A few Moments from our lives

NEW BLOG ADDRESS

2009-09-11T21:52:00.001-04:00

I have ran out of Photo space here so I have had to move address for the blog. The new address is www.parkhurst1.blogspot.com .

Update on Harrison's Barn

2009-09-11T19:53:00.003-04:00

As you can see the loft is in and John has started on the roof. Harrison thinks it is so so cool

Harrison's World Part 2 -- sensory issues

2009-09-10T19:17:00.004-04:00

So I made it through this post and have had good responses from it. Thank you for those of you that have spoke up about the post and how it helped you understand our little guy better or that you would pray for our Harrison. It is heartbreaking to for other to see your child as anything other than "perfect" when he is the apple of your eye, your whole world. I know in the big picture Harrison's issues are not HUGE, we know families that have so much more to overcome but without the aggressive treatment and therapy that Harrison needs he could never function like you and me in the world. With that said I am going to try to explain a bit more of Harrison's world.

Again, Harrison met all his milestone before on or time which is often a big warning call for some of the issues that Harrison has to deal with. With that said it took us longer to clue into all of his needs. After Harrison was in speech for about 7 months we talked about having him evaluationed by an occupational therapist because he was not moving is mouth AT ALL when he was trying to talk, (which goes along with the apraxia), would not stick his tongue out etc. and since he has never been a sleeper we thought that maybe just maybe he might qualify and if nothing else it would give him more time away from teacher Mommy.

I WAS SHOCKED when the OT came to do the evaluation. Every question he asked seemed like she had know Harrison his whole life. She asked things like

* Does he drink a lot (YES, 1/2 gallon of milk in less than two days and water, and juice on top of that and would drink more if we would let him),

* does he like to eat crunchy food (YES, and for several months he would only eat try crunchy food),

* Would he let you hold and rock him to sleep as an infant (NO NO NO, just recently has he started to like cuddling and would NOT go to sleep anywhere other than his bed by himself to recently also. As a baby would have to hold him away from our body and bounce to clam him, but he would not have anything to do with us holding him tight)

* Does he sleep well ( NO NO NO NO that is a whole other post)

* does he sort, line up, etc his toys food etc (YES, we used to joke that he was OCD, we won't joke anymore :) at 18 months he would sort cars trains anything by size and color. Each type of toy has to have its own)

* Does he like to have his hands dirty (NO) and does he freak out if he gets food on them ( YES)

all of these things are clues that there is a sensory processing issue going on, which I had NO CLUE about.

So by the time she left the first day I felt like the worlds worst mother. How could I have not seen the writing on the wall. And not only were these sensory issues a big deal, he also had decrease trunk strength, a rib cage that had not moved down correctly, he did not ever reach across his mid line. I know by the time she left I had to be white as a ghost. We had her come because he did not move his mouth and that was the least of her worries. So on top of the speech which we thought was the only issue in Harrison's world and at that time we thought it just a delay and no big deal to a whole realm of new trail and obstacles to overcome.

What is a Sensory processing issue?

very basically we all have sensory things that bother us, weather you have to have a fan on to sleep, or that you can't walk bear foot on sand, or you don't eat certain foods because of the texture. But for Harrison one of those things may set him over the edge, he may freak out, he won't be able to calm himself quickly and efficiently. So what's the big deal? It could become a issue that grows to the point that he can not be in large crowds ( that make him really nervous) to not being in loud places (that freak him out big time), to not knowing how to function with peers, all of which are need skills in our everyday lives. He is NOT AUTISTIC but has some of them sensory issues that are often found in autistic children.

What Harrison does

*in a new places he retreats, acts shy, but really he is terrified and can not self calm himself.

*in loud places he screams, will actually climb up my body to try to get away, I have almost dropped him doing this more than once.

* in loud places or that he feels are loud (he is always telling john to turn the radio down etc because it is too loud, when it is not that loud) he will hand on to me for dear life.

*when people come to the house he is so overly excited that he will run circles around the house for hours.

*When he has had too much stimulation he will NOT BE ABLE TO SLEEP

* When he has had too much stimulation he will retreat to his safely areas which have become his trains, and cars, lining them up, sorting them. He will also want to DRINK A LOT and eat crunchy snacks.

*he washes his hands contently (he likes to get dirty outside but not inside the house)

* he does NOT like new places and will become very nervous and scared he knows that he is not able to control the situation and that means he may not be able to control his self.

* these all sound pretty normal but it is the extent that they bother him that is the issues.

How Harrison Calms Himself

* plays with his train

*drinks

*has a tag blanket and paci not that both stay in the bed but tag still has to come out during the day some.

amazing he says juice perfect and choo choo tracks perfect, those are what are most important to him and him making it through the day so it is very important that he can tell everyone what he needs when he needs them. Now juice means anything to drink, boo boo juice is his soy milk, dada milk is John's regular milk, Mama juice is apple juice etc.

What we do or have done to help him calm

*to Harrison schedule and structure are very very very important. If we get off, he is off for the whole day sometimes for more than one day.

* He does not handle surprises, we tell him repeatedly what to expect next, before bed we tell him everything that is going to happen the next day, in the morning we go over the list for the day and repeat through out the day. If something does not happen that he is expecting it will set him off, which can be a problem, but a surprise can get him off even more. So days that we say we are going do something and it rains, the whole day is off but if we went to that someplace if it were new and he did not know we were going, none of us would be able to enjoy the trip.

*we did a brushing protocol for several months when we used a surgical brush and brushed Harrison's back, arms and legs, and did deep joint compressions every two hours. we no longer do this and this is when his sleeping got much better

*we do a lot of deep pressure play, especially before bed, with heavy objects, wrapping Harrison in weighted blankets, roll weighed balls over him, climb on and through pillows.

* during the day deep pressure pats, and rubbing of limbs and back help calm him along with rhythmic movements and rocking. So if I am holding Harrison rocking, talking softly and rubbing him hard, I am not trying to baby him, I am try to help him calm himself so he can continue to function.

* during play groups etc, he will have to leave and we will sit quietly and do some of these things till he is calm and enough to join the others.

Again we are blessed beyond measure to be able to share in Harrison's life. God is a good God that gave us the most wonderful little Red Head Wonder in the world, but we also thank God for giving us the people and tools to help Harrison become all that He has planned for Harrison

Barn Update

2009-09-08T18:55:00.003-04:00

Harrison got to go into his barn today since John got the wall up good and solid last night. He was super excited.

And times like this I am so thankfully for have a big fast camera. I was just out the back door when he jumped up in his barn and I am guessing he was telling me how much he LOVED his new barn. The picture above was the first I got then the next two are below. I LOVE THEM.

do a little dance

a couple recipes

2009-09-08T14:40:00.004-04:00

So I have not been cooking like normal lately and I think it is high time to get back in the swing of things. I have not been doing so much mainly because in the summer there is always other things that I would rather do :) anyway I thought I would share a couple of recipes and see if it might help me get back in gear. Sausage and Cheese Turnovers ( I have meant to share this one before, JOHN LOVES THESE and I make a big batch cook them then freeze them. To use later all you do is put the frozen turnover in the oven at 350 for about 20 mins until warmed through. These are great for breakfast or lunch, and John has them a lot for lunch with baked french fries or leftover side dishes. I got this recipe from a blog but don't have which blog it was from, so this is not my own recipe)

* Crescent Roll Dough full batch (if you don't have the want or time to make the homemade dough that is below, you can use canned crescent roils, you may need up to 3 can
* 1 lb. sausage fully cooked and drained
* 8 oz cream cheese, I used the reduced fat
* 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
* 1/4 cup sliced green onions (or what ever onion you have on hand)
* 2 teaspoons garlic salt
* 1 teaspoon black pepper

1. prepare and let dough rise fully. divide into 7 portions
2. in a large bow, combine cooked sausage, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, onions, and garlic and pepper. stir till combined well.
3. Roll out on portion of dough at a time on a floured surface, roll into a rectangle about 1/4 inch think. then cut into 6 or 8 sections.
4. place about 1 Tablespoon ( I use a small ice cream scoop) into the center or each cut sections. I put a little water around the edge of the dough and fold over and seal the seams of the dough.
5. bake at 375 for 15-18 mins or until lightly browned on top.

Homemade crescent rolls
These are not big and fluffy like deli crescents but great with a little honey over as a small dinner bread. I make a double batch when I do the above turnovers and so I can cook a few crescents to freeze, as well as freezing some of the dough for later use.

*1 T active dry yeast
* 1/2 c warm water
* 1 1/2 c milk
* 1/2 c butter, softened and cut into chunks
* 1/2 c sugar
* 1/2 potato flakes
* 2 eggs
* 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 6 to 6 1/2 c flour

1. dissolve the yeast in the warm water in large bowl. Add the milk, butter pieces, sugar, potato flakes, eggs and salt into the bowl. stir just to combine. Add three cups of flour and mix well, stirring until smooth. add as much of the remaining flour as possible till a stiff dough forms.
2. knead a few times, cover and let rise for 15 mins.
3. divide dough into half into a circle about 1/2 inch think. cut each circle into evenly wedges, about 16-18. roll the wedges from the wide end to the point. curve ends slightly and place on cookie sheet. cover and let rise for one hour. bake at 350 for 15-18 mins.

Corn Salad (I first had this at a salad supper but added a few extra things to it to make it my own, we have really enjoyed this salad this summer. I only put the chips in half the salad so we can add fresh chips the next day.)

* 6- 8 ears of fresh corn (could also use canned corn)

* 2 banana peppers sliced thin

* can of black beans drained and rinsed

* red onion sliced (not in the picture)

* about a cup for shredded cheddar cheese

* enough mayo to cover everything ( I use half low fat mayo and half low fat miracle whip)

* about 2 TBS of ranch dressing mix

* 1/2 bag of chili Frito's

I cook the corn and peppers with couple tablespoons of water for about 5 mins then drain and cool down with ice and running water. once corn is cool mix everything together and enjoy

corn cobs ready for the compost pile, and to help feed the garden next year.

cooking the corn

Our Weekend

2009-09-07T21:22:00.006-04:00

John's Parents camped out in Bardstown so we got to spend a little time with them. Friday night we cookout at their campsite. Harrison and Matthew enjoyed their S'mores

What silly boys

My parents came up this weekend also and Harrison enjoyed another sugar treat. Harrison enjoyed Grammy's birthday cake and ice cream. He does really good with an ice cream cone but a spoon is a different story.

John also started another project. He is building Harrison a barn in the back yard. It will be really cool when it is all said and done with a slide out of the loft (which will come a little later) and the boys are going to camp out in the loft which Harrison is really looking forward to. He will also get to store his four wheeler, and wagons in his barn alone with all his animal feed. I am also looking forward to these things to get out of the garage :)

John got all four walls up but it was too dark to take a picture. SO we are looking forward to seeing what all gets done this week. We are planning a Farm birthday party with lots of animals and a tractor to go along with his barn we are just hoping that it will not rain.

Harrison's World part 1 Verbral Apraxia ...what it is and what it means for Harrison

2009-09-03T19:32:00.004-04:00

Many of you know that Harrison has some speech and sensory processing issues that I have touched on before but have really never went into much detail about what he is going through. Really we did not know the severity of it till the last several months as he grows older the gap grows with each month. And while we still DON'T have a diagnosis (which will not come until he is at least 3) we are operating under the assumption that Harrison has a disorder called Verbal Apraxia, which is a disorder rather than a delay. A delay is when you develop in correct sequence but at a slower rate where a disorder is a defeat of the brain.

Let's start at the beginning, when Harrison was about a year old I started to become concerned about his speech or lack of. I tend to be a bit high string and over protected so I kept my peace and waited till he was 18 months before I really started pushing it. At that point he had about 6 words, but I noticed he could no longer say things that he had in the past, and what really struck me as odd was that his paci and tag blanket that went EVERYWHERE with him he did not even attempt to call them by name. Harrison's pediatrician was not concerned, but I knew something was wrong. after screening he did show to be slightly behind in is expressive speech, so slightly that he almost did not qualify for speech. Now a year and a half later he only has about 12 words that anyone would realize. He is however, very good and getting his point across with his hands and sound effects. At his last evaluation at 2 1/2 he was demonstrating cognitive understanding of language skill of a 5+ year old, while his expressive skills, what he is able to say, was at 1 year 10 months. So what does this mean.... it means while he can "tell" or show you what letter words start with, tell you which words rhyme with what, tell you sounds of each letter but can not put the sounds together, put stories in the correct order, he can not tell you that he would like cheese to eat. This cause GREAT FRUSTRATION to him and not to mention those around him. He is very verbal and tries to talk all the time it just does not come out in a manner that we can all understand it. So now we are looking at Verbal Apraxia as a way of life for years to come.

SO WHAT IS VERBAL APRAXIA
*it is unclear what causes apraxia, but is a defeat of the brain
* it is NOT a cognitive disorder
* it is NOT a muscle disorder
* it is a oral motor speech disorder, the problem occurs when the brain tries to tell the muscles what to do, the brain does not tell the mouth, jaws, tongue etc what to do in the right order or not at all.
*children with apraxia know what they want to say the words are in their head but often are not able to produce intelligible speech (one illustration I like is... "the problem occurs when the brain tries to tell the muscles what to do but somehow that message gets scrambles. It's like trying to watch cable TV without the right descrambler. There is nothing wrong with the TV station and there is nothing wrong with your TV. it's just that your TV can't read the signal that the station is sending out. The child must figure out how to somehow unscramble the mixed messages in the brain that are being sent to their muscles in their face and mouth")

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR HARRISON LONG TERM?
* He will have LOTS of therapy (right now he has 2 hours a week, starting next week we will adding 3 more sessions a week)
* He may have therapy up into his teenage years more than likely
* He hopefully we will speak "normally" as an adult although he may always have some lasting effects of the speech disorder. Which more than likely will be worse when he is nervous etc.
*Apraxia is almost always joined by other disorders or delays which would explain the sensory processing issues he has (which I may touch on later), decreased trunk strength that we are also working on, and maybe even the sensitivity he had as a baby to milk protein etc.
* since apraxia is a motor planning issues he may be 4 or 5 before being potty trained
* He may continue for years to gain new words to only lose them again. for example he could say bird for almost a year, and now it has been at least a year since we have heard that word from him. He may say something "perfect" today and not say it again for 6 months. And if he does say something "perfect" and is asked to repeat it it almost always will not be able to repeat it under pressure.

WHAT WE ARE DOING
* We love our little Red Head Wonder for the the blessing from God that he is and give him every opportunity to flourish that we can and expose him to as much as we can.
* He is getting speech and OT weekly along with John and I working daily with him
*He could go to the public preschool program but at least for now we have decided not to go that route since he is getting lots of therapy privately. He is however going to Mother's Day Out 4 hours a day 3 days a weeks to help with the social aspects, and I am using preschool home school curriculum with him daily at home working on language skills mainly at this point. He is already recalling words and sounding things out so I really think he will read before he talks.
* we are looking into other diets to try with Harrison to see if we see any changes as well.

* We also started his horse back riding lesson earlier than we had planned since there is research that it also helps speech and it is good for his decreased trunk strength

WHAT HARRISON DOES AND FEELS
* He becomes very nervous and shy around new people, and what is the first thing someone new asks a 3 year old? "What's your name?" which Harrison can not answer.
*His friends don't understand why he can not talk like them, and if they comment on it he will go play alone.
* He Uses sign language and self made signs and sounds to try to explain what he wants, needs, or feels. So much so that we have stopped using sign language and teaching him new signs since he is starting to sign sentences, which would be fine but if he has the sign he does not attempt to say the word.
*He is beginning to act out in his frustration
* He becomes VERY FRUSTRATION when he repeats and repeats himself and we have no clue what he is saying. for example he has named his two chickens but we can not figure out what he is saying. He says the same thing every time but as hard as we try we can not realize what he is trying to say.
* He tries SO HARD but he just can't get things out. a couple examples-- we call my Dad "Grandpa" but Harrison says "PawPaw" if you ask him if that is PawPaw he will say no but if you ask it if is Grandpa he says yes. He hears the difference, he knows the difference he just can't say it. --- also he can make the sound for each letter but can not but them together or with certain other sounds, for example he can say Mama and Matthew which both start with "M" but when he tries to say MOO what comes out is "Boo" he can not transfer the "M" sound over to a different word with a different vowel following it.

Harrison is a super smart little guy that loves being around people and learning new things he just can't tell us what all he is learning and can't ask questions about the things he want to know more about. I am able to understand roughly what he is talking about I would say 70% of the time but to everyone else in his life it is much less. It is hard as a parent to see your child struggle so much, you want to take the pain away but if we shelter him now it will only be harder for him later. We pray that his disorder will only make him stronger and us as well, and that he will not let it break his sweet sweet spirit. We love our little miracle from God, and are so blessed to be called his parents.

Our little Puggle

2009-09-02T21:24:00.003-04:00

We are happy to say we have a Puggle and he LOVES being a puggle.... Puggles is the youngest class of our AWANA program at church, which is a children's program to teach and memorize Bible Verses. We are at a smaller church than we have been at in the past so Harrison has been in the nursery until the past month. He never cared much for the nursery but he now has are real Sunday School class and a real Class on Wednesday night. He thinks he is so big and is so excited to share what he has learned about God in his new classes. He also LOVES his puggles shirt and as soon as a mentioned puggles tonight he went and got his blue shirt :)

I get to watch him during his games rotation so it is really fun to see him be his own little man.

company

2009-09-01T15:32:00.002-04:00

Last week a my friend, Amber, from Richmond came up to visit for a couple of days and brought her two kiddos to play. Then My Buddy Rebekah just left with her two children for another two day visit. Believe it or not they both came and went and I DID NOT TAKE ONE PICTURE.... what is happening to me? We had great visits and the kids all played wonderful together, and I am blessed to have such good friends, God has surely blessed me. We don't get to see each other nearly enough but it is great to just be able to pick up where you left off.

"bolf" aka Golf (3rd post today)

2009-08-30T22:55:00.004-04:00

John took Harrison to play "bolf" today. Harrison was so proud of himself for saying "bolf" so he can't say the G but he sure has the the "F" down Pat. We take what we can get around here, and it is pretty darn cute. Cousin Matthew and Uncle Jeremy went too and the Mommies got to do some shopping and lunch at the Cheese Cake Factory.

I think the boys had fun but I think the Daddies got more than they thought they were getting into. But over all I think Fun was had by all.

And John did really good getting me a few pictures too :)

Thanks John

2009-08-30T22:40:00.003-04:00

So we moved Harrison BOOKSHELF into his room tonight. John started working on it over a year and a half ago and other things always seemed to needed our time so it got done right before our trip to Austria and I finally got all the coats of paint on it yesterday so into his room it went. It is bolted to the wall so no worries, Harrison will not be able to pull it over if he tries to climb it. :) The firetruck on the top was one of John's and since Harrison's nursery was done in firetrucks I have been waiting a long time to have it in his room. Thanks John :)

Putt Putt Golf

2009-08-30T22:28:00.004-04:00

Friday Night we headed out to play putt putt golf. This was a first for Harrison and we have been trying to take him for several weeks it just never seemed to work out so Friday night we headed out for dinner and and game of mini golf. Harrison had a blast. So much so that John decided to take him for a real game today, I will post on it later :)

As you can tell he has great "form" but he gets the ball in the hole, but after three strokes he picks up the ball and places it right on the edge of the hole, I guess, understands that you want a low score :)
And the boys had to play a couple of games before we headed home.

Harrison first day of Mother's Day out for the Year

2009-08-25T10:40:00.004-04:00

Harrison started back to Mother's Day out today. I almost keep him home since we had just a late night last night but I went ahead and sent him, I hope he has a good day. I tried to get a couple pictures before we headed out but he was not too interested in it this morning.

I don't know where time has gone, We have been talking about his birthday party that will be here before we know it, and I don't want my baby to turn three, but he is so much fun and such a joy to us.

Here is his new teacher for the Year Ms. Leigh Ann. He was really excited about going to school today until he got there and realized that he had a different room and a different teacher but once he friends all got there I know will have a blast.

World championship Horse Show

2009-08-25T10:21:00.004-04:00

Last night we went to the World Championship Horse Show at the state fair with Grandpa. Grandpa had a couple of horse that he knew showing and we thought Harrison would think it was fun. Above the boys are having some yummy Fair food getting ready for the show.

Harrison was so excited.

And he picked a horse in every class that he thought would win. He only picked black or gray horses though :)

Did sat and really watch for about the first hour then he got a little restless but he ever cried or fussed just wanted to move around some. We were there from 6:00 Pm - 11:30 Pm so he did GREAT.

This horse, "I'm Looking For You" is the reason that we stayed so late. He showed in the very last class. My Dad is a farrier which is the blacksmith that puts shoes on horses. Anyway he shoes this horse and he did well even though he did not win the top prize.

The horse below is another one of Dad's friends horses and he was even born on Dad's Farm.

And we got to see the Trainer from where Harrison has his riding lessons show and Miss. Anna, Harrison's instructor was there too.

KY State Fair

2009-08-23T21:00:00.004-04:00

We took Harrison to the State fair this afternoon to see all the animals. Chickens, ducks, turkeys, rabbits, mules, cows, and goats of all kinds were all loved by our little read head wonder.

Matthew's First soccer game

2009-08-22T16:44:00.002-04:00

Matthew Had his first soccer game of the year today and we enjoyed getting to see him play. Papa and Nini cam eup too and we all enjoyed Lunch together afterwards. Harrison Likes to see cousin Matthew play ball but he sure wishes he was old enough to play and they way his birthday falls it will be two more years before he can play. He would LOVE To play ball though and he would not care what kind it was :)

Some Harrison News

2009-08-21T20:48:00.007-04:00

Harrison has started back to riding lessons. He was doing so good in the spring then his instructor left for another job and Harrison does not always handle change too well so after trying a few weeks with the new teacher with an upset little boy so we took the summer off. So we started back with a new instructor, a new horse, and a new saddle. Miss Anna rides with him in a double saddle, which since he rode alone before we did not know if he would ride with with her but he is doing such a great job. I know neither of this pictures are very good but I will try to get some more, he was not in the picture mood this week.

Harrison Still LOVES his Thomas the trains, and as you can see he is still a Ham. Along with Thomas, Harrison has a new LOVE and that is VEGGIE TALES. All he wants to watch and listen too is Veggie Tales. And we are letting him watch more than normal because he is attempting to sing along and repeat the lines in the movie so while he is watching more TV than I would like he is really trying with the speech so we are trying to keep it in balance. And speaking of Veggie Tales, I found this Larry at a yard sale and it is like a MR. Potato head with different clothes, eyes, hats etc. He packs it around everywhere. and when he is watching a movie he changes the toys clothes to match what is on the TV. He is so funny.

Not only does he play and carry with Larry most of the day, he also is now sleeping with this box of Larry and Mr. Potato Head pieces.

Yes, we have one silly little boy

But the tub of stuff is not all he sleeps with... he also sleeps with two curious Georges, a penguin from Cincy zoo, a dog from cousin Matthew, two horses that John gave him, a hat he made at Bible School, a red quilt, his tag, a paci (yes I know he too old for a paci and he went for month without it but one day he got it back and long story short he still has it at night), also a couple hot wheels, and some trains to boot. This is a lot but he has finally started sleeping better, just getting up once a night most nights and even sleeping through the night some, so this is a little battle. Just a little news about a day in the life of our Little Red Head Wonder.

Harrison's first FISH

2009-08-20T21:45:00.002-04:00

Tonight John took Harrison on his first fishing trip. I think they both had fun, but I don't think John realized how much work it was going to be for him :) . John said he caught about a dozen fish and before releasing them back into the water he had to kiss them and tell them thank you. I sent my small camera and checked the battery but when John got there it was dead :( so a picture from the phone will have to work.

Chickens ... 3rd post today

2009-08-15T21:53:00.005-04:00

This is what happens when a little boy has his Daddy and Grandpa wrapped around his little finger.

This is what happens when a little boy LOVES animals and a cat, 2 hermit crabs, and two bunnies are not enough...SO after fighting as long as I could Harrison now has new Chicken coop next to his bunny hutch with two new little chickens, which he has named but we have NO CLUE what he is trying to say.

So Harrison now has two more mouths to feed which is one of his favorite things to do.

So we are hoping that the condo will sell soon so we can start looking for a little land before Harrison's pets overtake us all.

Harrison and Rose a day at the farm

2009-08-15T21:34:00.004-04:00

Harrison and I made a quick trip to Richmond and got to meet up with a friend of mine and her hubby and kiddos. Harrison and Rose are just a few months apart in age and they had a big time. Harrison enjoyed getting to show everything at Grandpa's to Rose.

Driving her around....

Feeding the cow...

baby and big chickens...

They even gathered a few eggs...

They were just too cute. Rose has brand new little brother so little will be be running after them before we know it.

I LOVE SUMMER

2009-08-15T21:20:00.003-04:00

I LOVE SUMMER GARDENS!!! Makes for yummy fast dinners.

I am so enjoying having our garden this year below is all from just one day. It is unreal the amount of goodies we are getting from our little garden and I do mean small garden.

Day 7 - Market

2009-08-13T12:05:00.005-04:00

before heading to the airport we went to the flea market and open air market, I wish we had went earlier in the we would have been eating in the room some. I wish we had places like this here. And there were so many fruits and veggies I have never seen.

day 6 -- amusement park

2009-08-13T11:43:00.006-04:00

This Ferris wheel is from the 1897 world fair

So on Friday after we all finished up our shopping we headed over the amusement park and Ferris wheel in Vienna. It was a good time, but I don't think they have any regulations in Austria on rides and such. :) By the end of the Day John was wishing he had stayed on the ground.

It ended up be a pretty park and it was nice that you only paid for the rides you wanted to ride and there was no admission fee which for a girl like me who does not do rides. They had BIG rides and no lines.

Day 5 -- Melk Abby and cruise

2009-08-11T18:23:00.006-04:00

On the Thursday of our trip we took a cruise and saw lots of beautiful churches and old castles, this was one of the highlights of our trip.

All along the mountain sides were vineyards which just don't saw well in the pictures. We also went to the Melk Abby for a tour and it is still a functioning church and abby where over 30 monks still live. This church was amazing there are no words to describe it.

Day 4 -- Salzburg

2009-08-06T22:00:00.007-04:00

On Wednesday we took a day trip to Salzburg, Austria. It was a long 4 hour bus ride there and back to Vienna and we were not in Salzburg but we enjoyed the day. We both really enjoyed the drive there to see the country side, the farm houses which are build in a square with a courtyard in the middle with the house on one side and the barn on the other:) John liked seeing the crops, and equipment. some of the small towns were amazing but since we were in a bus I was not able to get pictures.

We both really enjoyed the gardens everywhere we went. John tried to to get lots of ideas while we were there so maybe someday we we have more space we can have a smaller version.

Mozart's Birthplace.

Over looking the town of Slazburg.

An Old monastery look close it is built into the the side of the mountain. Part of the cemetery and monastery was in the end of "The Sound of Music".

HUGE pretzels... I had one covered in chocolate, John's had bacon and cheese...YUMMY!

Day 3 - Tuesday -- a day on our own

2009-08-03T16:26:00.005-04:00

Tuesday we had no tours or plans so we just walked and walked and walked all day. Once nice thing about going on a trip like this is that just about everywhere we went we ran into someone else from state farm too. So we always had meals with friends or with people that are now new friends.

Above -- Belvedere was one the summer residence of general and art connoisseur Prince Eugene, now it houses art.

Below -- St Charles Church 1715

I have a thing for old doors if you can't tell.

St. Stephan's Cathedral is in the center of Vienna and was built in the 12th century.

Day 2 -- City Tour & Group Dinner

2009-08-02T19:00:00.009-04:00

On Monday we took a City tour and had a group dinner at a local vineyard with traditional food. The food was a worry of John's before we left, he was afraid that he would starve while we were there :) We enjoyed every meal we had, we were not too brave to try too much but we did enjoy the food. we did miss cold drinks and Ice but that is a small thing. Above is our table at the group dinner, I think this was John's favorite meal, there was lots of fried Meat :)

The next few pics are just a few shots from around Vienna.

On the city tour we stopped and toured Schonbrunn Palace which was a hunting palace and summer home for some of the imperial family. We enjoyed the tour and the gardens.

We are Home ... Day one of our trip to Austria

2009-08-02T18:47:00.002-04:00

We left last Saturday for Austria, This was a "work" trip kinda, John qualified for the trip by meeting and exceeding goals set by the company, so we are very proud of him and his team for meeting this goal. We enjoyed the trip, John and I have never traveled to Europe so we really did not sure about what all we would do. John also has not been away from the office for this long so it was a mush needed time of rest. Harrison did not go, which was hard since I had not been away from him for more than a day or two but I think we both did pretty good. Harrison stayed with my parents, John's Parents, and his aunt Angie throughout the week.

Anyway we left from Nashville last Saturday on a chartered fight which was nice that it was a direct flight etc. We arrived in Vienna Austria Sunday morning at got settled into the hotel and had a short nap before heading out to see the sights.

Sunday We had at a local pub and went though the park across from the hotel and headed to bed about 6:30 Austrian Time, since we had been up for about 36 hours, to get ready for Monday.

5th post today --- VBS

2009-07-21T22:46:00.004-04:00

this week is Bible School I am teaching Kindergarten and Harrison is in Heaven with all the animals and CHOO CHOO TRAINS!! Harrison's Allergies have been really bad so tonight was the first night that he could go. He had so much fun...

Matthew's 6th birthday

2009-07-21T22:30:00.004-04:00

It is hard to believe that Matthew is 6 years old and getting ready to start first grade. His birthday's party was this past Saturday.He got a set of golf clubs and since they live on a golf course the boys had fun trying them out after the party.

Cincy Zoo

2009-07-21T22:21:00.003-04:00

At the zoo Harrison rode the Train three times and Matthew rode the carousal twice fun was had by all.

We got a disposable camera with our package and the boys had a BLAST taking pictures.

Cincy Children's Museum

2009-07-21T22:02:00.005-04:00

Angie and I took the boys to Cincy last week for a couple of days. We went to the Children's Museum and the zoo and had a big time. These pictures were from the boys bath after a swim in the coldest July pool I have ever been in :)

The museum was lots of fun, and we are already planning our next trip.

Aunnal Fish Fry

2009-07-21T21:49:00.002-04:00

Every year the Saturday after the forth of July Dad and some friends has a big fish fry so we always enjoy it too.

This year Harrison and Rose had a big time playing. They played so well together and had so much fun.

I have not fallen off the planet

2009-07-17T22:36:00.002-04:00

I have not updated for a long time I know but my computer died so I have been without a computer, no Internet, not photo programs etc. John came home today with with a new laptop so YEAH maybe I will have some updates soon!!!

this and that

2009-07-01T14:26:00.003-04:00

I am starting to get a few more things out of my garden, and Harrison thinks it is great fun to help harvest, he really likes the carrots. He will pull one up and run it over to the bunnies and just laughs.

While Angie and I were getting things ready for Papa's Party the boys had fun too, the ate popcorn and watched a movie, then helped decorate cookies and made an obstacle course while we were working.

Lighting bugs

2009-07-01T14:18:00.004-04:00

At Papa's birthday party Harrison and Matthew had a ball collecting lighting bugs, this was a first for Harrison. They had so much fun.

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY PAPA

2009-07-01T14:09:00.004-04:00

John's Dad's 60th birthday is later in the month but Flo wanted to have a surprise party so we had it a bit early to take him by surprise and and I think we succeeded. Everyone had a good time.

How many people does it take to light 60 candles??? and the cake had a bit of an accident but it still tasted great.

Father's Day

2009-06-22T11:32:00.004-04:00

We enjoyed our Father's day yesterday with family and friends. Harrison and I are so lucky to have John in our lives. He works so hard for us and takes great care of his family, God has blessed me with a caring husband whom I love dearly and Harrison has a Daddy that takes care of him and knows how to have great fun too.

The boys played, we visited, and ate lots.

John, Harrison, Papa, Uncle Jeremy, and Matthew.

John wanted a hammock for father's day and he put it up now we will see how much relaxing he will do. I have my doubts.

MUD MUD MUD MUD

2009-06-22T11:16:00.005-04:00

This was John's Idea and I really think the pictures tell the story....

New Bunnies (4th post today)

2009-06-17T22:27:00.006-04:00

Harrison and I picked up more bunnies from Dad's today since the last two did not last too long here. So meet the newest members of our family the brown one has been named Curious and the Gray one George. Can you tell my child LOVES Curious George?

BOYS BOYS BOYS

2009-06-17T22:17:00.002-04:00

Harrison and I just got back from a much needed trip to Isaiah's House. Our last trip was in Dec. so it was much over due. We all had a good time, other than Harrison not waiting to sleep. It rained a lot so we did not get out too much. The boys played well, feed animals, and even took their first bath together, this was a BIG deal since it was Isaiah's first bath with in a tub without an adult and they did so good. Nicki and I enjoyed some girl talk, and shopping time. We had planned a trip to the zoo after a doctor appt but the rain sent us to rain forest cafe instead and to the mall. We are planning a trip to Cincinnati next month and Angie and Matthew are planning on going with us, more fun to come soon.

Isaiah's Taylor

2009-06-17T22:11:00.002-04:00

PJ Party watching the Country Music awards the boys thought it was pretty fun, and Isaiah had a blast watching "his Taylor" Taylor swift that is. He LOVES Taylor....

While Taylor was signing Isaiah danced and laughed and went up to the TV and started kissing the TV and when she was done he turned the TV off. How funny and how cute.

Boys and Horses

2009-06-17T21:54:00.004-04:00

Harrison and Isaiah enjoyed playing out what little time we had during our visit that it was not raining.

Look at Isaiah go standing up. Boys LOVE horses

This is Isaiah's pony Daisy Harrison enjoyed leading her or maybe Daisy was the one doing the leading.

BOYS

2009-06-09T21:54:00.002-04:00

Harrison has learned that when I am watering the plants that if he gets a bucket and fills it with water and dumps it between the patio and sidewalk and it will pool up for a while. Harrison thought it was great fun to roll and jump in the puddle tonight.
Then he stopped and noticed something for the first time. He noticed his reflection in the water. He thought it was so neat and then he would touch the refection and say whoo whoo when the water rippled. He is no neat watching him learn new things

Big Boy Bike

2009-06-06T21:14:00.005-04:00

Cousin Matthew has outgrown his first bike and got a new one for Christmas so Harrison got to bring the old one home. He thinks it is pretty cool but has not gotten the hang of the pedals thing. He can move faster with his feet on the ground so we might even move his seat up a bit so he has to use the pedals.

But like lots of things around our house I don't know if who has more fun, John or Harrison.

I LOVE SUMMER

2009-06-03T22:24:00.002-04:00

We are REALLY ENJOYING THE SUMMER TIME WEATHER!!!

More Garden Fun

2009-06-03T22:12:00.003-04:00

We are still enjoying our garden and Harrison thinks it is great fun. He even thinks he has to taste everything before it gets into the house. Below is Harrison helping me hull peas which he thinks is great fun.

And if you don't know I JUST LOVE MY BACKYARD, we are having so much fun in it this year, and with the fence that John built last year I can get work done while Harrison plays without worrying about where is running off too.

Matthew's First T Ball Game

2009-06-03T22:03:00.001-04:00

Last week we enjoyed going to cousin Matthew's first T Ball game and John's first softball game of the year. So much fun and we look forward to many more nights at the ball park.

What a BIG BOY

2009-05-27T14:16:00.002-04:00

Harrison has had a toddler bed and a crib in his room for about year and we tried the big boy bed for about 3 months, in hopes that it might help with his sleeping, but it did not and LOVED his crib. so he has been sleeping in the crib ever since. We would ask where he would want to sleep and he would ALWAYS say BABY BED. Then this past weekend while we were at the hotel He did not want to sleep in his pack and play so we told him he could sleep in the daybed in the room as long as he did not get out of the bed, and he laid down and slept all night. then we stopped at my Mom's Sunday night so John could do some repairs for her and she had put one of her mattresses on the floor for him and he slept in the big bed again.

So first thing when we got home Monday we took down the crib. Harrison Helped John and only cried a few seconds when we started carrying the pieces out of his room. We put it in the guest room just in case...

But once his big boy bed was in place he was excited.

And he as slept there every since.

My baby is a BIG BOY NOW:(

First Fruits

2009-05-27T13:53:00.002-04:00

We have taken enough trees and bushes out around the house to have a small garden this year and I am so excited. So here are some of our first fruits for the year. These are actually the last of the green onions but the Peas are brand new, looking forward to having them in some stir fry tonight.

At our Hotel this weekend.

2009-05-25T20:19:00.004-04:00

While we were in Chattanooga we stayed in an old train car. The room was not what John and I are used too and would not stay there again but Harrison thought it was so neat that he was sleeping in the choo choo train. The gardens were beautiful so we did enjoy them. We had a great weekend and hope we get to make more trips soon.

Harrison really like throwing "piggy food or oink oink food" aka coins into fountains and watching the goldfish in the pond.

Climbing up to our room.

Children's Museum and Aquarium

2009-05-25T19:38:00.008-04:00

Friday when we got to Chattanooga we had a picnic lunch on the water front then headed over to the aquarium and IMAX. Harrison LOVED it he wanted to show us everything. And he really wanted to see the penguins and we ever had to go back before we left to see them again.

We all enjoyed looking around and glad that we went on Friday before the big crowd hit:)

This was the first time we have not taken a stroller to something like this and he did really well. Now the only issue is that if he gets tried he is very heavy to carry around.

Harrison also LOVED the stingrays and made funny faces at them.We went to the IMAX to see an ocean movie and we worried how this would go over. Harrison does not like loud noises but after it got started he did good. I would not say that he loved it but he did not cry and even sat in his seat some so that is a start.

Saturday we went to children's museum and went to visit with some of John's Family we had a great time at the museum and visiting for several hours with some family
Maybe JOHN had more fun than Harrison, what do you think?

before we headed home Sunday we went to the zoo in the rain, maybe it was a good thing it was a very small zoo :)

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-11T21:50:00.001-04:00

Parade Boy

2009-05-11T21:40:00.003-04:00

This weekend was our Spring Festival here in town, which is not much to write about but the boys were in the parade and Harrison had a BALL riding up front and throwing candy to everyone. And everywhere we go people are stopping him and thanking him for the candy and he has to tell me all about it again. He had so much fun and was so good.

Getting ready for the day...

4th post of the day

2009-05-06T20:09:00.004-04:00

We have been eating out of the freezer a lot lately so I thought it was time for a baking day. I had big plans but Harrison did not have big plans of Mommy being in the kitchen all day so maybe the rest will get done in the next few days. I don't like whole meals frozen they never seem to taste fresh to me but breads, doughs, and some meat items (like browned hamburger, meatloaf patties, chicken nuggets, sausage turnovers) do work well from the freezer. So while I do a lot of breads ahead we really don't eat all bread. :)
I did get a double batch of pizza dough done this morning which makes enough for 4 pizzas. I froze three pizzas worth and used the last part for lunch. since I had some leftover chicken that needed to be used up I made BBQ chicken pizza (just bbq sauce, onions, chicken, mushrooms, and what ever cheese I have on hand it is yummy)

Pizza Dough (enough for 2 pizzas or 6 personal sized)
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 package of yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 c warm water
2 TBS oil

1. in a large bowl, mix 1 1/4 cups flour with yeast and salt, add warm water and oil. Beat with a whisk for 3 mins. stir in another 1 1/4 cups flour or enough so mixture holds together. place dough on a lightly floured surface. knead in rest of flour until lump- free. freeze half and cover the remainder for 10 mins.

2. heat oven to 425 degrees roll out dough and prick bottom of crust. bake for about 8 mins then spread sauce and toppings and bake for another 8 mins or so.

I also had LOTS of coffee breaks today.
Loaded Oatmeal Cookies
1/4 c softened butter
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/3 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups oats
1/4 c flax seed meal
1/4 c wheat germ
2 oz dark chocolate
1/4 chopped pecans

1. preheat oven 350 degrees. in a large bowl mix butter with electric mixer for 30 seconds. add brown sugar, sugar cinnamon, baking soda, and slat . Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in flour. Stir in oats, flax seed, wheat germ, chocolate, nuts. (dough will be a little crumbly)

2. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons bake for 9-11 mins.

Double Dark Chocolate Cookies

1/4 c softened butter

1/4 c oil

1/2 c brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c all=purpose flour

1/2 c cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

4 oz bittersweet chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 350. mix butter with electric mixer for 30 seconds. beat in oil, brown sugar, sugar until well combined. beat in egg and vanilla. in bowl whisk together flours, cocoa, baking powder, and salt then mix into wet mixture. stir in chopped chocolate.

2. drop dough by rounded teaspoons bake for 12 mins.

I froze my dough like this ...

Then once froze i put in bags for the freezer to pull out as needed to put straight in the oven.

Garage Time

2009-05-06T19:55:00.004-04:00

Harrison thinks it is great fun to make "Garages" for his trains, cars, trucks etc. And he played with these all day today. Then this evening I told him it was time to start cleaning up his toys and this is how he did it :)

All the Fire Trucks in one garage...

All the Hot wheels in this five bay garage... The landing pad for the airplanes and helicopters, and odd and ends in this garage...

Police cars in this garage... and if you look closely here you will see all the tonka trucks lined up on the left then behind them a train engine with a car the to the far right all his Thomas trucks and tractors...

All this makes for one interesting little Red Head Wonder.

Mother's Day Out End of Year Program

2009-05-06T10:30:00.003-04:00

Last night Harrison had his end of the year program for his Mother's Day Out. His class were frogs and they jumped with the best of them. They were all too cute and had lots of fun. Their teachers may not have had so much fun keeping so many frogs on stage but they were cute. He has had so much fun this year and has made some good friends.

Horse Riding update

2009-05-06T10:25:00.003-04:00

Just a couple from Yesterday's lesson. He is still enjoying his riding and getting stronger with every lesson .

Just the little things

2009-05-04T17:23:00.003-04:00

Today Harrison brought a package of craft sticks into the kitchen sat down and dumped them all out. I could not figure out what he was going to do with them since he did not get paper, or stickers, or any other craft items out with him. After he dumped them out he pulled his sock off and his pant leg up and pretended that they were finger files. and I think had to try all the sticks. Too funny, maybe he is home a little too much with Mommy :)

Last Friday Matthew got out of school early so we took the boys to the zoo for a short visit. We got to see the baby giraffe which we had not gotten to see before, but I think Angie and I thought it was more interesting than the boys. Harrison was more concerned about the ducks swimming, go figure.

Look what we got in the MAIL

2009-04-30T15:18:00.003-04:00

So we were leaving the office yesterday and the UPS guy brings us a box with Fragile on it and he is shaking it saying "I think this is broke". He wanted to take it back to report the damage before we opened is we notice it was for Harrison from Nini and Papa... and they just got back from Gulf Shores... so we gave them a call... They said it was Hermit Crabs. At first we did not think they had made the shipping but they are up and moving, one a bit slower than the other.

Harrison thinks they are pretty cool, but I wish John had not showed him that they can come out of there cage. Now that is all he wants to do. I told Harrison that was something only he did with Daddy or they would be out in the house and who knows if we would be able to find them. So our collection of animals is still growing.

some of our fun this week

2009-04-30T14:50:00.007-04:00

Yesterday John participated in a fund raiser called the Battle of the Bounce, which goes along with all the Derby Festivities. Anyway, it is a relay kind of thing will the below activities. State Farm did not win but it was fun and a good day to be down on the riverfront.

Harrison had to take a Pony Ride but did not understand why he could not hold on to the rains and put his feet in the stir ups.

Harrison also got a balloon horse which he waited for very nicely while Daddy was "playing" but as soon as John was done, Harrison was walking down the bleachers to get his horse.

We also meet some friends at the zoo on Monday Morning and had a good visit with them and the animals too.

We are READY for SUMMER

2009-04-27T22:14:00.003-04:00

Sweaty Boys... Garden in process...

Flowers...

Fresh mulch...

Grilling...

If this nice weather could just stick around we would all be happy.

Harrison's New Toy at Grandpa's

2009-04-26T22:53:00.005-04:00

during our last trip to Richmond we took Harrison power wheels truck for him to play with on the farm. So Dad went on the hunt for a new toy to leave there. So this weekend Harrison had a 4 wheeler waiting for him. He thought it was pretty great.

sometimes things are just too much...

There is always work on the farm.

The last time we went out to eat with Dad, Harrison tried some Jell-O and LOVED it. Well Dad had some waiting for him after the 4 wheeler fun. This was left after Harrison and Dad tore into the Jell-O.

This is Dad's peacock... I think he must be one confused bird...

Playing with Friends

2009-04-26T22:39:00.003-04:00

Saturday while we were in Richmond we meet my friend Ashlee and her little guy Jax for breakfast an some playtime. Jax is right at a year older than Harrison and they had a big time. We are trying to plan another play date up here, hope we can get together, Jax is also a Thomas the Train fan so they can have lots of fun together.

Harrison 2 1/2 years old

2009-04-21T21:24:00.004-04:00

My little Red Head Wonder was in the mood for a few pictures today ...

He is so funny...

and he LOVES his trains...

Lazy boy...

Friends and Pictures

2009-04-21T20:55:00.005-04:00

Trey and Cole, and their Mommy too came over today to work on getting some pictures of the boys, mainly Kole and so Harrison and Trey could play. They are becoming good buddies.

As you can see Harrison had to get on the action...

Little guys are just to cute and Kole was so happy today, We had a great visit.

Thunder over Louisville 2009

2009-04-19T20:44:00.005-04:00

This weekend we enjoyed a few days downtown Louisville for Thunder Over Louisville which is the kickoff to all the Derby festivities. We had a room at the Galt House so we were right in the middle of all the action did not have to worry about the traffic, which was GREAT. Nicki, Timmy, and Timmy came to join us and the other families from the office. Harrison enjoyed the weekend expect for the loud airplanes and fireworks. Harrison does not like things loud so we did not really expect to get to watch the fireworks but the air show did not last too long either. But we all still had a good time. Isaiah and Harrison both like the planes until the fast military planes came and they were so loud they both got pretty upset so Nicki and I headed back to the room with the boys. Isaiah needed to nap and Harrison did not want to leave him alone so Nicki shut the bedroom door. Once Isaiah calmed down and we thought he was asleep she went to check on him and found the door locked. So by the time it was all "under control" we had three security guards in the room and a call in to come and take the door off even though they got it open before we had to get to that point. They were really worried once we told them a four year old with a trach was on the only side. We told them if we were that concerned or if it had been a year or two earlier we would have had the door down before they even got there. Just another funny story to add to our growing list.

I think John and Timmy could have watched the planes for days.

of course part of the fun staying in hotels is getting room service and it was much easier to just order it in than to wait for hours for a restaurant. Friday night John decided he wanted a grilled cheese at midnight, I beat they don't get too many request for grilled cheese at midnight.

This was how Harrison watched most of the airshow.

While Harrison and I watched the fireworks on the TV in the room on mute (we started outside but did not make it though the cannons going off, Harrison was terrified and would not even watch from inside the building.) Isaiah thought the fireworks were just GRAND.

MY NEW TOY

2009-04-19T20:36:00.003-04:00

Last week I finally got my new oven put in, after having the wrong one delivered we are up and cooking. So the afternoon that it was installed Angie and I had some baking to do:)

A REAL Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-13T20:16:00.002-04:00

Sunday after Church we headed to Richmond for a couple hours so John could work on a couple of things at Mom's house. And of course we had to run to Grandpa's at feeding time. That includes gather eggs. And Grandpa's egg are about as colorful as dyed eggs, he has brown, white, yellow, and even blue chicken eggs.

Harrison always wants to take his truck with us to Grandpa's and since John was going we loaded up and took it with us. I don't know who had more with the truck, John, Harrison, or Grandpa since it gave him someone to help carry water and feed around. Mom and I just stood back and laughed at the boys. I see a second truck in Harrison's future.

Easter Sunday

2009-04-13T19:49:00.005-04:00

We had a Great Easter Sunday. We had such a nice sunny day which is very suitable for a day such as Easter as we celebrate our Risen Lord. Good Friday was dark and stormy much like the first Good Friday when Jesus died for our sins. We get new clothes and Easter baskets for Easter but it is important that we don't forget the real meaning of such a meaningful day.

Harrison was excited to get some cars and Trains before heading out to church.

Can't you tell John does NOT like his picture to be taking

Birthday at the Zoo

2009-04-11T21:58:00.005-04:00

Harrison when to a friends birthday party today at the Zoo, and it is always a fun day when the zoo is involved.

This morning when we told Harrison we were going to the zoo he started walking like a penguin (which includes moving both hands like in the picture below) while he would walk like a penguin he would also say stinky, which is why we usually don't go see them.

He also thought the turtles and snakes were pretty cool today.

Boys Will Be Boys...

2009-04-07T21:05:00.006-04:00

ok, so what can I say...
Boys will be boys...

The dirtier the better...

But it is ALWAYS fun...

Harrison and Matthew Had a GREAT DAY!!!

Cousins and best buddies!

Family Easter Dinner

2009-04-05T21:25:00.006-04:00

We Had our family Easter dinner yesterday. We enjoyed all the company and getting to visit with family. Several people were not able to make it this year but we had good visits. Harrison, Matthew and Blake had a big time. There are lots of pictures but I just could not pick a couple to post so there are a lot :)

Harrison with his cousins Blake and Matthew...

After everyone else left Harrison and Blake had a big time playing together and Harrison thought he was big stuff playing with an almost 11 year old.

Kings Baptist Egg Hunt

2009-04-05T21:04:00.003-04:00

This weekend we had fun at the Easter egg hunt and other fun things at church. Harrison enjoyed the egg hunt and the crafts but the puppets were too much for him. Some times large crowds and loud noises are just to much for Harrison but we still had a big time.

Harrison has had lots of practice looking for lots of practice looking or eggs at Grandpa's lately so he knew just what to do at his egg hunts this year.

Bunny Update

2009-04-03T21:10:00.003-04:00

Here is Harrison's gear for "feeding" all the animals. Yes we live in town, yes our yard backs up to a shopping center, Yes we are only one block from Main Street but Harrison does not care. I guess it is in his blood. We have to feed the bunnies, the birds, and the squirrels. Then watching them all day long. When we can ever have a bit a land and "real" animals we may never see Harrison.

Harrison has not had Mother's Day Out this week for Spring Break so I have not been able to go to the office during day so John has come home early a couple of nights early so I could run up to the office for a couple of hours and get my normal stuff done at the office. It has been nice that John and Harrison has been able to have some boy time alone without Mommy. So the boys made a Bunny house for for the Bunnies power tools and all. They made the house and painted it then the next night they took it out to the bunnies. Harrison was so proud and was SO EXCITED when the bunnies went into the the new house. He would laugh, want to show us and jump up and down when they went in.

Paint HELP

2009-03-28T21:12:00.006-04:00

Ok so here is the front of our house after lots of work removing all the landscaping in the front lots in the back and several tree removed not to mention all the ivy, we are ready to paint the house. Now we can't decide what do to. We would like to paint the brick, since it is a dated color and we think painted brick if very neat and clean looking. HOWEVER we know that we won't be at this house forever and don't want to make it harder to sale in the future but again we think that painting would be a good update. The trim and shutters have to be done now and along with a little gutter work so we are in the middle of a debate of weather to just paint the trim and shutters or paint the brick too. Let us know what you think.

We drove around a neighborhood today that we knew had lots of homes the same style of ours and looked for some that were brick with the trim colors we are thinking of and then also the ones that are painted. We still really like the painted look but can't decide for sure.

Here are some pictures of some choices that we liked. Some things to keep in mind. Our roof is black and the storm windows have a white frame, and they have to stay since the windows are not new, and we have brick sidewalks that would not be able to be painted if we paint the brick but we would paint the brink fence around our patio (if you click on the house label on the right side of the page you should be able to see more pictures of the house) You should be able to click on the pictures to make them larger.

These are both shades of tan and black that we think we will go with if we only do the trim and shutters. (we wish we had this little porch on our house but that is not in the budget and the house next door has one so ...)

Now for the painted brick, the first one is a cream even though it looks white in this picture.

This one is a yellow cream color with green shutters

we REALLY like this one but are afraid that it would be too dark on our house since we don't have the porch.

This is what we are leaning to. it is a little darker than the picture is showing.

So please leave a comment or shot me an email and give us your thoughts. Also scroll down this is the forth post in the last 24 hours :)

Harrison's Day

2009-03-28T21:01:00.003-04:00

Well, I have not posted pictures of the bunnies any sooner because it has rained ever since we brought them home. Today we did have a little break in the rain so we got the bunnies out. We put them on a little harness to see how they would be on their own with out worries of them getting a way. the spotted one I think would stay close but they will how they do over time. The picture below made me laugh at first I thought "how sweet" then at a closer look I noticed how he is grabbing the bunnies poor ear and pulling :) Harrison still does not want to name them so they are just "2 bunny rabbits" for now. If we say bunny or rabbit he corrects us that they are "2 bunny rabbits" (more or less anyway in his own way. )

Harrison thinks it is great fun to help me in the Kitchen so I let him help pour and stir when ever possible. I thought he was too cute standing there working so hard.

KITCHEN UPDATE --TODAY

2009-03-27T21:32:00.004-04:00

We have been working on the kitchen a bit at a time so here is the before ... And here is today...

So today was the day that the New microwave, dishwasher, and oven!!! they got here right on time which was great, then they came and told me that the oven was the WRONG SIZE!!! So long story short we got the new dishwasher and microwave installed and have to wait another two to three weeks for the new oven to come in. I was hoping to have it in before our Easter Dinner next week but no big deal but I did have big baking plans for tomorrow:)

Harrison had fun playing in the Dishwasher box and now when the oven comes in he will get to build a new house, or what ever he wants that day. The bruise on Harrison's forehead is from a fall in the bathroom when he was running to the potty and fell on the tile floor.

We also worked on some Easter goodies today, Next week we are having a Easter Dinner, and Easter Egg hunt at Church, then the following week is Easter fun at Mother's Day out. Harrison does not have Mother's Day Out next week for Spring Break so we are going to work on potty training. He has been going every night but not very interested in trying the rest of the day. So hope all goes well next week.

bunnies

2009-03-27T21:11:00.004-04:00

Well Dad convinced us that Harrison need A BUNNY and we said that would be fine. We brought a hatch home last week and cleaned it up for the BUNNY and Harrison was so excited. Dad had went to a couple of sales and auctions (yes they have these things for bunnies) with no luck. So he went to a breeder that he knew of from when he had bunches of rabbits before. Tuesday afternoon I got the call that he had BUNNIES! so Harrison and I headed to Richmond to pick out and bring home A BUNNY. When we got there he had gotten TEN for Harrison to pick A BUNNY from. So Harrison got to see all the bunnies, Dad just but Harrison in the cage with them.
And we brought home a BLACK BUNNY and a SPOTTED BUNNY, yes we went home with TWO BUNNIES one male and one female. NO WORRIES we told Dad we will have babies once then the babies and one of the big bunnies will go back to leave with Grandpa. Harrison Picked out the two he wanted and he was a happy camper.

We also helped Grandpa feed and gather eggs then we headed back home.

Riding...

2009-03-23T16:45:00.002-04:00

Harrison had his first official riding lesson today and did really good. He lasted the whole lesson which surprised us all, we were hoping for at least half but he he did Great. He was so proud and listened really well. The only thing he did not want to do was to put his feet in the stirrups but that will come.

Isn't that about the cutest little saddle?

Harrison also got to give a Stanley, the horse a peppermint at the end of his lesson.

Giving Stanley a hug goodbye

Our Sunday Afternoon at the Zoo

2009-03-22T21:43:00.006-04:00

We were off to the zoo today which is one our favorite things to do on Sunday afternoon after church. Harrison as so excited and today he was on a mission to the zebras, which is not what he is usually looking forward to seeing. anyway we all enjoyed our time at the zoo and also got lots of Yard work done this afternoon.

I told Harrison to sit down beside the pretty flowers so I could take his pictures and this is what I got...

MY BOYS

Our dinner... Five Cheese Penne from controlling my chaos I did not cook my pasta long enough but other than that it was pretty yummy. I added sliced chicken from the grill last night on the top and added some chopped fresh spinach and artichokes in half for me.

New Things

2009-03-21T21:19:00.006-04:00

My Dad has decided that Harrison needs a rabbit and John gave the go ahead, so now we are the preparing for a rabbit. I went to Richmond this week to pick up part of a beef and Dad's and we brought this old hatch home for Harrison's rabbit when we get it. So today we cleaned it up, gave it some fresh paint and some new shingles on the top. We also went to the pet store to get a few items that we needed too. Dad went to a sale today where he thought he would be able to find the right rabbit but no luck so he is still looking. This morning when I went to get Harrison out of his bed he "told" me that Grandpa was getting his rabbit today and that it was going to be red, then later today he said its name was George. We told Grandpa but we are not holding our breath for a red rabbit.

Harrison also had another first this week. We went for a trial run on horse riding lessons. He did GREAT and had so much fun. He could get riding therapy but it was just not going to work out for the distance we would have to travel and the cost was outrageous with our insurance, but we were very pleased with the stable we found. Harrison has his first official lesson Monday and I will take my camera. This past week we did take a picture on a phone but I will post the real deal after his lesson Monday. The first couple weeks he will more than likely just have half a lesson twice a week to build up some strength since he does have some decreased trunk strength. But he is so excited.

I am excited about the warm weather we have been having and we even grilled out tonight. I like to grill extra when I get the grill going which cuts down on meals the next day. Tonight I grilled some country style ribs (which I had for dinner) hamburgers (which John had for dinner) and some chicken for a pasta dish for tomorrow, and lunch is ready for after church to boot. I also grilled some broccoli.

I also fixed some couscous which I don't think I have every fixed before, I enjoyed it but does not look like it will become a fave around here. The boys would not even try it.

I cooked my couscous in chicken broth and then stirred in some finely chopped stir fried veggies ( I had broccoli, carrots, corn) garlic, pepper, salt, Parmesan cheese, and fresh parsley.

Another one of our favorites is spinach artichoke dip

4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves

1 package cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat)

1/2 c mayo

4 TBS shredded Parmesan cheese

1/4 c milk

2 cloves chopped garlic

1 can artichokes hearts, drained, chopped

1. heat oven to 350 degrees. spray 1 quart glass dish with cooking spray

2. place spinach in casserole add 1/4 c water and microwave for 2 mins. drain and chop.

3. In large bowl beat cream cheese, mayo, 3 TBS Parmesan cheese, milk, garlic until blended. Then stir in spinach and artichokes. Pour into baking dish and cover with last 1 TBS of Parmesan

4. Bake 20-25 mins.

Party Time

2009-03-15T22:19:00.006-04:00

Harrison went to a Birthday Party yesterday, which is an interesting story. The Birthday girl, Harrison had never meet before. So why did we go to the party? Well Lili's Mom and I went to High School together and have not seen each other since graduation. We have been in contact via the computer and live within a few miles of each other and keep meaning to get together and can't seem to make it happen so we finally got together and Harrison had a blast. The party was at All About Kids and Harrison had so much fun. Lili is four and so Harrison was younger than the other kids but he did so well.

He took a few minutes to get going but once he did he followed directions took his turn, and was so good.

Thomas Has Taken OVER

2009-03-15T22:15:00.000-04:00

NO WORDS NEEDED...

This is what Happens...

2009-03-15T21:47:00.002-04:00

This is what happens when a 2 year old does not take a nap. He came home from Mother's Day Out had Speech then decided that it was time for jammies at 4:00 I let him eat in the living room since I knew he would be going to bed early and I was waiting for John to come home. He was a sleep by the time John came home at 5:30 and we could not wake him up so off to bed he went t 6:00 pm

gathering eggs

2009-03-11T15:59:00.006-04:00

Harrison and I headed to Richmond yesterday for a little visit with Grammy and Grandpa. It was 70 degrees yesterday and such a nice day. Harrison and I spent the afternoon at Grandpa's while Grammy was at work. Harrison LOVES being outside and LOVES animals so he thinks this is pretty grand. Harrison and Dad's dog Matt Dillon are big buddies, or at least Dillon is BIG:)

Then it was off to gather eggs, Harrison was brave going in lots of dark places looking eggs. He quickly figured out where the eggs might be and found lots and only broke two which is pretty good. These pictures are of Harrison going into a old dog house to gather some eggs.

He should be ready for Easter egg hunting this year, so everyone better watch out! Grandpa also had some new baby chicks to look out.

Grandpa still has tree limbs down from the ice storm so Harrison helped him with clean up for a little bit too.
And there is always time to chase a chicken or a "bok bok" was we know them in our house.

We spent the night with Grammy and had a good visit and headed back this morning.

long time since last update

2009-03-09T21:36:00.006-04:00

Harrison is finally better and we have been super busy, and I have been either busy in the evening or my computer has not been wanting to work with me. Anyway above is one of Harrison's mega block "garages" he thinks it is great fun.

Last Friday we got to go to a short play that Matthew's class did at school. Harrison did a great job watching it and it was cute of course. The boys enjoyed seeing each other too. We are enjoying having them so close for play time, and dinners and such the boys love each other so much.

we have enjoyed the nice weather this weekend and today... we have had so much playing outside and working in the flower beds. I have really enjoyed the fence that John built last fall. I can work and not worry where Harrison is running off too. We are blessed to have such a nice yard to play in and to enjoy God's creation.

And spring is starting to spring around here :)

This and That

2009-03-03T11:09:00.004-05:00

Sunday Matthew, Jeremy, and Angie came over Sunday for a little play time for the boys and to make pizzas for dinner. Harrison is still off and on felling good so he was not in the best mood but over all I think the boys had a big time.

Like I said Harrison is still feeling a little funky. He is fine in the morning then gets a fever in the afternoon. Anyway, I have been so thankful that we have toys put up to switch out from time to time. This has been very helpful since we have been in the house for over a week and half. I just pull something new out everyday.

Chocolate-Peanut Munchies (I don't know where I got this one from put)

This picture is not good at all they were really dark chocolate on the outside and peanut butter inside and so yummy and not too sweet.

1 1/2 c all purpose flour

1/2 c cocoa

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 c butter, softened

1/2 c sugar

1/2 brown sugar

3/4 c creamy peanut butter

1 egg

1 TBS vanilla

3/4 c powdered sugar

2 TBS sugar

1. In medium bowl stir together flour, cocoa, and baking soda (set aside)

2. In large bowl combine butter, 1/2 sugar, brown sugar, and 1/4 peanut butter. beat with mixer until combined. add egg, milk, and vanilla, beat well. Beat in flour mixture. shape dough into 32 balls about 1 1/4 inches in diameter.

3. for filling, in a bowl combine powdered sugar and remaining 1/2 cup peanut butter. mix until smooth, shape into 32 balls.

4. Preheat oven 350 degrees. flatten chocolate dough ball, top with peanut butter ball, shape dough over peanut butter and reshape into ball.

5. Put on baking sheet after rolling in sugar. Bake about 8 mins

A BIG POST

2009-02-24T15:09:00.009-05:00

First things first. John got this newest "toy" this week. In the fine print it says John Parkhurst State Farm, Power Hitter 2008 from State Farm Bank. What that means.... He did an awesome job... but we knew that but it is nice when he get rewarded for the great things he is doing. WAY TO GO JOHN WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!!!

Cranberry Swirl Loaf ( from Taste of Home Dec/Jan 2008)

3 to 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 c sugar

1 package yeast

1/2 teas. salt

1/2 c water

1/2 c. milk.

1/3 c butter cubed

Filling

1 cup chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

1/4 c packed brown sugar

1/4 c water

1 TBS butter cubed

1/2 c chopped walnuts ( I used pecans)

1 TBS lemon juice

Topping

2 TBS all purpose flour

2 TBS sugar

2 TBS cold butter divided

In a large bowl combine 1 cup flour, sugar, yeast, and salt

In pan heat water, milk, and butter to 120-130 degrees. add to dry ingredients, beat until combined. stir in enough remain flour to form a soft dough

turn onto a floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 mins place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled about one hour.

for filling, combine cranberries, brown sugar and water in saucepan. Cook over medium heat until berries pop about 15 mins. remove from heart mash and stir in butter nuts and lemon juice. cool.

punch dough down turn onto a lightly floured surface, roll into a 20 in x 10 in rectangle. spread cooled filling to within 1/2 inch of edges. roll up jelly roll style, starting with the long side, pinch seam to seal place in a zigzag patter in a greased loaf pan.

for topping combine flour and sugar in a bowl cut in 1 TBS butter, melt remaining butter and brush over dough and crumbly topping over. cover and let rise until doubled about 40 mins. bake at 350 for 40-45 mins until bread sounds hollow.

What do I do all day.... clothes.....

crafts and play time with the cutest little red head wonder....

cook 3 meals a day.... and always lots of dishes...

Today after breakfast. I made a meatloaf for dinner, a double batch of meatballs, fix John a sausage sandwich for lunch and me a calamari sandwich. Trying to use up all the beef we have since we have a new load coming in a couple of weeks thanks to Dad. Harrison had a bath this morning too.

look for new recipes (today looking for a way to use cube steaks, and roast, which are what I have left in the freezer, blog & email for my sanity, talk to family and friends.

and lots of cleaning.... when you are home all day with a two year old messes just seem to multiply, I can pick up the same mess four times a day. And work with Harrison on his speech. Sometime during the day a shower is nice. May not seem too exciting but it keeps the day full. I usually do my major cleaning on Wed. since I am at the office while Harrison is at Mother's Day Out on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday but did most of that today since Harrison is still getting over a stomach bug.

Spicy-Sweet Chicken

2009-02-21T20:21:00.002-05:00

So this is not the greatest picture but we did enjoy this new chicken recipe, it was adapted from Martha Stuart Living. It was for chicken wings but I used pieces of chicken breast, and I substituted a few things for things that I had. I have been trying to go through the many recipes I have pulled out of magazines and printed out and try them and toss the ones we did not like. Of coarse I am starting with ones I have the ingredients for.

Spicy - Sweet Chicken

For the chicken

1/2 cup hoisin sauce

2 TBS finely grated orange zest ( I used orange juice since I did not have fresh oranges)

1/4 to 1/2 cup hot-chile sauce ( I used a couple TBS of Chili oil)

1/4 cup honey

4 1/2 lbs wings (I used about 2 lbs chicken breast)

For Sauce

2 tea. safflower oil ( I used what I had but don't remember what type I used )

3 garlic cloves minced

1/2 orange juice

2 TBS honey ( I used a little more)

2 teas hoisin sauce

I put sesame seeds and chives on top when serving

1. whisk hoisin, zest, hot sauce, honey, in large bowl, refrigerate 1/2 cup. add chicken to remaining and toss to coat. cover and refrigerate, toss occasionally for at least 2 hours ( or overnight).

2. preheat oven to 375. arrange on baking sheet and bake for 20 mins (I put mine on rods to turn easier) turn after 20 mins and brush with half the reserved marinade. increase oven to 425 . for additional 20 mins.

3. for sauce heat oil, and garlic in small pan for about a min. add juice, honey, hoisin cook until begins to thicken. serve as a dipping sauce or pour over chicken.

I used sesame seeds and chive on top.

Just everyday stuff

2009-02-21T10:47:00.005-05:00

Yesterday Harrison and I made some hot fudge Brownies ( that I may post later) but Harrison really like helping me cook these day and he really liked all this sugar and chocolate. I gave him a little to try...

Harrison also LOVES to brush his teeth and I think he would brush his teeth all day if we would let him.

Just Play Time.

John and I had a sitter last night and went out and had a blast. This was the first time we had gotten a sitter for no reason and we almost did not know what to do with ourselves. Mom has keep Harrison some when she has been up for a visit but we always seem to be rushing trying to get back it was nice to have a night out.

This morning while Harrison was coloring he would hold up a color and said the colors, not perfect but at least had a sound or two right in them so I was so excited. We had his final meeting yesterday to get his OT started next week. He seems to have some sensor issues and some lack of muscle development in is trunk and chest that may be adding to the speech delay. So we are hoping that by working on the sensor stuff, working on some self calming and muscle development that he will be able to relax some, breath better, and have more control to focus on his speech.

that is about all that is going around here.

How He has GROWN

2009-02-18T21:02:00.002-05:00

2009

In My Bible study tonight we were talking about how to be a Godly Mother and how to love our children, and I know Harrison is only two but where has it gone. Three years ago this month we were just finding out that he was hidden within my womb, a few years prior to that in Feb. we found out that I did not have cancer and I told John I would marry him. So I guess Feb. is the LOVE MONTH in our family. We seem to get GREAT news in this month.

I Pray I am a good and loving mother tho this little red head wonder that we are so blessed to have with us for a time.

2008

2007

I have a picture of my home pregnancy test from 2006 but won't post that, people might see and think someone else is joining our family which is NOT the case :)

Blck Bean Soup

2009-02-18T15:06:00.003-05:00

Black Bean Soup

1 medium onion diced

1 garlic clove minced ( I used two)

2 TBS olive oil

2 cans chicken broth

3 cans black beans, rinsed and drained ( I used two cans black beans and one can pinto beans)

1 can ro tel ( I used a can of chopped tomatoes, some frozen banana peppers, and some lime pepper seasoning)

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 TBS cilantro ( I did not have)

1 TBS lime juice ( I did not have but would make it better)

Saute onion and garlic ( I used the oil here instead of later) until tender

stir in broth and all other ingredients except cilantro and lime juice

cook about 10 mins stirring occasionally

stir in cilantro and lime juice and take off heat.

Process soup in batches, in blender or food processor until smooth, serve. ( I took out a couple cups of beans from the soup before blending to add a little texture, and I use my handy dandy submersion blender in the pot with the rest. )

I also added a little boiled and shredded chicken with taco seasoning in the soup.

I also have an attachment for a small food processor that I used for the onion, garlic, and peppers.

YUMMY

Our Weekend

2009-02-15T20:07:00.005-05:00

We have had a busy weekend. Today the boys made several bird houses for Harrison and for all of his grandparents. The boys went to Lowes and worked while I did grocery shopping and some other errands.

This picture of the things I "fished" out of Harrison's Nose Friday. He was eating his afternoon snack and he started blowing his nose and his nose and eyes were watering. I thought I had everything but everything keep running. Finally he blew his nose enough that the dried cranberry showed itself.

My cousin Becki and her little boy Samuel come to visit for the weekend. Her Husband Wame was in California trying out for the national rugby team. We are all so proud of him and hope the tryouts went well, it would be a dream come true for him. Since they came for the weekend we had more Fun with Valentines Day!! The boys had fun making crafts and opening little prizes.

And you know we had to decorate, to make it a party day. John gives me a hard time but it is all in fun. Harrison was so excited when he woke up and saw the balloons and goodies.

And we had to everything Heart shaped !!!!

Outside Fun

2009-02-11T14:35:00.001-05:00

This week we have been able to make messes outside and have fun in the sun. Today we are getting lots of wind and rain but we were glad to get out of the house some too.