Please pray for them....

Susanna and her girls, looking lovingly at baby Isaac the day of his birth...

Please join me in praying for this family...

...I just learned that some friends of ours lost their baby today! Baby Isaac was born on Christmas Day and I don't know any details currently of what happened except that he passed away today. Please be in prayer for David and Susanna in the next few days...

Wet shirts...

I spent a pleasant portion of this day over at our neighbors' house, babysitting 2 of their 3 children. After the noon meal was over, Amelia and James pulled up a chair by the sink and helped me wash the dishes again. :) All 3 of us came away with wet shirts! Children are so precious....

When I got home a little before 5:00, I was set in front of another sink, this time to scrub, no, not dishes, but potatoes and carrots for our supper. :) Then I made a batch of pumpkin bars while Mom cleaned the bathroom; Jacob swept the floor and Andrew scrubbed it. We were quite the busy crew! Mom and Andrew had been gone for most of the day in Bismarck (delivering items that we'd sold on BisManOnline and thrift-shopping, oh, and hanging up some posters about the next informational how-t0-get-back-to-the-constitution meeting being held in Bismarck on Jan. 3rd.) Dad was gone loading out some more hay for buyers, so that left Jacob at home for a while to do some cleaning and schoolwork.

It was a good day----and it is STILL brown outside, mostly!

Facing one of my fears...

I've worked as a CNA for 1 year and 8 months now and had not, as of yet, actually had to deal with a residents' death. I mean, actually dealing with it, being there to take care of the resident after the fact. I've been on duty, but working on another wing when someone passed away, and have cared for several residents when they were close to death, but I was never actually there when "It" happened. I was really kind of scared about the whole thought of working with a dead person.

Well, tonight, all of that changed. One of our residents passed away this evening at about 9:30. My coworker, April was very brave (she had never done it before either) and we just worked together (washing him up and changing his gown, etc...) and it was not near as bad as I'd dreamt it to be. We just kept reminding each other that he was in a better place now (I believe he really was a Christian), and that he could now be with his wife (who passed away a couple months ago). It was hard, but God saw us through it alright. Death, too, is a part of life, afterall.

Speaking of life though, I'd better get to sleep now, as I need to get up early-ish in the morning and go take care of our neighbors' very-much-alive children at 8:30. :)

May you all have a good night!

A chocolate chip cookie recipe:

(Compliments of THE GOOD CLEAN FUNNIES LIST)

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

532.35 cm3 gluten

4.9 cm3 NaHCO3

4.9 cm3 refined halite

236.6 cm3 partially hydrogenated tallow triglyceride

177.45 cm3 crystalline C12H22O11

177.45 cm3 unrefined C12H22O11

4.9 cm3 methyl ether of protocatechuic aldehyde

Two calcium carbonate-encapsulated avian albumen-coated
protein

473.2 cm3 theobroma cacao 236.6 cm3 de-encapsulated legume
meats (sieve size #10)

To a 2-L jacketed round reactor vessel (reactor #1) with an
overall heat transfer coefficient of about 100 BTU/F-ft2-hr,
add ingredients one, two, and three with constant agitation.

In a second 2-L reactor vessel with a radial flow impeller
operating at 100 rpm, add ingredients four, five, six, and
seven until the mixture is homogenous.

To reactor #2, add ingredient eight, followed by three equal
volumes of the homogenous mixture in reactor #1.
Additionally, add ingredient nine and ten slowly, with
constant agitation. Care must be taken at this point in the
reaction to control any temperature rise that may be the
result of an exothermic reaction.

Using a screw extrude attached to a #4 nodulizer, place the
mixture piece-meal on a 316SS sheet (300 x 600 mm). Heat in
a 460K oven for a period of time that is in agreement with
Frank & Johnston's first order rate expression (see JACOS,
21, 55), or until golden brown.

Once the reaction is complete, place the sheet on a 25C
heat-transfer table, allowing the product to come to
equilibrium.

~Author Unknown

Quietest day I've had in a while...

I worked at Helens' daycare from 10:00AM to 5:15PM today. As there were only 6 little children there, it was the quietest day I've had there in a long time! :)

I came across a bit of trivial trivia the other day and thought I'd share it here, just to make sure all my fellow ND citizens are aware of the laws of this land!!!


Did you know that, according to North Dakota state law:

It is illegal to lie down and fall asleep with your shoes on?

....and also:

It is legal to shoot an Indian on horseback, provided you are in a covered wagon.

Not that it's comfortable sleeping with shoes on and I certainly don't believe we should shoot Indians!, but I just thought you should know. ;)

We had fun, fun, fun...

I'm reminded now of the song our friends, the Dagleys like to sing:

"Sometimes it's fun to just be lazy and to lay around.
Sometimes it's fun to just be crazy and to be a clown.........

Whether driving along,
Or singing a song,
We're gonna have family fun!

We're gonna have fun, fun, fun,
We're gonna have family fun.
No need to dress like a star,
Just come as you are,
We're gonna have a picnic in the family park
'cause it's fun, fun, fun,
We're gonna have faaaa-mi-ly fuuuun,
We're havin' family,
We're havin' family,
We're having family fuuuuuuuuuun!"

Yes, that's what we had today! Just a full day of family fun! Everything from finishing up our 1,000 piece puzzle, to playing the long game of "Automobile", to watching "The Spirit of St. Louis"........ Sometimes we just take a family vacation here at home, and this was one of those days. :) Fun? Of course!!!

We made Ritz cookies!

This morning, after cleaning the kitchen up a bit, Mom, Jacob and I made our favorite holiday cookies---the kind that Grandpa Delzer used to make each year at Christmas. They're really quite easy to make. You just make little Ritz cracker peanut-butter sandwiches and then dip them in melted chocolate or white almond bark, then let them set 'til firm. I took a tin-full of these to work this afternoon and the night nurse said they brought back so many memories for her, as she hadn't had them since she was a little girl! :)

Speaking of work in town, it was a busy day, but fun, as everyone was happy and excited. When we got there, most everyone was up already from their naps, so we got everyone out to the dining room to open presents. We CNAs (and the nurse, ward-clerk, and activity lady) helped open presents for the people who couldn't do it themselves, then wrote down what they'd received and delivered the items safely to the residents' rooms. It was pretty fun....

Mother had a happy birthday, I think, although yesterday was more special as we were all together and not working on anything. We played classical piano duets for a little while before I had to head for town, and that always makes her day! ;) (I like it too, of course.)

I hope you and yours had a delightful day, spent with those you hold dear!~

An early birthday party...

We decided to give Mother her birthday gifts early, as I have to work tomorrow in town and we wanted to be able to "Play" with her new "Toys" today. It was a lovely afternoon! We watched movies; played piano duets (Mom and I); and worked on the new 1,000 piece Terry Redlin puzzle that Grandma gave us yesterday. :) Oh yes, we also had some pretty tasty food to eat!

Here's wishing everyone very happy times spent with family and loved ones! May the Lord keep you safe in your travels also...

Good family times~

We all hopped in Andrews' car this morning and headed for Grandpa and Grandma Bornemanns' place in Mandan. We got there a little before noon and helped Grandma with last minute meal and table preparations. Dad even carved the....chickens. :)

Mother waited out in the car for a while to meet up with a lady we were selling some beef to. Here Grandma is welcoming her in...

The boys---observing Grandma's bountiful display of houseplants....

After a delicious (and very filling) meal, we looked at some pictures I'd taken along from this past year and the boys played their instruments for a while. Then we sat down at the table for a 3-hour long game of Chicken Foot Dominoes (using all 12 groups of numbers).

Nice flash!

We had fun!

We finished that long game right at 6:00, then ate some more and opened some presents our grandparents had for us. We had to head for home then, as Sally needed milking....

This evening, I gave Mom one of her birthday gifts early: a movie of a collection of O'Henry's short stories made into film. We watched 2 of the stories and really enjoyed them!

Mother has several more pictures of our time with our relatives on her I-pod, so I'm sure she'll be sharing those sometime.

It is a nice thing to be with family! I think our grandparents were pretty happy that we came too, as none of their other children/family is able to make it there this year for the holidays....

Do you know????

Is there a way to make microwave popcorn without using a microwave? Can I just put it in our on-the-stove-top corn popper? I was given a bag of "Goodies" at work today and got a bag of mic. popcorn and, as we don't have a microwave anymore, I was just wondering what to do with it? Suggestions anybody?

Mother and Jacob went to Bismarck today to do some errands (and Mom had some sessions to do.) They washed the car; bought supplies for Mom's special birthday meal; bought a food gift for my Bornemann grandparents (who we may be seeing tomorrow); and they received several free calendars at various places. :) Just this morning, my dad and I were talking about not having any calendars for the new year. "God hears and answers prayer" and wishes too!

I'm not sure what Dad and Andrew all got accomplished today, but I know they were busy in the shop. I spent the morning working on laundry; making lunch (with fresh halvah for dessert); ironing my work clothes; cleaning up the house a bit; then headed for the nursing home to work there.

Can it be almost a new year already? How time does fly......

"Sunrise, sunset..........swiftly flow the days, seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers, blossoming even as we gaze......"

Snaw?

Happy Winter, everyone!!!

I've been searching on -line the last few minutes, trying to find a nice poem about Winter. I didn't find one that I really liked, so have decided to share this funny bit of poetry instead: It was written in 1781 by a certain Robert Burns....

"The wintry west extends his blast,
And hail and rain does blaw;
Or the stormy north sends driving forth
The blinding sleet and snaw...."

I believe that's supposed to be BLOW and SNOW, but it does sound much funnier the way it's written, don't you think? :)

People need the Lord...

There are so many hurting people in this world, so many people that could have so much more peace in their lives if they only knew that God loves them and wants them to follow His ways---ways of goodness and life and joy and peace!

Over my supper break at work tonight, I listened as a young woman told me of her life, the fear and frustrations she has. You'd never guess by looking at this woman that she had such feelings inside. You just never know what someone else may be going through....

Just now, I read an e-mail from a friend who is going through a hard time. Yet, you'd probably not guess what heartache she's experiencing just by reading her blog. You just never know what someone else may be going through....

So, please be kind to those around you. Please show them God's love. After all, you just never know what someone else may be going through. Behind that smile, there may be a lot of tears in the reserve tank for future emptying.........

I'm so glad that God knows what we're going through all the time, aren't you? He is so good to us!

Eggnog~

For the few of you that DO enjoy eggnog, :) I thought I'd share the recipe I used yesterday:

HOLIDAY EGGNOG

3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
salt
4 cups hot milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
freshly ground nutmeg

Beat 1/2 cup sugar and egg yolks; add 1/4 tsp. salt. Stir into milk slowly. Cook in double boiler until mixture coats silver spoon, stirring constantly. Place in pan of cold water to cool. Beat egg whites and dash of salt until stiff peaks form. Add remaining sugar. Add egg white mixture and vanilla to milk mixture. Chill for 4 hours. Spoon lightly in punch cups; sprinkle with nutmeg. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Wait! Is it Spring already?

It was absolutely gorgeous outside today--in the mid 40s! The sun was shining; the birds singing; the snow all melting.....I even got some mud on my shoes when I took a box of rags I'd cut over to the shop. :) Oh, and besides all that, we've had some very early arrivals in the cattle department yesterday and today! Two of Dad's cows had calves and one of mine had TWINS!!! I thanked God several times today for the lovely weather for those little babies. If they can just get dried off and get up and going, they should hopefully be able to make it through the Winter alright..... Unless, of course, we've just skipped Winter altogether this year, which would be fine with me, except I don't have any seeds ordered for the garden yet!


Our 3 guys worked out in the shop almost all day and are about ready to put Andrew's motor in his car. I think Dad was also working on the 1486 tractor.


Mom and I worked in the house most of the day, working on odd projects that needed doing. I cleaned out my top "Miscellaneous" dresser drawer and got that all organized, which took a while! Mom did several sessions and we both worked together on laundry and dishes... I baked some Peanut Blossom cookies and made a pitcher full of eggnog. Yummy!
Several of my coworkers (at the nursing home) and I got to talking about eggnog one day and I was surprised to find out that so many of them did not like it!! So, I thought it would be fun to take a blog poll, just to find out if this is a nation-wide trend (people not liking eggnog as much as I think they would) or if it's just a Napoleon thing? :)


I'd appreciate if you'd please vote on the poll on my side-bar!

Just got home from meetin'...

...only this meetin' wasn't quite a church meetin', although pretty close. :) We attended the 2nd of 3 "Constitutional classes" being taught by our friend, Mr. S. tonight in Napoleon. There was just a small number of us in attendance again, but there were some good discussions going and we, once again, learned more than we knew before about our country and the people who are trying to run it now. It is sad to learn of all that's been going on while we are quietly minding our own businesses, trying to enjoy a peaceful life. It is good to learn of hope though too! Together, and with a lot of God's help, we CAN make a difference!!!

The ND field coordinator for the Ron Paul society was also there---a young man, probably not much older than my brother, Andrew. He and Andrew seemed to really enjoy each others' company, and perhaps they'll be working together more in the future..... This young man gave us some bumper-magnets and a couple of cookbooks that Mrs. Paul made, using their familys' own favorite recipes. She also wrote their family history and added that to the pages of the book, along with several pictures of their family over the years. I thought that was a very neat idea!

There is another meeting planned on January 3rd at the Bismarck Public Library (with Mr. Brown from Montana speaking), so it would be great if our ND friends could make it to that! Let me know if you'd like more info......

The rest of our day was pretty quite, until right now, that is, as Lady just started howling! We rested; sang hymns; listened to a DVD message by Mr. Ed Stevens; and played pool in the nice, warm shop. :)

Well, I'm going to try to get some sleep now, although it could be difficult with a hound dog howling loudly right outside the house!

The project I said I'd tell you about...

You may (or may not!) remember that I wrote in an earlier post about how I worked on a project while Mother was still in Canada, but that I didn't want to tell you about it until she saw it? Well, she found it (the next morning after she got home)---and was she surprised!

The project:
The room (pictured below) used to be another small bathroom, but when Mother was so ill, our guys took the sink, small tub and toilet out so as to be able to fit the nice, big Whirlpool tub in for Mom to soak in as needed. Well, at that time, we had also peeled off most of the old, falling off wallpaper in there. We never got around to painting it though (and my mom probably wouldn't have been able to handle the paint fumes back then anyway).

This little room has proven very useful to many of us in times of sickness or in cases of severely aching muscles! It was a complete eye-sore however.

Want to SEE? Look below:


At this point, Jacob and I'd already put some plastic up to protect the tub... Yuck! Just look at those walls.

The first step was to wash off the rest of the old wallpaper and spots of moldy, mildewy stuff. Then, that had to dry a while. I also put some spackling in the cracks and small holes in the wall. Eventually, I was able to paint on the "Morning Dew blue" and "Nutmeg pink". :)

I took this pictures while the paint was still wet that night:
As you can see, there is some old, water-proof paneling in the bathroom too which still needs some help. I wasn't sure what to do with it, so I left it for the time being....

The room is so small that it was hard to get a decent picture!
The bathroom is by no means picture-perfect, but it is a lot better now, if I do say so myself. ;)

This has been a nice, quite day. Dad and Andrew were gone from 5:00Am 'til 8:00PM, driving to Aberdeen, South Dakota and then to St. Cloud, Minnesota for car parts. They were pretty tired tonight!

Jacob fed the cows both times today and helped Mom with cleaning the house.

I helped with cleaning some too, and cooking, and then this afternoon, I went over to our neighbors' house to babysit one of the twins while Kristi took her other son to the Dr. to have his broken arm examined. Poor little man! He's quite the trooper though and didn't seem to let his arm slow him down too much! I had fun with James (after he woke up from his nap, that is) and was surprised by how much he talks already, as I hadn't been over there in a while.... (We enjoyed reading your Holiday letter very much, Kristi! You are a very creative writer. :) )

And that, was our day. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

* PS. Just a friendly reminder to my friends AND family that the next JBS constitutional lesson/meeting is tomorrow evening at 7:00. *

Caring for little people--and bigger people...

I headed East early this morning to work at Helen's Daycare again (as Helen had a meeting to attend) and then a little before 2:00, I left there and headed for work at the nursing home again. It was a long day, but thankfully I'm not as tired as I thought I'd be. :)

Guess what I'll be doing in the morning? Yes, milking Sally. Andrew and Dad are leaving early (about 5:00AM) and heading for MN to get some parts for Andrews' Charger. They don't expect to be home until after evening chores tomorrow night, so Jacob will be doing the cow feeding and Mom and I are taking turns doing the milking; feeding grain to the calves/heifers/bulls; making sure everyone has water; and taking care of the goats. Oh yes, and feeding the cats and dogs too....

I'd better get some sleep!

Can't think of a title...

...Maybe it's because I'm tired? Maybe I should just get some sleep.... :)

I got home from work a bit ago; showered; and visited with Mother for a few minutes before she headed for bed. We have a new CNA on board now (as of yesterday) and I just met her today. She seems really nice and like a hard worker too. Hooray!

I need to get up early in the morning so as to be able to babysit at Helens again. Hopefully the roads will be good then. They were pretty slippery on my way into town this afternoon. " 'Tis the season.... Tra-la-la-la-laaaa La-la La-la."

Good night everyone.~

"Cora.....Cowa....Dora....Coooooowaa......Corrrra......"

Those are the many variations of my name that I responded to today while caring for 13 small children over the coarse of the day (4 of them were school-aged, so came later in the day on the bus.) :)

Several of those little ones sure know how to melt my heart! For instance, one of the little girls (who is just starting to talk now) kept coming up to me, looking up at me with big brown eyes; pacifier in mouth; hair in a pigtail, reaching her arms up towards me. Who could resist such cuteness? Not I!

Then, one of the little boys came and plopped himself in my lap while I was on the floor playing with them. What joy! There were some not-so joyous troubles to work through too, naturally, but we all made it through the day without anyone getting seriously injured. :)

I'm guessing the guys worked on Andrew's car and maybe the tractor today? I don't really know.

Mom got unpacked and settled in at home again. Then she had a client come out this afternoon.

Life here on earth is good, but I especially thank the Lord for His precious gift of eternal life, as that is even "Gooder". ;)

Mother is home...

...safe and sound. She arrived at about 9:30 this evening. We looked at pictures from her trip and then looked at all her pretty Canadian money. :) She had a wonderful time and is glad to be home too!

The rest of us worked on special projects today. I don't want to write about mine yet, as I haven't shown it to Mother yet. I'm waiting for her to find it on her own....

The guys were happy tonight because they were able to save about $500 by fixing something on the 9030 tractor themselves. They had asked the local machinery shop to get our tractor in to be fixed about 2 months ago, but they've been so busy that they've not been able to do it yet... In the meantime, we've gotten our shop heated, so the guys fixed the tractor on their own, thereby saving all the money they would have spent to have it repaired in the Kintyre shop.

It's been a good day! Be looking for project pictures in the near future----whenever Mom discovers what "It" is. :)

Busy evening....

After cleaning some and doing laundry this morning, and after making (and eating) tacos for lunch, I went to work in town at the nursing home. For the second half of the shift (which is the busiest, with getting everyone ready for bed), we worked short, so the 3 of us were very ready to head home tonight! Thankfully, that doesn't happen often!

I'm not sure what the guys all did today. I do know they were doing some maintenance on vehicles this morning. They're all in bed now though, so I don't know what else happened here today. Mother will be coming home tomorrow evening, so prayers again for a safe flight would be wonderful!!!

It will be nice to be all together as a family again.~

Guess what we did on this lovely day?

....You still have time to guess, as I'll post some older pictures first. :)

Did you know that goats love eating banana peelings? Well, they do---amongst other things...

Here are the promised pictures of our pretty-much-finished shop project:

We're really enjoying being able to use the small side-door the guys put in instead of having to open the big door for everything....

This afternoon, while playing a few games of pool, we put a tea-kettle on the wood burner and made ourselves some nice, steamy hot chocolate. :) The guys and I were saying that we've probably spent more time in the shop this last week than we have in the house! It's such a good feeling to have such a nice, bright and warm place for the guys to work in all Winter!!!

I didn't take a picture of the shop today, (after the guys worked in there all day yesterday) but it looks more organized than in the above picture, with things put back in their places.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alright, have you guessed yet what we did today for fun----and exercise?

Here's a pretty easy hint:

Yes-----we went ice skating/hockey playing, up in the North pasture!

First, we had to push a little snow around. It wasn't too bad really.

Dad joined us younger people on the ice....

We found out that we're a bit on the rusty side of things!

We also found out that the little black puck can really sail far on a smooth surface!

"Get it, brother!"

We all landed on the ice at least once (and some of us a bit more than that), although in the picture below, Andrew was just resting his ankles....

That's me:

The boys..... Our "Goal" was the small opening between the snow piles (where Jacob is standing.)

We have plans for getting an ice rink set up here at home, but have been too busy with the shop project to work on that project. Plus, it hasn't really been all that cold.....thankfully!

We talked to Mom again a little bit this evening and it sounds like she's having a really great time there. Hopefully she'll be ready to come home when the time comes to leave. :)

At Calgary...

Mother is now in Calgary, Alberta Canada. She said her flights went very well, the one plane being very crowded and the next very empty. She's trying to adjust to using Canadian money currently and said the coins were a little confusing... I hope her Canadian bed is soft and comfortable tonight. :) Tomorrow the class starts, so Mom is very excited---now that the plane ride is over with, for the time being.....

Here at home, Dad went "Up North" this morning and loaded a load of hay that he sold down South again. He and the boys worked in the shop the rest of the day, except for when Jacob came in and helped cut up some apples and set the table.....

Andrew's very happy because he was able to get his Sheriff car indoors and he's started tearing it apart already. Dad and Jacob moved the pool-table over to its permanent location and got it leveled out (and played a few games too, so I hear...).

Meanwhile in the house, I was very busy cleaning and cooking. I worked quite a while on cleaning the laundry room and pantry, as they were very out of sorts! For supper, I made chicken enchiladas (with freshly made tortilla shells), apple raisin salad, and fruit pizza. Yummy! Want to drop in and have a bite? I made a big pan full.... ;)

It's all done--mostly!

This morning, we all worked together to finish painting the inside of the shop. Mom took several pictures, but I think her camera may still be out in the shop? At any rate, I don't have it here, so don't have pictures to share yet...

The guys installed the small door this afternoon. Now they just need to insulate the big door and then they should be toasty warm in there all Winter! :) The dogs really enjoy being in the shop now also and cozy up by the wood burner pretty easily. What a dream come true this is for the guys---to be able to work out in the shop during the cold months (and not to freeze while out there) while they have spare time on their hands. All the warmer months are so full of farming activities that they don't really have time for special shop projects. It will be fun to see what they all do out there this Winter!

Mother and Jacob went to town this afternoon (Jacob drove :) ), as Mom needed some cash for her journey and also wanted to put up fliers all over town about the 2nd "Constitutional" meeting that will be held in Napoleon on December 17th (at 7:00PM, FYI at Ray's Cabinet shop---using the side door, because if you come in the front door, you'll run into his entertainment center!) Everyone is most welcome to come join us there!!! Please come! Our friend, Mr. Stevens will be presenting the important and interesting information....... There will also be a meeting in Bismarck that my Mom has helped set up sometime in the beginning of January, so let us know if you'd be interested in coming to that one and one of us will get you more specific details.

While the Mom and Jacob were gone, I spent quite a bit of time cutting up old, stained clothes for shop rags. The guys are constantly going through rags out there, using them to clean up oily and greasy parts and pieces----and hands....... I cut up 3 bags full, so that should last them a while!

The rest of the afternoon/evening was mainly spent in getting Mother packed up and ready to leave early in the morning. She will be flying to Canada to take a BT health class that she's wanted to take for 4 years already. She's pretty excited (about the class) AND nervous about flying by herself out of the country to a place where she knows nobody but the teacher, so prayers for safe travels and pleasant company would be greatly appreciated I'm sure!!! She'll be gone until late Monday night.

And that, dear friends, was how this day was spent.

Wishing you all a great Friday,
~Cora

A little splattering of white....

All five of us worked on painting the plywood in the shop this morning. By lunch time, we were half done with the shop and several of us had quite a few little white polka dots all over our faces and hands/arms! We were using rollers (a couple on sticks to reach the higher areas), and 'though those are nice, they do splatter little drops of paint in every direction! I'm not sure how far the rest of my family got out there today as, after noon, I headed for work in town. Dad headed for Bismarck then to return the scissor-lift. Mom, I know, had a session here at the farm for a client. The boys were going to work on moving everything from one side of the shop to the other so we could paint the other half...... I'll try to get pictures tomorrow---before I get my hands all painty again! :)

A kitchen full of food....

....Yep, that's what I came home to tonight after working in town!

My mom picked up the Azure order on her way to Bismarck this morning, then bought a few more things at Sams this evening. Apparently, she got home late and so carried everything in and set it in the kitchen to put away tomorrow. Thus---the kitchen FULL of food! Yes, I am very thankful for it too. :)

I spent part of the morning out in the shop, helping put up the last of the plywood sheeting. Mom brought the trailer from the Rent-All place home so the guys can take the scissor-lift back in the morning. It looks like they were able to do some painting in the shop too, as there are paint brushes and trays in the kitchen tonight as well. :)

And that was our day, as much as I know of it....

I will leave you with a thought to ponder from my favorite flip-calender:

"God never puts any person in a place too small to grow in."

PS. The coyotes just started howling like crazy. It's so nice to be safe at home....

Another full day away...

I got up early this morning and headed for Helen's Daycare to watch the children so she could go with her husband to Bismarck for appointments. Another lady came and took over at 1:40 so that I could quickly change and drive into town (Helens' house is a few miles out of Napoleon) and be in time to work my PM shift at the nursing home. I'm pretty tired tonight and am glad I can sleep in a little bit in the morning! :)

The others worked out in the shop again today. They said that if they have one more good day, they should be done with the sheeting and then can take back the scissor-lift. Then they will put in a small door on the front side of the shop; insulate the large shop door; paint all the sheeting white; move their bench back in place............ There still is lots to do, but we are grateful for the progress that's been made---safely!

I will leave you now with the "Good Clean Funnies" joke of the day.

It's called: Live and Learn

Psychiatry students were in their Emotional Extremes class.
"Let's set some parameters," the professor said. "What's the
opposite of joy?" he asked one student.

"Sadness," he replied.

"The opposite of depression?" he asked another student.

"Elation," he replied.

"The opposite of woe?" the prof asked a young woman from
Texas.

The Texan replied, "Sir, I believe that would be giddyup."

More shop progress....

I didn't take pictures today, but we did get a lot done in the shop once again. All 5 of us worked in there for most of the day, so we were able to get more insulation up; we got the guys' work-bench cleaned off most of the way and pulled out from the wall; took down more plywood from the wall so as to be able to put insulation behind it; then we put up more plywood over the insulation. :) We were so busy, we didn't even play pool today!

It snowed about 2 inches worth of white stuff this afternoon and evening. It's beginning to look a lot like Winter!

Well, it sounds like Dad's about done talking on the phone with his dad, so we'll be finishing our Bonanza here shortly before heading for bed...


Yep, he's done. So, good bye friends, and good night.~

Recent pictures of the shop project:

The following photos are from yesterdays work.

Dad took this one of my brothers and I on the scissor-lift......


...and in this one, we're actually working. :)

Jacob swept up all the wood chips/dust from the floor before we set up the pool table.

I never realized there were so many pieces in a pool table! Here, Dad and Andrew are tightening up the stand:

Then, they tried to make the outside frame more square than it was before....

Jacob, working on bolting in the "Slate".

Andrew, mounting the ball return...

After all that was screwed and bolted together, we put the stand on top and attached that. Then all 4 of us carefully tipped the table right side up.

Andrew vacuumed the table-top carefully while Dad leveled it out...

...and then we played a game before chores. :)

We played several more games this afternoon. Mother came out after a while and won a couple games.... :)

What joy it is to be a part of a fun family!

Shop success...

After helping Mother with house-cleaning a bit, I headed out to the shop once again to help my dad and brothers with the insulating project. Today, we finished putting the sheeting up on the West half of the shop! It looks so much nicer than it did before---plus it's so much warmer as well. We did get a good deal of wood dust in our faces as we pounded pretty much upside-down on the slanted part of the ceiling. I'm so grateful for the scissor-lift though, as I can't even imagine trying to pound nails in while standing on a ladder or a make-shift scaffolding....

To celebrate the progress that's been made, we spent about an hours worth of time setting up the pool table (in the shop). It was all in pieces as the guys had needed to take it apart to get it up the stairs of the gentlemans' basement.... Once it was rebuilt and leveled out nicely, we played one game----------and quickly realized how much room we have for improvement. I ended up with the lowest score, a total of 3 points. :)

It is so fun to play games together as a family. I'd love to hear of your favorite games to play if you have a moment to write!

It was a full day away...

...and right now I'm thankful for a nice, warm, soft, comfortable bed to rest on each night!

I left the house this morning at 8:00 and didn't get back until 11:00 tonight. The reason? I was taking care of people--large and small!

I watched and cared for 10 small children at Helen's from 8:30AM to 1:30PM (so she could attend her aunts' funeral), then headed straight for the Napoleon Care Center (the nursing home) for an 8 1/2 hour shift. It got to be a long day, but I always really enjoy spending time with the children, so adding that onto my regular work in town was not too burdensome. :)

I am tired however, so shall retire shortly!

Good night.~

Day #30!

Well, my dear friends, can you believe that the "30 Days of Thankfulness" are up? I can not, and, well......do not, as I believe every day should be a day to give thanks to the Lord for His blessings (and blessings-in-disguise). Why stop at 30 days, right?

The official "Thankfulness challenge" is done though, as tomorrow is the first day of December and November will be officially over! Thank you to my dear friend, Rachel, for inspiring others to give more regular thanks for the things we are grateful for. :)

I am thankful tonight for the safety my Heavenly Father has granted us over the years as we do many dangerous jobs here on the farm!

I am also grateful for my earthly father and mothers' protection of our safety: spiritually, mentally, emotionally......., as well as their looking out for our physical safety...

For example:

You saw in my previous shop-project post the method we were using to get the insulation up in the walls (by way of a brave young man on a very tall ladder, and a very long stick/broom). Well, the ladder worked ok for that job, but when it comes to hammering up plywood on a slanted ceiling, a ladder does not sound like the safest thing to be standing on!

Soooo, my dad decided to play it safe and rent a scissor-lift for a week so we can finish up this project in a much safer way. Hooray! :)

When the guys went to Bismarck this morning, not only did they bring home more plywood and the lift, they also came back with a dream-come-true tool chest that they'd bought (which will come in very handy as they clean off their workbench in the next few days), and a (free!) pool table that Jacob saw an ad on BisMan for... The table does not have any cues or balls with it, so the boys are now keeping their eyes open for those items. Mother grew up playing pool with her dad, so she's really quite good and will probably beat us all at it! :)

But, back to the shop...

Millie and Lady seem to be enjoying the new warmth of the shop as much as we are! (That's the wood stove to the left of them.)

FYI: When working with insulation, it is a very good idea to wear a mask! See all of the dust I didn't breath in?

After part of an afternoons' work, we now have almost all of the West side of the shop insulated! Double hooray!!

Well friends, it's been lots of fun telling you about the things I'm grateful for these past 30 days. It would be even more fun, however, to hear from you!

I'm sure you could tell me quite a list of things!~