Chores

A couple of weeks ago one of my friends posted a question about chores, she asked, "How old should a child be?" "Should he/she get paid or should it be considered being part of the family?" Anyway, it made me start thinking and I figured that now might be a good time to introduce Kailer to a few chores himself. He already does a good job of picking up his toys (most of the time) when asked and since he's always at my hip, I figured he could probably learn to help with a chore or two around the house. Hence, I introduced the idea of having him feed Mesa, the "puppy." Typically I am the one to actually pour the food into the dish, but he carries it through the house to the backyard where Mesa is waiting. I figure it's a good way for him to start to learn to do some "chores" and of course make Mesa happy at the same time (He has been giving her her treats for months now). The other day, he was actually outside with her and feeding her piece by piece, it was pretty comical to watch. Now, if I can just get him used to the idea of using a shovel to pick up dog poo, I'd be in business! :)

For some reason, sometimes he gets "shy" when he gets close to her with the food.

As you can see, the bowl is VERY close to spilling, but somehow he's managed to not spill any of it - Yet!

A Day In The Life Of An Alpaca

This weekend Bozeman's local Alpaca Farm held an open house for all to come to their facility to pet/feed the Alpaca's and "window shop" (I say window shop because everything was VERY pricey) their beautiful Alpaca products. Dan was hoping to meet us there and he got within 20 feet of the entrance when he got dispatched to a motor vehicle accident, which really was a bummer because it was nearly impossible to take pictures of Kailer with the Alpacas by myself. Not to mention there was a lady literally following me around, talking about random nonsense and asking me irrelevant questions, so that also made taking pictures difficult! Nonetheless, it was a neat experience and we'll definitely do it again, when Kailer's older and can understand a little bit better. Today I don't think he quite knew what to think of these tall, lanky creatures ... and therefore, he affectionately called them "puppy."

This is the first Alpaca that came up to us (we had food to give it) and stuck around for a few minutes .... there's that look of uncertainty on Kailer's face.

Love the spiked 'do!

Kailer not realizing that an Alpaca was pulling a sneak on him.

Getting closer- and Kailer looking like he's going to jet outta there!

Pretty black one.

A couple of babies. Aren't they cute?

*Alpacas are 100-190 lbs. as adults (12-20 lbs. when born)

*Gestation is 11 1/2 months, usually giving birth between 10 a.m. -2 p.m.

*Alpacas are from South America, first imported to the U.S. in 1982

*The average growth of the coat is 5-10" per year; average yearly weight of a shaved adult alpaca coat ranges from 7-10 lbs. (Shearing is done 1/year)

Helping With Laundry????

Last Saturday morning was cleaning/laundry day - which for the past 30 years, that's the way I remember every Saturday being. I had brought Kailer's laundry basket downstairs and left it at the foot of the stairs while I vacuumed. Needless to say, I guess it was Kailer's day to "help" with the laundry, because this is what I found...Then he decided it would be fun to crawl into his laundry basket ...

....but needed a little help getting out.

Milk Box

This week, for the firs time, I gave Kailer a drink from a "box"...he doesn't get juice, so he got strawberry milk. What a treat!!

Here's a little history for you on the creation of beverages in a box:
The aseptic container (Milk box) was invented in the 1960s by a Swedish man named Ruben Rausing. In 1963, Rausing was trying to figure out a more efficient method to get milk to the market. He needed a container that was smaller and less cumbersome than the metal canisters being used. Rausing developed a precursor to the juice box: a brick-shaped box he named the Tetra Brik. Because of their rectangular shape, Tetra Briks, when stacked on top of each other, took up half the space of the old containers. Five years later, Rausing made an even bigger breakthrough when he figured out how to fill the Tetra Briks under completely sterile, or aseptic, conditions.

So there you go, your history lesson for the day.

Not only 1, but 2 ....

....Blankies. I realized about a week ago that I have gone nearly 16 months without mentioning the fact that Mr. Kailer not 1, but 2 favorite "blankies"!! The white one (which isn't nearly as white as it once was), is a "Classic Pooh" blanket that I bought for "the baby" very early on in my pregnancy. Not knowing if the baby was a boy or a girl, I picked up this white blanket as a gender neutral choice. At the time it was very soft, now it's worn and very much "Kailer's." The second one was a shower gift that we received when Kailer was several months old and for whatever reason, out of ALL of the blankets that we received for him, he chose these two.
The blue/brown one is the one that he is allowed to take with him to the sitters, short car rides, etc. He does okay with just one, when we're away from home, but let me tell you, when we are at home, he "NEEDS" both of them. It's really quite comical: every morning when we go to get him out of his crib he'll grab both blankets and then he's ready to start his day. Today, I washed both of them (at the same time, which was brave of me) and as soon as he heard me at the dryer, he was right at my side asking for them.
Those two blankets are definitely his best friends and his ultimate security. Of course, they've also caused some tears - due to the fact that he's constantly dragging them around, on occasion he'll also trip on one of them and bump is head.

As you can see below, he loves to burrow himself in his blanket and play in them. And when he's tired, watch out, because all he wants is his blankies and his bed. I'm afraid to think what will happen when they finally fall apart. Blankies are such an important part of a child's life and I hope he has great memories with them, a I do with mine.

Burrowing in this blanket.

"Oh, there's Kailer!"

*As a disclaimer, we do not let Kailer intentionally play around large pieces of plastic; he just happened to be in the office where we've been painting.

Got Milk?

Today Dan and I had the pleasure of accompanying Kailer and his friends on his first field trip to L&F Dairy Farm. This little farm is located no more then 5 miles from our doorstep and who knew that their milk supplied all of the Kirkland Brand (Costco) and Wilcoxson's Ice Cream (which is made 20 minutes from here in Livingston), just to name a few.
The minute we got out of the vehicles all of the children were immediately attracted to the dozen or so barn kittens that were running around. In fact, they were all so involved with the kittens, that we probably could have just stopped the tour right there and they all would have been just as happy. Mr. Gary (or "Farmer" as some of the kids called him) even told the kids that if they were good they could take home a kitty ... he's more than ready to get rid of a few. Needless to say, no one left with a kitten, but a certain someone (Dan) sure tried hard to get another certain someone (Me) to agree to taking one home.
The tour was actually quite interesting and it's amazing how much milk they are able to collect in one day. Mr. Gary stated that they milk two times per day (2 am. and 2 p.m.) and usually get about 18,000 pounds of milk or 2,155 gallons! We got to see the babies that were still being bottle fed, followed by the ones who had been weened, but were kept in crates to keep them healthy, then the "hospital ward" where there were cows who had gotten old or had a bad hoof (which, by the way, he puts a block of wood on the good hoof to keep the 'bad' one of the ground in order to heal), and onto the milking station. Some of the cows even have mattresses to sleep on and Mr. Gary was telling us that water beds are available now for them!! We also learned that technology has helped to play a great role in the whole process. The cows wear sensors around their necks, which are coordinated with a computer and it regulates how much grain a cow is allowed to eat in a day. The milking unit is all automatic, they just have to hook up the pumps and the milking begins, which takes approximately 3-4 minutes per cow. It really was quite interesting and I'm glad that we were able to partake in Kailer's first field trip!

Daddy and Kailer checking out one of the calves in her crate.

Kailer, a calf and I believe Dan trying to convince me and Kailer that this particular kitty needed to come home with us! :) Kailer bought into it, momma didn't.
Kailer and his "big brother," Quinn, checking out the cows......lets just say their utters were HUGE!!

The milking station.

Sometime you just gotta ride ....

Silly boy enjoying is battery-operated, finally working, motorcycle!
I think he was trying to wave down the cute girl across the street.

Already talking while driving - oye!

Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration

The one thing we were hoping to accomplish before the snow started to fly, was to finish fencing in our back yard; or if you ask Dan, he'll say that I'm a 'slave driver' and have been working him like an old mule. But either way, "I" wanted it done.
Originally the job was suppose to be done by an acquaintance with Dan's help, but by 2:00 p.m. on the day the project was suppose to start, Dan texted the guy and told him not to bother ... by that point Dan had already gotten 6 of the 12 post holes dug. So much for good hired help. Grrr. The next day I dawned my work clothes and gloves and made an honest effort to help with the remaining hole. I grabbed my shovel and got to diggin'! I kept diggin' right along, say oh about 4" in each hole before I would hit major rock ... which resulted in Dan taking a giant crowbar (There may be a technical name for this tool, but I don't know it), breaking the rocks as best he could, me cleaning out the hole until I hit more rocks, Dan breaking them up ... and well, you catch my drift. Finally at the end of day 2 the holes were dug and we were ready to pour concrete. Now this is where this all gets really fun. We had 12 holes, which were going to require four bags of concrete and each one weighed 60 lbs. : quick math = 2880 lbs. of concrete mix - not fun to move!! But not only did we unload the concrete, put it by the existing fence, haul 4 bags to each hole and then find out we had to use a mixer (instead of mixing in the holes), so back to the driveway went the 2880 lbs. of concrete mix and then the next day when we got the mixer, it had to be moved over by it. That my friends, is why I haven't needed a gym all summer! :) And he thinks I'm a slave driver. LOL!
Needless to say, we FINALLY got the concrete poured into each of the holes and even managed to get Kailer's hand print into one of them (I'm actually surprised it was only one ... but he did well at staying out of the wet concrete while it set). Dan then spent the whole next day putting up the boards and then I stained it all. It was quite the project, but it's done, it looks fabulous and I'm forever grateful to my husband for his hard work spent on his days off.

Fence posts dug (check), Posts into holes (check) and cement mix near holes (check - though they had to be moved)!


Kailer and Mesa hitching a ride while we moved the concrete BACK to the driveway. I love the look on Kailer's face!!

Finished project.

The fire pit area in our backyard -- which we have loved and made lots of s'mores already! BTW, if you haven't tried the giant marhmallows for s'mores, you must try them, they're a hoot to try and eat.

Labor Day!

Ironically, for a day that everyone (or the majority of people) are suppose to have off, I know a handful of people who worked Labor Day, including myself. Of course, I chose to schedule appointments for that day, but I figured "why not?" It's not like Dan had off and it gave Kailer and I something to do for a bit. The day started off cloudy, cool and rainy, but by late afternoon the clouds burnt off and we were left with a little bit of sunshine before the crisp air engulfed us with the setting sun. It's been awfully cool and wet here already; I'm afraid we're going to be in for a early winter!A self-portrait of me and my little guy!

(He was ready to take off running!)
Just a little "harmless" texting. I'm afraid to see this kid's phone bill when he's a teenager!!

Kailer decided to try to feed Mesa a leaf he found in the grass...she was too busy enjoying her bone ....

....but Kailer was proud of himself!!! :)

Bad Boys

"Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do

whatcha gonna do

When they come for you?"

Kailer thoroughly enjoying getting to touch, press, you name it, anything and everthing in Dad's "cruiser."

"Yep, that was me, I made the siren go off!!" :)

Optical Illusion?

Hmm, What's Missing In This Picture?