Busy busy busy

With slightly less than a month until Jesse graduates and we move, we've been busier than I thought! Jesse is going crazy trying to get everything done for school, I'm trying to pack, keep the house clean, entertain Rosalee, and Rosalee is just being her normal crazy busy fun loving self.

Things we accomplished this weekend were- Jesse getting recertified as a wildland firefighter, reserving the U-Haul, packing more boxes, selling our recliner, one bookshelf, end table, and an extra booster seat, emptying out our freezer (okay so this is sad because our freezer died and all the meat inside was ruined but I'm trying to stay positive!!!), cleaning up the yard and porch, potentially finding a family to take over our lease for the rest of summer, and teaching Rosalee to recognize and say some colors (orange, pink, and purple).

This is the tree Jesse cut down at his chainsaw class last week. The firefighter training was at the same forest so he took a picture of his tree after class. He's very proud of himself for doing so well with zero prior experience.

Both Jesse and I find trees covered in poison ivy oddly beautiful so here's one he saw while out in the woods.

We're HUGE slackers and still a pile of leaves in our yard from last fall. We've been slowly getting rid of it but every time we find time to pick them up it rains and the leaves get all soggy. Rosalee kept saying "help Daddy" so I gave her a cooking spoon and she dug right in! We love how helpful she wants to be and we try to encourage it even if it can slow us down.

I love magnolia trees and am sad that they don't grow out west. (But I'll save that for a later post about the things I'll miss about Indiana.) The weather was VERY nice on Saturday so we spent a lot of time outside working on the yard and just enjoying playing. Rosalee and I walked around and she started playing with some magnolia petals in the neighbor's yard. She kept calling them "pink" or "pretty pink" and wanted to fill her hands with as many petals as she could. It was hard, but we were able to get her to stay still long enough to get a picture of her with a magnolia on her head like a hat.

On Sunday Jesse received an award from his department at Purdue. I jokingly call it the "happy camper" award but he deserves it. It is an award voted on by peers and teachers on who worked the best, hardest, and well with others at summer camp. Apparently enough of the students appreciated Jesse driving them around, fishing with them, and playing pool with them that he won! We're very proud of him.
Funny story~ we sat next to one of Jesse's professors and Rosalee kept calling him grandpa. The man has black curly hair, a black (with some gray) mustache and beard, glasses, is in his late 40s/early 50s, and has the same face shape as my dad so he actually looks like he could be my dad's little brother. She kept calling him grandpa and asking where grandma and JJ were and something about pigs. The man just kept laughing and holding Rosalee every time she would jump into his arms. I'm just glad he was humored by her and was willing to put up with her.

I'm sorry the picture isn't very good but I was trying to keep Rosalee from diving off the table while trying to take a picture. She stood on the table and said, "yeah Daddy! Clap Daddy!" and then proceeded to stand there clapping for Jesse. He can proudly say he's the only person who got a standing ovation. :)

Every Spring Purdue has a Bug Bowl/Spring Fest put on by the Agriculture Department. We wanted to go on Saturday but by the time Jesse got home from firefighter class it was over. So we went to some of the exhibits (which were free, my favorite price) after the award ceremony before going home. We saw a lot of animal and plant exhibits and even saw a cricket spitting contest. I tried to get Jesse to participate but he wouldn't go for it.

Rosalee was SO excited to pet the duck and chicken chicks. We tried having Jesse hold a duck and then Rosalee pet it but she kept trying to kiss it/lick it on the head so we gave it back to the girl.

Rosalee got to touch a starfish and horseshoe crab in the aquatic area. She loved looking in all the fish tanks and kept screaming "fishy!"

We ran into one of the Agriculture mascots and Rosalee wasn't too sure about it. She screamed at Santa and the Easter Bunny but she slowly approached the chicken. After some coercing from Jesse she gave the chicken a fake half hug.

Rosalee's favorite part- the insect petting zoo. Leave it to our kid to love the insects the most! She loved the tarantula and giggled when it tickled her hand with one of it's legs. She tried to pick up the hissing cockroach and got mad at the guy when he would pull it away from her. My thoughts- GROSS!!!! KILL IT!!! but thankfully Rosalee takes after her dad.

Rosalee started to get tired so we made our way back to the car. While Jesse talked with some people I took Rosalee to get her face painted. She pointed to the picture of a butterfly and said "ooooohhhh" so I thought it'd be a good idea to get that done. The lady asked which color she wanted and she pointed to the purple paint and said "purple". I LOVE that she's getting better all the time and being able to tell us what she wants! I can tell it makes her happy to communicate her wants and it helps reduce the amount of tantrums BY FAR.
Across the street from where we parked was the 4-H tent. Rosalee pet the rabbits and again kept trying to kiss them. When one of them started chewing on another rabbit's ear Rosalee laughed and said "funny rabbit". These rabbits are miniature Rex rabbits and are SO soft! Jesse isn't allergic to rabbits so one day we might get one since cats are out of the question.

As soon as we got home Rosalee and Jesse passed out for a nap. Currently (almost 3 hours later) they are still sleeping and I am enjoying silence and the ease of folding laundry without little hands to help.