Apples of Gold

"Keep me as the apple
of the eye..."
Psalm 17:8

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J.Brett

~Apples Of Gold~

Jul. 18, 2008
~This Week's News~

Another week has flown by. Sunday we went to our niece's graduation party. For most of Pat's family, this was the first time seeing the baby. It was a lot of fun. I can't believe Emily is graduated from high school. Seems like it was yesterday that she was a toddler with 3 pacifiers attached to her shirt. LOL

Our other niece, Katie, did Hannah's hair in a way that made her look much older. She showed her how to straighten her hair & what products to use to keep it smooth & not frizzy. It looked beautiful. We bought all those supplies the other day since Hannah liked it so much.

Hannah & I did a bunch of shopping this week trying to find her a new bathing suit, shorts & shirts. What a trial that was-everything in the store is hip-hugging, low-rise and too clingy. She didn't like any of it and cried in the dressing room. We finally did find a few things that she was happy with the second day. My best friend, Chris, went to the LL Bean outlet store yesterday & said she'd look around for us. She called me last night all excited & said, "get ready for a fashion show at 9am tomorrow!" She bought several suits & will return the ones we don't want-isn't she a sweetie? She even bought a couple for me to try on saying, "Holly, you really need a new suit, ok?" LOL She comes w/ me clothes shopping because I get so overwhelmed that I just drop everything and leave the store without buying anything. I hate clothes shopping. She's going to take Hannah for me next time, too. She knows about style-I don't and don't care either. LOL

Monday & Tuesday we helped friends out w/ haying. I was even stacking haybales in the hayloft. We took the kids out to ice cream afterwards. We also went to see a little Shetland pony that a family in our 4-H group wanted to give us. Oh my goodness-he is the sweetest, most precious pony I've ever met!! He's as gentle as one of our dogs & is for Susanna. She was able to ride him by herself, lead him, brush him. He is so docile & friendly. Pat was sitting in a chair & he walked over to Pat & laid his head in his lap. His name is Footise, but Susanna keeps calling him Tootsie Toes. I'll post a pic of him when we get him here. We're going to bring him home after we get back from our camping trip.

Speaking of our camping trip, I've been packing all week for that. We weren't going to go this year. We cancelled our reservations due to the price of gas, the baby & the unexpected vet bill for Casey (the new horse that impaled itself w/ a stick).

The day after we cancelled, we received money anonymously that was labeled for the gas money to get to Maine. We were floored. While we were still processing this, the manager from the campgrounds called us to confirm our cancellation (since we left a message) and we uncancelled it. So, we're going. We feel very blessed & we're very excited to be going.

Look at what I made earlier this week.

I got the idea from somewhere on the web, but can't remember where. The one I saw online was made from a toddler's dress. I used this baby outfit because I liked the way it buttoned. I can unbutton it to get the clothespins in the bottom easier. I just cut the legs off & sewed up the bottom-it took literally 5 minutes.

Well, I better get back to packing!

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Jul. 10, 2008
~This week is flying!~

What a week it has been. Saturday Susanna broke her collarbone. There were 3 dogs on the porch-one of them tied up(the one we were dogsitting for) & Susanna got caught up in the cable & was yanked off the porch, landing on her shoulder. She went to the ER & came home w/ a sling. Of course, this was very traumatic for us all.

Sunday, Pat drove 3 hours to meet my brother (who also drove 3 hours) to get Jonah after his backpacking trip. Jonah had a fantastic time & I think he will be a lifelong backpacker now. There were also animal chores to do all day and haying. Pat fell thru a hole in a wood hay wagon & thought he broke his hand trying to catch his fall-except he had hay hook in his hand. He went to the ER, too-turned out to be a deep contusion. I got several things done and also caught up on several necessary phone calls that I had to make, but had been putting off. Then we had lots of people here that came to watch fireworks. That was fun-lots of kids, too.

Monday, Pat & Jonah helped some friends on their dairy farm. They drove a tractor and flipped hay in 3 fields. Jonah fell out of a dump truck & hurt his wrist, but he's ok. I'm ready to put everyone in bubblewrap & lock them in padded rooms-the stress of everyone getting hurt is getting to me. Pat started working nights this day and will be for the next 2 weeks. Then he'll be back on days. I tell ya, it's not easy keeping the house quiet for him.

Tuesday, we took Susanna to the orthopedic doctor-she should be good as new in 3 weeks or so & they said the sling could come off. Hannah had riding lessons & helped out at the stable.

Wednesday, I had a postpartum appt. Jonah came along w/ me to help with the baby in the back seat of the car. Got home and the rest of the day was spent doing things around here & getting ready for Hannah's horse show later in the afternoon. Pat trucked 2 horses to the show w/ our trailer. Hannah rode a horse from the stable-an appaloosa named Royal. They had a great time & did really well. Here she is on Royal:

Hannah won 2 first place blue ribbons, 2 second place red ribbons & 1 third place yellow ribbon. Here's Hannah & her friend, Sam. They had to do several things holding a ribbon-walking, trotting, cantering, backing up, reversing without breaking the ribbon. They got third place in that.

The county fair is going on also & she had entered some crafts in it. Each thing she entered won a ribbon-2 blue ribbons & 2 red ribbons!

Today, Pat & Hannah did some work w/ Casey (the new & young horse). They got the saddle on him for the first time-he did really well with it. He is progressing very nicely!

Here's a couple pics of Alyssa at 8 weeks old. She is such a smiley little girl. She smiles a LOT-and each one is like a gift that just melts your heart.

I took several pics trying to capture the full effect, but couldn't get it quick enough. But, these pics are cute.

I have a saying on my fridge that I love that says, "It is no ordinary thing when they who are so fresh from God love us."

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Jul. 4, 2008
~Visit w/ family (throw-up included)~

We went to visit my family last weekend. They live about 5 hours away.We had a nice time-got to go to the ocean & play at a beach that I had played at as a child. The kids loved the waves.

Here they are in the sand-the biggest kid is my brother, Danny. That cute little boy in the green shorts is my nephew, Daniel. And, Hannah is to the left looking like a washed up mermaid. LOL It was VERY foggy.

This next pic is Susanna w/ the water pump at my Grandma's house. Every child in my family for the last 3 generations has had their pic taken w/ this pump.

Here's my DSIL, Virginia (she's my hero-you'll see why below), helping the 2 little girls with my Grandma to the side. Would you believe this little lady(she's almost 84!) hacked up a couch w/ a handsaw recently so she could take it to the curb without having to ask anyone for help. She's a little bit independent & stubborn. LOL Then she tried to chop up a cement pad w/ a sledgehammer. She was found out, though.

Here is a precious picture of my Grandma w/ Alyssa:

This is so funny, but every person that sees Alyssa thinks she looks like someone else-a sibling, a grandparent, Pat or me & even the Schwan man(my dh joking around). LOL. My grandma & my Aunt Dotty both said she looks like me as a baby. I don't care who she looks like because she looks like herself-I've never been one to insist she looks like a particular person-for some reason that doesn't matter to me. But, it did feel nice to hear family that actually remembers what I look like as a baby. That's 38 yrs ago! And there's been a lot of grand & great grandkids since then. I was the first one. I don't get to be near my family much, but I love being w/ them & feel known by those from the start of my life.

Jonah stayed there for a week with my brother & his wife & their 5 yr old son. They're having a great time & now they are taking him back-packing in New Hampshire for the weekend. They're staying in a hostel on the mountain.

Pat & Danny(my brother) plan on taking the boys back-packing again in the fall.

Susanna is having a difficult time without Jonah. He'll be back home on Sunday. It's been strange not having him home. We all miss him very much.

We kept all this a secret from him-I was going crazy w/ anticipation to tell him. I was so excited for him to find out. We let little Daniel tell Jonah when we got there-he was positively thrilled!

My SIl called this morning to let me know what happened on the long trip to New Hampshire. She is a great storyteller-it was a fiasco, but she made it sound hysterical. Jonah got carsick (plus there was a ferry ride & he ate snack food & soda) & pretty much covered the whole back of the car-along with himself & Virginia. They stopped at a store 5 mins before closing to wash up in the restroom. Virginia got several bags from the store to put the vomit covered clothes in & when they walked out of the bathroom they were confronted by 3 employees. They said they weren't going anywhere until she showed the receipt for the things in the bags!! I think V should have let them inspect the bags, but she just told them the whole story & asked to buy upholstery cleaner & paper towels.

They were laughing about it & my brother said Jonah should have come with a disclaimer. LOL Virginia is my hero-she even washed the throw-up out of the velcro on Jonah's watch with her fingernails because Jonah couldn't bear to part with his watch-even tho she told him she'd buy him a new one. They really are an incredible aunt & uncle & I'm so thrilled Jonah got to have this time with them & his cousin.

V, if I ever get the chance, I'd wash vomit out of Daniel's watch, too! LOL

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Jun. 26, 2008
~Camp on the Lake~

We're all back safe & sound from my best friend's family's camp on the lake. When we set off for the 2.5 hour drive without husbands and a newborn, I said I must be insane, but, it was so relaxing there. There were 2 other moms & 4 teen girls there to help with the little ones. There were 13 kids for most of it. The last day there were 22 kids(5 moms) b/w 3 camps & it was like community children. They all played together, ate at all the camps, etc. They mostly played at the camp I was at (w/ Chris), so it was pretty easy keeping track of everyone.

All of us moms mothered all the kids-cooking for them, drying them w/ towels, putting on bandaids, getting drinks, etc-it was really neat-and so nice having so much help. There was also a grandpa helping out-Chris's Uncle Pete(one of the camps was his)-he is a sweetheart. He spent the whole time walking around counting heads & going into town for gas for the boat. He talked a lot about how he must be insane-but you could tell he really enjoyed all the kids being around.

They had a great time-swimming, fishing, tubing (That's Hannah w/ 3 yr old Susanna!!)

boating

kayaking and canoeing

sliding on a big twisty slide off a floating dock(there were more boys than this-they traveled together in a swarm of activity-they were so funny to watch.

exploring in the woods, playing in a cave, playing whiffle ball, kick ball & football.

It was very busy & kind of crazy, but a fun crazy.

The kids played nonstop from sun-up till sun-down & slept good.

Everyone insisted they weren't tired & we had to haul them in at night to go to bed-they fell asleep so quick!

Susanna had 2 other little girls to play with the last day. Here they are playing in the water:

Playing dollhouse:

And just running around:

Abbie, the guide dog puppy came w/ us & Chris brought her lab-they had a ball in the water. The only mishap was the boys left their fishing poles on the dock & the hooks had hotdogs on them. Abbie cleaned up the bait & got a hook in her lip. We were able to get it out-it was close to the surface. Thank God she didn't swallow it.

Also, the other lab (Charlie) grabbed a fish that had just been caught & was being reeled in-they got that away from him before he got hooked, too. Here's the 2 labs:

Jonah left a hotdog in his tackle box & raccoons got into it during the night. LOL

Hannah got dumped out of the tube while being pulled behind the boat. That scared me, but she was fine about it. Here Susanna & Alyssa having a quiet sisterly moment one of the mornings:

Alyssa was such a good baby-and there were lots of arms that wanted to hold her, too.

We used to go to this camp a lot, but haven't had much time to go in the last 3 yrs. Chris & I used to go there just the 2 of us when we were in college. It was so nice to go again. It's such a peaceful place (even with all those kids) and in the morning you can hear the loons calling. That is my favorite bird call ever.

Everything went perfectly-the kids all got along really well, everyone stayed safe & Alyssa slept well.

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Jun. 18, 2008
~The Homeschooler's 23rd Psalm~

This is great-I've seen it a few times, but have recently recieved it from Daily Focus.

The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He maketh me to live on less sleep:
He leadeth me through the noise of many voices.

He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me to teach
The right lessons each day, for His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of undone
Laundry and kitchen messes, I will fear no evil:
For thou art with me, my teacher's guides and
Answer keys, they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence
Of threatening school officials and critical family members:
Thou anointest my head with heavenly wisdom, my cup runneth over.

Surely educated and godly children shall follow after me
All the days of my life: and I will dwell again one day
In a clean house with the Lord forevermore.

Here's a great quote, too:

"A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man
contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral."
-Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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Jun. 14, 2008
~Putting In Hay~

Yesterday was fun. We helped do hay at a nearby farm. Hannah stayed home & took care of the laundry & some house-cleaning for me so I could tag along with Pat. I wanted a chance to chat w/ him since we haven't had much time to talk all week. Alyssa came along & Jonah was there to help. Susanna came at first, but got hot & tired, so we brought her home to be w/ Hannah.

I have very fond memories of "putting in the hay" w/ a childhood friend's family. I loved hanging out at their small family-run dairy farm. Us girls used to get the hay off the wagon & onto the elevator while Joy's brothers were in the hayloft unloading & stacking. We tried to put a haybale in each space & even put another bale on top of other bales. Her brothers would get so flustered, but they always yelled down for us to keep bringing it on so as not to look like they couldn't keep up with us girls. LOL! It was all good-natured fun, of course.

Well, I ended up helping put hay on the elevator & really enjoyed myself. Doing hay is fun when you're doing it with others. It's not so fun if you're the only one in the loft or the only one unloading the wagon. And haying somehow always gets done on very hot & humid days.

Jonah really enjoyed himself, too-and he worked just as hard as the men & kept up with them, too. He thanked Pat a couple times for letting him help. Pat didn't think anything of it, but I said to him, "I wonder if it's normal for 10 yr old boys to work as hard as he did & then thank their dad for letting them do it." LOL Here he is waiting for the elevator to start. I was a little nervous about him using a hay hook, but no one lost an eye:

When he got breaks b/w wagons, he asked Pat if he could go w/ Steven & Pat said it was ok to go and play. Jonah said, "Dad, I don't want to go play-I want to help Steven pick rocks out of the pasture!"

There was rain in the forecast, but it didn't happen & we got all the hay in by 4:00 anyway. I didn't work as long or as hard as everyone else. Pat reminded me I had only given birth just 4 weeks ago & I had to nurse the baby when she needed to eat. But, I was glad to get to help as much as I was able. Pat loves to do hay, too & was thrilled that I was with him doing it. His comment was, "there's just something honest about putting in the hay." I liked the way he said it-and it's true.

The vet showed up also yesterday. We met her at the house when she came. All the horses needed shots, Casey got a Coggins test done & Retro just happened to get himself a corneal abrasion that very morning. So, he's on 2 meds that go in his eye-and he doesn't like it one little bit. LOL

In the evening, we went to a friend's birthday party-that was fun & relaxing. We are going to another birthday party this afternoon. Also, today, Pat & Jonah are brush-hogging fields for 2 farmers until lunch time. Last night another calf was born & somehow got itself in the pasture next to where his mother was-and she was NOT happy. Pat put this newborn calf in his lap while driving the 4-wheeler to the next pasture-and it peed on him!! And it was a LOT of pee. LOL We have another farmer's beef cows here in one of the pastures. There are 5 calves born to this herd & 3 more to go. We really love watching these little cuties run around-boy are they fast! We put one of our female cows in w/ this herd because she was bellowing all day & a steer from the herd was bellowing back. He apparently thinks he is a bull, but is a steer. We were told not to let the kids in the pasture because he acts like a bull, too. Their bellowing was VERY loud--sounded like it was right outside the window. After our calf is a few more days old, he & his mom will go in with the herd, too.

Well, I better get going!

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Jun. 12, 2008
~Lots of Stuff~

I don't even know where to start-it's rough only blogging every so often-I can't remember everything-but I don't want to forget anything from these precious days!

The weather has been beautiful so we've been doing lots of things outside in the morning...and then doing some school in the afternoon. Plus, my dh's hours changed for this month-so he is working evenings & is home during the day.

The days are a bit more calm & quieter-the way summer should be. The kids are playing outside a lot-in the sandbox, with the animals, also catching frogs in the pond & swimming.

Here's a perfect summer pic of Jonah & Susanna playing on the swing in the woods:

A neighbor who is a dairy farmer of a very large farm (& is a good friend) told Pat he'd supply all the material if Pat would fence in a 5 acre field that is adjacent to our property-and then we could use it for our beef cows along with his beefers.

That got finished last weekend (it was 2 weekends of major work) & we had the help of 2 families who offered. At one point, when Pat was cutting down a thorn tree, he got an inch long thorn jammed into his knuckle & it broke off. He tried to do surgery on himself w/ a jack knife, but I finally convinced him to go to the ER! The ER nurse he had said that it was a typical male response-LOL. it needed to be stitched up after they got it out.

We ended up having them here a lot for 2 weekends in a row, including wives & kids. That was 6 adults & 12 kids. The 3 oldest boys helped with the fencing, too. We had a lot of fun, too when the work was done-feasting & playing & the kids swam in the pond as well.

This past weekend the fencing was finished, we had sick duty for a beef cow who ended up dying (twisted gut) and our Mama cow (Taffy) delivered her calf finally-a boy. He's not named yet, so if you have any ideas, please let me know! If it was a girl, the name would have been Ruby. The very tip of his tail is white. Isn't he adorable??:

We also finally introduced the new horse, Casey, to the rest of the horses. There was some fighting going on, but it's going pretty well. Retro is the horse in the middle-he won't let Casey near the other two. Retro stays between his herd of 2 and Casey at all times. He even tries to get b/w Casey and us. Casey does not challenge Retro at all-thank goodness-he just wants to eat grass & every so often tries to join the herd-but Retro chases him away each time, the poor boy. I hope this doesn't go on for too long. We bring him back up to his stall each evening. Casey is the palomino. For anyone who doesn't know, they have mesh fly masks on their heads-they can still see.

We've started ground work with Casey this week and it is going great! There isn't any place on his body that we can't touch, he picks up all his feet & we're teaching him cues so he moves away from pressure. I can't believe how fast he is learning this. I can now put 1 finger on the bridge of his nose (and not push) and he backs right up. There's 3 other cues we've taught him, too-to bring his head down & toward our body, to step his front feet over w/ pressure on his shoulder and to disengage his hips & step over w/ slight pressure applied to his barrel. He still needs work w/ the shoulder pressure, though. He moves over & backs up-he's not supposed to back up. We're still working on it.

Pat & Jonah also got the corn plot planted. It's 12 rows & is very large. We planted 4 rows 1 week, 4 rows the next week & the final 4 rows last weekend-this way we don't have to pick all the corn at once. Anyone have tried & true ways to can or freeze it?

Susanna & Clayton (Jonah's friend) helped plant the last 4 rows:

Pat also brush-hogged the big pasture. It was pretty seeing the horses & cows standing knee-deep in buttercups, but it needed to be cut.

I got all the grass mowed, weeded the raspberry bushes & put mulch around them all. Hopefully I can get the blueberry bushes done today when Hannah gets home from the stable. I have needed her help w/ the baby so I can get things done outside.

Hannah's 4-H season is in full gear now & she's still helping out at the stable & taking lessons & working w/ our horses. She's doing much better w/ her math lessons as well. We got the standardized testing results back already-both kids did really well, scoring above grade level in all areas. Now I just have to get their final quarterly reports finished up & send it all in to the school.

Here's a recent pic of Alyssa:

And here's one of her sweet little feet:

She's 1 month old today and last week she finally started to fit into all the adorable cloth diapers I have for her. Here's a pic of her wearing a horse cloth diaper that my friend, Pietra made for her. Isn't it the cutest thing??

And here she is in a dipe that I made for her:

I love "summer school." We do the things that it seems there is never enough time to do during the school year-especially this year since I was so tired. Here's a fun thing we did for Chemistry. We made Carbon cookies. The blue & red M&Ms are protons & neutrons. The brown ones are electrons-Carbon has 6 of each.

We're also going to continue our Prairie Primer study because we all love it.

Another thing we're doing is studying about Christian heros from books we have called Hero Tales.

So far we have learned aboutDietrich Bonhoeffer, John Bunyan, Peter Cartwright, Jim Elliot & Corrie ten Boom. We already knew about 3 of them, but have enjoyed learning more. This book is fantastic! We have 2 others in the series, too-there are several people in each book-3 to 4 sections to read for each person.

Well, I think that is most of what we've been up to!

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Jun. 5, 2008
~The Dairy Parade~

The Dairy Parade was a lot of fun! Hannah's 4-H group all rode their horses in it w/ white & black spotted shirts & milk mustaches painted on them. There was also a float for their group behind the horses. Pat's mom came & also Stephanie-a cousin of the kids'. My best friend, Chris & her dh & kids came, too.

Hannah rode Retro-he was very well behaved, considering there was a tractor trailer behind them blowing his horn & a fire truck ahead of them hitting the siren.

I can't believe there wasn't a stampede.

Every horse had a spotter just in case-and every horse ended up needing to be held by their spotter w/ the lead ropes. Hannah is second on the left-the pics didn't turn out so great, unfortunately.

They all did very well, though.

I had to laugh as Retro walked by us-his ears were on full alert & his eyes were very very wide giving him that wild look. We loved the cow on stilts.

Susanna is in this pic-in the pink & Jonah is next to her w/ his friend, David.

Here's Alyssa is in Moby Wrap:

And here's a pic of me w/ her:

It was fun hanging out w/ our company while watching the parade. The kids were thrilled because they had candy thrown at them thru the whole thing-even cheese sticks & cartons of chocolate milk! LOL

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Jun. 3, 2008
~Evening Fishing Trip~

A few nights ago we packed everybody up & drove along the seasonal roads to a friend's pond to go fishing. That was a lot of fun. Here's Jonah:

Pat helped Susanna fish w/ a Barbie fishing pole. They caught the most fish of all, and everyone joked about it being the barbie pole that did it. LOL

Alyssa nursed the whole time while I sat on the dock in a chair. What a beautiful evening it was-we were surrounded by tall green pastures, bird's songs, curious beef cows watching over the fence & the dogs bounding thru the grass. It was great.

Other than fishing, they're favorite part was riding in the back of the truck sitting on lawn chairs w/ the dogs. We were just on tractor roads & going very slowly, so it was nice to let them do that. I remember riding in the back of the truck as a kid! We always loved riding back there.

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Jun. 1, 2008
~Picnic At the Park~

We got all our standardized testing done a week ago & celebrated with a picnic. It was so nice! Here's Hannah reading a book w/ baby Alyssa sleeping next to her:

Jonah brought all sorts of stuff w/ him. Here he is fishing w/ a lure that was given to him. The lure is probably bigger than all the fish in the pond at this park-LOL.

He also brought his skateboarding gear:

Since Hannah stayed w/ Alyssa, I was able to follow Susanna around on the playground and push her on the swings. Here's Susanna looking thru the telescope on the playground equipment:

She also had fun trying to get a drink of water from this spigot. By the time she got done, she was half-soaked. LOL:

With testing done, we can now get back to doing more fun school type things-here's Jonah dissecting an owl pellet:

This was right up his alley!

Alyssa is such a good baby-she rarely fusses & is doing pretty well at night. There's plenty of hands to hold her during the day & she also loves the Moby wrap I have for her. It's so much nicer than the slings I have used in the past. The wrap holds her close to me very securely and I have my arms & hands are free with it, too. With the slings, I always felt like I needed to keep one hand on the baby's head. Yesterday I went grocery shopping w/ just her & kept her in the wrap the whole time. Last weekend I helped my dh plant corn while she was in the wrap. This is the first time I've had a baby in warm weather & what a difference it is. It's so nice to be able to go outside without a hassle & not be cooped up in the house. Going outside sure helps keep at bay the emotional hormone stuff.

Here's a recent pic of her. She's 17 days old today: