Home Sweet Home

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

We've officially been "on vacation" since last Saturday. We're actually at my parents house. And we've been busy. The email is piling up and my blog list is going mostly unread.

This has been my view for the last 3 days and will be for the next week. Don't you love it?



I'll try to keep updating as best I can.


Happy Birthday Lilly

Friday, October 24, 2008


Ain't she a cutie?




When You Know You Are A Farm Wife

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

I was reading Raising Country Kids this morning and it made smile.

While technically not a farm wife, I grew up on farm, still go home to the farm, and can definitely relate to these....and doesn't it make you realize that moms are super moms?

You Know You're A Farm Wife If . . .

You call the implement dealer and he recognizes your voice.

The vet's number is on the speed dial of your phone.

Your second vehicle is still a pickup.

Your husband has ever used field equipment to maintain your lawn.

A night out involves the local 4-H club.

You've ever washed the kids or the dishes with a pressure washer.

Picking rock is considered a chance to get out of the house.

Taking lunch to the field is as close as you get to a picnic.

You can mend a pair of pants and the fence that ripped them.

The shopping list in your purse includes the sizes of filters, tires, overalls, chains, belts, lights, cables, spark plugs or shotgun shells.

The directions to your house include the words miles, silos, last, or gravel road.

Lacey or Frilly is a farm animal, but not your nightgown.

Your farm equipment has the latest global positioning technology and you still can't find your husband.

Quality time with your hubby means you'll have a flashlight in one hand and a wrench in the other.

Sharing a cab has nothing to do with a taxi and everything to do with getting across the field.
No one leaves your house without eating something.

You're equally adept at helping with your children's math homework or the complicated spreadsheets that detail every item bought, sold or misplaced on the farm for the past 10 years.

You can deliver a calf, drive a combine, cook dinner for a half-dozen hired hands, and still make time to pick the kids up from soccer practice.

You're equally at home at a PTA meeting or in session with a commodity association committee.
Your name is taped to the side of all your cakepans.

The "fresh ingredients" your recipe calls for reminds you to do the chores.

You have lots of machinery and each piece is worth more than your house.

Grass stains are the least of your laundry problems.

Your refrigerator contains LA-200.

Your wedding was planned for the end of November so as not to interfere with calving, lambing, seeding, summerfallowing, haying, harvest, or hunting season.

You automatically fall silent when the weather comes on.

You buy toilet paper 128 rolls at a time.

You can make a meal that can be ready in six minutes and will still be ready in two hours.

Your job in town is considered a farm subsidy.

Your son beat up another kid on the school bus arguing over the color of tractors.

You laughed at every one of the items on this list.


Working Weekend

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Whew! What a weekend!We've been working on our house every chance we can get. Unfortunately, that means we've been MIA in group gatherings (sorry friends!) and also at football games/tailgates (sorry again!). But, its all coming together.

We have the classic starter house - we bought our little ranch house with the intent to fix it up over a couple of years, sell it, and move on to bigger and better things. As with most remodel projects, you find out when you tear into things that it's not always a simple rebuild. That's quite the understatement with our house. Everything ends up taking 10 times longer than expected, but the results are definitely worth it.

Just a little bit left to do on the one gable end of the house - a little bit of siding, fascia, and soffit. Oh...and a lot of landscaping.

The little red house we started with...


Off with the old siding and on with new windows....

It's all starting to come together...


Scenic Saturday

Saturday, October 18, 2008



It's Goin' Down

Friday, October 17, 2008

I've been on the road a lot this week. I've seen a wide range of gas prices. When was the last time you saw gas at this price?

The odd thing about this town - I could have swore gas was priced at $2.69 when I went through in the morning. But, by the time I came back through, it had went back up.


WANTED

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

I'm now a wanted woman - can you believe it? But the jail I'm heading to isn't downtown. It's actually on Green Street and it will only be for an hour. I've been asked to participate in the MDA Lock Up. My bail has been set at $1,000 and you can help me raise money to help Muscular Dystrophy Association! Every little donation will help! You can donate at my pledge page. Spread the word and help out a good cause!


It's Better to Be a Bunny Than Get Beat By One

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Words to live by if you hail from Fisher, Illinois. For those of you that weren't aware that Ron grew up in Fisher, you may also may not know the high school mascot is a....bunny. Don't make fun now, there are a lot of high school mascots out there that deserve a laugh - the pretzels, the cornjerkers, the wooden shoes, the list goes on and on. Life in a small town often centers around high schools sports, and thus, the mascot is often thrown into the limelight. The Fisher Bunnies made it big time with a short segment on the ESPN show E:60 tonight. It was a nice clip on the history of the mascot in Fisher with highlights from Friday night football and interviews from around town. I'm just not sure if its the funniest mascot name as they billed it on the show. After all, this weekend some parents from Cobden, Illinois are going to be rooting for their own "Appleknockers"



Buffet

Monday, October 13, 2008

Ron brought some Indian corn back from my parents when he went to harvest soybean plots on Friday. Here's the thing - our neighborhood has an over abundance of squirrels. And they get into EVERYTHING. I thought I just might be able to decorate the front of our house. I was wrong and didn't even get a chance to hang any up. I think they think its a buffet.




A Friday Friend

Friday, October 10, 2008

Look who's hanging out at our house...



On a Roll

Monday, October 6, 2008

The combine's out, the semi trucks are lined up and the bins are clean. I guess we can say that harvest has officially started for us. It's going to be awhile before the couple thousand acres are done, so this is the beginning of a very long fall.

Dad started beans over the weekend. We're not heading north to help harvest for almost three weeks, so I guess he's going to have to make do with the help he has -- like this little girl.



I'm sure he's glad for the company, and she's sure a cutie-pie to look at, but she's got a ways to go before she can reach the pedals. And we know that this little tractor isn't going to haul that much grain.



My New Addiction

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Those of you that know me, know I love to craft - embroider, quilt, crochet, flower arranging, basket making....... I just can't help myself! I've done a little scrapbooking, but not a lot. I also love to design, and I'm learning more and more about web pages and photoshop. Well now I've found a great way to combine a few of these things into one - DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING

I've only just started but here are two pages I worked on while watching the vice presidential debate. Don't worry, I can multi-task. I learned a lot Thursday night, now I only need to read the fact checker to see what was true.

But back to my new favorite thing to do --

This is a screen saver for my computer. I love that I found templates for each month.


And here's Madison. She just had some photos taken, what better way to show them off?


Favorite Recipe Friday

Friday, October 3, 2008

No recipe of today...more like a wish list of things I want to try. I've found a great new blog with lots of great food to try. You should definitely check out Annie's Eats

First recipes on the list to try:
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
White Bean Chicken Chili
Pumpkin Spice Kiss Chocolate Brownie

The list could go on and on........and probably will. If you try any of the recipes, let me know how they turn out!


Go Pink for October

Thursday, October 2, 2008

It's Beast Cancer Awareness Month,so ...
PinkforOctober

This campaign focuses on creating awareness about breast cancer. Per the Go Pink For October website:

Web sites will Go Pink during the month of October to bring attention to Breast Cancer Awareness Month, get people talking about breast cancer, and raise money for research. But to be clear, raising money isn’t the primary purpose of this web event. The hope is that you turn your site pink (in whatever way works for your site), educate yourself about the multiple issues related to Breast Cancer, then take that knowledge and tell someone else what you’ve learned.

So I challenge you to turn your website pink for the month of October and create awareness about breast cancer.