James goes to MN

A few weeks ago James was gone for a week and a half visiting both sets of grandparents in Minnesota.  We  missed him terribly (although I may or may not have said, “It’s so easy going places with just two children!!” more then once). He had a great time in MN. His Aunt Angela took him horse back riding for the first time. I am so sad I missed it. He had a blast!

Aunt Angela showing James how to groom the horse.

Riding

James and his cousin Eve riding horses together.

Playing with cousins. James only has cousins on Titus’ side for now.

And getting a ride on the tractor with Grandpa.

We were so happy to see James again. Gideon was sleeping horribly while James was gone, some times getting up 4-5 times a night! The night James came back Gideon slept through the night. I think he missed James more than we thought. I have never seen Gideon so excited when James walked through the gate! He had a great time in MN. I can’t wait for my turn to go! 😀

A New Name

So my blog name is map dot family, which was explained in one of my very first posts.  If I knew how to do those cute little links in a word I’d do that for you right now, but I don’t.  And since a little someone decided to get up at 6:30 this morning I’m too tired to try to figure it out. (By the way, I don’t do 6:30 a.m.! 7 is my limit!) Anyway, mapdotfamily was pretty cute, it explained our family and where we live very well.  Well since the move we are no longer a map dot family.  Pretty sure Denver Colorado isn’t a map dot, and if you have had any kind of geography you’ll know where it is.  So, I need a new blog name.  I was thinking about something generic, like

Pennerfamilynews

Pennerupdates

ThePennerfamily

But I’d like something a little bit more if you know what I mean.  If I knew the future I would do something like:

CountrygoneCity

RaisingBoys

Lifeinthefastlane (raising high energy boys)

Sleeplessparents

But who knows if we will stay living in the city or if we will keep having boys or sigh, if we will keep having such bad sleepers! 🙂  I also thought about doing something familyish with blessings or love in there, but that’s pretty over done.  Or something about being pregnant, since I feel like I’m always pregnant.  But that might not always be either. Fertility is taken for granted until you don’t have it anymore.

So what is my blog about? It’s really just about our family, recording our ups and downs with pictures for our kids to see when they are older.  It’s a cheaper and easier version of scrapbooking. 😉  If we don’t ever move back to MN then the blog will have a new meaning for all the family we left behind as a way to keep them updated with life news and pictures.

So I’m turning to all you lovely people, that get way more sleep then I do, to come up with something cute and fun. Preferably something that doesn’t have to be changed every few years and something short and easy that I can spell. 😉 Ready? GO!

Family pictures reunion part 2

The point of a family reunion is to take pictures, right? I missed most of them but this is what I got.

Chantal’s family plus Grandpa and Grandma.

Another try at family pictures:

The best part of the reunion was seeing my dear cousin Kala and meeting her little family:

    

Playing some kind of ball game

My cousin and his boys:

Country boy. 😉 I told him we will have to get him some new clothes if we are going to fit in in Denver. 😀

Milking the Cows and other fun stuff on the farm

Titus had been milking later in the morning and since the kids and I have been getting up earlier we went with him for a few mornings.  The kids loved it.  We normally go in the evening, which really doesn’t work very well since we all come home starving and there is no one cooking. 🙂   Since we aren’t going to be dairy farmers for very much longer I took a ton of pictures! Oh my goodness!

James helping feed the baby cows:

    

  

Titus hard at work:

     

Playing in the grain:

     

And the lime:

         

James actually understands where the lime is supposed to go:

  

I think Gideon just goes for all the Daddy hugs:

    

Gideon is also too scared to walk any further in the barn with out holding someone’s hand:

     

Trying to get to the hay mow:

       

Mister Hot himself:

Gideon:

Us:

(Not sure what’s with Titus’ face. Guess he was in a playful mood.)

Feeding the goats:

           

Begging for a ride on the tractor:

I think their new favorite thing to do is go for rides on the four wheeler.  Yes I know that doesn’t look very safe. And yes I kinda wish they had helmets on.  And yes I don’t drive very fast at all.

Playing with Grandma’s puppies:

 

There is a sense of freedom that you get in the country.  I hope some day to move to a quiet little spot.