Thanksgiving 2009

This photo was just before Thanksgiving. Maddie has seen Ben play with Play-doh numerous times so I thought I'd let her try. She did lots of watching Ben and trying to copy everything he did. However, when it started going into her mouth, we had to put a stop to it. We spent Thanksgiving in Kansas at my parents this year. We were able to go down on wednesday night and stay until Sunday. It was nice to not have to rush back. I didn't take a lot of pictures this time. Basically just this one on my mom reading to Madalyn. We also went to my grandma's for our traditional noodles. They were wonderful. Then another evening we went over to my Uncle Steve and Aunt Caroline's to see all my cousins. My aunt hadn't seen Madalyn yet so it was a treat for her. Jay Dee got pretty involved in a game of Apples to Apples with my cousins and their husbands and girlfriend. I think a great time was had by all.

Then on Sunday we made plans to stop at some of our friends house in Bennington on our way home. These were college friends that we've kept in contact with. We actually haven't seen them in almost 2 years. They just purchased a new house, and they have a new little girl we haven't seen yet! And they haven't seen Madalyn yet either! The last time we saw Jay, Angie, and Connor, I was about 6 months pregnant with Maddie and Angie had just found out she was pregnant with Olivia. So we had a wonderful time of seeing each other new little girls and visiting. We stayed and ate supper and after about 2 1/2 hours we were on the road again. It was a wonderful break in our trip, basically the half-way point. We might have to make that more of an occurrance.

Angie and her daughter, Olivia.

This is Connor, he'll be 7 in January, and Ben. They had a great time together.

Thanks again for supper Alexander's! Hope to see you again soon! You're welcome to head North at any time. We'd love to have ya!

What we've been up to

Well since I last wrote, Ben was sick with a cold/strep throat.

Then the mom, ME, who is NEVER to get sick...well I did. And it was a big one. For 8 days, I was down and out. This eight day timeframe included two trips to the hospitial for I.V.'s/fluids, anti-nausia meds, morphine for pain, and then some other med for pain. All my bloodwork was normal, but I was one sick mommy. (And no I'm not pregnant...for all those who are skeptic.) Jay Dee said he'd never seen me so sick and he didn't ever want me to be that way again. After further thinking and talking with friends, I think I've come up with a diagnosis....E. Coli. Or some form of food poisoning. It was nasty and I hope I never have it again. And here's the sad thing, I think I figured out where I got it. From sauerkraut. It is the one thing that I love that the rest of the family, especially Jay Dee, can't stand. So during harvest I always make sure I have some. Well it was the last day of harvest (the thursday before I got sick on friday), and I remembered that I had had my dose of sauerkraut yet. So I pulled out a can for lunch along with a hotdog. I thought it tasted different, but figured it was the hotdogs because we had changed brands. Well it wasn't now that I think back. I KNOW it was the sauerkraut. And that's a big bummer for me. Not sure I'll ever be able to eat it again.

And now, both the kids are sick. They both have coughs and fevers. We're headed to the clinic today to try and figure out what's going on. I think its just the good ol' winter cold, but we'll see.

All About Maddie

A little over a week ago I took Maddie in for her first haircut. I was a bit worried...this is the little girl that can't sit still for anything. So we went to Headquarters where our friend Lori works. Ben got a haircut first. (My thinking was if Maddie saw Ben sit still, she would too.) So this is Maddie before her haircut. Her hair had gotten so long in front that I had to put it in a pigtail every day just to keep it out of her eyes. So the plan was to just get a trim of her bangs.

This is Lori getting ready to cut Maddie's hair.

We were AMAZED!!! She sat perfectly still and NEVER moved! I'm not sure if she was worried about the scissors or if Lori just kept her attention so well. I also think she liked looking in the mirror at herself.

And here we have the finished Maddie! So nice to see those pretty blue eyes again!

Other things Maddie has been up to...my shoes. She likes to attempt to walk in them when I haven't put them away.

Okay so this picture needs a bit of explaining for some. This is a piano that I got for christmas when I was about 3 years old I think. Maybe 2. There are lots of pictures of me playing it wearing my cowboy boots. I have had it out in the basement for awhile now, and the other night Maddie was pounding on the basement door, so I opened it and she went down the stairs, grabbed the seat and starting crawling back upstair with it. I think she was trying to tell me to bring the piano too. So I did. And now every day we get some tunes played by both Maddie and Ben. Not sure how long I'll be able to handle it, but for now, it's okay. One more thing about the picture, it looks just like me. I should figure out a way to put the one of me on here for you to compare.

Pumpkins, Pirates, and Pretty Little Dancers

Our Halloween this year was definitely different. An almost 4 year old carving his first pumpkin, a 1 year old who could actually walk this year to trick-or-treat, and stolen pumpkins! The night before halloween we arrived home to find that our pumpkins had been stolen. It's a tradition I guess here in Henderson to steal people's pumpkins. Not a tradition that I'm at all fond of! Especially when you have a little boy who looked at his pumpkins daily, and they were pumpkins from Grandma Carol's pumpkin patch. Pretty special to him!

So that evening this mommy was a tad-bit upset to say the least and I got on facebook and made some statements about how I wished that whoever stole them would think about whose house they were standing in front of next time and who it would be effecting by stealing that pumpkin that they thought they needed so bad. (Let me interject here, that over the last 2 years or so, pumpkins have been stolen, but nothing ever seems to happen with them. Usually they get smashed on mainstreet.) So after my little rant, I felt a smidge better. However, my rant must have struck a nerve with someone or some parent because the next morning to our delight, almost EVERY single PUMPKIN was back on our front porch!!! The smile on Ben's face was so big. I'm so glad we didn't have to go through those tears again as to why someone would do that.

So here is Ben prior to pumpkin-carving: During: (I thought he would like scooping out the seeds and the "gunk", but he thought it was pretty gross and a good "mommy job" he said.)

After: I had to help him cut out the face, but he did do some of it. I think he had a great time!

And now to the pirates and dancers....TA-DA!!! Ben has said he wanted to be a pirate since last halloween and so that is what he did. And Madalyn, well, you try to get her in a costume! She managed quite well in spite of the skirt being a little big. It didn't take her long to figure out the trick-or-treating process. Pretty special Pirate and pretty cute ballerina, if I do say so myself. :-)

Kids

Just some random pictures of the kids. Ava (a little girl I keep), Ben and Maddie playing with buckets on their heads. Or at least Maddie found the closest thing she could! He-he. Our cat, Prince, who is usually outside, got in on a little storytime one evening. He's Madalyn's buddy. Boy does that cat put up with a lot!

It was getting close to nap time...and this is what I found. Apparently Ben looked like a good bed to her. I really hope they will continue to always have this type of relationship.

Water for Christmas

I just read about this amazing Etsy Shop and Idea on another blog.
Please check it out! http://water4christmas.etsy.com/
all of the money goes to build wells with CLEAN WATER in liberia.
ALL OF IT.

here is the write up on their profile page...
"There are two primary choices in life; to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them." (Denis Waitley)

At Water for Christmas, we've allowed the existing conditions to break our hearts and spur us to action.
* We want to join others in solving the world's water crisis, where 1.1 billion people on the planet don't have access to safe, clean drinking water.
* We don't want to accept the conditions where unclean water and the lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.
* It doesn't make sense that 4500 children should die every day from the lack of access to clean water.
Water for Christmas is partnering with charity: water (www.charitywater.org) to build wells in Africa. All proceeds from items sold in this shop will go directly to building fresh water wells in Liberia, West Africa. We believe that a small group of people can work together to change the world. Visit us at http://water4christmas.com
*If you would like to donate a hand-crafted item to Water for Christmas, to be listed on this site, please send us a message. As with everything else, all proceeds will go directly to building fresh water wells in Liberia.


SO PLEASE GO CHECK IT OUT AND BUY SOMETHING!

Catching Up!

So I can't believe its been 3 weeks since I last posted. So sorry to all of you that read this. I guess it just means we've been incredibly busy! So this post contains a lot of pictures of what we've been up to. Harvest has been a big part of our lives these days, and we try to get out to the field a couple of nights during the week so that the kids can see Daddy. Maddie got the chance to ride in the truck one night and she really liked sitting on Daddy's lap while we waited for the truck to get filled. Then she decided she liked this spot better:

The first weekend in October Jay Dee was able to get away on Saturday to head to Bethel College for his 10 year class reunion. We had a great time seeing a lot of our old friends and surprisingly most of the ones we wanted to see did show up. There was a lot to do there that day, including riding in this neat little firetruck. Ben was so excited, he didn't care what size it was.

Then when we left Bethel, we headed for the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita. My mom had purchased tickets earlier and we needed to get them used, so we met my parents there. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for a day at the zoo.

Ben was pretty excited to see a camel, "just like on Diego!"

Madalyn thought the penguins were pretty cool. They kept coming under the water towards her so she could see them.

Ben with his new friend.

After the zoo, Jay Dee headed back to Bethel to watch the football game and the kids and I headed to my parents house with mom and dad. We made a stop at Braum's to eat and Madalyn decided it was time to snuggle up to Nana. Pretty sweet picture I think!

On Sunday morning, the kids were up early to help Papa with chores. That is always one of Ben's favorite things to do when we're in Kansas. However, now that Maddie has gotten bigger, he now has to share his time with Papa. Not so sure he's liking that idea. So this time Maddie went along to help feed the sheep.

While we were at the barn feeding the sheep, I helped my dad do some sorting of the ewes because it was time to get them ready to breed again. So the kids sat in the trailer with my dad's dog, Sid. This is Maddie giving her some loving. She's such a great dog.

Next it was off to feed the cattle. As you may notice, the cows are pretty tame and can't wait for their pellets.

We also got in on a little milo picking while we were there.

Jay Dee watching my dad pick milo.

I ended up taking a little walk back to the house from the field and decided to take some pictures along the way. Within a quarter mile of my parents house is an old train track. I think the train still runs at least once a week. I thought the photo turned out pretty cool.

This is my parents house. We moved here when I was a freshman in high school. My mom grew up here and so did her dad. The house was 100 years old in 2008.

Before we left to head back on sunday evening, Ben had to get in a game of Kerplunk with Papa. Probably also one of his favorite things to do.

Now one final random picture. I walked outside the other day to find this. My Maddie up on my bike. She sure thought she was a big girl!

Soybean harvest 2009

We were out at the field a few nights ago and a storm looked like it was rolling in, so I couldn't resist taking some pictures of the beautiful blue sky. I don't think we ended up getting any rain which was just fine.

Madalyn gets pretty excited these days when I say we're going to see Daddy. Last night after Jay Dee ate supper, he and Ben took a truck to the elevator and so Maddie and I stayed at the field. Apparently Maddie didn't realize daddy had left, because she took off walking up along this truck and the entire time all I heard was "Da". When she got to the front and looked up and no one was there, she turned around and looked at me with the most puzzling look. It was rather quite cute. She's definitely her Daddy's girl.

She's the little purple blob by the back trailer.

Prince and Sparkle

We had a sad day in our household last week. One of our cats, Sparkle, didn't run fast enough, and met the 4-wheeled monster over by the school. So Ben is telling everyone that "Sparkle died and went to heaven". So now our other cat, Prince, has become somewhat of a nuisance. He's just so tame, and now he's very lonely, so the kids seem to be spending extra time with him. He also has become quite good at sneaking into the house when the door is open. However, this has proven to be quite helpful. When he is in the house, Madalyn is completely enamored with him and stays out of my way. So last night when we got back from the field, I let him in for a few minutes while I unloaded the car and never had an issue with Madalyn bothering me. It was wonderful! And when I came around the corner, this is what I found: He had found a comfy spot in the bottom of the bookcase and Ben was petting him. And I think I had mentioned once before how much Maddie likes her kitties. THIS is how much:

And he doesn't even care!

Pumpkin Pickin'

After getting back from the field Ben asked Grandma Carol if her pumpkins were ready yet. And she said they were, so we had to do a little pumpkin pickin' before we went home. Ben was having a blast and I think we ended up with like 12 pumpkins and 6 ghords! Madalyn was really liking the BIG pumpkins!

Ben with his pumpkins!

Then Madalyn settled on one that was just her size...

Harvest...FINALLY!

On Monday night I finally got to take my first harvest meal to the field. It seems so late in September to me, so I'm sure it seems late to the guys. So I loaded up the big blue van (maybe a picture at a later time) that we serve meals out of, also loaded up both the kids ( a new challenge this year), and headed out to the field. Last year usually only Ben went with me and Carol or someone would keep Madalyn because she was only a few months old. We had a good meal and miraculously Madalyn did quite well.

After supper, Jay Dee didn't have to head out right away in the truck, so we hung around for a bit and let the kids get some excerise. Madalyn was quite intrigued by the little hills, or rows as we call them. But to her, I'm sure they were big hills! Ben enjoyed stomping down the bean stalks that were still standing.

At one point I told Ben he should walk to the pivot. In my mind I was thinking, "oh, good idea Mom, that way it will wear him out and he'll sleep good." I really didn't think he'd even do it. But Ben's thought, "hey mom, how about I run!" And away he went. He kept trying to get Maddie to come with him. She made it a little ways and then turned back. Ben didn't end up going all the way, because he said he got tired, but he made it almost there. He is the little dark blue blob in the middle of the road below. One of I'm sure many pictures to come of the combine and harvest. This is where Royce will spend the next 5 weeks. I also took the picture because of the pretty sky. Harvest time and fall are always such a pretty time of year.

Relaxing and Rejuvenating

This picture sums it all up:

I just spent the weekend at Swan Lake Christian Camp in South Dakota. I went with a group of women from our church for a Women's Retreat. The weekend was centered around a book titled, The Too-Busy Life. A couple of friends went with me and so we had a lot of fun catching up. What a great weekend to relax and unwind. Too bad it didn't last a week!

This is the cabin we stayed in. Funny enough, this particular cabin was built by Jay Dee and some other men from our church last February. Nice job guys!

My BFF, Amie. We've known each other since we were 11. Thanks Aunt Penny! Whoever thought we'd end up living so close to each other...now if we could only spend even more time together. Maybe when our kiddos are a bit older. (by the way, this picture was taken after we had spent an hour doing our makeup with the help of Mary Kay consultants...something that never happens in our lives now!)

Another view of the lake, from a deck that was built onto one of the new cabins.

Amie, Carrie, and I before we left to head home. Can you tell the wind had picked up a bit? Thanks for coming along girls. I had a wonderful time!