July 2018

After all the running around that we do in June, July is like a breath of fresh, hot, humid air!

 I got a box of delicious Georgia peaches! Hopefully, these gems don't turn out to be mushy when we finally open up a jar!

 Canning almost always means it's a good day to be a chicken at our house - lots of good scraps to peck at!

 July 4, we were treated by a visit from our dear friends from Nebraska!

 It's always fun to watch these 5 boys run around the farm together.

 James even found a gigantic worm to take home!

 The garden kept giving cucumbers, and I got my earliest bell peppers ever!

 In the evening some other friends came over and we sat on the front porch while the boys set off fireworks! It was a great way to enjoy the holiday!

Rain in July is always a good thing - a break from watering!! Plus, the crops were in desperate need of a drink, too!

 

 We spent some time hanging out with friends at one of their rodeos in Canton.

 Swimming is a must in July. Here I was supposed to be judging their handstands. Levi won this round. :-)

 Cucumbers are great treats for chickens too!

 One night when the Smith boys were over, I looked out and discovered the boys setting up a tent in the backyard! In the end, only 2 of 5 boys slept out there.... :-)

 Quarts and quarts of corn frozen for enjoyment this winter!

 And we got 8 kittens from various donors and Mr. Wilbur has been very kind to them.

 I agreed to take my boys to see "Incredibles 2" and we thought why not invite friends to go along!? Five boys with five laps full of snacks!

 Sometimes, summer suppers are just so good!

 Noah did some more golfing, this time in a junior tournament in Wichita.

 It was part of a tournament for older kids, but the younger ones, like Noah, kept score and followed all the rules but didn't win anything. It was basically practice for when he gets older.

 He had a lot fun and enjoyed the challenge!

 Rodeo's provide a lot of entertainment for the boys. They love to explore,

 and mess around with their friends (even take care of little guys, too!).

 While Noah was away at a friend's birthday party, we took Levi to Exploration Place in Wichita to explore their aviation exhibit. He was thrilled!

 He could explore what a plane looks like before all the finishes are put in,

 use a flight simulator and lots more. It was fun!!

 Levi continues to enjoy helping me in the kitchen. We made yummy zucchini muffins!

  Then I flew off to Chicago to meet my friend Diana for a few days. We met very late on a Sunday night due to her delayed flight. But, I got to sneak in a visit to Andy and Lia (Ezra was already in bed) while I waited for her to arrive!

 The first day we mostly spent walking around the Lincoln Park Zoo and renting bicycles to enjoy the trail that runs along Lake Michigan.

 We did a great job of finding yummy places to eat!

 The second day we spent most of it at the beach just chilling out and we took an architectural boat tour on the Chicago River.

 And then we ate delicious pizza at Homeslice Wheel House - some of the best pizza ever. 

 Seriously, that veggie pizza was out of this world.

 I got home just in time to eat some lunch and then take Levi swimming at the new pool in Hesston.

 And then the boys held their annual lemonade stand in North Newton with their friends Abram and Mabel. At the end of the day, there was a pile of cash for the kids to split out!

 Most of the fruit trees around here aren't producing fruit due to a late frost we had. But the apple tree at our church was loaded with fruit!

 So we helped ourselves to lots of apples (more than we needed...we ended up giving a lot of them away....),

 and made many, many containers of applesauce with them!

 That same day, Ben and I went to a new steakhouse in Wichita to celebrate his birthday. It was fancy and delicious.

  That's my favorite kitten.

 Levi and Rylee are like two peas in a pod. Two crazy peas in a wacko pod. :-)

 Happy birthday Ben!! Welcome to 37.

 This guy has way less metal in his mouth! He got his bottom braces off at the end of July. Now we wait for all his permanent teeth to come in - then he'll get another round of metal to straighten it all out!

June 2018

June is hands-down the busiest month of the year for our family. School gets out, and then every summer activity gets under way in June! Plus, life on the farm is busy in June, too! What a whirlwind!! 

We borrowed goats from our friends again to mow down weeds around the farm this summer.

 Both of the boys played golf at Hesston through their Junior Golf program, but they also played golf several times just for fun.

 Ben seems to have endless patience with the boys while they golf. It's actually pretty fun to watch him coach them along.

 Levi played machine pitch baseball this summer and had a lot of fun with is friends and teammates!

 Noah played summer league basketball with his Junior High teammates during the month of June, too. I tried to sneak this photo of them hanging out between games...it's getting harder and harder to snap pictures of Noah!

 Noah played his last year of summer baseball this year and enjoyed pitching again for his team.

 The garden got a good start in June. We struggled with some very hot weather early in the month so all the plants were a bit shocked.

 Noah played a full weekend of basketball at his second MAYB tournament. His team wasn't as successful at this tournament, but it was still a great learning opportunity and he enjoyed being out on the court.

 My little blueberry bushes made lots more berries this year than last! Not enough for them to make it out of the garden since I eat them as soon as I pick them! They are just the most amazing tasting treats out in the hot summer garden!

 The boys participated in a basketball camp at Bethel this summer and had a blast!

 And then it was time to harvest wheat!

 And while the farmers harvested wheat and planted double crop soybeans, I took the boys to baseball games.

 These are cover crop seeds. I can't remember what is in this mix, but I thought the seeds were just beautiful!

 My favorite farmer!

 And three goofballs! :-)

 We got okra in June which is earlier than we've ever harvested okra!

 The goats that we're borrowing are all mama goats, these are their babies at our friends' house. The little ones sure are cuter than the mamas!

 More golf...

 And since Noah is too cool for a posed photo at Camp Mennoscah, I snapped a photo of the outside of his cabin before we left him for a week of camp fun.

 And during that same week, Levi and I participated in a a Farm to Table camp at Kaufman Museum in North Newton. I volunteered as a parent helper (mostly because I really wanted to participate and learn, too!).

 The first day we harvested four different berries from the museum grounds to make jam, picked green beans and beets to pickle and did several other things too.

The kids learned how to butcher a chicken,

gather and grind wheat,

make noodles,

and bread following this recipe.

They also visited a local meat shop to learn how to make sausage, they visited a farm to milk a cow and then used the milk and cream for butter, whipped cream, cheese and homemade ice cream!

Levi's baseball season wrapped up during his week at Uncle Carl's Camp.

On the last day of camp, the children worked hard to prepare a big feast for themselves featuring all the food they had gathered and prepared.

At home, we harvested onions.

And lots of cucumbers!