Pre-Halloween Prep

I love carving pumpkins so I was really excited this week to finally get the chance to do so. My plan was to do our carving outside this year to hopefully cut down on mess... the weather had other plans! Oh well, we had a great time, mess and all! Jaxon was given three designs to pick from... a ghost, some bats or the creepy spider. After all his excitement this year over ghosts (or boos, as he calls them), I thought for sure that would have been his pick! He proved me wrong when he pointed to the creepy spider with no hesitation! His reasoning behind his pick... "Daddy's scared of spiders!"

We had a fun day of Pre-Halloween Prep. After picking treats for the cousins, we put together their bags and delivered them as far as their Daddy's work. We made Orange Jell-O Popcorn Balls and a few batches of fun pumpkin and scary cat cookies. Tomorrow we will tackle a recipe for some pumpkin cookies that actually have pumpkin in them... the others were brought to us by our good friends at Pillsbury!

Jaxon is really excited about getting to go Trick or Treating for the first time with his Dad... his Dad is pretty excited too! His costume is done and as long as rain stays out of the forecast, we should be good to go! I haven't let him try it on yet since it's constructed of mainly paper and duct tape! Who knows, maybe Henson/PBS will see my pics online and hire me to mass produce my "Buddy the T-Rex" from Dinosaur Train! (Yeah right!!!)

Santa's Little Helper

I have only one child to raise but I feel sometimes like I live with two! And while I tend to spend most of my time writing about my adventures with Jaxon... I have a few w/ my other child (at heart) too! My husband has never been real good with electrical issues and why I thought this time might be different is beyond me!

Anytime we have an opportunity to work on home improvements, there always seems to be hurdles to overcome! This time was no different! With time change right around the corner we felt there was a need to add a few more lights outside to keep us safe while feeding our calves in the dark. We also thought it might be nice to add a motion sensored light to our back porch since we are always forgetting to leave a light on when we know we'll be returning in the dark.

Changing light bulbs went smoothly (even though the ladder we were using had a broken leg)!Kent's quick fix: random pieces of wood found on the ground (real sturdy)! Oh yeah, and me of course, to hold the ladder in case it decided to move on us! There are times in a wife's life when she knows to keep her mouth shut and yet I couldn't resist the urge to ask (while he was on the rickety ladder), "and what am I to do if the ladder decides to shift a bit?!" He didn't have a response for that one, just an under the breath sort of grumble!

Moving on, we next attempted to tackle the removal of an already existing porch light... no problems there! He was successful in wiring and mounting the motion light (at least we thought). Now we were ready to try out our new lights! Upon opening the boxes in which our bulbs were in, Kent discovered that attention to detail is of great importance... we had one red light and one green light!

Working together has never been real easy for the two of us when it comes to things that men are just naturally supposed to do better than women! And after much frustration with the ladder and various other things, I made the call to just try the lights out to make sure he had it wired correctly. After all, the bulbs could be exchanged! He went back inside, flipped the breaker and all I hear is a somewhat loud popping sound... I think I forgot to mention earlier that the back porch light and my kitchen light are on the same line!

After a much needed break on both of our ends and a call to my Dad for some advice regarding electrical tape, the lights are all working again! But I felt that "Santa's Little Helper" (let's call him, shall we?!), needed a reminder everyday that paying attention to the small details of life is of the utmost importance! After the holiday season the bulbs will be switched out but for now "fa la la, la la, la la, la, la"!

Indoor Art

If there's one thing that my child might actually be prepared for when he starts school, it's art projects! Now that my Planes, Trains and Trucks mural has been done for about a month we took a brief break from the paint brush and focused more attention on catching up on a few good books instead! Since my Hubby is a weather fanatic (lunatic) I pretty much know sometimes a week in advance how to prepare... inside or outside activities!

On Monday morning we took an hour to scour our yard for fallen leaves to use in a leaf rubbing activity I had planned for Wednesday. Jaxon really got into the collecting part... the rubbing part, well let's just say, he would have rather used some "blueberries" (a.k.a. some purple, weed berries he found while scouring), than the boring, old leaves! Anyhow, I did manage to get his attention long enough to create the piece pictured below!

And after much deliberation, Jaxon won the "I want to cut w/ scissors" battle we have been having for the past couple weeks! Now I know what you're thinking... but he actually is doing a wonderful job! And even though I have to sit there through every, little, sniplet... watching his tiny fingers grasp that little pair of scissors is awful cute! And you can't have scissors w/out glue! So I gave in and let him use a little glue too!
It was finally time for the final activity of the day indoors... the pumpkin painting! The pictures that follow pretty much explain themselves! Finger painting isn't just for paper... pumpkins work too! Needless to say, this was our final art activity for the week!

Pumpkin Patch

Fall is my favorite season for many reasons, one of which is pumpkins! Jaxon, myself, Aunt Sam and Grandma visited a local pumpkin patch this weekend in search of the perfect pumpkin! Jaxon had told me when I asked if he'd like to go, that he would be bringing home the biggest pumpkin in the patch! We managed to compromise and brought home one suitable for carving!

There was a nice man who offered to drive our pumpkins over to the car so we wouldn't have to lug our wagon all the way across the patch... Jaxon got to ride in the golf cart with him!

This was a highlight of our trip! Although, I've decided that when it comes time for school field trips, I will not be volunteering to drive and if they decide to leave my child, I won't blame them! See Jaxon under the tractor?!

Grandma and Jaxon

This is the last picture I took while at the patch. As you can see, Jaxon had had it with having his pictures taken... Sam & I had had it too! (And this is why when it comes time for his preschool class to go on their first out of school visit, I'm going to want to hide!)

Gone But Not Forgotten

We sold our second batch of calves this weekend... it's always really sad for me to say good-bye! I sort of see them as pets and after watching Jaxon read books to them (when they first came), it makes their leaving even more bittersweet! Thankfully we were able to bring a new group over the same day as the others were sold so I wouldn't have to suffer from the feelings of an empty nest.

The upside of the sale was that we were able to let Dinkee & Furbee loose with the new, smaller group so they are able to mingle with new friends! Jaxon continues to name those that have been with us the longest. We have grown quite fond of a steer we call SpiderCalf or Spider (due to his inability to walk on all fours all of the time) and a female w/ a hip problem that we call Mama (Jaxon seems to think that she is the mother to all of the smaller calves)... the day they go is the one I dread the most! Jaxon will never be told who we are eating for lunch in those days following their disappearance!

The vet came out earlier this morning to check one of our newbies... Jaxon thought that was really cool! He was really curious about what they were doing and asked lots of questions after they left. His concern for that little animal made me think... maybe one day he'll want to be a vet! That would make this Mama really proud!

Santa Questions

Jaxon: "Mommy, when Santa comes, can he stay at we're house?" (He says we're instead of our.)
Me: "Probably not! He has a lot of other kids to visit."
Jaxon: "Who?"
Me: "Mackensi & Braylen and lots of others too!"
Jaxon: "Why?"
Me: "Because when you're good he brings presents!"
Jaxon: "Oh... am I good?"
Me: "Sometimes. He's always watching so you better try real hard to be good all the time!"
Jaxon: "Mom, I won't poop in my pants!"
Me: "That's a good start!"

Jaxon: "Does Santa like to eat Ronni's & Cheese?"
Me: "I bet he does, but I know he really likes milk & cookies!"
Jaxon: "Oh! Can we make him some?"
Me: "Sure... but we need to wait a few months. He won't be here for awhile & we don't want his cookies to get yucky."
Jaxon: "OK!"

Jaxon: "Mom, is Santa black?"
Me: "What?!"
Jaxon: "Is Santa black?"
Me: "Well, I'm not sure! I've never met him in real life. The one that we go see in Clay Center is white, but the real Santa could be Chinese, Hispanic, or African American... I'm not too sure!"

Jaxon asked me the other day if I had any more presents for him to open now that his birthday is over. I responded w/, "you'll have to wait till Christmas." That opened a whole new can of beans! These questions were all asked this week but the day he questioned me on Santa's ethnicity he colored his arm with a black permanent marker! I guess he wasn't convinced that I knew what I was talking about! Either that, or he was just being a typical little boy!

Party Time

Jaxon: "Is it Party Time yet Mommy?!"
Me: "Not yet... gotta wait a few more hours!"

The party was great! Jaxon had a wonderful time and so did we! After 10 months of planning and prepping, three hours went by too fast but once again, it was very much worth it! Timing this year was not on our side unfortunately! We all caught the flu earlier in the week and lost a day of decorating but managed to pull it off with a little help. Some friends weren't able to come due to illnesses and then of course the weather deterred some family from traveling.

My brother and sister-in-law had their new baby last Wednesday so I lost focus for a day or two but managed to stay off FaceBook long enough to finish my cake just in time! (We missed you at the party Ranai but understand... you had a good excuse! Now next year we'll have to toss a coin to decide who gets what weekend for their parties since Braylen's birthday is two days before Jaxon's!) What a special gift... a friend for life!

Thanks to everyone who helped us make this a special day for Jaxon... we love you all!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Braylen

My brother Dusty & wife Ranai had their baby this week! It's a BOY! His name is Braylen and he is adorable! I will be posting many more pictures and stories soon!

Mice in my Pants

We have a busy week ahead... the birthday party is a week from today! There won't be much time for my new favorite past time so I thought I should add this tale before I forget.

Jaxon and I had to make a quick Wally World trip on Saturday for a few last minute party details. While there, we took a stroll down the toy aisle a few hundred times in search of the perfect gift. After much searching we decided on a few items and headed towards the Halloween aisles. We started down aisle one of the Halloween section - Party Supplies. Jaxon quickly decided that he must get out of the cart to have a closer look at something. I was busy going over my list when I look up to see him putting something in our cart.

He had found and insisted that I buy him a package of about 30, small, gray, (and yes, you guessed it) "rubbery" rats! (I am starting to think that he has some sort of gravitational pull to these creepy crawlers!) When it came time to check out the clerk looked at me as though I was clinically insane when I requested that she leave the rubbery vermin out, so that we might play w/ them on the way home!

All 30 "mices" joined us at Donald's for a hamburger... luckily he had to bring his "murse" that day so I didn't actually have to carry all 30 of the rubbery creatures in my hands. The older couple sitting at the next table over from us probably got up half way through their meal not because they "had to get back on the road", but because Jaxon's new found friends were perched upon his hamburger (in a most disgusting sight I might add)!

I told Jaxon when it came time for bed last night that those "mices" were not sleeping in Mommy's bed so he would need to put them up until morning. Guess who woke up this morning w/ a rubber rat in the leg of her pj's?!

Gone w/ the Wind

In keeping with the theme of the week... Shaving Cream Dreams, and to pass the time on an overly windy day, I allowed Jaxon to have some fun cleaning my coffee table. If I have learned anything from P.A.T. it's that shaving cream cleans a surface like nobody's business!

We also spent some time baking (which w/ Jaxon's help is always an experience)! The boy loves flour and if you are looking for birthday gift ideas... you might as well save your cash and give the gift of flour! Seriously, he would spend hours on my countertop stirring! Last time we baked he got ahold of my flour canister and spice racks, he had the best time... I can't use whatever he came up w/ and need to just throw it out but I baked a cake and cleaned up my basement in the time he spent "cooking"!

The highlight of his windy day though was riding in the "poop truck" w/ Grandpa! He would spend days with that man and probably not even miss me! After my Dad called to see if Jaxon would want to ride along while he and my brother picked up bales, I asked Jaxon if he'd rather go w/ Grandpa or stay w/ Mommy... guess what his answer was! I've never seen the boy move so fast!

He filled his backpack w/ snacks and toys as though he was moving out, carefully picking those "special" toys of the day! He grabbed his "way too small" beanie (which basically only covers the top of his dome now and his strategically packed bag and was out the door before I even had a chance to change Kingston's diaper (the little guy I babysit).

On the way over to the farm Jaxon asked why Kingston had to come along. I explained to him that he would get scared if Mommy left him alone and that he wouldn't be going in the "poop truck", he'd be coming back home w/ Mommy to watch Oprah! With a small sigh of relief we continued on our way. Upon arrival, he jumped out of the car, ran over to the truck, hopped in and was gone w/ the wind and a tiny wave!

After Kingston went home Dad called to see if I could come out and help for awhile. When I got out to the field in "Tony's Truck" I figured Jaxon would want to come ride with me for awhile so I went over to the semi where I could see his little, blonde head bobbing around. I opened the door, he seemed happy to see me, but he quickly escorted me back to my "little" truck and told me to stay there! I've never felt so loved!!!

Shaving Cream Dreams

This is one of those moments I pictured in my mind the day we found out we were having a boy! I picture painting tiny toenails someday for myself, but for a Daddy, a little shaving cream, a capped razor and a lot of giggles makes for a shaving cream dream come true!