A NIght at the Fair

Last night was the opening parade for the 4-H fair and we took Perry's truck through to advertise Isch Seeds. We were watching Ashlyn and Abby so they rode with us, along with Tom and Brenda's kids and my brothers. Altogether there were 12 of us in this little truck. Between the fact that there were 12 of us and the fact that it was so unbelievably hot, the truck gave up the ghost (it overheated) before we reached the end of the parade and we got the horribly embarrassing pleasure of pushing it off the road into a parking lot.
After the truck was taken care of, Travis entered a greased pig contest. The Bluffton Fire Department was putting it on in the grandstands. The pigs were covered in vegetable oil and released into a muddy pit surrounded with straw bales. The object was to catch a pig and throw it out of the pit within 3 minutes. The last group consisted of 7 guys from church, and it basically turned into big mud wrestling competition. They had a blast and made great memories!!!

Apples and Slides

I think she was antagonizing the buffalo here... maybe someday she'll realize that that puny little fence couldn't keep in a ticked off buffalo.



The other night we took Madison to the State Park to feed the buffalo, play on the playground, and ride bikes. She had a blast. At first she wasn't too sure about the buffalo, but she eventually got a little closer and actually gave one of her precious apples up. Most of the time she would get really close, then quick put it in her mouth and eat part of it then give the apple to me to feed to the buffalo. (No wonder she had 4 dirty diapers the next day:) She's never really gotten to go down a big slide by herself, and she LOVED it. She screamed when we left the playground.

**If you ever have any fruit or veggies going bad...don't throw them out, take them to the park and feed the buffalo. I don't really know if it is legal...but we've done it a lot and have never gotten in trouble:)

Heavenly Birthdays

It's crazy to think that it's been three years since mom got to go home to meet Jesus. She got to experience a true Independence Day on July 4, 2005. At the time I barely knew her, but over these past three years, Blare has told me countless stories about her and I feel as if I know her a little better. For those of you who don't know, mom had breast cancer and Blare and I were engaged when she went Home. She always wanted to make sure that she got to meet her daughter-in-law before she died, and she got that wish when were engaged in April. We were married 3 weeks after she died. I'm so thankful for the 2 1/2 months I had with her, and for all the advice she gave me during that time. We are also so thankful for all the prayers and support during that time, and over the past three years, we know that God is good and we are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.

My Little Gardener

I know you can't tell in this picture, but her mouth is totally full of dirt. I didn't know it until she started spitting a bunch of it out. She's eaten dirt before but this time it was A LOT, she was gagging and coughing and I thought she was going to throw up. But thankfully she spit most of it out and I wiped her tongue/mouth and gave her a drink and she was on her way again.
This is my garden. This year I was able to double it since we moved to a bigger place. I decided to try a few new things, so in it I have; green beans, peas, lettuce, kohlrabi, potatoes, cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, onions, and rhubarb.
This is the lettuce. Most of the time I don't like garden lettuce, but this year I evidently got a different kind because I like it. Unfortunately, I don't remember what kind it is. Any suggestions for a really good variety?
I also decided to put in petunias to spruce the garden up a little, and they are really doing good. My brother's gave me a hibiscus tree for my birthday and the other day I was picking the dead blooms off of it and found a little nest. The bird is in there almost all day sitting on her eggs, but when we walk up she flies to the tree right above the nest and watches us. I am so excited to be able to see the little birds hatch and grow up.

Chocolate Pudding Anyone!?!

I took Madison to the Doctor on Saturday and she said that she was a little concerned with her weight. She told me to feed her as much fatty stuff as I could, so for supper she had a corn dog and chocolate pudding. I started feeding her the pudding and then decided to let her try, and this is what I got:

This was before the mess really began!
She got tired off having to take such small bites that she tried drinking it. Let's just say that that didn't last very long:)
This was when she was done and on the verge of throwing a fit. She has recently decided that she doesn't like to be dirty!! Thankfully she doesn't mind being cleaned up. She smelled like chocolate until her bath, but it just made me smile when I smelled her:)

Cheap Entertainment

As I was doing dishes tonight, I heard a little grunt and turned around to see Madison stuck in a bucket. We had a 5 gallon bucket left over from our supper stand and is has turned out to be great entertainment. I know if we were good parents, we would have immediately gotten her out, but being the parents we are, we had to get the camera first. (Notice the bright red label that says "children could drown in this bucket"? I've always seen the warnings, but thought that they were ridiculous, but now understand how children could really drown!! Thankfully this one was empty!!)That mean bucket!!!

Yet another way to have free fun with a bucket. By the way she did this all by herself, we did not help in any way!!

She got tired of the bucket and found her hat and was smiling so cute like that I couldn't resist taking another picture.

Diaper Washing

I don't really even know where to start this post, except to say that this day did not end like I thought it should!! I went up to Madison's room tonight to get her out of bed from her nap and I peeked into her room and all I saw was a naked little butt. Yep you guessed it... she took her diaper off again. But this time it wasn't only peed in, she had pooped in her diaper and all over the sheets and bed. So I just ripped everything out of her crib and took it down to the washer. I threw everything in and had to leave, completely forgetting about it. By the time I got home Madison was beyond tired, and as Blare was giving her her bath I remembered the clothes in the washer, so I ran downstairs and threw the clothes in the dryer and set it on high hoping her stuff would dry really fast. By the time the bath was done and she was ready for bed the dryer only had 1 minute left so I started taking stuff out of the dryer and little smelly tapioca looking things start spilling out of the dryer. At first I thought that some kind of bug had laid a bunch of eggs in my dryer, but I quickly realized that it wasn't a bug...but a dirty exploded diaper. GROSS!!! We decided that Madison would have to sleep in the pack-n-play tonight because everything had to be washed once again (except for her precious blanket which we shook out really good). I got the shop vac and just swept everything up. I actually cleaned the dryer inside for the first time in 3 years!! I guess if this is what it takes I'll do it:) This picture doesn't do the mess justice. It was seriously one of the grossest things I've seen in a LONG time. And did I mention the smell!?! It was awful!!!