Thursday, July 28, 2011

Lucas Adam in color

Here's my new little nephew.

Mom said he's already smiling.
Kim and her little one.
Thank you, Lord, for a healthy baby and mama.

Lots of Cousins

We have enjoyed lots of cousins lately. Four have been visiting from Mexico and two from Ohio. Lots of playing.



"Klaitlyn" and Jenna posing. Cheese!



This goofy trio and another cousin were together at choral camp. Imagine that room on a sugar high!

Davis and Natalie being difficult for the photographer.


Lydia and grandma at the beach.
I got all the littles except Cameron one morning. This was the easiest form of transport.

Jamison and Lydia - not very cooperative
Relays on the Fourth of July
Brooke
Right now there are 17 cousins on this side. Lord willing, next year there will 19.

"Poor" grandpa and grandma at Christmas time, eh?

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Applesauce

Yep, it's that time of year again. I was...um...fortunate to get Yellow Transparents from Kenton's mom. Kenton likes YTs and I prefer Ginger Gold. YTs are free. Bummer!


Kaitlyn was a big help. She's three-going-on-forty, you know! She grabbed every paring knife that was left unattended, added dish soap to "wash" apples in the sink, and drained the sinks while emptying the traps and shoving all that was caught DOWN THE DRAIN.
I discovered that Jamison and Megan are old enough to run a paring knife....

and that Davis still loves to run the grinder.

We did 54 quarts. I broke in my new gas stove. Literally. The automatic lighting feature decided to give up the ghost....minutes after the applesauce adventure began.

We get to do more tomorrow. Won't that be fun?

Saturday, July 23, 2011

A Dog's Life

Have I mentioned that I detest animals? Especially pets. Pepper is no exception.

Pepper loves to spread trash all over the yard. Even newly created trash...you know, those things that prior to contact with Pepper were someone's possessions.

Pepper is learning to lead Megan around the yard.

Pepper's favorite restroom is my flower bed. Right next to the rose bush.

Pepper's good at wrestling with Davis.

Pepper likes to splash his freshly filled water bowl all over the porch and rip up the dog food bag.

Pepper prefers the game keep-away to frisbee.

Pepper will jump through hoops to play with Davis.


Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper, too?

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Doing Great

I just heard that the doctor has said that Lucas Adam is DOING GREAT! Wow, how often does a 29 1/2 week preemie hear that? We are so thankful. If you've been praying, God bless you. He has graciously answered our prayers with YES!
My technologically deficient northern Minnesota relatives need to start passing some pictures my way! This aunt is getting crankier.

Light Bulb Moment

Jamison can't spell. At all. He makes mistakes that have made me wonder if his hearing is adequate. His writing is fine...but the spelling is bizarre. I've had his hearing checked. Twice. It's fine. In the meantime, his complete inability has made me feel like beating my head against a wall. It's frustrating for both of us.

One of the cousins has some learning disabilities that include dyslexia. Turns out that she also has something that causes her brain to not hear words correctly. It's not the hearing itself, it's how the brain hears the word. Can you guess where I'm going with this? That is totally Jamison!

So many things as far as Jamison's learning (or struggles) fell into place yesterday.

Mom confession moment: I've had some pretty negative thoughts about his struggles.

I'm totally amazed. This changes a lot of things.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Black and White Show

Oakview Ridge Holsteins went to a show tonight.


It was a rough day at the fairgrounds. For awhile this afternoon there was no water. How do you wash 15 cows with no water? Things got a little delayed so Kenton was clipping cows till the last minute.

Davis' cow stood first in this class and Jamison's cow stood second.

Davis "helped" lead his behemoth.


Most of the older grandkids are at choral camp but all the littlest ones were there. Doesn't grandma look like she's having fun keeping all those kids corraled?


Our cow Sheila took supreme grand champion. Kenton was pretty excited.


In other news, Megan is rooming with three cousins at camp. Today they won the trophy for cleanest room. I hear the trophy has a scrub brush on the top. They're hoping to win again this week. Cinderella wannabes?

Oh...just found out that Jamison's room won the same award on his floor. No offense, but this was only possible because he did not bring legos to camp. Trust me, there's no possible chance he would be eligible for this award at home...with legos around.

Li'l Bud has a name, Lucas Adam. Kim and Lucas are both doing well. We are hoping to stop in Duluth and see him on our way up north this summer. I don't expect that he'll be home for awhile yet.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Baby Update

Sorry for the delay, but I took five kids to choral camp in Ohio today.

My sister is doing great. Li'l Bud(yet to be named) is 3 lbs, 2 oz and 16 inches long. That may seem pretty little but his big brother was born at 24 weeks at 1 lb, 7 oz and 13 inches. This little guy is a bruiser by comparison. He's doing well considering.

Thank you for your prayers and caring. Please feel free to keep them going. : )

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Please Pray

Kim had her baby tonight. She just came out of surgery. My new nephew was born at 29 1/2 weeks. I don't have any details except that Kim is alright and my nephew is here. Please pray for their continued health and safety.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Good News

Our homestudy is DONE!


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Berried Alive

It's been awhile. I've been busy. That title is not a typo. I have been picking raspberries.

I like raspberries....well, I used to like raspberries. I had these meek little bushes for a couple years and they gave us enough to eat fresh - right off the bushes. I never even needed a bowl. This year I'm living my own version of Little Shop of Horrors. Those things went berserk! I have picked tons of berries. What on earth does one do with eleven gallons of raspberries?

In between picking, Jamison turned ten. Friends and cousins came to help him celebrate. They did a treasure hunt. (I enjoy setting up treasure hunts. Done right, they take forever and are loads of fun.) This one included codes, invisible ink, clues frozen in ice, riddles...and after all that work they each got a sucker and a squirt gun. Guess what came next? Of course, their supper included fruit salad with...yep, you guessed it, raspberries.

Jamison loves Adventures in Odyssey. His came without raspberries.

Megan's herd doubled. Her heifer Crown had a calf named...Cookie( I bet you were thinking Raspberry, weren't you?)We added a new little pest to our mix. It's like deja vu. Pepper poops in the path between the house and the car and tries to sneak in whenever the door is opened. The other day I was working in the flower beds. Honestly, it was like a Disney movie. If I set my trowel down, he ran off with it. I'd give chase, he'd drop it and circle back to grab one of the flower pots. He'd grab weed clumps, shake till they were properly dead and I was covered in dirt. He is a nuisance. Although...he eats raspberries off the bush...so I guess he has ONE redeeming quality.


The cousins are here until the end of July! We've partied, gone swimming, painted the pasture fence(think: Tom Sawyer whitewashing the fence) paraded and picnicked, and done VBS. Here's Jenna with Kaitlyn. Next, we're going to pick raspberries.


Raspberries. Any suggestions?

Please keep remembering Kim.