Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Tale of The Sleeping Baby


See, I am awake! Those of you out there that travel in our circles have probably come to believe (for good reason) that Aiden is never awake. Well, for the most part you are correct. When we leave the house his internal switch puts him into sleep mode until we arrive back at home. So I thought I would post an awake picture for you all to see so we have proof that he does wake up...eventually.... Although yesterday I had my doubts when, after seeping all day, he also slept through the night. Hum...Another growth spurt? I hope not!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Swim Lessons

Sarah has been taking swim lessons for about two weeks now. She has done very well this year, although I think she may be to small for them to bump her up to the level three status she was looking for. (She is the smallest one in her group) She does swim like a fish though, more often underwater then above.

Her boy-craziness has really come in handy for lessons too. She has a young man, Jordan, as her instructor and would do just about anything he says! He even has her going off the diving board without a life jacket! (This was a little scary for Mom, not for Sarah) My friend Lynn compared the instructor to the Incredibles character today - I think she was right, they do bear some similarities... None the less - Sarah is enamored with him.
Sarah and Mr. Incredible
Hanging out in the deep end - Look Mom No Life Jacket!
Swim class - learning the front crawl
Kick board.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Where's Matthew?

The Farmer has been MIA around the homestead, and some have inquired as to his where being. Well, the picture below accounts for most of his time lately. The wheat harvest took about two weeks to bring in this year. This is a picture down at Uncle Pat's house behind the shop.Matthew did get some time on Monday to spend with Sarah while he unloaded straw in our machine shed. She was thrilled to have Daddy home for the afternoon. They were inseparable out in the yard. She even followed him down to the shop to help fix a trailer. When I came to pick her up, she had swept the shop floor and helped hand Daddy parts he needed while he worked - she loved it!

Let's Go RV'ing


As some of you may know, Matthew and I have been looking (albeit, lackadaisically) for an RV lately. Originally Matthew thought he wanted a cabin (thanks Jake and Abby) that we would use to get away in the summer and maybe enjoy in the wintertime too. But after giving it some thought, we decided a camper may suit our lifestyle a little better. (Ok, I decided...) Only for the fact that we would not be held down to one location, plus we would not have another mortgage and tax to pay on!

So, we have looked at only two campers so far. One was quite disappointing in that I do not think they ever cleaned that thing - and that is just gross! The other was a self-propelled unit which was way out of our league. So we continue the hunt. If anyone out there knows of anything worth looking at - please let me know.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Sarah's Baby

If you look very closely you will see a cicada in this picture. Sarah found this guy in the tree out in front of our house yesterday. He was still wet from emerging from his former skin and hanging on the tree to dry. Sarah claimed him as her baby and kept watch over him all day - even as far as chasing a hopeful bird away from picking him off.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

New Horse on the Block


A couple of weeks ago, my friend Jim bought himself a fancy new horse. They call him Chief. Ok - it is really El Jue--something something in Spanish that means chief - but I can only pronounce Chief.

Today Sarah, Aiden and I went out to take a look at said fellow. He is sure a looker! Peruvian Paso by breed, he moves quite elequantly and seems to fly around the ring. His glossy black coat catching the sun and mane and tail streaming behind. Jim had just the tack to adorn such a stead too. With tapederos and all they were decked out to the max.

Jim was having some minor discipline troubles with the guy that he said he would like a little help with, and with a minor amount of coaching he was able to correct him and off they went around the area like old friends.

Now to put my riding lately in perspective, I have not ridden since July of last year. (Trying to get on a horse while you are pregnant is uncomfortable at best.) So when I volunteered to ride this one, I was nervous to say the least. Climbing in the saddle Chief reassured my fear by pinning his ears and reaching for my shoe. Boy was he surprised when he got that tapedaro instead! But once I was in the saddle I was in heaven! To feel that horse beneath me and the power he possesses was wondrous. He stepped out beautifully, full of willingness and strength. Oh how I have missed that feeling...

So now I have the bug. I will be searching for sitters to care for the kids as I ride off in the sunset on our beasts here at home. Someone should really warn our horses.

Makin' Pie

Pitting the cherries was a breeze with this cherry pitter.
Sarah was quite the helper. (Beware of cherry pits....) We were able to make three pies before we ran out of time yesterday. Two raspberry and cherry and one straight cherry. But don't worry folks, I have the makings for eight more pies in the feezer! Maybe we can knock those out on Saturday. So if you are closeby, you will probably have a pie on your doorstep soon.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Cherry Pictures



Cherry Pickin'

Sarah is very a very particular picker.


Aiden, as you can see, was a BIG help!
I think we have enough for one day...
Yesterday Sarah, Aiden and I went over to the Evans farm to gather some fresh cherries. As you can see from the pictures, they had an abundant bounty! We should have enough now to make about four pies and one coffee cake. We may go back again for more - the trees are still dripping with these red gems!
As always, it was a great time hanging out with Jim and his grandson, Luke. Sarah even got to take off in the Ranger for some one-on-one time with Jim. That always proves to be educational! Somehow she came back with all the raspberries they had gone off to pick... She is a fast talker. I guess I will be making some jam today too.

Still Kickin'




Above: Dressed for success! It is all about the outfit! Left: Sarah got to kick in the ball!
Below: "What are we supposed to be watching? When can we go back inside?" Aiden is not amused...
Last Wednesday Sarah had her first Soccer Game. It was interesting.... Ok, so when you have 30 4-6 year olds you have to expect some level of chaos. Basically the kids just tried to kick the ball. It did not matter in what direction the ball was kicked, only that contact was made.


Sarah was her usual timid self and hung out on the fringes of the excitement for the most part.


She did, however, get chosen to kick the ball in from out of bounds! That was pretty exciting! And quite possibly, the only time she was able to touch the ball. We will be playing every Monday and Wednesday night, so maybe she will get in the mix eventually. Right now I am just happy that she is out there running her little heart out and making new friends. (Two of which she has declared as her new boyfriends...uhg...)



Aiden on the other hand, was not interested in watching Big Sis at all - he was more interested in finding out why the "outside" is not air conditioned. He did pretty well for about 15 minutes and then he was done and needed a cold drink! Sounds a lot like Daddy...

Smiles

Well, it may have taken us seven weeks to see a smile out of Aiden, but it was well worth the wait! He has turned into a very happy baby, and quite the chatter box. Matthew says he must take after Sarah and I. We don't talk that much...do we?
I am trying not to take it personally that he smiled at the ceiling fan long before he smiled at me. I did, however, explain to him that it is not the ceiling fan that gets up with him at 2 a.m., and he needed to share the love. He is now very willing to share his smiles. With anyone, or anything!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Cold day at the pool

Beer break for Todd!
National kid throwing competition.
Sarah was so cold her lips were blue - but back in the water she went!
Break time - really it was time to warm up. Ok - so the icees did not help that.

Zoe refused to take off the goggles, even for an icee break!

Over the weekend we hung out at Todd and Tami's house and did some swimming with the kids. I should say, Matthew did some swimming with the kids - it was cold, you can't expect me to get in there! The kids did not care though, they were all about the water. Sarah even began jumping in by herself and shocked us all with her swimming abilities in the deep water.

By the time they came out of the water, they all had goose bumps the size of Volkswagons and were shivering uncontrolably, but it never phased them. They were ready for rund two after supper!

Hay Day


Sarah "helped" Daddy put up hay the other night in the big barn. She had more fun throwing the hay into the air then she did helping her father. I think she came in the house wearing more hay then she left in the barn.

And, yes, those of you who read my previous entries would note that Matthew still has a broken rib. Apparently nothing slows this man down! He did come in and take an asprin though...

Amaretto Slushies

1 (750ml) bottle amaretto
1 (12oz) can frozen raspberry lemonade, thawed
1/2 cup sugar
1 (12oz) can frozen pineapple or orange juice, thawed
8 cups water
1 (2 liter) bottle lemon-lime soda

Combine the amaretto, lemonade, sugar, pineapple juice and water in 2 freezer safe pitchers. Freeze for 24 hrs, stirring after 12 hrs. Remove from the freezer. Add the soda, stirring to a slushy consistency. Garnish with orange slices or cherries.

Yield: 25 servings