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| Tina Hageman |
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The Editor's Blog For daily stuff worth reading but not necessary to print. by Tina Hageman
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Now We're Cookin! 2-02-10 One of the life skills I am hoping to pass along to my little sparklets is cooking! Growing up I spent many hours in the garden with my mother and at the end of the day we would bring fresh produce into the house to make salads and cook for dinner. Working along side ma was a great memory for me so hopefully, one day, my kids will appreciate that same gesture. It has taken me a little time to trust my boy Dylan again. A little over two years ago he was assisting me in baking some apple pies. We sat together, peeling apples (I peeled and the kids stirred the apples in the vinegar/water) and the time came for me to roll out the dough and place it into the pie plate shells. I took a knife and trimmed the sides from the shell, as always, placed the knife on the table and turned around to grab the apples. While adding in the sugar and cinnamon Dylan decided to do some creative pie crust carving as well. When I turned towards my pie crust I spotted Dylan carving into the cruse, which was laying flat on our oak kitchen table, thus carving INTO the table. I spazzed out briefly, told him it wasn't his fault, after all he was only five and I am the one who left the knife there. UGH!!! So now, I'm trusting again. Dylan is in charge of carving many delicious foods in our kitchen and ON a carving board. I often prep him with heads of cabbage to make cole slaw, tomatoes for tacos or enchiladas or whatever it needed for the night. I must say I am very proud of that little guy. I'm now teaching his sisters to stay away, far away, from Dylan when he's working. One spook and he could jump up and of course, he'd point the knife where he's looking and that is not something I need in the kitchen. My little ladies are also learning skills - most of which involve cookies and rolling dough. Just the other day I had a chair near the stove, with the high back towards the stove to form a make-shift shield, and they stirred hamburger as it cooked. My tikes are growing and becoming more and more dependable. It's a very satisfying and fulfilling moment to see them succeed at these skills. They enjoy helping and I enjoy the help, even if it causes a larger mess than necessary. Today's cabbage is tomorrow's lasagna! We'll see what we can whip up together next.
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She Did It!!! 01-24-10 I am so proud of my little girl! We have been potty training Britney since about the beginning of winter. For one of her Christmas stocking stuffers I bought her some of her very own Tinker Bell underwear and she adores them. We have been doing trial runs off and on when we are home or know we will be near a potty, such as grandpa's house. This morning we were preparing for church. Britney was on the potty so I asked if she wanted to put on a diaper for church. She insisted that it was not necessary. It was made very clear to her that if she went potty right then and there, she could go to church with underwear. She went, we went, she sat on my lap during Mass. I was slightly nervous. Britney did not pee on my lap! She made it through with no trouble at all. We stopped at home to feed cows, take her potty again, then head off to Walmart to pick up more eye drops for me. Throughout our full day she was a good little girl and went potty on command. We've been home now for awhile. It was time for her to rest so I went ahead and used a pull-up, just to be safe. But so far a grand full day for my little tike! Go Britney!
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GRRRRRR!!!!!
01-19-10
I'm not a hater by any means. It is a rare occasion you hear me say I hate something, let alone ever mean it.
In this week's newspaper I have a letter to the editor that was not signed. To you, probably not a big deal. To me, oh yeah, big deal. People always think they have something special to say but won't admit it was them and I HATE that. If you don't want people to know you said it then do not say it. Plain and simple.
The best example I can think of that describes this type of naughty behavior is this: a brother comes up and pulls on his sister's pigtails. Moms catches the daughter crying and asks what happened.
She says her brother pulled her hair. Brother says NO, he didn't. Like it didn't happen. As though if he sits there and not fesses up it'll just go away and no one will ever know it was him. So really? You expect us to think it wasn't you, dear boy?! If you did it, apparently you thought it was worth doing, at least have the courage to admit it.
Gees. We are suppose to grow and mature into adulthood. Apparently we live among the pony-tail pulling adolescence.
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| Senior photos I took last Saturday. |
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Sorry I let you down Sparky!
01-18-10 I have a photography business on the side. I'm not amazing by any means but I'm local, cheap, and get the job done. With that said, I had a photo session this past Saturday. First, let's back up a few months. This fall I saw a senior photo taken of a football player. This kid (young man) had mud slathered on him. It was a really cool shot. Telling my husband about it, we decided it would be a pretty cool photo to snap. Knowing full well that if you do that type of photograph with a football player, he better be damn good and deserve the mud. Last week I received a delightful email (delightful to me that is) asking if I had time to do senior photos of her son. For those who live in these parts, you are all probably familiar with the name....Jordan Andera. Alas, the football player who deserves mud. I told my hubby Jordan was coming to me for pix. Upon my return home last Saturday, Sparky came to me and asked to see a few photos of my work. As we flipped through, he asked where the muddy ones were. I said, "Um, I didn't do any." "WHAT? Tina Kay, I am disappointed in you! I can't believe you didn't do the mud. For heaven sakes. Honest? You didn't?" After a little conversation, he again, says, "I just can't believe that." I'll be waiting with a jar of german chocolate cake mix for next year's star football player slathered in mud. I can't let down my husband two years in a row, darn it all. He gets into my work almost as much as I do! Above you will see what I came up with....at least one of the pix I'm so proud of. During a recent DARE speech at South Winn Jordan shared his life motto with the students and said, "Want more. Achieve more. Be more." So I added that motto onto this image for the students at South Winn. The mud will just have to wait.
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My little zombies
01-13-10
Ever get the feeling you are being followed? You're home in the safety of your own kitchen, only to turn around and find a small body RIGHT NEXT to you? Nearly touching you? Same thing in the home office...sitting down at the desk, working diligently only to find someone peering over your shoulder or just around the corner?
Again....at home...safely being protected by two guard dogs outside. While heading through the living room towards the bathroom, the small people notice. For me, before I know it, the typical trip to the bathroom to go potty ends with three small people tailing me closely behind! Just a foot or two from the bathroom door I turn around to find them...all three, in random order, Britney, Dylan and Megan. Sometimes it's Megan, Dylan then Britney; other times it's a three-way tie. All trying to join me in the bathroom as I quickly close the door behind me, just fast enough to ensure no fingers or toes can be nabbed by the door.
Like zombies, they paw and scratch at the door. I turn a deaf ear as I simply want to use the bathroom without small people watching over me.
My little zombies could be home all day and pee just twice. The first, right away in the morning. The second time, whenever during the day I happen to shower. Whether it's 7:00 a.m. or a weekend 7:00 p.m. I'll be showering to hear knocking, scratching, yelling at the bathroom door. That second round of pee only wakes up when mama's showering. While it's a little strange being followed every time I go into the restroom, it's sure a joy when I open the door and meet my zombified fanclub.
Being mom means you don't have to take a long trip to be dearly missed. You just have to close the bathroom door when you go pee.
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Home on the range 01-10-09 My little man, Dylan, is destined to be a rancher when he grows up. That is just one of the many things I can see him doing in the years to come. Today we arrived back home after a Sunday visit to a friends house. The time was only about 3:00 in the afternoon and chores weren't planned to start until 3:30. We see my brother-in-law (Steve) and father-in-law (Lester) in their truck in our yard. This is unexpected so our eyes and ears perk up. Soon a young cow appears near the calf hutches. This one came from the other end of the farm so she'd done some traveling already. Dylan insists he's going to help the guys get her back where she belongs. I settled the girls into the house and peeked out the window so see if there was progress. Young animals like this one are quick perky and jumpy. You can tell by the wild swing in the tail and snapping of the head as she looks around. Out the window to the west, where I see all farm yard from the fenceline on the right to the fenceline and buildings on the left. One little head goes bouncing down towards the barn. My Dylan galloped around the buildings to the other side of the animal to move her up. Mind you, where Dylan was going, was FULL of snow. We sledded down the bulk room hill the day before and then went snow stomping into the deep, cold mountainous range of white. Drifts ranged from one foot to three and more. Into the sea of flakes he ran, the animals head snapped up and looked at Dylan. I watched with slight fear knowing she'd be able to move much more swiftly than Dylan. He scampered towards her and she went the direction he intended for her to. In all of my visual range I saw not a single adult. My three grown men were standing up by the shed, waiting for Dylan to wrangle the animal, and he did. Soon she leaped up the hill and the men slowly shewed her into the gates. I'm not sure what amused me more....that three men sent in a boy to do the dirty work or that I saw first hand that Dylan has a secret passion to be a big rancher someday. Good job today Dylan Ray!
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| Date Night 01-09-10 Date night...something the Sparky-man and I believe strongly in. It's been a short while since we have our last official date night. We were going to go solo on New Year's Eve but decided to invite another couple which we haven't been out with in a long time. The right choice was certainly made and we all have a remarkable time! Tonight we are going out to dinner with a larger group of friends....not the date night we are in need of but an outing at that. So planning what to wear is always a big agenda for me. I look at date night as the chance to make sure my man stays in love with me. With a daytime filled with work, dishes, laundry, diaper changing, potty training and basic home order, outside chores and so on; sometimes getting excited to date night takes a bit of mental doing! Right now I am in my sweats....just finished up mopping the floor and getting the children settled into pj's with their dinner on the stove as they play house. I'd LOVE to curl up in my orange rocking chair with a good Dan Brown book and glass of red wine. In this winter chill the comfort and warmth of a fuzzy blanket and a few of my favorite things calls me. I resist...a social life is good for one. Bringing 'sexy back' for a night for my husband is the best marriage counseling money can buy! Forget the hundred dollar sessions some folks pay for counseling, I bought a new Victoria Secret sweater for $19.99 online during a sale and a $20 push-bra. For a mere $39.99 I get a personal guarantee that we'll stay married forever! On the nights we have our own solo date night we always have a blast. It's a chance to leave the farm and newspaper at home and hit the town or dance floor. Even during our New Year's Eve night we spent time on the dance floor and danced the night away. Nothing brings more joy to my heart than seeing Sparky out there with a smile from ear to ear as he sings out, "ALL THE SINGLE LADIES...ALL THE SINGLE LADIES", a popular hip-hop song. It's time to prepare myself for the night...good-bye sweats....hellooooo Victoria Secret. It's no secret Vic....we know your products makes marriages happy all around the world!
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Um...2010? Really? Where have I been? 01-07-10Oh my! It's been a long time since I have visited my trusty blog page and my apologies to you if you've been one to check in only to find nothing but empty space and that last dusty post from September. In the past three months I have been a busy bee with photography. I have been dabbling in the photo-taking biz for a short while. What started as a creative way to capture my three love bugs, others noticed and began to ask me to capture their loved ones! While I could get oober-gushy on how much I love capturing people (sounds like I'm a navy-seal, not a photographer) I'm not in that kind of mood today. Since last fall life has been in high speed. I've been hanging on tight and as far as I can tell, I've actually been keeping up! With the exception of my blog. I've thought about my page often but didn't dedicate the time to come back. I think I need to more often. While many times I've logged onto facebook to post my status or visit with others...I'm always finding I have more to say than the alloted 50 or so words they give us. Perhaps I should just reel in that desire to spat words all over the place, but darn it, I don't want to. Back to blogging it is for me. I think it's something I need to get my thoughts in order for the day. A working mom with two careers and a farm wife with a family who needs me, I really do NEED to sit for a moment, grab a cup of java and blog. I've sure missed my online diary of life. Here's to 2010! For now, that beeper on the oven timer is calling my name...every two seconds...I must go and save the M&M cookies from crispiness and a future of never been picked out from the cookie far.
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Positive Reinforcement 09-02-09 There is a time and a place for positive reinforcement and I'm pretty certain I always get that location wrong. I think about the way I say things in our daily routine. And then....I think about the way Britney (who is 2.5 yrs. old) says those same words and then I know I've done something wrong. We often talk about family members in our house. With school in full swing find myself preparing Dylan and Megan for school in the morning and little Britney is there to help me tell them good-bye. I say Dylan....Dylan...and Britney says Dylan....Dynnnn....kinda close. I say Megan....Megan...and Britney says...Meeyyyannnn....also close. Our little tike gets better and better at speech everyday. However, there are words that I LOVE the way Britney says them so I say them the same way. For example.....out side. Britney states that she wants to go, "Out Hide". Lovely, we can do that. She decides she's wearing the wrong shoes. At this time she has on her good shoes to go to daycare. She says, "My hoo off." We get it off. I ask if she wants her outside shoes which are her tennies that we do chores in. Much to my surprise today she says, "No..my boooo." "What? Your Shoooo?" "Noooo..My boooooo onnn." "Boot Britney?" "Yay, my pnkkkkk boooo." She has fancy pink boots with white polka dots in the basement so I grab those. She is pleased with this. We put on her fun boots and feed steers. It's so easy to repeat all of her fun words but I have to remind myself that she's a little tike and is learning. Out Hide....is outside. My booooo...is for halloween. But it's cute and I give in for awhile and I should really start correcting her words. So positively reinforce the good words....and not do so much smiling at the wrong ones. Dang..this parenting thing is kinda hard.
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A Useful Engine 08-13-09 I can say with a large amount of certainty that I have never before, in my entire life of 32 years, felt so useful. It reminds of me of an episode of Thomas And Friends, "Useful Engine". In this story Percy (the train) learned how important it was to be a useful engine and was proud to be one. Today I feel useful. I organized my desk to make life make sense once again. In my one folder holder I have things mapped out pretty well. On the left it starts out with yearbook stuff. I am the South Winn HS yearbook advisor and I've got things filed away in my bright orange slotted folder. This is my second year of advising and I actually feel organized. Last year I didn't sign on to the job until November so I felt behind often and as it was my first year and no one to teach me, it was interesting. This year will be great! Next is Rosary Society stuff. I am a co-chair for my June circle and we are busy planning our fall fish fry. Our circle also did layettes which are nearly done and we collected them in my office. They are now safely tucked away with someone else and she's kindly putting them together. Next in line is some newspaper stuff. I keep a directory of all the businesses that advertise with us for quick reviewing and reference. Almost last is photography information. For my Two Flowers Photography business I have a binder of samples, prices, etc. It's also good for quick reference because I can't remember all the prices off the top of my head. Next to that is my order file with pics I need to order. Lastly, personal stuff. I have a few photos of my family that I like to filter through once and awhile for a quick pick-me-up. Organization is the key here folks. Like I told a gal the other day, as long as we have a form filled out, we're good. I have forms for everything here, ads, pics, invites, subscriptions, etc. Now if only I could get some forms at home for what color of laundry needs to be done next, which child needs a hair cut or toes clipped. Wouldn't that be something.....if I gave the kids a form for each task and wrote them up if they didn't put their clothes away just right!!!! Haha....I only wish.
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School Is Here! 08-13-09 Can you believe school is here already? This summer was probably the busiest one I've ever had! Surprisingly I was able to squeeze in two mini-vacations. After we went to Minneapolis (where we road trains, saw a baseball game, the zoo, etc.) the children and I went away for a weekend with friends and their families on a camping adventure. I must say it was a good time and a fun experience for the kids. Now we are preparing the children and ourselves for school to begin. Morning routines are back on track, beds are made in the a.m. at the same time as the kids pick out their clothes for the day. Megan is pumped for school. She seems like a little student already. When she doodles she writes in tiny, specific print. She knows some letters, especially letter 'M'. Dylan is not pumped for school. He's a boy. He's not a fan of 'seat work' at all. Britney always chimes in and says she's going to 'kool' too. She has a little bag she grabs and think she's just part of the herd. I think she'll be crying pretty hard the day we load the kiddos on the school bus...we'll have to fight over kleenex I guess.
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At What Age Does Change Become The Devil's Spawn? 07-29-09 Personally, I like change. I can think of a bazillion things that can be or should be changed on a regular or semi-regular basis. Let's look at some of those things. Diapers are the first thing that come to mind. Those need regular changing. How about your underwear? I'd say a frequent change is a really good idea. They also say changing your shampoo or conditioner once and awhile is a good thing. What about your dinner menu? If I fed Sparky meatloaf and mashed potatoes every day he'd be a little unhappy and I'd guess our marriage would have barely lasted the nine years (as of today by the way, Happy Anniversary Honey!!!) that it has so far. Local city councils, school boards and church councils all need a fresh from time to time. Each day when I go to S&E Sno Cream for my 3:00 or 4:00 treat I don't ALWAYS get the medium with sprinkles. And let's get personal....what husband out there doesn't like an occasional change of pace in the bedroom. You can't serve up the same meatloaf the same way every single night.  So I"m wondering, is there an age out there when all of these things go by the way-side and suddenly change is bad? Hopefully I pass on before I reach it, but I'm truly wondering how and why. I'll give you an example. Our church does a fall fish fry. We serve up awesome fish....everyone seems to like it. Prior to the fish fry we ladies cook up ten pounds of potatoes (a piece...per lady) and a dozen eggs. All of which are peeled and sliced. Not a big deal for me for the most part. I can take off work an hour early to make sure I have the fixings for it and get things done. What I don't have time for is to take off an entire day or half day to mix up the potato salad. And I'm probably one of the more routinely flexible ladies out there as I'm my own boss. On the flip side...if I'm not here to get my work done no one is...BUT...I can make up for it during Saturdays and Sundays. Many of the ladies in my church are working moms and I don't feel it's totally reasonable to ask them to take a vacation day to make potato salad. Many already take off working days to work funerals if they can, have family time, or plan their dentist appointments on off days. We ladies of the church aren't what we used to be. We aren't homemakers...not that any of us have a suffering home. We cook, clean, are fantastic moms and wives. I'm just saying times have changes. This year our rosary society (I am a co-chair for my circle) decided we would price hiring someone to make the homemade potato salad. It would still be homemade. In fact, we assumed it would be even better because when you ask 30 ladies to boil and peel potatoes and eggs...how can we guarantee some aren't under cooked, containing egg shells, etc.? And giving the pricing the cost would be no more per person than the cost of buying your 10 lbs. of potatoes and eggs. As a business owner...financially it made sense. So one of the ladies in the church pretty much said, "When hell freezes over". So not exactly said that way, but that some ladies were complaining already about the potato salad. Which cracks me up because it wasn't until just a few days before our meeting when I called for quotes! News travels fast. So this doesn't make sense to me. As a parish we do things together, work funerals, attend church, work at functions, etc. Why can't we have better potato salad, same cost, less family and work time lost by ladies? It was the chit chat of our last Rosary Society meeting. I almost missed the days when I was Lutheran.
*just a second ago while I was writing the woman, owner of S&E Sno Cream, stopped it to drop off something and asked me if I was going to get chocolate ice cream today since it's on special....she proceeded to tell me I can certainly have sprinkles on chocolate too!!!***
Oooo, another thing that requres change....fish tank water. That's for sure. Change, sometimes it's a life or death situation!!!
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Why do we keep doing this to ourselves???
07-28-09 Ya know, that initial moment when I decided to buy fish for the children, it seemed like the 'fun mom' thing to do. It gave them a chore to do morning and night and a lively little creature for the kids to keep an eye on. "Lively" isn't what it's all cracked up to be. All of the seven goldfish (replacement fish) we bought Megan have died. The last soldier went down on Friday. I noticed it as we were getting ready to leave the house. Over the weekend I took the kids camping with a friend of mine and her family. We enjoyed our trip, despite a little shaky weather. In our absence Mark was lonely and set off on a shopping spree all on his own. He headed to Walmart (first mistake) and picked up two more gold fish (second mistake). Gold fish are not meant to live in the Hageman home. He picked up the creatures Saturday night. On Sunday night we returned and I had work to do, unpacking to finish, etc. After work on Monday night I arrived home around 8:30 p.m. and it crossed my mind that no one had probably been caring for the fish while mama was away. Again...we had a floater. I think it's our water. These two fish are the last gold fish...EVER. We'll have to figure out another creature to get. Our dogs seem to be doing fine. So Tuesday morning when the kids woke up and ate breakfast, they went to feed the fish while I cooked up eggs and bacon. It's their routine that when they eat, the fish eat, or there abouts. Megan noticed there was only one fish in her tank. I had to ask her to stop squeaking. She has since recovered. We're currently housing one beta and one goldfish, in separate tanks of course.
I'm seriously thinking we should have pet patches of moss, a chia pet maybe, even rocks. Those things we can live with.
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Megan's Going To School...this means BOYS 07-21-09 This morning Megan was in the kitchen with me and the hubby. We started discussing school, school shopping and Mark cringed. It got worse for him when I asked a question as our little blue eyed "angel" chatted with us. I asked Mark, "So how many days do you think it'll take Megan to end up with a boyfriend in school?" Mark answered, "Three." I said, "Wow, that's kind of a long time. I figured she'd have offers the first day." He answered me, "Nope, they'll just hit her the first day, that's just what boys do. We hit the girls we like. Then the second day they'll hit her and notice that she's cute and soft." Good grief.
We decided that when Britney goes to school the boys will hit her. She'll punch them back so hard they'll back off and only the strong boys will make it through her barrier. She's a tough cookie....technically both girls are. I'm also excited to have that big brother, Dylan, down the same hallway as Megan. He's going to come in quite handy and he adores his sisters. We'll see what the school year brings, it's just around the corner! Megan's already figured out what school's all about. The other day Barbie was studying science.
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Fish Stories
07-06-09
Life at the Hageman house has continued on in the absence of our fallen fish, Pinky. Megan has picked herself up and carried on like the strong little girl she is. While on our family vacation in Minnesota we went to the Como Zoo and in the zoo is this amazing tropical conservatory. There is a wing inside the building filled with oodles of flowers and fish. Megan was in her element while in that flowered wing. She looked into the pond and found fish. She screamed out in delight, “HEY, it’s Pinky’s mom and all her cousins! Maybe she’s with her family!” Megan must of thought the beautiful place was some sort of fish family reunion or their own little heaven.
Meanwhile Mark and I chuckled because Pinky is actually somewhere in the family sewer system because she plunged down the kitchen sink drain to an assumably miserable death.
So back in Iowa, mama has been a busy woman and it wasn’t until just this past weekend that we purchased ‘replacement’ fish.
I’m growing fond of the idea of having fish in the house and someday we’ll maybe even expand to a real aquarium, heated. For now our beta’s are cohabitating happily in the same bowl.
The ‘replacement’ fish are in their own bowl. We actually picked up two larger gold and white fish and five little gold fish. I’m glad we picked up extras because Sunday night two perished....we have no idea why but I know for sure it wasn’t me this time. And actually, we had seven in the bag to start with and when we were checking out the clerk pointed out that two were dead so only five of them made it out alive. I told him I would ‘dispose’ of them when we got home.
Megan has been handling all of this death very, very well. She is also quite faithful about feeding her new pets each morning and night. And so our saga continues...
We’ll see what next week brings!
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Fabulous Imaginations 06-28-09 I have to hand it to our children, they have amazing imaginations. Each day they come up with some elaborate games or they want to do amazing things to our house such as ad gigantic water slides and lazy rivers on the outside or build train sets that take up more than one room. It's a little crazy but it's kind of sweet to think that they truly believe anything can happen. No dream is too big for these kids. Yesterday Dylan asked Mark if we could ride on an air plane sometime. Mark said sure, sometime we will. Dylan asked if we could take it across the ocean. Mark said, "I suppose so." Dylan stated, "Yeah, we'll need to take one across the ocean because Megan wants to meet the queen." Wow.....ok then. Not sure if we can get clearance for all of that but what the heck, we can sure try!
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Who is the adult here anyway??? 06-25-09 There has been an awful lot of death going on around here these days. It seems as though each day in the news there is another death whether it's accidental or tragically on purpose. The other day I was telling someone about coach Thomas from AP. My children overheard the conversation and began questioning who died. As Megan was going on and on trying to grasp the 'who, what, when, where, why' of it all Dylan tried to bring her back down to earth and explain one of life's simple lessons. He said, "Megan, it's OK, everyone dies sometime." I couldn't muster up any words to contradict what he said or put it into any different terms. It was short, simple, to the point and unbelievably honest. Go Dylan. Well done I guess. The simple fact that he was right doesn't make things better for all of the families who have recently lost loved ones. It reminds me to not get too worked up over any loss as it is a fact, it happens every day. It's a reminder that we are not the ones in control. I find it comforting to know that it isn't me that's really in control and it doesn't matter that I have strict rules for the Hageman kids on the farm. This doesn't help my anxiety over having my children in high places or on the highway with me and the nervousness is still there. What gives me the courage to allow them to swim, swing on swing sets after a fall, be kids and do kid things, is that I know if the Lord really wanted to call one of my children to be with Him on any given day, it wouldn't matter just how tight I hold on to them at all times. Scary....yes. Comforting to know that life goes on....and on....and on....indeed.
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Items that I just can't comprehend today 06-23-09 There are a handful of things that fluster me, tick me off, and/or make me just want to change the subject. Not once have I EVER come to work in downtown Calmar and found myself without a parking spot within one block. Not even close. Not even in the event of a thunder storm was I miffed about having to walk a long distance because there's no such thing as a long distance. Every downtown business has plenty of parking spots. When our flower shop opened next door I made sure my employees also knew to not park in front of their business and so none of them do. We respect our neighbors here. Which, by the way, I am my own neighbor so if anyone should ever be upset about a parking job it's me because I am the only business in Calmar that has two business locations. Today the policeman came in and asked who was parked in X parking spot because a neighbor complained. It's one that's complained before. What amuses me so much is that the gal parked in X comes in for a maximum of 5 to 6 hours of work a week. I just didn't get it. Maybe I should get more excited over this stuff or care where people park, but I don't. If losing a parking spot is going to make a business go broke then there are far more important issues at hand!
I also don't understand why I didn't notice that I had hot pink stains on my capris today. They're tan and apparently I washed chapstick with them. It's 3:43 in the afternoon and I just spotted my spots. Gees....
And why would the Minnesota Twins put the FAMILY ZONE on the top desk of the stadium. This panics moms (or maybe just me). I kept envisioning a child of mine rolling down the steps and off the edge. Didn't feel very family friend. Hot dogs were great though, that I can't complain about.
I also put our two betas together (the two surviving betas). They don't fight and have been living together for a number of days now. Since when do betas get along? Maybe it was a blessing Pinky went down the drain, she was a trouble maker anyway.
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Family Vacation 06-20-09 Learning about all of the things our children adore touches my heart. What we adults would find exciting is just another day to the little ones. On our vacation we went to a Twins game and Mark was very excited. Knowing that the stadium would be monstrous we assumed the kids would have lots of questions during our trip. I think the mere size of the place rendered the children speechless as not a single one had a word to say about baseball or the big place we were sitting in. After our baseball game we headed back to the hotel for some swimming time. The kids LOVED the pool. It was one of their highlights. It was actually one of mine as well. For our Thursday evening we were grabbing a bite to eat at an outdoor diner, deciding what to do that night. Earlier in the day Dylan has seen some trains moving about the city. Actually, during the time we were in our hotel room he stared out the window waiting for one to go by. The trains he was checking out were the public transportation trains (light rail systems) going to and from the Mall of America and the Metrodome and the areas surrounding. Finally, after Dylan going on and on and on, and on and on, about the trains, we figured what the heck, why not ride the public transportation system for some fun. So, we did. Our hotel had a bus that took us to the train stop where we jumped on. This was our first venture on a city rail system. While hanging out in our seats, watching Dylan's eyes light up in delight, we were soon greeted by a police officer asking for our tickets. Uh hum....what tickets? We didn't see a sales person and no one asked us about it when we boarded. Mark told the cop we were train car virgins and so on, the guy said he believed us and asked us to please be sure to purchase a ticket when we got off. That, we certainly did. Otherwise it would be over a $200 fine! We laughed and I said to Mark, "Just how hick are we????" He responded, "Just hick enough I guess, he didn't ticket us." For one full hour of fun we spent $3.50. Awesome. Another time I'll tell you about the train museum....Dylan is still going on about that one and plotting to build one inside our house.
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VACATION!!! 06-18-09 This morning we embark on our family vacation for the year. I believe we are all packed up and ready to go, swim suites are in, matching family Superman shirts are packed and everyone had enough underwear to sustain a mishap along the way. In the next 36 hours we're driving to Minnesota to watch a Twins game. Then it is off to the hotel for some relaxing swimming pool time and a good pizza. After a full night of cable television it's off to the Komo Zoo. The zoo is where those matching family t-shirts will come in handy. It'll be obvious who the children belong to once they see us roll in. Dylan's already said he's tired and we haven't left the building. Hopefully he'll catch some zzzz's on the way up. It's going to be a blast and the kiddos are going to have a ball.
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Bad Mama 06-10-09 The children did a fantastic job of feeding their fish. They made sure our finned friends had a snack morning and night. They were often slightly over-fed yet they seemed happy all the same, both the fish and the children. So it was time to clean their tiny tanks. We simply have little fish bowls for their tanks and it seems to work out just fine. I always took either a scoop or my hand to hold onto the fish while rinsing out their bowls. Much to my surprise Pinky was a little more athletic than I could have imagined. With her in one hand and the bowl in the other, I witnessed Pinky dive right down the drain in my kitchen sink. It was not a good situation. After many tears from Ms. Megan I explained that Pinky was going to head down to Lake Meyer to live. As Megan usually does, she thinks about the big picture. "Pinky is small. Is something gonna eat her?" I wasn't sure how to answer because indeed, if Pinky had been plopped into Lake Meyer she could be eaten. I told Megan that Pinky would live with other small fish and they would 'school' together. Mama will need to do some shopping again. This time no betas, whether they're female or not. I want one fish tank to clean and that's all. All this time I thought the children would be the ones to kill their pets, but it was me. Bad mama.
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Fred Hageman, Pinky and Steve 05-31-09 The children were asking me if they could have pet fish. I didn't really want them to have pet. After all, I think we can all guess who would be cleaning them out. Saturday I needed to run into Walmart for a few things and decided, why the heck not? They are just fish. If mama gets tired of them, or they die, they can be flushed. I reminded Dylan that on his third birthday we bought him three gold fish. All was well with the fish until Dylan decided they also needed to celebrate his big birthday. I discovered the fish had been fed chocolate birthday cake, a large amount of it. As you can guess, they died. Our mishap with the first batch of fish wasn't going to stop us from getting into the fishing game again. We peeked through the glass windows of the aquariums at Walmart. The kids decided the betas were the prettiest so we searched through the colors. While reading the lid of the betas it said that the female ones do not fight. Being thrifty as I am, I decided that getting three females that don't fight means just one fish bowl. We placed our critters in the cart, Dylan carried his though. Megan picked out a pink one and as you can guess, it's name is Pinky. Dylan's fish is blue and he decided that Fred Hageman was a good name. Britney didn't have a whole lot of say in her new pet fish. The other two picked out a cool looking green one and thought that naming it Steve would be funny. After arriving home we put our new fish bowl, rocks and fish inside. About a half an hour went by and Megan laughed and said, "they're kissing!" Now we didn't purchase kissing fish, we purchases betas. And supposedly the ones we picked out weren't supposed to fight but Pinky seemed to have an attitude. Megan was devastated, "Pinky is a bad girl fish?" She cried and I reassured her that it was OK and we'd take care of the situation. She also figured out that Pinky must be a boy, kinda like a boy named Sue. Our fishy friends are now in separate bowls surrounded by toy castles and cows. The first night they seemed quite sluggish. I figured it was because Dylan chased them with this hands over and over. So far day II is going great. We'll see what the next week brings!
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Blogger Slacker 05-29-09 My apologies because I have been a bad, bad blogger. Life's been hectic. I've been taking lots of photos, working on a grant, then presenting the grant, producing newspapers, planning graduation and trying to wrap up the 2008-2009 yearbook. I've been leaving the computer off some nights so I can be MOM and ONLY MOM! So the graduate in our lives is graduated. On May 24th Steven received his diploma. I told him that once he was officially graduated and his party was over (which was after commencement on the 24th) I would stop worrying. He informed me that I'm a liar and I'd have to say there is some truth to that. There have been lots of monumental things going on in my little world. My little guy lost one of his front teeth. He's a cutie. Dylan also started little league. He plays for the little team in Festina. It's quite a joy seeing the little tike out there. It amazes me that he can feel so heavy and big when he's tackling me but you put him out there with kids, many older than he is, and he's just a little guy. On his first day of practice I pulled up in the minivan with Dylan, the girls, and another little ball player. The boys got out and headed towards the field. I filled out paperwork and watched the girls play. The situation brought back memories of little league for that graduate I was talking about. Many, many times I picked up and/or delivered Steve to little league. I watched many games and sat there praying he'd hit the ball. EEEKKKK.....as I'm writing I have tears, what the heck?!?! Anyways, it really doesn't seem like that long ago. In fact, the last little league game he played I sat in the crowd and was pregnant, very pregnant, with Dylan. I wonder if I didn't get a heat rash that day? Could be. Time keeps on going by, over and over again. One day it's someone elses little guy in little league, the next day it's mine. One thing I've realized is that the worrying will never stop. You'd think once someone hits adulthood they'll be able to take care of themselves. Which, they actually can, but it doesn't make me any more comfortable in the fact that they will. How on earth did my parents ever survive????
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I get myself into things... 05-21-09 When I decide I am going to do something, I step right up and do it. In a quite from one of my favorite flicks, "Make it so #1". Tonight I called one of my employees and said, "I'm going to start a facebook site for sports photos". We have tons of photos and I upload some to our website. However, the site takes forever to maintain plus many students are already in-synch with facebook. I told her I would work on it in the morning and to make sure all of the state track photos were in a file at the office. So, as always, I got impatient. I logged online to facebook with a new account to share pics I had on hand. I'm pretty excited about it. As fast as facebook works, which it seems like the most simple software in the whole world, updating random pics will be a snap. I'm also toying with the idea of "sports blooper of the week". That would be a ton of fun. I gotta go for now...uploading to do! See us on facebook as member: Calmar Courier Sportsology
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How old am I again??? 05-15-09 I have an addiction. Every single day when I slave away at my desk in the newspaper office my mind wanders to nearby things. By three or four o'clock in the afternoon I often give into the urge to indulge in my new addiction. I look over at the clock, grab my keys, lock the door behind me and walk over to a neighboring business. I walk up to the windows and say hi to the worker who knows me by name since they see me nearly every single day. Rain or shine, warm or cold outside, no amount of severe weather can keep me away. "Can I please have a medium cone with a lot of sprinkles?" You heard me, sprinkles. I'm addicted. They are delicious. Each lick of ice cream with sprinkles is like putting a little peace of a sweet rainbow in my mouth. The other day I told the owner that the reason I have a treadmill is because they have that business near my office. Look out folks, wide load coming. It's going to be a long summer if I keep this up!
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Loyalty 05-06-09 Loyalty is hard to come by. In fact this day in age it's quite obsolete. My husband is one man who is the model of loyalty. We have been with Foremost Farms for selling our milk since we bought the cows from his dad in 1999. His father was with Foremost Farms for decades before that. Our milk hauler is Dennis Humpal. Mark's dad's milk hauler was Virgil Humpal, father to Dennis, and later on it was Dennis. Every so often people will tell Mark that he could possibly get a better price for our milk if we switched. The thought has never crossed Mark's mind. He sticks it out, remains dedicated and loyal. That's just one of the many, many things I love about him. He's an awesome role model for me. This is probably why we do our business local and do our best to keep a good working relationship with businesses in the area. We buy our appliances from Jim Buchheit. In return Jim's always treated us great. We go to our local coop and Huber's Store for our needs. And as Mark always says, "That Donny Huber has everything. And if it isn't in, he can get it by Wednesday." Enjoy the great weather folks...hopefully the rain will stay away and Mark can plant some corn. Which, if I can add, Mark's always bought corn from the same dealer, the one his dad bought from as well, and will remain a customer of them forever. Again....what a great guy my Sparky is.
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It's GOOOOODNEEWWWWWS! 05-01-09 Megan the optimist. I just love her. We end each day in our home with our 'parts'. This consists of sharing what the worst part of our day was, the bad part, the good part and the best part. I picked up this sharing turn from bible study and loved it. Of course as adults we simply shared our good and bad parts and that was good. With the kids they tend to add in a few more items. And you know what? Now that I write of this I just realized I haven't been sharing my own parts! YIKES! I guess that just goes to show how the kids always come first. This makes me think of heading off to church on Sunday a few times. I get up and get the kids up, all ready to go. Mark is typically finishing up chores and getting himself ready (amen for his dependence on picking out a handsome outfit...go Sparky!). More than one occasion I've caught myself putting on my shoes after helping get the kids out the door and realizing that I made a pot of coffee over an hour ago and didn't have a sip. OR, my wet hair hadn't been combed again since it dried. OR my face was naked. I'm not a big wearer of make-up, my eyes can't handle eye make-up although sometimes I force myself to try because other women are so pretty with it. Mascara freaks my out and I sometimes wipe a touch on the top micro-millimeter of my lashes to see if it makes a difference. But with all the make-up-to-do, there is one item I apply every day, before going to the barn to help Mark, before heading out to the grocery store or to an interview....it's my beloved lip balm, gloss or stick. Anything that adds moisture and a splash of color to my lips is necessary for me to get through the day. I've actually headed out the door to church without lip stuff. I guess it's OK. My hubby always looks good, my socks always match (at least I think so), all three kids are with us and the coffee pot is turned off, regardless of whether or not I've had a cup from it. Oh, and the toaster is unplugged, again, regardless if I remembered to feed myself breakfast. Ahhh motherhood, the best sacrifice and reward in life one could ever make. I'd take a bad pair of lips and no breakfast any day just as long as I had children to share those moments with.
So back to the good news item...when we first began the good news/bad news portion of our day we would all participate and I rarely shared a bad part of my day with the kids and Mark was the same. Somewhere along the lines Megan picked up on this. Each night she starts off by jumping on my lap and holding up her hand in a pig ZERO form and tells me, "Mommy - it's gooooooodneeewwwwwws!" I say, "WHY???" "I had NO bad parts." And that's the rest of the story. Megs has no bad parts. With one exception so far, last week she had a bad night and I can't remember why. But that's it so far.
Good News Everybody!!!
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| Mini-Mark??? 04-30-09 Now when you marry someone you take for granted that your children will look like the both of you. Sometimes they resemble one parent more than the other. But seriously people, if I didn't know better I'd say this little boy isn't even mine. He's a miniature version of Mark without the facial hair! Handsome young lad, I must say.
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The Demise Of Nude Sunbathing 04-29-09 I discovered Google Maps today. Much to my amusement and amazement, I could see my own farm! It was a great aerial view but kind of creepy. With Google Maps you can type in a specific address and it'll show you a map of the location or town. There is a button called 'satellite' and on that you can click it and what comes up is an actual photo view of the land. It isn't live, at least not for now. But I can't help but wonder what if someone was outside sunbathing in the buff, then what? No one ever sent us a message or form that said they would be photographing our land. Or what if a farmer was taking a leak in the corn field? Or someone called into work sick but was outside practicing his golf swing? Technology and Google Maps may put an end to privacy on a pretty grand scale. It isn't so much that anyone needs to be doing any of these things but it's the simple idea that if they really feel the need, they have the freedom to do so. Yikes...what a world!
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I'm a sucker for big, brown eyes
04-28-09
One morning last fall I saw a black lab wondering around the parking lot at Kwik Star. She greeted me several times. I checked over her neck for a collar, which was on, but no tags were found. A few hours later she was still meandering around Calmar, dashing from sidewalk to sidewalk and out in traffic. I feared for her life although she seemed to think everyone would stop for her.
I called the city to see if they could get the dog as she made home to my office steps (probably because I gave her water and half of my lunch). When the city guy arrived he mentioned to me that this dog had been in town before for several weeks. They even had her locked up at the kennel a time or two.
So my heart became heavy as she stared at me with her big, brown eyes. I called my husband to ask if his dad needed a dog. “NO”. I asked him if we needed another dog since Angel is getting older. “NO”.
I came home from work that night to find my husband grabbing a snack in the kitchen.
Mark said, “Is she outside or in the van?”
I answered quietly, “Outside.”
Mark smiled. We named and she has made herself at home on the farm and I’d have to say she seems to be quite happy. The other day she even chased a cow in the right direction for once.
So one day just a month or so ago I was at Kwik Star. I pulled up to the gas pumps and out of the corner of my eye I saw a dog roaming around the parking lot. She sniffed passers-by and looked lost. I tried not to make eye contact. I went about my business pumping gas and looked up to check on the animal. I didn’t see her anywhere. I turned around to hang up my hose and she was sitting right behind me! It was like she scanned the lot and found the one sucker in the crowd.
Thankfully the city guy pulled up in his truck. We laughed. He took the dog back to it’s owner. At least this one had a home already.
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For Sale 04-28-09 I can't help but chuckle at one item that for sale at one of the garage sales this weekend. In the sale ad it stated that there were barbie clothes for sale. Why might I find this amusing? Because I certainly do not need to buy barbie clothes because all of our barbies are naked! Every single one of them. Even the ones missing arms or legs. There are barbie dresses smeared all over the toy room floor. I actually threw a couple of them away because they were pointless. Now, if you're selling naked barbies...then I guess I'm buying. My kids seem to like them.
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The Low Down on my Friday 04-24-09 I have just a few random thoughts to share for today. First of all, my littlest girl decided she wanted to be extra beautiful today for daycare. I was getting her ready and put on her little jeans and she popped up and said, "Mommy, dattttt." "A little clearer please honey." "Daaaadtttmummyiiiiidaaaaa." Is that a motor or wild animal of some sort??? So I'm thinking dad and dad wasn't home yet. Finally I say, "Show me." She takes my hand and we stroll over to her Easter dress. She decided it was going to be worn on this day so why not? We put it on over her jeans and I sent along a t-shirt to daycare. I must say she was a beautiful sight!
Secondly today, someone was fired from her job via email. Since when is it OK to fire someone via email? This is not professional and no official business, especially that with an impact, should be conducted by email. It's very impersonal.
Third, just another example of our shriveling world. Mark told me this morning that the big dogs in the dairy industry are forcing changes on our milk hauler, or hoping to, or whatever the case may be. We are a 40-cow dairy and may no longer make the cut. We understand that it's the way business is and we have a great relationship with our hauler(s). It's just sad to see yet another negative impact on the family businesses both for us and our hauler. I guess we just gotta roll with it!
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My Favorite Sandwich 04-22-09 I'm not sure if a sandwich is really a good topic for a blog but it's going to happen anyway. I need to brag about this sandwich that I often get for lunch from the Train Station in Calmar. It's a prime rib steak sandwich and it's served on grilled Texas toast and it's YUMMY! It falls apart when you eat it but it's worth the mess. The first time I bought the sandwich I found one mushroom in it. I assumed it was a fluke and maybe fell off someone else's mushroom and swiss burger or something of that nature. The second time I had the sandwich there was another mushroom in it, just one, one big, fat mushroom right in the middle. Now each time I get it I look for the mushroom, one time it wasn't there but it was delicious all the same. Although it's enough to fill a person up, I always find myself wanting to order another once it's gone. This will be me on the phone, "Hi, I'd like to order a prime rib steak sandwich. Can I get a side of another one please and just skip the fries?" Try one, you'll like it!
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Conversations with a four year old 04-20-09 Last Friday I picked up a little guy for a friend of mine. He's four years old and enjoys some play time with my kids. We were leaving Calmar heading out to the farm. On the edge of Calmar the little guy says to us, "Well....I guess people are dead. People died." I thought maybe he picked up on something during the morning news that he wanted to share or a tornado or hurricane hit somewhere in America. Then I glanced to my right and saw that we were heading near the Calmar City Cemetery. He pointed that direction and said, "That's where they are." And then it all made sense.
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What A Memory 04-16-09 Dylan said, "Hey Megan, remember when I was four and we were at Walmart and I saw that big army tank?" Now if Dylan was four, that would put Megan at two, so I'm guessing the answer is no, she probably does not remember that.
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My totally imperfect, amazing day
04-15-09
Waiting is not my specialty. If it involves
our children doing a project or moving slowly in the basic process of getting
on their chore boots or putzing around the farm, that is fine and I'm content
with that process. However, if I am in a waiting room I go nuts.
When I was pregnant I left an appointment because I waited for 46 minutes
in the waiting room to be called back…which is insane.
Today Dylan had his first big eye exam. They
said it would take awhile, like 1.5 hours and so I was prepared. We went
there together, just the two of us.
Knowing I would hate every moment…I ended up not
being the slightest bit unhappy with any part of the day. If I’d been there by myself I would
have wanted to run away. But, with
Dylan, it was an amazing day.
He is the trooper among all troopers. He took his six drops with some
gusto. We pretended as though we
were in outer space and this was a project. Dylan agreed that it was very cool.
So after the whole two hours in the Walmart Vision
Center, including our break to get stuff, we knew we would have fun in the
day. We headed out to Lake Meyer
to continue our “Adventure”.
Technically, our “Adventure” started in the morning
when I stopped at the high school to get mail out of the teachers lounge for
yearbook stuff. He was very much
amazed at the ‘high school’ where his uncle Steven attends school.
At Lake Meyer I knew we had at least two hours or
so to spend together. That is a
very, very rare moment in our days together. In fact, before we arrived at Lake Meyer, Dylan asked if we
could pick up Megan and Britney (his sisters) from daycare. While we sure could have had fun, it was in the
middle of Britneys nap and I knew this could be amazing memories for just the
two of us.
So we hiked.
We went half way around Lake Meyer. We were both prepared to go the full length around but
aren’t sure we could have with the current trails so we’ll have to check into
that.
We found some clam shells today. I picked out a HUGE one for Dylan. He asked if we could bring home some
more for Megan’s “Collection” (which has been previously written of and still
remains a mystery and it’s their special thing in life). Britney’s clam died in the ride home
and broke apart. That is a family
secret until we can hike again when we can pick up her own shell.
So my day...while it was caused by an 'unfortunate' event such as an eye appointment...it's been one of my most favorite days so far this year.
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Random Thoughts/Theories By Tina Kay
So I’ve come to the conclusion that I not only try to find
reason in everything, I’m also quite random. This is no secret.
I have random theories on stuff and whether any of it makes sense or
not, well, that’s yet to be determined.
Some of the things I hold to be true might include my
thought that about 90% of our laws are a waste of time, money and effort. This is true to me because all they are
doing is trying to stop stupid people from doing stupid things. I also know that where there is a will,
there’s a way. You can post all
the regulations on top of the world’s tallest tower and some idiot is going to
try and jump or parachute. It’s
proven.
Towns can also have rules on how long grass can grow and
what can be in the front yard and so on.
You can pretty much bet that someone goofball is going to grow his or
her grass to a length just above the ‘law’ and then cut it. OR maybe they’ll buy a goat to keep it
down.
Look at the seat belt law. I wear mine because I don’t want a fine and I’m
mega-paranoid of an accident.
HOWEVER, say I wasn’t a paranoid mom who makes her entire family strap
themselves in. If I were to choose
to not wear it, so be it; that would be my own loss. For people who choose to not wear their seatbelt, as much as
I disagree with their choice, if they want to die then let them. That’s one less mouth for all of
America to feed!
I also think of all the small businesses that want to do a
certain business. A friend of mine
wanted to have a coffee shop in her shop and couldn’t because she didn’t have:
the 3 sink thing, the walk-in-cooler, the…the…the…that would have all costs
thousands and thousands of dollars.
She wanted COFFEE, perhaps a sink and a refrigerator. She couldn’t afford the permit to even
be allowed to offer coffee. She
wanted to make coffee not deliver babies for heavens sakes.
Oh goodness, what else is there? There’s always more.
There’s all the labels on things that say, “May be a choking
hazard.”
I think to myself, “Oh really??? You mean my 2-year-old
could REALLY choke on this 1-inch around ball. I just didn’t know that.”
And like that cup of McDonald’s coffee that says, “Caution,
coffee may be hot!” Well your darn right it may be hot, in fact it should be or
I’ll be a little upset.
I also had a random thought/theory on education today. I just feel like we keep pushing our
little ones to learn, learn, learn as if smarts is going to buy happiness and
the only way they’ll ever be successful is if they get a really good job. Boy oh boy, we’ve either fooled
ourselves or ruined little Americans.
How can we buy ‘American made’ stuff if we don’t let our kids work a
blue collar job and when did it become shameful to have a blue collar job? I missed something here.
My husband is not a scholar but he makes me happy. Granted I’m a little biased and he’s
stole my heart but he’d put any scholar to shame. He works hard every day starting long before sunrise and
after sunset. It isn’t a vacation,
new mansion or boat ride that gives us our strength as a married couple, it’s
those moments we share at the breakfast and dinner table over a home cooked
meal, time in the barn or on a Sunday afternoon.
I guess that’s just me. Enough randomness.
Good night.
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Where's Your Flour?
04-13-09 As my Monday afternoon rolled around I was able to break away and come into the office to work. I flew around quite fast gathering my papers, equipment, more papers, children, my phone and so on. Once I arrived at the office I realized I forgot something very important at home....my laptop's power cord. Without it I'm only good to work for about 2 or 3 hours depending on what programs I run. Of course I have about six programs running at a time so the lifespan of my laptop is kind of short during the working day. So, I fly home to grab the power cord. Mark runs up to the minivan and asks, "Where's your flour?" I look at him thinking 'boy, you didn't buy me any flowers today!' Before I can tease him he catches onto his question and says, "Your flour that you cook with." I laugh and tell him, "Oh, well, it isn't where it's supposed to be however you put it away in the spot that your mom always put it when she lived here." She shared a good laugh. Mark knew where exactly to find it. Why might my strapping young man husband need flour you may ask? He dehorned calves and one kept bleeding. My kitchen stuff often has multipurposes on the farm. It all works and gets the job done!
On the same subject, I need to share a story I heard about a farm family. In this farm family a young couple moved into their in-laws home. The in-laws still lived nearby and often visited for dinner. The young bride had the silverware in the drawers to the right of the kitchen sink which was new to the in-laws as they kept the silverware to the left of the sink. One day the in-laws came over for dinner with the couple. The daughter-in-law headed outside to tend to laundry on the clothes line and when she came back in the house she went to grab a spoon from the drawers and when she opened the drawer she found towels instead of the silverware. She didn't say a word. From that day on, when she knew the in-laws were coming over to visit she would switch the silverware and towel drawer around. Once the in-laws left she would change the drawers back to where she wanted them. The families lived happily ever after.
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Intuition 04-13-09 Saturday morning I woke up and decided I needed to go into the office and work for the day. I typically do not open the office on Saturdays. With our Home & Garden issue coming out this week and several other projects that I need to keep on top of, it was important that I make some head way on work. As I told someone Saturday, my June circle at church will be in charge of the next funeral and I've been nervous that it'll happen on a Monday or Tuesday and I just had a feeling someone was going to 'pass on' while I had a bunch of things going on. I'm glad I had that intuition, I'm also glad no one died on my watch this weekend, but I do have two sick little girls today and am working from home! It isn't going all that well. For once they actually want me to hold them. Most of the time I'm just a fly on the wall as they play with their baby dolls. Best be getting back to work...the day is a wastin'!
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You’d think after all these years it wouldn’t be funny
04-09-09
What the big secret really is, I have no idea, but just
about every (other) time someone passes gas it’s funny. Why is this? There are days when I frown at the kids because they did it
openly at the dinner table without saying “excuse me”, and yet there are days
when I hear it squeak right out of someone’s rear end and I giggle. If I’m snuggling with the kids and
there’s a noise I lift the blankets so we can all share in the goodness that
came out of someone’s system.
Mark doesn’t understand this obsession of mine. Quite franky, I don’t understand it
either. But, it’s funny.
When I hold babies, whether it was my own babies in the past
or new ones from friends, they’ll let out something and I’ll giggle and ask if
that felt good. I’m guessing an
intsy wintsy tike isn’t going to say….”Yes, I feel great now.” But either way, as a mommy, I still
ask.
Often times when our little two-year-old Britney toots I
look at her and she points at her butt and says, “Poot!” She means poop and she doesn’t really
understand the difference. All she
knows is that something shot out back there and it gives her reason to point
and then place her little hand in front of her mouth and gasp as if she’s
saying, “AHHH…OHHH!”.
You would really think that since the human being has been
around, this might be something we are used to. But no, it’s still funny to me.
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| A little color here, a little color there 04-09-09 Easter is just around the corner and it was high time we add a splash of color to all the eggs in the house. I typically hard boil about two dozen and once those eggs are done we also color the uncooked ones. Dylan has an exciting morning at breakfast when he chose to have the green egg for his scrambled eggs. While coloring eggs Dylan and Megan had the little plastic thing (that was always wirey back in the day....in fact it was even wire last year now that I think of it...hmmmm) to use while dipping their eggs. I gave Britney a spoon. She didn't care so much for the spoon. After all, what works better than a little set of hands? The Britster dipped her eggs by hand and did a wonderful job! All night she appeared to have an acute case of jaundice in her hands as she sported a bright yellow. And leave it to that same little gal, she also tried to drink the dye. It wasn't nearly as tastey as it looked! She did not go back for seconds.
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My TEC Talk 04-07-09 Tonight I did photos for Patty Frana and her beautiful grandbabies. Patty is a woman whom I love and adore. Her faith and work with students is something that no one can match. In the past I've been on a service trip with Patty and our CFSR group, helped with confirmation retreats and just some little things. Today she said something like, "Well, if you aren't pregnant I'd like you to be on our team next year." AHHHHH!!!!! I say this because Patty has heard my talk on my faith. My story is a one-of-a-kind, as many people's stories are. The only problem with my talk is that I can't TALK in public. That is my character flaw. Of course as I sit here I'm thinking to myself....'sure Tina K., you are 32, grow up, talk in front of people, express yourself'. Ummm....no thanks.' Or maybe. I'm thinking about it. Although it won't happen today, I will express my "talk" here so all will know what I need to express. It's my road in faith, my low points in life, my bout with depression, divorce in with my parents, obesity, anorexia, suicide....and that lovely list goes on. It's hard for me to talk about all of that because I really don't want to visit it. The talk I prepared was amazing. Obviously I cried. I would love to make it work because after all - that is why the Lord gives us our trails in life. We endure so we can help others endure. We feel pain so that when our greatest friends are in pain we know how to comfort. We cry so we know just how to wipe our best companions tears away when the need occurs. The Lord is looking at me with a spotlight saying, "Tina Kay (Block) Hageman. I have given you these challenges so you can go forth and teach others how to endure their challenges." I'd absolutely LOVE for someone else to answer my phone on this one...but...he's calling MY house. Darn it. I've got a year to prepare.
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Just Go With It Man! 04-07-09 Our ladies are always up to something new and exciting in the morning. Once Dylan is on the bus and whisked away to school, the little ladies (Britney and Megan) begin a new adventure all on their own. One day it's a tea party, the next they are making a train out of the kitchen chairs and the next day - well - one never really knows. What makes me laugh one of those 'belly laughs' is watching Britney. She can't really talk, although she tries pretty hard. She and Megan have conversation to no end, about what exactly? Not sure if Britney even knows. Yet they manage to understand one another and play gloriously, for the most part. Mark is an amazing father. He walks into the house from chores and is always willing to appease the ladies. He'll sometimes give me a strange look like, 'these girls want me to do WHAT exactly??' He's learned to 'Just go with it man!' This morning when Mark walked it he heard, "Daddy! It's a BABY FIESTA!" The ladies were enjoying some type of party with their babies. They were sure having fun!
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The End of an Era
04-03-09
The television show, ER, has always had special meaning to
my hubby and me. As with many
families, we’ve all had our own personal traumas in life and our own blessings. While pregnant and in the years of
childbirth we were always sentimental when ER has a show involving moms and
children. I’m sure many of you can
attest, ER has caused many a tears to fall.
When Mark’s mother passed away it was also the time when
Mark Green died. Each Thursday we
would remind ourselves that we should not be watching the show because we’d be
sure to get weepy-eyed…to say the least.
We watched as cancer patients came and went on ER. We actually did give up the show for
awhile. I guess we thought our
little hearts needed to mend awhile.
In having my dad go through cancer several times it felt
like being back at square one with, “Why are we watching this?” Last night there was a mom who gave
birth to twins and she passed away.
That was one of those moments when Mark and I squeezed each other’s
hands and thanked God for all of the amazing blessings he’s given us. Along with all of the tears we’ve shed
with the staff of ER, we’ve also taken time to really enjoy and appreciate what
we have. Our children are happy,
healthy and I made it through childbirth with some ease.
While it was just a show, ER was one of those shows that
went through life with you. With
each day there was trial as well as a glimpse of hope. Just like our lives, one day a loved
one has cancer, the next day there is a new trial to overcome.
It was the ending of a fantastic era. I’m glad television was able to give us
a quality show for this many years.
And, maybe now we can stop
crying while watching TV on Thursday nights.
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Duh! 04-02-09 OK, so I'm a convert. This means I was not born and raised Catholic but chose to convert at a later point in life. After Sparky and I married and decided we were going to have little 'Sparklets', I felt strongly that raising our children in one religion was a good idea so that's when I converted. So during this Lenten season we are reading the Love Dare. The book has 40 days of readings and 'dares' to do within your marriage. Lent also has 40 days in it. The other day I realized we were at Day 35 and I asked Mark what we did wrong and he said nothing and that Lent doesn't count days over the weekend. Who knew? Apparently Mark did, I didn't. Never even gave it a thought but that explains why Lents lasts so long!
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Super Chick 04-01-09 So I have a friend, who is actually a friend of my brothers, who does weight lifting. He's also a police officer and in all of his spare time he works out. He's huge. He's probably six foot, five inches tall. A handsome, African American man who has been featured in weight lifting magazines and was looking to redo photos for his portfolio. I offered my services and he asked me to take some pics. Of course....I couldn't say no to that. Anyways, I mentioned to him (Danny Banks) that I had chicks on order and I would love to have a fun photo of his flexed arm, which his biceps are probably bigger around than the average man's thigh, with a tiny baby chick perched on top of it. This would incorporate the idea of the strong protecting the weak, as he's an officer. For days I was telling Mark about this and how it would be the coolest photo. Unfortunately Danny's schedule didn't work out during those days when I had live chicks so we had to postpone. On the day that Mark and I brought up our kiddos to take chick pics, Mark turned to me and said, "I know I'm no Officer Banks but I want you to have the photo you've been so excited to take." And here's what we came up with. I suppose I could have had Mark take off his coat, but as he said, the chick probably would have fallen off. Gotta love Sparky, he's always willing to help me out.
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Steven John Hageman03-31-09 Last Saturday I drove Dylan to biddy basketball in Ossian. In reflecting on taking the little guy to sporting events I couldn't help but think about Stevie...my 18-year-old brother-in-law. When I first came into the Hageman family Steve was just 8 years old. I played football with him and his little buddies for a birthday party while Mark milked cows. He was such a little tike back then! For six years now I've been so busy focusing on my own children and how fast they are growing, it seems as though I've skipped a few years in Steve's life. In his scrapbook there are childhood photos and then a strange gap until high school...not sure what I was doing during those years. Time just passes by us all way too fast! My mother-in-law, Lois, passed away seven years ago, just one week after we found out we were pregnant with Dylan and just 3 weeks after Steve's birthday. Seven years is a long time and way back when...who would have thought life just keeps going on and somehow time heals all wounds. Steve was only 11 then and was involved in little league and a few other sports. It seems like not that long ago I was pulling up to the school to pick up Steve from practice. Then the day came when he didn't need me anymore and could drive himself. Yesterday I ordered the invitations for Steve's graduation party. That night I asked him if he'll still come over and visit us for dinner after he graduates and someday moves out of his dad's. He said, "Hell no". I bet my fuzzy-pink slippers that he will. If anything, I'm a decent cook and he's a big boy....it just makes sense for him to eat a home cooked meal with family! Occasionally Steve will need shampoo from the store or a new shirt, or a haircut, so I'm still needed a little. Someday that'll be over too. But - I can't say I'm in any hurry for him to finish growing up. Although I hope when some girls steals his heart she's from the cosmetology department and can take over family hair cuts. :)
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The Love Dare: Day 32 03-28-09 Today our Love Dare book states, "If at all possible, try to initiate sex with your husband or wife today." It says more than that but that's the first line. As you can imagine, Mark's been waiting for this particular day for 32 days when he actually has a purpose beyond his own desire to pursue my heavenly body. I'm just joking about the heavenly part...it just sounded good since we're talking about our book that is a piece of Christian literature and draws people to the Bible. He walked in the house after morning milking and I was busy in the kitchen getting breakfast. He said hi and grabbed me for a kiss, "Can I initiate yet?" I reply, "Not already, seriously, is this going to last all day?" So we had breakfast and cleaned up. I went into the bathroom to shower and he walked in. I flung open the shower door and said, "Initiate!" He was flustered as we all knew we only had about 15 minutes before I had to be dressed and out the door to biddy basketball with the kids. So much for that. Funny part of this dare (or I guess not-so-funny) is that it's probably meant for couples who are not having sexual relations with one another. For some couples that is an issue. However for Mark, well he initiates every single day, several times a day, every chance he can get. Granted his initiations aren't always met with the answer he'd like....there is still initiation. I do have to say that in our Love Dare Mark has learned to initiate in ways that speak a little clearer to my heart. As most mom's can probably attest to....it isn't that momentary grab of the rear end or slap on the butt cheek that does it. What speaks to us is taking out the garbage, putting chore clothes in the wash machine and picking up any trail of dirt left behind. Now if I can just say...."that's hot". Well, sort of. I'm sure you catch my drift!
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My husband hates that I'm stubborn 03-26-09 I have to say that being stubborn is one of my best and yet one of my worst qualities. Someone let me know about a lengthy editorial in the Decorah paper by Gordon Buss, county employee and the last paragraph stated:
"In closing, I wanted to respond to Ms. Tina Hageman's comment in the Calmar Courier on March 10, which appeared to state that unions don't care if they drive an employer into the ground. Obviously, you were misinformed. Don't preach to the choir, until you have your sermon right."
This is the actual paragraph he's referencing. "Billions of dollars were loaned and given. Personally, I don’t feel stimulated…do you? I’ve been reading many articles that have stated that unions ‘refuse’ wage freezes, articles such as the one in this week’s Decorah newspaper. That’s interesting since the economy is going down the tubes and yet the union wants to take from a pot that is empty? I know once the meatloaf at my kitchen table is gone I simply can’t scrape any more out of the bottom to feed my family. Is that the same type of scenario? I guess I could bust up the pan and make them eat that. Or can I simply ‘not accept’ the $9 milk price? Should we mail back our check and tell Foremost, “We understand but we don’t believe we should have to make sacrifices for something we were not part of creating.” (quote from story in this week’s Decorah P.O.) I know unions had a time, a place and served a purpose....but....they’re actually not what I want to talk about."
No offense to the man but I didn't say they were trying to drive an employer under, I said they are taking more from a pot that is empty. I don't think I'm misinformed unless the pot became full over night. Let's also talk about my 'sermon'. In his letter he said with increasing medical insurance their wages are technically less than the previous year. You're not the only one. My wages were WAY down from my previous year and our medical insurance also went up. Everyone's did. We also do not have dental or eye coverage.
I also think I am way too proud of my husband. When I hear others talk about the hours they work and their wages I can't help but wish they could walk a day in my husband's boots. He's into overtime by late Tuesday or early Wednesday. He works every holiday, every weekend, every anniversary, birthday, etc. He can't call in sick or take vacation time.
So that's my sermon and I'm pretty comfortable with it and darn it all, I feel like I'm right.
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The "Collection" 03-25-09 Yesterday the children and I were on our way to the store and Dylan was wearing his down jacket. Occasionally little feathers will make their way to the surface and we simply pick them off of Dylan. So yesterday he pulls a feather from his coat and proclaims that it's just beautiful. He hands it over to Megan and she calls it a "weddin' feather". Then Dylan says, "Hey Megan, let's put it in our collection." So I ask, "What exactly are you two collecting, feathers?" Dylan replies, "No, not just feathers. It's our collection, mine and Megan's."
So that doesn't exactly answer my question. I'm still wondering what those two are hoarding away in their collection. Let's just hope none of the contents includes food!
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The Love Dare: Day 29 03-25-09 Wow, this process has gone by fast! A lot of our Love Dare's involve prayer for each other, asking for forgiveness, etc. Yesterdays dare was a good one for us. We had to identify what needs we have in our lives and ask how we can help one another. For me, I've been feeling really overwhelmed with tasks. While the majority of the work I need to get done can't really be done by anyone else but me, there are other things Mark can help out with to give me a little extra time at the end of the day to get things done. For Mark, his needs mostly fall under the category of food. I can make sure he gets a good breakfast and supper; he's usually on his own for lunch though. He was also in desperate need of work jeans. His two pair both have holes in them. Yesterday morning he said to me, "So for today I have to choose between a hole in the knee or a hole in the crotch, I'm going to go with the knee today." That was a sign that the man needed some jeans so the kids and I headed to Walmart last night to pick up some supplies. As for today, I must get moving. Mark still needs that breakfast I talked about and then I need to get to work.
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Just stopping by 03-22-09 I just stopped in to say HI to my readers. I have been busy beyond busy with work and the Easter photos. I have lots of precious photos to sift through and the job of downsizing 2,222 photos to approximately 264 is impossible. I'm pretty sure most of my families are going to get a few extra pics thrown in their package cause they're just too darn cute!!!
I am also sick today and I'm really upset about that. I just got over bronchitis and now I have a cold or sinus something-or-other. Today was going to be the first in four or five days that I really get to spend some quality time with my family and play with the kids and here I am, half-ass, oozing out my left eye and feeling like my head is going to explode....doesn't that sound nice? Earlier this morning I was so busy getting stuff organized, taking care of the kids and cleaning house (cuz as I said I've been gone so the house typically falls into shambles in my absence) and all the while my nose kept running! While picking up dirty laundry I actually wiped my nose with one of my children's dirty socks. Now that's desperate times! :) We're going to take the kids up to the studio to do Easter photos with the live bunnies and chicks. I must go and finish painting tiny finger and toe nails for my little ladies. Everyone elses photos are adorable so let's see if I can capture any moments of my own tikes!
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Don't Touch Pee Or Poop 03-18-09 This morning Megan raced into the bathroom and she said she had to pee. While sitting on the potty she announced that poop wanted to come out too. And so it did and Britney was on site to check it out. I told Megan that it looks like Britney was trying to figure out where everything needs to go for the next time she hops on the potty. Megan said, "That's pee and poop, Britney. Don't touch pee or poop, got it?" Britney pointed at the said items, identified them and didn't touch them. It was a good morning lesson to start the day.
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Service and the Love Dare: Day 20
03-16-09
For some reason I’ve grown to think of service on a grand
scale. We often see groups of
individuals traveling about the world serving others and doing good deeds. I’ve been part a few service projects
in the past and they were definitely fulfilling. It has also sometimes led me into wondering where my service
is best suited and especially now that we have three young children and I think
my path should stick closer to home.
I think individuals must answer the question of where to
serve for themselves. I think as
mothers in a busy society we feel we need to do it all; which quite honestly we
do need to do it all. However, we
need to pick and choose what tasks are quality and throw out the baggage from
that heavy weight we carry around all day.
I know in the past I have had days when I feel like my cart
is so stinking heavy I can’t bare it any further down the road and I had to
call a friend and simply let her know I couldn’t pick up something for
her. There was just that one thing
too many on the plate for my day and I hated to do it, but for my own sake a
task had to be lifted.
As Mark and I work our way through the Love Dare I feel my
service working in different ways.
The hubby and I have had a lot of fun so far with our Love Dare and it
gives us devotion to our marriage daily.
Something the Love Dare has reminded me of is that I love this man and
our children and my service to them is something I want to do. It is my desire to take care of my
family.
For some reason in today’s world we think if we buy that
Barbie for our daughters or stay busy on that particular board or council we’ll
be ‘serving’. We are sadly
mistaken. While to some extent we
should give back to our communities and so on, I find that I truly believe my
service is needed here in my own home.
We are often doing things for other people and I think we
all have put our own families on the back burner. I realized this once when I had to have someone babysit the
children wile I was volunteering and that doesn’t make any sense what-so-ever.
Of course I still have days when I want to ask the kids,
“WHAT NOW????”
But, I am their mother and it ins within our family to serve
one another. We’ve learned to take
care of one another because we love each other. The children put their clothes away….often unwillingly. Dylan holds the doors or turns on lights for his sisters. I remind myself to look at my daily
routine as something I choose to do because I love my family. It isn’t just me cooking breakfast
because I HAVE to, it’s because I WANT to. It isn’t me cleaning the kids’ rooms because I HAVE
to, it’s because I love and respect the children and they deserve a nice
environment to live in and learn how to take care of the gifts God has given
them.
Service….it doesn’t have to begin with a thousand people…it
can start in your own home.
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| Mommy's Little Helper 03-16-09 Although at your first glance this photo may look like a disaster area, you must realize the value of the silverware drawer. Britney, now two, is my little helper. She's a go-getter, she helps clean out the dish washer and tidy up the house. Of course her version of tidy and mine are slightly different. Her work isn't flawless but it's precious. This morning after breakfast she assisted me in cleaning out the dishwasher and filling it back up. The silverware drawer is an area she can reach. She can't really SEE inside the drawer but she can get things in the general area. This is what my drawer looked like when she was finished. I never have the heart to change things after she worked so hard at getting stuff into the drawer. She's close enough to perfect for me!!!
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Happy Birthday Britney!!! 03-13-09 Today was Britney's 2nd birthday. She is now tucked away in bed, as her brother and sister are, and I can reflect on the day as it was busy and went by pretty fast. The birthday girl had no idea just how special she was today. When I woke her up this morning and said, "Happy Birthday Britney!" it meant more to me than it did to her. I don't know what it is about the little ones, in my heart I just wish I could keep them little forever. My baby is working on potty training. She does all of these great things by herself. In fact all of the kids are getting to be so independent and I no longer have a little baby to hold.
Words cannot express how blessed I am. While most of the day I was stressing out about all of the work I have and functions going on in life right now, as the day has come to a close, the children are all that's on my mind. It's hard to watch Britney turn two but at the same time it's fun to watch her turn into a little lady.
I also can't help but wonder if any men out there cry on their children's birthdays or if it's strictly just a mom thing. It also amazes me at how much children really don't realize just how special they are. Like Britney today, she acted no different than she does any other day. She went about her day, blew out her candles and enjoyed cake. It was truly a celebration of some very wonderful years that we are so blessed with in having her and her siblings in our lives.
I'm going to go and cry on the couch with my husband now (he won't be crying of course, just me having a mom-moment).
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| Baby's Turning TWO! 03-12-09 At the breakfast table I situated the children in their chairs. Dylan pointed out that since tomorrow is Britney's second birthday it was time for another baby and he'd definitely like to have a boy so he has someone to play with. After some baby talk I let the kids know that they will be all the children we have and we are very fortunate to have three healthy and happy children to love. It amazes me that tomorrow is Britney's birthday. She's started potty-training herself. She sees others going to the bathroom and asks to go as well. She helps empty out the dish washer and puts her pj's and clothes away for me. She's a little trooper and while I adore the little lady she's growing into, it's sad to be without a 'baby' in the house. I have to run and pick up a gift for her. I'm not sure what to get. We have little kitchens in the toy room and barbies and all kinds of fun things however with all that fills the room, the little tike can't keep her hands off chapstick and the little plastic ducky that I bought for the picture studio! The ducky costs .97, that's it. I may just pick up a basket of colorful ducks for her. She'll be delighted. Mark will be delighted that I spend under five bucks. It's a win-win situation!
Happy Birthday tomorrow sweetie!
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Love Dare: Day 14 03-11-09 Day 14 was technically yesterday but I feel like talking about it. Our task was to give up an activity that we typically do in order to spend time with out spouse. The lesson in it was to not just follow our hearts but we should lead our hearts as well. By doing this it wasn't just the fact of doing the easy things in life together they we usually do, but making that choice to forgo something else. In our everyday lives we work and to be honest, that's about it. We already spend our moments of free time with our family. I had the misfortune of having to cover the banquet last night. I made four phone calls to try and find a replacement, but it didn't happen. That effort alone was something I don't typically do, I just do whatever I'm supposed to do. So while we technically, sort of failed at giving up an activity, we did stay up late to chat when I got home. Also, by leading my thoughts to long for time with my spouse, I missed him more than usual and was eager to arrive home safely.
Now today's task is to do something extra and above our normal routine. So while making breakfast I started the dryer with Mark's chore clothes. He always changes into new ones after the morning milking and his clean ones were in the dryer, dry. But it was also zero degrees outside so he was able to come home to a warm, toasty set of clothes. Then, he was putting on shoes to run out and start the truck....I dipped down to tie his shoe and said, "extra!" He proceeded to pick me up off of the floor and rest me at a standing position and said, "Extra, you didn't have to try hard to get up." THEN...at the toaster, he'd made some extra english muffins and I picked one up and asked if I could have one. Can you guess his reply? You got it..."Extra."
So to start off with this morning, it felt a little more like a sporting event or game. But we didn't fail, that's for sure.
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Results to the 'Playground' Issue 03-11-09 Thanks to a friend of mine I was reminded of a few things in regards to my body being a playground for my husband. When united in marriage, 'two become one' and thus my flesh is also his. So yes, there is proof in the bible that Mark can do whatever he wants to me, within reason. Last night I attended the beef banquet to take photos and it was 10:30 p.m. before I returned home. I flopped down on the couch next to Mark. I told him the findings on the playground issue. I said, "So technically my flesh is yours, so take me." Mark replied, "Where?"
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A Playground??? 03-08-09 I think I'm missing something here. Today, as you may of read in my previous post is the day I've started to feel back to good health, I became aware of the mistake many husbands make. I'm still achy and don't care to be wrestled with, thrown down, or picked up excessively. As Mark and I work our way through the Love Dare we learn how the bible asks us to relate to one another in different circumstances. Granted we have a lot to learn but can anyone tell me where in the bible it says that a husband can have uncontrollable hands within seconds that his wife explains she's feeling good? First, it's being picked up an tossed over the shoulder. Then, it's a dip backwards and a passionate kiss. Of course the latter was nice but knowing I've been in the chair for over two days means I'm not in the most bendable shape. Then there's one thing and another. So again, is there a verse that gives my husband for permission for all of this? Hmmmm, just wondering. Without some type of proof, I can't tell him to continue or to stop. Until then, I'll take it one episode at a time.
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I'm Alive! 03-08-09 Since Thursday afternoon I've been down either on the orange rocking chair or in bed. I lucked out on Friday because as my lungs sounded like a playground for mucus, the Love Dare for the day was for your spouse to do something out extra and out of the ordinary for you (and vice versa). So Mark took off work to take me to the doctor and then to get my prescription. In fact during most of the days I was down, the Love Dare challenged us to do things out of the ordinary, is so many words, for each other. This gave Mark the motivation to keep up with some of the house work while I was out of commission and it motivated me to function a little more while I was sick. For him, I made a batch of donuts that he loves and did a little extra farm paperwork. These tasks weren't difficult or time consuming but showed him thanks for all he'd been doing while I wasn't functioning. Today, I feel like 3/4 of a million bucks. I should remind myself to take it easy or I'll soon be right back where I started.
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I can't keep up blogging... 03-04-09 I'm just going to go ahead and assume that you all don't really want to hear every single day of our Love Dare, I'll give you the highlights as we go along, and some lowlights, etc. I would like to share something about our daughter, Megan. She is slowly growing up. She's a very petite little gal, soft hands, soft voice and beautiful doe eyes. The other morning she was getting dresses and her jeans were a little long. She didn't appreciate that, but we rolled them up and I said she'd grow into them and that she's growing up and getting more and more beautiful just like a swan. That little girl turned to me and gave me the nastiest glare, wrinkled her nose and said, "MOM, YOU WANT ME TO TURN INTO AN ANIMAL?!" She didn't understand I guess.
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The Love Dare: Day 5 03-01-09 This was the first difficult day because it wasn't all about being nice, it was about pointing out things in your spouse that make you uncomfortable or irritate you. The point of this task was to learn now love is not rude. This was an interesting task for Mark and me because for starters, we aren't rude to one another. We always greet one another upon returning home and we don't fly off the handle with things that irritate us. What was tough about this task was what we pointed out to one another. We learned something very different from this than what was intended. The task was to ask your spouse to tell you three things that irritated him or her with you. I asked Mark first and he blurted out two things quick fast. He didn't do a third. In his fine manners he said he doesn't like it when I steal his ice water. He added that on the other hand he thinks it's kind of cute. His second thing was the way I handle stress. I get a little grouchy and sometimes just don't want to talk to anyone. He feels this a lot because with the economy, the business I am in is beyond stressful. Then, he asked me what irritated me. I chuckled a little and said I planned on just thinking about it a little and decide what irritations warrant being mentioned. He felt bad for a moment because it only took him a few seconds to let out some about me! Which are all true. What irritates me about Spark (if you haven't picked up on this previously, I call him Sparky or Spark) was nothing earth shattering. All things we've discussed in the past. It was a good task for us.
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The Love Dare: Day 4 02-28-09 Love is thoughtful. In reading today it explained how men and women think differently. Men often think if headlines and it's simple and women think more complex. It said this is why men often don't understand why their lady is upset with them, they're unable to read between the lines! Today's task was to contact your spouse one time during the business day (which it happened to be Saturday) so Mark called while he was outside working and I requested that he take out the trash. He said it wasn't a problem. I called him later and asked if he needed anything and he asked if I would look into getting him a new cell phone. Of which I was happy to do because his phone stinks. In fact, that phone itself is something that frustrates me about this marriage, every time we talk on the phone, he inadvertently hangs up on me! "Can you hear me now?" "No, as a matter of fact, I cannot." We'll be remedying this very soon.
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A Sign of the Times 02-28-09 On a daily basis there are signs of the difficult times we are in. Aside from the daunting realizations we made while doing taxes this year and setting forth budgeting for the upcoming year, there are smaller signs that come to mind that just make me go, hmmm. While making dinner today I had the roast in the oven and I decided to add some corn to the menu. I opened up a can of cream corn. The contents did not look appetizing. Usually in cream corn there is actually corn. This blended substance looked as though a combine exploded and someone out of desperation scraped the dilapidated corn kernels off the metal and slapped it into a container. I have also noticed that the stuff inside a Snickers is getting icky. I love Snickers, they satisfy me for goodness sakes. They're getting weaker and weaker and I think someone stole the nuts out. Nutless Snickers...just doesn't make sense!
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| The Love Dare: Day 3 02-27-09 Today's Love Dare was to buy or invest in something unexpected for your loved one. It focuses on how you must truly invest your time, money, efforts, etc. in something before it grows and strengthens. I asked Mark if I could take back the socks I bought him yesterday and give them to him today, of course he said yes because he's quite cheap. I'll come up with something yet. So far today it's been a tough task for me. Some of Mark's favorite things include pop and candy and he also gives up both for Lent. We also rode together to pay our taxes in Decorah so there wasn't a lot of time for me to get a surprise yet. While walking from the office to the minivan to head out on our way, Mark stopped at his truck (he drove into town to my office and we left from here) and grabbed some tax stuff and a cup of cappuccino. As he popped back out of his truck he hands me the cappuccino and says, "Unexpected". Indeed it was. He's set the bar high because I was very impressed.
This morning we read our love dare section and I think we have decided that when possible, we'll read the night before the actual day of. That way we can plan ahead a little more and have just a few more early morning hours to think about our commitments for the day.
I would like to propose a love dare to our little Britney...dare her to just let me hold her once and awhile! She can sacrifice, right? Sad to say but I'm hoping she comes down with a cold so I can snuggle with her. Otherwise she's off and running, keeping up with the others and I've yet to see her fall far behind!
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| The Love Dare 02-26-09 Tonight I decided to share our journey. Mark and I are partaking in The Love Dare. This is a book that had 40 days worth of 'love dares' and is meant for a couple united in marriage. Each day there is a reading and a challenge. Today is day 2 of our journey. I'm hoping that by being open about our own journey in the Love Dare that maybe other couples out there will be interested in doing the same. I've been cautious not to look too far ahead in the book but to focus on each day as it comes. Day 1: The task of the day was to not say anything negative to your spouse. While wolfing down breakfast at the counter Mark and I discussed the task of the day. We both decided that we should each take the broken english muffin and gift the unbroken one to one another. We giggled because in making one or the other take the broken english muffin, that would be a negative gesture. I can say Day 1 was simple for us. Who knows what is to come?! Day 2: I left for work before Mark came in from milking and we didn't get to read our task together. I read it in the morning and sent him a text message about the days task. Today we were to do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness. It was the 'unexpected' part that threw me off. Did that mean I should be doing something I'd never done before? Should I have milked the entire herd of cows and gave him the night off? He wouldn't have let that happen anyway. So I searched for something simple and kind. Blueberry muffins and new socks were the key. We had baked goods around but blueberry muffins are his favorite so there was a fresh batch for him to indulge in before milking. And of course, socks without holes, he's enjoy those when he gets dressed in the morning. For me, I came home to a dish washer that had been emptied out during the day. That made my night much easier and one less task on my plate.
So far so good.
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The Waiting Room 02-26-09 Patience is a virtue and if I'm stuck doing nothing, unable to see, I don't have patience. Earlier today I had an eye appointment. I was there for an hour and 45 minutes! I realize I'm blind but for the love of vision, couldn't it go any faster? I was miserable. I had my initial exam where they blow wind in your eye. The windy test isn't a favorite of mine by any means. Then I sat in the waiting room until the next exam. This time I took out my contacts and was left unable to see. Soon I was sent back to the waiting room, visionless. My prescription is a +6 so needless to say, I couldn't see anything. Waiting and waiting, unable to read anything. I went back in for another test and then he dilated my eyes. Any hopes of straining my eyes to read a text message were long gone. I sat there and hoped no one I knew came in because I couldn't see their faces to say HI! Prior to my losing my eyes for the day, the other gal in the waiting room stared at me. It was one of those stares that's just really obvious and you're tempted to ask, "Did you need something?" At least by this point I was blind and if she was staring again, I wouldn't have known. Finally I stood up and just paced around the place. A woman can only sit for so long, especially when there's nothing to do. My eyes had been squirted with stuff and were runny and the whole ordeal was just plain miserable. Quit honestly, I'd rather get a pap smear than relive this day. I'm happy to be back in the home office. After nearly four hours my eyes are finally no longer dilated and I can see!!!!
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Dad's Update 02-20-09 For starters today is my dad's 61st birthday! I'm hoping he'll get good news for a gift. Following his surgery in St. Louis things are going really well. The doctor said they believe they got all of the cancer out of his tongue, they didn't have to do a tissue transplant and he's been at home since then. I called their house on Sunday and my dad answered the phone! You gotta love a stubborn man. So last night he and Rheta left for St. Louis for a check-up with the good doctor. Their appointment is today so I'm looking forward to a good news phone call later in the day.
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| Little Heart's Rebound Fast 02-18-09 After reading Dylan's semi-love/Dear John letter earlier this week I was eager to get to the bottom of who this girl is and if she is or isn't ever going to ride the same bus. In talking to him about his friend I come to find out that he has kissed her. Of course my Dylan has always been a passionate little man, he likes to snuggle up under a blanket, cozy up to some hot chocolate and sometimes even hugs his sisters good-bye when he goes to school. Now before you go, 'ahhh, what a sweet little guy', you must also know that he also bosses around his sister, Megan, quite often. By the second day that Dylan came home from school I asked if Angel was in fact no longer riding his bus. As it turns out this was the case. I was a little surprised that he didn't show any emotion over the deal. In fact, Dylan said, "It's ok, I sat with someone else." Of course I prompted, "Well that's good. Who is it?" "Well, I don't know her name." Not sure what I was actually expecting. He'd been riding with Angel for months and months now and just figured out who she was in January. Maybe by summertime we'll know who his new bus seat buddy is.
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Tooth Decay in Children 02-17-09 On the news this evening there was a piece on childhood tooth decay, which festers into nasty teenage decay. Photos and interviews showed children with rotting teeth and very swollen gums. Then it mentioned that this was all due to their over-consumption Mountain Dew. Was that REALLY a surprise to anyone? What sort of appalled me was that the news source actually contacted Mountain Dew about this story. What exactly is Mountain Dew supposed to 'dew' (hehehe) about this epidemic? Is this a shocking story? What if I were the crayon company and all of a sudden your kid started pooping rainbow poo??? Is that my fault? If they're eating crayons on your watch that they are in your jurisdiction. The individuals who should have been contacted were the parents of these kids. The ages on these kids ranged from 3 to 17. Do these children purchase their own groceries? Just wondering because for the most part that would interfere with child labor laws if they actually have money to spend. Apparently Mountain Dew offered to assist, however, I don't feel they should have. I do believe Mountain Dew should have offered to provide an opener for a can of whoop A** to those parents.
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Semi-Love Letter
02-16-09 Tonight after the children were all tucked away in bed and the sweet sound of laundry in the washing machine was underway, Mark and I settled into the kitchen to catch up on the day. I was folding laundry and he grabbed Dylan's school bag to check on the contents of the day to make sure nothing was missed. Suddenly I hear Mark reading out loud, "To Dylan, From Angel - I like you a lot." At this time I figure Mark's sense of humor has gone amuck. "Thank you for being my friend. This might be the last time I ride the bus." OK...so it's time for me to turn around and see what's going on. "I will miss you lots and lots. I hope I can see you again. Goodbye Dylan and I hope you have a nice day and nice night." While as mom and dad we wanted to laugh because our six-year-old boy had his first semi-love letter, it was also apparent that it was sort of a goodbye letter at the same time. Mark said to me, "Wow, he really is a ladies man. I never got a love letter when I was in kindergarten." I'm pretty sure I never did either. Dylan has been sitting with this little gal for quite some time. The first four or five weeks of school he sat with someone else, then he changed things up a bit. The handwriting on this letter is pretty darn good so I'm thinking she's even nine or ten. Poor Dylan, as I write this he probably hasn't even looked at it yet. Hopefully during tonight's bus ride home they sat together and she told him what was happening. My heart is sad for Dylan. He's a sensitive little man. On the other hand...a semi-love letter at six??? Leave it to Dylan.
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Valentine’s Day
2-15-09
I was busy ON Valentine’s Day so today will have to do for
getting this post out there.
When Mark proposed to me it was February 13th,
the day before Valentine’s Day.
This time of year is always special to us. Our actual wedding anniversary is July 29th which
is right in the middle of some hot haying weather. Because of the farm schedule we tend to try and spend some
extra time together on Valentine’s Day.
Not only was I super grateful for my husband this year but
also some great friends who are very much like us.
The four of us went out for Valentine’s Day to Cedar Falls to a nice
dinner and out dancing with my brothers, cousins and many of their
friends. I adored being able to go out with some of my family. I had many of my most precious loved ones in the same room! Without the kids though...they were nestled at home, safe and sound.
We had a wonderful time and it isn’t something we do very
often, in fact maybe once a year we go cut a rug at a club. Which, by the way, is where we met Rick
Coleman last Saturday night!
Realizing full well that I missed the boat in introducing myself to Ian
Leonard several years ago, at which time I nearly tripping over his cord, I
wasn’t going to miss out again! I
walked right up, shook his hand and said, “Hi, my name is Tina Hageman and I
appreciate that you are also in the news business.” I told him I was in the newspaper business and informed him
of the area we cover and in his terms, which school sports we cover, and then I
went on about my business.
That was the second best part of my night. The first best part was dancing with
Mark. A struggle dairy farm wives
have is getting time alone with our husbands. We don’t live the lives of Riley (whatever that means) or
vacation often, but we have something no one else has. In my case, when Mark isn’t working he
never chooses to go anywhere without me.
We go together.
On Joker’s dance floor we joined the crowd in a fast, hip
hop dance and soon we were slow dancing.
As the slow music went back to fast we continued slow dancing. As Mark said yesterday, “I really like
it when we are dancing together and it feels like the rest of the world has
stopped.”
For us, it did.
It’s those little moments off the farm, or for that matter many moments
on the farm, that make us happy. A talent my husband has is making the rest of the world
simply disappear when we are together.
This summer we will celebrate nine years of marriage. I am very thankful that he still warms
my heart, buys Valentine’s flowers, and isn’t afraid to dance with me in the
middle of a large crowd as though no one else can see us.
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Beaters...Yummo! 02-13-09 Back in the day when it was just me and the Sparkyman at home, we would each get to lick off a beater. When the time came for our son Dylan to long for the tasty, sweet treat of a beater it was then the case of sharing the beaters with Mark and Dylan. I was fine without. Then along came Megan and Mark was outsted from getting a beater and it was just Dylan and Megan. Then there were three. I actually take one of the whisks and dip it in the frosting to get to the third child. If you've read anything about our Britney you know she will not be the one to go hungry. However, last night while frosting our cupcakes she didn't seem pleased with my make-shift beater. So....I found the following article online and maybe this is a solutions to my problem.
In Plant City, Fla., in December, Robert Thompson and Taurus Morris were charged with armed burglary after taking a woman's eggbeater from her at knifepoint. It was not reported why they wanted the eggbeater or why the victim had to be threatened at knifepoint to get it. [Tampa Tribune, 12-15-08]
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Working On Taxes 02-12-09 This week I've been putting together tax information for the tax guy. With our dairy farm and my business here, we have an awful lot of information to keep track of. While going through expenses this week I could think of a number of things that are comparably fun to doing taxes. Here they are. 1. Biting aluminum left on a piece of food. 2. Getting shot in the legs by your brother with a 12-gauge (of course while being way, way far away in the field) 3. Finding black, curly hair in your cheeseburger. 4. Spending your last dollar of the week (or rather $5.00) on an ice cold margarita, only to have someone walk by, bump your table, thus spilling your hard earned money. 5. Falling off your treadmill and getting your hair caught in the gadgets. 6. Waking up at 3:00 a.m. to a poor little tike that is sick and vomiting. Then cleaning up the tike's sheets and putting him/her in bed with you. Waking up at 3:30 a.m. to vomit in your own bed.
#3 and #5 have never happened to me. #4 is questionable...I'm guessing if I were going out for margarita's I'd definitely bring enough money for two! I used to feel like the government spent my money semi-wisely. I'm beginning to think I should be trusted with my own money. Back to the book work!
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A Mother’s Dilemma
02-10-09
If you have children and a career you will know exactly what I’m talking about. It isn’t always the easiest to hang up the black slacks and dig into raw meat, homework and Valentine’s. Not to mention a surprise poopy pants and continuously ringing telephone.
Last night it was one of those moments where it wasn’t ‘lovey-dovey-mommy-time’, it was ‘ok little soldiers, we have ABC to accomplish by 7:30 and XYZ before 8:30 so report to me immediately’.
I picked up the children just before seven (it was a Monday and I’m typically working late or covering a meeting on Mondays) so we walked into the house at 7:00. I told the children to grab a specific amount of items and head to the kitchen table. Britney isn’t so good with instructions yet. She’s especially not good with being told she can’t do what she’s trying to do. She just doesn’t understand.
With Valentine’s Day coming I knew Dylan had quite a few to hand out in class so for the good of the cause, knowing our Dylan isn’t the speediest guy around, I knew it was best to start now, prepare four to five Valentine’s each night and they’ll all be done and ready to go to school with my little man on Friday.
We had the list, I highlighted the names to be done, we picked out two pink ones for the girls and two blue ones for the boys. Dylan had the pencil in his hand. I turned around to slice open a package of hamburger for beef stroganoff. Beef’s in the pan, it’s seasoned, lid is on, all the while Britney is protesting something. The first sight of dinner she’s always hounding me to eat.
I turn back around to see Dylan, with four invitations in front of him, pencil in hand, no letters to be seen…anywhere.
I reminded him to write, went over the names, all was good. I was preparing supper and working at the counter and Megan became distressed because she wanted her horsey coloring book. We grabbed it. Britney wanted it. It was not a pretty sight.
By then the hamburger was almost done, Dylan had one and a half names done, Britney was yelling at me. I was trying to fold a little laundry in the corner of the kitchen. I gave in and handed Britney a snack.
All this time I was spazzing out because every time I raced back and forth between the stove, table, each child, sink, etc., I kept stepping on something!
My husband will attest to this, I cannot handle wet or dirty socks. I cannot handle a dirty floor. I will literally stop everything I’m doing to change my socks or sweep up the floor. It’s a little nuts, I know, but if you can’t eat off my kitchen floor I am less than happy. I mean, what good does it do to have a kitchen floor if you can’t drop your food and pick it back up and eat it, right?
So I took a break to sweep the floor. Life falls back into place and we have a lovely evening. Dylan kicked into gear and four Valentine’s are done. We sacked up all the goodies so all they need now are the cards. Britney’s mouth was full of food. Megan was coloring in her horsey book, mama’s kitchen was serene.
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My Tale of Two Seasons and a Fitness Routine 02-09-09 At the turn of two seasons, arrival of fall and nearest glimpse of spring, I tend to want to purchase a new outfit. This is something my husband does not fully appreciate in me but he goes with it and tries not to ask too many questions. With the appearance of some melting snow I found myself getting the urge to pull the dusty minivan into Maurices. However, I've decided to make myself earn it. I enjoy going for a good, brisk walk and jog and doing tummy exercises. In the world of fitness I have been less than eager to do as much exercise as I should so, I decided that I need to stick closer to the routine, last a little longer on the treadmill, and do several times more stomach crunches from now on and once I see some improvement I can purchase a new outfit. Eager to begin my morning I jumped out of bed at the first sound of my alarm. Someone (me) forgot to reset the after sleeping in on Sunday and I didn't wake up until 6:45 a.m. My first day of getting back to the basic fitness routine failed miserably before it even started! Day 1 - Unsuccessful, unable to squeeze 30 minutes of exercise into 10 minutes. Stupid math anyway.
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Go White Sox 02-09-09 Our trip to Goodwill awarded us a few new items in the house. Dylan has a new t-shirt and the girls have some summer dresses. It was decided after tonight's bath...which consisted of Britney pooping in it and Megan freaking out and a good half an hour of clean-up; that Megan would wear Dylan's new White Sox t-shirt for pajamas. There are a whole bunch of details that I could have added into the last sentence or two but it just didn't seem necessary! So tonight, Megan was going to wear the new White Sox t-shirt. She came to me after her bath asking what pj's I had in my had. I said to Megan, "It's the white sox." She said, "No it's not, I don't have on sox." "No honey, it's a baseball team." "I don't wanna have a baseball team, I don't wanna play baseball. Can I have my sox (socks)?" "No honey, it's just your shirt." "You can't have my shirt, I want my sox (socks)!"
As grown-ups we have a whole new perspective on the world.
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China, here we come! 02-08-09 After Mass today we headed to Decorah for a bite to eat and a quick run through Goodwill. While dining at the chinese buffet we sat at a table near the very back and placed on the wall was a gigantic photo of something, it took of most of lunch to identify it was a possible temple or something. It doesn't say what it is and we don't know our Chinese history, government, or society very well. So Dylan continuously asks what it is and where it is. Then Megan chimes in, "It is Ch..Chi...is it Chinese?" So we answer yes, we assume so. Then Dylan asks questions like, "Do Chinese people live there? So if this is a Chinese restaurant, why don't we have chopsticks?" Mark answers, "The people who live in China, you know, near where this picture is, they use chopsticks but here we are allowed to use forks." Dylan and Megan go back and forth and we are telling them to keep it quiet because we don't want to offend anyone by talking out loud about the Chinese. Dylan decided he wanted to go visit the pretty picture on the wall and Mark said they can go there. I said I was not going because I don't like to fly and it's a long plane ride. Dylan says, "That's ok mom, dad and I can go, let's go on a Thursday dad." Mark says, "Sounds good Dylan, looks like it's just me and you big guy." Megan asks, "Do just boys need to go to the Sha..Chi..Chinese?"
We left the option of going on a Thursday open to any Thursday within the next 40 years. We'll see what happens this Wednesday and if Dylan tries packing a bag.
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The Barnyard 02-07-09 Would the real producers of the movie 'Barnyard' please stand up? I ask this because I would like to slap the back of your hand. What on EARTH were you thinking putting utters on the boy cows? Does no one in hollywood understand where milk comes from? When the movie came out I took the kids to the theatre to see it. Joining us was another 'dairy mom' and all we could do was shake our heads. Our children were all young enough where they didn't ask any questions. This movie was a great opportunity to show children a little about the world and animals and they missed the boat! Although as youngsters children don't notice the finest details however, children grow up and they take note of these things. The girl cows have babies and produce milk. If you try to hook up the milking claw to a boy cow, you're not going to appreciate getting kicked in the leg! Thanks to hollywood for confusing children all over America. At least the Iowan children will know the difference.
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A Trip To St. Louis 02-04-09 I am in St. Louis today. On Tuesday after the newspaper was done I left with my two brothers to come down here. With my dad's health issues his newest doctor is here and they did surgery on Wednesday. He was scheduled to go in at 8:30 a.m. One of the hospital staff members said they would come out every two hours to give us an update. Two hours went by, three hours went by, we tried to be patient because we know they are all busy. The fourth hour went by and upon the fifth we finally asked. His surgery took five hours. Going into it they didn't know if they were just going to laser it out the cancerous area or laser out a larger chunk which would require a 'flap' which would consist of transplanting tissue and veins from his arm and then from his leg to his arm, which would be a very extensive surgery. Or, there could have been the case of where the cancer has spread far enough where they may have had to take out the entire tongue. You can imagine how our nerves sat after waiting five hours initially. The doctor came down to talk to us and gave us the news that he was able to do the 'best case scenario' and they did not have to transplant any tissue. My dad is doing great. He looks great. In fact, we played cards earlier today and he's resting now. My brothers are sitting somewhere in a waiting room watching television. I'm actually tired of sitting so I hiked back to the hotel room to get some work done. All in all, it's been a good trip and we're all very happy for the way things have turned out so far!
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Just Say No Michael
2-02-09 There's a new issue in the limelight and I can't decide my official opinion on it. I would like to bend Michael Phelps over my knee and give him a healthy whippin' because he's ruined it for all of us. He's our 'golden boy', our #1 athlete, he's the reason people in American reintroduced themselves to the local YMCA and jumped in the pool! We've allowed ourselves to think someone is perfect, that is with the exception of him not being the best actor Saturday Night Live has ever experienced. So whose fault is this debacle? Is it our fault because we saw him at the golden boy that was pictured on the magazine cover and expect perfection of America's famous? Or...is it his fault because he's flawed and enjoys smoking pot? I know personally I blamed Michael. In fact, upon hearing the news I called him a juice bag. (That is the Hageman's way is saying douche bag without being vulgar) It's right up there with Britney Spears shaving her head. It's in the league of Michael Vick, who was once named one of America's richest athletes, having a dog fighting complex. It's ridiculous and from the outside looking it, that's all we see. Who would ruin their careers for these things? For this madness? Truth is, anyone can I guess. Their careers are just greater and on a grander level than ours. Juice bags or not, they are no different than we are....aside from mansions and large (or dwindling) bank accounts. Are you perfect? I'm just wondering. I know sometimes when I see these people in the news I tend to feel like I'm closer to it than they are.
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What's Your Story?
02-01-09
The children have their own story line with every playtime. It changes every so often and it's amusing to listen to their scenarios.
One minute Dylan says he's the daddy cow, Megan is the mommy cow and Britney is the baby cow.
A little while later Dylan is the baby cow, Britney is the cow that talks and Megan is the mommy cow.
And later on in the day I hear Dylan saying he is the dad, Megan is the mom and Britney is their chid and I live with them. Not sure where Mark is and I didn't ask.
By the end of the day Dylan is the grandpa, Megan is the grandma and Britney is their dog.
Good thing she can't speak up for herself yet!
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A Productive Friday 1-30-09 Is it wrong to wish I had one more work day this week? I blame the flu bug that bit me Monday because I lost a few hours. I was only down for an evening and over night. In conversation with our daycare provider I explained that Mark had it and was down for nearly two full days, his dad and brother with the same. I told her I must have had a different strain because I worked until 6:30 p.m. that Monday, went home feeling sick and rested on the couch. I took some time to rest in the morning and was at work by 9:30 a.m. so it was just a little over 12 hours. She told me, "You know, women are just stronger." Yeah, maybe she's right!
My to-do list today is pretty well done except the sign I wanted to order for the photography shop didn't happen. Hopefully I'll have my call returned on Monday. And I wanted to hire a cleaning lady. I NEED to. I have issues with delegating. Every time I hand someone a task it makes me feel like I should be doing it myself. Delegation is the key to success and I think I'll start with getting someone to tidy up around the place. That will also help keep my sanity!
Dylan had over his friend Antuan after school today. We were busy getting a snack and settling into the house. Dylan walked up to me as I was plugging on the lap top and asks, "Mom, can we watch WALLE please?" Which gave me pause, considering the movie was in the minivan and was due today! So I said, "Well, yes Dylan, yes you can." What's a late fee when it comes to your child's happiness?! I'm just glad one of us can benefit from me running out of time today.
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The Ol' One-Two 1-28-09 Dylan came home from school yesterday and told us about an incident at recess. Apparently a child, a younger one at that, punched him in the face. Of course as parents we were asking what he said to this kid, if he was asking for it, or what was the deal. Dylan said his principal would be calling us to give us the scoop and she did. From what we've gathered from our two sources is that the kid was teasing Dylan's buddy. How Dylan ended up getting punched in the face is yet to be known. All sources say Dylan did not throw the first punch. Dylan ended up with a bloody nose. Dylan also told us that he punched the kid back. Of course at first I was quite proud of my little guy. First of all, he didn't throw the first punch. Second, he stood up for himself. Third, there's also a chance that he was standing up for his buddy in which case I was almost tempted to pat him on the back! I'd hate for my boy to get beat up by a k-prep kid, an 'underclassman'. So I'm still pondering how to handle this. It's never really OK to hit....or is it? Maybe we'll have to discuss the 'One-Two' rule. Maybe if someone hits Dylan, or anyone, then nothing should happen. If that same person attempts or accomplishes another hit, then yes, open up a can of your mini-whoop *ss'. Dylan said it was the right thing to do because it hurt and that kid did it first for no reason. Maybe he's right. Like Mark and I were saying last night, I can't say for sure I wouldn't have done the same thing. In fact, I know if someone punched me in the nose and it hurt, I'd be returning the favor if the mood was just right. Where's the thin line between getting your behind handed to you and standing up for yourself? Since we don't know the whole story we can't assume anything but I'd love it if Dylan really was standing up for his buddy. Go Dylan! I should add that my 36-year-old brother still has not mastered this equation. The second puncher is always the one to get caught. This is why I'm thinking to wait and be the third.
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Joy 1-27-09 Many, many posts ago I promised a blog on JOY. Today feels like the right day to do it. During a church service Father Beckman gave a homily and he talked of a lady he met in a nursing home. This lady was suffering due to the aches and pains of old age. He said that any time he came to visit her she never went on about her own sufferings but asked him how many of the other residents were doing. Father reiterated that 'where there is suffering, there can also be joy'. That is a phrase that stays in my mind day after day. When there appears to be suffering in my life, whether it is emotional, physical, professional, I know it's no reason to give up the joy in life. On this day I feel like I'm losing the battle of joy. Not that I would mention my woes to any and everyone that walks through my door. But, in my mind things are heading the wrong direction. Like many businesses we're financially 'unsound'. That comes with a whole basket load of issues with businesses, readers, customers, employees, etc. All of the usual business stuff that goes with every business so I'm no exception. There is always more work to do at the paper and I find myself feeling like it just doesn't pay for me to be away from my family. At least with the photography I make a few dollars for my time. Although I know after this year all will be well, it's just hard to stomach for the time being, especially when the selling price of our milk has fallen into the $10's per hundred weight and the cattle market stinks. I read in a neighboring newspaper how the editors/publishers there often take off and vacation a few times a year and I can't help but wonder how in the heck they're able to do that. For starters I came down with a flu bug yesterday and while trying to recover today I still needed to come to work. A day off is really never a day off around here let alone an actual vacation. I wouldn't know what to do with myself!
My father is in St. Louis today visiting with a new doctor. I'm waiting for a phone call this afternoon to hear what was decided. At this point we haven't even speculated on our options so I'm REALLY anxious to find out what's going on.
I have an unusually large amount of friends going through hard times of their own and they often call me for advice so I'm worrying about them and praying their issues will be settled. It feels like suddenly America is a crazy place!
This brings me back to JOY. There is suffering going on here. It's inside me and others that I know. It's important to not forget what brings us joy. It's important for me to spend time with my family and watch our children play. I think it's also important to not let all of this other 'stuff' cloud out what's really important in life.
JOY...that's my true goal for the year to come.
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| Superman Kids |
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Potty Training Ahoy!1-25-09 I have to give our little Britney some credit, she's always been a good worker bee. She helps clean out the dish washer, helps put her clothes up in her room (of course they are randomly placed on the dresser but at least they're one giant step closer to home base), and she helps put shoes away and pretty much do whatever we ask, most of the time. Today while I was in the process of changing her diaper she pointer to her behind and said, "Poop, butt-butt pooooop." So I asked if she wanted to go on the big potty. She pointed to the bathroom and said, "pooottyyyy". So onward we went into the bathroom and I set her on the potty. That little girl tried and tried to go potty. The other kids always pretended to be pushing but not Britney, that girl was going to sit until something happened. With some grunting, some cheering from me, and smiles from her feeling accomplished, a little gas came out. She laughed and said, "Butt-butt". Indeed, butt-butt was working properly. She didn't poop this time but it's a great step in the right direction.
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Getting married
01-21-09
My little guy often talks about getting married and he wonders who he'll end up marrying. Tonight he told me that once he gets married he'll come over for dinner. In fact, he said he and his wife would come over for dinner before they have kids as well as after they have kids. This was all good news to me.
Then Megan was upset because she wanted to marry Dylan. Dylan explained to her, "Well Megan, I'm six and Angel is five, not Angel our dog, but Angel that rides our bus. She's the one I'm going to marry and because we're almost the same age, we can marry. I'm six and you are four so we can't marry."
I added in, "Plus, you're siblings." Dylan agreed.
I told them I did not find the man of my dreams until I was 21 so it may be awhile until they settle down.
Dylan tells me, "But mom, I love Angel and Angel loves me." At that time I remember he did ask to bring her gummy bears early on in the school year. Must be true love.
By this time Megan's been reduced to tears..."BUT, BUT, WHOSE GONNA MARRY ME???"
For a brief moment it reminded me of life before I met Mark...'whose gonna marry me???'
Megan has lots of time to figure it out.
I'm just excited to know that Dylan plans to visit home before and after he and his new wife have children. I'm equally excited that he doesn't want to marry his sister. Oh...and Dylan also told Megan she couldn't marry his buddy Antuan because he already has a woman. Who knew???
Talk about the 20 year plan!
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Back To Square One 1-18-09 My father had been anticipating the start of his rounds of radiation. In the beginning he couldn't have it because it was in the same area as the last time he had it. Then the doctor gave us great news that he COULD have it because it was a different area. Now last week he went it to do what he thought was going to be getting his tattoos for the radiation and the doctor now said they can't do it. In fact, the man he's been doctoring with said he's done all he can do for my dad. The doctor forwarded all of my dad's medical records to another specialist in St. Louis and that doc said he'd be willing to do a consultation with my dad to find out his options. Again, the options we were looking at before included larynx and tongue removal. Very extreme measures may be back on the table for options. With no treatment they said we'll be looking at about a year of time left. On Tuesday the new doctors team will call to set up an appointment so we'll see where it goes now.
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| Britney Hageman, just a few months shy of two. |
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This little face means trouble...T-R-O-U-B-L-E1-16-09 The little face that you see to the right is trouble. It's so cute, it's just plain trouble. When I walked in the door tonight from work all of the kids immediately greeted me. Dylan was first and began going off into a tangent about something or other. Someone took this away from another, etc. So I said, 'Wow, you have been home for about 30 seconds and already there is chaos???' Well, yes, as a matter of fact there was. After Dylan expressed himself about a toy he wanted from outside, then Megan and Britney were next. Apparently Britney has Megan's cell phone, which is also knows as 'Fastest', her version of a pink Transformer. I told Britney to give it to Megan. She clinched it tighter...of course. After a few times of asking I told Megan to take it from her. So she did. Britney protested. In fact, she threw herself down on the linoleum floor. The other two kids took off to do their thing while I had just walked in with my computer case in one hand, my purse in another, and the mail tucked somewhere under an arm. I stepped over Britney and took off my shoes. I tried talking to her a little with no avail. I headed back to the office to finish some much needed work and she carried on. Then she followed me there and continued to carry on. Then she decided to get a hold of something that wasn't hers (my cell phone) and smiled as if nothing was wrong. A smile as though saying, "Yes mommy, I am cute and you'll let me get away with something if I just keep trying long enough." Indeed, she's usually right. Not my cell phone though. She'll be allowed to have other things if she tries long enough. Boy oh boy, that girl can carry on...and on...and on...and on!
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Today Is A Good Day 01-16-09 A good friend of mine once bought me a sweatshirt that says on it, "Today Was A Good Day". Whether it 'is' or 'was', or whatever, today is one of those. I think the bad weather has been wearing me down. I want to play outside. At the very least I'd like to drive my minivan somewhere. It's been at the shop for several days and I have to hitch a ride with my husband everywhere I go. He doesn't seem to mind but I know deep down he has tons of other work to do instead of hauling around the Mrs. So I'm at the office. My minivan is at the shop. I'm thankful that there isn't any place that I really need to go today.
I'm feeling good today. In hard economic times, this year isn't going to be a cake walk by any means, but if we can stick it out for the next few months I think things will be fine. It's the 'sticking it out' part that isn't going to be fun. Another grand saying my friend and I have is, 'this too shall pass'. And so it will. Like prunes, nothing sticks around forever!
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The Secret To My Success 01-15-09 Snowdays are the talk of the community these days. We're not just talking about one day off a year, we're talking about 'welcome to the Midwest folks cause we're producing snow like it's the Day After Tomorrow! (that's a movie in case you haven't seen it in which there are yards and yards of snow, tidal waves that consume states, etc.) I am one of the lucky moms who typically has the option of staying home with the kids once the weather has dipped into the death-defying, below zero temperatures. I hold true to the statement that there isn't a darn thing going on outside of my home that is so exciting that we have to risk our lives. How do I survive? Survival kit...schedule. We actually have a piece of paper with times listed and activities that we'll partake in. The secret to having the schedule go over well is to talk about it ahead of time. That way none of the items sneak up on any unsuspecting children. They know ahead of time that chore time will come, school time will come and of course there will be play and activities. Dylan has 'class time' during his days off. Not a lot, but enough to remind him that he still needs order in life. Our 'family play time' had to take a back seat because daddy has the flu so it was me, Dylan and Megan doing some UNI and Go Fish. Another important part of the day includes time to burn off energy. We have DANCE PARTY! We blare some music throughout the house, jump around, run around the table, run on the treadmill and just have a great time. Now is plain old play time when the kids can do whatever they want and they seem to be enjoying playing Transformers. So that's my survival kit. For those of you with teenagers...you're on your own. I suggest a locking bathroom door and a good book. That's all I got for ya. Hope you have a large house!
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Welcome to Hell 1-15-09 If I had to take a stab at what hell would be like, I'd say it's an awful lot like the day my husband is having. This morning he announced that he was sick. He hasn't eaten anything all day. Typically he's had two if not three meals by now. He came in from morning chores and laid down for a nap. He had to go back out to do barn chores and returned again around 11:00 and headed back to the couch. Within a few minutes the other guys came over to tell Mark a watertank had some pipes burst and water is everywhere. Of course by the time they arrived to the house I"m sure it was 100% ice. Mark drug himself back to his feet, held back the urge to vomit, and piled on his chores clothes, layer after layer. Poor man can't even take a sick day. I'm pretty sure he's in his own personal hell right now.
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The Finding of the Cheese 1-14-09 One thing I have to say, when Dylan comes home from school, he and Megan play together wonderfully. I believe that the two kids actually miss each other when they are apart. They are Transformer buddies and without both kids to play, the kingdom, or planet, or whatever it is, just isn't the same. Dylan and Megan were busy playing while Britney just kind of walks around the house messing with stuff. Britney loves chapstick and holds onto a stick for an hour while constantly putting some on her lips. She's very kissable, I must say. Dylan yells out to me, 'Mommy, Megan found the cheese!" "The WHAT?" "The cheese." "What kind of cheese? Real cheese?" "Yeah." So Dylan comes up and shows me the cheese. I totally lucked out this time. It was a cheese shaped eraser! YES! In the past when the kids find something that resembles food, it's usually food. Like the time Britney was spotted eating a Star Crunch. Again, I don't buy Star Crunches...daddy does. And that particular time I know he hadn't been shopping for probably at least a month. Yikes. However today, was my lucky day. I've never been so happy to spot a chunk of fake cheese in my entire life.
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Mental Whiplash 1-13-09 For the most part I could sum myself up as mental whiplash. While engaging in my morning jog on the treadmill I listen to my iPod. On this iPod there is quite the exchange of tunes. One moment I can listen to Alan Jackson, George Straight, the next it's Metalica, Buckcherry, then Lil Wayne, Getto Boys, of course my favorite band ever - the New Kids on the Block, then Willie Nelson, Enigma, The Highwaymen, Newsboys, Trace Atkins, Casting Crowns, Young Jeezy, Eminem, 50 Cent, Linkin Park and LeAnn Rimes. Holy smoking iPod Batman. That's a wide variety of tunes. But, it's fun. One moment there's a song about dirty dancing and the next it's a focus on the Lord. To sum it up...we are all blessed with an amazing world before us. Each item in our lives is a blessing and as one who enjoys dancing I can adore the fine tunes of some of the pop and rap artists. As one who loves God I fully enjoy the tunes of worship and praise. Mental whiplash...it's just the way life is whether you like it or not.
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On purpose...or not 1-12-09 In the world of children everything is intentional, that is of course they did it. Have you noticed that is one child trips another, the 'tripper' states that it was a whoops. If you ask the one that landed on their face they will tell you it was on purpose. These same rules apply between children and their parents. The other day I gave Dylan his plate of food and he was chowing away. Before long he pauses, grabs at his mouth and pulls out a long, blond hair. Of course I can't deny it was me as it was pretty obvious. So he finishes yanking it from his lips and says to me, "Mom, why would you put hair in your children's food?" I laughed and said that I was hoping to give him something to remember me by. That didn't go over very well but I thought it was kinda funny. I should of said, "Yes Dylan, I am poisoning you slowly with my long strands of hair. Enjoy dinner!" Intentional or not intentional, that is the household question.
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Thought Organization 01-11-09 I am a little overwhelmed and here is why. 1) Advertisers are dropping like flies while the cost of printing is rising faster than a Viagra convention. 2) Yearbook advisory position is slow and painful as the weather as halted sponsorship sales. Time with the students is hard to come by and some major planning and deadline construction must happen in January. (I'd LOVE to do a black and white yearbook with just a few color pages...it just makes sense!) 3) I can't cut any more corners without ticking off readers or staffers so I'm just going to take it in the shorts as long as I can withstand it or until this year is over. Sounds like fun. 4) End of this month I become the co-chair of my church circle. I am going to suck at it. 5) Photography business is going really, really well. It's sort of my future and it warrants more attention by me. 6) Spent $75,000 on Friday for crop inputs and somehow that doesn't even include the $8,000 of prepay, price of actual SEED and gasoline, machinery, etc. The world is going to starve to death or my husband is going to work himself to death. It's a race to see which happens first! 7) Graduation is coming up fast. Mark's brother graduates in May so there is planning to do...lots and lots of planning and one scrapbook that I'm only half done with! Actually, two scrapbooks now, I've allocated one just for football. 8) I need to find time to exercise. Without my health and a clear mine which only comes from exercise, I'm no good to any of the causes. 9) The tax season is upon us and reports must be printed, filed, signed, dates, paid for, peed on...oops, that was my imagination sneaking out there. 10) Potty training is coming up soon for Britney. That's sort of a plus once it's accomplished. 11) My father's radiation begins tomorrow and it's going to be really hard on it. It's a really intense program of 35 treatments. He'll drive to Iowa City every day. Pray for him if you get the chance, please. 12) My heart desires me to attend bible study. I failed at getting back to it Thursday because I was working. I think I'll have to forgo that....forever. 13) With all of the above going on I feel like I lack as a mother. 14) Also feel like I'm lacking as a wife. The husband and wife are the foundation of a home and must stand strong. A little more love-making never hurt anyone!
BUT...I have to remind myself to FOCUS! Each day when I wake up I remind myself that I am happy. I enjoy the moments I spend with my family. Each morning I carve out extra time to share with Dylan as he prepares for school. I try to rock with Britney if she lets me. Megan and I now share the bathroom a little as I put on her lip gloss and comb her hair. I talk with my husband each morning, noon and night. God will point me in the right direction this year. It isn't going to be easy and there will be some extremely hard times to come. I think that goes for many, many Americans.
Positives in life. God loves us. My family is alive and well. I still have bladder control. I can still hear the sound of our children playing. I can taste the dinner that I'm still able to put on our families table. I can feel the soft touch of our children's hugs and the warmth of my husbands arms. I can still smell the aroma of a clean batch of laundry. I can still see the smiles of my families faces when we play together. My house, although every-so-messy is standing and is filled with joy. Boston Legal is now on another station so we can see repeats. Cows still produce milk. Frozen pizza is cheap. Mark's the one getting gray hair and not me. In the words of Scarlett O'Hara...Tomorrow Is Another Day!
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If only Transformers came in Pink 1-05-08 I can't say for sure how he does it, but Dylan manages to get others to conform to what he thinks needs to happen. He's quite persuasive and I don't think I like it much! Somehow he always manages to get me to add marshmallows or whipped cream to his hot chocolate every time he comes in from the barn. Which is a small thing, I realize, but it's the fact of the matter that I don't WANT him to have all that stuff every time he has a warm, toasty treat. Then there is his brother-sister relationship with Megan. He's somehow sucked her into his own little world as well. They typically play quite well together and it seems as though all items in the house can become Transformers. Megan has a pink toy cell phone and they have turned it into a Transformer called 'Fastest'. I don't know what qualities a cell phone must have to be called 'Fastest', maybe she gets amazing play-reception. Who knows. Of course Dylan has real Transformer toys. Little planes that turn into bad guys, trucks that turn into Autobots, and cars that also turn into really cool things. It wasn't apparent to me until this morning when Dylan was long gone and off to school and it was just the girls and me at home, that I realized just how much he's brainwashed her. Megan comes up to me and asks if she can watch a Transformer show on daddy's 'puter'. So now, not only is she involved in Dylan interesting and amazing world of transformation, she now invents her own pink Transformers and has interest in watching the show while her big brother is gone! Only in the world of Dylan can Barbie save Optimus Prime from Megatron. What next? Does she plan to trade in her princess undies for Transformer boxers? That's where I draw the line.
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Motherly Instincts 01-03-09 Instincts that come with motherhood are sneaky. First of all, you don't know for sure if you have any to begin with. Then, while going through pregnancy, nursing, nurturing, and raising a child there are always little things that come up that only parents would think to do. And in my case, what mothers end up doing. I remembered today what 'instinct' means exactly. In my household our children are six, four and one (close to turning two). This means that all of the infant things are no longer occurring everyday. There are just so many different things that come with each age group. Mark and I are finally at the stage...or for the most part...that when a child is sleeping we don't stress out on whether or not they're breathing. With our first child there were problems at birth. Dylan inhaled fluid and was in the NICU for a week. Therefore we have always had a finely tuned ears set towards his breathing and that carried through to our other children. Today I had the pleasure of watching one of my friends' little guy. He's just over a year old. When the time came for little man to rest I sat in the rocking chair with him. My own little one was upstairs napping already and Dylan and Megan had decided to work with some play-dough. So the little guy and I rocked away. Eventually he dosed off and being very tired myself, I caught myself nodding off. At that sudden moment, even though I probably hadn't even fallen asleep officially, I had that panic button turned in my instincts. My head sprang up and our cozy, snuggling moment ended as I looked at his face, spotted color, tossed my ear in front of his nose and rubbed his back. All that time...of course about 1.2 seconds worth, I didn't want to wake him. But again, it was that panic mode of motherhood. There is always a double checking of breathing going on and why? We were fine. He was happy and snuggling into a warm moment of comfort and rest. Oh goodness me. I wonder if that panic button will ever fall off of me. Sleeping babies...I just can't let them sleep without worrying! Then there is the whole 'grape' issue. I sliced up Dylan's grapes until he was nearly five. Even now I worry about him eating the whole grape. I guess at the end of the day I have to remind myself that as a mother I am truly not in charge...but that's easier said than done.
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Mind your manners 12-29-08 As I was thinking about my little ladies man, I also remember a more recent moment in time. Picture this...it's Christmas dinner at my house. Our table is surrounded with my brothers, sister-in-laws, parents and a nearby table of kids. We're nibbling on ham, mashed potatoes and all the other holiday delights when out of no where I near, "WEINER!" What? So I'm not sure if Megan was just trying to fit in at a table full of boys but out of no where she blurts out, "WEINER!" Ok then. We chuckled a little and didn't say a word. Seems like once you over-react, or quite honestly if you react at all, it just fuels the fire. In this case it didn't help any that we sat and chuckled in silence. Once again Megan blurted out, "WEINERS!" Of course this time it was plural, but all the same, it was time to remind Megan of her manners. Hoping we'll break her of this before she's a teenager and sitting at the lunch table in school.
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Ladies Man
12-28-2008 Our little guy is a ladies man. It isn't even a secret because that's exactly what he tells us he is. Earlier today he stood up from the table where he and Megan were painting. I asked where he was headed and he said to the bathroom. Then he asks me, "Well, do you have to go mom?" "No, I just went." "OK, because if you do I'll let you go first cause ladies always need to go first." And people say chivalry is dead....not in this house!
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| Our gingerbread house. |
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The making of our gingerbread house12-27-08 My mother gave us a gingerbread house kit a few days ago. The children and I decided to stick it together on Saturday morning. There were a lot of busy little hands involved. One set of hands were particularly pesky. In case you haven't guessed it, Britney Ann's hands were always getting into mischief. Britney enjoys candy quit a bit and with a gingerbread house there is a lot of candy involved. There were tiny packages of peppermints, sprees, gumballs and much, much more. While the other kids and I were spreading on the frosting/glue Britney kept sticking her hands in front of me, reaching for the candy. When I told her 'No' she was very offended. She'd fuss for a moment and then give me the cutest darn look as if saying, "Oh come on mom, I'm cute, just look at my dimples!" And yes, it worked. It was funny. She just couldn't control herself, it was far too exciting! It was like my husband at a buffet or a New England Patriots game, just out of control! When it was all done we dug in. Everyone was able to take their turn taking a bite of the house. A good time was definitely had by all.
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Little swiper!
It doesn't mater how unimportant or unuseful an item is to our little Britney, she'll try to swipe it anyway! While working in the home office on Sunday she snuck into the room and peeked around the corner. I give her a big smile and she gives me a wrinkley-nose smile and a laugh. Then she turns around and leaves.
Moments later she'll return and I hear her. I choose not to look because she's a little sneak so I thought it would be funny to see what she's up to. Suddenly, I feel a little brush against the inside of my arm and low and behold, her little hand was stretched up and she was snagging the chapstick off of my desk right under my nose!
She thinks it's really funny. If I didn't have a fear of her choking on the cap, I would find it even more amusing.
I put some chapstick on her and she's happy and then goes back to play with the rest of the kids.
She knows that there are two places in the house that she's not allowed. Those are my jewelry box/drawer and my desk. She frequents those two places every single day. She'll carry a necklace around the house until I see her and she'll hand it to me. She doesn't make a fuss about it, though.
She'll sneak back into the office and sit at my desk and look at my cell phone. As soon as she sees me she hands it over.
Silly child. She's just curious and of all three kids she is definitely the most sneaky!
This explains why the lower half of our Christmas tree is naked and all of those ornaments are stashed in a end table drawer.
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| Britney and Megan washing potatoes today. |
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Be careful who you bake with!12-17-08 While home today I did some baking with my little girls. For one of our pans of bars we tried a new recipe. Halfway through I noticed that it said sweetened-condensed milk. I always (or semi-always apparently) have a few cans on hand. Of course it is the holiday baking season so I must have used up the last can previously. As I was looking at the recipe I said to Megan, "Uh oh Megan, your mommy can't bake." She didn't say anything at that point in time and we carried on through our recipe. I took some of the cream from our own bulk tank milk, added some vanilla and lots of sugar and called it good! So once we put that pan in the oven I looked for another recipe to try. I said to Megan, "Well, should we try this one?" She said to me, "Yeah, I can show you how to bake mom." After a laugh I grabbed a few more ingredients and bowls for the next item. I said to Megan, "Well, what should we do now?" She replied, "Well, I'll lick out the other bowl."
Once that task was done we began adding new ingredients. I was adding the eggs and for our large batch we needed six. I told Megan she needed to count for me. She did. "One, two, three, five, eleven." Thankfully I was not putting the full responsibility of counting on her tiny shoulders.
As it turned out, our 'creative' bars were fabulous and better than the ones that were followed to the recipe 100%!
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A surprise visit today 12-17-08 There are scenes in many movies of family members and loved ones greeting a soldier back home after the war. There is a vision of a child running up to her father as he's walking down the driveway. Today, I can say I feel a hint of what goes through the minds of those little girls and boys. I took the day off of work to stay home and spend family time with the girls. We were busy baking bars, doing laundry and playing. Just after dinner I was cleaning up the kitchen table and through the bay window of our family room I saw a truck pull up. I didn't recognize it at first because there was a snowmobile on the back. Turns out, it was my brother's snowmobile on the back of my father's truck. By the time I washed up my hands and dried them off he was walking in the door. I charged around the table and into the entry way and if dad would have been any younger I'd probably of leaped into his arms! But, I didn't so an extremely hasty and eager hug had to do. It's funny how this past Monday I felt like the Lord was putting just a little too much faith in me by piling up the load that He needs me to handle. Today, I feel like there are only a few small specs on my plate.
Ah, to feel like a kid again. All I was missing were a few pigtails and missing teeth.
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Miracle Anyone?
12-17-08
Anyone in the mood for a Christmas miracle? Hope so!
As you've read in recent entries, we have illness in the family. While the answers were doom and gloom for quite some time, there was a new outcome yesterday. My dad has gone from choosing between a major surgery and slowly passing away to just having to have radiation!
It's quite the leap of outcomes. I didn't take the time to ask details. Whether it's a permanent solution or not, it's one my dad can truly live with and will bring some Christmas spirit back into my family.
My step-mom told me last night that my brother, who seems to waiver in his faith, said to her, "Prayers really do get answered."
So whatever the purpose, why God chose this path, I can't say for sure. But it has added more faith to my brother, added hope to my father, and given my family back some Christmas spirit.
Earlier this week I gave my dad to God, I put him in His hands and asked that he handle with care. He has chosen to carefully hand my dad back to us for awhile and that is the greatest Christmas present ever!
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Handle With Care
12-15-08
Dear God,
I am raising up to you one of my most precious gifts in life. Although I know he is not mine to keep forever, I love that you placed him in my life. With a recent rebound of cancer, someone I love has limited options in life and will have a life-changing surgery this Friday.
There is nothing I can do to change things and so I will continue to pray. I have completely placed him into your hands. The choices you will be making in the next week, month, year are only yours to make.
I pray that he holds on tight to hope, love and you. I pray he finds comfort.
Just as he has always handled his little girl with care, I am trusting you will return the favor with him. I only ask that you please, please handle with care for he is my dad.
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I don't have a title...sorry.
12-14-08 So I would like to begin by apologizing for this entry. It's going to revolve around some complaining due to a poor year in my business, a semi-poor year on the farm, and a recent pool of poor health amongst our beloved family members. I'll post an additional entry later on about today's church sermon because it is important to me in these trying times.
As you noticed in previous entries my father is having some health issues. He will be undergoing a 10-12 hour surgery and that same surgery has also been known to last up to 24 hours. On an additional note I am not someone who has free time and I don't know what to do with myself. After Ma/Rheta (my step-mom) told me about the long surgery I knew it was something I definitely needed to be there for. I also know that supporting my family will take time and still figured I would have at the very least a random hour or two, even three, to find a purpose. I sent a message to the volunteer unit of the hospital and my response was not promising, not even uplifting. In the past I've worked with our church youth and attended a service trip and worked at youth rallies and confirmation retreats. Here is the response I had. It was nicely put but non-understanding of me.
Dear Tina,
Thanks for your interest in volunteering! We require new volunteers commit to a minimum of six months of weekly
volunteering, usually a 3-hour shift per week (72+ hours total). I am
sorry that we can't accommodate short-term volunteers! However, there
are some great websites that highlight volunteer opportunities and
organizations that do not have such extensive regulations and time
commitments. I'm not sure if you are from this area, however if you are
interested in local volunteer opportunities, I recommend you check the
following sites: www.volunteermatch.org and www.Corridorvolunteers.org
both offer information on local volunteer opportunities and are
searchable by type of volunteer experience as well as location. I hope
all goes well next week for your family.
Sincerely,
Amy Rood
ALAS...someone else puts my issues into terms. I am a lover of volunteering however, I'm also a business owner, mother, farmwife, co-chair at church, and of course the obvious items of mother and important person in the lives of family. However, unless I have a vast amount of free time (such as a six month commitment) I'm obviously not of use to the general public.
It just stinks to me that I have to think about my father and cope while sitting idle in a waiting room. Here I am, a lover of children, I adore reading to them, making them smile, I am going to have a good 10-12 hours of free time in one of the greatest hospitals in America and I CAN'T HELP ANYONE!
I want to be useful and share joy and it's the Christmas season so darn it...let me do spread joy as I know how!
I plan to pack some books and as the hospital in Iowa City is huge, although I cannot visit kids admitted into the hospital there will certainly be enough children present waiting just like my family.
JOY....leads me to my next entry. I'll post soon.
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A Saturday with the children 12-12-08 When I woke up this morning I was determined to get something done. We've had paint for painting the toy room (red) and haven't started the project. The kids helped clean up and get the toys hauled out and I began taping and painting. The children were all home with me and frequently stopped in to chat to tell me something. They often helped with picking up the peeled off border and wiping down the wall. It was a really good mother/children effort this morning. I had to chuckle because Mark came in for dinner around 1:00 today and I asked if he could tape off part of the ceiling that was left. We were in there working and in their same fashion, the children stopped in frequently. Mark says to me, 'They're driving me nuts, how did you get anything done?" He is just used to working by himself and hasn't learned the tricks of the trade. After ten minutes Mark ran out of tape so I ran out of help. But it's nearly finished and looks pretty nifty. Megan was singing about painting today. Then when she ate a sandwich she sang about the sandwich. She even had a catchy tune about ice cold water. I decided to catch the little princess on film but she sort of clammed up and lost her creative side. But, it isn't just too bad. I asked her to sing my favorite song. It's posted just above.
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| My dad and Ma (Rheta, my stepmom) |
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The irony and light in life 12-11-08 In life, we are often reminded to not take anything for granted. What exactly is 'anything'? Technically, it is everything. Everything we know, see, smell, hear, adore, are annoyed by, are amazed by, and so on. In light of a current situation in life, I've found both irony and humor in it. The lighter side of things is something Mark and I unfortunately always seek out in every situation. Whether it be a good thing or bad, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel and we think we have special vision that lets us skip all the hard stuff while others are watching. Of course while others are not watching we place all of that 'light' in our back pockets until the next day.
Our current family issue. My father has cancer in his throat again. Cancer can only attack a specific area just so many times until the options begin to run out. The doctor told the family yesterday that he either needed to have a drastic surgery or face the fact of not seeing next Christmas. Although my dad said previously that he'd never do this procedure, I was happy to hear he opted for another go-around. Next Friday, December 19th, 2008, he will have surgery to remove his larynx and entire tongue. My dad will never eat again, drink fluids or speak. A place I find light is in the fact that my brothers and I often called him 'lips'. This is because while playing cards my dad talked all the time. He gave out too much information and we would say, "Hey Lips, settle down."
God has given my dad another chance, another option, another fight. What was once his knick-name during a game of cards is now something that makes no difference to my family. Whether he can talk or not, no one really cares. The fact that he'll be with us, give hugs, receive hugs, view his loving wife, children and grandchildren for another span of time is amazing.
Is there irony....sure; is there humor in the idea that 'Lips' won't be able to speak up during a game of cards....you bet; is the hand of God dealing us one more full house...you're damn right He is.
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There is one thing I have to disagree with God on 12-10-08Aside from my previous post...I do have one complaint about one of God's decisions. Isn't there anything He can do about teenage boys' pants? There is nothing about this photo that is attractive nor is there anything that screams out comfort. I can't say that I would be excited about the idea of having to hold onto my pants with a death grip or be faced with the idea of allowing them to fall to my knees. So here, this is a problem of the world that can possibly be solved.
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I don't know how people do it without Christ
12-10-08 In the moment that you receive bad news there are a thousand things that go through your mind. Tears will fall, hearts will ache, and loving hugs will be shared. This morning I learned that my father's surgery did not go well. He was diagnosed with throat cancer about seven years ago...actually it may have been longer than that. Then about three years ago it returned for a second time. Then, this year it was back again for a third visit. Dad had surgery for the second time this year just this morning and they found that the cancer has invaded the muscles surrounding the initial area of his throat, larnyx, etc. Some extreme measures are being discussed and I know my dad doesn't want to do any of those...or at least the last time he talked about it, he didn't. This is hard news to digest. He's my dad and I am his only daughter and we share a special bond.
Down deep I know that the greatest decisions are life are not mine or dad's. Those are up to God. Having faith may not make the tough times ahead easy for me but it will help me accept them. I don't know how folks without any faith do it, how they cope, how they stand next to an ill person with a smile and my heart goes out to those people the most because without it, what do they have to offer?
It will be tomorrow (Thursday) before I see my dad and I hope he can feel a little of what I do. Some strength in that God's the one making the real decisions, hope in that he is loved whether or not he can speak, and honored as the father that his children love him dearly for.
Wish me luck.
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Oh Britney...Each child has their very own unique way of doing things. They all have a passion they hold close to their little hearts. For many young boys it's farming, tractors, trains, etc., and for girls it's often Barbie's and princesses. For our little Britney it is a passion that is also a necessity for life. Our little angel really likes to eat. Just this morning, as it is a snow day, all of the children were home so I attempted to spend the first few hours working at home while Mark accomplished some chores. Britney always manages to find food. Just the other day I caught her with a Star Crunch. Now mind you, I don't buy Star Crunches....junk food falls into daddy's responsibility. Mark even told the clerk at Huber's that he has to come down and buy his own Mt. Dew and junk food because his wife won't do it! This is true. So Britney has a Star Crunch and for the life of me, I had no idea how old it was, so it needed to be thrown away. This morning Britney was climbing back onto one of the chairs at the kitchen table. Her favorite hobby is scoping out what scrapes the other children have left behind. I heard a little thump and some crying so I ran to her side. Within one second I was there and ready to help her stand back up. Before I could even touch her, her little hand scooped up some trace of food that was laying next to her, stuck it in her mouth, and continued to cry a little and soon got over it. The poor little girl had just fallen from a chair that was as tall as she is and yet her worries were with whether or not she'd lost her food.
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| Megan Kay |
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The Maker of Snow12-04-08 I made a stop at the store with the children earlier today. So far it has been snowing all day and while we were inside there was plenty of snow that had fallen onto the minivan. When we returned to the van Megan was excited to see that it was covered in white fluff. She said, "Oh, mommy, look. It'snooow!" So I responded to her with something like, "Yes, isn't it nice? I wonder who did all of that, do you suppose Santa dusted some on our minivan?" "God makesnooow. Did you forget mommy? It's God." With all of the Santa Claus hype it was nice to hear that what's really important sticks to the minds of our little ones from time to time.
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Every young mom's dilemma 12-03-08 While writing in the title I realized I often refer to myself as a young mom. Don't take that as the idea that I am 'young', but as the concept of my being the mother of young children. To shorten it up...young mom. Since the day we had our first child there has always been a dilemma upon each return home. I especially remember coming home from work while Dylan was still nursing and there was always the decision of what to do first. A young mom's first retreat back to the house brings a lot of options. For me it was always: needing to go to the restroom, putting away my coat and shoes, getting the youngster out of the car seat, wanting to start supper, fold laundry, answer the constantly ringing phone, and nursing. It always seemed like those first 15-20 minutes returning home were the worst. Everything else in parenthood was simple. With each child my priorities changed. It used to be: coat/shoes, start a load of laundry, pee while answering the phone....it was always my mom so she was used to that...then nurse. Of course the obvious task would be taking Dylan out of the carseat before nursing. By Megan things were changed up a bit. I learned to nurse while doing more things. She was a tiny thing and always reminded me of carrying around a football. By Britney I had different priorities. Suddenly supper was an after thought. It was always made before Mark came in and we dined as a family, but things weren't quite as thought out. Knowing Britney would probably be our last child, unless of course God says otherwise (and I secretly hope he will), I took time. Not just the usual amount of time but extra. I would come home, kick off my shoes, let the phone ring, (still went potty first) and sat with her as long as she felt it was necessary. So aside from all the motherly-bonding needs, there is still that ongoing dilemma. Even tonight as I walked in the house with all three kids I knew there was a need to help at least two with their shoes and one with her coat and first and foremost...I had to pee. I must say that the good Lord knew just what he was doing when he blessed us ladies with the ability to: kick off our shoes onto the designated rug while unbuckling our pants, residing in the restroom while answering the phone and taking off the shoes of a youngster, picking up the hand towel from the floor while under our breathe trying to explain to other children that mommy is on the phone and the grace to do it with a smile....all before we've even taken the time to wipe. Carry on young moms. God bless your hearts. May your lil' shoes not be knotted, your zipper not be stuck and your phone connection worth your time.
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What does your ringtone say about you?
12-03-08
Adding new music to my phone is a past time for me while riding in the minivan or sitting in a waiting room. I've found that in waiting rooms there is an unfortunate abundance of Seventeen and Glamour magazines of which I'm nearly twice the age of their preferred readers so I skip the magazine rack.
I smile every time my husband calls because his ringtone suites him so well. To me, my husband is Superman. He works hard, jumps from one piece of machinery to another on a single bound, and if I didn't know better I'd say he can see through certain items.
When he calls, I hear the echo of the theme song to the movie Superman. I often feel the urge to throw my arm straight out into the air with a fist which is the signature move of Superman. And when I am alone I usually hum right along before answering his call.
Lucky for me, Mark only has one ringtone on his phone and it's nothing to brag about.
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Multitasking Was the term multitasking even in existence 1,000 years ago? Folks used to do just one thing....aka...blacksmith...mom...dad...bartender...sheriff. It isn't that any of these positions in life are to be taken lightly it's just that people used to do just one thing at a time. A grand example could be when I'm kissing my husband goodbye in the morning and suddenly my blackberry goes off. Indeed, it would be some type of work calling and I would need to cut the liplocking short...and why??? Well, I could be missing out on something. Of course a handsome man standing in front of me with his lips puckered is definitely the most important thing (along with our children) in life but in the fast pace of things I need to keep up. It amuses me how finely tuned into things I've become. I have my precious blackberry on which people can call, email or text me. I even printed a photo of a combine in this week's issue of the Courier that I shot with my blackberry. Each time it takes a device of some nature more than five seconds to react to my request, I turn to another device. I thought of this while opening a photography program tonight and as my computer was running slow, I felt the need to use my blackberry while the computer program was opening. I even clicked on a currently running program to work on the newspaper while the photography program was opening and all the while texting someone about a homework project. At the age of 32, I apparently have A-D-D. Next time I tell Dylan to stop bouncing off the walls he could just as easily tell me to relax a little. It's no wonder I sometimes don't sleep at night...it takes too long to doze off!
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So I was thinking about breasts today That's probably not what you were expecting to see as my next blog entry title. So I was actually giving some thoughts to breasts today and I'm pretty sure it started off with a commercial about breast cancer. It dawned on me that we have sent people into space. We have made it possible for people to walk on the moon. As a people we are practically miracle workers and we've even managed to allow the comeback of Britney Spears. So my question is, why in God's name do we have to squeeze the life right out of breasts in order to do a mammogram?
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What happened to your pants? 11-26-08 It seems like every day when Dylan comes home from school I repeat the same general question. "What happened to your pants?" He always starts off by saying he doesn't know. I ask him who knows then and eventually he tells me he drew on himself, again. Of course yesterday it was paint that dripped so we can't really blame him for that. Paint is runny and it's just another hazard of crafts.
What concerns me is that he is a boy and from all that I can tell, he'll never grow out of it. Why do I think this? I ask his daddy the same question day in and day out. "Mark, what happened to your pants?" "Oh, I got snagged jumping over a fence." Last time he had a blow out in his rear end I asked him, "Mark, what happened to your pants?" "Oh, it ripped when I was jumping over a fence." The time before that when there was a nice hole in his Wranglers. "Mark, what happened to your pants?" "Oh, they got caught when I was jumping over a fence." I'm starting to think good old Sparky needs to get a little more air time when he's jumping over stuff. Or how about even a slower paced crawl over stuff? Certainly it would help him feel a sharp piece of steel rubbing against his buns before it slices into his pants. As you can see, I'm guessing Dylan will never learn, like father, like son.
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Stress 11-24-08
I'm stressed out today. Our Santa's Helpers issue prints tomorrow and it's always a big project. Lots of ads to design and photos to work. This morning my Turkey Valley sports editor resigned to spend more time with his family. I forgot the mouse for my laptop at home so I'm using a spare and I don't like it.Some guy stopped in and wanted permission to climb onto the roof of this building. Sorry to say but I don't own the building and he can't have my permission and if that means he has to make a trip back to West Union for a larger ladder, than that's just the way it's going to be. The way I see it my options are: 1) tell the guy yes and risk him breaking his leg and suing me for the farm or 2) he makes a call and/or drives to get a bigger ladder. I think the choice is clear. I don't think Sparky (my hubby's nick name in case you didn't know) would be happy with me if we had to live in the minivan with our three children. Whether it be down by a river or not, it wouldn't go over well. My little guy goes to the nurses office every, or every other, day for a sore throat and no one can fix it.
Certainly that can't be all that's bothering me...hmmm, it sure feels like there's a lot more sitting on my shoulders. I'm just going to blame liabilities and taxes for the rest of my stress today. How do I cope today? Kolaches. I bought five dozen from Clarabell Taylor. Most of which are going somewhere besides my office, however, one bag is open and I've had three poppy seed ones in the last three hours plus one cherry one at noon. Anyone know just how many poppy seeds one can consume before the opiates are traceable??? Maybe I should stop, back away from the treat bag. Before I know it I'll be high on poppy seed kolaches, have gained five pounds, and I still won't have a tv sports editor!
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| See what I mean...tongue. |
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| This may be the x-mas card pic. |
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| Megan appears to be in physical pain. |
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Say Cheese One would assume that of all children in the world, mine would be use to a camera. That is NOT the case. While playing they are photogenic and quick frankly, they're pretty darn cute. However, the moment you try to take a picture they turn into strange creatures. Have you ever seen that episode of Friends when Chandler could not take a good engagement photo, he looked like he was in pain, etc.? That is my children. Dylan turns hyperactive and can't focus on the camera. As the oldest one would think he'd be fairly trained....not. Poor Megan, she tries so hard to smile. Under her breathe she mumbles cheese and she ends up looking like she needs to poop. Then Britney, well, she's Britney. She wants what she can't have. She'll sit still until you pick up the camera and then she's off to the races. In photos there will be one where they're looking left, the next they're looking right, then Dylan's tongue is out, then Britney sticks her hand up Megan's dress, then Dylan smiles SO big his eyes look like they're going to pop right out. Making them laugh sometimes helps but laughter causes massive squinting. All in all I think we accomplished the necessary deed. I took individual shots so at least I can mix and match! Other people's kids are so much better at taking photos than mine. They look like  and mine turn into  . I don't even know what's on that second face but it doesn't look right. Kiddos, gotta love um.
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BYOTP
When I was in high school toilet papering was a huge deal. It was a very rare occasion that anyone did it and if they had, they were in pretty big trouble. Surprisingly enough, I never took part in la-papering escapades...that is until I met some of my more recent adult friends.
There is a group of gal pals that occasionally get together to share a meal, a movie, or a day of baking.
Last summer we had friends over to our farm for the 4th of July. We enjoyed some food and volleyball. By chore time that afternoon I was carrying Megan (then just under three years old) upstairs to take her nap and as we walked by my, and Mark's, bedroom her eyes lit up and said, "Mommy, what's happened in there?"
As I turned my head I saw some beautiful streamers of toilet paper going up to the light and stretching outward in four directions.
Megs was slightly smitten with the nice decorating job.
That night as Mark stretched his arms back and under his pillow he said, "What the heck is this?" He pulled out a huge clump of Charmin. For days we found toilet paper amongst folded clothes in our dressers. Each time we found a wad we'd carry it into the bathroom into a basket holding all of the materials which we decided we may as well just go ahead and use, one wad at a time.
We've all since returned the soft favors in forms of globs of tp squares under pillows, in drawers, even a surprise package inside a folded husband's boxers. We do what we can to make our spouses feel like they are a part of our group. Of course while picking tp out from under his pillow all Mark could do was shake his head.
Funny thing is....like mother like child. One of the gals had a service call of sorts from the local school and was told that her son has done some decorating of his own. Who knew that the lessons we are passing down to our children include: flush the toilet, wash your hands, pray before dinner, say please and thank you and you must never, under any circumstances, toilet paper anything but your closest friends' homes.
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| Britney helping clean house tonight. |
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Holy Software Update Hell Batman11-18-08 I have an iPod. I love my iPod. OK...like, I suppose love is a strong word for something that dies when doused with water. During football season my brother-in-law would sometimes borrow it for football. With football now over he has decided to buy his own iPod. That is where the plot thickens. In the past three years I have purchased five iMac computers. The most recent laptops are just over one year old. On these iMacs is iTunes where we download our favorite music and put the songs on the iPods. While my iPod was on loan I decided to put music in my Blackberry. My Blackberry only plays MP3s while all I have are MP4s. So, I download a converter to make it work. It doesn't work. You would think a $500 phone ($200 with renewal plan) would do it all including dispense little pink candies when needed. But no. For a brief moment in time I'd actually given him my iPod because I thought I didn't need it anymore so I can say I'm glad he's purchased his own. Tonight I planned on cleaning the in-laws house and getting a computer hooked up. One of my wonderful iMacs (which I am actually very fond of until this very moment) is moving into the in-laws house as the bro-in-law will be attending college next year AND he'll need a way to upload songs with his new iPod. New iPod has decided to not play nice with old iMac. I download the new version of iTunes. New iTunes doesn't want to play nice with old iMac. Before I know it I don't even want to play nice with old iMac. I call tech support to find out I need to purchase (or rather my bro-in-law, or someone) needs to purchase software for well over $150 in order to play a simple $150 iPod. This new iPod is so new that it doesn't even play nice with MY newest laptop. How new does it have to be in order to play nice and certainly makers can't expect us to buy new software every single year. Crazy. For the love of music. The good news....I have my iPod back and it plays very nice with my iMac. He has an iMac and iPod that don't speak the same language. jfa;odi fu;nvz meet navioseraf;dijs; I've done all I can and any necessary software solution doesn't fall on my shoulders anymore.  That is...until my little bro-in-law asks for help, then as always I will say yes. And by the way...my Blackberry still can't play tunes but it sure can take a photo! Notice Britney above.
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Tomorrow's Goal 11-17-08Arrival at home from the office: 7:14 p.m. Mission to pick up toilet paper: FAILED. Cow towel inventory: plenty for in-home use if necessary.
So actually, I think we have a spare roll some place. On the chance that 'some place' is not in this house, it may be some place just across the road at my father-in-laws.
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Today's Goal 11-17-08 As written earlier on this page, I have goals and today is no exception. Before I go home I MUST pick up toilet paper. Hopefully I'll accomplish this one.
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Not everyone can be like Mark and Tina
11-16-08
The other day I was at a grand gathering of girlfriends and after a long conversation about our marriages one said something like, "We can't all be like Mark and Tina."
I hadn't even been talking about my own marriage, just listening to others. It seems like in the past few months I've had a lot of friends and acquaintances talk about marital hardships.
So I told my husband what was said and he responded, "Well, why not?" While at first I was almost offended by the comment then after hearing Mark's question of 'why not', I can't help but wonder the same thing. The last thing I want to do is sit there and give others marital advice. Mark and I have been together over ten years and married for eight, so the couple one should really be answering tough questions are my grandparents who will be noting 67 years of marriage.
While I was talking about marriage with my husband we tried our best to answer the 'why not' of it all. For starters I we don't see why we are special at all. We're just the average couple who shared the same vows to love for better and for worse. We also stick to the 'honor' part and I think that tid bit could be the key.
With all couples there is that honeymoon stage where nothing goes wrong. For Mark and I spent the first year and a half with his mother who was dying of cancer and that was no easy task. In those days and years to follow we would cry together each time we watched ER as those characters lost loved ones just as we had.
I think the best thing for our marriage was our one year anniversary. On our first anniversary Mark spent the day baling hay and came home late that night. I look back on that day and I can't help but think what a great way to learn about marriage. Marriage is a bond and it doesn't have to revolve around blissfulness, vacations and diamond jewelry. We don't vacation for more than 24 hours, I wake up alone all but one or two mornings a year and our minivan is falling apart. We have purchased a farm and have borrowed money to pay bills and we do all the same things other couples do every day.
For years I have been taking Mark's younger brother shopping for school clothes, cutting his hair, picking him up from practice (until he turned 16 of course) and as the only woman in the family I try to fill in anywhere I can to help out.
I think a marriage includes stepping up to the plate when it's your turn. I think it is taking on that challenge to the best of your ability and not blaming someone else for the hardship.
If I had to be forced into giving a piece of advice, it would be to hang up the sarcasm. I'm not a fan of sarcasm and I've never known it to be useful in any relationship. I hear my girlfriends tell me the things their husbands said and vice versa and it just throws me for a loop.
As a teenager I heard the adults in my life tell each other some very hurtful things and those stick in my head. Growing up I lived in homes where marriage became ugly and so I've seen it, lived it, and cried at the top of my childhood steps while listening to it; and I decided early on that that would never be my husband and me.
I think that is the foundation of the way Mark and I agree and disagree. Our challenges are met with honor and respect for one another. Our day isn't filled with, 'what can YOU do for ME', rather 'what can WE do TOGETHER to get things done'.
There's nothing easy about it all. There is a lot of work to do, children to love and care for, and there are never enough hours in the day. We carve out time together when ever we can, we try to eat as a family even if it means straggling the kids along until long after the sun has gone down, but it's worth it.
Not everyone can be like Mark and Tina. I doubt that any of you would really WANT to be just like us. There's nothing special behind the Hageman family and no secret to happiness here that any other couple couldn't easily unlock themselves.
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Goals in the Golden Years Folks often tell us that these are our golden years. While typically the golden era is the time of age or retirement years, these years are the ones with the most precious memories. Mark and I realize that those words are true every time we see our children smile and every time we're able to put in a long day without any huge physical ailments to follow. In these golden years I keep my goals to a minimum. Not on purpose but I understand my limits and refuse to try to go beyond them, ending a day in nothing short of frustration. I have goals within our family and the business for long term, but it is the smaller goals that I need to focus on each day. Last week I remember telling Mark my goal for the day. Of all the things I needed to accomplish, this one goal was essential. My goal was to stop at Huber's and make sure diapers left the store with my groceries. Every couple of hours during the day I'd think to myself....'diapers, I have to remember diapers'. Some little person at home would certainly be under some distress if I'd forgotten them. Sure, I could have just typed it into my Blackberry, but if I want my brain to work into my true golden years I better give it some exercise. That night I proudly told my hubby, 'I remembered diapers!' Small goal....well yes. But an important one.
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Store Credit Cards This morning I had an appointment with my thyroid doctor in Waterloo. (A brief update with that...I am on medication to straighten out my thyroid and make it work properly. Lumps and bumps are nothing of any concern for now.) After my appointment I wanted to run into the mall to pick up Christmas outfits for the kids. With each stop I just hated the thought of checking out. We can't JUST check out anymore. We have to answer 100 questions as to why we do not want their store credit card. Has our country learned nothing about overextending credit to anyone who wants to save $5 for every $100 saved??? Personally, I don't want to spend $100 in the first place and if all it's going to give me is five bucks...it just isn't worth the extra ten minutes it'll take to open that extra bill, pay it, stamp it, send it. While checking out the lady asked if I wanted their card. I said no thank you. She said they have blah..blah...blah...to offer. I said I only get to the mall once a year and that's around Christmas time. She said I can shop online...blah..blah...blah. So then she also asks if I was in kids club or something to that effect. Why would I be in their kids club if I just mentioned I walk through that door once a year? At that point I kind of wanted to complain and ask her if I could please just check out! After picking out the girls' outfits I stopped into Old Navy for Dylan's. Again, at check out the lady asks if I want a store card. I say no thank you. She goes on and on. Funny thing is, I actually do have an Old Navy card. I gave in once at the check-out and never used it since. I don't like being harassed because I'm paying in cash. Cash is a good thing and is nearly forgotten in the world and it stops me from buying the beautiful red and white fluffy matching hand bags for the girls. I was glad to leave town. Next time I'll just tally the amount due, throw them a ball of cash and dash for the door.
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| Megan, Britney and Dylan |
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Sometimes you just have to sacrifice somethingWe've just survived most of the harvest season. We run thin on labor and time each planting and picking season and this fall was no exception. With owning the newspaper business and starting some photography work with Becky, I found out that I needed to cut a few corners at home. Everyone is still fed and loved so it can't be THAT bad. A few weeks ago there were some extra activities going on and I felt like I was falling behind. What I was lacking the most was time with the children. It's funny how during the busy season I find myself wishing Mark would take one of the children with him to give me at least 1/3 of a break yet with all that goes on, even though they were always with me I felt like we hadn't actually spent any time together. One weekend I had nothing planned and we decided to play, play, play. In the evening we decided to go to 8:00 p.m. church so Mark finished up chores and I bathed the children and dressed them up. When we came back home we indulged in a movie together and snuggled. When it was time to go to bed I told the kids to just stay in their clothes. Because after all....they'd just been bathed, had on clean clothes, so why not just wear the same outfits the next day??? We were going to be home all day anyhow and no one would notice. That decision bought us a good 15 minutes that night plus 15 minutes the next morning. Sometimes you just have to carve out a little extra time when you can!
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