July / August / Sept. '12

I am finally getting around to published some blog posts from the last several months (since June). Several posts are still without commentary but you can at least see some pictures of our move and summer fun. This posts will include everything post Anna's 1st birthday party (the end of July till the present).

GRUNDY COUNTY FAIR

The Grundy County fair was the last week in July. The girls and I went Wednesday morning while they had good energy / interest and looked at all the animals ant then enjoyed some Watermelon from the Watermelon feed.

Thursday night we went as a family along with Gayle, Allison, and Abigail for the sweet corn feed, sheep showing and tractor pull.

Alice took this picture of Anna and I.

 Alice's real smile. . . she can be so happy and SO silly.  I get to see this smile plenty but it's not always easy to capture.

 Jameson held Alice upside down so I could get a picture of their faces in the 4-H sign. We were quite impressed that Alice is actually smiling given that Jameson is holding her upside down by her feet.

 Tractor Pull.

 Friday night we went for the demolition derby which included combine demolition.

I failed to warn Alice about what would be happing and she was very scared, both by the noise and the crashes. After we finally got her to stop screaming and crying, Jameson spent the remainder of the night covering her ears. 

Jameson and I both found the demolitions entertaining but were reminded that little ones need proper warning and explanation of new things. We stayed for the fireworks, which got quite late and cold for the girls, but was a great show as always.

GO CYCLONES!

Sept. 1 we went as a family to the Iowa State home opener football game. This was the first ISU event for both Alice and Anna and they did quite well.

CHURCH FAMILY FUN

Sept. 3 was our church's annual Labor Day picnic. Here are a few pictures from that.

Gayle took the kids on a 'treasure hunt'.  

Alice playing ring around the rosie with some of her best friends- 

Henry, Allison, Penelope, Marjorie, and Abigail. 

FENCE POSTS = HARD WORK!

Jameson has been working on fencing around the back lot. The lot was not square so he had to cut out a bunch of cement along the south side to square the lot up. Chris, a farmer friend from church, came a couple times with his skid loader to help move brush, move concrete, and dig post holes. We are very thankful for his help!!! Jameson has the posts on the west side of the lot done. There is a lot more work to be done before winter to get ready for animals in the spring. I have tried to help but have learned that there is little I can do to help with this job, unfortunately.

State Fair

We went to the state fair Friday, Aug. 17.  

We got the fair about 9:00 and went to the petting zoo first. 

Alice enjoyed identifying the animals and feeding a few. 

Alice and daddy feeding the goats. 

We meet Jameson's parents, Austin, and Jenessa at the WHO radio 

both at 9:30 and spent the rest of our day with them. 

 The girls :)

At the 'Little Hands on the Farm' building we got to see a lot of baby animals with their mommies . . . chicks, baby goats, lambs, and baby pigs. We saw a goat about to give birth and then shortly after the baby goat was born. We checked back later that day and saw the baby goat walking around. 

Alice looking at the baby pigs. 

We ate lunch at the pork tent - pork sandwich, baked beans, applesauce, chips, and water for a decent price. For dessert the girls and I shared an ice cream cone and Jameson had a fried snickers bar on a stick and lemonade.

Jenessa and I tried our hand at milking a cow. After receiving a little instruction I was able to get some milk but would certainly need to practice to gain efficiency. 

 Alice and Anna got to meet Clifford at the IPTV both in the varied industries building. 

The girls each took their turn napping in the jogger which allowed us to make to to just about everything! We left the fairgrounds and Jameson's family about 7:00, stopped at Pizza Ranch in Altoona for supper, got the girls ready for bed in the bathroom, drove home and then went straight to bed. All in all it was a great day!

Anna 1st Birthday!

(Commentary yet to come.) 

Our New Home!

Here's a little tour of our new home. 

Our house. 

Machine Shed

 Barn

Back Shed and Lot 

This is walking in from the garage. This hallway will serve as a 'mudroom'. The door on the left is another entrance from the driveway. On the right side of the hallway is an office, a coat closet, laundry room, and basement door.

Then you arrive at the kitchen. Their is a lot of cupboard space and I love the island.

The eat-in kitchen holds a good size table and could hold two tables side by side when guests are over. You can also see the main 'front door' which leads to the porch and screen porch and will function as our guest entrance.

From the kitchen you walk into the living room. Our piano and armoire from our bedroom set fit nicely in there.

From the living room you step down one step to the family room.

This is the room where we will spend the most family time. I love the built in bookcases and cabinets and look forward to using the fireplace in the winter. There are french doors between this room and the living room so we can close it off and use it as a room for guests to sleep.

This room also has a door to outside which leads the wrap around porch and to the 'backyard' with the fire ring (we don't plan to use this door much as we don't want outside traffic in and out of this room).

Back in the living room you can see the hallway on the right which lead to the bathroom and our bedroom and the stairs which lead to the girls bedroom and playroom upstairs. 

Our bedroom. We weren't sure that our bedroom furniture would fit very well but we are pleased with how everything fit. Our dresser fits with several inches to spare before the window and our bed with both nightstands fits. Our armoire has never held very many clothes so it functions well as storage in the living room.

The girls bedroom. We (Grandma T) painted this room so it would match the girls bedding. Alice and Anna started sharing a bedroom the first night we stayed here. It took a minimal amount of adjusting and I think they are both enjoying sparing a room.

 Alice on her bed in her new room :)

 Since the girls are sharing a room, we are able to devote the other bedroom upstairs to a playroom (for the time being). It is so nice to have a place for the girls to just play. I only keep toys in this room that are safe for Anna. There is a closet just outside the room in the hallway area (where the bedroom closets also are) which I have devoted to non-baby friendly toys.

I have been very pleased with how our things fit into this house. Most of our stuff we accumulated while at our last (first) house so we bought it to fit there. It's amazing how much we accumulated in the last 3 years!!! The office is still full of boxes and probably will be for quite some time. The rest of the house and garage (by mid-August) is 'settled in' and found their new 'home' here just as we have.