Getting With the Program

Oh my how time has flown by, we have been home for a week now and oh the fun we had while we were gone, we are finally settled back in at home. When we got home we (meaning I forced -B-) got to work, getting out the decorations and setting up the tree. Then we were off to bed, it was long trip home, we were done about three hours away and still had three more to go!

The next morning I woke up with a surge of energy and spent the day decorating and getting into the spirit and such, by the following morning at 9am, I hit a wall, in which NOTHING got accomplished and I sat, and sat, and sat. That being said it meant nothing was posted here. Meaning all of the fun and exciting times we had would be lost forever, that is until NOW....hehe.

Here it goes (prepare yourself):

We had the first Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday, so that we could enjoy some Turkey with -K-, -S- and -R-, before they had to return to work on Monday.

-B- and I.

-K- and -S-.

Jackie and -M-.

-A- and -R-.

Papa and -A-.

Nini with her oldest and youngest (for about 3 more months anyway).

Four Generations of -G- men. -B- with -A- and -N-, his big brother -M- and his son -L-, with their Dad and his Dad, whew that was a mouthful.
It's not often this happens, must have been one busy day, not to mention a lot of time in the car over night.
-B- and the boys in the "truck trailer" behind the "orange tractor".

Our niece -A- holding -A-, she is such a great Big cousin. And let's not forget his other amazing Big cousin -a-.

On the Monday before Thanksgiving, we made a trip to Chicago to see Granny Great, she recently had knee surgery and couldn't make the trip down just yet, so she got to meet -A- for the first time, he gets his first name from her Dad.

When we got back to the farm the fun continued. On Wednesday we had our first attempt at taking the kids for a ride on the four wheeler, we got got out the fron gate and about a mile away, when, uh oh!

No she didn't run out of gas.

She broke down and as we were going to tow her home, she got it running again. She explained to the boys that there was something wrong with the gas getting to the engine.

With a little work by -M- and -B-, and come to find out there WAS a problem with the gas getting to the engine. (That Jackie she is one smart Cookie ; ))

Not to worry though, all was not lost -L- found a furry caterpillar and it is important that you know it is a girl!

On Thursday we indulged in Turkey over at Uncle Bill's house.

Great Grandpa and -A-.

After we finished eating we ventured outside to burn off some of those calories. The children played a bit on the tractors and amazingly enough both -L- and -N- still fit in the wheel wells, well just barely.

And here's -a- too.All while -A- hung out by the horses.

and a few of the cousins with -A- and -a-.

Let's not forget the guys and -A-.

On Friday we made a successful attempt at the four wheeler ride again, and this time we took a lunch for a picnic.

a little mud

and Lunch!

On Saturday -B- played with the "Ole Ford Truck".

And -L- and -N- went horse back riding (hehe).

Then the Tree was put up

and -A- showed off his laugh that he recently discovered.

Whew what a week!! Now you know why it took a week to recoupe. We had a blast!!! Oh how we miss them so!

One of Those Moments

So it is rather rare, as I have said before that -N- ask me to tuck him in. So this evening, I read the story How I Became a Pirate by David Shannon (a new favorite), we finished our bed time routine, I tucked him in and laid down beside him to snuggle.

I then asked, "-N- what are you going to dream about?" (a question we ask every night) He responded with..."tractors, Nini and Papa, Grammy and Grandpa and trucks." So I asked what they would be doing in his dream and he explained, 'we have work to do, we have to build a fence for the horses and cows Mom!!!" I couldn't stop laughing.

My how that Papa leaves an impression on such a young mind!

Best Buds

So this morning I sit here wondering why it's been so long since I last blogged, and well, life seems to be getting the way. So I set out to take pics of the boys, since -A- is officially 4 months old as of yesterday and now fits in the cute little shirt that Aunt -K- sent. So here the brothers are...let the oohs and aahs begin.
Brotherly love! (Left side -B's- Family all the way, Right side My Family all the way, yet so much in common)

-N- 2 years and 8 1/2 months old.
-A- 4 months and 1 day old.

Now be watching forthe next post...I got a great set of shots of -N- playing with his Dad earlier this week, but for now we are off to play at the park.

Never a dull moment...

What began as an otherwise uneventful day, has turned out to be quite hysterical. This morning the boys and I got up like any other morning, though much earlier as far as the clock is concerned, THANK you daylight savings time, grrr. Anyhow, -N- climbed into his chair at the kitchen table, said his prayers and ate his breakfast as usual, -A- ate his breakfast just the same and I fit in mouthfuls of cereal when the moment lent itself to me.

After breakfast we all headed in to get cleaned up, nothing particularly unusual about that. -N- came running out to the living room to make an attempt at putting socks on his feet while I changed -A-. I got -A- settled with some toys to bat at and then proceeded to our entry way coat closet to get shoes and coats, so we could head to the park to play. This is where our rather uneventful morning took a turn...

I opened the closet and reached as I always do to find myself eye to eye with a beady eyed little mouse!!! Now a mouse on the floor is no biggie, well for me any how. But when you find yourself at eye level with one of the little buggers, thoughts of them jumping and landing on you, ending up down your shirt or on top of your head begin to creep you out. So I did what any other self respecting scared out of her wits woman would do...I screamed, closed the door and called my husband. That's what you would have done right?

Well I did, at which point I realized how silly this had to be on the other end of the phone. I mean really, what exactly did I expect him to do? So after calming down and getting my wits about me, and figuring out my plan of attack, thanks to -B-, I hung up the phone. At which point I went to the garage, gathered wood to barricade the front entry and closed off the front entry way, as though the mouse on the top shelf of my closet could not possibly get over the 18 inch high boards I used, HA! I then got the broom out, opened the front door and the closet door...and got the heck out of the way, in hope that this little was as terrified as me and would go running to any exit to get away.

However, there was no mouse to be found, or seen at least. I used the broom to shuffle the coats, mind you still behind the barricades, and nothing happened. So I swept -N-'s shoes out of the closet, pulled his jacket on to the floor and beat them repeatedly, to be sure there wasn't a mouse hiding within, and I closed the closet door. I got a blanket, shoved it under the door, closed the front door and we left for the park with the little bugger trapped in the closet!

As we headed home, I gathered the nerve to attempt to chase this little rodent out of my house. I pulled into the driveway, opened the garage, grabbed my trusty broom and headed to the front door once more. I opened it, slowly pulled the blanket out and tossed it over the barricade, and opened the closet door. To my surprise there was still no sign of a mouse. I started at one end and shook and rattled each coat and still nothing. I knocked at each pair of shoes and nothing, I slowly began to take things off the shelf one by one. Three gloves and no mouse, one hat and no mouse, one back pack tipped upside down with two diapers, bum cream and a MOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!

I tossed the backpack and swung at the mouse with the broom, knocking it out the front door. Wouldn't you know that dang little thing landed and came running right back inside, with a second strike, he took off down the walkway and around the front corner of the house with me in pursuit...right back into my garage!!! Grrr, gosh you think I would have closed that dang thing after getting the broom, oh well, now -B- can set a trap in the garage and deal with it in there. As for the house, I have conquered that mouse, all 3 inches from head to the tip of his tail.

So here are some pics from the park, cause there was no chance of me waiting around to catch a picture of the furry little creature that about gave me a heart attack this morning.

Oh the Fun We Had...

I took -N- and -A- to the park to visit with friends and show off their costumes, -N- trick or treated, trunk or treat style at the picnic tables with his friends. Rhonda was at it again from http://www.snapshotsonlocation.com/ and set up a photo shoot for each of the little trick or treaters. So here is our "Cowboy" and his "Horse"...a few of my favorites!

And a few from the evening too...we went to a carnival for a bit with -G.G.-. -N- enjoyed answering the door and passing out candy more than collecting loot this year, not sure he understood that all the candy was going to be gone, but now that he knows, not so sure he'll pass on the trick or treating next year.and yes that is a mustache, Dad's idea.