A slew of pictures......

I am so bad about clumping my pictures. The blog would probably be a bit more interesting if I just added a few pictures with each post, however that takes more time because I have to upload pictures more often. So, until we have a couple more hours in a day, clumping it will probably be........

Yesterday Ryan was bush-hogging our front pasture and Asher just stood at that window for about 10 minutes and watched him. It was cute. Oh and he also managed to eat (well, not swallow it) a dead fly so maybe the tractor and daddy weren't the only things keeping his interest.

I just thought this breakfast was pretty. Yogurt, fresh raspberries from our AWESOME neighbors and home made granola.

Gee liked it. Check out the silly bands.....

This picture makes me go ARGH! My cucumbers seriously took a hit from our chickens. We spent good money and time on an electric fence for around the garden and it doesn't keep our chickens out. Next year we will be adding a couple more wire strands and maybe some more voltage! I got only a few cucumbers this year because the chickens trampled all my plants and they pecked what little cucumbers I did get. I had Logan keep the chickens in the coop for a few days and my cukes were starting to recover with just a few vines. Well, we accidently let them out for one day and see what happened? ARGH!

I am LOVING my new dehydrator. Fun stuff and a whole new world of food preservation is being opened up. Here Madeline and I are doing basil. This girl loves to help!

Massive spaghetti sauce canning. Yummy!

Tomatoes before dehydration (we had 4 rows like this)......

.......and after.

Ryan was planting some trees this past weekend and he found this in our neighbors corn field. It is a pumpkin! Last year we threw our old pumpkins over the fence and apparently one of our heirloom seeds decided to grow us a pretty pumpkin. Pretty cool. This little baby (a small sweet pie pumpkin) is now canned and sitting on my shelf.

Helping daddy plant trees.

The great sweet corn assembly line.

Gee manned the truck.

Then to Madeline......

Then Anna......

Then to the porch.....

Then to Logan and Leah...... He may not look like he is working but Leah and Logan shucked a whole truck load of corn.

Here are my pictures from our reunion in West Virginia. It was a really good time and I am already looking forward to next year.

Paula, Chrissy and I kind of got a thing going with "Goonies." Ever see it? It is probably the best 80's movie of all time (IMO)! Well Chrissy found these "Truffle Shuffle" shirts and bought one for all of us. Go Chunk!

We celebrated Gideon's birthday again while in West Virginia. Here he is blowing out his candles (something he wasn't able to do at his last party due to injury).

How funny is this? Rhonda's little dog was afraid of Paula's little dog and this is where he hid out one night. :)

We had a "dance off" with the kids (and Paula and Gaynell of course). It was one of the funniest things ever. I have a video of Gaynell busting a move and if I can figure out how to upload it on here I will. It is soooooo funny.

Paula doing her thing! You go girl!

Tyler, oh my this kid cracks me up with his dancing. He has got some serious moves.

Go Logan.....Go Logan.....Go Logan.......



Bryce and Logan dancing together.



AJ shaking it!



Chrissy and Tim enjoying the show (aren't they cute?)



Asher "playing" checkers with Cassie and Samie. Those poor girls, I am not sure they ever finished that game. I told them the floor was not a good place to lay that out. Pretty much if Asher can reach it he considers it his. I have to say here though, I have the BEST nieces and nephews (on both sides) in the WORLD. They are so sweet and tolerant of the little kids. Not once did Cassie or Samie get irritated with Asher.



I wanted to include some fair pictures of Leah and Logan and their chickens.

Logan and his bird being auctioned (the kids were breaking down so I didn't stay to get a picture of Leah and her bird).


Logan carrying his bird back after being judged.



Leah carrying her bird back after judging.



Leah and her birds in the pen.



Logan and his birds in the pen.

That's all for now!

Julie

Oh my... We got trouble coming.

So I asked Anna and Gideon if they are ready for soccer tonight and they both replied "yes." Anna then asked "are those boys going to be there?" We have two none relative boys on our team. They are twin brothers. I told her "yes." To which she replied "good, I like boys, I'm gonna marry a boy some day." Oh Anna honey, over my dead body......... (did that sound a little dramatic?)

Julie

First Day of School....

Yes, my baby is at school today. Definitely a first for us. I miss her already. We went to the school open house last night and she put all her junk in the locker and she got a tour from a sweet gal in her 4H group this year. The school was a mad house and we took all our kids plus my nephews (who may be going there next year). So, we were certainly adding to the chaos. We prayed with her this morning before she left and I have been praying for her so far this morning. I know she will do fine. I think this transition is quite probably way more difficult for me. Ryan took her to school this morning and snapped a picture of her for me. I will pick her up this afternoon.

Ahh.....a new chapter in the Cole family for sure.

Julie

Busy, Busy, Busy....

Ahh, the story of my life I guess. It is good though because I would rather be busy then bored. Nothing too new going one really, just canning/freezing produce like crazy and trying to get a few different projects completed around the house. It just seems that I never get to do tons at once. When I have things to do outside of my daily routine, I still have the regular stuff to do and so I go back and forth a little at a time. I just finished corn and applesauce. I could probably still pick some more corn if I'd like, but I don't think I have time. Today I am going to to spaghetti sauce and more green beans. Plus I am trying to get our patio furniture put together. It is giving me trouble, which, I don't have time for......

Leah starts school next Tuesday. We enrolled her a couple days ago and I think that got her more excited. She got her schedule and got a tour of the school. We kind of know the school a bit from various events so it wasn't totally foreign to her. We are going to an open house next Monday night. Crazy stuff. Getting everything ready for school has been kind of fun. Leah is getting her binders organized and getting her supplies ready. If you think about it, pray for my girl. I know God will keep her, but extra prayers would be nice.

On kind of a similar note, Asher is 15 months today. My last baby. He is talking a lot more. He has gotten sassy, I kid you not. He tells me "no, no, no, no." He says it with attitude, usually in response to me telling him not to do something. He says "yeah." I will say "Are you a good boy Asher?" He will respond "yeah." He says "good, good, good," usually when he is eating something yummy. He actually did say "mama" the other day tow different times. Finally! He is walking more and more and getting more brave. Asher is such a joy to everyone in the family. We just adore him!

Until next time......

Julie

Why am I up at 2:00 am??

Good question and I have an answer, canning. Oiy. I have canned over 3 dozen quarts of goodies in the last few hours. We have been blessed with a really good garden this year. We are leaving tomorrow around noon for a family reunion and this has to be done before we go. I am already letting corn and apples sit with the hopes of them staying good until Monday. I hate that, but I can only do so much. The fair has wiped us out this week. It was fun though and the kids did great. I was one proud mama. And then all 52 meat birds/roosters had to be processed today. I haven't even packed yet. I should be able to hit my pillow in about 15 or 20 minutes though. My beans are in the pressure cooker and my lemon bar base (to take with us this weekend) is almost ready to come out of the oven.

This weekend will be great and should be pretty relaxing. I am just looking forward to having nothing to do. Gesh, I never thought I would say that..... I am getting so old. I was hoping to take the camper with us like we did last year, but unfortunately our camper has not left the barn all year. This totally bums me out because I love to camp. It just didn't happen. Having our camper there is so much easier for me, but it's all good. We have my aunts house right there and we are renting a cabin about a half of a mile down the road.

I think Asher is sick. It hit me like a hammer this evening. He has been soooo fussy for about 3 days now. He has been waking up in the middle of the night, he's had a runny nose for days, he has a horrible diaper rash and I have noticed him tugged/batting at his ears. No fever, but I am almost positive he has an ear infection. It would be his first since his tubes were put in back in April. So, even though I have no time I will certainly be trying to get him into the Dr. before we leave.

Ok, well I have about 5 minutes left so "see ya!"

Julie

Exhausting Day at the fair

Yesterday Leah and Logan and I took off around 9:15 to head to the fair. We wanted to watch a poultry show that our 4H leaders kids were in. Plus, Sunday is always the day of crowning the fair queen and pig/calf scramble. We usually go to that. It was hot and sticky. There was an occasional breeze, which was good. To be honest, it didn't seem too bad, but as the day wore on I noticed I was drinking more and more (and drinking water no less) and getting more and more exhausted. Ryan met us there around 2:00 with the younger 4 and walked more and let the two older kids ride rides. By 7:00 all 4 younger kids were whiney and fussy. Leah and Logan were still going strong. I guess I am just getting old because I was spent. We decided to skip the scramble (which is typically my favorite part) and I took the 4 littles home. Ryan, the poor guy got stuck there for another hour and a half riding fair rides with Logan, Leah and a couple of Leah's friends. We are going back to the fair one more time, on Wednesday to show our meat birds. We will have to be there all day for that also. I am sure it will also be hot..... Nuts.

I have been very proud this year of Leah and Logan and their 4H endeavors. Leah of course won her quick breads category for our county and then went to the state fair. So she got an A and a rosette for that, but she also got an A and a rosette for her scrapbooking project. I think only the high A's get a rosette. We won't know how they do with their meat birds until Wednesday. Logan got an A on his gun safety project. A very deserved grade I think, although he could have put more effort into it. For his first 4H project though, I was proud of him. But then, at the fair yesterday I get a call from our advisor (who was there with her girls) saying that Logan won 5th place in his skillathon. That was crazy to me. There are a lot of kids in his age group this year and he did 5th best. I think I posted about this, but the skillathon is a test like thing all the poultry people have to take. We had no clue the test was even going on and the kids were pretty unprepared for it. I was digging weeds out of my garden and had to drop everything and load all 6 kids up and head to the fairgrounds. But hey, Logan apparently did great on it anyways. It was just really cool because he was feeling a little down that Leah got two rosettes, got to go to the state fair, etc. I told him more than once how proud I was of him, but the 5th place really gave him a boost!

So, even though we are pretty busy with fair stuff, the garden does not stop producing for busy people. Saturday I was snapping the beans Ryan I picked a couple days before and was going to try and process them before church. I only had enough for a couple quarts and my pressure cooker will take 7 quarts, so I decided to do some pumpkins also (my sweet pie pumpkins are ready). I went out to the garden to grab the pumpkins that are ready and I could not believe that the greens beans were completely ready to pick again. It is a blessing no doubt, but oh my. So I spent the rest of my day picking and canning beans. Right now as I waste time typing this, I have two bushels of apples, about a bushel of tomatoes and pumpkins to process. I have today and tomorrow to get this done because Wednesday we will be the fair all day and Thursday will be dedicated to getting our meat birds processed and delivered. We leave on Friday for a weekend vacation in West Virginia. I guess I will pack for that Friday morning?

Ok, now I really need to go...... Have lots to do.

Julei

TONS of recent pictures.....

So we went to the Ohio State fair yesterday. Since Leah won her category in our county she got to go to state. She took her tests/interviews in the morning, but the results were not given until late afternoon. We had all day to kill. It was hot and then rainy, but we had fun. It was great to be together and fun to see all the different animals/projects. Leah did not win, but she did great and we were super proud of her!



Gideon and I took off in the Agriculture building and found this tractor maze. He had fun although he wouldn't do the course unless I went with him. So, of course I did (pushing Asher in the stroller no less).



Ford had a little area set up at the fair and the kids loved getting to check out the cars (I am sure the Ford people loved us). The workers there were actually super sweet and encouraged the kids to get in the cars and they even set them up with some little Ford freebies.



I am so not ready for this.........



Leah taking part of her exam.



Check out this awesome Lego city. It had a train, McDonalds, etc. It was really cool and since Leah and Logan really love their Legos, they found this display pretty awesome.



Awe, this picture is a good reminder of life right now. I am really in the middle of canning and preserving things. Today I am canning more peaches and starting to can tomatoes.



So, take a look at my baby boy. Yes he is totally standing alone. He actually took his first 3 or 4 steps on Gideon's birthday. He did it twice. I am one proud mama!



Oh man, Asher loves to push cars around the house. Actually, anything with wheels works for him. He spends lot of time just pushing things!



Here's Gideon's and Katelyn's birthday banner. Katelyn is my niece and she and Gideon are only two days apart. We often celebrate their birthday's together.



Gee and his Spidey car (the same car Asher is pushing in the kitchen).



Gideon eating cake and ice. He's not looking too happy here. The poor guy fell on the bunk beds about an hour and a half before everyone came over. He gashed his upper gums pretty bad. Lots of blood and pain and crying. A little pain medicine helped and he was feeling better by this picture, but still a little grumpy. Still adorable!



Gideon and Katelyn getting ready to open presents.



Leah made this fort for Gideon's birthday. All the kids had fun in it. Unfortunately the recent rain ruined it.



This is just a cute picture of Asher and Daddy.



Blowing out candles. Poor Gee, he couldn't blow right because of his recent injury. Logan helped him though!



Gideon and out good buddy Olivia shortly after his boo boo.



Gee wanted a car cake, so we did this. We did one side in chocolate and one side in vanilla tinted pink for Katelyn. It was yummy and Gee was impressed.