Werner House Project

Lazy Weekend

2012-02-13T07:58:00.006-06:00

Here are a few things that took place at our house this weekend:

Used a laundry basket as a boat ...

... while playing on the "'puter." :)

Discovered mommy's scrapbooking buttons

And spent HOURS playing with them!

Week TWO

2012-02-07T17:05:00.002-06:00

Can you believe it? ...I haven't fallen off the blogging wagon yet! Here are some "week two" pictures for you; theme ... soccer!

Back on the Blogging Wagon!

2012-01-30T12:06:00.005-06:00

Okay, I know January is nearly over, but I've just made a resolution ... (at least) one picture on the blog per week! Hold me to it. Please. It may come with no explanation whatsoever, but I'm determined to get one pic up per week.

Here are a few good ones to get it started:

Surprise! We're building a greenhouse! And yes, that ginormous fan will be covered, for those of you who were as concerned about it as I was. And if you can't see, Bruce was helping daddy dig with the little green shovel he has in his hand. :)

'Sploring

And here's the little cheeser playing in the new sandbox Grandma and Papa got him for Christmas.

Here he was just moments before ... until he heard the click of the camera.

"Cheese!"

TWO!!

2011-12-13T12:12:00.001-06:00

Our little boy is TWO! Can't believe how the time flies! Here he is enjoying a cupcake (er, rather enjoying the frosting) on December 5th.

Halloween!

2011-11-01T12:45:00.000-05:00

Bruce thoroughly enjoyed his first year of trick or treating! (His mom and dad cheated him out of trick or treating last year, thinking he was too young to know the difference ... don't tell ...)

What a happy little fireman!

Heading to great Aunt Linda's house with Grandma DiDi

"Look what I got!"

"CANDY, grandma!"

The cousins (last weekend) dressed up in their Halloween best! Trick or Treat!

Hooray!

2011-10-27T20:55:00.000-05:00

Here's what we found yesterday ...

Finally!

A Visit from Grandma and Papa

2011-10-14T16:52:00.000-05:00

A visit from grandma and papa also meant:

Bruce's first trip to the pumpkin patch!

He wasn't quite sure what to think ...

... But he knew just what to do when he saw a kitty!

"KITTY!"

Another kitty in the stone barn at the pumpkin patch ... jackpot!

Bruce also had his first visit to Henry's Candy Factory! He was WAAAY more excited about the suckers than he was about the pumpkins!

... picking some out for Kalo and Maggie ...

... happy boy!!!

Labor Day is for Hammocks

2011-09-09T07:55:00.000-05:00

Okay - should have posted these earlier in the week, but it's been a leetle busy to say the least. Aren't these pictures the best?

The new fruit basket

2011-08-01T12:05:00.000-05:00

... is the Vegetable Basket! :) It could catch on. You just wait and see.

I put this together for the weekly drawing at the Walnut Valley Farmers Market - complete with heirloom tomatoes, sweet burpless cucumbers, striped zucchini, yellow squash, pattypan squash, butternut squash, and sunflowers in all colors. It was lots of fun!

Plus, it gave me the chance to play around with some potential logo designs for our farm.

Just .... so .... tired ...

2011-07-27T13:04:00.000-05:00

... can't ... quite ... make it.

With all this heat, we've been a little lethargic around our house. Little guy couldn't even make it all the way onto the couch. (Notice the binky falling out of his mouth ... soooo pitiful!)

I'm ready for FALL!!!

Are you sensing a theme?

2011-07-24T09:03:00.001-05:00

We've been in a "box phase" in our home lately.

You may have noticed.

In the latest episode, these tomatoes almost met an untimely fate as our little box crawler found his way into a box I was packing for market. :)

Sea of Pickles

2011-07-18T12:58:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, Diana and I made pickles. Here is an important life lesson: it is SO much nicer to do large canning projects with someone else!

Here is the finished product. Next time I plan to make pickles, remind me that it is a whole day process, okay? I'm not saying I'll bail on the project. It would just be nice to be realistic about the time-frame, for once.

I swear, these cucumbers grow so fast, I think you could probably SEE them grow. I sold a TON at market on Saturday ... then picked these on Sunday morning.

Pretty sure these were gherkin-sized on Saturday.

Yikes. Mutant cucumbers.

What does a 19-month old do when his mom and grandma are canning 28-quarts of pickles?

Climbs into the empty jar box with a wooden spoon and pretends it is a boat. :)

(Can't you tell he's saying the word "Row?")

Perfection

2011-07-12T07:40:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah ... tomato time!!!

Baby in a Box

2011-07-11T07:52:00.001-05:00

Is there anything cuter than this? I think not.

After typing the title for this post, I realize he doesn't look like a baby anymore, does he?

*sniff* *sniff*

Notice he's "reading" the instruction manual on how to install his Big Boy carseat. What a funny guy.

Colorful

2011-07-08T20:56:00.000-05:00

Picked these multi-colored carrots this afternoon ... cool, huh?

Will be selling them at the Walnut Valley Farmer's Market tomorrow morning along with cucumbers, summer and winter squash, kohlrabi, cabbage, onions, and a FEW tomatoes. Oh, and sunflowers. :)

Hello, Pretty

2011-07-01T12:31:00.001-05:00

These pretties just opened up in the garden, a day or so ago. I hope to have a few to take to farmers market tomorrow ... but I also want to have some for a 4th of July centerpiece!

My selfishness might just win out and I may keep them all for myself this week. :)

Oooo, I like the orange ones.

... but these are my absolute favorite! ... Deep red darkening to almost black in the center. Lovely.

Other farm updates - here is a new pic of our chickens. Can you believe how much they've grown???

I'm hoping for eggs in October.

Gage says it will be longer than that.

Come on girls, don't let me down.

This past week was haaa-ard keeping up with the garden. Gage has been doing most of the heavy lifting this summer in the garden, and I help ( a little ...) in the evenings and on weekends. But with Gage gone for a week for wheat harvest, it was up to me. I think I did okay, if I do say so myself.

(I'm not going to talk about how Gage said he had to triage the plants last night to determine which crisis to tackle first. Let's just say, I wasn't very happy about it. We're in a stinkin' drought with 100+ temps, and I kept the plants alive. That's all I'm gonna say about it.)

Here is our row of squash plants. The butternut squash (in the foreground) are going CRAZY! Mulching and setting up drip irrigation systems this year has helped immensely in controlling weeds and maintaining moisture. Of course, you can see there is still johnson grass creeping up through the squash. But, if we hadn't mulch, by this point in the summer, you wouldn't even be able to SEE the squash plants because they would be so choked out by weeds.

(Yes, I know this from experience.)

Here is a delicious pattypan squash. These are YUM.

Lookit!! A watermelon!

Here is my row of tomatoes. The intense heat this summer has been really hard on tomato production. Tomato plants drop their blossoms when it gets too hot, too fast.

Apparently.

I still have a lot to learn.

I have a few green tomatoes from before it got super hot. Might not be the best year for tomatoes, though. We will have to wait and see.

On the topic of green tomatoes ... why does it always seem like it takes forEVER for the first green tomato to ripen??? Must be some Murphey's Law thing.

Cherry tomatoes are ready, though! Only planted one cherry tomato plant this year in my kitchen garden. Because they are so time consuming to pick, we decided we didn't want to sell them at market.

Speaking of my kitchen garden, look at these pretty bean blossoms.

Confession: I bought these green bean seeds specifically because it said they would have pretty red blossoms, not the usual white flowers. I have no idea how the beans will taste. They might taste like dirt.

But the blossoms sure are pretty.

P.S. Any of our friends or family recognize that trellis? Yep - it's from our wedding. Of COURSE we are using it to grow vegetables now ... why wouldn't we?

There are also other flowers blooming in the kitchen garden ... zinnias and cornflowers.

I just had to throw this picture in, 'cause I didn't get it posted when I took it a month ago.

YUM! Spring strawberries!

This year we planted some "ever-bearing" strawberries (as opposed to these berries which came from "June-bearing" plants), so a few of those plants are putting on strawberries right now. I found a few last night, popped one in my mouth and .... YUCK. Suffice it to say, the ever-bearing berries are not the succulent, juicy, berries I am now used to in the spring. Maybe the heat has affected them, too. Who knows, but I think I will feed the rest to the pigs.

Our little girl-cat Lucy coming out to "help" in the field.

Scenes from the farmer's market over the past few weeks.

Carrots! Last week was the first time I have had carrots to sell! Fun.

Here's something funny. After struggling with trying to figure out a display for my pricing signage, I came up with these little flower pots filled with wheat berries.

Do you know how many people in Kansas don't recognize wheat berries when they see them? Let's just say it's a lot ... :)

Gage and I are working on a more permanent, easy-to-set up display, and the flower pots will probably go away at that point. Until then, we will keep educating people about wheat.

I love the farmer's market.

I love growing and selling fresh, wholesome food to people who love it and appreciate it. See you at market!

Ah Gee ...

2011-06-29T12:35:00.000-05:00

It's been over a month since my last post. A MONTH. And I was on such a roll. What did I get ... like three, four days of posts in a row? Then ... nothing.

But, I'm back on the wagon again. Hopefully to stay. Here is just a little tidbit for today. Not much, but a few Bruce pics for the family and friends out there needing a "fix." :)

Last night, mom and I were sitting on the porch, when Bruce turned to us with a super ornery grin on his face, waved bye-bye and set off towards the big rocks he KNEW he wasn't supposed to go to alone. What a stinker.

Oh yeah, and he decided he'd try walking. Just stood up and started walking everywhere one day. Like he knew how to all along.

Sitting with Grandma on the bottom step! He's going to miss Grandma who went home today. Luckily, his daddy comes home from wheat harvest tomorrow ... somthing to look forward to! Yea!

The ORIGINAL Bruce

2011-05-26T12:11:00.002-05:00

After Dad's comments on my last post, I thought I would see if I could find some pictures of my Grandpa Bruce ... turns out I didn't have to dig very far!

I love these pictures ...

Yeah ... looks like he definitely knew a thing or two about chickens!

And dairy cows ... "Prize Cow!"

He was awefully handsome, wasn't he? Kinda like this Bruce ...

(Come on, you didn't think I could post pictures without ONE of the little guy, did you? Wish I had one of him with his spiffy new haircut ...)

Now, for answers to a few questions that have come up recently:

It's a little-known fact that you don't have to have a rooster to have eggs. You do, however, have to have a rooster to get CHICKS (ie: fertilized eggs). Makes sense when you think about it, doesn't it? And since - as I said before - we don't plan to raise chickens, we have no need for a rooster. I'm fairly confident that most people who have spent time around roosters (a typical rooster, not a weird "nice" rooster, that is ..) feel the same way I do ... better off without 'em.

When you go to the feedstore to buy baby chicks, you can buy "straight run" chicks, which means they haven't been sexed so you get both roosters and hens. Or, for a little more money, you can get chicks that have been sexed, so you know you are getting all pullets (baby hens). In answer to the last question: I have no idea how to determine if the chick is a rooster or a hen. That's why we paid more money. :)

Hey! Those "answers" totally made it sound like I know what I'm talking about! Ha Ha! That's funny! I really don't know anything about chickens. Anything AT ALL. I actually had to buy a book about chickens just to learn the basics.

And I'm on page nine.

But I did already know that part about the eggs ...

P.S. Gage assures me the snake was a bullsnake ... but I agree it doesn't look anything like the bullsnakes in Western Kansas.

Chicken Farmin'

2011-05-25T12:21:00.001-05:00

I mentioned a few posts back that I would talk more about our chickens and ducks at a later date. And while I call it chicken farming, it's really more egg farming, as we don't actually plan to raise and breed chickens ourselves. ... primarily because I don't like roosters. :)

It all started in late April when I started thinking about how great it would be to have a few chickens and get fresh eggs every day. The thought had barely even formed in my head when Gage said to me, "I think we should get chickens." We didn't even give the idea time to marinate. We went a bought chicks the very next day.

Which was April 30th.

Our anniversary.

We bought each other chickens on our anniversary.

We're weird people.

Anyway, we bought ten that day - four different kinds, just to experiment.  On his way home from school a few days later, Gage stopped by the co-op to see if they had any different kinds.  They did, and he bought four more chicks. For some reason, the cashier offered to throw in 3 wood ducklings for free. Not really sure what we were going to do with ducks, Gage took them anyway. What harm could there be in having a few ducks around, right?

While the baby chicks were cute and calm and would even let Bruce pat them and coo at them and squeal "chick!" a million times, those little ducks were just flat LOONEY. Our first mistake when Gage brought them home, was to take one out of it's box inside our house. They were so tiny and cute, we knew Bruce would just love them. I have NEVER seen anything so small move so fast. We chased that dumb duck all over our kitchen, through the dining room, through Gage's office and finally cornered it in the safe room. We ignored the nagging voice in our minds saying that this animal was not normal. We took the captive and the two other ducks and built a little home for them in a large barrel with a grate over the top (trust me ... they were TINY. We could have easily fit 10 more in that barrel).

A few days later, when checking on the birds, I found one of the baby ducks dead. No reason. Just died. Maybe it had a heart attack. Maybe it had a panic attack. Who knows, but it was gone.

When I lifted the grate to remove the dead bird, the other two tried to JUMP out, like creatures possesed. The second one died a few days later. Gage thought it would be okay to put the last surviving duck in with the chicks. Its feet had barely landed in the cage before it shot through the bars and was gone. Maybe it's still living in our shed. Maybe it got eaten by a snake. In any case, that little sucker is GONE. Good riddance.

Back to the chicks ...

Gage has designed a chicken coop that can be moved every few days. This way, the chickens can be kind of free range without getting eaten by coyotes, or bobcats, or farm cats. So far, it seems to be working well. Once they are bigger, the coop will be out in the pasture, but while they are small, we want them near the house.

Emily is determined to make pets of them.

Which is fine, until they stop laying eggs. Then we are going to have a problem. :)

Bruce wanted to help.

Emily is such a good big sister! Holding up a chick so Bruce can pat it.

Nicer

2011-05-24T12:41:00.005-05:00

I couldn't keep looking at that picture of that snake. Here is something nicer to look at ...

Latest Bruce news: little man has FINALLY grown a tooth - one of his top canines, so it looks like he has a fang. :) He has also learned that he CAN walk. He just doesn't like to. It's really stressing out his mommy and daddy ...

In other Bruce news, he is a talking machine! He gets on kicks when he will repeat just about anything you say (watch out ...) and is even saying some sentences! Last night in the bath he said, "Stop it, daddy!" when Gage started draining the water. :)

EEK

2011-05-23T11:45:00.001-05:00

We learned something last week. Lucy is good at "treeing" things. See? Here she is, looking up at her "prey." Now wait, I can hear your questions now. "It looks like she's on your porch ... What could she have treed on your porch? And WHERE?"

Look closely ...

Yeah.

At least we know she's not going to sit passively by and let snakes take over the farm.

But still ...

And NO, I did not take these pictures (are you crazy?).

I wasn't even home at the time, thank GOD.

Weekend pics ... before the weekend

2011-05-20T17:04:00.000-05:00

So I'm a little slow getting these pictures up from last weekend. Andy, Libby, Kalo and Maggie came to visit, which was AWESOME ... just what we needed. A little down-time with family was just perfect!

The weather was a little chilly, but that didn't stop the kids from playing outside!

They made good use of the sandpile ...

Had fun on the swing ...

Fished in the pond ...

Caught one! (actually, the kids caught LOTS!)

Threw rocks in the creek ...

And inspected the fish that Gage and Andy caught! Yum! Fish Fry!

(I can't believe I didn't get pictures of two of Kalo's favorite things ... going over the bridge and picking STRAWBERRIES! Libby I hope you got some pics.)

When it was too cold to go out, we had plenty of fun inside! Maggie thought it was great that Bruce would push her in the wagon. :)

Cheeser!

Playing "Ponies" ...

and Playing board games! Good times!

What's Growing on the Farm

2011-05-13T12:15:00.002-05:00

Things that are growing right now on our farm:

... Daisies and Chives

... Broccoli, which is DE-licious

... Strawberries! I just picked the first ripe ones two days ago. You have no idea how good a strawberry can be until you've had one straight off the vine!

... My cherry tomato plant - can you believe it already has green tomatoes?

... Volunteer cilantro

... Baby chicks

... Yes, we're chicken farmers now. More on that later ...

... Strangly enough, this hedge post that Gage cut last winter and used to make a fence has decided to start growing. Weird.

... Little boys

"This sand doesn't taste good!"

Now, things that are no longer growing on our farm:

Baby ducks - rest in peace, you crazy, crazy little things (more later on this, too ...)

The grass on the front half of our lawn. Gage: "What? You told me to take care of the lawn. You mean you wanted me to MOW it???"

P.S. No, he really wasn't that confused. We decided to use the front portion of our HUGE yard for blueberries, which means we have to begin amending the soil now if we want to plant blueberries anyime in the next few years. Gage made me come out halfway through the job to offer moral support, as he was ... you know ... tilling up our yard.

What we did last weekend ...

2011-04-19T17:19:00.000-05:00

Here is what my amazing husband did last weekend:

That's a trench. A 1000 foot long trench to be exact. He added FIVE hydrants to our property in just 3 days ... amazing. Above is the trench heading west ...

... and heading east (filled in, of course) ...

... Running the trencher well into the evening ...

Gosh, I'm tired just watching him. What did I do, you ask???

I made spaghetti.

The BIG Garden

2011-04-13T12:05:00.000-05:00

As promised, here are pictures of the BIG garden. I decided to tempt fate and plant tomatoes last weekend. Yes, I know we haven't hit our frost free date yet. And yes, I know that it is forcasted to get down to 32 on Friday night. But, I figured since I have 70 some plants it wouldn't hurt to gamble with 19 plants, right? ESPECIALLY since we invested in hot caps this year (the tiny little domes over each plant), which should protect them from the cold. If these guys look okay on Sunday, I will plant 19 more, which will be a whole row.

We have the big garden set up differently this year. Instead of one BIG tilled garden, we have rows, separated by grassy walkways. This will greatly help cut down on weeding and tilling. In theory. :) Plus we plan to mulch, mulch, mulch this year. We are TIRED of weeds taking over our garden. This year we fight back! (In theory ...)

This year we devoted two rows to strawberries, one to blackberries, and one to asparagus. The rest of the rows will be annual crops - the tomatoes, of course, cucumbers, okra, and who know what else.

Now for the good stuff ... you didn't think I would post without pictures of Bruce did you?

Little man spent his first nights at Grandma's house! Grandma "Didi" kept Bruce last Thursday and Friday while Gage and I chaperoned the Cedar Vale seniors' class trip to OKC. Of course we brought Bruce goodies from Bass Pro Shop ... his very own camp chair and paddle! After we sang Row, Row, Row Your Boat for him, all he would say is "row, row, row ..." :)

Where to start ...

2011-04-06T11:45:00.000-05:00

It has been so long since my last post, it's hard to know where to begin. I know! It's always good to start with something like this ...

or this ...

or maybe this ..

Okay, I guess you get the idea. :) We have all been having a lot of fun outdoors since the weather has been getting warmer. And as you can see, Bruce and his cat Lucy are still good buds.

Of course, don't forget Koda!

We have also been hard at work, getting the gardens ready for warmer weather! With mom's helping watching Bruce on a number of weekends in February and March, Gage and I got an awesome start on our outdoor projects!

Hanging out with grandma while mommy and daddy transplant strawberries

"Daddy, what IS that all over your hands??? Kinds looks like fun ..."

Okay, so here is what my kitchen table looked like the first weekend of March. Yep, that's right ... FIVE flats of seeds. One of tomatoes (specialty varieties I ordered from Totally Tomatoes ... the largest selection of tomato seeds you will EVER find), one of herbs and peppers, one of annual flowers, one of perennial flowers, one of lisianthus seeds (looks like a rose, but no thorns ... I have NEVER found seeds until this year ... wahoo!).

Thanks to my handy dandy husband, I had this germination box for my flats this year. This was totally the key to success ... perfect light and warmth in the box made for better germination and stronger seedlings than I have EVER had in the past. Nearly every tomato germinated and most of my herbs and peppers. I had hit or miss luck with the annuals and perennials, as usual. The lisianthus seeds took forEVer to germinate (almost 4 weeks!), but they finally did. They are still super tiny, so we will see if they survive and amount to anything.

Since I had such good luck this year with my tomato seedlings, I found that I needed to pot them up this past weekend. Above is my flat of tomato seedlings - about 70 plants total. Yeah, they were pretty squished in that one little flat.

This guy's poor little roots need more room!!

Ahhhh ... that's better. :)

Great. Now I have FOUR flats of tomatoes. And no more room in the germination box. These have been living on my kitchen table by night and on the porch by day as I harden them off. Would someone please loan me a greenhouse? Thank you.

Here is the beginning of my kitchen garden. I am very excited about this! As you can see, we have divided it into four sections, and then dug out pathways between and covered them with woodchips. I have used the trellises from our wedding :) and Gage has built me 6 more, so that I can grow crops UP this year, instead of OUT, making it easier to weed and nagivate. The key to my kitchen garden is planting SMALL crops of lots of different things, just for our family to eat. I can't WAIT!

But, don't start thinking that means this is ALL we are doing this year. :) More pictures soon (I promise) of the "west garden".

And finally, I can't resist ... here's one more. :)

Sledding!

2011-02-16T17:39:00.000-06:00

So far, February's weather has been STINKY. It has been snowy, icy and COOOOLD. Last week, the low on Wednesday in Winfield was -21 degrees. That's right ... that's a negative sign in front of that 21. And that was without wind chill. SO COLD. So cold in fact that our mountain dog ... yeah, the one with all the fur? ... has been living in our house. Jeesh. Needless to say, my house needs a good cleaning.

Luckily, last weekend the weather was beautiful! Even though there was still snow on the ground, we were all able to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. Bruce went on his first sled ride with his big sister ...

He wasn't so sure about it at first ...

But big sister convinced him it was all right!

Little man also learned that he likes riding on daddy's shoulders ...

"I could do this all day! Giddyup horsey!"

Emily busied herself with making a "snow cat."

It had a very short life. :)

Topeka

2011-01-28T12:58:00.002-06:00

Last weekend we took a "mini-vacation" to Topeka to visit mom and dad. It was so nice to just get away ... even for a few days!

We went over to the Statehouse on Sunday for a little tour. It was fun to look around when no one else was there ... lots of great photo ops!

The whole family on the steps outside the old Supreme Court

Papa Don and his kiddos in his new office ... nice new digs!

The kids "exploring" the construction at the statehouse (don't worry ... it was a non-hard hat zone)

Outside Papa Don's office in the Statehouse

2010 Representatives

Back row, center!

The Pledge of Alligiance ... I don't think Maggie knows what is going on. She was rubbing her belly. :)

Family shot! ... Bruce is pointing at Grandma Betsy across the stairs. :)

Famous John Brown painting

Freshly polished copper railing

Other interesting architectural elements ... stained glass and newly painted ceilings.

Another amazing mural.

We had such a great time! Only wish the weekend could have lasted longer!

Two more days

2010-12-23T08:26:00.001-06:00

Make some noise! Christmas is almost here!!!

Handy (Farm) Household Tip #1

2010-12-15T14:04:00.001-06:00

If you are, *ahem,* "blessed" to have a cat who is a great mouser ...

... Be sure to take a good look at what's in said cat's mouth before picking her up to snuggle her.

Don't ask me how I know.

P.S. I totally cropped this picture. No way did I get that close to that mouse. Again.

P.P.S I just noticed the cat saliva on the little guy's fur. Ha! I almost feel sorry for him. Almost ...

Birthday Cake

2010-12-13T19:57:00.001-06:00

After a week of recuperating, our little man was finally back 100% this weekend, Praise God! Which meant, he finally got to try BIRTHDAY CAKE!!!

Here's the cake-eating progression:

"I'm not quite sure what to do with this ..."

"I guess it won't hurt to try just a little ..."

"Hey! This stuff is great!"

"Want some?"

One Year Old Baby Boy

2010-12-06T17:07:00.000-06:00

Our Bruce turned one year old yesterday! Thoughts on my first year of motherhood to come later.

For now, I'm sitting with my little man in the hospital. He came down with the stomach flu on Thursday night and we have been fighting to keep him hydrated ever since then. Things had been going okay until this morning when little man stopped drinking fluids. We went to the doctor who sent us to the hospital for and IV to get him rehydrated. We should be able to go home later this evening. Right now he's cuddled up with daddy in the hospital bed watching Sponge Bob Squarepants.

Just a minor set back. Bruce will be motoring around again soon, I am sure.

Best cat EVER

2010-10-20T17:50:00.001-05:00

You be the judge, but I'm pretty sure this is the best cat EVER. After repeated maulings over the course of the weekend, Lucy was still just as happy as a clam! You probably won't believe me, but she was purring through this whole ordeal.

Yes, Bruce is in fact, lifting the kitty up by the neck in this one.

I swear this is an optical illusion. I really did not let my son lick a cat's ear. (He definitely tried, though!)

Gotta get some Koda lovin' in, too!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this boy!!

Fall Festival

2010-10-04T07:55:00.041-05:00

Manyof you know that things have been awfully crazy for our family lately. We recently switched daycares, resulting in a comute to Arkansas City for Bruce and I each day (luckily our new daycare has just moved to Winfield - yay!). We have gone from a staff of three at the chamber down to just ONE (me!) in a matter of weeks. Oh, and we've had an extra house guest for the past few months, as Leevi worked as the interim postmaster in Winfield. Needless to say, all of these variables have made for little down time for our family.

So when a weekend like this past one comes along, it makes it all the more precious ... having long hours to just spend together. Days like this weekend make me realize just how amazingly BLESSED we are, no matter how crazy our lives may be, at times.

On Saturday, we went to Udall for the Fall Festival. Our Little Outdoor Boy LOVED the parade and getting to hang out outside!

Could that hair get any crazier??? :)

This week is the first since mid-July that Leevi will be back in Eureka. We had SO hoped he would like the Winfield job enough to apply for the full-time position. But apparently it wasn't all it cracked up to be. I'm still holding out hope, though! It would be SO nice to have Leevi, Joy and the boys close by! We will miss having Leevi stay with us!

Grandma Didi, Aunt Joy, Brayton and Jonah ... all ready for the parade to begin!

Clap! Clap! Bring on the motorcycles! Bruce LOVES to clap and wave!

"Love my red football that I got at the parade!"

Close up of the crazy baby mohawk

"What's wrong with my hair?"

These pictures are from two weekends ago ... Bruce hung out outside while mommy and daddy got some yard work done. What a good boy!

Could he BE any cuter?

Not crawling yet, but starting to think about it!

Playing outdoors is FUN!

Sooooo tired after the trip home from Ark City at the end of the day!

New Addition

2010-09-17T07:55:00.001-05:00

Okay, so I cracked. When we had the opportunity to get a new little kitten, I couldn't resist. We went and picked up this little girl last night from Leevi's in-laws. Looks like she spent a cozy night sleeping on Roger's lawn mower on our porch.

We were a little concerned about how Dusty would react to his new little "friend". Amazingly, it seems like he kind of likes her. He wasn't agressive towards her at all, and even played with her a little bit.

She is very small and snuggly!

She hasn't quite gotten used to Koda. She thinks he is pretty scary.

Hopefully she will fare better than the last two pets we have added (the last one, a dog, didn't even make the blog, she was with us so short a time!)

Bruce, who LOVES his kitty Ralph, will love this new kitten, I'm sure!

P.S. I have a new blog for work - http://www.getwinfield.blogspot.com/. Right now is the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield. Check out this blog for pics!

Little Outdoor Boy

2010-09-09T12:32:00.001-05:00

Top places I would rather be ...

2010-08-19T17:01:00.001-05:00

To put it mildly, it's kinda been a week. The kind of week where I routinely find myself dreaming of the places I would rather be. Here are a few such places:

Secluded mountain cabin

Spa

Beach hammock with a good book (really, anywhere alone with a good book)

Or let's be honest ...

I think I need a vacation.

Vote for Papa Don!

2010-08-03T05:00:00.014-05:00

Bruce says, "Good luck today, Grandpa!"

"Love you! Miss you!"

Happy Monday!

2010-08-02T08:56:00.001-05:00

Everyone should be this excited to begin a new week, don't you think? :)

What do you get ...

2010-07-27T07:55:00.000-05:00

... when you take 80 pounds of tomatoes, throw in a couple gallons of peppers, and add a table-full of onions?

Enough salsa to last for ... well, awhile anyway! YUM, YUM!

A Little Taste ...

2010-07-20T12:32:00.000-05:00

I have been blogging in my head for months, but just never seem to have the time to actually write a post and upload pictures! So here is a tiny taste of what has been happening in the Werner Family:

Bruce quickly decided baby food is boring and would rather feed himself crackers and cheerios. :)

He's awfully proud of himself. :)

Gage has been spending a lot of time studying for his Praxis test this weekend. Bruce likes to read with Daddy.

Our big boy is sitting up all by himself. :)

We added storage on to our porch. Yea!

We skipped the farmers market last weekend and made pickles. 16 quarts of pickles. More pics to come soon! (Hopefully!)

Where did June go?

2010-07-02T16:40:00.000-05:00

Wow it has been a crazy month, complete with our little boy turning 6 months old, a trip to Kansas City, a long trip to Dighton for harvest, and countless hours spent in the garden! We are heading to the farmer's market tomorrow to sell our first round of produce and flowers - I'm really excited! I've missed it! Promise to post some great pictures soon!

Summertime!

2010-06-02T10:04:00.000-05:00

Signs that summer is HERE!!!

New swim duds

Pink shades

Corn on the cob

Rockin' on the porch

Butterflies!

Catching fish

Wading in the creek

Swimming ...

More swimming!

And the ultimate sign that summer is here? Kicking back with a cold one. In a horse tank. With the American flag flying. :)

It's Never Too Early to Teach a Boy to Fish

2010-05-21T08:45:00.005-05:00

"What's this thing?"

"Mommy, are you watching?"

"This is called a bobber, son."

"Let me see that, dad. I think I'm ready!!"

Politics

2010-05-18T08:32:00.007-05:00

Wow! I couldn't have been prouder when I read Burdett Loomis's comments about dad in this recent article in the Hutch paper: http://www.hutchnews.com/Wirecolumns/loomiscolumn. We can't wait to start campaigning again this summer! Mom and Dad, don't forget to order some tiny "Vote for my Grandpa" t-shirts so Bruce and Maggie can tag along with these two!

(Sidenote: look how little both Emily and Kalo are! What a difference two years makes ...)

Mother's Day Weekend

2010-05-12T08:03:00.006-05:00

What a great weekend! Mom came in on Friday evening to spend the weekend with us. Early Saturday we headed up to Wichita to meet up with Andy, Libby, Kalo, Mags and the Siggs. After the River Race, we headed to the zoo. It was an awesome time! The weather was perfect, and not crowded at all, since most folks were at the River Festival. Kalo was SO excited to see Emily - cute!

Watching the giant tortoises

Feeding goats at the petting zoo

Mags LOVED the animals! She got a big kick out of this turtle for some reason. :)

Dad was finally able to join us Sunday afternoon. Bruce sure likes his Papa Don! We had a big group at our house for dinner on Mother's Day - a lot of Gage's family plus mom and dad, plus a few friends - good times! Emily and Gage snuck out Sunday morning and came back with armloads of fresh flowers, plus some very thoughtful gifts!

Bruce got to spend some quality time with all of his grandparents over the weekend, which of course he just ate up. He seems to like to be the center of attention. :)

But by the end of the day on Sunday, our poor little boy was awefully tuckered out. Snuggles with Grandma Betsy while we check out the gardens.

I couldn't have asked for a better mother's day!

Five Months

2010-05-05T12:35:00.001-05:00

Here is our happy little 5-month-old boy this morning!

Silly ...

Sillier ...

Silliest!

Yea, he's a pretty happy boy! His mama is even happier now that Bruce has gone to waking up just ONCE a night to eat - yeehaw! He started eating cereal last week, and immediatly eliminated one of his nighttime feedings. I was skeptical that rice cereal would help him sleep longer, but now I'm a believer! (Now I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that I haven't jinxed his good sleeping habits by talking about it.)

It occurred to me that I haven't shared much lately except pictures of Bruce (funny how that works ...). Never fear, family, pictures of Bruce will always have first placement on this blog. However, I'm also going to get back to sharing a little about our gardens and "homestead." I have been taking lots of pictures of the gardens lately, and will share more as I have time. Today though, I could not resist sharing this picture:

One ripe for the picking!

Our strawberries are growing like gangbusters, which is very exciting!

They are thriving despite our neglect. YUM!

Five years

2010-04-30T08:27:00.002-05:00

Here we were five years ago today:

Has it really been five years already???

And here is our house TWO years ago today ... oh wait, there was no house! The construction crew showed up for the first day of work two years ago today. Amazing!

And here are some current pictures. Below are my boys this morning. :)

It's so HARD to wake up on a rainy morning!

"Hi! Wanna play? I'm getting really good at grabbing things and shoving them in my mouth!"

Last weekend relazing on the porch!

Lately, I have been feeling simply overwhelmed by how amazingly blessed I am. Every so often, I find myself thinking, "It just doesn't get any better than this. This moment, right here, is what life is all about." Wow! Praise God for all of the amazing blessings in my life!

Here's to another awesome five years (and five more after that, and five after that, and after that ...)

Quick Fix

2010-04-27T16:17:00.000-05:00

For Mom, Dad, Libby and everyone who has been asking for more Bruce photos, here's a "quick fix!"

Things have been CRAZY busy lately, but I promise to post more soon! Our little man has been growing and changing SO MUCH. Can you believe he will be 5 months old next week??

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T08:05:00.003-05:00

Bruce had his first road trip, as we traveled to Dighton for Easter weekend. He did awesome in the car and had so much fun with Kalo and Maggie, Grandma Betsy and Papa Don, and Aunt Libby and Uncle Andy! More pictures to come soon ...

First Day of Spring?

2010-03-20T16:32:00.007-05:00

Since we certainly can't be out gardening on this first day of spring, Gage, Bruce I are enjoying hunkering down once more for a cozy day indoors.

Our little man! Snuggled down for a pajama day!

What's goin' on?

Cutie Pie!

Here is the view outside - it has been snowing alllllllll day.

The view inside!

Instead of pouting about the bad weather, we have been enjoying some nice family time together in front of the fire, eating delicious chili (hopefully the last batch of the year!), and working on some indoor hobbies.

A few years ago (okay, more than a few years ago!), Aunt Jan bought me everything I needed to start a quilt and taught me how to do a simple log cabin block. However, in the "few years" since she got me started, I forgot a thing or two about quilting.

I have been wanting to get started on my quilt again for quite some time, so last weekend Diana gave me another tutorial. I have been having so much fun with it since! Above and below are a few of the patterns I am playing around with ... not sure yet which one I will decide on.

A Little Green for St. Patty's Day

2010-03-17T14:10:00.000-05:00

This year, I had absolutely no interest in starting seeds indoors. It ebbs and flows - one year I will be all into it, and the next, I don't even want to think about. I'm sure I would be more excited about it if we had a good space for that sort of activity. Growing them on the loft again isn't too practical this year, since that's the area I now stumble through in the middle of the night on my way to feed Bruce. (Someday I will write about my grand plan to build a greenhouse/guesthouse ... it would be fantastic!)

Gage, on the other hand, already has a mini-garden started in the safe room. He has quite a variety from peppers to a few tomatoes, some herbs, and seen here - Chinese cabbage. I can't even begin to tell you how HUGE our garden is going to be this year. To tell you the truth, I haven't even walked back to see the vast area Gage tilled up just recently. Just what I can see from the kitchen window scares me.

Gage and I sat down a few weekends ago and compiled all of the seeds we had bought. Yikes. We probably should have communicated a little better about what we wanted to plant BEFORE we each bought our own seeds.

It's going to be huge. If anyone wants veggies this year, you know where to find us.

Trouble on the Homefront

2010-03-16T12:58:00.001-05:00

We received this baby gift on Saturday afternoon (thanks Rhonda!). As tempted as I was, I did NOT dress Bruce in this for the game. I think that might have pushed my husband over the edge ...

But if KU and K-State meet again in the Final Four, all bets are off. (Steph, I may have to take you up on your offer to provide a safe haven for Bruce during said game).

Go Hawks! Let the Madness begin!

Signs of Spring

2010-03-09T12:35:00.000-06:00

You know spring is on its way when we are able to get outside with the little one! Bruce, Gage and I took our new stroller for a spin on Saturday and Sunday. Bruce isn't too sure about the outdoors yet. He scrunches his eyes closed real tight and lets out a little cry when we first take him out. Little by little, he unscrunches his eyes, but won't open them. After a good amount of time, he finally peeks out. He will get used to it. It's just a bright, bright world for a little guy who has been inside most of his life. :)

Bruce hasn't been using his binky as much any more. But he wanted it on our walk! I think it was maybe a little scary. Like I said, he'll get used to it. :)

Other signs of spring: three colors of crocus blooming in my flower bed - Love it! I also have tulips and daffodils coming up. Gage and I both worked to plant potatoes and onions on Sunday. It was so good to be OUT!

Lessons from Motherhood, 3 Month Edition

2010-03-05T08:03:00.004-06:00

I just can't believe Bruce is three months old today! In honor of his three month birthday, I thought I would share a few more lessons I have learned since becoming a mom:

I have learned that ...

8. It does get easier. Yes there is a steep learning curve to being a new parent, but once you get the hang of it, it's really not that hard. (I know ... spoken like the mom of a truly "easy" baby. Yes, we are spoiled and we know it!)

9. Time really does fly. Three months old today, how is that possible??! It seems like he just turned two months old a minute ago, and in the blink of an eye, another month has flown by. Makes me want to just soak up every minute with him. I don't even want to think about the fact that he won't be my snuggly little sweet potato for long.

10. I love my husband more now than ever before. Cheesy yes, but true. Seeing Gage as Bruce's daddy makes me love him more than I ever thought I could.

11. Being pregnant really does suck. It's only now, looking back, that I realize how very much I dislike being pregnant (of course I loved it at the time, because I had our little Peanut to look forward to). It is so nice to be myself again - to have the energy to do things, and regained zest for life. Pregnancy seemed to sap all of the creativity out of me ... I had no interest in scrapbooking, jewelry making, knitting, and on and on. Even when I would try to be creative it just wouldn't work out (case-in-point: decorating Bruce's room). I just never knew pregnancy could change a person so much, and I'm not even talking the physical part! (Let's just say I was very thankful when, 6 weeks POST-delivery, the swelling was finally gone from my hands and feet. Yes, it took SIX FULL WEEKS.)

12. Leaving my baby at daycare is like leaving my heart behind. I take back everything I ever said about "chopper moms" and over-anxious parents. I just didn't get it. (Libby, I know you're laughing right now ...)

13. I'm not as selfish as I thought I was. For the longest time, I really thought I might be just too selfish to be a good parent. I wanted to be able to do what I want to do when I want to do it. How on earth was I going to be able to put a tiny human's needs before my own? I didn't know that everything changes on a base level when you become a parent. I didn't know I wouldn't mind middle-of-the night feedings. I didn't know I would gladly spend most of my free time before and after work unpacking baby stuff, cleaning baby stuff, repacking baby stuff. I really didn't know how much I would simply change. Now, I find the only thing I'm seriously selfish about is my time with Bruce.

14. I wish someone had told me how much fun it is to have a baby! How was I to know that a tiny little pile of mush who can only flail about and flash gummy smiles would be so danged FUN!

Picture Progression

2010-03-02T07:55:00.001-06:00

Pictures are fun! I love to smile!

Good times!

Okay mom, I'm kinda bored ...

Can't we do something else?

Enough with the pictures, already!

All Good Things Must Come To An End

2010-02-15T17:12:00.002-06:00

Today is my last day of maternity leave. *sigh* I have been SO blessed to have had such a long time at home with Bruce. We've had so much snuggle time, play time, mommy-and-Bruce time. It's going to be so hard to go back to work tomorrow.

(Sunday nap)

While I've had lots of wonderful time with Bruce, I have also gotten lots done while I have been home. Mom came to stay about a month ago, and while she was here, I got some much needed deep cleaning done. I deep cleaned the entire kitchen, the attic and my closet. Here are the before and after pictures in the back-attic part of our closet:

Some day we want to build shelves back here, but for now this is a huge improvement!

Gage and I FINALLY got the drawer pulls and handles on our kitchen cabinets. It looks so good!

I repainted and decorated Bruce's room. While I was pregnant, I picked out a neutral, khaki color for his room and Gage painted for me. Problem was, once it was done, I hated it. :) This time I painted it a cheery blue. Emily and I are working on artwork to go in the frames.

I also enjoyed spending time on some of my hobbies. I have been knitting, which included finishing this sweater for Bruce. I have also be plugging away at our wedding scrapbook. All in all, our house is much more in order than it ever has been - such a good feeling!

This past weekend, we had some great "family time" together. We invited some friends for dinner on Saturday, and yesterday for Valentine's Day, I made beef bourguignon for dinner and chocolate fondue for dessert! Yum yum!

The beef bourguignon was the most intense recipe I have ever made. I'm not ashamed to admit that this is often what my kitchen looks like when I am in the midst of cooking. It's not fun if you don't make a mess, right? :)

That's all for now! I'm off to spend my last "free" evening with my husband and son.

Good one!

2010-02-07T23:02:00.000-06:00

That was funny, wasn't it? ... How I said I was going to post new pictures each day? Did I say every DAY? I totally meant each WEEK. :) That sounds more realistic.

In any case, here are some new ones from the weekend!

Snuggling with Papa Don is the best!

Sacked out

Love my Grandma Diana

Family pic

Great Grandma Barbara

Mom and Dad came to visit for the weekend, and on Saturday night, we had Diana and Lloyd, Barbara, and Roger up to celebrate Gage's birthday and Mom's birthday. It was wonderful! I just kept thinking all night how incredibly blessed we are. Wish we could have a big family gathering each week!

This afternoon, Gage, Emily, Bruce and I had some quiet family time, which was equally wonderful. Bruce sacked out on me while we all watched "Nanny McPhee" and then played "Life". What a great weekend!

New Skills

2010-02-02T14:52:00.000-06:00

Hi! Wanna see my new tricks?

Tummy time! My neck is really strong! Look what I have learned ...

One ...

Two ...

Three! I can roll over all by myself!

Alright, alright ...

2010-02-01T10:13:00.002-06:00

Alright Libby - sheesh! Here you go! :) No, I was actually thinking last night that I wanted to try to get a new picture up each day. We'll see how that goes! Thanks for the little nudge. :)

A few weeks ago - Bruce on his first walk!

Snuggles with daddy!

Snuggles with grandma!

Floor time with grandma!

Smiling at daddy

The current view from our bedroom and the reason we have a bit of cabin fever ...

Pictures!

2010-01-31T16:40:00.002-06:00

I wish I had a good excuse for taking TWO WEEKS to get this link up, but I really have none. I could blame it on the rigors or motherhood or the lack or sleep, but in truth I've just been thoroughly enjoying my time off from work with my son, and not worrying too much about things I should do.

In any case, check out this link for Bruce's first (professional) pictures.

http://elephantjuicedesigns.com/

Once you enter the site, go to client viewing, and then of course to Bruce Olen. :) Laura does an awesome job with her pictures - we were so glad she was available!

I know I should be posting more pictures of Bruce myself and I should be doing a better job of writing about what we have been up to lately. But I still have two weeks left of maternity leave, and for that time, I'm giving myself permission to do whatever I want. :) Maybe I will feel more responsible when I head back to work. Maybe.

P.S. Okay, I won't completely hold out! We have been SO enjoying Bruce smiling and cooing the past few weeks - so cute!!! I keep trying to capture his smiles on camera ... this is the best I could get so far ...

Lessons from Motherhood: The first month

2010-01-12T16:38:00.001-06:00

As Bruce turned one month old last week, I starting thinking about how MUCH my life has changed in such a short amount of time. Here are a few of the things I have learned this past month:

Learn to do every task in spurts. Instead of being frustrated by the fact that it has taken seven attemps to get the laundry folded, instead I'm learning to be grateful for the fact that the laundry is DONE.
To heck with sleeping through the night ... I'm thankful for the fact that my son has learned simply to sleep AT night. For the first three weeks of life, every night our little man would be wide awake for any where from 1.5 to 4 hours every night. I won't lie ... it struck fear into my heart. How was I ever going to function again if this child wouldn't sleep? I am now blissfully thankful that during the night Bruce has learned to simply wake up, eat, and go back to sleep.
I have learned that a simple shower and teeth brushing can drastically improve my outlook on life.
In motherhood, accomplishments are relative. I used to have high standards for my everyday accomplishments - I had a long list of tasks to complete each day. Now, if at the end of the day my son is well-fed and in clean diapers, and I've managed to find the time to shower and do a few dishes, the day is a success.
I didn't know that the first time I left my son (even for a short trip to Wal-Mart) would feel like an actual physical severing.
I never knew that the wonderful, sweet smell of my baby's head would so completely fill my heart and soul.
I have learned that in spite of the large quantities of spit-up, the diaper blow-outs, the messy house, fussy days and less-than-restful nights, I wouldn't trade the life I have now for anything - this new life of being Bruce's mommy, which I thank God for every day!

It's Good to be Loved!

2009-12-31T07:45:00.001-06:00

Having Bruce join our family in early December created the perfect opportunity for him to meet his extended family over the holidays. As you will see from these pictures, he is one well-loved little boy! We have loved getting to spend so much time with family over the past few weeks! And we can't wait for Grandma Betsy, Papa Don, Andy, Libby, Kalo and Maggie to get here later today!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T18:21:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

We hope your holiday season is filled with peace and joy!

The first week

2009-12-13T13:35:00.001-06:00

Perfect little man

Bright eyes!

Sacked out

So precious

Hangin' with Daddy

Our family

Bruce turned one week old yesterday evening, and though we are all a little tired :), it has been a good week. Bruce has met lots of family and friends throughout the week - hope to get the chance to post some of those pictures later! Grandma Betsy has been staying with us since Bruce was born and it has been a God-send having her help around the house. Andy, Libby, Kalo and Maggie all came to stay for the weekend, and with Aunt Libby's help, Bruce learned "eat" the first night they were here ... thanks Aunt Libby!!! Up until that point, we had been struggling to get him to eat, even with a bottle. He has some catching up to do weight wise, but he seems to be making up for lost time with all of the middle-of-the-night feedings he likes so well. :)

Gage goes back to work tomorrow for finals week before he has two weeks of Christmas vacation - yea! It will be so nice to have him home for two whole weeks! Grandma Betsy is staying with for one more week, so I won't have to be on my own just yet. :)

Bruce Olen Werner

2009-12-06T17:23:00.000-06:00

Meet our son, Bruce Olen Werner. Born at 7:10 on December 5th, weighing in at 5 pounds, 4.4 ounces, 18 inches long. As you can see, he is perfect. More pictures to come soon!

The Waiting Game

2009-12-02T08:38:00.000-06:00

No news yet! At my appointment yesterday, my doctor said that this week she would leave it up to Gage and I whether or not I should be induced. After much praying and soul-searching, we have decided to wait ... to not rush our little boy, and see if he will come on his own. It's wonderful how much peace I have with this decision. Gage convinced me to spend my time this week resting and just taking care of our little boy. I am so thankful to have a wise husband. I feel more relaxed and calm today than I have in weeks.

So, I am home ... fire stoked, dog at my feet, good book to read, and baby in my belly. I am to make an appointment with my doctor again on Monday, at which time I will be scheduled for an induction. Maybe we won't have to wait that long ...

Pregnancy Trials

2009-12-01T10:33:00.000-06:00

Since it has been weeks since my last post, I thought I owed to to everyone to explain why I have been so absent from the computer lately. In the past month, my hands have become so swollen that I have developed carpal tunnel symdrome making it extremely difficult to type or do much of anything with my hands (I had trouble opening a box of cereal this morning. And you should see what this post would look like without the backspace key! .... completely illegilble.) In any case, I thought I would give it a go this morning - ignoring the numbness/throbbing in my hands - to catch everyone up on what has been happening lately.

Really, what we've mostly been doing is ... waiting. Waiting for our little boy to arrive. Tomorrow is my due date, and I have a doctor's appointment at noon today to see if they will induce (my doctor started talking about that last week). I will try to post an update later today with "the plan" (can there ever really be a "plan" when it comes to labor?)

Other than waiting, we have been occupying our time with Christmas decorating, visits to and from family, and getting last minute projects done around the house.

Gage and I went in search of a Christmas tree on Sunday and found a beautiful one at a Christmas tree farm outside of Rose Hill. Gage wanted a big tree. So we got a big tree. :) It was great to have time this past week/weekend to get projects done around the house. I think I have definitly hit the "nesting" stage of pregnancy. I have organized the pantry, closets, laundry room ... you name it, I've done it!

The weekend before, we were SO blessed to have Mom, Libby and the kids come stay for the weekend. Libby cooked feasts for us and froze a bunch of casseroles for later. Mom cleaned for me, and they both helped me put away my fall decorations and decorate for Christmas. Plus, I got to see my Kalo and Maggie - heaven! It was a fabulous weekend, but of course I wasn't the one working. :) Mom and Libby, I hope you guys weren't too worn out after being here!

New Camera!

2009-11-19T13:25:00.003-06:00

Gage and I were able to purchase a new camera as our Christmas/birthday gifts from my family ... it is awesome! It is the Nikon D5000 and it takes fabulous pictures and videos. We haven't even begun to learn how to use it yet, but we have had fun taking pictures, none-the-less! It's a good thing we will have a new subject to photograph soon ... otherwise we would end up with the "world's most photographed pets" (and gardens!)

Speaking of baby, we sure are ready to meet him! Less than two weeks and counting! Time seems to me innncchhiiiing along. Looking forward to this weekend and having mom, Libby and the kids here! Maybe when Peanut hears his cousins, he will decide to make an early arrival (wishful thinking, right?)

Look! I'm behaving! Laying down, feet are up (just don't zoom in on my feet, K? ... someday they will be back to normal ... I hope ...) Honestly, behaving isn't quite so hard any more. I once again don't have energy to do much of anything. Last night I was in bed by *gulp* 7:30. Totally asleep by 8:00. I know, I know "enjoy the sleep while you can". (If I had a nickel for everytime someone said that ...)

This is Ralph's favorite spot ... laying right. on. my. belly. He is so weird.

These are the last pregnant pictures I will post of myself. Not liking pictures so much right now, but Gage really liked these two, so I told him I would post them. Uck.

And here is a slideshow of Gage and my "practice shots" with our new camera. Lots of fun! Can't believe we still have so many flowers and plants to shoot this late in November.

Life is Sweet

2009-11-04T08:41:00.000-06:00

To quote my cousin's husband, "Life is so much richer with KU basketball." Bring on the season!

Enjoy it while you can ...

2009-11-02T17:46:00.000-06:00

Ralph loves to curl up on laps. He especially loves to lay on my ever-expanding belly. He has no idea what is about to come. Enjoy the empty laps while you can, Ralph ...

How will these creatures react to the tiny person who is about to rock their peaceful world? Only a month or so until we find out!

I did find time to work on our wedding scrapbooks this weekend. What a great feeling! I finished the second of four scrapbooks ... the book containing pictures of my bridal showers and all of our wedding cards and memorabilia. It was really fun to look back through all of that stuff! A few years ago, I completed our honeymoon scrapbook. Now the two I have left are our pre-wedding parties (bachelor and bachelorette parties) and the actual WEDDING! The wedding book is my next project. I'm excited!

My craft room ... ready to start on the wedding scrapbook!

The scrapbook I completed this weekend. Success!

It's weird ... it has been sooo hard to get back into scrapbooking after not working on projects for a few years. Possibly because I was so overwhelmed by all of the un-scrapped pictures? But now that I am in the swing and have plans for plenty of projects, I am loving it!

Still hope to get to our construction albums before the baby comes. Hmmm, that may be a little ambitious ...

Easy Weekend

2009-10-26T13:21:00.005-05:00

While it would have been very easy to dwell on the things we were missing out on this weekend (Uncle Tom's 60th birthday party, Maggie's 1st birthday party, Tailgating at the KU/OU Game), I chose instead to enjoy some of the good things in life during a relaxing weekend at home:

Sunday afternoon at the "hacienda": Emily enjoying a good book in the company of her cat and dog; fall colors along Timber Creek; walking back from the creek (must be a really good book!)

Every kid should have a 100 pound dog to frolic with, don't you think (thank goodness Koda was a runt!)

I spent some time over the weekend finishing my canning for the year. I had been CRAVING apple butter, but since Gage used all of Roger's apples making wine (I'm sure I won't be complaining about that in a few months!), I had to settle for store bought apples. The butter still turned out delicious! We also have a plethora of peppers right now ... shown here is what was STILL LEFT after I made another double batch of hot pepper jelly! Gage is trying to convince me to make a few more batches, but I don't think my feet/ankles can take it. I told him I would supervise if he wanted to make some. :)

On another note, after spending nearly ALL AFTERNOON on Saturday making the apple butter, I had just finished cleaning up and was admiring my 16 half pint jars of delicious, golden, apple butter when Gage walked in and said "is that all it made?" Sadness. He has grand plans to increase production next year. :)

Looks like these weekends at home are going to be the norm for awhile. After attending a conference for 3 days last week in Overland Park, I was plagued with not only extremely swollen feet (and hands, face, etc.), but shooting back pain and extreme fatigue. Yuck. But maybe taking it easy for the next five weeks won't be such a bad thing. On the agenda for next weekend: scrapbooking! I still have hopes to finish our wedding scrapbook before the baby comes (nothing like procrastination, right?), and a few photo album/scrapbooks of our house construction. I can't wait!

Autumn in the Air

2009-10-22T13:48:00.001-05:00

What is about haybales and cats? As soon as I introduced a few straw bales around our porch as fall decoration, Dusty claimed this one as his own, and seems to have taken up permanent residence on it. In fact, he loooves this haybale so much you would think it was laced with catnip. He spent the first few days pouncing on it, clawing it, rolling on it, stretching on it. Now he has contented himself with merely sleeping on it.

Some of my favorite memories from childhood are of playing with the legions (and yes, I do mean LEGIONS) of cats in the hayroom at the barn. Cats and haybales. Haybales and cats. Not sure why, but they just go together like peas and carrots.

So glad I could do my part to "complete" Dusty. :) Dreading the day (for Dusty) when the strawbales head to the garden as winter mulch ...

On another yet related note, I sure hope our child doesn't have to visit the doctor HALF as much as our pets have been at the vet this year. On Friday, Ralph went to the vet for what I think was our family's FIFTH pet-related incident of the year (not including what happened with Ellie ... we're not gonna talk about that ...). Let's count them, shall well? 1. Dusty has an impacted foot. Stays at the vet for 3 days. 2. Ellie enters the family ... needs treatment for ringworm. 3. Koda gets an impacted foot. Has to be put out for Doc to treat him. 4. Dusty breaks his hip ... sedation and overnight stays at the vet (luckily, this one healed without surgery ... we were gonna have to take out a loan for the vet bills!), 5. Ralph throws up everything he eats for 3 days straight. Needs rehydrated and his stomach coated. Ive never seen such a string of bad luck with pets ... this is getting a little ridiculous.

Funny, it seems that every time Gage and I start talking again about adding some livestock to our small farm, something goes wrong with one of our pets and reminds me again just how stinkin' expensive animals can be. Maybe this is God's way of telling us to hold off on the livestock ... at least for now.

Overwhelmed (in a good way!)

2009-10-05T15:13:00.001-05:00

It's hard for me to sum up all of the emotions from this past weekend - my first baby shower weekend. The best word I could come up with was simply overwhelmed by the love, kindness and grace of all of our family and friends. Libby and Alison planned a beautiful shower and I was blessed that so many wonderful friends and family were able to come - from in town, across the state and even out of state! Whenever I get to spend a weekend with my family, I am always just blown away by how incredibly blessed I am to have such an amazing family. We talked and laughed and ate and shared stories ... and always, always enjoy each other's company!

I was thinking this morning about God's grace. The dictionary defines God's grace as: the free and unmerited favor or beneficence of God. It got me thinking about how the way we get a taste of that grace here on earth is through family. So much love and kindness (that is so undeserved!) can only come from family!

Below is the result of some of that amazing grace. Peanut's Aunt Joy had all of the women in Gage and my family create a square for an ABC quilt, and then she and Diana put the quilt together. As you can see, the result is stunning ... each square made with love and thoughtfulness. This is such a precious gift - one we and our little boy will always treasure!

Libby and Alison did so many thoughtful things for the shower. One of my favorite is this little scrapbook/journal. Each person at the shower picked a letter and then wrote a little something to me or to Peanut using that letter. Every single entry is truly touching. I want to go read them again right now! Thanks girls, for such an amazing shower!

And of course, no family weekend is complete without the kiddos! Who are these funny people? :)

Maggie is such a ball of fire. She routinely cracks herself up. :)

It is always SO hard to let them go home. Once again, our house seems so quiet, too quiet ...

Love this face!

And this face!

Can't wait for the next family weekend!

Baby Pictures

2009-09-29T13:04:00.000-05:00

At my doctor's appointment last week, I got to have a bonus sonogram, just to make sure everything was alright (it was! No worries!). It was amazing to see how much our boy has changed! The technician was able to get some great straight-on shots of his face ... except that after a few seconds with the light in his face, he would raise both hands up to cover his eyes! Too CUTE!!!

If you can't tell what you are looking at, the three pictures here are primarily of his face. The top of his head is pointing to the upper right.

Below is an even better shot of the little baby face ...

... and here is my favorite! You can see him peeking his eye open! We were also able to watch him moving his little mouth. It was much fun ... I could have watched him all day! We also got to see him trying to grab his foot with his hand, and for awhile it looked like he was sucking his thumb (don't think he was, though he would have come by it honestly!) The tech said he was right at 3 pounds, which is just right for 30 weeks.

*sigh* Nine weeks left to go. I'm just ready for him to be here NOW!

Wants to Meet Grandma Betsy!

2009-09-15T16:04:00.001-05:00

I think Peanut is excited that his Grandma Betsy is going home today - he has been kicking, kicking, kicking all afternoon! I keep seeing my belly move, which is a very strange experience. :)

Of course, the kicking might also be due to the large quantity of Neives mexican food I had for lunch today. :) But I still know he is excited for his Grandma to be out of the hospital.

Going home!

2009-09-15T13:27:00.000-05:00

Just got the update that mom is being discharged from the hospital as we speak! They have determined that mom did have a mini stroke, but that it was prior to Sunday. They are thinking that she probably also had one on Sunday, but for whatever reason it did not show up on the CT results. They have put her on a blood thinner to prevent another stroke. They could not determine what the cause was for the strokes, but the blood thinner should help.

In any case, it is great news! Thank you all for your prayers - please continue to hold mom in your prayers as she recovers!

Prayers needed

2009-09-14T17:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, mom went into the Lane County ER due to some dizziness, confusion, and slight numbness. When they called her heart doc in KC, he said he wanted to see her.

Mom and Dad were flown to KC last night and have been seeing different doctors today (neuro and cardio). At this point, it looks like nothing is irregular with her heart, so we are thankful for that! However, they are still trying to determine what happened and why. We are waiting for the results of her CAT Scan which will hopefully tell us more.

As you all know from what mom went through in December, she is a very strong woman and more than capable of overcoming difficult obstacles. We also all know after what mom experienced, that there is no replacing the power of prayer. Please pray! We love you mom!

Colorado Vacation

2009-09-09T14:05:00.000-05:00

We just got home from a long weekend in Gunnison with my family ... wish we were still in Colorado together! We only had a few days in the mountains, but it was still a great trip! We did a little fishing (okay, the boys did a LOT of fishing) but otherwise just hung out and played with the kids. Good times!

Gage and me just outside our cabin - here's a glimpse of my ever-expanding belly for those of you who have been asking!

We enjoyed a campfire and smores outside the cabin on our last night in Colorado

Yummy marshmellows!

"I've got my marshmellow, too!"

"...but I'd rather feed myself pasta with marinara sauca - yum-o!"

Gage catching a Kokanee Salmon in the Taylor River. We were in Gunnison at just the right time of year to catch the Salmon run.

Catch of the day!

The New Homeowner's Lament

2009-09-01T13:51:00.009-05:00

Does anyone else have this problem?

Your new home is complete. You move in, settle in, enjoying every second of your new, blessed space. To you, your home is perfect, peaceful, enchanted. All you can see are the lovely little details you obsessed over during construction - the perfect shade of yellow in the kitchen, the wonderful marbled effect of the concrete stain on the floor, the delightful wall sconces in the soon-to-be baby's room.

And then one day, months later, you find that instead of enjoying the blessed perfection of your new home, all you can see are the huge, glaring, unfinished projects that surround you.

This is my problem. It seems this is all I can think about when it comes to my home.

The mantels still need to be attached to the rock walls
All of the rustic wood needs oiled
The back patio is ... well, dirt ...

The kitchen cabinets need hardware

The kitchen cabinets need undercabinet lighting

The baby's room still needs a door

Emily's room and the guest room still need closet doors

The entire loft needs barnwood trim next to the ceiling

The porch ceiling needs covered in barnwood*

*note to self, locate more barnwood

And on, and on, and on ... Did your blood pressure go up while reading my list? 'Cause mine sure did while writing it. I can probably blame it on the start of my third trimester and that danged "nesting" instinct, but whatever the cause this past weekend I became positively overwhelmed by the "to do" we still have left "to do".

Now, on the other hand Gage and I have spent the past six months enjoying life more than we have in years. We've wasted away Saturday's doing next to nothing, Gage has experimented with his homebrewing, I've enjoyed canning fresh veggies from the garden, and we have both read (a LOT). It has been nice. No, wonderful, to have this time together. But that list ...

So, this past weekend when my list started to overwhelm, I realized I needed to begin a NEW list. Hence the new picture column on the righthand side of this blog. I decided to make a list of my favorite features of our home, and to put them front and center where I will see them frequently. I hope to add and change these pictures often.

I realize that owning a home is a never-ending project, especially when you are your own contractor and can decide when to say "DONE!" (P.S. No self-respecting contractor would leave a house as unfinished as ours is. Such is the blessing and the curse of calling your own shots.) One thing I am desperately trying to keep in mind in regards to our home is that good things take time. In a society of instant gratification, this isn't easy. However, when we began building with reclaimed materials, we knew there would be delays while we hunted up what we needed. We knew that in the end, finding the right barnwood to match, or locating the matching crystal antique door knobs would be so much more gratifying than rushing through the process just to say we are "done". And we knew that doing the work ourselves would take more time, but that nothing compares to the pride we take in a house we helped build (and doing so on a budget we can afford!)

So, we will keep plugging away at our projects one by one. We will try desperatly to keep in mind the big picture. We will work to find gratification in the process, as well as in the result. And we will daily enjoy the wonders of our home ...

Geraniums on the front porch ...

Plenty of kitchen space to make homegrown, homemade salsa ...

Some new furniture. :)

New Wheels!

2009-08-13T08:47:00.007-05:00

I am VERY happy to report that we finally picked up our new car on Tuesday! It is a 2007 Hyundai Tucson, very low miles, very clean inside and out, amazing safety ratings. Plus, we bought it from a hyundai dealership which means it is certified and has great warrenties. And the best part? ... there is room for a carseat. :) Now I won't have to put the baby in the bed of the truck.

(You know I wouldn't really do that, right).

The Life of a Cat ...

2009-08-07T16:15:00.003-05:00

Wouldn't it be nice to sleep away the morning on a comfy chair on the porch?

Losing pictures ...

2009-08-05T11:46:00.004-05:00

I am so dejected. As I was preparing to (finally!) update by blog today, I was transferring pictures from my camera to computer. Before checking to see that they had transferred okay (why would I check??! They ALWAYS transfer!) I *gulp* deleted the pictures from my camera. Yep, you guessed it - they didn't transfer. :( :( I'm SO sad. While there weren't too many pictures, I did lose some great ones of Phoebe Mae from a few weekends ago, including one REALLY cute one of Alison and Phoebe. :( Guess I will have to go visit them and get some more pics! So, to update without pictures - we have had a great few weeks, including a visit from Pam and Doug, Alison and Phoebe and Mom and Dad. It was a great relaxing weekend with looks of cooking out and yard games. Good times. Did any of the rest of you get some pictures from the weekend? If so, I would love to have them! Other than visits from the fam, Gage and I have been busy busy in the garden and with the farmers market. Last weekend I hid away two flats of tomatoes from the locavores at the farmers market so that I could finally make some salsa! I forgot how much I love making salsa. If my tomato crop holds up (which it looks like it will), maybe I will make more this weekend. Last weekend I made 15 pints - yea! Gage starts back to work on Monday (already?). I can't believe the summer is already over. We have been spending a lot of time over the past month searching for a new (used) car, so that Gage won't have to drive the poor buick any longer. The ol' park avenue is barely limping along. I don't think it could make many more trips to Cedar Vale and back! We finally found a car that we like, a hyundai tucson, and are now anxiously waiting for the dealership to finish detailing and inspecting it. We hope be able to pick it up on Friday - so exciting!! Since my pictures of recent activities are lost forever, I will share a funny tidbit from a number of weeks ago. On a Sunday morning, I got up right before dawn to head to the bathroom once again (you preggos understand). As I walked by the doors leading to our deck, I had the strangest feeling that something was out there. I quickly shrugged it off. I mean, there is no way to get to the deck but through our bedroom - there couldn't possibly be something out there. As I lay back down in bed, I still couldn't shake the feeling that something was out there. As I peered more closely into the darkness outside, sure enough I saw two eyes looking back in at me. I screeched and hit Gage before realizing it was only a little raccoon. But still, how did he get there???

We could tell that he wasn't sick or disoriented, but most definitely scared (especially after my shrieking). We left the poor little guy alone, and as it got lighter outside, he became more and more scared and was determined to find a way down. After watching him try to climb down, we were certain that he had NOT climbed up. The poor little fellow finally ending up falling down, but luckily wasn't hurt. He quickly scampered to the nearest tree and ran back up. As we watched to make sure he was okay, we discovered THREE little raccoons up in that tree, and quickly ascertained how our visitor came to be on our deck. That particular tree in which the three raccoons chose to play has a few very large limbs that dangle right over our deck. Our little raccoon must have either jumped or fallen from the limb and then found that he was stuck!

Note to self: always check for falling raccoons when on the deck.

Farmhouse Table

2009-07-21T17:42:00.008-05:00

Many of you know that ever since we started building our house, the one piece of furniture I have coveted is a big, beautiful, simple, farmhouse table ... one big enough for at least 8 people. Alas, economics have prevented us from purchasing such a table, and we have until now, settled for our tiny pine table - barely big enough for four. That is until this came into our lives:

Here's the story: I came home from work one day to find an old, ugly, yet interesting table on my porch. Roger's friend, George, had been cleaning out a shed for the school district and called Roger to see if he wanted these tables. If he didn't, they were going to be crushed and thrown in the dumpster. Gage and Roger went to take a look and hauled it back to our place. It didn't look like much at the time, but after a little sanding, we discovered the beautiful oak underneath the paint.

Gage proceeded to spend the next three days restoring this gorgeous table. It couldn't be more perfect for our house if we had built it to fit! We hosted our first dinner on it last weekend. It comfortably sat our five guest, plus us ... AND we were able to put the food on the table! Imagine! I don't know how we got so fortunate, but I'm thanking our lucky stars for our table.

My resourceful husband ... and yes, this time that is sweat. As Kalo would say, he's "a hard workin' man!".

Now the hunt is on for more chairs ...

Walnut Valley Farmers Market

2009-07-13T15:40:00.007-05:00

Gage, Emily and I decided to sell our goods at the farmers market this past weekend. Despite the sweltering heat, we had good sales and a great time! Gage and Emily, set up and ready to sell at 7 am! (And let me tell you, it is no small feat to get a family organized and into town by 7 am on a Saturday! Good thing ONE of us is a morning person ...) Ready for customers! We sold red and white potatoes, red onions, cucumbers, zucchini and yellow squash, and a small amount of cherry tomatoes. Thankfully, most of the locavores were also out early, and by 10:00 am, here is what our table looked like. We left with only a few potatoes, squash and cucs. We were pleased to discover that we made more money than we expected! In a few weeks, we will have earned enough from our "farm products" to buy a shade for our booth. And we are already planning what to plant more of next year - FUN! Mr. dramatic there seemed to think it was hot. And no, that isn't sweat ... Gage and Emily took a few jaunts over to Island Park to play in the new playground mister. Nice to have the playground right nearby. The few days leading up to the market were spent picking, cleaning and sorting produce. Cucumbers, cucumbers, cucumbers! Getting set up was a lot of fun , but a lot of work! Next week should be easier (and hopefully COOLER!)