Nebraska Harvest 2010

Corn and Soybean harvest this year only took five weeks. I know many people are thinking that sounds like an eternity, however, it was rather quick, considering how long it has taken in years past. I believe we only had a little over a day that we couldn't pick due to rain. Otherwise, it was warm and sunny. Great harvest weather!

We made many trips to the field this year taking suppers out in the "supper van" as Maddie began to call it. Her and Ben both loved taking out supper because that also meant getting rides in the combine with grandpa, and the truck with daddy. Ben even managed to get several rides in the tractor and auger wagon with Uncle Brad. (Thanks Uncle Brad!)

Maddie and Daddy after supper one evening.

This is how Jay Dee spent his time during bean harvest while waiting for the truck to be filled. Thank goodness for technology!

Daddy explaining all the up's and down's of farming to Madalyn.

Our cute little Maddie standing on daddy's truck so she could watch the combine.

This was on the last day of harvest. The guys were close to York, so my sister-in-law picked up lunch for them in York, and they sat on the tailgate to eat. We all managed to get to the field about the same time for one last ride for all the grandkids.

I also happened to only have one daycare child that day, so I brought her along. She is the same age as Maddie and loved seeing all the trucks and combine. Grandpa Royce was nice enough to let Riley have her first combine ride as well. She really liked it. And surprisingly, this is the only photo I have with Ben in it. I don't even have any combine photos this year. Guess I was preoccupied with keeping Maddie in one spot.After harvest...its cleanup time! I don't usually help with this, but I thought this year we would, so I got Ben and Maddie to help me wash the supper van. As you can imagine, that only lasted for about 10 minutes, and then they were cold and tired of it. So I washed the entire thing myself. It was a good harvest, and we're happy its over.

Mrs. Handy

I have always enjoyed working with wood and taking old things and making them into something new. So when we decided to get rid of our large bedroom furniture, and go with something different for when we move, I decided I wanted to attempt DIY-ing (do it yourself). Mainly because I thought it would be fun to see what I could come up with, and it would be a lot cheaper than buying something new.

My first idea was to figure out what we wanted for a headboard. I have watched lots of HGTV over the years and have realized you can make anything look like something else. So I started by looking at Craigslist and I got lucky. Very lucky. Someone close by was selling several old solid oak panel doors out of an old house. All we had to do was go pick out what ones we wanted and we could have them all for $100. We ended up coming home with 6 or 7 panel doors, and a matching pair of french doors. I picked out one I wanted for a headboard, and the rest went into storage...to be used some other day. So this is what the door looked like to start. My great brother-in-law agreed to cut both ends off for me and I was able to use some of his scrap molding to finish off the top of the headboard. After a coat of primer and 3 coats of black paint.......this is what we ended up with! I am so excited to get this all put together and see how it looks. Probably my favorite piece so far.Then I was on a quest for a dresser, and one again I went to Craigslist. I had to travel about 30-45 miles to get this one, but it was worth it. Very clean, only one scratch, and clean lines...just what I was looking for. So once again, a good sanding, primer, black paint, and some new hardware.......makes for an updated modern dresser.

Then for one more dresser. I was looking for a possible chest of drawers, but never found anything I liked. So I went with another dresser, this time with a mirror. I lucked out and found this one in York at Goodwill! It is actually the same brand as the other dresser and also had simple lines, so it matched well. I did the same thing again, sand, prime, paint, and new pulls. I don't have a finished picture as it is already in the new bedroom at the farm. Once we get everything put together and are living there, I will post a finished photo. Total cost of my COMPLETE bedroom upgrade: $200 (that includes a new bed frame because I couldn't find a used one.)

Hauling in pipe

I know I'm really behing on posting, but this is just one that had to be talked about. This year, at the age of 4, Grandpa told/asked Ben if he would like to help haul in pipe before harvest. And of course he jumped at the chance. That meant he got to drive daddy's big 4 wheeler all by himself. I was a little nervous, but since daddy and grandpa were there, it sounded like it went really well. On one of their final days of picking up pipe, Maddie and I headed out to meet them and take a few pictures. Maddie crawled on the 4 wheeler with Ben to "help".

Look at that load! Way to go Ben! I think he's ready for next year.

Kansas City Getaway!

At the end of August, Jay Dee and I had planned a quick trip to Kansas City, mainly to use one of his christmas gifts. He received a Nascar Ride-Along from my parents and there was only two weekends in KC that it could be used, and so we decided to go on August 21. About 2-3 weeks before that, I unexpectedly won tickets to a KC Royals baseball game! So we did some looking and found out that there was a Royals game the same weekend. So very suddenly, our quick family vacation turned into an "adults only" weekend away with friends! And boy was that the greatest decision we ever made!!!! So we asked our best friends, Nate and Amie, if they'd like to go with us, and they were all for it! Yippee! ( I think I needed this more than Jay Dee did!!) A great photo of our great friends!



So we all made arrangements for our kids for the weekend, and we took off around 1pm on friday for KC. It was a nice ride to KC just visiting and catching up. The Royals game was on friday night, so it worked out perfectly. Our hotel was right across the street, which was nice so we could just walk to the stadium. Even our walk over was quite eventful, with me falling and sliding down a hill. I'm not sure if anyone else fell, i just remember the grass was wet and slick.



We had amazing seats right under the awning off of first base. Awesome!


This photo is zoomed in at home plate, pretty amazing.

We had heard there was a possible chance of rain, but were hoping it would stay away. Well before the game even started, the clouds rolled in and it got darker and darker. We only made it through 1/2 of the first inning when the rain started. Lucky for us, we were under that awning, and so we were able to stay in our seats without getting wet. At least for awhile.

Then...it started downpouring! For an hour and a half if poured!!!! The most remarkable thing was to watch the guys get the big white tarp put over the field. They had a system and it was pretty cool.

So, after the 1.5 hours of rain, they postponed the game. We were told we could use our tickets for any other game the entire season. Luckily for us, there was another game the next night, and due to the rain, they were going to be playing a double header. So we headed back to our hotel...and this is where even more eventful things started to happen. As we were walking up to our hotel, we suddenly realized that it was awfully dark...like no lights at all. And then when we walked up to the door and noticed it was propped open and we were greated by a hotel employee with a flashlight, we knew what we were in for. No electricity!

So we managed to climb the stairs (no working elevators) with a flashlight. Keep in mind it had been raining, so the stairs were very slick with water from all the people trying to get to their rooms. We got to our rooms to find we did have a bit of light. Very dim lights. Then the beeping started! Our smoke/fire alarms batteries must have been low because they started beeping constantly due to no electricity. So the handy farmer and police officer did what they do best...take care of the situation. Unplug it and hope because it was a wired in system that it didn't set off the whole hotel! And it didn't. One problem solved.

Next...what do you do at 8 o'clock in the evening in a hotel with little to no electricity? Well, the guys headed out to find a store that might have power so they could buy some cards and snacks. They were gone for awhile and when they came back, they had exactly that. So we started playing pitch. We did that until probably midnight and had lots of fun. It was a bit hard at times to see the cards, but we managed.

The next day was Jay Dee's Nascar Ride-Along. So we dropped Nate and Amie off at Cabela's and we headed over to the racetrack.

We got to see things that most people don't. We drove right into the garage area to park and walked up onto pit road. That is where Jay Dee had to register (sign his life away!) and get ready. I believe he stood in line for 1 1/2 hours before it was finally his turn. It was a hot day, so I was getting sunburnt waiting for him, but it was worth it. He had a great time!

All suited up and ready to go. He had to wear a fireproof suit and headgear.

Climbing into the car -- a real Dukes of Hazzard moment. And you might notice the number on the car... MY favorite driver! He didn't live that one down for awhile.

Getting all buckled in.

And just that quick, it was over. 3 laps around the track and he was done. Quite a wait for 3 laps of excitement.

Then we ate lunch at IHOP with our friends and did some shopping. We discovered the Legends shopping area, and have decided that me might start making an annual trip there every year. Then it was back to the hotel for a bit, hoping we might have electricity. And we did, finally at 4pm. Then is was off to the double-header ballgame. Not as great as seats this time, but it was still a lot of fun.

One quick photo of us.

We had such a great time with our friends. We immediately started planning for next year and decided that we need to make this an annual thing...just for us adults to get away and enjoy each other's company and relax! Thanks Nate and Amie for coming with us!!!!

Another school year

At the beginning of September, Ben started his second year of preschool. He was very excited to get going again. Mainly because he would get to go 3 days a week this year, and for a longer amount of time. His class is on monday, wednesday, and friday, from 10:45 am to 1:00 pm. Because of this he also gets to start eating lunch at preschool. Another new element that he loves! Ben getting ready to go to preschool. Last time in front of this door!

Ben and his beloved teacher, Gina.

Summer Fun

Our summer is about to come to an end with Ben starting another year of preschool right after labor day. So I thought I would do a post of a few of our summer activities. Just recently, my parents traveled to Sturgis with a group of friends, and on their way back home, they stopped by for a couple of days to visit. The kids were delighted because they got Papa to take them for motorcycle rides. Maddie did a lot of begging Papa everytime they went outside. So he gave them both one last ride right before they headed back home to Kansas.

Ben is big enough now to ride alone with Papa. His feet his the pegs, which is good. Maybe we should invest in a motorcycle helmet instead of a bicycle helmet! Maddie patiently waiting her turn with Nana.

Another activity this summer, was Ben took swimming lessons for the first time. He did really well. He sure isn't scared of as many things now. He goes down the big swirly slide all by himself, and he has jumped off the board a few times, as long is someone is there to help him.

There was a lot of swimming or playing in water this summer as it was hot. One day I found this when I went outside. Maddie had taken her snack and lawnchair and climbed in their little pool to cool off. So Ben joined her!

Ben also got to play T-ball for the first time this summer. There were only 6 games, but that was enough. It was fun to watch...ready for there to be more coordination and maybe a big more practicing on our part!

One other things we did for Maddie's birthday was to go to Lincoln to the Children's Zoo. We invited Grandma Carol to go along with us. We had a great time. They enjoyed seeing all the animals, and even got to ride the train when we were done.

More swimming pictures of Maddie:

Playing in a sprinkler that Nana sent to the kids.

What a great summer! Hopefully we'll have lots of beautiful weather yet to enjoy the outdoors!

Madalyn turned 2...

IN JUNE!!!! How bad of a mommy am I for just now posting this? I've been enjoying my summer what more can I say. So on June 5, our little Maddie turned 2. She was so excited to eat cake and ice cream and open presents. We invited grandparents, aunts, and uncles and cousins over to celebrate one evening in the backyard. It turned out to be a beautiful night. We had a Bolt themed birthday party. (For those that don't know, Bolt is a Disney movie that she fell in love with awhile back...about a puppy.)

The cake I made for Madalyn.Opening her doll house that mommy and daddy gave her. I think it was an instant hit. She immediately opened it up on the patio and started playing with it.More fun presents. BUBBLES!A black kitty that she named "Becky". Enjoying cake with Grandpa Royce.