The Iowa landscape is... changing!!

So, I drive down to mom and dad's a lot. Most of this drive is on I-80. I have driven it enough times that I know all the exit names and numbers. Recently the landscape has changed around Adair and Stuart. If there wasn't road construction I would have taken a photo of what it looks like from the actual interstate. I know in these photos it doesn't actually look like there are that many but there are probably close to 30. I like them and can't wait to see them actually working.

My yard...

Tabe wrote a comment about my yard.

"is that ur yard?? its huge"

Yes that is my yard. Our house sits on 3 acres. We have a huge barn, old pole barn, corn crib, garden shed, well house and a dog run. I thought I had done a post about my yard already but I guess I haven't so here it is.

My Yard!!

We have since taken out this little fence because we no longer have chickens.

This is the view coming from the south on the gravel. Don't let it deceive you. That little green stripe closest to the bottom of the photo is really wider than it looks.

I don't remember why I had to drive the AWESOME green truck. I mean really my car is in the driveway.

A view from the front. The property is almost completely square and if you were to draw a tic-tack-toe on it the house would sit in the bottom middle one. The front door faces the west so we get great views of the Iowa sunsets. The windows on the second level is our bedroom. the bed sits right under these windows facing the door that looks right out into the hallway and the hallway window that faces the east. So we get the sunsets at night and the sunrises in the mornings. It just so happens that when the sun peaks over the horizon it shines directly in my eyes. Consequently I rather like the sunsets.

We have a good sized riding lawn mower, John Deere 345, 20hp, 52 inch deck, and it still takes a solid 3 hours to mow the yard. It used to only take 2 and half but Austin got a little carried away with the fertilizer this last spring. I don't mind though because the lawn mower is loud enough that I can't hear myself think. It is the only time I get to myself and I love it.

So that is my yard. I love to be outside working on it. Whether it is mowing or weeding flower beds. I can't wait until the first frost so that I can out there and clear out the beds. I have bulbs that need planting. There were some beds that we just didn't like and have been in the process of redoing these last couple of years. Well I should say that I knew I didn't want what was in them so we took them out and I didn't know what I wanted to put back in them so we did some temporary landscaping. I have finally decided what I want in them and have just recently purchased a butt load of bulbs that now need planting. It should be fun. Hopefully after the first frost the snakes are in hiding and not hiding in my flower beds.

I have started...

to count down the days until Austin leaves again...

Finally

Austin is finally home. I slept so good last night.
It was a long week. I didn't get done nearly everything I wanted to get done but that is okay because he leaves again next month. I will probably start counting down the days next week.
For now it is just nice to have him home.

Blah Blah Blah

I am ready for Austin to be home. It is too quiet here. Not to mention dark. Hyde is on guard duty and has been barking at nothing all night. As you can imagine that is more than enough to set me on edge.
I tried to go to bed but couldn't settle down enough to sleep so I gave up and am now playing on the computer. I should be washing dishes or something but I just don't feel like it. I know hard to believe. Austin isn't home and so I don't feel like the house has to be clean so it isn't. I will have to some heavy duty cleaning on Sunday. Very heavy duty.
I have been mudding in the bathroom. Another light coat and some light light sanding and we will be ready to paint. My neck and back hurt from doing the ceiling. I am just not tall enough to do it without being on a chair. I tried it with the ladder but it was big and bulky and hard to maneuver in that little area. I would just leave the ceiling for Austin but I do a much neater job and any time I thought would be saved by having him do it would be wasted by the sloppy job he would do that I would have to sand. So really I am just saving myself time and aggravation. So I guess that is something anyways.
Mason tried to put himself to sleep again tonight. He was playing in the toy box and just walked over to the dirty clothes I was sorting and laid down and snuggled up to one of Austin's dirty work shirts. I took pity on the poor child and he threw a fit when he dropped the dirty shirt. I let him take it up to bed and sleep with it. I figure Austin has a desk job so it isn't like his shirts get that dirty. It was so cute when I put him in his crib he had to adjust the shirt so that he was laying on one arm and had the other on over him. I would have taken a picture but my camera battery is on the charger. I think I will take a photo of it before I go to bed.
Well I think I'm off to go take a hot soak in the tub. Maybe that will get me tired...

Tickle Tickle

Mason amazes me everyday!! Lately his new favorite word is Tickle Tickle. It is so cute he will chase Hyde with a mixing spoon yelling Tickle Tickle. I know Mason doesn't think that Hyde's name is Tickle or that hitting the dog with the said mixing spoon is tickling because he will try to tickle me while saying tickle tickle. I think he just likes to torture the dog. Now when Hyde hears anyone say it he takes off for my bedroom.
Mason vocabulary has gotten quite large for such a little kid. Mason can now say:
sip sip= sippy
Hyda= Hyde
Momma
Dadda
Raura= Laura
ball
block
no
yes
don't
stop
u bu= you butt (I call Austin this all the time.)
dog
wa wa= water
milk
foot
eye
kiss
mof= mouth
ong= tongue
ear
eef= teeth
air= hair
car
truck
cheese
mote= remote
beep beep (when he is playing with cars)
and my favorite
Ason= Mason (he talks in third person when talking about his toys)
He has started to put phrases together and grabbing whatever part of his body hurts. It is too cute when he falls down and grabs his knee or if he bonks his head he will put his hand on his forehead and say 'ouch'. He has also started dancing. If he can hear music he is dancing.
He can also bark, growl, hiss, meow and neigh. He also thinks himself quite the comedian. He will be there talking to himself, just a bunch of gargly gook and an occasional word we can understand but then he will get quiet for a second say a couple more words and then just laugh and laugh. I dont' know where he gets his sense of humor but I know it isn't from his dad. Thank God.

Bubba

A good last photo of Bubba. Wednesday was a hard day. Bubba might have been my dog but he was someone else's baby. I had to respect her wishes and have him cremated. It was hard. A lot harder than I thought it would be.
The neighbors now think that I am really weird. Olive wanted prints of his feet so after we got him loaded up in the pickup I trimmed his nails and made prints of his feet. I don't know what they expected me to do. They are all friends with Olive and I am sure they would have been upset if I had just told her no.

I had MOPS today and when I drove in the driveway it was just quiet. It still seems strange. I know I won't get used to it. I'm not sure I even want to.

Procrastinating....

We have been really busy lately. I made it to the freak show family reunion. It was just beautiful out. Seventy and sunny with just the slightest breeze. Mason was cute and as well behaved as can be expected of a one-year-old. He positively charmed everyone as he was eating off of everyones plate. Even though the little stinker had his own.
Austin left for Germany on Tuesday. He drove himself to work in the horrid awesome green truck of his. We debated on whether or not I should drive him in and finally decided that I wouldn't be needing the truck so he took it...it really is true what they say about hindsight being 20/20. I ended up needing the truck and he had the keys in his pocket sitting in a meeting in Germany. Great place for them...
Our adopted dog, Bubba, passed away Tuesday evening as I was leaving for my MOPS steer team meeting. Bubba was close to 18 and it was his time. He passed peacefully and will be greatly missed. Bubba came with the house because he wouldn't stay away and we didn't really want him to leave anyways. The previous owners, Mel and Olive, have said all along that they would like to have him cremated and the cremains mailed to them. I respected their wishes and had to take him to be cremated today. To do this I had to go borrow my father-in-laws truck and then I had to get one of the neighbors to help me load him. I am not sure who was crying harder, me or the neighbor. Have I mentioned that I love my little corner of the world. I have the absolute best neighbors.
My father-in-law had to have his appendix out Friday so he is still recovering from surgery. Otherwise he would have come over and helped me load him. Jeff is recovering nicely. He still can't lift Mason even though he tries. I am afraid he will hurt himself but he won't listen to me.
I have told Austin that he can no longer out of the country. Every time he leaves something happens to make me feel completely helpless. Every time he has gone to Germany something has died. I told him that we only have Mason and Hyde here and I couldn't bear to loose either of them so once he gets home he is home for good. (Some of this might have been said through some hysterical tears and raging hormones although I can't be entirely certain.)
So... that is what has been going on here. Now instead of blogging I need to get my newsletter finished for MOPS tomorrow. It is amazing that even on my weakest days I feel strong being surrounded by other breathtakingly genuine mothers. I do not know what I would do without this wonderful group of women to lean on and complain to laugh with. Our theme this year is Adventures in Mothering. It truly has been that. From the moment we found out about Mason it has been an adventure. My mother upon hearing the theme for this year said there needed to be a group with a theme called Adventures in Marriage. I suggested to her that she needed to write a book about her Adventure in Marriage. It would certainly be a comedy about a tragedy.
Well I have procrastinated long enough. If only I could write the newsletter like I do this blog....

Another Long Weekend

This weekend Mason and I are going to the Vanatta family reunion. (It feels weird to type Vanatta) My husband lovingly referred to it as the circus and asked if he really had to go because he was afraid of clowns. I lovingly told him that he didn't and that I was afraid of witches but it doesn't stop me from going to his family functions.
If your keeping score that would be a point for me. None for Austin.
Everybody already knows that my family is sort of a freak show. At least they tell you how it is and don't talk behind your back. I think there is a lot to say for that. No hiding behind mama's skirts here. No, dammit, if you have something to say, then say it and shut the hell up already. Put your big girl panties on for crying out loud. If she was my sister I would have already put her in her place.
If you can't tell Princess Hateful Raquel hasn't talked to me in 6 weeks. Normally I would take this as a victory but she has been talking shit to Austin's Grandparents again. Yep! Fielded a call just this morning. Sad thing is they should have known better because Mason and I are eating supper at their place tonight.
But enough DRAMA!!
I am actually excited to see some of my family. You will notice I said some, I am afraid of clowns also after all. Maybe Mason will end up being a funny witch. I already feel sorry for his future wife. A gaggle of bitches on one side and a freak show on the other. At least the freak show is a loving one.
Don't worry I will have pictures to post when I get back on Monday. Austin leaves Tuesday!!

My New Bathroom

Finally some photos of the bathroom. The 'before' photos are located here. Even this ugly blueish green drywall is better than that monstrosity.
While Austin is in Germany next week I will be mudding priming and painting. He tells me that everything has to be done before he can bring up the washer and dryer. My goal is to have it so that all that needs done when he gets home is to put in the floor. We will have to see just how cooperative Mason is next week.

Yes, it is very green!!

This is the same tile that is going to go on the floor.
The wonderful light for the shower.
I am not sure why Hyde is in the tub.

The pocket door.
The pocket door again.
And again the pocket door.
We have to invest in an adjustable shower head because this one is so tall that I have to have a plastic glass to wash my hair.
This is where my washer and dryer will be stacked. I absolutely cannot wait to get them in the bathroom and working. Unfortunately that won't be until we are done painting and the tile is laid.

My New Camera

I was at the limits of what I could do with my old camera here. It is a Nikon D60, it came with a 18-55 mm VR lens, extra battery, card reader, 55-200 mm VR lens and a camera bag. I think my husband was just as excited as me. Incidentally he got to take the first photos with my camera. He is such a brat. I truly didn't mind;) He has promised to pay me later. I no longer have to worry about him breaking the camera when he takes it overseas. He will now take the Panasonic DMC-TZ3.

I will turn 28 this year and have finally decided what I want to do with my life. I know most people are already doing what they want to do, but not me. I worked to put my husband through school and so I didn't really think about what I wanted to do because I couldn't do anything about it anyways. After he graduated we moved, to Cincinnati OH/New Trenton IN, for a year before moving back to the central Iowa vicinity. We bought our house, #2 for us, and found out just a couple months after moving in that we were pregnant. So I have been raising our son.

It was always the plan for me to go to college after he graduated but we moved, bought a house, and I hated being so far from family so we moved back, bought another house and had a baby. You will notice that I never we sold the other house. That is because we haven't yet. It isn't that we don't want to it is just that it hasn't yet.

So for the last 2 years it has been "well, when the house sells" that I would go to college. Well I got tired of waiting. This spring I am going to start the photography program down at DMACC. It will be in the evenings as much as possible. That way Austin can take care of Mason. The unfortunate part is that all but one of the classes is held at the Ankeny campus. That is over an hour from my house.

I figure I'm not getting any younger. Incidentally Austin and I have decided to start trying to make our family bigger. I know it won't happen anytime soon. I mean after all it took us almost 5 years to get Mason. For the time being we will just have fun trying.

Here are photos of my new camera.

8 INCHES...

I thought it was time for a change. I was unable to wear my hair up any longer because of the weight. As anyone that has ever had long knows it is just so much work and can get soo heavy that it can cause migranes and other pains.
8 inches later and I love it. I had forgotten how much hair I actually have until I went to curl it for a wedding saturday night. It just kinda poofed out at the bottom. I might need to go get it layed very slightly at the bottom. (I'll post a better after picture later.)

Mason's first Hair Cut!!

My baby boy no longer looks like a baby. Mason got his hair cut this last Friday.

Here is a before picture with my little sister Cameron. (We call her Cammie or Aunt Mimi)

Now some 'during' photos. Aunt Mimi was holding him so that I could take pictures.

He is starting to get upset.

Ohh! Lets bribe him with a hair clip.
No help for it he is just going to get to be upset.

I took over holding him from here and things went much smoother.

After: Doesn't he look so much older.

MOPS!!

MOPS starts today and I'm so excited. I don't know what I'm looking forward to most: the 2 hours away from Mason, the fellowship, 2 hours babyfree, friendships, did I mention a whole 2 hours away from Mason, food. I think it is a toss up. I have waited patiently all summer. A big feat for me.
This year I am doing the newsletter. I have a feeling this will get to be more of a chore than anything. I have made my template so all I have to do is change the articles out... maybe... I mean really how many people actually read the newsletter.
After MOPS Mason and I are going to make a quick pit stop at home and then we are going to my mom and dad's. We have a very busy weekend planned. Hopefully We will be home by Tuesday.
Austin asked if I was going to drag it out another day and I could honestly tell him no this time. See... I ordered a new camera and it should be here tomorrow... so I want to get home and play with it. Since he refuses to put it in his backpack when he drives the motorcycle to go to grandma and grandpa's this weekend.
I know! What a brat. Even though I am taking his clothes with me. Good thing I love him or this could be a grievous offense. I think I will forget his underwear. That should show him. I mean really I made his lunch today ,without the spit mind you, the least he could do is bring my camera down with him.
Anyways... so I off to go switch my clothes over. Somehow in the bathroom renovations laundry has gotten messed up and I'm of schedule and ran out of underwear for me. Let me rephrase that. I cannot find almost all my underwear. Out of 30 pairs I can find exactly 4. That's right 4. So instead of being able to do my laundry once a week it feels like I am doing my laundry everyday. Not good when you have snakes in your basement. I have no clue where they went but I have my suspicions that Austin does. He has found this oh so hilarious.
I just keep telling myself that 2 weeks and my washer and dryer will be upstairs. I know I live in a dream world.

It's Tuesday!!

How did that happen? Where did my weekend go? That's right. It was spent working on the bathroom and other stuff.
So it is Tuesday and I am not done with the newsletter for MOPS on Thursday. I really should be finishing that instead of what I am doing but who really cares.
Mason has made it impossible to do anything. I have caught him licking the dog 4 times today. 4 times!! I have no clue why he would want to lick the dog. Totally gross!!
Tomorrow I will be posting the paint color we I decided on. Austin may not like it but I LOVE it.
So for now I am off to finish my newsletter. Any MOPS members in the North Central division of Iowa should come to the North Central Conference held in Webster City at Asbury Methodist. I know I'll be there. There was even some talk of us steer team leaders wearing some kind of crazy hat but I think I will put an ax to that. It should be a fun time anyways.

How Do I...

I know how to get the dog to stop licking the kid but how do I get the kid to stop licking the dog?
I would really like to know the answer to this.

It's Real Life- How I Roll

It's time for It's Real Life over at Farm Fresh. This weeks theme is How I Roll.

The rule is to not prep for these photos. You know REAL life. Well my car is a disaster because my husband has been driving it. I can't even get him to pick up his dirty clothes from the bathroom floor. What would make me think I could get him to get his trash out of my car. Therefore my car is a mess but I didn't clean it for these photos. So this is HOW I ROLL.

The front view. It rained today or it would look way worse.

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Side view. We live on river rock gravel. This is the cleanest I have seen my car in a while.
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Back view. Most of the time you can't see the Chrysler or 300 for all the dirt.

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Yes I am hoping to see this turn over 200,000. I am cheap and cars are expensive!
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Gum, a dollar and a Hy-Vee receipt. You never know when you are going to need a dollar. The gum is so that my husband will never know when I sneak a cig.

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I just liked this little flip flop. I wasn't crazy about the smell so I let it hang from the BBQ grill outside until all the smell was gone.

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My cute little plaid purse that carries one diaper, a Ziploc baggie with wipes, a folder with my MOPS publicity papers, a notebook, one lighter, and a pack of cigs, for those days when my husband nuts. Occasionally it will also carry my check book.

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My radar detector. Never leave home without it. It truly has saved me hundreds times.
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Mason's car seat. We don't leave the drive without Alo the buffalo being on his lap. The little yellow fish he got from the Farm Progress Show. I need to get him turned back to rear facing it was just soooo hooootttt. The sun would beat right on him and no air conditioning would reach him. Every time I would take him out he would be dripping wet.

We are going to keep him rear facing hopefully for the whole winter because it is so much safer.
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Another of Mason's toys. This sits right behind my seat. Makes it easy to reach.

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Mason's stroller. Papers from the Farm Progress Show. 3 gallons of water that needed taken inside. (I did go ahead and take them in after taking photos) The license plate and the crazy colored book are my sisters that I keep forgetting to drop off at her house when I see her.

To the very right is a red object. It is my ice scrapper. I know it is August in Iowa but realistically we could be using this in 6 weeks. Scary thought for all the Iowans out there.

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Again it rained today. Otherwise this is how my whole car would look.
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Mason's cowboy hat from the Rodeo.

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This is what I drive when Austin drives my car and I have MOPS.

Now don't anybody get jealous.

Yes it is John Deere green.

We paid $650 for it 3 years ago. It gets me from point A to point B.

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I wouldn't mind driving it if it didn't have this stack. Yes ladies a stack. With a tractor flapper. For crying out loud a tractor flapper. Not to mention the 75 gallon fuel tank in the bed.

It truly is an embarrassment and Mason loves it. Good thing because it is probably going to be his first vehicle.
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She sure is a beauty!! Especially all the dog pee on the tires. Really who wouldn't want to own this truck.

Farm Progress Show

Yesterday Austin, Mason and I went to the Farm Progress Show. It was so big with so many people. There is no way one person could see everything in one day.
Mason did surprising well. He now likes to yell to get people's attention. We were walking thru the varied industries building and he is just yelling. People would turn around and smile at him so he would smile back. As soon as that person looked away he would start yelling again.
Mason was good and Austin misbehaved. A husband misbehaving is much more embarrasing than your child being naughty. It was a farm show so there was a lot of women. Let me rephrase that a lot of farm wives and I could just hear them "Well I never. How can she let her husband behave that way. Doesn't she have him trained?" It wouldn't have been as embarrasing but there were several people around that I knew. I am almost afraid to go to the store now because I know I will get looks. Maybe I will just refuse to go and make Austin.
We got there early, around 9. I know you would think living only about 15 minutes from there we could have been there earlier but nope. Didn't happen.
We parked in row 12 so we weren't that far from the gates. Stupid state patrol blocked the quickest way home too. I don't know if they were worried about people parking on the railroad tracks or what but they closed about 6 miles of highway 17 north of the show. Austin and I had to turn around and go clear into Boone to get home. Believe it or not it was a whole lot quicker than having to go clear into Ames and then north. O'well. We got over it. Well at least I did.
Mason and I only got a little bit sun burned. Mason today is just a nice golden color while I am still pink. I won't be tan until tomorrow.
We got home about 3 and then did nothing all afternoon. Austin didn't start working on the bathroom until right before supper. I think just so that he can say he worked on it.
I am just glad we went yesterday and not today. We only got about half an inch of rain but that is enough to turn the Farm Progress Show into a mud pit.