Off to Preschool

It's been a long time waiting for this little girl but today she's headed off to pre-school. She'll have a great day with Mrs. W, Mrs. D and the her classmates! I love you precious girl!

Proud to be an Iowan

I've been wanting to blog about a cool Iowa story for over a week now.  But finding the time to do so has been tough.  When I saw it again on the news tonight, I thought I had to do a brief post of why I'm proud to be an Iowan.

 

First off, I must say that I'm in counseling now that I finally admitted that I'm an Iowan and not a Californian.  But anyway.

 

A few weeks back I heard of a local pastor doing a good deed.  He'd heard of cattle ranchers in Texas having to sell their herds because a drought has meant a lack of hay crop.  If you can't feed your animals, you have to get rid of them.  This Pastor and a few other Iowa farmers are helping the drought-stricken farmers in Texas.  The project which they called the "Hay Lift" is taking donated hay from MY (previous work) county where they had a good hay crop and donating it to those in need in Texas.  Now, how about that.  Why?  Because we should pay it forward.  And because the locals that I'm proud of remember the '88 drought where their yields were bad.

 

I'm not going to re-write the article found here http://www.kwwl.com/story/15354809/iowa-farmers-helping-drought-ridden-texas-farmers but I will say one thing.  Way to go guys (and ladies).  I'm proud of you!!!

I am thankful. And have a full tummy.

Good Grief

With change comes grief.  But not a bad kind of grief.  It's a good kind.  Today is my last day in the office I've worked in for 9+ years.  This office is like home to me.  After all, I spend 9 hours a day here.  This morning will be my last drive to work.  Will I meet the Donlon's on the road?  Will deer run across in front of me?  Will the recycle truck be at Gunder?  Will I get all my stuff packed up and loaded into Ryan's vet truck?  I thank God for the 9 years I've had in this quiet office on a river town in Northeast Iowa.  So here's 9 things I love about this office/job:
 
1.  My boss.  I started this job with a boss who was very kick-back but became like a father figure.  He retired Jan 2010.  I was blessed to eventually get a new boss who was also kick-back.  Just a few years my senior, I also enjoy and appreciate my "new" boss.
2. My coworkers. They are wonderfully hard working people.  This is more than a paycheck for each person here.  It truly is a means of serving and educating those around us.  My coworkers have changed over the years but I've learned from each one of them. 
3. My clients.  Most the time they're farmers.  Some times, they're landowners who rent ground.  Sometimes they're landowners with no crop land.  Sometimes they're super friendly.  And sometimes they hate the government so they're jerks.  But, there's a hand full of favorites.  The ones I wish I could take with me.  The ones I would sit around a camp fire with.  The ones who use this building for assistance and education, not just for rules and money.
4. The landscape.  This is one of the prettiest and diverse counties in the state.  I'm not biased at all either.  It has rock out-crops along the Mississippi River bluffs.  It has acres and acres of timber and wildlife.  It has the rolling hills of cropland.  And a few prairie pot holes can be found in some areas of the county.  With the might Mississippi bordering the East side of the county, and the Volga and Turkey rivers running through the county, there's plenty of spots along the river to fish and protect.
5. My corner office.  I'll admit it.  I'm kind of spoiled.  I have a back corner office.  Not really an office, more of a cubicle.  But it's still in the corner so I have a little space to myself back here.
6. The partners I work with.  Some of them I would consider my coworkers.  Our building has 3 agencies.  The staff in those other agencies are also my friends.  I'm going to miss the [not just] girls over at FSA for sure.  I'm going to miss the DNR partners that I've come to know around here and my Extension buddy downtown.  Clayton County has some great partners and I appreciate them.
7. The challenging work load.  Well, this won't change in my new county.  It will still be a challenge.  But, I like the diverse workload here.  I'm swamped almost all of the time.  And working with participants with all kinds of backgrounds and interests creates it's own fun challenges. 
8. The interest in conservation and wildlife.  What more can I say about that?  People like to improve their land around here and I love working with them.
9. Educating open-minded people.  Not everyone has to do things they way their grandfather did it.  I like when people come to us open-minded about how to pursue or deal with something.  To prevent a problem before it arises.  That is definitely one of my favorites about the job.
 
 
I'm looking forward to today.  Although it will be a little akward saying goodbye.  I love my co-workers but I hate "goodbyes".  With that said, I'm looking forward to my next adventure in another field office.  A closer drive to work.  A new staff that I already know a bit.  A similar but different work load. 

Today is the Day

I hope you enjoy your first day of first grade son!

Great Grandma

I miss my grandma's. A lot. They're both alive. But they live where I grew up in California and I live in Iowa. I don't get to see them much. Haven't seen my one Grandma since 2008 and my other for over a year. I'm long over due. In the mean time, I'm blessed to have a third Grandma. She's Ryan's Grandma but she loves me like her own. While we were in Des Moines Monday, we made a point to head home a little different route so we could stop and see the kids' Great Grandma B. She's a sweet and loving lady. And she LOVES her great grandchildren.

Here's a few pictures back at Grandma's apartment with Scott reading to her:

It is Finished

I'm glad today is done.  Granted, I would have loved to been in bed 2 hours ago.  As it is, I'm sitting here blogging with no glasses/contacts in and I'm tired and my eyes are blurry.  I'm brilliant, I know.  I thought about sharing with you about the chaos of my day and maybe I still will tomorrrow.  But I couldn't find anything positive to share.  Yikes, I gues it was a bit chaotic.  But as I sat here and thought about it, I have lots of positives from today.  It's all a matter of perspective.  I share these to encourage you to look on the bright side and to thank God for the many blessings we have:
 

1. Roof over my head.  Warm bed.  3 meals today.
2. Starbucks coffee.  Shared with two kids.
3. A day off of work.
4. Being EARLY to an appointment.
5. Time with Great Grandma today.
6. Ryan's family who loves me like their own family.
7. Kids who are, for the most part, perfectly healthy.
8. A hug from Judah (those are rare sometimes)
9. Money to buy groceries and other things.
10. Air conditioned vehcile.
11. Seeing Scott's bones on x-ray today.
12. An encouraging word from a friend.
13. Funny kids.
14. Excited kids.
15. A husband who puts groceries away so I can veg on the couch.

 
And there's lots more where that came from.  Those good memories are good considering our wild day!  Thank you Jesus for rest.  I'm looking forward to getting some now.

shutterfly... a love hate relationship

I love shutterfly.  They sent me a 50% off books coupon.  I ordered 3 of the "faces of Ethiopia" books.  Cha-ching on the savings there.
I love shutterfly.  Last time they jacked my order, they gave me a $10 off coupon which I also used.  I hear another cha-ching on the savings.
I love shutterfly.  They had a free shipping on orders over $50.  More savings. 
I don't love that I couldn't get free shipping to send books to two different places.  Only one destination got free shipping.
I don't love that I couldn't also use the 30% off of prints coupon from their site.
      (now, I'm not trying to sound like a total jerk about not getting 30% off, I just didn't see until I read the small print that I couldn't use the free shipping and the 30% off at the same time)
I don't love that after I ordered, the free shipping somehow mysteriously dissapeared.
I love that you can cancel your order within 30 minutes.
I don't love that I had to spend another half-hour adding all the photos and books back to my cart to "fix" the order.
I love that in the end, my total was $46.83 and I saved $74.37.  Cha-ching for savings... not so much for cash flow :)
I don't love that somehow my first cancelled order was only $44 and change and I'm too tired to figure out the difference.
 
Overall, I really like shutterfly.  And of course I will use them again and encourage each of you to try them.  I love my photo books... even if I'm 3 or so behind.
 
P.S. The picture is one I ordered - one for his daddy and one for his momma in Ethiopia.  I hope to check on her when I'm in Ethiopia at the end of October.

Hat Day

It's a hat day today.  In light of that, I found a couple of hat pics from the archives...

did I really

- Did I really feed my kids popcorn and smoothies for supper?
- Did I really just stay up past 10 when I desperately need sleep?
- Did I really have the chance to see the President and not give a rip?
- Did I really buy hair dye to cover the "silver lining"?
 
The next few days are busy.  Granted, my days are always busy.  But in a week's time, I will be in DesMoines for doc appointments for kids, have a going away party at work, send my son back to school and Bethany for the first time, have a home visit for the pre-school and send my husband off for a week of continuing ed.  Well, I guess we'll have a busy week.  But I find joy in those things.  And if you see me that I don't look so joyful, please remind me.
 
By the way, the Jay Leno jokes are hilarious tonight!

Horseback Riding

One of the benefits of working with farmers (both Ryan and I do so), is knowing who to call when you want to take the kids out to the farm. With our little cousin, Isaac, here this week, we wanted to take him out for some fun in the country.

When we got there, the horses were being saddled by Lyneen. Unfortunately the kids quickly looked past the horses when they saw baby kitty's in the tack room:

We did manage to give the baby kitty's, and their momma, while we distracted them with baby calves and a 2-week old foal.

And then it was time to start riding. Thank you Taurus and Sunny for being cooperative and easy-going for the kids' first experience on a horse.

Isaac did perfect. He caught on super quickly.

A certain little girl loved every moment on the horse. Imagine that.

Scott, my least adventurous child, well, he thought Sunny walked too fast. That was super funny compared to his little brother who wanted to go faster.

The boys weren't so fond of being in the saddle together. Are you serious boys? I thought you'd have fun with it.

So I made them share for a bit and then took Judah off so a pouty little boy could ride by himself. Judah and Bethany weren't too find of sharing either. What is with these kids? At least they look cute in pictures.
And here's Alan, the farmer behind the fun. These horses aren't "hay burners". They're working horses. Alan uses them to check his beef cattle herd. I like this picture; it shows you how nice Alan is.

The kids weren't the only ones who enjoyed a little time on the back of a horse. This momma loves to ride horses. The last time I'd done so, I was working with this farmer on a grazing project.

And when it was time to put the horses away so farmer Alan could get to work, the kids continued to play on the farm... and eat out of Lyneen's hand as she managed to give away multiple packages of graham crackers to 4 cute little faces.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Alan and Lyneen. Thanks for taking time out of your day, for saddling up horses, for leading little kids around, feeding them graham crackers and genuinely enjoying life on the farm. Lyneen, maybe next time Alan will have talked you into getting some goats or pigs :) We appreciate you both:

Ministering to the Orphans

Family Life has a good article about 10 ways to minister to orphans.  I really liked their first suggestion.  But I was dissapointed that FOVC didn't make their top 10... apparently they just don't know about FOVC yet.

James 1:27 [the bible] does tell us to care for the orphans and the widows.  Check out this article (or the FOVC website) to see what you can be doing to follow God's command.

just chillin'

a few of the kids chillin' on my trampoline tonight...

Worth a thousand words

Earlier this week while another mom and I were having a meeting about VBS snacks, Bethany and Kenlin were using a calculator as a phone and taking orders for fuel. [Guess what Kenlin's mom does for work???]. Then on our way home, I was listening to a voice mail, and Bethany wanting to be like her momma, grabbed her flip-flop and began using it as a phone saying "I called her on my shoe cause it's the only phone I have right now". Well, alrighty then. Saturday she grabbed a crooked-neck squash and began using it as a phone. Of course, I grabbed the camera. And caught this. And then she asked me to take a video where she totally hammed it up.

The video, which I've posted on facebook, brings this photo to life! Worth all 18 seconds of your time it would take to view it!

Sweet Corn Days

One portion of our weekend included Sweet Corn Days in our town.  This picture shows the kids enjoying some sweet corn.  Guess which one wasn't so enthused.

Summer of Memories

So I went to Life 101.9's website to nominate a friend for their "Summer of Memories" contest.  This is how the contest rolls:
 
When you were growing up, summer meant a break from school and a chance run and play.  Now summer can feel like a busier time than the rest of the year.  We hope this summer that you and your family are finding time to get away and spend together.
But maybe you know of a family who isn't able to have time together.  Dad is busy working a lot, Mom is working to make ends meet, and the kids are all off doing their own thing.  The one thing your friend and her family could use is some time together, but they can't seem to find it.
You can help!  Nominate that friend and her family for Life 101.9′s Summer of Family Memories.  The winner and their family will receive:

• a $250 gift card to the Coral Ridge Mall
• 6 tickets to a Cedar Rapids Kernels game
• a family meal at Pizza Ranch
• a gift card to Parable Lemstone Christian Bookstores
• a $100 gas card from Kwik Star
• and a nights stay at Country Inn and Suites in either Waterloo or Cedar Falls

 
And as I thought about how I wanted to write up my nomination, I got selfish and wondered if I could nominate my own family.  The pity party of thinking we were deserving subsided enough that I think I put in a pretty good nomination for some friends.  I want my friends to win but if you know someone who's deserving and lives within the Life 101.9 listening area, go on over to their website and write up your nomination.  

wow.

So, I've been wanting to make a trip to CA to see family and friends.  Tonight I saw a picture from way back in the day of my Uncle Kenny and two of my cousins.  My uncle died when I was 7.  It was a walk down memory lane when I saw the picture.  And it reminded me of reason #8 that I want to go home to Kingsburg.  I miss my abuela.  And reason #19, I miss my two cousins who I haven't seen in  years but want to catch up with.  My cousins who lost their dad while we were really young and who I didn't really know when he died but got to know a few years later when they lived with our family. 

 

I even looked at last minute airline tickets thinking I'd make a last minute trip to CA.  But they were $903.  A lot more than I can pay for a ticket.  So, for now, I'll continue to try to plan skype dates with my girlfriends like Baker who request to skype when the wild children are still awake. 

 

Lots going on right now.  Check out my www.journey4hope.blogspot.com for what's rocking my world right now.

Using my fresh Cilantro

Two recipes I love right now.  Thanks to my friend Meg for sharing them with me.
 

Mango salsa 

I always wing it on the amounts…. but here are the ingredients: 

Diced mangoes

White or Red onion (small diced)

Cilantro­

Fresh lime juice

Fresh lemon juice

Hot sauce (like Tabasco) – little to taste

Salt/pepper as needed

 

Super simple but very tasty!

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Black Bean Salsa (from Cooking Light)

Combine all of the following together, let sit for a bit in fridge to meld flavors.

3 cups chopped tomato (about 2 medium)

1 cup chopped red bell pepper (about 1 medium)

1 cup chopped green bell pepper (about 1 medium)

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (11-ounce) can extrasweet whole kernel corn, drained

 

Blessings

I'm loving this song by Laura Story.  The first time I heard it, I'd just been praying for a dear friend who was very ill in the hospital after multiple nightmarish things happening.  Check out these lyrics:

 

       "Blessings"

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can't satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?

What a Day

When your son is in the men's bathroom, needs help wiping and your husband is gone, what would you do? I called on Ben. He does not do that. So instead he cleared the bathroom and guarded it while I took care of the son who didn't want to put down his toys long enough to wipe. Grr. Good thing was that he knows his dad's full name when asked by the guy in the next stall after asking for his dad.


When you let your daughter wear a gold ring so that she too feels like a princess and she loses it, what do you do? She didn't want the ring to get wet when she washed her hands at DQ so she took it off. She thought to tell us about it when we sat down at the wedding reception 20 minutes later. Ryan went back to DQ, asked about the ring, searched high and low in the bathroom, went threw the nasty trash and no ring. Visions of passing that down to her own daughter some day are gone. It was the first and last time she wore it. Sad.


Speaking of DQ, while there for a slushy I saw a woman using sign language. In the deaf culture it's rude to know sign and not tell them because you can basically eaves drop from a long distance away. I waved my hands, got the women's attention and informed her that I knew sign language. Excited to use what little sign I knew, I went over to the table and sat down with the deaf couple. That's right, both deaf. My sign language was never great but it's been a long time and it's really not good now. Thankfully he could read lips. We managed a very simple conversation. My hands were shaky as I tried to recall the various motions to converse. I was excited to try. I think they were also excited that I took the time to try.


The woman went into the bathroom after Bethany. If she found the ring and kept it, I hope it blesses her. Obviously, I'd rather them be honest and report the ring. But if someone else is going to have it, maybe it will be a blessing for them.


JB and Blake's wedding was awesome today. Loved it. Loved the message that Shane gave that challenged not only the bride and groom but all of us who are married. Good stuff. Their reception was equally fun. It's always good to catch up with friends.


A long and stressful day is done. A few other gray hair moments today:

• Kids streaking their undies


• cutting a finger on the glass of a pic frame that he opened up when he was supposed to be in bed. Ruined picture, cut finger, disciplined child and tears could have easily been avoided with obedience.


• and a few other things that aren't worth mentioning.

These Two

I miss these two ladies like crazy. Oh how I wish I could teleport them to Iowa so I could hang out with them for a weekend.

With my Abuela, I'd love to make fresh tortillas and see if she'll tell me about old times.


With my Nanny, I'd love to eat chocolate gravy, go for a walk and watch wheel of fortune after we plant some flowers.

But since I can't do either of those two things right now, I'll just show off my two beautiful Grandma's who are both amazing women.

This past week we've had fun with Grandpa and my two nephews. We went to the museum/aquarium, went fishing and celebrated Scott's 6th birthday. Here's a few pictures to share. In no particular order (because I'm too lazy to re-arrange them):

Scott had a hand full of gifts. I love that there weren't tons of new stuff. I love that we mostly just hung out and celebrated. I love that one of his friends/cousins gave him a gift all on his own, without the help of an adult.

No super detailed cake this year. He didn't rave over it. But he didn't complain about it either.
Oh, and my daughter. My spitting image. Yes, there's a great need to pray for the future of this child. In this photo she's saying "look momma, I can walk down and backwards back up the slide". Great Bethany.

My boy in his new glasses. Hopefully tomorrow we can get them adjusted to his face, cut their nails, and do other things that we've been too busy to take care of this past week.

This afternoon Ryan took off from work. Ryan took his son and my daddy-o mini golfing. Scott and Dad both managed a hole-in-one.

She was screaming with excitement over the fish she caught. I caught video of her reeling in the fish while letting out her squeels and giggles.

Such a great person to take pics of. Sometimes she's stubborn and won't smile for me. We actually took several really cute pics in which she would not smile. Again, my spitting image. But she is cute. And if she's cute and she's my spitting image, that means... yes I followed that too.

The three littles petting a turtle. Three energetic kids all within 12 months of age. Oh, what fun.

Another of my girl. As long as one person was paying to steer the boats in the water, my kids thought they were steering. It was awesome. Until I made them leave.

Birthday Boy

Happy 6th Birthday Son.

We love you!

Hanging Out

We've been busy the last few days.  I was able to take yesterday off and hang out with my kids, 2 of my nephews and their grandparents.  We ventured to the Mississippi River Museum for the day. 
 
A few things I learned yesterday:
- Look in the seat of the van before you have your husband cancel your debit/credit card.
- When husband does "freeze" the card, make sure your backup credit card hasn't been expired for 13 months.
- When your backup card is expired and you need to unfreeze your debit/credit card, make sure you know the pin or they WILL NOT unfreeze the card for you.
- Don't be grumpy with the bank employee when she doesn't help you or you'll have to take more time to call back later to apologize for said grumpiness.
- The T@rget in Dubuque is not a super T.
 
And a few things at the museum
- Take kids super early so they're not there over lunch and nap.
- It's warm there, dress accordingly
- Dress the 5 kids in the same color shirt so they're easier to keep track of.
- Balancing the interests of a 9 y/o and a 3 y/o take effort.
- Be prepared to spend a few bucks to get in ($15/adult, $10/child).
- Enjoy the museum even if you're not a fan of museums. 
 
Today I'm back at work. 
 
On tonight's agenda: Fishing at the Donlon's pond.  Should be fun!

life

These were both taken a few weeks ago.  Scott's black eye is now gone.  I'm sure they'll have new bumps and bruises this week.

 

The kids are having fun with the many new friends and family that are around.  Some friends are staying with us for the next month or two.  They came Saturday.  Plus my dad and two nephews flew in on Saturday.  They're staying 1 week.  Last night we had 4 more guests arrive late just for one night as they were passing through.  As you might imagine, our kids have had no shortage of friends to pla with.

 

This week my oldest son turns six.  He's such a joy to have.  It's going to be a busy week around our place!

my son

My kids are growing up.  It's been a busy weekend with food prep, visiting friends, etc and my kids have been rock stars at just going with the flow.  Anyway, tonight Scott was so cute.  We were playing with sparklers and he would have nothing to do with them.  He was chasing lightning bugs.  At one point, his friend killed a lightning bug and Scott was upset.  When I went over to see what Scott was upset about, he said the cutest thing:

 

Lightning bugs are nature's fireworks.

 

Simple but true.  He proceeded to chase nature's fireworks to celebrate Indpendence Day (a day early I know) instead of play with store-bought ones.  Oh how I love that boy!