Family Work Day

This weekend we tackled the enormous job of clearing the leaves out of our yard. We have woods on three sides of our house so we have a ridiculous number of leaves fall in our yard. So, several times a year, we have to clear the yard of leaves. (Fortunately, we don't have to bag them, we just give them back to the woods...)

Jesse Blowing Leaves

Some of us worked harder than others:

Snoozing outdoors

Running this way...

And that way...

Pumpkin Patch Tradition

Every fall, we make a trip to a pumpkin patch outside of town. It is always one of my favorite family day trips of the year. They have a corn maze, a hay ride, a petting zoo, horse rides, kiddie tractors, and of course picking out a pumpkin! It's bunches of fun for the kids! Last year Trent was only about 7 months old when we went. He did the corn maze and picked out a pumpkin, but it wasn't really a 'hands on' experience. This year, Trent was interested in everything. Grandma and Grandpa Reiersen came down for the weekend and joined us for the trip. It was so much fun to have them along. Grandpa even escorted Trent on his very first horseback ride. Trent loved it! He has no fear of animals and loves all kinds of animals. He spent forever in the bird barn (there were coups full of chickens, ducks and geese). He even pet a baby chicken.

Pumpkin Pickin'

Hayride!

TJ's first horseback ride

Petting a chicken

Riding a John Deere for Uncle Eric

Target Deals Make Me Happy

TJ's new trailer

All Set and Ready to Go!

Jesse and I were shopping with Trent in Target this weekend and came across some great deals! We found a pair of shoes for TJ for $2.48! They look just like the sandals his Grandpa Dale normally wears, so I'm sure he'll be a fan! Trent apparently is really partial to his other pair of shoes. We had come back home and put the new shoes on, and he walked over to his older pair, picked them up, brought them over to us, undid the velcro on his new ones and started fussing. It was all we could do not to laugh. I told Jesse he was a boy after my own heart because he's partial to his keens. :)

Anyway, I digress. The big deal we found at Target today was a bike trailer! We have been wanting one since the day Trent was born but we were having trouble justifying buying a running stroller AND a bike trailer. I use our running stroller every day of the week so it's a must. But while we were at Target, the bike trailers were on clearance for 50% off. We were so excited that even in the heat, we decided a bike ride was in order! We came home got dressed, got the bikes loaded up, packed up some water, and off we went. Trent did great. The trailer fits two kids, but we had him strapped in the middle of the trailer since his partner in crime won't be here until December.

Just Like Daddy

After we had eaten dinner, we had 45 minutes until TJ's bathtime/bedtime routine. Jesse has been wanting to cut the grass, but we have had such little rain that he has been holding off. Finally, a few days ago, it rained. Trent and I went outside to play while Jesse was mowing the lawn. At first, he held my hand and observed the whole scenario. He'd wave and talk every time Jesse went by. Then, he got braver and started walking after Jesse. He followed him up and down the lines Jesse was creating. He slowly decreased the distance between Jesse and him. When Jesse was doing the last little bit of our yard, Trent had made it so he was basically between Jesse's legs. So Jesse picked him up and they mowed the last part together!

Mowing Together

Roses, Roses, Roses

Jesse, Trent and I went to the Botanical Gardens on Mother's Day. It is always a gorgeous time to go because all of the roses are in bloom. We had such a good time taking in the natural beauty of the place, the yummy scents of all the flowers, and enjoying a leisurely afternoon together.

"I like this one!"

My favorite rose

Jesse's favorite rose

Glimpse of the rose garden

Such the thumbsucker - This is while running downhill!

The boy who made me Mama

Saving for Later

Date Day

The biggest skillet I've ever seen

Shot of the mountains while in Cades Cove

After all the work on the house, Jesse and I drove up to Tennessee for a few days. One of the days, my mom watched Trent so we could have a "date day." It was a lot of fun. First stop was Bass Pro Shop. Next, we went out for lunch. We went to a place called the Chop House. It was tasty. I had corn cakes topped with avocado, pico, cilantro and drizzled in dressing. Jesse had an alfredo pasta dish. After lunch, we hit the outlets. We both were on the hunt for new flip flops and Jesse wanted a new pair of sunglasses. We ended up leaving with about 5 outfits for Trent and a new pair of sunglasses for Trent and nothing for us. Ahh, oh well... :) After the outlets, we went to Cades Cove. It was a community in the Smokies before the government took over the land to make the national park. If you're ever in the Smokies, you should check it out. It's really interesting and fun to see. They have churches and homes from the mid 1800s. We also saw a lot of animal life while we were there. We saw deer, bear, and turkey. The bears were adorable. We saw two different sets of mama bears with their cubs. One set was only about 40 yards away from us and the cubs were climbing the trees. I really need to start bringing my camera with me more often so I can take pictures of things like the bears!

Pictures from the Weekend

Trent had a ball (pun intended) being the center of attention this weekend. He ate food off of everyone's plates, played ball, rode cars, climbed through tunnels, held hands walking with people, spun in circles and entertained himself in other ways too. Here's just a glimpse of him from the weekend.

Look of anticipation

Ball and a box, what more do you need?

Playing on the Playground

Swinging with Grandpa

Yay!!!

Future Ball Player

I love being outside on a sunny day. It was absolutely gorgeous today. Trent and I played in the morning, then met some friends at the zoo, then came home and played out on the porch. Trent's really into playing with balls right now. He loves them! We played catch for a while. He has quite the arm for a little guy!

Signs of Spring!

Spring finally showed up! I've been SO ready for some warmer weather and longer days! We started our spring garden this weekend. Around here, you can keep a garden for the majority of the year. We usually plant our hardier, more cold resistant vegetables at the end of February/beginning of March. Since this winter has been a lot colder, we just now planted the early vegetables. We always have container gardens. This year we're planting some by the new patio as well! Our spring/fall vegetables are cabbage, spinach and swiss chard. The summer vegetables that we do every year are eggplant, tomatoes and peppers. We're also trying strawberries, potatoes, asparagus, cauliflower and rhubarb this year.

Left side of the patio

Top tier: flowers - tulips will bloom first, then wildflowers throughout the summer

Bottom Tier: Asparagus, Spinach, Cabbage

Right side of the patio

Top Tier: Still tulips and wildflowers

Bottom Tier: Cabbage, Swiss Chard, Herb Garden (Basil, Rosemary and Cilantro)

Container Gardens - Spinach (not shown), Cabbage and Cauliflower

Pretty Daffodils blooming around the mailbox!

TJ and I sitting OUTSIDE on a coffee shop date

Enjoying the Sunshine

This past week we've had some really pretty weather so we've been spending a lot of time outdoors. Trent loves being outside. Here's a cute video we took last weekend.

Enjoying the Weather

This weekend finally warmed up. We've had an unusually cold winter. It even snowed twice in one week! That doesn't happen around here! Anyway, on Saturday, it warmed up to mid 60s so we knew we had to make the most of it (there are rumors for MORE snow this weekend, ug!) So after TJ's morning nap, we started our adventure. Our first stop was to a kiddie consignment store. TJ's feet are as wide as they are long, so it makes buying shoes for him really interesting. We found a nice pair of brown shoes for him. Essential, since he's beginning to walk. He has mastered cruising along the furniture. He can walk fine holding one or both of our hands and will even take 4-5 steps at a time on his own. He's SO over the crawling thing, but he hasn't quite mastered walking full time independently. After getting him proper footwear and some lunch, we headed off to the zoo. It was a gorgeous day for it. All the animals were out since it wasn't too warm or too cold. It was the first time we've been to the zoo where he has really taken an interest in looking at the animals AND he wanted to walk through it on his own. He was not thrilled to be in the stroller so we literally took baby steps through the zoo. It was really cute. Afterwards, we went downtown and checked out the Bassmaster exhibit. By the time we were headed home, little man was out for the count. Great family day!

Enjoying the View

Fast Asleep

It's Snowing!

Well the storm that dropped 9 inches on Dallas has made its way east! The snow started falling midmorning and is still going strong. Since this is the first snowfall TJ has had with any real accumulation, we just had to get out and take pictures!

Side yard full of snow!

Little Man's Excited

Duke's going to play too?!

Snow, Snow, Snow

TJ's first real snow day

Rojo

Checking out Rojo

No, Trent is not headed for the rubber tree in this picture (though dumping the dirt of out of this plant is one of his favorite activities). He is checking out Rojo, a red cardinal that made our home his home back in December. Some of you may remember when I first blogged about the visit from Rojo. He incessantly pecked on our window all day long. I haven't mentioned him in a while, but he is STILL here. We are now going on two months straight of having the same red cardinal peck on the same window all day long. He doesn't bother me anymore. I have effectively tuned him out so I don't even notice the tapping. However, Trent has not had the same luck. The pecking intrigues him. So he goes over and checks on him whenever he notices the tapping. At first we thought it may have been because we had a Christmas tree in the house that Rojo was confused. However, after removing the tree from the house, he's still around. After fighting with his reflection (and also our window) for two solid months, I wonder if he thinks he's winning the battle...