5 and big!!

When our Randi was little she couldn't wait to turn "5 and big"! Oh the things she was going to do, the closer she was to turning 5 the more fun she was sure she would be having. When Randi married and started having babies, I was so excited to be part of my own grown up version of "5 and big".

5 generations!!!
1st-my Grma Brown, 2nd-my Dad, 3rd-ME!!! 4th-my Randi and 5th-my Grandsons Elijah and Connor. I love this picture! My Dad looks proud as a peacock...but that was before Grma "got after" him, not once but 3 times for not telling her we were coming, it was priceless! Let me tell you at 94 Grma is sharp as a tack and a still a force to be reckoned with! This was so special for me! Randi was right...it is oh so fun to be "5 and big".

If ya can't take the heat...

Grilling out is one way we keep our house cooler in the heat of summer. I would really like one of those green EGG ceramic grills...but here's the honest truth...rarely do I do the grilling. Jon does our grilling and he is pretty much a master at it on our Weber kettle grill. I'm the kitchen prep part of this dynamic duo. Although I'm pretty sure if we had an EGG he would love it...and I would love him loving it. I did decide if I was going to say that we would really love an EGG I should at least make and attempt at grilling a meal or two. So far this summer I've done one meal all by my lonesome.I made pork and grilled corn. I found a recipe for grilled corn with a mayo mixture smeared on, it was really good. Most of the time when we grill there are 2 things that are a grill staple for us, grilled toast, and potatoes on the grill.
When we make Grilled Toast we try to use bread that we can cut thick, I like using sourdough. Butter both sides and sprinkle with Lawry's season salt and grill both sides, so good that even the ones that get a bit to dark get eaten. This year we are using natural lump charcoal, so far we are pretty impressed.

Potatoes on the grill.
Grated potatoes
Thinly sliced onions
Butter, salt, pepper, Lawry's, lemon pepper.
Spray heavy duty tin foil. Put potatoes, onions, butter and seasons on tin foil then wrap up and then wrap with another piece of tin foil. Grill until done. We usually put on before we put the meat on unless we are grilling something that is really thick.

Tastes even better than they look!! The sweet corn is from our garden, we plant Gotta have it from Gurneys and it is by far the best corm we have ever had or grown.

Summer supper out doors...keepin' it cool inside.

Here I am helping clean up(fulfilling my part of the dynamic duo;) in my new apron from Cowgirl Goods, I love it! Oh yea Cowgirl has an EGG, and she hardly uses her oven...yup she's cool.

Going Home

My Mom & Dad dee. I. vee. oh. are. see. e'd when I was 20, by then I had already been gone since I was 17, my Brother who is just a year younger had came and went a couple of times , my Sister Tami left shortly after the big D. at age 13. Our youngest Brother stayed the longest but was bounced between our parents and Ants & Uncles. I have often felt saddened when someone would say "we always come home on the weekends" or "I'm going home to see my folks". Fragmented family's often times don't lend themselves to having a roots kind of home. I remember when my Mom or Brother would say "are you coming up home for Christmas?" I'd reply "I am home but we are up coming for a visit"...petty I know. Trips north to visit family have always been so special to me, it has also been bittersweet. Recently one of my favorite Uncles passed away after nearly 3 year cancer battle (just for the record...most of them are my favorite, 9 on my Mom's side and 4 on Dad's). Packing and heading up north this time was that very rare feeling of "I am going home". A trip back to see Aunts, Uncles, cousins and neighbors that I hadn't seen in years, catching up, and being surrounded by people that I really love alot, at a very hard time...bittersweet.

Exhale. I am here, not my home but a home that I and my siblings spent ALOT of time at when we were kids, there are other homes, but for this trip this is where I want to be. The farm of my Uncle and my Ant. home. This is where I spent many summer days on the back of a horse or a pony herding the milk cows in the field out behind the barn. I also spent alot of time riding pigs and those milk cows, Uncle was fine with us riding pigs...not so fine with us riding the milk cows, especially when their milk production dropped. He never passed up a hard luck case or a good laugh. Over the years my Uncle and Ant took in many strays...human and critter...young and old. No one was ever turned away from their table. When he "went home" tickets were purchased post-haste, nieces, nephews, friends of his children that came to stay for the weekend and left over a year later...or never left until they were adults...we all came "home".

This is Sandy.
My Uncle and his son went to buy tractor parts, and came home with her, they bought her off a slaughter truck for $20, hooves over grown and nothing but skin and bones, she was in really rough shape. Another Aunt of mine, who lives down the road from Uncle had to have knee surgery...she was in rough shape too, so the donkey was named after Ant Sandy.

One day Kyle ran to the house saying "Grandpa Sandy is down, we need the 4 wheeler!" Uncle said "We'll take the truck, hop in" then he drove to get his son to help "get ol' Sandy up" all the while thinking it was Ant Sandy who was down. He pulled up to where Dan was, and said at the same time he saw Sandy the donkey on the ground "Dan, Sandy is down we need to go..." The story was still being told and laughed at as we all sat around and visited as families do when a loved one "goes home".

Ant Sandy's knee healed, and Sandy the donkey managed to get pregnant and have little Ellie Mae a couple of weeks ago, even though she still looks a bit rough she looks a whole lot better than she did when she stepped off the slaughter truck, another stray taken in. My Uncle will be missed, he was a good example of giving and reaching out to so many of us. It was a bittersweet trip...so if home really is where the heart is...then I can truly say...

...it was good to be "home".

Winds of Change

On June 17, 2010 a tornado ripped threw the Wadena MN area, Jon's hometown. With in hours facebook was full of pictures from the area. Can I just say I love facebook!?! With in a short time after the storm I knew that my Aunt Ruth was fine, although 3 blocks from the twister her home was fine. I also knew that my Aunt and Uncle in Deer Creek were ok and their farm had been spared, I knew that my cousins Grma H. who is over 90 years old was ok and had just lost power. Then the pictures started to pop up on fb, for days we had a virtual tour of the devastation. The 6 hours away from family and friends, didn't seem as far. Yup, love that facebook. Over the 4th of July weekend we traveled there. So sad to see places that we hung around just gone. All but one of the pictures I took, keep in mind that I took them two weeks later, and ALOT of clean up had taken place. If you want to see more pictures YouTube or google.

The north end of the Wadena County Fair grounds, this was one of our date spots.

I don't think any of these school buses will be ready for next fall. Some of them were thrown across the highway.

This is the high school Jon graduated from. The roof was peeled off and balled up like aluminum foil. They will bulldoze and build a new school, in the fall the kids will go to the local community college and the college students will attend other colleges in the area.

This is the ag service that my Uncle used all his years of farming

The cemetery lost so many huge trees, and stones were flung around, a couple are still missing. The cross with Jesus on in the middle, stood threw the storm. As we were driving around looking at all the debris and damage, Grace said it looks alot like Mexico.

One of Jon's friend's grew up here, Jon spent may hours hanging out there.

Now that puts things into perspective.

That tree is plastered with insulation.

No need for commentary on this picture, it was the 4th after all.

This is the one picture I didn't take. It was taken by my Aunt the day after the storm. When this picture made it to facebook via her grand daughter for me this was the one that broke my heart the most. That is my Uncle, and he is usually smiling. Even though I couldn't see his whole face I knew he was in a state of awe...and not a good state of awe either. To know that his landscape the way he knew it, now had been forever changed, it made me so sad. We can see havoc and devestation on the news and web, and be saddened by it, it is when it touches those you love that it becomes a reality, when it really rocks your world. Reminds me of of this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq-_zwyTeGc

Sock it to me:)

While my sister Tami is in Hawaii funning and sunning for the past week...I'm here in WI missing phone chats with her and enjoying these socks she knitted and sent me. It is supposed to get down to 47* tonight...and one would think I would sleep with these really comfy, really cool socks on...
...you see I have really cold feet, when I was younger I always slept with my socks on. Then along came Jon who said "what in the world are you doing with your socks on?" I explained that my feet are cold...really cold.
Have no fear your knight in shining armor is here!
You sleep without socks and you can warm your feet up on my legs...deal? Deal! So for years I pop into bed no matter the hour and if I so wish I plant my ice cubes on his heat radiating legs...deal...deal...not so fast. Last winter after over 25 years of defrosting my tootsies, I pop into bed...you can see where this is going right!?! So, I plant my frigid feet upon Mr. Lava Legs and he says "take those ice cubes off me." I reply in a somewhat state of you have got to be kidding me "say what? serious?" He assured me he was indeed serious. I remind him of the commitment he had made, cuz a deal after say 25 years is pretty much a committed for life kind of deal...right!?! He said "put your socks back on" "Well the honeymoon must be over and a deal is a deal...do we need to go to counseling (anytime he bugs me I tell him I'm signing us up for counseling...it's become a bit of a joke between us)?"
So with windows wide open and the fan blowing the nice cool...cold night air in on my hot honey...
...I will be sleeping...
...without socks on...
...ahhhh all is right with the world:)

End-End

Schools (finally) out for summer!!! The end of school has been a little bitter sweet for me. Here are just a couple of memories from the year.

I'm glad I caught this picture for posterity sake.

Avery made these polar fleece pajamas...

...and this guy in a Sew Much More home ec. class.

Willy giving it his all.

Working at the high school has had it perks, getting asked to wear a football jersey Homecoming game day would be one of them:)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is where the end of the end comes in...
...the "how do you like them apples?"

For the past 10 years I have worked at the local high school as a teachers aide (excuse me if I don't use the PC terminology--paraprofessional). I was injured on the job a little over 2 years ago, recovery has been slow and not total. I would love to spill the whole pot of beans on this but until all is said and done with workman's comp mums the word.
Bear with me, as I go a little off track, it will all come together...in the end. Through out this injury my sister Tami has been a huge support and just a bit outspoken ( I know, hard to believe) on the whole ordeal. As I dealt/deal with w/c, the school, meds, drs. dr. bills, surgery, PT, OT, etc. etc. in the back ground has been my sister "you tell them that they broke you, now they need to fix this mess!" She has talked me through the in and outs, ups and downs, and has been a shoulder to cry on. Back on track we go...
I have had work restrictions and it has been a challenge for the school to work within my limitations. A month before school was out the superintendent came to see me one day and explained that due to my medical restrictions they will not have a position for me next year. A couple weeks later I learned that I would be getting my 10 years of service "Apple Award". When I told Tami about my "apple award" she said something to the effect "Well, will it have a big ol' bite taken out!?! It really should, and if they hand you the whole apple you just hand it back to them and say(I'll insert a breath here for her, although she doesn't often come up for need of air)..."clearly you seem to have forgotten to take a bite out of the proverbial apple" at this point what do you have to lose I mean REALLY!!" So the last week of school on Monday I was given my walking papers, and on Wednesday I was given my "apple award" I opened the box, took out my apple and had a little chuckle...

...as requested Tami, the proverbial bite had been taken :)

Too Far

We went to Missouri for a long Memorial Day weekend. It is a long, long drive. Along the way I found my self saying "this is just too far" thats the adult version of "are we there yet?" But really 485 miles to get there is defiantly not too far to meet...

Connor our new grandson.

Nor is it too far to be able to snuggle him in my arms.On the ride home Jon couldn't leave Missouri with out making a last stop on the Missouri-Iowa boarder at a huge fireworks warehouse....he may have gone too far this time, I'm quite certain he will get his butt tossed in jail when he lights them all off. A friend lent us her touring van, and let me tell you it was a really, really, sweet ride, complete with a sheep skin rug for me to sit on. We have not had a full sized van for years, just minivans, with alot less leg room, cargo space, and space between the seats, this was a treat to say the least.
Over 1200 miles round trip was not too far......but the space between us was!

Whooo's your mama!?!

A couple weeks ago I was at a church tag sale(if you think you see an addiction…obsession pattern here you maybe right) and I found...this...

At first sight of this I began to laugh and reach for my cell phone "Grace I'm at the sale at the Presbyterian Church here in town and I just found an owl lamp....I said OWL-who-who lamp its a foot and 1/2 tall, hangs from the ceiling, lights up, its harvest gold and-" "ITS SO MINE, buy it for me" she said as she laughs like crazy. Jon paid the $3 for it all the while I as thinking "there has to be a blog post somewhere in this purchase...maybe "whoo loves you" or something like that." Then the other day I was e-mailing one of my bloggy friends and had asked if she had kids...besides Bob the dog. She replied no and that it was all good for her. She has nieces and nephew that she dotes on. My mind raced back(and a blog post was born) to every summer as a kid when we went to Iowa to visit my Dad's cousin Francis and her husband Ed. They had no kids and for those few days every year she loved on us like there was no tomorrow...sweet tea, raspberries, tucking us in...lovin' us...and making a difference in the lives of 4 wild little kids.

I also thought of Jon's Aunt Mae who didn't have kids, when we go north we visit her as if she were a Grma, making sure we get pictures of her with our kids because she has prayed and cared about our kids as much as she did Jon and his brothers and sisters.

In the spirit of just having celebrated Mother's Day, there ought to be a 'Nother Mothers Day, not an "Other Mothers Day" cuz that would mean a mother in law. 'Nother, like in "you want 'nother cookie?" meaning added to the goodness that one already has... an added unexpected sweetness to ones life...like a second cookie. These "nother Mothers at times, have the time, energy, and resources that everyday Mama's have been tapped out of just providing the basics. They often give where regular Mama's forget to, they bring gifts tangible and non-tangible into our worlds, taking us on day trips and journeys. Sometimes when it feels like life has left us hanging 'Nother Mother's are there to light the way and let us know we are loved.So...whoo's your 'nother Mother?

Let her know she shines through you:)

Sugar Shack

Our ride out to the sugar shack, Bob & Beauty. We could have driven in for it was dry enough...but who would want to pass up a wagon ride!?!

We were reminded that life in the woods would indeed be moving at a much slower pace.

This guy was our musical entertainment while we were enjoying our pancakes and REAL maple syrup. There is a funny little story behind this picture, so I'll set the stage, pun intended. In Feb. we celebrated Jon being sober for 24 years (YEAH~HOORAY~YAHOO!!!), back in what I refer to as the crazy daze, the guy would dance all night long with me...now when we do go to a wedding dance its a couple of slow dances and his dance card has been fulfilled and he's good for the evening. When I have reminded him how much he used to dance, he says "why do you think they call it liquid courage?" So we're eating pancakes, listening to Woodland Willie and he starts to sing "Love me tender" and I think hey it is a slow one...a girl has to try...right? I look across the picnic table at Jon and say "so...are you going to ask me to dance??" and with out skipping a beat he said "I need a few more pancakes in me." It was good humor and a good laugh:)
Our other entertainment for the day was my Heaven on earth!! When we first laid eyes(and my hands followed with in seconds) on the sheep and goats, Jon knew it would be a very long visit in the woods. This little guy was 11 days old, he just had his tail banded, goodness he was so so sweet.
Sweet curiosity.This is the actual sugar shack where the maple sap is boiled down to make maple syrup. My Grmpa & Grma made maple syrup when my Dad was growing up and when I was growing up, seeing all this was a sweet walk down memory lane. We would go to their home in the woods and help empty the sap buckets off the trees. Grmpa would let us put more wood on the fire, Grma would can the syrup and my Dad would take some of it to sell down in the "cities" that's what Minnesotans call Mpls/St. Paul.Inside the sugar shack, look at all that sweet steam, the ratio is 40 to 1, it takes 40 quarts of sap to make 1 quart of syrup. "Jody Bloom"
When I showed Grace the pictures from my amazing day she said this one should be titled "Jody Bloom" The floor of the woods was covered with these little Violets.

Even the view out the outhouse window was wonderful, the Violets look like a carpet.

Nieces:)
A girl after my own heart!I'm tellin' ya, my Heaven on earth...I am one happy camper!!!
The ride home did not disappoint either, it was a day that was tailor made for me.