Will's first birthday cake
Well, as much as I tried to prevent it, Will turned one. We celebrated with a first birthday party on Sunday and Will got to enjoy a giant cupcake all to himself. We started the day with Will's baptism at church, then enjoyed a luncheon here at the farm. I had really wanted to have the party outside, but it was too chilly. The children in attendance LOVED playing outside and exploring the farm. After we ate cake, our wonderful friendly neighbor, Mr. Burtner, brought his tractor and hay wagon over and we took a hayride to the other neighbor's farm - Harlo Farms, and we allowed each child to pick a pumpkin. They were very generous to us and gave us a great deal on the pumpkins. The only rule for the kids was that they had to be able to carry their own pumpkin. This was a helpful rule for the parents since everyone there had at least 2 children! All in all it was a wonderful day and I couldn't imagine a better party for our little guys first birthday.
Who stole the cookie?
Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?
Will stole the cookies from the cookie jar!
Who me??
Yes You!!
Couldn't be!!
Then Who??
My baby is growing up.
My baby is 2o days from being ONE YEAR OLD.
Wait a minute. You are my Momma. You're the best.
(Please ignore the dirty knees of my baby. See below. He refuses to obey and crawls into the "mud" room in chase of his big sibs, hoping he will be able to sneak out the door before I notice. This is not indicative how dirty my floors are although at times my they can be pretty dirty as a result of my olderchildren not comprehending my English. Apparently, "STOP! Your shoes are dirty! STOP! Go to the laundry room and take off your dirty shoes!" when said by me is interpreted as, "Wear your muddy, dirty, shoes and walk through the entire first floor in search of something you will not find and after not finding it, go back outside to dirty up those shoes some more!")
When did this happen and where did the time go??
He's so sweet and sweet and sweet.
Did I mention he 's so sweet?
Walker went with Mimi today to work at the deli, Maggie went with Erik today to work with Daddy, and I was left home with my baby. One short year ago, I was anticipating his arrival, and here we were today, off to Kmart & Joann Fabrics to buy some decorations for his first birthday party/baptism. (We're doing both on the same day.) He was such a sweet little boy - making eye contact with all the ladies at Kmart and flirting with the fabric cutter at Joann. Then he fell asleep in the car on the way home. That sweet,trusting sleep only a baby can have. Head tilted back, mouth open, arms tucked into his sides. I regret I didn't take a picture of it, but it was too sweet for words. One of those moments best left to the memory.
His most funny thing he is doing lately is pointing. He has learned to point at things he wants and when he is happy to see you, he points at you.
Hey! I know you.
Hey you! Why do I know you?
Wait a minute. You are my Momma. You're the best. Freaky Friday!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Can you believe this weird-o spider was inches from crawling into my hair. Oh disgust.
I was cleaning off the shelf next to my desk, minding my own business organizing my discs - I glance up and AHHHHHHHH!!!! This was just inches from my head! I shiver uncontrollably thinking about it!
Can you believe this weird-o spider was inches from crawling into my hair. Oh disgust. I'm usually not so weirded out by spiders, after all, mini spiders and daddy long legs have basically been cohabitating with us since we moved in the house, making housecleaning a miserable experience as I constantly am in battle with them to eliminate them and their dratted webs that pop up within minutes of me clearing away the old one. Anyway, those spiders, as this one probably was, are harmless, but they are not as big or as fat as this one was. It's brown speckled body looked like it was full of something - prey it had just eaten perhaps?
Ugh!
In case you don't get the full effect of the chilling horror I felt, here are two more pictures.
Rest assured that I managed to bite of the expletive my first instinct was to shout. I do think I screamed a little bit because the children jumped and said, "What happened, Momma?" And I was good at trying to hide my fear. But I did have the irrational fear that it was going to jump on me!
I apologize to any of you that truly love all creatures of the earth, but I took off my shoe and smacked it good and dead.
*Shiver*
I swear the spider was the size of a quarter!
After doing some research, I think I have identified the spider. It is a Cross Orbweaver. To learn more about it, you can do a search for images on google for Cross Orbweaver.
I must point out that it says the females of this species seek out protected locations to lay 300-900 eggs! Can you even imagine. I literally have goosebumps and chills thinking about the possibility of 900 of those spiders near me.
A downright lovely day
Today was one of those days where I had tons of stuff planned, but God had other plans. I had scheduled my friend, Courtney to come and do a family portrait of us during sunset in the woods. So there was so much I had to do before I had to get ready to do that. First, we took a trip to (don't tell anyone) Lowes for some paint to work on the cupola Bill & Shelly bought us a few years ago. Since we are working on the roof right now, we have to get the cupola primed and painted so it can be installed. It's really a beautiful cupola complete with copper roof and copper rooster weather vane. Don't think you can come steal it off my roof and sell the copper for scrap either. Our roof is too high and our dogs will scare you off.
Ok, so the dogs will bark at you until you say, "Hello doggie. I am a thief here to steal stuff from your owners but I will gladly throw that stick you're holding for me."
I digress . . .
So we go to Lowes, which is like 15 miles from our house, and the whole time Walker is whining about how far away Lowes is and
Can't we just go to Trader Horn???
Why do you have to buy good paint?
Why can't you just use daddy's tractor paint??
Why do you like white? I like black like Daddy. Black will look better. I hate white paint.
TIMOTHY WALKER SCHWALM! Momma takes time to do very nice things for you every day. I need to go to the store and buy this paint and I need you to cooperate. If you cannot cooperate, I'm not going to do things for you.
Oh, aw right!
We get to Lowes and they are fascinated by all the colors on the sample displays. Maggie did remarkably well identifying colors. We then journeyed through the store to look at some rugs and then went out to check out the garden center where we found awesome deals on mums. We spent extra time looking at all the flowers and I allowed the children to tell me what flowers they liked and we just explored. Then we went out to lunch. We got home and I started to fret about how much work I still had to do - cook dinner, paint the cupola . . . but I checked my email first and found out Courtney had sick children so she couldn't get out to do our pictures after all. This left me with lots of free time to work on some of my projects for the day. Walker helped and we had a fun day too. I let him paint with me and he enjoyed it. Will was able to zoom around the garage in his walker chasing the dogs and playing with his brother. At one point, Walker told me he and Will were playing "crash up cars like they do at the fair" Meaning the demolition derby.
On a side note, I have noticed Will developing an unabashed hero worship of his brother as he is approaching a year. He instantly turns to him when Walker enters a room. He imitates the sounds Walker makes, often making playtime a very noisy one. I can't believe a little peanut like Will can mimic the car noises Walker makes. In fact, he imitates everything Walker does, as you can see by this photo I took this morning while the children were playing "chug a choo choo" as Maggie calls it. (Trains)
Willie J has turned into quite the little climber and crawled right on top of the train table to get in the action. Isn't he losing his "baby" look. He looks like a big boy now, doesn't he? I can't take it! I'm not saying I'm ready for another baby, but I'm definitely getting the beginnings of a yearning. I think I'll take a year of sleep first though!
Anyway, Erik got home and we decided to finish working on the driveway entrance. We have been working on a landscape plan for it and finally got half of it done. Partially due to the fact that Erik was working in Fox Chapel this week and salvaged about 10 daylily plants and a specimen fir tree that we used in the bed. The other side of the driveway needs to be planted and both sides mulched, but we have FINALLY have an entrance to our home. I already noticed cars slowing down and actually looking down our lane to see if there actually was something there. Most people we tell where we live say, "Oh, I noticed a mailbox there but never thought any one lived there."
For now, we won't be encouraging too many folks to look too hard. We're hoping the exterior of the house will be done before years end, but we're not holding our breath. Our roof project is taking a bit longer than expected and we haven't even been to the Lumber Yard to start looking at siding samples and all the other stuff that is going to go into the exterior remodel. YIKES!! Guess I'd better get moving!
So, we managed to get the project done, ordered some food and had "TV dinner night." The children went to bed beautifully - no whining or complaining. Did I mention . . . I'm in for an uncertain night. Will went to bed at 6:30 tonight - will he make it the whole night or will I hear a cry in the middle of the night? I'm choosing to be positive and say I won't hear from him until morning. Early morning, but Erik doesn't have to leave early tomorrow morning, so I can nudge him and say, "Can you get Will for me?"
Beautiful days
These September days have been so beautiful. I'm having my friend, Courtney, come out w/ her family on Thursday to take our family portrait and I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone yesterday by taking the children on a hike as well as scout out some locations in the woods for our portrait. I wanted the woods because in the late afternoon, the sun filters through our woods so beautifully I want to capture that in a photo. So, I put Will in the back pack and we went hiking. Sort of.
I went hiking, then I would hike back and unstick Maggie from a jagger bush. Then I would stop and take some test shots - I would set the children in spots and ask them to pose for me for test shots. The results:
I thought this one was cool with the way the sun glare created the rainbows.
This one is my favorite - the way the lens captured the rays of light filtering through the trees. Lovely!
I don't know what the deal is with Maggie and the shirt. She kept pulling it up.
I thought this one was cool with the way the sun glare created the rainbows.
Walker and that stick. He needed a walking stick - except he kept holding it horizontally and sticking it in my stomach! Maybe this is his, "You touch my sister, I'll kill you" look.Not sure how I feel about these test shots.
But, I did take some lovely ones w/ o the children.
This one is my favorite - the way the lens captured the rays of light filtering through the trees. Lovely!
Today I'm just going to host a hodge podge of pictures from today. First, Walker talking to Nana on the telephone. Why he chose this particular way is beyond me, but he talked to her quite a bit - trying to explain to her that he would have to bring his special sippy cup (water bottle) to her house on Saturday because he is developing a cold sore (he calls it a sore lip) because of a cold/allergies. I don't think Nana understood, but I did and it was very funny to hear them try to have a conversation. After talking to Nana, we had time to play outside before school. It was a lot of fun. Soon it was time for Walker to go to sch
ool and for the little two to nap.
At that point, Erik came home and began working on removing the shingles from the roof in preparation for tomorrows roofing project. Finally - a new roof. I don't
think our place has had a new roof in at least 35 years - possibly more. We've been lucky to have no major leaks. I took some pics of Erik u
p on the roof. Yes, we've lived in a house looking like this on the exterior for 5 years now. However, this is the year. We will *cross your fingers* be finishing the exterior this winter.
I've been poring through i
mages on the web looking at "Folk Victorians"
which I have decided to model our house after. I'd love to have a Queen Anne looking Victorian, but realistically, that isn't our lifestyle. I'm not into the
fancy dark interiors - although I do love wood - someday I'd love to have a paneled library - but, since according to
my designer sister, I really have no clear style - I think at our last discussion we came up with "Early colonial French country american farmhouse traditional shabby chic" as my design asthetic. I think in layman's terms, that me
ans "I can't make a decision to save my life!"
Here's my dear hubby scraping the roof - all to save us some $$ on the remodel. Go Erik!
Walker loves his dog. And she loves him. We all love Chloe Belle. Even though she
is a nuisance sometimes.
Wind
It is a beautiful September morning here on Goodness Grows Farm - the sun is shining and there is a gentle breeze - nothing like the wind of Sunday! Winds were up to 60 miles an hour according to reports. Sunday night our power flickered on and off a few times, but never went out completely. Monday morning we woke up to news that thousands of people were without power. As the day progressed, we learned that almost everyone in our immediate surrounding area was without power. I don't know how we managed to not lose ours, but I'm thankful. I feel so bad for all the folks that have lost freezers full of food. Makes me sick to think of what we could have lost - a freezer full of homegrown beef, chicken and pork! My in-laws were able to use a generator to keep their fridge and freezer cold. But they don't have it hooked up to anything else. Of course, now Erik wants to buy a generator in case this would ever happen to us. Driving around I've seen so many places where trees had snapped in half - scary. Our neighbors had a tree fall over in their tiny yard - if the wind had been blowing a different way or the tree had broken on the other half, they would have lost their house! I guess the biggest problem with restoring the electric around here is that spare crews had been sent south to deal with the power outages from Hurricane Ike, then Ike ended up sending winds to us and causing the same problems.
In the car on the way to school Monday, Walker asked Erik, "So why did God make the wind so hard that the trees fell down?" Smart boy! I'm just glad I wasn't the one he asked the question to!
Life around here has been pretty uneventful. The children are busy playing. Walker really enjoys school and plays so well with the other children. He and Kendyll are thick as thieves, pairing up in the morning to walk to the class room and always talking and whispering to each other. I am very impressed at how much Walker is picking up. He's recognizing his letters easily and numbers too. They are working on upper and lowercase letters now, so he's got a lot more to learn. He's doing such a great job. I'm not able to practice with him as much as I'd like, but I try to ask him if he sees any letters he recognizes on signs and stuff. He is getting close to writing his name all by himself. He knows what letters are in his name but he can't always recall without help what those letters look like.
Maggie is sassy as ever - she seems to have grown up overnight. It's almost as if she hit the 2 1/2 mark and BAM she's a preschooler. You can almost always hear her saying, "Oh Man!" to any situation. The funny thing is that she uses the exact appropriate tone anytime she says it to express her feelings. She's in this phase where she wants to dress like me all the time - same style, same color, everything. So now I have to get her dressed first so she can't throw a fit because her clothes don't match mine. She's also into wearing jewelry now, so she has to get into her costume jewels each day to pick out a necklace or bracelet. Erik bought her a box of dress up shoes last week - I think it was like 6 or 8 pairs and she is in heaven with them. She has a pair to match every outfit now. She's so funny because she puts each pair back in its little compartment when she is done with them.
Will continues to explore everything. He loves it outside and can't wait to go out every day. I'm spending considerable time each week using shout and a scrub brush on the knees of his pants because of grass stains and dirt. He is not content to just sit in a stroller or walker - he has to be down and moving. He's climbing well now too and if we don't remember to put the gate up will be at the top of the stairs before you can blink. He's still cruising around furniture and practicing walking. My other children walked around this age, but I won't be sad if Will takes a bit longer. Once they walk, it is really hard to keep them contained.
Rainy days and Sundays . . .
I just thought that was a funny title since it has been so rainy here - and I am a little down today. Mostly because I am tired. Poor little Willie J had a temperature yesterday - I blame it on teething (I can see those huge red bumps of eye teeth straining against his gums) but I think there is also an early fall cold going around. Poor little guy woke up around midnight and couldn't get settled back to sleep - I brought him into bed w/ me and at 1 am, Maggie joined us. That woke poor Willie up, so he and I went downstairs for a dose of Tylenol and a couch cuddle - when I thought he was asleep, I carried him upstairs, laid him down, moved Maggie back to her room, but Will was not asleep and could not get settled for another hour. We both finally fell asleep (I ended up nursing him after 1/2 hour of tossing) and then Maggie joined us again at 4 am. UGH! Luckily, they are both now napping and I may take a little snooze myself.
Walker is at the Fall Festival (they used to call it the Ethnic Festival) in Butler today, helping out at the deli. Thankfully, Shelly called this morning and asked if he could join her. He will have a blast and get some energy spent waiting on customers and cleaning tables. He loves to work and today would have been so boring spent all day inside.
I took some pictures of Maggie & Will playing this morning - they were playing with the cash register. Will saw how Maggie was speaking into the microphone and he imitated her.
Unfortunately, they don't know how to not put the entire microphone in their mouth when using it. Eew - gross!
Rural myths and legends
So, I'm in my car about to leave for my Bible study this morning when all of a sudden I hear scraping under my feet and a big "thump, thump, thump." Somewhat frightened, but aware that in all likelyhood it is an actual pet under my car, I jump out and take a peek. And I find this . . .
But not really. We do really love our dogs around here. They are good friends and faithful servants - as pesky as they may seem at times, we really would be lost without them.
Now for a different rural myth . . . The case of "Happily Ever After." It does exist and we have proof with the celebration of Erik's grandparents 60th wedding anniversary.
Shown here are some of the grandchildren: from left, Travis & his wife, Julia. Jennifer, married to Erik. April and her husband Jeff, Velvet & her husband, Chad. Somehow the other married couple, Jon and his wife Courtney, escaped this photo. Also missing are Brynn & Cory, unable to fly East for the party.
This is Ches & Billie feeding each other cake that my talented sister in law Julia made.
Can you even imagine? Some days I think I'll be lucky to make it to age 60! Chester & Billie
(Helen is her real name) have 3 children, Bob, Shelly and Ron. Shown here from left, Ron & his wife, Alidra, Shelly & her husband, Bill (my in-laws) and Bob & his wife, Bonnie.
Finally, the great grandchildren . . .
Four of them (Erik, April, Travis, and Velvet) have produced 10 great grandchildren! From Left: Walker & Maggie Schwalm - Maggie is in the light pink dress standing in front; On Grandma's lap Taylor Schwalm, daughter of Travis & Julia, and Haley Henry, daughter of Velvet & Chad, Standing, Chet Schwalm, son of Travis & Julia, Caleb (sitting) & Ian (leaning) Burke, sons of April & Jeff Burke. Above them in the polka dot dress is their sister, Grace. In GP's arms are Edward Henry, son of Velvet & Chad, and Will Schwalm, son of Erik & Jennifer.
What a crew. Anyone notice all the namesakes?
Walker is their surname (Chet & Billie Walker), Chet is short for Chester (GP is called Ches) and Edward is Ches's dad's name, and Grace is Ches's mom's name. Sweet, huh?
The Pied Farmer?
Erik put up his portable netting fence at the front of the house yesterday and decided to move this year's kids to the front. All you have to do to get the kids to move is to shake a feedbucket and they will follow you anywhere. The only problem was that Maurice, the guard donkey, escaped too and did not want the goats to go with Erik, so he kept interfering with the progress. In the midst of it all, you will see one of our turkey hatchlings. She is either Butterball or Honeysuckle - we're not sure which. Both turkeys are extremely friendly and affectionate. I almost feel bad we're going to butcher them. They are so funny wandering around the farm yard. The best is when Maggie goes out and hollers, "Butterball, Butterball, come here Butterball!"
Oh, and the pictures are grainy because I took them through the window. Imagine my shock when I open my eyes from my deathbed, I mean sickbed on the couch and see a herd of goats followed by a donkey and a turkey. I obviously had to get a picture!
Just a reminder - don't forget to check out flickr (link on the left) to see TONS more photos of life here at goodness grows farm!
Walker's first day of 3 day Preschool
Today was Walker's first day of 3 day Preschool. It started off poorly though - the past 3 days I have been suffering from a horrible sore throat. I thought it was just allergy related. But, the last two days, I've had a fever and today my throat was (according to me) almost swollen shut when I woke up this morning - it felt like I couldn't swallow my own spit. I felt horrible but the day was looking up as I thought I had heard Erik cleaning up the kitchen - a task I was unable to do last night since I had developed a 102.5 temperature and chills - the works. It must have just been wishful hearing because I came down to a dirty kitchen and kids that wanted breakfast and to play. I managed to beg my neighbor, Dear Donna, to watch the children for me while I went to the clinic and prayed that no one else would be there so I didn't have to wait and I'd be home in time to take Walker to school.
I do have to say for my husband that he did find out when the Walgreen clinic was open for me and had he not been working for another landscaper today, he probably would have stayed home to help. But, I don't think he thought that I was as seriously sick as I am. And to be honest, neither did I. I totally expected to get to Walgreens and they would give me, "well, it's not something we can treat with antibiotics" and spend $60 to buy a bottle of tylenol and suffer. Luckily (?) I am sick - I have a diagnosis of acute pharyngitis and got a prescription for amoxicillan and will hopefully be well soon. For anyone considering Walgreens for such an ailment, I highly recommend it! It was fast and easy.
But all that Drama screwed up my big plans for Walker's first day of school. Of course he didn't even notice - he could have cared less. In his world, he just finished two day preschool yesterday. He got to school, saw some old friends - he only has 8 others in his class. He was funny - reminding me this morning, "Kendyll won't be at school this time because she is on 'acation with her family. But she will be there next week." He had a fun 2 hours and Mrs. Yam said she thought all the children were all going to get along really well.
I did manage to take the above adorable pictures. It almost makes the sore throat go away.
Almost.
Adventures with table food.
Will has made the great migration from baby food to all table food. It has been challenging figuring out what to give him since of late, my children have only wanted to eat corn on the cob and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Will, fortunately, loves jelly sandwiches and has been able to enjoy that delight with his siblings. 
The other night while preparing supper, I offered Will a popsicle to keep him quiet and entertained while I finished our meal.
I was making enchiladas - I ran the risk but thought if I disquised the fact that it was an enchildada by calling it "confetti beef" and adding black beans and corn to the mixture, the children would gobble it up. (I'm doing a lot of disguising stuff within stuff these days. I'm going to ask my sister, Katie, to borrow her copy of the Jessica Seinfeld cookbook that came out last year with all the recipes on how to disguise good food in foods kids will eat.)
No gobbling at his house! Walker had a melt down saying he didn't like "Fetti beef." And, true to form, Maggie pushed her plate away and said, "Ca- ca. Me eat o-gurt, Momma." So, the older two ate left over hamburgers, yogurt and corn on the cob. Oooh - variety!
Will, however, scarfed down the confetti beef like a champ, never even letting on he could taste the mexican seasonings in the beef. He ate so much and so well, I had to bath him following his adventure. Of course, what better place to bathe a baby than in the kitchen sink. For those of you not familiar with this concept, it allows a lot of flexibility in the kitchen. Will was able to sit in the sink while I finished clearing dishes, wiping the counter and sweeping the floor. Additionally, somehow he managed to grab a brownie off the plate sitting next to the sink and enjoy a sweet treat during his bath. What better way for a
baby to eat a gooey, sticky brownie than in the tub.
You just drain the water and start again.
After his bath, I put him in the cutest velor Pajamas that my Aunt Alicia had given him when he was born. I was afraid we may have missed our chance with them since they were size 6 month and he's 10 months, but luckily, they ran big and he looked so adorable all cleaned up and in his baby pajamas. I hate the fact that he is losing his babyish-ness. He's starting to let go of things while he is standing, balancing for a few seconds before he realizes he is doing it all by himself. If he is like his siblings, he'll be walking in 3 weeks or so. : ( I'm gonna go cry now.
Look at his little curls forming in the back. How cute is he?
We are now mac users
Well, I did it. I walked right into that apple store and bought an imac. And during the checkout process I had heart palpitations. It was my first charge card purchase in almost 2 years. I regretted it instantly but only for a second.
Now I am looking at a 24 inch screen and at the dinky PC screen next to it and wondering why I was so scared. What a difference. I'm a little intimidated by all that I don't know, but I signed up for one on one classes at the apple store and will be learning all kinds of good stuff there. I can't wait. Now I just have to begin the process of transferring things from my PC to the mac. Not much, really, just songs and pictures, which shouldn't be hard.
We went to the Aviary today with our new friends, the Browns, and we had a lovely time. My children were all extremely well behaved and did their momma proud. We saw a bunch of neat birds and the impressive bald eagles and he stellar sea-eagle. Very cool. We also saw pygmie falcons sitting on eggs. It was quite comical peering in at her in her box then she would sit up and squawk at you if she thought you were too close. I forgot to bring my camera - I know, what was I thinking? so I don't have any pictures. But I'm sure the Brown's will send me some soon.
I'm so excited - I'm leaving to explore more on my mac!
It's almost school time
Today we had three day preschool orientation at Walker's school. He was so cute. His little girl friend, Kendyl was there and they pretended not to notice each other for the first 1/2 hour then they were inseparable. Twenty four kids were signed up for the 3 day preschool class, so they decided to divide the class in two. I told the school that I was flexible so we put Walker in the afternoon class. Yesterday, when Erik told Walker we had made this decision, his only question to Erik was, "Is Kendyl going to be in my class?"
I spoke with Kendyl's mom today and she said she would go ahead and put Kendyl in the afternoon class so we could keep the little lovebirds together. We are good mothers!
After orientation, I took Walker to lunch and then we hit Target for some back to school shopping. He picked out three shirts, two pairs of shoes and a back pack. He is so thrilled about this back pack. We searched and searched the aisles until he found what he was looking for.
Wheels.
I don't think he would have cared if Hannah Montana or Hello Kitty was on the back pack, as long as there was a set of wheels and a handle. He has taken that backpack everywhere today. He took it to show Donna, our neighbor, who watched the little two for me, and to the pool where it sat in the van but had to be with us. Then he was so proud to show it to his father who oohed and aahed over it the appropriate amount.
The funniest part of the day and the thing that Walker is most proud of . . .
I bought him a travel size thing of deodorant. He is so happy. He told me the whole way home from Target, over and over,
"I'm going to put my dod e rent in my shelf wif my cwoves so I can be wike Daddy and put my dod e rant on when I get dressed in the morning."
Oh, gracious, that boy is something else. He is supposed to be in bed right now falling asleep, and he keeps coming downstairs because, "I just need to tell you somping, Momma." The first time he told me, "I just can't sweep. I have too many boo-boos that are hurting."
The second time, "Momma, I have a idea. I want to get a wittle cooler wike Daddy has so I can take sammiches wif mustard and mayo on them to school and they won't get bad."
Me: "Well, honey, that's a great idea, but you will be going to school after lunch so I don't think you'll need a whole sandwich."
Walker: "But it's for my snack!"
The third time (I have a feeling there will be more trips down here) he says, "Momma, I'm tiwed of wistening to dat CD pwaying. I've heard all them songs too many times alweady. I need a new CD."
Me: "Walker, that is a radio station playing. You can't change the songs."
Walker in his most annoyed and and disparaging voice, "I KNOW! And I'm tired of them songs, Momma. I need a new CD!"
Me: "Go to bed NOW!"
I do believe Walker has inherited my genes in the sleep department - he just feels like he's going to miss something if he goes to sleep.
He is something so sweet though. I just love him so much.
And I hear footsteps . . .
I spoke with Kendyl's mom today and she said she would go ahead and put Kendyl in the afternoon class so we could keep the little lovebirds together. We are good mothers!
After orientation, I took Walker to lunch and then we hit Target for some back to school shopping. He picked out three shirts, two pairs of shoes and a back pack. He is so thrilled about this back pack. We searched and searched the aisles until he found what he was looking for.
Wheels.
I don't think he would have cared if Hannah Montana or Hello Kitty was on the back pack, as long as there was a set of wheels and a handle. He has taken that backpack everywhere today. He took it to show Donna, our neighbor, who watched the little two for me, and to the pool where it sat in the van but had to be with us. Then he was so proud to show it to his father who oohed and aahed over it the appropriate amount.
The funniest part of the day and the thing that Walker is most proud of . . .
I bought him a travel size thing of deodorant. He is so happy. He told me the whole way home from Target, over and over,
"I'm going to put my dod e rent in my shelf wif my cwoves so I can be wike Daddy and put my dod e rant on when I get dressed in the morning."
Oh, gracious, that boy is something else. He is supposed to be in bed right now falling asleep, and he keeps coming downstairs because, "I just need to tell you somping, Momma." The first time he told me, "I just can't sweep. I have too many boo-boos that are hurting."
The second time, "Momma, I have a idea. I want to get a wittle cooler wike Daddy has so I can take sammiches wif mustard and mayo on them to school and they won't get bad."
Me: "Well, honey, that's a great idea, but you will be going to school after lunch so I don't think you'll need a whole sandwich."
Walker: "But it's for my snack!"
The third time (I have a feeling there will be more trips down here) he says, "Momma, I'm tiwed of wistening to dat CD pwaying. I've heard all them songs too many times alweady. I need a new CD."
Me: "Walker, that is a radio station playing. You can't change the songs."
Walker in his most annoyed and and disparaging voice, "I KNOW! And I'm tired of them songs, Momma. I need a new CD!"
Me: "Go to bed NOW!"
I do believe Walker has inherited my genes in the sleep department - he just feels like he's going to miss something if he goes to sleep.
He is something so sweet though. I just love him so much.
And I hear footsteps . . .
Sad news
Our miracle Carnie goldfish passed away sometime in the middle of the night.
The funeral was a small family affair. In fact only Walker & Erik were in attendance. I was busy preparing the post-funeral meal and Maggie & Will were busy crying. Not about the fish, but for food.
Walker & Erik joined us at the island counter and began to eat.
Walker: "Why did the fish have to die?"
Me: "Well, those types of fish live a hard life before we get them. They travel with the carnival operators and don't always live very long lives. They really need to live in a pond or a lake."
Walker: "I'm sad all of our fish died."
Me: "I know it is sad when things die."
Maggie: "Fish die. All gone. Go to potty now. Bye shishies." (Maggie cannot say "F" and says it like "sh"instead.)
Walker: "Can we be done now?"
Me: "You're excused."
Thirty minutes later . . .
Walker: "Mom?! When can we get new fish?"
The funeral was a small family affair. In fact only Walker & Erik were in attendance. I was busy preparing the post-funeral meal and Maggie & Will were busy crying. Not about the fish, but for food.
Walker & Erik joined us at the island counter and began to eat.
Walker: "Why did the fish have to die?"
Me: "Well, those types of fish live a hard life before we get them. They travel with the carnival operators and don't always live very long lives. They really need to live in a pond or a lake."
Walker: "I'm sad all of our fish died."
Me: "I know it is sad when things die."
Maggie: "Fish die. All gone. Go to potty now. Bye shishies." (Maggie cannot say "F" and says it like "sh"instead.)
Walker: "Can we be done now?"
Me: "You're excused."
Thirty minutes later . . .
Walker: "Mom?! When can we get new fish?"
It's a great day at Goodness Grows Farm
It is a great day here at Goodness Grows Farm. Well, except for the fact that Will got up at ten to seven. And that I had to get up at 7:50 because Erik went downstairs and Maggie woke up and woke me up because she wanted to get dressed and eat. But, I got a lot done this morning. Last night before bed I felt totally overwhelmed because I had so much laundry to do - actually, the doing the laundry doesn't bother me - it is the folding it and putting it away that I can't stand! Walker had wet his bed two nights ago, so I still had sheets to put on the bed (luckily there is a spare bed in the boys room, so Walker slept in that last night) and I had I'm ashamed to say, FOUR baskets of laundry - 2 to be put away and 2 to be folded and put away. Then, this morning as I was getting the little two out of my bed, Will burped and threw up all over our sheets - so I had yet another set of linens to wash. Luckily, Erik played with Will & Maggie while I did the laundry and went back upstairs to put it all away. All that is left to put away is the boys clothes b/c Will was asleep by the time I got to their stuff.
Last night Erik took the kids to the rodeo and left me home with Willie J.
We had a nice evening together - and Will even managed to get in some reading time.
Despite all the laundry, we had some cute moments here today. Erik is in the process of brush hogging (mowing) some of our fields our lots that we have for sale. Some folks are interested in the lots, so they wanted to see it mowed. Maggie & Walker tagged along with him today - Walker found lots of black berries and picked us a cup full. Maggie just followed along with her baby. She is so into role playing mommy.
So, a few pictures to document our day:
Because the kids got home from the Rodeo so late, we just let them sleep in their clothes. Except they always like to take off their pants when they sleep. So, here is how Walker woke up this morning.
Wanting to play . . .
Outside
On his tractor.
WITHOUT PANTS
"No shoes, No Shirt, No Service . . . NO PROBLEM!"
And our resident movie star cow-girl . . . Heaven forbid she be seen without her glasses. Are the Paps going to be taking pictures of her like this someday?
And my sweet
Willie J
Before breakfast on the left and after breakfast on the right. He needed a bath - and decided to have a spot of tea during his tubby.
My farmers. Working so hard Maggie May fell asleep in her daddy's arms. She's a good momma - still clutching her baby.
Goodness, everyone sure is growin' fast 'round these parts. I'm not sure if I'm emotionally prepared for all this growin' up!
Last night Erik took the kids to the rodeo and left me home with Willie J.
We had a nice evening together - and Will even managed to get in some reading time.Despite all the laundry, we had some cute moments here today. Erik is in the process of brush hogging (mowing) some of our fields our lots that we have for sale. Some folks are interested in the lots, so they wanted to see it mowed. Maggie & Walker tagged along with him today - Walker found lots of black berries and picked us a cup full. Maggie just followed along with her baby. She is so into role playing mommy.
So, a few pictures to document our day:
Because the kids got home from the Rodeo so late, we just let them sleep in their clothes. Except they always like to take off their pants when they sleep. So, here is how Walker woke up this morning.
Wanting to play . . .
Outside
On his tractor.WITHOUT PANTS
"No shoes, No Shirt, No Service . . . NO PROBLEM!"
And our resident movie star cow-girl . . . Heaven forbid she be seen without her glasses. Are the Paps going to be taking pictures of her like this someday?
And my sweetWillie J
Before breakfast on the left and after breakfast on the right. He needed a bath - and decided to have a spot of tea during his tubby.
My farmers. Working so hard Maggie May fell asleep in her daddy's arms. She's a good momma - still clutching her baby.
Goodness, everyone sure is growin' fast 'round these parts. I'm not sure if I'm emotionally prepared for all this growin' up! Miracle Update . . .
For any of you wondering, at the time of this post, the Carnie gold fish is still alive.
Miracle on Heller Road: The Tale of the Carnie Fish
It was the weirdest thing.
Well, let me back track first.
Last Friday at the Farm Show, we won 3 fish.
One fish died the first night in our home. Since then, I've managed to keep the other two fish alive by rotating them between two mason jars filled with well water.
Today, I was in the kitchen and all of a sudden I noticed one of the fish floating on the top of the water. It was the ONLY fish in the mason jar!
I looked around and lying on the kitchen counter was the other fish. Assumming it was a goner (I know, I know - what happens when you assume) I went and got the camera to take a picture of it because who knew, like the Great White Sharks off the African coast, simple, everyday gold fish can LEAP out of the water in search of their prey.
What possible reason did this fish have for leaping out of its perfectly nice mason jar home?
See, here it is in close up - and as I'm taking this picture close-up-ish of the dead fish on the counter because I thought it was so unique and unusual
Well, let me back track first.
Last Friday at the Farm Show, we won 3 fish.
One fish died the first night in our home. Since then, I've managed to keep the other two fish alive by rotating them between two mason jars filled with well water.
Today, I was in the kitchen and all of a sudden I noticed one of the fish floating on the top of the water. It was the ONLY fish in the mason jar!
I looked around and lying on the kitchen counter was the other fish. Assumming it was a goner (I know, I know - what happens when you assume) I went and got the camera to take a picture of it because who knew, like the Great White Sharks off the African coast, simple, everyday gold fish can LEAP out of the water in search of their prey.
The result: 
Could the fish see the food sitting outside the jar and was he/she trying to reach it?What possible reason did this fish have for leaping out of its perfectly nice mason jar home?
See, here it is in close up - and as I'm taking this picture close-up-ish of the dead fish on the counter because I thought it was so unique and unusual
The gills start to move!
That's right folks! The fish was breathing outside of water.
Since I did not know the Guiness World Record number off hand, I quickly filled the other mason jar with water and threw the fish into the new water. And it is still ALIVE!! As you can see here!
Just call me the fish whisperer.
Maggie was there to witness it all - eating a piece of peanut butter toast. Well, more accurately, licking the peanut butter off of a piece of toast. She was not too impressed with the death and is not too upset over the loss of the fish. When the first one died, Walker declared that one was Will's fish. Now I suppose he will declare this recent loss as Maggie's fish. That would leave him with the only living fish.
Sounds pretty typical for a first born.
Erik is taking them to the rodeo tonight. I'm going to try sending the camera with them - I doubt he'll take pictures though.
Speaking of rodeo's, I am in search of toddler/youth sized cowboy boots. Oh, and did I find some cute ones at Shepler's.com. They are so adorable. I don't know how I'm going to pick a pair. Don't tell the kids, but that is what we are going to buy them for Christmas. They will be their "show" boots for when they show goats. Fun, right?!
Since I did not know the Guiness World Record number off hand, I quickly filled the other mason jar with water and threw the fish into the new water. And it is still ALIVE!! As you can see here!
Just call me the fish whisperer. Maggie was there to witness it all - eating a piece of peanut butter toast. Well, more accurately, licking the peanut butter off of a piece of toast. She was not too impressed with the death and is not too upset over the loss of the fish. When the first one died, Walker declared that one was Will's fish. Now I suppose he will declare this recent loss as Maggie's fish. That would leave him with the only living fish.
Sounds pretty typical for a first born.
Erik is taking them to the rodeo tonight. I'm going to try sending the camera with them - I doubt he'll take pictures though.
Speaking of rodeo's, I am in search of toddler/youth sized cowboy boots. Oh, and did I find some cute ones at Shepler's.com. They are so adorable. I don't know how I'm going to pick a pair. Don't tell the kids, but that is what we are going to buy them for Christmas. They will be their "show" boots for when they show goats. Fun, right?!