Vanilla Steamer

We had a super fun family day out last week.  We went to the library to get the next 4 weeks worth of books, and stopped in at Starbucks.  We ordered Parker a vanilla steamer (steamed milk).  He loved having his own drink, but he accidentally took a big sip to start and ended up spitting it out.  Then this conversation happened.

Ryan: Parker, do you want to take off your coat?
Parker: Yeah. Can I take my pants off, too?
Ryan:  No silly, you can't run around Starbucks in your underwear.
Parker:  Well I won't run around.  I'll stay right here...in my underwear.

We were talking with everyone around us and Adley was smiling and babbling a ton.  So fun.

Then we went to Target, which is always a good time.  Followed by Charming Charlie, and then we decided it was pizza night.  We came home, watched Toy Story 2, and ate the pizza.  That's when we realized...Parker.is.HUGE!  When did that happen?  I would totally freeze these two cuties at this age if I could.  They are so much fun.

Life on the Farm

Ryan always used to help with harvest one or two weekends out of the year, but this year we went home for a week for him to drive the grain cart and help with whatever else he could around the farm.  Almost every day was sunny and beautiful.  He worked close to 70 hours, and loved every minute of it.  

Between the grain cart, combine and semi, Parker probably "worked" 30 hours!  He would go out with Ryan or Papa at 7:00 and ride all morning.  

Goofy boys.

He'd come in for lunch, and then go right back out and usually end up falling asleep in whatever machine he was in.  He is such a farm kid!  

I basically tried my best to make food and bring it out hot, which is exponentially harder than I imagined.  Adley and I rode quite a bit, too.

My mom and I spent one morning making applesauce.  This little contraption makes it so easy!  I think half of these were gone the day after we got back.  There's something crazy good about homemade applesauce.

When Parker wasn't riding with Ryan or Papa, we were playing with Grandma, Aunt Bonita, my sister and her kids, chasing kitties, doing Parker Prep, jumping on the trampoline, riding the Ranger, and playing in the corn.  

He was in heaven!

 I feel so blessed to have grown up on a farm, 

and am beyond thrilled to share it now with my husband and children!

Parker is 3!

Our little baby is three years old!  I looked forward to him turning one, I was nervous about him entering the "terrible two's," (which turned out to be pretty terrific), but three seems SO old!  

We decided to stay out at my parents house for his birthday so he could spend some time riding in the combine with Papa.  He was playing with his new combine, grain cart and semi right away in the morning.  Then he wanted to put them in his backpack and go out to the field.  He also brought his favorite card that he got from Uncle Bill and Aunt Bonita.  (You blow out the candle and the monkeys sing Happy Birthday.  Pretty cool!) 

When we got in the combine, he got his toys out and played on the floor,

and on the window.

He liked watching the "bine thing," aka the bean head, 

and watching the beans pour into the top of the combine. 

Grandma brought out some leftover soup and cornbread from the party for lunch,

 and then she took him to Culvers to get some custard.  What a special treat!

The rest of his day was spent like this.

 He rode for EIGHT hours!  I think farming is in his blood.

He was running because he thought the combine was coming to get him.  haha

The next morning, Ryan and Parker made three trips to Freeport with the truck and trailer to get 3,000lb bricks to stack inside the hoop building.  They used the loader to line them up.  I came to get them at noon and they were just having the best time together.  I'm pretty sure all of Parker's birthday wishes came true!  

Adley and I had a great morning together, too =)

We Like to Party!

Has it really been a year since the last birthday party?  How does that happen?  Time is going so fast, and I'm pretty sure it's sped up since Adley was born.  Nevertheless, it was time to plan a party!  I knew we would celebrate at the woods again since that's Parker's favorite place on earth.  Since it is an outdoor setting, that means nature is the decorations, which means all I really have to plan is the cake and menu.  I think I had the cake idea in my head since last year's birthday party.  I showed Ryan a picture of something similar on Pinterest and we went to work.  Well...we tried to go to work.  We had no idea where to start.  We gathered a few dozen pans and did several calculations until we finally figured out the best approach.

We decided on four marble cakes, stacked with chocolate frosting in the middle.

After freezing them for a bit, Ryan carved out the number 3 and we sealed it with frosting so we could finally go to bed!  (7 hours later).  The next afternoon, we frosted the outside, put on the toys, and the cornfield cake was complete!  Ryan and I had a great time creating it together, and it turned out better than we even imagined. 

The rest of the menu was going to be Ryan's Firehouse Chili  and cornbread (yes, he is amazing), Chicken and Rice soup made by my mom, veggies, and Nana's applesauce.

The party started off with a splash.  

The kids loved throwing rocks into the creek, and they all stayed surprisingly dry!

Everyone took turns on the Ranger, 4-wheeler, and swings.

I  loved seeing everyone visit, play and enjoy the beautiful Fall evening.

Time to eat!

That's a big party!  Ryan and I both mentioned to each other several times how blessed we feel to have so many people that love us and have come alongside us to raise our kids.  

Thank you everyone for  "doing life" with us!  

We sang Happy Birthday and Parker blew out the candles!  

The cake was super yummy.  "Are those for me?"

We love you more than you know Parker man!  You are such a sweet, funny, smart, imaginative, unique and cute little boy!  It is a joy to raise you and we can't wait to see what God has in store for your life.  Just don't grow up too fast! =)