Expressions

Mason has started to use the whoa. I didn't realize I used it that much but according to Austin I do. I do. I hadn't noticed it until the little mimic started it. When I catch him doing something naughty he will look at me and go 'Whoa, Whoa, NO NO!'. Which is exactly what I do to him. I guess of all the things he could catch on to that is a fairly minor one that won't embarrass me too bad. Lord knows there are some worse things.

Another scary thing. I mean real scary. He is starting to give me expressions that look just like Austin's dad, Jeff. That Hansell gene is a strong one. Poor kid never stood a chance.

Total Jeff.

This is actually one of my all time favorite photos of Mason but it is Jeff thru and thru.

Amazing he gives the Jeff expressions more when he is causing trouble. Note: he has a grip on my telephone cord.

He learns something new everyday and it is getting hard to keep up. I have resorted to sticky notes in my calender. Austin didn't know and had to look up a date on the March page and when he took it down a whole bunch of post-its fell out. I don't actually write anything on the calendar. I don't know why but I don't and it bugs me to see other people's calendars all marked up. I know I am crazy. Maybe someday I will take a photo of my calendar obsession.

Supper

What to have for supper. This is the question that I have to ask myself everyday. I hate cooking on Wednesdays. I don't know why. Maybe because I don't feel like anything. Mondays we have spaghetti because it is Monday and it is quick and easy. Tuesdays we have makeshift sloppy joes. Thursdays we usually have homemade pizza or sausage gravy. Fridays are a treat on the nights that we stay home. Some weeks it is chicken fried steak and gravy over fried potatoes. Some it is whatever Austin has been asking me for that I tell him that we don't have the stuff for. I know I'm horrible. That is why I go grocery shopping on Thursdays. I would think that after 7.5 years he would have caught on that there is a pattern to what we have for supper. He hasn't though and I am just fine with it.
I used to have him make supper on Wednesdays but I got tired of having to wash every dish in the house after he got done. It is amazing for a one pan meal he would dirty 3 mixing bowls. I've never seen anything like it. There is a good reason he is an engineer and not a chef. Well other than his cooking sucking. He doesn't like to do the dishes he dirties. He thinks that because he made dinner I should have to wash dishes. Well, I want to know why he doesn't have to do dishes when I cook supper.

Wordless Wednesday?

I am never wordless!! It is just that I don't always have time to blog. Or sometimes all I want to do is complain. Today is one of those days! Now to decide on just one thing to complain about. I have so many things.

Take yesterday for example. We had no water. Out here in the country on a well it isn't like I can call someone from the utility company because there isn't one. First thing that popped in my mind was 'Great! How much is this going to cost?' Second thing 'How are we going to get this fixed and pay the house payments?'. Which makes me start thinking about the house in Indiana that has been on the market for 2 years. Yes 2 whole years. Just sitting there empty. A empty house that miraculously used 142,000 gallons of water last month. That is right. 142,000 gallons of water. Mind you our realtor told us she has been checking on the house and that everything looks good. I get the call from the water company and call her and she tells me "I was just out there yesterday and it looks good. We might need to have someone come in and dust." Dust are you f'n kidding me!! Dust!! Needless to say I didn't tell her about the water company calling me or that the neighbor had to go in and turn off the water. We are currently looking for a new realtor. This is not the first time she has screwed us over. Right now we are waiting on the damage pictures from the neighbor. If that isn't enough to give someone an ulcer I don't know what is. Amazing, just getting that out I already feel better. I will feel even better once we can get rid of the lazy... um... realtor. Honestly, how hard is it to go and check on the house when you drive by once a week? Okay, I'm done now. Life is too short.
So it isn't that I'm ever wordless or that I want to be wordless. I am just not sure that you really want to know what I am thinking about.

Thursday & Friday

Well after I drug him all over town before taking him home he was more than happy to "play" in the garage until supper. That was not my intention when I picked him up but while I was in town there were some things that I needed to do. he got over it. Now the lawn mower is ready to go thanks to him "playing" in the garage. He is crazy if he even thinks he is going to get to mow the yard first.
Friday Austin got up and went to work. I was so glad to see this. He had been talking about working from home. That would have meant that he would have taken over my office and internet. Totally unacceptable. So he went to work and got home about his normal time. I was glad about that. Hopefully it will get the dog on a better schedule. He gets on the back of the couch about 3:30 and waits for Austin to get home. Most of this time he is doing a real soft whine. If Austin is out of town he will stay in the window the whole first night and part of the next day. I do not understand this seeing as how he is attached to me and not to Austin.
Friday night we stayed home and vegged. It was nice. I didn't even have to ask Austin to put Mason to bed he just did it. If only he was that considerate all the time.

A Little Color Outside FINALLY!!

It is finally spring here in Iowa. Spring last approximately 3 weeks. From the first really nice day to the first day that the bugs carry you away is about 3 weeks. My definition of a really nice day is one that is nice enough that you can open your windows without freezing. The day these photos were taken it was about 75 outside. The day before it was 50 and the day after it was also 50. This day was thrown in as a teaser before we got the next rain system.

Mason wasn't too sure about the grass at first.
He got used to it though and started having fun.
Looking at my work gloves in the stroller. Yes I have work gloves. Austin makes me help him outside and I'm not about to get my nails messed up.

Don't mind the ugly curtains. They came with the house and they are the only set I haven't changed yet. I am looking but haven't found what I want yet.



We are told that these are tiger lilies. Last year we had a late frost and they didn't bloom.

Bad Mommy Morning!!

Austin gets home today!! Yeah! Oh why bother, I could take him or leave him today. Why? Well because I am picking him up from work at about noon. Then he is coming home... with me... and its raining!! That means he is going to be a thorn in my backside ALL DAY! I suppose I will just have to get over it.

Now on to why this is a Bad Mommy Morning. First happened right off the bat. While I was getting his breakfast around he was crawling around the dining room. I know it sounds harmless enough right. Well wrong. Last night when I washed sippies and bottles I was a sippy short. Couldn't find it for the life of me. It was about 9 when I was doing all this and I was very tired so I figured I would find it in the morning. Yep!! Mason found it. I knew it was about half full and he brought it to me empty and had milk on his chin. I felt horrible. I opened it up and it didn't smell spoiled but I felt really bad. He hasn't thrown up yet so I am assuming he is OK. Second, I vacuumed. I usually wait until Austin gets home so one of can distract Mason. Not today I just let Mason cry while I vacuumed. Third, I took a shower. I know that sounds normal right? Nope because I have to take the whole highchair in the bathroom with me because otherwise he will scream and scream until he upchucks. Needless to say I usually shower before going to bed to avoid this. Well I didn't make it that far last night and so I put his toys on the tray and into the bathroom we went. He was okay for about 5 minutes. Then he got fussy. Well by the time I was out of the shower he was asleep and you know what I just left him there. I tiptoed my butt upstairs and left him there asleep. It wouldn't matter how gentle I was if I tried to get him out of the high chair and into the p-n-p he would wake up and be grumpy.

So there are my bad mommy moments of the day and I didn't even include the animal cracker he ate out of the dog kennel. I think it is one he found in the high chair he was playing by and he took it into the dog kennel because I am fairly sure if Hyde found a cracker in his home he would have eaten it. So I am not counting that one. I figure the day only has to get better right? Then I remember that Austin gets home today and the only things left on my honey-do list are all outside and it is raining. Maybe Mason will take a long afternoon nap and save us from fighting.

Bee-u-te-full

Tuesday morning Mason and I took Austin to the airport. We had to leave the house at 6:45 a.m. That is about the time I usually get up. I hadn't slept well because of the wonderful thunderstorm that went thru about 3. It was like trying to sleep under a strobe light. I woke Mason up early enough that he could eat before we left but he didn't want anything so on the way home he was grumpy because he was hungry and the SUN... yes I said sun... was in his eyes. He had better get used to that. We can switch to a front facing car seat at a year but we aren't going to. It is much safer to sit rear facing as long as possible so that is what we are going to do. I figure if he never knows the difference it won't matter.

The rest of Tuesday went fairly well. At least until around the time that Austin would usually be getting home. Hyde goes on watch and barks at everything. We got lucky though because it was so nice outside we were outside alot more than usual and wore Hyde out. So he sat on the couch about 7 and fell asleep and I had to carry him up to bed. What a spoiled watch dog.

Wednesday Mason woke up really early. I mean who can sleep with sunlight spilling in the bedroom window. I am usually a morning person but I was dragging butt today. Mason woke up at 5:30 and I left him there until 7. He fussed for about 5 minutes and I thought he had gone back to sleep but then I hear him running his linka doos up back and forth on the crib slats. Thankfully he got tired of that really quick like and just talked (screamed) to himself for a while. He was so happy all morning. Then we took a nap and he woke up all grumpy so we went outside to play. Mason didn't know what to think of the grass.

Now we are back inside and he is trying to destroy my house. Banging things around and tearing apart a cheerios box. Now we are off to the grocery store. Fun! Fun!!

1/3 down 2/3 to go!!

Busy, Busy!

We have been very busy since last Wednesday. Cleaning and getting stuff ready for spring. Wednesday Mason and I reorganized my kitchen cabinets. They needed it. Nothing fit where it belonged anymore. I felt a lot better when it was done. I received no phone calls on Wednesday. Very unusual. Cameron and mom have off Wednesdays so I usually get calls from both of them. Well they forgot about me so I had to give them a bad time.
Thursday we went to MOPS. Then we stopped at a friends house on the way home and the store to buy the turkey for Saturday. Mason flirted all day. Smiled and laughed for every lady he saw. We get home and I wasn't too sure someone hadn't switched kids on me. He wouldn't be good for at all. Sadly we lost a plant due to tantrum. Austin was more upset about this than me. I truly hated the plant. It was an elephant ear plant that has always always looked sick. I was glad to see it go.
Friday, Austin took off from work at noon so that I could go and help out at the MOPS garage and bake sale. I took advantage of this. I left home at 1:00 and got home at 8:00. Mason was already in bed and my husband was sitting in his recliner and looked like he had been run over by a steam roller. Evidently Mason was his usual self and was hyper and naughty the whole time. I was so glad. I actually asked Austin if they had gone over to his parents house because it looked like they hadn't been home. He looked at me real pitiful like and said "NO! All I did all day was follow Mason around and get him out of things. He wouldn't leave my stuff alone and didn't even play with any of his own toys." Me being the good wife that I am said all innocent like "WELCOME TO MY WORLD!! Get over it. What is for supper?" I thought he was going to beat me. I have never laughed so hard. I did take pity on him and cook supper. Well I don't know if it would qualify as cooking. I heat up some leftover goulash. Don't matter, he ate it and didn't complain.
Saturday was a very busy day. We had some friends coming over for supper and we had planned on turkey. Well my fridge doesn't get warm enough to actually thaw anything so we had to thaw it in the sink. Austin must have been feeling bad about not helping me very much because I didn't have to touch anything but the kitchen. It was wonderful!! He even cleaned the bathroom.
So we get the turkey thawed and cooked and everything else ready and it was perfect. I went to get the turkey drippings to make gravy, I lifted the turkey legs and they just fell off the bird. It was juicy and flavorful. I regret not taking a photo. I doubt my next attempt will be as good. I do have witnesses though which can vouche for me. After dinner we sat the older kids in front of a movie and we girls washed dishes and cleaned up the kitchen while the guys drank some Slovakian brandy. Then we looked at Austin's trip photos by hooking the camera up to the TV. Everyone went home about 10:30. It was nice being able to just go to bed without having to clean the kitchen first.
Sunday we went to a brunch to celebrate the baptismal of two of the little that were over on Saturday. We stayed longer than we planned. It was nice out so the kids were outside playing. Then we had to make the weekly trip to Wal-Mart. I usually make this trip alone because Austin is such a whiner when it comes to shopping. When we got home it was too nice to be inside so we worked outside cleaning up around the corncrib so that the lawn mower doesn't pick up things. I'll post those pictures next.
So that brings us to today. I am exhausted and would like to be looking forward to an uneventful week but that is not to be the case. Austin has to go to Pennsylvania Tuesday and will get home on Thursday. Then we have a day trip to my sister's house on Saturday for my nephews birthday. Hopefully next week we can slow down and have some normalcy.

Under Construction 2

Well I tried a new background and didn't like the one I did find after I got it up and didn't like any others I saw so I am going to stick with this plain, simple one. I know I'm boring.

Under Construction

I have decided to try a new look. I'm not real sure I like this one. Just bear with me.

Saturday

Well we are having people over on Saturday for supper. Austin was able to bring some Slovakian brandy home and just can't wait to 'share' it with the guys. He also has a ton of photos to show off being that he had a whole day to play tourist in Vienna. Everyday he gets a little more excited.
I think I'm going to fix a turkey. Austin has been bugging me for one for a couple of months. They are just so much work that I don't want to prepare a whole turkey for just the two of us. Having people over to help eat it is a great idea he has even offered to help clean after everyone goes home. I am not going to hold my breath on that. I am the dishwasher so I think I am going to hold him to it this time. Afterall he always says we need to work on our teamwork. I think most of the time he means that I need to learn how to 'take an order'. Now you can get the picture of how our home improvement projects go. Him yelling because I have done something wrong and me ignoring him and doing it my own way. Sounds to me like he needs to work on his teamwork. Mine is just fine as long as he tells me how to do it the correct way the first time. Not after I have done it his way and he then realizes it is wrong. To cover his mistake he blames me on not listening. I think it might just a little bit miscomunication. I am not an engineer and do not think like an engineer. Anyone married to an engineer knows that they are a whole different breed of guy. They know how it should go and sometimes leave out some things when giving directions because as he would say it is a no-brainer. Well I guess I have a lot of brains because I didn't put 2 and 2 together and get 5. Did I happen to mention sometimes his directions are illogical. Well they are.... Now I forgot what I was talking about.... That's right... Teamwork... We don't have any. If we had teamwork my washer and dryer would be in the bathroom closet instead of in the basement.

So we are having people over on Saturday. I never thought of Austin and I as social people. In highschool neither of us had a big group of people we would have called friends. Austin was anti-social and I worked all the time. When I wasn't working I was in Ames watching Austin play hockey on the weekends. When we first got married we didn't need to have friends other than each other. Well now we have learned we NEED friends so we are in a group of 4 couples. Two of the guys Austin worked with at a part time job and thru all of the job changes and moves we have stayed in touch and do quite a bit of stuff together. The 4th couple is a friend of one of the two. We have melded into a bunch of good friends. Not like the normal maybe the husbands are friends and the wives just tolerate each other. Everyone knows what I am talking about here. All of us girls can get together without the husbands and there is deffinately no lag in conversations. We all came from small towns and just seem to connect somehow. We are all transplants to the area so when we go to area resturants we get the tourist look sometimes. Like we are intruding. This would be when the ladies we don't like come into play. I don't know if they think we are intruding on their teritory the more we get involved in the community or what but I am still looking for the right pile.

Non-Hodgkins

This is a post that is very hard for me. I should have written about it already so that I could stop worrying about it but I have come to the realization that that just isn't going to happen. So here goes.
Two weeks ago my brother-in-law Jesse was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (spelling). Since then he has been back and forth to the doctors for different procedures and it has been extremely difficult for him and my sister to absorb. It really came as a shock to the whole family. Yesterday he got some really good news. It is stage one and is only in that one spot. Considering the circumstances we couldn't have asked for better news. He also went through his first round of chemo. He will have a round every 3 weeks for a total of 6 rounds.
Hopefully next August we will be celebrating his one year cancer free.

The Wrens

The people who lived here before us were shall we say... different!

I find stuff like this all the time. We found many weird things in the grove while we were cleaning it up. I like this one though. It doesn't jump out at you like some of the other things. When we first looked at this property they had a welded dog marking the wagon by the driveway and I am still asking Austin to make me one like it. One of these days I will catch him at a weak moment and he will finally make me one. One of these days!!

The Wind Is A Blowin'

9/16/2007

12/2/2008

4/15/2008

4/15/2008

The wind is blowing but the corn crib refuses to just fallover.

Austin Is Home!!

Austin is home finally. It was great to pick him up from the airport last night. His flight ended up being delayed but that is okay. At least he is home. I have already informed him that as soon as he gets home today I will not be touching the baby for the rest of the night. He seemed okay with that so we will have to see what tonight actually brings. I am just so glad he is home! So glad in fact that I made him breakfast and packed his lunch. I even told him that we could have chili for supper and that I would make corn bread. I'll play the good wife till he gets home at least.

I was playing with the camera before he left for Slovakia.

(I'm really hoping that he gives up and shaves soon!)

Push, Scoot, Play

Mason has mastered the John Deere Push, Scoot, Play toy. He can now stand up behind it and push it all over the house get on and off of it scoot all over on it. Climb on it to get to other stuff. What a wonderful toy. I should have just bought him a step ladder.

Is It Sunday Yet!!!!

This has been one of the longest weeks ever I think.
Mason is teething and somewhere he has developed a cough and isn't sleeping very well. Last night he went down at about 8 and slept until 11. Then he was up until 2 when I gave up and took him to bed with me. I know, horrible. How could I? Well a person can only sleep in a recliner for so many nights in a row. I already sleep horribly when Austin is out of town. Add a cranky non-sleeping baby on top of it and we are not fit for polite company.
Austin gets home Sunday night at 8:30. I cannot wait. I will be waiting at the airport for him with bells on. It would be nice to be able to leave Mason with his grandparents while I go get him but it would be after 10 by the time we got back to pick him up. So I will just take him with me.
Austin told me today that I don't get to see the photos from his trip until next Friday when we have all of our friends over. I think that is totally unfair. For crying out loud it is my camera that I graciously let him borrow. OH!! I almost forgot... He took the memory cards for the old camera also so I had NO camera here all week. I think I am going through withdrawals. It really upset me though because every morning and I mean EVERY morning since Mason was born I have taken a photo of him before getting him out of bed and this last week with no camera here I am going to be missing a week of his first year. Lets just say our first conversation after he got to Vienna was not nice. I am honestly surprised that he called me back at all the rest of the week. Good thing I'm not bitter about it.
I am just really excited to get my husband home again. To be able to hit him in the middle of the night to take the dog out instead of me getting out of bed is priceless. Truly priceless. It is even fun to do this when the dog doesn't have to go out. You know, for those days he has been especially ... um.... sweet. Yeah that is the word I was looking for. Oh if only it wasn't me that would ultimately have to clean up the flaming dog poo off the porch... Sorry I got side tracked... So I am excited to get him home even though I won't get to see much of him until Monday night. We will get home just in time to go to bed because trust me after 24 hours of traveling he isn't good for anything but sleeping. Bummer... So I will have to wait until Monday night for any good adult conversation because he has meetings early Monday morning at work. He is usually able to take the next day off if he gets in on a Saturday or Sunday but not this time. I have already informed him that he is going to owe me big time. He acted like I was joking. Odd I don't remember it being funny.

Horrible Little Fence!!

Lately Austin and I have been working outside getting things cleaned up. We decided that this fence needed to leave. So we proceeded to take it down.

The previous owners lived on our property for 13 years. During that first year they decided to put this fence. They did no maintenance to this what so ever. By the time Austin and I moved in we had decided that this fence had become an eyesore.

Sometime over the last 14 years the fence post had rotted away and so they just nailed the rails together. Disassembly should have gone smoothly. Then we discovered the nails that need to be taken out before we can burn the railings on our burn pile.

Austin decided it would just be easier to cut the railings before you get to the junction. We aren't going to take any nails out. The little pieces will be thrown away over time. Taking down the fence went much faster and smoother. Unfortunately this fence is located right next to poopapaloosa. That whole little side yard must be where Bubber and Hyde have been going number 2 all winter. Maybe if I look hard enough I will find a pile of dog shit suitable for the hateful ladies I talked about here.

Finally no fence. Now if we can just get the dead fall and other debis picked up we will be in good shape.

Glimpses of Mason

I was looking back over the last several post and noticed there were no photos. So here you go. A little glimpse into our lives. Mason adds so much enjoyment. I have no clue what we did before he came along. Everything is now such an adventure. I love looking at life through his eyes. Seeing everything for the first time again.

Spaghetti Dinner

I think he got more on himself than in him.

He is getting so big!!

What Dad? No, I want spaghetti in my hair!!

He was saving that piece on his cheek for later.

He screamed and screamed when I took it off his face.

After dinner bath!!

I got wetter than he did. My front looked a lot like the mirror.

Look Mom the mirror is now clean!!

Left hand!

Right hand!

Mama!! Get me out, I look sweet!!

One: Sit here look innocent!!

Two: Roll over and scoot to edge of recliner!!

Three: Slide off to standing position like big boy!!

(Break Mama's heart)

I don't know why he likes it outside he always has his eyes shut.

Eyes closed again. Whenever Austin started the chainsaw Mason would close his eyes.

Watching Dad move the fence post.

Hey where did you go?