Presents

It is amazing how much things have changed in one year of "K's" life.  In my mind, one year seems short, but for "K" it has been 1/3 or his whole life.  Wow.  That is pretty amazing!  This means that lots of changes occur, and continue to occur.

One change was the whole present thing.  "K" really understand the "opening" concept this year, and had a great time opening his birthday gifts.  He even did a great job sharing with "L" too!  It has been fun to see the growth.  My goal is to continue taking lots of pictures, so that we can capture as many moments as possible!

Purple Jazz Hands

One could say that "L" gets into his food -- literally!  I never realized how "neat" of an eater "K" was, until "L" began eating at the table too.  Oh my, there is no comparison.  I think "L" may need to don a bib until he reaches kindergarten.  So, here are some facts about dining with "L":

*Silverware really are only accessories.  Hands are the best method of getting food to your mouth.
*One should always toss a piece on the floor to see what happens to the food.  Does it stick?  Does it bounce?  Will it roll?
*Once your hands are fully covered, you should rub them all over your head, to evenly cover.
*When you are finished, dump your plate on the table or floor, and throw the silverware across the table.

So, I spend most of the meals trying to anticipate when some of these things might happen, to sort of, cut them off at the pass.  Sometimes I succeed, but mostly -- I go through many washcloths!

My Favorite Ranch

When you have grown up on a farm, things just can't get much better than going back.  Now, I don't live on a farm now, but thankfully, one of my good friends does.  My favorite thing to do is to help with their bull sale in the spring.  After a three year absence - I made it back!

As I rounded that last bend of the gravel road, I took in all the beauty and remembered the reason why I loved this place so much.  I love the miles of hilly pasture as far as the eye could see, bovines everywhere and reconnecting with people I have come to know well.  I truly missed the past years of absence from this sale.

I did not help sort bulls this year, water or feed, but I did get to help prepare and serve the buyer lunch.  I loved every minute of it, and hope to be able to return each year.  Here's to the foundation of everything: agriculture!  Thank God for the farmer!!

Haircut

Believe it or not, "L" actually has grown a bit of hair.  Mr. Fixit was ready to give him a little trim, and honestly, the experience was much more pleasant with boy #2 then it ever is with boy #1!  "L" giggled, and held perfectly still as Mr. Fixit clipped away.  The ear part is always tricky.  So a scissor trim is needed.

"L" had so much fun with his haircut, that he asked for Mr. Fixit to do it again the next night!  We told him, that haircuts only happen every once in a while.  Now, if we only get "K" to like them as much as "L" -- then we would be in business!

Biker Boy

Sweet "J," our original childcare provider, closed shop -- but, the toys definitely are not "resting" at our house!  This three-wheeler bike is "K's" favorite.  He still does not have the hang of pedaling, but can really move by pushing his feet off the ground.  He rides it each day, and steers pretty good too!

Since the weather, for most of January and February, was rather yucky, we had to resort to indoor play.  So, the trusty trike definitely had some miles put on it.  Of course, now "L" is trying to get in on the fun, so there is a squabble over this bike on occasion.  Here's to more future riding fun!

Shades

You could say that we all feel winter has simply lasted long enough!  "L" loves riding around in the new-to-us-firetruck, and on this particular date -- decided he needed to don some sunglasses as well.  The pacifier definitely is always an accessory as well!

Thankfully, we have an unfinished basement.  So, the boys can drive trucks from one end to the other and ride bikes.  In this case, Mr. Fixit does all the driving work, so "L" really does have a nice ride.  There are times that he is perfectly content to ride for 30 minutes or so while Mr. Fixit pushes the truck along.

Needless to say, on my list is to find some bikes this spring/summer so he can ride under his own leg power!!

Visit to Grandma's

After three failed attempts to visit Grandma, we finally were able to make that happen recently.  Although, on the way there, "L" vomited -- so, perhaps, we should have stayed home?  "K" was so excited.  Our last visit was at Christmas, and well, that was already three months ago.

Grandma fixed "K's" favorite thing: green bean casserole.  He absolutely loves the onions.  So, he ate some chicken and LOTS of onions and green beans!  "L" ate mashed potatoes.  Then, there were some cupcakes, including candles, to mark "K's" big "3" day.  I think he had a fun time!

I had intended on showing a photo with "K" and Grandma enjoying snack, but apparently I cannot seem to get it from the iPad to the blog post, right side up.  I even tried rotating and resaving on the computer, but it is not working.  I also tried pulling it from a url, and nope, that won't work either.  So, I hope to figure this out soon!  Until then, here is a "K" photo.

No Bull

One of my good friends has a family cattle operation.  Each year around this time, they host a bull and female sale.  I absolutely love this day!  I have missed the past 3 years due to, well, having a baby a couple of days prior the first miss, a stomach virus the second year and a crazy amount of snow last year.

In years prior to kids and hubby, I would travel out on Thursday and stay the entire weekend.  Oh how I miss those days!  This year, I left at 6:15 a.m. on Sunday morning -- sale day, and made it by 8:00 a.m.  My job was: lunch prep, service and clean-up.  It was awesome!

I manned cheesy scalloped potatoes, green beans, steaks and burgers.  Now, I did not grill the meat, but I handled the seasoning and serving part.  I think we served about 170 people, from 12:00-1:00.  The sale started at 1:30 p.m., with may satisfied buyers!

A Piece of Cake

Both boys have inherited their love of sweets from their Dad -- hands down!  I find that I have to keep the goodies out of sight, otherwise, our whole meal time, Mr. Fixit and I hear: "I want a cookie!"  So, the birthday cake has definitely been a total hit with both boys. :)

There is an art to eating cake.  Why use a spoon or fork?  One should become totally engaged in the entire cake process.  As you can see, "K" recommends that you use both hands and take a big bite.  Frosting is certainly the first priority.  If you run out of frosting, simply ask if there might be some left over that can be added to your remaining cake ;)

Happy #3 to K!

We did a bit of birthday pre-celebration, to mark the entrance into "K's" third year of life!  We celebrated on Sunday, and what a wonderful weather day it was!  Dinner featured chicken and rice and mixed veggies and rolls.  Then, of course, the highlight was the cake ;)

So, what's new in the 3rd year of life?

• Moving on up -- to preschool!  We are going on week three in the new digs, and drop-off is still a bit rough, but getting better.
• Letters - The teachers determined that "K" can recognize 21 out of 26 letters.  
• Pretend Play - "K" likes to "shop" and "cook" and build many structures.  He also tells stories to accompany each play activity.
• Self-Dress - We are working on putting on shirts, pants, "underwear" and shoes.  Not totally there yet, so someday!
• Zebra - Yes, zebra is still a part of the action, but zebra hangs out in the cubby more at "school," and we are often on a zebra hunt around bedtime to locate him.
• Table Clean-up - "K" takes his plate to the counter, after he is finished eating, and dumps his glass of milk into the sink.  

We are excited to see the many other things that "K" will learn this year.  He is learning fast, and asks many questions to try and figure out how things really work!

Sickness Woes

Ughhh!  When, I ask, will winter end???  This weather has been ridiculous, and has really started to get me a little cranky.  Honestly, it really is ongoing sickness causing my crankiness.  Every week, it seems, we embark on another new illness journey.  I would rather stay in "Well Land" personally.

Last week, I experienced my first ever round of conjunctivitis.  Yuck!  After five days of drops and no contacts, my eye has healed.  In the meantime, I got a call to pick "L" up from child care.  It appears that he was running a 100 degree temp.  Really?!  Not again!

So, "L" has been sick since last week Wednesday.  After several more days home, and a fever still, I decided to take him to the Dr. this past Tuesday.  By that point in time, there was gunk draining out of his left ear.  Ooops.  Way to go Mom.  Obviously, I should have taken him in sooner.

So, a sinus infection plus ear infection yielded a ruptured ear drum.  Wow.  No wonder he was miserable.  Antibiotics have been ordered, and I am still giving ibuprofen for pain.  Hopefully, in 10 days, he will be good as new.

Looking forward to the next round of illness roulette.  I honestly can't contain my excitement.

An Almost Family Photo

Mr. Fixit has expressed great concern: there are not many photos with myself in them.  He told  that if I am the only one taking pictures, the boys may wonder where exactly there mother was at during their kids years of life!  Now, I think this is a bit extreme, but I let Mr. Fixit in on the photo taking too.

I try to do an art activity with the boys each day we are home.  Right now, we are a little limited, because "L" still tries to "taste" many things.  I do not like using food items for art, because that can be confusing.  Today we eat a potato, but tomorrow we use it in art?

So, lately, we try Play Doh, dauber painting, coloring, glueing little squares to a large paper piece, finger painting and stamps.  If we ever get anything in the mail with the cornstarch packing peanuts -- those are so going to become an art project too!  I am still waiting for this one yet :)

Dough Boys

I have decided that I have two little dough boys!  They both request to play with Play Doh each day, and Mr. Fixit and I try to join in the fun too.  Although, "K" tells us that we are "too big!"  So, here is a snap of "L" hard at the Play Doh play.

He had a great time with the animal shapes lids, and of course, pulling his dough into many tiny pieces ;)  We look forward to many more dough memories!  Thank you Miss EM for your tool and dough contributions!