Category Archives: General Babbling

Surprise Vacation, Day 4

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What did architect Eero Saarenin design aside from the John Deere Corporate Headquarters? Why, the Jefferson National Expansion Monument, of course.

More commonly known by it’s nickname, The Saint Louis Arch.

The children were captivated by The Arch; it is remarkable to see in person. They liked being able to understand what was intended by the memorial, and thinking of St. Louis as the ‘gateway to the west.’

Here they are watching a barge go by on the river. We talked a lot about waterways being the key to commerce throughout human history.

While we didn’t go into the structure itself (this was a holiday weekend – it would have meant hours of waiting that we didn’t have to spare), the Museum Of Westward Expansion beneath the arch itself was more than worth the drive.

Here are Little Cowgirl and Farmer Boy posing beside the display of a prairie sod house.

I think this is the only picture of me from this vacation. Cowgirl was very impressed with the giant bison.

It can be challenging to go through a museum with one child who wants to be sure he has read every single word and seen every single artifact, while at the same time the youngest sibling is pretty much done. The parents split up a bit to try and help each person move through the displays at their own pace.

See my three amigos? (and some other random child.)

Most importantly, we were learning and having fun all together. This was a great stop on our trip and we only wish we’d had more time to devote to everything the area near The Jefferson Westward Expansion Memorial.

Next up, the final installment of ‘look at all our vacation photos!’

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Surprise Vacation, Day 3

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We were all the way in the middle of Iowa, so who says it’s too far to hop over to Moline, Illinois?

What’s in Moline, you ask?

Moline, Illinois, is basically the capitol city of John Deere.

Our favorite place was the corporate headquarters. Not only was it beautiful, but there were combines and tractors to climb on and an entire wall filled with an amazing display of history.

Another stop was the John Deere Harvester Works – the factory where all the combines are built.

They gave everyone a free hat, and Shooter purchased a magnetic John Deere chess set (the pawns are JD symbols). They also had a fun combine simulator and My Farmer had an amazing factory tour (13 and older only).

We also visited the John Deere Pavilion, a children’s activity center and museum of sorts. Here Shooter is attempting to run a virtual excavator.

The Pavilion was cute and kind of fun, but if we could have skipped one of the three things we saw in Moline this would have been it. The gift shop (billed as amazing online) was pretty disappointing. If you want some cool JD gear, buy at the Harvester Works gift shop instead.

Most importantly, we were all together. And I’m *certain* that visiting Moline was one of Farmer Boy’s greatest ambitions.

If I were to go back and do this vacation again, I don’t think we would have stopped in Moline. We would have gone back another time when the children were older, perhaps, and could participate in some of the more interesting tours. If you are ALREADY in Moline for some reason or another, I recommend all of these activities.

I do not, however, recommend that you drive all the way from Boone, Iowa in order to see them.

A hint about the next leg of the trip: The John Deere Corporate Headquarters was designed by the architect Eero Saarinen. Any guesses? (No googling!)

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Surprise Vacation, Days 1 and 2

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Our corn harvest was ridiculously early this year (due to the hot, extremely dry summer that killed it – boo). We are always busiest at the end of August. Except this year. And then it rained two inches.

So we drove to Boone Iowa for the Farm Progress Show. My Farmer calls this the “Grandaddy of all regional farm shows.” A farm show is a trade show – about farm stuff (duh). It took two days of constant walking to cover it all, and we still had to rush by several things.

We spent a lot of time learning how things worked thanks to the different displays companies used to show their product lines.

We looked inside all sorts of giant equipment (See the two green bags? Those are mine).

We learned about hybridization of seed varieties.

Little Cowgirl decided there were some things that really needed to be written down.

Sometimes we needed a break. Or a sucker. Or both.

The kids really liked the side-by-side comparison of the efficiency of different planter components.

One of my favorite parts was the cultivation demonstration, where different tractors pulling all sorts of different tillage tools lined up and each made a single pass in a field.

Once the tractor passed, the crowd would move forward to examine the results of each tractor and implement. I learned that Iowa soil is un-freaking-believable.

We saw all sorts of fun and amazing things.

We had many first-time treats (yes, this is the first time my children have ever had snocones, don’t judge me).

Most importantly, we spent all our time together.

Although it could be considered a working vacation, we are generally a multi-tasking sort of family. We all had fun, learned a lot, and now My Farmer can say he has been to the Farm Progress Show (I am suspicious that if he had a bucket list, that would have been on it.)

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post, the second leg of our journey through the midwest.

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I’m Back…

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Hi! We had a very nice rain last week and took an unplanned, unexpected vacation. It was a blast. And yes, I’m going to bore the gourd right out of you the rest of this week with photos. So buckle up.

In the mean time, let me share with you a pictorial expression of how we are all feeling since we got back home:

We needed to leave the house the next morning, and after loading a few things into the vehicle I came back inside to find the note you see laying in the doorway. Little cowgirl couldn’t find her shoes and it made her VERY sad! She was in her room crying. Coming home after an entire week can feel pretty disorienting!

We have vacation hangover. I’m thankful for the flexibility of homeschooling, it has made our transition back to ‘regular life’ a little gentler.

What has been happening in your world this past week?

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What Works Wednesday

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I’m linking up again today with Heather over at Upside Down Homeschooling for What Works Wednesday.

Here is the most recent household tip that has really been working for me: A new laundry soap recipe!

A couple of years ago, I started making my own laundry soap. It was kind of a process, though not difficult, and I blogged about it. I was really happy with it for a while, but then my whites started looking really dingy and all my laundry was holding onto an odd sour smell. I didn’t update because I was looking for something else. Then it was just sad when I didn’t find anything that worked for me. So I was back to store laundry soap and I really didn’t want to blog about that. Even more sad.

Enter my friend Maria discussing crunchy hair with me and voila, She gave me a new laundry soap recipe. She found it somewhere on the internet and it is ALL OVER out there, but she gave it to me with out a site credit, so I’m just taking the lazy way and crediting her for it.

Easy Liquid Laundry Soap

Boil 4 cups water (I use a large glass measuring cup and put it in the microwave).
Stir in
– 3 TBSP Borox
– 3 TBSP Washing Soda
– 2 TBSP dishwashing liquid (the kind you put in the sink, NOT the kind you put in the dishwasher)

Let sit until cool. Pour into a gallon jug and fill remaining space with cold water, allowing suds to run out over the top.

Use about 1/2 cup for a very large or very dirty load.

We have very dirty loads OFTEN at our house

Although they are typically from farming, not running.

I have been using this homemade laundry detergent for months now and I am so pleased. All the clothing smells wonderful and it is at least as clean as when I was using the expensive ‘environmentally friendly’ store soap. I love how easy and quick it is to mix a batch and Little Cowgirl loves helping to do so.

Now, if only there were something I could mix up to fold and put away the clean clothes. Let me know if you have a recipe for that!

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While the combine runs…

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I apologize for not having harvest pictures ready for you – I have taken the photos, but haven’t moved them to my Macbook or edited them yet. SOON!

In the mean time, mostly we are crippled by the Olympics. I know I mentioned this when I first started blogging, but at that time my mom and sister where my audience. So I’m telling you again: I LOVE THE OLYMPICS. Yes, I’m yelling. My Farmer actually told me this week that he thinks it might be better for my mental health if I *didn’t* watch the Olympics.

He was joking, of course.

Or that’s what I’m going with, anyway.

Several of my children share my Olympic obsession. Little Cowgirl must be repeatedly told to get OFF the back of the couch, to stop cartwheeling during the competition (do that during the commercials, for heaven’s sake! I can’t see the TV!) and yes I will sign her up for gymnastics as soon as humanly possible. When Farmer Boy asked me why they were lighting the copper petals, I was ecstatic to explain the symbolism of the gift the olympics gives to each country represented there, and how they all come together in their passion and humanity to burn as a bright symbol of hope and togetherness. I had tears running down my face and Shooter was even choked up. I had to stop speaking to get ahold of myself.

Farmer Boy took the opportunity to interject, “So, in other words, it’s because the copper won’t melt.”

I manage to get everyone fed (because I get hungry as well), reasonably clean (because bad smells are distracting) and a portion of my jobs finished (the most noticeable ones, anyway) so that I can spend as much time as possible in front of the television yelling “GOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooOOOOOOOOO!” and doing the ugly cry every time someone wins/loses.

I have somehow also been able to continue the children’s most recent activity, horseback riding lessons. They are actually Farmer Boy’s lessons, but the teacher is allowing the other children to ‘sit in’ and also have some participation in the class.

This is not their usual horse. It's just so stinking cute that I had to take a picture.

It is, of course, all a part of his master plan to one day own a horse of his own. I told you about his request for money rather than birthday gifts toward this same scheme. I am shocked at the amount the boys have scraped together and they will be owning livestock whenever Dad and I go to the sale barn to procure some more calves to raise for our own meat.

But that is not going to be happening soon, of course, seeing as it’s corn harvest (oh yeah, and some of the milo is ready) and OF COURSE the Olympics are on. So we are busy.

I’m only posting today because I remembered to bring the computer along with me to Farmer Boy’s tutoring. In fact, I should probably be napping in preparation for women’s gymnastics tonight…

What is your favorite part of the summer Olympics?

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WIWW – Fourth Edition

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I have noticed a pattern since beginning “What I Wore Wednesday.”

I like to put together outfits like this:

But then I end up wearing flip-flops in a cut hay meadow when My Farmer needs me.

Jewelry: Kohl’s clearance
Shirt: SO
Jeans: Levi super-low
Shoes: Target happy shoes
Purse: Kohl’s clearance

So on other days I dress like this:

But I end up taking my photo in the bathroom when I'm picking Shooter up from space camp and my feet never see so much as a blade of grass.

Shirt: Gifted
Tank: Kohl’s clearance
Belt: Gifted
Jeans: Wrangler
Boots: Had for years
Crochet Purse: Kohl’s clearance

(Side note – Here he is graduating from “Mars Academy.”)

Walking up to the stage to get his certificate...

Shirt: Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center
Jeans: Wrangler George Strait
Boots: Justin
Belt: Kohl’s clearance

Just to keep it honest, and because of the hay-meadow in flip-flops incident (and others like it) I want to show you what I would typically wear every single day if it weren’t for Kohl’s clearance and WIWW:

That's my dog, Lola. Does she look like an ewok or what?!

Hat and Shirt: RTG gifted set
Jeans: Seven
Belt: Carhartt
Shoes: Retired Asics Gel running sneakers

If you had a uniform based on what you usually wear (like my t-shirt/jeans/sneakers for farming) what would it be?

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy again – pop on over…

WIWW – Take Three

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I’m still having a great time linking up with The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesdays.

pleated poppy

I can’t seem to manage getting decent pictures of an entire week of outfits, but I have fun trying. Also, several days last week I wore only my new tangerine bathing suit and coverup all day. It’s July.

I’m contributing to economic recovery because one of my readers (and real-life friends) went and bought a pair of sandals after reading my last WIWW post. Also because I’m voting for Ron Paul whether he’s an official nominee or not. These are my gifts to the dollar. Your welcome.

Here is my casual skirt, an ode to sellabitmum, the skirt-wearing genius.

Shirt – Gifted
Skirt – Old Navy
Purse – Kohl’s clearance
Shoes – Target

That was in case you didn’t *really* get a good look at the shoes. They are as comfortable as they are cute.

Mass gets pretty casual on summer evenings at our parish. This was my outfit on Saturday night; we took the kids out to eat at a local barbecue joint afterwards.

Shirt – Elle
Jeans – Rewind
Shoes – Apt. 9
Purse – Press repeat

This outfit was for a busy day of running errands.

Shirt – eyelash
Jeans – Seven
Sandals – my happy Target shoes

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But honestly, my fashion choices cannot hold a candle to Little Cowgirl. Here is her outfit, constructed all on her own, the same day:

Shirt – Hello Kitty from Kohl’s
Shorts – hand-me-down
Boots – gifted
Lunchbag – borrowed from a brother

I believe I will ask her to advise me on my wiww choices for next week.

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PS What do you think of the smaller photos? Easier? Not enough? Load faster? Don’t care? Please weigh in.

Summer Slowdown

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Every summer I decide we are really going to romp on it when we are done with school. I intend to sign the children up for camps, lessons, rec center crafts, VBS.

Then we finally get to summer.

We talk about the camps, lessons, and activities.

And everybody says “Yeah! Maybe later!”

Then we spend our days *literally* wallowing in free time like pigs in mud. The children thrive. They don’t build lego cities; they build lego solar systems. They don’t make forts; they make bomb shelters with complete kitchens. They don’t play outside; they live outside. They disappear into books for (I’m serious) days on end.

They cook and bake.

They garden. (This was Farmer Boy's own potato harvest.)

They work in their 'shop' taking apart the junker mower.

They experiment. They play with toys they forgot they had. They spray each other with hoses. They ride their bikes in a pack all over the property.

They tinker, build, and create unfettered by the clock.

We let go of all sense of time other than “I’m hungry” or “I’m tired.”

We decide on a moment’s notice to go swimming, to go find Dad, to run into town.

We go for last-minute family outings.

But mostly we stay home and I work.work.work. while the children exist in summer revelry. And WOW do we love it. The way our summers always seem to end up, the more attracted I become to the principles of unschooling. My children learn and grow a great deal in the summer time when they are unfettered by too much planning or activity. I stay much more on top of my farm responsibilities (think office manager) without pressure than I can during the school year.

The house is never as clean because I’m always trying to make a project happen – cleaning out the homeschool storage, painting, rearranging furniture, gardening, freezer cooking. I also typically undertake a purge and deep clean of the children’s rooms (shudder).

There is also always a bit of off-compound activity. My Little Cowgirl went to Vacation Bible School day camp this year in June and ab.so.lute.ly. loved it. Shooter is going to his first overnight camp (two nights, three days) in July; it’s a science/robotics camp. Farmer Boy asked for horseback riding lessons and we made the call to arrange that last week. Shooter wondered out loud about taking some lessons on his horn before middle school band begins in August.

And once we get to July, I’m finishing up my planning for next year. I’m getting excited to begin again.

I’m such a gemini – a person with two distinctly different sides. As much as I adore our unscheduled summer; I look forward to the return of our regularly scheduled programming with school each morning, lessons and activities each week, short and busy weekends.

But I’m not fully there yet. Right now it’s almost nine and I’ve got to wake the children up (they stayed up late to watch all the fireworks last night) so they can go to sleep at a decent time tonight. I think I’ll let them turn PBS on as soon as they shuffle out of their rooms. And I might give them a cookie for breakfast. As for the rest of the day, we have no plans what so ever – we’ll take it as it comes.

Sweet, sweet summertime.

What does summer look like at your house?

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What a difference: WIWW

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Last week I participated in ‘What I Wore Wednesday” over at The Pleated Poppy. It was so fun! I know I’ve admitted to my vanity numerous times, but this sharing of wearing has been so fun. If you didn’t click over last week, please take a second to do so now. Her linkup is filled with awesome bloggers talking about what is happening in their lives – it is so much more than what we are wearing. Thanks again to Tracy at Sellabitmum for linking up to this so I could happen upon it.

pleated poppy

It feels a lot like what my friend Amy told me once, “That is NOT vanity, Jessica. That is keeping yourself up; there is a difference!”

And she is right. I actually took a few minutes to *choose* outfits last week because I was eager to link up again this week. I intentionally accessorized! I wore jewelry and clothing I love, I tapped into my deep clearance purse collection, and I spent the week feeling capable and adult.

Seriously, people, it’s the small things!

This week:

Not sure what I was going for with my hair...

This outfit included my retired running sneakers, the sequined John Deere shirt I found on a clearance rack for $6 (I know!), a fabulous leather belt (Carhartt) which also came off a steep clearance rack (I don’t remember the price for sure but I know it was single digits) and shorts I bought two years ago in desperation when I finally took the baby weight off and had no summer clothing. Of course they are from Kohl’s (xo Kohl’s I love you).

Glad I looked good while I was changing my flat tire...

I was SO happy I was wearing sneakers – I imagine it’s difficult to fix a flat in flip-flops.

I had two super-cute outfits on Thursday and Friday, I was making use of some oldies-but-goodies that I haven’t pulled out of the closet in years…but the pics are fuzzy. We are also having a hard time finding a good place to take the pictures; stay tuned on this.

On Saturday I had a dinner and movie date.

The conversation and I were* both* sparkling.

This is another single-digit clearance shirt from Kohl’s. The jeans are Cello brand and I found them on clearance for less than twenty bucks in Atwoods when I was actually purchasing farm supplies. The boots are Double-H lace ups that I’ve had for years. The little hand bag is Candy’s ($3 – clearance of course). Again, frustration with out-of-focus pictures because the jeans are heavily rhinestoned on the back pockets and I wanted to show you that…

Here is my Church outfit:

I wish you could see the shoes!

A repeat of “My entire outfit is from Kohl’s clearance and cost less than $50.” I’ve had these pants (MyMichelle) for years and love them. The shirt (iZByer) is new this spring and I’ve gotten tons of mileage from it: I wore it for Easter vigil, two dinner meetings, a band concert, a date night, and church. Clearance purse (Dana Buchman) and shoes (Apt 9) which are skinny high-heels with a strappy back. The big deal with this outfit was the opportunity to wear my birthday jewelry; my parents gave me a sapphire bracelet! And they had no idea my sister was giving me a sapphire ring!

I highly recommend turning 35.

On Monday I met my mom halfway between my house and hers (about 110 miles for each of us to drive) to pick up one child and drop off another. In the summer they spend a few days all by themselves with Grammy and Grandad.

This is what I wore.

Another all-clearance-all-Kohl’s outfit, except this one is under $25 total. The shoes are new from Target and were only 30% off but I heart them.

And this is what I wore to the water park yesterday after reading MODG’s tankini rant.

$20 swimsuit from Old Navy. No, they didn't have the one MODG is looking for.

Other than the two days when my underage photographers came up with out-of-focus pics (and of course I was in too much of a hurry to check) that is my week in clothing. Boring but clearance-y.

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