New Barn

These are a bit late, but I wanted to share some pictures of the hoop building/barn we helped side this fall. Most of these are cellphone pics- not the highest quality, but at least we've got some memory of it going up!

I'm definitely feeling older with heights...I used to scale scaffolding like a monkey. Now I've found I need to cling to any solid surface with my knees shaking like a new sailor gaining their sea legs. J seemed to not have this fear as you'll see in coming pics! We put a few layers of scaffolding on top of a trailer and moved it around as needed. Worked quite slick!


We had some absolutely gorgeous weather- unseasonably warm many of the days we were out. Here's a pic of Nana and Emily gathering apples from the trees by the lower garden:

Another one of them out with us- probably handing out refreshments and cheering everyone on. And wondering when in the world to start dinner. We would be out until we couldn't see things anymore...a few nights we'd end up getting the skidsteer or pickup lights on and tried to get an extra 15-20mins which would turn into another hour or so. :)


J and his acrobatics. He's on top of the area where the large doors are...and is holding on to the top of the hoop. No problem, obviously! (Everyone else is sweating below!)



Squeezing in those last few minutes at night. Dad in the skidsteer, J in the bucket:


Back of the barn pretty much finished- we added a couple of side pieces later after finishing the front. The doors went up a week or two later as well.


Emily driving the truck with J- she was quite thrilled:


Nana helping Papa get another sheet while we're up on the scaffolding. He got a new saw that cut through all of the steel siding like butter- definitely made the job easier. We would get measurements, he'd cut the sheet and I'd either be down below, helping ferry siding and handing things up to J and screwing it in down below or else up with J as we got higher. One day got pretty windy- not fun!


J making everyone nervous again, putting a new light in. He ended up standing up on the top there, just hanging onto the pole a bit as he worked. It kept getting darker and darker.... I can't remember what the deal was, or if we actually got the thing working that night or not.


Dusk arriving too soon, as usual. You can see most of the front is finished in this pic. I wasn't able to take a good finished pic as it was too dark by then:



Here are a few pics I took the next time I was out. The door on the left went up not too long after:



Here's the back with the doors on. You'll be able to see the mistake more clearly in this picture. Dad was given two different shades of steel, which we totally did not notice until the next day. Argh! By then, nobody cared since it was the back and we certainly didn't want to tear it all down. He did get more sheets because of the error and will possibly be able to use some for the old garage.



They're quite pleased with their new building. They've been planning it for a couple years and got it set up inside how they want which makes separating/loading cows much easier than in the past. The siding definitely made the hoop building look more barn-like. I do miss seeing the old barn at times, although I'm getting used to this one now.

Nana and Papa's Center Garden

I meant to upload these pics early fall but time got away.

Enjoy the slideshow...none of the pics were doctored. It's really that gorgeous! :) I will have to get pictures next summer when more of the flowers are blooming- these were taken late summer.

This is becoming THE favorite place to be from early spring to mid-fall. The kids love splashing in the stream and dipping their toes in for the fish to nibble at. The biggest of the koi is named Joseph and he will even let you pet him as he swims by. Especially if you have food! The raspberry bushes have taken off and Nana, Papa and the daycare kiddos love to pick a bowl for breakfast...and whenever they're out enjoying the day. :)

Our DC Trip

This August E and I visited my sister and her family in Washington, DC. We spent three weeks there and I'm sure she was never so glad to see her living room floor again as the day after we packed up and left! :) I was able to help with some filing at her work and make back our airfare and more, which was nice. I think the amount of time we spent helped us to settle in and enjoy being there more. I get worked up about traveling- it takes me a day or two to settle down afterward, and I start thinking about it days prior to leaving again! Ok, maybe more. Aaaannyway! :)

E's first flight! She was uber excited and could barely sit still for the first leg to Kansas City. After that, the novelty wore off a bit. By the time we headed back she was over it!


She got a lot of quality time with Romi on this trip! It brought back memories, telling two girls to shush the nighttime chatter!


Great Falls:


E hanging out with me while I work on boxes. She was making our own version of our cartoon drawing game...we'd play that on breaks.


We went to Ocean City during our trip as well- we'd never been to the ocean before. Landlocked Minnesotans! I finally understood what Lyzzy was talking about when she'd say she much preferred our MN lakes to swimming in the ocean. All you do is stand up, get knocked over, rinse, repeat. The kids had fun though!

This ominous cloud greeted us on our way...we continued on though! We had an itinerary to follow and goals to accomplish!


We made it!




I'd include a video of them 'swimming' but Lyzzy would kill me. She's in all of them, trying to hold the kids up. :D

We saw an awesome van on our way home. E was quite excited...her Aunt Cassie had just gotten her hooked on this show:


I'm thinking they're used to people staring...any excitement has worn off:


At Union Station getting our postcards and dessert:


Goofing around chatting with Daddy on the phone:


This was on our last night at a pizza place. We were out with Aunt Vicki. We were laughing right after this- the waiter had complimented E on her drawing and asked how old she was. As he went back inside, Romi hollered after him- "And I'm three!". She didn't appreciate being left out of the dialogue!


On our way home- layover in Kansas City again. Don't count on lunch there if you're flying through...we made do with an $8 sandwich such as you'd find at a gas station. I figured they'd have a couple food places to choose from...no such luck!


Waiting for Daddy to pick us up. And waiting. Waiting. Haha- that's for you, J! :D


This is what I found driving our car to pick us up. Who is that??


He figured while we were away he'd try growing a goatee/mustache.


I wasn't a fan. Good thing he wasn't either- especially of the sparse mustache. That was done away with when we got home...he left the beginnings of the goatee for another week or two and then shaved that off too. Ahh- back to normal! :)

We enjoyed our trip. It was nice to be able to spend that amount of time there- I started to figure out where we were in the city when we'd drive around. I knew the way to her work, etc. Romi's pretty good with directions though- I'd just have to make sure she was in the backseat and she could point me the right way. Although I don't know if I'd trust her to get me to where I was needing to go...we'd probably mysteriously end up at Turtle Park or the beach! Lol.

I'll post again soon some pictures of Nana's garden from late this summer.

Gifts for Romi

This was for Miss Romi's birthday a few months back- I didn't have a chance to show it before my laptop died...










I loved the Paddington fabric and I figured my sis would too! I got it from another sewingmama awhile back knowing I'd be making it into something fun for her :) I made E a bigger and more laborious one when she was little and she still uses it weekly. Love these for going out and about! Hope Romi gets lots of use out of hers in the years to come!

I also sent these along a few weeks later (not as keen on the green ones but Lyzzy said they fit great so I am happy!). Love the yoga waists for round baby bellies!






More catch-up soon!

Christmas Sewing Part 1

This was my gift to my niece Romi...the red apron is for her mom :) We included some pots and pans, utensils and whatnot as well- I hope she enjoys them for years to come! The print fabric is a Japanese canvas from Crybaby's- it's quite fitting for them (ok...mostly her mom!).


Modeled by E, it will be much longer on Romi and will fit her for quite a few years by looping the waist ties through the neck in back:




The other apron kindly modeled by dh:



The pretty package- I found this ribbon in my stash...I pick some up now and then in the Target dollar aisle:


These following few pics are the night of the Nutcracker Ballet...E wore the same dress as last year:


Pardon the crazy grin on E :D


We went to the O'Shaughnessy at St. Catherine this year to a production by Ballet Minnesota:


It was a good night, although we both agreed that it wasn't the best we'd seen. Quite enjoyable though- always fun to see the variations in productions and much of it is 'new' to E each year as she grows. That being said, we like going to a ballet each Christmas season, but I wish that there were other performances. It's all Nutcracker. We've liked it so far as it's been new to us but I'm definitely ready for something else!

Part 2 to come.