Video of the Sprayer Rescue

Last week our sprayer got stuck.  You can read all about it in a previous post, but here is the video to see it being lifted out of the hole.  I was holding Joel and trying to keep him from grabbing the camera while I was videoing and Vince is in the background singing, so if I were you I would turn the volume down.
The video is a little shaky, but if that doesn't bother you then enjoy the video.

Motorhome Rescue

This has been the week of getting stuck.  They say things come in threes, so I am just waiting to see what is next!  We went camping and trail riding this weekend with my in-laws.  They left Friday night and the plan was we would meet them down there on Saturday.  At  5am on Saturday we get a phone call from my father in law.  Any phone call before 7am is never good news.  Their motorhome was stuck in camp just a few yards from where they wanted to be and they needed us to bring them boards.  Later we found out that they had been up all night working on getting the motorhome out of the sand it had sunk into and when they called us they were finally going to bed.  In the morning light they found out that the motorhome wasn't the only problem, the horse trailer blew out a tire as well.  With the help of a few people and a tractor they were able to get out of the sandy area and enjoy a great weekend camping with us!

The trailer tire

The motorhome stuck

Almost ready to try to drive out of the hole

Unhooking and moving the horse trailer

The nice people who stopped to help my in-laws before we arrived

Is this going to work?

The hole

Thanks for the sandbox Grandpa!

This is great!

Smoothing out the new sandbox.

Memorial Day

Thank you to all who have and do serve our country. We had a great weekend and once my mountain of laundry is under control I will write all about it.

Better than Disney

In February Brad, the boys, my father in law (Craig), and my brother in law (Bob) and I went to the Farm Machinery Show in Louisville.  For days Brad and I told the boys how we were going on a vacation.  Vince told everyone he was "going on cation."  So late at night we left the farm in Bob's motorhome and headed down to Louisville.  The boys and I slept most of the time.  When we pulled into the parking lot at 2am to get a few hours of sleep before we went to the show, the boys woke up and decided they had enough sleep.  A couple hours later the boys and I were asleep again and then it was time to wake up!

Riding around in style.  Several people thought they were twins.

I had never been to the Farm Machinery Show before and I had no idea what to expect.  About 90% of the people attending the farm show are male.  One nice lady told me that my boys were the best thing she saw all day.  There were people of all ages there from newborn babies being pushed in stroller to senior citizens being pushed in wheelchairs and everything in between.  If you went with a group chances are you would lose your group at some point and you better hope you had a cell phone to call them or a predetermined meeting place, because the chances of wandering into them isn't great!

 

Everywhere you looked there were tractors, trailers, combines, sprayers, tires, tracks, lawn mowers, grain handling equipment, livestock handling equipment, etc.  There was even a racecar that Vince was convinced he needed.  We visited it 4 times!  The best part was that you could climb in/on the different equipment and check it out as many times as you wanted and the sales people were happy to answer every question you had.  It was like a toy store for the adults and Disney World for the kids.  The best part was there was no lines and it was free!  There weren't many tractors Vince and Joel didn't check out and "drive".  Due to their short attention span we were able to see almost everything in the first day as opposed to my father in law who can stand at one booth for 30+ minutes before moving on.

At this point we were missing Brad, but we found him a little later

Trying to decide if it was time to leave.

It was a short but fun trip!  Hopefully we are able to go again next year!  Although next year Vince and Joel will both be able to run around and most likely in different directions.  We may have to enlist Grandma to come with and help me when Brad is talking to the sales people.

quote of the day

Vince was calling me to his room in the morning and kept saying "Mommy I tell you to come here"  I told him I didn't hear any nice words.  He replied "I am all out of nice words.  I need to go to the grocery store and get some more."  I had nothing in response.

Conversations with Vince

Vince never ceases to amaze me with the things he says and the things he thinks about.  Some of the conversations leave me laughing and others make me wonder where he gets stuff from.  Lately he gets confused with his pronouns and that just makes me smile.  Everyone is a "he" or "him."

He is very interested in how things work in our house.  When we draw houses on paper we have to make sure we draw a basement.  In the basement we have to draw the hot water heater and the boiler and pipes.  Brad and I are more than happy to explain how different things work and he just soaks it all up.  Tonight he was taking a shower and had to tell me about how the water came from the pipes in the basement, into the fiery furnace (hot water heater), and up to the shower.

Some of the conversations are very entertaining and I have a hard time keeping a straight face.  When he is older he may not appreciate me for sharing the following conversations, but oh well!

V: When I get big boobies like you?
Me: Boys don't get big boobies
V: When I big I do, when Joel get big he get them
Me: No, boys don't get big boobies, even when they are big
V: Why?
Me: That's just the way it is
V: Why?
Me: That's the way God made us.
( I really thought I had him after this statement, I just can't handle all the "whys")
V: Why?
Me: That's just the way he made us
(At this point I am not sure we are even going to get off this subject)
V: I need to talk to God at church Sunday
(At this point I think we should skip church Sunday and then I remember I have to be there for a meeting)

The next day we had a similar discussion and I was really dreading church on Sunday.  Luckily this conversation ended with Vince deciding that he needed to hold God.  In case you are wondering he was too busy playing in the nursery to ask God about anything.

I am sure there will be plenty more entertaining conversations over the years.

Saving the Sprayer

Yesterday the boys and I went to visit Brad in the field and take a ride in the sprayer.  The sprayer has a 120' boom and can cover a lot of acres in one day.  Brad was hoping to be finished spraying for the 1st round of the season and the boys and I hadn't even had a ride in it yet.  Joel enjoyed it, but has a short attention span and just can't sit still that long, so after 15 minutes Brad let us out and Vince stayed on for a longer ride.  Vince doesn't usually sit still that long but really loves riding along in the equipment this year, even more than last year, and he likes to ask questions about how everything works.  His current favorite word is "why".  He has also learned not to touch any buttons unless he is told to do so, a very useful thing to know.

Vince not wanting to get off the sprayer.

A couple hours after we left Brad called to say the sprayer was stuck.  He said it was barely stuck, only 1 foot down and a pickup truck could probably pull him out.  We hadn't had very much rain lately, so I thought it was odd, but things happen.  Brad tells me there is peat ground in that field which is really soft, he said it was like a bowl of chocolate pudding with Oreos on top; once you break thru the crust you just sink.  The pickup couldn't pull it out and they were going to get a tractor.  I never heard anything else so I figured they got it out no problem.  Later that night I found out that with each attempt they made the sprayer just kept sinking further and further.  They decided to leave it for the night and try again the next day.  Brad reported that the boom was up and it was almost touching the ground.  I figured he was exaggerating, it has been known to happen from time to time.

Today I had plans on getting some errands done, cleaning the house, doing laundry, etc, but I really wanted to see the guys save the sprayer.  The boys and I rushed thru our errands so we wouldn't miss the rescue.  I should have known that it was going to be an all day affair, but after 7 years of being involved in farming I forget that things take longer than I think they will.  Below are a series of pictures of the rescue. It went really well!  Unfortunately that field still needs to be sprayed.

This is how it looked when I got there

Brad wasn't exaggerating!

Getting everything in place so nothing else sinks

Vince trying to watch and Joel bothering Vince.

Attaching the sprayer to the boom truck

Getting lifted and pulled to safety

Safe on solid ground and still in perfect shape...other than the dirt

Potty Training

Joel can be sweet and loving....

but he is not always innocent

Since Thursday Vincent has been putting a lot of effort into using his potty chair and he is even doing well going when we are out and about.  At church on Sunday, before the service, Vince told me he needed to go and I didn't have anyone that was able to watch Joel, so the 3 of us went to the handicap stall.  I let Vince stand on the toilet because he gets nervous sitting on the big toilet, plus he is just too short to stand on the ground.  While he was on the toilet trying to go, Joel was running around the stall and pulling toilet paper out of the dispenser, attempting to escape from the stall and trying to play in the toilet.  Joel was literally trying to splash in the water and had his head almost into the toilet.  It was hard to control him when I was using 1 hand to keep Vince on the toilet.  Luckily I was able to drag Joel (shrieking and kicking) away from the toilet just seconds before Vince finally went.  We are going to have to come up with a new plan before we attempt a public bathroom again by ourselves! 

Prayers

After almost 6 months of saying a prayers every night with Vince, he decided 2 weeks ago he wanted to say a prayer and then I would say a prayer.  Every night is different and there are a few people who always make the list (Daddy and Joel), so it has been fun to listen to who/what he thanks God for every night.  Vincent has thanked God for lights, pipes, Daddy, Joel, all his grandparents and great-grandparents, different friends of his, his friend's train tablet, his uncles, our family friends, tractors, dogs, horses, etc.  Finally in the last couple days he has added Mommy to the list.  I was so excited, it was hard to contain myself!  I am so proud of him!

I just wanted to mow the yard

Last week it took me 2 days to be able to mow 3/4 of our yard.  Between mowing while the children were sleeping and a mower that kept breaking I gave up after 2 days of trying.  Brad gave it a try over the weekend and the mower broke again at that point we were up to 5 days from the time I started mowing, it was a losing battle!  This week I decide the yard had to get mowed or I was going to start losing the dogs and children in the yard.  It went something like this: 25 min drive to the main farm, find a hitch with the correct ball size, find and hook up the trailer, say a prayer because one of our employees hasn't left to head south to finish planting and he is nice enough to help load up the mower, drive 25 min home with sleeping children, feed and play with kids and wait for them to be ready for their afternoon nap, mow like crazy while they sleep, check in on them 40 min into mowing (everyone asleep!), mow another 30 min, come in the house and find 2 1/2 year old helping himself to a snack in the kitchen and reading a magazine.  The one day he doesn't take a 2 1/2 hour nap!  The good news is I managed to mow the yard in record time.  The bad news is I wasn't wearing my contacts or glasses and it may be the worst mowing job ever!