Third times a charm

One of the great things about living in VA is the number of local farms that surround us. A couple of weeks ago, we were able to join Irene's playgroup and visit the farm of a wonderful woman from her ward. We had a picnic, a tour of the farm, and the kids got to take turns milking cows and goats. Afterwards, we got to sample fresh milk and goat cheese. I think my favorite comment of the day was when one very nice girl (I won't name names) said "Wow - this tastes just like milk!" I'm not sure what she thought she was buying all these years at the grocery store.


Ella had a blast. She immediately made friends and ran around and played forever. She was a little apprehensive at first about the animals but warmed up to the goats pretty quickly. It was fun to finally see her not afraid of them. Here are some pics from past goat petting attempts.

From 2005:



She was doing okay until this rather large goat got a little too close to her. Doesn't she look so scared? Don't worry, right after this shot was taken I ran and scooped her up and gave her a million hugs and kisses.

From 2006:



She demanded to be held the second she saw the goats. She warmed up a little more.

From 2008 - Here come the goats:



No crying or asking to be held:



We didn't do so well with the peacocks and the turkey. You'll notice that Ella is not in these pictures. That's because she's up on my hip. :)





Ella driving the tractor:



We have been invited back to the farm because there are now babies! So expect some more pictures soon as we head back to the farm!

Farmer's Market Finds

Holy cow!! Check out the size of these green onions. It is amazing what vegetables look like when they aren't taken out of the ground too early. Ella, my mom, and I went to a local farmer's market this morning. We are really lucky to have a great one very close to our house. It is too early in the season for many of the vegetables but we were able to get green onions, spinach, two tomato plants, two green pea plants, the most amazing cookies ever, and buffalo patties to barbeque tonight! Ella has already been eating peas straight off the vine. The man who usually sells eggs didn't have his truck there today but promised to be back next week. I plan on buying all my eggs and most of my veggies and fruit there this summer. The grass fed beef was a little too pricey for me but I am still trying to figure out a way to buy a quarter of a cow. I know which farm I want to buy it from but can't figure out where I would put an additional freezer to keep the meat in (and I'm still trying to get Lance on board with the whole thing). Here are some pics of my new plants!

E-mail enabled

So . . . I'm a big dork and never realized that I didn't enable e-mail in my profile. So if you ever want to just contact me without having to comment on my blog, my e-mail address is now in my profile.

Take me out to the ball game

Since a lot of you don't live close enough to come to a game, I thought I'd bring the game to you! These are from last Friday's game.

Before game -

The kids have an hour warm-up before the game. Spencer saw the camera come out and graciously paused for a sec so I could take a picture of him. He knows the drill by now.



Ella distracting Spencer during pre-game practice:






We spent a lot of time at this game telling her not to climb. It probably didn't help that I was taking pictures of her.

When the game started I was over at the sandbox with Ella. We hurried over and saw that Spencer was one of the boys leading the ball players in the West Springfield Little League's motto. So I hurried and snapped some pics. I'm not really sure what it is and, to be honest, I don't remember ever seeing them do it before, but they must have because Spencer knew the words.



Spencer being excited to start the game (he was first pitcher):





So while the game was going on, Ella was playing in the dirt. She cracks me up because while she is so into princesses and dress up, she also loves to get dirty and climb on everything! She is a real trooper, between fall and spring baseball Ella has been to a lot of games.







She brought her "find" back home with us, any ideas what it is??

Back to the game . . . Spencer was the starting pitcher. Watching baseball at this level has become a very unnerving thing for me. I am more scared for him then he is. I know how important the game is to him and I just so want him to do well.





Check out him catching the ball. GO SPENCER! I swear if you watch the moms at little league games (myself included), there is a strange mixture of stress and worriedness that you see in their face (even when smiling) that doesn't go away until their kid does one good play.



At bat:





Let's check in with Ella - she has found something else to climb on:



Pep talk from coach:



Good game:



So now you've been to a baseball game with us. We ended the night by taking the kids out to dinner at a little Italian restaurant called Bella Villa. They make brick oven pizza and toss the dough right in front of you which the kids LOVED. The best part of the night though was when our orders came. Spencer ordered from the adult menu. I think he thought he was ordering just a slice of pizza (Lance and I knew otherwise) so his eyes got huge when they placed a whole pizza in front of him. He also surprised us by dipping bread in olive oil and parmesan cheese. Who is this kid? Ella ordered from the kids menu and was so excited when they brought her a little pizza in the shape of a heart. She says next time she wants them to make her pizza in the shape of Pablo from the Backyardigans, I wished her good luck with that.

I'm hoping this post will entice you to visit us. We will treat you to dinner and everything the metro DC area has to offer. Who knows, we might even drag you along to a game or two :)

Fun Smores

I mentioned in my last post a twist on the traditional smore. Instead of graham crackers and a chocolate bar, you use Lorna Doone shortbread cookies and a Reese's peanut butter cup. So simple, why didn't I think of it? They are absolutely divine but so rich that you can only eat one. Spencer has already requested them at all further BBQ's and campouts.

On my radar

1. Miley Cyrus. Why, why, why did her parents allow these photos?? Disney has done such a great job marketing that even Ella knows who Hannah Montana is. Thank goodness Spencer is a boy and is so naive. I read a great post about this here Why are we trying so hard to look like 15 year old girls?

2. Pioneer Woman hits her 2 year mark! This is the only blog that I read daily. Ree is hilarious. I find myself laughing out loud while reading her blog. She revisits some of her funnier moments in a timeline of the past two years here. I so wish I could be her when I grow up. She is doing amazing give-aways all week on her site. So get on over there and enter. Yesterday she gave away a $500 gift card to Best Buy. I am so stalking her this week.

3. Target Reusable Bags I'm gonna go check these out. I have heard great things about how small they fold down. I currently use Trader Joe's but am really curious about the difference - they kinda look the same to me. Can't beat the price!

4. Tap water versus bottled water - which is better for you? This caught my eye. We drink mostly tap water but from about April to August we always have bottled water to grab on the go. Very interesting, but will not change my drinking habits.

5. Interesting article about vaccines and autism.

6. Personal responsiblity and children. Wonderfully thoughtful post.

Check out Fussy's blog for more fun links.

Good thing Lance is back in town today - now I can discuss all of this with him!

Sunday Summary

Lots of big stuff happened this week -

1. BIG DECISION #1 - Lance and I finally agree on where we want to buy our house. When we moved to Burke we knew that this is the area we want to raise our kids in, but we had yet to decide which neighborhood etc., that we wanted to live in. We have been discussing this on and off because the plan was to buy next year. We went to a BBQ with some friends of ours this week out in Fairfax Station. For you non-Virginians, this is about 5 miles from where we live right now. To get there you have to drive on a road that is tree lined on both sides with a canopy of trees above. It is heaven. You end up with houses that have land (and sometimes horses!). Lance has always wanted horses. I have been wanting to move out to the country but know in my heart that I would go stir-crazy, plus Lance doesn't want the commute. Fairfax Station is pure heaven. Our friends house has acres and acres of land, a barn, and many horses. There was a point when we were roasting smores - non traditional ones, I'll have to post the recipe - and watching the kids ride on mini John Deere's that we looked at each other and said "this is where we want to live." Same ward, same fabulous schools, just a heck of a lot more land and peace. Unfortunately, because it is heaven on earth, the cheap bank owned houses in Fairfax Station go for close to $600K, and the houses that I want are in the $800-900K range, so we will be saving for a few more years but it definitely will be worth it.

2. I found my new all time favorite movie. If you haven't seen Juno, do yourself a favor and go get it. I have watched it 3 times in the past 12 hours (can you tell I'm stuck in bed ). I have bawled like a baby all three times and like it more and more. I usually don't watch a movie more than once but various family members kept coming over who hadn't seen it so I kept rewatching it with them. I have never seen a movie that captures the adoption experience so well. The cast is amazing, the script wonderful, and the whole movie just feels real. It actually is really funny, don't let my crying throw you off - nobody cried but me. I am buying it tomorrow, I have to own this movie. Just a warning, the first 5 minutes seem like it might be a questionable movie - it isn't. Just watch it. Let me know what you think.

3. We are still in the midst of baseball madness. The majority of our time is spent sitting at baseball games and washing Spencer's baseball uniform. Good thing we like baseball and own bleach (why, why, why are little league baseball pants white?????). I have some great pics that I hope to post soon.

4. BIG DECISION #2 - I told Lance we are having another baby. He agrees. Weird because we both thought we were done. I'm blaming Gina and Corey for this one (and Irene - she knows why). Don't get excited though - we are planning this for 3-4 years from now. Not sure why I'm putting this on my blog. Can you tell I like to overshare?

5. Hey - speaking of babies, I have a new nephew this week. In the words of Spencer, "YES!" He is so excited that it wasn't a niece. Berkeley Michael-Cline Aldridge was born on April 29, 2008. I'm calling him Berk because I like to think that he was named after where I live :) Visit Gina and Corey's blog (on my blogroll) to see pics of the cutie.

6. Great parenting moment of the week - So we've been having bedtime problems with Ella. I think most of you know this since we've been dealing with them FOREVER. But now she has stepped it up a level and kicks Lance out of our bed nightly so she can sleep with me. Before you judge us, just know that at 3 AM it is so much easier to give in than stay up for 2 hours fighting her. Plus, I secretly love it when her little body snuggles up against me. Anyway, my friend had a great idea to try and solve this (hi Irene!). Friday I completely cleared her room of any books, dolls, stuffed animals, etc. She hardly has any toys in there because we keep most of them in the playroom but the few that she did have, are gone. She helped me move them all to my room. We told her that every night she stays in her bed all night she will earn one of her items back. That night she went to bed wonderfully. Her bedtime is 7:30. She fell right asleep - score 1 for the parents. Around 9 she woke up, we heard her go use the bathroom, afterwards she came to the top of the stairs and yelled down "I got out of bed to go potty, are you gonna take away my pillow now?" I'm glad she couldn't see my face because I busted up laughing. Guess she thought we were going to keep taking away her stuff - gosh she has mean parents :)

7. Finally, my mom happened to be watching Mystery Diagnosis this morning and they were describing my symptoms exactly. This poor woman had the same symptoms as me for 22 YEARS!!! She had every test known to man and was shuffled back and forth from doctor to doctor. Nobody could explain the nausea and chronic pain. Finally, they were able to diagnose her. Yep, she had stage IV endometriosis. I was so happy to see this because almost everybody I know has mild endometriosis and can't understand why mine is so bad. I have read how debilitating endometriosis can be (and have lived it), but it was nice to see an actual case of someone with my symptoms. They said when it is stage IV it is very hard to diagnose because it mimicks so many other diseases, so doctors end up just passing you back and forth and never really put the picture together. I am glad that I only went about a year w/o a diagnosis, I can't imagine 22 years. It really put it in perspective.

That's all for now.

Sweet Spencer

This pic is from a couple of years ago but it is a favorite of mine. Isn't he a cutie! Spencer came home from school today and told us that he had an early Mother/Father's day gift for us. He gave us a plant (red maple tree) and he wrote us a poem! He is turning out to be a man of few words (much like his father) so this is a real treat for me.

Here's our poem:

Thank You

Thank you, parents

You're like a current

Taking me on the right path

Helping me with my math

Helping me in every way

Every single day

You're the best mom and dad

I think that you're so rad

You are the best

Of all the rest

When I have a frown

Turn it upside down

When we are in the sun

You help me have fun

I think I'll end right here

I don't have much to fear

Love,

Spencer Jolley

04/30/2008

Free Range Kids

I just found this site. I think she has a really interesting perspective. I tend to be on the "helicopter mom" side but would love to be more "free range." I think I'll be checking this blog often to remind me of that. Anyway, check it out. What do you think?

http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/

The difference between my kids

Exhibit A: Ella, who still thinks the word "poop" is deliciously funny, has now expanded her repertoire to include body parts. A couple nights ago Lance and I were in her room putting her to bed when she started saying various things like "you are a poo poo face, you have a poo poo nose, etc., etc." We were trying so hard not to laugh but her little belly laugh is so contagious. Anyway, Spencer came in the room to say goodnight and Ella broke out all her jokes on him. Spencer was instantly offended. We tried to tell him she was just joking but he would have none of it. He eventually covered his ears and got down near the bed to wait for prayers. I asked him what was wrong and he said "it's just that . . . that word makes me very uncomfortable." I really had to try not to laugh then.

Exhibit B: Sunday morning we watched The Simpsons Movie before church. We figured it was a good wholesome way to spend our time. :) Anyway, Spencer covered his eyes or turned his head frequently while watching the movie. I noticed the parts where he didn't watch were the parts that Ella laughed the hardest about.

Exhibit C: We got caught in a massive downpour on Saturday. Spencer hates getting rained on and dashed for the house asap. Ella got out of the car and took her sweet time getting to the house. She had a huge smile on her face and looked at the sky as if to say "Bring it on!"

I know they were meant to be brother and sister. Ella helps Spencer throw caution to the wind, and Spencer reigns his little sis' in when he needs to. I have such fun watching these two little creatures.

Sunday Summary

A lot went down this week. Here are some of the highlights:

1. Spencer was starting pitcher at Saturday's baseball game. It was his first time pitching - something he has wanted to do forever! We were all very excited and I was very nervous. I just couldn't figure out how he was going to throw the ball that far. He started a little shaky. He threw 4 balls. I could see him start to lose it and I could tell he was crying. But then, he pulled it together and struck the next batter out. I was so proud of him for not giving up. After he struck the kid out, we saw some lightning so the field was evacuated and the game was cancelled. I was so happy to have it end on such a good note. I'll add some pics later.

2. Popcorn the hamster died this week. We are trying to tell ourselves that old age killed him and not all the little random things I saw Ella sneaking into the cage a day before he died. Spencer is begging for a rat but we are leaning towards a cat next. No pets are coming into the house until the kids start being a little more consistent with chores.

3. Lance turned 33 on Friday!!! I struck out for the 11th time with birthday gifts for him. He is the hardest man alive to shop for. I thought for sure he was going to like this year's gift. I got him, along with other things, Guitar Hero for the Wii. He immediately said he was probably going to exchange it for something else. I spent the better part of the night trying to convince him that he would like it because I really really wanted to play it. After the kids were in bed, he told me that because Spencer is going into his teenage years soon he didn't like the idea of owning a game with such a scantily clad woman in it, along with some of the suggestive songs. I had to agree with him. I wish he would have told me that right away so I wouldn't have harassed him for so long. I feel very lucky to be married to a man who sees the big picture and does not give in to peer pressure from his crazy wife! :)

4. Lance was sustained in a new calling today. It is a long-term calling that he will be in until Spencer is 14. Any guesses??

5. I discovered the books of Harlan Coben and cannot put them down! I love it when I find a new author. I think I have checked out most of his books from the library this week and have spent glorious hours neglecting everything and reading.

Easter Fun

Easter was so much fun this year. We celebrated a day early so the cousins could be together. My nephew Michael cracked us all up. He decided the color white offended him so he wanted nothing to do with dying eggs.

Easter morning while the kids were eating the Easter bunny "hopped" by the window and then rang the doorbell. The kids tried to chase him down, but he was too quick. He left the baskets on the front porch with treats for all.

All dolled up . . .
Easter Sunday back in Virginia:

The Call of the Wild

Check out the tongue on this beast! One of our last days in NC we went on a safari. It was so incredible! We rode on a wagon while all sorts of animals approached and we got to feed them. It was such a neat experience for the kids. Who knew that someone in NC would decide that it was a perfect place for a safari?