My Hard Workin' Man

Damian has been planting soybeans all week, starting most mornings by 7 am and not get home several nights until 1 am. He had hoped to finish with the soybeans by the first of June, so he could focus on getting the brome put up right. It looks so beautiful this year! If he has a good week, he should finish in 3 or 4 days which won't put him too far behind schedule.

This is Damian's new Air Seeder. He has gone 100% no-till which is why there is so much plant growth still in the field. It provides good ground cover to hold in moisture and help prevent soil erosion. It is also very good for lowering the fuel bill, since he doesn't have to work the ground numerous times prior to planting.






Damian forgot to take his lunch, so the girls and I loaded up in the Ranger to take him something to eat. We sent Brooklyn in the tractor with Daddy while M&M and I went and got the pick up and the seed cart from the last field. The girls dropped me off at the truck and drove the Ranger back to where Damian was and I drove the truck. I wish I was quicker with the camera because a HUGE deer jumped the fence and crossed the road right in front of us...beautiful! I guess I was focusing on the girls driving without me sitting right next to them. Makes me kinda nervous! They did a great job, though, and after Damian filled up with seed we took the Ranger and the truck back to the house because we would be in town by the time he was ready to move everything home.

This all happened on Thursday, which was a very busy day for us. After leaving the field we got around and headed in for gymnastics in Augusta, then to El Dorado for part of Montana's softball game until time to take Garrett to his baseball game which was back in Augusta. Damian finished his field in time to make it in to the game. He isn't able to make it to many this time of year, so Garrett was very happy to see him! After Garrett's game we went and watched our friend Quinten play. It was a lot of fun and a much faster paced game than machine pitch! We finally headed home about 10:30, lucky for us we got to sleep in on Friday! Yay!!




The only disappointment was missing the last half of Montana's game. AFTER we left she hit a triple AND a double! The closed a 14 run spread and ended up losing the game by only 1 run. Next time I'm sure we'll take 'em! ;-)

A little bit of what we've been up to...

I really intended to post all of this as it happened, but as often happens at the end of the school year, I have been overwhelmed with things to do, so blogging just wasn't a luxury that I could afford. This should catch everyone up on the happenings at our house, though.

She's caught!! Montana evidently saw the camera out and couldn't resist capturing a self-portrait. What a sweet surprise when I uploaded my pictures tonight!



Garrett bought me a special present at the AR STore. Aren't they beautiful?? He made sure to point out that they were fashion earrings and was so proud when he gave them to me!
...so being the loving, supportive mother that I am, I told him I would wear them to his "Big Show" that night. The things that we moms will do for our kiddos! I made sure everyone sitting remotely close to us knew that they were a special present from Garrett!
The BIG SHOW is a tradition in Mrs. Dyer's K-1 class that has been around for well over 20 years. She always buys the kiddos costumes that match. This year it was a country theme, so the boys all wore red T-shirts and jeans and the girls wore white T-shirts and cut-off jean shorts with red bandana-print belts. They jump rope, sing and dance...they even dance with girls! Garrett was the only boy that had TWO dance partners. Evidently he's quite the lady's man! LOL The little girl on the right is actually a second grader and his 'girlfriend' at the moment...whatever that means in the first grade.

Here is Garrett after the show with his best bud Cole. I'm sure they are an ornery pair at school!A few evenings ago, Montana was out shooting hoops when she began screaming for me. When I went outside I found this waddling across the yard. Aren't they the creepiest looking things?? I really can't stand them! He appears to have some battle scars from the dogs, but may have Montana's screams to thank for saving his life. Once she started in, he did a 180 and hurriedly headed the other way! You never know what crazy critters will show up at our house!

Damian has been hard at work trying to get crops in the ground now that it is finally drying up. Hay season is right around the corner, so he really needs to get the planting done. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of him planting corn, as I have been so busy running kids all over creation, but hopefully will get some pictures of the soybeans going in. He has a new air seeder that he is using, so he will want a picture for the scrapbook. He is worse than a kid with a new toy! LOL He is also in the process of adding onto each side of our huge pole barn out back, but that is put on hold since it's time to be in the field. If you have been to our house, it is the barn with the BIG KSU Power Cat on the north side. No fear, Heather, he numbered the pieces, so that the Cat can be put back up when he is done! This is always a trying time for us as he pretty much only has time to work, eat and sleep...often eating WHILE he works...I just pray he doesn't SLEEP while he works! I'm thankful that he is such a good provider, though, and able to do what he loves! God is so good to us!

Have a wonderful holiday everyone!!

All She Wants To Do Is DANCE!!

This morning Brooklyn decided she wanted to be a Rockstar! She put on quite a show for me and all her little friends...Elmo, Ernie, Anthony, etc. She has found the perfect place to stand in her bedroom where she can watch herself in the mirror. It's important to perfect the performance ya know! ;-)

First, she has to be sure her clothes and hair reflect her personal style and that her hair is down, so she can flip it when necessary.

This is her telling me all about how she can brush her hair herself and put in her own hair clip.


Today she rocked out to High School Musical on her Wiggles guitar with the custom green ribbon guitar strap. The strap was a necessity, so she can play, sing and dance all at the same time. It's tough being a one-woman-show!

Strength Will Rise

Well, tomorrow Garrett has an appointment at 2:15 to have his stitches removed. Unfortunately, I will be taking him...not Damian, so my prayer is that strength will rise...not my lunch! :-) The forecast is calling for rain, so if you feel led to pray over this situation, pray for courage for me or enough rain that Damian will bail me out and go in my place!

Warning! This Post Contains Graphic Material...

I was just thinking to myself the other day that I needed to watch for an opportunity to post about Garrett. Everything I have shared lately has been about one of the girls and I didn't want him to feel left out! Well, I had no idea the lengths he would go to in order to give me something to write about.

Sunday evening we scheduled a photographer to come out to the farm to take family pictures for my mother-in-law, Deann, for Mother's Day. Not just of our immediate family, but with Damian's brother, his wife, Damian's sister and ALL the kiddos...12 kids in all! There is a cabin at the place we went for pictures, with a fusball table, among other things, in the garage. One of those other things happened to be a lawnmower, which Garrett fell on as the boys clambered over each other trying to run out the door. At first we couldn't tell where he was injured, except that he was crying and there was A LOT of blood. Did I mention he was wearing a white shirt??

We soon realized it was his cheek and that it warranted a trip to the ER for stitches...5 to be exact! While the nurses were writing the report, one of them asked the other how to spell cheek. The other nurse said c-h-e-e-k-e, to which Garrett replied, 'It's spelled c-h-e-e-k. It's one of my spelling words.' Needless to say his teacher is VERY proud!

Damian and I are very proud of him, as well, for his behavior at the hospital. He didn't whimper one time or shed one tear through the whole thing! I told him I never could have done that. I was so thankful that Damian was there, so I could step out while they stitched him up. I don't handle blood very well! When all was said and done, he hadn't even gotten one drop of blood on his jeans or his white shirt and believe me, if you had seen how bad it was, you would be amazed! He is such a good boy and growing up so fast!

He couldn't wait to go to school and show all his friends. He said most of his friends had already had gotten stitches before, so I guess he thinks it's pretty cool! I'm not sure I'll ever understand boys!

Sniffles, Coughs and Headaches...ACHOO!!

Did I mention the sneezes?? Well, it's official, I have caught Damian's cold. I experienced a few symptoms starting with a sore throat a couple of days ago, but decided I was more resilient than him because 1) I'm a woman and 2) unless I'm puking...I'm not sick! LOL

WRONG!!

I have a little more sympathy for how miserable he was except for the small fact that it is also a particularly uncomfortable time of the month. (Sorry to any males who may be reading my blog by mistake!) So it does no good to try and satisfy my sweet cravings because I can't taste anything. However, I have learned that I can enjoy salsa and actually breathe for a brief period after, so I begged Damian to pick up some more ingredients while he is in town today. (Isn't it funny that he is in town instead of me?? He hates going to town! Wink Wink) He really doesn't mind in this case because salsa is one of his favorites...he'll eat it with anything! Who would have thought that salsa is the new decongestant??

I'm thinking about making a big pot of vegetable soup, but the thought of peeling 8 to 10 potatoes, well, that's probably not going to happen. Plus I have to make brownies for the school carnival cake walk this evening. Let's be realistic!! The bright spot of the day is due to Montana's attitude adjustment...someone has to stay home with her, so dad gets to take the other three kiddos to the carnival and I get to stay in out of this dreary, chilly weather. YAY!!

Time to go clean up the kitchen (nothing is clean after the party last night) and make some brownies while my dayquil is doing it's thing. It wears off way too fast!!

Happy Friday!!

Damian's Birthday

Last night we celebrated Damian's 36th birthday. I made tostadas and homemade salsa, then we had ice cream cake from DQ for desert. It was so crazy frying shells for 12 people that I didn't get many pictures, especially during dinner, but I did get a few of the entertainment after.

Montana wanted to play a song for her daddy, since it was his birthday...so she played 3. It amazes me how quickly they pick it up and she did a beautiful job. She also demonstrated the new Miley Cyrus 'Hoe Down, Throw down' dance for everyone (At least I THINK that's what it's called). She's turning into quite the performer!

Michaela plays the saxophone and dances, too, but for some reason she was in a bashful mood last night. We tried everything to get her to show us her stuff, but it wasn't happenin'!

Our dinner party included my parents, Damian's parents, and our good friends/neighbors/babysitters Jake and Kelly. They aren't married yet and Damian swears that babysitting for us may keep them from ever tying the knot. I guess time will tell. The kids absolutely LOVE them and I think they would let us go to the moon, if it meant that they could stay with Kelly and Jake! Brooklyn has decided that Jake is her boyfriend (one of 2, I might add), but Kelly doesn't seem to mind. How can a little girl not love a 22 year old guy who will play dollhouse with her in the middle of a party?!?!

All-in-all it was a lovely evening...until bedtime, that is. It all started with Montana not being able to sleep and the next thing you know she was throwing an all-out tantrum. I had to move Michaela upstairs, so she could get some sleep and I was up later than I wanted to be waiting for Montana to calm down and fall asleep. I won't go into detail for her sake, but pray for wisdom for Damian and I because this is the fourth time we've been through this in the past week. Due to her lack of cooperation, we are making her stay home from the school carnival tonight and she informed us (in the midst of another display of emotion this am) that we have ruined her fifth grade and that we never listen. I know that hormones are beginning to kick in and accounts for some of her attitude, so I'm trying to be as sensitive as possible. However, I am trying to convince her that it is NOT okay to disrupt the entire household. Where did my sweet girl go?? I know she is in there somewhere...

Have a wonderful, rainy weekend everyone!