Farm Play

What to do on a farm?






Gather apples:


Go for wagon rides:


Play in trucks:


Check out the wood pile:


Pet cats like Sparky:


Now for some videos of garden play...

Exploring Grandma's garden:


More garden fun:


Blake playing in the bed of Grandpa's truck:

We Gave Thanks

We are back from a great Thanksgiving holiday trip to Oakhurst. The weather was great and the company was better. Paul and Sandy bought a home (hitting my head, why didn't I take pictures?) so they spent all their time ripping up carpet and washing the windows. The people before them hadn't cleaned their house in 8 years so they have their work cut out for them. The best part about it is that Paul and Sandy are tackling this great project with smiles on their faces. You can't say that family doesn't work hard.

Onto the pictures...

Blake and Mia watched the Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade together. Poor Mia always had to protect her glasses or hair from Blake. He sure loves her though:


Ellen preparing the turkey:


In she goes:


Ellen and David's neighbors, Casey and Ted, joined us for the feast. She just passed the bar and is practicing law in Oakhurst and Mariposa while Ted restores historical buildings. I put him in charge of coming up with a first name for our baby that has to do with woodworking. No names came from the discussion considering they tried to pick the most obscure words they knew:


Blake loved all the food:


Boys will be boys:


Mia waiting so patiently:


After dinner comes dessert:


What goes with whipped cream?:


Pies! Here is my pie before the top sunk in:


Pumpkin and apple pie. I discovered the two are delicious when eaten together:


Uncle Paul not understanding the fun of blogging:


I am so thankful for all we have and each day I try and remember this.

50%

Holiday hustle is amongst us (or just me). Things seem to be halfway done around here, but I am not feeling a sense of urgency.

This hat will get done:


My baby is safely brining:


And the second pie will be baked:


Maybe I am calm because I only have to make pies for Thanksgiving. My good wishes to those of you who cook the whole feast. Ask for help and happy preparation.

Friends

Photo borrowed from this website:http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://img6.travelblog.org/Photos/9473/249912/f/2035976-Cape-Cod--Menhaunt-East-Falmouth-in-Winter-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/2035976.html&usg=__4iCFgWT1n2_HG21Zz7IZYDtYnxk=&h=450&w=600&sz=42&hl=en&start=21&sig2=lFBh5F7Z0AlcM6bbGKAXyw&um=1&tbnid=NIk8cfVAq6xXFM:&tbnh=101&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcape%2Bcod%2Bwinter%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26um%3D1&ei=XfQKS_u6HpLmsAPno5jACQ

Blake and I are so lucky to have been invited for a vacation weekend in Cape Cod. We will be staying with our dear friend Carolyn for some much needed girly girl time (with kids!). Carolyn and her family were just showcased on her friend's photography blog:

http://carolinekayephoto.blogspot.com/2009/11/on-farm.html

Davis Turkey Trot 2009

Who were the turkeys this year? That would be Andrew, Shannon, Blake, and my parents. We all decided to participate in this year's Davis Turkey Trot race. Andrew ran the 10k portion while we walked the 5k stroller run/walk. Why did that make us turkeys? Well, the weather was in the upper 40's when we were driving to Davis. I am guessing it was in the low 50's during the race. Cold, cold, and did I say cold?



The soon-to-be used starting line:


Grammie giving Blake a high ten to get ready for the race:


Two minutes until the start:

These videos were taken with Andrew's cell phone so the quality isn't great. Unfortunately, I left my camera at home.

Here we are at the start of the race. My mom leaned over and pointed out that we were the only ones without a jogging stroller. So what if we were the lame ones. It did say run/walk on the sign up sheet. You can see us (maybe) on the far side towards the very end of the video!



A video of us walking one minute into the race. I was mouthing "my thighs hurt" to the camera. Everyone just took off running and we were left in their stroller dust:



Andrew ran the 10k portion of the Turkey Trot. Here he is finishing the race (beware, turn down your volume since I screamed for him). Also, sorry I couldn't flip the video:

A Pair

We have been living without a heater for two weeks now. I am going to go crazy. Everyday I call the furnace repair guy and he swears the magical part will be in "tomorrow." He has said that for a week and a half straight. Our landlords loaned us two space heaters, but they scare me because the plugs are super hot to the touch and they keep blowing our circuits. Could be worse I guess. Anyways, what is one to do when the heat is out? Knit with wool.

Here is the complete hat/mitten set:


Blake and I are now ready to visit our friends in Cape Cod come the first week of December.

Sometimes Easy, Sometimes Hard

Monday in words...

I finished it:


Finally the words found their way up on the wall in Blake's room:


Blake spelling out his own message:


Now for words that pain me. Andrew's cousin Grant took his own life seven years ago. Today would have been his 34th birthday. He is always in our thoughts, but today deserves a special kind of remembrance. I only knew Grant for four years, but he definitely represented the carefree side of Andrew's family. He was strong, charismatic, and was always finding humor in whatever was going on around him. We may just have to have a slice of cake tonight and light a birthday candle in his honor:


The mittens are done. Blake loved them and wore them around the house for a while:



We are well on our way to potty training! Blake loves his potty and is always eager to go through the process. This morning he pooped on the potty for the first time. Without encouragement, he asked to use the potty and did it all by himself. Of course his mommy cheering squad did quite the production, which was followed by a half naked child running room to room jumping up and down. I better get serious about this or I am going to miss the window of opportunity. Here is a video of Blake using the potty for the first time for his daddy: