Easter 2011, Take Two

Easter 2011

Michael still wasn't quite sure what to do this Easter so with a little help, here's how his morning went after we got home from Mass.

Finding his Easter basket on the couch

Easter egg hunt



Sampling the goodies!

Hope everyone had a glorious Easter!

Feeding the Chickens

Michael got his first taste of outside farm life this past weekend when we spent Easter weekend at my parents (the weather was actually nice).  Michael is very attached to my Dad, so where ever Grandpa is, so is Michael.  Grandpa raises banty chickens for eggs, so Grandpa gave the opportunity for Michael to feed the chickens some corn.  Now these chickens are so tame, that they'll follow my Dad around where ever he goes.  Dad lets them out every evening out of the chicken coop to pick bugs and grass, etc. and at dark they go back into the chicken coop on their own and roost for the night.

Michael was really scared at first when Grandpa opened the door, and a flood of chickens pursued and swarmed Grandpa for some corn.  But as Grandpa showed Michael what to do he eventually warmed up to them, and was feeding them like a pro at the end. 







Mom's Helper

Michael turned 20 months around a week ago.  Michael is now eager to help me with almost everything that I do.  That includes putting the clothes in the wash machine and hanging the clothes on the clothesline in the basement.

Helping vacuum the couch.  He has to turn the vacuum cleaner on and off for me.

Helping wash the countertop

And a cute smile for good measure!

Turkey Hunting

Every year my parents donate there land for wild turkey hunting purposes for young children in the community learning how to hunt with an adult supervisor.  This year was no different.  Wild turkies are in huge abundance on my parents land...actually one day, my dad counted 183 wild turkies roosting in the tree line along his property.  Incredible!!  We were actually at my parents a few weekends ago when this young girl was hunting and we saw the turkies fly in to the river bottom close to her blind.  The large male turkey fanned out his feathers and was strutting around courting the females...and then we had to leave for church...but when we got back, this was laying in my parents' yard with one little happy 12-year old girl.....

Of course, Russell was ecstatic and can't wait to hunt turkey next year (hopefully on our own property - don't know yet if we have turkies out there).  I would imagine there are!!!

Keys and Steering Wheels

Michael has recently been infatuated with keys and any type of motorized object that uses a key and has a steering wheel.  I used to let him play with my keys, but found out that probably wasn't the best decision since my trunk was always popped on the car, and he would always set off Russell's truck alarm.  I finally found a key chain for him and put an old key on that we don't use anymore.  He carries that key around everywhere he goes, including to bed.

Russell recently purchased a used ATV for our place in the woods.  It is currently residing in our garage and everyday, Michael demands he gets to go and sit on the ATV and act like he's driving it.  He knows exactly where the key goes, so he takes "his" key and inserts the tip of it in the ignition and then acts like he's riding.  He can sit on that thing for 15-30 minutes and just play.

It's not only the ATV, it's lawnmowers and tractors and trucks.  We went to the grocery store last week and he spotted the shopping cart with a truck on the front of it, so he insisted we use that cart to grocery shop with.  This truck cart had TWO steering wheels, so he had twice the fun as many grocery shoppers made that observation with a laughing comment to me.  Unfortunately, I did not have the camera to take a picture...who would think you'd need a camera to take to the grocery store????

Playing on Grandpa's tractor

And he has spotted the rows of riding lawnmowers at home improvement stores we go to....it's really tough for me to shop with this little guy now because he wants to ride everything and Mom can't get her shopping done!!

Need I Say Anything More?

Why not have my husband out grilling in the snow?

Sleeting/Snowing in April?

Can you believe it?  Sleeting/snowing on April 15.  I've been told this is an unusually long winter up here...I hope this is really true because we are tired of the snow and cold weather.  I'm dreading getting up in the morning to see how much snow we will have...supposedly we are supposed to get 1-2".  Last week we had tornadoes wipe out the northwest part of the town we will be moving close to, and this week it's snow!  I shouldn't complain...at least we're not getting a foot of snow.  Ugh.

Michael is cutting all four eye teeth at once this week!!  He has had a high fever for the last two days including a snotty nose, so he is not feeling well at all, and he is signaling to us that his teeth are hurting by constantly pointing in his mouth and crying.  Hopefully, this will be over with soon.

We close on our new home two weeks from today.  Russell can hardly stand it.  We were at our new place this week for measuring of the new carpet we will be installing and all of the snow has melted in the woods...it looks like a totally different place and is absolutely beautiful.  I look forward to posting pictures on the blog once we close on the house.

Otherwise, here are some of the latest pictures.....

Michael and Dad watching TV

Luckily these cabinets are strong enough to hold a 28 lb toddler!

Michael loves dill pickles!  I can't get him to eat mashed potatoes, but he'll eat dill pickles, grapefruit, and feta cheese just to name a few!

Showing off all his teeth

When Michael pretends he's talking on the telephone, he always holds the phone up to his ear backwards.

The many faces of crying when he doesn't get what he wants!

Enjoy the weekend!





I Finally Did It!

Well, I finally started a blog for our dear friends in Indiana we left behind when we moved to Wisconsin (and other friends we have across the US).  This blog will mainly be about our son Michael and the life we are living in the northwoods of Wisconsin.  Let me catch up everyone with some of the latest photos from the month of March.

We have been getting bombarded with early spring snow yet....

Michael recently bundled up to play in the snow....

Russell, Michael and I playing and walking around at a local park in the town we live in....

Michael loves to stomp in puddles (especially mud puddles) and make a mess of himself...he sure does enjoy himself.

And lastly, a picture of Michael playing with Daddy's hat.

Enjoy the warmer weather...it's supposed to get to 70 degrees this weekend.