What's up in the barnyard (by Javan)

While I was out taking pictures of the flood I decided to take some pictures of our animals to post.

This is Steak, one of the bottle calves Grandpa bought for us, both of them now drink out of a bucket.

This is my best picture of Hamburger, the other cow from Grandpa, he has a totally black back and white on his legs.

This is McGuilicutty, Gilly for short, he is the oldest of our calves

Gilly again.

And here's Billy.

And Gilly and Billy together.

This is Silly Sally Sow, she was bred when we got her and then we had piglets. She is a Large Black that means LARGE!!! She is around belly button height on me. The large black breed does not get sun burn like the white ones and doesn’t need mud as much but we do put out a big tub of water for her in the summer time; another advantage of this breed is that they do very well on pasture. She is quite an adventure to feed in the morning she and her three piglets will grunt and squeal and push you around if you don’t feed them first.

One of the piglets

I was having fun taking pictures of her evil looking eye by lifting her ear up otherwise you cannot see it; because of this she will often stick her head way up in the air so she can see you.

In this picture you get a good look at one of the piglets their names are Sausage, Bacon, and our girl Myrtle. We hope she will be fertile Myrtle.

Here are our chickens, the rooster we recently got from John Rassi so we can hatch some chicks.

We have some videos that we would like to post but they’re long and we will have to figure out another way to post them.

Thanks Javan

barnyard accident (by Javan)

Monday morning we went out to do chores and found our dirt barn floor flooded with water. Sunday evening the hose was mostly full of frozen water so it only came out in a trickle. The person watering the animals thought he would just leave the water running and by morning the tub would be full (at the rate of a trickle). He didn’t realize that the warmer temperature of the trickle would slowly thaw the frozen water and eventually the water would come at full force!

This (above) is where our puppies were but Jaime, good mother as she is, moved to a higher spot otherwise they would have drowned.

And here are our puppies now between some bales.

Here’s the view from up on top of the bales.

And on the ground.

The black tub sitting by the barn is the one somebody was trying to fill.

Javan

Puppies

On Monday Jamie had 9 puppies . Monday morning Dad found the puppies in the barn we went out at about 6:00 and they were still wet so we assumed they had been born only a few hours earlier. When they are old enough we will want to get rid of them so please notify us if you would like one or know of someone that would.

Today we made and decorated sugar cookies with Grandma Plattner, Drew, Truitt, and Daisha. Stay tuned for more posts .

Javan

Norwex Party

Have you ever heard of Norwex?  I heard of it quite a few years ago and was interested in getting some but we didn’t know of anyone that used it.  A few months ago I received invitations to two parties two days in a row.  I only went to one party, but I found out several people I know use them and really like them.  That was all I needed to try it!

I was really impressed.  I bought the Kitchen Cloth Set, and the Basic Pack which includes a small enviro cloth and a window cloth.

What impressed me the most about the kitchen cloth is that it cleans up greasy messes better than a normal dish cloth with soap on it.  When I make my bread I spray the counter with cooking spray, normally it would take 3 or 4 times rinsing my rag and adding soap directly to the cloth to get it totally clean again.  With my Norwex cloth I don’t even have to rinse it before the job is completed, I just wipe up the mess as best as I can, fold the cloth over and wipe again, that’s all it takes.

The enviro cloth we use for just about everything; dusting, mirrors, windows, bathroom cabinets, and toilets.  In Laboratory testing Norwex microfiber has been proven to remove up to 99.9% of the bacteria from surfaces.  We just wet the rag and clean away!  It’s great for children, they don’t need to be messing with harmful chemicals and they enjoy using them.

The window cloth gives windows and mirrors that streak free shine.

There are plenty of other products, these are the ones I have the most experience with.  You can see more of their products here.

The FAQ page gives more technical details about the Norwex Products.

I am hosting a Norwex Party on December 10th.  We will start with brunch at 9AM, followed by the Norwex presentation.  If you are interested in receiving an invitation, please let me know.  It’s hard to know who to invite to this sort of thing – I don’t want anyone to feel obligated. 

It makes great gifts for Christmas and the orders should be in about a week later (a week before Christmas).

Warning: rambling ahead

Warning:  I am a moody female, my mood right now is to talk and I don’t have pictures to go along with my chatter, so if you’re not in a listening mood, this is your exit!    You have been warned!

Today was a good day.  The first 16 or 17 weeks of this pregnancy I was not sleeping well, so the house work was the first to go.  School and meals were the priority and I was getting tired of seeing the messes but not having the time to get everything back in order.  I was very much looking forward to today and tomorrow being BIG cleaning days!  I even told the children the only thing I expected of them was to tidy their rooms and fold and put away their laundry.  Basically, I didn’t want to follow up or be responsible for giving consequences if they weren’t doing what they were told.  PLUS, it IS a holiday and Daddy IS home.  Usually, when Daddy is home the children are his, they work with him or just enjoy being around wherever he is working on a project.  They love their Daddy time!

I had a quiet house for about an hour.  Jonas was the first to come in.  As we were chatting, I asked him if he would carry part of the sweeper upstairs for me.  He asked if he could sweep so I said yes, I would get Johanna’s room (small) in order and he could sweep her room.  He asked for a piece of candy for a reward.  He did a great job and so how could I say no to such a sweet little boy who was volunteering his help!

After that we got the My Bible Friends books and CD’s out and he looked at the books on my bed while I folded laundry beside him.  About that time Jolene came in and saw Jonas with his candy and after finding out how he earned it asked what she could do to earn some candy.  She tidied the parlor and swept it.  (Two rooms down!)

She took her candy outside and gave it just enough of a flash to gain some curiosity out of a brother.  She told him she did a job without being asked.

Awhile later Jared came to me and said “Mom, I want someone to clean the entry.”  I said “go ahead.”  He said something like “what do I get?”  I said, if you want a reward, start upstairs because that is today’s focus.  Well, here he had already tidied the entry and wanted to surprise me.  I showed him a couple more things to pick up and he got his candy too.

Before the day was through all but one child did at least one job for me and several did two jobs.  That’s a testimony to how much our children like sugar and when they don’t get it often they are mostly willing to work for it, well, all but one child, he said it wasn’t worth it!  Also a good strategy for future times when I need to get a lot done!  Give a little one a job with a reward of candy and make it a big enough piece that others will notice before it’s gone and ask how they can get some!   

My room is completely done!  I was in the mood to deep clean, so I swept as much of the room as I could and then had Chad and the boys move our bed, so now the room has also been rearranged, there are no dust webs under the bed and it has a fresh look!  I like that!  The rest of the upstairs has been tidied and swept except for the boys room, it did not get completed but will tomorrow.

Laundry is mostly done, tomorrow I will hopefully get the downstairs all in order and at least swept, I also need to do a couple weeks of lesson plans; usually I do one week at a time in case they struggled with something and need more time but we have a busy weekend coming and I need to plan ahead.

We look forward to Chad’s brother Kyle’s wedding on Sunday December 4th to Heather Funk from Morton. 

We’ve definitely hit our busy season:  Christmas activities, Kyle’s wedding, and my sister Cori gets married December 30th in Ohio.  It will be 2012 before we know it!

Help wanted!!!

After 7 J names it gets a little harder to come up with a baby name. 

We have until the beginning of May to decide!

 

 

We like creative names but they can’t rhyme or be too similar to any names we already have!

Names must begin with J.

The children are praying for twins, so just in case God grants their request, names that go together would be nice too.  (I don’t have any reason to suspect twins.)

A couple of the children have already determined that we are going to have twin boys and call them James Richard and John Peter!  (If we have triplets it should probably be James, John, and Joe so Uncle Joe wouldn’t feel left out – Grandpa James has 2 brothers, John and Joe.) 

If you are wondering what Mom thinks of this multiples idea, I have always thought it would be fun to have twins.  I’m thankful that it is not in my control.  God has a plan and He knows what we can handle.  I have heard prayers ranging from “twins” to “twin boys and twin girls” to “5 babies plus twins” to “triplets” and the list could go on!

I personally think we are going to have a boy because I get pretty nauseous with my girl pregnancies and this pregnancy hasn’t been too bad.  This thought (boy not girl) brought major tears to a certain daughter of mine!!! 

Here are the names of our children if you don’t know or remember them all.  Jesse, Javan, Jared, Jolene, Jubilee, Jonas, & Johanna.

Laundry organization

My husband has blessed me so much over the years building shelves in closets, making storage rooms for me, doing what he can to make life easier for me.  One of my favorite projects he has done for me is our laundry room.  It has been a gradual process as our family has grown.

Since it is a common issue with most moms, I thought I’d share what has been so helpful for me, perhaps it will help you as well!

For years we just had a short hanging rod, about the length of all the colored clothes hanging above.  I recently asked Chad to get a longer one because I needed space for the empty hangers so they wouldn’t be laying around and yet not taking up the hanging space for my wet laundry.  He bought a longer pole and before he had a chance to shorten it I realized I would rather have it full length and duck or move clothes to walk through than do with a shorter rod (the entry is to the left of the white shirts, squeeze between the basket of bedding and the stairs and there is a doorway)!  I could still use several more feet of rod but my laundry room just isn’t big enough!

This dirty laundry sorter idea I got from a friend.  With the top shelf it actually holds 5 baskets.  I bought the baskets and then Chad sized the shelves accordingly.  The children are supposed to bring down their laundry every day and sort it, I can see at a glance if we need to run a load or wait another day.

Folding clean laundry has always been a huge headache.  Trying to keep the children on task and have them fold and sort to the right piles everybody’s laundry was really trying on me.  Chad encouraged me to purchase a basket for each child and sort the clean laundry in it requiring each child to fold and put away their own laundry.  It worked like a charm but I didn’t have a good place to keep the baskets if their was unfolded laundry in them and lets face it, there are times when laundry sits for days without being folded (I got tired of 8 baskets sitting in front of my piano all the time)!  A couple months ago Chad built a double sorter for me.  Each child has a basket with his/her name on it, Chad and I share a basket.  Jolene and I sort the laundry as it comes out of the dryer (usually) and then the children are responsible for the rest.

Different children are responsible for towels for different areas of the house (kitchen, cleaning rags, bathrooms).  We helped limit bath towels by purchasing a different color bath towel and wash cloth for each child.  No one ever wanted to use someone else’s towel but no one ever wanted to claim a towel as their own and since they all matched we were washing a LOT of towels!  They are responsible for putting away their own towel and wash cloth, this is pretty simple since they don’t even have to fold  them, just hang them up!

He built the shelves above my appliances and got me the largest washer and dryer on the market at the time for home use.  If I had more space I would probably ask for a second set, there are days that the machines run nearly non stop throughout the day.  Especially before and after trips or other times when we haven’t managed to keep on top of it all.

I count my blessings often!  This is one that stays at the forefront of my thoughts.  Laundry is a daily task and so the organization is a constant reminder of the love of my Sweetie and the blessings of God to have the means to make these purchases and the skills to build!  Without God we are nothing!  Thank You Lord!!!!

Sweetheart getaway 2011

Chad and I celebrated our 14th anniversary on Wednesday, October 26th. 

Thursday Chad and I took Amtrak from Bloomington to Chicago.  We used public transportation to get around while we were there.

It was fun to take the train, I had never been on an Amtrak. I didn’t take a picture of the main cabins, they are much like an airplane but a lot more spacious. We went up to the lounge car and enjoyed sitting in seats that face the large windows.

Our first bus was a double long, if you look closely you can see a black circle part way up the bus, this was where the two sections were connected, you can tell how the front part of the bus was turning a corner and the rear hadn’t started the turn yet. (This may seem an odd thing to post, but I’m just a country bumpkin, it was pretty neat to me!)

Thursday we explored the area a little.  Our hotel was at the North end of the Magnificent Mile.  We were about a block from Water Tower Place, a large shopping mall.

For supper we ate Chicago style deep dish pizza from Pizzeria Due.  I believe they are related to the Pizzeria Uno company.

We browsed the mall a bit and headed to the hotel for an early lights out.  We were pretty tired, both of us were up early.

Friday we went to the Yolk for breakfast.  It was a recommendation from one of Chad’s brothers and a good one at that.  It seemed a bit pricey but the amount of food they gave went along with the price!  I couldn’t finish my meal, Chad had to do that for me.

From there we walked towards the river for the boat cruise we planned to take at 10.  We wandered around the area a little to fill time.

Did you know…

The Chicago Tribune touted itself as the “World’s Greatest Newspaper?” That is where the AM radio station got it’s calling letters WGN. The station has it’s recording studio in a corner office surrounded by windows so you can watch the announcer as he’s talking. I didn’t take a picture but it was neat seeing the recording studio.

Chad was strategically placed to hide the Marilyn Monroe larger than life statue between him and the Chicago Tribune building.

We took an Architectural River Cruise on the boat on the right.  It was an interesting cruise though Chad enjoyed it much more than I did.  The engineer in him just soaked it all in.

These pictures are from our walk before the cruise, the cruise pictures will come later.

 

 

The unique looking building in the center of the picture is the Radisson, it opens on Tuesday, November 1st.  It looks kind of neat up close, but from a distance I personally thought it was ugly.  There will be a picture below from our river cruise.

 

A memorial outside the fire department for a fireman who lost his life fighting a fire.

The Wrigley Building.

Did you know…  Mr Wrigley started off selling products other than gum and gave gum away as an incentive to prospective buyers.  He realized that chewing gum seemed to have potential for sales so he began his business of selling chewing gum.  It’s an interesting history, do a Google search to learn more.

 

 

The tallest building straight ahead is the Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower.

 

 

The Radisson from a distance.

 

Our tour boat up close.  It had a bar in the cabin, the hot cocoa sounded great, but for $8 a cup I decided to just stick with my cold water!!!

 

 

I think from here we took the L (the elevated train) to Chinatown.  We ordered a meal to split between us and it was about more than we could eat.  Again, plenty of food and the price was right! 

In the evening we went to the Pacific Garden Mission for a tour of their facility.  If you have heard the radio program “Unshackled,” this is where it is recorded.  I may try to do a separate post on our tour if time allows.

We purchased a 24 hour pass with unlimited use for the public transportation.  Here we were waiting to board a bus.  I took this picture for our children, probably not too interesting to the rest of you.

A hallway in the subway.

Waiting for the subway train to arrive.

Ready to board.

The Chicago Water Tower on the Magnificent Mile.

It gained special significance as one of the few buildings to survive the destructive path of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

Our hotel – the Tremont.  We were on the 15th floor.  It was an old hotel that has been well kept.  It isn’t modern by any means, but comfortable and clean.

Saturday we walked the mall till close to eleven and then crossed the street to the John Hancock Building.

We ate our lunch at the Signature Room at the 95th. We were informed ahead of time that it was cheaper to eat lunch with a view than pay $15 a person to go to the observatory on the 97th. When you’re that high what’s two more floors? We did go to the 96th because the Signature Room Lounge is on that floor and so we were able to view from windows on the opposite side of the building from there.

If you decide to eat a meal at the Signature Room, I recommend you get there as close to opening as you can, you’ll have a better chance at getting a table by the window.

The John Hancock Building.  We could see this building from our hotel which was just a hop, skip, and a jump away.

The view from our table at lunch.

I was a bit queasy at first.  Part of it I think was the quick elevator and such a drastic change in elevation so quickly.  After awhile I felt fine and was able to enjoy the view.

 

 

 

You can see the Ferris wheel on Navy Pier.

 

In this picture I was tying to capture the height of the building in the upper right corner to show how high we really were.

The red brick building is the Tremont Hotel.

 

The only picture I took walking the streets.  You can see Chad to the right.  We carried our things in backpack designed for such an occasion.  It was easier than dragging suitcases around on public transportation and as we walked the city streets.

How did people ever get around without an iPhone?  We used it to identify our location and the best route to take to the next location we wanted to be at.  It was easy to get bus numbers and where to catch the bus with that thing. 

My legs got REALLY sore from all the walking we did!  My calf muscles tighten up quite a bit at night and then it’s quite an effort to get out of bed and get moving again!

Boarding Amtrak for our trip home.

We enjoyed our time away, but it was soooo good to get back home and hold our children close!