Happy New Year!

It's the last day of 2010. Hello 2011! We have had a great year and looking forward to another wonderful year together. Here's the kids in 2010.


January


February




March


April


April


May


May 25--Happy Birthday Madi!


June


July


August


September 11--Happy 1st Birthday Evan!


September


October


October


November

I love these two munchkins!! Most days are filled with screaming, laughing, crying, singing and some fights, but everyday is filled with love and thanks to God for having them with me. I wouldn't trade my wonderful job for anything in the world. I love you Madi and Evan!!
Mama

Wrapping It Up

It's almost the end of the year. Christmas is over :( All the decorations are down and put away again. Madi was not happy to see the tree go. She thought if the tree was still up we could still have another Christmas. But it just doesn't work that way.

We had a nice two days of Christmas festivities. Christmas Eve day we spent at my parents' house with my brother and his family. The kids had fun playing together and we all enjoyed eating lots of good food. We opened presents. Of course the kids got lots of new toys and fun things to play with. Mom and Dad got each family a Wii!! So exciting and totally unexpected. We hooked it up and played some bowling before Jason and Tabatha and Jaxson took off for home. Chris and I then ran out to Wal-Mart before they closed to stock up on controllers and some more games. When we got back to Mom and Dad's, Dad was enjoying a round of bowling with Madi! Might have to get them one for their anniversary, but don't tell! ;)


Our love bugs!! Such cuties!

Christmas Day we (Chris and I) woke up early and got food started for lunch. We then went and woke up the kids. We all opened our gifts. Cleaned up the mess so we could get all messy again. Madi and Evan played with their toys while Chris and I continued to get lunch ready and table set. Chris' parents and brother came out and we opened our gifts from them and then ate lunch. We then spent the rest of the day playing Wii and munching.

Sunday was clean up day. And the rest of the week so far has been clean up and organize. Nothing like bringing a bunch of stuff in the house and being forced to get rid of stuff and rearrange to make it all fit. I've gotten all the bed rooms done, kitchen and living room done. The rest of the week will be spent downstairs getting it reorganized and things put away. I have been terrible about putting things where they belong and just stacking them in the room they are supposed to be in.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas filled with loved ones and joy!
Love, Amy

15 Months

Evan had his well check today. Dr. said he is growing great and is right where he is supposed to be both physically and developmentally. He is 32.8 in. in height (90%) and 24 lbs 15 oz (56%). She checked his ears again. Still has fluid in both but no infection. Just need to keep up with the Zyrtec to get the fluid taken care of. He doesn't need tubes yet but she wants to keep a close eye on it. We go back in a month to get them checked again. He also had three shots. He did very well and had stopped screaming before the nurses even left the room. Then I made the mistake of laying him back down on the table to change his diaper. He was not happy with me. He got the flu shot today and he has to get the booster shot when we go back in a month.


Evan is getting around really good. Even trying to run to keep up with Madi. Still not talking a lot. He says bye and go, go and that's about it. But he understands well, he just doesn't want to say the words. Bath time is still his favorite thing. And riding his car around the house and anything that Madi is doing.

We have seen Santa a couple times and he isn't really in to that. But he is shy around anyone he doesn't know and throw in a beard and being plopped down in his lap and it isn't good. But at least he will get to open his gifts this year. We are looking forward to Christmas and spending time with family.

Love, Amy

The Hunting Saga

Chris came home from deer camp with his back out. That was quite the adventure and I tease him that he just didn't want to drag his deer out or tear down camp!! Saturday morning he walked out to his little hill and valley he sits and shot a little dog deer. He bent over to get his bag and gun, straightened up and "crack." He couldn't walk, he couldn't move (picture the old lady on the floor "I've fallen and I can't get up!") Luckily, he had his phone. Luckily, they put up more cell phone towers so that his phone would work. Luckily, his cousin Bobby answered his luckily dialed phone call. As Bobby (the super hero) is making his way to rescue the injured Chris, he flags down a game warden who was nice enough to drive into the area that Chris was. I guess he was easy to find since he was the big orange spot laying in the field. He loaded Chris up and took him back to camp. While poor super hero Bobby had to field dress the dog deer and load it up and take it back to camp. Needless to say, Chris will never be able to live this one down. I mean, at least he could have hurt himself on some monster buck that he single handedly dragged out of the field for two miles all up hill! Instead he got this:



Now Chris is famous and they renamed the tragic hunting spot after him. So next time you visit Wilson Lake, check out the Pumpkin Patch right next to Brokeback Mountain!!

Chris is feeling better now and bounced back rather quickly this time. Which we are all happy about. He even went out back to hunt a couple times this last week and weekend. Didn't end up with anything (maybe a cold). No antlers this year. But he's going to go out during the second season and try and get some more meat for our freezer.

Amy (the loving wife of a hunter!)

The Christmas Spirit

Christmas has officially exploded at my house!! I love decorating for Christmas and I went a little crazy this year. Lots of lights inside since we don't do lights outside. We have had fun decorating and gives us something to do in the evening while Daddy is gone. Something new this year is our advent calendar. We did the simple Santa with cotton balls last year and I have been wanting do one that gives them a treat every day. So, I came up with this year's calendar and I am super excited with how it came out. Plus, as the stockings come down, I can clip our Christmas cards on and have them displayed as well.




Today: Bake a special treat with Mommy! Madi picked chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting. We will take some out to deer camp tomorrow night along with supper for the guys. They should enjoy the pink frosting!!

Madi spent the night at deer camp with Daddy, Bob and Bobby Sunday. Chris said she did good. They drove around and looked for deer, watched a movie (Quigley Down Under) that Madi did not like because a baby was crying because it was scared of the wolves (I've never seen it, but I'll take her word), and she said she didn't hear any coyotes howling during the night and she only got a little cold. They had breakfast in the tent and at 10am Monday she called me and said she was ready to go home. I think she was bored. The guys said they hadn't even left the tent Monday morning yet. When we got there she was playing under the cots, must have been boring! :) But she said she liked it and she would stay again. She terrorized Bob with her Barbie doll and Tinker Bell chair. She's ready to go see Daddy though. She misses him terribly. We will go out tomorrow night with hot food.


Sunday while setting up. We had to make our way to the toys to play. Evan discovered the slide and I couldn't get him away from it. Madi wanted to go over and play Monday when I got there, but it was 30 degrees and 30 mph winds. It was cold!


The three of us playing while decorating last night.

We decorated the tree last night. I had Madi put all the wood and cloth ornaments along the bottom so Evan can't break anything. He likes to go look and occasionally has pulled off an ornament. But so far, nothing broken (knock on wood!) He was really excited when we got the snow globes out and wanted to touch and shake and carry them around. So while we were at Lowes the other night, I bought him a plastic one that lights up and sings and he can turn it on and off himself. He's forgotten about my glass ones, so far my plan is working!! And he really likes all the lights. Madi will turn the tree off during the day and after nap when it starts getting darker, we turn it back on and each time he sees it, he gets excited, "ewwww," and big grins. I love it!!

Monday morning I took Evan back to the doctor for his follow up check after the ear and eye infection. His eyes are all better and one ear has cleared up, but the left ear is still infected. She put him on Augmenten, a stronger antibiotic to hopefully clear it up. The bad news is, that stuff can make him sick. So I have to be careful and make sure his tummy is full before taking it. He is on day 2 of it and so far no tummy aches and throwing up. But his diaper is getting pretty runny quite a few times during the day. No fun for my little guy.

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Thanksgiving

We had a wonderfully lazy Thanksgiving. Evan and I were still trying to get over our yucks. So plans changed all weekend. Thursday we spent with Chris' family. That afternoon, Madi and I and her cousins Jackie and Taylor went to see the movie Tangled. Such a cute movie. One of the best Disney's in awhile. But it was 3D. I've never seen a 3D movie. It made my head hurt and upset my stomach (not the best type of movie to watch when you have been sick). We then made our way to my parents. Madi was going to spend the night with them while we went shopping for Black Friday. Evan was going to stay with Chris' parents. But by the time we got back to Chris' parents to drop Evan off, my ears and sinus infection were killing me and I just wanted to go home and go to bed. So Evan came home with us after all. At about 2am, Madi was standing beside me waking me up. I thought I was dreaming. Her legs were hurting and she was missing me. They tried to call but I didn't even think about taking my phone to bed with me. So when she couldn't talk to me on the phone, she got even more upset. Mom ended up driving her all the way home in the middle of the night.

We did end up going to Wal-Mart Friday morning about 9am. I've never seen Wal-Mart so empty on a major shopping day. It was crazy. They still had some of the stuff that was on sale and the rest we could live without. Friday we spent the day with my parents and my brother and his family. Another great day! The kids had so much fun playing together.

It was even nice enough to go outside and get some pictures.


Of course Evan loved it, he loves being outside


The three grands. Yikes, that was hard getting a good picture with them all looking in the same direction and smiling! One good one out of probably a dozen!


And then the Grandparents with the kids. Such a great picture!! Also, one out of a dozen! I'm sure I have a couple of Jaxson pulling Madi's hair :)

I hope everyone is getting into the Holiday Spirit as well. So many craft projects so little time. Hopefully we will share some more! HO HO HO!

Love, Amy

Sickos

This week didn't get any better than last week. Evan is still battling his cold and infections. Every day it gets harder and harder to get drops into his eyes. He hates it and knows what is coming when he sees the little white bottle. I have to do it and it just breaks my heart having to hold him down and listen to him scream bloody murder. But I know it isn't hurting and it's for the best. I was afraid we were going to have to go back to the doctor early because it just wasn't getting any better. But the last two days have finally started showing some improvement. So I hope we can make it through the holiday.

Madi started showing signs of goopy eyes too this week. But hers cleared up on their own. But Friday night, while we were at a benefit supper for a friend, she puked all over the floor, right in the middle of everything. I felt so bad and couldn't do anything but hold her head over a trashcan. Terrible. We came home, took baths and she was fine. Asking for candy two hours later, go figure.

And then last night, Evan started throwing up right at bedtime. By 6:30 this morning we both had gone through 5 sets of clothes each and half a dozen towels. He was up and down throughout the night and is feeling better today.

I have also been battling my own cold this week. But with the kids not sleeping well at night, I am not sleeping well either. And I am afraid to take NyQuil at night thinking I won't hear Evan or wake up when they need me. So it isn't getting any better either. Chris was wonderful this afternoon and I actually took a two hour nap. So needed. We all need to get feeling better with the holiday this week and then Chris leaves for deer camp next Sunday, which leaves me all alone for the week.

Luckily (knock on wood, cross fingers, etc, etc) Chris hasn't gotten sick. He would be pretty upset if he missed Deer Camp!

We did have some fun Saturday night before all the throwing up started. We went downtown for the Festival of Lights Parade. We LOVE parades. And this one is so much fun to watch all the Christmas lights decorated on the floats and vehicles. Madi liked the dancing groups and they had some really cute Christmas outfits this year. And of course we brought home a Dillons bag completely full of candy. Evan liked the horses, the dogs, and the firetrucks. He waved and had a lot of fun. This was his first year to watch this parade. Last year he slept through the whole thing in the warm, toasty car. Then we waved to Santa at the end and Madi cheered for the street sweepers following behind.

Pics of the kids at the parade. It was cold last night. But we went home after and had popcorn, hot chocolate and watched a Christmas movie.





Madi has her Thanksgiving feast at school tomorrow and then she is done for the week. Thursday we will spend the day at Chris' parents house. Madi is going to spend the night with Nana and Papa, Uncle Jason, Aunt Tabatha, and Jaxson on Thursday night. Evan may stay with Chris' parents and Chris and I will get up dark and early and hit the Black Friday sales. It's so much easier and safer to do this without the kids. I don't know what they have for sale this year, but I am sure we can find something that we just CAN"T live without and just HAVE to brave the crowds at 4:00 in the morning. We do tend to get the bulk of our Christmas shopping done this day. Then the rest of the day we will spend at my parents having Thanksgiving with my family.


Madi's favorite food, chocolate cupcakes.
But we added a Thanksgiving treat on top.




Evan's play spot while we were decorating, goofy boy!

I hope everyone has a wonderful short week and blessed Thanksgiving Day with family and loved ones.
Love, Amy

14 Months

It has not been a very good week for my little guy. He has caught a cold and hasn't been sleeping well. When he got up this morning his eye was swollen and slimy. Did not look good at all. Of course it's Saturday and the doctors office is closed so we went to Stat Care. 2 1/2 hours later we finally got to see a doctor, get a prescription and get out of there. The doctor said his eye is infected and both ears are extremely infected. 10 days of antibiotics and eye drops until they clear up. I am hoping he did not inherit my lovely ear problems :( We will see what his doctor says in 2 weeks when we go back.

Other new stuff for Evan..happier new things :). He is getting really good at walking. He falls down and gets right back up. Some nights he gets so goofy and just starts doing laps around the kitchen island. It's pretty funny to watch. He has even tried a couple of times to run to catch Madi. We have a very loud house again. It used to be Madi and Oliver running around the house barking and yelling, now it's just the two kids but just as loud as before! But Madi is loving it. She takes him by the hand and leads him where ever SHE wants him to go. And they have been playing really well together and entertaining themselves while I cook supper or get the house picked up.

Evan's still only saying a couple of words. Uh, oh is his favorite, milk, and go. He is getting quite vocal when he wants something and he is starting to perfect his temper tantrum, which is always nice when kids learn that. He gets so upset when someone goes outside without him or he wants something he can't have.

His likes right now--tractors still, music and dancing, bath time, climbing on and into everything, and messing up whatever Madi is doing. If she is building something, he knocks it down. If she is coloring, he is grabbing at the colors. If she climbs up into my lap, all of sudden he wants in my lap and pushes her out of the way. And our biggest problem right now is pulling hair. He gets mad at Madi or she won't give him something he wants, he just reaches up and yanks with both hands. Very traumatic for Madi. But Evan is very attentive and copies everything she does. He tries to get a cup of water from the refrigerator door. I brush Madi's hair in the morning and several times this week he will get the hairbrush first and try and brush her hair while she is brushing teeth. At lunch he insisted that he dip his chicken and fries into the ketchup because I was doing it also. Very smart boy.


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Madi had a fun day today. She got to go on her very first pheasant hunt. She was so excited. We spent part of the morning running around getting her new hunting clothes. I had bought snow boots and hunting pants and snow pants last year for her and got them big so we could hopefully get two seasons out of them. But she has grown so much this last year that they weren't even close to being able to be worn again. So after lunch, the guys came to walk a couple of fields around our house and she got to go along. It was extremely muddy and Chris had to rescue her and her boots a couple of times. So the last field she decided she would rather block than walk. She liked that much better. After they were all done hunting (and they didn't get anything, bummer) we had a little get together at our house. Had supper and sat around and visited. It was nice. Madi said she definitely wants to go again.


My little hunter!

Getting ready to go back out.

Madi's next adventure is Deer Camp. Last year she was going to stay a night with the guys but she ended up being sick and couldn't stay. So, this year we are going to try it again. She is very excited and unfortunately Chris told her she could stay a month ahead of time so she has been talking about it and asking a lot of questions. Last week she asked if Daddy was going to have a princess bed for her!! I'd like to see her pink and princess stuff mixed in with all those guys at deer camp!! Should be a great experience for them all. Especially when Chris has to get up in the middle of the night in the freezing cold and trek up to the bath house so she can go potty :)!! Maybe the first and last time she gets to go.



Have a great week!!
Love, Amy

Halloween Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend!! And the weather was just gorgeous, especially for the last two days of October. Couldn't have asked for better.

Saturday we went to Wichita and spent the day with my parents and my brother and his family. Chris went to the John Deere Swap Meet for a couple of hours while the rest of us went to the zoo. The kids had a blast riding in the wagons and spending time together. It really is a great zoo and I think spending the day at any zoo together is a great way to spend the day. Chris met back up with us about half way through and that was a nice treat.

After the zoo we went out to eat at Olive Garden. YUM!!! Chris and I have not eaten there before and boy have we been missing out! Awesome food and awesome service. They have the most delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake ever!! I need to figure out how to make it. And we learned the secret to eating out in Wichita on a Saturday night. Take a big group and they can seat you immediately!! No date night eating out in Wichita on a weekend. There was a line of people waiting outside the whole time we were there for just groups of 2-4 people to be seated. We didn't have to wait at all, it was great!

We made it home about 10 pm and the kids were exhausted. Just a wonderful day. Thank you Jason and Tabatha and Mom and Dad for everything Saturday!!


Evan walking!! He wanted to check out the geese that came over to see what we were eating.


The grizzly bears were just getting their food. Who knew that grizzly bears ate lettuce, celery, sweet potatoes, carrots and apples? Maybe that was just the first course. I was waiting to see a fish come flying in there, but didn't happen.

The kids were pretty amazed by those big bears!






It looks like that bear is looking straight into Madi's face.


As close as we could get to all three somewhat looking in the direction of the camera!

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We had a lazy day Sunday. It took most of the day to recoop from all the walking Saturday. We slept in and skipped church (oops!), kids played and Chris went out and finished discing (?) the field and getting it all ready for spring. Then we all took long naps. Woke up all recharged and ready for some trick or treating!

We stopped at 6 different places and saw some friends and family. This was the first year that we actually walked a couple blocks with Madi. She loved it!! We left Evan with my parents while we took Madi out to a couple of blocks around Mom and Dad's house. Madi was so cute, when they would answer the door and couple people would say "Oh, you are so cute!" and that just made her day. She came running back to the sidewalk, "Mama, they liked me!" She is at such a fun age anymore, it just gets better and better.

We had another late night, getting home at 10:30 and quickly taking baths and in bed. School time came awfully early this morning! I don't really care for Halloween falling on a school night. :( But, it's once a year. Now I'll spend the rest of the week hiding and rationing candy out until she forgets all about it!!


Madi was a K-State cheerleader and Evan was the football player.

Hope everyone had a Spooktacular Halloween!!
Love, Amy

WALKING!!

Evan's walking, YEAH!! It was a long time coming but he finally has it down. And it started so quickly. Wednesday he was still taking about 4 steps max and then be Friday, he is off and going from one room to another. He is so proud of himself and will stop and look for whoever is watching him and give a big smile and start clapping. So very cute. But if he wants something fast it's still back to the knees.

We have a busy weekend planned. Saturday we are heading to Wichita to hang out with my brother and his family. Chris wants to check out a John Deere swap meet. And then Sunday is Halloween!!

Have a safe but fun weekend!!
Love, Amy

I'm playing catch up again :( I can't believe how busy we are and our kids aren't even in sports or other activities yet, it's crazy! Plus I was having internet problems right before our fall show and just didn't have time to mess with it. Finally got my internet back last Friday.

Well, we are finally done with the tractor raffle and shows for the rest of the year. YEAH!!! Not that it hasn't been fun. We have been able to have a lot of family time together and we have fun at the shows. But it was a lot of work, heat of the summer, and away from home. It wasn't always easy with two little ones.

Our show at CKFW turned out awesome this year. Such a turn around from last year. Attendance was great even though we had a lot of competition that weekend. The zoo's huge pumpkin pazoola and the Boy Scouts of America's 100th Anniversary celebration among other things. We were pleasantly surprised at the turn out. Chris worked really hard with the raffle and raised $6000. Which was awesome!! The kids area turned out great. The kids liked the crafts but not as much as the corn pit. The corn pit was packed all weekend, I might have to make another one for next year!! Thanks to Chris and Dan for making it for me.

We also had a great turnout for our Educational Day. Which was Friday before the show. We invited local schools, homeschoolers, etc. to come out and be able to do more hands on and teaching towards the students about turn of the century life. We had about 90 students out and they rotated in 30 minute sessions to 8 stations. The way kids are growing up these days, you wouldn't believe the amount of kids that don't even know that milk comes from a cow or the process involved. It's our goal to get more kids out and teach them how primitive life once was. It really is information that is dying from one generation to another. If you think this is something that your kids or school would be interested in, please let me know and we will make sure we get info out to them. We were targeting 3-4 grade, but even Madi at her age loved going around and watching the sawmill, washing clothes, making a rope, and shelling corn. Anybody and everybody is welcome!!

We are starting up again in January and going to get a head start on next year's show. I'm going to do the kids activities again and also co-chair the educational day. I'm excited!!


Here's my corn pit. I kept Evan away until right before we were leaving Saturday night because I knew he would love it!! But he is still putting everything in his mouth and I couldn't hang out at the corn pit all day Saturday.

Madi won first place in her pedal pull!! We had an awesome turnout with 57 kids! The biggest our show has ever had, it was a lot of fun. While the kids did their pedal pull the guys were doing the antique tractor pull. Chris got 1st place with my tractor and 3rd with his JD. It was the first time he has done a pull and he really enjoyed it. Now he thinks he needs a big beefy tractor just for pulls (he gets so out of hand!)

Some pics:


10-2-10 Abilene's Tractor Show. They have a carousel run off of a steam engine from the early 1900s. It's really neat and the kids loved it.






Last weekend at Clay Center's Pioneer Days and Threshing Bee. Madi looked so cute running around in shorts and cowboy boots. Only kids can get away with that look!

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Evan hit 13 months last Monday!! I was still giving him a bottle right before bed. I was kind of holding on to that for my own selfish reasons. But I stopped on 10-11-10 and he didn't have any problems with it. Still not walking but he is getting really close. Just this week he seems more confident and ready to let go easier. He walked across the living room the other day and was pretty proud of himself. He loves riding around on his little riding toys that he got for his birthday. Actually, Madi and Evan both love it. He got a tractor and a car and they take turns on each one riding them around the house. I can pick out a couple of words here and there. He says "ilk" for milk, "ac" for tractor and "uck" for truck. He doesn't say the whole word but he knows what he is saying and is consistent with it. He does say "bye" and it's so cute because it sounds a little southern and he waves. Loves going outside. We have to hurry in and out because as soon as the door opens he makes a bee line right for the door. And throws the biggest fits when he doesn't get to go out. I keep telling him to start walking and he won't get left behind so much. (Not working so far)

LOVES tractors!! Can't imagine why! But he wakes up from nap or in the morning and straight to the window to see the "ac" outside. He comes into the office and pulls out Chris' tractor books and looks through it at all the pictures. "ac, ac, ac" He looks at a couple of his other books but spends more time and focus on the tractor books than anything. He likes riding on the tractors too. Surprisingly, the noise doesn't bother him at all. That's surprising because he's still deathly afraid of the vacuum cleaner. I don't get it.

Madi is doing great at school and absolutely loves it. They are getting ready for Halloween and she has been singing all the songs she is learning for their program. Only a handful of kids are from her class last year so she is making lots of new friends. And she just adores her teachers. But her teachers are so awesome. Hopefully they all stick around for several more years for Evan. Madi is so into dinosaurs right now. She loves the PBS show Dinosaur Train and has learned so much from it. I am hoping to take her to Hays soon and go to the Sternberg Museum. She has been a little reluctant to take naps and go to bed lately so I had to come up with a reward for staying in bed and doing as she is told. She enjoys getting to do craft projects when she minds. It's helped a lot. Plus it has helped me to keep consistent. Something I can take away or not do and she recognizes that she doesn't get it.

Chris and I have been attending a Sunday school class that is mostly parents with young children. They started a parenting series that has been so helpful and informational. Of course it is geared toward parenting with scripture and family meditation etc. We aren't to that point in our lives but we have taken a lot of information that makes us reflect on what we have been doing wrong or what we need to change to make our lives and our kids lives more loving and nurturing. We missed a couple Sunday's so I am anxious to borrow the DVD and catch up on the sessions we missed.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I am loving this cool weather and being able to have the house open. Feels so refreshing!! I love fall!

Love, Amy

Pumpkin Patch

We made our trip to the pumpkin patch already this year on Sunday. I think I have more fun and enjoy it more than the kids do. At least the picking out of pumpkins part. Madi of course loved the slides and play things but once she got her pumpkin picked out, she was done, and back to playing. She doesn't have the thrill of the hunt and finding all the neat and different pumpkins and gourds yet.

Evan seemed to like it. At least he was awake for it this year. He too liked the big slide and he liked petting the cow. He also really enjoyed the hay rack ride pulled by two big horses. And he enjoyed petting them. Next year will be great because he will be running around and able to play and explore on his own.


Hay rack ride.


Big pumpkins!




Cutest little farmers there!!


Saturday was the Smoky Hill Street Fair (aka Santa Fe Days). Chris and Dan rode in the parade. Madi opted to watch and collect candy this time. She got lots of candy and was happy (and on a sugar high the rest of the day). Evan liked the school marching bands. But he is really getting into music and dancing right now. So it was cute to watch him start dancing with the music. After the parade the guys drove their tractors over to Orscheln's and set up to sell tickets for the give-away tractor. Didn't do so well but this weekend will be our last show in Abilene (Oct 2) . Tickets have sold better at the smaller communities events. And then the following weekend (Oct 9-10) is our show at the Flywheels. We will draw the winner Saturday night during the Pig Roast Dinner. Looking forward to being done with the show tractor. It has been a lot of work. We will get a break and maybe start over again next year.

Evan and I hung out at Mom and Dad's house for awhile until the guys were done with the booth. Then I picked Madi up and we went back to Mom and Dad's and had a nice afternoon. When Madi was a baby we did a lot of that on the weekends while Chris worked. So it was nice to hang out there and let the kids play and visit. While we were playing, Chris was at home working. He went out and finished picking all the corn we had planted. Once we got home, the kids and I helped with the last of the picking and then went back to the house to shell. Madi enjoyed helping Daddy throw the ears in and even Evan helped!


Old crank sheller.


Evan helping!!

We have really enjoyed the weather the last several days. I am so ready for fall and it has been great to have the cooler weather and able to get outside and play. In the past it seems we haven't had very good in between weather. It's hot and then freezing cold with nothing in between. So I am hoping that this will last for at least a month (or until after Oct 9 and 10th) give our a/c a break and our wallet!!





Not much change with the kids. Evan is "talking" and getting a little more vocal with his wants and dislikes. Still not walking but getting better and better with standing alone. Hopefully not much longer. He had his first try with spaghetti this week. Which is always fun to watch. He absolutely loved it!! But he had to go straight to the tub, what a mess!!



I need to do a Madi post soon and a post with pics from the birthday party. Stay tuned. Kids are up and I need to get busy. Have a great rest of the week and enjoy the great weather!!!

Love, Amy