Happy Birthday!!

Today, my wonderful husband turned 34 years old. It's amazing how fast time is going by. When we got married, nearly 8 years ago, he was only a mere 26 years old. And now, the time has passed and I could swear he hasn't aged a day. Of course, I've aged about 16 years if you judge purely on wrinkles, but hey...who's counting? It's nice to see that he is still young at heart though. He'll be enjoying a long evening of uninterrupted World of Warcraft and a tasty pizza with cheesecake. So here is to you Hubby...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
Here's hopin' you have the best! Love ya!

State Fair Time

This past weekend was our annual trip to the State Fair. And as usual, it was a ton of fun. Here's the deal with the State Fair. Ever since before I can remember, we all packed up and headed to the State Fair every year. My family never really did the vacation thing when we were growing up. So we did the little things and they were pretty much our traditions. The fair being one of them. Now, I don't remember it much as a little one, but I had no idea just how different the experience is through the eyes of a child. We did things this year that we have never done. Boat ride, train ride, water pad, etc. It was so much fun to see Alex and Abby enjoying themselves so much. Of course, I was hesitant about going with cold and flu season upon us, but we risked it and went anyways. It was worth it too. The great thing about this, is that when I first dragged Josh along before we were even married, he was pleasantly surprised. It's not the most fun in the world to him. He's probably rather spend the day in various other ways. But nonetheless, he enjoys the idea of it being a tradition. (I know the pictures are small, but I had quite a few to share so just click on them to make them a bit bigger.)

We got to enjoy the exotic petting zoo. Alex was fascinated with the zebra and the tortoise. Abby loved petting the baby kangaroo.

We then went for a ride on the little train that goes around the whole fair. I don't have any pictures of that because my mom has them on her camera, but I did get a couple of great pictures of Alex driving a boat around a little pond they have there. I do believe it was his favorite. While we (me and Alex) were waiting in line, he was jumping up and down in eager anticipation for driving the boat. He looked so cute in his life jacket with a smile from ear to ear.

The fair means a whole heap of walking. My parents were Alex and Abby's own personal transportation. As the kids are so used to me telling them they can walk as opposed to me carrying them, they were thrilled when Grandma and Grandpa would carry them around at any moment. They also enjoyed pulling the wagon. It was a nice break for me. :-)

Alex got his temporary fill of tractors and big vehicles. Both him and Abby had a blast crawling around on them. Alex and Abby also had a blast on the giant slide (so did Josh and I).



There were also a ton of interesting things to see. One of the oddest things was the scarecrow contest that people did. They made different scarecrows and it was very interesting.

When the day was done, mostly everyone slept on the way back. It was a great day. And for once, it wasn't raining. It'll be interesting to see if my kids keep going back when they are my age. Carrying on the tradition that's been going on in my family for many generations.

Things I've Learned

So the year is still far from over, but thus far, I have learned some things. Sometimes, you realize certain things about raising children or being married or even random events that will make you step back and say, 'hmm...interesting'. So, as there are so many things that have occurred in our lives this year, I shall give you a little rundown on my take of them. Please note that this is purely for entertainment value.

* 'Monkey see, monkey do' is a warning. Not a statement.

* Ketchup is a food group. Not a condiment.

* Sit-ups only work in the movies. For a postpartum belly, it only makes things worse.

* Broken fingers never heal. Never.

* Family can be a pain in the butt. But a couple of eye-rolls later, you love 'em anyways.

* The antacid industry must have been founded by a mom with toddlers. Go Tums!

* When planting a garden, you should only plant one cucumber plant. That is unless you want to start a pickle factory.

* It doesn't matter what brand of cat food you buy. Cats will happily vomit up the $30.00 bag of food just the same as the $5.00 bag.

* A kid will inevitably say their first cuss word after mom steps on a honey bee with her bare foot.

* Despite what the AAP says, TV is my friend. Without it, mom's all over the country would be wearing straight jackets.

* They only put the hot, big-armed firefighters in the streets to gather donations in their little boots. Otherwise they would have empty boots. (which leads me to my next point...)

* If you have a weakness for hot, big-armed firefighters, you shouldn't carry cash on days where they are standing in the streets collecting donations.

* Children can live solely on cereal. Not because you want them to, but because apparently slaving over the hot stove to make a tasty and healthy meal for your adoring children is highly under-appreciated.

* I think I should buy some stock in Band-aids. There will always be a need to 'fix the boo-boos'. Seriously, they should sell them by the gross.

* You don't truly appreciate going to the movies or date night until you have kids.

* After a summer of countless hours of outside play time, winter will inevitably suck.

Breakin' Out the Jackets

The time is quickly approaching, when we will all need to break out our jackets for the next season change. I like Fall. I know that it's not quite fall yet, but lately it has been feeling a bit like it is already upon us. At the very least, it is lingering in the wings; teasing us with it's chilly air. It wouldn't be so bad, if it weren't raining constantly. The rain has posed many problems. The one problem that has seemingly been the worst, is the constant need to remain indoors. Ugh...what an annoying time that is. Two kids with a love of the outside + rain = two very crabby monkeys. Seriously, I think I saw Alex trying to lift Abby on his shoulders to unlock the front door latch. Okay, so maybe I was just imagining that, but I can see the gleam in their eyes. They stand at the door with the hope that I will give in and let them go out and play in the rain puddles. So...I gave in. it was borderline chilly out, so we broke out the jackets and headed out into the mugginess for a puddle splashin' good time. They were excited to get to wear their jackets.

And they splashed...


and splashed.

They also got very muddy and wet. So without hesitation I peeled their mud-soaked clothes off of them and dumped them in the bathtub right after we walked inside. I have a few added mud stains on my carpet as a lovely souvenir, but it was worth it to see their adorable smiles.

Uncle Ben's House

Labor Day weekend was a time of mixed emotions for us. Lately, Josh's job has become sporadic at best. He was going on a day to day basis for the most part. When he started, it was a great job. He got a work van, cell phone, laptop, work clothes, fax machine, and all the benefits that come with a good job. As the economy started to fall, so did work. So, we got word that Josh's parents were headed to visit Josh's brother and his family. We figured that we might not get a chance to go again for a long time due to the lack of work. So we agreed that if Josh was off on Friday, we would head to Uncle Ben's house (that's what Alex call's it) as well for some long overdue family time. Wednesday Josh got a call that he might have some work, and about one hour later got another call. He gave me the universal sign of the finger across the throat and I instantly knew. He was laid off. They figured it was best to give him a better chance for the union to find him a better job.

Ouch.

Major ouch.

I had my massive meltdown. You know...how will we feed our children, pay our bills, not lose our house, etc.? So we said, what the hay, and headed to see the family on Friday. It would be the beginning of the indefinite weekend. We left Friday so that we could come back on Sunday. (I was due to haul hay in the hay field that afternoon.)

So, here we are, jobless and filled with mixed emotions about the weeks ahead. It was rough, but we still managed to have a good time visiting family. Alex, after his initial ten minute meltdown, had the time of his life. He adores all of his cousins on both sides of the family. I have some great pictures of him with all his different cousins between both sides of the family that I'll be hanging in his bedroom when I can find some frames. Abby did pretty well with them too. She was still rather clingy, but managed regardless. They jumped on a trampoline, watched lots of The Wiggles, played house, and ran amok outside. Josh got some great bonding time with his brother. Heather (my sister-in-law), said that you can actually see them glowing when they get to see each other and I agree. It was fun to get to actually see Heather too. She works weekends, so if we didn't go up on Friday, I wouldn't have got to see her much at all. It was nice for all of us to get away.

So, true to form, the weather was a massive pain in my royal rump. As I mentioned before, I was due home for hay hauling on Sunday. Let me start by saying that the weathermen in this world are highly overpaid, in my opinion. Okay...so I'm grateful for their dedicated storm coverage. But I'm highly disappointed in their storm prediction accuracy. Supposedly we weren't due for rain until tonight, but last night, after the entire field of hay was cut and ready to bale, it was a constant torrential downpour. If you know anything about hay, then having a cut field that hasn't been baled is very very bad. So bad, in fact, that we now have to find a way to get another source of hay for the winter for my three super-old and highly overweight cows and our jointly owned two horses. Ugh...this was just another moment of crapness to grace our week of non-joy.

But there is always a silver lining to every dark cloud. Josh was called this morning and, thanks to the union, he has been found another job. We aren't getting our hopes up for a permanent job. he won't know more until tomorrow morning. It may be a one week job, a one month job, or who knows how long. So keep us in your prayers. Until then, we will be thankful for what we have and what work comes his way.

Without further ado, I give you the few pictures I manged to capture of the weekend at Uncle Ben's house.

Cousins left to right: Abby, Alex, Lauren, Kate, Linsey.

Dancin' to the Wiggles.

Chillin' with Grandma on the couch.

Alex lookin' up to Lauren. He was a bit smitten with her I think.

Tumbling mats in the basement. I am so jealous.

Alex learned to pedal bikes this weekend.

Silly window time.

Elmo Vs. The Wiggles

When it comes to children's television programs, I will say that I am no where near a pro. I couldn't tell you what half the stuff on the TV is these days. This is mostly due to the fact that we don't have cable. Yup. That's right. We are a four to five TV station family...on a good day. So in order to entertain the wee ones, I have resorted to DVDs. (I'd like to take a moment to thank Ebay for all the DVD goodness we own.) With Alex, I went for the traditional Elmo. He was hooked almost instantly and the few VHS tapes we had of him were well worn. Abby had also reserved a special place in her heart for him. Elmo...that little red monster...drives me nutty. After a while, I learned to tune him out. Oh, I tried various other things from time to time. But nothing was ever accepted so lovingly into Alex or Abby's hearts. I never knew there was something out there that was actually entertaining for parents to watch...until now. Since the various YouTube videos of the Wiggles, we have bought a trio of DVD's and one VHS for the kids to enjoy. They couldn't be happier. When I give them the option of Elmo or The Wiggles, they almost always go for The Wiggles. This is much to my happiness. They have been around for 18 years now and I am ecstatic to have an option that doesn't involve a furry red monster that speaks in third person. Ugh...just one of his annoying traits. So if anyone is looking for upcoming birthday ideas for Alex, he's a fan now and would probably be thrilled to get Wiggles stuff. So when it comes to Elmo vs. The Wiggles...The Wiggles could beat the furry red snot out of Elmo any day of the week.

Here's another video of my monkeys enjoying The Wiggles. Abby is actually actively participating. She calls them 'wiggies'. Too cute. Oh, and Alex absolutely has to have his guitar when he watches them. Thanks Uncle Jake and Aunt Stephanie. The birthday present from last year is a true winner.

Wierd Phlog

So it has proven to be a weird day. Why so weird? Eh...maybe I'll get to that another day. So I shall mirror my weird day with a weird phlog (that's photo blog for any of you knew readers...made the word up for my photo bloggin' days. Yeah. It's classy.) Anyhow. Here are a few of the odd photos I've taken this year. There are quite a few more, but I will save them for my weird phlog v.2.0. I'd say enjoy, but eh...

Three out of five cats on your bed...wait a minute...their bed.

A squirrel relaxin' on my outside bench. Didn't think that position could actually qualify for comfortable.

A slug...inside my house...one of many intruders of my home.

Yeah...that's Josh. Nice, huh?

Jasmine...um...relaxing? Or perhaps she is dreaming of flying.

Luke...he's incognito. He wants so badly to be 'just one of the kids'.

Um...yup. those are marigolds. Freakishly tall and large marigolds. From the Jurassic era I believe.