See? Pane?

We took Jacob to the airport yesterday. We were really on our way to Walmart, but as we drove past the end of the runway, a small plane flew right over our heads. It was probably a student, learning how to land and take off, as they had just landed minutes before flying over us. We pulled into a parking lot and waited for them to fly by again. We let Jacob out of his car seat, and he hung onto the side mirror, his whole body outside the car, shouting with glee. "SEE, MAMA!" PANE! SEE?"

He sees planes all the time, even the far away, spots in the sky. We live near a Army training area, so there are loud planes overhead frequently. He stands outside, head tipped back, scanning the sky for the source of the noise he knows is an airplane. Then he makes sure that we know that he knows what it is.

One of his favorite toys right now is a "copper" that Gramma got him. It's really a helicopter, and right now, it's somewhere in his crib with him while he sleeps. His other favorite toy is a "mo'cycle" but that can't stay in his crib because it lights up and plays a horrible Miami Vice sounding clip. But he has fallen asleep with it clutched in his hand since he got it. What is it about boys and trucks, cars, planes and "mo'cycles"!

Sunshine

My mom got me these beautiful sunflowers for my birthday!

She's good like that.

Happy Birthday To ME!

Today is (was) my 27th birthday. Ever since I turned 25 and had Jacob, I have kind of forgotten my age. I frequently forget how old I am. It's certainly not on purpose. I look young enough that I'll never lie about my age. I will still look 30 when I'm 45! Score!

I have never been one for lists of goals I should accomplish by a certain age, especially since I have a knack for saying "I won't ever..." and a year later, I'm letting Jacob watch DVDs in the car on a thirty minute drive from home.

So here are somethings I would like to do this year!

Make another quilt. Specifically, this one.

Potty train Jacob.

Make enough grocery bags that I can stop using the plastic ones at the store.

Sew a skirt for me!

Get married.

Get pregnant again.

Go to Las Vegas in December with some friends.

Make homemade marshmellows.

Pay off one of my credit cards.

Have date night once a month with CS.

Create a photo wall of pictures I have taken. Make sure all of them are framed.

Have family photos taken.

Finally read the book I won about learning how to use my fancy camera.

Create enough that my Etsy store has more than two pages of items for sale.

Try to sell more Market bags at the local You Pick Farm (Happy Apple, Penrose CO).

Own a serger.

Run a 5K.

Cook outside the box. I've been very boring and predictable lately.

Try and see movies in the theatre more. Maybe combine this with date night?

Start writing stories again. I'm very caught up in creating with fabric but I would like to write down some of the stories in my head before I lose them.

Teach Jacob his ABC's.

Go to the hot springs in the middle of winter. It's so luxurious to sit in a river in your swimsuit when snow is falling down around you.

Talk to all my grandparents on the phone more.

Write letters to my college BFF every week.

Insist on a One Hour Limit of TV Time for Jacob. It's very hard to do this when I am working! I know! So bad!

Go see a play. A good one, in Denver.

Create awesome, matching costumes for me, CS, and Jacob.

That's all I have for now. I wouldn't call it a Mighty Life List, but it's a start. My real life list is much shorter and full of trips to places across the ocean.

Jumpy!

Jacob likes to play a little game on the bed.

To play, you must stand at the foot of the bed. (My goodness, does that boy not have the most beautiful lips and eyes?)

Say "SET! GO!" in the squeakiest, most earnest little boy voice.

Fall back.

Return to the foot of the bed as quickly as possible. Repeat!

Sometimes, when he's not steady enough, he is known to slip off the edge of the bed. This is very distressing and ends with many tears and probably a sneaky hand down my shirt. Booboos are his only comfort. Ironically, more often than not, that little trick earns him a spanking.

Give it up, boy wonder. You had them for 19 months. I've reclaimed them.

*Also, please excuse my mismatched pillowcases and bedsheets. I have a real problem with buying sets at Target but nothing ever matches. I'm working on it! I made pillowcases yesterday...that don't match...oh dear...

I Have A Problem

I'm a tad bit addicted to making these market bags:

The pattern for the grocery bags says to use two different cotton prints but I've lined mine with burlap! It's perfect for toting dusty carrots, muddy lettuce, and skin flaking onions.

Technically, they aren't all for me. I'm selling two of them to women at the library.

They are quick and easy to make, and much cheaper when you use burlap instead of cotton!

My favorite is the Pear fabric on White!

A Few Things

Things that make me happy:

New rugs to replace old, stained stinky ones.

Thunderstorms, but not when they knock out the power.

Only having to take care of one dog. Puppies are obnoxious. I'll take Hunter over a new puppy any day.

Committing to working out again. Starting the Couch to 5K program tomorrow AND I have a workout partner!

Selling my market bags to people. It's nice to make things that people want to buy!

Free jewelry! My friend asked me to watch her 2 year old all day on Saturday. We all survived and no one was reduced to tears so she gave me a gift certificate to her jewelry.

My birthday is in ONE week, and my mom already surprised me with a beautiful handmade rug from the Farmer's Market that I have been coveting.

Art Work

What is it about my son and pens? I can't even hand him a marker or the mess would be overwhelming. Usually he gets a pen and scribbles all over both legs and then moves to his elbows. For a while there were crayon scribbles all over the tables in our living room and at least one spot on the wall by the stairs. Those Mr. Clean Magic Erasers really work! Although, I think it took a little bit of the table off as well!

He did write on the lid of my laptop once and I'm yet to get it all the way off. However, that doesn't compare to what he did to it last night. He was sitting on my lap, and took a drink of water from my water bottle and proceeded to spray it out of his mouth directly onto my open laptop. BIG TROUBLE, MISTER. Subsequent spanking and sitting on the couch did not make little boy happy. But when I told him he could get up, he walked over to me, gave me a hug and said "saw-wy." I guess I'm teaching him something, yes?

WAHM

I worked THREE full days last week. All day long, from 8 to 5. I didn't really get to step away from the office much since if the phone rings, I can't hear it in other parts of the house. Jacob left in the mornings after he woke up, and by Day Three he was not happy. No, he cried and yelled and reached out for me as he left the house. Of course, he was perfectly happy a little bit later but I'm paying the price for that now! He won't let me leave the room without him. In the mornings, he used to watch cartoons while I played online or sewed. Now I have to sit with him while he watches Sesame Street. Or I might just slip out on him? Baby minds are a funny place.

Working 30 hours in one week is something I haven't done since before Jacob was born. And 9 hour days are LOOONG. It was rather quiet but for the most part I was able to handle everything that came my way. There were only a few phone calls for help on my end! I only had about a week of learning how we do things before I was sent out on my own. My job is made so much easier by the fact that we have a one year warranty. I was worried I would have angry mommy emails all the time but we just make everyone happy.

Also, since I do not know many people with children who cloth diaper, I am blown away by the amount of people who do! It's incredible. Disposable diapers are very convenient, take just a little less work, and allow for fewer diaper changes. But they take 500 years to decompose, are full of chemicals, and cannot compare in the cute butt factor. I wish everyone would use cloth. I know I can be as wasteful as the next person but I'm getting to the point where I want to be a lot more green. I hate the plastic bags I come home from the store with, and yet I always forget to bring my green bags to the store. I want to recycle and compost! But my dogs would eat the compost and I don't know if we even have recycling in this small town.

So I'll just do a small part by using cloth diapers and figure out a way to keep a compost bin safe from sneaky dogs.

Family Tradition

On Sunday, we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (for the second time this year) and Jacob had a much better experience! The first time we went in the afternoon, and he only had a 20 minute nap. This time, we went before naptime and he was so much happier and easier to deal with. There was no barricading himself in to the little hut outside the otter exhibit when we asked him to go see the next animals, for one.

Jayden hurt her foot outside the wolf exhibit and sat down to cry and pick at the cut on her foot while refusing to let anyone see it. When Jacob realized she was upset, he ran up to her, tugging at her hand as he said "Wha wong? Wha wong?" and puckering up his lips to give her a kiss. She allowed him to hug her and then he ran off to play in a little wolf den, happy as a clam.

He also shouted "gaff! GAFF! GAFF" as he held out a giraffe cracker for ten minutes while none of them ate any. But he was certainly persistent!

500

This is it. The 500th post here at Hunter's Prize. Coincides nicely with Hunter turning 5 this year, not that I planned that in ANY way.

I'm only posting because my mom told me too.

Things have been hectic but I'm not reallysure why. I think it's because my family was here for a while and that always seems to keep one busy, between driving back and forth and visiting. Jacob, Jayden, and Carter all got to sit on the neighbor's horse but we forgot to get the camera so we have no photographic evidence that they were all together at one time. It's sad that I will probably never know my nephew as well as I know JBelle, but maybe not. I certainly enjoy my aunts and uncles that I rarely got to see. Although, I always wished my cousins were closer and I do want that for Jacob.

I made jam again, this time apricot butI didn't follow the David Lebowitz recipe and it never set. It's still delicious! Maybe next year I will reach a happy medium between rolling off your toast and running down your arm. Sometimes I feel like I'm preparing myself for the possibility that our easy, sweat free, labor free world is going to come crashing down and I will have to know how to make jam and wash diapers and sew my own clothing.

But maybe if it does, I'll at least have a skill.