A Glimpse into my Life.

I know I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus, but I think life has settled down enough for me start to reclaim my life and do some of the fun little things I have missed doing.

We have all of Jake's hay sold, almost all the farm equipment is moved back to my parent's house, the remaining steers and horses are also moved to the home farm. Most importantly, we are done dealing with unscrupulous people. The former owner of the land we leased tried to charge us the yearly lease at the same price for less than half the land. We found out it is because he hasn't been totally honest in his dealings with us and others and is now in bankruptcy and was trying to recoup whatever money he could wherever he could. My dad was able to work things out with him to everyone's satisfaction though, so thankfully we are done with that.

Jake and Shannon decided that they wanted to learn to make apple jelly and syrup. It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work. We also had to say goodbye to our canning buddy, the water bather for the steamer, but after 20+ years it had a good run. We had some very good little helpers who taste tested, sorted, and all around just had a good time.

Our little taste tester:

The sorting crew:

And here is part of the sorting crew sorting through the canning rings:

Is she singing, or trying to taste test???


We now have 6 of the 11 steers sold off. Thank goodness since some of the people changed their mind after we'd already taken the six steers to the butcher and they were waiting to process them. I will be glad once we have the rest of them sold off.

I have been working on a black corduroy jumper for the Pink Princess. I found out I am out of black embroidery floss to work the eyelets though so I need to run and get some. Other than that, it is done. When I tried it on her to check the fit, she just smiled and then wouldn't let us take it off her. It took both Hubby and I to convince her it wasn't ready yet.



Unfortunately for my hair, I ended up cutting off about four inches of it. The last four inches just would not untangle. It would take me over 30 minutes to comb through that section so after quite a bit of debate with myself, and talking it out with Hubby, we decided I should cut that part off, and just wait for it to grow again. I feel like my hair is so short now!!!! I know it really isn't, but I just miss those inches!!! It was getting so long and I hope it won't take forever to grow back.

Our little Mister absolutely loves pomegranates so much, we love when we have the chance to get them. It's quite the treat!!!!


Pink Princess loves my shoes. She stole my house slippers and wouldn't give them back!


We have started decorating our house for Christmas. Rynie wants to make all our decorations so we have made paper chains that we are going to hang from the ceiling of his room and then hang snowflakes off of it. We have also made a popcorn and cranberry garland for the tree. I've decided that garland would go a lot faster if Spitfire wasn't attacking it and eating the popcorn while I was stringing it. Pink Princess also was biting the cranberries and putting them back with the other ones. We have another garland on the tree, and a bunch of jingle bells and bows on the tree. We are going to make some stars and put them on the tree after we decorate them. I am hoping we are finished by the weekend so I can take pictures of everything.

I know this was random, but I hope that by starting again, I can get back into the habit of blogging and then I'll finish pictures from my trip and getting caught up on life.

Goodnight and Sweet Dreams!

So, this is going to be a mishmash of everything! It'll be LONG so get a drink, something to eat, and saddle up for the ride!

We just got done having Bumpa visit for the week. He got in around midnight on Monday night, and we had to get up a bit before 4 am for him to leave on time to go home Saturday morning.
We have all been crazy busy and running around like mad. Bump would pass out on the couch and fall asleep until bedtime some days! This is what I found one day:


Ya think he was tired? Falling asleep checking email on his crackberry!


And while we were working in our back yard, look what we found!


This is the third toad we've found this summer! He's a huge, fat toad! Check out that determination to hold the toad!


Success! And immediately afterwards, the toad jumped out of Rynie's hands!


And since Bumpa was in town, we had to celebrate Rynie's birthday with him. It was just Mom, Dad, Pink Princess, Jake and Bumpa. Shannon had to work so she only got some cake afterwards. Well, maybe she did, I don't know if Jake ate it or brought it to her. Rynie got a red helmet and a shiny red bike! What a guy!!! Rynie helped me make his birthday cake, frost it, and shared the little leftover pieces with Pink Princess! He is a huge fan of frosting!








Didn't he do an awesome job on his cake?



Pink Princess is trying to get 4 teeth all at once, she definitely doesn't do anything by halves. I had four days last week when she basically shrieked all day each day. The last couple of days have been much better though. She is making up for lost sleep and food with a vengeance.


That is a slip of mine. It was the only thing that made her happy for a few days. She drug it everywhere, slept with it, and you were in trouble if you took it.

I finally finished Pink Princess's dress that I've been working on forever. Honey helped a lot with the finishing (and she was EVIL and made me do the button holes so I'd learn how) so we got the dress done in time for Jeremy and Amanda's wedding.





I also made Rynie a pair of wool pants, and he had to wear them to the wedding since Pink Princess was going to wear a new dress.


Jeremy and Amanda's wedding was very sweet! It's always fun to gain a new member of the family, and I think Jeremy picked well. :D





Awww, Rynie lucked out and got a hug from the new Mrs. G!



Hubby and I went on a date to Boondock's with Jake and Shannon. It was super hot and lots of fun! We played mini golf, Jake and I reminisced about how we used to be good at baseball/softball, played lazertag, and had some good strawberry shakes.


Speaking of Jake and Shannon, since he let the cat out of the bag so to speak, I can now say something: Jake and Shannon are Engaged!!!!!! Woo Hoo!!!!! They are getting married on October 15 at the Mount Timpanogos Temple!




Well, there are about 25 days until we leave for England and Scotland, my wardrobe for Bath is still incomplete. I have my stays fitted again since I had to redo them since I lost more weight. Hubby is taking the next week off work since he has some vacation time to use up so I am going to try and get them done in the next week. I will post pictures when I have my wardrobe done.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but these are the major points and I'll post more, hopefully sooner than this post came about.

Evening All!

Yesterday while we were out running errands, we decided to get a swimming pool. Since I haven't killed the grass yet, this could be a good thing. :D Well, Rynie couldn't wait to fill it up and as soon as Hubby came home, we filled it up, got out the swimsuit (and swim diaper for Pink Princess) and went to town! Here are my kidlets doing the swimming pool thing:

Filling up the swimming pool. You have to be a "Big Boy" to fill up the pool!

Every pool guy needs a pool girl to be a part of the fun. She just isn't sure she wants to yet.....

Hey! It's a big tubby!!!! I think I like this!

Utter and pure bliss! I get control of the hose, to play in the water, and make big splashes!!!!

Water, water, and more water! The sun is shining, and Rynie doesn't know what to do with himself!!!

Spraying himself in the face! Every boy has to do that at least once!

Pink Princess gets to join in on the fun! She loves splashing!

Thunder BOOM! This is jumping and splatting!!!

We got the float tube for Pink Princess since it was a little deeper than she liked. Well, she walks in the pool since she has the floater! I don't think she realizes it. She'll also jump up and splash down in the tube!

Chasing balls around! Two kids, two balls, what fun!

House training Spitfire has been an adventure to say the least. She has, as previously mentioned messed in my bed, on the bathroom rugs, and Pink Princess's swing. To add to that wonderful total, she has also decided Pink Princess's car seat is a wonderful place to do her business, the folded sheets, my great grandma's rug work wonderfully too! Needless to say, this cat has caused me to do mountains more laundry and carpet cleaning. Since there are a few things I am OCD about, and cleaning up after animals is one thing, I have been scrubbing carpets like crazy.

Spitfire has a vendetta against Pink Princess's toys. She'll kinda play with Rynie's toys, but she really assaults Pink Princess's toys. The little lamb that Pink Princess got for Easter has a hole in it's back and Spitfire was de-stuffing the lamb. It's hiding on the mantle so it doesn't get completely de-stuffed and I can sew it back together again.



Then we get to Pink Princess. For some reason she has started wetting on my bathroom rug. Sounds like I let her run around without a diaper right? Not so. I get her tubby water for baths and then get her ready. In the time it takes me to re-check the tub water, she's wet on my rug. Then, yesterday I got her out of the bath, started to drain the water, and got her ready for the day. When I went back to shower, I found a 'surprise' she'd left hidden under the bubbles in the tub! Eww! We'd just cleaned the bathtub yesterday morning too! Pink Princess is also contributing to the mountain of laundry. I guess she can't be outdone by Spitfire!


Now hold on to your socks! Hubby and I went on an actual date without the kidlets! Honey and Bumpa Shyra watched the kids. We went and played mini golf and went to dinner. On the 12th or so hole, I walked under a tree and a bird pooped all over me! All over my face and shirt! I got my face cleaned up in the car when we were done, and Hubby sprung for getting me a new shirt so I didn't have to eat dinner covered in bird poop. I now have a dark olive green 3/4 sleeve t-shirt. The date was really nice. I honestly can't remember the last time we did a 'date' since we do a lot of stuff together, but it's usually working outside or we take the kids since we like to do stuff as a little group. We have been laughing since Tuesday about how I just have that kind of luck. Most people read about crazy stuff like getting splatted by a bird, I'm usually the one who that kind of stuff happens to.

Rynie has been quite the helper guy as he would say. He has been helping with dishes, laundry, and watching Pink Princess. It usually involves trying to help her walk,then they both splat down and start laughing. I think I'm going to be in trouble when he finally gets her to walk. They will be off and running. We have been going for walks lately and Rynie has been walking the entire way. Most of the time, it's just a mile or so, but on Wednesday, we walked about two miles and he did the entire circut! Rynie tells me it makes his legs grow big so he'll be a big boy like Uncle Jakie.

Today is going to be a good day if for no other reason than Hubby has the day off from work. We are making pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast and Jake is coming to partake. Then Hubby is going to watch the kids and give me a few hours of good sewing time. If I don't get my sewing time in, I'm not going to have all the stuff I'm wanting to take to London with me in September. I have 4 of the eyelets done on my short stays and I'm hoping to finish them and get started on my Regency dresses soon.

Since things are slowing down I have a few moments to actually make a post. We are all adapting to a kitten. Pink Princess can't figure out why Spitfire runs away when she tries to maul the cat. Spitfire can't figure out why Pink Princess wants to eat her. It's great fun. Rynie is a huge helper, even if I don't quite *need* him to be. Most of the time it comes in handy though. Yesterday, he woke up from his nap before the rest of us and came into my room. He was so excited. Rynie found where Spitfire had not used her litter box! Eww! For the last couple of days, Floolie and I thought we could smell something after the litter box had been cleaned out, but we couldn't find it anywhere. Well, Pink Princess's swing was sitting in the hallway, and Spitfire thought that was a great litter box! And since Spitfire got Rynie's beanbag, we had to wash that also. I hate unstuffing the beanbag to wash it. There are so many little fluffy things, and they get static charged and stick to everything. Oh well, such is life when you have pets and small children.



Aubrey wanted more purple in her hair, so I found a bright purple to weave into her hair. Since she already had the blond and some red in, we did a little more of a reddish brown and the purple. She now has about five colors going in her hair! We also decided to put some purple in Floolie's hair. Since Floolie's hair is so dark anyway, it just gives her hair a purple cast when she is out in the sunlight. And yes, that is a metallic red table cloth in the background. Rynie saw that and had to have it. It was on clearance so I didn't mind, but wow, it's bright. He saw it in the drawer the other day so we are having to use it. What a guy. :D



The kidlets are so fun. We have been working in the yard while Hubby is at school and work. Jake came over yesterday and broke up some of the bigger weed patches in the front. He probably saved me a month's worth of work since I have to do the yard when other stuff is done and work around all the rain we've had lately.

Pink Princess has been exploring the house like crazy. She is into everything and trying to walk and stand up on her own. The standing up on her own has a better success rate than the walking though. She is one tough cookie. She falls down then picks herself up and keeps trying. Here she is trying to take the tablecloth off the table. Rynie is 'supervising' to make sure she doesn't hurt herself. And yes, Rynie did get his summer buzz cut.

Since we went to Scotland, I have had my own Knight! He trounces the 'bad guys' and saves the Princesses, including the resident Pink one. We were watching Sleeping Beauty and he had to get his gear on and help Prince Phillip. Sir Rynie the Magnificent was victorious! You can see all his vanquished foes littering the ground! We are having to watch the ending again so he can fight the bad guy and save the Princess!







My house is *almost* there being ready for Floolie to visit and dinner is in the oven just waiting for her to get here. We are having Roast Beef and mashed potatoes for dinner and I think we'll do a salad and then a pound cake with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. I can't wait for Floolie to get here!

Pink Princess has been napping off and on today. When she's napping, I have been getting a lot of house work done. When she's awake, I ready her room for Floolie to get here. I've been packing away too little baby clothes while I am at it. It makes me sad to see her little outfits that no longer fit.

She is quite adept at chasing Spitfire! I have never seen either one of them move so fast. Pink Princess is speed crawling and Spitfire is only keeping on the earth by the tips of her toes. They are both sleeping right now. It's hard work being the hunter and the hunted!

Rynie loves Christmas music. So much so, that I have to hide my songbooks from him otherwise we do Christmas music everyday. So imagine a three year old almost following the melody, slightly off key rendition of Santa Claus is Coming to Town over and over again! Interspersed with Rudolph, Jolly Old St. Nicholas, and just about any Santa centered song you can imagine!



Last weekend, I was out pulling weeds in our front yard and something small and greyish darted off. My heart sped up and I had that momentary Oh, a mouse! reaction then saw said thing sitting about a foot in front of me. I knew a mouse wouldn't do that so I went to see what it was. We had a toad in our yard! We put it in a jar for the night so Rynie could see it in the morning. Then we went out to pull more weeds. When we came back inside, the toad was NOT in the jar. I had a toad loose in my house!!! Hubby finally found it in the family room over by the fireplace! That little toad was making good time! Rynie had a blast playing with it the next morning as he had it hop on his hands and chased it through our neighbor's grass. When we were done with it, we turned it loose in the woods behind the house!



Pink Princess is quite the mover and shaker! She has been attempting to stand on her own and it usually involved her booming down on her bum after a second or two. She has decided that she wants to eat big people food. And because my children never do things the 'normal' way, she likes to eat it off big people silverware. None of that little baby or toddler stuff, she needs her food served just like Mom and Dad. We are still working on the taking a sippy thing though. I have Frankensteined a sippy and that is working best so far. I have combined an Avent and Nuby sippy and it's working okay. The Nuby sippies are too long and she doesn't like her head tilted back that far and she doesn't like the Avent ones because it's not squishy enough to suck on. I'm hoping to make it to the store to see if they have a small Nuby one because she likes the crucial parts on that one best. She laughs and thinks she is quite the big girl.

She also loves to eat grapes and strawberries. We have to slice the grapes in half, but she sucks the middles out and leaves the skins. When we take her out of her highchair, there are all these empty grape skins sitting in her chair! She swiped this strawberry from my plate the other day.







Rynie now has red hair. Yes, you read that right. Every time he sees me do hair, he asks if he can get red hair. I was doing my cousin Aubrey's hair and thought why not? He will be getting a summer buzz cut soon so lets go for it! He thinks he is da Bomb or something!



Pink Princess is the stair master! She loves climbing up the stairs, but hasn't quite mastered the going down. She usually goes down end over end. She'll stand up on the stairs and then bounce and fall down. Pink Princess only does that when I think she's entertaining herself and I'm helping Rynie do something I can't leave, like cooking at the stove. We'll hear a thump bump and then she chews us out royally. We are working on her going down the stairs backwards so she doesn't splat anymore, and making a little progress.





We also went ahead and got Rynie a cat. The deal was he had to go six weeks without an accident. He kept going four or five weeks then he'd have one so we'd have to start over. The six weeks was actually up about two and a half weeks before we left for Scotland, but I didn't want to get a cat and then have to leave it semi-housebroke for someone else to take care of. Then, with all the craziness since we've been home, we haven't had time until this last Friday night. We went down to the animal shelter and looked at the cats. Pink Princess was enthralled with a bird there. It was whistling and she would coo back to it.

Well, Rynie finally picked out a kitten that is 6 weeks old. She is cream colored with 'lilac' points. Read: smoky grey. When we got her home, she stank like the shelter so we had to bathe her twice to get rid of the smell. Hubby asked how things were going and I said she was a little spitfire. After we dried her off, we asked Rynie what he wanted to name her. He named her Spitfire, although Rynie calls her Firespit sometimes. He loves his little kitten and she runs from all the 'love' he gives her. He is getting better at being soft though.

Pink Princess is totally enthralled with Spitfire and Spitfire with her. Neither one knows what to make of the other! She is looking for Spitfire here:



Poor cat, she is trying to hide from her adoring fans!





The other morning, I woke up to giggling. Hubby had already left to take Jake to school and so I went to investigate. This is what I found!





Jake is doing better. His 7AM class is done on Monday and then he just has a Photography class for the summer! Thank goodness, the kid needs a break.



We also got the majority of our garden put in. Yes, we had to hack it out of the weeds that are taking over our back yard, but I have herbs and strawberries planted, more herbs in pots, and a boy who loves to water plants!





Just in case anyone is wondering...Guess what is coming to my house tomorrow!!! ....Floolie!!!! Floolie is flying in tomorrow and Bump will be here a little later and we'll get to see them both! - Photo courtesy of Rynie's awesome skillz!



My sewing is coming along, slowly but surely. I'm hoping to get in some good sewing time when Floolie is here and playing with kidlets. My short stays just need to be bound and they fit so nicely!!! I am so excited to wear them. Now, I just need to remeasure myself and trace out the gowns so I can get going on them!

Since we all know I can't resist the sleeping baby pictures....A Sleeping Baby!



I hope everyone has a wonderful week this upcoming week. I am going to try to blog more often, it's too hard to catch up if I don't.

Good night, and Sweet Dreams.