The night before

Alright I think we have managed to keep the cat in the bag. Ed and I bought tickets for a train ride about a month ago. Of course Joe would be thrilled if it were just a simple train ride but I expect he will be over the top because this is Thomas the train and Sir Topham Hat will also be there. We will probably be badgered for weeks about going on anther train ride with Thomas but it will be worth it just to see his little face tomorrow at 3:00. And yes the camera will be ready and waiting to get the pics for all of you.

Until then hugs and kisses,

Nikki

Boys will be boys

Remember this little guy. I took this picture back in August when Rory was a little over 2 months old. So scroll down and take a gander at my our little man's 11 month old picture.

As a certain obnoxious car commercial puts it, He's HUGE!!!!!!

This year's cow, Harley. Or as Joe says it Howie. By the end of the summer he will have the R and L down.

Joe helping daddy move rocks with his wheel barrow. Of course the rocks never quite made it were daddy wanted them but we managed to keep them out of the lawn so they will not be flying projectiles in the near future.

I walked over to the neighbors to check on something before I take the horses over tomorrow to have their feet trimmed. I took Rory over in his stroller and Joe walked. Joe has visited quite a few times to see the tractor and other fun boy stuff that Amanda's large barns have that we don't. So we were talking and as I turned the stroller so Rory was out of the sun and she could get a better look at him she stopped talking in mid sentence and exclaimed Wow, Rory has gotten really big ! Now being the person who hefts him around I knew this but looking at him from a fresh set of eyes and looking at these pics I now realize my baby almost looks like a little boy. I hate how quickly it goes. Of course Amanda thought it was funny considering how Joe was running like a wild man playing with her Jack Russel Terrier and Rory watched every move they made. Especially the move were Joe and Waylon (the Jack Russell terrier) tried to crunch all the tiger lillies. I tried to stop this action for about 2 seconds but decided not to waste my energy since Amanda was laughing so hard Joe just kept right on stomping the flowers for his latest girlfriend. All the way home he talked about Miss Amanda. I can see myself struggling in the future to get the boys to help with farm chores but Miss Amanda will probably get more offers for help then she can shake a stick at. Oh well, boys will be boys.

The boys are both sleeping so I am going to treat myself tonight. (Translation I am either going to read my book uninterrupted or watch a movie that does not have single animated character in it. Or maybe I will catch up on my sleep. Yeah...right.)

Love ya Nikki

Some more pictures.

Rosie the rabbit.

Rory checking out the grass as Joe laughs.

I accidentally got the "after" picture in front of the "before" one.

Rory really enjoys his meal times - the "before" picture.

May 1st on the farm

Are you sure they aren't giant dogs mom?

Jasper's favorite game.

Music soothes the wild beast.

Joe's favorite game.

2 happy brothers !


I can hardly believe how big they are getting. We expect Rory to be running around by this time next month. He is very ambitious and wants to keep up with his brother.

We are doing well except for a bit of a nasty flu that came through last week. The boys both had fevers and were extremely congested. We all seem to be on the mend but it has taken a while. Joe has missed almost 2 weeks of school.

Ed went out to Hudson Valley Comm College last week and got his fall schedule. It will work very nicely with my work schedule. He is really looking forward to getting started. (And yes a little bit of that might be just getting a break from being Mr.Mom.)

I, on the other hand, am looking forward to only having to work for 3 days a week and getting the rest of the week to spend with the boys and doing my farm chores. As usual, our spring to do list has grown considerably. It always starts out so reasonable. Oh well. One of the unexpected projects was the front porch had to be finished. We had a very small amount of the old wood work left there that had questionable peeling paint. Of course NY state in their infinite wisdom is passing a new law that will make it more expensive and a bigger pain in the ........ to get rid of material with lead paint. So we had that ripped out before they could make life more difficult. The porch is now done. We have built in shoe shelves and toy shelves as well as a corner window seat. Guess I may be working 4 days a week to build the savings back up.

We are expecting the next cow any day now. Everything is all set up for him. I hope he likes the goats because I have no were else to put the rotten buggers. They keep slipping under the panels and getting into everything. We also got a rabbit. I will post pictures of her tomorrow. Hopefully.

I better run, it's getting close to bed time.

Love you all Nikki