The best

Jude loves to climb on my lap when I am on the computer and play with the camera. My heart melts every time because his laugh when we do this is sooooo great. Can you hear it? 

Bushels of apples and buckets of fun

Todd and his mama

Comparing and sharing

Just this last weekend we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's farm in Todd's hometown of Woodbine, Iowa. We started with a walk to the neighbor's apple orchard for some picking fun, went to Grandma's for homemade apple sauce & apple crisp and ended with Apple Fest (a yearly event on and around Main Street). That's a whole lotta apples! A good time was had by all. Will & Jude really love the farm experience and old-fashioned fun, Todd loves running into all the folks he knows and Kari loves the simplicity and quiet. From picking corn and chasing kitties to playing with Grandma's farm toys and typewriter the giggles are non-stop. Ahhh ... fresh air, Grandma's home cookin', fresh picked food and Grandma's hugs ... nothin' finer.  

Break the Silence

Today my mom, my sister and three of the kids took part in a charitable walk for ovarian cancer. Todd and I took part in several of these when we were in Minnesota and we were so happy when my mom discovered the Omaha chapter. We walked in memory of Aunt Judy who left us 4 years ago and we were reminded today that the emotions surrounding her absence from our lives are still very alive. It was happy, sad and everything in between. My mom met a man along the way who lost his wife of almost 35 years. From diagnosis until death her family had 10 days with her. My sister observed, although a very kind man, he seems to be in a daze. Loss like this is so hard for those of us left behind.  

So with much respect for what the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition is trying to accomplish I am going to pass along some educational information. This information is even for the men. Listen to your wives, sisters, moms, girlfriends, daughters and so on because the symptoms are not acute or intense. Only 19% of cases are found in the early stage and if caught in the higher stages, the survival rate is as low as 29%. So here are some of the symptoms of ovarian cancer: bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, trouble eating or feeling full quickly, feeling the need to urinate urgently or often. Other symptoms can include: fatigue, upset stomach or heartburn, back pain, pain during intercourse, constipation, menstrual changes.   

Thank you mom and Jen for our walk together. We miss you Judy!

Mama "fun wrecker" Ramsey is my name

I would say one of the bummer parts of parenting is having to be so practical and sensible all the time. Will loves to "collect" things and "decorate" areas and most of these ventures lead to me throwing a lot of stuff away while he is gone. I must confess IF I am busted by Will I occasionally might maybe blame it on Jude. I am rarely busted though because he forgets about most of his projects, probably because there are SO MANY! As I type there is a dead caterpillar sitting in a jar on our counter, there are cobs of corn in my car, walnuts from a walnut tree in a bowl, his bike is in at least 10 pieces, there is a dead plant experiment in his bathroom and PILES of sculptures made by anything he can get his hands on when I am not looking. The creative part of me says "let him be, let him create!" but some of this stuff gets really gross and too plentiful. It does break my heart to throw things he has invested in away, but I have to draw the line in the sand sometimes and say "no, we can't take your castle home, but we can take a picture". 

Good jeans for "challenging" genes

For all you gals who be bloggin' I want to share with you a great jean find. Check out www.itjeans.com, find a store and give them a whirl and a twirl. My thighs, bum and waist are all from different planets but these jeans help them all cooperate a little better. Even if they don't look that way, they sure do feel good. Another fashion tip I have, throw a clothing swap party. My adorable friend Larri and I have co-hosted two very successful swaps and people walk away with soon to be favorite gently used clothing items for FREE! Each attendee brings items they no longer wear or want, the hostess sets up clothing racks or rods and some tables for foldables and organizes items by type. Throw in  some appetizers, some drinks, a changing area, a full length mirror and you are set. This isn't Goodwill type stuff .... these are juicy goods! So many aspects of our lives change and our wardrobes change with us. It feels great to get rid of things and whatever is leftover we donate to a well deserving charity. 

What Will knows

One morning about a month ago we were awakened by the doorbell and the county sheriff was standing at our door. It seems some teenagers had taken a joy ride the night before, part of which left some pretty nasty tire tracks through our yard. The officer asked if we wanted to press charges because they had caught the hooligans. Anyway, Will absorbed a lot of what was going on and he has concluded in his own special little way there are two kinds of people you have to look out for in this world ... "bandits and teenagers". 

Other Gaga nigh nigh

Kari's Grandma Dorothy passed away a couple of weeks ago. As Jude says "Other gaga nigh nigh (sleeping)". Her great grandkids call her "Other Gaga" because my mom is "Gaga". She lived to be 87 and surrounded by love. We miss her a lot and she reminds us that family truly is the most important part of our lives. We had many years with her, many good times and many good talks. It still never seems to be enough. Enjoy your loved ones, get to know them while they are on this earth and spend time together. 

Angry Will

When Will was little he had a fascination with the emotion "angry" and still does. I opened up Photo Booth on my Mac and found these funny faces Will took of himself. What a guy.

Proud of Papa

We are so proud of Todd. I don't think I would ever have the courage, drive and commitment he has to start a business and make it a success. And it is really fun to listen to and watch the boys at the shop. It is most definitely a family business! I am sure Todd doesn't feel the boys help in any way because we usually leave a trail of tools, parts and water after the boys and I have left but I know he enjoys the company. 

In our continuing effort to market our business we took part in the Millard Days parade. I learned that you can never have enough candy and kids these days are picky about what you are giving them ... even free stuff! Sheesh. Grandpa Larry and Grandma Linda drove the truck, Will and Jude waved like superstars and Todd and I handed out safety information and, not so popular, Smarties candies. 

First camping trip for Jude

Recently we took the boys to Indian Cave State Park in southeastern Nebraska for a camping trip. Despite Kari's whining about how much work it is to pack for one night in the great outdoors we all had a really good time. We hiked, fished, made smores, peed outside and breathed in as much fresh air as we could. Our kiddos reminded us of the simple pleasures in life and that you can have as much fun in Mother Nature's amusement park as you can in a man made one. Why don't we do this more often? Oh yeah, the packing.  

Firsts can be scary!

First day of school for Will? No problem. First scraped up knees for Jude? That's nothin'. Kari's first blog entry? Terrifying! But I did it. I think. You have to understand I don't have a cell phone and I just recently acquired my first iPod. I feel light years behind on the technology front but we had to find a way to share our happiness, our craziness and everything in between. We have eaten up the yummy blogs of others and thought it would be fun to join the e-club. So here we are!