I know I really shouldn't be complaining about the weather as my inlaws are shoveling out under a new foot or so of snow, and the people in Fargo are desperately scrambling to make an attempt at saving their homes from an imminent flood. BUT, if spring would hurry up and make it's appearance not only would I be happy for the sunshine and warmth, I think it could help everyone. Don't ya think?!
We've been chillin' (literally) out here down in Iowa, very THANKFUL for the couple days of 70 degree weather we saw a couple weeks ago. It was a HUGE breath of fresh air from a LONG winter. Cody got his first opportunity to visit the nearby park and I've been spending more time on my horse.
When the temps again dipped into the below zero marks, Cody and I made a trip to the Mall of America with some of my close friends and their kids. Though we couldn't actually swim in the warm tropical waters of Underwater World, it was fun to at least pretend like we were warm while we watched sharks and other fish through the glass tunnels. On that same trip I had dinner with some friends from high school that I hadn't seen nor been connected with for nearly 15 years! We had a lot of fun catching up and reconnecting. You might ask, "how did you get reconnected with them, Jill?" Facebook...of course!!
Cold yucky days mixed with a little boy that doesn't like going outdoors in it any more than his mommy has forced me to be creative in finding fun little adventures, not just away from home, but in the house too. I have once again set up my 'portrait studio' to try and get some Easter pics of Cody. Let's just say asking Cody to sit and smile doesn't exactly work anymore. I'm learning to be quick with the shutter and crafty with the digital editing!!!
We've gone 'camping' in the dining room when I pulled out our little 4 man tent (which roughly translates into 2 men, or 1 woman with all her stuff!). Cody and his dog had great fun running in and out of the tent for a couple days until I decided I wanted to reclaim my dining room. No, we didn't attempt to have a campfire...didn't even make hot dogs. Those things are definitely reserved for moments when you're so famished you don't even care or know what you're eating!
We recently had a family fun night at the local pool and wow did Cody have fun in the kiddie pool! Mommy and Daddy had fun too, but I think we wore out faster than he did!
Grady and I have been back in the barn working on finishing up our stalls and tack room. It is nearly complete!!! As soon as it is, I will get my camera out there and post some pics of the finished product.
It appears the cold has frozen my brain and zapped my abilities to write anymore....so that's all for now.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
4 Legs and 2 Wheels
Oh my! It's been a month since I have posted. Our little Cody is down to one nap a day so I'm definitely finding less time on the computer these days. I never did get around to sharing about our Christmas and now that it is nearly March I sort of feel like that is outdated news. But, I will have to at least post some of Cody's 1 year pictures below....now that he is 14 months! Wow.
It has been a LONG COLD winter but we are finding some things to do around here to break up the monotony. I FINALLY was able to ride my horse a couple weeks ago. It had been WAY too long and I could tell I was long overdue for my horse fix....so could Grady! HA! A good ride on my horse, even if it is a short one, can do wonders!
The weather even warmed up enough for 2 days that Grady was able to get on his motorcycle. I imagine time on 2 wheels (or at least SOME of the time on 2 wheels...anybody who knows him also knows SOME of that time is also spent on ONE wheel!!) has the same affect on Grady as time on 4 legs does for me!
Sometimes I wonder why I live in a place that is frozen for several months of the year. I guess, it is to make me appreciate the other 3 seasons even more...I guess! I do like winter sports, but having a little one makes it much more difficult to get out and enjoy those winter sports. Some day we can get Cody out ice fishing, skiing -both xcountry and downhill, snowmobiling, ice skating, tubing. Perhaps then, winter will be a LITTLE more fun again. But, right now he is definitely NOT overly enthused about snow and cold! One 'warmer' winter day we bundled him up (in what he thinks is a straight jacket posing as a snowsuit) for a little sled ride down our driveway. He never really caught on to the concept that sledding is supposed to be FUN.
The day I rode my horse, however, was MUCH warmer and he didn't have to wear the straight jacket...I mean snowsuit. After giving 'his'...MY horsey lots of hugs I took him up for a ride around the driveway. He LOVED it!! YAY!! If we stopped, he'd start pumping his little body to get the horse moving again. Even weeks later he still starts bouncing around whenever he sees a picture of himself on the horse. Hopefully this summer he can take a few short rides around the fields. Every day he looks out to the pasture and points out his horseys and he is now noticing all the horsey pictures around my house and grandma's house and pointing those out too. Let's just hope all this not-so-subliminal messaging gets a love for horses permanently fixed in his mind. :P
We also recently made a trip to MN for the annual motorcycle show at the convention center. Grady was definitely in his happy place! Even I enjoyed showing Cody all the different bikes, snowmobiles, atvs, etc. It was fun to see Cody get such a thrill out of sitting on the motorcycles. He was especially excited when we put him on a little 50cc bike where he could actually reach the handle bars. He grabbed on and started shaking that bike around like he knew what to do! I did have to show him how to use the throttle, but in no time he had that figured out too! AHHHHH!!! I don't know if I can handle TWO adrenaline junkies in this house!!!
Ok, I've got it...this mom isn't going to be an overprotective killjoy....I'm not going to say NO...not going to force him to choose between 4 legs or TWO wheels...not even going to tell him he has to wait 'til he's 18...
I'll tell him can ride any kind of motorcycle he wants....as long as it's on the center stand!!! HAA!!!!
It has been a LONG COLD winter but we are finding some things to do around here to break up the monotony. I FINALLY was able to ride my horse a couple weeks ago. It had been WAY too long and I could tell I was long overdue for my horse fix....so could Grady! HA! A good ride on my horse, even if it is a short one, can do wonders!
The weather even warmed up enough for 2 days that Grady was able to get on his motorcycle. I imagine time on 2 wheels (or at least SOME of the time on 2 wheels...anybody who knows him also knows SOME of that time is also spent on ONE wheel!!) has the same affect on Grady as time on 4 legs does for me!
Sometimes I wonder why I live in a place that is frozen for several months of the year. I guess, it is to make me appreciate the other 3 seasons even more...I guess! I do like winter sports, but having a little one makes it much more difficult to get out and enjoy those winter sports. Some day we can get Cody out ice fishing, skiing -both xcountry and downhill, snowmobiling, ice skating, tubing. Perhaps then, winter will be a LITTLE more fun again. But, right now he is definitely NOT overly enthused about snow and cold! One 'warmer' winter day we bundled him up (in what he thinks is a straight jacket posing as a snowsuit) for a little sled ride down our driveway. He never really caught on to the concept that sledding is supposed to be FUN.
The day I rode my horse, however, was MUCH warmer and he didn't have to wear the straight jacket...I mean snowsuit. After giving 'his'...MY horsey lots of hugs I took him up for a ride around the driveway. He LOVED it!! YAY!! If we stopped, he'd start pumping his little body to get the horse moving again. Even weeks later he still starts bouncing around whenever he sees a picture of himself on the horse. Hopefully this summer he can take a few short rides around the fields. Every day he looks out to the pasture and points out his horseys and he is now noticing all the horsey pictures around my house and grandma's house and pointing those out too. Let's just hope all this not-so-subliminal messaging gets a love for horses permanently fixed in his mind. :P
We also recently made a trip to MN for the annual motorcycle show at the convention center. Grady was definitely in his happy place! Even I enjoyed showing Cody all the different bikes, snowmobiles, atvs, etc. It was fun to see Cody get such a thrill out of sitting on the motorcycles. He was especially excited when we put him on a little 50cc bike where he could actually reach the handle bars. He grabbed on and started shaking that bike around like he knew what to do! I did have to show him how to use the throttle, but in no time he had that figured out too! AHHHHH!!! I don't know if I can handle TWO adrenaline junkies in this house!!!
Ok, I've got it...this mom isn't going to be an overprotective killjoy....I'm not going to say NO...not going to force him to choose between 4 legs or TWO wheels...not even going to tell him he has to wait 'til he's 18...
I'll tell him can ride any kind of motorcycle he wants....as long as it's on the center stand!!! HAA!!!!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Building also Brings Blog-less-ness
November and December were no doubt busy months with a trip to SD for Thanksgiving, a birthday celebration for Cody and hosting the family Christmas here at home, then a trip to Roseau for the Dunham side Christmas celebration! However, somewhere in all that free time...HA!...we also started some work in our barn.
For those of you who have been reading my blog site for a while you know we have been piecing together our barn little by little. We met our goal this last fall by installing indoor lighting just before the daylight savings change brought extra hours of darkness. We have been thankful for each little completed project and it has been fun to see the barn come together more and more.
Stalls and a tack room have been on our wish list for 'sometime in the future'. However, this fall we were gifted some money to get started immediately. So, off to Menards we went for a trailer load of lumber. My mother offered one full weekend of babysitting in December so we could have a marathon building weekend. Well, we needed to scramble before then to get the post holes dug before the ground froze and get some of the framing up, in order to make the most of our time on that weekend. As soon as Cody was tucked in for the night Grady and I would head out to the barn, baby monitor in hand, and build away!
Both of us enjoy working on building projects and enjoy working with each other. MOST of the time we are good partners and make a great team. We each have had different building experiences in the past so it has been fun to bring our ideas and knowledge together and watch the fruits of our labor as the stalls and tack room began to take shape. We were also trying to race the clock as certain things needed to get done before the weather got colder. We found ourselves up many a late nights, considering we usually didn't get started until 8:30 p.m. at the EARLIEST!
For those of you who have been reading my blog site for a while you know we have been piecing together our barn little by little. We met our goal this last fall by installing indoor lighting just before the daylight savings change brought extra hours of darkness. We have been thankful for each little completed project and it has been fun to see the barn come together more and more.
Stalls and a tack room have been on our wish list for 'sometime in the future'. However, this fall we were gifted some money to get started immediately. So, off to Menards we went for a trailer load of lumber. My mother offered one full weekend of babysitting in December so we could have a marathon building weekend. Well, we needed to scramble before then to get the post holes dug before the ground froze and get some of the framing up, in order to make the most of our time on that weekend. As soon as Cody was tucked in for the night Grady and I would head out to the barn, baby monitor in hand, and build away!
Both of us enjoy working on building projects and enjoy working with each other. MOST of the time we are good partners and make a great team. We each have had different building experiences in the past so it has been fun to bring our ideas and knowledge together and watch the fruits of our labor as the stalls and tack room began to take shape. We were also trying to race the clock as certain things needed to get done before the weather got colder. We found ourselves up many a late nights, considering we usually didn't get started until 8:30 p.m. at the EARLIEST!
We managed to get all the preliminary work done that we needed to in order to benefit the most from our marathon weekend while my mother was babysitting. That weekend we had bitter cold winds so I was very THANKFUL for a closed barn AND my insulated Carhart bibs! After 2 full, long days of building we had Cody's birthday party that Sunday night! Whew what a whirlwind!!
Well, we have had to take a little break from our building project during the holiday festivities and the record COLD temperatures. Somehow, building in -35 below zero (that is not windchill!!) just doesn't sound all the fun! We have nearly completed the stalls, (they are usuable at this point) and gotten all the walls up for the tack room. Hopefully, now that we have a little warmer weather (yes even 10 degrees seems WARM..today is a tropical 20!) we can get back out there and finish off the tack room. It will be so nice to have our saddles in the barn instead of in the house, or garage, or whatever random place they end up. I'll post more pics when it is complete. In the meantime here's a little glimpse of our work:
Thanks a bunch for the gifts Mom and Dad (and Grandpa)!
Thanks a bunch for the gifts Mom and Dad (and Grandpa)!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Busy-ness Brings Blog-less-ness!
Ok, so I'm rather behind in blogging!! It isn't because I have nothing to share, but rather that typical busy-ness of the holiday season along with parenting a toddler has made it hard to find time to sit down and get my pictures uploaded to the computer. I'm sure there is at least ONE of you out there that can relate in some way (ha, ALL of you, probably)!
So, first things first, in case my son reads this someday and wonders why I seemed to just skip right past his birthday. Cody, you were not forgotten, and we DID celebrate and there ARE pictures to document it! Your first birthday was a very SPECIAL day (more like week) celebrating the birth of a VERY SPECIAL little boy who is LOVED dearly!! You are such a blessing from God.
So, almost one month has slipped by since Cody's birthday. I have FINALLY posted pictures below of the little birthday party we had for him. We celebrated a few days early since my parents were here visiting then, and the inclement weather forced them to head back to the cities earlier than expected. On his actual birthday we made a trip with the trailer to get a load of hay for the horses. Woo-hoo BIG party! HA! This, I'm sure will be the last year we can get away with that! Hay will probably not continue to be on his birthday wish list. HOWEVER, I imagine some future birthday we could again be hooking up the trailer to pick up a special something that we are HOPING will someday be on his wish list...a PONY! For now, a stick horse, rocking horse, and oversized stuffed horse will do!!
So, first things first, in case my son reads this someday and wonders why I seemed to just skip right past his birthday. Cody, you were not forgotten, and we DID celebrate and there ARE pictures to document it! Your first birthday was a very SPECIAL day (more like week) celebrating the birth of a VERY SPECIAL little boy who is LOVED dearly!! You are such a blessing from God.
So, almost one month has slipped by since Cody's birthday. I have FINALLY posted pictures below of the little birthday party we had for him. We celebrated a few days early since my parents were here visiting then, and the inclement weather forced them to head back to the cities earlier than expected. On his actual birthday we made a trip with the trailer to get a load of hay for the horses. Woo-hoo BIG party! HA! This, I'm sure will be the last year we can get away with that! Hay will probably not continue to be on his birthday wish list. HOWEVER, I imagine some future birthday we could again be hooking up the trailer to pick up a special something that we are HOPING will someday be on his wish list...a PONY! For now, a stick horse, rocking horse, and oversized stuffed horse will do!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
