Two Action Packed Weekends & An Introduction to Mutton Busting...

I'm a little bit overwhelmed by the number of photos I have to catalog for this blog entry but when you cram Shafer Days, a circa 1920 bank robbery reenactment, hay ride, and a pumpkin patch into one weekend and follow it up with a good ol' fashioned fall / Halloween cookie decorating party the next weekend, it all adds up to exactly one buttload of pretty sweet pictures. And yes, I DID say a circa 1920 bank robbery reenactment. It's part of the gala that is Shafer Days.

Henry honing the art of the "wet willy" on a virtually defenseless young lady...

Downtown Shafer is breathtaking this time of year. The gentle roars of the the garden tractor pull serenaded us in the distance...

Me and Henry looking thuggish at the scene of the infamous bank heist.

Downtown Shafer!Henry tries to go against the grain and make a right turn. Guess what, guy -- left turns only.

Violet and myself take in the festivities...

Last weekend momma has some of her lady friends and their kids over for a little fall / Halloween cookie decorating and goat harassment party.

I love this picture of Henry and "Mad Dog". We have a trail that goes from our back yard to our little goat pasture and to the back field. I walk it a couple times a day to take care of the goats and what not and sometimes just to go for walks around the field and stuff. This picture pretty much shows how I always see Henry running down the trail all crazy looking like he is about to fall.

Another one...

Ashley and Violet discuss toddler matters in the goat pen.

Henry waxes poetic on some of the finer points of animal husbandry. I would say he is on track to dominate the field in 4H. I think he could also be pretty decent at "mutton busting" on the rodeo circuit judging from some of his shenanigans with the goats but I'm not sure momma would cotton to that kind of mess.
This cookie right here was 100% decorated by Henry James from the critical design stage all the way to the completion...

The sugar buzz was just beginning to take hold...

Here's the gang -- Note: Violet hunkered down in a witches cauldron.

Maddie, Allie and Violet (and Ashley's leg and arm)...

I was gone on top secret business but Henry was described as an above average cookie enthusiast. This photo would tend to confirm that.
I believe the sugar buzz was wearing off here...
The gang...

It was an absolutely gorgeous and perfect fall day at Lendt's Pumpkin Patch. Many, many pumpkins... Gourds, cider, what have you... they had it all.

Lots of pumpkins...
Violet likes to climb on stuff. I know that the shawl / poncho look is very 2004 but I would say Violet pulls it off and makes it her own.

We picked out about half a dozen really good pumpkins.

It seemed like me and Henry had to do most of the work. Typical...

The fall colors have peaked at the ranch. Here is the view from our porch...


Violet ambles down the driveway. Note: my woodpile. I have maybe a cord dried, split and stacked. Hopefully, next year I can do better.

Henry and Violet share a rare tender moment...

Bottoms Up!

Just a typical morning at the ranch...



Henry likes to drink from the tap. We like it because we don't have to do anything. Henry had his first dentist appointment a few weeks ago. He did really good and had no cavities. Violet is getting into the act too. She likes to play with her toothbrush. Sometimes she even brushes.

Violet is adding new words to her vocabulary every day. She can sort of repeat any word you say to her. She says daddy, mama, gramma, Ike, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Here is Henry being gross and eating crackers.

Henry's new favorite cartoon on Netflix. I haven't studied it too hard but from what I can tell it's about three ambiguously gay and morbidly obese sumo grapplers. But I dare you not to get the theme song stuck in your head.

Fun Ideas For That Extra Roll of Industrial Plastic Wrap

Violet was very close to being inconsolable for a couple days. I am pretty sure she has been teething something fierce. Check out her shirt in the picture below. Drools McGoo. Her good spirits seem to be back now.


This is an older picture from tub time. Another happy moment.


Violet likes to show us her toes when we are at the table.

I rolled Henry up with a roll of industrial plastic wrap. He thought it was fun... for a while. After we rolled around laughing he just sort of flopped around on the bathroom floor a while and started getting mad.
This was Violet at the peak of her last bout with teething. She is generally not a cuddler so she must have been feeling pretty bad...

Batman Fever...

All superheroes have this moment -- The Identity Crisis... I believe this is where Henry realizes that with great power comes great responsibility.



In case you are confused, Henry wanted to show people who he is going to be for Halloween... The optional gloves really tie the outfit together. I've never been one for the store bought costumes, but it's pretty funny to watch him run around the house as Batman. I just wish it would have a functioning utility belt.



He is able to leap tall child gates in a single bound...


Here he is acting as TinkerBell / Violets personal bodyguard. That is his game face. It's the same face I get right before he does a karate freak out on me.

Sheri and Ashley came over for a play date last weekend. I'm not sure what mom and Sheri were doing at this particular moment but it doesn't look like either of the girls are very impressed with what is going down.

I'm still trying to figure out how Henry went from this little guy...

to this...

in what seems like the blink of an eye. He is just a regular little dude now. He just got some spiffy new hiking boots with velcro. He is one month into his formal dance training at Grandma Sue's dance studio. He is studying jazz, tap, ballet and freeform / hip-hop. He also claims that they get to play with swords and do pirate dancing. We don't watch the class, so I can't confirm or deny that. Mom and I recently taught both kids how to do "jazz hands" and that is working out pretty good too.

Are you talking to me?

Henry and I went for a cruise down our road on the four wheeler and came upon a dead possum. Henry was very intrigued to say the least. He kept calling it a "Pasta". "Daddy, let's go look at that pasta again" and "why is that pasta got blood on his furs" and so on. Very curious young man. I hope nobody was spying on us with binoculars as we kept making little circles around this little dead possum. That might have looked weird.

Goose Eggs, Nudity, Goat Houses, etc.

Violet is a toddling machine. This is probably the best bump she has gotten to date. She got this one while doing flying body drops on me on our bed.

Henry recovers quickly from a waterboarding session in the tub.

Violet tries on a pair of slippers after a bath.

NUDITY!

Henry and Violet have been staying at Grandma Sue and recently-retired Grandpa Bruce's on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and at the neighbor lady's on Thursday and Friday. Every morning he asks where we are going and when we say Grandpa and Grandma's he says "YAH!". They get to hang with cousin Jada too. I guess a few weeks back Jada tried putting Violet in a headlock and Henry freaked out and said something like "When I get big, I'm gonna shut the door on you and turn out the lights!". I can't say I'm real upset since we have always told him that he has to watch out for his little sister. But Henry has his moments with Violet too...

One of the better things Henry has said to me lately -- Henry is watching cartoons -- I say "Hey Henry, How's it going?" To which he says something like, "Dad, could you please be quiet, I'm trying to watch 'toons." Whatever, buddy. It seems like his respect for me might be dwindling.

We have concluded the cause of the green turds was that Henry had been over indulging in fruit snacks loaded with vitamins and food dye. I think he had been supplementing his diet by pilfering little bags of fruit snacks. We uncovered a cache of fruit snack wrappers tucked away under the wood pile next to our woodstove. We are not sure if he was stashing the wrappers so we wouldn't see the wrappers in the garbage or if he was just too lazy to actually walk to the garbage. He just giggled when we confronted him on it.

Finally, after fifteen months of living in our house illegally--without an occupancy permit--I can say we have passed our final building inspection for the county. What did it take me? Two years and some change? It feels good to not have to worry about that stuff anymore. I can finally focus on my three favorite things: raising goats, chopping wood, and hating the government. I am nearing completion on what should prove to be a very well appointed goat house that is being built almost entirely from left over stuff from building the house. I believe that in the future, my goat house will be the standard by which future goat houses are measured.

Henry James: Medical Oddity

For the past two weeks Henry has been pooping green turds. Not just regular green. We are talking a brilliant and shimmering green -- almost glowing like lime green playdough or kryptonite. My initial theory of eating a ton of playdough now seems unlikely. My next hunches are tapeworm or eating too much squash and other healthy vegetables. Educated or uneducated medical opinions are currently being accepted.

Henry enjoys a train ride from Kaptain Kirby's Express as two clowns stand in the distance. This was a part of the festivities from the recent Ki-Chi-Saga Days in Chisago City. There was also a disease ridden petting zoo and some huge inflatable slides and that kind of stuff.

Mama takes Violet and Henry for a ride with Kaptain Kirby.

This is an old picture from Henry's birthday bash. Auntie Em made Henry a sweet robot costume.

Henry also enjoys dressing up as a bodybuilding pirate. He excels at mischief and general skullduggery. I think they just call it the terrible twos because it sounds better. It should actually be the terrible threes. Below, the toilet paper roll serves as his telescope.

Lately, Henry has been ending up sleeping in our room nearly every night which is getting pretty old. Henry also got a much needed haircut from Poik this weekend.

We got two new goats -- Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. I have some pictures on my other computer. I will try to get some up on the next post.

Violet is walking all over the joint now and is starting to jibber jabber and talk more.

This Is My BB Gun. There Are Many Like It, But This One Is Mine..

Life on the farm, an update...

I keep our dog food in a metal trash can out in the garage and usually the last thing I will do before I leave for work in the morning is feed the dog. This morning I opened up the dog food can and I was lunged at by a tenacious field mouse! So, this morning the last thing I did before leaving for work was shoot a field mouse with a bb gun. I guess I am officially a hillbilly now.

Hey, Violet. The phone is for you. Yeah, it's Olivia Newton John. She wants her outfit back. She can basically walk now. She can walk across a room but still is most comfortable crawling. Her big words lately are daddy, Dora, and I-eeee (Ike).

Mama bought this buffet at a yard sale on Friday...

Henry and Violet play with baby dolls.

Henry and Violet partake in the new dinette set-- a thrift store find. No more highchair for Violet.
Henry "helps" dad mow the lawn...

Henry keeps coming up with good material. Let's see what I can recall from the past couple weeks...

-"Dad can you help me climb this tree, cuz' this is just SO not my day."

I was explaining to Henry that you have to be an old and mature teenager before you can get a drivers license and he comes back with - "Well, dad, my feet are getting bigger, I don't use a sippie cup, I poop on the pottie -- can I drive?"

Henry came out to help me finish up a few odds and ends with the goat fencing project of 2008 and he was carrying his little green John Deere tool box that he keeps his tools and stuff in. So I'm working and he sets down his tool box like it's time to get down to business and says "alright dad, I got my drill, my microphone, and my pink sunglasses". He proceeds to put on his sunglasses and belts out a pretty solid rendition of "London Bridge". His pitch was a little off, but he took that tune and made it his own...

Henry went to Pea Pickin' Flea Market in St. Croix Falls on Sunday and is a big fan. He got a Spiderman action figure for a dollar and lady gave us a free bowl of ice cream.

I made a little shelf / armrest thing on the corner of the goat pen and Henry was sitting up there and wanted to climb down the fence. Mama said something like "be careful, are you sure you can do that?" And he shows us how he climbs down the fence and says "See? Someone should have showed Humpy Dumpy how to do that." He's right.

We might go see about some goat prospects later this week to expand the herd. We'll keep you posted.

The Unknown Stuntman

Henry still insists on doing all his own stunts. His "boy knees" are in classic form. He runs and falls and dives everywhere -- all the time. He loves band-aids.

Does anyone need an electric dryer that works just fine? I could even deliver it in exchange for a case of classic formula Schlitz. It does have a bit of rust on the top that could easily be sanded and repainted. Let me know folks -- this amazing, one time offer is sure to be for a limited time only.