To Cook a Meal

A person has to try not to have fun when Jason is around. Of course we have a blast playing, which we do a lot of each and every day. He is so much fun right now that I can't get enough of the little man. But, I have found one of my favorite things to do with him is cook. Sure things take much longer, the clean up is pretty intense, and things don't turn out all of the time........ but the fun is worth every second of it.

Holding the mixer down...... quite the helper.

Yesterday we started out the day by getting our bake on. We were bread makers for the morning. Jason loves to add things to the mixer. He smiles so big that it has to hurt. Then he sings this song he made up about helping. The words go something like this..... I help, I helping, helping ma ma, I helper......... you get the idea. The tune changes every time though. It is quite funny. Besides some wild flying flour, the bread making went very well. If I all I had to clean up was a little extra flour, it was a very clean attempt at cooking.





When evening rolled around we decided to go for the cheese soup that Gary suggested. Things were going very smoothly, that is until Jason decided to put his two cents in...... or should I say his flour. I had a nice roux going when BAM!!!! Jason decided it needed more flour. It wasn't just a little bit of flour, it was a lot of flour. I didn't want to have to start over, so I tried to make it work..... Plus I had already began to add some cheese. This is where it got really interesting. We ended up with a very flourful soup. It had a very strong flour taste, with a hint of cheese. We still ate it with the bread we made earlier in the day, but I think I will have to try that one again when Jason doesn't want to help quite so much.





It was such a good day of cooking with the boy. He even helps clean up. There is a song to go with that stage of cooking as well..... I am sure you can guess how it goes.... cleaning, I cleaning, I help ma ma clean....... It is basically the same as the helping song. So, after we cleaned up it was time to set the table. Jason is a pro at this. He does prefer to have all three settings in front of his seat though. I think he just sees more plates as an opportunity for more food.





I hope all of you are doing very well. We will continue to cook and I will try to catch some pictures between messy moments. Have a great rest of the week and enjoy the Super Bowl. I will have more next week (Jason and I will have to cook stuff for the game). Till then............

Newspaper article

This is what the Casper Star Tribune reported on the man the caused the weekends drama in our neighborhood........

Four cars hit in 6 minutes

Police on Saturday arrested a Casper man suspected of causing four hit-and-run crashes in six minutes while driving under the influence. Aaron Ray Phillips, 36, was booked on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident, drunken driving and marijuana possession, according to police. He was arrested after witnesses identified him as the driver of a Chevrolet Camaro that police say hit four cars in the area of South Beverly Street and Lexington Avenue about 3:40 p.m. on Saturday.One car had two people in it. The other three vehicles were unoccupied.Phillips, who has two prior driving under the influence arrests, refused to do field sobriety or breath tests and cursed at officers, police said. When asked how much he had to drink that day, he responded, "plenty," according to a police affidavit.Officers determined Phillips' drivers license had been suspended since June.

Phillips was one of 10 people arrested by Casper police over the weekend on suspicion of driving under the influence.


............................ My question is what is going to happen to the men that helped him flee the scene? And another biggy is why is he only being charged with 3 counts of leaving the scene of the accident, he hit 4 vehicles? He is such a loser.

Quick update

Baby is great!!!! His heartbeat is strong.... very strong. The little man is growing fast. Todays appointment went better than I could have hoped.

Colin wasn't able to come, so Jason and I were on our own. Jason was such a big boy. He even held the sound monitor that is used to hear the baby's heartbeat. It was awesome. After the appointment we had to go to the lab for a glucose test. This meant I had to drink a syrup and then wait an hour in the waiting room before having my blood drawn. Jason and I sat and read books the entire time. I can't really express how wonderful Jason was today. In total we spent 3 hours at the doctors office and the lab combined. He was tired when we were done, but an angel while we were there.

So, the new baby is in excellent condition............. we should start to expect him about two weeks early though. He is a big boy. There isn't much time left...... thank goodness. I will continue to update you on any changes........ Have a great week everyone............

Exciting, in a bad way

As all of my loyal readers know......... we live such exciting lives.... NOT!!!! I always have things to say about Jason, but I think most parents can go on for an infinite amount of time about their children. Then there are the weekends like this weekend when we get the pleasure of having guests.... this time it was my parents. As always there was a project. This weekend was a new storm door. By the way... thank you dad for the help with that. Our house will be like new very soon at this rate. Mom and I had a great time with Jason visiting and getting things done around town. Oh and might I say 3 handed pinochle is much more difficult than I ever remember it being as a little kid.... Colin won.





I know we had a lot happen just in the short bit I have already talked about, but all of that had a shadow cast over it yesterday afternoon. Dad, Mom, Colin, Jason and I were sitting in the living room visiting when a huge crash (it sounded a lot like rolling thunder) instantly changed the mood. It was only meer seconds before we realized that it was a wreck. The neighbors car (which was parked in front of our mail box) was moved almost in front of our driveway and shaking. Colin raced out with no coat or shoes and went around the corner of the house to find a camero smashed into a parked pickup at the bottom of the hill by our house. There was a man standing next to it that decided to jump in another vehicle and flee. Thank goodness for quick thinking by a group of our neighbors in writing down the licence plate of the vehicle that the man left in. After a few of us called 911, the wait was on.





Our neighbors (right next to us) had two vehicles hit by this man. Both were parked in front of their house on the street. One was only 2 months old. It wasn't pretty. If the car that was in front of the mail boxes hadn't been hit, our pickup would have been in the direct path of the camero. After hitting both of the neighbors cars the man driving the camero continued around the corner of our house, missing Colin work pickup by meer inches. Then after throwing a beer can out the window, he smashed a pickup that was parked across the street from Colin's work pickup. He hit the pickup so hard that it moved it of it's dry parking spot over the dry curb and through the corner of a privacy fence (a solid 4X4) and leaving it in another neighbors lawn. You would think the man would have stopped there, but, he tried to drive through the pickup spinning his tires. The front end of the car was mangled and shouldn't have even been running at this point. When he realized he couldn't go on, he exited the vehicle and jumped in with a friend of his that was following him watching the carnage.

Jason's interpretation of the events.

All of our neighbors and us walked up and down the street following his path. It was clear that something was wrong with the man, but we didn't know if it was drugs, alcohol, or even just pure stupidity. It looked like he was snaking down the road like a pinball trying to hit all of the vehicles.

A group of policemen taking statements in front of our house...... It took them a very long time to get there.

After some time passed an officer showed up revealing that the man had hit a vehicle one block from our house to start this drama. Then he sped up fleeing that scene and proceeded to perform on our street. We also found out that they had caught the man thanks to all of our calls and the quick thinking to write down the licence plate number and a detailed description of vehicle.

The cops finally show up..... picture taken from our deck.

This was the leading news story for each of our local television stations tonight. Evidently the man was drunk, very drunk. He is still in jail and will remain there until he sees the judge. I hope he stays there longer. He is being charged with 4 hit and runs and drunk driving..... he should get leaving the scene of an accident too, but there was nothing said about that. He could have killed someone so easily. There are usually children walking up and down these streets on the weekends but thank goodness the weather was so poor. It might have saved lives yesterday.

The tan car is the culprit. The pickup in the yard was initially in the dry spot that you can see behind the car.

It just sickens me to know that this happened right where we live...... I mean almost in our yard. We bought a house in a nice neighborhood so that we wouldn't have to deal with this crap. I know stuff like this can happen anywhere, but this is just another to write on the long list that we have collected in the two years we have lived in Casper. It is too frequent of an occurance for my liking. Obviously there is a pattern of things in this town. It is not acceptable. Those people that drive drunk are taking away every one else's right to safety, I hope they rot in prison.





Besides the one bad thing, the weekend was awesome. We love it when my parents are able to come down and we can just take it easy. Heck, we love it when anyone comes to visit. This is a subtle hint to all of you. I must go for now..... I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend and can't wait to hear how it went. I will write tomorrow evening to update you on the new baby's progress. By the way, thanks for the name suggestion Gary... but do you have more suggestions for baby names? We love the input on that subject.......... Till next time......................

The Moody men..... tired after all of the excitment.

Another update

Isn't it just amazing how a person can stay home, not work, only have one kid and stay busy? This just shocks me on a daily basis. Jason is a wild man, but I just never thought there would be so much to do.

To top things off we are working on the whole potty thing............ we are at a stand still. Jason loves to read books on the pot, but it seems as though going pee is a thing of our dreams.

Then there is the icing on the cake. Those of you that know me know that I am the super clutz..... well my glory is shining bright this week. Tuesday night I got up to check on Jason and as I tried to get out of bed, I had a stabbing pain in my upper abdomen. This was followed by a burning sensation that engulfed the left side of my belly. The pain lasted for a day, but with rest it went away. I didn't call the doc because I didn't think anything was wrong with the baby. Then last night, I did the same thing. I am not jumping up or anything, I just roll out of bed and drop to the floor in pain. It takes everything I have not to scream out loud. So, this morning I thought it would be a good idea to call the doc. They believe I pulled my abdominal muscles. I officially feel stupid and clumsy. If I am not stepping on screws or hurting my foot, I am pulling muscles. Oh this is fun.

Thank goodness there is only about 2.5 months left. This little guy is going to be a wild one too. He moves all of the time (helping the pain a lot). Now we are in super crunch time...... is there anyone out there with names? We have a short list now..... but lets see if we can come up with a good variety. If this is anything like it was with Jason, we will walk into the hospital with a long list and when we see the little guy, none of the names will be right and we will be stuck and not be able to leave the hospital without a name. We are hoping that if we get a variety that won't happen. Jason thinks we should name the baby Barry. He is full of little things like that. By the way..... that won't be the baby's name.

I hope everyone is having a great week. I have another doctors appointment on Monday afternoon so I will have an update then. For now, I am going to try to rest up so that I will be able to get around when mom and dad show up tomorrow night. Take care everyone and have a wonderful weekend..............

Big boy!!!

Shooting some hoops!!!

Jason grows up so much every day. Sometimes it is difficult to keep up. There are those milestones that we are very anxious for. One is going potty in the toilet. I know we just can't wait to be past the diaper stage with our wild man. Up to this point Jason has been on somewhat of a potty strike. This is of course normal for any kid that isn't ready for the transition to the toilet, but I have to say, it is discouraging as well. We continued to put him up on the toilet and read books though. That way he knew that sitting on the toilet was a very good thing. Then, Friday night, we had a break through. Jason was sitting up on his thrown when.... trickle trickle trickle..... WOOOOOO!!!!!!!HOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He went pee. It wasn't much, but it was a big step. I never thought Colin and I could be so happy about natural bodily functions. But, there was a lot of jumping around and smiles in this house that night. There hasn't been much progress since, but Jason does like to sit on the pot. Even though it doesn't end with any trickle, we are just happy that he sits up there, then he flushes and washes his hands. He is turning into a big boy right in front of our eyes. So, until he starts going potty in the toilet, we are going to be spending many hours in the bathroom reading books and waiting (it is his new favorite activity).

Rock and Roll BABY!!!! Thanks for the loud guitar Jen and Dave.... WE LOVE IT!!!

I appologize for not writing for a while. Things have gotten a little crazy around here. I will try to be better about it. We will keep all of you updated on the potty progress. Have a wonderful rest of the week................

RECOVER

It seems as though kids bring you through all kinds of adventures... some very happy, some sad, and some that are very frightening...... they all are exciting. Jason has already brought us through so many that I try to share with you. Over the weekend he got very sick. It was so scary to see him feeling as poorly as he was. After calling the doctor, we found out that it was a virus and all we could do is try to keep his temperature down and keep him hydrated. His fever got as high as 104.8 at times, a terrifying time for us all. But, a bath and some medicine brought it back down to lower levels. So, our weekend consisted of a lot of worrying. There is nothing more sad than watching someone you love in pain, especially when they are helpless. It was a heart wrenching experience, but thankfully his fever broke and now he is just battling a runny nose. I just pray that this won't happen again any time in the near future. Hopefully all of you had a much better weekend. Now on to another week of suprises and excitement....................

Enough said

Just a little something for those of you that are wondering how house breaking the boy is going.

Yes that is Jason with the potty seat on his head.

Results

Jason helping package the last Christmas gift....... a little late.

After the day of waiting in anticipation for the pictures of the garage door............. here they are.

If you click on the pictures and look closely at the old door, there is mold, cracks, breaks, and rotten wood.

The new door is so much better. It keeps the mice out, doesn't mold, and is a lot more sturdy than the old wood one.

Sorry about the quality, I will post some before and afters of the front of the house after we take the huge load of garbage to the dump.

We still have some cleaning up to do, but much better if I do say so myself.

YIPPY!!! A project pretty much finished. Colin worked on it last night, making some adjustments and now it just needs small tweaks here and there, but it works. For future reference.......... we don't suggest installing your own garage door unless you are ready for an extra big project that is very frustrating. It is worth the extra money to have someone do it for you. Colin will tell you that over and over again........ he is even more sick of that door than I am and that is saying something.

More... More..... More

Our little "helper"...... it was a long weekend

Before I go on to update you on our wonderful wild weekend of fun............. I have to report on my doctors appointment today. The baby is growing very well, so well that I am measuring 2 weeks ahead. He has a fast heartbeat and never stops moving. I am very healthy and things are going as well as we could have every hoped for. Now three more weeks until another doctors appointment. I will keep you all informed on the happenings.

Now to go on to our crazy weekend. If Colin and I have learned anything in the last 7 years, it is that even the greatest plans never go how you predicted. Last weekend just reinforced that theory. We had these great plans of installing a new garage door one Saturday and Sunday. You see, last week when I opened the door it about broke in half and fell on our car. We decided that was the last straw and got the crazy idea that we could install an new one in two days. Things were all going as planned until the WIND!!!! OH THE WIND!!!! Did I ever mention how much I hate wind? Well, I do. We had such strong winds on Friday night that it blew a portion of our fence over in the back yard. We later found out how lucky we really were because one of our neighbors lost 1/3 of their roof. It was quite the wind. Needless to say, Saturday turned into fix the fence day. Colin worked on that almost all day and I have to say it looks very good now. The dogs were especially happy now that they can go out without leashes again.

Colin digging a post hole on the edge of our melting glacier.

Despite the set back, we decided to go ahead with the plans for the garage door. Sunday morning we woke up ready to take it on. Before we could begin, we had to clean out some of the trash in the garage that was in the way. There was also the demo, which went very well. That moldy, rotten door came out like a charm. We thought we could do it. The night before we read the instructions over and over. We were pumped. That is, until the project began. The instructions were hit and miss and our motivation quickly diminished. I just don't understand why manufacturers don't just put the instructions for each individual door in with the propper package. Instead you get a book of instructions that mostly apply to a different model and sometimes they even decide to throw in some spare parts. Oh, it made for a fun day. The wind was blowing again and we had to get the door over the opening before the sun went down. We weren't ready to have our garage broken into. The project went on for hours. Jason helped at times, but kept on getting cold and tired of us paying so much attention to those hunks of metal on the floor. He just didn't understand why he couldn't take off with just a few of the parts. At the end of the day we had the door up, but it needs adjustment. It doesn't move very freely, Hopefully we can remedy this during the week. It looks so much better. I don't even know how to describe it. Next post, I will have some before and after pics so that you can appreciate the difference too.

We are slowly knocking things off of our to do list and hopefully we can get a chunk of those taken care of before the new little man makes his appearance and before I get too much bigger. I am sure it is comical seeing a big lady trying to grab things off of the floor and waddle around. At least I can still get around at this point. I hope all of you had a great weekend. I look forward to hearing about how the post holiday stories. Take care and I will have more to share very soon.

Getting back in the swing of things

To start off the new year there were a few things to check off the list. The first was a trip to the DMV. Yes..... I am going to be 25 in a month so I needed to renew my licence. It was going so smoothly.... no lines..... and no complications, with me that is. While I was taking my eye test a man came in all flustered and acting strange. This would have put me off in another town, but it is normal for Casper. He was rambling on about how he needed to get his drivers licence suspension lifted because he now had a job. After repeating himself several times, he got angry and left. But he didn't have someone drive him to the DMV to get the suspended licence lifted, no, he drove himself. Even though the highway patrol office was next door and he didn't have a valid licence, he was driving. So, he left in a huff and proceeded to get into the drivers seat, right in front of the DMV window, and drove away. I started laughing and asked the lady who was helping me if I had just seen that correctly, and she called the cops. Oh, the stupidity of people never fails to amaze me.

Today we checked another task off of the list, Jason's 2 year checkup. He is a healthy, BIG, boy. With a height in the 80th percentile and weight in the 68th percentile, he is very strong. The real excitement came when he had to give a urine sample. They wanted him to pee in a cup. Now, for those of you that are keeping track, he isn't house broke yet. It was quite a task, but after a full morning of prompting and pushing, we finally ended up with a little pee in a cup. There was a big mess, but thank goodness that is over with for another year. Now he is finished with all shots until he goes to kindergarten. That is something to be thankful for.

I hope all of you are enjoying your week back to work. Take care and I will have more stories to share before long..................

WOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Oh my....... a new year!!!!! The last two weeks have went by in a flash. We are finally home and able to take a breath. It is quite amazing how much can be crammed into a two week period of time, but we took on the challenge head on.

It all began on the 23rd when we took off for the big city of Meeteetse. The roads were terrible and the trip was long. We were so thrilled that we had new tires and 4 wheel drive. It was a life saver. That day we did gift delivery. First stop......... the Coale house. It was a short stop, but it was so much fun to see them. By the way.......... those boys have grown even more since Thanksgiving. I can't believe how fast kids can grow. After that we headed down to mom and dad's house to unpack. Then it was up to the Warner house. Jason put on quite the show for Gary and Karen. He was in full on performer mode. There was a lot of jumping, running, eating, and rolling all over the floor. After we finished visiting, it was time to visit dad and mom. Grandpa Scott came in for dinner and we just enjoyed our time together.

Opening presents.

Look!!!! Truck!!!!!

Christmas Eve marked a day for a short trip to Cody. We went to Cody to spend the day with Colin's family. Jason played non-stop. He ran and ran with his Uncle Brian and was almost too tired to play with his cousin when he arrived. But, he mustered up the energy to play hard. There was a short nap during dinner though. The end of the year marathon was just beginning and Wild man was already tired. We knew that all signs were pointing to melt down.

Playing a little ball with Uncle Brian.

I Cowboy!!!

Taking a quick rest on Christmas Eve.

The next morning the three of us awoke to a room that had been visited by "Cause." He didn't bring a kitty, but he did bring Lincoln Logs. Jason was so excited that he couldn't stand it. So, at 5:30 in the morning it was play time. There is nothing like building a log house early in the morning.

"Cause" came!!!!

The construction begins.

After breakfast we made our way to Powell to spend the day at my sisters house. Jason played with his cousins and we feasted. There was so much to eat and we did our part. It was a quiet day of fun with the fam. I have to say that Jen and Dave can really cook well.

That evening we went back to M-town. Despite the fact that we were already tired and so very full, we kept on trucking. Gary, Maggie, Cody, and Glacier were able to come down and visit that evening. It was so nice to see them. With Cody back east and Maggie in Steamboat, we just don't get to see enough of them. Jason was pretty well worn down by that time, but he sure tried to get some energy to put on a show. Although the visit was short, it was so nice to see them.

Gary Maggie and Glacier.

Maggie and Jason getting their color on.

Jason telling Maggie and Cody what is really up.

The next morning it was back to Casper for us. Once again we had bad roads and appreciated our Envoy more than we did before the trip began. After that long trip (longer than usual due to the weather), we were thankful to be home. Jason we super excited to see his toys and be back in his own house.

The sign of a good cheese cake............. it breaks the fork.

Thursday we were able to visit with some friends from College that had drove up from Texas with their 2.5 month old baby (now that is brave). It was so nice to visit. Their little guy (Jackson) is adorable. After a pizza dinner they had to go. Hopefully we will be seeing more of the Kinley fam soon.

Jason sitting at his new Sponge Bob table....... Thanks Grandpa and Grandma!!!!

Friday marked the second big trip in one week and our 5th aniversary as well. We headed out for the wild town of Deadwood for a big birthday bash. My Grandpa Chuck turned 80 on Christmas day and Jason's b-day was on the 30th. So, we were really going to get our party hats on. On the way we stopped in Gillette to have lunch with another friend from College, Kevin. Even though we only live a couple hours away, we just don't see him very often. It is always nice to catch up. Then we finished out the last leg of the trip early enough to take Jason swimming in the motel pool. He is like a little fish. It was quite a treat for all three of us. That night people began to roll in to town like crazy. It was like a family reunion. We were able to visit with family that we haven't seen for so long. It was awesome. After eating, Colin and I went out to lose some money. We never really hope for any more than that. I guess someone has to pay for all of those fancy casinos. When we were out we met up with my dad's brother and some other Meeteetse friends. It seemed as though all of us were donating to Deadwood, so we just sat down and visited. Then it was back to the motel and our little man.

Visiting with the fam.

Saturday was the big party day. All of us ladies left the kids with the men and went to Spearfish to get the cakes (there was so much cake) and some other last minute supplies. We had fun and I am pretty sure the guys really enjoyed themselves. I do believe the arcade was quite the wild time. It was a quick trip for lunch before we went out to the party.

Are those presents mine?

Grandma Louray and Grandpa Chuck....... Notice the two huge cakes.

Jason hanging out with Chance and Lane.

Balloon fight.

Opening more presents.

A tired Jason with his cake........ there was a lot of cake.

The kids played hard and needed to stop for a nap pretty early since the fam (around 25 people) was meeting for a big dinner in Deadwood that night. So, we brought the kiddos into town for a nap. Instead of a nap they all rested until the youngest, Chance, came down with a fever of 104.8. Since Jen (my sis) didn't have cell service out at the party I ran out to get her. By the time we returned, the little man's temp had dropped some, but it was still there. After the small crisis we tried to get the boys to all relax once again before dinner. It was so nice to sit down for a meal with the fam. There were so many stories told and as always it was a huge success. It is so wonderful to get together with family and not worry about the details, just to enjoy the company. During dinner Chance began to get worse so it was a trip to the emergency room for them. He is ok though. Just a nasty virus. That evening marked the end of our big weekend. Many stayed up until the wee hours in the morning visiting and holding on to those moments until next time.

Sunday......... Jason's b-day................. we were headed back to Casper again. We had finished our last trip until the baby makes his appearance. I couldn't have been more thankful to walk into our house with that in mind. Jason was pretty happy too. We had our own little b-day celebration that night with a lot of playing and even blowing out candles. Jason was a pro.

Blowing out the candles.

Birthday ducks.

Now for a rest.

The next day was so nice. We relaxed and even had a chance to nap. The travels caught up with Jason and I very hard. It knocked us down. That evening we went over to our friend Dan's house to ring in the new year. His kids were in town, so that was a treat for us. Jason danced non-stop with the "pretty girls" until nearly midnight before crashing out. He just wouldn't give in with all of the pretty girls around.

I have to say thank you to everyone for our end of the year marathon. Although travelling can really be difficult at times you all made it a great experience. Thank you for all of the gifts and the good company. I think this was one of the best end of the year runs that we have had. I wish we could have seen more of all of you, but we are so happy that we got the time we did. Happy New Years to all of you!!!!!! Now for a new beginning..................