I started orientation for my new job today. I am working at Powell Valley Healthcare as a Patient Services Representative. (sounds super official) We went over safety rules and learned how to use the time-clock! Ha,Ha! I go back tomorrow also to finish up. They gave us our employee badges and a mug. Gotta love free gifts! My first official day is Monday, wish me luck.
This was Ben's first year at the Pinewood Derby. He got his kit from the Scout leader a couple months ago. It took him a while to decide on a design for his car, but decided on a pretty cool one. His dad helped him cut it out on the ban saw, then he got to work sanding it, painting, and finally decorating it. We got to the Derby and he had to check in and get his car weighed. After that, we waited until his turn to race. He did so well and was only beaten in one heat! When the winners were announced for the different categories, Ben placed first in the community choice. This was where all the adults that came had to look at all the cars and pick their favorite. Ben also won the trophy for fastest overall car! We are so proud of him, and he was proud of himself!
This has been a fun weekend here at the Jackson house. Ben and his dad have spent time painting his derby car. He is trying to get it finished up for the big race next weekend. Ben is pretty excited about the upcoming race. I will be posting on that after it happens. Delaney spent a lot of time on her bike. Last summer one of her training wheels fell off and we haven't been able to get her on the bike since. Well, we bolted it back on, but it doesn't really do anything. It's more for show. Didn't tell her that though. She has been riding around like crazy! I am so glad to see her on it again. So I have put a few pictures on here; a little of everything. Enjoy!
I absolutely love living in the country. We have a beautiful view that changes constantly. Right now, farmers are getting their fields ready for planting. In the field right in front of our house, last years' crop of sugar beets lay withered on the ground. Instead of plowing them up, they put up some hot-wire and turned out a herd of cattle. This is the first time we have cows out front. Miss Felina is finding it interesting to have them here and is quite curious about them. I am enjoying looking at all the babies. Here are a few photos.
Well, it has been a busy week. First off, both of the kids have been sick. Ben stayed home from school on Monday. He went the rest of the week, but he still has a cough. Delaney has been another story. She has had a cough for a while now. She went to school until Thursday. She stayed home because she was feeling especially bad. That night she wanted to sleep with me. I let her. Big mistake. At about 10:30, she threw up in my bed, on the floor between the bed and the bathroom, and on the bathroom floor. She was sick for a while, then I had the fun task of stripping the bed and putting clean sheets on the bed. Also got to clean the carpet and the bathroom floor. What a fun time. The whole rest of the night every time she made any kind of noise I would wake-up thinking she was going to get sick again. Thank goodness she didn't. Well, I wound up taking her to see the doctor because she started saying her ear hurt. She is never one to complain, so I knew something was up. Sure enough, she has an ear infection. Now she will be on meds for 10 days. Good thing is she already feels much better.
Second bit of news...after 2 interviews, I now have a job! I'm sure most of you know by now, but I thought I would put it on here anyway. I will be working full time as a Patient Representative at one of the clinics at our hospital. I had to go in and fill out a ton of paperwork, and as soon as my background check clears, I get to start. The kids and Ben both are happy and supportive with my decision. It is going to be a big adjustment for me after being a stay-at-home mom for 10 years! But I am excited and I know this job will mean better things for my family. So wish me luck!
I know I haven't posted any pictures of the kids in a while. I promise they are coming soon! But I will leave you with a photo that is dear to my heart and makes me smile. It is a daily occurrence that my girls are outside my kitchen door pecking on the glass and begging for something. So here they are!
We had conferences with the kids' teachers this week. They both did great! Delaney is reading at about a 3rd grade level. Also, she has taken a spelling test every week since the start of school and has spelled every single word correctly!! We were so impressed. She is very much the social butterfly and is friends with just about everyone she comes across.
Ben also did really well. His teacher called him a "math whizz" a couple of times. He is also becoming a good writer. Just last week he brought home a letter he wrote to his dad about Lincoln. It was very well done. Drawing is one of his favorite pass times.
Overall, Ben and I were very happy with the reports we got from both of the teachers. We are proud to have two wonderful and brilliant children! I am a little biased, but oh well.
Here are the kids school pictures. I have had them for a while now and just kept forgetting to post them. Enjoy!
I have been feeling guilty about not posting for a while so I thought I would get back into the swing of things today. Things are good here. Weather has been cold but beautiful. We do have some snow, but it is slowly melting away. Here is a picture of our back yard. 
Ben Jr. has started basketball again and is enjoying that. (pics to come) He has still been doing his Scouts also. Him and his dad have been working on his car for the upcoming Pinewood Derby Race in March. He was given a block of wood and had to design, cut out, and sand the car body. Now all we have to do is weigh it and then he can paint. The leader was impressed with how well he did so all the other boys came to the house last week to work on their cars. They all had a great time.
Delaney is doing well also. She still is taking dance classes 2x a week. She is still the youngest in her class and keeping up quite well. I think she was born to dance. We can't wait until her performance in May. She has also started crafting. She made a picture of flowers out of buttons. It turned out great.
We will also be making Valentine card for her class. She is pretty excited to get that project under way.
Ben and I are good. The kids keep us busy. I am still in therapy 3x a week. Everyone seems happy with my progress. I think after next week they are cutting me back to twice a week. What am I going to do with the extra time? Ben and I have been working with Felina quite a bit. With my instruction, Ben has been doing great learning to teach her to lounge, give to the halter, pick up her feet, etc. I wish I could do more, but for now it will have to do. She is very eager to learn and pretty mellow. She is definitely a welcome addition to our family.
Well, that's about it for now. I am going to make a point to post more often on the things happening around here. Hope everyone reading this is well.
This past weekend, we also went to cut our tree. We pile in the truck, buy the $8 tree permit, and head to the mountains. I wasn't able to get out and walk around much on our search, but we managed to pick a nice one. Enjoy the pics!
Delaney has been taking dance for a few months now. This past weekend was her big day. Her whole group decorated a Christmas float and participated in the light parade in our town. The little girls rode on the float and the older ones walked allong the side and stopped to dance a couple of times. We were so proud of her! She is the youngest girl in the group that got to dance. She could do just about every step! Did I mention it was maybe 10 degrees that night? They froze their butts off. It payed off becaus they won first prize! Way to go!
I know I haven't posted in quite a while. Sitting in the chair at the computer has not been an easy task. My surgery went very well. The doctor was extremely satisfied with how everything looked when he was done. The first week or so was pretty hard, but it gets easier day by day. I go to physical therapy 3 days a week now. It is not much fun at all. As of today I can get a 82 degree bend, and let me tell you, it hurts like H***! Getting back to "normal" will not be an easy task. Since this is my 4th surgery, I was told it may take longer to get my range of motion back.
The kids are doing great as always. We had parent-teacher conferences and were very pleased. Ben is one of the top students in his class, and Delaney is just about there with him. We are so proud of them both. Scouts is going well for Ben. He just earned his Citizenship badge last week. Laney is still dancing away. On the Dec. 5th, they will all be on a float in our Christmas parade in town. She is very excited. I will put some pictures up when I can. Also we have school pictures that I will be posting soon .
We do have a new addition to our family. A horse. I have been waiting for this for a long time. Circumstances that we couldn't change brought her to us sooner than was expected, but we are happy just the same. Here is a photo.
Well, I will be having yet another knee surgery. I go in on October 30th. Hopefully things will go well and my recovery won't be bad like the last time. I will keep everyone up dated as things come.
Yesterday Delaney turned 6 years old. She has been excited for weeks! In the morning she got a call from daddy since he was out of town. Then at school, I took in cupcakes and everyone sang to her. She had fun. Delaney got to pick her dinner and we had hamburgers, fries, and watermelon. After that, she opened all her presents. She went crazy over EVERYTHING! I have never seen her so excited. Thank you to everyone for making her day so special!
8 months pregnant
Delaney at 2 weeks old
My 6 year old princess
Ben's class has been learning about insects in class. Yesterday they went on a field trip to the Dog Pond. This is a neat marshy area near the river by our house. It was very warm yesterday and I was worried that there would be lots of mosquitoes. There were so many dragonflies, not a mosquito in sight! The kids sure had fun with their nets and rubber boots trying to catch what they could.
Ben and friends
"Bug hunter"
It's that time of year when we get to visit with Ben's mom. This year she brought Uncle Ron with her. We were very excited to have him come out and see our home. Our time was spent walking around Cody, taking a drive up the Chief Joseph highway and having a picnic in Sunlight Basin, shooting the guns at the range, and just enjoying each others company. What a fun time! Can't wait for them to visit again.
The first week of school is now over. I think it went quite well. We start our day at 6am this year! The bus comes pretty early. Ben is learning about insects, has already had math homework, and took a spelling test this week. Delaney is learning how her classroom operates, is bringing home books from the library, and practicing writing some letters in class. Every day when the bus drops the kids off, most of them wind up at my house. There are two other kids in the same grade as Laney, both boys. One she plays with just about every day. Yesterday they were out playing and Laney came in crying and upset. I asked what was wrong and this was the answer I got... "Colter broke up with me"!! Then she started sobbing. I asked if he said he didn't want to play with her she said yes. I just thought it was so funny that just because he wanted to do "boy" stuff, she said he broke up with her! Isn't it too early for her to say things like that???
It was a very rainy and gloomy out this morning. The kids were still ready as ever to get the school year started. Not one complaint this morning! When we got to school, we went to Laney's class first. She was a little shy and didn't want to let go of my hand. So we decided to head over to Ben's class. He picked out a desk and was happy to see many of his friends sitting next to him. Then we went back to Laney's class and she picked out her desk and got all her supplies ready. She found the hook for her backpack and sharpened her pencils. After she was settled, she was ready for me to go. Now that I am home, I can't believe how quiet it is! I forgot what the house is like when it's just me and the dogs. Boy I missed it! Maybe now the house will stay clean for more than 10 minutes at a time!! I love school.
While I was watering the lawn a couple days ago, Delaney decided she was going to play in the sprinklers. She never plays for long because she says the water is so cold. I think she liked laying out on her towel more than anything! She is always up for having her picture taken, striking a pose at any given moment. Future model in the making!
Here are a couple of pics of my girls out enjoying some sunshine yesterday. I do enjoy watching them wander through the yard. They definitely bring a smile to my face. I am hoping to talk Ben into getting one more. Maybe one that lays blue eggs?
Since we were so busy with the animals during the fair, we decided to do the rides on the last day. This was smart because it was not busy at all! Most of the time our kids were the only ones on the rides. The favorite of the day was the bumper cars. They went on them many times. Also, the bungee jump thing. Delaney had asked ALL week (many,many,many times) if she could jump on it. Daddy decided that they could. Ben went first and had a blast. He kept trying to do a flip and managed it 2 times. Delaney jumped like crazy but would not flip at all. I don't have pictures of her jumping as high as Ben did, I thought I was going to have a heart attack! She jumped just as high and had a blast. After the rides there was a free concert that we had been waiting months for. We got to see Johnny Lee. He is a country artist best known for his songs from the movie Urban Cowboy. He was great. The day was perfect until it started to downpour! It was raining so hard and then the wind picked up. They had to end the concert early. Gotta love Wyoming weather, so unpredictable!
