Our Goodies...

Benjamin and Ada made Dave and I the cutest Mother's Day and Father's Day presents. I just had to share them. I know, I know it took me a while to get the picture taken and posted so I apologize for that. I love this bag!! This gift was both cute and usable!

All together!

My side of the family was actually all together for part of a weekend so we had a family picture taken. With my little brothers growing up and getting jobs, girlfriends, and even a fiance we never seem to be in the same place! It was nice seeing everyone and hopefully we will be able to do it more often.

Ada's pearly whites

Ada has a really beautiful smile and it is filling up quickly with teeth! She already has 6 of them and is working on two more. My baby girl doesn't look like a baby anymore. She is definitely growing up too fast!

Ada got her first tooth on March 12, 2008. She was 5 months old when she got her first tooth (front lower left). She was 6 months old when she got her second tooth (front lower right). Her second tooth broke through on Easter Sunday (March 23, 2008). She has tolerated teething pretty good so far. You can tell when her teeth are bothering her as she will really bite down on things. Note: this is not what a breastfeeding mommy wants!

Ada got her third tooth (front upper left) on May 23, 2008. Her fourth tooth (front upper right)broke through on June 1, 2008. Tooth number five broke through on July 5, 2008 (lower right) and number six broke through on July 9, 2008 (lower left). Ada gets very clingy and doesn't like to sleep or eat when she is teething. Number 3 and 4 were very, very hard on her and all involved! Number 7 and 8 don't look that far off.

Girls Just Want to Have FUN!!

Ada had so much fun playing dress-up with these necklaces that she and Benjamin got from Auntie Carrie and Uncle Matt. Ada loves getting undressed but absolutely throws a fit when she has to get dressed! We were half way there when she stormed off and got side tracked with these necklaces. She looked so cute that I was laughing while taking her picture. Daddy says this is no good that his little girl likes being undressed and wearing jewelry! Oh daddy, girls just want to have fun!!

My little corn farmer...

Benjamin has loved anything and everything to do with corn and animals. The first three pictures are from our family vacation last year with my in-laws. My mother-in-law suggested we take the kids to a children's museum so they could play and burn off some steam. There were all sorts of things to play with but Benjamin was infatuated with the corn field. He would pick corn for hours if we let him!

Picking Corn (2007)

This one looks ready to eat! (2007)

Here you go little calf, here is your breakfast! (2007)

I love eating sweet corn! (2007)

Benjamin loves eating corn on the cob. I know, who doesn't right? Well, this little boy gets so excited for corn on the cob that he has to eat a cob before it even gets cooked. That's right, I said he likes to eat it raw. Dave and I are still trying to figure out what is so good about uncooked corn on the cob!

Shucking Corn

Benjamin has always been very helpful but he has been in the helping mood alot lately. Now whenever we have corn on the cob it is Benjamin's job to shuck the corn. Surprisingly, he does a great job at it. But I have to watch him as he likes to take a "commission" bite out of each cob.

His love for corn and corn farming continues today. He likes to feed his cows and horses (horsies) corn. When we go grocery shopping we cannot pass the corn on the cob without picking up a couple of ears. It has been so fun watching Benjamin develop into the little boy that he is. I love you honey and look forward to watching you take on the world!

I love you sister!

Benjamin is always loving on his sister. He likes giving her hugs, kisses, and petting her. I think he really likes how soft her hair feels and just can't keep his hands to himself. I just love this photo!

Boy do I wish it would snow!

Every year we have something we call "Summerfest" for our 4-H kids. At summerfest we make crafts and practice judging photography, family and consumer science topics, visual arts projects, etc. Anyhow, my contribution to summerfest were these cute snowmen! Can you tell I can't stand the heat and can't wait for winter?

A Climber...

Ada's favorite thing to do lately is climb. She climbs up onto anything and everything that can support her! If she sees Benjamin climb up onto something than she has to try and climb up on it to. She is so proud of herself when she climbs up. Dave forgot to mention to Dani (the kids' daycare provider) that Ada is a climber. Well, when they were playing outside Dani turned around to attend to Presley and than turned back to find Ada standing on top of the Little Tykes picnic table. Dani couldn't get over how at ease Ada was standing up there. We definitely have our hands full!

My turn on the potty!If you won't give me my bath now, I am going in myself!
Benjamin, where am I?
You can't get my car from up here!
I didn't do anything, I swear!

R is for my Radishes!

Benjamin takes after my side of the family with his love for radishes. Benjamin loves radishes and has since he was a year and a half old! We have planted radishes the last couple of years in our garden and I think we are finally starting to get them planted early enough to "beat the heat" and get decent radishes and to get a decent harvest. As you can see from the picture Benjamin is very proud of his "radishes". Neither Dave nor I got a single radish as Benjamin ate them all. I am not kidding when I say he has a love for radishes!

Slushies...Oh, Sweet Slushies!

Benjamin shares my love and weakness for slushies! The last time we went to the zoo it was so hot we decided to get a slushy and share it. Let's just say that one of us was very happy and content with the slushy while the other one watched the cup go empty. That's right. We were supposed to share it but mom only got the first sip, Benjamin got the rest! When I asked if I could have some he tightened his grip on the cup and lowered it underneath the tray of the stroller for extra support. With the straw still in his mouth he said, "no you can't have some, it's my turn, I busy right now." I couldn't help but smile and laugh because I could only imagine what I would have said at his age.


Even though we live so close to Sioux Falls we only go into town once-in-a-while so it ends up being a very long day! A special summer treat after a long, hot day shopping and taking care of errands is a slushy from the gas station. I don't know who is more excited--Benjamin or me? The other day Ada gave me this long, sad, "I want to have some too" look that I just couldn't resist. So I gave her a little tiny bit thinking she wouldn't like the cold and I think I have another slushy addict on my hands!

Smile, what's that?

Ada is a little comedian. When she sees the camera she immediately stops whatever she is doing whether that is smiling, laughing, playing, walking, or picking on her big brother. After we finally give up trying to take her picture and put away the camera she will start right back up doing what we were trying to capture on camera. I love the picture below because you can tell she wants to smile but is teasing us by holding it back!



After many, many attempts we finally caught her smiling! Isn't she a little sweetie? We are so proud of her! She brings so much joy to our family. Benjamin loves his little sister and is very protective of her. But if he gets in her face or makes her mad she lets him have it. The other day he kept pushing her down and taking away her toys and she got mad at him and bit him. She bit him so hard that he got a bruise! Let's just say he was not a very happy big brother!

My first fancy cake...

I made this stacked and tiered cake for my final cake decorating class. I made everything on this cake except for the pillars and cake board. The flowers are made out of royal icing. I left the aluminum foil on the flowers because I really liked how the silver added to the cake.


After making this cake I realize that people do not pay their wedding cake decorators enough!

A Meme

Angela at Little Miracles tagged me to do a meme. Here is my best and first attempt at a meme.

1. What were you doing 10 years ago? I had just completed my freshman year of college at SDSU. I was serving as a MN State FFA Officer so I spent most of the summer attending FFA camps and leadership activities and the MN State Fair. Any free time that I had was spent working at our local museum.

2. What are 5 things on your "to do" list? Have more children. Live on an acreage. Take dancing lessons with Dave. Get all my photos & scrapbooks organized. Be a stay-at-home mom.

3. What are 5 snacks you enjoy? Almonds. Snickers candy bar. Chips and salsa. Puppy Chow. Apples with Carmel.

4. Name some of the things you would do if you were a millionaire. I would plan wisely and make certain that my family was taken care of. I would then help out/give to other family members and close friends. I would also give generously to our church and other charitable organizations that I believe in.

5. Name some bad habits you have. I stress out very easy, I pick/break/bite my nails under heavy stress (I am getting better about this), I am always running behind on time.

6. Name some places where you've lived. Minnesota and South Dakota.

7. Name some jobs you've had. Currently, wife, mommy, and Extension Educator; also, Lab Manager, Graduate Research Assistant, waitress/bartender/cook, Summer Assistant (Extension Office, Recorders Office, Environmental Services Office, Museum), babysitter.

8. Name those whom you are tagging. Carrie at Life With Mady.

Those Eyes!!

Look at those Beautiful Blue Eyes!! Ada has beautiful eyes and she knows how to use them. When she sees something she wants her eyes get so excited and she crawls at full speed to get it. She speaks volumes with her little eyes. I can't help but say how much I lover her and how cute I think she is. Ada is 9 months old and is almost walking. She loves walking along the furniture, pushing her toys, and walking while holding our hands. She tried taking her first solo step today but when she realized what she was doing she stopped almost instantly. My gorgeous baby girl is growing up way to fast! I can't believe she is almost one. Where did the time go?

Here Kitty, Kitty

The Hunt

The Catch

Benjamin loves watching animals, no matter if they are cows, horses, donkeys, pigs, birds, dogs, cats, or snakes. He loves them! We don't have a cat; although, Dave and Benjamin keep asking for one, but one of the neighbors does and it likes to visit. In fact, we have quite a few visitors. A few of the neighbors let their dogs run around without a leash (not very found of that) and we have had stray cats visit ever since we moved here. One cat is either very brave, stubborn, or not very smart (I haven't decided which yet). This gray cat likes to hide in our garage whenever we have the door open and scare me by jumping down. Benjamin gets a kick out of that. This same cat likes to persuade Benjamin to try and catch him. Benjamin has caught the cat a couple of times but then the cat growls and puts out his claws and that is enough for Benjamin. After Benjamin has calmed down he goes back for more--he is very persistent!