The crispness in the air, the cooler nights, the 4-H preparations. That is right...in just a few short days we will be moving down to the fairgrounds for our week long adventure.
Katie is showing a miniature horse again this year that a dear couple has allowed her to use. The horses name is Sally...Katie did show her last year as well.
The kids also have their steers. Crazy to think this will be the last year two steers are going from here to the fair. This is Erik's last year he is eligible for 4-H, where has the time gone? The kids have gone and made contact with their buyers, so hopefully they will end the week on a good note. The steers themselves are probably considered pretty average, but we have a crop of very nice ones for Katie next year.
Also going from our farm is a Combine ready for the Derby on Thursday. A second one is here that a friend of Erik's is working on...not sure the status on that...we'll see if it makes it to the fair.
On August 7 was Don and Sue's anniversary. They live in Greenville, SC. We don't see them nearly enough...but I wish them the best...it was their 29th anniversary! (my brother and sister-in-law)
August 14 is my parents anniversary...this year they will be celebrating their 58th...seems like we just had the pig roast for their 50th!
The kids are both in the King and Queen contest at the fair this year. They are really busy with practices for that...they seem to be having fun.
Well you are officially updated for now...I wish you all well...and as always...
Be Blessed!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Dog Days of Summer...
Hi All...I'm officially back. We've since gotten a new computer so I hope I'm able to bring you all up to date since I've last written.
So remember how we were doing a remodel, building a bin and a new shop/barn? Well...the projects continue. The bin has been erected, but now we need to wire and connect it to the existing bin configuration.
The shop/barn...is coming along...we decided it would look sweet with some blocks in the front where you would enter the office. Well, everything went up. All in one day in fact. We even got advise and help from the famous brick mason (my dad). How disappointed we were though to see the next day some of the block didn't match correctly...only on one side. That wasn't going to be good, so down came only half the wall. Well, to shorten the story, we found more blocks...we thought we were good to go...layed them up and again incorrect...so, the third time was the charm! :)
The house...Wow...what a project this has been. We are getting all new cupboards. They are sweet, quartersawn oak. We took out the pantry and that has opened up our kitchen tremendously. The wall that separated the kitchen and living room has too been changed. It now features two arched walk through openings with a arched half wall. The cupboards are now in, and granite installed. We are now waiting for electrical and other minor finishing touches and I can start putting things back in the cupboards! Yeah! My Brother Gary has been doing all the work after he works all day at his other job. It has been a little slow going...but I wouldn't trade his craftsmanship for any other!!!
Now for the other updates...we certainly have been on the run...not that we went anywhere on a vacay...just life close to home. We've been to alot of Open Houses this summer so far...graduation and anniversary.
So remember how we were doing a remodel, building a bin and a new shop/barn? Well...the projects continue. The bin has been erected, but now we need to wire and connect it to the existing bin configuration.
The shop/barn...is coming along...we decided it would look sweet with some blocks in the front where you would enter the office. Well, everything went up. All in one day in fact. We even got advise and help from the famous brick mason (my dad). How disappointed we were though to see the next day some of the block didn't match correctly...only on one side. That wasn't going to be good, so down came only half the wall. Well, to shorten the story, we found more blocks...we thought we were good to go...layed them up and again incorrect...so, the third time was the charm! :)
The house...Wow...what a project this has been. We are getting all new cupboards. They are sweet, quartersawn oak. We took out the pantry and that has opened up our kitchen tremendously. The wall that separated the kitchen and living room has too been changed. It now features two arched walk through openings with a arched half wall. The cupboards are now in, and granite installed. We are now waiting for electrical and other minor finishing touches and I can start putting things back in the cupboards! Yeah! My Brother Gary has been doing all the work after he works all day at his other job. It has been a little slow going...but I wouldn't trade his craftsmanship for any other!!!
Now for the other updates...we certainly have been on the run...not that we went anywhere on a vacay...just life close to home. We've been to alot of Open Houses this summer so far...graduation and anniversary.
Crops all got in timely and in spite of needed rain look pretty good.
The 4-H steers are fat and happy. It is weird to think this is Erik's last year he is eligible to take an animal to the fair as a 4'Her. He started when he was 7 1/2. They used to let kids take projects the year they turned 8. That year he only baked cookies, he got his first blue ribbon.
We sycronized (sp) the cattle at my dad's and AI'd them all. We are hoping we won't see any showing heat in the next few days which means they all took.
Doug, Katie and myself have been playing softball for the co-ed teams at church. It was sooooo hot last week but it was fun. Katie plays on the "kids" team...those kids are good!
Katie went to SSI (Student Statesman Institute) the end of June. She actually celebrated her 17th birthday there. The first time attending (as she was) you are deemed a member of the House of Representatives. the kids write bills and debate them on the floor of the State Capital. She had a great time and said she would definitely go again!
Be jealous everyone...but I went to a U2 concert with a friend. All I can say is Wow! I think I can hear again...I SAID I THINK I CAN HEAR AGAIN! I truly had a good time with my friend Amy and people watching was the bomb!! :)
Katie left yesterday for Indiana Wesleyan University for an overnight to explore the campus a little better. She drove down by herself and will be back this evening.
Erik is hard at work on the farm and is trying to pull enough trucks together so there is another pick-up derby at the fair. This year we have sad news...the Queen Bee has made her last hurrah. I am not going to been in the Combine Derby this year. Erik has one Combine for Branch County and if it survives, he will bring it to Calhoun.
So I believe you are up to speed with life!
Have a good day all...and be blessed!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Testing
Hi all...this is a test from a different computer to see if maybe there is an issue with ours...Hope you are all having an awesome Fathers day!!!
Be Blessed~
Be Blessed~
Thursday, June 9, 2011
April Showers...
This was written April 30, but for some reason didn't post...so here is is...
That could be an understatement along with cold, snow, and freezing temperatures. April was an interesting month to say the least!!
Well as I ended March, Erik was off to have his wisdom teeth extracted. Well he did and all was well. I do recall at one point when the pain meds were nearly gone and the prescription hadn't kicked in him saying..."Why did you make me do this?" Oh the joys of being a mom! We got a call no more than 10 minutes later from the Dr., making sure the patient was doing ok. (He does that will all his patients when he takes out all four. He asked me if I remember him calling when I had mine out...Uh...that would be no...I was probably worse than Erik...in fact I know I was...we may have to consult a third party on that fact! ;)
We are getting ready to do a remodeling project in the house. So I am having my frustrated farmer helping out in preparing the way for that to happen. I have to keep him busy some how, since the fields are still too wet...soon though!
This monthe we celebrated a birthday (yes mine...no asking how old!), competed at MSU with Ag. Communication with the BACC (Katie), went to Prom (Katie), did a college visit (Katie and I), had some outings with friends (all of us), and had Easter Dinner here with seven extra mouths to feed...it was a fun month!
This month I will probably not see my husband much...because he will be in the fields or sleeping or not sleeping and in the fields. This is the first time he hasn't planted something in April. Last year he nearly has 3/4 of his corn planted by now. Can you see the frustration? But he is doing fine...he hasn't turned into the Grinch quite yet!?! He has a friend that went out and bought a 24 row planter in addition to his 16 row, to as Larry the Cable says, "Get ur Done," when it dries off.
Well as I sign off, we hope by this point at the end of the month to have all the planting done, the house project on the downhill slide, a 135,000 grain bin erected, and the new shop/office close to be completed.
Thanks to my followers...it is a beautiful day today, enjoy it!! :)
That could be an understatement along with cold, snow, and freezing temperatures. April was an interesting month to say the least!!
Well as I ended March, Erik was off to have his wisdom teeth extracted. Well he did and all was well. I do recall at one point when the pain meds were nearly gone and the prescription hadn't kicked in him saying..."Why did you make me do this?" Oh the joys of being a mom! We got a call no more than 10 minutes later from the Dr., making sure the patient was doing ok. (He does that will all his patients when he takes out all four. He asked me if I remember him calling when I had mine out...Uh...that would be no...I was probably worse than Erik...in fact I know I was...we may have to consult a third party on that fact! ;)
We are getting ready to do a remodeling project in the house. So I am having my frustrated farmer helping out in preparing the way for that to happen. I have to keep him busy some how, since the fields are still too wet...soon though!
This monthe we celebrated a birthday (yes mine...no asking how old!), competed at MSU with Ag. Communication with the BACC (Katie), went to Prom (Katie), did a college visit (Katie and I), had some outings with friends (all of us), and had Easter Dinner here with seven extra mouths to feed...it was a fun month!
This month I will probably not see my husband much...because he will be in the fields or sleeping or not sleeping and in the fields. This is the first time he hasn't planted something in April. Last year he nearly has 3/4 of his corn planted by now. Can you see the frustration? But he is doing fine...he hasn't turned into the Grinch quite yet!?! He has a friend that went out and bought a 24 row planter in addition to his 16 row, to as Larry the Cable says, "Get ur Done," when it dries off.
Well as I sign off, we hope by this point at the end of the month to have all the planting done, the house project on the downhill slide, a 135,000 grain bin erected, and the new shop/office close to be completed.
Thanks to my followers...it is a beautiful day today, enjoy it!! :)
Thursday, March 31, 2011
March Madness...
Well March has nearly come and gone...around here it came in like a lion with the running around we had to do to prepare for things to come. We started the month preparing appetizers for a "Taste of Italy" dinner that our women's ministries group had at the church. A good friend and I cut and chopped our way through most of a day to have appealing appetizers for just over 100 people. Doug stepped up and was the punch/drink guy, along with another friend. The next night we had a blast with an impromptu dinner with two close couples. The next week started out crazy...we got our pictures taken for the church directory, the guys headed to Chicago for a three day conference, and I delivered Erik's items (for display only) to the Oaklawn Benefit Auction. The theme this year was western...Erik let a gal that works on the program peruse his barn and she found lots of treasures to use for decoration. We wrapped up the week with Katie up at the FFA State Convention...her Ag Issue Group ended up with a Silver Award. Katie also got an Outstanding Junior Award. I met up with friends and finally saw my BFF Melissa. It was only for a brief time...but it is always good to make that connection. The steers were weighed in on Saturday the 12th. The kids again took on the responsibility in getting them down and weighed-in. They tried to be first...but Erik's good friends beat them. I think maybe he (Erik) should have bought some donuts then...right Avery? All that week I was prepping and preparing items for my freezer...making menus, stocking up items, for....... Our trip to Hawaii!!!! Doug and I went to Maui Hawaii for 10 days. What a wonderful time we had. I (the nervous traveller) did awesome, thanks to my prayer warriors! Even the 8 hour flight didn't even bother me. We saw some good movies to keep the time occupied. While there we...biked down a volcano, surfed, worked on our tan, visited the island of Lanai taking a boat over and back. While there we toured the island some, snorkeled and then we even ended up with a school/pod of dolphins that came near shore. They were just 10' below me in the water it was incredible!! We also, survived the road to Hana, and rode a helicopter back to the other side of the island, saw some incredible waterfalls, relaxed, walked over an hour every day, worked on our tan, saw a beached monk seal, (there are only 1100 left in the world), saw whales every time you looked out into the water in one direction or another, went to the Aquarium getting a view of the things in the water we didn't see, snorkeled by our hotel and saw sea turtles larger than a ring I can make with my hands, and saw a theatrical performance of Hawaii...oh yeah...and worked on my tan! :) We had a blast, the kids got along (for the most part), and we are back into the swing of things. While we were gone Erik went to the State FFA Alumni Convention that was held in Marshall and did an awesome job auctioning a few items they had for their live auction. We got a text from a friend saying he did great! We returned on my nephew Edwardo's birthday and the first of the month our niece Lena had a birthday too. Since we have been back the twins were in a play...they did an awesome job! Doug is breaking ground for his next new projects while getting ready for the planting season. Erik is preparing to have his wisdom teeth out next Monday...I will write in April how that goes. The first calf was born...actually two calves have been born but the first one we lost. Both were bulls...so...life is good...Katie is set for next year...hopefully she will have lots to choose from. So we are back, and on track for the planting season. I can't say that there haven't been days that I could jump on a plane and head right back there...something to look forward to in the future. That is all...that is my March briefing...or more like novel...may you enjoy your April showers and all they bring and also my friend...Be blessed! :)
Saturday, February 26, 2011
February Fun...
Well, here we are nearly at the end of February...and what an interesting month it has been. Of course it is winter...so there are many meetings, conferences and outings to attend.
Since I last wrote we had our friends from the thumb area over for two days of catching up...had coffee with friends...(but is badly missing my friend Melissa...soon!!)...celebrated our 25th anniversary :)...attended our first ever pig show. Now this was fun...but sorry...as much as I like pigs and pork...the smell is something I can't get used to. Went to an awesome play with friends, "Meet me in St. Louis." We knew the boy who had the male lead he was super as was the girl who played the role you would have seen Judy Garland in years ago...the play and the night was a 10+!
We also have celebrated a ton of birthdays already...two nieces Amy (18) and Sara (22), sister-in-law Kim, my two brothers Gary (47) and Don (49), and my Dad (76) all celebrated since I last wrote. Happy Birthday to you all!
Another fun thing was Katie competed with her FFA Ag Issues team. They won districts, received 3rd at regionals...but found out calculations were incorrect so they are going on to State!! So, the first full week of March she will be competing at MSU at the State Convention! They are so professional when they do this skit...it is very fun to watch.
We also attended and assisted with a Pancake Breakfast for the Mini Whinnie's 4-H club Katie is involved with that was fun and the kids did quite well with the fund raiser.
Erik and Doug have done some snowmobiling around here and up north too. Erik is doing some wheeling and dealing on equipment (nothing new). He picked up some work with tree trimmers after the ice storm. This extra money will probably be put into his jeep he is building...he is very much looking forward to warm summer days having fun in his new toy.
Of course for any of you who read this from outside of the state...we had the "Big Storm of 2011" the first day of February followed by a warm up with nearly all the snow gone with a ice storm with power outages on February 21. We only lost power for 3 days...we were on of the lucky ones!
So I believe you are up to date...I've held true to the promise of writing once a month and all is good. So to all of you...be blessed dear friends!
May God bless you all! :)
Since I last wrote we had our friends from the thumb area over for two days of catching up...had coffee with friends...(but is badly missing my friend Melissa...soon!!)...celebrated our 25th anniversary :)...attended our first ever pig show. Now this was fun...but sorry...as much as I like pigs and pork...the smell is something I can't get used to. Went to an awesome play with friends, "Meet me in St. Louis." We knew the boy who had the male lead he was super as was the girl who played the role you would have seen Judy Garland in years ago...the play and the night was a 10+!
We also have celebrated a ton of birthdays already...two nieces Amy (18) and Sara (22), sister-in-law Kim, my two brothers Gary (47) and Don (49), and my Dad (76) all celebrated since I last wrote. Happy Birthday to you all!
Another fun thing was Katie competed with her FFA Ag Issues team. They won districts, received 3rd at regionals...but found out calculations were incorrect so they are going on to State!! So, the first full week of March she will be competing at MSU at the State Convention! They are so professional when they do this skit...it is very fun to watch.
We also attended and assisted with a Pancake Breakfast for the Mini Whinnie's 4-H club Katie is involved with that was fun and the kids did quite well with the fund raiser.
Erik and Doug have done some snowmobiling around here and up north too. Erik is doing some wheeling and dealing on equipment (nothing new). He picked up some work with tree trimmers after the ice storm. This extra money will probably be put into his jeep he is building...he is very much looking forward to warm summer days having fun in his new toy.
Of course for any of you who read this from outside of the state...we had the "Big Storm of 2011" the first day of February followed by a warm up with nearly all the snow gone with a ice storm with power outages on February 21. We only lost power for 3 days...we were on of the lucky ones!
So I believe you are up to date...I've held true to the promise of writing once a month and all is good. So to all of you...be blessed dear friends!
May God bless you all! :)
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
A New Year...
Well here we are in 2011...Christmas decorations down...house pulled together and school has started back up. Looks like we are all set to move forward.
Doug and I were very fortunate to receive a free trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. While there we
did the Zip-line Canopy in the top of gum trees, swam with dolphins, were entertained by a bunch of different groups and I...drum roll please...got sick. Not just your common cold, no sniffles and a plugged head would have been way too easy, I got a stomach virus. Nothing stayed down and eating just turned my stomach. Pretty sad when you are at an all inclusive place where eating was endless and the varieties overwhelming. So coming home from a vacation worried that you might have gained a bunch of weight was not a concern of mine. I still am not 100% Cooking for the kids is interesting because different smells are not exactly comforting.
On an interesting note...you know when your on vacation and you dread having to go back to reality, and you would like maybe just one more day to enjoy all that you have...well when you aren't feeling good that is the last thing on your mind. And guess what...that is exactly what happened. We went down to check-in for flights for the next day and due to the weather passing through the southern states there were no flights leaving to Detroit. So we unpacked and soaked up the sun another day. Doug eating a full course and me sipping Sprite...yeah me!
So we are back...Doug is back in full swing...I am trying to fix the kids a nice supper and trying to eat enough to keep my strength up. This feeling could pass really quickly and never come back!!
The kids did great while we were gone. The house was super tidy and there was a single rose welcoming us home, they were both in one piece and speaking to each other...a success! :)
So you are officially up to date at the present time.
Be blessed and have a great day! :)
Doug and I were very fortunate to receive a free trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. While there we
did the Zip-line Canopy in the top of gum trees, swam with dolphins, were entertained by a bunch of different groups and I...drum roll please...got sick. Not just your common cold, no sniffles and a plugged head would have been way too easy, I got a stomach virus. Nothing stayed down and eating just turned my stomach. Pretty sad when you are at an all inclusive place where eating was endless and the varieties overwhelming. So coming home from a vacation worried that you might have gained a bunch of weight was not a concern of mine. I still am not 100% Cooking for the kids is interesting because different smells are not exactly comforting.
On an interesting note...you know when your on vacation and you dread having to go back to reality, and you would like maybe just one more day to enjoy all that you have...well when you aren't feeling good that is the last thing on your mind. And guess what...that is exactly what happened. We went down to check-in for flights for the next day and due to the weather passing through the southern states there were no flights leaving to Detroit. So we unpacked and soaked up the sun another day. Doug eating a full course and me sipping Sprite...yeah me!
So we are back...Doug is back in full swing...I am trying to fix the kids a nice supper and trying to eat enough to keep my strength up. This feeling could pass really quickly and never come back!!
The kids did great while we were gone. The house was super tidy and there was a single rose welcoming us home, they were both in one piece and speaking to each other...a success! :)
So you are officially up to date at the present time.
Be blessed and have a great day! :)
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