Farming Update

On Wednesday Brad finally finished the post herbicide spraying!  With any luck it will mean that we finally will get to see him at a decent time in the evening.  Although fungicide spraying will begin in a couple weeks, so it will be a short lived break.  Tuesday Brad spent the day spraying in some of our smaller fields.  In 1 fill with the sprayer he sprayed in the city limits of Plainfield, Naperville, Aurora, Oswego and Joliet.  He actually spent more time driving the sprayer on the road than in the field.  This is completely different than what he experiences in Farmer City where he can basically spray for 3 days and never leave a township.  Along the way he decided to stop and get lunch so he pulled into a strip mall to get Subway.  I can only imagine the look on people's faces when they saw his sprayer in the parking lot.  I wish he would have taken a picture of that!  Come to find out that's not the first time he's done that. 

Surprise Visit!

This morning my dad called me and I didn't answer.  Honestly, I just didn't hear the phone.  So he started sending texts.  It turns out he had a slow day at the office, at least that is what he told me, so he drove out for a visit.  It was a wonderful surprise!  If my dad had his way we would live next to him and then he would never have to drive to see us.  Driving is not an activity he enjoys.  He showed up with gummy bears and worms for the boys.  I think Vince ate 2/3 of them and my dad and I ate the other 1/3.  Joel didn't like them at all, which surprised me.  He was happier eating peas and I am not going to complain about that!

My dad got to enjoy a nice day with the boys, complete with playing 4 different games and starting a puzzle all in 20 minutes or less, seeing the newest member of our family "Lickety" the frog, watching Vince do "tricks" on the slides and playing golf.   My dad gave Vince a golfing toy for Christmas and we just now got it out to play with it.  The kids get too many gifts at Christmas and their birthdays so I hide some of them and bring them out on rainy days or any other time I find a reason.  I need to change my hiding spot though because Vince knows where it is and sometimes helps himself!  My dad was reading Vince a book on the couch, but my dad kept changing the words.  Vince was not happy.  After a little while he said "Nanno you reading it wrong" grabbed the book and brought it over for me to read.  It is important to have Nanno around to encourage things like drinking applesauce out of a straw, licking applesauce and ketchup off the plate, and sucking peas off the plate.  Hopefully those are skills Vince keeps at home and doesn't take out in public!

It was great having Nanno around for the part of the day!  Especially when we were just hanging out at home and he could see the boys in their natural habitat.

Lickety the frog

Vince and  Lickety

L

Drinking applesauce

Playing on the slides.  Vince's goal was to crash Joel.

7 years

We have a tree in our backyard that has grown a lot in the last 7 years.  When I first met Brad 8 years ago it was pretty tiny and provided absolutely no shade.  This year it provides tons of shade and it turns out it is a Mulberry tree.  Brad and I had no idea!  The tree was here when he bought the house 9 years ago and neither one us gave much thought to it.  When we had Kennidy and Annie over we were all in the backyard helping Brad with the playhouse/swingset project and I was complaining that we need to trim the branches on the tree because I was tired of walking into it.  That is when we looked up and realized a few branches had mulberries on them.  Brad and I were amazed!

When Brad and I first started dating we went trail riding at Franklin Creek.  There is an area that used to have a ton of Mulberry trees.  The only way to reach them was to stand on top of your horse.  So, when we were riding that day I pointed out the mulberries and then we both stood on our horses and picked them.  Brad says he fell in love with me under the mulberry tree.  Brad ask me to marry him in December and there were no mulberry on any trees at that time, but with the help of his family they hung some fake mulberries in the branch of a tree on their property.  Brad and I went riding that nice cold December day to the tree with the fake mulberries and Brad got down on one knee under the "Mulberry tree" and proposed.  I said "YES", we had only been dating about 5-6 months.  Looking back at it Brad and I laugh and wonder what we were thinking!  We love each other and are thrilled to be married, but we laugh because we thought we were in love then and it is nothing compared to what we have now!

Today is our 7 year anniversary!  Unfortunately, we have to postpone celebrating until another day (not that we ever do anything super exciting anyway).  The weather has finally dried out the fields and rain is in the forecast for Monday, so Brad is out spraying and I am home with the boys.  With any luck we will be able to enjoy a nice dinner date sometime in the next couple weeks to celebrate!

A Change of Pace

Last night I went to my friend's wedding, and Brad and the boys went to VBS and then came home.  When I got home both boys were sound asleep.  I am not going to lie, it was nice missing out on the bedtime routines.  I love reading the stories and listening to prayers and singing songs, but with Brad's schedule the last few months I am the one who has been doing the bedtime routine solo.  It was a nice break to miss out on it!  I didn't realize the full benefits until this morning.  Vince always yells for me and wakes me up in the morning and leaves Brad alone.  This morning he was yelling "Daddy" and only wanted "Daddy."  I am sure Brad loved it and it was nice being able to stay in bed for a couple extra minutes.  Once Vince realized I was home he told me "Mommy, I missed you so much!"  The way he was acting it was like I had been gone for days.  It was cute!

While we were all laying in bed Vince noticed that Brad had hair on his chest.  At about the same time Brad went downstairs to get Joel something to drink.  Vince turned to me and said "Why Daddy have hair there?  He should put it on his head so I can brush it."  After a little giggling I told him that some people don't have hair on their head and when that is the case it is called being bald.  When Brad came back upstairs Vince asked him "Daddy, why you have hair on your lips?" (Brad has a goatee)  Brad replied "Because it looks cool".  Vince responded with "But it needs to be on your head so you not bald.  I not like you bald."  I was finding more humor in it that Brad did.  Got to love a child's honesty!

Good Parenting?

This week in addition to the VBS fun we have been having, Joel, Brad and I have been fighting colds.  Unfortunately for Joel his came with the a fever that has lasted 3 days.  Joel has been miserable and I feel terrible for him.  Being the good parent I am and knowing that he is sick I have adjusted his bedtime....I have been keeping him up late due to VBS.  His normal bedtime is between 8-8:30pm.  If he doesn't get to bed on time he gets mean.  I am not joking!  He will pull hair, he will pinch and bite and then laugh an evil laugh when you react to his antics.  The problem is he mostly does this with me, but I am also the one he wants when he is tired.  Last night after VBS the weather was bad (thunderstorms, tornado warnings, etc), so several of us stayed in the church basement until almost 9pm.  Confining Joel in the basement, while he is tired, sick and grumpy was ok for awhile.  Then I got tired of the biting and handed him off to Brad to put Joel in the stroller.  Joel did not take it well and just screamed and cried, he is very dramatic.  I felt bad for anyone who had to listen to it.  Joel is a good kid and a lot of fun, but if it is after 8:30pm watch out!

Vince on the other hand was having a blast in the basement! We were in a small hallway and he had everyone's attention whenever he wanted it.  It doesn't get much better than that for him.  By the time we all got home everyone but Vince was exhausted!  We immediately put Joel to bed and Brad and I laid on the couch.  Vince knew he had total control and that neither one of us could move fast enough to stop him.  It started with him getting a small tupperware container of cantaloupe and feeding Brad and I.  Then Vince went and put crackers in the container and made us pretend PB&J cracker sandwiches.  Then he filled his container will water, put it on the living room floor and lapped up water like a dog, he wanted us to do the same things but it wasn't going to happen.   At this point Brad and I realized it was after 9:30 and things were getting out of control.  We started telling Vince to take of his clothes, use the bathroom and put on a pullup for bed.  After 5 min and several threats his clothes were off.  On his way to the bathroom he walked past me and said "Mommy I pee on you."  Brad yelled at Vince while I laid there trying not to laugh, but it wasn't working.  The harder I tried not to laugh, the harder I laughed.  Luckily for all of us Vince ran to the bathroom and left me and the couch alone! 

Randomness

The boys and I went to a fun birthday party Saturday for 3 little boys we know.  It was a blast, but poor Joel got a lot of bug bites while we were there.  I am assuming they are bug bites, but maybe they are something else.  Either way he looks pathetic.  He also has a bad cold, the poor kid is a mess.  He was up most of the night, but was in a pretty good mood today all things considered.  More than I can say for myself.  I told Vince this morning that I was  "Mommy Crabby Pants" and he laughed.

Bug bites on his head.  This was before his cold really hit

The first night of VBS Big Jungle Adventure is over.  It was a little hectic during registration like I expected but everyone did a wonderful job and the kids had fun!  Here are a couple pictures.  As I write this Brad and Vince (I am not sure why he is still up) are singing songs from VBS in the kitchen and taking about all the fun stuff they did tonight.

Big Jungle Adventure

I have been putting off grocery shopping and last night Vince asked me if I went to the grocery store yet.  Apparently he thinks he needs milk, bananas and strawberries. I like his grocery list better than mine, it is much shorter.  I suppose I better just go tomorrow before I get any more grief from Vince.

Joel fell asleep eating last week.  Less messy that way!

A Fun Filled Week!

Brad and I are the co-directors for Vacation Bible School for our church.  It starts today, so last night Brad was working on making the t-shirts.  They are all iron on but there are 60!  We don't have air conditioning and he has been slaving away all evening.  It is literally a sweat shop.  Such a trooper to spend his father's day working on the t-shirts.  He was working in the kitchen and the boys were hanging out in there some so he had entertainment (Joel helping himself to snacks, Vince unrolling a toilet paper roll, both the boys climbing on random objects to turn off the lights while he was working, and me trying to wrangle the boys).

Today is Brad's birthday.  He has a real exciting day in store.  He is going to start it off with an early day of spraying, a birthday lunch in the sprayer with the boys and me, more spraying, and VBS!  Due to the craziness of tomorrow we are going to continue his birthday celebration to Tuesday as well.  If he has his way we will be celebrating his birthday all week!  Don't feel too bad for him, he did get a birthday cake yesterday thanks to his mom plus his family sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

***Well it ended up raining a ton overnight, so Brad never got to spray but he got to help with setting up for VBS!  I was sad that he couldn't get some of the spraying finished, but I was happy for the extra help.  I promise I didn't pray for the rain!***

Here is a picture of Brad hard at work on the t-shirts!  I will let you know how the week long birthday celebration and VBS go.

My Dad

My dad is a wonderful man who spent a lot of time not only playing with us but also teaching us.  He would turn a trip to the grocery store into a lesson on money and economics.  Lessons I still us to this day.  He would turn time watching tv into a lesson about what commercials are and how they try to get consumers to buy their products.  A trip anywhere was a lesson is direction and giving/following directions.  Sometimes my sisters and I didn't realize he was teaching us things and other times I am sure we would roll our eye (at least I know I did).  I find myself saying things and doing things with the boys and just laugh because I sound like my dad.  It is a good thing and I love it but one of these days they are going to roll their eyes at me when I turn everyday situations into a teaching moment.

My dad also has a great love of life and lives it to the fullest!  He knows how to work hard, play hard, and he loves competition!  Definitely qualities I would love for my children to have!

Thank you dad for being a wonderful father and grandfather.  I love you very much!  Actually 1 more than that stupid thing Alyse says :)

Happy Father's Day!

Dad's Birthday Extravaganza

Nanno and Vince

A picture he sent from one of his trips

Holding Vincent for the 1st time

Building a Nanno-man

Nanno and Joel

Campfire

Vince has been asking for a camp fire for several weeks.  I kept telling him that we had to wait for Daddy.  Not that I can't build a fire, but building a fire by myself and keeping Joel out of the fire just didn't sound like fun.  Last night we were all home at a decent time and Brad built a fire for us to enjoy.

The boys were loving the fire.  We had two lounge chairs out by the fire and a couple regular chairs.  The boys like the lounge chair because the can easily get in and out of it by themselves.  Vince call it "the beach".  So last night he kept saying "Mommy I sittin' in the beach."

Vince and I fell asleep by the fire.  Brad carried Vince in the house and then sent me a text message telling me to come inside.  I guess calling me from the back door or carrying me in the house was too hard.  My phone had fallen into the grass and I never heard the text so after awhile I realized that Brad wasn't coming back outside and decided I better just go in.  Later I saw the text.

Here is a picture of the boys on "the beach" enjoying the fire.  They are with my phone so they aren't that great.  The fire was really bright you can see the glow on the their faces.

Aunts and Potty Training

My youngest sister, Kennidy, and her friend (my pseudo sister) Annie have been at my house since Tuesday.  We have had a blast having them here and we really don't want them to leave tomorrow.  Tonight while I was putting Vince to bed I told him that Kennidy and Annie were leaving tomorrow.  He said "I want them here all the days."  His own personal playmates!  Plus they laugh at almost everything he says or does and what almost 3 year old doesn't like that!

Kennidy and Annie have been having a crash course in potty training a toddler.  It is cracking me up!  Tuesday Kennidy had to help him wipe after he went to the bathroom and she ended up very dirty.  Still not sure how that happened.  Wednesday Annie was sitting on the couch with Vince and suddenly she said "Vince why am I wet?"  Vince replied "Because I peed on you!"  Later when Brad got home Vince told Brad "We don't pee on Annie."  Hopefully he understands the rule applies to other people and not just Annie.

The event that had both the girls just about rolling on the floor happened Wednesday afternoon.  Kennidy, Annie, Joel and I had been playing outside while Vince napped.  When we came in the house Annie heard him upstairs, so we yelled to him to come down.  I should have known something was wrong because the sound didn't seem to be coming from his room.  As he came downstairs and toward the kitchen he announced that he pooped in my bathroom.  My bathroom is not close to his room.  His bathroom is directly across the hall from his room.  As he got closer we realized he only had a shirt on and his legs and butt had poop on them.  He again proudly announced "I pooped in your bathroom."  I picked him up and held him at arms length and took him to the bathroom to shower off.  At this point Kennidy and Annie lost it.  I am not sure if it was the look on my face or that whole situation, but they were loving it.

Once Vince and I were upstairs I asked Vince what happened.  All he would say is "Mommy, I sorry I pooped on your rug".  We only have 3 rugs in the bathroom and it quickly narrowed down the search.  It turns out he urinated in his bathroom and took his diaper off.  Then he went down the hall, thru my room and into the bathroom and pooped on my run in front of the toilet.  I asked him why he did that and he said "God told me to".   I replied " I need to talk to God about that because I don't like that idea".  Vince always has an answer and replied "God not tell me to do bad things only good things."  I was speechless.  I had nothing.  All I could think is if he tried to get on our toilet he could have easily fallen in and been stuck for awhile before we found him, so maybe his plan wasn't a bad idea.  Plus, I wasn't loving the rug anyway!  When I came downstairs to report the story Kennidy and Annie thought it was hysterical and couldn't wait to share it with Brad when he got home.  I am sure they will have plenty of stories to tell their friends when they get home.

The Girls

We have two dogs that we have had since long before our children.  We affectionately refer to them as "the girls".  Vince's job is to let them outside in the morning.  It took them several months for the girls to realize that he can actually help them out.  They would stand by me in the morning and just stare at him like we were crazy and Vince couldn't possible open the door.  Vince and Joel have also been feeding them their dinner (dog food not just the scraps on the floor) about 50% of the time, so they are figuring out that the boys are useful.

Bristol is almost 7 years old and is a lab/pointer mix.  Bristol spent most of her puppy time at home with Brad while I was down at school.  She spent her days in the trucks and tractors with him and her nights sleeping on my pillow.  She wasn't very happy when I would come home from school and take my side of the bed and my pillow back.  Bristol is very laid back and you can do absolutely anything to her.  She has ridden on 4 wheelers, in wheelbarrows, on Brad's shoulders, in the boys' gator, you can dress her in clothes, sit on her, or use her as a pillow she just doesn't care.  As long as you aren't a bunny, squirrel, raccoon, bird, chicken, or rodent she is harmless.  Even to then she is harmless just really obnoxious with all her barking.  The kids love her and she acts like she just tolerates them, but I really think she loves them.  As they are getting older she appreciates them even more, especially when they spill their food on the floor.  Although occasionally she will scoot closer to them when they are all standing up and discreetly hip check one of them.  Vince is too big to be affected anymore, but poor Joel goes down hard. 

Bristol as a puppy

Bristol wearing flannel

Bristol in front of our old couch

My favorite picture of Bristol!

Maisy is 5 1/2 years old.  She was a junior surgery puppy when I was in vet school.  I showed her to Brad and she won our hearts, although he will tell you that he doesn't like her. and we adopted her.  She lived with me at school during my last year of vet school.  She is a little more flighty than Bristol and doesn't appreciate being wrestled by Brad as much as Bristol.  Maisy does love to hunt.  She spent a fall in the tractor with me during harvest.   At the end of the rows when the combine would turn I would let her out, she would run down the track, leap off and chase rabbits.  The rabbits didn't have a chance.  The amazing thing is she would kill the rabbit, hold it up for me to see, drop it on the ground and run back to the tractor like nothing happened.  The downside is she does the same thing to chickens, so as much as the boys want chickens (we have tried) it just won't work.  Maisy is protective and has grown to love the boys and she tolerates the ear, tail and hair pulling almost as much as Bristol.  Maisy's defense is to lick the kids in the face until they run away, it is very effective!  Maisy is my vacuum cleaner.  She will eat most of what the boys drop on the floor or in the highchair, except for green beans and fruit.  Joel loves to feed the dogs, so when the boys are eating the dogs are not allowed in the house.

Baby Maisy

Maisy all done cleaning up after the boys

The girls are still like our kids and although they don't get to always go with us everywhere, they still have their own futon in our room to sleep on and are loved very much by all of us.

Sisters

Relaxing on vacation

Forced to sit for pictures

Brothers

Vince and Joel don't always share with each other and they do fight sometimes, but it is amazing to see how much they really do love each other.  Last week when we were in the camper Joel and I were sleeping in a bed at one end and Vince was in his bed in the back.  The second Joel heard Vince's voice he went from being sound asleep to sitting straight up and immediately wiggled off of the bed and went running to find Vince.  Then they both spent the next 10 min playing together.  The love goes both ways.  Vince will walk up to Joel out of no where and just hug him and say "I love you Joly Poly."  I am sure we are in for wrestling matches and fights, but I hope when they are grown they can be friends and realize how lucky they are to have each other.

Imagination

Brad's cousin is pregnant and a month ago.  I was trying to explain to Vince that our cousin had a baby in her belly.  He wanted the baby to come out and play and I told him the baby needed to stay in there until it was big and strong.  He agreed with me and seem to think that was a good idea.  Now about once a week when he is eating he will tell me he is feeding his baby.  Vince calls the baby "Marky" and "Marky" always needs more pizza or more fruit snacks or other unhealthy food.  A couple weeks ago when we were driving Vince was taking his sock off and putting his sock in his mouth.  I asked him what he was doing and he told me he was trying to help Mark get out.  I thought about telling him that wasn't how it worked, but right now if that is what he wants to believe it is ok with me!

Staying Cool

The other day the boys and I were playing in the baby pool trying to stay cool.  Vince was sporting a hand me down bathing suit that has a floatation built in.  It is not a cute bathing suit at all (most of the hand me downs we get are really cute) and since our pool is all of 12 inches deep, he really doesn't need help floating.  I have tried to convince him that he can wear just a regular swimming suit, but he doesn't believe me.  Plus, he was having fun so I just let it be.

My boys!

Our water slide

After playing in the pool for awhile he decided he wanted to swing and took off running for the swing.  It still amazes me that he gets so excited about swinging because up until about 1 month ago he hated swings.  Joel and I got out of the pool and headed over to push Vince.  This is what I found.....

Yes he is naked and I don't know why!

Taking turns on the swing

Vince thinks he is hilarious because he pushed Joel sideways

I have no idea why Vince thought he needed to be naked or why he wouldn't put his clothes or swimming suit back on.  I am very glad that the swing is behind the house and we don't have any neighbors that live really close.

Rain, Rain, Rain

We had a lot of rain around here yesterday in a very short period of time.  I knew it was supposed to rain, but I wasn't expecting to see as much flooding as I did.  I usually drive our beetle to work and today I was wishing I had the truck.  Creeks were over their banks and flowing across the roads, ditches were overflowing and filling roads in town with water this morning.  It was kind of crazy driving thru all of it.  One field actually had waves on it and it really looked like a lake!  Then on my way home from work the roads were all clear.  Hopefully it continues to improve because we have a lot of water in many of our fields and what looks like lakes and rivers in other fields.  The poor little corn won't have much of a chance of surviving in the "lakes" and unfortunately some of the lakes are in areas that my brother in law just finished replanting corn.

With all the storms we lost power at work.  Luckily it was before I started any of my surgeries, but it made for an interesting day.  We depend so much on our computers for so many things, which is really wonderful, but it is hard to do anything when they aren't working.  The power came back after 2pm and then the phones started ringing like crazy!  A full days worth of calls in 1/2 a day.

The photos are from my iphone while I was driving around at lunch checking out the damage and reporting back to Brad.  Theses are pictures from 1 field.  I didn't have time to stop and take pictures of all of them, and after awhile it all looked the same.

Mealtime with Joel

Eating any meal with Joel is a challenge.  He has a unique style that I just can't figure out completely.  If you give him any food on a plate, bowl, etc he will dump the food out, put the object on his head, and drop it.  He will then begin shoveling any of the food that is still on his tray into his mouth.  That is until he seems someone else in the house that has something that looks better.  This is the curious part because 95% of the time we are all eating the same thing, our is just neatly on our plate and his is all over his tray and highchair seat.  Joel will sit there and say "that" until he gets to try the food you have, because the food off of someone else's plate is always better than what he was given.

Some would say just let him eat off his tray and most days I do just let him eat off the tray, but he is 14 months and eventually he needs to learn how to use dinnerware and utensils.  Right now I wouldn't dream of taking him to a restaurant or dinner at someone's house.  At least not someone who isn't related to us!  Last week I thought I had the solution.  I saw a product online that was essentially a few suction cups with a tray that you can put any plate or bowl on and the kids couldn't get it off.  They had a great video on the website of toddlers pulling on the bowls and plates as hard as they could and the suction cups sticking to the table.  I immediately ordered one.  Well, it lasted all of 5 minutes.  Joel was able to get a plate and 3 different styles of bowls off.  Then he proceeded to disassemble the product. 

As you can imagine meal time is messy.  Joel won't leave a bib on he just rips it off and throws it on the ground.  For awhile I was making him eat in just a diaper to save his clothes.  Bad idea!  It meant I had to give him a quick bath in the sink after almost every meal.  At least when he is clothed I just need to was his hands, face and hair.  Why his hair you ask?   Joel loves to take his hands and run them thru his hair and then grab his ears when he is done eating, luckily he has short hair so it isn't a huge deal.

Joel is lucky he is cute and that the dogs like to clean up after him!  Here are some pictures from dinner tonight!

Those are noodles on his head

This is about halfway thru dinner

You can't see that both his hands are covered in sauce, along with his legs.  The amount of food you see on the tray here was also on his seat.  And we wonder why our dogs love him so much.

Married Life

Brad and I have almost been married 7 years and in that time we have learned a lot about each other.  One thing I love about Brad is his ability to think outside the box to come up with solutions to problems.  Brad doesn't like when I leave the toothpaste on the bathroom counter.  He thinks it always ends up by my sink and it is hard for him to reach over and grab it.  Honestly the toothpaste does always end up by my sink, but it our sinks aren't that far apart.  I have tried to remember to put it in the drawer between our sinks, but I only remember about 10% of the time.  Usually I am in a rush or I have 2 kids destroying the bathroom as I get ready, so I am just happy to get my teeth brushed.  Brad knew that complaining about the toothpaste wasn't getting him anywhere, so he stopped and I was kind of surprised.  I figured he decided it wasn't worth asking me about it anymore.  I was wrong, he had just figured out his own solution.  When I went to grab the toothpaste on Monday morning I was laughing very loudly!

Brad's new invention