Oldies but Goodies

Here are a few older videos. Jude using a spoon himself for one of the first times. He LOVES using forks and spoons, and refuses to let me feed anything to him. He still struggles with it, but gets very excited when he gets it right.

The other is of Jude chasing Babbs around when she was living in the house. He also LOVES to play with (aka torment!) the pets.

video killed the photo star

All three of these were taken today. Jude and I had a long day together, it being the first day Gil has been at work from 9 am to 10 pm and the first day the two of us have been home alone all that time since last spring. So I took some videos of this crazy kid. He really does crack me up. There was about a million other things I wish I could've captured on tape, but I guess it's my privilege as his mother to witness them all each day!!! I love that about being a mom. The first one show him dancing to "Word World" music, his absolute favorite PBS song. The other is him spinning, one of his new favorite things to do. He will randomly start spinning and then trying to walk. Really makes me wonder about the things he'll try for fun as he gets older! The last is from cookies tonight. I didn't get it on the video, but he can say cookie pretty good. It's an important word to him! One of the moments I was unable to get on video was him crouching down into a big pot I have and then trying to get the lid on himself. It was cute! Ok, enough of this nonsense! Good night!

Estes Park, CO 2010

Gil, Jude, and I took off for the majestic mountains of Colorado last Friday afternoon for a quick little end-of-summer vacation with my family. We drove separate from the rest of the gang since Gil had to teach on Friday. We arrived at midnight and stayed until Monday morning when we hit the road again. Despite the LONG hours in the car, we had a relaxing time and saw amazing sights. Jude thouroughly enjoyed his first vacation (he plays, falls, and lives hard!) and even traveled well. Here are some pictures to highlight our experience.

Mountain.

Having a picnic lunch. This is the best picture of the most people I have. Hope someone else got a better one. Emails please!
Gil and I at the "top"
Gil letting Jude feel the icy cold mountain stream.
Elk.

Jude and Ashtyn played like fools. It was so fun to watch them. Ashtyn loves saying "Jude" and Jude is getting pretty good at his own version of "Ashtyn"

We stayed in a fully furnished vacation home that was just perfect for us and so cute. There was a Daniel Boon hat on one of the coat racks that Jude just loved!
The kids exploring the mountains from the top of the Rockies. Looks like Jude spotted some elk! (He also later fell off this platform and came home with a cut below his eye. Like I said, he goes hard!)

And here are some at home pics

Jude with his new "car"

Jude sporting his hunting gear he got last year for Christmas. Fits perfect now and he is ready to hit the deer stand with dad this fall (NOT!)

(note to Alaina: So sorry we weren't able to make it to your house again...just so little time...someday! I love your state!)

Highs...Lows

The other day I had another bad one. And it seems that whenever I have a bad one all I want to do is blog about it and get it off my chest (aka complain!). But then others have to read about my bad ones all the time even though there are just as many good ones. Why don't I have that urge to blog about those???

So here goes. A GOOD one!

Last Friday, August 27.

* Play-date at the park in Wayne

* New mommy friends!!! Most of which I made a connection with or had something in common with...felt so nice since it has been a prayer request for over a year.

* Found out a new MOPS group is also starting at our church in Wayne

* Lunch with family

* Afternoon mowing during Jude's nap (I heart mowing).

* Trip to Orange City to see good friends from college and to play some Pinochle

See!!! Perfectly GOOD day:)

But since I got that out of the way I might as well tell the bad one too!

Last Monday, August 30.

* Subbed for 2nd graders.

* Only the 8th day of school.

* First early morning for Jude and I and Gil was at Charger Camp so we did it alone.

* Jude cries when I leave.

* Frustrating day as the teacher (at least college kids pretend to listen!).

* Road closed on my way home. Took much longer to get to Jude after our first long day apart.

* Found out the car wasn't done at the shop yet like we'd hoped.

* Had to get back in the car with a cranky kid who'd rather do anything than ride in the car seat and drive to Sioux City to pick up Gil from Charger Camp.

* Got home late...

It doesn't seem all that bad now. Maybe that's why I like to write it down. Funny how in the moment little things seem so much bigger. But those good things I mentioned? Still really really good!

We'll see what tomorrow brings!

Bits and Pieces

I HATE buying what I don't want. And I HATE how things are labeled so mysteriously. I bought three things recently that I found out were not what I wanted a little too late. Here is the waterproof mascara I bought. I didn't want waterproof. Notice how small the word is and it looks just like the other kind!

Here is the self-rising flour I got when I wanted all-purpose. There was just this sea of flour. It shouldn't be so hard to find what you want!
This one was Gil's buy. We wanted shampoo and got 2in1 shampoo + conditioner. Again very small detail!

Pile of wood for the winter...will it last??? Gil and my exercise program is cutting and hauling wood!

Box our chicks came in on Thursday.

New baby chicks! 21, but already down to 20:(

I did an experiment in the laundry room this summer. This is my chart. I was trying to see how long a 96 load container would last me and how many loads I would get out of it. Results: a little over 2 months and 87 loads. Not too bad...most shocking is how many loads I do per week now!

The Era used for the experiment.

Jude puts on his own hat now....like this!

We have gone swimming at the pool in Laurel a few times together this summer. It is perfect because it has a zero entry and is newly remodeled. Jude LOVES to swim and is not afraid at all...good or bad???

Helping...Kind of

I decided one day that Jude would be a good helper for the task of washing my car. He LOVES the hose and is not afraid to squirt it directly on his head even. Here is a warning if you ever have the same notion of letting a one-year-old help you wash your car:

*He will dunk his hands in your soapy water

*He will spill your soapy water

*He will never be convinced that it is your turn to use the hose

*He will cry when you insist it is your turn to use the hose

*After crying he will run over to the dog food and stick as much in his mouth as he can in rebellion because it is no longer his turn to use the hose

*In the end you will both be wet and tired

But there is a plus side to the adventure. Because...

you get to share a popsicle together afterward to celebrate all your hard work!

And you may or may not have a clean car...

Produce

This is the good part about having a garden and chickens. Even though some parts are stinky! Our next adventure: 20 broiler chickens arrive tomorrow! We are going to raise and butcher them...stay tuned for results!

EGGS! We get about 3/day right now, but have about 5 more layers that should start soon.

Frozen green beans and sweet corn (sweet corn from my mom and dad's place)

Frozen Rhubarb and Zucchini
Onions hanging in the barn

Black Raspberry Jam (made from black raspberries from our grove)
Zucchini and Cucumber (we had lettuce and spinach at the beginning of summer)
Some of our Tomatoes. We have already made salsa and are going to make tomato juice, pasta sauce, and can some whole tomato chunks.
SOME of our seemingly millions of potatoes (both white and red).
Canned Cinnamon Pickles--3 day process, but yummy!

Completely unrelated to produce...

I just completed an order on Shutterfly.com. I made a photobook of Jude's first year. I have made them before and it's always the same. I upload pictures (takes FOREVER), I arrange pictures (takes FOREVER), I write captions, chance backgrounds, change styles, change covers (takes FOREVER), I become obsessed with the project, it is all I think about, I skip meals to work on it, I decide I want to try a different route and make a second to compare with the first (takes FOREVER), I then cannot decide which I like better and spend FOREVER going back and forth (Gil cannot distinguish between them so is no help). Finally, after hours of debating and modifying I place an order (and immediately regret my decisions!). But today, despite the many hours lost on this simple task, at least there are three things on the bright side: so far I have not had regrets about the order, I saved more than I spent by using coupons, AND I'm not so nervous about my computer crashing and losing all of my pictures of Jude that I have not bothered backup! I hope I like it when it arrives:)