I go out walking

Another weekend spent in the woods. A different woods though. Galvin Line woods, not Loman woods...so this post is different. It was Papa Milo's 64th Birthday on Saturday and we went out to the cabin to celebrate. Papa handed out boots and walking sticks and we all ventured out into the wilderness for a family walk.

Emmitt was more of a stick collector but had a blast burning off all that extra energy.

We let Parker bring along his four-wheeler. Bear thought that enough time had passed since Parker deliberately ran over Emmitt and put him on the back until he realized he was moving and started FREAKING out. Grandma Peggy and Emmitt walked with all their sticks.
Oh...and we saw a moose track! I was secretly hoping we would see the moose-far off you know-but the track was huge! That would be Parker's foot that fit in the track.Emmitt was sure to give extra snuggles to Papa for his Birthday.Oh look-my kids have a mother! I am actually in a picture...Parker's four-wheeler battery died part way through the walk and then he said his legs gave out of energy and he ended up on my back.The Stick ManI get the cheesy smile from Emmitt now...We gave Papa an airplane ride fly-by over the cabin for his birthday-pictures will be taken by me. The best part is Auntie Casey is the pilot! We plan to go up next Tuesday (10.6.09) if the weather holds out...should be tons of fun!

We celebrated with a sloppy jo supper and cake with icecream...the kids tormented the dogs while we were there and then we left Milo, Peggy and Linda to their peace and quiet weekend at the cabin.

Back to School Contest

Well, there is a first time for everything...I entered The Daily Journal Back to School Photo Contest with this picture...Voting goes through this Sunday...click the link on the side of the blog or here to vote for your favorite-even if it isn't mine...hoping to score a Hideaway gift certificate.

Our Weekend in Pictures

Every post after a weekend is going to be "we were at the shack this weekend and this is what we did..." so I'll just put some pictures of our very fun weekend for you to see...

We went four-wheelin' all over. Down many trails, more than once to find birds. I said we were the Partridge Family...all crammed onto one wheeler. For now, with the boys at the size they are, we still fit.

When daddy stopped and got off the four wheeler the boys knew he would shoot his loud gun so they prepared by covering their ears. We saw 2 birds and didn't shoot either. Once they go into the woods you can't see them with all the leaves...

This is the scary bridge the guys put in the river so they can get to their deer stands. There are many trails back across the river that we went down, but Parker was a little hesitant to cross the bridge. I am always scared to cross it, but if we didn't we wouldn't see sights like these...

Thorn Apples...it took Parker all weekend to remember what these little berries are called that the partridge like to eat.

Ahhh...my favorite leaf color...those Maples are already turning.
On the same road as the shack is Blake and Casey's farm house. Which means when we go for a visit Parker usually gets to go on some big piece of equipment.
This day it happened to be the "Poop Flinger" AKA Manure Spreader. But as you can see my name for it was more accurate. I was on the four wheeler a little too close when Blake said "you might wanna back up a bit"...I didn't quite realize how far the poop was going to fling.After all that poop flinging the boys needed a bath. We thought we would upgrade to a 5 gallon bucket...Parker still didn't fit, but Emmitt fit just perfectly!Violet spent some of the weekend with us too...she loves the kids and they love her.We went for Rhino rides on some trails too. Parker loves the Rhino and Auntie Casey is more than willing to drive him around.We randomly have to stop and open the gates to the electric fence around the farmland. Parker thought he would say "hi" to a cow in the distance! We got up close and personal with the cows at times. Bear would just say "the green tagged one is the bull" and my palms would start sweating...Emmitt loves to cradle on momma's lap while we ride. Both days he napped in the crook of my elbow.Loving the shack weekends-they are well worth the work of getting there and back.

Top 10 Reasons We All Need a 3 Year Old

Top 10 Reasons We All Need a 3 Year Old

10. When asked why did you pee in your pants he always answers with "cuz, I don't want to"
9. (on field trip day to Voyageurs National Park) They told us we couldn't touch or picking ANYTHING (angrily)
8. (same field trip discussing animal pelts) when asked if any of the kids' dads or moms hunt? Parker said "my dad shoots at big bucks but not the little ones just the bigs ones"
7. on our way to Auntie Tammy's park-he has to pee "too bad", so I tell him to go into Aunties house, he instead pees just off the driveway while I am getting Emmitt out of the car and says "hey mom, I peed right on Pastor Glenn's little tree over there"
6. (on picture day) We went upstairs into the dark and they had big umbrellas and a high chair
5. I didn't take it from him, Emmitt just dropped it and I picked it up.
4. Hey dad I'm the boss of you and you're the boss of me
3. Momma you have a big hiney (while trying to crawl through the tunnel at the park with me)
2. (When listening to grandma and Papa discuss if Papa got an answer) he says, "hey Papa, grandma DO answer you!"
1. The bus driver told me to sit on my pockets and I told her I didn't have any!

you find family in many different ways...

I am a true believer that this man was put in my life for a very specific reason. It has been almost 25 years since I walked over to my neighbor's yard, batted my big brown eyes and asked whatcha doin'? From that moment on, he says, I won his heart. My Milo I call him. I find myself explaining to people more and more these days what "relationship" we have or "how he fits in the family picture". He has been the primary pick up for Parker at preschool and I had to fill out that little form that says who he is. Well that little blank space wasn't nearly enough room for me to tell the teacher what "relationship" he is to me and my boys...so I simply wrote Papa. No questions were asked, she didn't have a problem with him picking up Parker. Then it came time to order pictures for preschool, the most logical package (most expensive) only has 2 5x7's-because most families have two sets of grandparents-well my boys? They got lucky-they have three! So I easily justify spending and extra $10 for another sub-package to get a 5x7 for all the Papa's and Grandma's.
This man never had children of his own with his wife, AKA Grandma Peggy (Piggy-if Parker says it) and says I am all he needed. He taught me how to love a man as a father figure, to respect myself, to pull the tendon of a detached partridge claw to make the toes move and how a Papa can love his grandchildren.
He is full of corny jokes that I don't understand half the time, has the patience to explain them to me without judging me, is an expert Man's-Man...he can build, fix, teach and destruct any type of home improvement project with my husband and we have full confidence that it is done properly. He is sure to divide his time with both of my boys equally, never favoring one over the other, but makes sure that they both spend individual time with him. When picking Parker up from preschool-they have developed a ritual of high-fiving as the line of kids-on-a-rope come in from the playground. Today he lectured Parker on not eating boogers and told him he was better off wiping them on his shirt than eating them.

For the past 8 years My Milo has come over to our house for a weekly visit. Thursday's are Milo night in our house. First it started as a Survivor-watching night, then the babies came and Survivor got turned off and old time Country music got turned on. I absolutely am amazed at all the words he can remember to those old songs. We all love to dance around the living room and play air-hockey stick-guitar together.

He has taught Parker, like me when I was little, how to say This Little Piggy in Norwegian...he is working on Emmitt-the One Who Doesn't Speak-too, but it'll be awhile. He has routines with the boys when he is ready to leave and they are ready for bed...they each go with Papa to hear the wind chimes we have in the corner. They are ceramic wind chimes and have held up well through many bangings by little ones. He does Lil' Toe, Toe Til', Til a Roo, Mega Fru, Stoda Cruba Hasten with the boys, puts on their jammies (he doesn't do diapers), does The Bumble Bees are coming from the barn and they are going to stick you in the arm-the boys just giggle with anticipation of that familiar poke in the ribs...as he pulls away in his "bumpy old truck" the boys scream out the window-Papa, Papa and wave frantically as he drives away beeping his horn at them. As I stand behind them thanking God that he put My Milo...My Dad in my life and that I am lucky enough to share him with my family.

19 Months and at the Shack

B U S Y

Even the weekends are busy around here. Friday night I worked at the Spot. Bear and the boys hung out eating pizza in the living room. Saturday morning Bear headed down to the shack to put the bridge in over the river so we can get to our stands this Fall. I was so nicely asked to golf with my nephew Derek in a scramble, babysitter (sister Tammy) included that I couldn't pass it up. So my Friday night tips went to the Frostbite Scramble entry fee and we teed off at 9 am in the fog and bugs. We had an absolute blast. It helped that we were playing really well too. We thought we had a shot at the big money ($1,000) but going into the last 5 holes, we "fell apart", meaning we parred or birdie the holes-FYI-you don't win scrambles with pars or even birds-you gotta be getting Eagles out there! Tons of fun was had though. I was 1 of 5 women that even played that day and I was the only girl in the eight some we had.

By 4 o'clock I was dog tired and hand a sunburn on my nose. I get home to get the boys and start packing for a night at the shack. The boys cooperated while I scrambled to pack as fast as I could without forgetting anything-in the back of my mind really wishing the DVD player still worked in the car-a snack and a DVD while buckled in car seats seemed to have worked for us, but the adapter broke and I'm not sure it can be fixed...so we headed down to the shack for a Pig Roast with the Fultons and a bonfire at our own shack. I really think it's been a year since we have stayed down at the shack overnight-Papa Don's birthday last year. The boys were little fire-monsters, throwing every last stick around into the fire...by 8:30 the bugs were carrying us away and we headed in for hot water baths in the sink, books and flashlight bedtime.

Parker kept saying his knees were not getting wet-he didn't quite realize that they are never going to fit in that little tub again. Emmitt was afraid to sit in the water but eventually did and was the wrinkliest one of all.

Finally by 19 months-to the day-the kid saw me pick up the camera and said eeeese and put this smile on his face.
We have a (diaper) box of toys down at the shack which has this net and little green frogs in it...the net made the rounds all night and day on other people's heads.What a look-jammies, puddle boots and a sweatshirt while he plays monster trucks.

With me being the Queen and all, I don't have to cook while I am at the shack. I am contemplating moving down there permanently, but I know it wouldn't last. Papas Don and Norm and Bear made breakfast for us all. Eggs, bacon, venison, fried potatoes and toast...

Emmitt wanted that fried potato so badly...but Papa just kept blowing on it. It's hot, buddy, you gotta wait... Finally...success! And boy were those potatoes worth the wait, Papa makes the best fried potatoes this side of the Black River.

The boys love being down at the shack...Emmitt finally rode the four wheeler without being totally freaked out from the experience. Parker can go from inside to outside without having to be watched every moment. Bear is making trails through the woods that we will be able to walk in for years to come. I bought my deer license this year and actually plan to tag one myself and not just give it away to one of the guys. We had a great day and night with family at the shack. Each year the boys get easier to take down there. This Fall has lots of weekends left to visit the shack. I am on a hunt for used bedding-Twin and Double sized-that I can wash, pack in a tote and leave in the garage. So when we head down to the Shack or in the camper it's all set to go. I am dreading the taking apart of our pillows and washing it all...currently it all smells like campfire and bacon.

A First for my First

Okay...so first I need to say that the huge-normous backpack was NOT my idea. First off, I was told by many mom's to buy the regular size backpack because of the projects that come home and once our wonderful winter season approaches the back pack needs to be able to hold snow pants, hats, mittens, boots, etc...Well people-all that crap isn't going to fit in the tiny Lightning McQueen back pack he has. I will also have you know that the back pack contained 2 jugs of raisins and the kid could hardly stand upright.

Walking towards door number 10. Ready to go to school without a care in the world.
He wasn't really excited about going to school...but he wasn't scared or seem nervous either. He is a bit more like me in these situations. He's an extrovert and change doesn't really effect him much...unlike Daddy. He can handle himself well with large groups of kids, plays well with others, doesn't judge kids or single out who to play with...He said he walked right up to the "baby washing" station and asked the 2 little girls there if he could be the dad!

He found Mrs. Foug-a-nar's (Fougnar's) room and showed Daddy and Papa where all his stuff goes, dropped the raisins off with the teacher and then told us all he was going to the park! Which, I give him credit, sounded like a good idea to him. It is exactly what we did at registration and I am fairly certain that is what he thought school was all about.

Bear and I had discussed a few rules of preschool.

1. ask politely if you "may" have a drink or go potty
2. wipe your own butt
3. don't come out of the bathroom to ask anybody if it's clean
4. be nice to other kids
5. when the teacher asks you a question-L I S T E N!!!
6. Only go home with people you know
7. Have fun
8. Tell mommy and daddy all about your day when you get home.

This was another one of the big Firsts in Parker's life. Bear and I are just finding it hard to believe that he is old enough to go to any type of school, even if it is preschool. Then we started calculating and in 2 short years, this will be Emmitt going to preschool and Parker will be heading into Kindergarten! Now that brings tears to both our eyes...

Without a hitch

Well the block party went off without a hitch. We had a great turn out, tons of food, way too many leftovers. The kids had a great time playing in the street together. Everybody got along. The adults visited and got to know each other better. A couple of families on the block were out of town and others had family visiting-who came to the block party too! The older people on the block loved the idea and everybody thought we should do it every year. We only had one neighbor who chewed us out about blocking off the street. Apparently she was having a party that night and had to move it since nobody could drive to her house. She said she "hated" block parties and wouldn't be coming! Yeesh. Once the sunset the bugs came out and most people cleared out. By 9:30 the kids were beyond tired and filthy dirty so we headed home for baths and bedtime. What a great way to spend an evening...

gone...again

So my hubby left for the great Grand Portage again. I am beginning to really hate Grand Portage and I have never been there! I hear it is very pretty. But last Fall I almost lost my mind with him being gone on the road. I, today, started my new shift at work. I am working 8-4:30 like normal people do. I do not consider myself normal. I get no break during the day because I am the only one there. I physically cannot get to the bank during operating hours. I own my own business and feel like I shouldn't have to work this much if I don't want to. All summer I had been going in at 9:30 so that I could spend time with the boys in the morning, because once 5 pm hits I am scrambling to make dinner and then in 3 short hours they are in bed. Am I ever going to see my children again? So here I sit, writing my blog at 7 am while they still sleep. I dread having to go wake them up from there warm beds to rush to get out the door on time. All summer we slept in together and took our time getting ready, played outside and I made breakfast every day! And next week? When my Parker starts school...he starts at 8:30 and not a minute earlier, I have no idea how I am going to get him to school at 8:30 when I have to be to work at 8. I am seriously considering bringing him to work with me and leaving the place unattended for 10 minutes while I drive him down the road to school. Is that just crazy or what? I have grandparents that can pick him up at 11 and bring him back to daycare-which is wonderful since we have already established the fact that I can't leave work during the day.
FYI-owning your own business isn't all it's cracked up to be!

In one week.

In one week, my baby, my firstborn little boy starts pre-school! We went to Kmart and picked out a backpack for him. I was told to get the regular size backpacks and not use the tiny little Lightning McQueen one he already has. He, apparently, will be bringing home huge projects. Once winter comes-the snow pants and boots need to fit in there too. So we come home and he is wearing it around the house and the backpack comes to his calves! I think if I put much weight in there he will tip right over.
Wednesday evening we go to the "meet the teacher night". I have a few things that I need to purchase for him to contribute to the classroom. Not the regular crayons and scissors I thought, things like: dixie cups, juice and kleenex!
Steph at daycare assured me that Emmitt will be just fine without Parker. She sees it happen more and more-that the younger sibling tends to "find himself" when the older one goes to school.
FYI-So...in one week, I will be posting some adorable pictures of the first day of school and a very depressing post about my kids growing up way too fast!