The Garage

First off, let me ease your worries and tell you that Kelsey (the horse, not my cousin) is settling in fabulously.

But, more about her (and more pictures!) later, I promised hubby that I show our other *big* project that's going on right now: His Garage. (and yes, this is the reason that i could barter for a horse. haha.)

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When we bought our lovely but previously un-lov-ed house, this is how our house looked: quite lost and forlorn.

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And after we cut down the weeds....

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And after it was rototilled....

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And then we planted grass....ahhhh.....and life was good.

Add in a lovely underground sprinkler system for us who are lazy, and "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work." (Genesis 2:2 NIV). So we rested too, and the lawn flourished.

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Till Now...

Our 3rd Stall is well on it's way.

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First, we prepped the garage.

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Then, big holes were dug and walls were poured.

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Then, I was going to take a picture of the cement pad for the floor and where we put our initials into the concrete. But, it was late at night, and when we woke in the morning it was mysteriously covered. Odd.

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But now (and really, at this very moment), our lovely friend Bill (really, a very good contractor. Smiley, works AWESOMEly with us, and is ON TIME. i love him.) is working on the walls. And doesn't it look grand?!?

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And this is where we are now. Coolio. Everyday, another step. It's lookin' good, boys.

HAPPY NEW HORSE DAY!!! (for real - she's home!)

Exciting, exciting day, folks. Really. A day that we in the Masselink household have been preparing for the past week. Well, Travis. He's been doing the heavy work of getting the stall ready, taking off work today to come with us. He's been a great help.

Right, Banks?

Somehow Trav found a way to fit horse stuff on poor Banks. Oh, how he's tortured.

Anyway, so I hustled through work today, ran to pick up Adalynn, and chug-a-lugged to Middleville where we met Travis and Deb. After a little struggle to load up Aphrodites, Kelsey's stablemate, that little Arab was shipped off and headed back to her original home. Then, Kelsey was loaded up and away we went! So, I'm a'thinkin that you may be wondering how in the world we ended up with another horse. Yes, the plan was to wait until at least spring before adding onto the fam.

But really, how can you just say 'no' to this face? It's impossible.

So, we didn't. And we loaded her up and took her home. Well, not really home. Up the street. But we'll see her at least 2 times a day. Cause we're fanatics like that. And look, she's already posing for pictures! Definately going to fit in great.

And after a mild "Where in the 'h' am I?!?" she calmed down and settled on in. This evening, she was steady as a rock. Very cool.

Adalynn agrees. And how could life get better than this?

New Addition

So, there is going to be a new addition into our family. And we (and by WE I mean Adalynn and I...haha) are extremely EXCITED. (a little understatement :)

HAPPY NEW HORSE DAY!!!!

Well, Travis is excited too, because for him it is

HAPPY NEW TRAILER DAY!!!!

And you may be asking yourself, how can this be? it has happened so fast! WoW! But, really, thanks to Grandma Deb's superior listening skills and notices of good deals, Adalynn is getting a new horse for her birthday. We went and rode her on Wednesday, (since Adalynn is a little too little, it's kinda more of Mommy's horse), and she is precious. We are going over on Sunday to clean the barn and will hopefully pick her up on Monday! So, no pictures for right now, but more (A LOT more, I'm sure) will come on later. Just had to let everyone know what a GREAT husband I have for supporting this. :) YOU ROCK, HON! Best Hubby Ever. Awww......

MSU

Really, we haven't been up to too much except working on a lot of "projects in waiting" (garage, putting up walls in the basement) and T's school. (pictures of the projects will come soon) Oh, and Travis' volunteering at a Haunted Forest. And homework. And work. And volunteering. And church. Hm, maybe we're busier than I thought! Anyway, Adalynn and I did get a chance recently to go visit Ryan at MSU with Amy and Mom. Here's the lowdown....

We don't have pictures of: Ryan's House (really, it's about the same as every other college guy's house. i don't need to elaborate. theta xi, anyone? i'll rate it just a little cleaner than that). Lunch at some grill in Lansing. Or, FanTasTic ice cream at the Dairy Store - MSU's personal and home grown ice cream and dairy store (hence the name). Adalynn ate cinnamon ice cream, and I got her some cheese curds for later. Huge hit.

We DO have pictures of hanging out (or Adalynn and Ryan hanging out) near the Diary Store. We would have a picture of Amy, Ryan, Adalynn, and I, but I just can't bring myself to show it. My hair is AWFUL. And since this is my blog, what I want goes. But, Adalynn wants to tell how her and Ryan played instead of hearing me babble on...

At first, I wasn't so sure I wanted to play with Uncle Ryan. I was tired, had eaten my ice cream, and wanted to go to sleepey.

Then, Uncle Ryan lifted me in the air. I liked that.

Then he started running around with me.

Then we pretended we were really victorious. I started singing "Weeeee Arrre The Champions" (only no one else could understand me. but i was, really.)

It was cool. Then Uncle Ryan had to go to class. Poop. Until next time...

FireFighter Extroidanaire

In other Masselink Household News, Travis started Fire Fighter School today. So, for the next 6-or-so months he will be tied up with school on Monday and Wednesday nights. We are very proud of him, as evidenced by this huchungus Peanut Butter Cookie waiting for him upon his arrival home tonigh. yes. a lil nutty. but he liked it. :)

Pumpkin Picking and more Pumpkin-y Stuff

This past weekend was THE PERFECTEST WEEKEND to go pick Pumpkins. So, Travis, Adalynn, and I traveled to Dorr and met Scot, Heidi, and Mason and Nana, Jerilynn, and Naomi for a fun little fall adventure at the New Salem Corn Maze.

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I dressed Adalynn a 'lil too warm. Poor child roasted under a long sleeve onesie, sweatshirt hoodie, AND winter coat. But she handled it well.

The chillun's rode the ponies - new for this year. Seriously, how cute is that? She SO needs a pony.


Then we took a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch. Once there the poor 'ole tractor driver, in green overalls, had difficulty understanding that we did NOT want to walk the corn maze, only the Pumpkin Patch. But thats ok, it worked out better that way.

Except it meant that we got quite a workout carrying out pumpkins. Gotta tell you though, it rocked seeing all green, white, and gray/green pumpkins. And the gourds? Nana and Heidi acquired quite the wild array of gourds. And Hubbard Squash. And they are beautiful. Go God!

I tried quite hard to snap a great picture of a happy Mason. But, he doesn't like to smile for me. Pooh. Instead, he gives me a look like, "No pictures for this cool dude." Check it out.

Once back to the barn, the girls and Mason played in the cornbox. Pretty cool, and they enjoyed it.

And we enjoyed this...

Mmmmmm......

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So, Sunday Travis, Adalynn, and I (and Ryan) met at Mom's house to put up her new garage door opener. While the boys did a GREAT job in the garage, Grandma, Adalynn, and I walked to the Meijer Gardens and checked out their pumpkins.

And Adalynn played with a Really Big Cymbal (just don't let the sculpture-ist know that i called it that).

Still though, the pumpkins ruled.

I love fall.

My First Real Live Footy-Football Game

My first Football Game Ever was the Caledonia 78ers team. My neighbor Brett played almost the whole game. He plays really good, but he got hit a couple of times real hard. and they lost. pooh. I sat with Daddy for a while.

But, I really really enjoyed watching the cheerleaders and clapped along and tried to say the words. And I rocked at it.

I'm going to my second football game tomorrow night, hopefully, if the weather holds out. I'm going to watch Northview and East GR play. I need to cheer for both sides because Grandma Linda teaches at Northview and Daddy went to East GR. So either way, I win!

Canning

Here's what we ended up with:

Applesauce 14 Pints

Chunky Apples (Mac, Jonagold, and Gala) 4 Pints and 5 Quarts

Chunky Apples (Cork?) 7 Pints and 2 Quarts

Half Peaches 12 Pints and 4 Quarts

Chunky Peaches 5 Quarts

Stewed Tomatoes 11 Quarts

Marinara Sauce 6 Quarts

Stewed Tomatoes with Jalepenos, Onion, and Green Pepper 6 Quarts

Salsa 5 Quarts 6 Pints and 5 Baby Jars

Hope that's enough!

Apple Picking

So...Adalynn's 1st Apple Picking was Friday Sept 20, 2008. And I haven't been able to blog about it yet because I've been peeling apples, cutting apples, and squashing them into applesauce. Then canning. And canning. And canning. BUT, I digress. After all, the real star here is 'lil Miss Sweet Pea McGee, right? And here she is...

First, we picked the apples.

Of course, we had to taste test!

But Grandma had to teach her.

And with my 3 toofers, she tasted them gooooood.

and then carry them back to the farm...

and take pictures with Aunt Amy and the Cow.

(cause Adalynn says "Moooooo!" now...)

Next on the list...the pumpkin patch.