Brice, Melanie, Gabbie, & Will


Brice, Melanie, Gabbie, Will, , Henrik, Luke, & Benjamin

est. 2005







Saturday, November 13, 2010

Snow Day!

I knew this was going to be a great day when Gabbie woke up at around 2:30 a.m. I stubbled through the dark and realized, it was truly dark, and the house was a bit cold. No electricity!! I was pumped-the power being out could not last past today, so we were in for a fun filled day of going no where and instead coloring, snuggling, laundry folding, napping, reading, etc. The only downside I could see was not getting my morning coffee. Well, somewhere around 8 a.m. it came back on. The day still looked great-I looked out the window and could tell that 10 inches or so of snow meant we were going to be able to stay home for the first time in weeks! I always laugh at how I look on days like this. 10 years ago I would not have let Brice catch me dead with no make-up on and frizzy hair, and now I look forward to such days. So far we have had a dance party, made bars, made bread, tried to catch a mouse, colored, read books, and I'm working on our massive pile of laundry. The best part-Gabbie and I are still in our PJ's.

The duck and geese blazing a trail

I'm really wishing I had gotten my roses and other plants 'winterized' before today!

Brice has been the entertaining part of my day so far. I was supposed to work at a craft fair today, then go see home health clients. He said "no way, you'll never make it out of the driveway". No arguments from me. He decided to try some bow hunting at the neighbors and saw "tons of deer". Apparantly he ran out of some needed materials and after dinner asked what I thought of him going to Carroll. I said "whatever" (meaning, I am not going to help you if you get stuck). He said he would take his car. After he saw it was piled with snow up and over the headlights and past the bumper he said he'd take my van instead. Gabbie and I had to watch this show from the window. I bet he had to go in reverse/drive/reverse/drive 15 times before he made it down the driveway. Gabbie was waving at him saying "Bye Bye", he'd wave back, then get stuck. We kept watching and seemed it took him an extra long time to get from the driveway to the highway (we couldn't see through the trees). I stood there thinking of a title, like "The determination of a man and his van", and laughing at the irony that I can not make it to work, but he can make it to Carroll to buy recreational hunting supplies. He is currently out enjoying this wonderful weather. And by the way, the van is currently stuck about 30 feet from the garage. At least he made it that far!

Another fun part of today-shoe shopping. I 'need' a new pair of boots. Yesterday I received my first ever check from Brice, wages for helping on the farm. He asked what I was going to buy with it. I said "mostly save it, but I could use some new work boots". I think he really belives that these are boots to help on the farm. But they are boots for me to wear to work (not on the farm).

Finally, this video from today cracks me up-the part where I ask Gabbie if I can use the "Sit-and-Spin". Maybe its not as funny as I think it is...at the time I totally felt the "duh Mom" look going on.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

End of October Fun

We officially have a 2 year old! We had a great weekend and appreciated all the friends that came (some in costume!) to help Gabbie celebrate. She is now able to proudly tell anyone who asks that she is TWO (as she reaches out 3 fingers). I've attached our favorite pictures of the weekend. Not much else to add, we have busy weekends all through November as I participate in all the local vendor fairs and craft shows and Brice is baling corn stalks and welcoming a new group of piggies. We both cringe to think its November...this is always the time of year we realize we have not kept up on bookwork since probably April, and our December tax appointment is fast approaching. Oh well; for now we will just continue to enjoy the nice weather and pull a few 'all nighters' doing bookwork in December!

I made cupcakes a treat for her to share at daycare the week of her birthday. In what Brice calls one of my "pie in the sky ideas" I thought I'd take a picture of her with her "2" cupcakes. I'm not sure how it is that in every situation I can think of the worst case scenario, but when it comes to common sense I'm totally lacking. Obviously then she wanted a cupcake, or at least the frosting off the top.

The "new thing", feeding the baby. Leaving the bottle empty worked for a day. Now she insists that her baby needs milk. So far she's settled for an ounce of water. To be funny the other day I told her to go change the baby's diaper. Sure enough she went to the diaper box and tried. Too bad the baby's outfit is sewn on to her.

Birthday party fun with Tyler! And yes, I did put white socks on my daughter with black shoes and a black outfit. And no one made fun of her.

Her most used birthday gift-toothbrushes :)

Opening cards from the mail in the car.

Eating leftover cake after church. Yes, I did let her eat cake for pretty much every meal the entire weekend. You are only 2 once after all! Now we have had enough cake to last us until Brice's birthday in April.

Our Halloween spider!

Family picture before I took Gabbie trick-or-treating. Too bad Dad was busy working-maybe he could have stopped me from thinking I needed to drag Gabbie to 'several' houses!

With Great Grandma, however already looking on to the next candy stop!

This is as orange as our pumpkins got...guess that's what happens when you plant them on August 1st.

The sunset on one of our 'after work/after daycare' walks last week. The picture isn't very clear, but the sunset was beautiful. After this weekend we'll have to take our short walks in the dark!