Listening

Yesterday, hubby was grilling our Sunday dinner. He enjoys working the grill, and I am happy to have him do part of the cooking. I went out to see how things were going and was struck by a wonderful sight. Kathryn had gotten a lawn chair out and was sitting next to him. She had a baby bunny on her lap and they were talking. But what was most special was that her daddy was looking at her, really listening to what she was saying.

Saturday, Thomas and I went on a drive together, just the two of us. He is a talker, but if you listen, wow is he smart. He talks about everything he sees as we go down the road. I suspect that is how he learns a lot of stuff. And it isn't "trivial" stuff either. He is constantly seeking out new information and filing it away for a future day.

In our hustled-up world, do we stop and really listen to our kids? Or are we so busy, we brush their needs off in order to deal with what we think the bigger picture is?? I know there is no bigger picture than what they need and that is US.

Why?

It has been all over the news for the last few days. A school has admitted that there are 18 young girls pregnant in their system. Wow! As a mom of two girls and a boy, it sure reiterated why I must be a prayer warrior for my kids. I pray for the person that God has already selected as their mate. I am also praying for the boys or girls they will someday date. I don't want them growing up too quickly in this world, but also recognize that they aren't totally immune to the world's way of thinking. So I pray that we as parents are equipping them, even now, with the ability to make wise choices. Yes, they are bound to make some dumb ones, but my prayer is that they will learn on the "little stuff" so that when bigger things come along they will be prepared.

I hope and pray that they see a loving relationship between my husband and I, and that they always know they are loved by us. Perhaps that love will sustain their need for love until such a time they are old enough to find their mates. Over and over you hear of young girls admitting that they had gotten pregnant so that someone would finally love them! How sad!

Lest anyone think I am looking at my children with rose colored glasses, please know that I am not. I know that even in the best of families, under the best of circumstances and no matter how a child has been raised, it still happens. A child goes astray, makes a poor choice with huge consequences and then live their lives having made that decision. But that doesn't reduce our responsibility as parents to do all we can, every day, every hour, to teach them Gods way and to instill in them the desire to seek Gods plan for their lives.

Strawberries and more

I picked up 16 quarts of strawberries at the local farm yesterday morning and began the process of turning them into yummy strawberry jam. Notice I said picked up. I let someone else do the picking. I don't mind making the jam, but picking stuff has never been a favorite project of mine. Within 5 hours, I had completed 5 batches of jam. We still had a few jars from last year left over, so hopefully I have guesstimated how many jars we will need correctly. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are a staple in our family during the school year. The kids carry their lunches, and most mornings, that is what they select for their meal. I have a few quarts left to work with. I want to make a strawberry pie, as well as some more strawberry shortcake.

We enjoyed strawberry shortcake last evening after we got home from the kids softball games. What an enjoyable time. We have such great fellowship with our friends, and our kids enjoy their friends as well. We started taking our grill and my hubby is the "grill master", cooking up hot dogs that each family brings for their suppers. It is nice not to have to plan a meal that can be grabbed and eaten after we get home.

Suzanna and I spent time doing the fussy weeding in the garden. We were on our hands and knees going through each row now that things are big enough to distinguish what is a weed and what is a plant. We continue to battle the gourds, although we have won a few small skirmishes, there is still an awful lot of self-seeded stuff out there. It is time to take the tiller after them again.

Annoying rains have slowed the haying process down. These are not major rainstorms, but rather, just enough that it would wet the hay and extend the drying process one more day. Therefore a lot of our major field of grass remains standing. Hoping to get after it by the weekend. And so summer goes at Knolltop Morgans.

This lady is not my mommy!!!

Mom had to have a medical procedure on Tuesday. The medical staff gave her a sedative prior to it, and boy did it send her to another land!!! They called me back to be with her when it was time to get dressed. She was really unsteady and right off the bat, nearly fell off the bed while dressing. I caught her with a giggle, thinking to myself.....this is gonna be an interesting ride home. Once dressed, she bounced off a couple walls with determination that it was time to leave. But, she hadn't been discharged yet. I helped her bounce off another wall on her way to a chair and we waited for the doctor to chat with her once more.

The nurse came in to give us the discharge instructions, she started to tell mom, but then switched to me, as she said, "she won't remember what I am telling her anyway." Discharge orders in hand, we headed out the door. Me trying to hold her up, while she was convinced she was fine. We must have looked pretty funny to all the people in the waiting room.

Next up was to get some lunch. Thankfully we had the "bossy broad", aka GPS system with us, so I plugged in the need for a Wendy's and she told us where to go. After that the need to fill a coffee craving was great. Asked GPS where a Starbucks was and up the street we went for a hazelnut latte for mom and a mint chocolate chip frappaccino for me. A quick fill-up at the gas station and on our way home we went.

Mom finished her chicken wrap, snuggled under her blanket and was asleep before we were out of Fort Wayne. I made a couple phone calls and slipped into driver mode to get the kids picked up and get her home.

We were nearly home, and mom was beginning to get more "with it". She had begun talking to me more, and had told me at least three times about how many nurses it took to put her IV in. Each time, I patiently smiled and acted like I hadn't heard the story before. Then she suddenly realized, the doctor had never come in to talk with her!!! I said that he had, but she had absolutely no recollection of him being there. I started asking her questions and discovered most of what had happened at the doctors office was gone.

I got her home and reminded her that according to the nurse, she was to take it easy. That meant go sit in a chair and watch TV or read. If she needed anything she was to call me. She nodded her head like an obedient child and I headed home. About an hour later, she called me and asked if she had had any lunch??!!! I took her through our trip home and discovered that most of it was missing in her mind. In the meantime, my hubby had been over there picking up hay and saw her outside doing her bird chores. Is this sitting down taking it easy?? I don't think so, when you have at least 15 bird feeders in the yard. She claimed she only did a few things, but how can I tell when she had forgotten more of the day then she remembered???

I ended up sleeping on her couch that night. She wasn't pleased with the idea, but dad and I didn't give her much choice. Did I mention that the doctor thought this procedure went well enough that she ought to have it again??? Guess what, dad is definitely on for next time. I don't know what they gave her, but it is GOOD stuff!!

Fathers Day and the Fisherman

We headed to the woods this evening to celebrate Fathers Day. My brother and his wife have a cozy cabin in the woods behind mom and dads place. We had a cookout tonight with brats and burgers. Yes, my brother is back in the fire setting business. This time in the safe confines of a fire pit.

In the meantime, Thomas is suddenly into fishing....BIG TIME! He went to work with his dad on Thursday and ended up fishing. The contractor on the job was nice enough to lend Thomas his fishing pole and even bought some bait for him. He was in heaven and thankfully the fish were in the mood to be caught and he let out a holler every time he got one on the line. He was SO excited about fishing, he sacrificed some of his allowance money previously earmarked for the toy tent at Ag Expo in July to purchase his very own fishing pole. He has been messing around with it ever since.

He took it with him tonight to show Uncle Terry and got a lesson in how to cast it. He was getting pretty good at it. So good in fact that he managed to cast it right in to a tree. After all, we were in the woods. Uncle Terry is a great uncle. He shimmed up the tree the line was caught in and managed to bend it over far enough that Thomas could get the line out of it. He then neatly lowered himself to the ground. It was quite a sight. Why is it I never have my camera with me at moments like that!!??

I am so thankful that I can celebrate Fathers Day with my Dad. He is a cancer survivor and five years ago, our family was facing his upcoming bone marrow transplant. It was a success!!! Yes, he still has health issues and some of them have been scary, but he is alive, able to work and especially able to enjoy time with his wife, kids and grandkids. God is very good and we are ever grateful for the huge answer to prayer we have in our family.

Beware the gourds.......

That is my warning this spring when it comes to my garden. I have always planted pumpkins and gourds in the garden. I enjoy finding some unique types to plant and have fun using them for decorations in the fall.

But be very sure you remove them all in the fall or you will have self-seeded gourds in every inch of your garden next spring. That is what we are fighting with right now. There are gourds in the green beans, gourds in with the pepper plants, gourds with the tomato plants, gourds in the.......well, you get the idea!! It isn't good.

Add to that, it has been hot, humid and rainy, meaning you can't get in the garden to till up the rows and salvage the place. Thankfully, Mike and Thomas were able to get the rototiller out and work up the rows. We also spent time pulling gourd seedlings out from the rows and around the plants. It looks pretty good this morning. I think there may be hope now. But we won't be able to let down our guard. If we relax for a minute, the gourds will be back.

Lesson learned: Make sure you get all the gourds out of the garden in the fall, or you will pay for it in the spring.

Just another Thomasism.....

Thomas sure keeps us all laughing. This weekend was no exception.

I was working in the kitchen Saturday when Thomas came to me with a very serious expression on his face. He started rubbing his leg and grumble about "these shingles". I asked him what he was talking about. He said he had shingles. I quizzed him further as to how he knew about shingles. He told me he had heard a commercial on the local radio station about them. The man talking on the commercial was from Nash Drugs and said there was a vaccination for shingles. I asked where he thought he caught his shingles. He looked me in the eye and said "I was on the roof mom!" You can't make this stuff up!

I quickly reassured him that he didn't have them. He walked away, much relieved. I dissolved into laughter, once he was gone.

The Cowboy Electrician

Suzanna has a problem heifer. It is time to get serious about getting ready for Dairy Days, and one of her heifers has become rather wild ever since she was turned out into the big pasture. Her two pasture mates are fine about being caught and worked, but not Penny. Suzanna showed her at the spring show and she was okay....not great at leading, but didn't try to drag her across the arena. That was an accomplishment, considering she had only had her for a couple weeks when we headed for the show.

One day when we tricked her into getting caught in a stall in the barn, we put a halter and lead rope on her, hoping that when she was back out in the pasture, we could grab the rope when close enough and then lead her. HA!!! That didn't go so well. The one time we did get close enough to catch her, her favorite direction was reverse. Eventually, she calmed down and I led her around, but she was never calm enough for Suzanna to do it.

So this evening, I suggested to daddy that it would be a good idea to lead Fancy and Sami into the barn and figured Penny would follow. We would leave Penny in the stall and put the other two back outside. Great idea in theory, but how would it play out??

Daddy headed to the pasture with us and when he saw the opportunity, grabbed the lead rope and held on tight.....as Penny began to run across the pasture and him still holding on for dear life. Suzanna, Thomas and I tried our best not to laugh, as he fell, did a full body roll and came back up. All I could picture was him coming up, having made contact with fresh "you know what". Well, he dodged it and the heifer stopped running. He was in the midst of a face-off when Thomas noticed he had lost his tape measure in the ruckus. As Thomas headed out to retrieve it, the heifer took off running again. Daddy was determined not to loose her, and did another full body roll in the process. Once again, he managed to avoid contact with anything messy.

At that point, he decided plan B was a better idea. Suzanna led Sami and I led Fancy out of the pasture and toward the barn. Penny didn't want to get left behind, so she followed and ended up in the barn, caught!!!! Amazing enough, once she was in the barn, she calmed down, let Suzanna brush her and seemed happy with the attention.

The plan is to have Penny spend some time by herself. Suzanna can tie her up a couple times each day and eventually start leading her around in the barn. Hopefully that will make a difference, otherwise Penny will get left home and miss out on a fun week at Dairy Days.

Oh, and the cowboy electrician realized he lost his cell phone out in the pasture during one of his rolls. Of course, he had it on vibrate, because he was driving the tractor earlier and wouldn't have been able to hear it ring. We did a family search and managed to find it within a few minutes. Thank you, Lord!!!

Bummer...

The downside to hay making is being at the mercy of the weather. In general, when it comes to crop farming, that is normal. Will it stay dry long enough to get the crop in?? Will it rain now that the seeds are in the ground? Will it quit raining long enough to harvest the crop? I know that all those thoughts go through the mind of a farmer on a regular basis.

This past weekend after checking the the alfalfa, and consulting the weather forecast, it was decided that there should be enough warm weather, wind and sun to dry the crop and get it baled. So the hay was cut on Saturday. I spent most of Sunday afternoon on the tractor, first raking up the hay to get it off the ground and then using the tedder to throw the crop back out. The sun was shining bright and the wind was blowing. Just what you need for drying hay.

Monday morning came and it was overcast....and there wasn't much wind. In addition, sometime over the weekend, the weather forecast had changed and the rain that was suppose to come on Wednesday had been moved ahead a day. Our window to get this hay made was pretty small. On orders from the boss, I waited until mid afternoon to rake the hay back up into windrows. The sun danced in and out of the clouds all afternoon and the wind never picked up much.

Hubby and his dad headed to the hay field about 5:30 in the afternoon, expecting that it wouldn't make, but still wanting to give it a try. Their suspicions were confirmed as the first bale came out of the baler. Way to wet to make. There is a section in the field that is all grass. They headed there hoping maybe that would be ready.....it wasn't.

Overnight, the rains began to fall and a waiting game begins. When will there be enough dry days in a row to finish drying the hay so we can get it up? Back to watching the Weather Channel.