A Visit to a Barn...

Even though we farm and now live "in the country", (I use that term loosely as it feels almost in town since we are so close to a highway and about a mile only from town) our kids are such City Slickers! If I am honest, I probably am too!! :)

We had a little extra time a couple of Friday nights ago, so we went over to visit some Bucket Calves at our "neighbor's house" ( I use this term loosely too as it is hard for me a town girl to get used to saying someone is my neighbor when they live up to 3 miles away...:))
So, if you know about bucket calves, you know they like to suck...these pictures perfectly show how my kids reacted!!

(BTW: I think this picture of the calf sucking the bar should be an entry in the State Fair Photography Contest don't you think?)

Emily was afraid...What if they have teeth?

Funny story, this barn and the calves reminded me of a time when Al and I were dating and he took me over to his cousin's dairy operation one evening in the summer before we headed out to The Fair. I don't remember if I wanted to see the cows or if he was just enlightening me, but dairy cows are big and they were in the parlor eating or getting milk or whatever (city girl here) and anyway I walked down the center aisle trying not to get too close in my white pants no less! And all of sudden one of the cows poops on me!!! Of course I screamed and Al and his cousin laughed. They probably still laugh about it today!! :0 Oh how far I've come...

Here's the true farmboy going for the "big" cows instead of the baby bucket calves....All for a picture for his wife :) and of course shock value for his kids...

Casey wouldn't even try it! We had to go back in the barn before we left so he could get brave enough to try...

Then there's little W. who has each hand in a different calf's mouth holding on!!! You can tell he lives here and does this, unlike our kids...

We had a lot of fun visiting our neighbors and their calves!!

Yep. I'm that kind of Mom...

The other day when we had no school, I was baking and the boys wanted to know what it was like to drop an egg on the floor...It was an experiment....yep, that's it. We were learning what would happen....

Not just playing....Learning. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Random shots of Fall 2011

I don't know what all of the great bloggers out there do to make sure they have time to blog, but for whatever reason, I struggle. I decided it was because I only have time for one hobby, and I've been reading a lot lately...Excuses, excuses, so, I'll do some quick and random updates so I don't forget what was going on in our lives in the Fall of 2011. I am going to quite "old" this year you know....

This llama has nothing to do with anything, other than I thought he was cool and he was at a pumpkin patch that the kids and I and our old neighbors went to this year...

I didn't get near the opportunities to photograph fall farming this year that I wanted. There was always something else that I needed to be doing. On this particular day I took a half an hour and just shot pictures the whole time while Emily was sitting in the van saying, "Come on Mom. We have to go sell magazines. I'm bored. I'm hungry. Mom!!" You get the picture. Anyway, I just think that the beeswings are sorta magical.

Emily is in Middle school and they have a Fall concert. This year they dressed in the time period of the songs they were singing. Emily's group was Ragtime Era, so we made a Flapper girl costume!! It was a hit!

Not to be left out, Casey wanted to be a "Flapper Guy"!

I don't know what Carter was portraying, but he was willing to pose, so I got a picutre!

Last weekend, a good friend of mine came to visit and we of course went to the field for some fun rides in the semi and combine! What else would you do if you came to visit us in Fall??? I actually got to ride along for a little while too, cuz Casey begged Mommy to come along.

One evening Carter was outside on our deck doing his homework noticed these clouds. He thought they looked blue and asked me to take a picture.

Here are my friends and family from the visit. Casey and his corn phone?!

Here's a leaf on our front porch....

We came home one night and Emily said, "Look Mom! We have a leaf on our porch!! Our own leaf!!" It was a memorable moment I must say...

It is just soo sweet to see our dog and kitties cuddling up together. I hope they keep each other warm this winter. I managed this shot through the window in the door because the minute I open  anything to take a picture they all get up!

There's always more to tell...and I'll try to catch up better. Life is full and life is good!

First Day of School

First day of school from a new home.

Emily - 7th grade, not wanting to go back and do any homework!
Carter - 4th grade, the one most excited about going back to school this year!
Casey - Kindergarten....yes my baby is now in school full time....Tears have already fallen...just like the day not so long ago when I sent my first baby to school for the first time...I need my husband to make me laugh!!

We officially have an Acreage...

These pictures are really out of order, but hey at least they are here and we can share them!:)

We went to a little street festival called Herb Fest after church Sunday. It's kind of like a street fair with a huge focus on plants, herbs, lawn ornaments, etc.

We had such fun! We came home with baby kitties....Butterscotch...

Beige...

OOooh! I got this crab for my garden too!!

Emily has her named kitty 'Lil Rascal and my named kitty Sassyfrass, "Sassy" who hisses and growls every time you reach in their little kennel. We are trying to get them acclimated to our "acreage" and to Max...we'll see what happens. I'm a bit unsure about Max....Hopefully all will be well.

Baby kitties are so sweet.

Isn't this crab cool?? The high schooler that made him is taking several creations to state fair and hoping to go to Iowa State next year...We had a soft spot for him...

I couldn't resist this pouty face. What a cutie! And he thinks he's being sad! Silly Casey! Moma loves all of your faces...

This Sunday we head down to the State Fair on one of our many trips. This one's for Carter and a prize he won for his photography in the Open Class. Next week is to take Em's State Fair picnic table and the next week is for her working exhibit! Awesome kids!

Who Knew??

Who knew going to the Hair Salon could be sooo much fun?  While I got a highlight and cut, Carter got a Justin Bieber flip with green and orange stripes...

Casey obviously got a large mohawk type cut that is bright orange and Ems was a little more reserved just getting a trim with glitter highlights. (They are hard to see, but are there nonetheless.)

Do you notice also, that I have a deck???!!! It's so awesome!! Just makes me nervous without rails, but they are being worked on!!! Hooray, I can sit on my deck and have my coffee! I'll just have to start getting up a bit earlier....

Then we headed to Wal-Mart to spend our gift cards from Aunt Amy and Uncle Ted that the kids got for birthdays...Everyone added just a little of their own money to the card.Emily got a DS game she wanted...Carter got a green snow cone make that we need to take a picture of yet and Casey got a slip and slide.

Working fun into the little moments in summer!

A Bit of a Break

 Last weekend my friend and coworker, Sue offered to come and help me pack. I warned her that it would be scary and that she shouldn't tell anyone at work how bad it really was, but I jumped at the chance to have her help me. Once we realized that we were actually building a house and that we weren't going to be living in this one any longer, we kinda let it go....I mean really.

And I tend to keep lots of things. I noticed that every time Sue would ask me if I wanted to keep something, I'd say yeah, and she'd roll her eyes. So I walked away. In the time she was here, we through away 4 big garbage bags and packed and moved several boxes out to the garage. Hooray!!!! It does feel good, but there is so much more to do. We haven't moved in 12 years and I am kind of out of the habit. When we were first married, we moved several times in that first 2 years and it wasn't so bad. Well, 3 kids and a lot of stuff later and we're moving again.Wow! I will say that I was trying to get ahead and pack some things early. Al also spent a day out in the garage packing. I bet we've opened every box to get something already!!!!

After we'd spent 4 hours or so packing, we ordered out supper and went 4-wheelin' at the farm! Casey was attached to Sue at the hip! What a fun packing and playing day! I really needed the help, but I probably needed the break more! Thanks Sue!

This...

This is my baby. He is five years old as of February 28. This is the birthday plate and the birthday meal of hot dogs and macaroni.

This is the present that he opened and said, "But Mom, it's just a card."

This is the sister that perked right up when she saw that it was "just a card."

This is the older brother and sister that helped Casey read his notes (just a card) for his scavenger hunt for his birthday present.

Finally, this is the present he found and the boy who as soon as he saw me said, "Hide it again Mom! Please hide it again. I want to hunt for it again!!"

Happy birthday Baby!!! We love you!!!

Crafting with Casey

Tuesday was Casey and my stay home day and it was the perfect opportunity to work on his Valentine's Box for school. He wanted to paint it, so we started with the top.

If you give a four year old a paintbrush and some paints for his Valentine's project...

He will most likely get distracted and want to paint the paint container...

and he will want to use all of the brushes...

And it will become a castle that you will end up helping with.

That will lead to watching a movie with a castle in it and eating lunch. The end.

I love you Casey!