Jenna May

Mom has been bugging me because she hasn't gotten new pictures of my kids in a year.  She called my cousin Chrissy who takes pictures as a side business.  Here are my favorites of Jenna May.

 

Daddy Daughter Date

Lance asked me if I cared if he scheduled a date.  I smiled and said okay.  Then I figured out he wanted to go on a date with his daughters.   He had heard an advertisement for a Daddy-Daughter date at Chick-Fil-A in Terre Haute.  So he scheduled his date (RSVP required) for 6pm.  Before they left for town I took a picture of them together.  The girls were super excited!

Along with eating dinner, they got their faces painted. 

I didn't get a good picture of Shelby's, but I believe she had a butterfly on one...

and a fish on the other.

When Lance texted me this picture, I told him the girls had mean looking faces, he said they had been dancing in the patio area.

He also took them on a horse drawn carriage ride.

I know the kids had a blast.  When Lance carried Shelby into her room, this is how I found her.  She was completely exhausted!

They had a good time and I was proud of Lance for taking the girls out.  I was planning on taking Toby out on a date to the community fish fry, but he fell asleep at 5:30 and didn't wake up until it was time for church on Sunday morning!

Shiner

Thursday when I picked Toby up from daycare he had a boo boo. His face met the TV cabinet at daycare. No other children were involved, he was just wobbly on his feet and went boom. 

His boo boo turned into a black eye for Friday. Sunday, everyone wanted to know what happened. I guess everyone gets a shiner at some point in their life. 

Cinderella or Gordon

Well, we waited until almost last to tell our children that we were expecting another child.  Mostly because a 5 year old and a 6 year old do not know how to keep a secret.  We knew once the kids knew, everyone would know. 

Jenna asked what the new baby's name was and we told her that Mommy and Daddy hadn't decided and wouldn't decide until we knew if she was getting a brother or a sister.  She then proceeds to tell us that she wants another sister and wants to name her new sister, Cinderella. 

Shelby agreed that she wanted a new sister as well.  Lance and I asked what we were supposed to name the baby if he was a boy, because Cinderella wouldn't work for a boy.  The girls came up with Gordon. 

Jenna comes home one night from school with a paper that says I love Mommy.  I love Daddy.  I love Shelby.  I love Toby.  I love Cinderella.  I love Gordon.  Once I figured out the last two statements it just melted my heart.  Here we are 15 weeks pregnant and she already loves the new baby. 

Friday night she came home with her weekly newsletter as well as a page stapled that was homework to be returned on Monday.  So we sat down to work on it this afternoon.  The assignment was to "graph" the members of your family boys and men on one line, girls and women on the other line, then indicate the total and if there were more males or females.

I asked Jenna who was in her family.  Once she would name someone I asked boy or girl and we put them in the graph.  She got down to Toby and I asked how many people were in our family.  She proceeded to tell me in her little matter-of-fact personality (I have NO idea where she gets that part of her personality from at all) "aren't you forgetting someone?"  I just looked at her, smiled, and asked, "who are we missing?"  She indicated the new baby and proceeded to ask me if it was a girl or a boy and how we graphed B4 on the homework sheet.  We talked about if she was a girl that there would be 4 girls and 2 boys.  We talked about if he was a boy that there would be 3 boys and 3 girls.  I then explained since we didn't know and the baby didn't have a name, that we should omit the baby from the homework assignment.  This was NOT the right answer as far as Jenna was concerned, but I didn't know what else to do.  I can only expect that either Mrs. Boyd (teacher) or Mrs. Lambermont (assistant) will get an earful about this homework assignment. 

A day on the Ohio

There are days, I must say I am blessed by my career and the things I get to do.  Friday, September 5th, I spent my work day on a barge on the Ohio River.  The Indiana Soybean Alliance and Indiana Corn Growers Association hosted an Ohio River Tour through the Newburgh Lock and Dam.  Farm Credit Mid-America was one of many sponsors, which meant my employer got several spots on the tour for employees.  I was fortunate enough to get to go to represent my employer.

 

We all met at in the Mulzer Crushed Stone parking lot next to ADM in Newburgh.  We were bussed though ADM lot down to the river and walked onto a barge!

I have been on the Ohio River on a boat, but never before on a barge. 

This is a view of ADM from the barge.

We were transported up river toward the Newburgh Lock and Dam.  Along the way we saw several cranes.  I was amazed at the size of these machines.  (It reminded me of the Thomas crane, Cranky, on steroids!).  I believe this one was moving sand.

 

We were allowed to move around on the top of the barge.  When we were approaching the Newburgh lock, we headed up to the front of the boat.  There were several people of political importance on the barge Friday.  One is pictured below in a purplish colored shirt, sunglasses and mostly bald.  Do you recognize your Congressman?  It is Congressman Larry Buschon; hailing from Newburgh, IN!  We also had Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann.  This was the second time that I have had a chance to be in a group setting with her.  Both the Congressman and the Lt. Governor are agriculturally minded. 

A guy from the Army Corps of Engineers was there to talk about the Ohio River Locks and Dams system.  The Newburgh Lock and Dams were approximately 45 years old.  Some of the oldest locks are pushing 95 years old.  They are all starting to need major work and upkeep.  The expected life span of the locks and dams was 50 years when they were constructed.

We went a little ways up river then made a U-turn in the middle of the river and proceeded back to the lock, through the lock and back to ADM. 

ADM cooked pork chops and had potato salad, baked beans, cookies, and cold water/soda.  It was a neat experience and one that was experienced as a working day with all expenses paid!