Adventures

Sunday afternoon Jason got the tractor running and headed out with Patrick to get some end of the season mowing done on the back 40. After a little while Patrick was done and Jason brought him back. He helped me sweep out some of the garage and Jason headed back out to mow before we needed to leave for youth fellowship at church. A short time later Jason came walking back- the tractor had gotten bogged down in some thick grass and stalled out. It would not restart. Bummer! So we all loaded into the truck and headed back to where the tractor was. Once we got the truck backed down into the little valley we hooked up the tractor. After a few attempts it started! Patrick and I drove the truck out and were getting ready to head back to the house when I looked back down to where the tractor was and things didn't look quite right. The front of the tractor was pointing up to the sky. In his attempts to get the tractor headed back up the hill it started to roll backwards and ended up rolling back into the dry creek bed!
After some discussion we headed back to the house to get the phone so we could call our neighbor with the nice 4-wheel drive tractor. Patrick and I rode in the truck but Jason wanted to walk. Fortunately, Rich was available and drove his tractor over. Patrick kept saying "It's stuck in the muck!" Chains were hooked up and the pulling began.
There was a lot of pulling, tires spinning, and more pulling. Our tractor would not start so Jason wasn't even able to spin his own tires to help with the process. I drove back down there with the hopes of starting the tractor. No luck. The tractor would turn over but nothing would catch. Rich and Jason decided to unhook the mower deck from our tractor to make the pulling a little easier. Once the mower deck was off, the tractor popped out with no trouble. Rich towed our tractor all the way back to the house which was great and now it sits in our garage hooked up to the trickle charger. If we can keep Jason from shooting it he might try and get it fixed so we can use it to plow this winter. I guess the rest of the mowing will have to wait.















The other adventure at our house today was our first snow! Patrick was very excited to put on his coat and go outside and catch his first snowflakes of the year.

Progress

Things are progressing upstairs which is just wonderful! My dad was up the other day and got the first coat of pain in what will be Patrick's room. After a few trips to the paint store and several horrid color choices I finally picked out a color that I like. I had even tried to fix the old paint and was hoping it would grow on me. Each time I went up to that room though I said "I hate this color." There was no learning to love the color. Jason's parents are here this weekend so this morning Jason and Ted got the subfloor down in Patrick's room. No more squishy floor. Now they are working on the bench seat that will cover the heating duct. I really have the itch to get carpet in there now! I also picked up the paint for the loft area and that paint is slowly getting on the walls. It is the same color that is in the family room but it looks a little darker upstairs. I still like the way it looks. Yeah, progress!

Lessons in fruit smooshies, potty training and blocks

Today has been a marathon day for parenting. We are in the midst of potty training with Patrick and he is doing really well so far. He is actually pooping in the potty which was a concern of ours since the site of his own poo caused him to gag. This morning started out well. Patrick used the potty, had a good breakfast and was getting ready to start his day playing. Then he asked for a "rolly smooshie" which is kind of like a fruit roll up but very long and thin. A small piece had torn off before he even unrolled it. It was the perfect nostril size so Patrick wadded it up and shoved it in. In an attempt to get it out he must have shoved it even further in. He came to me with a nervous look and one eye tearing up. I took a looksy and didn't see anything right off but he said it was up there. So- I armed myself with a flashlight and some tweezers and we both headed for the bathroom. The flashlight confirmed that, yes, there was something way, way up there. It was well beyond the reach of the tweezers and no amount of blowing on Patricks' part was going to make it come flying out. I called Heather, our personal nurse and savior in emergency nose stuffing situations, for some advice. After a little giggling on her part she offered some suggestions and we both were hoping that the smooshie would start to dissolve and come sliding out on its own. So I agreed to report back after we tried a few things. By this time Patrick's nose was beginning to run with a brown mucous which was the smooshie starting to dissolve. I got the nasal aspirator and started sucking away in there. Lots and lots of brown mucous, some more fussing, more brown mucous and finally a little flap of smooshie. I told Patrick "I think it's all out!" He sniffed a little and said "I think there is still some in there." More suction and more brown mucous and finally Patrick gave me the all clear. Lesson 1: Don't stick things in your nose. Whew- glad that was over with. All the excitement of the nasal suction must have distracted Patrick from our original goal of potty training and he had an accident...on the carpet. Oopsy! Lesson 2: Please tell mommy you have to use the potty(haven't we had this lesson already?). The last lesson of the day was a little harder for Patrick to deal with and not one that we could really fix for him. Jason was home and using the facilities when Patrick busted in and wanted to watch the toilet being flushed. With two blocks in hand, Patrick watched as Jason flushed and in all the flushing excitement a block hit the water just as the final wash was being pushed down the hole. The block disappeared into the hole never to be seen again. Great disappointment ensued and a little explanation on how we couldn't get the block back. We have more blocks but that block was special! Lesson 3: Don't put things in the toilet that you hope to see again. What can we expect for tomorrow after all this?