Days With the Duerksens

The cooler weather has moved in and already I miss the warmer days of summer when we could all just throw on our flip-flops, sandals, or march out the door in our bare feet!  I'm fast realizing that whenever we want to go outside, I not only have to tie my own shoes, but Cambry's and Delaney's as well.  I guess I didn't notice it last year so much because Delaney didn't need shoes!  Thank goodness Caiden knows how to tie his own shoes - now, we're working A LOT with Cambry on this skill.  She has velcro shoes for school (something I think I said I would never do - back when I thought I knew everything about parenting)!  However, her farm shoes are regular "lace-up" shoes.  Oh my!  Teaching a 5 year old how to tie shoes is not very fun, especially when I am left-handed and she is right-handed.  I was trying to explain this to Chelan and ready to give him the sole responsibility of this task when I decided to show him how I, as a left-hander,...

When Delaney wants something, she does everything she can to get it!  In this case, it meant finding the shelf where the raisins are kept, opening the container, and setting it down on the ground so she could enjoy a snack!

Chelan and Grandpa spent the morning grinding hay yesterday. While we didn't get outside for that occasion, we did venture out later in the morning to "chore." The cows are usually fed using a tractor and feed wagon, but the kids like to help out sometimes, too! Delaney was thrilled with the "mountain" of hay, and quickly joined in the action! Caiden and Cambry are able to use pitchforks quite well, but Delaney settled for grabbing handfuls of hay. She tried to throw the hay into the feed bunk, but it was so windy, the hay rarely made it to the cows!  Learning the ropes from her big brother!  Happy Cows!

Have you ever gotten a moth stuck in your ear?  Well, Chelan has!  Last night he came in from the shop and informed me that a moth had flown into his ear!  Really??  How does a moth find a person's ear!  I could hear it fluttering about in his ear canal, and he could feel it burrowing in and it apparently was very painful!  In fact, I heard more cussing from him last night than I have ever heard in our 9 years together!  :)  Anyway, after I tried and tried and tried to get it with a tweezers and worrying that I was going to poke somewhere I shouldn't, we started dumping peroxide in his ear - to drown it, maybe?  We were in unfamiliar territory!  I was just about ready to take him to the ER when I noticed a little something moving in his ear.  Thankfully, I was able to pull the thing out - alive!  Chelan insisted on taking a picture of it, and then I he took care of it!  So, if you ever get a moth stuck in your ear, I g...

October is very busy on the farm - wheat to be sown, soybeans to be harvested, and milo to cut.  Not to mention bringing the cows home from the pastures and getting ready to feed them at home.  Yesterday, Chelan sowed wheat all day!  Caiden actually helped to load the drill with wheat before Chelan took off for the fields.  Chelan was thrilled with the very straight rows in the field (due to the new GPS system on the tractor).  He and Caiden enjoyed some bonding in the tractor for a few hours in the afternoon while they listened to the K-State game (an awesome K-State win, by the way).  By 8:30 p.m., Chelan was back home and watched most of the game on TV (which I had taped)!  All in all, a good great day! 2006 - Caiden was 2 years old 2007 - Caiden was 3, Cambry was 1 2011 - Caiden is 7 and old enough to help Straight rows! Discussing things in the dark - we finally made it out to see Chelan around 7 p.m. Dancing on th...

In August, I took the kids to Newton for pictures with another Megan Duerksen.  Just yesterday, she posted this picture on her blog and I just love it!  I haven't seen any of the others, but I can hardly wait!

What better way to celebrate Oct. than with a trip to the Pumpkin Patch?  The kids and I made our way to Papa's Pumpkin Patch this morning - beautiful, beautiful morning!  Caiden was in charge of cutting the pumpkins, Cambry pulled the wagon most of the time, and Delaney just sort of did what she wanted to do!  The sandbox and the slide were the highlights (no pictures of those, though)!  There weren't very many people when we got there, so it was a very nice morning! It was a team effort! Riding the "Bull"  My Two Sunflowers  Playing in the corn I finally got to finish this display in front of our garage!