It's not easy being neat

Dinosaur shaped Spaghetti O's with meatballs are Adelae's new favorite food. It's hard to believe, but I think she even likes them more than Kraft Macaroni and Cheese! She's been doing really well with using a spoon all by herself. In fact, we are not allowed to feed her anymore. Sometimes we can't even sit at the table with her! This was one day when she insisted on eating all by herself. If you've never experienced the mess an independent toddler can make with Spaghetti O's, you should. After this meal, I cleaned Spaghetti O's out of her ears, nose and eyes for about 30 minutes!

What an imagination!

Adelae has developed quite the imagination in the last few weeks. She's been taking care of her babies almost all day long. She loves to 'feed' them and make them go to the potty.

Feeding the baby breakfast



Baby's all done with breakfast.



Now it's time to potty



The baby is actually IN the potty...not sure how that will work for potty training!

Tree, Boom, Loud, Scary

Dad and Ben cut down an old dead tree in our yard last week. We weren't prepared for how easy it would come down and it took us all a little by suprise. This is what Adelae had to say about it.

Thank God I'm a country girl

In the past few months I've come to realize that I'm a country girl at heart. I do miss the convenience of the city, but I love the quiet of the country. Each time I have to run to Fort Wayne for something, it becomes a little more irritating. There's so much traffic and so much noise. Not to mention, the people just aren't as courteous as they are in the country. I'm not quite sure what has happened to common courtesy. When I go to our small town grocery store I am always asked if I would like help out to my car. In fact, sometimes they are quite insistent that they help me. One woman said "It looks like you have your hands full. Please let me help you." On that day I had bought a gallon of milk and a few other things. I went to a grocery store in Fort Wayne and bought our weekly groceries and I was never asked if I would like help. I didn't need it, but the offer would have been nice. In a small town, if people see a woman alone with a child, they will always hold the door for you. Not so in the city. I was on my way into Adelae's 18 month check up and I had my hands full with a crabby toddler, a purse, diaper bag, a bleeblee (blankey), and Adelae's baby doll. The man going through the door in front of me had empty hands and literally shut the door in my face. I thank God that He has given us the opportunity to raise our daughter in the country where people seem to look out for you no matter what.

Freezing corn

If you're from a farm family you totally understand freezing corn. For those of you unfamiliar with the process, it's pretty simple. 1)Pick the corn 2)Husk the corn 3)Cook the corn 4)Cut the corn off the cob 5)Put said corn in bags. Easy enough right? Well, that's what I thought too! You see, I haven't actually done corn (farm talk for freezing corn) in many many many years. I have a vague recollection of husking corn with all my cousins when I was little. It seemed easy enough then! When my dad and step mom asked if I'd help do corn this year, I enthusiastically said YES! I was remembering all those great memories and thinking ahead to all the wonderful corn I'd have to eat this winter. (If you've ever had home frozen corn, you'll know what I'm talking about.) I was informed that this past weekend we would be doing corn while my little sister was home. Again, I enthusiastically agreed. So, I showed up to my dad's on Sunday late morning ready, willing and able to do corn.

My excitement waned a little when I saw my brother and brother-in-law surrounded by a mountain of unhusked corn. However, I again remembered all those wonderful memories and all that corn for winter. I grabbed myself a piece of ground a nice pile of corn and got to work. We were making some great progress...till I realized dad was out in the field picking another trailer full of corn. I felt my enthusiasm slip another notch. Then, my back started to hurt..."Hmmm" I thought to myself, "maybe this wasn't such a good idea. When I was little, this was much more fun!" In the name of familial duty and all that corn for winter, I plugged on husking. After 3 hours, I was informed that my step mom probably needed help cutting corn off the cob. I eagerly volunteered. Anything to stop husking that never ending mountain of corn!

I gladly left my pile of corn behind and headed inside. I was greeted by two enormous sinks full of cooling corn, two large pots with corn cooking in them, and several pans full of cooled corn, ready to cut. My enthusiasm slipped another notch. (Did I mention that I drank rather heavily the day before and I was suffering from a monster hangover?) But, again remembering all that corn I'd have to eat this winter, I picked up a knife and set to work. Let me tell you, cutting corn is not as fun as it may look. It was great for the first hour or two. Hours three and four were a little rough. I believe my step mom said I was 'whine assing.' And to be honest...I was! However, we plugged on....and on...and on...and on. After several hours (and I mean several) we were done!

All told we did about 20 bushel of corn that day. In case you're not familiar with a bushel..it's a lot of corn. Trust me!

Table full of corn


Taylor, Louie, Maria, and Dad cutting corn


Can you tell we were having lots of fun?

Who needs a bathing suit?

Adelae decided to go for a little swim the other day. No problem right? Well, she decided that a bathing suit wasn't necessary and her clothes would do just fine. She thought she was being sneaky, but little did she know, mommy had the camera ready!

I'll just stand in the water Mommy


And maybe splash a little bit.


But I just FELL down, I didn't do it on purpose!


I'm already wet, may as well play!


Playing in the sprinkler is lots of fun!

Terrible Twos Already?

I think we may be starting the Terrible Two's at an early age. Lately Adelae has really discovered her independance. We've been dealing with the temper tantrums for quite some time now, but now we've started a new phase. If I tell Adelae 'NO' and point my finger, she pushes my finger away and says "NOOOO." The other day she pushed my face away and said "Bad Mommy." Evidently, she thought it was ok to eat the dog food, and didn't want me telling her any different. If I tell her no, or give her a time out, she won't have anything to do with me for at least an hour, especially if Ben's home! This morning, she was following me around asking my "why?" and saying "do?" (Adelae's version of "what are you doing?") I would tell her what I was doing and that was promptly followed with a "Why?" I've heard that she acts just like her mommy! All I can say to that is "UH OH...We're in trouble!"

However, when she's not testing her limits and my patience, she is the sweetest little girl. She loves to give me big kisses and hugs. She's also learning the phrase "Love you." At least I think that's what she's trying to say. It's like the saying "When she is good, she's very very good, but when she's bad she's HORRID!"