Easter 2011

The Easter bunny came to visit our house.  He left a nest on each recliner for the kids.  Unfortunately, my camera does not do well in low light so these pictures are lacking. He left some eggs filled with candy and money, a singing card, and some stickers.

Tucker also now has a REALLY BIG grasshopper and spider which I hope will soon go live in the sand box.

There’s nothing like a good chocolate high before breakfast.

Later in the day we went to Papaw’s and Gamma Deb’s for a late lunch.

We had ribs.

And they were Delicious!!!!We were calling the kids Pebbles and Bam Bam.  They were a little prehistoric gnawing on those bones.

And then it was time for the Easter egg hunt.  Here they are patiently waiting to be released to the back yard.

And then the hunt begins. 

Tuck did really good helping Kora out and showing her how it’s done.

But she took off pretty quick and filled her bucket. This is her first official egg hunt.  Last year she was just too little, only 5 months old.

Not only did we find quite the stash of eggs but we found a good mess of mushrooms too.  Over half of them were in Deb’s flower beds.  This is quite the year for mushrooms.  Dad deep fried them and they were quite tasty. 

Thanks Papaw and Gamma Deb for a great day.

Peek-A-Boo

April Storm at the Homestead

April 19th brought a pretty big storm.  We spent about 45 minutes in the basement. The kids never even woke up as we hauled them to the basement and then back to bed once the winds died down. I hate storms that come after dark.  This one hit about 945. 

Dad called about 1030 to say that he lost two barns at the house.

The next morning a couple of guys from the Crawfordsville office and I made a tour of the county to inventory the havoc. 

This is Dad’s concrete block barn, or what is left of it.

This one just collapsed in upon itself.  This one housed mismatched stuff and junk.  This barn has been here for over 65 years or as long as Dad can remember.

This is what is left of the big pole barn.  This one has been here since I can remember.  Dad said Grandpa Bernard built it so we know it has been there at least 38 years. 

The wind just sheered off most of the posts.

And it took part of the barn, laid it in the yard and then blew off with the rest of it.  These boards are planted so deep into the ground that you can’t even budge them.

Debris, tin and two by fours are strewn over 1 1/4 miles.  It will be a while before the fields dry out enough to go and clean things up.

Trusses were laid down on mowers and tractors but the worst damage to any of them was a bent muffler stand pipe on the little blue Ford.  The John Deere drove right out once the Bobcat lifted the truss. And then they were able to pull all of the other equipment out.

And this barn was not even touched.  It’s back was to the wind, which we think saved it.

There was a plastic funnel laying on the ground right here and it never moved.  Crazy.  There was a family of raccoons living in an old file cabinet.  They were NOT happy once the cleaning crew started moving their “home”.

This is the view I found at 430 pm after taking the previous pictures at about 930 am.  There were about 20 guys there helping clean up and they had cleared the pole barn completely.  The concrete floor was swept clean and all the debris was piled ready for pick up.

And as Uncle Gerald said: “You know it’s a big storm when it blows in a dozer!”  Now that’s funny!

I guess Nanny cried when she came over and saw it.  The old homestead has changed/lost a lot over the years.  It is slowing blowing away, literally.

Slime

Tuck and I made slime last weekend.  Nothing like a little cornstarch and water to entertain a toddler… and his Momma.

 

I made the mistake of leaving the cup of water within reach.  We had it just right for about 5 minutes and then he poured the rest of the water into the bowl and it turned into milky water.  He liked the splashing just as well but it made for a bigger mess for Mommy to clean up.  There is still some in the seams of the table.

Tucker Quotes

I have been saving a few of these and it is time to get them documented…

Oz-mose = almost

ahs-all-ohs = marshmallows.  this one took many tries and I finally had to make him take me to the cupboard.

bucks = one deer

buckses= multiple deers

“Am I boo-ful, Mommy? Will you marry when me when I get big?”

backet shoots = basketball

ehz-o-wit = elephant

kaw=see = coffee

 

And no he doesn’t still have a plug; he only torments Kora by stealing it.

I am obsessed with this stuff….

Papaw made the kids a play kitchen this winter.  Nanny got them some pots and pans and a tea set but alas they had nothing to prepare on them.  I found plastic food but I knew Tuck would be hitting Kora over the head with it so this, I think, is going to be so much better. 

This set is actually for a friend’s little girl’s second birthday tomorrow but I have a match set for T and K.

Here is the makings for the sandwich.

Here it is packaged for gift giving. 

And you can’t have a sandwich without a cookie for dessert.  These are light brown on the back.  The idea is that they will be light side up as you cut them and put them in the oven and then flip them over to the “baked” and decorated side when they are done.

And here is breakfast.  The eggs are my favorite to make.  And the sausage is only mildly offensive.  I may switch to patties.

And these are Tucker’s lunch favorite-quesadillas complete with cheese oozing out. These were the fastest since I used the sewing machine.  All the others are hand stitched but only take 15-20 minutes to finish.

I have plans for pitas/tortillas, pancakes, pickles, bowtie pasta, raviolis, pirogues, crackers, more cookies and maybe a cupcake.  I am ate up with this felt food and TJ just laughs when I present him with another course.  I hope the kids enjoy it as much as I have.

Grumpopotomus

This is Kora’s grumpy face.

aka The Stink Eye.

It comes out more often lately. 

She has Papaw scared.