Schrag & Schmidt

Gatherings, lots of Christmas gatherings.  But, I grew up going to lots of Christmas gatherings and I enjoy them.  It's a blessing to have family close enough (and the rest willing to travel) so we can see each other at least once a year.  

It was a privilege to host Ben's parents in our "new" place for a few days.  You never know how it will go to host folks in a new space, but it was great and they said they slept well upstairs in this old house.

The Schrag family gathered in Peck at the Tahitian Room (aka, Susan and Cully's place).  The Tahitian Room is full of quirky, glorious, random and historic bits and pieces collected over many years.  While I don't recall a Schrag gathering where the bar was put to it's intended use (consuming alcohol), we do use it as our buffet table.  It's odd to have all the kids saddle up to the bar and nibble on peppernuts but it certainly works.  They don't know what they're looking at and think all the bottles and lights are wonderful.  

 Levi tried playing Hi-Ho Cherry-O on his own, hopefully he didn't lose too many cherries.

 Poppy Seed Roll, a Schrag favorite.

 The second cousins did a great job playing together.  Gabe and Bethany played so well with Noah and Levi.  Little Henry was a joy too, but still too little for marbles and hide and seek, maybe next year Henry!

 Susan and Brittany managed to successfully roast coffee beans in an air pop popcorn popper!  You never know what'll happen next at the Tahitian Room.

 The boys felt pretty comfortable at Susan and Cully's barn (the Tahitian Room is inside the barn that they live in), but they wanted me to accompany them to the bathroom.  We had fun counting the 9 different toilet paper holders and this tag hung from the ceiling fan.  Like I said, the place is full (and not in a bad way) of all sorts of interesting stuff.

 Noah said he ate 400 peppernuts that day and he very well may have been correct!

 During the day on the 27th, the boys and I were with the Hertzler family.  For some reason, I didn't snap a single picture during that time....but we ate wonderful soup and sandwiches, put together a booger of a puzzle, and had a good time hanging out together.  That evening, Ben went to the Hertzler's and the boys and I went to our Schmidt gathering.  The boys got to spend more time playing with second cousins and had a blast.

 Sam is a year younger than Noah and a year older than Levi, so you can imagine that the three of them can have a rip-roaring good time.

 See what I mean about those old "cowboy jeans" that Levi simply will not quit wearing?

 We were a group of 22 or so and had a great time eating and catching up with one another.  Almost all of us still live in the Goessel area, but sadly we don't see each other all that often.

We also got to watch a video about the first shipment of aid that went to Vietnam following the war.  My grandpa, Harvey Schmidt was heavily involved with CROP in McPherson County at the time and volunteered to give some of his wheat to this shipment going to Vietnam.  Church World Service organized the cargo shipment of wheat to help feed the Vietnamese people.  Church World Service recognized the fact that during the war most of the farmland had been destroyed and the ability of the Vietnamese people to grow enough food for themselves had been greatly diminished.  So, in this video we got to watch grandpa harvest wheat, speak during the sending service in Houston, TX and then check the wheat when it arrived in Vietnam.  Many times I've heard mention of grandpa's trip to Vietnam, but it never made much sense until now. It was such a blessing to see and hear grandpa's voice again.

Christmas Day

We had a wonderful start to our Christmas Day.  On Christmas Eve when the boys couldn't stop talking about Santa and when he would come to our house....Ben and I bit our tongues to keep ourselves from bursting that bubble...we told the boys we would not open gifts until 8:00 the next morning.  And it worked! They slept until about 7, which is normal for them, and then we ate breakfast and finally we got to open gifts.
Noah lost his first tooth on the 23rd, check out that little gap on the bottom row.  He was VERY excited and thankful for the two quarters the tooth fairy left for him (even though we lost the tooth before we could even leave it for the tooth fairy).

So, on to opening presents.  The boys got work gloves, underwear, toothbrushes and colored pencils in their stockings.  They were the most excited about the underwear and toothbrushes.

Levi got new "cowboy jeans".  He has a pair already that he's worn holes in the knees because he wears them every.single.day.  Seriously (I'm shaking my head as I'm typing).  But, the new jeans haven't quite taken hold yet, and he much prefers the old pair to the new pair....it's a slow process.

Noah gave me a calendar that he made in school and Ben a clay hand print he made in art.

Levi and Noah both got new shoes.  New basketball shoes, like the high school boys wear.  Levi's are a half size too small and one of Noah's rubs his ankle.  Their old shoes, that they both love, are so worn out and too small that it was time for new shoes....except transitioning to the new ones hasn't gone as smoothly as we had hoped.

We bought the boys an indoor, over the door, basketball hoop.  It was a hit from the moment they ripped the paper off.

After they got the new basketball pumped up,

it was time to play some ball!

We had a nice Christmas Day service at church and then spent the rest of the day at my parents' house.

Noah and Levi put on a surprise program for us.  Noah doesn't know how to play the piano and Levi doesn't know how to play the guitar but, they both know how to sing.

It was cute and hilarious and wonderful.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is a special night at our church.  Children from age 2 and up tell the story of Jesus' birth.  

 Levi's class sang a song about the Christmas star over Bethlehem.  The girls in his class stole the show by trying to get good access to the microphone.

 Each kid in Noah's class had to say a line in their spoken piece.  Noah did well remembering his line, but was a bit shy in the speaking-clearly-into-the-microphone department.

 Then more kids joined in and they sang "Stars Were Gleaming."  Noah knew most of the song very well and I tried to practice it with him and wasn't sure that he ever got the last 2 lines of the second verse.  But, when it counted and the entire church (it was literally a full church) was watching, he got it all and actually sang out!  My heart smiled and I felt so proud of him.  Maybe it's because we were sitting close enough that I could hear him, but it seemed more special than normal to me.

 The Christmas musical that the older kids did was better than ever.  The focus on light and the many roles that light plays in the Christmas story was interesting and refreshing.

 Finishing with the church bathed in candlelight is my favorite.

 It's simply magical, no matter how old you are.

The Tour

I thought, mostly for the purpose of looking back on this time in the farmhouse, that I should snap a few photos of our new living space.  The only problem is that the regular lens for my camera is broken, so I only have the use of a zoom lens - not ideal for snapping indoor photos!

So here we go.

From the garage you walk into a large mud room (where Axle still spends the night), then there's a laundry area and then the kitchen.

From the kitchen you can see straight through to the other side of the house.

After the kitchen is the living room.  My grandma always used it as the dining room and I'm still fumbling over what to call it.  It's usually something like, "Dine Living Room."  Not pictured to the left is the door to the upstairs.  From the living room you get to the two bedrooms we're using.

This picture is flat out awful, but it's the "master bedroom" which also has a big TV (we've never had a TV in a bedroom), a couch, and a piano (who doesn't need a piano in their bedroom?).  My grandma always used this room as the living room/front room.

The bedroom that the boys share has always been a bedroom.  My dad remembers when he was a kid that their entire 5 person family (my aunt Karen wasn't born yet) slept in this bedroom.  I failed to ask why that was necessary, but it's interesting to think about.

And that rounds out the spaces of our daily lives.  There is a large bedroom upstairs with toys and space to play.
It's starting to feel like home, like a temporary home.

Noah's Christmas Program

Noah's Christmas program at school was simply wonderful.  We finished up eating supper on the evening of the program with a mere 15 minutes to get ourselves ready to go.  Noah went into high gear and got himself dressed, shirt tucked in, belt on.  Then he went into the bathroom and combed down his hair, brushed his teeth and washed off his face.  He was ready.to.go!  

But, by the time his class had played for 45 minutes in their classroom (during the 5th grade band concert) his shirt was un-tucked, which was perfectly fine by me.

The kids did a great job.  Noah hadn't told me anything about it because he wanted me to be surprised.  I certainly was surprised by all the actions and wonderful singing.

Beautiful Day

So beautiful, in fact, that I didn't take a single picture to prove it.  Oops.

Actually, Levi spent the day fighting off a stomach bug...hopefully tomorrow he'll be back to normal.  Ben was away for the afternoon officiating some basketball games so he missed out on the warm and sunny part of the day.

While Levi slept, Noah and I had a great time working in the garage, playing basketball, burning old wood and cardboard that we found in the garage and playing fetch with Axle.  We were outside all afternoon, without our coats on.  It was wonderful.  It was also wonderful to get our garage organized.  The garage was the one remaining space that had stuff just sitting here and there and it was driving me absolutely crazy.  It was a dusty, pack rat poop filled time, but it was wonderful to get the garage swept out and all of our stuff in spots that make sense.

The weatherman's forecast calls for one more warm day and then a Winter Storm Watch for two days, so we'll enjoy this while we've got it!

Levi's Christmas Program

Levi was totally pumped about his Christmas program at Preschool!  On Thursday morning, he eagerly ate his breakfast totally.ready.to.go!

 But, when we saw him at school, he was looking a bit more somber.  The room full of moms, dads and grandparents had put a damper on Levi's excitement.

 But, if there's anything that'll get our preschooler excited it is most definitely rhythm instruments!

We did see him sing along to quite a few of the songs.  His biggest trouble was distraction.  He'd start watching another kid, or a toddler in the audience and forget all about the song he was supposed to be singing.

 We had a wonderful time watching our little guy do his best and afterwards he was eager to show us around his school and eat snacks.

 He's serious about wanting a saw...he keeps talking about it.  I'm not sure Santa will bring him a saw, maybe a hammer, but not a saw.

Adjustments

Soon I'll take some photos to show you the inside of our new digs.  I haven't been home during daylight to take nice pictures yet, but I'm hoping to soon.  It's a charming house and it's especially cheerful when the sun is shining through the windows.

 We've had some adjustments to make in the past 5 days.  While this is a big house, we're only truly living on the main floor - with play space upstairs.  But, for the most part we've been in the living room, our 2 bedrooms and the kitchen.  I'll explain the layout when there are photos to go along with it.  It's cozy, and I mean that in a positive way.  When the boys are playing a game of basketball or football and yelling and running while I'm trying to cook it may not feel like the best situation, but for the most part it's been cozy in the best way possible.

We've had to adjust to having a dog.  Axle, we found out from taking him to the vet for shots, weighs 98 pounds!  He's been doing very well with all the adjustments he's trying to make and thankfully continues to be a very kind and obedient dog.  I've never had a dog, but have found it pretty fascinating to get to know Mr. Axle (the running joke is, "Hold your tongue and say it...." Just try it. :-)).

We've had to adjust to Noah getting on the school bus at 6:55am.  He LOVES it and has been ready early every day so far.  He just walks over to my parents house and visits with them until my dad is ready to go.  It's sweet to watch him walk out the door and across the dark yard, so confident and carefree.

We've lucked out and the dishwasher hasn't leaked!  There was some fear that since it hadn't been used in more than a year that the seals would be brittle and leak.  But, after two uses it seems to be doing well.  Also in the kitchen, we've had to adjust to a gas range and oven.  I'm still getting used to the oven, but otherwise that's been a fun adventure.

We're getting used to having dairy within a stone's throw from our house.  There sure is a lot of commotion outside early every morning.  The boys have slept past 6am once out of the five nights we've been here.  I'm hoping that catches up with them and they decide to sleep a bit longer soon.  In Hesston, it often felt like I was the only person up and at 'em at 5:30 in the morning (when I'd go exercise).  But, now when I get up there's a tractor driving by and cows being milked and feed being ground.  The whole yard outside our house is buzzing with activity, while inside it's quiet and we're all sleeping.

I've had to adjust to doing my morning exercising at my parent's house - in my old bedroom.  Their elliptical machine resides in my old bedroom, so each morning I trek across the yard (which is WAY better then driving anywhere) for my daily workout.  Having one machine to chose from instead of 15+ at the Hesston Wellness Center is a pretty big change.  I'm sure I'll get totally bored with this option before winter is over, but I'm very thankful to have an option like it so close.

I've enjoyed not having a working TV in our house.  That should change tomorrow when the satellite dish guy comes out and hooks everything up.  We went several days with no TV and no internet.  That was OK with me too, there's something refreshing about not having those things available for a while.

We've had to adjust to the mud and muck of 2 days of light rain on the yard and roads.  I even bought myself a pair of mud boots - now I can go anywhere the boys can go around here when it's wet.

We've had to adjust to being CLOSER to daycare, church, and Ben's work and farther away from my work.  I certainly didn't get to work this week at the same time I got to work last week.  I'll make some adjustments for next week.

There are about 1,000 other adjustments we've had to make too, but many of them are the realities of moving.  It takes mental energy to remember where your clothes are, where the drinking glasses are, where....well, everything is.  But, Ben and I were just saying tonight how we feel content and at ease out here on the farm.