Tractor Boy turns Two

Timothy turned two on the 24th. We made it easy and just celebrated his birthday on the tail end of Thanksgiving.

I made the cake for him. I had to make the harrow rows with a windshield scraper. Chad's parents unknowing provided the cake topper.

My grandparents gave him the sweatshirt. He is truly our John Deere Boy!

Weekend with the Sipps

Last weekend we went with the Sipps to visit Matt's dad a couple of hours north of us. Terry, Matt's dad, had moved and we or the Sipps had not yet seen his new place.

The weather was forcasted to be nice and sunny but turned cold and dreary. Really cold and dreary. We still had fun nonetheless.

Terry presented Ella with a gift of a kids size John Deere Gator.

There is a sign saying kids shouldn't ride in the back, but come on! Who could resist?

When the newness wore off and the others went in side Tim's wildest dreams came true. He got it all to himself. He only could drive in circles, but that was for the best anyway.

Then Nathaniel came back out and joined him. I do believe they are the cutest boys ever.

Before the weekend started Sandy had totally creamed my butt on a Nintendo Wii. Somehow the competitive spirit carried over to our visit at Terry's. When the men got done with shooting we started a friendly shoot off.

Judges had to be called in check the results. Sandy won...again. But I did put up a good fight.

Terry also owns a jeep that is no end of fun for us older kids. Chad, Matt and I took off for some off roading.

We found an abandoned homestead deep in the woods that we explored.

When we got back we decided to take the kids out in the field next to the house.

Two unsuspecting boys not knowing quite what to expect.

Please excuse the quality of the following pictures, I was taking them over my shoulder while bouncing around and holding on for dear life.

If you look closely you can see Nathaniel in the back seat.

Titus, Nathaniel and Timothy.

On the second day Terry showed the girls how to put the Gator in to the fast mode. There was lots of squealing and screaming.

Terry then got out the shotguns and clay pigeons and Sandy and I went at it again. This time, I won, by a long shot. No pun intended!

Shooting a 12 gage was a lot of fun. Even though my shoulder is now sore.

All in all the weekend was a lot of fun.

A Boy and his Dog

A week ago Timothy figured out how to throw Mika's ball. We have a "ball thrower" toy (Chuck It is the brand name) that throws the ball twice as long as what we could with just our hands. Once Tim figured it out he threw it over and over and over.

Mika is his best friend now.

Little House on the Prairie

Lately I have been reading "Little House on the Prairie" to the kids. The original site is located close enough to be a day trip for us and so on the spur of the moment we decided to go. By "spur of the moment" I mean 3 days - that's spontaneity in the Baker family. Maggie and Katie joined us and off we went.

The cabin is not the original, it no longer exists but this one was rebuilt in 1977 as a replica after research confirmed this as the original site. I am shocked how much information was given in the book as to how the place was built. The replica was not exact, but good enough. Nathaniel has not grasped the concept of time. So as a result he kept expecting to see the Ingall's dog Jack.

The living historian explained much of the place to us.


Nora trying on the sunbonnet. I call her "Toothless" now after the dragon in "How to Train your Dragon"

Katie and the sunbonnet.

The China Shepherdess. In the books the Ingalls girls always knew they were home when Ma set out the doll. I doubt it's the original. I didn't want to ask, I would just like to believe it was. The living historian explained the Laura was 3 when she lived here and very much older when she wrote the book and so a lot may not have been remembered correctly. Her daughter and editor also changed things up so as not to present the family as "hicks and back-water folk".

Sun in their eyes.

Nora's 6th Birthday Party

Nora has turned 6! The lucky girl has had 3 parties, two shopping sprees and more gifts than I can count. The party she had with her friends I hosted at a friends horse stable. Mr. Chuck, the owner graciously allowed the girls to ride his horse and also gave them buggy rides.

The buggy was a restored spring wagon that is about a 100 years old.

Okie, also known as Pokie Okie provided the horse power for getting around. He is a retired racehorse (where he earned his name, Pokie) and Amish buggy horse.

Mr. Chuck and a wagon load of girls!

Katie

Maria made the cake for Nora and saved me a lot of stress!

The girls and the cake.

Katie decided to lend a hand in blowing out the candles.

Maggie dropped some cake and Miss Kitty tried to clean up the mess.

Ella and Nora.

Birds on a wire. Watching the horsey rides.

The Birthday Girl!

Ohio 2010 part 1

Last week we visited Chad's family in Ohio. For the first time since we had kids we made the trip in one day. Normally we take two days to drive the 850 miles. I wanted to save some money so we spent 16 hours driving each way. The money I saved was eaten up by the speeding ticket I got in St. Louis. We took Mika with us this time and she did well but Zoey and Stella, Liz's two dogs didn't welcome her. Despite that we enjoyed having her with us and she would agree, I'm sure.

Chad's parents have all matter of vehicles for the kids to ride in and drive.

(just wait till you see the tractors!)

Tim claimed the Jeep as his.

Playing chicken?

Nora got to drive...

...and so did cousin Aubrey.

When we arrived Nora handed me one of her front teeth, when we were almost home she handed me her other one. She is now missing her top two teeth. All this was brought on by Nathaniel hitting her in the mouth last week. Thank goodness they are only her baby teeth!

Brace yourself, I have a grand total of 9 blog posts for this trip!