Strawberry Jam

About a week ago Fred Meyer had Strawberries on sale for $1.22 lb, a really good price I thought. I bought 8 lbs of strawberries and they were perfect; not a single bad strawberry in the whole bunch. I made jam for the first time in my whole life and it is soooooo good! My relief society president and Darin's Aunt Fay helped me. We made about 18 jars - which only covered about 4 lbs of the strawberries. We ate about 1lb of strawberries in the process and I froze the other 3 lbs. Yum! Yum!

Typical

This is a typical day in the Ralphs house. Elizabeth - wide awake & Emily - in deep sleep. Emily sleeps much more than Elizabeth during the day, but they both sleep the same amount of time at night, which is getting much better by the way. They go to sleep at about 10:00, I go to sleep at about midnight, they wake up at about 3:30 or 4:00 and then again at 7:00 or 7:30 (a schedule I can deal with). Sometimes, I wish that Elizabeth slept a little more during the day, because she is the baby that wants to be held alot. She is pretty happy today though (knock on wood). It amazes me how different the twins personalities are already.

Little Thumb Scuker

Emily has always sucked on her hands since birth, but a few days ago she found her thumb. Now, I will give her a pacifier and she will take it out and stick her thumb in her mouth. I know everyone has different opinions on thumb sucking, but if it isn't dangerous and it makes her happy, I will just have to deal with trying to get her to stop sucking her thumb later in life. The nice thing about it is that she can get it for herself, if Elizabeth's pacifier falls out of her mouth, she will cry unitl I put it back in. I may regret this later, but it works for now. Talk to me later when she is about eight and still sucking her thumb and see if I regret letting her suck her thumb. I don't know, I sucked my thumb and turned out okay, at least I think I did.

Life is Great!

Abigail's New Swing Set

We have been promising to get Abigail a swing set for some time now. Our swing set in Texas snapped in half during Tornado season last year. We bought it about two weeks ago, but it has been too cold to play on. Yesterday, it was 70 degrees and Abigail had a blast!

What A Performer!

Abigail had her second dance competition and I just had to take pictures of her back-stage getting ready. This was a huge competition in Logan, I'm not really sure how they did. I'm sure if they had done really well, I would have found out by now, but I don't care; I just want her to have fun dancing. I thought these pictures were really funny; she just kept striking different poses.

Helpful Big Sister

Abigail is becoming such a good helper. She can help me throw things away, get things for me, and she helps hold a bottle when I need her to. Occasionally she is not interested in helping, but what three year old is always 100% cooperative. Her favorite thing is to pick out what the twins are going to wear. She will bring me the funniest things like: 4 head bands, a pair of shoes, and nothing else. I guess she feels it more important to accessorize.

Growing Girls!

The twins are growing so fast. They are both so cute and chubby! I just love each one of their little fat rolls.

Healthy Bull Calves

We are so excited that our Billy & Bob have made it on our farm for two weeks now. They are growing and are really healthy. They just recently started eating a little bit of grain, which is good because Cow Formula is really expensive. I can't wait until they are eating grass!

Flower Beanies

Elizabeth - Purple Flower & Emily - Pink Flower

Today I went to an Open House for a bow making business called Ladybugs & Dragonflies. I couldn't leave without these hats for the twins. I also bought a few clips and flowers for Abigail's hair. There are so many cute things for girls - it's amazing.

Playtime with Abigail

Abigail asked if she could play with the babies and this is what we came up with. Abigail read the twins stories for quite a while; it was so cute and it kept all three of them occupied for quite a while (15-20 minutes).

New Friends

One of my best friends and roommate from my freshman year at BYU came to visit me! I was so excited to see Kathryn and her husband Boyd. I am so glad that we have kept in touch. Abigail and Kathryn's son Benjamin met for the first time and they hit it off quite well. Before Kathryn and her family came, I told Abigail that some friends were coming to see us, she looked at me and asked, "Does her little boy have teeth? Does he walk?" she was quite concerned that she wouldn't have anyone to play with, she wanted to make sure that they weren't here to visit the babies and that they had someone that she could play with. Ben is 15 months old and Abigail is pushing him around our yard in her car. I think Ben was quite entertained by Abigail whether or not he wanted to be.

Billy & Bob The Bull Calves

Abigail with Bob the Bull Calf
Abigail with Billy the Bull Calf.

We decided to try to give it another shot at raising calves for meat. So far, we are doing much better than we did before. As of today, Bob is 9 days old and Billy is 7 days old. We hope to have some pretty healthy steers by fall. These calves are Holstein/ Jersey mix.

Abigail's First Talk

Abigail gave her first talk in Primary yesterday. It went like this, "This is President Gordon B. Hinkley. He was our prophet. He taught us to go to the temple. I can follow the prophet by going to the temple. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen. " Abigail decided the morning of her talk that mommy was not going to help any more; it was daddy's turn to help her. Darin helped her give her talk. She whispered the entire time because Darin was whispering into her ear to help her. She was the first Sunbeam to go and the microphone was not adjusted for her height, so no one could really hear her, but I could see her mouth moving. We were really proud of her for being so brave and doing such a good job.

Kids Can Sleep In The Strangest Places

Abigail fell asleep on the trampoline while she was watching a movie.

Vintage Wranglers

We found the pants that Abigail is wearing in this house that we are living in. She loves them. I think they belonged to Abigail's Aunt Sheralyn sometime around 1973. She says that she can be a "real farm girl" when she wears them. As a side note, she is sitting at our computer and yes, she is playing a computer game at the age of 3 1/2. Our neighbor told us about two educational websites that have games for kids to play, Abigail can't wait to sit down and play the "A" game. the websites are www.starfall.com & www.littlefingers.com I highly recommend them; they have activities for kids pre-school thru 3rd grade - mostly focussed on reading.

The Twins Are 3 Months Old Today!

Elizabeth - 3 Months Old
Emily - 3 Months Old
Elizabeth (left) & Emily (right)
Elizabeth, Abigail, Emily.
It is really difficult to get all three girls to look at the camera at the same time. Also, Abigail insisted on dressing herself & fixing her hair, "all by myself!"

Dr. Seuss Bench

While the Stockers were visiting us we (Nan, Harrison, Heather, & Misty) started painting this bench for Abigail's room. I just finished the final touches by putting the pictures on and putting polyurethane over the bench. Abigail wants to make her room a Dr. Seuss theme, so maybe by the end of the summer I will have pictures of her room completely decorated. She was excited to have her bench finished. She likes to keep her dress-up stuff in it.

Nicknames?

Emily

Elizabeth - aka: Liz?, Lizzie?, Libby?, Beth?

Okay, so I have told everyone what we named the twins: Emily and Elizabeth. Many people ask me what I am planning on calling Elizabeth. I was just planning on calling her Elizabeth, but you know how nicknames sometimes creep in. I was planning on calling Abigail by her full name, but many times she calls herself Abby. Take the poll and tell me which nickname you prefer, if you prefer one at all. I don't know if there is a nickname for Emily, but I'm sure she will get one somehow. Nicknames seem to be pretty common here in Rockland.

Tagged

I have never actually been tagged before, so I thought I would do it. Thanks, Megan.

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago (1998):
I was 15 - A Freshman at Ryan High School; being a freshman was kind of difficult for me - not a great year. I loved going to church dances and seminary. Sister Cochran was my seminary teacher. My best friends in the whole world were Jennifer Anderson and Christine Tryon.

5 things on my to-do list today:
1. Dishes
2. Plant my raspberry bushes (twigs)
3. Try not to go crazy - chasing after my three beautiful daughters.
4. Cook steak for dinner.
5. Family scripture study before bed.

5 snacks I enjoy:
1.Strawberries
2. Broccoli
3. Popcorn
4. Anything with peanut butter (which I have to hide because Abigail is allergic) 5. Ice Cream

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Pay off all loans that we have (car & education).
Remodel my home
Buy a second - gas efficient car
Set up college funds for my girls
Buy a friendly horse for Abigail
Buy a 4-wheeler & snowmobile for Darin
Travel to Brazil
Set aside money for a travel to Texas fund.

3 of my bad habits:
1. Not putting Abigail to bed at a reasonable hour
2. Not doing dishes like I should
3. Leaving my shoes out around the house.

Places I have lived:
1. Denton, Texas
2. Provo, Utah
3. Krugerville, Texas
4. Sanger, Texas
5. Rockland, Idaho

Jobs I have had:
1. Swimming Lessons
2. Piano Lessons
3. Voice Lessons
4. Early Childhood Music Teacher at UNT
5. Filer for my my Dad at his office
6. MOM

5 things people don't know about me:
1. I really don't like rodents.
2. I love to dance - especially when no one is watching.
3. I used to be pretty good at skiing & snow boarding - it's been a while.
4. I am a deep sleeper now that I have kids (I used to be a really light sleeper)
5. I hate the taste and texture of the tooth polish that they use at the dentist
6. I don't like cold ketchup or pear flavored jelly beans

I tag: Tonya Wilde, Lanae Wadsworth, Brittany McHargue, Casey Martin, Rachelle Transtrum

Lots of Family!

Grand Nan & Emily with Papa & Elizabeth
Heather & Emily with Harrison & Elizabeth
Grandpa Del with the twins.
Darin's cousin Leslie with the twins.
Grandma Mimi with Abigail & the twins.

We haven't blogged since March 12th because it has been a little crazy here at the Ralphs home the past two weeks. Harrison and Nan flew in on Sunday, March 16th for a visit over spring break. Carl came up on Wednesday, March 19th. Heather came up after her last mid-term on Friday, March 21st. Del & Mary Ellen arrived on Saturday, March 22nd and on Easter Sunday we had the babies blessed followed by a wonderful Easter dinner for 23 people. The Stockers left the on Monday, March 24th and Darin's mom and dad left on Friday, March 28th. We have had a blast, but we are quite exhausted now and glad to get our lives back to some kind of normalcy. It just makes us so happy that there are so many people that love and care about us that they would come visit us over their vacation time.

Blessing Day

Elizabeth Claire in her blessing gown.
Emily Celia in her blessing gown.
Sweet Little Angels.
Misty holding Emily, Darin holding Elizabeth, and Abigail wearing the Easter dress that Misty wore when she was four.

The Ralphs Girls

We blessed the twins on Easter Sunday. We were so lucky to have both sets of grandparents at the blessing plus a few other cousins, aunts, and uncles. Darin did so well, I was really proud of him for holding it together through two blessings. The twins did great too! They didn't make a peep. We are so blessed to have so many people that love us and our children.

Easter

Abigail got 12 baby chicks for Easter - she can't wait until she can go out and collect their eggs.

Emily's 1st Easter with her soft bunny rabbit.
Elizabeth's 1st Easter with her 1st stuffed animal from the Easter bunny.
The Easter Bunny was good to Abigail - A new bunny rabbit, a book and a cute easter hat.

Old MacDarin Had A Farm

We have decided to put the land around our house to use and raise our own food. Hopefully, we don't get too attached to these animals.

















Baby Chicks - Six Yellow, 3 Black, 3 Brown - they should be laying eggs by August.














We were raising this Holstein Bull Calf to be butchered this fall. Unfortunately, he died three days after we got him from pneumonia. We only paid $25 for him, I guess you get what you pay for.
















Our Pigs - Penelope (pink) & Petunia (spotted). We hope to butcher one this fall and keep raising the other one to eventually have piglets.