July 2016

 7/1 - last day of Josiah's golf lessons.  He did a great job!

Also on this day we lost one of our new Red Poll heifers and her calf.  This story line is becoming too familiar.  Ugh.  She was in labor the night before and was having some trouble but it was storming and she wasn't cooperating with the help Jason was trying to give.  On this morning, she was still alive but at the same spot in her laboring.  Not a good sign.  We called the vet but he couldn't come out and was thinking she was probably septic at that point anyway.  So she ended up not making it.  Another rough farm day.  After this happened, Jason started seriously thinking about selling the breeding stock and just getting steers.  We'll keep you posted on what we decide.

7/2 - Levi's dinosaur birthday party!  We had 2 of Levi's friends and their families, Mi Mi, Paw Paw & Aunt April over. We grilled burgers and had dino shaped chicken nuggets for dinner.  That's a doughnut cake with red and orange icing to look like a volcano erupting (but I'm sure you already knew that from my fabulous creativity *insert sarcasm here*).

The donuts are from a local place called Hurts Donuts.  Levi picked cotton candy flavor.  So yeah, just a little bit of sugar.

Then we walked outside to feed the calves.

On our way in, we noticed that the porch birds were leaving their nest!  They were trying to fly but could only flutter down.  Jason tried putting this little guy back in the nest a couple of times so he wouldn't get eaten by the cat, but he just kept getting out.  Eventually all of the porch birds perished.  Sorry feathered friends.

Opening gifts.  Thank you friends & family!

And of course wearing one of his gifts right away.

 7/3 - One of the gifts he got was a game called Pie in the Face.  Like Russian roulette with pie.  We had a great time playing!

 7/6 - Levi's 5th birthday!  Our tradition of breakfast in bed continues.  Notice he's still wearing the batman cape.

What better thing to find on your birthday than tiny green frogs for you to torture play with?!

We let him open his gifts from us on his real birthday.

 7/8 - fourth calf of the season (and so thankful this heifer didn't have any trouble calving)!

7/9 - I did a superhero race with my friend Brandy - it was really fun!

7/11-7/22 - the boys did a Drury University-sponsored summer camp/school.  Levi was in Country Kitchen the first week (cooking food from different countries) and Polar Bears the next week.  Josiah's class was called Toy Box Physics.  They both had a great time.

7/17 - we got a bunk bed for the kids!  So far they love sharing a room.

7/18 - After summer school we went to Roaring River with Jason's Aunt and her grandson Isaiah.  The boys had a blast playing in the river.  They even caught a crawdad!

7/21 - We let the kids skip summer school for the day and Jason took the day off work so that we could hang out with our friends the Hardins!  They came down to Branson for a family reunion weekend and were able to come a day early to hang out with us!  We rode go karts, did laser tag, and tried not to melt in the heat.  :)  It was a really fun day.

 7/23 - the kids were invited to a friend's birthday party where they got to paint a picture!  Levi got bored after the first 2 colors, so I did most of his for him.  They turned out really cute!  Happy birthday Ty!

 7/26 - I took the kids to a ninja class (think American Ninja Warrior) at a local gymnastics place.  Two of their friends also did the class with them.  Here's Levi doing part of an obstacle course.

Handstand (with some help)

They played a game where they had to try to knock the other person off the balance beam.  It was funny to watch.

Brothers.  What you can't see in the pic is that Levi is holding onto the instructor for balance.  :)

They also did some trampoline work, bars (see the pic), floor work, foam pit, rings, etc.  It was 2 nonstop hours of fun!

7/28 - Josiah's good friend Jack (who moved to Florida last year) came to visit!  They got to see each other twice this summer.  And I got to see his mom, my good friend Melissa!  We played at our house for a while, went to the pool and park where we met up with some other friends, and then that evening just the moms went to our church's moms group.  It was such a great day catching up!

7/29 - Our friend Rebekah from church.  It was her birthday so we dropped by to see her.  A couple of friends and I have been helping her with some cleaning at her house.  She does so much for our kiddos at church and we really appreciate her!

 My parents came that afternoon and brought their 4 wheeler which we bought from them!  Jason is so happy to have this.  It's a huge help and time saver, especially when the cows get out.  And of course the kids enjoy taking rides!  They've been much more eager to help with farm chores lately.  :)

7/30 - my parents took the kids to their house for a few days.  Thanks Mom & Dad!

That night we went to Jason's 20th high school reunion.  One of his classmates owns a really nice restaurant in Springfield (one of our favs) so that's where the reunion was.  The food was amazing!

 This is Jason's best friend from high school (and best man at our wedding).  We had fun hanging out with him and his wife.

AND they had karaoke!  I sang Bust a Move with these guys.  We rocked it.  :)

 Viking pride.

Also this month...Jason started talking to a guy in Nebraska who was interested in buying our red poll cattle.  He was ready to be done with calving and all the risks involved.  More to come on this!