Play Time!

Brody and I had a lot of fun playing Sunday and Monday night. Here are some pictures of him entertaining me and himself. Who needs a tv anyhow?!?!

Brody was determined this coat needed to be on the floor for him to play with, rather than on the back of the chair!

He has discovered the OTHER purpose of a laundry basket. The first time, he fell in it. Then it became a game!

This was a somewhat purposeful move.

Trying to pull himself a little further in.

Almost there!

Getting closer!

Now for the fun part!

"Hey Mom! Glad you folded all these clothes so I would have something soft to stand on!"

Getting brave...only one hand needed.

For several years, I would always go out to a bar for my birthday. Now that Brody's here, I am content to stay home and enjoy all the time I can with him. After Brody was done playing in the basket, we went to Mom's house and she grilled pork steaks, portobello mushrooms, yellow squash, and zucchini. She also had cucumbers and onions and baked potatoes. It was definitely a feast! She had also made a Texas sheet cake from scratch that she had brought over for me to take to work Monday morning. I brought that back and she had made brownies for Dad. Needless to say, we never made it to dessert! It was probably one of the most enjoyable birthdays I have had in a long time.

Brody's First Haircut

Brody is almost 10 months old now and his hair was starting to hang over his ears. His "comb-over" would get in his eyes, too. Although I wasn't ready to tackle this "landmark," it was becoming a necessity. My Aunt Dee owns the Harbor Hairbender in Oqauwka, IL and I had asked if she would give him his first haircut. We don't get up there much, so I thought this would be a good way to spend part of our Fourth of July weekend, too. She also has blueberries and I was excited to pick some of those for blueberry muffins!

Brody wasn't real excited about our trip. He did wake up just as we were getting into Burlington to eat lunch and do a little shopping.

Aunt Dee and Brody before the haircut.

Mommy and Brody after the haircut! He was such a little trooper. He sat very well and even let Aunt Dee use the clippers around his ears.

Brody and his favorite hair stylist, Great Aunt Dee! He is such a little ham!

After the haircut and a snack and some playtime for Brody, we went out to pick blueberries. I threw a blanket on the ground and let Brody play in the shade. He did okay for awhile, but then I got behind a couple bushes and he couldn't see me. He was also tired, which didn't help. After spending some time running back and forth between Brody and the blueberries, we decided to call it a day. Aunt Dee fixed a wonderful supper that was very quick and easy. Following is the basic recipe:

Frozen bread dough (thawed and left to rise)
Meat (chicken, sausage, etc.)
Veggies (potatoes, peppers, onions, etc.)
Shredded cheese
Egg
Seasonings to taste

After the bread dough has thawed and been allowed to rise, roll it out fairly thin. Cook meat (she used chicken) and veggies (she used potatoes, green peppers, and onions) together in a skillet. Season with salt and pepper and any other seasonings you like. Place bread dough on a cookie sheet and place cooked meat and veggies along one edge. Mix up shredded cheese and egg(s) and pour mixture over the meat and veggies. Fold over dough to form a pocket around the filling. Seal edges. Bake at 400 for about 30-45 minutes.

Brody fell asleep before supper and they had company coming over around 6 pm. We left and headed home. It was a fun day and I was glad that we got to see Aunt Dee and Dennis.

Riding at Mark Twain Lake

Since Monday was my birthday and I needed to work, I decided to take off Friday, July 3rd. We were going to be slow at work and Mom had the day off work, also. We decided we were going to go ride somewhere since we don't get to do that much these days with just the two of us. After much discussion of places to go, we decided to go to Mark Twain Lake and ride the trails. On Mother's Day weekend, I had gone with Mom and another group of people to help clean up a cemetery and some of the trails, so it was nice to be able to ride and just enjoy the day.

Me and my Momma getting ready to head out.

Riding my step-dad's mule, Buck.

Mom and Goldie. This is a molly mule that she bred and raised.

My Two Boys!

Monday night it was WAY too nice to be inside, so I grabbed an old blanket and threw it on the ground so that Brody and I could play and have a picnic, too. Of course, anytime we are outside, Hank is involved, too! It was quite a challenge keeping Brody and Hank out of the plate of food I had made for Brody's supper, but we managed.

Hank LOVES to play fetch. He thought Brody was going to throw it for him, so he is "assuming the position."

Brody didn't throw the stick, as he thought it was a pretty neat toy. Hank got tired of waiting, so he very gently reached out and took it back from Brody. Brody is trying to get it back.

Hank does really well with Brody. He let Brody crawl all over him and pick at his feet.

I thought this was a really good picture of Hank. Yes...I realize Brody's hair is getting pretty long. It is getting cut this weekend by my aunt.

We went to Grandma Becki's house later and Brody was very insistent that he feed himself. It takes both hands to push the puff in!

3 Sticks and 1 Flat Barn

Last night we had some pretty bad winds go through Clark County. Luckily, Brody and I were not home and as far as I know, no one was hurt. I barely had any sticks (maybe 3 twigs in the whole yard) or leaves off the trees in my yard, however, this is all that is left of one of the buildings at my house. They used it to park some small equipment in. I'm not real sure if there was anything in there or not. The grass was pretty wet and the field was pretty muddy, so I only walked down the drive to take a couple pictures. If you look closely at the field, you can see a ditch that is being made from all the rain we are receiving. There is a gravel road that runs north at the top of that field and the water is running off of it, down the field, and into the ditch at the bottom of the hill.

This is the east side of the big barn you can see in the other picture. The building that was blown down is on the north side of this barn. This door was shut and it blew hard enough to blow it open, also. From what I can tell, there was no damage to this barn.

Shoeing Day

When the farrier comes to Mom's house, it's an all day affair. Brody and I usually try to go over and help as much as we can. Sometimes, that isn't much, though!

Brody and Grandma checking out Mom's horse, Arty. The dogs were catching Brody's attention at the time. Arty will usually smell all over him and Brody laughs and giggles.

Brody riding Ashton's dog, Angel, as Mom's dog, Sooner, looks on.

While we were waiting on Eric, Mom sat Brody down in the corn tank. He wasn't real sure about the feeling and kept looking at us to see how he should be responding to it.

Brody finally got interested in the corn. It was really cute watching his little feet wiggle around!

Brody played too hard at Grandma's and finally sacked out. He slept in the stroller for quite awhile until Eric hit the anvil. Luckily, he woke up happy!

Elana's Wedding

My oldest friend, Elana, got married June 6th in Iowa City. Elana and I went to kindergarten together at Luray (a very small town west of Kahoka). I started going to Black Hawk (in Kahoka) in 1st grade and Elana ended up there, also, in about 5th or 6th grade. We graduated high school together and she eventually moved to Columbia to go to MU and we ended up living together for a couple years. Another good friend and former roommate, Dana, and her husband, were also in attendance at Elana's wedding, so there was NO WAY I could miss out!

Dana and Broderick had planned on saving me a seat at the church. However, when I got the church found in Iowa City, I couldn't find any parking. After about 10 minutes of driving around and talking to Dana on the phone (they had to stop at DQ for a blizzard!), I found a parking garage. Driving a 3/4 ton pickup has its challenges in a bigger town! After realizing that I WOULD fit in the parking garage, I faced the next challenge. Making it around the corners from one up ramp to the next. They were such tight turns that I had to stop and back up in order to make it every time. After Dana and Broderick finally found the garage, I met them at the bottom and rode up to where I was parked. We made it to the church before Elana made it down the aisle, but we had to pass her in the hall to get to the sanctuary!

After the ceremony, we skipped the receiving line and jetted out to make it to the reception before the other guests. Dana and I were in charge of receiving gifts. The reception was held in the University football stadium in one of the press rooms (?) and was just as beautiful as the wedding. Although I had to leave before it was all over with so I could make the 1 1/2 hour drive home to get Brody from Mom's, I had a fabulous time and was so happy to be able to share in Danny and Elana's wonderful day!

Dr. and Mrs. Danny Liu cutting the cake.

BJ, Jennifer, and Hunter Cooper - also good friends from high school.

The 3 Amigos! We had alot of good times together!

Jennifer and I

Elana being a dork!