What Is Love?

September 7, 2010 was our seventh wedding anniversary. I wanted to ride roller coasters to remind myself I am still a fun person, but nothing was open on a Tuesday night. I suggested going to a shooting range because I have been wanting to do that for a while now. I have only shot shotguns before so handguns were intimidating at first. It is funny to watch the videos because the guys in the room next to us were hooting and hollering while shooting off a super loud shotgun. They had to be younger than 21 and looked like a bunch of monkeys enjoying their one, powerful gun. Shooting a .22 was liberating, but also has me wondering how anyone is still alive. Thanks Andrew for going along with my plan and now we can say we had a thrilling anniversary together!

Andrew shooting a handgun for the first time:


Can you say timid?


Romance at its finest:

Must Haves

I think I need all three:


Buy here


Buy here

Buy here

Reade (Four Months)

At 4 Months I:
* Can grasp objects and play with them
* Roll over from my tummy to my back
* Laugh in a funny way (kind of a cackle while choking a bit)
* Have a fungal infection under my chin and and in my armpits due to warm weather and my fat rolls
* Am entertained by my brother
* Can whip my head around whenever I hear cartoons on a TV
* Sleep in 6 hour chunks for two weeks and then go back to getting
up every two hours to keep my mom on her toes
* Want to eat solid foods and if I stare long enough at my mom's plate, I
just might get some
* Have the roundest, yet flattest head
* Have tried drinking water from a cup twice now
* Found my feet
* Chew on my hands like teeth are coming any day now, but my mom is in no hurry
* Nurse a lot on some days and then hardly eat on others
* Still have red hair
* Am a happy baby

Check out my Three Month photo.

Real Country

My last post reminded me how much I miss being involved with farm life. I looked online to find local farms to visit and chose Hidden Villa as our first farm destination. It was a quiet day on the farm without tons of people or animals.

Portable chicken coop:


Blake loved the "horsey on the top":


Imagine designing a nursing bra for this one:


It was warm so these guys were panting away:


Sheered sheep:


I have spent many years of my life working with different types of children in farm settings. I have done animal outreach programs, animal assisted therapy, and animal education in schools. You would think I would be prepared for my son's behavior. His favorite activity was to pick up a fistful of dirt or wood chips and chuck it in the faces of the animals. Halfway through my tirades of animal cruelty, I would watch as his busy body darted here and there to find the most dangerous thing to play with. More explanations of rusty fencing, drainage pipes, and old tractor pulls only led the child to wonder what is so fun about being on a farm. Hmmm, will he ever love being on a farm with his mother around? I just know that if left to his own devices he would come home with a rusty, metal bar jetting out of his forehead. Andrew did say he enjoyed watching a rodeo on TV so maybe I should sign him up for bull riding lessons next summer.

Reade hated the baby carrier so I had to carry him for most of the trip. He seemed to like the farm though.

Country

I have always been drawn to everything country (minus wagon wheel decor), but I didn't think I was okie until Andrew captured this moment:



Nothin' like Nascar sounds and underwear!

200K

The Eurovan hit 200,000 miles the other day. Good job van. We just put a new transmission in the thing and of course, there are still a few more things in our queue to fix (gas gauge float, heater core, and eventually replacing the missing head rests). Most of our friends think this thing is a money pit and yes, I did yell out for a minivan the other day, but we budget for this thing and enjoy all it has to offer us. I am going to start a biannual Eurovan meetup at our house for fellow VW van owners. There are a handful in our neighborhood so bring on the potlucks!

Mileage:


Beautifully dirty:

T-Ball and Baby

I found it! I found this "complete" t-ball set at a thrift store for $4.99. Complete being the operative word since I am going to have to buy some PVC pipe to make this thing function, but who cares considering the batters glove was there. Blake is wearing his batting glove right now while he takes a nap.

Thrifting fun:


I found it! I found the babysitter of our dreams. It is so amazing to have found someone who I feel 100% comfortable with and is competent to boot (yay for Standford grads). Reade loved her and cried when she left.

Happy baby:


My grandfather is leaving the nursing home behind today so he can be at home. I am really glad he is going to be in a familiar environment. He will have nurses taking care of him 24 hours a day so hopefully he will find them helpful and not bothersome. Good job Grandpa!