Days With the Duerksens

Last night we enjoyed a beautiful evening with church friends at the 3rd annual "Fun on the Farm."  We couldn't have asked for a more perfect evening!  We roasted hot dogs, made s'mores, played football and baseball, played on the swings, enjoyed Delton and Janice's awesome barn, had a fantastic hayrack ride at sunset, and enjoyed each other's company - young and old.  That's what makes these kinds of events neat - we get to interact with people who aren't necessarily the same age as we are.  We had a great night! Cambry, Levi, Jeff, and Allyson Cute little Jaxson and his grandma, Judy.  Delaney was enamored with him! The Schrag's in the hayloft.  They even have a movie screen mounted up there! Cambry took this one - there usually aren't many of me and Delaney together! I can't believe they're old enough to roast their own now! Yummy! Cambry, Jake, and Noah enjoying their supper!

Last week, Chelan and his dad spent the evenings installing a GPS system into the tractor.  Many farmers have had this technology for a while, but we've caught up now!  Yesterday, it was time to try it out.  We all took turns riding and marveled at how Chelan didn't have to steer (until it was time to turn).  Sometimes, technology really is amazing!  Chelan is actually holding Delaney with 2 hands!  That little doohickey on top . . . . . . And this little doohickey inside the cab somehow tell the tractor where to go! Always wanting a ride on anything that moves! Delaney wore the right shirt for the day - a birthday present from her great aunt and uncle, Mary and Jim!

Thanks to Facebook, I found out that one of my high school classmates is now a published author/illustrator!  Aaron Ratzlaff has a new book called Quills.  You can find out more about it and order it here .  It looks so cute and has a great message.  I can't wait to order one and read it! This is what I remember about Aaron from school - we were together all the way from Kdg. - 12th grade:  1.  He was always the best artist in our class.  He could draw anything, and when there were projects that involved posters and such, you wanted him in your group! 2.  He was my secret valentine in 5th grade.  We had all been given a name to do nice things for during February and he had been given my name.  I don't remember most of the things he did for me, but I do remember getting a blown-up latex glove with candy hearts inside.  It said "You are 'udderly' divine" (or something similar).  He's creative like that! 3.  He was a f...

Climbing into the doll stroller - climbing on everything, really! Hat Buddies - if Delaney is awake when Chelan gets home from work, she immediately runs to him, expecting to go outside for a 4-wheeler ride!  She is definitely daddy's girl outside! She's beginning to love books (and sitting on this step) Pointing - one of those milestones the dr.'s always ask about Laughing - and making us laugh!

I have "project" in quotes because this is what Cambry calls anything she's about to do:  coloring, cutting, writing, pasting, anything crafty, really.  Since she has so many "projects" I had to start researching craft ideas.  I found this one on Kaboose .  Cambry had fun painting a cut-up brown paper bag.  Then, we made football-shaped leaves (well, I did).  She cut a few of them out, though!  We glued them together, found a small branch, and hung it up.  I'm really enjoying it on our front door!

We've reached a milestone in this house - there will never be any more babies in this house who spit up all over the place - including the living room carpet!  To celebrate, we had our carpet cleaned!  Oh, I had tried my hand at spot cleaning.  I even tried a home mixture of hydrogen peroxide and ammonia (it sort-of worked).  There's only so much one can do, though, with carrot, cereal, squash, and milk spit-up.  And we can't forget the giant vomit stain by our couch from last March.  Caiden really did a number on that spot!  I wish I had a "before" picture, but anyone who has been in our house, probably knows that it was less than desirable!   A guy from Supreme Flooring in Hillsboro came by, and after 2 hours, I think it's safe to say that our living room looks clean again.  It's amazing how refreshing it feels to have a clean carpet.  I don't even mind the upheavel the rest of our house is in because of it! Our entryway is a ...

Last night we fell asleep to lightning and thunder (a great way to fall asleep, by the way).  This morning, we woke up to find out we had about 4 inches of rain!  What does 4 inches of rain over 2 nights mean? 1.  The creek was actually running this morning.  It was completely dry at spots, as in NO water. 2.  There is water in the pasture ponds - no more hauling water to the cows! 3.  My dad's pond is FULL.  This means he can use the water to water his golf course and not pay for using rural water.  A HUGE blessing! 4.  I don't have to water the garden for a few days, and maybe my fall spinach, beans, and lettuce will take off! 5.  We just planted grass on Tuesday in our backyard - we may need to replant some of it because it looked like a lake back there this morning!  I don't think we mind, though. 6.  THANK YOU, GOD!

With the weather finally turning cooler, I've had a little more ambition to be outside!  So, yardwork - here I come!  Today I transplanted some irises (with many more to go), and also transplanted a daylily.  Yesterday, Chelan planted grass in our backyard.  We hope our well has enough water to keep up.  We might be taking a big risk.  Over the weekend, we made some other improvements:  We had some corner posts that needed painting.  Caiden had been very excited about this project, but after finishing this one, he didn't want to do any more.  We still had one more to do.  We all got out there and finished it together!   This might have been the biggest accomplishment.  Chelan dug all these rocks in to make a flower bed in front of the fence.  Do you see how LONG it is?  Luckily, my mom came over and sketched out some ideas for moving all the old plants over here.  She and my dad have quite a gift in that...

On Thursday evening we began a new adventure called . . . Piano Lessons!  We hadn't talked about it much, but when Thursday evening rolled around, Caiden was absolutely NOT going to get in the van to go.  He pouted, he stomped, he yelled, he gave me his angry stare - he wasn't having anything to do with piano.  I knew he was nervous about trying something new.  We go through this everytime he begins something new (especially when he doesn't really know what he's getting into).  He did get in the van, he calmed down, and we made it to his teacher's house.  She patiently began teaching him the names of the notes and how to find the notes on the piano.  He listened, and smiled, and even laughed sometimes! On the way out to the van after his lesson, he walked by me and muttered, "Well, that was funner than I thought!"  I think he's going to do all right!

On Saturday we ventured up to Manhattan for Caiden's first college football game:  KSU vs. Eastern KY.  Chelan was pretty excited to show Caiden where he had gone to to school for 4 years.  If we had gotten there sooner, it would have been fun to show him around more than just the football stadium - I'm sure that time will come, though!  While the game was pretty ugly, the atmosphere was fun - so much more exciting than watching it on TV (although I missed the yellow first down line that they show on TV)!  It may be a long season for the wildcats, but we'll be supporting them every step of the way! The team streaming out of the locker room   If you look real closely, you can see number 33 on the 37 yard line - that's Weston Hiebert.  He graduated from Goessel 2 years ago and made the team this year.  I gave him swimming lessons for many years and he was in my 5th and 6th grade classes that I taught.  It was fun to see him on the...