Cutest graduate

Last Friday was a very exciting graduation day for the preschool class at Little Huskies. In attendance was a lovely little girl with flowing curls and big blue eyes named Samatha (Sammi to her buddies). Much to my surprise, the entire class of 60 students were all doned in cap and gown. (The caps were a source of entertainment for many.) The young group walked into the theatre from the back or some walked and several sprinted. The kids were elegant when they accepted their diplomas and made is across the stage. Soon after the songs started and the kids cut loose with funny tunes and darling dances. After a cookie, we grabbed up the graduates and escaped into the warm sunshine of the afternoon.

Sammi was really excited because she was coming home to stay with her Aunt Becky and she did not want me to get out of her view in case I might escape without her. We left in good time to hit a barbeque at Kris' and Sammi was in heaven with a big playground and lots of kiddos her age. After about three hours of serious playground activity, I loaded the little doll up and took her home. She does love a bubblebath and played for a good while. We washed all the play out of those locks and called it a day. She did awake around 7:30am on Saturday morning and was thrilled we had a birthday party in the afternoon. We had a few errands and then hit the party. She loves her new found friend, Addy, and they had fun playing again. She was excited when we got home because she thought her Mom was here to play. She was crushed when she found out that Mom was going to take her home. Big crocodile tears spilled down her cheeks, but I assured her that we would do a sleepover again soon.

Sweet Sammi our new graduate posing in a flower bed with a kitten named Buttercup.

Becky

History with Hoover

Thursday, May 14th, we loaded a school bus with 70 lively Sixth Graders and headed for the Herbert Hoover Historical Museum in West Branch, Iowa. The noise level at 9:00am could probably have registered a 5.0 on the Richter scale. By 10:00am we were on the grounds of the impressive complex. They divides the kids by their classes and we had the tour of the grounds first. Adam, the tour guard, guided us to the birth home of "Bert" Hoover. Can you imagine five people living in a very small two-room house with no electricity or indoor plumbing? This is the bedroom that housed all five of them and was about 10 foot wide.

Herbert's Dad was a blacksmith and the kids thought the shop was cool. We then ventured to the one-room schoolhouse and this got the attention of the kiddos. The tour guide passed around slates and chalk and shared what school meant in those times. We learned more about Hoover in the Presidential Museum and library.

Hoover's parents passed when he was just a young fellow and he was shipped out to an uncle in Oregon. Hoover was in the first class at Stanford and graduated with a degree in engineering. After he made his millions, he eventually became President. He was a world traveler and was best known for his humanitarian efforts in saving millions from starvation. Belgium created a status of Isis and it rests on the grounds as a thank you for saving their children from hunger.

We then walked past the prairie and shared with the kids this would have been reminiscent of Iowa in the early days. They weren't impressed to say the least. We finished the walk with the grave of President and Lou Hoover. Massive 10 foot slabs of marble cover the burial site and sits overlooking the grounds. All too soon, we loaded up all 70 and headed back for the day. If you thought the trip back was quiet, you guessed wrong.

We could all gain a thing or two from Herbert and his life. We are here to take care of each other first and foremost. He also felt strongly that hard-work and kindness were a expectation, not the exception. Great day!

Becky

And it hit...

Yesterday afternoon found the boys both enjoying a little time with their "Megan" of choice. (Yes - both have a sweetie named Megan.) Dad and Dustin Z brought down the semi to load out some scrap and some fencing items. We had sat down to enjoy some cherry cheese cake and I mentioned the weather sure seemed to be mixing up something. Warm, moist wind whipped at our beings the entire time we were outside. Around 4:30pm Megan 1 came in and said she had seen a funnel cloud coming our way. Trenton turned the to the news and nothing was on regarding any danger. So we all went out and sure enough we could see a funnel shaped cloud near the neighbor's heading for Central City. As I looked toward the house, I noticed the siding had taken a beating and some was dragging off the East side of the house. Soon we noticed that the top of the West-most hoop was missing. We went down to check it out and it had been ripped off and was laying in the ditch. The back end of the newly fixed hoop was pushed out and the wood was lying on the fence posts. Sure enough, we had really suffered from the wind and had been outside during the most excitement Alburnett has experienced since the tornado of 2000.

Boy was I disappointed. We lost a roof to the other hoop building last summer just after Jeff passed away and have been working to tidy up the place. I feel let down and like I am behind the eight ball so I decided to walk to the cemetary. Well as they say, God works in mysterious ways. As Shasta (my yorkie pooch) and I made it around the corner you could see the fire trucks and many helpers taking care of our neighbor's. The three houses right around the corner had taken quite a hit. Attitude adjusted quickly.

Today is the quiet after the storm. Dalton temporarily tacked the siding back up last night since another storm was on the way. We did get some much needed rain and we can now see the oats popping up in the field. The Insurance company has been notified so we will just wait.

Thank you for the many calls and emails. We are fine and better for the wear.

Becky

Sugar Crystals: Celebratory BLOG CANDY !

Sugar Crystals: Celebratory BLOG CANDY !

The Present

Every emotion I possessed was tapped this past weekend and the adage of today being the "present" really seemed to hit home. Friday I had the great opportunity to help at the school with the physical fitness test of seeing what time our children could complete a one-mile run. Let me say, I think most every child could do this but boy did the kids have the lazies that day. My "present" was a note to make sure we are out doing more physical activity together. Just after, I met a sweet friend for lunch at a super yummy resturant. She much like myself is getting used to life without her husband, however her is still alive. We shared tales on how to keep the lonelies at bay and tales of our children. We were about to wrap up and I heard a familiar voice cry my name. I looked over and several of my buddies from my last job were enjoying a Friday lunch together. So I hunkered over and joined them after my first lunch. Many funny tales were shared about the times we had during my stint there. What an awesome "present"! As if I could stand any more fun for one day, I headed to my "sister's" for a cooking party and enjoyed way to much delicious food and lots of great laughs.

Saturday was the official food testing for a good friend's wedding coming early October and since the father of the groom had prior commitments, I was the honorary "spousal alternative". We enjoyed many tasty vittles and surprisingly the veggies were my favorite. (Still hope for me...) I had the chance to meet the bride's parents and the maid of honor all in this swanky hotel. Woo hoo. Now I just have to loose the weight I promised myself and then we are all ready to get those two married.

Sunday we met Grandmother Marilyn at Coralridge for lunch and shopping and had a fun time. She spoiled Trenton a little extra as tomorrow is his big 13th birthday. Seemed like time flew by before we needed to head for our grief group in Hiawatha. As we were making small talk, somehow conversation led to me stating one of my friends was in the "house" as they call it. When we finished our meeting, arrangements were made for Trenton and I to visit with him. He looked good and we had a nice chat and did a bit of reminiscing. I could tell Trenton was having a hard time by the number of potty breaks he was taking. My "present" was being able to ask my dear friend if he was ready to step to the other side and he said he was ready. I did ask him to give my sweet husband Jeff some love when he arrived. He smiled and said he would do that for us. Clearly, I count this as the best "present" I have had for a while.

We do tend to forget our present is a present. Any of us could meet with our destiny today, tomorrow or next week. Are you in a place that should that come your way it would be a present? We are here for such a short time and have so many chances to make it count. Plant a tree, a flower, say a nice comment to a friend or visit a shut-in. Make today count as it is a special "present" from God.

Becky

And he turned over the land

Today the phone rang a little early and it was my Father who was planning a day of fix and prep work here. We plan to have hay on the entire farm this year, so we need to get the seed planted on the end that was beans last year. Dad brought along, Dylan, my uber-handsome nephew to help out since he had the day off. After a few attempts, the tractor rumbled to a start and Dylan hooked it to the disc. After a couple of bites of lunch, we got serious about turning over the ground. Dad headed to the garage with Trenton two steps behind to change the oil in the lawn mower. Love men working in the garage with all the comments, cussing and other testosterone laden events. I was summoned to find some stone thing to sharpen the blades of the mower. Keep in mind unless I tripped over this device, I wouldn't have the first idea of what we were looking for. So I went out and thank goodness it had already been found. I cleaned and put a few things in their place and then swept a bit.





Trenton relieved Dylan from his disc duties so they could head home for chores in their own back yard. Here is a snapshot of Trenton running the tractor and disc. Tomorrow we will toss on the hay and oats and hope for a good growing season.



Thanks guys for all the hard work!!

Becky

Been walking - day two.....omg

Ok, I promise I have not been drinking, but you will not believe what happened to me today.

I went and picked up the little kids the fun-colored play balls that I just loved as a kid. I had been looking for these and happened to find just enough at K-Mart. The cart didn’t really hold them so I had a couple under each arm heading to the checkout. As I approached an old fellow with a funny look on his face, I asked him if he wanted to play with my balls? He chuckled and said he was good and I headed to the checkout.

All went well and I headed out to the white buggy to load my fancy balls. Some wind caught one sitting in the kid seat part of the cart and the ball fell to the ground. So I walked the way of the ball and the darn thing took off like greased lightning. About that time a gal walking towards me said hey two balls just fell out of your cart! Snap! She went for the doubles and I headed for the single with a ball under one arm and my bags of goods under the other. Those balls really fly as I went from K-Mart East to Sherman Williams and was still tracking it when I got to Blockbuster video about two blocks down. I saw my ball head across Collins Road and decided the game was over. I headed back to the car and hoped my friend had better success in tracking then I did. Oh no, she saw hers last heading for Michaels about three blocks away. Well I thanked the gal, we had a great laugh and I headed out to see if I could find my balls. (OK – new fitness program began yesterday with the renegade llama and now I lost my darn balls.) After driving around I did locate one next to Collins Road, hopped out walked down into the ditch and put the ball in the truck. In case you don’t know, lunch time on Collins Road is busy and it is one of the most heavily travels roads in Iowa. Needless to say, many people had lunch and a show today if they were anywhere near Lindale Mall. Sadly I have to report I was unable to find my two missing balls. I only hope they went to a good family with a couple of kids that will love and cherish them.

I bought the two older kids Frisbees and I had enough walkng for today. Grrrrrr. Perhaps I will stay in bed tomorrow……

Becco the chaser