Walton Acres

One week ago, my mom, myself, and the kids roadtripped to Loogootee, Indiana - home of my mom's side of the family - The Waltons. No, not John-boy (although we do have a John Walton in the family!!), but rather my grandparents, Obottee and Pop-Pop, where they had their hog and dairy farm. Sadly, they are no longer living, but the farm is still in the family and I always enjoy taking the kids down there to enjoy a small taste of farm living. So many great memories from my childhood are from our visits to the farm...four-wheel rides (some of which ended up crashed against a hog barn), playing in the hayloft (and sometimes getting locked in!), feeding the baby calves and letting them suck on your fingers, taking hogs to market and then playing "hogs going to market" with my brother and cousins, finding litters of new kittens to cuddle with...ok, I could go on and on. There are times when I am sad that my kids won't be able to have as many of these memories, since we rent out the farm and don't have "unlimited" access to the farm. But, visits like this one hopefully allow for a sampling. Here are the photos...the fall colors were just beautiful down south!

The scenery on the drive down (yes, I took this picture while driving!!)


Addy pets the piggies


Keith meets the pigs, a little scared at first!


The kids run up the chute that loads pigs to market (where's my hot shot??)


Addy finds a woolly worm


View of the woods behind the fields (anyone else ready to move with me to Loogootee??)


Since we went down there and back in one day (one way is a 2 hr drive) we were all a little wacked out of our minds! Keith, my little sleeper, fell asleep for a bit...


...Addy played with her gum (even though she's not supposed to!)...


...and Nana played with my camera!!


Until next blog,
Jen

What would you have done?

Sorry for the lack of blogging...I've got some pics to post but not much time today. I do want to share a story with you, though, and get your thoughts...

So, today the kids and I went to the grocery store. As I was loading up my organic produce into my super-sized SUV (in other words, I wasn't portraying a picture of poverty, I'm sure) a well-dressed, well-groomed, 30 something woman came up to me with the following plea: "I'm sorry to bother you, and I feel really silly to ask you but I've had some mechanical problems with my car and will have to make an unplanned overnight stay here until my car is fixed. I don't live here, I live in Cincinnatti, and of course, since I wasn't planning on it, I have no way to pay for my hotel room. I'm $16.38 short and would really appreciate you helping me out if you could. I'll be more than happy to take your name and address and pay you back once I get home." So...in my mind I'm thinking "so, you don't have an ATM card, or a credit card...no one to call that could pay for it with their credit card over the phone...blah blah blah". But I also thought, who am I to judge...I only have $5 cash, I might as well give it to her because, hey maybe she does need the money. So, I gave her my $5 and said don't worry about sending it back to me (to be honest, I just wasn't comfortable giving her my address!)

So, my question to you, my blog-audience, is...what do you think you would have done in this situation? Do you think I was scammed?? Should I even care if I was???

Until next blog,
Jen

What do a bad hairdo, saddle sores, and 51 stoplights have in common??

They are all things I need to blog about!!!

BAD HAIRDO: The first weekend of October, our friends Ray and Janet and their kids Zachary and Lucy came over to visit. We had a fun time getting ripped-off at Beasley's harvest festival, and then enjoyed a tasty meal and good conversation while we watched the Cubs lose. While we were watching the Cubs game, Zachary and Lucy got a little bored and decided to play hairdresser with Addy's box of hair accessories. I think Janet decided to do her hair like this for school that next Monday. Sorry Janet, I just couldn't pass up this opportunity to embarrass you.




SADDLE SORES: Last Saturday afternoon my brother took Audra, Brooke, myself and Addy horseback riding. (You have to be 3 to go, so poor Keith had to stay home and take a nap). This was a first time experience for all the youngins'. It was a gorgeous day and while we were in the woods we saw a family of deer, including a little baby. So cute! I realized I wasn't quite as limber as when I owned my own horse some 15 years ago, and was walking a bit stiff the next day. But we all had fun and are ready to get our own horses!! Of course, I forgot my camera, but did have the camera on my phone, so here are some very crummy pictures from that experience. Sadly, the picture of my brother on his horse didn't get saved for some reason.

Addy and Brooke at the stables


Audra reluctantly gets on her horse



Brooke on her horse "Andy"


Addy and Jen riding "Sara" (taken by Brooke while she was on her horse!)


51 STOPLIGHTS: Our friends Stephanie and Mark came over for "game night" and counted that many stoplights between their house and ours!!! Now, thats what I call devotion to game night!!! I'm not sure why we call it "game" night, it should be changed to "Puerto Rico" night, because that is always our game of choice!! We all laugh because Brian always has so many questions and seems to not know what he's doing, but in the end he always does really well. This was his second win in a row, so he continues to hold the Puerto Rico Championship belt, and this time he set an all-time high score. I, of course, came in last AGAIN.

Mark and Stephanie...getting ready to face the stoplights on the road back to their house



Senor Brian, Puerto Rican champion



The loser (self-photos are NEVER flattering!)



Mark's take-home scrap bag for composting...as he picked it up to take home he exclaimed "LOOK! I can see it composting already!!". (both of our families are beginning our journey to a compost utopia!)



Just FYI, this post took me nearly 1 hour because the blog photo upload was painfully slow today. UGHHHH!!!

Until next blog,
Jen

Addy's first field trip

Well, as some of you know, Addison took her first field trip yesterday. She was quite excited to ride the bus, even if it was down the road we travel every Tuesday and Thursday, somehow that trip just seemed so much more fun in a bus where you don't have to be in a car seat!!! We traveled to the local Orchard, and learned about how apples grow, how they are picked, washed, bagged, crushed, cidered...ok, you get the picture. The best part was when one of Addy's classmates threw up at the end of the tour RIGHT in front of her!!! Aunt Beth would have lost her mind!!!

Here are some pictures from the day!

Addy in front of the bus...even though it was only 50 degrees and windy, Addy was so excited that it was finally cold enough to wear her tights that she refused to listen to Mom and wear pants (she was sorry she didn't listen to me at the end of the trip!)


On the bus, ready to get going! And, yes, sadly, she does ask to wear this hat.


Addy's friend Maggie who loved the ride as much as Addy did


Addy and her class listening about apples





Standing in front of empty apple trees. Apparently the 3-4 days of frost that we had in late spring really hurt the apple production this year. This was the reason they gave for not letting the kids pick their apple right off the tree.


Addy picking out apples to take home. She choose a "teeny greeny" apple for herself. I guess she likes 'em sour!


Sitting on pumpkins after her snack. Can you see the oreo crumbs all around her mouth??


Until next blog,
Jen

Our weekend: Bappy fairy, orchard, and Anniversary

So, Brian decided to put an end to the pacifier nonsense; he told Addy that the Bappy Fairy was coming last Thursday, and she did! At first he suggested that we take the bappies away from both kids, but I assured him that if he wanted me to be in a good mood on our anniversary, that we just focus first on Addy. It went much smoother than I thought! Despite a 1-2 minute crying spell before she falls asleep, she's pretty much over them. Pretty good for someone who was addicted to them for nearly 4 years!!

4 months...


18 months...


2 years...


3 years!


Saturday was our annual family day of a parade and orchard visit. The parade gave us TONS of candy...I'm sure most of it will get tossed. And the orchard was fun because we did the "u-pick" apples, which we had never done with the kids before. Keith got stung on his chin by a trash bee while drinking a cider slushie, but somehow that sugary goodness seemed to keep his crying to a minimum!

Addy in the apple tree


Keith trying to pick up a pumpkin as big as him


Addy in the pumpkin patch


Keith gets up high for the perfect apple


Sunday was our 7 year anniversary. Since it was a beautiful day, we left the kids with Grandma and Grandpa and went to Bloomington and strolled around the IU campus. It was very beautiful and quiet, and fun to stroll down memory lane at the place where Brian and I met. We couldn't believe how much things had changed! We also stopped at Worms Way and bought a composter. Aren't we the romantics???

Brian and Jennifer...7 years younger


Until next blog,
Jen

Cousin Johnny mocks blog, so funny pictures are posted for his birthday

It was recently brought to my attention that my very own cousin is making fun of his wife for having my blog in her favorites list....so, I decided to do the only thing I could and make him a feature for today's post. I've selected a few of my favorite pics of him; excluding the one where he is getting hot-shotted while we prod him up the hog ramp. I decided to leave that one out because I wasn't sure how the public would view 4 children under the age of 10 playing with electrical hog equipment! And sorry to Amy and Uncle Buck for their embarrassing pictures, but I didn't have the heart to cut you out. Happy Birthday Johnny!!!

Johnny is the cute little baby in the front with the 1970s terry-cloth tank top!!


Awwww....


Sweet Buick!!



Also, a belated happy birthday to Grandma Billmeier, who turned a year wiser yesterday! We celebrated with Puss-in-Boots cupcakes AND German Chocolate cake (yes, the kids were bonkers!!)



And finally...last but not least! A big CONGRATULATIONS to my FSIL (favorite sister-in-law) Beth on her recent engagment to a wonderful person, Kyle Krause. Kyle, and his dog Boomer, will be a wonderful addition to the Billmeier family. Addy is looking forward to your wedding, but requests a disco ball just like at Cousin Johnny's wedding!!!

The newly engaged couple; Beth and Kyle


Until next blog,

Jen

Toilet training a boy...the fun begins!

This picture says it all...ever since he was born, Keith has always been interested in what Addy was doing and trying with all his might to copy it immediately. So, naturally, he now wants to go to the bathroom on the toilet instead of his diaper because, after all, that's what Addy does. And, while he definatley gets an "A" for effort, I'm not sure he's quite up for it yet...or maybe its me thats not ready! Case in point...yesterday. He walked through the front room shouting "Have to go potty!!" and ran to the bathroom, lifted the seat, and started to pull his pants down. I ripped off the pants and diaper as quickly as I could so as to seize the moment. He stood, leaned forward, grunted, and nothing came out. I asked "Don't you have any pee?" and he replied "nope" then ran off (pantless) to go see what Addison was doing. I gather his pants and get a new diaper and then go find him. I find him standing in the office, watching Addy play a computer game, with poop right on the floor by his feet. Looking back, he did answer my question correctly...he didn't have to PEE!!!! We now have a very clean spot on the carpet in our office and I'm left wandering what the best method for toilet training a boy is. I mean, with Addy it was so simple, you sit for everything. But, not being a boy, I'm not really sure how to approach the whole 'sit when you poop, stand when you pee" training session; and its quite obvious that Keith can't properly verbalize whether he needs to do #1 or #2. Any advice is highly sought after.

Until next blog,

Jen