Monday, May 24, 2010

First tent camping experience with 2 kids

We went camping with Jeff and Jessica and their kids plus another couple, AJ and Carol with their daughter Summer. We kept watching the weather and it looked like it was going to be a bit rainy and maybe cold, so Luke and I opted for only one night and headed out on Saturday morning to meet the crew. We went to Medicine Lodge Campground outside of Basin. It was a perfect camping spot for families. Lots of grass and play areas, even a stream to fish in- all right next to the campsite. Right at the end of the campground, is a wall of petroglyphs that you can walk around. They were pretty neat and fun to see. I'm not sure Emmett really understood or cared as he found a great stick to play with. He is really into sticks these days. ? a boy thing ? We drove up to a "lake" (more like a pond) and let the kids go "fishing" (more like tossing some fishing line into the lake with a stick attached to the end). It was fun to watch them get so excited. I had a great time enjoying a cold beer and watching! We went back to the campsite and started preparing our random feast. Everyone brought something to share. It started with some spaghetti with meat sauce and some Thai mango pork sausages. Then we threw some onions wrapped in foil with butter and bouillon-tastes just like french onion soup! and ended with corn on the cob. Jessica and Jeff prepare s'mores a bit differently than I have ever seen. They use Reese peanut butter cups for the chocolate! So ridiculously delicious! Jolene played around in an extra tent that Carol brought for the kids to play in. What a great idea- so they didn't mess up the sleeping bags and stuff in the "real" tents. It also sheltered her from the wind when it would pick up. It turned out to be a really fun trip, but it was a bit too cold for the kids to sleep outside. Luke and I were cold, so I know that they were too. We got up(I should say the kids woke us up) really early, about 6am and started the car to warm the kids up and to pack up our stuff. The temperature read 36 degrees when we left the campsite that morning. On our way out we saw a gaggle of wild turkeys and pheasants. We we definitely go back, but I think we'll wait till the weather warms up a bit.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Critters

We have had a few critters try to move in lately. First was the robin that made it's nest on the top of our garage door opener. Not such a good spot, but luckily we caught it in time and there was just the beginning of a nest-no babies! Then Emmett and I were outside playing with his sand table and we noticed a rabbit hopping around. I am not a fan of the bunnies cause they like the open buffet that I am about to plant in the garden. I would prefer not to have them around. Anyway, we have not been working too hard on the still huge dirt pile in the front of the house and the bunny decided that it was a great place to burrow and make a nest. We watched the bunny go in and out of the hole with nesting supplies. I made mental plans to fill in the hole so it would go elsewhere, but Emmett climbing on the pile did a pretty good job of that.

It's BBQ time!

We had a great time at our first BBQ of the season. It has finally gotten warm enough to have a BBQ and drink outside! Jessica and Jeff invited us over for some deck time and it was severely needed. I have been in dire need of sunshine! We had a great time- I'm not sure who had more fun, the adults or the kids! Jeff grilled burgers and veggies and I brought a yummy concoction for kids to drink and adults to add vodka! Before we knew it, Jessica and I had finished the bottle of vodka that I had brought. Luckily, it wasn't full to start...but we wound up being pretty silly anyway. Melody is wanting to babysit SO badly. We let her hold Jolene and "pretend" to watch her. It's nice to have her around for a few hands-free minutes.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Jolene is having lots of fun these days

Jolene is really into everything these days and is loving it. She can't keep her hands off Emmett's toys-which he hates! She is starting to put on a little weight and I can now start to put her in a few clothes that I wasn't sure we'd make it before the warmer weather came. At Jolene's 9 month check up she was weighing in a 16.6 lbs and had probably pushed up to 17 by now. Probably all the mashed potatoes she's been eating lately! She has completey decided that she is D-O-N-E with baby food. I have wasted so much food contiually trying to get her to eat, but if it's not on her tray to eat herself, she won't have anything to do with it. I think she's jealous of Emmett eating across the table and got fed up. She absolutely loves the shoe drawer in her dresser. It's almost like she can't decide which pair to wear today- decisions, decisions! My kinda girl! and due mostly to her Aunt Chrissy, who can't get enough of the cute pink shoes!!















My boys

This year and last year. Gotta love the men in my life!

Yellowstone Opener






This morning was the Yellowstone Opener for the Chamber of Commerce. Last year, I was 7 months pregnant with Jolene. This year she is 10 months old and rode on my back. Emmett decided he wanted to ride in the jogging stroller. This was Jolene's first experience in the backpack carrier(which my girlfriend, Carol, loaned us her small carrier since Joey is still too little for ours!). I think she had a ball. She laughed and cooed and loved to pull on my pony tail(see photo)! We had a beautiful morning to have a race and finished in about 50 mins. Luke had to scoot up to Billlings right after for a baseball tournament he is playing in with a group of guys from town. He should have a pretty good time. Then we have a BBQ on Sunday afternoon with some friends....can you tell we all are trying to get the most out of the sunshine and nice temperatures for it is sure to snow at least once more before summer is officially here!





Sunday, May 9, 2010

Mother's day weekend

Saturday turned out to be a great day. It was supposed to be snowing and really cold, but fortunately it was sunny and upper 40's. I had signed up for the Montana Women's race up in Billings over a month ago(not really thinking about the weather at the time!) and was very happy to see the break in the snowy weather for the morning of the race. It was 2 miles and I am proud to say that I ran the entire thing(good for someone who HATES to run!) and in 10 minute miles. Not bad for the first race of the year. Luke and I are signed up for the Yellowstone race in Cody next weekend. Last year I was 7 months pregnant but now I just have to push a 10 month old in a stroller-much easier!

This morning for Mother's Day, I got to sleep in. Good thing since I had a few glasses of wine with our Mother's Day dinner last night. I also won in cards which helps the wine go down as well! Luke made me breakfast and the kids gave me cards. Luke also is giving me a yard(which is on hold- another story, another time!). I have had a great weekend and it's not over yet!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

back to bed

I should really just go back to bed and let the kids fend for themselves for the rest of today. It started out with more snow on the ground. If that doesn't make you want to stay in bed..... anyway, cold and snowy is the start to my day. Jolene wakes up and has a blown out diaper. On to breakfast, where Jolene pulls Emmett's cereal bowl, full of rice krispies and milk, off the table and onto the floor. Emmett screams and cries because she dumped his breakfast, then takes off running to the bathroom. He almost gets his pants down to pee. Notice the almost and the first pee of the day is always a doozie. The bathroom is now a complete disaster, as well as the living room and it's not even 8am! I finally got everything back to order and kids fed--ahhhhh, time for a cup of coffee. I go to put my water in the microwave to heat up and decide it's time to wash the glass turn plate. Shatters in the sink, cuts my hand and I still don't have coffee! The lover of band-aids, Emmett, gets me a band-aid from the freshly cleaned bathroom and makes it all better. I now have a cup of coffee, one napping child and thought I would share my morning with you all to make your day seem better.


Emmett will not sleep without his Thomas the Train pj's these days. It is freezing out and I told him he could keep the shirt on but that he had to put pants on instead of the shorts. At least the pants match.....but not what I meant.

Monday, May 3, 2010

new landscaping

Luke and I worked on the border around the house this weekend. Luke has gotten a bunch of free river rock, as much as he can haul away! We like free. We arranged them in a border around the house and I used the flat ones for under spigots and drains. It looks great and is a lot of fun to arrange(addicting like Tetris!).

Jolene is on the move

Jolene is certainly keeping us on our toes. She is crawling at a very fast pace and pulling herself up on everything. The problem with that is that she has not figured out how to get back down. She has had many failed attempts that end up in tears and a sore noggin. Just now, I found her attempting the stairs(following her brother whom was at the top!). Jolene loves to push the ride along/walker toys that Emmett used to play with. We figure that she will be walking in no time at all. They really do grow up fast.....