Neighbors

We enjoy spending time with our neighbor kids.

Looking at the cool lifter-machine-thing out the window.

Reading Garfield at bedtime.

Yum yum!

A cowgirl and her trusty steed.

It's always a race.



Fashion

 We live on a farm.

We have kids. 

This is a very fun combination.

I have two daughters.

My daughters love wearing dresses and fancy shoes.

My girls enjoy ballet.

My girls also enjoy mud and water.

They enjoy animals and sand and baseball.

They are well-rounded girls.

I enjoy when the girly side and the farm side collide.

A Farm Fashion Show:



She is wearing a tu-tu, water boots, and shooting a water gun while standing in the middle of a puddle.



She is wearing a dress, leggings, and her farm coat while tearing across the yard.






The Great Plains

I live in the Great Plains.

It's flat.  Like a plate.  Or a pancake.

We can ride our bikes in any direction and not pedal up or glide down a hill for several miles.

It's flat.

I can tell my kids are mountain deprived.

They named the snowbank peaks in our yard this winter.

We have a lot of snowbank peaks, and they named every one that they climbed.

Which is a lot.

Below is a photo of two of my kids running down Dinosaur Mountain and over to Steep Mountain.

They have enjoyed our mountains this winter.

And they are eagerly anticipating our new "lake" when the mountains melt.

Charts and Trucks

My son and oldest daughter earn money by doing chores. They have a chart on the fridge that keeps track of the money they earn for making their bed, brushing their teeth, washing their hands, helping mom or dad, picking up their toys, setting the table, etc. They save up for a few months and then get to spend their hard earned cash.

Last week my son wanted to spend his money at the John Deere dealer in town, so off we went to visit the local green and yellow implement dealer. My son bought a new combine and semi truck, and my daughter bought a smaller semi truck. This was a big occasion in both of their lives, so I was informed that they were going to set up for a picture with their new stuff.

Here's the picture.

The important details: My son's new truck is the big one in the middle of the picture, his hand is on his new combine, and my oldest daughter's new truck is right beside her (to the left of the yellow combine).

Treat

We all went trick-or-treating. The kids and I were bumblebees and my husband was the beekeeper. We picked up my sister-in-law and my nephew (who were also bumblebees) and went around our small town, mooching candy off our amused friends and relatives.

In the above picture, my kids are enjoying our neighbor's friendly turkeys.

Yup, we are rural. Very rural.

Colors

Red Apples on the Trees

White Snow on the Ground

Green Leaves on the Trees

Brown Stain on the Deck

Blue Snowflakes on the Window

I enjoy the many colors of whatever season it is; the season with green grass, snow, and red apples.

Combine

Here he is in one of his favorite spots.

Fancy Nancy Farm Girl

My three-year-old daughter is such a fun combination of girly-girl and farm-girl.

She likes shoes, dresses, and jewelry, and also finds great enjoyment is mud, dirt, and tractors.

I remember the first time I took her shoe shopping. She was one year old, sitting in the stroller, and was about hyperventilating as she tried on every shoe she could reach. She wears at least two pairs of shoes a day and often goes through several dresses a day, too. She likes to have her hair braided after bathtime so the next day her hair is all curly.

She also likes playing in the mud and getting filthy-dirty. She's a great helper in the garden and spends hours in the sandbox during the summer. She enjoys wresting with her dad and jumping off furniture. She loves going farmin' with her dad and spending [a short amount of] time in the tractor or truck. She's such a fun girl with a personality all her own.

For her birthday, she told her Nana that she would like, "necklaces, shoes, and a quad trac tractor."

Crops

We had a good corn crop this year. The kids enjoyed picking the corn, running down the rows of corn, shucking the corn, hauling the cornstalks over to the pasture in their wagon, throwing the cornstalks to the horses, and eating corn-on-the-cob. It was all good.

The best horse

Camping

My husband I have read and heard and simply know that it's important to do things together as a family. Focus on the Family radio program says lots of research has shown that close families often have camping as a summer family activity. Camping really draws a family together, and it gets them away from the daily "stuff" that distracts from quality family time. My husband is super busy in the summer, so getting away to camp together isn't ideal for our occupation. We work all summer. My husband's schedule is pretty booked until harvest is over.




So, we try to be intentional about doing summer family activities. My husband tries hard to be home for meals when he can. We pack a picnic and eat lunch in a nearby park. My husband is famous [in my household] for his bedtime milkshakes. We play T-ball in the yard together. We don't get much time for summer entertainment, so we have to make our own.

This is a picture of my husband getting a spot ready for cement. Yes, we set up our chairs to watch. It's great entertainment.














Dirt is really fun to play in.















We set up chairs to watch the cement being laid. The kids were very excited to have a CEMENT TRUCK in our yard. Ok, I was excited, too. Cement laying was a great family activity.














Bryan showing a bird's nest to the girls.

Family Picture

I actually got to ride my horse!

Tanked

This photo is probably not recommended in the farm safety book, but just for the record - the tractor was not running and the kids didn't stay up there too long.

Anyway, my neighbor has an old water tank that she converted into a planter and I really like how it looks. I asked her about it and decided that I would like to try one for myself. We had three old water tanks lying out in the "retirement" pile, so we brought one up to the house, filled it with a small layer of gravel and then lots of dirt, and then I planted my tomatoes and some flowers in it.

My husband was not so sure about this little project - but he kindly went along and even brought me a load of dirt from one of his fields. What a great way to recycle an old tank ~ and hopefully I'll have some great tomatoes.

This is what it looks like for now, with my red barn in the background - I'm looking forward to the flowers and tomatoes growing and hopefully overflowing over the side of the tank.

Tractor Time

It's that time of year again. The time when my husband almost lives in the tractor. He leaves in the morning before the kids get up and usually gets home after the kids are in bed.

Today he was home for supper (Yay!). When he finished eating and left to do more seeding, my oldest daughter said, "Bye Dad! See you tomorrow."

Offer

What creative name did we come up with for our new border collie puppy? My oldest two kids named him, and my husband thought it was a good name, so I got outvoted.

He's a cute puppy, and he seems to have a very good personality. He is quite gentle. He loves the kids and follows them around where ever they go and sits by them when they play in the sandbox.

The name of the puppy is the title of this post.

Mud Puddles

My little one discovered what happens if you fall into a mud puddle. I snapped a picture before I picked her up (so much for the mother of the year award).

Farmer at Heart

He's showing what he found in the magazine. He was excited.

Tolerance

This kitten is the epitome of tolerance.

Farm kid

Yesterday, as we were driving along in our little car, we got a rather strong whiff of the SKUNK-de-la-toilet fragrance. My kids concluded that skunks smell bad. Then my son told me that he had seen a skunk when he was in the tractor with his dad. "It was black and white, Mom. It was a Holstein."