HALLOWEEN

Today was so much fun!! Since the movie Despicable Me came out, I've wanted to dress Brooklyn up as a little Minion. We looked for costumes but they didn't make any for infants and the ones that we could buy for older kids were not cute at all. So we decided that making one would be the best way to go. We looked all over Idaho Falls to find a pattern for the basic shape of the body. No one had anything that was even close so I decided that I would have to design her whole costume. It was a daunting task but we finally figured it out! I sewed all day Friday and finally got it done, after a very frustrating day of sewing. Trying to get a sewing machine to work, that wasn't mine, was making me want to pull my hair out.

But all of the frustration and time definately paid off! The outfit is adorable and everyone loved it. It kept her toasty warm during the evening of trunk or treating. She had a blast and even got used to her costume being on. She didn't like it at first, but after being in it for a while, she didn't seem to mind it. I can't wait to decide and make her costume for next year!

Here is a video of her walking, or should I say wadling, in her costume. It had all of us laughing!!

Cats

We got home from the store today and when Brooklyn saw the cats as we walked in the house she started talking up a storm. It almost sounded like she was scolding them. We went inside, the cats followed us up to the porch so I shut the glass door and let Brooklyn sit and talk to them for a few minutes. She seemed to really enjoy it!! The cats would come up to the door and rub their sides against the glass like they would against your pant leg. One of them would put his paw on the window whenever Brooklyn would put her hand or finger on the glass. It was really cute! 

Here's her conversation.

 

 

Playing with the cats!

Walking Better

Brooklyn is walking so much better. She is always on the go, getting into things and keeping us busy. She's enjoyed figuring out that she can move faster when she walks and she's getting more and more daring as she gets better. She'll try to run away when I chase her, but she hasn't quite got the balance for it so she usually doesn't make it far. Since she started walking, she's developed even more of her personality. She can be quite a tease. She'll act like she's walking to you and then at the last second, she turns and walks away. She can walk from one end of our house to the other and has even started standing up without having to use the furniture. She's a lot more playful with us, and we can get her to giggle a lot more. I love being able to stay at home with her!! It's the best job anyone could ask for!

Walking October 14, 2011

Walking October 20, 2011

Getting Ready For Winter!!

Yesterday we worked on the lawn as a family to get it ready for winter. We had to mow the lawn a couple times to get it short enough and there was a lot of cut grass so we decided to rake it up. I started on the front lawn while Tyson mowed the back. I didn't have a rake so I had to use a snow shovel to rake it all up, which was a lot more work to get all of the grass into a pile. Barkley got home and came over with a rake and told me it would probably work faster with it. The job definitely went a lot faster on the side lawn, and my back and shoulders hurt a lot less. After a few hours of mowing and raking the lawn, we were only halfway done. I can't believe how many clippings there are!!

We mowed the grass like this for the first pass around the back lawn and by the end my legs and back were killing me. It was fun having the three of us together while we got the lawn ready.  

Today, I strapped Brooklyn on my back so I could finish raking the grass clippings into a pile while Tyson cut hay. I was busily raking and when I stopped to give my arms a little break, I noticed Brooklyn's legs were hanging limply and she was really quiet. Tyson came up the road and I walked over to ask him if she was asleep. He laughed and told me she was out so we decided to turn her around so she was facing my back instead of away from me.

I finally finished it up about 2 hours after I started and now we have five piles of grass around the house, and no idea what to do with all of it.

After taking a ride in the tractor with Tyson, we came home and took pictures of Brooklyn in the big pile of grass out back. She looked so tiny surrounded by all of it. She took handfuls of it and clapped her hands, thoroughly enjoying herself. Her eyes were so blue surrounded by the grass and the red and white coat. I love those blue eyes, they're so pretty!!

 

Beautiful Blue Eyes!

HEAT!!

So we've been without heat so far this year and with the early snow, our house has been very cold! We have had a space heater in Brooklyn's room as well as ours which keeps those rooms comfortable. Brooklyn and I have been stuck in her room for almost 2 weeks and we both are getting cabin fever. There is only so much you can do when you are confined to one room. I have been able to get quite a bit of blogging and crocheting done. Which has been a lot of fun. I also got a few lessons done for my class, which feels fantastic.

We started out by ordering 250 gallons of diesel, thinking that was the problem. When that didn't work, we had someone come to service our furnace and found out that we had to have our chimney and furnace cleaned out because they were both filled with soot. The technician told me he wouldn't finish working on the furnace until it was cleaned because it could ignite and start a house fire. He also said that the furnace pilot light wasn't getting the oxygen flow that it needed and that was why the furnace kept shutting off.

Today we finally got a guy out here to clean everything up. His truck was very different but it got our furnace cleaned so we could get it running. The guy that cleaned it out was very dirty by the time he was done. I'm glad I don't have to wash his clothes!!

This afternoon the technician came back and fixed the furnace and we had HEAT!! It was so nice to have a warm house. Brooklyn and I were really getting tired of being confined to one or two rooms in the house. Granted, I got a lot of schoolwork done, but cabin fever definitely set in. I can't wait to get the rest of the house cleaned. After a week or so of being in Brooklyn's room, the rest of the house was neglected and it'll be nice to get it cleaned.

COWS!!

Today was a lot of fun! Tyson is taking the whole week off to help on the farm and go hunting. It's been nice to spend a little extra time with him. Today we put up fence and moved the cows out to the hay. I drove the pickup up and down the lands so Tyson and Gary could get the fence posts and knobs out of the back. Brooklyn sat on my lap and peaked out the window at Tyson as he counted steps for the next post. She would talk, laugh and giggle on my lap. When we were waiting to for them to fix a path for the cows, I read while Brooklyn explored the back of the pickup. I played Peek-a-Boo with Brooklyn and got her squealing and giggling. She's really been a lot of fun. What a great morning!!

Tyson and I went into town to get Tyson's hunting license and tags while Gary tried to get all of the cows and calves to go across the canal and onto the correct land. Three of the older calves didn't want to go across, but one of the younger calves just bolted across. I guess those four were chickens, you could say. When Tyson and I got home from town, we helped load them in the trailer and then Tyson picked up the new calf that was born yesterday and we headed down the road. Tyson sat in the back of the pickup holding the calf down so that it wouldn't get hurt and Brooklyn and I sat in the back seat so she could see the calf. She was so excited she was squealing and talking up a storm. She had a lot of fun!! When we got down to the other field, we unloaded the calves into the new shoot to hold them and separate them from the others. Then the guys separated all of the cows that needed to be and then we let the little calves out. Brooklyn enjoyed getting her picture taken with the littlest calf. All of that took too long so Tyson didn't end up getting to go hunting but it was nice to spend the day together.

I hope we can figure out a way to farm full time so Brooklyn and I can spend more time with Tyson. We've all enjoyed it!!

Jack Frost Did a Fantastic Job!!

Frost on the hood of the pickup this morning! Awesome pattern!!