Recently

Our garden is overflowing with squash and zucchini and in turn we are eating lots of fresh vegetables at dinner.  They are growing faster than I can cook them which means I better learn how to freeze vegetables, quick!

Sam has recently learned to open the gate leading to the cow pasture.  In the short time I've lived "farm life," I've learned that opening the gate is a dreaded task.  Sam can now carefully unlatch the chain and swing the gate open for his Daddy.  He can then pull the gate shut and latch the chain back, all while being sure not to touch the electric wires.  While this makes me nervous and I shutter as I watch, worrying he will be shocked, his Daddy is overjoyed.  I have no doubt that Sam's ability to open the gate now ranks right up there with first words, first steps and potty training to his Daddy.

Jack showed me that there really is no food that he can't use to make a huge mess with.  After growing tired of scraping oatmeal off the floor, table and chairs every morning, I thought I'd try blueberry muffins for breakfast.  Seems like a safe choice, I thought.  My littlest quickly showed me how wrong I was as he proceeded to do a little eating and a whole lot of crumbling of his muffins.  Lesson learned: there is nothing this boy can't use to make a massive, time-consuming mess.
Jody took the boys on their first "fishing trip" to a pond down the road from our house.  It was a short trip, very short, as they returned home within thirty minutes.  They caught three fish, including a pretty big catfish, which scared them both and led to the quick return home.
Because Crate and Barrel dishes are easy to replace, Jack moved on to some irreplaceable items from foreign countries in his quest to break at least one thing a week.  He found the small, decorative bowl that Allyson brought me from Japan and thought it needed smashing.  Jody tried his best to glue it back together and while it is together, it is clearly obvious that it was once in several pieces.  A few days later, he shattered a small glass dish a friend brought me from Italy.  This special piece, however, could not be put back together.  

I also discovered that Jack has an amazing ability to unscrew lids that are very, very tight.  How at his young age he does it, I'm not sure, but he does.  He has removed the lid of a brand new bottle of washing detergent and dumped it's contents onto my bedroom floor and unscrewed the lid of a bottle of spray and wash, again brand new, and dumped it all over the den carpet.   To further show off his super-human, lid-opening ability, he demonstrated his talent at opening any size item.  Many mornings we hang out in our bed for a short time until Jack demands to be fed breakfast.  He will often hop on and off the bed, run to the den and retrieve a toy and bring it back to bed. This particular morning he was doing his normal running around and when he returned to bed, I had cuddled up beside Sam and nearly dozed off.  Nearly, I repeat.  Until I felt a grainy shower being dumped over my head.  I turned to discover Jack had gotten the full, plastic jar of cinnamon sugar (by pulling up his small chair to the counter and grabbing it), removed the lid and poured it on my head, covering me and the sheets.  Not one of the best ways to greet the day I might add.  He, however, found it hilarious.  And he always makes disciplining him difficult because he truly finds humor in doing these things.  And he also finds humor in my reaction and my screams of "Jack, NO, NO!"  So while I'm trying to parent, he runs away and returns laughing so hard that his eyes are barely open, his pointer finger is out and he then, of course, begins his mocking Mama routine.  And I am left to "discipline" this face...

Every day is a new adventure around here.  And there is never a dull moment.  Never.