October so far...

What a beautiful October! I don't think we could ask for better weather. All of the fall colors are perfect right now, harvest seems to be moving quickly, and we still have the windows open all day. As I continue to work on the photo albums, I came across pictures from October 2009. On this day last year I was outside cutting the roses back and I have Gabbie bundled up in a snowsuit, hat, and a blanket over top of her. Today we have been outside moving pigs, and Gabbie's cheeks are red enough that she'll need sunscreen on for us to continue working outdoors in the afternoon.

Still working in the garden! Gabbie with a bucket of tomatoes.

Best buddies...

On October 2nd Brice and I participated in Brandon and Amy's big day! It was the most beautiful wedding...good company, all of the colors and decorations were perfect, and the sun was shining all day.

Brice, Brandon, and Jon

I found the nicest looking best man to take to the wedding :-)

The beautiful bride and groom :-)

Best man and maid of honor

Time for vows...no turning back now...

Having fun at the dance!

Gabbie was quite the trooper at the dance...not sure she sat down through an entire song! So the next morning she was hungry. Hungry enough to eat her own plate clean, then go finish 2 other peoples plates for them.

We are having a couple of 'issues' with Gabbie lately...

1. The van we bought in July came with a DVD player. Not something we were looking for, although several people told us it would eventually come in handy (even though we don't even have a DVD player in our house). Anyway, it came in handy. During harvest it has been easy to have her watch DVD's while I am helping outside, as obviously we do not want her running around with tractors driving around. So now when we get in the car she points to the DVD player. I am searching for a way to tell her "no, that's only for when we are being neglectful and/or lazy parents".  I think she's starting to figure out the difference between a short trip to daycare and a long bout sitting in the car. I hope so anyway, or I'm really going to regret that I ever used it.

2. She's inherited my poor bowel function. I think she went almost 4 days at one point with no dirty diaper. We so far have stocked up on prunes, raisins, and MiraLax. So far so good...we think. It certainly put a damper on potty training.

If those are the biggest issues we have, then we definetly have no reason to complain. We are getting ready for her 2nd birthday with no ER trips so far. Hopefully we will start celebrating a little early with a trip to the pumpkin patch this weekend.

My evenings of working on the remodeling project upstairs are done; now its up to other people (electrician, plumber, etc). Its been nice to not have that to do when I get home and we can enjoy the outdoors more before Winter comes!

Finally, here is a video of our professional dancer. I love that kids can dance so carefree, no worries about what they look like!

Making progress...

We are making lots of progress with our upstairs remodeling project! Brice and I have put lots of hours in lately taking walls down (well, I did walls, he did the ceiling to accomodate each others height or lack of height) and now we are just doing final clean up (taking out nails, vacuuming). I am sure I could not do construction for a living, just judging by my physical soreness the past few weeks. On the other hand, it is so exciting to see a project progress. Here are some randomly selected pictures from the past few weeks...

Canning done for the year! Here is some of my work. I did several tomatoe sauce combinations, salsa, okra, pickles, apple butter, rhubarb sauce, beets, etc. The garden is still producing, just at a much slower rate and I know there won't be enough for any more preserving.

Gabbie and I were both pretty sure that the calf wasn't supposed to be at the end of the lane like that!

Taking a nap with her best bud :) And an apple in hand...

Such a good helper! Due to the dust we have not had Gabbie be our helper upstairs, however my phone was ringing downstairs and she thought she should bring it to me!

As long as I was on the phone, she may as well take over :)

She has started climbing her crib. I know its time to convert to a big girl bed...we'll work on that this week!

Headed up the stairs...

No more walls!

Makes quite a mess outside though...

The worst part of the whole project so far: I lost an earring Brice had given me for Christmas last year. Likely from either putting my mask on or taking it off. We both knew it was long gone :-( Oh well...guess he'll know what to get me this year, and he'd only have to buy one this time!

Hard to believe October starts this week! Looks to be a busy one...weddings, half-marathon, Race for the Cure possibly, craft shows, Halloween, and Gabbie's second birthday!!! Time to start practicing decorating a cake! Or better yet, call to have one made. This year she will be a spider for Halloween. It won simply because it was $1 at a garage sale this summer...I figure she'll be cute whatever she's wearing! Probably would be good if we fit harvest in there somewhere too :-) Happy (and safe) Fall to all!

August Update

I decided to take a few minutes to update the blog. Originally I had full intentions of not being home today and spending the day out on the bike trail. However the wind is keeping us home. The cart is just a little too much against the wind, plus I wanted to take advantage of a windy day to wash clothes and hang them out for that good fresh aire smell :-) Plus it isn't like there is a huge pile of stuff on my desk that I've been avoiding...so I'll keep this abbreviated and start tackling what I probably should be doing!
August is just a crazy busy month for everyone on Earth I'm sure! We all should just be able to take the month off our jobs I do believe. Brice is busy working on bailing hay, fixing up a building, hauling pigs, and daily chores. We have been having supper at 9:30 p.m. instead of after 10 p.m., so that must mean the days are getting slightly shorter!
I have been working on canning, planting the fall garden, home improvement projects (with some much appreciated help from Shelley!), and training for a half-marathon. I am enjoying my switch to not going into work until 9 a.m. It allows me to either run, see a home health client, throw laundry in, or prepare supper before I head to work, and it lets Gabbie wake up on her own time instead of mine. Sometimes Brice will come back in the house and enjoy a cup of coffee with me before we both leave for the day :-)
A few funny stories about Gabbie. 1. So this whole digital converter box business is a load of crap, and on a humid day the TV cuts in and out. One day Gabbie was watching TV while I was making supper, I believe it was Sesame Street, and she would say "Peek a Boo" when the TV would cut out! She'd hide her face in her hands, then when it came back on she'd take her hands away and say "Peek a Boo" again! 2. She has been helping me with the garden and the other day got tangled in the watermelon vines. She stood up and pointed at the vines and started really yelling at it "No No No!" Her vocabulary continues to expand greatly (some recent additions: Hot, Tractor, Shirt, Short, Cup, Thanks....that's all I can think of for now). She still calls Brice by his first name, and although we do admit its funny we are trying to get her to say "dad". She's so darn helpful outside with picking up apples, putting her toys away, and petting Gypsy. Her personality is really starting to develop. So far we think she's generous (enjoys sharing), fun loving, mostly happy, but don't make her mad. (gee, that last one doesn't sound like her Mom at all...)
This past month we have been to the State Fair, Iowa City, Farm Fest including the Kiddie Parade, and the 1st Annual Sauk Rail Trail Ride, and I've enjoyed some time off to get caught up here at home. I've been proud that this year I canned pickles, apple butter, salsa, seasoned tomatoes, pickled beets, pickled okra, and some other items to enjoy during the winter. It feels good to have some 'all natural/home grown' food put away.
I had one of the best birthdays I've ever had this past week thanks to some great people in my life! Some close patients send me balloons at work, cake and balloons from a co-worker, fun times out to eat, I just felt spoiled all around! Birthdays are great :-)
Here are some pictures, hope you enjoy! Happy Fall! And....go Cyclones-thats for you Sarah ;-)
Melanie

The 'spread' at Amy's bridal shower, looks yummy!

One of the many coolers full of garden produce...the rain has been good for some things!

Playing with our friend, Irma :-)

The flooding on our way to Iowa City...so many prayers for those people as they clean up

Enjoying a lift from Aunt Mindy in Downtown Ia City

A wet family at the State Fair! The 'ribbon' next to me kept bumping me with her giant head...

How tall this year?! 33 inches and 29 pounds :-)

At the Kiddie Parade, she won first in her division! (Also the only entry!)

Glad George was willing to do this ride with Gabbie. Brice and I were both still sick from the previous ride!

Part of the birthday celebration crew!

More birthday fun!

Scenery on the Sauk Trail Ride.

Enjoying a stop along the trail for some Root Beer!

Wait for me, July! Where are you going??

None of us here at the Hundling house seem to understand where this past month has gone!! Here is a run-down of some of our recent happenenings.

After a day of swimming, Gabbie has to call all of her friends and tell them how much fun she had! She also has to tell them how she is just too cool for the baby pool lately, and insists on going to the big pool, even down the slide!

4th of July: We put Gabbie on her 'leash'! We had never used it before, but she kept running away from us while we were waiting for the fireworks, so we gave it a try. Turns out she loved it and insisted on wearing it the rest of the weekend! In the other picture she is enjoying some playtime with friends at the Steinkamps 4th of July party! We had a great time :-)

We spend any evening that we happen to be home (and when its not raining!) in the garden. Gabbie really enjoys being out there, even the bugs don't bother her too much. The weeds got ahead of me as usual, but I spent 4 hours weeding today and will hopefully be caught up before the next rain comes!

Aunt Gretchen was home for cousin Jenna's wedding in Ames. We had fun! The week flew by. We enjoyed being back in Ames...Brice and I both miss it!

Gabbie and Brice on the dance floor at the wedding

Walking around ISU campus-Gabbies first time :-) Lots had changed, but still lots of good memories!

The Lake View Water Carnival parade! It was quite warm, but worth it to get all that candy ;-) Here Gabbie is enjoying watching the East Sac dance team, including her friend/baby-sitter Brittney!

Gabbie had so much fun on the carosel! And we had so much fun watching the tantrum when it was time to get off!

Dragonboat races...sore neck from too much sun, sore back from paddling, but lots of fun!

Other recent happenings that I do not have pictures of (Gabbie got a hold of my camera, and so far I have not been able to turn it on) include: 1. The purchase of our first 'mini-van' 2. A trip to the lake for the first time in our boat-it only died 5 or 6 times, and I'm very proud of Brice for all of the hard work he has put in to get the thing running! 3. Gabbies significantly increased vocabulary skills, and continued progress in the area of potty training.

Well, that sums up the month! Last week I finished up my long distance home health clients, so I'm hoping the long drives for the summer are done! It has been such a busy summer because of that, and I am looking forward to a few days off in August to finish some projects in the house. This week I start training for the Des Moines half-marathon, Monday I am hoping to bring some of our garden items to the Breda farmers market, and Friday Brice and I will celebrate our 5 year anniversary. It will be another busy, but fun, week!  Take care and be safe!

Humbled

Today I had the honor of attending an Anniversary party for a couple who has been married for 68 years. First I joke, wondering if I should be making them a sympathy card or a congratulations card! However I do not think there is a card that reflects the deep amount of respect a couple should earn not only after so many years together, but also so many years of service to God, their families, and their communities. I think of all the joys, hardships, achievements, etc. that Brice and I have been through in just 5 years, and multiply that, its just amazing. And I think all the 'luxeries' we have now as compared to then. Bigger vehicles, access to education, bigger houses, computers, TV's, indoor plumbing, cell phones, heat/air conditioning, any toy a child could as for, clothes, we definetly have more than we could ever possibly need.

Some days I'm jealous-I think of when people took time to talk to each other instead of e-mail or cell phone texting and it seems nice, more friendly, less ways for incorrect rumors to fly like wildfire, less ways to incorrectly interpret a person's tone or mood. Of course now we are able to communicate easily with many friends and family, share pictures, send a quick message- but at the same time I think that has made us a selfish people in a sense, making us think we are so busy that we can't send a snail mail letter, make a phone call, and causing us to be so absorbed in our own world that we do not see other's worlds, or even the bigger picture. Of course "everythings perfect, but nobody's happy"-I have to listen to that on u-tube sometimes to remind myself to quit whining, things really are pretty good :-)

I have been thinking a lot about aging lately for a couple of reasons. One, as we have been making some improvements to the therapy room where I work we have taken all of our pictures down to prepare for painting. I have been there for over 3 years now. As I put the pictures in order I see myself aging; the loss of a parent, the birth of a child, trying to find a balance with all the 'stuff' in life, I seem to be able to see in all the pictures where in my own life I was at at the time, sometimes I can tell I was not in a place I was proud of, othertimes I can tell I was happy with who I was and how I was treating others. Second, I was on a home visit with an elderly woman a few weeks ago. I had to bring Gabbie with as it was a Saturday. I listened to her as she sat in her glider chair watching Gabbie, telling me stories of her own babies, her labor and delivery stories, how each of her children were different. I realized that my concern with having all of Gabbie's scrapbook caught up really will not matter. If I live in the moment and absorb as much as I can I too, God willing, will be able to sit in a chair and tell someone else our story. So far it has been a pretty darn good story when I really think about it.

I am also humbled by the quickness at which life can be over. Today a high school classmate of mine lost her husband in an accident. I can not even imagine the pain of such a loss. Of course its sparks deep conversation on our way home tonight. I ask Brice what I would do without him and he says "well, you'd have to learn to do a lot more chores". Some days it feels like he lives on a totally different planet than I do. However I sure don't know what I would do without the person who shares a 12 cup pot of coffee with me, refuses to put his clothes in his dresser, has the poorest muscle flexibility of any man I've ever known, and deep down has the best heart of anyone I have ever met. For no other man would I allow a deer head to remain in my freezer to give me a jump every time I open it, or deal with him wearing his socks 2 times sometimes before washing them, or would I be caught buying 2-30 packs of the cheapest beer in town to show him a small token of my appreciation when he's just coming in the house from working at 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. (of course with instructions that they better last through the summer ;-)) Tonight I'm hoping to someday experience the joy of 68 years of compatible weirdness...

I was looking for a picture of Brice and I as a couple. Turns out that once you have a kid there really aren't as many of those pictures....so here is a picture of the best thing that's happened to us as a 'couple'. 2 pretty high strung people makes for one crazy child...

My Pride and Joy

Nope, its not Gabbie, its my garden! I should say 'our garden' to be more accurate, as Brice works the ground for me in the Spring and Gabbie has become quite good at picking weeds (although a few plants have suffered as a result). This year due to great weather I was able to get things started pretty early in the garden. We've already been through a round of radishes, lettuce, and spinach. More are planted so we can enjoy again soon! I started most of the plants indoors this year; however I did manage to bring more plants home everytime I went to town until finally last week the garden was declared "full". Here's the final tally (and the reason my husband thinks I need to be examined)

1. Minus 2 that Gabbie stepped on last week, there are a total of 95 tomato and pepper plants-I think there are about 70 tomato and 25 pepper. New this year-orange peppers, sweet!
2. 8 eggplant, up from the token 1 plant we've enjoyed in years past
3. 12 brocolli, which we have already started to enjoy!
4. 5 cabbage

5. 5 hills of cucumber, which I think amounted to 20 plants.

6. 5 rows of beets, you can never have too many
7. 2 rows of onions, which no one here really likes except Brice (we'll call that his Fathers Day gift)

8. 8 cauliflower

9. 2 rows of carrots

10. 5 okra plants-love that stuff!
11. 4 rows of beans
12. 'quite a few' watermelon (I haven't revealed this number to Brice yet...everytime we have watermelon he complains about how rough it is on his "system" and I hate to tell him he'll be eating it for a month later this summer)
13. 4 hills of squash
14. Pumpkins, which hopefully will be planted today...somewhere...
I think I may be missing something...but if any of it sounds good to anyone reading this you will have to let me know! We can only eat so much and I can only can and freeze so fast, and I hate to let things go to waste if I can help it. I am proud of myself that I have been keeping on top of the weeds (mostly) despite the rain. It helps that its light out until 9:30!
I'm so grateful that Gabbie loves being outdoors. We seem to be outside for all the available hours in the evening working on the garden, the yard, or playing with her plastic golf clubs :) I'm calling this my summer strategy for keeping the house clean-just plain staying out of it!
Today we are happy to celebrate Fathers Day. Gabbie drew a couple pictures for Brice-he loves when she does that! Otherwise his 'gift' is the recent purchase of a boat. I asked if we could take it out tonight, but was told it does not run....I decided I will wait to ask too many questions about that. I'm celebrating by skipping church to clean the house and obviously brag my garden up on this blog~hopefully God won't mind too much that I just needed a 'regroup' morning to get my house back under control...
I will say a prayer though that everyone has a great week!

I love catching pictures of these 2. This was fishing at the lake, Gabbie loved it!

Another round of rain coming in

Working on the boat...Gabbie had the right idea!

A view of the garden

First head of brocolli of the year

Carrots

More of the garden

The artist working on her Fathers Day pictures, looks like that day she was a "righty"