7 acres of heaven

The baby bed

2011-08-07T20:44:00.003-05:00

Who knew it would be so hard to take down?

A close friend of Mom offered us a twin bed if we would take it out of her house before her next open house (she is trying to sell her house). So we loaded up the kids and went to get it. Kat was over the moon with excitement... I don't know who said anything to her but she KNEW it was for her! Her BIG GIRL BED! Kat was all about getting rid of the little girl bed so she had NO problem giving it to Kyle.

In order for Kyle to get a new bed, we had to get rid of the baby bed that he had been climbing out of for a month. NBD, right?

I pulled the bed out so I could get to all of the screws and bolts and Wife came in, saw what I was doing and choked up. "He's not a baby anymore." That caused me to choke up because it hit me. My little snuggler, my little guy is growing so fast. No more can he be the little baby. He has given us a roller coaster of a year this year and while he almost didn't grow any bigger, he is. He is growing up and we don't have any little babies at home any more.

Wife looked at me across the bed with a tear on her cheek and said, "maybe we should have another one so we can have an adorable little baby at home." THAT gave me pause. While I miss the idea of having a little one at home I am not looking for another little one to expand our family. While I might have a hard time with my little boy growing up, I am not planning on having kids every two years to keep that loving feeling in my heart.

Then I took apart the bed.

Benefit of Swimming lessons

2011-07-16T04:41:00.003-05:00

I am not sure what the benefit really is.
Friday afternoon we suited up both kids and took them into the pool a little early. I walked through the locker room hand in hand with the Boy and when we turned the corner and could see the pool he stopped dead in his tracks and started crying. I tried to reassure him that he was going to have fun and he had nothing to worry about and come on, lets go out and see the nice instructors and find Kat and try to have fun.
Just then, he saw Kat run into the pool (btw, zero entry pools= the best pool entry ever) and he chased her into the water. He was up to his knees chasing Kat and looked like he was having fun for maybe 20 seconds before he realized that he is scared of the water. Or hates getting wet or whatever it is that runs through his brain and makes him stand there and cry.
So then we proceded with the swim lesson.
Which isn't so much a lesson as it is an effort to help him realize that just being in the water isn't so bad. To be honest, he has moments where he is either distracted or forgets that he thinks that he needs to cry constantly and he smiles and looks like he is having fun. He splashes the instructor or throws the ball or watches other kids playing catch and you can see he wants to play catch, too. But then he remembers that he doesn't like water or wet or whatever it is and he stands there an emits an ongoing cry with his runny nose while he gently moves his arms and splashes the water.

And really - it makes me kind of crazy.

Because while I desperately want him to like the water as much as I do. And I have visions of me and the boy snorkling someplace cool like Hawaii or Key Largo or really anywhere because snorkling is a blast. Then maybe take scuba lessons then we could dive all of the cool places in the world.
It makes me kind of crazy because so far what he has learned (maybe a little) in swim lessons is that maybe he doesn't need to be constantly afraid of the water. That just maybe that isn't the theme music from JAWS that he hears when he sees a body of water larger than the plastic cup full that he is about to throw on the dog.
So while maybe he has learned that water itself isn't so horrible, what I don't see him learning in the remaining five days is how to hold his breath. I don't see him learning how to roll over and float and keep his nose out of the water. I don't see him completing the circle of skills that says water isn't necessarily bad, but you need to develop skills that makes it not bad. Like holding your breath or learning to float or staying out of it when it isn't safe.

Because this is what really is making me crazy.

I cannot watch him for every minute of every day. I cannot stay attached to his hand or within the circle of safety all the time. There are times I leave the house and go to the store. There are times I take a shower. There are times I am on the computer or cooking supper or doing laundry or taking a nap.
He is so fast. He wants to be independent. He wants to explore the whole world that he can see as well as everything he cannot see. He wants to do it by himself so he appears to plot as to when no one is looking so that he can take off and find out what makes the grass green or the birds fly or what is over that retaining wall ledge or under that porch. He has no concept of danger or safety or fear. Not even of water, it seems. (Still)
And he should.
Explore, that is. Every little child I have ever met has wanted to explore and understand everything around in this enourmous world.
I just need him to do it safely. To not break an arm climbing a tree. To not fall off a retaining wall or deck. To not get stepped on by the cow in the pasture next door.
So that the next time he falls in the water, he will hold his breath until he can get himself out. Not try and drink the entire pond.

NOW the boy takes lessons!

2011-07-11T21:00:00.003-05:00

Last month Jill and I researched swim lessons for the kids. We found the local pool offers 45 minute lessons, 5 days a week for two weeks... 3 and under, then 4 and above.

Katerina has declared to everyone that SHE is going to become a MERMAID! I think she is looking forward to it.

We aren't sure WHAT Kyle thinks. We have tried explaining to him that he is taking swim lessons and he doesn't react much. We have had Kat explaine to Kyle that he will be taking swim lessons and he tackles her. Since he tackles her almost daily, we didn't read too much into it.

We started looking into lessons because Kyle had been increasingly upset whenever we put him in the bathtub and we were concerned he was having flashbacks or some such thing and we didn't want him to be afraid of water.

So tonight was the first night. Since he has been a bit of a mothers boy lately, Jill got to sit with him during his lesson and I took Kat to the wading pool. Kat spent more time watching Kyle than she did wading. Then again, I spent more time watching Kyle than watching Kat. Throughout the lesson the instructors were great. When Jill first took Kyle into the water, the instructor noticed that he didn't want to go any farther in than his ankles. She came over and talked to Jill to find out what his experience has been with water. After that she stayed with Kyle for one on one instruction for the entire lesson. After the lesson was over for everyone else, another instructor came over and worked with Kyle for an additional 15 minutes. During this time, Kat and I went into the pool and used Katerina to motivate Kyle to step a little deeper into the water to give Kat a hug, which he did. He was willing to walk into water up over his waist in order to hug his sister. After the lesson, the instructors played catch with him so that he could associate having fun with the water.

I hadn't realized how tense I was until he got out of the pool and we dried him off. I think all of us took a big step tonight.

The Girl turns FOUR!

2011-07-07T21:36:00.003-05:00

First, I want to let everyone know that the Boy is doing great! All we notice about him is that while he LOVES to splash in the water, he doesn't like to get IN the water... As we have signed him up for swim lessons next week, I hope he gets over it pretty quick.

Next, as the post reads, the girl has celebrated another birthday. I have been traveling almost every other week for quite a while and I got home from my latest trip ON her birthday. She was so excited to see me and could not wait to tell me that she was having a BIRTHDAY!
A couple of days later we had the grandmothers over along with the sisters and her cousins. And of course Grand-Pop Francis. Grandma Pat outdid herself with a pink cake that had a real Bar-B sticking out of the center of it. Girl's eyes got huge when she saw her cake. As you can see from the picture, we had homemade ice cream to go with the party. We topped off the afternoon with a water balloon contest that resulted in the kids getting all wet.
We continued the celebration on the 4th by going to her favorite park, then to a old time rendezvous to see a tee pee and settlers. Then it was off to see Grandma Sandy at the rodeo along with some cousins. A very full day for both of them.

What the news said happened (75% right)

2011-03-25T05:09:00.001-06:00

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Cold-Water-CPR-Training-May-Have-Helped-Save-Two-Year-Old-From-Drowning-118270924.html

I will follow up with my own words and a quote from Kyle.

rings

2011-01-22T12:00:00.003-06:00

This morning, the girl and I were sitting at the table. She on my lap while I read some blogs. Wife sat across from us doing some paperwork. The boy was chasing the dog and pulling the dogs tail.
While I held the girl and read a blog, Kat pointed to my wedding band and asked "What is that, daddy?"
I explained that a long time ago, Jill asked me if I wanted to be her best friend forever and if I wanted to be Kat's daddy and Kyle's daddy.

I continued explaining that when you find your best friend that you want to spend the rest of your life with and have two of the most wonderful children in the world, you show everyone that you ever meet that you have met your lifelong friend by exchanging rings of forever.
Then I showed her that like our friendship, the ring has no ending, it just goes round and round forever.

The whole time I explained and showed her the rings, she sat quietly watching my eyes and then examining the ring.

Then she peered intently into my eyes and asked a question I was not ready to hear for another decade.

"Will I get a ring someday from my best friend and will we be together forever?"

The thought of her growing up and finding her husband and getting married suddenly overwhelmed me. Time is going by so quickly and she is already three and a half. I feel that before I know it she will be bringing home a man to replace me in her life.
I am not ready for that.

"Yes sweetheart, someday you will meet your best friend and when the time is right you will exchange rings and spend the rest of your lives together."

Just not for a long time...

Maybe Engineer, maybe carpenter?

2010-11-14T07:16:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, I needed to get some work done out in the garage, so I took the Girl and Max out and we closed all the doors to the cold and I let them play with each other as I tried to work on logs for the house.

After a few minutes, I look over and see that she has taken the wood scraps and is crouched down, arranging the wood. Some of it is standing up, some of it is balanced on other pieces. She had a incline in there as well. I thought, that is neat; she is creative.
After a bit, I look over and she has arranged the scrap in a straight line, from longest to shortest. Any pieces that are the same length are either on top of each other or side by side, depending on thickness. She pointed this all out to me, very carefully checking to make sure I understood.
Then I noticed that she really fits the stereotype for the Trades. Every time she bent over or crouched down to point something out, here pants creeped down and her plumbers butt crept out.
To complicate matters, Max took advantage of having us in the garage to treat Kat as his own chew toy. They looked like the ad for coppertone.

All Hallows Eve

2010-11-01T19:43:00.004-06:00

It may be hard to tell, but the Girl dressed up as a flapper... or an indian princess, I am not 100

% sure. The boy is a road construction worker. He carries it so well, too.

When it came time to go out the door, Boy wanted none of it. He and Gma stayed by the door, giving out candy bars to the U of I college kids that felt like they needed to go trick or treating in the neighborhood.

Grandpa took Kat around the 'hood. Kat didn't know what all the fuss was about, but she really liked being the center of attention every time someone opened the door.

Both of them and both grandparents had a wonderful time Sunday evening and with the kids being watched by the grandparents, Wife and I managed to sneak a few minutes at the mall and then have a nice conversation at a quick dinner. So nice to have a quiet conversation with the one I will spend the rest of my life with.
The garden yielded a dozen pumpkins this year. However, the Girl did not want to cut into a pumpkin. "NOooo!" she howled. So I took a marker and drew pictures on the pumpkin. That seemed to be just fine.

If you look closely, you can see both of the kids growing before your very eyes. You cannot tell from the pictures, but the boy is NOT happy if he doesn't know where his older sister is hanging about. While it doesn't happen often enough so far, they play very well together. When she is out of sight, you hear him calling, "Neena!" and you can hear her call back, "I NOT NEENA!" On the other hand, she dominates him pretty well when she wants to. There isn't much he can get his hands on that she doesn't take away from him. I have warned her, He won't put up with that for much longer, you might want to start being nice now.

They keep us very busy and I don't have much time to post pictures of them, but I enjoy them more than I ever thought I could.

The Boys first haircut

2010-09-29T19:10:00.003-05:00

A week ago I took the boy to (wo)menards.

As I pushed him around in the cart, encouraging him to pick out hammer, pliers, level, square, and duct tape, a lady approached us and said, "oh, what a pretty little girl!"

I was mortified.

Kyle flirted with her.

So I told Wife, it is time. Those curls have got to go. And go they did.

I don't think he was totally in agreement, tho. Just before he got into the chair, he filled his diaper, and how!

Jenny was so good, she distracted him and cut. Talked to him and snipped. Distracted some more and combed and cut.

In a brief 20 minutes, she had clipped over 2" of beautiful locks off of his head.

Now he looks like a proper little man.

We have lost our minds

2010-09-25T18:26:00.003-05:00

It is official. Parenting by poor decisions.

Wife and I really like dogs. If you read far enough back in this blog, you will note that we had a really cool dog. Tough, Territorial, boss of all she could see (except me).

When she started attacking people, we couldn't keep her.

So we have been 21 months without a dog.

We couldn't stand it any longer so we started doing research. What is a good dog that is really good with children. Wife narrowed it down to 11 possible options.

This dog wasn't on the list, but was available and CUTE.

So we brought him home.

Maximillan, the Brittany Spaniel.

I think he is a keeper, but it does not matter what I think.

The Girl KNOWS he is a keeper!

Now we have another boy to potty train. and literally, as I typed that, he pooped on the kitchen floor, with Girl scolding, "NO! NO!"

What were we thinking?

And the kids are alright!

2010-09-20T20:51:00.002-05:00

Well, they are a little sick.
The little one came down with the pukes this evening. Everything we tried to get him to keep down he brought back up. Yuck.
'Nina just has a cough and sneezes... I don't think it will get any worse.

I mentioned 'Nina. That is the boy's name for his sister, Kat. For some reason he cannot quite get Kat into his vocabulary so he calls out, usually at the top of his lungs, 'NINA!
It is still pretty cute.

Over the weekend it was cloudy and cold. Last night I put a fire in the wood burner to make the house nicer. Today it was 80F outside and Wife turned on the A/C. Gotta love Iowa!

It is amazing how quickly the kids are growing up. Kat is asking why five times for every question / situation that comes up. I think she is going for her six sigma cert pretty soon. If I see a fishbone chart, I will know it is a done deal.
Kat is getting taller every day and she doesn't miss a thing. Wife and I have to be careful in our conversations as her ears pick up every conversation... except to pick up toys or finish her squash.

The boy is into everything these days. If he cannot throw it, he wants to climb it. If it cannot be climbed, he wants to destroy it. Kat was always curious and tries to figure out how to take things apart. Boy doesn't have that patience, he just wants to wreck everything.

I think the next 20 years are going to be interesting.

Nephew turned FOUR

2010-08-02T21:42:00.004-05:00

Wife and I have several dozen nephews to keep track of. At last count, right around six or so. Dozen.

At least that is how it sounds when any two of them are in the same room and gramma is feeding them some form of refined sugar because, "I don't have to take them home"

Anyway. At Nephew's birthday party, the Boy got a small piece of cake that was more frosting than actual cake.

He started slowly, trying to figure out exactly what type of food this was. Once he got a taste of that goodness there was NO stopping him.

He picked up handfulls of cake and frosting and proceded to lick and nibble every little bit off of his fingers then out of his palm. He went back to the plate for every last little bit of that sweet goodness and when it was gone, he was overwhelmed.

We don't give him refined sugar often but it was very fun to watch him to get caught up in the moment.

I am still around

2010-08-01T18:18:00.002-05:00

Still around, really busy. Here are some pictures... got a bunch of funny stories.

I will be trying to post short little posts more frequently so I don't have quite so much dead air time.

Here are birthday pictures and when Aunty Gabby came to town and when Kat discovered mascara and boy in a sugar coma.

Where have I been?

2010-07-12T08:09:00.002-05:00

On VACATION!
Except vacation for me does not mean going someplace exotic, it means take days off to work on one of the 15,000 projects that need to be done to get this place ready for sale.
And now, on my last day off before returning to work, Wife just brought back the boy who clearly has the flu.
So I will be finishing my windows with pukey, poopy boy helping me.
Other than I really feel for the kid for being miserable, understand me when I say...
LOVELY!

best Sunday evening so far

2010-06-13T22:27:00.004-05:00

First, Yesterday was The Wife and I's (is that right?) anniversary. We been married a long enough time that we are barely newlyweds, but not so long that we feel like we have been married forever.
You guess how long. Mom and all the Dales and Nois, no giving it away.
She got me a nice gift, more than I deserve. I got her something practical that takes a battery. If you know Wife well, you know she is always 5 minutes late... So I got her a nice watch! Nothing says I love you like saying, be on time.

Tonight, we all took a walk around the garden. Wife has bronchitis and the kids are all fussy cuz it rained so much this weekend that it was wonderful to go out as a family and enjoy each others company.
In our walk around the garden we counted the apples (23) and walked the rows until we came to the peas. We noticed the peas were ripe and so Wife and I introduced Kat to the art of picking fat pea pods and splitting them open for the goodness within. Let me tell you, rabbits got nothing on this girl. She ate peas for 15 minutes straight. Later, as we were getting her ready for bed, she wanted to go back out and "pick peas".
Kyle wasn't much interested in peas... in fact, he had a hard time staying upright in the tall grass. After a while he just laid on his back and rolled around and laughed at us, nibbling at the peas on the vine.
It was such an nice experience I ran into the house to get a camera to capture this moment forever. People tell me they won't be little nearly long enough and I am starting to feel uneasy that they might be right.

Fantastic weekend!

2010-06-12T17:58:00.002-05:00

We bought our log home in 2002. So far, I think every year has been a learning experience.
This weekend we learned about our chimney.
For the last couple of winters we have worked hard to heat the house as much as possible with wood.
Two years ago we bought a high efficiency free standing wood burner, a Lopi. We like it quite a bit.
As we heat more and more, Wife and I thought it was time to get the chimney checked out. When we bought the house we had it inspected along with the rest of the house. That was eight years ago and we are on our second wood stove.
So a husband of a co worker who used to work for a chimney cleaning and inspection service came over today. He used to work for the chimney service because when the great flood hit Cedar Rapids back in 2008, the shop was under 16 feet of water and the owner decided to not re-open. Of course, Brent's house had 10 feet of water in it, so he has had a lot on his mind.
Anyway,
Brent told me to clean out the ash box at the base of the chimney inside the house before he came over. So last night after a pretty busy day, I opened up the little doors and started shoveling out ash with a small garden trowel. Ash I expected. What I wasn't ready for was the birds. Seven bird skeletons along with feathers. Dried up, no smell, disgusting little skeletons. The skulls were creepy with the beaks and the eye openings.
So he stopped out today and gave me a list of things that need to be done. Just what i need, another list of things to do. He did, however, let us know that the chimney is in really good shape for not having been maintained for the last 27 years.
Now I am sitting on the porch in the shade watching Kat cover herself with sidewalk chalk.
Earlier she managed to find a bad tempered paint turtle. This is actually pretty surprising. How she managed to find an eight inch turtle, green, in foot tall grass, I will never know. When I picked the turtle up, she stretched her head out of the shell and hissed at me, then snapped her mouth shut.
In all of my years I have never seen a paint turtle behave that way. Kat agreed, we needed to put that turtle back in the pond. We did, and I hope she is happy.

What keeps me up all night.

2010-05-14T03:14:00.001-05:00

Work, Ear infections, money, doubt.
Who knows.
What I do know is it makes me really tired in the morning.

Happy Mothers Day to my Mother

2010-05-09T09:54:00.003-05:00

I have been thinking about this post all week.
While I am pretty sure that Mom knows how much I appreciate her love and support over the years, it never hurts to come right out and say it.
To know me now, you would not suspect that when I was much younger I was a doubting, insecure artist. I didn't feel like I fit in anywhere and I was near blind and near deaf and I thought that there was no chance that I would be popular or successful in my lifetime.
Through all of this, Mom was there to encourage and support me. She helped me explore different activities and understand that I didn't have to do EVERYTHING that my brother did. She helped me find 4H, where she helped me go to State with my photography (I still have that photograph, I can see it from where I am typing right now). She let me not wear my hearing aids in jr high because I was so self conscious about them, even though it made schooling harder because I didn't understand what was happening in class.
I remember her tirelessly supporting and encouraging me to just be me. To believe in myself that whatever I put my mind to, I just needed to be me and do the best I could do. In doing my best, I would be successful.
I can recall a picture of me wearing a coonskin cap that Mom made (with little advance warning) for a play. It didn't matter what the school activity, hobby, scouting activity; Mom was always willing to do whatever it took to help out.
I can remember when I brought home a garter snake and she helped me put together a bucket with grass and some water so that I could keep the little snake. I liked snakes and frogs and mud and bicycles. She was so tolerant of my pets that she even let me keep a bullsnake in the house in her planter. It was just a little one, though... until he left the planter and was lost inside the house. She even supported my raising gerbils... to sell to the neighbor who had several boa constrictors and needed a source of food.
Even today, since Wife and I have started our family, you have made a point of coming up to visit just about every week to support and encourage our children (as well as give Wife and I a break) and offer occasional advice and suggestions or even an ear to listen when we get frustrated or overwhelmed. Both of the kids know the sound of your voice and RUN to you when you show up because they LOVE the relationship that they have with G'ma Pat.
I suppose in all of this rambling what I am trying to say is that not only do I love you, Mom. I appreciate all of the support and encouragement you have given me and continue to give me.
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BTW, I completely enjoyed Betty White last night on SNL. Who knew an 88yo would be so funny talking about her muffin.

Simple Saturday

2010-05-08T07:37:00.002-05:00

Here we are on Saturday morning... Not much going on. I woke up at 5am like someone flipped on a switch.
Rather than wake up anyone else, I went out to the garage to work on my motorcycle. When I started getting the bike ready for riding, I discovered that the mice had crawled into the air box and chewed through the air filter and nested in the intake tubes. So I ordered a new filter a few days ago and installed it this morning, after cleaning out an incredible amount of mouse crap. Then I hear the weather forecast while I am working and find that it is supposed to get UP to 50F today and down to 28 tonight. Happy mother's day! I don't think I will be taking the bike out for a spin today.
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I am the president of a social club where the primary activity is to get together and try and find Templeton Rye Whiskey. It is made in Iowa and is usually hard to find. Yesterday an impromptu meeting was held in my office at 330. People just showed up, came in and sat down. We wondered if anyone had any Rye left. We started calling around and I think we found and bought the last 5 bottles in CR.
I got a text at 930 last night from one of the guys, "This stuff is so good, it is worth driving all around to find it". Happy for you Carl, I really am.
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I am noticing that the kids personalities are starting to show up. Well, Kat's has been evident for a while. She is all GIRL! Ribbons, bows, pink and purple. She wants to look PRETTY! And she isn't afraid of a bit of DRAMA to try and get her way.
The boy on the other hand is a pretty simple guy. He is pretty direct when he wants attention, he comes up to right in front of you and stops with his arms out. He is also very determined. When his sister is doing something that looks interesting, he goes right up to her and tries to push his way in. We hear a lot of "NO! Go AWAY" from his sister. Neither one is really big on sharing, but they are both pretty good at TAKING.
I have been making a determined effort to leave work at work and spend my evenings playing with one or the other, in between things like laundry and supper. They really are growing so fast and changing every day. They do sometimes get on my last nerve, but then they smile and want a hug and it is hard to be annoyed. I guess I am teaching them how to push my buttons.
Well the boy is awake and wants breakfast, I hear him laughing and giggling from his crib. I better go get him before wife tells me to.

Sunday Snippits

2010-04-11T06:12:00.005-05:00

Five or six years ago, I found that having a beer on a warm afternoon after working hard around the house and then immediately getting on a riding mower to spend the next two hours going in circles on a vibrating machine is not a good idea. Unless you like a very bloated gassy stomach sort of feeling.
Unfortunately, over the last few years my life has changed ALOT! So I forget little details like that one.
So yesterday, about 15 minutes into mowing the back yard (see turkey picture, that is a LITTLE bit of my back yard) I remembered how the drinking a beer then mowing is a not so good of an idea.
(burp!)
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Yesterday I decided to change the oil in my truck. So while running around in town, I bought filters, oil (four gallons for that oil hog) and then after supper, I drove the truck to town and back to heat the oil and prepared to drain the oil.
Just then, the garage door opened.
"Your daughter would like you to SAVE her."
From who? From Mommy, it seemed.
Excuse me? It seems that to delay bedtime, she told Wife she was hungry. No surprise, since she ate two spoonfuls of applesauce and a cracker, ignoring her tater tot casserole that Wife experimented with for our supper.
Just then Kat, wearing nothing but a pull up, came running into the garage. Arms raised she scurried over to me. I picked her up in a hug. I asked if she was hungry. "yessss" she replied. "Lets get you some GOOD supper!"
So I took her inside and we sat down next to her chair. I put a slice of cheese over her tater tot casserole and tried to trick her into eating it. Once she saw what I was doing, she wanted off my lap in the worst way. She didn't eat much, just what little amount I could slather with cheese.
After changing the oil, I thanked Jill for the much needed chuckle. "Your daughter would like you to SAVE her" then the little sprite running towards me for protection from a funny looking supper.
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Last weekend we packed up the kids and went to my MIL for Easter dinner. I knew, heading down there that she had some chores for me to do. Namely, cut up some trees that had come down. They were in part of the pasture that will be THICK in wild rose and if we don't get the trees out now, we won't get them until December.
So I put the saws, oil, and gas in the loader tractor and followed her instructions. "Three trees are down where the two electric fences meet at the top of that hill."
I went up and found two hickory trees and an oak. The oak had to have come down 10 years ago, but had landed on another log so I just dried hard, it didn't rot.
I spent the next two hours cutting logs up and stacking wood. Then I walked back to the house for dinner, having worked up an appetite. After dinner, I knew if I didn't head right back up, I would fall asleep. So out and back up I went. I had saved the biggest log for last. 40+ feet of hickory. I started small and worked my way back to the trunk. After about 15 feet the log pinched my chainsaw so I got to walk back to the house for another saw. I hate it when that happens.
Walked back, carrying the medium chainsaw and got back to work.
The trunk was probably 20" across and in really good shape. This tree had probably come down in the last 2-3 years and had at least a truckload of good wood.
I then had the joy of stacking all of the wood so that it would not be lost in the wild rose, rag weed and nettles. Then I loaded the loader bucket with the trunk and oak logs to take back to the house and chained the two saws, gas and oil to the bucket and went to leave.
Problem.
It seems that I had enought weight on the front of the tractor that I had no traction on the back of the tractor to back up the hill. I dug two ruts as wide as a tractor tire and about three feet long.
So I walked back to the house and asked MIL to get the cab tractor and come get me out... I would walk back up and unload the bucket of the hickory trunk and the oak, then we could chain the two together and she could pull me out.
By the time she got up there, I was ready for her. She hopped out of the cab of her tractor and looked around. "What are you doing over here?" Well she could plainly see that I had been cutting up trees, so I told her that I had been getting the tractor stuck. "Yes, but why here?"
This wasn't really funny and I was pretty tired. Didn't she want me to cut up three trees where the electric fences met in the upper pasture? Isn't that where we are right now with a stuck tractor? What is her point she is trying to make?
"Oh," She said, "I meant where this electric fence meets the other electric fence. Over there about 100 yards. You cut up the wrong trees in the wrong place. I did not even know these trees were back here."
"You will need to come back next week end and get those trees over there."

So it seems I had a very nice, tiring, afternoon in the woods, communing with nature, cutting up the wrong trees.
I am going back up this morning to do the job over. Hopefully, without getting the tractor stuck.
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The BOY is a dancer. He loves the rhythm and beat of the music from the 80s and will stand up and dance. He likes Paula Abdul, Ace of Bass, Robert Palmer, (loves) Weird Al, Michael Jackson, RHCP, B52s, Devo, and John Denver.
(Disclaimer, this is Wife's Play list from her iPod, don't look funny at me.)
I have noticed tho, he has the same dance no matter the beat or the song.
The Boy is also an aspiring musician. We have a toy electric keyboard that is his FAVORITE toy. He plays on that thing every single evening and all weekend long. It is a hand me down, but Kat is not getting it back.
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On that note. (get it? early Sunday humor) Wife intends to enroll the kids in Musical appreciation this summer. 45 minutes each Saturday for an hour the two will go and be exposed to different instruments, dance, and in general learn to appreciate music. Kat will be 3 years old and Kyle will be 18mos.
I am looking for feedback from you, my half dozen readers. Is this a little young to be enrolling them in music class? We expect Kat to get the most from it, but they have a half off sibling offer, so they will both be there.
Let me know what you think. Would I be better off just letting them listen to their mother's iPod? Or better yet, taking them to Loren's for piano lessons?

You're a turkey, I'm a turkey!

2010-03-31T17:24:00.004-06:00

I stayed home today to work on a couple of projects around the house today. I worked outside most all day. One of the times I headed into the house, I happened to look out over the back yard and, for the second day in a row, saw a flock of wild turkeys.

Because I scared them by stalking them like papparazzi, I got treated to a sight of 10-15 pound birds trying to launch themselves into the air.

These guys could have used some sort of JATO pack.

Long time, no see...

2010-03-30T03:39:00.004-06:00

Since drivers ed a month ago, I have been working extra extra hard on work/life balance.
A lot of that balance involves leaving work at a reasonable time to either pick up the kids or get home to play with the kids.
The girl is at just about the funnest age that I can imagine. She is up for any adventure, any challenge, any meltdown that she can find. I had read in a blog about a concept called horizontal parenting and found it to be interesting. So I will go in to Kat's room, lay down and play games with both kids... Roll the ball, hide the toys, let them cover me with blankets and read to them.
I hope they remember the fun we have together when I ground them in high school.

Wife cooked up a diabolical plan, I helped execute it. We are awful parents, trying to cope with Pink Blanky. Kat has her favorite blanky. There are times that she absolutely won't let that thing out of her sight. I swear, her arm could fall off and as long as she had Pink, she would be comforted. Anyway, Pink was gross. So Jill had me look online to Amana Woolen Mills to see if they still made this particular model of child blanket. They DID! So one Sunday, we made a road trip with our new Garmin to the Amanas and bought a decoy blanket. And we are VERY careful to not let both of them out of the cupboard at the same time. Now we can have one washed and clean for when we need to wash the other.

A couple of pictures here of what I call a playstation. I went to my brother's house and helped finish taking it apart. A buddy came over with his car hauler and we loaded it up and brought it home. It isn't where it is supposed to be, yet. It has a footprint of about 15' x 28' when it is all assembled. But I do have the climbing wall and the slide screwed together. I wasn't going to put up the climbing wall b/c I didn't think it was safe for a 33mo old. However, after I picked her up and put her on a platform 4.5' off the ground, I decided we needed to burn off her energy more than mine. Before I had it completely screwed in, she was climbing it and sliding down. She played on it for over an hour last night.

In addition to her playing on her PlayStation One, I took her to look for antler sheds along the fenced in pasture next door. It was fun for about 400 yards of fence. Then she was all, "HOME daddy, HOME!" So we took the diagonal across the field back to the house. After about 50' of rough pasture, she stopped and said, "UP!" So I carried her the rest of the way home. Pretty tiring and hard on the back to have 30+ pounds carried right in front of me. When we got back to the house, I put her down and she immediately wanted to race. So she took off running down the driveway, down the lane a ways. Until she found some PURPLE flowers. She examined them for a while, then wanted me to race her home.

All in all, last night was a great night for playing outside with the little girl.

slow motion

2010-02-08T21:39:00.003-06:00

What do you think of when everything around you suddenly slows down? When you are acutely aware of every tenth of a second as it passes?

I woke up Saturday morning to Kat's music in her room. When I looked in on her, she was dancing. Spinning in circles with her arms and hands outstretched, a huge smile on her face with her hair thrown around. "UP, Daddy! UP!" So I picked her up and danced to Itsy bitsy spider. Her face in mine, watching her smile and hearing her giggle. We spun around together like grinning fools, enjoying the moment. Nothing else really mattered.

AS the truck tire fell off the pavement, the DOT hadn't plowed and the front end swung around, I wasn't driving fast. Maybe 55 MPH. The roads were a mess, snow covered and no way to tell where the shoulder hid, waiting to pull you down to a catastrophe.

The boy has been sick. He had my cold and now has my cough. He has a rash and other problems that make him miserable. Last night Jill and I held him and tried to comfort him. He would have none of it. He stood and screamed at the injustice of it all; why did HE have to hurt? Did he really want these teeth? We held him and tried to comfort him and share his frustration.

The truck is sliding sideways, free of friction from the road and the tires held to nothing, just sliding over snow and ice. The headlights pointed into the median and the road starting to curve into my travel. Counter steer, just like I was taught in drivers ed, over 25 years ago. Pray, just like I was taught at home nearly 40 years ago.

Kat, wound up and cranky. Cabin fever making her temper boil. I found her at the door, in her jacket, hat and mittens. Crying to DO SOMETHING. Outside? Sled, she tells me. So I dressed quickly, put on her boots and carried her out and got the sled. I tell her to hold on and enjoy! She is going down the hill, faster and farther. Looking back for the security of daddy watching over her. Laughter and dancing, jumping up and down. Again! Again. Four trips in all, up the hill, position in the sled and point down the hill. GO! down the hill, faster than before, I hear her calling, Daddy!

There is a van stuck in the median. The truck has swung nearly 180* and I see the van coming up on my left. Or is it? The van is still, I am shooting towards it when the back of the truck hits the thick, wet, sticky snow of the median and the front end snaps around like a whip. The van seems to pass me by, when I should know I am the passer by. Nose into the deeper snow, slowing down as though I just drove into a lake. Snow splashing up all around, I see the snow pass over the hood and past my windows. How deep will I go?

Sunday morning, Jill took Kyle to the dr, leaving Kat home with me. Kat is mommy's little girl and spends a half hour crying for MOMMY! and looking all over the house trying to find her mommy. I distract her finally with the music from the day before and once again we are dancing, cheek to cheek. In a rare moment of perspective, I marvel and appreciate the moment. She doesn't want me to hold her often and we don't dance together. "This is precious and I don't want it to stop." I am in the moment and I know what priceless really means.

The truck is nearly in the other lane. Headlights flash in front of me, staring into my eyes. This makes it hard to see and I have my eyes open to meet my fate. What will happen when I finally come to rest? I am now heading back towards the middle of the median, snow showering all around me. Will my planner hit me in the head? Will my flashlight shake free and fracture my teeth? Will I be a burden to my family, paralyzed or blind? Is this all karma; am I wearing clean underwear?

A rough night last night. Wife and I got back to sleep around 530. We snuggled up close and dozed off. We had each gone to the children to help them get through the night and back to sleep. One woke the other and they both resented the interruption of sleep. We all did. Jill and I hit snooze and we wound ourselves closer to one another. I murmured in her ear; we used to do this every morning, BK. We cuddled and snuggled and stored up love and affection like squirrels storing nuts, corporate life is like a stark freezing Iowa winter. Store up your love and affection because outside of this house you don't have many friends or allies to help nourish your spirit. Some days that nourishment of your spirit runs out before you get to the safe haven of home.

I realize the truck has some response in the wheel. Maybe I can, I think. I am at the bottom of the hill, I have been plowing snow for a quarter mile. Give it some gas and steer. The worst that can happen is unthinkable; the best that can happen is still possible. The truck responds to the foot feed and slogs its way in the deep snow. Thirty more yards, twenty then five and OUT! We are on the road! Careful, don't go to the other ditch and look for cars coming down that hill! Keep driving a little faster, up to 45 and pointed in the right direction. Lets get home carefully, safely; ten miles to go and the road isn't any cleaner.

I park the truck at home and feel kind of weak. shut the garage door and go inside. It is too much to hope the kids are up; it is 8:15. DADDY'S HOME. A bundle of long brown curly hair runs out of her bedroom and throws herself around my knees. UP, UP, UP she commands. I pick up my daughter and a tear slides down my cheek. Jill comes into the kitchen carrying Kyle and we have a group hug. A hug has never been more precious or needed than right at that moment. I would freeze that moment in time if I could and never regret it.

I feel like it took thirty minutes to drive through that median and another hour to get home but that hug lasted for barely an instant.

family observations

2010-02-02T18:30:00.002-06:00

So how many wipes is it supposed to take to change a stinky diaper? I think my expectation in the beginning was two. Because, really, I use two when I have to wipe. Isn't it reasonable to expect the same of my kids?
Apparently, not.
But I got used to changing Kat. Four wipes and we were done.
The boy? Who knows?! With all of the extra equipment to wipe around, who knows how long we will be there.
I swear, he works at making poo difficult.
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The kids were having a moment tonight. Both of them were screaming and waving and having fits.
I tried reasoning with them and they would have none of it.
After what seemed like HOURS but was more likely only one hour or so (maybe a full minute), I shut off my hearing aids and let them work it out for themselves.
Not bad, I should have tried that earlier.

You say it's his BIRTHDAY!

2010-01-24T09:22:00.003-06:00

The boy celebrated his birthday yesterday. It was a zoo with most of my in-laws over with their children and my mom. Our little house isn't really well equipt to deal with four little kids under 6 to run off their energy.

The star of the day had a blast with attention from everyone and CAKE!

I managed to keep very busy during the party with helping making lunch for everyone (pouring the ham juice down my front in the meantime) and constantly washing dishes and attending crying kids. Right after lunch I needed a time out so I went downstairs to the man-cave, took out my hearing aids and put on ear muffs to enjoys some peace. Jill brought me back up for cake.

Everyone had so much fun running around then having cake and ice cream. We had a back up cake and a pie so there were lots of choices for everyone. We didn't play any organized games as the older kids made up their own.

Kyle was pretty much passed from aunts to grammas all day long, he was the star of the party!

Help out a friend

2010-01-16T13:38:00.002-06:00

I haven't done this before, but there is always a first time....
A friend of mine is in the hospital after getting treatment for cancer. She isn't feeling well and when I was talking to her husband, he said that he would like it if she received a 'boatload' of well wishing cards or notes.
So, for the price of a 41cent stamp, let's send Barb a get well card.
Send it to;
Barb Figgins
UIHC
Room 7091
200 Hawkins Dr.
Iowa City, IA 52242.

If you have a holiday card left over, use it up by writing a nice note of encouragement and send it to a great lady who isn't feeling well.
Thanks

snipits in the house

2009-12-29T22:32:00.002-06:00

How strange are my kids. The boys first words are "UhOh" and the girls favorite DVD to watch is "Learn Chinese - the adventures of the River Dragon King" We have watched that a minimum of 5 times a day since she opened it.

heard in the house tonight, "Kevin, would you change our daughter? I am WIPED!"

A full day today and another planned for the rest of the week. Time off of work is some of the busiest times I have.

Best Christmas Present ever fragments

2009-12-26T14:22:00.004-06:00

I am sitting at the table with my boy in my lap, wiggling, watching it snow like a snow globe over the pond and woods and taking in the scent of my son's hair and there isn't a better experience in the world.

Kyle's first words don't appear to be Mama or Dada, but rather, UhOh. I think his sister taught him to say it. He will push his bottle off the high chair and after he hears it hit the floor, he says "UhOh" very clearly.

Kat has a blankey. It is HER blankey. This afternoon when taking her nap, Kat took off her diaper. Then she wet the bed. Except she had swaddled herself with blankey. So it is disgusting. Really disgusting. But she has a tantrum when we try to take it away and wash it, which it desperately needs.

We took the kids sledding this afternoon. Jill and I had very different approaches. She had a long toboggan and put Kat in front, climbed in the back and wheee! down the hill the raced. I had Kyle in his own little sled and pulled him down the hill. After about three minutes, he started crying. He cried and cried until he howled. I don't know if it was the cold sleigh or the cold air or the ride, but he was one unhappy little dude. So I brought him back in and we watched Kat and Jill go down the hill, over and over again. The boy seems to like a warm fire in the house.

Kat got a computer for Christmas. We hooked it up to the TV to see how she would like playing with it. She has zero interest in it so far. The toy she plays with the most is her brother's noise making merry go round. Between her bedroom and the living room, we look like we have about seven kids if you count all the toys.

Supper tonight consisted of salmon cooked on a cedar plank. It was very good. Kudos to the wife for thinking it up and getting the cedar to cook on.

It is bedtime for the Kat and she is taking this opportunity to jump up and down around the house. In and out of her bedroom and into the kitchen and back, she is like a tigger with the bounce, bounce, bounce.

I am trying to link this to Mrs. 4444 fragment link, I don't know if it will work.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T14:02:00.000-06:00

Christmas morning found the boy waking up early. Around 6am. Fortunately, Mom and Fran were here and took him down to the basement where they played with him until Kat woke up.
When Kat woke up she was SO excited! The presents that everyone told her would be there were all piled under the tree. She ran around the house and jumped up and down and clapped her hands, she was so excited.
Jill decreed the that there would be no opening of gifts until breakfast was eaten and the table was cleared. This made NO sense to Kat. She was EXCITED about the presents!
Before to long, breakfast was eaten and the dishes cleared. We made sure that the cameras had fresh batteries and told Kat to open a present. It turns out she didn’t really know what she was going to DO with the presents, she was just excited they were there. She would pick one up and run around the room and hand it to someone, then pick up another one and jump up and down with it. Kat was all wound up and it turns out, she didn’t really know why.
Kyle on the other hand, was excited because Kat was excited. He kept watching her and wanting to crawl over to where she was.
We finally helped Kat open her first gift. Then we got it out of the package and let her play with it. She was perfectly happy to play with the one gift. She pretty much forgot about the rest of them under the tree. Here we had spent 20 minutes on her first gift and at this rate, it would be around 5pm before we got through all of them. So we took that one away and handed her another package. Pawpaw had to help her open it. Then she was excited again! Another toy! And she had to play with this one, too.
Kyle had no clue. We would unwrap something and put it in front of him. He would ignore it so he could watch his sister. He worked harder at crawling to wherever she was to try and get a better look at what she was doing than playing with his own gifts. With one exception. Kyle got an inch worm that played different tunes. I haven’t mentioned it before but Kyle is enthralled with music. This inch worm was no different. He sat on the floor and pushed the button over and over to hear the tunes.
Through the course of the morning, we finally got Kat to figure out the idea of OPENING the packages we handed her. Then it turned into, she wanted to open EVERY package under the tree. We tried to stop that runaway train but had to hide the rest of the presents to get Kat to stop opening all of them.
All in all, we had a very good time playing with the kids and watching them wind up higher than a kite.

An open response to how I got my deer, Bow or Truck

2009-11-30T12:09:00.001-06:00

Sherri,
Thanks for asking.
No, it wasn't with either of those tried and true methods of taking a deer. Seriously, once you have totalled a truck or had to chase a dumb butt deer 200 yards after you stick him with an arrow, you have no desire to do it again anytime soon.
No, with this deer I decided to try something different.
I took out the quad runner at my MIL's farm and raced past all the likely buck hang outs. You know, like the Co Ed Doe Ranch, or the Buck Bar. Lucky me, while racing past a remaining stand of corn, this nice 8 point busted out.
I pointed the quad in his direction, raced up beside him, jumped on his back like I was wrasslin' a steer and grabbed his horns (antlers) and brought him down.
I wish you could have seen it, you would have been amazed.
Frankly I wish anyone could have seen it, now you just have to take my word for it.
Thanks!
Kevin (Daniel Boone)

Great weekend (1:1 TIME W/ WIFE)

2009-11-29T22:20:00.000-06:00

What an incredible weekend. My wonderful mother volunteered to spend time with the kids and I made plans to drop them off at Mom’s then go to the farm and sight in my muzzle loader and six shooter for the upcoming deer season. As an extra treat, I took one of my rifles along to play with.
Jill elected to stay home and rest as BF had been pretty tiring for her. She planned on doing some cleaning, organizing and take a nap in the morning. She also planned to take another in the afternoon and just have some personal alone time. Can you imagine? She might even get to shower without anyone crying “mommy” or maybe even go to the bathroom in peace.
So I rounded up the kids and their suitcases (for an overnight stay, suitcases?) and all my supplies in the car and went about my day.
In between IaCity and the MIL, I stopped by Dietrich509 and visited with his family to see how the holidays had treated them. As usual, I enjoyed my time with them as I hadn’t seen them in months.
At the farm shooting went well. I could go on and on about that, but most people would be quickly bored.
The ONLY part of the day that could be taken as a downer was working on the water heater for MIL. She doesn’t have a softener or in-line filter and so her water heater tends to build up lime. A LOT of lime. She asked if I could replace the heating element and I said I would. I even went on YouToob and watched a plumber demonstrate how easy it was. You know, I would like to find that plumber and drop a water heater on his toe. In his video the element comes out so easy you would think that there is nothing to it. Well in his heater there was nothing to it because it was a new unit. MIL heater was installed 10 years ago and the heating element had corroded into a solid weld. It finally yielded to a two foot cheater bar and MIL holding the heater so it wouldn’t tip over. Between the two of us, we got the element out. That was when I discovered that her water supply comes from an alternate universe. You see, I had drained the heater while I was shooting. So for two hours that heater drained. And all the while, I had shut off the water at the well, so there was no water coming into the house. By the time we got the element out the hose had stopped draining about an hour previously. Mysteriously, when we took out the element we had very cold, fifty degree (F) water running all over the floor. The water ran out for nearly a half hour before I screwed the old element back into the heater (since I couldn’t even get it out) and said screw it, I had had enough. Quite a bit of lime came out so hopefully the heater will work better for a while. We never did figure out the source of the water.
Sunday morning Jill and I woke to the sunshine, not children crying. We had a quiet breakfast of homemade apple pie (courtesy of the Dietrich’s) and visited. Just talked. The two of us talked to each other. No screaming. No crying. No pressure. We connected and shared ideas and did some planning.
IT. WAS. AWESOME. And SO NEEDED!
Then we got out of bed and wrapped Xmas presents for nearly two hours then went and picked up our darling kids whom we had missed SO MUCH. BTW, there is NOTHING that can replace watching your child’s face light up when they see you at the door and scream “MOMMY, DADDY, MOMMY, DADDY, MOMMY, DADDY” until you catch them and gather them into a hug. Priceless.
Later, I will be posting the Christmas itinerary that Jill has planned for our family. All I can say is I will need a PDA to coordinate EVERYTHING that has to happen for our new family tradition. Burrier and Ives won’t have nothing on US! (if it works according to plan)

Black Friday

2009-11-27T16:49:00.002-06:00

Twelve hours and twenty minutes later, Wife is home from shopping.
She took care of the entire family and is only about 10% over budget (all she is admitting to).
She looks VERY tired.

ThanksGiving

2009-11-27T05:46:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. It was an outstanding day. I was with the family and the Outlaws all day. A lot of laughter, a happy announcement (May 5th, if I heard it right), no fighting amongst adults, no crisis longer than 3 minutes amongst kids.
Home safely with no incidents, accidents, or tickets, (special thanks to officer friendly for driving 55 for the entire width of 2 lane Hwy 30- must have been 50 cars stacked until it became 4 lane).
Wife made a joke (I thought) about waking up at 0'Dark30 to hit some BF sales.
I woke up at 5am to find her gone. After checking the house I finally texted her, "hope you are safe, call me when it is convenient". She called a moment later from Best Buy. "I didn't get the computer and I don't know what else I would want from here. Going to Sears next then ToysRUs."
Holey Cow!
We have been dating since '90, known each other since '88 and she has NEVER shown an interest in being part of the insanity! Who says people don't change?
She can never again say she doesn't understand why I wake up at 330 to go hunting on opening day. At least my doing that makes sense!

life goal? nope, day goals

2009-11-08T12:34:00.002-06:00

Today, I swear I am going to get the garage organized and cleaned to the point that wifey can park her car in the garage.
Which, on the one hand will earn me brownie points with wifey. And how I need them!
On the other hand, what a wast of a beautiful 70* day in November Iowa!

New Post!

2009-10-25T08:00:00.002-06:00

It has been a while.
Jill had the flu but is better. The kids are all healthy. I am healthy.
Utterly boring, but that is the state of our health.

Yesterday, I got to have a day to myself. I went up to a buddies farm in northern Iowa and sat in a deer stand looking for whitetail deer.
Anyone who has bow hunted can tell you that there is a LOT of waiting in a stand.
So while I sat there, I thought about things. Quite a bit about family and how my life has changed in the last three years. For the better, without question. Life is much much busier now. To have a day to myself is pretty rare. Usually there are 5,000 things that need to be done... and laundry.
So the opportunity to be by myself with the peace and quite of squirrels, birds, bugs, and the wind rustling through the tree branches comes very infrequently, now. After a while I realized how much I miss the time to enjoy nature and the beauty of all creation. It is so peaceful and calming, and for me, really gives my mind a chance to wander and reflect on all I am grateful for.
As I type this post, Jill is following the 30 day shred, Kyle is screaming and crying and Kat is alternating between jumping jacks with mom and crying for attention. So I have to cut this reflective post short and get back to life.

What, a weekend?

2009-10-05T06:14:00.002-05:00

I fear this is a losing battle. Knock on wood, I am still not sick. Really.
Wife coughs on me all night long.
The boy stuck his hand in my mouth yesterday.
The girl wouldn't sleep Sunday night. When I was holding her, she sneezed on me.
We canned 26 quarts of chili over the weekend, along with 18 quarts of diced tomatoes.
I made a batch of fuel and did 6 loads of laundry.
But I am not sick...

Sick people everywhere

2009-10-02T06:07:00.002-05:00

Knock on wood.
I haven't been infected yet.
I feel like I am in the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers".
Wife is sick and nasty with coughing and how she sounds.
boy is happy and sick, smiling while he has snot running down his nose. He has no appetite because I think his tummy is full of mucus.
girl is sick and angry, she doesn't understand WHY she cannot breathe, she just wants desperately to breathe.
Not me. Not a cough. Sinus is clear. I am barricaded behind hand sanitizer and distance. and lysol. When I hold the boy or girl, I wash afterward. If I share the bed with the sick wife, I lay on the edge, on my side, facing away. If she touches me I spray with lysol and use hand sanitizer.
I am seriously thinking of moving to the basement. Better might be to move into a hotel for a week or so.
I'm gonna survive this... Yep, I am gonna stay healthy.
I was sick last time, but I am not gonna get it this time.

A rare reflective moment...

2009-09-22T21:56:00.001-05:00

For me the saying "you don't have to believe in GOD, he believes in YOU" sums it up for me.
I work very hard to live a life by the golden rule... I often give to causes because "there but for the grace of GOD, go I"
While I haven't gone to an organized church in many years, I will go out in the woods or on my porch and watch the sun come up or the morning mist melt away and just KNOW that there is a higher power that loves us all, unconditionally.

HOPE

2009-09-20T20:58:00.002-05:00

I have been pretty frustrated in the past few months. As I have tried to work the issues and come up with solutions (lets face it, I like solving problems) I haven't had much luck.
As I had a 2 hour drive this afternoon, thinking about what frustrates me and why and what to do about it I began to wonder if these issues were hopeless.
Then, because I cannot focus for five minutes, I thought to myself.
If something is truly hopeless and there really is no overt action that you can take to change the situation, then the solution is Prayer.
If I cannot solve it or resolve it, then it is time to turn it over to the master.
God, I need help.
There, now someone smarter than me, who knows all the details and people involved, is working the situation.

new post

2009-09-20T20:53:00.003-05:00

I have been busy as of late and have neglected my blog.
For all of you that have stuck with me and continue to check it from time to time, hang in there.
I spent Friday and Saturday at my MIL working on a variety of projects. On Friday, Dietrich509 consented to help with a little manual labor around the farm. And altho I was an hour late (or so) he waited me out so we could have a pretty enjoyable afternoon. It was great to talk to him and catch up on how his kids and family are doing.
Saturday was back to the farm to work on a bunch of other little projects. This time Bill and Ben came to help.
I want to say THANKS to the three of them for all of their help. Many hands helps work go faster.

What will it take?

2009-09-01T20:53:00.002-05:00

I must confess, I feel like I am slipping back to jr. high. There is a girl that I wish would pay attention to me.
Every time she does say a word in my direction, my heart is lifted to new heights. I have tried being very overt, trying to get her attention and engage her in conversation.
I tried getting her to do things with me, maybe find a common interest in which we could spend hours, getting to know one another better.
I have tried subtly ignoring her, waiting to see if she notices that I haven't said anything to her that day; to see if she is suffering in any way from my aloofness. Not that I have ever noticed, so far.
I see that she is so ALIVE and that she is fun-loving and rambunctious. I want to be part of HER circle of friends so that I can be cool, too. She almost always has a smile and is ready to laugh.
I have noticed that she is only moody when she is tired; watch out!
I know that over time, we will interact more. Our relationship will develop on many levels. It seems that it will take so long and I long for her friendship now.

Do any other dads have this angst for their two year old daughters? Kat is SUCH a mommy's girl right now that I don't even get a hug on some days.
Jill tells me that I need to develop a consistent routine, something that is ours so that she is more used to me. I am trying to think of what that will be; a story perhaps, reading to her every night, perhaps a skills exercise working on colors or letters or shapes.
I don't know what it will be, but I cannot wait for my very own daddy's girl.

Laughing at the absurdity

2009-08-30T20:12:00.000-05:00

Jill and I went and saw Hangover this afternoon. My sweetheart of a mom watched our precious children so we could have a couple of hours to ourselves.
Much has been blogged about Hangover and if it is funny or just plain stupid. Jill and I agree that it really is both. It reminds me of Porkys (back in the 80s, check out IMDB) or Bachelor Party with Tom Hanks (again, IMDB). Lots of laugh but no redeeming qualities other than releasing lots of endorphins into your system from laughing. Come to think of it, that is a redeeming quality in and of itself.
Anyway, there is a scene in the movie where the idiots put a live tiger in the back seat of a squad car. And in the back seat of their car.
Jill and I are driving home, laughing about various parts of the movie, reciting punchlines that made us laugh when Jill turns to me and says, “that whole tiger in the backseat thing, I would have put him in the trunk”.
This broke me up as much as anything in the movie. Here is my super frugal sensible engineer type wife coming up with a REASONABLE way of transporting a live tiger in your car.

Maybe you just had to be there.

Brotherly love

2009-08-20T21:50:00.002-05:00

Lots of fabulous pictures coming from my vacation. I know you don't really want to see them, but some have the cuteness that is my son in them. THAT will make it worthwhile.
But on to brotherly love.
Jill and I have noticed lately that the boy will do everything he can, including fighting sleep for nearly 30 minutes just to watch what antics his sister is up to. Really. In the car while we were driving around the mountain on the most treacherous road I have EVER driven, Kat was howling and Kyle was laughing... At her. A LOT.
He even reached out for her and tried to take her hand and reassure her. She flipped his hand back and howled, "NO, Ky-ell!" (she adds the second syllable)
Tonight when he had eaten his fill and hadn't slept in nearly four hours, I carried him to the couch and tried to put him to sleep. Unfortunately, his sister was on the other side of the couch having her supper. (lasagna and berry apple sauce) He fought sleep to watch her and everything she did for nearly half an hour. If she flopped over out of sight, he squalled until she sat up. It wasn't until Kat left the room that he started to rest his head on my chest.
We have noticed this trip that he will sit up on his own to see her. And crane his neck around to see her while we were hiking. If he can hear her voice he imitates a giraffe trying to see her.
As near as I can tell, he is taking notes on how to be a drama queen by the age of two. Oh well, it worked for Freddy Mercury.

Picture Tuesday

2009-08-18T08:14:00.002-05:00

The first pics are of Lily lake and Kat's new BEST FRIEND! When the squirrel climbed up Jill's shin, Kat threw her banana on the ground. That little squirrel was in HEAVEN!

The best day of vacation!

2009-08-17T21:23:00.000-05:00

This morning was wonderful. Everyone woke up in a good mood and well rested. Kat didn’t know that Gma was going to be here when she woke up. So she came out of the bedroom and saw G’ma on the couch and her face lit up like a sunrise on the ocean.
Late this morning we went to Lily Lake and walked around the lake on the path. This path is great. Colorado has put in a handicapped accessible path all the way around this small mountain lake. You could smell how peaceful it was to see the plants waving in the breeze and the ducks bobbing in the water. I also got lucky and saw a trout in the lake along with a fingerling. Everyone’s blood pressure around that lake dropped by 20 pounds, it was so relaxing. The chipmunks and ground squirrels were friendly and open, thinking nothing of climbing up on your shoe to have a conversation with you (I didn’t get a picture, but one climbed up on Jill’s shoe and tickled her shin). Granted the conversations followed the same path; do you have food to give me? Still, it was nice to see that the critters were so friendly. After we walked around the lake and relaxed, we went across the road to the Bald Pate Inn, which has been open for business since 1917. They don’t serve lunch plates, they have a soup and salad bar along with sweetbreads, cheese, and wine. And PIE. I cannot forget the pie. Granted, we didn’t try the pie, but everyone I talked to raved about the pie.
After lunch, we came back to the condo and took very brief naps. Kat was determined that SOMETHING was going on. After repeated efforts at attempted naps, Jill took the kids out and I snuck in a nap.
When I woke up we took Kat in the Kelty and walked to town to look at an art center that showcases local artists only. I had to laugh when I saw an oil titled “Eastern Iowa”. Yep, that looks like a corn field as seen from a car on I-80. With a barn in the background.
When we walked back, it had started raining and rained the entire two miles back to the condo. We let Kat out and she walked almost a mile uphill. Then we put her back into the Kelty and let her ride. We also saw 4 mule deer in town and one trout in the river that flows through town.
When we got back I shucked sweet corn and Jill made tacos. Stepdad went to the Estes Brewery and bought beer. Truly a great supper after walking four miles. Here it is, 830 and I am the last one still awake. I think I am going to call this a night.

vacation day two

2009-08-17T08:15:00.003-05:00

Today, Kat slept until 8am Iowa time. She was pretty tired. We were all pretty tired. Jill was smart and drank lots of water. I woke up dehydrated and sick from altitude and tired.
After a very restful morning, we went to downtown Estes Park to wander from store to store. We were off to a great start when we realized that Kat had poured her entire cup of water into the seat of her jogging stroller. Then we found a children’s park. Kat had a BLAST playing on the slide and jungle gym.
Until someone’s balloon blew by and she couldn’t have it. That started a meltdown that lasted all the way back to the condo.

After supper, we played games and rested. Mom and Fran arrived around 7pm.
Not a lot of exploring or activities, but we are here and rested, somewhat.

Think Nat'l Lampoon Vacation

2009-08-17T08:06:00.000-05:00

Golfed again at the company golf outing on Friday. I had a GREAT TIME! A few beers and about a thousand laughs; nearly a dozen balls and about a dozen double bogeys; laughter and laughter and jokes in five hours. All of these ingredients went into a VERY relaxing afternoon.
I wish I could have stayed for the party after golf but Jill and I needed to pack and get on the road for our first family vacation. We got everything packed and ready about 10pm. Since we were completely exhausted, we went to bed, planning to get up in the night and starting our trip in the dark.
I woke up at 3am and we were on the road at 4am. We thought Kat would sleep for the first few hours of the trip since she normally sleeps until 7 or 8 in the morning. No such luck. She sat in her car seat, wide eyed and curious as to WTH is going on.
Her first meltdown and fit came 29 minutes into the trip. As near as I figure she had a meltdown every 29 minutes after that. I shut off my hearing aids an hour into the trip. I brought earmuffs for Jill and she put them on so we could travel in silence.
There isn’t much to say about the next 17.5 hours except that I contemplated jumping out of the car so I wouldn’t have to make the return trip. Or leaving Kat at a truck stop. Oddly enough, 2 year olds don’t travel well in spite of having toys, games, and a video player.
We did manage to get pictures of all the interesting things in Western Nebraska as Jill drove through it at 85MPH. They are shown throughout this entry.

The summer is flying by!

2009-07-31T05:54:00.002-05:00

It is another Friday Fragment kind of day. This time with pictures!

As the family gets ready for vacation we have a BUNCH of things to get taken care of.
Jill harvested 1,500 onions from the garden so that they can start drying. I have been doing maintainence on the car. After all, if your battery explodes, it must be time to replace the plugs and belts, brakes and fluids, right?
And the house. My advice to you, wonderful readers, is this; NEVER buy a used log home. I have been caulking all of the logs and will be staining them. As I go around the house and look for weather checking I am finding evidence of years of neglect. Another thing about log homes most people (myself included) don’t realize is that every other to every four years you have to inspect and caulk the entire outside of the house, all the way to the roof.

The little guy had his 6mo check up this week. He is 18#1oz and is 29inches long. The doc says he is in the 95th% for height. Just like his sister. It seems Jill and I are raising tall children. I had the pleasure of getting the little guy to sleep on my chest last night. I cannot convey the feeling of having the boy drink his bottle, pass out in my arms, and snore at me. When we were at the DR office, I had a list of things we were concerned about… he doesn’t sit up yet, he doesn’t hold his bottle on his own, he doesn’t really want solids much, he spits up periodically – a lot! The doc listened to my litany of whining and then asked what we expected, he is only six months old. Apparently, he isn’t going to keep up with his sister as she does things – go figure!

We introduced Kat to watercolors a week ago. Crayola Crayons makes really neat watercolors balls that are just right for small hands. Kat’s canvas of choice is herself. As soon as we get the paints out, she paints her tummy blue and her arms read and her legs are either blue or yellow. Then, once she is painted, she wants to HUG everyone. Or sit on their lap.

BTW, the round things by Kat in her paint picture are zucchini! Jill found a round zuke in Johnny’s Seeds and thought she would try them out. They are really good and tasty. So far we have tried Zbread, grilled Z, Zbrownies, saute’d Z, eggs & Z. I cannot wait to see what me try to do with that stuff next!

I also wanted to share that I golfed again… First time since 2006. I didn’t count the strokes, but I did get around 9 holes in just 4 balls. For not having played for three years, I was terrible. I am happy to claim that I was able to drive the ball past the ladies tee on all of my tee shots. Not by much, mind you, but past is past. We had a lot of potential in our foursome. I don’t know for what, but the potential is there.

Friday Fragments

2009-07-17T19:47:00.005-05:00

I have seen FF on another blog for ages and tonight it strikes me

Kat's supper. Usually Wife and I are pulling our hair out to get the girl to eat... I hope she eats a ton at daycare because at home she doesn't eat boo.
Tonight she ate; half a pack of raman noodles, one hot dog, 1 slice of watermelon (and it is 60* outside), pretzel sticks, chips and salsa, diced tomatos, and about half of my spicy taco. I don't expect her to eat for the rest of the weekend.

Maybe the reason she ate so much is that I didn't make her supper until we got home from running errands at 718. After work, I picked up the pair of them and went to buy a jogging stroller... I guess Kat wants to jog more. After that we went over to Blondie's house so she could see the kids. I have worked with Blondie for years... she is the hottest 42 YO mom I know... she makes parenting look simple and easy. She has two awesome kids that are very well behaved. Her husband is a great guy even though he is a fanatic Steelers fan. After Kat terrorized their cat for half and hour and Kyle spit up on Blondie, I headed for home. All the way home I fed Kat pretzel stick cuz she was STARVING.

Jill is out tonight having a much deserved evening to herself. She pushes herself at work something fierce and is determined to do everything she can in the garden and for the kids... I HOPE she is shopping for herself and relaxing and enjoying her evening.

OH! before I forget, We are taking a FAMILY VACATION!!! There is no doubt in my mind it will rival the Griswold vacations... We are driving with our two kids to Estes Park, CO in August. Wife and I need a vacation, but we couldn't pawn the kids on anyone so they get a vacation with us. The only consolation is that neither kid can say.............. "Are we there, YET?"

All for now, more to come over the weekend.

Sunday afternoon

2009-07-12T20:42:00.001-05:00

Jill and I made plans for Sunday. We would wake up and take care of the kids while trying to maintain our household. You know, dishes and laundry and crap.
Then in the afternoon, Mom and MMH were going to come and play with the kids and Jill and I were going to go horseback riding, then paint some more fence boards then go for another ride and come home.
Everything went according to plan until we got into the car to go to the farm and torture, er, ride the horses.
We got into the car and when I went to turn the key in the ignition, something under the hood exploded.
Not fireball blow off the top of the car exploded but a really loud BOOM that got our attention RIGHT NOW.
I looked at Jill. “Did you hear that?” she asked me.
“Um… I have to change my shorts.” I replied.
So we got out and popped the hood on the car. As I was doing that I noticed a rapidly expanding puddle under the car. Jill noticed a strong smell of acid.
With the hood up I saw that VW puts an enclosure made of plastic all around the battery so that if the battery explodes it won’t spatter all over the engine compartment. That little plastic enclosure is now in 37 pieces in a variety of shapes and sizes… and the sides of my battery are burst open with acid leaking all over.
I summed up the situation with a slightly technical diagnosis.
“Holy SHIT! It blowed UP!”
So I called some people who know more about VW than I do and asked them what I should do? I was prepared for directions like, call the fire department, evacuate the house, freak out, vote straight party ticket, anything radical.
Instead I was told; hose it all down really good, (that is strong acid) pull out the battery, buy another one and put it in. Then get another battery enclosure from VW.
Well. It was as easy as he made it sound but it still took about four hours.
Most of that time was finding a replacement battery.
The first place I called had a battery so I sent Jill for it. Her trip sounds something like what happens when you send either a stoner or someone with ADD to run an errand.
She went to AutoStore, GardenCenter, IceCream Shop, Grocer (just for milk)(ended up w/7 bags of food), then home.
In the end, the battery got changed and no one got hurt. We didn’t go riding, though.

happy Sunday

2009-07-12T08:36:00.000-05:00

Kyle just blew out a diaper on his bouncy seat.
joy.

Relaxing Saturday

2009-07-11T18:59:00.003-05:00

I now have cable. Yes, I know, out here in the woods we barely have flush plumbing.
One of the side effects is that we have cable 'net. So I can post pics from home again. Yippee!

Kat turns TWO! (already?)

2009-07-01T17:00:00.001-05:00

My Mom wrote this poem for her (favorite) granddaughter. I post it with permission.

Upon turning Two

She’s become more independent with the passing of each day.
She stops her foot and shakes her head, she wants it done her way.
Her stubborn ‘no’ may yet mean yes, she really isn’t sure,
But she says it often now because she hears it said to her.

She hears a noise, ‘what’s that?’ she says, she looks expectantly
She waits for me to tell her, be it plane or bus or bee.
She asks ’what’s that?’ for everything she sees that’s new to her,
She wants and explanation, plain and simple that’s for sure.

Standing upright on the stairway, she slowly makes her way
Downward one step, then the next, safe for another day
It gives me pause; my mind speeds up like wind set in a sail.
For the scene I see, as I look up, she’s in her wedding veil.

By Gma Pat

Cave Crawling

2009-06-30T12:26:00.003-05:00

Friends from UNI were here over the weekend. We had an Awesome time. They brought two of four children.
On Saturday when it was so hot and yucky we went to the Maquoketa Caves.
We had an awesome time. Kat tried so hard to keep up with the older kids in everything they did.
Cave? Who cares! Run along the path and keep up with Josh. Rocks? What fun! Climb as high as I can to keep up with CC.
Then she sat with Brian and played Peek a Boo with us so that we could be entertained.
It was such a grand time, the whole weekend. It went by so fast but we enjoyed nearly every minute of it.

Business Advice

2009-06-16T19:23:00.001-05:00

A number of years ago, I took a motorcycle trip to Ouray, Colorado. It was a fantastic vacation of camping and sightseeing, back and forth across the Rockies.
One of the people on the trip was a business process consultant from the KC area.
One night around the campfire, he was talking about work and how after he had left a contract, the company ignored his advice and continued to struggle.
I asked him if that bothered him; how did he deal with that type of situation.
He told me that “you just have to not care”. Essentially, he did his job to the best of his abilities. He then moves on. What they do is their business.
Today, I heard some news about a project that I stopped working on over a year ago. I worked on it for over a year, but as business works, I was re-assigned to other projects.
Anyway, it seems as though some of my ‘solutions’ are coming unraveled.
I got REALLY worked up about it, calling friends who know how close I was to this project and venting about it. I don’t know what they think of me, other than I must be a lunatic.
Tonight, as I drink a beer and tend my children, feeding Kat all kinds of cheese and chicken, I remembered my conversation with Dick. He really hit it on the head. Unknowingly, he gave me great advice that would serve me years later in my career.

Where did the time go?

2009-06-15T06:06:00.000-05:00

Friday night, (WO)Menards buying tomato cage supplies. Then 2 hours in the garage cutting the ingredients for cages. Every year we try something new with the garden. This year it is tomato cage experiments.
Saturday I went to the chiro, stopped by an awesome fundraising garage sale where I bought a golf bag (score) then got into the garden, to make the cages. 50 of them. That is right, we have 50 tomato plants. But they are not all the same type of tomato, cuz that would be… extreme or something.
Eight hours later, I have the cages together and up, Jill went and got mulch, so we have the tomatoes covered. First with weed barrier fabric, then with the mulch. Then netting over the whole thing for the tomatoes to cling to.
Today, I laid fabric on the peppers (76 plants) and mulched them. Then dug up a 6’ apple tree that Jill had mowed over (different post – she is amazing on that Deere) and replaced it with a peach tree.
We laid out nearly one and a half yards of mulch in the garden.
As I type it out, it doesn’t seem like much.
Why am I so tired?

Water sports

2009-06-07T20:34:00.005-05:00

Last weekend, Kat and Kyle were invited to a friends house for a play date. Jill was excited about the idea and packed a bag for me to take them away so that she could garden.
The play date was AWESOME! Kat got to meet (and flirt) with two of the nicest young men she has ever met. They had a pool. The older one was very friendly and wanted to show how good of a swimmer he was. He even fetched the ball and ice fish that Kat threw out. And he showed everyone how good he was on the slip and slide.
These people had ALL the fun accessories. She had SO MUCH FUN! Huge Thanks to Connor and Tyler for a great time.
Now, fast forward to Sunday. Dad went to the farm and fenced. ALL DAY. So Jill had the kids at home. It seems Kyle was well behaved, but Kat...
She wanted to play in the water again. After all, it is Sunday and last Sunday she got to play in the water. So Jill gave her a garden hose and told her to amuse herself. Well, since she didn't have her own slip and slide, she soaked a garden row and then played 'otter' where she slid on her belly in the slippy slimy MUD!
These pictures clearly show the difference between the towns folk water toys and the country bumpkins amusements. The thing is, I bet Connor and Tyler would have LOVED to join Kat in playing 'otter' in the mud, sliding this way and that!

Weekends are for WORK

2009-06-07T07:06:00.004-05:00

What a long day yesterday.
The kids let us sleep in until 6am. Then it was out to the garden to finish planting the fruit tree orchard.
Then to the MIL to work on the board fence for the horse pasture.
Shortly after we got to the farm, Kat did a face plant on the front step. (forehead, not nose) Coincidentally, she was cranky all day.
Then move boards, help dig holes, clean out holes, pick up posts, line up posts, fill in post holes, tamp dirt down, pick up tools, finish moving boards.
Today I go back with a different crew to finish putting the posts in holes, lining up posts, painting (if no rain), and nailing the boards up to make a fence then sinking the gate posts and hanging gates.
All of my muscles are sore and my joints creak. And I think my sore muscles have sore joints.
I cannot wait for Monday and a desk job.

What am I, really?

2009-06-01T12:54:00.000-05:00

I would like to think that the determination of whether or not a person is fat is left up to that person or their Dr.
My response to that type of characterization is, "So?".
Really, does it change how wonderful/awful a person is?
Fat, anemic, tall, short, skinny, one eye, cleft lip, all of that doesn't matter to the personality that is inside.
Tease me about being a jerk or rude or an ass or I cannot carry a tune.
Compliment me for being nice, thoughtful, or friendly or funny.
Don't charactarize me because of my skin color, my hearing, my accent.

What on earth is sleep training

2009-05-24T15:11:00.004-05:00

Holy cow I am learning so much from reading blogs!
So many terms I had never heard of - in life and in parenting.
Thanks to Loren at SweetenedTaters I now know about donkey shows! (thanks, therapy is twice weekly)
And now, thanks to Jenny's link to Motherhood Uncensored I heard about sleep training. What on earth is THAT? And why is there a PhD for every flippen stage of childhood but not parenting?
So MU had a link to someone who WROTE THE BOOK on sleep training. WOW! the scales are falling from my eyes!
Kat went from sleeping in a nightstand drawer to sleeping in a bassinet with scarcely a howl. She moved from the bassinet to the crib with frequent screams and yells for attention. (which we gave her. still do, come to think of it)
Now I find that if we take Kat and move her to a toddler bed and move Kyle to the crib (not Kat's crib - the crib belongs to cousin Jane, Karl made it for her originally) then KAT will have fits at night and not sleep for months just to make us pay for giving her sleep habitat to the unsurper.
Not to mention that according to the experts, Kat might be a little to young for a T-bed.
So I am asking for help and suggestions - What to do, what to do!?

Seriously, Mrs. 4444, Surprised Mom, Jenny, Loren, even Mrs. Weasel (if she reads this blog), Mom, cousins, Triplet Mom in LV, Nevada, anyone - shoot me some suggestions. I don't want to traumatize or set my children back potty training or disrupt Kat's " major cognitive-emotional transition period."

NEW wake up call

2009-05-20T06:18:00.002-05:00

This morning marks the sixth consecutive day where I have either woke up due to my own crazy head or been woke up due to my loving and enthusiastic children.
Lets see
Friday, 15th = Work
Saturday 16th = Work
Sunday 17th = shooting match preparation
Monday 18th = Kyle
Tuesday 19th = Work
Wednesday = Mommy playing patty cake with Kyle in our bed because Kyle woke mommy up and wanted to play so mommy thought, OK, lets play here in bed next to daddy!
I wonder what tomorrow will bring...

family night

2009-05-19T20:58:00.002-05:00

Last night was GREAT! I got home a few minutes after Jill and found the family seated on the front porch having a picnic of chicken and baked beans.
"DADDY!" Greeted me as I got out of the truck.
We all had supper on the porch in an absolutely beautiful evening. Kat of course likes the food off of my plate better than her plate... And, of course, Mommy has the best food on her plate... So she had to hop and shuffle between the two of us to steal our food... Cause food tastes better off of someone else's plate. (Jill did this to me ALL THE TIME when we were dating)
Jill took Kat to the garden after dinner to play in the dirt. They stayed out there for nearly an hour while I bonded with the boy on the porch. He snoozed for a while on my chest, then he drank half a bottle, and snoozed some more. He woke up after a few minutes to spew into my shirt pocket. Amazing how much that will hold.
Jill came back in around 7 to give Kat a bath. I brought puker inside and we watched antique roadshow together.
We got Kat down to bed just before 8 and then Jill and I put Kyle to bed. Once he was down we looked at each other with that special look of lust that parents of children under two often share...
"I want... sleep!" we said at the same time.
So we were sleeping snuggled together by 830. And I slept til 330 without waking up more than 3 times.
GREAT NIGHT!

Waking up CRANKY

2009-05-12T18:15:00.003-05:00

Lets see... wouldn't eat supper and got to bed late last night.
This morning was LOADS of fun.
Daycare says the little girl ate two bowls of macaroni at lunch.
Thank goodness she eats there, she ate only the green beans from her supper and wanted down.
wash, rinse, repeat.

Summer Fun

2009-05-12T05:42:00.002-05:00

I have a feeling that the daughter is giving her mom and I a glimpse of what this summer is going to be like.
I found myself last night at 820 trying to convince her to eat something before I put her into bed. And she was WAY too tired to eat.
When she got home with Jill yesterday, she hopped out of the car and began to explore the yard, the shed, the water pump, the radio tower, the bushes, the woodpile, the cows next door, the barb wire fence, and on and on and on. We interrupted her activity to bring her in and TRY to feed her - she would have none of it. She howled as we brought her in and wouldn't eat a thing. "Down.... Down... Down!" So we let her loose again in the front yard. Explore the bushes, the trike, the porch, the rocks, the grass, the dandelion...
She didn't stop until we finally brought her inside. I should have just given her a bottle of milk and thrown her in bed. But I tried to get her to eat something. Nope, too tired.
It is going to be fun waking her up this morning.

Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T13:22:00.000-05:00

Stardate Log – Mother’s Day, 2009; the boy woke his mom up at 550 – he was all happy and just wanted to play. The girl, she slept in until 7am – she was mildly cranky and wanted all of Mom’s attention. Then at 8am, the boy went down for his first nap of the day. Girl still wants all of the attention.

Don't Stop Believing

2009-05-10T13:15:00.002-05:00

Last fall, I failed. I failed completely and it cost me a LOT of time and some money. Hours and hours of time and a few hundred dollars.
That was the cheap cost of failure. This failure was so unexpected that I went through all of the stages, or most of them. Denial, Rage, Acceptance, and Defeat.
As I continue to deal with that failure, I have been trying to learn from it. I am not used to it so it has been hard to be positive about it.
My failure was in making a batch of biodiesel. A hobby that typically saves me a couple of thousand dollars each year. Rather, the failure wasn’t in making the fuel, but in making sludge. I didn’t intend to make sludge. I filled my processor with sludge the consistency of thick pudding. Color of chocolate. Chocolate pudding.
As I look back on my failure, it was interesting that I had no fear of failure. I had been successful in making fuel nearly a hundred times. I had started taking everything for granted. I knew what I was doing. I knew each step, I knew what the material looked like at each step, I knew what to expect. (As I watched “Meet the Robinsons” with Kat this morning, I agreed wholeheartedly with the line, you learn from failure – success, not so much) When my mix turned to sludge, I started with denial. That lasted a while, about a week. I went over all of my steps in my head. Where had I gone wrong? What did I do? In the end, the only thing I could think of was the vegetable oil was from a new source that I had never tried before and it was bad contaminated oil. I had to assume that was the problem because I couldn’t think of anything else. I wasn’t 100% sure as the oil was mostly used and I couldn’t isolate the oil and get rid of it.
Then came rage. The rage really hit when I had to shovel out the pudding from my processor. That was hard enough to work with but then I had to disassemble all of the hoses, pumps, valves and tubes and clean them out. These are all parts that are sealed together so that they won’t leak. Sealing everything does not lend itself to taking it apart. Yeah, I raged all right.
And still, I wondered, did I miss something? Did I have bad oil or did I do something else? In my mind, I accepted it. That had to be it.
The weather turned cold not long after this event, so I wasn’t able to make fuel anyway, it was too cold. All winter long, I collected oil. Jill, who NEVER STOPPED BELIEVING IN ME, (definition of AWESOME wife) encouraged me to keep collecting lots of oil because we would need it come spring. I could make fuel again when it is warmer.
By the time Lent came around, doubt and fear had settled in. I never talked about it, I always carried a positive attitude. (but inside, I knew that I didn’t know for sure what had gone wrong) During Lent, I collected a couple hundred gallons of oil.
The weather in Iowa finally warmed up and I kept hearing of others running their cars on home brew. I on the other hand kept myself busy enough that I ‘couldn’t find the time’. About that time I finally admitted to myself that I was afraid to try. WHAT IF? I was afraid to fill up the processor and make pudding. I was afraid that I didn’t really know what went wrong. I didn’t really know if it was the oil, maybe it was me?
Eventually, I finally worked up the courage to tell Jill what my problem was. I was afraid. She is my best friend. I can tell her everything, can’t I?
She once again demonstrated that she is my best friend. “Kevin, you have made fuel a hundred times. You have been successful for years. Don’t focus on one disaster, focus on your track record. You have made a TON of fuel. Make sure your equipment is clean, use the new oil from Lent and believe in yourself. You really know how to do this, just go and make it.”
So I put one foot in front of the other, so to speak. I got all of the ingredients together to make a test batch (something I should have done last fall) and had everything in place. All that was left was to make test fuel. I still was afraid it wouldn’t work, but I had no more excuses.
Last night I made a one quart test batch. The process is such that you mix it up and have to wait about 8 hours to see if it is working. I found myself not sleeping last night. I was so worked up, wondering if I was making pudding or fuel.
But the important thing is that I did it. I faced my fear and did what I was afraid of doing. To borrow a line from the Robinsons, keep moving forward. I cannot stop with one failure, I have to keep trying.

Visitor IRL!

2009-05-05T23:35:00.002-05:00

I called the phone number in the email, the one that advertised "Hot COED science majors will visit you"... Sure enough, a week later she showed up... As she eased herself out of her swanky sedan?
Wait a minute, I am confusing this story with a dream I had 20 years ago.
Actually, I am terribly remiss in telling the story of being visited by the Microblogologist from Iowa State. And while she is a very lovely co-ed science major, and I did call her, none of the entire visit was as sordid as the story I started to tell.
MicroBloggy emailed that she would be in the neighborhood (sort of)and that if Kat and Kyle were willing, she would stop by and visit them. She made sure they asked their parents if it was Okay, first. Well of course it was Okay with Wife and I so on the day she was to arrive, Blogology lady arrived at our house precisely at the time she said she would. Kat took one look at her and decided to play 'shy' for the evening. This resulted in me talking MB's ear off all evening long.
Wife and I bribed her with supper and conversation on a wonderful Friday night and stayed up past our bedtime to talk to her about everything under the sun. Wife went so far as to make blueberry banana walnut bread in order to make sure that MB was fed and nourished. (Funniest thing in the world, I actually heard wife utter her mother's nag "if you go hungry, it is your own fault! we have plenty of food here!")
In all honesty, it was the most exciting Friday evening that wife and I have shared in years if not decades. Adult conversation with someone neither of us was married to! It doesn't get much better than that! We talked about family, politics, gun control, and, um, lots of interesting stuff that I cannot remember.
All I really remember is that I was so happy to have company that I don't think I shut up the entire time MicroWoman was here.
I want to thank her for coming to visit and letting us know that there are real people connected to these blogs. We really enjoyed having her over for dinner and Kat wants her to come back again this summer.

Stop the MADNESS!!

2009-05-01T06:12:00.001-05:00

Seriously. No, really, I mean it. THANK GOD IT IS FRIDAY! If I have one more emergency clown race at work I think I am going to lose it.
The latest one was along the lines of...
"Kevin, QUICK! Here are 20,000 lines of data! Match them all up to the best skittles color! By 5 pm! Hurry - I have a hunch, and I want you to validate it!
Don't whine about the rest of your job - JUST GO GET SKITTLES'

new behavior

2009-04-26T10:58:00.002-05:00

So I walk into the livingroom where wife has squawk on her chest, they are both napping. I see a size 4 diaper on the floor and Kat is running around, playing.
At first I thought Kat had pulled a new diaper from the box and opened it up and brought it into the room.
Then I realize that she has taken off her diaper and is running around in just her sleepshirt, no diaper.
I didn't find a puddle, but I don't like where this is going.
Loren @ sweetenedtaters has me scared.

Help from Bloggerville

2009-04-25T13:33:00.002-05:00

Help!
I have 3 weeks to come up with t-shirts for eleven great grandchildren (not mine) in honor of my G'Ma's birthday.
We are having a big get together (kegger family reunion) and we want all of the grandkids in shirts in her honor.
Microbloggy was here this weekend (IRL!) and told me about a custom shirt shop but I promptly forgot who it was.
Does anyone have any idea where I can get shirts in short notice with "She's my GREAT gramm!"?
In sizes ranging 12year old to 3 months (mine).

kids

2009-04-21T20:22:00.002-05:00

Sunday night, I couldn't WAIT for the kids to go to sleep. I was exhausted and needed sleep. I didn't have much patience and they were trying what was left.
Monday night they drove me crazy, I couldn't wait to get to work in the garage.
Tonight, coming home, I COULD.NOT.WAIT to get to my kids and get a hug. I wanted to hold my little girl and have her pat me on the back. I wanted to hold Squawker and have him drool on my shirt.
I had to work late tonight so I found myself racing, impatient at stop lights, trying to get home to see them both before bedtime.
I was so lucky. I got to come in the door and Kat greeted me with "DADDY!" as she raised her arms. "Pick me up, please" she said to me. I was more than happy to oblige. "I am so glad you are home" she whispered in my ear, "Now you can read me a story!"
I got to spend the 30 minutes before bed with her, playing, tickling, laughing.
I put her in jammies and read her a story, then put her to bed.
Now I get to wrestle the boy from Jill and put him to bed.
How strange, some nights they get on my last nerve. Other nights, I want to give them everything I have, because I need every bit of them.

I might be an unfit parent

2009-04-14T20:16:00.003-05:00

Tonight Jill let me live the fantasy of being a single dad while Jill worked late or went to the spa or did homework. For whatever completely justified reason (not that she needed to justify it) she let me take care of the kids on my own.
First I picked them up from daycare and called an old family friend of my parents that I got to know as I grew up. She didn't even know about Kyle. She was home and willing so I took both of them over to meet her. We had a wonderful conversation while Kat explored their house. (silly me, their house isn't child friendly. lots to break)
We left at six when Kat let me know she was REALLY hungry.
when we got home, I threw her in her high chair and fed her leftovers. She ate like a child starved. Squawker was quiet until I had made myself a sandwich. I got in one bite when he started screaming that he was hungry, too.
As I took care of the kids and their needs as the evening went on I discovered that taking care of them is really about reducing the crying, yelling, and screaming to a manageable level.
When I tried to get Kat ready for bed, I put Kyle in his recliner and went to change Kat into pjs. Kyle managed to lean forward and fall out of his recliner, doing a beautiful faceplant before I could catch him. As he was a little distraught, I left Kat to her amusement while I held and soothed Kyle. Then I took him upstairs to put him in his swing. When leaning over to put him in, he arched back and managed to smack his head on the back of the swing. While he screamed at me for my inept skills I picked him back up, and in doing so I bonked his head on the ceiling. Now he was cursing my very existence as well as cursing his mother for leaving him with this dolt. I held him a talked to him then put him back in the swing and turned on the noise machine to soothe him some more. Within a minute he was asleep.
Sooo... I did good?
Maybe not. When I turned around I discovered Kat had climbed the stairs to see all of the excitement.
I find that single parenting is about keeping my blood pressure down.

Google Search

2009-04-13T21:07:00.003-05:00

My friend Loren Twittered that she is the number seven search result for people googling "mexican donkey show"
Here's to you Loren!
Everyone should have something they are proud of and well known for.
I would love to hear someone turn this into one of those beer commercial songs,
"Real Women of Genius"
Here's to you, Ms, mexican donkey show.
While other people hide their affliction, you post it on your blog!
so go on over to w.sweetenedtaters.blogspot.com and see what the fuss is about.
While at times she may be tacky, she is never crude.

Kat's first egg hunt

2009-04-12T18:25:00.004-05:00

Kat got to experience the thrill of looking for bunny poo today. The pictures don't do it justice, but the yard was covered with bright and sparkley Easter Eggs.
Al was on fire, running flat out to collect ALL of the eggs. Hey, I don't blame him, that is what being four is all about. Life and everything in it is all about AL!
Kat figured it out after Miranda led her by the hand to a couple of eggs and told her to pick them up. Okay, the first three or four Miranda handed to her. Then it was follow Al to try and pick up eggs that he missed.
We laughed quite a bit as Kat looked so confused as to what nonsense this was. Really, someone or something scattered lots of little treasures through the yard and she had to go and run to pick them up? Wouldn't it have made more sense for her to look cute and have people hand her treats.

Easter Sunday with Kyle

2009-04-12T18:15:00.002-05:00

People keep telling me I need more pictures with Kyle in them. So here is my little monkey in his Easter finest. He got along famously with his G'ma Sandy. He also had a little nap, too short, that he had trouble waking up from.
When we arrived, he was shy and covered most of his face with his blanket.
The day went very well as Kyle watched his sister learn about the joys of Easter Egg Hunting with her cousins.
Kat did fine, although she had to figure it out at first. Her cousin, Al, took off after the eggs like a boy possessed.
More pictures of that later

Tubes & Ads

2009-04-12T07:05:00.004-05:00

Friday morning at 4am I felt Jill's knuckle digging into my back.
"get up" she hissed as she shut off the alarm clock.
Ugh. If I were going turkey hunting or fishing, I wouldn't have really been asleep.
This time, however, I was getting up so I could take Kat to Iowa City to have tubes put in and adnoids taken out. The instructions were to be at the Ambulatory Surgical Center at 0545 to begin checking in.
Since there was surprisingly little traffic, we got to the ASC at 0530. The sign on the door said they opened at 6am. Meanwhile, Kat sat in her carseat and yowled. I think she was hungry and thirsty.
When they opened the doors and let me register, we took a seat in their waiting room. Just then, Mom walked in the door. You should have seen Kat's eyes light up! She was out of my arms in a flash! The relationship between my mother and my daughter is incredibly close. If they don't see each other once a week I think they both become depressed and lethargic.
Anyway, after Mom showed up, they lead us back to an exam room and we gowned Kat. Then she got to play in the toyroom until the gas passer came to meet her and take her to surgery. He was really cool about it. He came in the first time to meet her. Then he came back with a big warm blanket and wrapped it around her and picked her up.
You could see in her eyes that Kat was scared to death, but she made not a sound.
then she was gone into a doorway that we could not follow.
We went to the recovery room to wait for the Dr. to come and tell us that surgery had gone well, then for the delivery of my precious little girl.
I sat in the easy chair after the Dr. came in to tell us that the ears were REALLY full of fluid and that her ads were swollen and irritated.
When the nurse came in with her, I was ready to receive her. The nurse set her in my arms and told us how good Kat had been. She didn't cry when she woke up, we were told that 85% of kids cry.
Kat looked around the room and saw my mom and whimpered. I wasn't going to let her go, though.
Kat fell asleep in my arms, her neck stretched around so she could see Mom.
When she woke up, she struggled and fussed but didn't want to drink.
Mom stood up and told me that she might be able to get Kat to drink. So she sat down and held Kat. For the next 4 hours. Kat was so happy to be in G'ma's arms. G'ma read to her and sang to her and gently got her to drink the 4 ounces of water she needed so that we could be discharged. Kat even ate raspberry jello, which made the nurses very happy.
Saturday, we couldn't keep her "quiet and calm" like the discharge instructions said. Kat has been running around the house and wanting to play with everything. She did take a 4 hour nap in the afternoon.

The boy

2009-04-08T18:09:00.003-05:00

[to the tune of Seger's Night Moves]
Woke up last night to the sound of thunder.
What the hell is that, I had to wonder.
Is there a big freight train coming near?
What is that sound, that I hear?

Holey smokes! I woke up at 0430 this morning to the sound of squawker snoring.
Loud and steady, like the throbbing diesels of a train.

Tuesday rambling

2009-04-07T05:57:00.001-05:00

Me again. I know it has been a while since I last spent a few minutes updating this page. Truth is, I have been feeling overwhelmed for a few weeks. I applied for a position at work and while the interviews have gone well, it seems that politics will make it unlikely that anything will come of it. I also am coming up on a time where both of my major projects are requiring quite a bit of attention. One project isn’t going well and I am going to have to gather all of the players together and get back on track and make sure that everyone understands what needs to be done and the urgency that they need to feel for reaching the goals. The other project needs to have training sessions scheduled. One session needs to be 3 weeks out, the other 3-5 sessions need to be 4 weeks out. Then the process that I have been the PM for will be implemented beginning the Wednesday after Memorial day. Unfortunately, I still need to complete the curriculum for the training and we need the tools completed that everyone will be working with.
Kat has been sick a lot lately. She is on her third ear infection this year. This past week she has been miserable and not sleeping at night and not eating much at all. Tonight it looks as tho she has another two teeth trying to cut in. With all of the ear infections, we made an appointment with an ENT in IC and Kat will have her adnoids removed and tubes put in this upcoming Friday.
Kyle is wonderful. He is eating 3-5 oz (well, drinking really) at a time. At 11weeks old he is nearly 15 pounds. Considering he left the hospital at roughly 8#1oz, he is really packing it on. I can hear him right now, snoring away. I am hoping that I will get a good nights sleep tonight. I haven’t had one for about a week and I am getting really tired.
Jill and I have been having discussions for about six months now about adding on to the house. When we bought the house it was plenty big enough for the two of us. And really, it is plenty big enough for the four of us. If we can swing it, we would like to have at least two more bedrooms added on. We have been meeting with contractors and drawing up floor plans for months. To be honest, I have been pretty reluctant about the whole thing. Jill has been VERY persistent in her ideas. She acknowledges that it may not come to be, but she is determined to make a fact-based decision. Until a contractor gives her a valid quote, she is not going to discard the possibility of adding on to the house.
I wonder how people do it. I like to think that I know what I am doing and that I have a good head on my shoulders. I even like to think that I am competent. But over the last couple of weeks, I have not felt very self confident. Like I haven’t been on top of my game. I think I hide it well and cover myself in front of others. I wonder how long I can keep it up, sometimes. As I get more tired, I don’t think I am doing as well as I need to be.
On the plus side, I am down 6 pounds in 2 weeks of WW. I plan on getting to lifetime again, 210#. Only 41 pounds to go.

I got pie'd

2009-03-30T11:59:00.003-06:00

We had a food drive for the local pantry and the winners got to pick someone to splat with a pie.
I was one of the losers that got pie'd.
Lauren may be interested that the Kitchen Witch tossed a pie at her boss.
Lots a fun.

good morning!

2009-03-28T07:27:00.003-06:00

What an awesome morning. I woke up this morning to Kat crawling over me. I was all snuggled into the comforter and when I felt the person crawling into bed, I assumed it was Jill.
Nope. It was a little Kat. And she was awake and wanted to play. Jill crawled in next.
"She was awake and wanted out of her crib so I brought her up here with us" Jill explained.
It was 717 and Kat had gone to sleep at 745 the night before with NO BINKY!
So I started a pillow fight and when that wore off, a game of tickle, tickle.
To hear the delightful cascade of laughter and giggles from Jill and Kat was a priceless treasure and an AWESOME way to wake up in the morning.
A quick game of peek-a-boo under the covers followed with another pillow fight wore me out.
So I tossed Kat out of bed and went to make breakfast for everyone.
Veggie omelets and toast. With milk (or Dew), 6 points.

She's gonna be a cowgirl!

2009-03-16T20:06:00.002-06:00

Last weekend while at MIL, Kat spotted the hanging horse (sounds worse than it is) and ran right over to try and climb on. The horse did not cooperate at all and kept turning a tight circle around her.

Soon MIL came over and hoisted Kat up on her new horse and Kat was as pleased as could be. She spent the next 20 minutes riding that horse around the tree.
Not 100' away was a small pod of about 10 horses, two of which are mine.
I imagine that she will be just like her mother and by the time she is 4 she will be riding Dreamy around the lot.
Like mother, like daughter. (of course that means Squawker will be riding motorcycles and shooting guns)

giving me gray hair

2009-03-16T19:35:00.003-06:00

I went to MIL yesterday to get some wood because I don't think we are done with cold weather, yet. We had used up all but a bit of wood and by getting more and stocking it, I have made it THAT much less likely that we will get any snow or cold weather.
I took the Kat so that MIL could enjoy spoiling her favorite (that day) granddaughter.

While working on the tractor to take off the snow blade (counter jinx to getting wood - taking off snow blade) Kat wanted to see what we were up to. She was SO annoyed that she couldn't play on the blade until it was OFF the tractor. Once it was off - get out of her way!

After the blade got boring (It just SITS THERE) she continued on her favorite activity on the farm - EXPLORING.

Kat wants to explore everything she can see. No sooner does she spot something than she has to check it out. She keeps MIL and I hopping trying to keep between her and the manure, the mud, the horses, and so on.
When we got to the rolls of barb wire that I made last summer, I knew that she should mostly be ok. While it was rusty, the barbs were dull so it would be harder for them to break her skin. She spent so much time trying to figure out how to unravel those big coils. She tugged and yanked and pulled to no avail. Then you could see the wheels turning. She walked around them a couple of times and decided that she needed to get into the center of the coil to take them apart. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she wasn't right, not to mention that you cannot train a KAT!

She tried repeatedly to step over the coil to get to the center but she didn't quite have the stride (give her time - she will likely have 34" inseams) to step right over. After 3 or 4 attempts she decided to crawl over. She got down on her hands and knees and began the hazardous trek. She got little more than half way before her jeans had become entangled in the wire. After getting some excellent shots of an ensnared Kat, I went over and freed her.

Gramma made it up to her by putting her on the 4-wheeler and running her up and down the lane until her cheeks were as pink as her coat.

When it came time to go home my little Kat was bushed. She was asleep before she crossed the creek.

I shoulda been a dentist

2009-03-15T16:56:00.004-06:00

Little Shop of Horrors starring Steve Martin holds a particular place in my heart because of the fate of that sensitive caring DENTIST!
Wife took Kat to the dentist a week ago and when I got home from work I asked her how it went.
"Sweet Peppers!", she exclaimed, "Kat was fine until we sat her on the, you know, the bench chair".
"What happened then?" I innocently asked.
"SHE. FREAKED. OUT."
It seems that Kat was less than enthused about being tilted back and opening her mouth for a sadist, er, dentist. As it turns out it only took two assistants with Jill's help to hold Kat down so Dr. LovePain could check out her teeth and clean them. During the drama, Dr. LPain told Jill that this entire episode reminded him of when he used to clean MY teeth as a young child. Then he added a totally unnecessary comment, "Be sure to tell Kevin that she is every bit his daughter".
Well, Really. Was that called for?
You see, Jill took Kat to the same pediatric dentist that tortured, er, treated me as a 2 year old. And I have poorly suppressed memories of seeing that Fang-Banger. I remember playing in his waiting room with nervous anxiety until they called my name. You know the type, laughs a little too loud and high pitched, frantically plays with every toy for 3 seconds at a time. Then came the short walk into the exam theatre where everyone knew what was coming. I tried to not open my mouth. Sometimes I tried not to walk and they dragged me. One way or another, they were going to treat me. For my own good, of course.
It didn't help that I had more cavities than I had teeth.
As I got older I didn't scream and cry any more, but I didn't enjoy the dental experience. I kind of resigned myself to it.
That all changed late in my high school years as Dr. LovePain hired a young lady right out of dental school named Heather.
Suddenly, I couldn't get to the dentist often enough.
Heather was gorgeous! Outstanding smile (imagine that in a dental office) usually tan, smelled exotic, beautiful hair, and a figure that was guaranteed to distract a hormone crazed young man.
Heather and I dated regularly after that. By regularly I mean twice a year.
And I called it dating. Really she cleaned my teeth and smiled at me. Heck, I wasn't proud. I took whatever crumbs she left for me.
I don't know what it will take for Kat to like going to the dentist, but I know what worked for me.
Like Ross on Friends, I still see that sadist that I started seeing 39 years ago but it isn't as traumatic as it used to be. I have fewer cavities now and actually enjoy a chance to lie back and relax.
And yes, Heather still works in the office.

pretty baby!

2009-03-05T12:08:00.002-06:00

arguablly the goofiest looking kid I have ever seen.
Does anyone know the real urban legand behind putting a ring on a baby's finger?
The best explanation I have ever heard was that it is a purity ring.
Ha!

Char has passed on

2009-03-02T08:02:00.003-06:00

I came into work today and found a post from CaringBridge that told me that a woman I got to know last summer passed away as a result of her injuries from an accident last fall. She had held on for quite some time but has struggled of late.
When I opened the announcement, I was moved to tears.
Below is the letter written by her family. She will be missed by everyone who she made laugh.
----------------------------------------------
Our best friend, wife and mother went to fly with the angels upon the setting sun last night. It was the most amazing thing we have ever seen, even beyond what we expected of her. In true Mom fashion, she went on her own terms, in her own way, and far beyond predictions. Though our hearts are heavy with sadness, we could not have asked for more.

She held on for us, and though we all knew she wanted to go, and told her it was ok, as long as we were in the room, she held on. We waited with her for a long time, sharing family stories and our last special moments with her. We stepped out of the room to have a quick family discussion for only moments. When we came back in, Mom was trying to slip away, but we interrupted her, and so, she held on for a long while more. Finally, we realized what it was she was waiting for. We said our goodbyes and left her and Dad alone. When we came back into the room a short time later, Dad was sleeping, holding mom in bed, and she was sleeping peacefully, too. Dad said he had told her that he was going to crawl into bed with her and talk awhile. Then, he told her he would just hold her quietly and rest with her. She waited for that moment, and when she heard Dad's slow, steady, and comforting breaths of sleep, she slipped away, peacefully, beautifully, and in her husband's loving arms.

For the first time in five months, she looked peaceful and more like the mother we have all known our whole lives. She looked like an angel. Though it was the hardest moment of our lives, it was also beautiful because it was so Mom. That was her gift, and we will never forget it.

Lovingly,

the joys of parenting

2009-02-28T19:39:00.002-06:00

REALLY tired parents shouldn't talk to each other when they are insane from lack of sleep.
If either one has a cold or the flu, they shouldn't stay in the same room with each other.
IMHO

Positions

2009-02-22T07:05:00.004-06:00

Lately, we have discovered that Squawker will sleep in just about any position but on his back in his basket.
He will sleep on his side, either in my lap or on the couch.
He will sleep chest on my shoulder while I slouch on the couch or in the rocker.
He will sleep chest to chest on my chest as I take a nap on the couch.
He will even sleep scrunched up in a vinyl bean bag chair for hours on end with not a sound.

He will sleep folded over Wife’s arm as she works on her Calc II homework.

But put him in his basket for the night and 15 minutes later we hear, “uh, heh, mbmb, huh”
Not hungry, not wet, just doesn’t like the laying on his back position for long periods of time.
I cannot wait until he turns 5 and we can put him on his tummy to sleep for the night!

Spaghetti Manners

2009-02-21T11:46:00.006-06:00

Ages and ages ago, when I wanted to impress my girlfriend, I made her a home cooked meal.
What does a guy make when he wants to make a meal?
The easiest meal for a guy to make is spaghetti. How hard can it be? Buy some meat, box of noodles, jar of sauce and some italian bread in foil. Wash pots and pans and silverware and plates and glasses so that they are noticeably clean.
Don't forget the wine. Something red, who cares what. Preferably not "Junkyard Dog Red"*.
The rest of the directions are, essentially, cook it and throw it together. Take pains to make sure the noodles are done well.
In retrospect, I cannot imagine why a woman would even fake acting honored by this cheesy offering, other than every relationship has to start somewhere.
Anyway, one of Kat's favorite meals is spaghetti. Wife makes the most awesome sauce from scratch. As I watch Kat eat, I think to myself, as long as her table manners don't change over the next 25 years, the 'make her a meal' date will make quite an impression.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Got a bottle of this as a gift for Christmas with the price tag still on - 1.98 marked down from 2.99

Make Up Driving

2009-02-20T06:25:00.000-06:00

Ten years ago I worked with a woman that came into work one morning with one of her eyes all red and puffy. I thought she had been crying and didn’t want to pry, so I ignored it and went about the day.
Later, I overheard her telling one of her friends that she had been putting on her mascara while she drove to work. The puffy eye was from when she got distracted and poked herself in the eye.
I thought about how foolish that was to be putting on make up while driving down the road. I didn’t understand why in the world a woman would do that. Why? Why would someone risk themselves by being vain and putting on makeup while they drove down the road. For goodness sakes, wake up five minutes, ten minutes earlier and put your make up on before you leave for work. Jeez…
Then I had an experience.
Earlier this week I didn’t get much sleep because Squawk was fussy. Wife had the BRILLIANT idea to turn the volume down on the alarm clock so that when it went off, it wouldn’t wake the baby. NEWS FLASH! It won’t wake anyone else, either!
So I was tired and late when I got out of bed. As I got out of the shower I pulled the covers off of Wife and told her that she needed to dress Kat while I got dressed so that I could get out the door ASAP.
While trying to figure out what to shorten or cut out of my daily routine I stuck my teethbrush in my shirt pocket and put a bottle of water in my coat pocket.
After I got Kat to daycare, I added paste, dunked it in the water and brushed my teeth as I drove to work. When I pulled up to a stoplight at the edge of town I rolled down my window to spit and realized the woman in the car next to me was putting on her make up.
OH. MY. GOD. I realized then that she, that lady, and I were the same person!
Because I was running behind, I was the lady putting on his make up. Sure, I didn’t use blush or mascara or foundation (really I don’t) but I was in the same boat that she was. It was more convenient for me to brush my tooth while driving down the road so that I could save time and still carry out my morning routine.
Not that I am necessarily a poor planner and for all I knew, neither was the lady in the car beside me with my teethpaste spit on her trunk, we were just trying to keep up with the beginning of a day and get done what needed to be done.
Never again will I adopt a smug and superior attitude when I see someone involved with their morning routine while they drive down the road. I will be more understanding because I now know that there, but for the grace of a good nights sleep, goes I.

Dozen donuts

2009-02-15T20:46:00.002-06:00

Slacker Mom over at GrowinglikeaStanfield (see the link, click it. Over there, on the right) blogged two stories about maintaining the image of a busy parent.
As she details in her post, her Hubs is all help (not much) with the hard decisions.
Her funny story reminded me of a situation that happened at work about 5 years ago. And while I found it funny, there really was a co-worker who was VERY offended at this situation and held a grudge until he left the team.
Anyway...
There we are, 5 years ago and someone is having a 50th Birthday. The big deal was going to be a themed lunch. One guy, call him Yaj (name changed, cuz I don't know who knows who {6 degrees of separation}) volunteers that since he won't be around for said lunch party, he will bring breakfast treats for the team. At that time the team consisted of Manager, Admin, and 16 team members.
The next morning, I had a meeting that started early so I had already left the cube farm before Jay came in. Since he was bringing breakfast, I had skipped at home. When I got to cubeville, I didn't notice that anyone had left any treats for me. Oh, well.
After sitting down and opening my mail, I asked my fellow cube dweller What Yaj had brought, thinking that I was the butt of a joke, hiding the treats.
"All gone", She grunts. With quite a bit of acid in her voice.
Now I am puzzled. "Um, did they not taste good or turn out right?"
She looked at me, disgust clear in her eyes. "They were good, all right. He went to Crispy Creme and picked up a dozen fresh glazed donuts."
"Oh." (now I am really puzzled)
I turned back to my computer and started working. Suddenly it dawned on me. Food day for a 50th birthday for a team of 18 people. TWELVE DONUTS!
"Wow. Who decided who got donuts and who didn't?"
"Nobody. Yaj took his, left for a meeting and we looked around at each other. Jan took one, laughing and we put the rest out for the engineers and went and got bagels from the cafe"
I did, and still do, find this whole incident to be funny. And I had forgotten about it until I read her post.
And ever since then, if I am to bring treats for EVERYONE on the team, I make sure I bring enough for everyone so no one calls me a jackass the next day.

Sleeping Kat

2009-02-14T14:44:00.002-06:00

I am amazed at this little girls need for sleep these days.
she has gone to bed by 7pm the last three nights and today, she took a 2 hr nap this morning after waking up at 730 (about 12 hrs of sleep last night).
Now, after lunch, she has gone down for another nap.
She is very fussy and acts as though she doesn't feel well but we cannot find anything specifically wrong other than she has about 4 teeth busting through.
Oh, and it seems like she is about 3" taller than last week.
I hope her brother is tall like she is.

Aunt Gabs

2009-02-14T08:56:00.003-06:00

Over the holidays Wife's best friend came to visit. I'll call her Gabs cuz she and Wife can talk for about 20 hours straight when they see each other.
Gabs blew into town with a lot of snow, just what a California girl needs when she comes to the friendly state of Iowa. In fact, I had to pull her out of a ditch when she got to the house.
In spite of that rough welcoming, when she got in the house you could see the sunny skies that she brought with her. With happiness shining out of her eyes and bursting from her smile she could warm the whole house and brighten the weekend. She looked fabulous and lighthearted and dominated the conversation with cheer.
Gabs and Kat had only met once before when Kat was a month old but Kat took to her like old true friends. Gabs of course spoiled her with laughter and gifts and Kat captured Gabs heart with her impish smile.
It is always good to see Gabs and we don't see her often enough. Back in her home, Gabs changes lives for the better with one class of students at a time. She is responsible for dozens if not hundreds of children having better skills and values as they move forward through life. She works with whole families from time to time when they have struggles. Goodness permeates her very being.
She went back into the cold that evening and drove back to her father's house. Maybe Wife will be able to visit her this summer and introduce her to Squawk.

rare post

2009-02-13T18:39:00.002-06:00

Where have I been? I'll tell you. laying on the couch every evening with Squawk on my chest, bonding.
Every evening, all evening. Feeding, patting, burping, sleeping, and bonding.
Great times.

sick

2009-02-06T12:17:00.002-06:00

I stayed home yesterday rather than try and share Kat's Cold with all of my deserving co-workers.
I woke up yesterday afternoon to the sound of Wife spraying Lie-sol on all surfaces I might have touched.
I had never seen her do that before. I wonder if she is turning into howard hughes?

25 thigs meme

2009-02-03T19:19:00.002-06:00

1 I enjoy being a dad far more than I expected
2 I find it SO relaxing to rest Squawk on my chest for the evening. I frequently fall asleep.
3 Altho I cannot control it, I get very frustrated with my hearing and am concerned that there will come a time I cannot hear my kids call to me.
4 Our trip overseas was one of the best times of my life! Family and new experiences shared with my best friend ever.
5 As you can tell from the previous item, Wife is my best friend. I share everything with her and would rather do things with her than anyone else. Alas, she doesn't want to sit in a deer stand and shoot deer with me.
6 Living in the country is rewarding and relaxing because it gives me the opportunity to spend time watching animals.
8 I try to always watch Groundhog Day on February 2nd.
9 At 6'5" I am way taller than my brother.
11 On both feet, the second toe is longer than the big toe.
12 I like most of Kurt Russell's movies - especially Big Trouble in Little China
13 I am so glad I found a way to prepare venison so that Wife likes it. Ironically, it is cheaper to buy cheap roasts and can them than it is to pay locker fees for deer.
14 I may very well give into Wife's persistent suggestion that we build another house.
15 Two kids is IT! Love em both - don't need more.
17 I miss my dog terribly.
18 I like the company I work for and tend to enjoy my work. I can see me doing this for 25 more years. It is challenging, never boring and I harbor the illusion that I can make a difference for the company.
19 I enjoy my big diesel truck. Paying less than $1.00gal is very satisfying. Smells good, too.
21 I waited until I was 21 before I had my first martini.
22 I find opossum repulsive.
23 I intend to install a solar hot water heater on the house either this year or next.
24 I would like to have a different hairstyle but Wife likes this one.
25 wear a size 15 shoe. And what they say about men with big feet is true - shoes cost a FORTUNE!
one extra - I cannot count to 25

where have I been

2009-02-02T20:35:00.003-06:00

been a little busy. A lot of things have happened that I have wanted to blog about but haven't made the time when I could log on.
oh well.
one thing that comes to mind is when Wife gave squawk a bath. Kat may have dribbled in the bath - Kyle shot a stream across the kitchen when wife put him in the bath.
boys sure are different.

while I wait for the pictures to upload I will rant a little about my frustration with our government and the big business that runs our country. 3-4 hundred billion dollars gone with no accountability. While I get the impression that President Obama is concerned about it, he is one person in a government that has been bought and paid for so many times that I don't think there is a senator or representative that has any idea what is the right thing to do for their constituents. Or for the country.
there are those that say that the thing to do to counter the political machine in crook town is to get involved at the local level and not just let it be business as usual in the USA. I think that is a good start, but I also think we need everyone to become more vocal in contacting our representatives and let them know what we think of the job we are doing.
so far, I haven't gotten an answer from any emails I have sent. I don't really expect anything more than a form letter. But I encourage everyone to try.

Pay Attention to ME

2009-01-19T12:05:00.004-06:00

Since Squawker has come home, we have noticed that Kat wants to sit on our laps. Usually when Squawker is already on our lap. And if we are feeding, changing, or just walking and holding Squawker then Kat wants us to do the same for her.

Tonight shortly after Kat came home from daycare, Squawker started crying. At the top of his lungs. Kat, for no apparent reason started the same. Screaming, crying, flopping on the floor - acting all drama queen. Is this a sympathetic reaction? One crying baby deserves support from his big sister? Really - I don't know if I can handle that every time Squawker cries.

Breast Feeding

2009-01-19T12:01:00.001-06:00

One of my observations from the hospital is the pressure to provide Squawker with naught but breast milk.
A not so subtle phrasing of the question, “You plan on breastfeeding, don’t you?” in a tone that suggests that the reason there are high school drop outs and hooligans in juvie is because their mothers didn’t give them the advantage of breast milk right out of the chute.
(Let me state for the record that what Wife is doing for Squawker is none of your business. Frankly, as a husband who cannot lactate to save his family’s life, while it is my business I don’t have final say.)
The pressure right away to commit to nursing was immediate and relentless. You would think that the magic ingredients of mother’s milk will allow children to solve the worlds problems and be fantastically successful in a life dedicated to whatever that child sets their mind to. Why, a child raised on breast milk would likely NEVER be audited by the IRS.
As I look back through history it becomes easier to see who was and wasn’t raised on liquid inspiration. Churchill (mixed 1:1 with scotch), FDR, Galileo, Mother Teresa, Vilfredo Pareto, Mozart, the Beatles (well, not all of them), Planck, Douglas Adams – all CLEARLY nursed the liquid power of inspiration.
The likes of B. Madoff, Hitler, I. Amin, Khan, Dahmer, E. Bathory, Stalin – the most awful disgusting cretins to have ever been born - could never had tasted the goodness of their mother’s breast.
Keep in mind we want Kat and Squawker to be successful. We want them to graduate from college (maybe be microbiologists or quilters), have a good credit rating, own a home, and raise a happy family. If that is what they want.
But does there need to be the pressure and the censure on the mother? Why not give the parents factual information and encouragement, then respect the choices that they make? I have seen blog articles (motherhooduncensured and mamatulip) where mothers have been harassed by other mothers for not breastfeeding. Airlines have been both scorned and praised for allowing mothers to breastfeed on the plane.
By now, I am not sure where I was going with this post. (I think I wanted to link Madoff with Hitler, Bathory and co.) I would just like to see a bit more tolerance and respect for other people’s view points and privacy.

[Lame ending – feel free to submit your own in the comments.]

Little Squawker

2009-01-17T20:02:00.006-06:00

I don't really recall where I was the first week after Kat was born. She was born on 7/1 and we went home on the 3rd.
I think I spent the first couple of weeks freaking out in the garden shed or pacing in the woods behind the garage. I mean, really, I barely resemble a responsible adult and now I have a daughter?
This time around, I can tell you where I have been since we bought Squawker home. On the couch, holding him.

Last night, while Wife got the bedding ready, I was on the couch. Holding Squawker and occasionally feeding him. I probably held him for a couple of hours, in the bend of my elbow. He snorted alot and wiggled once in a while.
Today, because Wife is a hurting unit (her hips and back are causing her to limp and waddle and make horrible faces), I have been holding Squawker pretty much all day.
This morning, I swaddled him and wrapped him in a blanket and fed him, then burped him and let him nap. Wife showered, pumped, ate, pumped, organized, pumped, napped, pumped and, (because the pressure builds) pumped.
While she did all of that, I took the time to get to know Squawker. He doesn't talk much, but that doesn't stop him from getting his message across. That message is that he wants to be HELD. He wants to feel the rise and fall of a human chest with the thumpy-fump of the heartbeat. He wants to hear the wheeze and snort of a congested parent calmly breathing to soothe and relax him. He wants this attention and security NOW and non-stop.
The only thing I have been able to set him down in is my beanbag chair. I wait til he is asleep, then I put him in the middle and squish both sides of the beanbag to nestle him firmly within. This gives me enough time to grab some carrots and water and take a much needed bio break.

During one of Wife's hot baths (since she has had to forgo the really hot baths for about 10 months now) I suddenly realized that I wasn't sweating profusely, causing a damp feeling on my side and arm, but rather, Squawker could also be called SOAKER as he had peed his way through his diaper, onesie, swaddle wrap and blanket to soak my shirt and pants leg. Gee, what a feeling. I definitely DON'T remember his sister doing that to me. (She did POOP on my once, tho) Then I got to change him for the first time since his briss. OOOWWWW!!!! that looks painful!
After a quick lunch that Wife made, I was back on the couch, reading a book and holding him against my chest/shoulder. I pretty much held him like that until Mom and S/Dad brought the Kat back from G'ma's house.
And THAT bit of drama is another story entirely!
Then I either held or rocked Squawker for the rest of the evening while keeping his big sister from stepping on him.

Baby's first night at home

2009-01-17T08:34:00.001-06:00

Yesterday afternoon we brought the little guy home from the supermarket, er, hospital.
Lucky for us, Mom had Kat so Wife and I could put away stuff and tend to the little guy and get his bedding put together. While Wife did the bedding thing and the putting away stuff, I sat on the couch with Squawker tucked in my arm and alternated between reading mail and studying his face. I have discovered that he scowls. A lot. Seriously, he has wrinkles in his forehead already from scowling. That is OK, this time last week he was warm. Yesterday he was rushed from a 70* hospital through -20* parking lot to get into a car that had been running for an hour to warm it up. I got annoyed with the weather, too.
Just watching his face, I wondered what were we thinking, er, what would his future be like? Will he and his sister fight as much as they can? Will he be healthy and easy like his sister? His first day I found him noisy. I don’t remember Kat yowling that much. And, as he slept in my arms, I discovered he is a noisy sleeper. He sticks his tongue on the roof of his mouth and then breathes through his mouth. It doesn’t quite sound like snoring, more like the snorting of a pig at a trough. It is pretty funny to listen to.
When we finally went to bed at 915, he wanted nothing to do with his bassinet. Or so Wife says. So she brought him to bed and she sat up, holding him. I could see he would get no sleep.
At 1230, after being woke up several times to the lights being turned on while Wife tended Squawker, I told her to hand him to me.
I put him in my armpit, loosely, after swaddling him tightly and listened. He seemed to pass out from the smell, er, calm down and fall to sleep.
It wasn’t long before I fell asleep as well. He is a very warm little bundle of snorts to have snuggled up to.
This was something that I swore I would never do. No kids in my bed to sleep! When it comes to getting everyone to sleep, tho, I made the exception and felt much better for it. It was very nice having him snuggled up to me.