Fans of Daddy

The kids are big fans of Daddy. And who wouldn't be? I am quite a fan myself. :) Since school has been out, Chip and I have both been off. The kids are really relishing in this time that they get to spend with him. I caught a few of the fun things they have been doing together. He reads them their bed time stories EVERY night. This is nothing new really but I thought I would snag a shot of it. I know that Adam really cherishes this time because he wrote about it in his journal at school. In the second picture they are making sun tea together. And the last few they are playing airplanes. You can see the landing pad they created. Each night when Adam goes to bed he asks Chip what he is going to wear, and then bases his attire on his father's response. Van HAS to wear a belt if Daddy does and will wear sneakers if Daddy is wearing sneakers or work boots if that is the choice of foot wear at the moment. And you can see the matching green hats in the first picture. :) I am very thankful for the father of my children. He is a wonderful dad.

Haying

Well, one of the pictures posted twice. That's ok I guess. :) 'Tis the season for haying! Chip has been on vacation for the last week which for him of course doesn't mean vacation. There is always a lot to do around the farm. In the summer, the first and foremost priority is haying. For the last 8 years that we have been married I have discovered that haying really depends on the weather. You can't hay when it is raining and since haying is a multiple day process, you have to have a few days of dry weather. At times, Chip and his dad will be out until 9 at night if the forecast calls for rain the next day. You can't leave hay down when it rains because it gets ruined. Thankfully, Chip picked a perfect week for vacation because it has been dry and he has been haying every day. There have been summers where it has been really wet and he and his dad get anxious thinking they aren't going to get enough hay in for the winter. Our cows really depend on it.

The process goes something like this: First you cut the hay. It has to dry a day or if it is really hot, you may be able to start the next process that afternoon which is: ted. This takes step takes another apparatus attached to the tractor. The tedder I guess? You go along the cut hay with this and it basically stirs the hay up to dry it out. Then for the next step: raking. This is yet a third machine attached to a tractor which puts the hay in rows. I had a good picture of this but instead I posted the other picture twice. After the hay is in rows, you are ready to bale which of course takes a baler. They are using the round baler in these pictures as you can see. We have a round baler and a square baler but our square baler just broke the other day so we are getting a new one. Round bales are faster. I thought baling was a pretty easy task but Chip explained to me last night that you really have to watch the gauges on the baler to make sure it is even, and then you have to do something else with the gauges to makes sure it is tied correctly. Yesterday, his dad was raking at the same time as Chip was baling. I think the fields are pretty much done. But often times they will do a second cutting for bedding hay and any extra hay we may need.

Yesterday after Anna and Van woke up from their naps we went out to watch them hay. We have been watching a lot. Chip will often take Adam with him when he is getting the bales. Today he did and when Anna and Van woke up, they were coming back with a load of bales. We went over with them and I drove the truck through the fields (while singing if you're happy and you know it to Anna because she was getting antsy) and Chip put the bales on the trailer. The boys really enjoy being involved. I will post in a month or so when the calves are being born. It is SUCH a fun time. :)

Piano lessons

We started Adam in piano lessons a month or two ago? The woman that plays the piano at our church is amazing and we asked her if she would be willing to give Adam lessons. She said that five was a little young but we could give it a shot. He surprised us all and has been doing really really well. He goes for a half hour each Tuesday afternoon and has worked through over half of the book. He seems to have quite an ear for it because he has memorized most of the songs and can even play them on his little toy clarinet that he has. I don't know how to play any musical instruments and it is really important to me that our kids do. Chip can play the piano a little so he sits down and helps them. He learned the F sharp a few weeks back and was SO excited. Mrs. Miller said she has never seen a child so excited about the F sharp. I am very proud of him though, he will often just sit down and start playing like you can see above, that was Anna's little birthday party and he decided to play. I hope he always enjoys it.

Sea World

I decided (totally on a whim) to take a trip to Florida. My mom has never been on a plane before and since we had 5 days off for Memorial Day weekend, I thought, why not go to Florida for a few days? My plan was for my mom and I to take all three kids to Florida and just hang out. I don't want to do Disney yet because I want to wait until all three are a little older and we can enjoy the experience as a family and go for an extended time.

After my mother in law found out we were going, she really wanted to keep Anna home. So I called the car rental and cancelled the baby car seat, and called the hotel and got the crib out of the room. When I realized we were going with just the two boys, I decided to do something fun and that was Sea World. I didn't think it would be enjoyable bringing a baby in the 90 degree weather and sit in a stroller all day so if Anna were going, we wouldn't have went to Sea World. I went to Sea World when I was in fourth grade with my family and loved it.

We went to Sea World for two days and saw every animal, and every show they offered. They started Memorial Day weekend to stay open late and have fire works every night. In the one night shot you can see the show 'Shamu Rocks'. It was rock and roll music and the Shamu did different tricks. I really liked that show.

There was an Elmo show too and the boys got to see the characters and I have pictures. The boys really enjoyed the show.

I highly recommend Sea World. Everything in Orlando seems over the top. I think you could stay in Orlando for a month and not see everything. We just did Sea World and it took us two days. They also have an Aquatica park which is a water park and Discovery Cove where you get personal interaction with the animals or something? It's all part of the Sea World family or something like that. You could get a ticket to all three parks but we're not ready for that yet. I would like to do that some day when the kids are older maybe. But Sea World was clean and everyone was nice. There were lots of places to park strollers and you could get everything you needed such as bathing suits and towels. We found this one spot where the kids area was, that was like the mom's resting area or something. There were bathrooms where the toilet was close to the floor for little kids, and there was a baby high chair and rooms to nurse. There was also a vending machine outside where you could buy pacifiers and wipes. I thought that was cute. But I think that Sea World is part of Busch Gardens and Sesame Place is as well. And you know how much I love Sesame Place.... I just looked online to book the breakfast with Elmo in July.

It was a wonderful trip and I hope to go again sometime with the five of us.

Grahamsville Gallop

Every spring (for the past 38 years Mr. I announced today) they have had the Grahamsville Gallop. It is a race for anyone that can walk basically. Chip and I ran in it when we were younger. I moved to the area when I was in fourth grade. We didn't have the track then. I had to run 800 meters around the parking lot and I took off like a shot (like most kids do) and died probably 200 meters into it and probably got last, I don't remember.

The boys have been 'running' in the race since they were 16 months or so. That race is always a riot. Kids are crying, Adam turned around and went the opposite direction, stopped, waved to my parents and did a dance. It was hilarious. That is usually the 2 and under or 3 and under race. They always separate the races by gender and age, 4 year old girls, 5 year old boys, etc. When you are in the 3 and under race, you run 80 m, 4 year olds run 100 meters, 5 year olds run 200 meters, everyone else runs 400 meters up to 11 year olds run 800 meters.

I don't like to be one to brag about my kids. Of course I think they are just great because they are my kids and of course they are smart and beautiful and everything else every parent thinks of their child. BUT.... Adam is pretty darn fast. He has won every Grahamsville Gallop except the one I mentioned above where he got last. He ran this one mostly in the fourth lane and when I yelled to him to move over, he stopped in the middle of the race and looked at me for a milli-second. He has his father's natural stride and grace when it comes to running, he really does. He also has stamina. When we brought him to the track the other night, he ran a mile, 4 times around, no joke. He has that competitive edge about him too.

Van got fourth in his age group. Van doesn't seem to have the competitive edge that Adam has. He just is very laid back and does his own thing. We were watching the video and when they said go, he just stood there for a while. Van definitely marches to the beat of his own drum and I love that.

Something that is funny (but not really) is that we have camera issues EVERY Grahamsville Gallop. One time I taped it, and I was cheering and whatnot and missed most of the actual people, but got just a bare track and some random people's feet. So I was called off the video detail. Another year we gave the video camera to someone else and the same sort of thing happened. Another year we dropped the actual camera after Van's race so we didn't have a camera for Adam's race. This year, Chip insisted on doing the video taping. Van's race (which was first) was video taped, but no still shots, I think because we just weren't thinking. I was down at Van's race for the start, Chip was at the finish videotaping, and we just didn't hand anyone the camera. For Adam's race, I was with him at the start, we gave Chip's sister the still camera and she took shots but Chip thought he had the video camera on and never pressed record. He is beside himself. Maybe ONE year we will get it right. Next year we'll have three kids running though so that adds another opportunity for something to go awry. :)

Every time before a Grahamsville Gallop, I get nervous. I feel my heart rate increase when we pull in to the track. I know it is ridiculous. I told Chip about it today and he said, "bringing back past memories." I think he is right. At the end of the race they have a mom's and dad's race. You have to run 400 meters and guess what your time will be and the closest person to their time wins. Chip ran the race with the moms and the dads. I felt very proud to see him run. He won of course because he just has a God-given talent. He really does. He ran 67 seconds. 67 seconds just hopping on the track and running a lap!! He thought he would run 70 seconds so he was only off by 3. Someone guessed their time right on the nose! Can you believe that?

It was a fun day though- it brought back a lot of memories, we had a lot of laughs, and my heart just swelled with pride when I watched my boys (and man) work their magic around the track. :)

When the daffodils bloom

For the last few years my mother in law has been buying daffodil bulbs and has planted them all along the hill. She likes to call it daffodil hill. :) They start at the bottom where it is clear, as you can see and pretty much go all the way up to the farm. She has planted some by Chip's stone house you can see above, and along the flagpole, etc. She ordered a bunch more and thinks she has planted over a thousand bulbs. I took this picture for her, and a bunch of others, and would like to put them in a frame. I think she would like that.



Last year Adam kept asking, when is the baby coming, when is the baby coming? And my mother-in-law would say, "When the daffodils bloom." This year I am having a hard time with the daffodils blooming.



Last year the daffodils came and went actually. :) You can see that this picture was taken on April 8, today is the 20th and they are still in bloom. We had that really hot streak last year for a couple of days, right around April 28 if I remember when I was due. And Anna decided to hold out until May 3rd.



I basically think I have been in denial about her birthday. It's just in a week or so, and I have refused to think about it until recently. I just thought about the fact that I am going to order her a cake from my very good friend that makes beautiful cakes. And our family just picked out the date that we are going to celebrate it. (The day before is my grandfather's 92nd and Anna shares the day with my dad so we have a busy few days). I also need to put in some thought of what I want to get her. But I am very reluctant to turn that calendar to May.



Here are some ways I am convincing myself she is still a baby:

-She keeps her hands in fists (I mean not always but you know when you're a baby and your hands are in the rested state and they are in fist form?) She still does that.
-She looks like a baby.
-She talks like a baby.
-She doesn't have many teeth.
-She doesn't have a lot of hair.
- Her legs are still a little bow-legged.
-She can't walk.
-She takes two naps.
-She sleeps in a crib.
-She doesn't wear shoes for the traditional purpose.

So now that I am done convincing myself, I hope I can enjoy the special day with my BABY daughter. I love her to pieces. She melts my heart. I will post some pictures of her big day in a few weeks. :)

What Anna has been up to