Boy Genuis

I figure that most parents think their child is gifted with intelligence.
I am no exception.
But let me explain why.
We have a little children s game called "Memory".
It basically consists of several cards with different pictures on them.
All the cards have a matching picture.
There are probably 20 different sets, or pairs of cards with like pictures.
There is also a little plastic frame about a 6x8 rectangle.
You pick out around 6 different sets, for a total of 12 cards and place them face down in the frame.
Then 1 at a time you turn cards over.
If the second card matches the first card you take those 2 cards out of the frame.
Eventually you get the frame emptied, then you start over again.
So the trick is to remember where which card is so that you can find its match and clear the frames.
It's a memory game.
Tonight Jen was playing this with Nyle.
Nyle eventually cleared the frame by finding the matching card sets.
So Jen re-filled the frame for another round.
Nyle turned over his first card, and then the second. They didn't match.
Jen says, "Ok Nyle those didn't match you have to try again."
Nyle said "No mommy, the cards are all wrong!" He then flips all the cards over and moved them back in to the squares that the pictures were in, in his first game.
His memory is better then mine.
How's yours?

Gone Fishin'

Well today is our 12 year anniversary. It sure has gone by fast!

There have been a lot of changes in the past 12 years.

One was job changes.

I got out of trucking and in to cleaning and now I have an office job where I now sit and “boss” others on cleaning.

It’s funny how things happen….

I got in to cleaning because I was getting bad out of shape. FAT!

My weight just kept creeping up so I thought I’d do some cleaning work when I was home from trucking.

Well the cleaning bizz kept growing and I wanted out of trucking to have a family. So I got solely in to cleaning.

Well in time we had Nyle. This brought on a new plan. Jen and I both felt it was important to bring Nyle up with his grandparents in Indiana.

I wanted Nyle to have a farm to grow up on and Papa to do stuff with.

So we moved.

Now I have an office job supervising cleaning where I pretty much sit on my behind, answer the phone, attend meetings, make up work schedules, etc.

So basically, as I said before, I pretty much sit on my behind. This is what I was doing when I was driving a truck and decided to do some cleaning for my health.

Now my bad cholesterol is not good and my “good” cholesterol is bad too. This is due mostly because of my job. I was able to get this position because I was in the cleaning business (for my health).My health is now not so great because I got in to the cleaning business for my health!

So I’ve been trying to eat healthier. I try to do some outside things when I get home. I have my chickens to feed and water. I also have a pig to look after. Soon I hope to be plowing the garden and raising some corn, watermelon, squash, cucumbers, and maybe some beets. I am starting to like beets. This means I am getting old. As far as I ever knew, while growing up, the only people who liked beets were old. I ate some on my salad (for my health) today. I also must plant some turnip greens. It isn’t because I love turnip greens so much (I do love them). I think southern nostalgia plays a part in some of the things I do, and long for. Like good catfish. I miss fishing for them and eating them!

I love to fish but especially for BIG catfish. I think the most fun is to go big cat fishing and brim fishing, when they are on the bed. You can always tell by looking at the red clover growing along the road when it’s time to go brim fishing. When clover gets the red tops flowering out, get some crickets and go brim fishing. They are the best way to introduce a kid to fishing. The brim fight hard. The action is fast. And the fish are small enough for kids to land them easy enough. Brim is the southern word for blue gill.)

So that's the news for today...

I wonder if Jen would like to go fishing for our anniversary????

The World is Round

Well, I have not done very well at keeping this page up have I?
A lot has happened in the past few months. Nyle has been potty trained for quite some time now.
He was real easy to train. Very few "accidents" occurred. Except the occsional nightly bed wetting. When this happens we always sympathize and tell him it's allright. NEVER do we chastize him for this. He's just a little guy after all.
He has also learned to the books of the Bible from like Genesis to the Song of Solomon. We listen to a cd on the way to the hall that has a little song on it that goes through all the books of the Bible. He knows several letters and can count to around 13 or 14, maybe higher now. Nyle is not yet 3 years old... Nyle is quite amazing. Example;
He took his first door by hisself with a magazine before he was 1 year old. Albeit it was our bedroom door and he took the magazine from Jen while she was studying it while sitting on the couch. He took the magazine from her and promptly went to our bedroom door and started knocking. As usual, no one was home, but we congratulated him none the less. After all, he had only learned to walk 2 weeks prior. This is no joke, it actually happened just so.
He says "thank you", "I'm sorry", "excuse me" and "Yes Sir!" He does this because this is how we speak with him. I "sir" him and he "sirs" me. Mutual Respect. He is in the "why" stage.
The other day he "whyed" the thought of water running down hill. I was explaining why I was digging a ditch by the lower garden when he asked about water running down hill. I told him he was going to have ask God the reason for that. He seemed satisfied with the answer. Eventually the answer to why is "because the world is round".
We made Maple syrup for the first time ever.
That was quite an adventure. I just drilled some holes in some trees that I was pretty sure were maple and put a piece of PVC pipe in it. I then hung a bucket on the pipe and collected the sap from the trees. Then you boil the sap down and put it in a jar and poof, maple syrup.
Actually there is a little more to it then that, but that's it in a nutshell.
We made about 2.5 gallons of syrup. Keep in mind you have to boil down 40-50 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup.
There are tricks to it like to "finish" the syrup you have to reach a temp of 7 degrees above boiling.
Sap wont get that hot until it's "done". No matter how hot you make the fire! I know, that sounds strange, but that's the way it works..Go figure. The world is round...
I made me a sap boiler from a barrel stove and a big stainless steel pan. It worked very well if I say so myself.
Today is April 8 and we planted some garden. Though it has been unseasonably cool. It snowed Monday, just 2 days ago.
We planted Sugar Snap Peas, Broccoli , Cauliflower, Onions, and Cabbage.
We planted it in the "Pool Garden". Named so because there used to be a big swimming pool were the garden now is.
I am looking forward to some warmer weather.
Khaki, my pig, has been busy tilling the lower garden. She's done a pretty good job. I'll be having "tiller sausage" in about a 30 days.
I have plans to go for a visit down south the 16-through the 20th of this month. I am looking forward to having a few days off and eating catfish at 'The Barrel". Phil has kindly given me a 128 Cub Cadet and an old Sears garden tractor. I am hoping to do some small scale farming / gardening with these tools. I have also recently traded for 2 Gravely's with several attachments. I am supposed to pick them up this weekend up at Crown Point, In. Joe C. is taking his truck and going with me to pick them up. Hopefully I will have enough horsepower to do a bit of farming.
The memorial is tomorrow night. The moon is almost full tonight, of course. I am supposed to be in parking for the occasion. I need to get up early in the morn so I best be cutting out...