And Then There Was Venison

According to the white tail deer bible (Field & Stream), the planets, stars and moon were all supposed to be aligned today (October 31) for a fabulous deer hunt.  The magazine stated that if you wanted to get a buck, today was the day you needed to be in the woods.  So of course, my husband decided to take the day off and be out on his deer stand before daylight this morning.  I received a phone call from him about 9:30 a.m. asking if Michael and I were dressed to come out in the woods.  I knew he got his deer...

Michael and I got dressed (mind you it was 37 degrees this morning which is alot warmer than last week - one morning it was 20 degrees!) and Russell walked back to get the 4-wheeler and take us out to his tree stand.  And this is what we found....a large bodied 6-point buck!

Michael didn't know what to think of at first, but then he warmed up to it and all he has said the rest of the day is "deer" and "buck".  After Russell field dressed the deer, we hung him in our shed ceiling for the night.  Russell found Michael in the shed later on in the day just staring upwards at the buck, not saying a thing, but just looking in amazement.

You know what we'll be doing tomorrow - cutting up venison!  Way to go Russell!

I'm Helpin'

As I've mentioned in a previous post, Michael is in the "helpin'" stage.  He demands that he help me with almost everything I'm doing.  Now this is a tough thing for me - because I just want to get it done and not mess around with a 2 year old trying to help.  But I've learned some patience and have let him help me, but now it's led to him wanting to help me with everything.  So this morning as I was putting the dry dishes away at 7:00 am from the previous night, he proceeded to the livingroom, dumped his toys out of his toy bin, and promptly brought the bin to the kitchen and said, "I'm helpin'" and did this....

How could I resist something so cute?!

Our 2-Year Old

Michael is something else.  He is blossoming beyond belief - he is a jabberbox, repeats everything we say, and is close to talking in full sentences.  He can say the words "medicine" "ridiculous" "conference" and "consequences" - words I thought only older kids would say.  He is full of more energy than we can deal with especially at night time.  He has to touch everything - I mean everything - even when we tell him not too.  He also destroys and dismantles everything - I mean everything - books, toys, my closets, etc.  He is the most curious and inquisitive person I've ever known.  He is constantly on the move - fidgeting, jumping, running, yelling, clapping his hands, and talking.  And yet, he is the cutest and most adorable little boy anyone could have and we love him to pieces!!!!

Here are his 2-year old pictures (photo credit - me)

He loves to pick and play with pumpkins (he says "punkins")...

and loves to look at books...

He loves to be chased and run and run and run....

and he loves car rides (especially to Grandma and Grandpa's).  He can say "Grandma" but not Grandpa.  Grandpa is "Gon-ka")

He likes to wear his cool sunglasses...

and watch caterpillars crawl across the concrete.

And now he has started to help me cook (mixing pancake batter)

Last weekend we made a trip to LaCrosse, WI where Russell attended a Catholic bioethics conference at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  I took Michael to a children's museum while Russell was at the conference.  His two favorite parts of the museum were the play "grocery store" and play "kitchen".  I was perplexed as to why he spent so much time in these areas when the museum was filled with so many other things to do, and then it dawned on me.  I always take him grocery shopping and he always sees me cooking so this is what he identified with most at the museum.  We stayed in a hotel along the Mississippi River and we ran back and forth on the boardwalk over and over and over, as he laughed and giggled because I was chasing him. 

He is so amazingly smart!  He gets screwdrivers out of drawers and acts like he is taking apart his toys where the screws are.  He is really a pretty good eater for a 2-year old as far as variety.  Some of his favorites include canteloupe, strawberries, any kind of sausage, waffles and syrup, chicken nuggets, pasta, pumpkin pie, cooked carrots, bananas, and most meats (especially if it's on a bone).  He loves to go to the park and especially be pushed high in the swing.  And he continues to love 4-wheeler rides with his Dad.

So that's our boy in a nutshell at age 2!







Lake of the Clouds

On Oct. 1 we took a road trip with my parents to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to see the fantastic fall colors that were in peak season.  We stopped and visited our friends Jerry and Lynn on Lake Gogebic and took them with us to do some sightseeing in the Porcupine Mountain Range along Lake Superior.  The scenery was breathtaking, the weather was perfect, and Michael had a blast.  It was a great road trip!



This is Lake of the Clouds nestled in the Porcupine Mountain Range.  This lake sits in the valley of the mountains and is completely pristine.





Michael enjoying the view

Michael enjoyed climbing the rocks at the top of the mountain...up and down, up and down, up and down....

Michael had a blast along the shoreline of Lake Superior collecting rocks and throwing them in the water.  He did this the whole time we were there, rock after rock after rock...cheap entertainment!

A shot of Lake Gogebic in the fall

Mom's Fall Helper

Michael is absolutely amazing for a 2 year old.  He is always wanting to help me with everything I do, which is natural, but some of the things he helps me with blow me away.  The month of October for us has been a "working outside" month, day after day after day, including hauling the dry wood into the basement for wood stove burning for winter heat, and of course, raking leaves and leaves and leaves.  Michael helps me stack wood (and you should see some of the size pieces he can lift and stack) and he helps me rake and haul the leaves into the woods with his own little wheelbarrow.  He helps me pick up pine cones and branches.  And he does all of this without me asking him to.  Of course, it hasn't been all work.  He loves to play in the leaves too, and I've been taking him to the park to play every time I run to town for errands.  Winter is definitely around the corner.

Michael likes to lay down on the lawn and he asks me to cover him up with leaves.  This is his "serious" look.

He likes to sit in the apple tree (fortunately at this point, I have to lift him up there...he isn't quite climbing the tree himself yet, but I know that is to come!)

Leaves, Leaves....AND MORE LEAVES!

Well, fall has been in full swing here since mid-September.  I forgot how beautiful this season really is up here.  It was fantastic this year, but short-lived.  The wind and rain knocked the leaves off fairly quickly after they turned their vibrant colors.  The colors peaked around the first week of October.  The beauty was exquisite, but the work and magnitude of the leaves and pine straw around our house has been overwhelming.  Even though it is a massive job, the cooler weather and working outside in this beautiful season is worth every complaint about the amount of work that needs to get done outside.

Views of our ponds

Leisurely Reading Anyone?

Michael recently picked up a magazine in the house and took some extremely avid interest in looking at the pictures for quite some time, page by page.....

Can you guess what magazine?