Pete and Re-pete

Dadgum!! Last week you've seen what Caroline stepped in. I know we all felt so sorry for her and glad Mommy figured out chocolate is a cure all, but what about me! Do you know how long it took to pull those suckers out?! I didn't keep count, but a long stinkin' time! So guess what Olivia did today?! You guessed it, but she didn't step in cactus. Instead she stepped in dried up thistles which wasn't quite as bad to get out. Then here comes her sister with no shoes on right toward the pile!! She didn't step on them thank goodness,but new rule: EVERYONE WEARS SHOES FROM NOW ON!!

Olivia's Dream Comes True

Olivia has been blessed with a PONY, a real, live, bonafide Shetland Pony!! Her best friend is giving Olivia her pony named Honey that she has out grown. There's one catch, Olivia and I have to build a fence. We worked hard on Monday and Tuesday driving in T post. The first night my back hurt so bad from all that hard work, I could only lay in one position to sleep! It's worth it all the pain in the world (okay, maybe I'm going a little too far) for my baby girl to get her dream!
I can't find any pictures, but will try to take some and post some of Honey.

The magical medicine

Caroline accidently stepped on some cactus today, oouuchh!! We were down at the neighbors' house when it happened, so we drove home and I made sure she did not accidently step down on the cactus driving it deeper into her foot. She was fine until I got the tweezers out. So, I turned on a movie, nope, still the crying did not cease. Then, I had a brilliant idea! "Caroline, do you want some chocolate?" Of course the answer was yes! So I said if you'll be a good patient you can have some. Well, 5 pieces of chocolate later, all the cactus was out! So I tell you, feed your kid chocolate, it's really cheap and very effective!

Details

Here's the girls in their dresses from Big Mama. Aren't they beautiful?! This was the best picture, in all the others, someone had their eyes closed or was making a funny face.

Does her mother ever clean her face? Can we say disgustingly cute?!

Here's Olivia with her experimental cake. She wanted to make a cake without measuring anything. She cut up carrots (with a butter knife), put bananas in, some sugar, flour, egg and some baking powder. It was edible, but not delicious. It turned out good for an experiment.

I've been working on taxes lately. What fun!! Found out the IRS should pay us for David to work! David says he needs a bail out! Ha, ha!!

The other exciting news is that I haven't been kicked by my goat since I got what's called a goat hobble to put on her back legs! It is wonderful not to have a dirty milk bucket and a bruised, cut knuckle. A goat hobble is definetely a must have!! I am making cheese as I write this. I'll try to take a picture of it this time. I've realized cheese is like making anything in the kitchen, it's okay to experiment. This next cheese is an experiment for sure, we'll see if it is edible. Even if it's not I'll probably eat it! I've found that the weirder things taste the more of it I eat, trying to figure out why it taste the way it does! I have a good friend that has been honest enough to tell me I'm a weirdo, I realize that she is completely right and I'm okay with that!!

Love to all!

Hard to Handle

I put "Hard to Handle" as my song 'cause it reminds me of my little brother. My dad's got a video of him singing this song when he was 10 years old. Everytime I think of this song, I can see Matt on that video, it cracks me up!!

End of year letter

Dear friends and family,
This has been one quick year!! For us this has been a year of change and growth! I think the biggest change of all has been that Caroline is no longer a baby. It is a little bittersweet, but I’d say mostly sweet! No more diapers, sippy cups, and a whole lot less crying and a lot more talking! Caroline is quit the rascal to say the least, she keeps her sister laughing all the time!
Olivia is 5 now and is a very sweet, thoughtful child. We have our emotional crisis every now and then, but mostly life is good! Olivia learned how to ride a two-wheeled bike at the close of this year.
I no longer am secretary of our Church, which is really nice. One less thing to do gives me a little more time with the kids, which I’m always thankful for. I was able to purchase a Nubian milk goat a few days before Christmas. I was so excited to get her, Nubians are evidently hard to come by in these parts. We ended up driving 3 hours to get her. She gives us about 2 quarts of milk a day, which is perfect for our family. I have made some different types of cheese, lots of yogurt, buttermilk and buttermilk quark (which tastes a lot like sour cream). I have not yet made any hard cheeses, but do intend to tackle that soon!
David is busy at work. We have been blessed that he has had plenty of work . Right now he is building a cabin on a park model frame to sell. We’ve always wanted to build a house to sell, but gas went sky high and now the housing market is so slow that we decided to build something more economically.
David and I love gardening and trying to be as self-sufficient as we can. The children also love to garden and they love their goats. I love our simple life together!
This coming year seems to hold lots of unexpected things. I guess every year does. We just have to trust in God to get us through and put one foot in front of the other and do as God directs. We hope you have a wonderful 2009! We hope this year brings bountiful blessings and great joys! We love you all and look forward to seeing you soon!

With Much Love,
The Rogers

Christmas Pictures

I'm a little behind, but here are some Christmas pictures. Olivia bought me a beautiful pair of earrings with her own money. David got me a jewelry holder that looks like a women's figure, thanks to Olivia! We were on vacation and I saw it and I told Olivia to go tell her Daddy that that's what Mommy wants for Christmas. Olivia made a really cute blanket for Caroline. It was all her idea and her and Caroline helped sew it. David re-built a bike for Olivia and we repainted Caroline's tricycle. We had a great time this Christmas! I really missed my Mom, but other than that everything was good.