Bear with me

It's been so long since I have been able to post pictures that I feel I must do a post updating you all on the visuals of our lives these past few months.

We have started getting some snow, and with the first real smathering of it Phil was inspired to build a sled. Although we have yet to find any hills...We were so anxious to see how it worked that he pulled me and Ryan along the road a ways, which brought back great memories of being a kid on the way to a HILL!


It is amazing to me, though, how well our state handles snow. The equipment and manpower they have lined up each time it snows allows to the streets to be dry and ready to drive within hours of a big storm. We saw this tractor with a blower while driving through Marshalltown- the dump truck it is blowing the snow into was one of about twelve they had lined up to catch snow. This, of course, is not how they handle all snow, just the bridges.





The next pictures truly deserve their own post, especially for the significance of what happened here. We inherited this house with the carpet to the left. Red carped that was at least 30 years old. The amazing thing was it could STILL stain your clothes or feet if it got wet. Because we have so much work we want to do in the bathroom, we have just left it. It has been the one room we have said "Don't look in there, we haven't gotten that far yet!"





We love our visitors out here. We love them because we can see and spend time with them, but we also love them because they give motivation to do drastic, out of the box things. The night before our November visitors (Michael and Tif) came for an extended weekend, we decided that the red carpet simply had to go. It was a long night. And at this stage, we were nervous that we might have done more damage in getting rid of the carpet instead of leaving it...

But that was only until we finished putting down the new flooring (cheap laminate that will come up when we have time to get to the bathroom). Yes, one long night for the benefit of clean, pretty floors and unstained socks. Definitely worth it. Slowly but surely we attack each part of the house...keep visiting!













Of course, Michael and Tifani did not come to see our new flooring but to spend some quality time with us. Ryan found a new and exciting (yet quite dangerous) game (pictured at left). Dangerous? Yes, when it involves spinning and walking...














I wrote about our Christmas party a few posts back, and while I explained what happened, the visuals here really clue you in to the gravity of our ornament exchange. Yes...this was actually brought as an ornament. And then put on OUR tree.








The culprit of the whole "put the ornaments on Phil and Tracy's tree" surely couldn't have been our innocent pastor...











Ryan really loved Christmas this year. Before the big day came, he had learned that the unwrapped packages in the front room held wonderful prizes, like candy and toys. There were many times he snuck into he front room and turned up with another unwrapped present.








But when Christmas was finally here, he really had a great time tearing into the boxes. It was neat to watch, since last year he mostly enjoyed the taste of the paper.











He received this huge box of blocks and enjoyed figuring out how to put them together. With dad's help, of course.

Watching those two reminded me of the time my sister and I received Tinker Toys as a present. My dad had a blast!















As a Christmas present from her parents, Phil made this sink cabinet for a young girl at church. We collaborated on the design but really, any credit for a job well done must go to him. (Can you believe he rounded those corners with a chain saw?)

He is still spending time doing projects for RVP 1875, but adds in others as he can.








This one was fun because it was so out of character for him- usually his work is for a much older audience.















And finally, some pictures of our cat that came, took our hearts, left, came back, and left again. He has been gone for a few weeks now- probably just visiting the neighbors like last time. (Maybe we need some better cat food?)









Good thing no one around here liked him...that would have made it tough not to have him around.











And finally, a picture of mischief. Ryan was playing so nicely in the kitchen one morning. When Dad finally went in to check on him, he found Ryan with an unwrapped stick of butter. The butter had been smushed around the kitchen floor and then placed inside this tractor, which was dutifully carrying it along with Ryan's coaxing.

Well, I believe it has been so long that I might have forgotten how to string words together. There is so much to update it is nearly overwhelming, so I will just start with today...the rest will fill in later.

We have finally moved into some cooler weather back here- single digits are no longer abnormal. Last night the skies dumped 8 inches of snow on top of our 4 inches. We have been "not so diligent" about shoveling our long driveway and ended up having quite an eventful morning attempting to drive to the gravel. Phil spent a good amount of time out in his church clothes shoveling snow, determined that we would indeed make it on time. While Ryan and I stayed nice and warm inside the van, I am sure he was thankful that the shoveling was up after only 20 minutes. (I call that determined!)

I have been swamped with my new job. I have taken on a position as a City Clerk for a small town back here (when I say small, I mean population of around 100). When I was hired, they explained that it was a small job, maybe 10 hours a month- all from home. Well....maybe NOT during tax...or budget time. Also, the last clerk seems to have missed a few critical parts of her position, which have made for some extra catch-up time. I am excited, however, to bring the job into year 2007 - they were still addressing all 48 garbage bills by hand!

In other, much more important news, I should tell you all that we are expecting another "new addition" around the end of August. (If you receive a Christmas letter from either side of the family OR are within calling range of dad-in-law you already know this!) Whether it will be the 20th or the 22nd (landing on either Auntie or Uncle's birthday) will have to be battled out. If that is not enough, we were blessed with a new baby nephew a few weeks ago (yes, another one!). It's tough having brand new tiny babies so far away when you would really like to be so close!

The other part that makes this fun is that my sister Kristina is also expecting a baby - on July 30th. That could make these little guys pretty darn close. We call and compare cravings, pregnancy pointers, and general discomfort. (i.e. Are you tired a lot? Me too!) It's really quite productive. I am a lot more relaxed about this baby than I was with Ryan, and it's delightful to have my sister call and listen to how I used to sound (was I really THAT worried about sweets?) The benefit of it is that I don't have to read any books this time around- she tells me what is coming up, what I should expect, and what the experts say about it.

Ryan has started talking up a storm. He will repeat most words that are said to him, and even comes up with a few two-word combinations. As a result we communicate so much better, although I am not so sure this is such a good thing at all times. For example, now he knows how to ask for things (Mallow? Marshmallow) and ask, and ask....and ask...and about thirty times over ask. Or take today, for example, when we went into Borders. With squealing excitement he wrenched his hand from mine and ran full speed ahead "BOOK! BOOK!" to the first shelf of novels. When I caught up with him, and held his hand a bit tighter, he leaned his body forward and drug me through the store, pointing at each book and with renewed exuberance shouted BOOK! each time. Needless to say most of the other customers thought it was darling, whereas I felt like I had a small bull in a china shop. (Wow Mom! Have you SEEN this place?!? It's amazing! I want to look at this one and this one and this one over here!)

I have pictures to share but that will have to wait for another night- camera is in the car and well, it's a bit chilly out there.

The Newest Member

Phil has agreed to work on straightening a neighbor’s barn while he is away for the winter. It is a huge, red barn full of hay…and being full of hay also means there might be varmints lurking in the shadows. After finding some “droppings” from some raccoons, he decided that before much work could go on, he needed to get rid of the animals.

He set a live trap using some canned salmon we had on hand (yes, I know, Northwesterners with canned salmon do not mix- I told him that when he bought it 8 months ago!) and waited. He hadn’t been out to check the traps for some time, being busy with deadlines and holiday stuff, but one afternoon something told him he should stop and check that trap.

As soon as he stepped out of the truck he could hear yowling and sure enough, he found a furry orange cat in the trap. With background knowledge of “barn cats” he put on gloves and stepped to the side- bracing himself as he opened the cage door, expecting the cat to bolt out of site. But instead, the cat started purring and dancing around his legs in thanks.

Throughout his time working on the barn that day, this cat followed like a good puppy dog. When Phil hopped in the truck to come home, the cat hopped in too. Instead of shooing him out, Phil took pity on Cat, and brought him home to feed him.

From that point on, Cat has decided to adopt our family. Instead of running and hiding when he followed Phil into the house, he greeted me like an old friend. Ryan, when I finally decided Cat was safe, at first carefully petted him. Later that evening, he was driving cars on Cat’s head, dancing a jig in front of cat calling “Kiddie!! Kiddie!” Cat did not blink an eye.

We always talked, that if we were to get a cat, it would have to be quite good with children, old and house trained, and not a “scratcher”. I never believed we would find a cat so very sweet- and here one was, out in a barn.

Upon talking to the neighbor by phone, he explained Cat had been abandoned last summer about four miles from his house, and then dropped off by a neighbor when Cat was too friendly with an aging mom and they worried about him tripping her. So, though I had my doubts about where Phil really took this cat from, the story seems to be legit, and we seem to have been adopted by the furry guy.

We decided to name him MorrisII, because he looks strikingly similar to the cat my grandpa had as I was growing up. For all practical purposes, however, he is called Cat, or Kitty, because that is the way Ryan excitedly greets him.

So, we have a new member to the family, and you would think by looking at that cat and Phil that we have had him since he was a small kitten, when Phil bottle-fed him night and day at two-hour intervals. Cat sits on his lap, purrs, snuggles, and generally eats up whatever attention and gourmet food Phil can round up for him. Ryan hops down the stairs each morning, pulling on my hand, calling for Kitty before we are even halfway down. He pours Kitty’s food and asks me to get him water and follows this with a kiss on Kitty’s head. Truly, I have no idea why Cat feels so comfortable here.

Update: (Two weeks after I had originally written the above post)
Three nights ago I let Cat outside. Four hours later Phil asked where Cat might be, and I explained that nature must have been calling. My husband called for him to come inside…to no avail. Then I tried. Again, Cat did not respond. We waited an hour, and then Phil went outside, walking to the machine shed and back, calling for the cat. Still, he did not respond. We went to bed that night, mostly thinking he must be out roaming.

When he didn’t show up the next morning, we started to get worried. Neither of us said anything out loud, but we could read each-other’s looks. We had been told not to get too attached to cats out here. Too many predators. Too easy to get lost. We have already lost a few “barn cats” to the raccoons.

To add to the heartache, Ryan, about four times a day would run to the back door calling “Kitty! Kitty!” and we would open it, call out his name, and wait for….nothing. I would tell Ryan Kitty was busy, and we would close the door.

It’s amazing the emptiness I felt looking at the cat’s dish, or eyeing the huge bag of cat food that would now sit there as a constant reminder that we, once, had a pretty neat cat. I grew up with cats, and I know how finicky they can be. I know that most cats don’t like to be pet on their stomach, they claw if their tails are pulled, they run if you try to pick them up and they aren’t in the mood. This cat, this cat was surprisingly pliable. He warmed my side of the bed, he went potty outside, he spent the majority of the day sleeping, and Ryan could be a Two-year old to him and he didn’t bat an eye. We would not find a cat like this again.

Update:
Then last night, we were playing cribbage late in the evening. I heard a faint sound outside, and chalked it up to the wind, or possible wishful thinking. Cat was gone—eaten or run off.

Half an hour later, Phil, out of habit and his own wishful thinking, went out again to call for cat. And from the other room I heard “Welcome home! You are never allowed outside again!” coming from the kitchen. I can’t really explain the surprise or excitement we felt at seeing the little furball again. And that bit about going outside only lasted the evening, because I really don’t want to have a catbox in the house…