Days With the Duerksens

Chelan celebrated another birthday on Monday - well, we made sure he celebrated it!  He's not really into birthdays.  Since he claims he doesn't need gifts, I decided to feed him well!  Instead of a birthday cake, he got cream puffs.  For supper, we had grilled tri-tip.  Here's a background story on tri-tip: Every time we go to California (or nearly every time), we get served this cut of meat.  We had never heard of this before as it doesn't really seem to be found in Kansas.  We couldn't figure out why we can get it in California but not here - it's really tasty!  About a month ago, I was strolling around the grocery store and my eyes landed on a package of meat labeled "tri-tip!"  I immediately picked it up and kept it a surprise for Chelan's birthday.  It definitely lived up to our expectations! Happy Birthday, Chelan - you definitely are our rock in this family!  We love you! Cream puff aftermath!

My parents lost a very faithful companion this week.  Their Cocker Spaniel, Penny, died on Monday.  She was 12 years old and apparently had developed cancer in her stomach area.  It was sudden to all of us, but she was probably dealing with it for quite a while. She was always such a sweetheart, welcoming golfers to the golf course, Dad's companion to coffee in town, his shotgun rider on the golf cart.  We will all miss her, but my dad, especially, has lost a dear friend. Such a sweet puppy - I was ready to graduate from college when she joined the family.  I was so excited about her that I brought my roommates from Bethel to see her!

Way back in January, Caiden was working hard on designing and building an egg-drop container for the KU Engineering Expo.  This kind of project is right up his alley.  It turned out that they didn't get to go to KU because it was a snow-day.  Thankfully, the kids got to drop their creations last Friday at school to make up for it. There were about 10 entries - 5 from Goessel!  It was fun to watch, and Caiden actually placed 2nd.  Way to go, kiddo! Goessel Students Mrs. Sells dropped the eggs from 17 feet! It didn't break!

1.  Lots of old metal stuff 2.  Lots of old screens, doors, and windows 3.  More old stuff - old engines, old parts from engines 4.  Lots of old wire 5.  You guessed it - more old stuff 6.  And, oh yeah, a skunk!  It is for this exact reason that I have always been slightly afraid of the chicken barn.  This thing halted our "cleaning out the chicken barn" for a while.  Imagine lots of peeking around corners and through windows and doors to see where it was moving.  There was also lots of "standing back."  Chelan finally got the nerve to get rid of it, and Shammi was quite intrigued with the whole adventure!  We did more work in the barn after this incident, but I'm afraid the smell lingered in our noses for the rest of the evening.

We have a new mower on our hands!  We thought we' let Caiden try his hand at mowing this weekend.  He was reluctant.  He didn't want anything to do with it, but he rode around with Chelan for a little bit, and then he was off!  He mowed our biggest grassy area - and then he kept asking for more places to mow!  By the end of the day, he had mowed the entire farm yard!  I may have lost my mowing job this summer . . .

We had a pretty good string of mild weather over the weekend, so I finally got the kids to do some exploring down by our creek.  It's practically in our backyard, but they hardly ever go down there.  They sure had a good time with rocks, water, and mud!  Chelan spent his Saturday afternoon planting one small field of corn.  Planting came to a halt, though, with colder weather moving in.  I guess we'll resume winter activities again for a couple of days! Gathering mud Building a dam I love this "wall" with all the tree roots hanging down There are some very large trees down there! Off to plant! Cambry found this treasure . . . . . . and promptly found a "treasure tree" to store it in It looks like she's on a mission! A stick quickly turned into a fishing pole Cambry got to work on some rock and mud painting

When God was handing out gifts for design, decorating, and landscaping, he passed over me and gave my share to someone else.  So, when Chelan suggested we use this old thing from the chicken barn up on our porch, I was quite . . . reluctant.  In fact, there might have been an argument about it.  He thinks I only want to use new stuff in decorating, but that's really not true.   I just don't trust my judgement on such things.  I love vintage -- not junky. I'd love it if any of you who are not design-challenged could help me!  Does this thing need to go or does it have potential?

Easter Sunday was gloriously sunny and mild!  A truly beautiful day filled with basket hunts, egg hunts, Easter hymns, good food, and family.  We are blessed! At breakfast on Easter morning, we were discussing with the kids about why we celebrate Easter; why they get to hunt for "surprises."  Because Jesus died and now lives in Heaven, we can go live with him, too.  We were a little startled to see Delaney tear up and ask, "Will you hold me?  I don't want Jesus!"  It finally dawned on us that she thought we were going to Heaven that day - that she didn't want to go anywhere without us - even if it was Heaven to be with Jesus.  It was such a sweet, innocent question that caught us off-guard!  Chelan and I realized again just how important we are in the lives of our children.  At this point in our parenting, it is our responsibility to teach them about Jesus and hope that someday they will be ready (and willing) to take that journey!  Bu...