Kitten check-in

Remember the kittens we bottle fed back in August?

Four months later, four of the six kittens are alive and well. Little Alfalfa, the runt of the clan, has done a lot of growing and is always the first to try and sneak into the house. :-)

Snowy Sunday

Our first snow was on Oct. 18 this year. We decided to see if the old wives tale was true and count each snow this year to see if we get 18 of them. According to Noah's precise calendar records, the snow we got last night was "Snow 5". 

 Church was cancelled so there was plenty of time for playing in the snow.

 Harold was ecstatic to be outside with us.

 He tried to eat the sled rope but got tangled in it instead.

 He worked pretty hard at attacking the rope for quite a while and then finally got tired of it.

 Thank goodness for a four wheeler, rope and sled!

 I was completely fascinated by all the animal tracks I found in the snow. I don't know anything about identifying the tracks, but to see how many tracks were all around the farm was pretty interesting.

 The concrete forms look more interesting with the addition of snow.

 This little guy was at the end of one of the trails of tracks.

 Mmmmmm....yummy snow.

 We spent quite a bit of time outside enjoying the snow and taking in how the world is transformed when it's covered in snow.

House Update

I wish I had a grand plan for how I was going to blog about this whole house building project, but I don't. I'm just going to have to accept that and document what I can, when I can. 

The work this week has been dedicated to getting all the forms up for the foundation and storm shelter for our house. When Ben told me that's all that was going to happen this week I impatiently rolled my eyes. Then a day later I went out to look at the progress and realized why this was going to take a week! It's no easy task to put up forms.

 That's our storm shelter! I had never considered that during the building process we'd have this concrete rectangle in the middle of our house. I should have thought of it by putting two and two together, but I hadn't and I think it looks so funny.

 These photos make it hard to get a feel for the amount of progress that's happening. Plus, the lack of color in them is depressing. But have no fear! Lots of good work has happened and I'm happy as a clam that they're taking their time and getting the work done right.

 I've got my fingers crossed that it will work to bring concrete in on Monday.

 Harold has proven to be very, very difficult to photograph. He's ALWAYS moving - fast. 

 While the colors of our construction site are less than beautiful so far, at least the neighbors (my parents) are spreading holiday cheer.

School Christmas Program

Monday evening was the school Christmas program and the kids did a great job! Mrs. B, their music teacher, did a marvelous job (as always) and the program proved just how much fun the kids have in music.

 Levi was very excited for his first school program! He told me that his teacher had a secret chair in the corner of the stage that only the kids on the risers could see. "And Mom, during the program I can't go to the bathroom, or blow my nose or even pick my boogers."

 I think Noah and Levi's favorite song was "Reindeer on the Roof."

 They keep singing it around the house. I even caught Levi singing it at the top of his lungs walking across the farmyard today after gathering eggs. See all those reindeer in the photo below?

 After the program the boys got to show us around their classrooms.

 The art teacher had a bunch of artwork out in the hallways, this is Noah's Georgia O'Keeffe inspired flower.

It's crazy that we're halfway through the school year and that Levi is days away from being six!  How can that possibly be?!

***HERE WE GO***

We're building a house! Finally! We've had house plans completed for over two years, and now the timing is finally right to get this project going. 

 There's been all sorts of red tape between the flood plain, the county, the bank and more. But we got that all worked out and our builder is wrapping up the project that was before us in line and that means we're next! This past week, Ben scraped all the crop residue off the building site (aka, he got rid of the corn stalks). The lumberyard brought in supplies, and then dirt work happened!

 We won't have a basement so the dirt work was minimal, which lead directly into getting ready for the footers.

 While I was away at work (I'm going to have to get used to missing out on this stuff) a concrete truck came in and pumped concrete into the footer forms. See that square in the photo below? That will be our storm shelter - disguised as a bathroom.

On Friday the "concrete guys" took away the footer forms and unloaded the foundation forms. They'll get those set and poured next week.
It's been pit-in-my-stomach scary to see this project get started as well as I-can't-believe-this-is-happening exciting. So far, the one thing I know about our building project is that it's growing my ability to be patient and expanding my trust in the skills and knowledge of the workers.

In pursuit of a tree

It was nearing dark on Saturday afternoon when Noah asked, "WHEN are we going to get our Christmas tree?!" and I said, "Well, bundle up, let's go!" So, we bundled up, and off we went to Pine Creek Farm!

Noah was feeling pretty special toting the saw around.  We were searching for a small tree, one that would fit nicely into our already cramped living room. Luckily, small trees were very near to the shop so we didn't have far to walk.

 The boys were such willing helpers, but quickly found out that sawing down a tree is hard work.

 Finally, after they both gave it a try they let me get the saw started. Then Noah took a turn sawing for a while with much more success. Levi was happy to hold the tree.  They both took their tasks so seriously! Levi even has his right foot turned in so it wouldn't get cut by the saw. Seriously, that was a concern.

 Aha! Mission accomplished. Small tree, we found it quickly, didn't have to haul it far to get it to the shop and then we enjoyed apple cider, peppernuts, and candy canes inside the shop!

When we arrived, I went inside the Christmas tree farm shop to ask which direction we should head for the best selection of small trees. She told me and then asked if I needed any help. I told her I had two capable young men with me and I was right! The boys and I had a great time finding and cutting down our tree.

Creatiing

Levi took it upon himself to teach us a craft at Grandma and Grandpa Schrag's house. I found him at the dining room table busy preparing supplies for everyone to make a "turkey". Once he had supplies doled out to each person we could come to the table and follow his instructions. 

 I went first and got step by step instructions on exactly what to do to make my turkey look like his.

 When grandma came to join us, Levi was less interested in explaining the project and more interested in doing it for her.

 It involved lots of tape, pipe cleaners and streamers.

 It was important that each item be taped down well, we didn't want our turkey to lose a leg!

 After Levi helped three of us, he was worn out and decided that craft time was over.

 One other creative project that Tim and Sue helped me out with was the creation of this barn quilt. I've wanted to give this a try for a long time and since Sue had recently made one for their front porch, I could easily follow in her footsteps to make my own. Tim graciously prepared the wooden square/quilt block for me. Then Ben helped me mark out the pattern onto the wood. Sue helped me figure out where each of the colors should go and then I got to do a lot of taping and a little bit of painting. Over the course of several days I managed to take this piece of primed plywood from white, to colorful quilt block. A fun, easy-to-complete project.

Flying over Illinois

We totally lucked out and got to go flying while we were in Illinois! It was such a treat, and really fun to experience with Noah. 

Keith Unzicker is a pilot for Caterpillar, attends Tim and Sue's church, and has his own small airplane and grass airstrip at his farm.

We drove out to his farm and he generously took Ben, Noah and me (Levi was NOT interested) up for a ride.

Keith completely restored this plane, it was brand new back in the 1950s, but he's got it in tip-top shape.

Grandma, Grandpa and Levi watched us climb in.

The plane was pretty tight, just a four-seater, which was just fine for us on a chilly morning.

Levi had fun playing with Keith's kids and exploring on the farm during our ride.

We flew over a John Deere dealership and Noah thought it looked like his toys at home (grain bins and all!).

We continued on and eventually flew over Washington, IL. The town was in the path of a tornado a couple weeks ago and seeing the damage was like a punch in the gut.

Fields scattered with debris, farms leveled, houses gone, lives totally upended.

Ben took over the controls for a bit - then handed them back over. :-)

I'm quite sure I was the most nervous person in the plane. Noah took it all in and was all smiles!

After we landed and it was time to push the plane back into the shed, Levi hopped in and enjoyed a ride that was just his speed. 

Thanks Keith - and Tim and Sue for making the connections for us.