Growing up on the farm

I can't say that growing up on the farm was super tough. I mean, I had my share of walking beans & Milo, cleaning out pig sheds, picking & snapping beans from the garden, hanging several hundreds of loads of laundry on the line, doing dishes with no dishwasher for 7-10 people per meal twice a day, etc. Yet, can't say I ever had it this bad:

I am pretty sure this kind of treatment on the farm has been going on for years since I found this picture of my brother Abram doing almost the same thing but from a tree. Grandpa Strahm gets some thrill out of doing this to his little guys, not sure why.


You gotta love these pictures!!!

Beagle Vacuum

We went to the farm last weekend and plan on going again this weekend so I thought it might be fun for our sweet first born (Debo the beagle) to stay at the farm and play for a week. He is in heaven when we go out there eating whatever he can find, rolling in anything that stinks and chasing rabbits all day!! He loves it out there and I love watching him just run free.

I thought this was such a great idea until I was feeding Hutch breakfast Monday morning and Hutch threw a piece of his peanut butter toast off his tray and on to the floor. Typically, I don't even worry about it since I know good ole Debo will come to my rescue and eat anything that falls from Hutch's high chair. It is only Tuesday and I am already tired of picking up Hutch's food. How do Mom's not have a dog???? You would save yourself a lot of work :)

Miss you Debo :( Not only because you are a great "clean up crew" but you are just the sweetest dog I know!!!!

Mothers Day Delight

What can I say, I love Mothers Day!!! Sleeping in until 9 am with not a peep from the boys + Going to lunch at BRGR after church + Great naps by Hutch while I watched Friday Night Lights First Episode of the season (It was amazing by the way) + time at the park + the gift of flowers and a cleaning lady + time with friends & dinner = ONE GREAT MOTHERS DAY!!

Great job Brett and Hutchy, you defiantly made me feel appreciated yesterday. I love being a mom to you Hutchy!!! Brett, you are a wonderful Dad and teammate, you really make my job as a mom pretty easy, thank you for all you do.

AHHH, how I love my boys!!!

Sweet Cali

Oh how I love vacation!!!! I love how it is just a fantasy world of no schedules, eating out, shopping, maids cleaning your room everyday, no 8-5 work, etc. I also have to say that everyone tried to talk us out of taking sweet Hutchy boy but turns out that "vacation hutch" is the best kind of Hutch. In fact, we have been using the term "vacation hutch" since we have been back. When he wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, I roll over and say to brett, " I miss vacation Hutch". I am not going to lie, it is a bit of a chore to take along a one year old but pro's out weighed the con's by a landslide.

Top 5 Highs:
- Seeing my husband finish a marathon and seeing him embrace Hutch afterwards. Hutch was so proud of Daddy and was impressed with his metal!!!
- Staying at sweet Hyatt hotels at no cost at all since I had some Hyatt points for doing an event there a few months back.

- Waiting for my son to wake up almost every morning since he slept longer than we did, when does that ever happen at home?? Oh, and he woke up in the BEST mood.

- Traveling with friends, we have never done this before but I think we will do it again for sure.

- Breakfast at The Creamery in Palo Alto, CA. I think I would like to retire in this town.

Top 5 lows:
- Brett accidentally rolling the car window up on my finger while I was putting a blanket in back window to give Hutch some shade. The fight following this incident was not so great either :)
- Eating at this bad Crepe place in Monterey, nothing worse than wasting money on a really bad meal.

- Only getting to eat at In and Out burger once, my goal was to eat at least three meals there even if one had to be a burger at breakfast.

- Getting sick on the way home in the airport and then being sick all week when getting home.
- Accidentally paying 13.99 to watch a movie in the hotel one night and then falling asleep before the ending. YIKES!!

All and all, we had a great time! Check out my pics on my slide show!!

What a welcome!!

My dad stopped by for a quick visit on his way to the airport last night to pick up Joce who had been in NYC for a funeral. Soon after eating some dinner we got news that Joce's flight had been cancelled and would not be in until the next morning. Poor Joce was so ready to get home and so I was suggesting to Dad that maybe he should pick up some flowers to take to the airport to welcome her home. "Flowers is the last thing that women would want, trust me, she thinks they are pretty but it really does not mean a thing to her", my dad said. I thought, mmmm, what would be good to greet her home?? "How about a nice bunch of Snicker's bar's, she loves chocolate", I suggested.

Just then, Brett chimed in with the best idea ever: "How about you make a sign like those limo drivers do at the airport that says her last name", Brett said and I followed it with "Great idea Brett, how about making the sign out of SNICKERS!!!!!!"

Almost 40 snickers, a roll of double sided mounting tape, a piece of foam core cut in half and three peoples (Brett, Dad and myself) crafty brains working together we came up with this:



I have still not heard what Joce's reaction was but I hope it was laughter and then running into the arms of a man that made you a sign out of chocolates!!!! I know I sure would!!