with her eyes wide open.

Grandpa Chip with the Whitaker Grand kids.

Jenae taking Whitney for a ride.  Whitney was the only kid who did not really enjoy the sledding.

Chip pulling Jenae around.



Aubree's turn!

 

              Trey was all smiles when it was his turn.  The faster Grandpa went the bigger his smile got!


Jenae & Chase.  By the end of the 2nd day of sledding Chase was taking turns by himself.  He loved it!

Home life



Kyle was back on the rodeo trail so it was just the girls & I home for the weekend.  It was a good weekend & we managed to keep busy.  Friday night Aubree & Jenae spent the night at Ben & Hope' house.  Hope had been wanting to have the girls over for a slumber party & it finally worked out that we could find a time that no one was sick. 

By Saturday morning Whitney was so ready for her sisters to come home.  She kept going over to the door trying to open it saying "Nae Nae, AuDo, Dadda" guess she thought being home with me by herself was not much fun.  When the girls got home we went over to visit Marilyn for a little bit.  She had Trey & Chase for the days.  The kiddos had fun playing & making cookies.   We spent the afternoon getting some house work done.  That evening was Jenae's first 4H meeting.  She is so excited about being able to show her horses at the fair.  We also signed Aubree up for clover kids.  Both girls signed up for a few projects to take to the fair.  I am having a hard time grasping that I am old enough to have a kid in 4H!!  Where does the time go??

Sunday we made it to Church & Sunday School.  We spent a lot of time outside in the afternoon. It was windy, but it was 60 degrees out.  Today is cold & windy & they are calling for a big snowstorm to come through on Wednesday night into Thursday.  So I guess we are glad we had such a nice day yesterday.  I have heard a wide variety of snow fall potential.  Anywhere from 6 inches to 20 inches of snow.  I guess time will tell!

Trey & Aubree helping Gammy make cookies.  Aubree is sampling the finished product!  It is hard to beat Grammy's chocolate chip cookies. 



Why Aubree would think this was a good idea????  Of course she got stuck & needed help out :-)

Jenae with Whitney & Chase

Chase, Whitney & Aubree Joy

Chase & Whitney playing in the melting snow.  There was enough ice left that it was a little slippery.  Whitney fell a few times & ended up being soaked! 

Aubree & Trey out enjoying the nice Sunday afternoon.

Big sister Jenae earnings some points on her chore chart.  She was busy reading to Aubree & Whitney last night.  They LOVED all the time she spend with them. 

Aubree & Whit ready to start their day!

Whitney wanting to "go... go... go"

Cowgirl Aubree off to go help Grandpa Chip for the day.  She picked out her outfit from head to toe! 

Happy Birthday Jenae Grace!!!

I feel like we celebrated Jenae's birthday all day long on Saturday!!  We started with blueberry muffins & opening presents first thing.  Kyle & Chip were selling some calves & we wanted to let her open her gifts before Kyle left for the morning.  Her sisters were very helpful & very interested in what she opened up. 

My parents & the Herchenbach boys came out for the afternoon.  The kids had a great time & the weather was nice enough that they played outside most of the afternoon. 

That evening was the annual Chambers Fireman Supper.  Chip, Marilyn,  the Blackmores  &  our family all met in at the supper then everyone came out to our house for cake & ice cream.  The food was so good at the supper, too bad it only come around once a year!  They had a really good turn out & we all had a great time visiting & catching up with friends that were there.  The weather held out & it was a fun night. 

By Sunday morning we had 4 inches of snow on the ground & the wind was  blowing! Church was cancelled so we had a nice relaxing day at home. 

It was a great weekend!

My sweet little or not so little Jenae Grace turned 9 on Saturday.  Where does the time go??? 




We gave Jenae a cookbook for her birthday.  She is excited to start cooking out of it :-)



My parents had my sister, Daneille's, boys for the weekend.  They came out on Saturday afternoon to help Jenae celebrate. 

Jenae with the cake my mom made for her.  I am not sure what was so funny here, but all the kids have big
smiles on their faces.

Jaxson rocking Whitney. 

Grammy & the kids (minus Chase) at the Prime Rib Supper. 

Whitney feeding her baby.  I love how early kids figure out how to take care of a baby. 

Crazy hair & a big smile....that is my Whitney Faith!

Trey helping Jenae open her gifts.

Aubee & Trey being just plain goofy!

The kids playing with Rory's Story Cubes that the Herchenbach boys brought for Jenae's Birthday.  I have never seen them before, but they are a lot of fun to play with. You roll 9 dice with pictures on the dice & you put the pictures in order you wish & tell a story.  You can probably imagine Aubree told some pretty crazy stories!

Jenae & her birthday cupcakes. 

Happy Birthday Marilyn

Friday night we had Marilyn's belated birthday party.  We all met at Hope's house for pizza, cake & ice cream.   It had been awhile since we were all together, so it was nice to have a evening to chat & catch up with everyone.  The kids had a great time playing.  Whitney was Grammy's girl all  night!

Saturday Kyle made is 2013 rodeo debut in Rapid City.  He was 4.4 but broke out. Not what he was hoping for, but I think he was glad to get his first rodeo under his belt since his surgery in September.  The girls & I had a nice relaxing day planned.  Funny when you plan a nice relaxing day how it usually does not end up that way.  Whitney was crabby & fussy all day.  Jenae had basketball practice in the morning & picking her up was right in the middle of nap time for Whitney.  I decided to keep Whitney up for the morning & hope she would talk a long afternoon nap.  Whitney's nap time is very precious time for me.  It is usually when I get my laundry folded & put away & any general housework done.  When I finally got her down for her nap I was all geared up & ready to tackle my housework.  However the housework would have to wait.  I got a phone call from a neighbor that we had cattle out.  Chip was with Kyle in Rapid City & Marilyn was in Norfolk having lunch with some friends. I left Whitney sleeping with Jenae & Aubree in charge.   I ventured out to make sure they were our cattle & then called Hope & Ben for help.  They came over & got things put in where they needed to go.  Needless to say Whitney was awake & all geared up on sugar with my house looking like a tornado had went through it by the time we got done with the cattle project.   

Sunday Whitney was still being fussy & had a bad cough.  She & I stayed home from church.  Kyle took the big girls.  Again I had high hopes of getting some house work done, but Whitney was a little on the demanding side so no such luck again!  For supper Jenae made her 2nd family meal. This time I didn't let her pick, I had planned on taco for supper.  It was a good meal for her to learn to cook,  super easy & the whole family really likes.  She did well & seems so proud of her accomplishments. 

Kyle left Monday morning for San Angelo Texas & Whitney woke up with a fever.  I got to make the lovely early morning call to my boss that I would not be in to work.  Oh the joys of being a working mama!  I took Whitney into the doctor & she had double ear infection.  No wonder she was such a crabby baby all weekend long!!  I stayed home with her on Tuesday just to get her feeling better before taking her back to Lindsay's.  Kyle got home yesterday morning right at 6:00.  No luck in San Angelo, just didn't draw what he needed to.  Hopefully he will draw the good ones in San Antonio!  I had a big 3 days of work Wednesday-Friday.  We had a booth at the Farm & Home Show in O'Neill for State Farm on Wednesday & Thursday.  I had the late shift yesterday & had to work until 7.  So glad it is Friday today!!! 

Grammy blowing out the birthday candles. 

Grammy getting lots of help opening her gifts.

Chase & Jenae playing toys.



Aubree & Trey waiting excitedly for some cake!




Jenae's 2nd meal she was in charge of was tacos.  She made a taco salad for Kyle.  I am trying to decide if I should give her a weekend off from cooking since Saturday is her birthday!



Oh my Aubree Joy.....

Jenae & Aubree both have chore charts.  We are just finishing up with the 2nd full week of the charts,     I have to say I think they are working out quite nicely.  At the end of the week I pay the girls in fake money that they can either spend or save the money.  They can buy things from mini candy bars to tv time or they can save up for a trip to the movies or good ol' hard cash.

I should have Kyle write this story, as I will probably not write it exactly as it happened.  The other day Aubree went to Kyle and said "Daddy, I need to tell you something....."
Kyle:  what do you need to tell me?
Aubree: Mom is trying to electrocute me with her list
Kyle: hmmm....
Aubree: by electrocute I mean control me with her list of chores she has me do.

The day before she told Kyle this she was taking her bath & I had a little space heater in the bathroom with her.  I usually do not leave her in the bath tub with the heater running unless I stay in the bathroom with her.  I needed to run to the kitchen for a few minutes so I had told her pretty sternly that she needed the heater needed to stay far away from the bathtub because if it dropped in the bathtub that she would get electrocuted.  I am thinking that is where she came up with this idea!!  You never know what is going on in that little mind!

Yesterday she told me she had thought about running away to Africa to go tame the cheetahs!  Aubree is probably my least chatty child, but her imagination sure does run wild :-)