Neighborhood visit!

We have had some lovely days here recently. One day, Feb. 23, to be exact, I asked Jonathan if he wanted a friend to come over in the afternoon while Annisia was sleeping. So we called a little boy across the street, but his mom said he was napping and wasn't feeling well. So we called a little girl up the road and her mom said, "sure!" Maggie came over for about 4 hours. They had so much fun. She is one month younger than Jonathan. They first played "construction". Jonathan was shoveling in some dirt by the garden, then adding a little sand to it. Then he was "pouring concrete". (Do you have any idea what they were currently doing at the job site his uncles are on?!) So Maggie got the grunt job of pushing the wheelbarrow. But they soon progressed to Jonathan's next favorite thing and that was shooting. He showed Maggie how to shoot his gun...
...then after the one shot she was indulged, he took the gun away. But she wasn't done! She chased him down the driveway, giggling! The chasing starts early, doesn't it?!
Then Maggie's little sister came over after her nap and we had all four here. Joanna is so sweet. She told her mommy, "I love Darla!" (heehee!) Look at those big eyes!

Vallhalla venue!

Jonathan is SO funny sometimes. This afternoon, he said he needed some things from the kitchen so he "could make chopped soup for the beef soup and then we'd take it to the Vallhalla venue". What prompts him to say some things is beyond me. If you have ever read Graeme Base's Animalia, you'd know where "Vallhalla venue" comes from, but we haven't read it for over a week. My son has a memory like an elephant!

On Friday, we were outside and he was driving his backhoe loader. He said, "Mommy, me, Baby doll, and Annisia have to move away to go to school." I said, "Oh really?!", feeling like I stepped back into the time of Laura Ingalls Wilder. "Yep! We're moving to a different town to a ranch that has a C and a A." "Are Daddy and I moving with you?" "Yes, you and me and Baby doll and Annisia are going to go on my loader tractor and Daddy is going to come later in his big truck." So! Now that we have THAT figured out, the big question is, do I start him in preschool next fall? He'll just be 4. We're of the mind to not start until he's 5, then kindergarten when he's 6. But lots of his peers are already in preschool at 3 1/2. But if he needs to move away to another town with a ranch in it that has a C and an A in it, I don't know if I am ready for him to start school yet!

Here is Jonathan, sacked out half on and half off his little couch. He was really wanting me to play him the video his Gramma and Papa have of their ranch and the Andalusian horses they have for sale. I fell asleep on the living room floor, though, and he must have gotten tired watching me sleep!
Then we went outside when everyone woke up. It was a beautiful day with a slight wind. Enough wind to bother our ears, so we all put on our ear bands. Jonathan took his Baby doll out for some fresh air. Isn't he a sweetie?Annisia was busy pouring sand onto the lawn despite my directions. Argh! She is such a busy little helper though.
Yesterday, Saturday, Daddy and Jonathan went out to the ranch to work on whatever it is Michael is building me. So Annisia and I were home alone. She picked up one of Jonathan's little tools he uses for a "shoot gun" and walked around shooting things! I laughed so hard! She says, and you have to put a 1-2 second pause between each word to sound like her, "Shoot gun, bziu, amlopt (antelope)." (bziu is the sound you hear antelope make to each other to warn.) Both the kids have learned to open the door or window and shout, "Bziu, antelope, get out of here!" Can you tell we have lots of antelope here? They come into our yard and I encourage the kids to scare them away! Anyways, that's what's going on here!