Meep! Meep!

It was a rainy mid-afternoon on Tuesday, May 10th, 2011.

Natalie and Aleah were both napping. 

I was sitting at the kitchen table doing bookwork and paying bills. 

Due to the rain, Daddy was working in the shop rather than seeding.

Well, atleast that's what I thought. 

(chime in the suspenseful 'Dun...dun...dun...')

I was so focused on the bills that I was startled by the high-pitched 'meep meep' of the Bobcat. 

I whipped my head around and was shocked at what I saw...

(are you on the edge of your seat yet??)

Sneaky Daddy had picked up some lumber in town on Monday and was 'working' in the shop on a project a bit more special than most.

A swingset for the girls!

He put it right next to the house to keep out of the rain as best as possible for the time being.

Natalie going for her first swing!

So happy to have a swingset of her own out here on the farm!

What a wonderful Daddy she and Aleah have been blessed with!

He even made the brackets himself!  No 'kit-buying' Daddy here...all homemade!

Nana popped in for a visit.  She and Aleah got some cuddle time.

I have a long video of Natalie after we came in from swinging but I couldn't get it to post on Blogger.  Here is a picture of Natalie with tears streaming down her face and boogies running out of her nose due to the anger she had towards me when I made her come inside.  Poor poor Natalie!  ;)

While Natalie was outside swinging, Aleah was enjoying her exersaucer.  This was her first time in it.  I didn't think she was quite ready for it, but to my surprise, she LOVES it and does great in it. 

I almost cringe when I see her in it because I cannot believe she is that old already!

In an effort to avoid any more tears about not being able to stay in the rain and swing anymore, Natalie decided she'd play in Sissy's saucer.

Just a bit bigger, eh?

Thanks again for the swingset Daddy!  That was a TOTAL SURPRISE!!!

Our time outside is much more exciting nowadays!

WE LOVE YOU!

Snacks are "Beary" Good!

After a very long winter of being cooped up inside,

Natalie's afternoon snacks have been happening outside almost daily...except for those rainy ones.

Here she is with her favorite 'outside' bear.

Do you want some graham cracker too?

We're so big!

How about some milk??

All smiles.  Oh, isn't life so beary, beary good!

Pictures taken on May 7th, 2011

Drop off...

Daddy was FINALLY able to get out into the field and start seeding.  I dropped off two important things to him one day while he was close to our yard...his lunch and eldest daughter. 

Here is Natalie, all smiles, waiting in the cab of the quadtrack for Dada!

I do think this is one of her favorite things about riding with Dada.  

The big red water jug! 

Tony out picking a rock in the pea field, admiring his new air drill.

Pictures taken May 2nd, 2011

Peeps

Tony absolutely LOVES Peeps at Easter time. 

(Who am I kidding, he'd probably love them anytime of the year!) 

Anyways, I bought a box of three for him for a little Easter surprise and he so kindly shared some with Natalie.  (I am not a fan of them.)

If you haven't caught on throughout the lifetime of our blog, she LOVES 'duckies', as we refer to them, or 'cak cak', as she calls them.  Actually, any animal with a beak is referred to as a 'cak cak.' 

So, to see Daddy EATING a 'cak cak' was hard for Natalie.  There were some 'emotions.'

Well, she soon decided that she wanted one.  This is just a short video of her and her first Peep.  Enjoy! 

April 23, 2011...17 months and 1 week

Daddy's Passenger

There is never a better day than when Daddy can include Natalie in a day of his work.
SHE LOVES SPENDING TIME WITH HIM!
They were hauling grain a few days before they started seeding, and Daddy took Natalie along with him.

Standing in front of the 'big rig'.

Following Daddy around to the passenger side.

Getting all strapped in!


Tony, you truly are her hero! She loves all that you do for her, watching your every move.
What a team you two make!
Precious in this wife and momma's eyes!
I LOVE YOU!

I thought a crown would turn that frown upside down!

I had been keeping my eyes open for a good deal on this ginormous bucket of 101 cookie cutters that I found online.
I had none beforehand...now we have an abundance.
I consider myself a rather practical, yet creative person. Cookie cutters can be used for SO many things: cookie dough, play dough, tracing, dipping in paint as a stamp, sorting by color, type, shape, stringing on as a temporary necklace, etc.

We haven't done any of the above with them yet, other than take them out of the bucket, play with them in the dump truck, and put them back in the bucket. Some day I'll get to them.

ANYWAYS...
the purpose of this post was to share the following picture with you.


In the bucket of cookie cutters there was a piece of paper that went around the bottom on the inside with the name of the cutters and information and such. I thought to myself, this would make the perfect crown for Natalie if I turned it inside out, had her color it, shortened and re-taped it. She, on the otherhand, was not so fond of the idea. Hence the above picture. We had this crown around for about two weeks until it ended up mangled beyond recognition, but I'm not sure I ever found Natalie smiling while wearing it. She played with it often, bringing it to me to help her put it on, but she never gave me anything more than a dead stare, blank face, or the look aboce. No idea why. Just a memory I wanted to share with you and preserve for her to read about someday.

I thought a crown would turn that frown upside down. :)

Starting to Roll

Here is Aleah at 3 months and 6 days when she was just learning how to roll over.

Now, at four months she does this with much more ease.

Great-Grandpa is GREAT!

Great-Grandpa Harvey came and stayed out at the farm for a couple days a couple different times. This has given Natalie a chance to spend more time with him. He is so fun to watch with her. She is a worker bee and he does his best to keep her busy!

Helping prep some parts for the air seeder.

They make a good team.

Taking a break and going on a 4-wheeler ride.

We LOVE you Great-Grandpa! Thanks for helping us make some 'Great' memories!

Perplexed?

Does Aleah look a little perplexed, or is it just me??


We were going out for a ride on the Prowler (a side-by-side seated 4-wheeler) to see how far we could get with Natalie and Daddy, and Papa on his own 4-wheeler, on the cut-across road due to snow drifts that hadn't melted yet.
I needed the extra hands and for Aleah to be protected from the wind.
You may say she looks a little uncomfy, but she must have been just fine...she was asleep within 5 minutes.

Papa wasn't just fine though. We couldn't get very far on the cut-across road, so Papa thought he would try to find another way for us to go. Oops...

Push Daddy, PUSH!

They made it out, but we didn't get any further than this!

This puts it into perspective!

On Saturday, April 16th, the girls and I went out for a walk on the driveway and through the pasture where Daddy stores his finished hoppers until farmers can come pick them up.
Tony had a customer needing some help getting all of his hoppers home, so he loaded a couple up on the semi and had it sitting ready for whenever the farmer arrived.
On our walk we stopped at one of the MANY 'snowmelt' ponds to throw rocks for Buddy and Natalie decided she needed to go check out Daddy's hoppers and semi-truck.

The pictures below may put the actual size of these things into perspective for those of you that have not had the chance to see them in person.

The girls in the double stroller.

Notice Natalie in her pink hat right next to the fuel tank on the semi.

Can you see the pink hat? It's still right next to the fuel tank on the semi.
This is just how BIG these things really are!

And now for a little investigation of Daddy's truck.

See mom, I can get up here ALL BY MYSELF!

Natalie and I's reflection.

Dishes are done! Now what?

Usually she is doing the dishes while at the sink.
Well, let's just say they were done already.

She came up with something else to keep her busy at the sink! :)

Bed Head

This just might be the cutest bed head I have ever seen!