Happy 3rd Birthday Elijah

Today we're celebrating Elijah's 3rd birthday and Fathers Day. We are very thankful for the children God has blessed us with! Happy Birthday Elijah!

The kids spent the evening with my parents Friday while Mark and I went out to celebrate my birthday in peace and quiet! They bought Elijah a cake which he LOVED!

A cake with a track-hoe on it, what's better than that?

Something Elijah has been working on recently is learning to ride a dirt bike. We bought training wheels this spring for Ethan's old bike and Elijah is brave enough to ride it by himself!

We stay pretty close since he isn't the best at braking and sometimes doesn't turn in time and runs into things. But overall for his age he does very well.

Seriously..... is that a burn out in my flowers? It seems Elijah got a little close to my garden and the training wheel went up the rock behind the flowers causing his back wheel to go off the ground. Apparently he just kept giving it gas until Mark helped him out.

Potty training is the other thing he's working on. You're probably wondering why I have a picture of a blue stained kid for a potty training comment. Well since he has been a big pain during this process we are having to be creative. A friend suggested putting food coloring in the toilet water so when they go potty it will change color. Elijah was very excited about this experiment so we tried it. We just need to remember to put away they food coloring so he doesn't take matters into his own hands. :)

Summer Project #1

Mark and I have cleaned up more than our share of muddy kids over the years, which prompted our first summer project. Adding more concrete by the shop!

The all to familiar muddy kid.

All the kids liked playing in the area Mark dug out before the cement truck came.

Ethan learned how to tie re-rod and smooth out the concrete after it was poured. He LOVES guy stuff like this!

Getting things leveled out.

We had a little extra so Mark built a box and made a crossing for a creek. My vote for the extra was to put a little concrete pad in front of the shop door. Since that would require digging with a spade instead of a skidloader my idea didn't fly. :)

The cement is laid! We added a load a gravel and have to get the drain covered and we're good to go!

You know you're a farm kid if....

Most of these pictures are a couple months old but I wanted to post them anyway. You know you're a farm kid if...

Your mom takes the "buddy seat" and you have to cram behind the tractor seat or sit on the dirty floor every time you ride along.

You get to help your dad fix all sorts of cool stuff.

You actually get to ride in the equipment that you watch on the Mighty Machines show!

You take your afternoon nap on the tractor or combine floor regularly.

Or you pretend to take your nap. :)

You bring dad lunch or coffee time or supper and always ride a couple rounds.

You have a good pair of boots... even if you don't have pants.