Days With the Duerksens

It feels like we're at the beginning of a repeat of last summer.  Remember last summer?  50+ days of triple digit heat?  We've had about 6 days in a row of those blasted temps and I'm not sure I can make it another 6 days, let alone 50+.  Unfortunately, the weather guys tell us there is not an end in sight. The kids have all been sick - including fevers of 100+.  I've found it very interesting that their body temps have been the same as the outside temps!  There's lots of coughing - LOTS of coughing- ALL the time.   I've been cranky - I'm very aware of this, and yet things keep spilling out of my mouth before I have time to think about what I'm saying.   Trying to keep a positive attitude has never been a strong suit of mine - but here's my stab at finding the good things in this heat: -My parents' pool - long hot days aren't quite as long when you can be wet!  And we're thankful for good friends to swim with! -Caiden loves to rea...

Cambry declared Monday to be "Pajama Superhero Day!"  What did this mean exactly?  I'm not quite sure, other than it meant she put on her pajamas and attached a blanket "cape" around her neck.  She bounded into the kitchen and announced herself as "Superhero Cambry!"  She was really quite helpful all day and even showed me how she could "fly" (imagine her lying on her tummy in front of her fan with arms outstretched and hair blowing). I wish I could say that I jumped right in and played along, but I have discovered that I'm really not that kind of mom.  It's hard for me to "play."  I did, however, use her "super powers" to help with little things throughout the day - picking up things, helping in the kitchen, that sort of thing.  Delaney knocked over a lamp at one point, and I actually heard Cambry say, "Superhero Cambry is on her way!" This is her kind of play.  She doesn't play with dolls, play ...

After we dropped off Caiden at camp last Thursday, Cambry, my sister, and my niece all headed to Wichita for an evening out.  We had a really good time despite Cambry coming down with a bad cold.  She hung in there with us, sometimes crying because she missed Caiden (a totally unexpected reaction), sometimes laughing with joy, and most of the time, coughing! I was realized how little I take her shopping with me.  Everything seemed like a brand new experience to her!  She wanted everything in the stores.  I might have broken down and bought her a pen that she wanted! We ate at Panera Bread for supper - a favorite of mine and my sister and niece!  Cambry thought it was so funny when they said our name over the loudspeaker and then continued to giggle every time she heard someone else's name called!  Oh, it's the little things!  I'll have to do that more often with her. fun sunglasses at Old Navy! Yummy strawberry ice cream with Oreo Cookies...

On Thursday afternoon, I dropped Caiden off for his first camp experience at Camp Mennoscah - our church camp.  I found myself quite excited for him because I knew he was going to have a great time and come back home with new memories made, just like I did when I was a camper there.  In fact, he couldn't push me out the cabin door fast enough! The awesome thing about Camp Mennoscah is that very little has changed over the years.  And in this era where everything changes by the minute, it's good to have something stay constant.  There have been improvements like a new swimming pool, some extra buildings, and a campaign for new mattresses, but overall, the general feeling of the camp is still the same.  Here are some examples: -There is still no electricity in the cabins (awesome!) -Chores are still done every day with cabin-mates -When your cabin sets the table for dinner, you get to choose who the runner will be for each table (the person in charge of gett...

We are enjoying an abundance of produce from the garden - zucchini, cucumbers, potatoes, onions, green beans (LOTS of green beans), and tomatoes - yes, tomatoes already!  The coolest thing about the garden, though, is how much discovery happens there.  The dam was one such experiment, but this week, the girls also discovered that green bean leaves stick to their clothes!  They were so thrilled that I had to take a few pictures! Our first tomatoes - kind of a surprise!  The girls are "washing" them in our watering tank.

Last week, Caiden and Cambry had quite a project going in the garden.  It involved making a river, digging a very deep hole, and then running water to see if they could dam it up.  It was so fun to see and hear them working together on something (and after a day like today where they've been at each other's throats, it seems like a distant memory)!  At one point I heard Caiden yell, "Cambry, I need help, I need help!"  and Cambry responded, "I'm on my way!" with a little hand salute.  Oh, if only those projects could pop up every week! This hole is so deep that at one point, the water was mid-thigh when he stood in it!

Father's Day came and went without much hoopla, but I think we managed to surprise Chelan  a little bit - Krispy Kreme Donuts in the morning along with some surveys the kids filled out (it was fun to see what they think about Dad).  We also gave him new pictures for his frame at work.  We had fun cutting out the letters from cardboard and painting them.  Then, we drove to one of our wheat fields for the picture-taking.  I like how they turned out!

Since things have slowed down on the farm, Chelan and I were able to go out on Saturday night - without the kids!  Throughout the evening, I was struck with how different "going out" is at this stage in our lives.  For us, it meant buying work shoes at Red Wing Shoes, dinner at Hangar One Steakhouse, Lowe's, JCPenney, Target, and one last stop at Freddy's.  We thought about going to a movie, but when we saw what was playing, we just couldn't convince ourselves to spend money on any of them.   We must be getting older!  A few years ago, I would have jumped at the chance to go watch ANY movie, but now it feels like such a waste of money if it's not a movie I'm "dying" to see!   So, our date nights usually involve dinner and errands - and I don't mind that at all.  It's so much fun to go shopping when I don't have to think about the kids getting cranky!  But, throughout the evening, there were comments like, "We could go to All St...

It's already been 2 weeks since the kids had swimming lessons in Hillsboro!  We had a great teacher this year and we have to thank Jake and Emily F. for sharing her with us! Cambry and Jake working Looks like Caiden is having a great time! Caiden and Emily kicking to the deep end Waiting! Diving comes easily to Caiden! Friends! Cambry and Caiden with their teacher, Heidi Schroeder

Last week was quite a week!  Being on a committee in charge of VBS is a lot of work, but after it's all said and done, I have to say it's worth it.  We had a fantastic week learning to TRUST GOD!  On Sunday, we had our children's program where the kids sang the songs from the week.  The music was awesome this year - a mix of new theme songs, worship songs, and old gospels and hymns like "I'll Fly Away" and "Christ Arose." After the program, we always have a meal and activities outside on the church campus.  Cambry couldn't stop talking about the cotton candy (you know, like clouds), and Caiden had fun with the organized activities - especially the water balloon toss.  It was such a great day! Now that swimming lessons, wheat harvest, and VBS are all over, it's time to begin the slow, relaxing portion of our summer! We had about 75 kids during the week - there were probably about 65 there on Sunday.  This song is "You, You, You...

I hadn't had the privilege of picking cherries since I was a little girl.  So, this year, I was delighted when Chelan called one day to say there were thousands of cherries on Jake and Mary's yard.  We rent some ground from them, and when Chelan was cutting wheat there last week, he happened to see the enormous tree (along with a very healthy apricot tree)!  Mary was glad to have someone come pick them as she had already frozen some.  As she said, "It's a sin to let them fall!"  :)  We had fun climbing the ladder and filling a 5-gallon bucket full!  Now, if only I knew what to do with them all . . . These are sweet cherries Cambry and Mary - the tree's owner My "wash and sort" helper!

At VBS this week, we have told the kids to be on the lookout for "God Sightings" - where they see God throughout the day.  This morning, one of the 2nd grade girls shared that she had a God Sighting in the cemetery this morning.  I asked her how she saw God there, and she said, "because my grandpa is there."  She just lost her grandpa this past spring, and I thought it was such a beautiful thing to share.  I went on to say that it's sad that he can't be with us here anymore, but how happy we can be that he is in Heaven with Jesus. Then, this afternoon, I looked over to the computer where Cambry was playing.  She was typing out the words to one of her favorite VBS songs "You, You, You."  She spent her computer time singing and typing away - a particularly happy God sighting for me!  Here is what she typed: You you YOU YOU CAN TRUST GOD ET DUZENT (IT DOESN'T) MATR HU (MATTER WHO) YOU ARE RAZE YOUR HDS AND (HANDS) REPE AFD (REPEAT AFTE...

Normally, we would still be waiting to roll out the combine and harvest the wheat.  God had a different plan in mind this year.  We started our wheat harvest in May - MAY!  It really shouldn't make a difference when the harvest begins, except that starting in May conflicts with preparations for VBS.  I haven't felt a part of harvest this year, and that makes me sad. The last two weeks have had me focused on Bible School - and only Bible School.  Again, in a normal year, this wouldn't be a bad thing.  But, my emotions have been all over the place, the stress has been high, and I have felt like an inadequate mother and wife at times.  Chelan has been extremely patient and understanding during one of his busiest times of the year, and thankfully, rain fell at the right times for him to be home with the kids (maybe not so good for the wheat, but the rain was a huge blessing in so many ways)!  Things also dried up by the time I could be home and he h...