Beautiful Weekend

We had truly beautiful weather this weekend. Yeah! First project was minivan repairs. We were really lucky our trip to North Carolina, Florida, and back went as smoothly as it did. Tom discovered that he needed to replace some bushings (I didn't take notes, so I'm probably a little off in what I may call things). He had planned this project, so he already had the new bushings. In order to put the new ones in he had to take the radiator out. Somehow that led to know we need a new radiator. The old one wasn't leaking, but it was a bit rusty. We did smell a burnt electrical smell on our trip, and Tommy discovered that that was a fan. I have no idea what fan, but he showed it to me and it was pretty burnt up.

I raked away the mulch I had down to cover the new rows that I tilled. Then I weeded that row, planted 6 bulbs of garlic (about 36 cloves spaced 4" apart), and then covered the row with mulch. The row in front of Kyle is the raspberries we planted when my parents were here. The row in front of Reeve is where I planted the garlic. The row behind Reeve (not weeded yet, but it's there) is where I will plant next years tomato plants. I'm going to do something similar to what we'll do with the raspberries. I'll put fence posts at the ends of the row and then as the tomatoes grow I will string them up off the ground. I have tomato clips that I can use to attach the vines to the string. I sure hope it will turn out better for the tomatoes next year.

I thought this would be an interesting picture. It's the start of our woodpile for the winter season. Unfortunately a lot of it is pretty green, so we shouldn't burn it this year. The flipside is that if we don't burn it this year we'll have a headstart on next year. Our neighbor has been incredibly generous and has brought us many truckloads of wood. All Tom has to do is split it up. He's got a huge pile of burnable wood yet to split, so we're thinking that we have at least half the wood we need for winter heating. We burn the wood in a wood boiler that heats our floors and all of our domestic hot water. On sunny days it's assisted by the solar water panels. If it's a real sunny day we don't even need to light a fire thanks to the solar panels.

The kids wanted me to take a couple of pictures on their slide. They were really enjoying the warm weather. They love posing for the camera.

Kyle's Broken Arm

On Wednesday September 27th we were going to bike to the beach from Barbara's house in Hobe Sound, FL. We had Kyle in a child seat and I was handing the bike to Tommy. Tommy grabbed the handle bars and with Kyle's weight in the back the bike fell over. It all happened so quickly, and I couldn't catch the bike before it fell over. Kyle outstretched his left arm to break the fall. It was too much for his little arm and the bone broke right above his elbow.

He had surgery in Florida on Friday September 29th. The surgery went really smoothly. We were very lucky and had an excellent orthopaedic surgeon. He put two titanium pins in Kyle's elbow to keep the bone in place. The following Wednesday he had a follow-up exam and x-ray. The bone was setting nicely and the break was barely noticeable. Kyle was such a trooper through the whole ordeal. He loved swimming in the pool, so that was the hardest part... watching Reeve learn how to swim without a life jacket. He was down for a day or so, and had some pretty major meltdowns. Mainly because I didn't want to baby him and he wanted me to carry him around everywhere. I had to explain to him that he didn't break his legs!

Now he's in very good spirits and really looking forward to getting the cast off. We met with an Orthopaedic doctor here in Wisconsin. He is a very nice doctor and really did a good job with Kyle. He had to cut Kyle's old cast off which was a bit traumatic for Kyle. The cutter was attached to a large noisy vacuum which made Kyle nervous. Kyle also saw for the first time the pins sticking out of his arm. When Kyle saw the pins he said, "Oh no, this is not good. This is just not a good day. Please don't take them out. Don't take them out!" Then the doctor said the pins looked good and that there was no infection. He put some padding under the pins and then put a new cast on his arm. Kyle chose the purple.

Reeve was fascinated by the whole procedure, as you can see from the above picture.
Kyle's cast comes off and the pins will be removed on November 9th.

Pumpkin Harvest

Last weekend we harvested most of the pumpkins from our garden. The pumpkins on the left are pie pumpkins, in the middle are the buttercup squash, and on the right are the first two jack-o-lantern pumpkins to rippen. There are more of the jack-o-lantern pumpkins in the garden, and we'll probably harvest those this weekend. I also plan to clean up the garden... remove the tomatoes, cabbage, etc., salvage what's left of the basil, and plant garlic.

My favorites from our garden this year are the garlic, red russian kale, basil, and spinach. Next year I'll plant regular cucumbers vs. the pickling cucumbers. The pickling cukes seemed a bit on the bitter side. I'll also stake the tomatoes next year. It's just too messy the way we've been doing it. I also think they'll get their own row, maybe out by the raspberries. I'll probably get more ideas this weekend, and then I have all winter to plan :-).

Marc Chabot's Wedding and FlintlockCampground, Boone, North Carolina

We recently traveled to North Carolina to attend Marc Chabot's wedding. Marc and Tommy have been friends since Jr. High School. It was great to see and visit with friends and meet new friends. A reminder that we're blessed to know some truly remarkable people. Who knows why we didn't take more pics at the wedding???? I'm very bummed that we ended up with only one picture that Tommy took. It's a beautiful picture and shows the picturesque setting for their ceremony and reception.

The wedding took place in an outdoor open half-walled chappel. During the ceremony there was a brief sun shower that was on one side (the bride's side) of the chappel. The temperature was perfect the whole day. The food was delicious and the company was superb. Reeve and Kyle hung out with a cutie pie 3yr old named Max. They also fished on the pier and Tommy took them for a ride in a paddle boat.


This is the gift I stitched for their wedding.


We thought it would be fun to camp in NC before and after the wedding. It seemed like we had just enough dry weather to set up the camp, get ready for the wedding, then take down the camp. At all other times there was a constant steady drizzle. We learned that our new tent is too big, not suited for cooler weather, and not well suited to rainy weahter. Also the screen tent we bought for the picnic table was not meant for rainy weather. The water pools on the top and then down pours right onto the picnic table. Despite the wetness we had a lot of fun and are looking forward to camping in this area again.

We had a beautiful camp spot right in the Appalachian mountains. Our campsite was right next to Laurel Creek.


The driving there was really different. A lot of the roads we took were extremely curvy and our top speed was about 30mph with me constantly applying my imagniary passenger side breaks. As many of you know my navigational skills are not the greatest and I ended up steering us onto the scenic route out of the Appalachians. We could only drive about 30mph the whole way down and I was extremely woozy when we finally made it out of the mountains. What was suppossed to take us 2-3 hours according to map quest took us about 6hours!

Devils Lake Wisconsin State Park

While my parents were visiting in the Dells we decided to take a day trip to the nearby Devils Lake State Park. I was hoping to find out why they call it Devils Lake, but didn't get that info on this little trip. However I did find an answer on their web page. They're not certain how the name came to be, but believe it was a "white man's name and that it is a misnomer" from the American Indian names for the lake which range from "Sacred Lake," "Holy Lake," "Spirit Lake," to "Evil Spirit Lake." It was an extremely popular spot for the elite in the late 1800's. The pictures there were fascinating.


There was a long board walk behind where Mom&Dad and kids are standing. There was also a huge slide into the water.

It was extremely beautiful there and definitely a spot where we'll want to camp and hang out for a couple of days. There is lots to do on the lake and surrounding bluffs.


The day started out quite nice... a little breezy, but still warm. We drove into the park and saw a sign for the Ice Age Trail. It's a trail that covers 1000 miles in the state of Wisconsin. It follows the path of the glacier that once flowed through parts of Wisconsin during the Ice Age.

There was also a hands on Nature Center that we all enjoyed exploring. It was good that we went on this day because the weather turned nippy cold the next day. Mom and I experienced that fun in an outdoor shopping outlet mall in Wisconsin. From the exterior it has a cozy log cabin design, but the interior was entirely exposed to the elements. Not very wise for a Wisconsin Mall. We managed to have fun, but it took me awhile to warm up to the idea of shopping. I hadn't been retail clothes shopping in years! By the end of the mall we had found some really good deals. Thanks Mom & Dad :-) for a great visit.

Christmas Mountain Village, Wisconsin Dells

Three weeks ago (Don't ya love how speedy I am at this) my folks came to visit us and the kids and I stayed with them in their cabin at Christmas Mountain Village in the Wisconsin Dells.


The kids had a blast just seeing my Mom & Dad (aka Nana & Bee). The weather turned cold on us after the first day. There was a park across the street from their cabin.
Reeve and Kyle had fun hanging out there.


I'm not very good with camera lately. I miss a lot of good pictures and the ones I do take are either too dark or too far away. We're looking for a digital camera with more megapixels (ours has 2 megapixels). Any reccomendations would be greatly apprecieated :-).

Nana and Bee had a couple of early birthday presents for Kyle. In the picture below Kyle is putting on a finger puppet show for Reeve. Those boys LOVE to act and create stories, so this was perfect for them both.


They also both received two very cool 3-D kites. Living up on the ridge we do get a lot of wind, so I'm sure now that we're back from our trip those kites will be flying. One is a pirate ship and the other is a really cute turtle.

More to come. If I only had more hours in the day! I have a lot to post about, but just a small window of time in the morning. I'll do my best to try to get caught up this week!

A New Flower Bed

One thing we have definitely neglected has been landscaping. We have zero landscaping save for 5 apple trees, one cherry tree, and a weedy garden. My parents helped remedy that situation today. They drove up from Indiana with a packed SUV. It was jam-packed with Ken's old dresser (you didn't want that Ken... did you?), a huge desk (Reeve has claimed it... we'll see), a tall slender knick-knack/bookshelf, AND a ton of day lillies, purple coneflower, black-eyed susan, irises, and some other flowers to attract butterflies (do they know us or what?).



They arrived shortly before Ed's arrival. The funny thing is that the last time Ed came to visit us my folks were here. Cosmic timing. We also rarely get visitors, so to have them all decide to come on one day was pretty exciting for us all. Reeve and Kyle were extremely happy. We set to work right away planting the raspberry plants. Then we set in on the flower bed. Tommy was nice enough to take a time out from his visit with Ed to till up the new flower bed. For weeks I had the area covered with cardboard boxes to kill the grass. That actually worked fairly well, but it was nice to have it tilled so the earth was nice and loose for planting.

After all the outdoor work was done I set to work in the kitchen. I made two pizzas and a garden fresh salad (no bagged spinach in this house!). While I was making the pizzas Reeve, Kyle, and my Mom picked the spinach, tomatoes, basil, lettuce, and kale for the the pizzas and salad. I should have had two bowls of salad instead of just one, because I ended up eating 3 slices of pizza! That's why I'm up right now writing this blog... my tummy was too full to sleep. The kids have been tossing and turning. I woke each of them up to go to the bathroom and drink some water. They're not used to eating so late and they each had 3 slices (normally we limit it to 2). Hopefully they will settle down and sleep it off.

Update: They slept just fine, they're up bright and early, and they're HUNGRY :-).

A Visit from Ed

We had an enjoyable visit from our dear friend Ed Peterson. We haven't seen him in awhile, so it was really good to catch up with him. He came out several times to help us build our house. It was a beautiful day. We always here really neat stories from Ed. Lately he said he has spent a lot of time doing "walk-abouts." On these "walk-abouts" he can typically walk for 30 miles!

You Are 45% Left Brained, 55% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

Well I got this idea from my friend Dana. I thought it was a really neat test. I've been very busy with homeschooling for Reeve and Kyle, packing for our trip to NC & FL, getting ready for my parent's visit this weekend, and numerous other boring domestic responsibilities. In the near future I see plenty more pictures for this site... hey what do you know I have a psychic part in my brain too!

I did finally get out and do something for myself last night. My friend Laurie called me up and invited my to go to an Ashtanga Yoga class with her in Tomah (about 20 miles away). It was a 75 minute class and it was awesome! I'm going to take my Mom and possibly Dad with me again on Monday night. The class is twice a week for the next 8 weeks. I'm a happy girla! (that's the way Kyle says girl).

Love that Poop

Happy Labor Day Weekend!
We're happily digging in a lot of Llama/donkey/horse poop! A friend of Tommy's from work delivered a tractor load full of poop for us to use in the garden, around the apple trees, for some new raspberries, and flower beds.

Reeve and Kyle preferred to stay a safe distance from the poop, but it really doesn't smell bad.


I set to work tilling some new ground for the raspberries that my parent's are bringing in a couple of weeks.

Hey that first row was pretty easy! I want to do more rows. I did two more rows for salad mix, spinach, and red russian kale. After the ground was tilled I covered the rows with a layer of poop, and then covered that with grass clippings and straw.

Tommy's really serious about riding his bike to work. He's been preparing for the winter ride by visiting the Ice Bike website. The funny thing is that he might have better luck making it up the hill after a snow on his bike vs. in his car. He will need to get some winter riding gear, because these biking shorts just aren't going to cut it.

Tommy's New Bike

Well it's been 18 years since Tommy had a new bike. He's been looking on eBay for about a year now for a new bike, and he finally broke down and bought a Windsor Tourist bike for his 8 mile commute to work. Reeve and Kyle were the first to open the box. They couldn't wait to see the new bike get put together.

Kyle really liked the box it came in:


Tommy rode his new bike to work the very next day. This is a picture of him riding down the backside of the monster hill. Someday I'll have to take a picture of just how big it is, but we think it's around 150 feet steep. You can also see from this picture just how isolated we are here on our ridge. You can barely see part of our neighbors house, but not in this picture.



One of Reeve and Kyle's favorite things to do when Tommy rides his bike to work is to ride their bikes in the driveway while they wait for him to come home. Reeve really loves riding his bike, and here's a better picture of him riding with no training wheels.

HustlerFest

Geez I'm behind on posting! I had a rough week... the internet lost connection for 5 hours on two days thanks to some construction folks who cut the fiber optics line for the DSL. They cut the line about 30 miles from here that knocked out the internet to the entire area. Anyway here's the latest update about a week behind :-).

Last weekend we went to the 87th (I think?...I'm pretty sure) Annual HustlerFest, in our beloved little (pop. under 200) Village of Hustler. It's the closest thing to a town near us at 4 miles from our house. Normally we ride bikes to HustlerFest, but I pooped out and was not looking forward to riding bikes home in the dark and up our Monstro Hill. I don't know how Tom rides that hill every day home from work. It's nasty.

The picture below is of the Garden Tractor Pull. This year they had the pull where they have the big tractor pull... next to the Omaha Bike Trail and behind the Hustler Cheese Factory. The white building in the picture below is the Cheese Factory. They make both goat and cow cheese, even some organic cheeses.


For us at HustlerFest this Garden Tractor Pull is the big event. We like it better than the big Tractor Pull because it takes place in the evening, and not in the heat of the day. It's also over in a couple of hours and not an all day event. There are a lot of kids (8 and up range) that drive the garden tractors, so Reeve and Kyle like to see that. A lot of locals are there on Friday night, so it's nice to get out and chat with neighbors you don't get to see otherwise. The kids had a blast running around the park playground with the other kids while we watched the log sawing contest. The trick in winning the log sawing contest is in the pulling. It's a two person contest. Gary Gladstone wrote a book entitled, "Passing Gas, and Other Towns on the American Highway," and in that book he states that when he traveled through Hustler it was sooo boring that it made his hair hurt. That probably sums up about how most are feeling about this post.

Pickles

We only have 3 cucumber plants, but more cucumbers than we can eat. There's more out there to harvest, but yesterday weeding took top priority (look at the bottom pic and you'll see why). To date I've canned a total of 17 quarts of pickles. We tasted my first batch (6 quarts) before I made more, and I was really suprised at how good they were. They're a tad vinegary and slightly salty, but I wanted to be on the safe side. The kids love them and request cheese-pickle sandwiches all the time. The greatest part is that pickles are so easy to can. It's not a chore like putting up tomatoes. I also used dill from the garden, so they're dill pickles.


We're also starting to harvest the carrots. These are small ones, and don't worry I washed them well before the little guys put them in their mouths. Nothing compares to carrots fresh picked from the garden. The taste is 1000% better than store bought carrots. I also have to ad that I did weed in the garden last night and it looks MUCH better than in this picture. I also need to mow, and hopefully I'll get to that sooner than later. It might be later because we're forcasted to have 4 days of rain, so it'll be nice and long when I do get around to cutting it.

Last of the pics from the Reunion

Here are the last of the pictures from the Reunion. What a great get together!

Silly Shower Game

The second part of the Reunion took place at the Plaza Suites where they had a nice warm pool with two huge floating snakes. Sadly I did not get any pictures. I was in the water having fun with Reeve & Kyle and the rest of the kids.

After swimming we had the the baby shower portion and a silly baby shower game which the kids participated. The object of the game was to see who could stuff the most baloons into their shirts.


It was really funny to watch. Kyle tried his best, but the balloons kept falling out of his shirt. Gina and Mary did most of the preparations for the game by blowing up countless balloons.



Jacob won!

Cross-stitch for the Baby Shower

During Part 2 of the Guilbeault Family Reunion there was a baby shower for William Richard Guilbeault. I have a dear friend who also has a blog that was the inspiration for this blog. Dana's blog frequently includes her latest knitting projects. I think it's fun to see what she's working on, so I thought I'd include some of my cross-stitch projects. Dana was also the inspiration for my love of cross-stitch, and I designed this cross-stitch from one that Dana made.

Guilbeault Family Reunion - Part 1

Here are some pictures from the first part of the Reunion at Gene Guilbeault's house.

Tenetia and Reeve are getting the baloons ready for the Baby Shower (Brian & Cassie's William Richard) game to take place at Part 2 of the Reunion.

Guilbeault Family Reunion - Eau Claire, WI

It had been awhile since we visited a Guilbeault Family Reunion, but everyone there always makes us feel right at home. This year they had the Reunion about 90 miles from our house at my Dad's cousin Gene Guilbeault's house and the Plaza Suites in Eau Claire, WI.

I didn't take all the pictures that I wanted to take... I guess I was to preoccupied with catching up and having a good time. There were a lot of Guilbeault's & Santi's in attendance this year, and a lot of them came from great distances. Nick Guilbeault and his wife Elizabeth traveled in from Boston.

Bill Guilbeault's (another cousin to my Dad) traveled in from Boston (I think?) and New York. It was really difficult to keep up with everyone and where they were from. Pat Guilbeault (cousin to my Dad) and Tom Christopher traveled in from Boulder, CO.


Nancy & Bill Guilbeuault and their son Brian, his wife Cassie, and their new 3 month old baby Will traveled in from Appleton, WI. Gene and Mary Santi came in from across the border in White Bear Lake, MN. Their son Steve and his wife Lisa came with their kids Tenetia, Xavier, Alex & Jacob... also from the White Bear Lake area. John Santi and his wife Colleen and their two girls Jocelyn and Gina traveled in from Apple Valley, MN. Andy Santi traveled up from Brookfield, WI with his son Peter. It's quite possible I got some of that wrong, but as you can see there was a lot to keep up with.


Part 1 of the Reunion was hosted by Gene Guilbeault at his house in Eau Claire. We had a delicious lunch and the kids had a great time playing with each other.