Mr. Golden Sun

Yesterday the sun finally came out to grace us with it's presence! Our Spring Break was feeling more like Winter Break with all the snow, hail, rain and wind we were having. I was quite sad that we weren't going to get any Spring weather over the break. But yesterday it finally came out and warmed up! It was glorious.

We probably should have gone out to a park or something, but we had things we wanted to get done around the back yard and thought we'd better do it before the sun changed it's mind and we missed our chance.

Jonathan got to do one of his favourite things... power wash! Our back deck was starting to look a little... green. While he blasted it all away Edison and I played in the back yard. I also ripped out all the dead flowers from last year to make way for new ones later on this Spring. While I took out all the dead stuff, Edison thought he'd help by following along behind me planting little rocks. He's such a helper!

Pretending to fill Albert's bowl with water 

Mr. Power washer 

                                                                  What dog doesn't like having a tractor driven around on him?

Some of the rocks Edison kindly planted for me 

Watching his dad and the extremely loud power washer

Chasing Albert's tail... Albert is a very patient dog 

Got it! 

Life seems so much better when the sun comes out!

We are looking forward to much more sun this Spring and Summer. We've had enough of the dark, cold, wet, grossness that is winter. Bring it on Spring!

Vrooom Vroooooom!!

It's no secret that Jonathan is basically a child in a man's body. I knew it when I married him and nothing has changed in the almost 9 years that we've been married. However, now that we have a little one, I think he thinks he has even more permission to do goofy things.

Cue the go-cart... Jonathan's newest purchase. What father and son doesn't need a go-cart to cruise around in??

So far, Jonathan has been fixing and modifying a couple things... so he and Edison haven't actually driven it yet. But they did push it up the little hill in our back lane and coast back down to our garage. Needless to say, when this thing actually gets driven, helmets will be in order.

Checking it out, practicing his steering  

Pushing it up the little hill 

Coasting by 

Pulling into the garage 

He even made me sit in it... no guarantees I'm driving that thing though!

I'll post a video when it gets driven for the first time with the two of them in it. Maybe this weekend, if our crazy weather cooperates!!

Adventures in Sewing!

In January, I started a sewing project to make Edison a little stuffed animal called the Tramp Heart Bear. Take a look at my previous blog post if you missed it.

I hadn't really worked on it a lot lately because to sew it all by hand was a lot more time consuming than I had anticipated. I can really only work on it while Edison is napping because otherwise he's into everything... scissors and needles and all. I was thinking all along that I'd have more time to work on it over Spring Break and hopefully finish the little guy off.

Then something amazing happened!!! My Nana bought me a sewing machine as a gift! I was so excited! I will definitely be able to finish this project up much more quickly.

I took Home Ec when I was in high school... and that was probably the last time I touched a sewing machine. So to say I don't really remember anything about sewing is a bit of an understatement. I even forgot that the sewing machine will wind thread onto the bobbin for you... I thought I was going to have to go out and buy bobbins with thread on them. My mom probably thought I was a complete moron when I called her today to ask her if I had to go out and buy bobbins.... "Go read the manual" she said.

Reading the manual (to anything) is always a challenge for me. I will always try to avoid reading instructions to things and just try to figure them out myself. I don't know why I just can't wrap my brain around written instructions. Anytime we buy anything from Ikea that needs put together... Jonathan automatically knows that's his department. I HATE trying to put Ikea stuff together.

I am definitely a visual learner... I only have to see it done once and I'll know how to do something. I would have to read instructions 10 times to be able to figure something out. So after reading the instructions literally 10 times on how to wind the bobbin... and still not figuring it out, what's a girl to do but to resort to YouTube. There are Youtube videos about how to do pretty much anything on planet earth.... including how to wind the bobbin on my particular brand of sewing machine. All it took was one quick video, and off I went.

I figured out how to thread the machine without a problem and after practicing on a piece of fabric to make sure I had the stitch I wanted... I was off to the races.

My lovely new sewing machine, all set up 

My fully wound bobbin 

Threaded and ready to go 

I had to cut the face pieces out free-hand

The first thing I sewed with my new machine... the muzzle and nose 

The face completed 

A glimpse of what he will look like 

Ears!

Well, thats about it for now. I still hope to complete this little project before Spring Break is over. Stay tuned for the completed Tramp Heart Bear!

Pizza Party!

Jonathan is pretty awesome at taking goofy pictures while I'm off at work. He took these pictures of the two of them eating pizza a couple of weeks ago... they had cold pizza for breakfast.... something I think is just wrong... but to each their own.

At the time, Jonathan was growing out (in my opinion) a super creepy moustache... which is now gone thank goodness. So, when I look at these pictures, I have to try to look past the creepiness factor and focus on the cuteness that is the two of them sharing pizza. Edison has some pretty hilarious facial expressions... he's quite the character!

We're Still Here...

No... the Reichert's didn't drop off the face of the Earth. We're still here... taking it day by day after having had a pretty rough couple of weeks.

We were hit with the stomach flu a couple of weeks ago. Anybody who knows me well knows that throwing up is my least favourite thing in the world. I will do pretty much anything to convince myself that I don't have to do it.

Well, when Edison woke up late one Wednesday night covered from head to toe in puke, I knew we were going to be in for my worst nightmare. Two nights later, the inevitable happened... I ended up with it. And the next night... Jonathan was the next to go. Jonathan and I were able to get over it fairly quickly... poor little Edison though wasn't really able to hold anything down for about 5 days.

After the flu made it's way through the Reichert household I returned to work... straight onto the protest lines. It was a cold few days. I had to do the morning shift on each of the 3 days of job action so that Jonathan could still get to work on time. Standing in the freezing cold for 4 hours was not really my most favourite way to start the day. I discovered the magic of those little hand warmers that you put into your gloves... they stay hot for 7 hours... and made it a little easier to get through my shifts.

I only had to return to the classroom for 2 days before Spring Break hit! With Edison still not feeling 100%, I was glad to be able to spend the time at home with him. Having the flu sure wreaked havoc on Edison's sleeping schedule. Our boy who usually sleeps through the night and well into the morning is now waking up most nights screaming and getting up at the crack of dawn in the morning. We're still hoping things go back to normal in the sleeping department... Jonathan and I both like sleep... a lot.

So Spring Break began and I thought to myself "Yes! Now I can catch up with my poor neglected blog!!" and that really was my intention. However I was reading a really good book and found myself totally sucked into it in the past few days. The little free time I have (at night and while Edison is napping), when I usually update the blog, I was instead reading the book. Well, last night something tragic happened: I got to the end of my 500 page book, only to find out on the last page that it was only half the story and the sequel won't be out until August! What a rip off! I'm left hanging for the next 6 months.

So here I am... done the book, no one is sick,  and I'm finally catching up on the blog that everyone has been nagging me to catch up on.

I don't have that many pictures to share yet as we were sick for a while and haven't really done a whole lot this Spring Break. Jonathan is still working this week, but has next week off so we're looking forward to doing some fun things then. I will definitely work to keep the blog as caught up as possible!

I do have a few pictures to share... as you know, Edison is obsessed with airplanes. Having watched his Daddy fly remote control airplanes since the time of his birth, he is totally fascinated with any form of airplane. He loves watching real ones in the sky, loves going to the field to watch Jonathan fly them, and he also loves airplane toys and books. He is hardly ever without an airplane in his hand... including the car and grocery store.

The little man with an assortment of his airplane toys 

His face may look unhappy... but thats the face he makes when he's making airplane sounds 

Lately, Jonathan has been letting Edison play with one of his remote control planes that he no longer uses. Edison loves flying it around the house... and only bashes into the walls some of the time...

My handsome man is getting so big!!

Well, that's it for now. Stay tuned for more posts about our Spring Break adventures!