The Holidays Are Here! November 23, 2011

There’s a lot of unhappy people out there.  Trust me: I get it.  I understand that people are upset that Thanksgiving seems to be shrouded by the excitement and preparation of the next holiday an entire month away.  They say that Thanksgiving is forgotten.  That the holiday for giving THANKS is blown over to instead prepare for a holiday that’s all about RECEIVING.

I disagree.

I enjoy Thanksgiving.  I really do love getting together with me and Todd’s families.  I love the turkey, the pies, the rolls, the rolls, and the rolls.  Not in that order though– I love the rolls the most.

But I LUH-UH-UH-UH-UHVE Christmas.  Not much excites me more than decorating the tree, picking out wrapping paper, preparing gifts with ribbons and gift tags, and most of all shopping for those I love.

For me, Christmas is not about what’s on my list.  I’m not breezing over Thanksgiving, ignoring those in my life I’d like to give thanks for.  Rather I’m bouncing off the walls about those perfect gifts that someone will love– a certain someone whom I love.

My life is chock-full of wonderful people– I am so blessed.  While I sit down to my Thanksgiving dinner of rolls with a side of turkey, I’m thankful for each one of you who makes my life so rich.  And I’m mentally contemplating the perfect Christmas gift for you!

So let’s not all be ticked off that the stores are blaring “Jingle Bells”– the towns are decorating with lights– the mailbox is full of gift catalogues.  The Holidays are here.  It’s time to give thanks for our families, friends, and the One whose birth we will be celebrating next month.  And I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t combine my holiday spirit into multiple weeks of thankfulness!

Weeks of Christmas songs, gift wrapping, card opening, and shopping.  Unfortunately it can’t also be weeks of eating rolls or I’ll never get back into my jeans!

Speaking of my jeans, here’s some pictures from our baby boy’s baptism last Sunday– and you guessed it, we’re surrounded by those we love!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Bats And Asparagus November 10, 2011

Call me anti-festive, but I had no plans to dress my baby up for Halloween.  I knew we’d be sitting up at the firehouse the night of Halloween festivities, and it seemed to me that my 7-week old really wouldn’t care if he was dressed as a $45 mummy, penguin, or panda bear.  Then my sister found a cute bat costume for $6 that was a simple & warm onesie and alas, my little one had a Halloween costume.

My little bat has purple ears and wings attached to his warm fleece onesie!

Here we are at my grandma and grandpa’s house, doing a little “trick or treating”.  Trent came away empty-handed (but come on, he really has no need for treats!) but I came away with homemade donuts.  Jackpot!

My sister was there also to trick-or-treat with my nephew, Gus… dressed up as asparaGUS!

Grandpa & Grandma love having little visitors!  And trust me, Gus did not come away empty-handed!

Our next (and last) stop was the firehouse.  Highland-Pierron Fire Department hosted its 2nd annual open house on Halloween– an opportunity to invite the community in to meet the firemen, look at the trucks, and enjoy some chili, hot dogs, and hot chocolate.  Not to mention a chance for trick-or-treaters to grab some candy!

Here’s Todd in front of the firehouse with the cousins, a bat and an asparagus!

Mr. Gus loves the fire trucks…

…but not as much as he loves his suckers!

My mom enjoyed some bat-time.

We saw trick-or-treaters dressed as firemen, Jessie & Woody from Toy Story, witches, princesses, X-Men…

…skunks, gypsies, skeletons, dinosaurs…

…lions, tigers, and bears!  Here’s Trent with his cousin the lion!

Trent had a fun 1st Halloween, and I look forward to all the years from now that he’ll get into the spirit with a costume.  The difference is that he’ll start to have a preference and even get excited about the whole trick-or-treating process.  We’re going to have so much fun!

Please Hold Still (While I Pick Your Nose) November 3, 2011

I am not anywhere near being an expert in this mommyhood stuff, but I’ve figured 2 things out:

1. It ain’t easy.
2. I have the freedom to do to my child as I please.

He wears what I put on him.  He gets frequent baths on my schedule.  His hair will be brushed (and someday trimmed) to my desires.  I get satisfaction out of picking his nose– and he can’t do a thing about it.

This by no means (none at all!) ties into picking my own nose.  I only enjoy picking his nose, and only when there’s stuff peeking out.  Just so we’re clear!

It’s not like he can pick it himself, afterall.  The same with eye buggers– he needs me to clear these things out for him.   Luckily he doesn’t have any whitehead zits to tempt me.

Of course, he also needs me to wipe his butt.

 

This Is How I Roll November 2, 2011

Let me just start by saying: I realize I’m a wee bit spoiled.  A long day in the field for me is quite comfortable. 

With the corn harvest, we prefer to move fast and efficiently.  This means my dad in the combine, me running the tractor and grain cart, and Todd & my mom hauling corn to the bin in the grain trucks.  Everyone stays busy as long as the combine is running– although anyone familiar with farming knows how tricky it can be to keep the combine running.  Harvest Time usually means Fixing Break-Downs Time as well.

Here’s my ride.  Our newest tractor doesn’t operate anything like the others in the fleet, but once I figured it all out we had smooth sailing.  While Todd & my mom suffer through the elements and dust of dumping grain all day, I’m in a tightly controlled cabin… on a leather seat… with my iPod.

The majority of this picture is controls that are completely foreign to me.  However, it shows some of my necessities: iPod, fire pager, cell phone.  Surely the rest of all that isn’t particularly important.

Oh come on now, just kidding!  I do know the function of some of those controls.

And on my left, more necessities: lunch cooler, reading material, water.  The seat was empty this year– but look out next year!

The panoramic view of the cab shows a lot of uninteresting flatness.  With some corn standing to one side.

I don’t just sit on my leather seat rocking out to John Mayer and reading Fitness magazine.  My job is to strategically park along where my dad is approaching in the combine.  When the combine auger is perfectly aligned above my grain cart, I attempt to match the combine’s speed so my dad can unload the combine while he continues forward.  For me, this means a lot of “a little faster” and “a little slower” while praying I don’t screw up and cause a few hundred dollars worth of corn to pour onto the ground.

Because I’m such a superstar, I managed to do all this and snap a picture.  Granted, I only attempted this once and luckily the picture turned out.

Since the combine is able to unload on the go, it never has to stop.  I take my full load to the awaiting grain trucks and fill them up. 

Once I’ve emptied the grain cart, I return to the next spot that I’ll catch the combine and refill.

This is how I roll: comfortable tractor, good music, plenty of food and water, magazines, and (occasionally) hubby!  Next year, I’ll have a 1-year-old to share the good times with!

Gus Harvests Corn November 1, 2011

The corn is ready to be harvested!  Who will help Grandpa?

Gus is ready to help!  He’s so ready to help out, he wants to scurry up the huge combine ladder all by himself.

Whoa Gus, let your dad help you out!

Grandpa and Gus are ready to go.  The corn is ready to be shelled by the combine, collecting the corn in the hopper.

The combine goes back and forth in the field shelling the corn.  When the hopper gets full, it’s time to dump from the combine into the grain truck.

When the grain truck is full, it gets driven by Uncle Todd or Aunt Jessie or Grandma to dump the corn into the grain bin.

Gus is such a great little farmer!

John Harvests Beans

John hopped on a plane and flew here all the way from North Carolina– and he got put to work!

Around here, farming starts early.  So let the 3-year-old run the combine!

Maybe Grandpa will do most of the driving.  But John is right there to help!  The combine is a huge machine that makes lots of noise.  It cuts the soybeans, sending the beans into the combine’s hopper.

Once the hopper gets full, the combine has to stop and unload all the beans into a grain truck.

When the grain truck is full, it goes one of two places: either home to unload at the grain bins or taken to the grain elevator.  Beans that go into the grain bin can be saved and sold anytime during the next year, while the beans that are taken to the grain elevator are either sold immediately or stored as well.

It’s a good thing John was there, because Grandpa needed lots of help to get all the beans out of the field and into the bins!

But wait!  There’s more work to be done!  Now that there are no more beans in this field, Grandpa & John plant wheat there. 

The wheat that they plant will stay small all winter long.  Then when spring comes, the wheat will get taller and taller.  Next June, the wheat will be ready to be harvested!

When John comes to visit next time, there won’t be any crops to harvest.  But we’ll have a baby calf for him to feed!