This picture of MM was taken before vacation. Corn on the cob is the best example of summer. When the sweet corn is gone so is summer. Summer really went by fast. The Big Guy commented how early it's turning dark. September is almost here. Not every project got done outside..again. This weekend I went outside and pulled weeds for one last time. The plants were looking like I needed to water them. We had about an inch and half of rain this weekend.

Every Wednesday in Longville during the summertime, HUNDREDS of people flock to this little town. The main road is blocked off for the weekly turtle race. Longville, MN is the Turtle Racing Capital of the World. MM was in Heat #7, There are 10 turtles in each heat. She WON! The Big Guy is experienced in this competition, so I guess he picked the winning turtle. My job was to take photos and keep the camera rolling. All the heat winners come back at the end of all the races (37 heats total) and compete against each other time. Looks a little crowded to me. The Big Guy got right in there. The lovely lady on the left about stepped on MM's turtle when she was on her way out of the circle. So that was the end of racing for this year. MM got a free ice cream from Frosty's . By the way, we love their Kemps cotton candy ice cream!

There's lots of catching up to do. First, See the fish, and by the way, The Big Guy and MM get a picture by Little Boy Lake. What a vacation. We spent a week in MN fishing Little Boy Lake. It was HOT, HOT, HOT! I don't think that week it would have mattered where we vacationed, it was HOT everwhere!

It's been awhile since I have posted a blog. There are a few things I have failed to mention on this blog since have have been absent. MM is saying lots of new words, purple, highchair, tummy. Mom even made it thru a birthday! We took MM out for her first boatride. It was a good evening to go out and she enjoyed every minute on the boat. She wanted to explore every inch of the boat, but a little juice and goldfish, and we were set.

Where has the time gone? Summer is almost here, and weekends just slip away from us. MM loves her new toys - thanks to mommie :) I have realized she has PLENTY of clothes so I am moving on to my next hobby - toy shopping. She is starting to get a nice Little Tikes selection. I am still on the hunt for a Little Tikes Picnic Table. If all else fails, I will go buy one at Toys r Us. We spend the evenings watering flowers and playing outside until she is very tired! My laptop crashed last week, so I am out of comission on downloading pictures until I get it back.

Nothing big happened around home this week. Finally planted the flowers in the pots! Then the next night it stormed, so they all had to go under the porch! Lots of rain this week. This weekend's project will be mulch. Nana & PaPa are over to spoil MM.

Some words MM is working on... crakers, shoes, cheese, grace, juice. Oh, and her favorite word is NO.

Have a great weekend!!

During the day I usually talk to MMs babysitter via messenger. Today she signed on to tell me They were looking at MMs pictures on her web site. MM was telling her everyone in the pictures. Mom, Dad, and then Macie said her cousin's name, Delaney. I am sure it didn't come out perfect, but I was happy, I called the big guy at work and told him, too!

This is a list of why we don't own NEW things
-My parents threw out their old end tables one weekend and I loaded them up in my truck and glued the legs back together and they now sit in my living room. MM got ahold of my drink last night and spilt the tea on one end table. It has a glass top. The tea ran under the top and it's sitting in a pool on both corners. How do we get under the glass. Is that why mom wouldn't let us bring drinks in the living room?

-Our couch and love seat was bought from a friend of a friend. It's beige...with tea stains!

-I went rummaging last weekend and bought 2 lamps to go on the end tables. They are a pretty crystal and I bought 2 new lamp shades to match my antique floor lamp-discovered at an auction. But the big guy thinks all this new light makes it too bright, so he's right behind me, dimming the lights.

-Our kitchen table is a hand me down. This table is also featured in the Big Guy's baby pictures! One time the drop leaf was not secured and tested before we set the table for dinner and the roast ended up on the wall and floor!

-The back door leads directly to the kitchen. There is no area to drop off shoes and hats and coats. We've tracked in so much in that kitchen. So I went to wal mart and bought this huge, pretty rug - it is not pretty anymore. I told the Big Guy, he can buy the next rug and see how much it cost. Maybe he'll take off his shoes next time he comes in the house.

Why don't we own new things? Maybe it's because we don't deserve them! Maybe its because we live like real people and walk in real dirt in our real shoes. We have hobbies, wait, HE has hobbies! I have MM to keep me busy. Life isn't perfect, and either is my house.

It was raining....all weekend...until this afternoon. It was raining when I attempted to straighten my hair, too. MM stopped long enough to get her picture taken with her cousin. The next day I went back to curly hair. The rain didn't stop the big guy from stopping at Rural King. I don't think we bought anything. MM took a few rides on the John Deere petal tractors. Couldn't get her away from the tractors. This is the big guy's way of keeping the rain off of MM.

Tea for two? This girl runs on caffeine and M&Ms! Chocolate is her FAVORITE! and we have to HIDE it from her. Now... lets talk about the baby! HA. M&M is maybe learning bad habits from her mommie, but I've seen a grandma here and there sneak in some chocolate (a bunny EAR) or some ice cream! We are just happy she has her appetite back and is feeling 100%. Look at this face, I think she's onry!

We had another big weekend of visiting PaPa for his bday and attending a Mother/Daughter banquet. There are new babies at church and I can imagine how happy the new mommies were to bring their new baby girls. Last year I carried M&M in her car seat and she slept thru the dinner. This year, she helped herself to her own plate. Time flies and babies grow to fast. These new mommies will wish the same thing next year. Is there a way to stop time? Not sure if I could figure that out. Is there a way to stop them from crawling up the stairs? or having the notion to jump off the couch? My house will never be the same. I swore I picked up the living room last night when we got home from the banquet. And I remember this morning all the toys I stepped over on my way out the door. Life seems chatic, but I wouldn't change it for the world, or to be debt free, or to be a size 5 (i'd take size 9). When people visit, they can step over the toys, just don't step on a weeble wabble.

TODDLER BIBS:
This is something I got this weekend from my sister's inlaw-inlaws...She makes toddler bibs. I love them, even though the sleeves are a bit long, it works out great and saves the outfits!

We are still finding left over Easter Candy around the house. I did buy her some chocolate for Easter, along what was in her eggs. Last night I found a box to put the eggs in and I was sorting through the eggs and found more candy. MM still refers to candy as "Yum,Yum."

We wore her out last night by playing outside before we cooked on our new grill. She likes to help outside, but we still have to keep an eye out on her. She has a mini shovel she will use to move around some mulch and dirt. Then she will be off and running in the yard. Like a boomerang, she comes back.

I am glad she is starting to feel better this week. Her sores are gone and she is in a better mood. Our evenings have become somewhat normal this week since the Big Guy has been rained out of working late nights. Last week he would come home around 9 or 10 o'clock. We are getting some honey-do jobs done, but there is lots to do at our house! We finally put her Little Tykes slide together. I bought it at a resale shop and got it for a great price. Thanks Nana! It took both of us to put it together. Of course, MM was right there , under all the chaos excited about her new toy. Last night when we unloaded the grill from the truck she was right there! Can't miss a thing.

Last night I took MM shopping with me. She has been under the weather for a few days, and she even had a temperature when I picked her up. The trip to the stores gave her time to take a nap. You probably think it wasn't nice of me to take her out when she wasn't feeling very well. Sometimes she sleeps the best in the car when we are traveling. Anyway, I had a Little Tykes slide set that was on hold for me at a resale shop. I had to pick it up last night, or someone else would have the opportunity to buy it. I can't believe how much those toys cost! I can't believe how much all toys, clothes and shoes costs for little toddlers! My sis and I went shoe shopping this weekend and the prices for toddler shoes is outrageous, they costs as much as my shoes. I do believe toddlers need good shoes. They are still clumsy and need good support for their growing feet. I think MM was in her last size for four months. Now we are growing into the next size. What the big guy doesn't realize is that every year, every season, she needs new clothes. I think I do a good job buying clothes on sale, or at resale shops. I have totes and totes of her clothes from last season, not willing to give them up- just yet.

By the time we got to the stores, she was already feeling better. MM Loves to talk to other people at the stores. She waves real big a them, a few will wave back. Some people love that attention. When MM gets bigger we will talk about talking to strangers!

I have found more uses for the handicap bathrooms. It is more space for moms to pull in their stuff, carriers, strollers, baby bags. Now that I have a very active toddler, I was weary about going to the restroom yesterday, but I thought I would try. MM thought it was very intersting, when she squatted down, she could see under the door and see all these feet coming in and leaving the restroom. Of course I had the fear of her crawling and wandering off and I would not be able to get her. That would be a difficult thing. She behaved very well. We went out to eat after shopping and she was a little princess at Chilis. She loves mac and cheese. I couldn't believe I was eating supper with this little person.

This is an Easter picture of The Big Guy and MM. All ready to go to church... by the way, she was extra good in church! She sat on my lap most of the service and was a little princess. MM had a big weekend, most of it involved chocolate. She didn't care too much for the peeps. Those are still in the wrapper, and the Big Guy hasn't discovered them yet. MM had a very pretty dress for Easter. I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted in her dress. She fell asleep after church in her car seat. After we got home, I made my salads to take to the in-laws and she stayed in the car seat and slept. By the time she woke up, we were on our way up there, and had to change her clothes so we could feed her lunch. After that was time to hunt for the eggs. That was cute to see, and she enjoyed it more than I thought she would.

I have been way behind on my blogs. I usually like to do them in the evenings, and my comptuer has been at the "Dr" for a week, so I am trying to catch up on everything! I think I got it back on Wednesday. My sister told me I am a bad blogger. I guess I will get the hang of this eventually. It has been a long week.

MM had a good week last week and we haven't been as lucky this week. MM is sick with a virus and I have stayed home with her for a couple of days. I took her to the dr today and lets just hope she is better next week!

I took her to Wal Mart yesterday to pick up more medicine. We were in the craft department and we went by all of the beads in one of the isles. MM said yum yum! Oh MM , those aren't candy , those are beads! She wasn't too happy with that answer!

Everything to Macie is a Yum! Yum! The spoon, her milk, the animal cracker, the applesauce. She use to say JUICE, but like other words, she uses for awhile and then comes up with new words. She also talks in sentences. It is very entertaining since we can't understand what she is saying.

This is going to be such a nice week! I can't believe this weather! Why do I have this cold again?

MM and I had a good weekend. We didn't do too much. It was dedication Sunday at church where they paid a dedication to the new babies of the church. There were 17 babies total! That is a lot of lovin'! They gave a rose and engraved bible to the babies, and then we had a potluck after the service. It is great to see such a growing church, it also makes for an interesting church service, including MM. She is usually makes her presence known as well.

When we came back home I let her play outside for awhile. I let her play in her good clothes. She is growing out of her clothes so fast, I guess she should get some use of her good clothes. I was really suprised how this picture turned out. I think she fell down in the and she wanted me to pick her up. The lighting in this picture is very intersting. She looks like an angel.

Sunday night when it was time to get her jammies on we were jammin' to an old Wynonna CD in the radio. It is so cute to watch her dance. She definitley has her own groove going on. I was singing to her and she was dancing. Then she put her hand up to her ear, I guess I can't sing. And my one year old daughter had to tell me!

Thanks to the warm weather, the Big Guy is working late. Supper is now ready and he said he would be home at dark. He wanted me to save some dinner. I am sure there is enough roast and potatoes to go around! Once or twice!

M&M slept thru the night. She had a rough morning. M&M is a morning person, so when she doesn't want to get up we know she doesn't feel the best. Every morning when the Big Guy wakes her up, she is always pointing towards the door, she can see the light from the bathroom where I am getting ready. He will get her out of her bed and she will come running into the bathroom. This morning after he sat M&M down, she went straight to our bed. She wasn't ready to get up and wanted to lay back down on our pillows. I felt guilty I didn't stay home with her again today, but M&M made it thru the day and when I picked her up she looked like she was feeling better. It was a long day at work, and it took longer than I expected to get things done at work.

Every night when we get home, she is ready to play outside. It doesn't matter how cold it is, she doesn't want to come in the house. This afternoon when we got home, I carried her into the house. It was drizzling and I didn't want her out in the cold rain when we are trying to get her better. When we got in the house, she went over to the patio door and tried to open it up. She is getting tall enough that she can reach it. She is not strong enough to turn the knob, but she knows what it is for. (When I pick her up at the sitters, she heads straight for the door, she is ready to go home.) So this evening while she is begging, in her own little way, to ask to go outside, I ignore her. I leave her coat on and work on getting supper ready. I know if I take her coat off she would get very upset. She is then occupied with pots and pans and spots a Schwan's push up in the freezer. M&M didn't eat much all day so I knew she would be hungry when we got home.

When the Big Guy gets home, M&M thinks she can get him to take her outside and play. She wimpers for a little bit, this is sort of a routine she has down. They will spend time outside before supper is ready. He starts to warm up dinner for M&M. She seems very interested in his coke, she he pours some in a cup for her. As soon as he turns his head, she decides to take a drink, a big one, and it's all over the place. I have never seen a bib hold back that much liquid. Sometimes the big guy should wear one, too.

I did get the oil stains out of her coat, now I have another load of laundry to do. I didn't have to worry about stains and wear and tear on her clothes last summer. She just sat there and looked pretty. This year, I know she will be out in the flower garden with me. If the Big Guy teaches her anything, she will be digging up worms.

M&M slept thru the night. She had a rough morning. M&M is a morning person, so when she doesn't want to get up we know she doesn't feel the best. Every morning when the Big Guy wakes her up, she is always pointing towards the door, she can see the light from the bathroom where I am getting ready. He will get her out of her bed and she will come running into the bathroom. This morning after he sat M&M down, she went straight to our bed. She wasn't ready to get up and wanted to lay back down on our pillows. I felt guilty I didn't stay home with her again today, but M&M made it thru the day and when I picked her up she looked like she was feeling better. It was a long day at work, and it took longer than I expected to get things done at work.

Every night when we get home, she is ready to play outside. It doesn't matter how cold it is, she doesn't want to come in the house. This afternoon when we got home, I carried her into the house. It was drizzling and I didn't want her out in the cold rain when we are trying to get her better. When we got in the house, she went over to the patio door and tried to open it up. She is getting tall enough that she can reach it. She is not strong enough to turn the knob, but she knows what it is for. (When I pick her up at the sitters, she heads straight for the door, she is ready to go home.) So this evening while she is begging, in her own little way, to ask to go outside, I ignore her. I leave her coat on and work on getting supper ready. I know if I take her coat off she would get very upset. She is then occupied with pots and pans and spots a Schwan's push up in the freezer. M&M didn't eat much all day so I knew she would be hungry when we got home.

When the Big Guy gets home, M&M thinks she can get him to take her outside and play. She wimpers for a little bit, this is sort of a routine she has down. They will spend time outside before supper is ready. He starts to warm up dinner for M&M. She seems very interested in his coke, she he pours some in a cup for her. As soon as he turns his head, she decides to take a drink, a big one, and it's all over the place. I have never seen a bib hold back that much liquid. Sometimes the big guy should wear one, too.

I did get the oil stains out of her coat, now I have another load of laundry to do. I didn't have to worry about stains and wear and tear on her clothes last summer. She just sat there and looked pretty. This year, I know she will be out in the flower garden with me. If the Big Guy teaches her anything, she will be digging up worms.

Last night I wasn't home. I had a marketing meeting for our customers. I get home just in time for M&M's bed time. She is tired and in my lap as soon as I get thru the door. I eat her left over shells and cheese and we take her upstairs for bed time! Now she is starting to feel a little warm. Big Guy is telling me about all the fun they had tonight working on the mower, changing the oil, taking a ride on the golf cart. I am sure she was a big help changing the oil, she has the grease on her fleece jacket to prove it! We are on wash cycle #2 trying to get that out.

M&M isn't doing any better thru the night. She is restless, and I take her temperature, it's 101. Where did all of this come from? It was a long (or short) night for us. M&M had a rough night. Big guy had to wake us up before he went to work this morning. There were plenty of things to do around the house. We started with the kitchen. M&M loves to help unload the dishwasher. She took the mixing bowl for my KitchenAid out of the dishwasher and walked it right over to the counter the mixer was sitting on. I am impressed, of course, she loves watching us use that mixer. She always requires a spatula for herself, hoping to get a taste of the icing I usually make. She is also very interested in stirring everything. I see her in a couple of months wanting to visit us cooking while sitting on the counter. Then she is standing over by the table. She wants to sit at the table, which is unusual for her. So I sit her up on one of the chairs with her milk and she's pointing at the animal crackers. She is sitting so well at the table like a big girl, so I continue to clean in the kitchen.

We had a good morning and she took a long nap. In the afternoon we went for a ride and she fought her car seat the whole time. She did not get a nap this afternoon. M&M went to bed early. I hope we have a better night.

After making the cookies and finishing up the NCAA square winners, it was a late night. I finished the dishes and I had a hard time finding my way to bed. If I am guessing it was around one am. You are sitting there with your eyebrows raised at me. I am tired and my eyes are bloodshot. M&M decided to wake up a couple hours early. I put her in bed with us. She wasn't ready to go back to bed. I gave her a book- in the dark. She played with it for awhile, and then was leaning over me pointing at something on the night stand I coudn't see - it was dark. She kept repeating "Mom, Mom" I handed her the other book and then a bottle of her lotion. What does she want? Of course, the whole time the Big Guy is sleeping, or playing possum. He does that so well. He had a lot more sleep than me at this point, too. He requires more sleep than me, with is odd, I think.

Finally! Game over. I stayed up to watch the NCAA game. I really can't tell you who won, or who played, but I know I matched a score, so I won! Imagine that, Not much luck on my side most of the time.

Seems like I had a long day. The Big Guy thinks he neeeds to be on the other time zone, just to confuse the family. That's ok, supper will be on later for you buddy!

I made cookies for a work meeting for tomorrow night. It never fails, the cookies won't turn out like planned. Maybe it was planned on the the Big Guy's part so he'll have more to sample at home.

M&M went down fast tonight. She was exhausted. I couldn't get her in the house when we got home this afternoon. She was determined to walk to the end of the lane. Logically, when you get to the end of the lane, you turn back around. Not this little girl. She's on a mission. I am not sure what she is scouting out on a country road, but she is headed East now. Headed for what? I am not sure. She's getting cold and she's walking faster. She fell down four times, but she's tough, she is on a mission. M&M, it's time to go to the house. M&M walks faster. M&M, you are getting too cold. M&M walks faster. I scoop her up and she is mad. Maybe she wanted to show me something down the road, but I didn't see anything. Time to go to the house and get warmed up, maybe a diaper change, too. Does she care, no. Her mom has her, and it's not fun going back to the house. Sometimes I am glad we live in the country. No one can hear us yelling at each other. This time M&M is yelling at me, play time isn't over. If she only knew the Big Guy expects dinner when he he gets home.