Combines, Trucks and lots of Wheat

It's harvest time in Kansas and Noah is soaking it all in.



Riding in the combine with Grandpa.



Ben dumping a load of wheat at the farm.



The combine...yes, the header is unusual. Instead of cutting the stalk of the wheat, it simply strips the grain from the head of wheat. This makes for less straw going through the combine and means that the machine can go through the field at a faster speed. Dad, did get all of that right? I don't know my combine/wheat lingo very well...











Ben and Noah walking across the yard.







Water Boy.



Through the windshield of the combine - what a beautiful view.

Such a Big Boy!

Levi, over the last few days, has mastered the skill of sitting! It's very exciting to be able to put him on the floor, surround him with toys and know that he will stay content for a while!

The joy of cereal

Noah has discovered that he loves to eat cereal in the morning. In particular, Fruity Cheerios, at least this last week that was his cereal of choice. It's a messy meal, that's for sure, lots of milk dribbles, but for the past several days it's been his food request at each meal.

Favorite Photos from this week

The photos in this post are not necessarily connected in any way, other than they were all taken this past week.



Above, Noah had asked to hold Levi and Ben gave him a shot at it. Noah was so proud to be holding his little brother and thankfully, with his laid back personality, Levi was OK with it too. Levi is still enjoying the discovery of his tongue.



Levi is at the stage of development where he puts everything in his mouth and grabs everything within reach. He has little control, so he's usually a fumbling and drooling, but cute, mess.



A self-portrait of me and Noah - I think we look pretty good together! :-)



Noah loves to help Ben mow. It's an interesting thing because Noah doesn't actually do any thing with the mower. When Ben is mowing, he keeps an eye on Noah, but generally Noah is free to do as he pleases. Lately, he has started to sweep the grass off the driveway.





My silly guys reading. Well, Ben and Noah are reading, Levi is trying to eat the book.



Hanging out outside. Our newest "coolest" outdoor toy is in the background. That big ball squirts water out in several directions. We weren't sure if Noah would hate it or love it, but so far it's a hit.



There's nothing like eating cookies on the front porch in summer - what a cheesy smile.

Video of Noah and Levi

I have tried several times to video Levi and finally got some video that seems worthy of using on the blog.

If you turn up the sound loud enough, you will realize that the noise in the background is a weather report on the radio. I shot this video last Thursday, a day/night when we were supposed to get tons of tornadoes and horrible wind and hail and in reality it rained for a few minutes and that was it. But, since it had been hyped for days that the weather would be terrible, we were on high alert for it and had the radio blaring so we would know if something was headed our way. There's nothing like Dan Dillon's voice on KFDI and a forecast for tornadoes - makes me nervous just thinking about it.

Noah's energy is precious, I sometimes wish I could capture it in a jar and hold on to it for when he's older and too cool to get excited about the small things in life. Levi's growing strength amazes me.

Glimpses

I often think of this blog as my scrapbook. I'm not a scrap booker, because I would constantly be behind and I would spend too much money making it just right with all the coolest embellishments and whatnot all. So, this is my way of documenting for myself, and anyone who checks this blog, the happenings of our life.

The pictures in this post are simply glimpses from our weekend. It was a crazy weekend that I simply would not have survived without the help of my parents. Ben officiated a basketball tournament all day Saturday and Sunday, I had a big meal at church to work on, and the boys had to be looked after and cared for as well.



Above: I really should have taken a video of Levi, but by the time I got the camera out his best laughs were gone. Ben had just changed Levi's diaper and was getting the best laughs out of him. He's just learning how to laugh and it's such a joy to hear him.



On Saturday morning, while I was feeding Levi breakfast (yes, it's all over his mouth - we were literally in the middle of eating breakfast when I snapped these photos) Noah started playing with his tractor. Noah just loves to play farm these days and on occasion, he'll just get down on the floor and start driving a tractor or combine around. I remember my little cousins spending hours on the floor "working fields" and "combining wheat", it seems like Noah is just at the start of that kind of imaginary play.

And, as a side note - Levi is getting pretty good at eating. His tongue seems to be learning what to do and less and less food is coming back out with each bite!



Ben and Levi...
Levi has discovered his tongue, it's out almost all the time these days.

Getting Ready

So, nearly every morning, when Ben and I are getting ready in our bathroom we are joined by these two smiling faces. Noah is the ultimate "helper". He knows all about how I put make-up on, how to put on deodorant and lotion, how Ben shaves, how I do my hair - the whole process. Poor little Levi just gets put on the floor under his play-thing (not sure what it's official name is) to keep him occupied and on a somewhat regular basis, Noah joins him. Noah just shoves Levi to the side so he can squeeze in and take over. Like I said, poor little Levi...