Bulging at the Seams :)

The Month of March has proven to be a month for expanding.

On the 4th, we added a new little girl to the household, and she is proving to be quite the joy. We are hoping she will be a permanent placement/forever ours, but things are still up in the air a bit. Please keep your fingers crossed and until that happens I can't post any pictures on the internet, so you will just have to come see her in person :) Hanna and Lexi spend a lot of time giving her hugs and kisses, and Hanna is turning into a big helper. Lexi, although doing very well overall, is feeling the slight of not being the youngest anymore. We are doing all kinds of things to help Lexi with that, but the fact is, she isn't the baby anymore.

Then on the 5th, we added two more kids to the farm (baby goats). Peaches had her babies late Friday evening, as all of us eagerly watched. Poor thing had a regular gallery of onlookers. The other three does waited until Monday and came one right after the other. Stawberry, the youngest of the does, had triplets. Hazel had twins and Ruby had twins. There are now 9 little kids (5 bucks and 4 does) running, climbing and terrorizing the barn. They really are a hoot to watch and play with. Hanna has turned into be quite the shepherdess. I always wanted to be a vet or something dealing with animals - maybe I can live vicariously through Hanna :)

And then came the rain and the mud! And then more rain and more mud and so on and so on.

We just thought it had dried out this past week - only one vehicle stuck in the driveway - and then it snowed Saturday. So now we are going to be walking up and down the lane again. I have really gotten a jump start on my walking this season - since our lane is about 1.5 miles round trip. And I have been making the trip at least 2 to 3 times a day, and sometimes at a jog if I am running late. I have started a joke about surviving the lane. If you make it down and back out without getting stuck, you can say you survived the Trochesset Lane - quite a feat these days. I made a picture to hallmark the occasion and even toyed with the idea of selling T-shirts to build up the rock fund.

What is the old saying, in like a lion and out like a lamb. . . I am not sure what happened first around here, but I can only hope things settle down and some regularity sets in for April!

Just A Little Ice

The Poor Red Radio Wagon. But I love the ice coated wire, it was so fascinating.


The Crab Apple tree still has a bit of fruit on it, which the birds will love once mother nature sets it out to thaw.

We were a little late getting out this day, but it ended up being quite fun!


Miss Lexi, who has to put everything in her mouth.


Miss Hanna and Lorretta Einstein


A snow walk in the dark - delicious!


We'll always leave the light on for you - whether you are a big or small :)

As the snow falls . . .

I sit here and reminisce about this past year, and what a year it has been. Filled with lots of change and emotions, but all for the good!

I am learning to relinquish some of my Holiday "have to do's" and am just maintaining. I didn't get any Christmas cards sent out, no holiday cookies made, still have 5 boxes of Christmas decorations that didn't get unpacked, and no real Christmas shopping done. BUT I have two wonderful and beautiful girls who are having a great Christmas, so I guess that is all that matters really.

Soon we will be on our way to Biloxi to spend the Holidays with John's Family. John is ready to get out of the snow and I think he would settle for leaving tonight if we were packed. Although, the girls have been enjoying it.

A Happy Holidays to Everyone!

Juice Plus+

Since our journey into a healthier lifestyle, a friend of mine told me about juice plus+, so we decided to try it. Even though we are vegetarians, we still do not get 13 servings of fruits an vegetable a day and definitely not in a diverse way - sometimes we go all week on apples and banana's.

We have been taking it for almost a year now and I can't say enough positive things about it. We LOVE it and the girls are so much healthier. There is such a big difference, the girls have not been sick for over 6 months, and lord knows that with all the day care kids germs, they have had plenty of exposer. I 100% contribute it to Juice Plus+. Anyway, here are a video that talk about Juice Plus+ from Dr. Sears, the leading pediatrician. It is AWESOME!

If you want more info, e-mail John, veggiejohn@gmail.com or you can check out his website at www.veggiejohnjuiceplus.com And there are more video's by all kinds of Dr. and researchers.

First Day of School

And we are walking down the lane with all the crew in tow.

Hanna began 1st Grade at Mediapolis Community School

Lexi started Pre-K and their cousin Lyrica began 1st grade

New Edition to the Family

We made a tough decision to get rid of the riding horses. I haven't had much time to ride this summer, because we have been traveling so much, and we like dong that, so it seems a little frivolous to keep a big horse that eats a lot of hay all winter when we probably won't ride next summer either. So I took some final picture with the girls on HD and then we sold her.

But I could justify getting a pony for the girls, and along came Annie. The girls have enjoyed these last days of summer with her and I am excited about them working with her in the Spring. They really needed something smaller that they could build their confidence on.

Living History Farms

While we were in Des Moines for the fair, we decided to visit the Living History Farms.
We began the tour 300 years ago with a Native American camp and then went on to a 1800's farm, were the girls found sheep, pigs and ducks.

Then we rode a tractor back ride back and the girls hung out in a flower garden.

Finally a Group hug outside after a long, fun day.

Fun At The Fair

The State fair was a year of new experiences this year. John's Mom and Dad, and Uncle Kenny and Aunt Carol, were up and had never been to a State fair before. And the girls took everything in two jam packed days.


We made sure to stop for Honey Straws

Played in the mister

and we made sure to take time for play.

At The Beach

We went for an end of summer vacation at Saylorville just north of Des Moines.

The Girls LOVE the water

And we had the beach all to ourselves

For swimming

And sandcastles

It was a Wonderful Day!

Tea Party

A Date Was Set, And No One Was Late

To The Mad Hatter Tea Party

A Celebrate for

Lexi Renee Trochesset

and

Hanna Marie Trochesset

There were so many good picture, I created a slide show, click on the photo and it should take you to photobucket - Enjoy!

The First Day of The Rest of Their Lives

July 28th

Today was the long awaited, at least by John and I, day!

The girls were both happy and sad at the same time and we had lots of heartfelt discussions that I never thought I would be having with a 6 and 4 year old. It was an emotional rollercoaster, which ended with grins and forever good-night hugs. We decided that they would both make just and fair judges when they grew up :)