Barn Festival

Madeline has been to our local Barn Festival every single year that she has been around. I think she likes it - I hope she likes it!
Last year we did all of the rides, including the wagon ride and she did the barrel train, which was a shockingly long ride. Mommy and Daddy, Grammy and Poppy both stood (somewhat nervously) on the sidelines as our little pint rode around... and around... and around... the track.

"Okay... bring her back now...."

"Any time now.... bring her back...."

The longest barrel ride EVER.

We plan on going again next year. And probably the year after that since it is pretty much a fall tradition. Nevermind the fact that I see umpteen people that I went to school with... and umpteen people that I have done stories on... I kinda just ignore it and try to have fun. It's fun for Madeline and it is a wholesome, quality festival that I kinda dig because she actually learns stuff each time she goes.

This year she learned how people washed clothes on a washboard and what it is like to pump water using an old-fashioned hand pump. That is pretty cool for a kid to see and do.

Checking out the animals in the big barn with daddy

She got to eat a hotdog in the hot, hot food barn. She got to see the petting zoo. And for the past couple years, she gets a book at the Osborn (or is it Uzborn?) book booth. They are overpriced, ridiculously overpriced, books that we can't pass up.

(More fascinated with a bale of straw)

Water works

And of course, we always find some sort of el-cheapo toy at the flea market to haul home. Nine out of 10 times I go there hoping to find some gem for myself and instead walk away with a bag of goodies for Madeline. It's a mild disappointment, but worth the trip to see her smile and meander through a barn that I passed every day on the school bus. I always took it for granted, but I guess it is pretty awesome.

A bin of wheat to play in

Cell phone, potty, rice… need I say more?

“Why aren’t you answering your cell phone?”

If you asked me that question on Wednesday… or if you couldn’t reach me on Wednesday . . . I’m sorry. I was not reachable on my precious cell phone.

We had . . . an incident.

Wednesday started out like any other day. I was showered and dressed before the toddler rolled out of bed. Her awakening is usually followed by a leisurely trip to her Elmo potty, which is still stationed in the kitchen for easy access.

On this particular day, she did her business on the potty and then spied a computer keyboard that she had been playing with the night before – sending e-mails and looking at pictures on her imaginary computer.

She stood up, grabbed it and swept it off the counter. But that’s not all she swept off the counter.

“Oh no, Mommy!”

Oh, yes. My cell phone landed directly in the Elmo potty. SPLASH. In fresh toddler pee.

I shrieked and raced to grab my precious cell phone, pulling it from the potty and not caring that pee was dripping on the floor as I scrambled to take it apart.

RICE! I remembered that you were supposed to put a wet cell phone in rice to wick away the moisture.
I opened the pantry and luckily, found a box of Minute Rice and plopped the phone in a big bowl of it.

But, it only partially did the trick. The battery was shorted out – probably because I kept trying and trying to use it instead of just letting it sit in the rice bowl.

Thankfully, the phone works. I gladly paid $40 for a new battery rather than a few hundred bucks for a replacement phone.

You see, my gadget guru hubby and I like our cool little ‘smart phones,’ but we’re too cheap or maybe just ‘not smart’ enough for phone insurance. I always tell him to refuse it. And this time, I actually regretted it.
Does phone insurance cover accidental drowning in urine?

Oh well, at least rice is cheap.

Hi Mommy, this is my ‘Morning Glub’

"Chloe Bug"... Morning Glub

There’s nothing quite like the bond between a kid and their first dog - or dogs, as happens to be the case in our household.

My 3-year-old is infatuated with her two dogs, Chauncey and Chloe. They’re English Springer Spaniels and they’re also litter mates, which means one is never far from the other.

My daughter isn’t too far from them either!

She follows them, chases them, hugs them and “snuggles” with them. For the most part, she’s very good with them and only occasionally gives their long, droopy ears a little tug.

Sometimes she is a little too good to them. We learned quickly to keep their food just out of reach or else they would be fed... and fed... and fed.

For some reason, she has taken more of a shine to Chloe. The little female is the more mild-mannered of the dogs and definitely the smaller one.

Last week, while on vacation, we spent a good amount of time outside, painting a shed. Of course, the dogs had to be out with us.

And the dogs give chase....

During any long stay outdoors, the “toddler queen” usually ends up in her playhouse, “cooking up” something. The dogs usually go along with the fun - sometimes held captive against their will - in the playhouse.

“MORNING GLUB! There’s my Morning Glub.”

I paused, thinking I had misheard that strange phrase.

“MORNING GLUB, come here!”

I had to go see what a Morning Glub was.

“Whatcha doin’?” I asked the kid.

“I am calling Morning Glub to come here,” she responded. “This is my Morning Glub. I love her.”

“Morning Glub?” I questioned.

The toddler queen informed me that she had renamed Chloe. She was now to be known as Morning Glub.

“You mean Morning Glory?” I asked, hoping I was right.

“No, Glub.”

“Cub?” I asked.

“GLUB.”

“Bug?” still hoping for something more sensible than a Glub.

“GLUB. I said GLUB.”

“Glove?”

“GLUB,” she insisted.

What is a Glub? I do not know. But for the dog formerly known as Chloe, it is now her new name. Perhaps I should inform the vet that her records need to be changed... re-register her? Probably not.

For the remainder of the day - and still to this very day - the toddler queen periodically lapses into calling the dog, “Morning Glub.”

The dog doesn’t respond, of course.

So, just like any good little toddler who does anything and everything to get their way, she eventually - after about 20 minutes of calling “MORNING GLUB,” gives in to logic and whispers, “Chloe, come here, Chloe.”

When Chloe (a.k.a. Morning Glub) finally hears her name, she gladly comes over to the kid, wagging her tail. She simply doesn’t know what a Morning Glub is either.

The toddler claims victory over the dog.

“I love you, Morning Glub. I knew you’d come back. Good little Morning Glub.”

District Convention 2011

Maddie showing off her KooKoo Birds. She loves those silly things.

July 2011 marked our last District Convention together as the "Ewald" clan. Aaron's family officially moved to Kentucky at the beginning of this month, but they returned for one last convention with us since their new congregation, Hopkinsville, already had theirs. Here are some shots of the 2011 District Convention (three days we look forward to SO MUCH in Saginaw at the Dow).

Aaron had to be an attendant in an upper level section at the District, which meant he had to get there EXTRA early... Mommy and Madeline rode in with Grammy and Poppy! The top of our section had an interesting space behind the seats that all of the kids rather enjoyed!

Maddie and Arianna

Nana missed Madeline for two weeks before she got to come "home" for the District.

Caro congregation kids... plotting something

The view from our section

Bestest Cousins, Madeline and Landon

SAY CHEESE!

Say CHEESE AGAIN!

Bunny ears...

Snacking on some goldfish outside the Dow... hair falling down

I'll go anywhere you go, Landon! Alexis is coming too!

Landon, Madeline and Nana at the Dow.

Madeline and Alexis

Watching the traffic? I'm not sure...

Cleaning up after a big day at the District

Blurry, but happy!

Checking out the stage after the District.

Add caption

And there's Landon too!

The Ewalds, District Convention 2011

I'm 3 today and I went to the zoo!

 Today our sweet girl is three. How can that be?

We decided to take our sweet pea to the zoo. It just so happens that I received a press release at work that said there was a special admission price for the Saginaw Children's Zoo, along with a pancake supper.

Why not, right?

Peeking out of the train as we chugged through the zoo.

 Of course we had to see some animals and ride the choo-choo train before we could even think of flap jacks.

I have to admit there are quite a few critters at this zoo. I enjoyed all the displays and I know Madeline did too, since they were all very close and easy to see.

 Look at that little, crazy monkey face? And I don't mean the three-year-old, I mean the monkey to the left!

Aaron said we need one of these at home. I say they will chew your face off as soon as they get mad!

Oops... she blinked on all of the kangaroo shots. They were pretty cool to watch... with your eyes open!

Will ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ catch buck fever, too?

I do not take part in hunting. And since Aaron took up hunting last year, Madeline and I are now the only ones who don’t hunt on my side of the family.

She has an excuse - she’s two.

I, on the other hand, just don’t want to. I’m not into it.

Being a country girl at TSC

But do I support it? Yes, I do.

I think hunting is a great activity for young and old and I actually hope my daughter gets into it someday. She can sit in the woods with her dad, or any number of family members who are anxiously awaiting the youth hunt of 2018.

By the time she’s 10, she certainly won’t be a stranger to hunting and the great outdoors. She’s already posed for a picture with her uncle and a big, fat turkey and she has also seen the excitement of pheasant hunting with dogs scurrying about.

Just yesterday, when I told her daddy was hunting after work, she said, “For deer?”

“Yes,” I said.

“He’s going to shoot ‘em,” she informed me.

“He is? Err... I mean, yes, he is,” I said.

“But he’s not going to hurt them,” she said.

“Uhh... right,” I said.

“They’re all friends,” she said.

I changed the subject to spaghetti.

The perspective of a 2-year-old tot never ceases to amaze me. Everybody is her “friend” and everything has a positive, happy result. She’s “Little Miss Sunshine” through and through.

Ready to roll

I’m not sure - and I have often wondered - what she’ll say when she sees a dead deer hanging in the garage. After all, it’s a sight she needs to get used to.

When I was little, I remember getting off the school bus several times and seeing a big deer hanging in the garage.

Gross? Maybe - but it also meant my mom would be making some venison pepper steak soon and that made the scene much more acceptable.

Hopefully, pepper steak has the same power of persuasion over my daughter as well.

As I write this, the family hasn’t yet bagged a buck during firearm deer season... or a doe, either. Perhaps that will change by the time the newspaper hits the stands.

That means I have a little more time before I find out how “Little Miss Sunshine” reacts to a big ol’ deer in the garage.

If I know her, she’ll be happy to pose for a picture with it. “Little Miss Sunshine” is always positive, but she also isn’t scared of much.

Circuit Assembly 2010

Circuit Assembly 2010 in Holt with Daddy, all decked out in red! Too cute!