Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays!  It is just so much fun to see family and there is no holiday hustle and bustle yet.  We spent Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family.  My grandma and her sister always got together for Thanksgiving with their families.  My aunt has since passed and my grandparents are now snowbird's, but the rest of us all get together.  It amounts to about 50 people and my dad's cousin and his family are nice enough to let us all in their house for the day!  Everyone has a job and they switch around a little from year to year but everyone brings something delicious.  You can usually find the guys outside standing around the grills cooking the 6 turkeys.  Then the rest of us are either spread out upstairs or playing with the kids in the basement.  It is fun to see all the little cousins playing together and it is great visiting and catching up with everyone!  Most years the kids put on a Thanksgiving play which is a long standing tradition that started when my cousins and I were younger, but the younger cousins don't seem to get as excited about it as we did.  Rumor has it that next year there might just be a talent show.  Another highlight is the slideshow!  There are a mix of new and old pictures of everyone and we all end up laughing hysterically! 

3 of my beautiful cousins!

My aunt and cousins....maybe a Christmas card picture

This year my cousin and his wife designed a t-shirt for Thanksgiving and everyone ordered one and we had a big family picture.  It was the first time all day that everyone was in one place.  Vince was up front with me and looked behind him and said "Who are all these people?"  I told him that they were all his cousins, Aunts and Uncles.  He was quite amazed that he was related to all those people!

More Cousins...they were trying to watch football

Jumping into a pile of cushions...oh to be a kid!

A conversation over drinks...literally

Thanksgiving was wonderful and I got to take home some pizzelles so I was thrilled.  As a matter of fact pizzelles were my breakfast and dinner the next day....Healthy? No!  Delicious? You bet!

My dad, sisters and me and my uncle in the background

My cousin carving 1 of 6 turkeys

My cousin helping Joel play a violin

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

A dirty look for stealing turkey while it is being carved

More family pictures....Vince didn't get the memo we were taking a picture

Things Vincent Says...

These last few days Vince has been making Brad and I laugh even more than usual and most of the time he isn't even trying!  It may be that Brad and I are just easily amused, which is probably the case, but here are some Vincent stories from the last several days.

Last week when I went to pick Vince up from Awana Club one of the teachers asked me to wait for a minute because they had to talk to me about something Vince had said.  I was worried.  You never know what is going to come out of his mouth these days and a few days previous he was asking how the baby was going to get out of my belly and I was really vague on the answer.  Four of the teachers walked over and I was a little more concerned.  Apparently they were talking about things they were thankful for and Vince said he was going to have a baby sister after Christmas and that her name was going to be Vinny.  The teachers thought maybe they had heard the name wrong or he couldn't pronounce it right because naming one child Vincent and another one Vinny just didn't make sense to them.  So, they just wanted to tell me the story and to find out what we were really naming the baby.  I assured them that it wasn't going to be Vinny.  I was so happy that was the only reason they needed to talk to me.


We were driving somewhere and Brad said "Boys, isn't your Mommy pretty?"  Vince said "Yeah, but sometimes she's bad."  I quickly asked why I was bad and Vince said "Because you don't let me play Angry Birds on your phone all the time."


Thursday I was talking to my sisters and mom on the phone and they wanted to talk to Vince too.  Vince didn't really want to talk because he was helping me make pies.  Vince hung up before my sister Kasi could talk to him.  When she called back he talked to her for a couple minutes and then I heard him say "yeah, yeah, ok, ok, ok, I know, I gotta go bye."  This has become a common theme this weekend.  Yesterday he was on the phone with my grandma and he didn't want to be talking, he want to be play a game on my phone.  He talked to my grandma for a little bit, which was quite the conversation including a detailed explanation why he couldn't come over to her house.  "It will be dark soon and then I have to go to bed and get some sleep" it was 8:30 am when he was talking to her.  He then went on to say "It was really nice of you to give me the ambulance toy last year."  The conversation went on a little longer and then he started saying "Uh, I gotta go play my game.  I will call you back later.  Bye." and he attempted to hang up the phone.  Really?!  I wonder sometimes if he is 3 or 13!


Last night we were at my grandparents for dinner and my grandpa said "Vince why are you getting so big."  Vince replied "I eat a lot of food and I get some rest.  Then I will be strong like my daddy.  If you eat a lot of food and get rest you can be big and strong like Daddy too, then you won't be old anymore."


On the way home from my grandparents I was driving and Brad was playing Angry Birds (a new family favorite) on his phone.  It was almost 10 pm and the kids needed to go to bed.  Vince unfortunately was wide awake.  He kept asking Brad if he could borrow his phone to play games.  Brad said "No" because he was playing with it.  Vince finally gave up and asked me if he could use my phone.  He wasn't happy when I said "No".  I really wanted him to go to bed and not stay up playing games.  Vince was complaining and whining and Brad said jokingly "Mommy is being ridiculous." And Vince replied "Yeah, let's get rid of her." Vince however did not sound like he was joking!

Life with a 3 year old is never dull!

Brett, Horses and Heat

Playing nicely

Monday I watched my cousin's son, Brett.  Joel was much nicer to him today, which was nice to see!  The day was going pretty well and I was feeling good about how things were going.  I managed to get the dishwasher unloaded and loaded again, 2 loads of laundry put away, and keep the house relatively straightened up and still keep all the kids mostly happy!  Vince enjoyed having Brett around and at one point Brett put his arm on Vince and Vince hugged him and said "I just want you to be my best buddy Brett."  Normally Vince refers to Brett as "Joel's friend" so it was nice to see him wanting to be Brett's friend too. We played upstairs, downstairs, and outside.  While we were outside the kids wanted to see the horses which was a little tricky.  I have only 2 hands and 3 kids to watch and 5 horses to keep an eye on.  I fed the horses some hay to occupy them and went to walk the kids thru the gate when I decided this was a really bad idea.  My horses are all good (but they are still animals and much bigger than the children), Vince listens well, but Joel is fearless and will run up to any horse and Brett just isn't used to being around the horses.  So, I let my old mare, Bailey, out in the yard instead.  I figured it was much easier to watch the kids around only 1 horse.  It turns out once Bailey was in the yard none of the kids cared about seeing the horses anymore.  It worked out well for Bailey because she spent the next 2 hours in the yard eating!

Brett helping himself to Vince's apple

Playing outside

When Andy came to pick up Brett I asked him to stay in the house with my kids so I could put Bailey away.  That is when it got a little interesting.  Bailey usually runs right up to me when I call her and if I open the gate she will walk right back into the pasture.  Well, she wasn't totally ready to go back in the pasture and our other old mare, Janie, hates to be away from Bailey.  While I was waiting for Bailey to come to the gate our 3 biggest horses came to the gate and I kept them at bay.  In the meanwhile Janie came running up and I tried to block her, but I quickly could tell she had no plans of stopping until she made it out of the gate.  I decided it was better to get out of her way.  I shut the gate behind her and went to get a lead rope.  I figured if I got Bailey that Janie would follow because she always does.  Well, today she had other plans.  I put Bailey away and had to catch Janie.  Janie doesn't like me.  She has been here since this spring and has never liked me.  I have vaccinated and dewormed her but other than that I don't do anything with her.  She lets the boys pet her if I am not around.  Brad can catch her and pet her.  She just doesn't like me.  Which I say is fine and that I don't care because she keeps Bailey company, but it bugs me a little that she likes everyone but me.  Anyway, Janie didn't let me close enough to catch her but she was so worried that Bailey was "missing" that after a couple minutes she decided running back thru the gate into the pasture wasn't so bad.  I just had to stand there for 2 minutes keeping the boys away from the gate, it doesn't seem like a long time, but the grass in the pasture is significantly shorter than in our yard and those boys follow their stomachs!  I am not sure if Andy saw any of it from the house but I am sure the pregnant lady trying to herd a couple of old mares was entertaining.

Sitting nicely for a picture.  It was hard to pull them around in the yard!

Joel really wanted out!

If all of that wasn't fun enough once Brett and Andy left I realized that our heating system was having some serious issues.  It sounded like a chainsaw was being used in my basement, but it went away when I turned the heat off.  Brad was at his IALP meeting and wouldn't be able to answer his phone until almost 9pm.  It was 4:30 at the time when I was sure we had a problem.  I called my father in law to see what he thought the problem could be.  I really didn't want to have to call someone out if it was something simple.  He agreed that it sounded like an actual problem probably with one of the pumps.  I didn't have the phone number for the guy (Kurt, a friend of Brad's) that works on our boiler.  I sent Brad several texts, but I knew he was busy in meetings all day.  Luckily I had a mutual friend's number and was able to track Kurt down.  He was so nice and was at our house with in the hour and figured out what the problem was.  The good news is that he figured out the problems and can order parts to get it all fixed and we still have heat downstairs.  The bad news is that we have no heat upstairs.  It sounds worse than it really is, upstairs has been slightly colder than usual but only by a couple degrees.  We are very thankful that heat rises.

They had enough of being outside

Bailey wondering where everyone was going

Just when I was feeling like my day was under control I was brought back to reality!  Oh well.  I am just thankful for wonderful people who are willing to drive to my house on a Monday night (when they probably had more exciting plans) to make sure the boys and I would have heat overnight!  

Getting Ready

Sunday morning Brad was packing for a conference that was from Sunday afternoon until Tuesday evening.  He was packing his suits and ties and making sure he had everything ready to go.  Vince had just gotten out of the shower and was naked on our bed waiting for me to get his clothes.  Joel was on our bed too, but he was in his pjs playing with legos.  I had grabbed clothes for Vince but his pull ups were downstairs, so I figured he could just be naked until we went downstairs.  Vince sat on one of Brad's sweaters and Brad freaked out because Vince's naked butt was on his sweater.  Brad asked Vince what he was doing and Vince responded "I just wanted something fluffy on my butt."  Vince loves to aggrevate/tease people and quickly realized Brad was aggrevated but not mad enough for Vince to get into any real trouble.  Vince started jumping on the bed and landing on his butt on Brad's nice clothes in the garment bag Brad was packing.  Brad was disgusted and we were all laughing really hard!  Unfortunately all the laughing encouaraged Vince even more!  He kept trying to jump on Brad's clothes, Brad kept trying to stop him and would take him off the bed and Vince would be right back up on the bed in a matter of seconds.  Brad asked why I wasn't stopping Vince, but I really thought the two of them should leave me out of the whole mess.  I was enjoying being a spectator.  After a little while I told Vince it was time to go downstairs and get dressed, so he took off downstairs naked with his blankets.  Brad's friend was driving to the conference with him and was in the living room waiting for Brad.  Vince didn't seem to care that he was naked in front of our guest.  Luckily Brad's friend is the father of 2 young boys and I was able to convince Vince to get dressed quickly.

It has been a while since I have laughed that hard at the kids.  I think the last time was when both the boys were dancing one night on the couch.  Vince was naked and Joel was wearing a diaper and they kept jumping on me and dancing all around.  All I could do was laugh!  Especially when Vince was dancing and shaking his hips and said "look I can make it bounce."  I only have sisters and I don't recall thinking it was funny to run or dance around naked.  Either it is a boy thing or something my children just like to do.  I am hoping it is just a boy thing!


I really wish I had a video or even some pictures to share, but no such luck!

Our time out chair

Like most houses with small children we have a time out chair.  The time out chair in our house has moved a couple times.  Mostly because once Joel came along and we had more baby gates up it was too much work to climb over the baby gates to put Vince in time out and Vince knew it.  Currently it is a purple chair that just happens to be my massage chair that is in the dining room and you can't see the tv or anyone playing in the living room when you are sitting in the chair.  Sometimes I give myself timeouts just so I can get a nice massage!  Unfortunately the boys also see it as time to jump and climb all over me or to turn off the master switch on the chair.   Anyway, there used to be a lot more time outs in our house, but lately Vince is down to 1 a week and it usually has to do with hurting Joel or refusing to share.  Joel is still too young to understand time out so sometimes when he is getting in too much trouble or bothering Vince too much I just stick him in his highchair for a little while if distractions techniques aren't working.  Joel is pretty determined so distraction only helps 50% of the time.

The other day Joel was bothering Vince.  Vince wasn't wanting to share a toy and before I knew what happen Joel was on the floor crying and I am pretty sure he didn't fall on his own.  I put Vince in time out and within 30 sec Joel was up and over at the time out chair crawling in Vince's lap.  Vince was crying and mad because "Joel buggin' me" but Joel was laughing and thought it was a fun new game.  I did feel bad for Vince but on the other hand it was too funny not to take a picture.  After the picture I saved Vince from Joel!  Hopefully it never gets to the point where I need 2 time out chairs at the same time.  If it comes to that we will just have a time out bench!

Joel looks pretty proud of himself and you can tell Vince is not happy!

It is OVER!

Can you tell I am excited?

It has been a very long fall!  I love harvest when it starts and even half way thru I still love it, but the last 1/5 of harvest I don't like at all.  It just seems to drag on and on and I don't have the patience for it anymore.  I want my husband back and the kids miss their dad!  This last week of harvest has had several rain days and a breakdown which normally I don't care too much about but I was really looking forward to harvest being over and my husband being home.   For the last few weeks I have been asking for acre updates from Brad.  I know that they can do about 200 acres a day so I kept doing the math in my head, but the rain days really messed with my timeline!   

Thursday morning before Brad left for work he told Vince that they would be done with combining that day.  Vince replied "Now you can be home all the time!"  Unfortunately that isn't quite true.  There is so much to be done still: tillage work, cleaning and fixing equipment, paperwork, marketing the grain, etc.  On the bright side we should return to working hours where Brad actually gets to see the kids for more than 10-15 minutes in the morning while he is walking out the door or when we come out to the field for a little bit here and there.  I am excited! 

The honey do list has been growing this fall, mostly in preparation for the baby.  Brad may wish he was back in the field before too long!  The list isn't that bad.  Mostly painting and some heavy lifting.  I think I will wait until after Thanksgiving to bug him about it!

Vince and the moisture tester.  Vince loves running corn and bean samples thru the moisture tester.  He calls the room it sits in the corn shop.  The other day he was teaching me how to use it and telling me what buttons to press and when.  He tried to teach Joel too but Joel wouldn't listen!  The room is also home to all the electrical panels for the grain set up as well as the control panel for the grain dryer.  Most buttons are places where Vince can reach them and he does such a good job having self control when he is helping Brad in the corn shop!

We are so thankful for a safe harvest and so happy it is over for 2011!  I am sure it will be planting time again before we know it!

A natural performer

At Awana Club this week they had a talent show/show and tell.  All the kids from the 3 different age groups and some parents were in attendance.  I didn't know about the talent show until the night before Awana Club.  I asked Vince if he wanted to sing a song or something for the talent show.  He was excited and we started to think about songs.  I asked him what song he wanted to sing and he said "Mighty Mega Monster Truck" from his Monster Truck movie.  I don't really like the song and I can't understand half the words he says when he is singing it.  I asked him if there was any other songs he wanted to sing and he said "Hakuna Matata" from the Lion King.  He only knows about 4 or 5 lines from it but he does a good job singing the lines he does know.  He practiced a few times and he was all excited for Awana Club.

When we got there I still wasn't quite sure Vince was going to go up front and sing in front of everyone.  There were easily over 50 people there.  They had the cubbies go first and Vince raised his hand and was asking me if he could go first!  He didn't get to go first but he was one of the first 5 kids to go.  When it was his turn he walked right up to the microphone stand and went to start singing.  The leader asked Vince what song he was going to sing and Vince clearly announced "Hakuna Matata" and began to sing (he only knows a few lines of the song).  He did a great job!  Afterwards everybody applauded and he shot me a huge smile and than ran back to his seat.  Vince was so happy and I was so proud of him!

Singing in front of a group is nothing that I could ever do without some liquid courage.  For starters I can't carry a tune in a bucket and I get nervous getting up in front of people.  As a little kid my cousins and I would put together plays, especially at Thanksgiving, but it was just in front of family.  Brad doesn't enjoy public speaking but will do it if he has to.  My grandfather loves to entertain and so does my dad to an extent, apparently it just skipped a generation!

My friend Amy was well prepared with her video camera and was nice enough to video Vince for me.  Below is the video.  Enjoy!

A three ring circus

On Wednesday morning the boys were playing with my phone and looking at pictures and videos, mostly of themselves, when they found a video Aunt Alyse sent them.  Vince just kept trying to talk to the video and was getting frustrated that Aunt Alyse wasn't talking back.  Joel was thrilled because Vince was letting him hold the phone and Aunt Alyse was holding her dog in the video.  I explained to Vince that it was just a video and she couldn't hear him.  Vince responded "I want to talk when she can see me and I can see a picture of myself too."  He was talking about the webcam.  We recently got a computer that has a webcam and we have only used it once (to talk to Alyse and my dad) so far but he remembered.

That night we called Aunt Alyse on the computer and had a video chat session with her.  I don't know what Alyse thought of the whole thing but it was nothing short of three ring circus on our end.  Vince kept trying to have a conversation with Aunt Alyse.  Joel kept attacking the computer.  He was trying to press buttons, sit on the computer, he kept saying "hi" and looking at himself in the computer, and then he started saying "tickle, tickle, tickle" and pressing all the keys on the computer.  I grabbed a large book and put it over the keyboard.  It stopped the key pressing but then Joel crawled on the computer and then Vince tried to follow him.  I got up with the computer and walked away.  Vince took my phone and started playing Angry Birds.  Joel followed me to the dining room and climbed on the table, did a dance, and then jumped on my back and kept on talking to Alyse.  Then he said "bye" and shut the laptop.   At this point I decided it was time to end the conversation and I let Vince say good bye, then I let Joel say good bye and he say "bye yse."  Alyse and I swore he said "bye Alyse" but perhaps we were hearing things.  I told Joel to say bye again and he said "bye yse," so I guess it is official he can say Alyse's name or at least part of it!

The boys love to video chat and hopefully we can work on the proper way to act while using the webcam.  If anyone wants to video chat with us let us know.  I can't promise you will hear anyone over Joel, but it should be interesting if nothing else!

Not smart enough for a smart phone

Good friends of ours live just outside of Peoria, where I was attending a conference this weekend, and I went out there on Friday to visit with them and have dinner. Unfortunately due to distance and everyone's busy schedule we don't get to see our friends but a few times a year.  That being said when we do go to their house Brad is always driving and I do not pay very much attention to where we are going.  That being said, I am not familiar at all with Peoria so I had put their address in my phone and used my GPS program to find their house. My phone kept telling me it was going to take 7 hours to get to their house (25 miles or so away) and wouldn't take me to the major interstate that I knew I was supposed to take. I was mad and kept reentering the address and asking it to recalculate.  I got tired of trying to outsmart the phone and decided to just follow the directions, because there was no way it was going to take that long.  At one point I was a little lost in what appeared to be a not so nice part of town but quickly figured out where I was supposed to be. Once I was back on track I called Brad and told him my phone was acting weird.   After telling him what it was doing he quickly told me it was set to walking mode, my guess is that he had done that before.  No wonder it wouldn't take me to the interstate earlier!  About 30 minutes later and several close encounters with deer on the backroads and I was at our friend’s house.

It was great to relax and visit at their house while their kids played and entertained us. They have a daughter and a son and they are both 1 year younger than our 2. At first I wished my boys were there to play with their kids, but that would have been a lot more work for me! It was a blast watching their kids and not having to worry about chasing my boys around all night. It definitely left more time for talking!  Hopefully next time we get together the boys and Brad can come too!

A Weekend Away

This past weekend I went to a continuing education conference in Peoria. There are tons of conferences all over the U.S for veterinarians to get their required amount of continuing education. This one was close to home and was covering a few topics I really wanted to learn more about. Plus, I need 40 hours every 2 years and before this weekend I didn't have very many hours yet this year. Overall it was a good conference and I got to visit with several of my classmates and other friends and acquaintances over the weekend.

As much fun as going away for a weekend by myself sounded (uninterrupted sleep and no diapers to change!) it required a lot of planning and work. Honestly, around Thursday night (my late night at work) I thought it probably wasn't worth all the effort. I was supposed to leave around 5:30 am on Friday. I needed to make sure that the boys’ clothes and diapers were all clean and put away, the house was clean and that I was packed. Also, that everyone knew the boys schedule for the weekend and their normal routine.  I had been slowly getting things ready all week but there is always last minute laundry to be done around our house (silly potty training). It all went fine at home. Aunt Alyse came to relieve our normal sitter on Friday evening and stayed until Saturday afternoon when Grandma Diane took over until Brad came home. Brad was hoping they would be done with harvest by this weekend, but several rain days ruined that plan.  From what I can tell everyone had a good time this weekend. I keep hearing stories from Vince like "Aunt Alyse brought this..." or "Aunt Alyse does it this way..." or "Aunt Alyse let me do...." And then there were Brad’s stories “I got home and the house was clean, everyone was in bed.  Vince was even in his own bed (lately he sleeps in the guest room), there were delicious leftovers in the fridge and the kid’s all slept thru the night.”  It sounds like everyone was happy to have Aunt Alyse around home! 

Grandma Diane brought the kids to one of Brad's cousin's birthday party and last night I was told amidst tears "I told Grandma Diane the birthday cake looked delicious like my monster truck cake but she wouldn't let me have any."  Before you think Grandma is mean, Vince didn’t eat dinner and was asking for cake when she was trying to get them loaded up in the truck to bring them home.  Sunday Brad and the boys got to spend the day together.  At 9:55am on Sunday Brad sent me a text telling me they were already on their way to church.  That is pretty much unheard of normally.  Usually we are running around like crazy and don’t leave the house until after 10am and are walking into church as it is starting.  The boys and Brad got to spend the rest of the day Sunday hanging out together until I got home.  It isn’t often lately that they get to spend so much one on one time together.

I had a great weekend away, but I was happy to be back at home with Brad and the boys.  We are blessed to have so many people in our lives that love the boys and are willing to help take care of them.  Maybe next time Brad and I can go away together (somewhere more fun than a conference) and leave the boys at home.  Aunt Alyse, what weekends are you free?

Random Cell Phone Pictures

The boys play with my cell phone quite often.  Vince loves to play games, watch movies and look at pictures.  Joel loves to look at the pictures, watch movies and watch Vince play games.  He loves to try to play the games but most of them are to frustrating for him.  Last night when we were looking at pictures on my phone I saw a few I forgot were even there.

This one is Brad playing with the boys in a tunnel we have.  Brad crawled in the tunnel and Vince climbed on top of it.  Brad asked me what he was and I quickly answered "A fistulated cow!"  A fistulated cow is a cow with surgically place opening into its rumen (stomach), so you can remove the plug that is in the skin and reach right into the stomach.  It doesn't affect how the cow goes about its daily life and they are generally used for teaching and research. Yes we are a little nerdy!  Vince kept saying "I riding a fistulated cow."  He was very excited even though he didn't have a clue what he was talking about and Joel just thought Brad was hilarious.

We have a very large dog kennel.  A great dane may have room to spare in this kennel.  Since Maisy is spending less time in the kennel Joel has been playing in it more and more.  The other day Bristol, Maisy, and Joel were all in the kennel and we told Vince to go in there with them.  He didn't want to, but he listened.  We shut them all in the kennel for a minute or two.  Joel started wrestling Vince, Bristol stayed in the back of the cage and Maisy took the opportunity to lick both kids.  Brad and I got a good chuckle out of the fact that all our "kids" could fit in the cage together.

Here is a picture of a tower that the boys built for me and put in my bathroom for me.  They thought I needed a tower to look at while I was going to the bathroom.  I was in the bathroom when they delivered it and both insisted on standing on either side of the toilet while I was in there.  Apparently they wanted to admire their tower as well!

My children climbing a large ladder....Vince made it 3 rungs from the top.  Joel would have made it at least that far, but he was stopped before he went too high.

This is Joel throwing a fit this summer in the yard.  Grandma was taking too long getting him his sippy cup.  It was too funny not to take a picture!

Speeding tickets, Speakers and Hot Chicks

Last week when we were driving to my mom's house we went a different route than usual.  The slight change in route took us thru a really small town with 2 stop signs and a funny change in speed limits.  The boys were both sleeping so Brad and I had plenty of time to talk.  Brad remarked that it has been awhile since he got a speeding ticket in that town.  It turned into reminiscing about the whole ordeal and the events that lead up to and followed the speeding ticket.  Here is my account of what happened.  Keep in mind I wasn't there for any of the events, I was just told about them afterwards.

Brad's cousin, Jen, was a veterinarian and there was a foal (baby horse) that was sick and needed to get down to the U of I quickly and the owner's couldn't take the foal down there themselves for one reason or another.  Brad worked weekends at the time and had some free time on his hands so Jen asked him to take the foal down.  Brad had borrowed a big van from his brother (who had a van for his business...spreading biosolids) to take the foal down there.  On the way to get the foal Brad was pulled over for speeding and got a ticket.  Brad and the foal made it down to the U of I.  I was going to vet school at the time and Brad and I were engaged.  After dropping off the foal Brad headed back home and stopped at a home improvement store to pick something up...at the time his house was in need of a lot of renovation (we still have some to go, but that is another story or 10) and trips to home improvement stores were a normal occurence.  Actually there have been times when we have been such regulars at the home improvement stores that several of the employees knew us by name.  While at the store a woman ( I am told she was really hot...somehow that makes it ok I guess) got out of a van and approached Brad about buying speakers.  The woman and a man showed Brad the speakers they had in the van.  At the time Brad was needing/wanting new speakers for the house and Brad is always on the look out for a deal.  Brad tried to get away by saying he didn't have his check book on him.  I guess they quickly volunteered to follow Brad home and the woman offered to ride with Brad.  He agreed because and I quote "she was hot" the joke was on her though because Brad was still in his brother's van that spelled like biosolids (poop).  At this point most normal people would have just totally blown off the speaker sales people or not even entertained the idea of buying speakers out of the back of an unmarked van in a parking lot, but not Brad.

While we were in the car driving talking about all of this I mentioned to Brad how dangerous the whole situation could have been.  They could have easily robbed Brad and beat him up or worse once they got back to his house.  They were probably severly disappointed when they showed up to a house in the middle of nowhere where the most valuable thing associated with the house was a cabinet that was built into the house.  At the time there was green shag carpeting all over the house, Brad's grandma's and aunt's old furniture (they had newer furniture at their houses) and hideous wall paper everywhere.

Once they were back at Brad's house they ended up convincing him that their speakers were better than any name brand speaker and that they were cutting him a great deal!  Brad ended up buying 2 speakers which I am pretty sure ended up ruining his receiver several months later and one quit working all together with in a year.  Brad will argue the part about them ruining the receiver, but until he has his own blog my version wins.

I had called Brad after classes got over that day and he was in the van with the "hot lady" and didn't tell me what was going on just that he would call me back.  I couldn't believe the story.  I thought he was making it up!  At first I was irritated that he could do something so silly, but it was his money, so I just laughed at him.  Not with him, at him!

It was a fun time remembering that story.  When we got done Brad said "Now that is bloggable" so I took that a permission to write about it!

Not So Wonderful Contractors

We have been renovating our house on and off for almost 8 years and that doesn't count the work Brad did on the house before I met him.  Brad bought the house about 1 year before I met him and he did a few improvements to the two existing bathrooms and a lot of work outside demolishing several buildings.  That being said there was a lot left to do inside and outside.  We have done a lot of work ourselves or with the help of friends and family, although there have been several jobs were we were smart enough to hire a contractor.  We have had some good, bad and mediocre contractors over the years.  For some reason the other day a few memories from getting our house sided came to mind.

About 4 years ago we hired a local company to replace our siding.  It was fall and Brad was in the field down south (it was the first year we farmed in FC) and I was working at the racetrack and had to be there early in the morning.  The company started on our siding usually sometime after I left for work and they said it would take about 2 weeks.  I didn't think it would be too bad.  I was under the impression that it would take very little involvement, if any from me.  It turns out the local company used subcontractors that spoke very little English and a lot of Polish and the owner of the company was never around.  I don't know any Polish and I didn't think it was going to be an issue because in all reality I wasn't expecting them to need to communicate with me anyway.  It turned out that one of the 4 workers did speak quite a bit of English when he wanted (or needed to) and asked me one day about using our grill to cook their lunch.  Of course I said yes and then the next day he was talking about how they were all going to go fishing and camping after work.  I told them to have fun!

Late that night (Brad was still away in FC) the dogs started going crazy!  It was probably 1am.  There was a full moon and I thought at first the dogs just saw or heard a coyote or something.  We do have a ton of those around.  But the dogs were relentless and running up and down the stairs and really worked up.  I was freaking out a little bit but I was mostly irritated with the dogs and I went downstairs to let them outside.  When I opened the door to let them out they jumped out and started barking like crazy and their hair was standing on end.  As they bolted out the door I realized there was a white work van parked by the shed that belonged to the team installing our siding.  I freaked out and immediately called the dogs back to the house and quickly locked the door!  After a couple deep breathes I realized it was the workers form the siding company and they were parked in my yard.  I thought about jumping in my car and driving to my brother and sister inlaws house across the field but their van was right next to my car.  I thought about calling the police but they were close to finishing the siding and I really wanted the siding finished and the workers gone!  I ended up calling and waking Brad up and asking him what the heck I was supposed to do.  It probably didn't sound that nice because I was not happy!  He asked what he was supposed to do about it and I told him I don't know but that this was completely unacceptable.

After getting very little sleep I woke up at 5 am to go to work.  I went and did my rounds through the barns and around 7 am I decided it was late enough to call the owner of the company.  After giving him a piece of my mind and asking him what was going on he said he would get to the bottom of it.  A couple hours later I get a phone call back from the company owner and the workers claimed that Brad said they could camp out in the yard after they went fishing that night.  When I explained to the owner of the company that Brad hasn't been home the whole time the workers were there and he has never talked to them.  The owner just kept saying that is what his workers were telling him.  I was so frustrated!   Going home after work was a little awkward and the workers and I spent the next 4 days or so until they were finished not talking. 

That was not the end of the problems with the siding people.  A couple days later they broke a window while they were installing the siding, they didn't tell me and it rained that night.  I was going around the house closing windows when I found the problem.  It happened to be the room where all our pictures were being stored while we were doing renovation (wedding albums, framed wedding pictures, diplomas, etc).  It was 9pm and I called Brad and again he told me he didn't know what I wanted him to do since he was 2 hours away but that he would call the owner of the company.  He drove down and covered the window with plastic.  When the siding was done I was very excited to be done with workers around the house.  It certainly wouldn't be the last time we had problems with a contractor.  Brad likes to blame me for being too picky...he is joking, usually!

Angry Birds and Potty Training

Recently we have been struggling with Vince using the toilet and not just having accidents.  He was doing well for a really long time and now he just gets too busy or just doesn't care (I haven't figured out which one) and we have a lot of accidents.  If you tell him to go use the potty he gets really mad and throws a fit.  Lately it has been driving me crazy, mostly because he was doing so well!  Originally we used stickers and jelly beans for using the potty.  The stickers were a bust and the jelly beans sort of worked.  This summer we just let him go outside because he loved peeing on things (trees, grass, flowers, etc) and that was going really well.  We would still have accidents and if we were going on a long car trip or he was sleeping he would wear a pull-up.  This last month he just goes whereever and whenever he wants to, sometime in the toilet and sometimes not, and he doesn't seem to care!

Last night we were out to dinner with my aunts, uncles, cousins, my dad and my grandparents.  Vince and Joel were playing with our iphones and my sister Alyse's iphone.  Vince was quick to ask for Aunt Alyse's phone because I think he was hoping for some new games or videos or something.  He ended up finding the game Angry Birds on her phone.  I have never played it but I know a lot of people love it.   Vince was sitting on my Aunt Carol's lap when he started playing it and instantly knew how to play and loved it!  Alyse downloaded it on my phone while we were at the restaurant and Vince started playing it on my phone when Aunt Alyse left.  He has cleared several levels and has the look of intense concentration on his face (tongue sticking out and everything) when he is playing.  Occassionally he will shout something like "I love Angry Birds" or "2,8,9, thousand!"  I am guessing he is getting excited about all the points he is scoring.

At first Brad and I were thinking that this is going to be a hard addiction to break because we were not letting him spend all day playing with our phones and not socializing with the rest of the family.  He is 3 and I wasn't expecting this behavior until he was at least 10.   This morning when Vince came running into our room at 6:45am asking for Angry Birds we decided Angry Birds could be the key to getting back on track as far as potty training goes.  When I told Vince he needed to use the bathroom first he said ok and ran off and went by himself with no arguing!  So our new plan is everytime he uses the potty he can play Angry Birds for 3 minutes and if he has an accident no more Angry Birds for the day.  This could completely backfire at some point, but we are going to take advantage of it while we can even if it is just for one day!

Thanks Aunt Alyse for introducing Angry Birds to Vince!

Table Dancing and Toilet Diving

 Joel loves to climb!  The problem is he is not scared of anything and he is quiet when he is climbing.  With in the last few days he has tried to climb on top of a dog kennel (its about 3 feet tall), climbed on a couple end tables, the top of the piano, the columns in our living room, the radiators, couch, a couple of beds, and the kitchen stools.  Joel also decided to be creative and take pots and pans out of the drawer to use to reach the light switches in the kitchen.  When he realized that wasn't quite tall enough he pulled the little chairs we have in the kitchen over to the light switch to fix the problem.  He gets quite upset when you stop him from climbing, we are talking full melt down.  Although, the melt downs are getting a little better.  Joel used to climb and then he was doing better for a long time and then this week it has escalated again!

Table Dancing on the little table

We used to keep the chairs on the table, but after several weeks that got a little ridiculous and inconvenient.  My cousin told me how they tied their chairs to their table legs to stop their son from climbing and I suggested to Brad that we try that, but he was against that (he also isn't the one home to deal with it).  I get tired of fighting the climbing on the table.  Joel climbs on it, dances a little (it is really cute, I need to get a video) and then climbs down.  I realize that this is not acceptable behavior, but it really beats climbing on the radiators next to the picture windows.  There comes a time when I just have to pick my battles and since he hasn't tried climbing on the table while we are eating I will call it ok for now.  The problem I have noticed is that if he gets bored at other people's houses he will try the same thing.  Now when we are out at friends and family's houses instead of just worrying about the toilet diving (Joel's other favorite past time) I also need to worry about table dancing.  Vince has become my scout and helps alert me to when Joel is toilet diving or table dancing as long as Vince isn't too busy doing something else or joining in on the fun.

Getting ready for the next climb!

We have a large inflatable monkey bars bouncy house apparatus upstairs and it is currently set up for the boys.  When Joel is climbing way to many things downstairs we do go upstairs and climb on there.  With very little help he can climb all the way to the top and from rung to rung all the way around it.  He thinks it is hilarious when he falls on purpose!  My heart skips a beat or two.  Joel has learned a lot watching his older brother climb.  I try to tell myself that all this climbing is just a phase he is in and eventually the climbing won't be as bad or at least he will know the difference between what is appropriate to climb on and what is off limits.  Vince has become a lot better at differentiating what he can and can not climb on but he has a hard time not following Joel when Joel climbs.  I keep suture glue in the diaper bag just in case we ever need it.  I am sure a trip to the emergency room is inevitable!

The bouncy house...with stuffed animals in it

I tried to get a picture of the bouncy house with the kids on it, but they insist that I am in it with them...Yes, I do fit!  I just lay on the bottom and give Joel a leg up to the first rung and watch Vince do his tricks.  The pictures all turned out kind of funny looking and Joel kept landing on me and it wasn't pretty.

Minor injury!

 
Last week I managed to get a corneal ulcer (scratch on my eye).  I have no idea how!  I can tell you that it is really painful and I don't recommend getting one.  I am still doing eye drops several times a day and needing to wear my glasses.  I hate my glasses and can not wait until I can wear my contacts again.  It wouldn't have been a huge deal because I do have a cute pair of glasses that I like, but they are missing.  I only wear glasses once every 5-6 months and I can't remember where I wore them last.  I have looked everywhere and luckily found 2 old pair of glasses.  One pair is ugly and the other pair the lenses are scratched up and neither is the correct prescription.  There have been moments in the last week where I was pretty sure my vision would be better without the glasses. 

It turns out that if you have a corneal ulcer you need to do eye drops a ridiculous number of times throughout the day with expensive medications.  I have been to the eye doctor more in the last week than in the last 3 years.  On the bright side the eye doctor is super nice!  Vince has been very interested in my eye injury and I have had to tell him the story of how it happened and about my trips to the doctors several times this week.  Joel on the other hand doesn't seem to like my glasses and just takes them off my face whenever he has a chance and then gives me a big smile like "there's my real Mommy."  Earlier this week one pair of glasses broke and now I am wearing the pair I think is ugly (they are at least 8 years old and a little bigger than I would like).  They aren't that bad but I don't like them that much.  I am sure as soon as I am allowed to wear contacts again my good glasses will show up!

Unusual Music Choices

Most days when I am home the boys and I listen to a lot of music.  Usually we listen to a Veggie Tales radio station on Pandora.  They play christian songs, songs from Veggie Tales, Disney songs, Chipmunks songs, etc.  When we are in the car we usually listen to a country station or a CD from vacation bible school.  The boys love to dance around the house and sing a lot of the songs.  When Vince was little he had one song that would instantly calm him down and it was a vacation bible school song.   You could start singing it and he would go from screaming/crying to being happy.  Until recently there wasn't one song we could play or sing to make Joel stop crying and I have tried a lot of different songs.  A couple weeks ago at 4:30am Joel was crying and I couldn't get him to stop.  I reached for my phone and started playing Sick 'Em on a Chicken by the Zac Brown Band ( I was desperate for a few more hours of sleep) and he was instantly calm and went back to sleep.  I thought it must have been a fluke, but I was happy with the results.  The last couple weeks we have tried it out when Joel is upset and he will stop crying and smile and then sing along.  If you know the song there is a part where they make chicken noises and Joel will make chicken noises and then laugh.  The other night Joel woke up right when I was trying to go to bed and I finally got tired of listening to the crying and brought him in bed with me.  He kept fussing and wouldn't settle down.  I played Sick 'Em on a Chicken and he was looked like he was asleep instantly, then the chicken noise part came on and he starting making chicken noises in a whisper with his eyes shut.  When it was all over he was sound asleep.  We have tried many other songs, even other Zac Brown Band songs and this is the only one that calms him down.  I don't understand, but I am just happy to have something I know Joel likes.