July Long Weekend 2011

This last week and weekend have been quite a busy and exciting time. I turned the big 3-0 on the 28th of June! So I enter into a new decade and leave my youth behind, or so I'm told. Now I'm 30 as my husband has repeatedly told me. It's only a number and you're only as old as you feel. I don't feel or think 30, but 30 is the new 20!!!! I was spoiled by my hubby. Since I'm an awful, critiquing person to buy a gift for, he went safe and bought me flowers and had them delivered to the house after he left for work. Later that night, the 2 of us went to the Lamplighter restaurant, one of the nicer restaurants in town for an expensive dinner of steak and shrimp and tuxedo cheesecake. Happy Birthday to ME!

Thursday my parents dropped in for a couple of days to visit for my special, momentous birthday. We started the night off with homemade pizza with help from Chef Katelyn.
We spent Friday in Billings, shopping up a storm. Katelyn did as well as can be expected considering she started teething for her 2 yr molars. What fun those are. It was nice to have her take a sleep in the stroller in the mall. It was greatly needed by all of us.

Saturday turned out to be pool day. We finally got some heat at the start of summer and the weather had been phenomenal and the wind has been at bay for the last week which is amazing. Katelyn started off in some water that was for Tucker to drink outside.The pants got wet so they were soon disposed of. Then we got out the pool and filled that up. Plunked the slide into it for our own water slide.
We had a bbq of sausage burgers from home and the bbq fixin's. After the great news that Daddy got the officer position, it was back to the pool and pail. Being the great mother I am, we forgot the sunscreen so K got a good farmers tan.

Yesterday was just a relaxing day. We went to the park nearby before lunch. Headed home for freezies and movies just to stay out of the heat since we had so much the day before. For dinner, kabobs were on the menu along with a fire and trike riding.
We had some awesome weather for my parents stay and some good memories.

Officer Pellegrino

As of July 1st, 2011, I have the wonderful news to announce that Jason Pellegrino has been added to the Powell Police Force. He is extremely excited about his new career! Not that Cody Hospital has been a bad place to work. He enjoyed all the guys, the people and all the pranks, but a policeman has been a heart's desire for him. He was getting tired of making the 1 hr drive everyday too. So instead of shelling out $300 a month on fuel, we can maybe save it or put it towards health ins. for me and Katelyn since Jason's is paid for.

The hiring process has been a lengthy one. We weren't initially going to tell anyone he was applying for the 3 open positions that they have, but once they start background checks, they want to talk to everyone. The guys at work were happy for him, for the most part. They are all older and are lifers to the job for the most part. Jason just didn't fit that bill with that job. We are thankful for it though. It helped us in a great time of need when construction work has been non-existant for us except for small side jobs.

Two days in June were set aside for testing. If you failed any test along the way, you were out. First came the written, then the physical fitness, which he passed. This was his second time at the written and had failed once before, but now was successful. There was an interview, a psych evaluation and a visit with the shrink. Having passed all of those, the chief called references, employers, fellow employees etc. I even had an interview with the chief at our house. Talk about nerve wracking. I agonized over my answers for the next couple of days, because I thought I did such a terrible job of talking about Jason and his character. Oh well, it is behind us now. So July 1st, he had a final interview with the sergents, dispatcher and others. He came home pretty beat thinking he did awful. It was a grueling hour interview. Our friend, Reese, also applied and passed everything. Jason called him after his interview and they both agonized over their answers to one question about bluffing to someone to get a confession. They both changed their answers four or five times. After lunch, Jason got a call from the chief asking if he could come over. So he came and asked Jason with a straight face, "When do you want to start work?" AAAAAHHHHHH!!!! He came outside with a huge smile on his face. So he packed up really quick and drove to Cody to give his two weeks. Reese also made it and will be training alongside of Jason. Two more Christians have been added to the law around here.

So July 18th is his first day. I'm excited for him. Our lives are going to change, but everything is in God's hands and we'll just adapt to all the changes. Regular weekends off will be a thing of the past.

Kabobs

With the first day of Summer under our belts, the weather finally decided to bring us some much needed heat. With the heat, the a/c was turned on and so was the barbecue! I've been grilling the last couple of days to not heat up the house, but also because I LOVE BBQ! So last night, we had elk kabobs with sweet & sassy bbq sauce from Nebraska someone brought us. I also attempted grilled asparagus, which was amazing.


This girl LOVES HER STEAK!!!!

Lotioned Up

It got very quiet one day. A little TOO quiet. Some investigating was needed to find where K had gotten into that made her SO quiet.

This was what I found:

She knows I keep lotion in the bottom drawer in the bathroom, because we use it after every bath on her. She happened to pick a bottle that had turned rather soupy because it is 8 yrs old. The smell brought me back to first being married in our quaint apartment, since it was a gift from a friend when we got married. So note to self: Lotion does not last forever. K believes that if it's good for skin, it's got to be good for the lips too, hence the lotion on her mouth.

Potty Training

I finally decided that I was going to buckle down and really start potty training. The first week in June was upon us and I had been warming K up to the idea by making her sit on the potty and trying to get her to go on there. Sometimes we hit at the right time and other times we would miss it. So we went straight into big Girl panties and we haven't looked back, except at nap time and bed time are the diapers still in place.
I do have to say we've been pretty successful most of the time. We have had a few accidents, or should I say many at home, but so far only twice in public have we had a serious accident. It is the oddest thing, in public she will tell me she has to go, like 4 times in a row we went at the quilt store. It was kind of bothersome because sometimes nothing happened, but she was telling me right? So I would rather go than wait and see a puddle on the floor. Now that would be embarrassing. At home is where we have the puddles. Just to get the point across, she did get a spanking for doing it on the floor and just watching, and we did put a container of Canadian smarties in the cabinet in the bathroom to make giving a reward easier to remember. Sometimes she tells me she wants a "pea" and we have to differenciant between a "piece" of candy or we really have to "pee".

This is probably more than anyone wanted to know, but this is what we have been doing. So if you come to our door, just be warned that clothing is sometimes optional for the 2 yr old and you may see more than you bargained for. :)

My Horse

Emma, or "Ima MoonBar" is a 10 yr old Registered Paint mare that is for sale. Unfortunately. She has been a good horse, but sometimes a not so good horse. Chalk it up to the female factor sometimes. Her pen mate, Saber has found a new home in Meeteetse on a ranch working cows. I hope everything is going well with him.

We really have hated to get rid of our animals, but we haven't been fair to them either. We don't own pasture so they are fed year round, which right now thereis no hay to be found. We haven't used them in the last two years like we have previously, due to a new person joining our family 2 years ago. And we don't live with our horses making access a little more work to get out there. So we will look for other homes and wish them well and we will fill the horse holes in our hearts with our friends horses, for now.

We ventured out as a family on May 7th to take some photos of K with Emma or better known as "Ride". This girl can spot a 'ride' or a dog miles away. Horses are known as ride in her little mind. Maybe she just knows that that's what they are for.
The bellowing cows in the background were a little frightful for Miss K. So we had to have a closer look to quiet the fears.

Meeting the horse was another fear that was quickly overcome. Giving Emma some treats helped. K would have fed her the whole bag if we would have let her. She wasn't too sure about her eating from her hand so she ended up dropping most of them. Once Katelyn gained confidence around the horse, I had to really watch her because she would go trucking behind her or around her. She loved to groom the part she could reach which was about belly high, so Emma got a belly scratch.
Then it was down to the round pen for a ride.
Miss Independent, once she got the jist of what was going on, she had to do it herself. I wasn't allowed to touch the reins, but I snuck my hands in there when I needed to.

Look at the determination on her face. "This horse will follow me!"

(I would upload video but they aren't working right now)

So after a couple of rides it was time for a snack. It was kind of a last minute decision to head out there so I grabbed what I could. I cucumber, grapes and wheat thins. No one complained.

It was a good day!

Where did May go?

So it's been a month since I've blogged. I'm sorry that I haven't had much to report here, so I'll do my best to try and catch up on the last month.

Rain. That's all I've got to say. Wyoming has had rain for most of the month of May. Many of the locals have said they have never seen so much moisture in the spring. Flood watches are out for a lot of places. The spring run off took a lot longer to get here, but the dam has been letting out water to make room for the runoff. Water for irrigation has been flowing since the beginning of May but no one has had to irrigate with all of the rain. That is a blessing. I love the rain too. But, it did delay the garden going in until yesterday. Oh well. Now the wind is battering the tiny plants I have sitting on my freezer since the 2nd week in May. Yes, I was anxious to buy some greenery. The Cucumber plants have twisted their stems in the wind, causing me to buy two more replacements today. These will be planted after the wind goes away and lets them grow. The flowers went in a couple of days ago and they don't look too good. The new ones I bought a couple of days ago look great!

We acquired some debt over the last couple of years which we have wanted to see gone. This is the year of no more debt! We've sold a few big ticket items that have helped us pay off what we owe. It wasn't acquired due to a want, it was due to the rollercoaster of work that is called construction. It has been so nice these last couple of months to have a paycheck coming in every two weeks with Jason's job at the hospital, minus the huge expense of fuel! The last 2 months, he has been getting smaller jobs to do in the evenings which has gotten us ahead! We sold his tool trailer, horse trailer and his horse. Mine is up for sale and needs to go. Not that I want her to, but we haven't been utilizing them since we've had Katelyn and we can't keep them where we live. So with the rising cost of hay and right now the shortage of hay, we are letting them go. I am sad to see that part of our life disappear for now, but God knows our hearts and our desires and maybe in the future we will have horses again. For Katelyn's sake, I hope it's sooner rather than later.

I'm really drawing a blank as to what we did in May. It doesn't help that I haven't taken many pictures to refresh my memory. I forget to buy batteries and then I look at the price and pass on them. Yes, I'm cheap, but I must remember some time soon.