8-12-10 Chase

HOT again. Boys didn’t milk, so Levi went to CIT early, and, after going to Uncle Jerry’s shop early, Dad took Jesse to Uncle Randy’s for the day, where he hauled manure. The rest of us (except Jacob) went to the orthodontist in Pekin, with a few stops besides and a scare when the van wouldn’t start at Aldi. After a brief rest, it finally started and we made it safely home. Jacob stayed home with a list of jobs to do, and quite happily too, I might add. He dislikes Chase as much as I do; it worked out well for him to stay home and get something accomplished since I couldn’t. Home for a quick lunch, put away groceries, do a little school planning, and then the kids packed the wagon and we were off to the creek for awhile. It was SOOO HOT. It’s rather amazing how we can have HOT after HOT after HOT day. Grandpa Kaiser says this is the hottest summer he can remember except for 1988 when Uncle Harley’s creek (where we go!) dried up!!! That I can’t imagine , but Dad says he remembers little puddles in the creek bed. I hope we never ‘get’ to see that phenomenon…we’ll just endure the heat and be happy anyway…thankful that we do have large aquifers all over IL and trusting that we’ll never see drought like Africa does.

Anyway. I digress.

Back from the creek, kids played in the little pool some. Levi was home from CIT and finished painting the wood shed; Jesse fired up the cider press and we canned another 4.5 gallons of cider – sweeter this time, too! – with some for fresh and a couple gallons for Grandpa Kaiser too. We’re sure glad he lets us use his press, because this winter we’ll LOVE homemade apple juice with popcorn, pretzels, etc. Mmmm…

Dad was a little late for supper which was fine because supper wasn’t ready on time either. With doing open kettle cider, it’s a race to get the hot juice into the hot jars so they seal. Tori helped me, and we got ‘er done, but supper was late. Plus the other big kids were picking apples to sauce next week; they picked 6 really nice bushels which should finish off our applesauce for the year. We’ll sort the bigger ones out and save them for fresh, and I still hope to do some Apple Pie In A Jar and dried apples for the winter too. We’ll see how far we get…gotta have lofty goals, right? or you’ll never have those ‘extras’ at all. They don’t just ‘happen’ on their own..but when God blesses us with a billion trillion gazillion apples (okay, maybe not quite that many, but sometimes it seems like it – the trees after picking don’t look much different than before picking!)(although they aren’t all real nice – some are pretty small and nasty looking. The cows will love them though.), we better be ready to do the work and preserve them for later use.

After supper Dad and I holed up in our room to finalize some Yellowstone plans; I think we’re getting close to being ready (as far as accommodations on the way out, that is). Eventually we were joined by various kids until we retreated to the living room for Bibletime.

Then beds.

Pictures…more practicing with aperture (I finally know what that goofy word means) and shutter speed (I know what that means too). I’m making progress in my learning; personally I’m liking my pictures some better too. And I’m having fun doing it too…such precious subjects! Practice mostly happens at the creek lately…

If you look closely you can see calves on the bank. There were 6 there but some were hidden by bushes. I think there are 4 visible, but barely. Pretty cute!

Back home again.

I’m amazed at the difference between my ‘smart scene’ photos, where the camera chooses the settings and I (or whoever) just point and shoot, and the manual ones, where I set the aperture (there’s that word again) and shutter setting. Sometimes with point and shoot my pictures will turn out great, like I expect them too. Other times they’ll be blurry (why?), or too light (why?) or too dark (why?). Well, now I’m beginning (after 2 lessons) to learn why – and most importantly, I can correct it with the manual settings on my camera. No, it’s not a DSLR (still don’t know what all those letters mean, except D is digital); it’s a Walmart point and shoot, but it has a manual mode which has taught me a lot. I’ll finish with a quick review.

Higher aperture (higher f number) = less light into the camera = darker picture (IF it’s a shallow depth of field, like this one – more on that another time, as I’m still figuring that out).

This is set at f7.2.

Lower aperture (lower f number) = more light into the camera = lighter picture.

This next one is f4.

Pretty neat, huh?

Here’s f7.1.

This is f3.2.

Okay, enough already. Those who care about photography are not interested in my novice ramblings, and those who don’t care about photography are not interested in my novice ramblings either. So I’ll quit. For now. Like a kid with a new toy, I’m kind of fascinated with these things right now – and more than a little excited (!!) that my camera, with which I was getting frustrated because of all the blurry pictures it was turning out, really is ok. For now. I suspect that with a true DSLR camera I would have a much greater range of flexibility with f#s and shutter speeds – my camera only has about 8 or so options for f# as opposed to the whole range from ??don’t even know how low it can go, I guess, to ??as high as it goes.

Time’s way up.

8-11-10 Soaking Wet Blazing Bright Hot

It just doesn’t end. Day after day after day of desert style HOT. This morning I worked on school prep for awhile, and went over Sarah and Jacob’s assignment sheet and curricula with them. Got a lot done, but wanted a break – like going outside or something, you know, but it was just so soaking wet blazing bright hot I didn’t want to do that either. So – after lunch we all headed for another afternoon at the creek. Levi went to CIT after milking, and Jesse painted the wood shed roof awhile before joining us at the creek until it was time to milk again. And, as always before, just getting my feet wet made life seem much cooler. And, as always before, the kids had a ball and weren’t ready to leave when we did. But Joshua was running out of energy and needed a nap, so we had to come home around 3:00. I showered while the kids made a waterslide and had fun with that for awhile, and then it was time to clean up and do chores awhile. Supper prep, sorted another 4 bushels of apples, supper, and then we were all loading up for church when the boys got home. They showered and came separately but still got there only a few minutes after we did. My nugget for the night was 2 acronyms that Curt shared: Faith = Forsaking All I Trust Him, and Trust = Today Regardless of Upset or Success Together with Him. Visited a little while; then home to beds.

Pictures:

Early this morning we got the long-awaited call that Baby Rassi arrived! Joshua was just enthralled with the picture of Creighton Joe that happy grandma Aunt Marcia sent us. “Bobby, bobby!”

Found: IN OUR GARDEN!!!

It was beautiful…

DELICIOUS…

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…and GONE by bedtime. Never worry, though, there are MANY more out there; barring floodwaters, tornadoes, or hailstones, we should be enjoying much more watermelon in the very near future.

Creek again.

Resting.

Waterslide.

That’s all.

8-4-10 Creek Again

Pretty calm morning, nothing special. Kids picked up apples in the orchard, Tori made bread, and I worked on school stuff and Our Family Circus; others did jobs and played some too. Levi and Jesse milked, then Levi went to CIT. We all went to the creek after lunch; Jesse came for awhile before coming back home to get ready to go milk again. At the creek, it clouded up and we got about 174 drops of rain at one point; but it never got worse or better. Somehow (for me anyway) the creek isn’t as fun without sunshine, although I don’t think the kids even noticed. They were busy playing pretty hard. Home for chores and supper prep. Did I mention it was HOT again? After our 174 drops of rain it cooled off quite a bit though which is very welcome. After supper, Dad and Tori ran to TSC before church; the rest of us stayed home. Ben had a headache before supper, and although Josh has been pretty happy, his nose has been running nonstop; his naps today were pretty slim. Sarah and Jewel too have been coughing around some, so it wasn’t a bad idea to get my 4 littles to bed a little earlier, which I did. I listened to church outside, and as always enjoyed it. Steve read in Matthew 3 and Luke 9; I appreciated his comments about baptism. So many today say it’s not necessary, but that’s simply not supported by scripture. I’m so thankful our church preaches truth, period. Levi went to CIT to get some boards to prop up the apple tree branches so no more will break like the huge one that broke tonight. I don’t know why we didn’t prop them sooner – probably the same reason we didn’t thin them a month ago…when you have too many irons in the fire, sometimes things get a little burned. This time it was the apples. Ben was on the levee and saw it happen – although I wish it wouldn’t have happened, since it did I wish I could have seen it. Anyway. When Levi got home he propped up other sagging branches which is greatly appreciated. Jesse listened to church with his cell phone earbuds while he painted the wood shed roof; Jacob worked on the side of the shed. And the 4 littles, with Kate and I supervising, shelled corn in the treehouse and played in the sandbox…thoroughly enjoying a somewhat cooler evening. Then inside for baths (well, Josh had a bath; others washed their feet off good)(everyone showered after the creek)(Josh had a bath then too), and I read them a Bible story before bed.

Some pictures.

Kids had a ball at the creek again, coming up with yet another new project. Every time we’ve been there, they do something different – this time they built a dam and flooded part of our little island. Jacob was so funny – when he started his project, he was dripping wet with creek water. By the time he was done, he was dripping wet with sweat. I said, “Why don’t you take a 20 second dip and get wet again?”

He said, “I am building a dam, and dam-builders do NOT take breaks when they’re hot!”

Well, he certainly can be diligent when he wants to be!

Everybody was so impressed with Joshua’s new creek shorts – just like the big boys. With only his swim diaper,I didn’t like how his legs were exposed to the rocks and gravel he was sitting on; I wanted his legs and bottom more protected. And of course the cute factor is undeniably higher – just ask any one of his 9 fans (10 counting me)!

Guess what he’s saying…

(MOOOO)

And you gotta love that Calvin hair…too cute.

This is the best pic I could get of the entire dam, which raised the level upstream by about 4 inches and covered about 6 feet of our island…

The overflow.

Evening…

Is that a Country magazine picture, or what???!!!?

That’s it; good night.

7-29-10 Praise Ye The Lord

Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: Praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon: Praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created. Psalm 148:1-5

HOW?

Sparkly dew upon the grass, shining like thousands of crystals dancing in the breeze.

Barn swallows delighting me with their antics, diving and swooping in the morning sun, skimming through the air, just above the grass, so tiny and determined.

Robins hopping about searching for sustenance.

Red-headed woodpecker happily tapping for his breakfast.

Songbirds sweetly serenading me with a private concert.

Chicken in the barn singing as she lets the world know of her accomplishment.

Rooster joyfully crowing Good Morning to all.

Distant dogs barking for their morning meal.

Constant buzz of insects – cicadas maybe? Crickets?

Fuzzy ball of bee bumbling about the bushes.

Sun.

Peeking over the horizon, waking the earth.

Dazzling my eye with its radiant array of colors -

Then climbing higher to take its place among the

White popcorn clouds

Drifting in a brilliant beautiful sky of endless breathtaking blue.

Green overload.

Green trees. Green grass. Green leaves, bushes, pastures, fields.

Green cornfields frosted with a thick layer of golden.

A feast for my senses.

Speaking peace to my heart.

Bubbling songs of praise to its Creator.

Too perfect for words to express.

I know,

And I know,

And I KNOW

That heaven is profusely, copiously, more exquisitely beautiful than this ---

But ---

HOW???

~~~~~~

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee, How Great Thou Art, How Great Thou Art!

~~~~~~

Slow peaceful morning; started early because Dad went to Uncle Jerry’s office early; Levi went to CIT by 6:00. Dad picked up Jesse and took him to haul manure for Uncle Randy before he went to work. It was blessedly cool out – very little humidity for a wonderful change. Kids were outside playing most of the morning – little girls in the playhouse, playing house, and the rest racing around capturing all sorts of critters, as usual. Tori worked in the garden, fed Faline, did some sewing and typing, put a tape on the computer, watched littles, helped with laundry, and made lunch while I spent a big chunk of time on Our Family Circus. We are getting very close to being done; my goal of being done by Christmas has been changed to being done before school starts – which is in a week or so. After lunch, we had another great time at the creek - I’m still amazed at the miniature lake we’ve discovered. No, it’s not exactly like a lake, but the fun we have is very comparable to the Glueck Lake Days we used to do when the bigger kids were littles. Today, given the option of Uncle Jerry’s pool or the creek, the vote was unanimously the creek. We all enjoy and appreciate the pool VERY MUCH, but there are just different kinds of things at the creek – like mud fights, crawdads, sand castles, and skipping stones, to name a few. I always debate about taking the camera, and I’ve always taken it and been glad. Aunt Jill says the key to better photographs is to practice, practice, practice, and so I am…and having lots of fun doing it too. The problem is, when I take so many pictures, it’s too difficult to delete the good ones – even if there are 50 of them.

So…..

Breakfast yogurt/milk…still one of the few things Joshua consistently eats with enthusiasm.

Ben (or was it Jacob?? Now I can’t remember!) was excited to find this Monarch caterpillar.

Cows and calves at the creek. The calves are so very cute!

One of Ben’s treasures of the day.

More treasures - Ben found not one, but TWO Monarch caterpillars!

Black locust (I think) thorn. Wonder if this is the kind of thorn used in Jesus’ crown? It was needle sharp – Jacob said Grandpa said these can pop a tractor tire. That’s a nasty thorn!

Kate is between 2 black locust (?) trees which seem to be almost dead. They’re still covered with thorns, though.

Rascal loves the creek too.

One of my favorite shots of the day. (“Got ‘im!”)

Jacob built this pool, just for the fun of it…

…but it turned out to be a great idea, as the water in it warmed up very quickly, unlike the constantly moving creek water. The littles liked it a lot.

These are 2 of a burst sequence of 5; I really like the action in both of them.

I took many burst sequences of Kate’s attempts – finally she succeeded!

Joshua had a blast today – more so than other days, and I’m not exactly sure why. He wandered away from me more – more confident, maybe? Or maybe he was happier because the cows were not in the water with us? At any rate, he had so many precious smiles, jabbers, and giggles.

He was especially pleased to be able to stand in waist-deep water – different from Uncle Jerry’s, where he can’t touch the bottom. He just waved and jabbered to everyone, obviously loving it!

Notice Ben mid-jump.

Levi joined us for awhile when he was done at CIT, but by 4:00 we were back home for showers, chores, and a nap for Joshua. He was a tired little trooper! Uncle Randy brought Jesse home; he helped with chores and digging more potatoes. Supper prep and supper; then Dad and I took a walk. It was so nice out – no/low humidity makes an evening so much more enjoyable. I took my camera, hoping for a picture of Dad in front of Uncle Randy’s corn across the road – it’s hard to believe, but it’s about 4 feet above his head. I didn’t get a picture tonight, but before it dies I hope to. Anyway, with my camera in my belt pouch, I bopped around with the littles and did more practicing after our walk. Everybody else was outside too; seems like we don’t have enough evenings like this. It was wonderful.

Again – lots of practice means lots of good pictures (of course lots of bad too, but those get deleted)(isn’t digital amazing?).

Steers grazing.

The cows were at the red shed; they left their calves at the end of the lane. Here are 5 of the 6.

View from our place, looking east.

Looking west.

Yep, I’d say we’re in the running for The Prettiest View In The Country.

Practice, practice, practice…..

..and what a handsome subject.

Treating a sickly calf.

500

Watching catfish.

Inside then for Bibletime and beds.

~~~~~~

Thank You Lord for another wonderful day, so chock-full of nuggets that it’s hard to understand sometimes why we are so blessed…so many earthly blessings, but even more, the peace and joy in our hearts that only comes from Thy Holy Spirit – the peace and joy of Salvation by the blood of Jesus Christ alone. All this, and Heaven too…only Thou art worthy of our praise. Hallelujah, Amen!