1st Grade Field Trip

Lauren's 1st grade field trip was to the St. Louis Zoo.  It was a beautiful day for the field trip.  Although she didn't get to see and do everything she wanted, she had fun being their with her friends instead of just "mom".  The highlight of the day was a classroom experience where all the students got to get up close and personal with several of the animals including a chanchilla, snake, and iquana, and several skin and egg exhibits. 

Fun at the Farm

We purchased a new farm in March near where my husband grew up in Southern Illinois.  It is in my husbands words his dream farm!  For me, I have to be honest it means more work for us and that I'm not a fan of.  We have enough on our plates with the 20 acres we live on, all the cattle, the garden, and did I mention two kids!  But I digress and am finding the positives in the farm.  The kids are going to learn a lot of awesome life skills working along side their dad on the farm, we are going to have a lot of fun spending "unplugged" weekends down on the farm and my kids are going to fish whenever they want, something I never did as a kid. 

Blake and Lauren's favorite part of going to the farm is having a picnic on the old porch steps next to the 110 year old farm house.  On this particular day, Uncle Keith, Aunt Leslie, Brooke and Grandma and Grandpa joined us.  It really was a fun day on the farm.

I've fallen behind....

Well it's obvious that we've been busy considering there have been no blog posts now for two months!  Boy do I have a lot to catch up on!  We have been extremely busy this summer which is a good thing.  I'm going to do my best to catch the blog up in the next couple weeks.  Stay tuned....

A view from my window

As we were driving home the other night we noticed our neighboring horse farm had a new baby colt!  Isn't this the most adorable thing?  We recently went to my parents and brought home six new heifers that are going to be recipient cows for our Angus herd.  They've been enjoying our lush grass!  Our garden was looking great too until the hail struck on Saturday.  I took this picture before that so it's not near as pretty now.  I just hope the plants recover or we are going to have to till some of it up and start over again. 

Earth Day

Lauren's class attended the Earth Day celebration at Carlyle lake.  It is really a great educational event for area schools.  Unfortunately the weather was terrible for the outdoor event so we were not able to stay for it all.  The kids loved Ronald McDonald's ecology presentation, the exotic animals, and the meeting Fredbird.  I'm hoping for better weather next year for this fabulous event! 

A little mess...

Blake loves to help cook, especially anything that requires the use of the mixer.  So the other day we were mixing up a batch of chocolate chip cookies (my new favorite recipe from Pinterest) and Blake was doing a great job of adding all the ingredients.  Then he turned on the mixer, but not on low as I'd instructed but rather on high.  Whew, we had a mess on our hands, flour went everywhere!!!!  On the counters, floor, step stool, cabinets, everywhere within about three foot of the counter. 

Blake was not happy with my reaction which was first to say NO and then I started laughing.  What else was there to do in this situation!  He thought he was in trouble, which he was not, so he wouldn't let me take a good picture of him.  So this is the best I got of him trying to escape me. 

Cardinals Opening Day



Bradley and I got the opporunity to go to the home opener for the Cardinals and on top of that sit in the green seats!  It was a very cool experience.  The weather was miserable with rain and cool temperatures resulting in an hour rain delay and less pomp and circumstance but it didn't put a damper on the experience. 

While we were eating in the Cardinals club and waiting for the rain delay to end, Tony LaRussa was just three tables over from us.  How cool is that?!  They brought in all four of the world series championship trophies onto the field with respective players and managers.  It was awesome to be that close to Stan Musial, Whitey Herzog, and really cool to see David Eckstein and Jim Edmonds again. 

Then for the starting lineup they drove Ford trucks around the field and the players jumped off the back of the trucks at home plate as they were announced. 

Although the Cards lost, it was still a lot of fun to attend.  I hope I get the opportunity again!  Go Cards!

Bartlow Easter and Addie's 7th Birthday

The Bartlow side celebrated Easter at my Aunt Gloria's in Springfield this year.  My aunt lives on the lake and has a huge yard so the kids really enjoyed playing outside and having an egg hunt.  They all got some good exercise running all over to find the eggs.  Addie was the winner thanks to her daddy Aaron helping her out with her strategy.  She gets it honestly because Aaron always won our egg hunts when we were kids too.  Its still funny to see how competitive the adults get coaching their kids!  You can also see from the pictures we have a few ornery ones in the group! 

We also celebrated Addie's 7th birthday a little early.  She is such a sweetheart!  Lauren loves her like a sister.  The big girls had so much fun climbing trees in Gloria's yard.  Braden and Blake were big pals too playing farm and then chasing each other with sticks.  They are going to be double trouble as they get older.  I'm so glad they have each other though!

We even managed to grab a few family photos too!  

Wolter Easter

Easter with the Wolter side was pretty fun this year as we had three little girls joining in on the egg hunt.  Katelynn and Teagan got into it and figured it out pretty quick, Brooke was a little more reserved and wasn't sure about the whole thing.  The three big kids had the few hundred eggs found in no time.  The kids enjoyed opening their Easter gifts and having lots of new things to play with.   

Easter Fun!

Easter is one of my favorite holidays to do fun things with the kids.  Lauren loves to dye easter eggs so she took charge of that.  Blake was too busy farming outside with daddy and grandpa.  He did help decorate them with stickers on upon his return but he really wasn't that thrilled with the activity.  Lauren, my mini me, decorated with fun glitter designs and they turned out so good!

I got to use some of my creative energy as well and made Bakerella's Easter egg cake pops and Easter baskets.  They were a lot of fun and not hard at all.  Lauren was a big help to me decorating the tops of the baskets with the coconut and jelly beans.  Since Grandma Vernitta's birthday was on Easter weekend we made her a peeps flower centerpiece for her table.  She loves peeps, especially stale ones so when I saw this idea on Pinterest I knew I had to make it for her.  My floral design skills need some help, but that's okay....

Of course Easter would not be complete without meeting the Easter bunny and going on a town egg hunt.  We went to the egg hunt in Albers this year.  It was a beautiful day so there were lots of kids in attendance.  The kids were thrilled with their finds and their treat bags they got afterwards. 

Spring Break

Lauren had Thursday through Monday of Easter Weekend off from school for "spring break."  We had originally planned to go to the zoo on Thursday but our plans got changed and we ended up going on Good Friday.  Wow, what a disaster that was!  All the parking lots were full before 10 am and we had to drive around for over an hour to find a place to park in Forest Park.  We ended up in the Muny parking lot which meant a lot of walking for the kiddos.  They did great though!

The zoo was so packed.  I had never been there when it was like that.  We only got through four animal exhibits because of the long lines, etc.  Of course we had to ride the carasoul and the train because a trip to the zoo is never complete without those!  So we didn't see many animals but had a lot of fun regardless.  Despite the crowds, the kids were happy and enjoyed taking it all in.  Its always better when you are with friends too! 

I did make a mental note to not go back on a holiday! 

4H Cooking Project

Lauren is taking her first cooking project in 4H this year.  She has been practicing following a recipe and doing things on her own.  Her first practice recipe was to make her own smoothie.  She did a great job and it even tasted good!

Happy Birthday Brooke!

Our niece Brooke celebrated her first birthday on March 31st.  She is such a doll and such a good baby, well now toddler.  Her mommy did a great job on her birthday party with a duck theme, one of Brooke's favorite words.  She loved opening her new gifts especially her kitchen set.  We gave her a personalized step stool with a name puzzle on it.  She thought it was good to crawl under which resulted in her getting stuck a few times! 

A busy March!

Well it's March 31st and I have not posted anything the entire month of March!  It has been a busy month!!  We have LOVED the beautiful weather and spent many hours outside which leads to later dinner, later baths, and later bedtimes.  Which means less time for me in the evenings to catch up on things. 

To update you since my last post, we are all finally healthy, knock on wood.  February and early March was just an awful time for us health wise.  After Blake got strep, which took a shot and two antibiotics to get over it, he finally is better.  I unfortunately got sick two more times with a GI bug which finally made me head to the doctor to see what was up.  It turned out that I had a parasite!  Who knows where I picked it up but luckily no one else got it.  After two rounds of antibiotics I finally passed it and am SO much better now.  Lauren, Bradley, and I all came down with sinus infections but got over them.  Now were dealing with allergies.  Poor Blake is really suffering with swollen eyes and lots of sneezing.  Zyrtec just isn't cutting it for him. 

Here are some highlights from the month of March for our family:

Lots of time outside - It's been fun playing outside and enjoying the awesome weather.  The kids have even tried to convince me a time or two to get out the sprinkler.  I have not given in to them yet though! 

Gardening - We started our garden extra early due to the warm temperatures.  So I'm busy cleaning out the freezer of all of our frozen goods from last years garden.  Since we will have produce earlier (if things go well) I gotta get things ready!  Lauren and Blake love to garden!














Delaney, Macie, and Andy Visit - They came to spend a weekend with us since Julie had to work days and some extra shifts at the hospital.  We loved having them with us.  I got to spoil my nieces a bit and bond with them which is so nice.  Andy taught Bradley how to clip out our show cattle and helped with some things around the farm.

My birthday - I celebrated my birthday at the Hearts at Home conference.  It was a great get away for me.  I always enjoy having a weekend with my girlfriends and gaining encouragement in the world of parenting and marriage.  Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar gave one of the keynote addresses which was neat.  Bradley and the kiddos surprised me when I got home with new pjs, a beautiful necklace, and hand sanitizer.  We don't normally exchange birthday gifts so I was very surprised! 

Fishing - We purchased some land recently that has a stocked pond on it.  So given the awesome weather we went fishing.  I've never been fishing before so it was as much of a learning experience for me as anyone.  Luckily we had Grandpa along who was willing to bait the hooks for me.  I'm really a wimp when it comes to worms!  Lauren got two big bluegill and Blake caught one.  Lauren does great fishing and is very patient, Blake not so much!  I think growing up in the I-generation has taught him everything should be instantaneous instead of being patient! 

Sickness strikes....



Our sick camp....

Well the past week has been great fun at our house.  Of course I'm being sarcastic!  Last Tuesday, I came down with a GI bug, luckily it only lasted 24 hours.  Then on Thursday afternoon Blake got the bug.  By Friday night he was doing much better so we decided to go forward with our "girls" trip to Chicago.  I am so thankful God kept the worst for us until we got back (although I had no idea at the time.) 

Saturday Blake was good and enjoyed his day with Daddy.  On Sunday afternoon he started to fall ill again.  By that evening he was really sick again and complaining of his throat hurting.  So I took him to the doctor on Monday.  He confirmed he just had a GI bug and to keep the fluids in him to prevent dehydration (he was showing beginning signs). 

On Tuesday afternoon, he was showing some improvement.  When Lauren arrived home from school that afternoon she was sick and by that night she was fully out for the count.  By Wednesday afternoon, I was down for the count again!  Blake was feeling good all day Wednesday but by Thursday afternoon he was feeling bad again.  Lauren was and I were doing much better though so that was a relief! 

Today I took Blake back to the doctor and the doctor first thought he was still just fighting this nasty GI bug that is going around.  To be sure though, he ran a strep test on him to rule that out since he had complained of his throat even though there was no visible signs of strep.  Well sure enough, he had strep!  So after an antibiotic shot and some Omnicef we are hopefully on the mend.  I've never been so thankful for a strep diagnosis, simply to know we could do something to help him!  I'm so thankful the GI bug has exited our house.  Let's just hope I didn't jinx Bradley on getting it yet! 

American Girl!!!

The girls at the store, Lauren showing off Rebecca's pierced ears, and her big purchase

After a sickness scare, threatening our trip, we made it to Chicago.  Although we were not able to ride up on the train like we had hoped (we delayed our departure date by a night to make sure Lauren wouldn't get what Blake had) we still made it and had an awesome time celebrating Lauren's 7th birthday at the American Girl cafe.  Lauren's cousins Addison and Brenna went with us along with Grandma Marcia and Aunt Brekin.  The girls had not seen each other since Thanksgiving so it was very exciting for them to be together again. 

Aunt Brekin, Addie, and Brenna gave Lauren a new outfit to wear to the store which had a matching doll outfit.  The girls looked adorable. Grandma Marcia surprised the girls with sleeping bags for their dolls that she made.

Lauren had saved up her birthday money so she could get her doll Rebecca's ears pierced and purchase a new doll McKenna.  All the girls enjoyed browsing around the store displays and picking out new outfits for their dolls.  After two hours of shopping, we made it to the cafe for our lunch.

Birthday party at American Girl cafe

As a surprise to Lauren I had not just booked lunch, but an actual birthday party celebration for her and the girls.  Lauren got a birthday tiara and the dolls each got one too.  The dolls even got their own cup and saucer and special chair to dine in.  The lunch was lovely and the highlight was the wait staff singing Happy Birthday to Lauren!  Each of the girls got a goodie bag and a lifetime of memories. 

I have to say that it was just as much fun for me as it was the girls.  It was like I was a little girl again too having fun with my doll.  American Girl wasn't around when I was a youngster but I would have loved it all just like Lauren does. 

Hershey store, Hotel, and Museum of Science and Industry

After we left AG, we headed to the Lego store where the girls had lots of fun playing with the new Lego Friends exhibit.  Then off to the Hershey's store to "fill the bucket."  Then we checked in to our hotel, and set out to do some shopping and then had an early dinner at Buca di beppo Italian restaurant.  Then we headed back to the hotel for some swimming. 

On Sunday we explored the Museum of Science and Industry which the girls loved.  Then we headed back home!  It was an awesome "girls" trip.

Lauren's 7th Birthday

Lauren turned seven on February 9th.  I can't believe she is seven already!  We celebrated her special day by having a few friends over for pizza and cupcake pops.  The girls (and Blake) enjoyed playing Wii, dressing up, putting on a show, and running through our house screaming! 

On Saturday we celebrated Lauren's birthday with the Wolter Family.  Lauren had requested an American Girl cake which I managed to make.  We found an idea on Pinterest for a cake that looks like a doll box with her picture on it.  It required the use of fondant which I had never worked with before.  It all turned out well though and the party was a success.  Lauren picked the menu, her favorites, meatballs, homeade mac and cheese, and green beans.

We are celebrating with the Bartlow side this weekend in Chicago.  We are having a "girls only" trip with Lauren's cousins and visiting the American Girl store.  Watch for more pics after the weekend!

Dancing Partners

Buddy

We have a new baby, calf, that is.  A bottle calf.  Our cattle partners called with a bucket calf for us a couple weeks ago.  This calf was a twin and the mother didn't take to it.  So we agreed to raise it.  He's such a little guy but oh so sweet.  The kids named him "Buddy" and are enjoying taking care of him.  Sadie has adopted him much like our bucket calf last year "Cash."  I often find her dog bed and ball in his pen.  I wonder if she's figured out he doesn't play "fetch" yet! 

The things kids say...

Blake is obsessed with macaroni and cheese.  He asks for it everyday and is really not satisfied until he gets it.  And not just any mac and cheese, velveeta mac and cheese.  Needless to say I have it stock piled to keep up with his demand.

On Tuesday, I was making his lunch when he declared, "Mom, the Bible says eat lots of mac and cheese."  Oh REALLY, what verse is that Blake??? 

Last week after a day at school he asked a very thoughtful question, "why did John the Baptist baptize Jesus?"  I was stumped and needless to say, I need to read up on the Bible as my three year old is schooling me right now!!!

A week ago today....

What a week it has been for me and one I don't want to repeat anytime soon.  Last Tuesday, Blake was running a fever so I had called the doctor to see if he could get us in for a strep test (we had been exposed to strep and Blake gets it fairly often), he couldn't at the office but sent us to the hospital instead to do it.  So I hurried up and finished my lunch trying to rush us out the door to get the test done and be back before Lauren's bus came after school.  In my effort to quickly eat my lunch, I failed to chew my food adequately.  I knew when I swallowed it hurt but assumed it would go away in time if I kept drinking water. 

Well by late afternoon I was really feeling bad and my breathing was starting to get worse.  I got the kids to bed and finally called Bradley to come home from work.  He did and at 9:30pm we headed for the ER.  By 11:20 I was in surgery and we were back home a little after 1:00am.  Thank goodness for a non-crowded ER and our great local hospital and surgeon.  I was feeling much better by Wednesday morning.

I continued to have some pain in my chest area where the food was lodged the next few days but was finally able to eat regular meals by Friday night.  Saturday morning I woke up and was unable to move my neck and could not lift my arms above my head.  I had terrible pain directly behind where the food was lodged in my esophogus.  Something was terribly wrong.  I decided to call the chiropractor who got me in right away.  Luckily after some adjustments and therapy I got some relief.  By Monday I was feeling much better.  I still have some mobility problems but the pain is decreasing considerably.  The doc thought the muscular pains had transferred to my weak point (my back). 

So the lesson I learned, slow down and chew your food, just like I tell my kids to do!  Ahhh!!!!   And by the way, Blake did not end up having strep (thank goodness) it appeared just to be viral! 

Bowling

Lauren's 4H club went bowling on MLK day.  It was Blake's first time and he had so much fun.  Lauren is trying so hard to bowl correctly but lacks the arm strength to really do it yet.  Blake on the other hand just rolled it between his legs and scored a 105 on one of his games.  He's so funny!  Lauren can't understand why she does so good in bowling on the Wii but not as well at the bowling alley.  I wonder why......

Little Gym - fall/winter semester show day

Blake just wrapped up his first Funny Bugs class at Little Gym.  This class was a major milestone for him as I could no longer go in with him in the gym.  The first few sessions were rough with lots of crying.  However, he soon got onto the new class format and made new friends.  On show day (this past Wednesday) I got to go in the gym with him and take pictures, video, etc.  It just amazes me what the teachers can do with preschoolers!  He has really blossomed and benefited from the whole experience. 

Bartlow Christmas

We hosted Bartlow Christmas again this year.  Unfortunately we were not a complete celebration this year as Aaron and Brekin's family fell victim to a horrible stomach virus!  So we went on with Christmas, but it just wasn't the same.  Lauren was so disappointed that we did not get a single smile out of her until she opened her gifts. 

As usual though we had great food, enjoyed watching the kids play, and had lots of fun playing wii and just relaxing.  Grandma and Grandpa spoiled all of us! 

Santa came!!!

We awoke to on Sunday morning to Lauren in Blake's room saying, "Blake wake up!"  "Santa brought you a sand digger!"  Then they rushed into our room and woke us up as we pretended to sleep.  By 8 am they had opened every present and we're feverioushly playing with their new toys! 

Lauren's big items from Santa, a Nintendo DS, four DS games, a Taylor Swift t-shirt and concert DVD, a watch, Barbie ornament, various Barbie books, and some arts and craft kits.

Blake's big items from Santa were a sand digger, which became a block digger until it was moved out to the mulch pile, a track tractor, a forage wagon, a TJ tractor just like Grandpa's, puzzles (his new love), books, and some DVDs.

The kids gave each other pillow pets, Lauren a Zebra stripe one and Blake a Mater tow truck one.  From us the kids got DVDs, snow boots, snow pants (will they ever get to use them????), and some clothes. 

It was another wonderful Christmas!!!