Long overdue

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Just a week and a half ago, we celebrated Ron's graduation for his master degree. Despite the cold and rain, it was a wonderful day with family and friends.



Thursday, May 19, 2011

I love my John Deere hat!


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Toes

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

It's amazing watching your kids as the learn new things. The rate at which they pick things up is incredible. Kaylee is always watching you, taking things in, and then trying them out.

Case in point, the other night after supper Ron and I carried our plates to the sink to rinse them off. We turned around and Kaylee had grabbed a plate off the table, and carried it over to the sink to us.

We were astounded.

and excited

and awfully proud.



However not everything she is learning is quite so monumental.

For instance, this is one of her new favorite things to do, especially now that it's sandal weather.


She loves her toes.

And thanks to daddy, she loves to pick at them.


Sometimes, she likes to check ours out too. All because daddy picked some sock lint out of her toes one night.


We were humored


and a little grossed out


and Daddy is awfully proud.


Mothers

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there! What a wonderful thing to be a mom - to have someone look so lovingly up at you, to ask you for help, to watch grow. I wouldn't change it for the world.

I had a wonderful day at home working on our backyard. Deck-done. Landscaping-done. Sandbox-filled. Next on the list - new fence and swingset. I guess you can say the next couple of weekends are full.


Ron and Kaylee did something special for me today. I've been saving for a nice SLR camera, so I had told Ron, to not worry about a gift. Instead he made a donation to Reece's Rainbow for me.

I follow quite a few blogs and one day a stumbled across a blog of a family who was blogging about their adoption journey to bring home their daughter from Eastern European. Reece's Rainbow promotes the adoption of international children with Down Syndrome by raising grants to offer adoption grants for waiting children. What a great program! Not only does it aid in the adoption process financially, it help serve as a connector between waiting children and families looking to adopt.

Needless to say, I've been hooked on following several families through this adoption process. I've also begun to question whether we are being to called to adopt. It's been quite an eye opening experience to learn not only about special needs children, but also orphans around the world. Could we raise a special needs child - I think so. Is this the right time for us to venture down this road - we're not sure. I'll admit, there is one little girl I continue to check back on frequently to see if a family has found her. Ron donated to her grant today in honor of Mother's Day. If you have a chance, check out Reece's Rainbow, and if its in your means (whether its $5 or $50) consider supporting this organization by donating to a child's grant. Help them find their forever family and spend this day next year with their very own mother.





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Routine

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Seriously, where does the time go? Better yet, where does my time go? We find ourselves immersed in our daily routines - wake up, get ready for work, get Kaylee up, get her dressed, get us out the door and to daycare, and then off to work. By the time we all get home, fix supper, and have bath time, Kaylee's bedtime shortly follows. A few hours to ourselves to catch up on the day, dishes, and laundry, then its time for us to turn in too. We find ourselves in a this daily routine quite often. Luckily things are looking to switch up a little.

For those that may be following the Cook Farms blog (its been sorely neglected too), it's "Go Time". It spring and that means spring has sprung or at least it is trying to.

Last week I got my field season started in soggy southern Illinois. Between raindrops and flooded waters, we got the first of the traps set out for my vineyard survey. That's right, vineyards - in addition to doing some research on invasive insects this summer, I'll be getting to survey some of the fantastic wine produced right here in Illinois. Yahoo!

Ron has hit the road with the planter this week and his first corn trials are in the ground. He's feeling a little better about getting research started too.