The Farm Report

  • Wendy turns 36 without crying

    Wendy turns 36 without crying

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    Having won the Most Amazing Dad Ever award yesterday, Tom decided today was about Most Amazing Husband Ever.

    In the morning I unwrapped presents to happily discover a new toaster oven. Not romantic, but desperately needed. Then I also received this Playmobil ice cream truck. This might not seem particularly impressive unless you knew that Playmobil does not make an ice cream truck. Tom found a website where someone detailed how to modify the DHL truck into an ice cream truck.

    But never one to settle for mediocrity, Tom utilized his circuit-bending knowledge to install a small recording/speaker system which allows the truck to play ice cream truck music at the touch of a button. Excellent!

    A bit later I headed off for my day with the kids. Story hour in the morning, and then off to tumbling in the afternoon. I was chasing Shep around class when I turned around and came face-to-face with Tom. I soon found myself in a car by myself, on the way to a massage. Later, off to dinner with Tom and R&D.

    Find an empty spot on the shelf. The trophy will be arriving shortly.

  • Pre-birthday dinosaurs

    Pre-birthday dinosaurs

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    Today, I went to Dayton to meet up with Chris. We’re desperately trying to wrap up some way overdue projects. We reserved today to finish one. Chris bargained back that if he wrapped it up early, we could go to IKEA and I could peek in on their house-shopping process.

    By mid-morning we were sitting in the IKEA restaurant, calling Beth to let her know we’d posted their site, and eating a 99¢ breakfast.

    Tom took the kids for the day, and his mom came over to lend a hand.

    When I walked in the door at 5pm, I was ambushed by two kids who were bursting with so much excitement that they could hardly spit words out. “Mom! Card! Project! Birthday!” While I had been away, they had clearly been working on some things for my birthday tomorrow.

    They couldn’t stand it, and with my permission, they busted out their birthday creations early. Barb had brought over her stamping supplies and helped each one of them make me a card. And then Tom, the Most Amazing Dad Ever, had coordinated a project where they made me dinosaur stuffed animals. Neko drew the outlines on a large piece of fleece, and then Tom and his mom frantically spent part of the day sewing them together. Shep helped with color selection. Neko drew on eyes.

    And now I am the proud owner of a purple t-rex and a green stegosaurus (which, of course, Neko and Shep demanded back to sleep with tonight). It’s shaping up to be a top-notch birthday.

  • Playdate with Abbey

    Playdate with Abbey

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    Neko’s friend Abbey came over to play today. Neko has been to Abbey’s house a few times, so we were long overdue to have Abbey come our way.

    Neko is new to this playdate thing. She gets pretty possessive, and doesn’t want Shep to play with them. I’m not really sure how to sort this all out just yet. I think Neko should be able to have some private time with just her friend, but Shep doesn’t understand that yet, and just spends the whole time sobbing outside her closed bedroom door.

    Fortunately, he was able to go to my parent’s house for a few hours this morning. Phew.

    Abbey is a second child and Neko is a first, and nowhere is that difference more obvious than when I’m watching the two of them play. Neko is used to playing with Shep, where he happily does her bidding and she’s in charge of all the rules and the plot and Shep please turn in four circles and stand on one foot while hopping and pretending you’re an allosaurus.

    Abbey, however, doesn’t always want to do what Neko does. She has her own ideas, and she happily offers, “Maybe we can do your idea for part of the time and then my idea for the other part.” Which makes Neko stomp her feet and throw her body to the floor because someone in the world dared to disagree with her.

    For the most part, the playdate went really well, but I can see in the future we’re going to have a conversation about doing things that BOTH people want to do.

    Blurry, out-of-focus picture taken with the timer of Neko, Abbey, myself and Abbey’s sister’s tiger snake Webkin which Neko covets. (She will be receiving one for her birthday.)

  • Garden, revisited

    Garden, revisited

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    We’re probably going to be in our sixties by the time we get this whole garden thing figured out, but we’re giving it another try. This year? Raised beds. Word on the street is that it virtually eliminates your weed issues, which is what has done us in in years past. Plus, we’re going small this year. With four 4×4 foot beds, things should be manageable-ish.

    Plus, it’s March! We’re starting our seeds kind of on time! Right?

  • Construction paper dog

    Construction paper dog

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    There are moments in parenthood when I just shake my head and wonder if when I wasn’t looking my kid ran off and attended art school or something. I mean, doesn’t she NEED me for these things?

    Today she was flying around the house in a flurry before we left to run errands, yelling “I just need one more minute!” as she zoomed out of the room with another item tucked under her arm. I was busy gathering diapers and cups, so I wasn’t really paying attention to what she was up to.

    Just as we were about to walk out the door, she came bursting out of her room with this dog. On her own she had cut out the pieces, molded them around some balled up socks (for structure), and constructed all the other parts.

    “Shep needed a dog friend for his Webkin dog. And he really likes green.”

    And with that, she plunked him on the table, got her coat, and headed for the car.

  • A girl and her snake

    A girl and her snake

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    Shep has been in love with these rubber snakes we picked up at Target. He makes a big deal out of them, and demands them for bed and to go with him in the car. But in the background, someone else has become a bit of a fan as well.

    With one swift move, she throws it around her neck, and then moves on with whatever she’s doing. Kind of like an accessory. This kid…she’s got her on groove going. And I think I like it.

  • Easter cookies

    Easter cookies

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  • Refreshing your memory

    Refreshing your memory

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    Just in case you forgot how scrumptious our children are.

  • The sun came out

    The sun came out

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    After days and days of rain, the sun finally peeked out from behind the clouds. And Neko? She had put together a very complicated dinosaur costume that involved these red pajamas turned inside out, scales, and a tail. And when I told her she had to put on real clothes to go to the park, she flat-out refused. So we stayed home all day.

    When the sun finally shone so bright I couldn’t stand it anymore, I relented and sent them outside, pajamas and all.

    Shep can feel free to use this photo on his Project Runway application.

  • Not to be outdone by a four-year-old

    Not to be outdone by a four-year-old

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    I picked up these at our mom’s night out.