The Late-Great-Holly Posts Again!

We had the extreme pleasure of hosting Sally and her boys for most of a week! What fun, to have toddler Sam and baby Ryan stay with us, and of course, their Mama, too! The pictures are captioned, so I will let them speak for themselves.
Thanks to Scott for sharing his family over opening weekend of deer hunting and pre-Thanksgiving week! We had a blast!

Things are progressing in the right direction!

We were able to get the hole covered over, and level with the existing floor - not a small accomplishment!

Pre-painting, with the rolled flooring in the corner.

Another shot of the bathroom - pre-painting.

Cupboards and trim with fresh coat of white, pale green on walls, and the flooring in place. Now to get the toilet set! [I love the new flooring!]

Mom and Dad walking some letters down to the mailbox.

They are doing great! They still love to hear from family, though - so keep up the calls, please!

Baldwin Visit/Bathroom Project/ Lefse!

We had an awesome day off on Sunday!! When you get one day every three weeks, to do what you want with, you tend to make it count!

My day started off with a 4 mile run at sunrise - absolutely gorgeous, although a tad cool at 30 degrees. My hands were numb but I made it around the block in pretty good time (for me). I ran early so that we could get a good-seasoned start for Baldwin and our Wisconsin grandsons. Dan slept in while I ran, although he did wake up when I got up at 5:00. [I had to have time for my morning oatmeal before I went.] By the time we had both showered, it was around 8:00, which got us there at 11:00 or so. I had fun the day before assembling a couple of 'meals' to take for them to have during the week, and also the meat for dinner on Sunday. I had felt bad that I didn't take/prepare any food for them when we went at the time of Ryan's birth.

Sam is really into helping Gatfly in the kitchen - note the pics of making pão de queijo and helping with the dishes. He actually cried when we were done with the dishes - I'll have to remind him of that in about 10-15 years! There is nothing cuter than a little grandson expanding his vocabulary and carrying on a conversation with his grandparents! He comes up with the darnedest things! And I wish I had a fraction of his energy! He plays hard, and he sleeps hard, too. He was asleep when the guys did their fixture-swap in the stairwell, and it was probably a good thing, as he would've wanted to 'help' them, too!

I think the pictures of us with little Ryan are self-explanatory - he is so darn sweet! Sally said he put on a show for his company the night before, but he must have realized (yeah, that was it!) that his grandparents don't get to see him very often and was on his best behavior while we were there.

We are extremely fortunate, though, that Sally and the boys (it is so much fun to say that!) will be coming for an extended visit while Scott is up north deer hunting. I don't know how long we get to have the pleasure of their company, but it is going to be fantastic to have all three of them here!

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We are also looking forward to the month of December and all of the fun that will be arriving with it! Josh, Debora and Thomas will be flying in on the 19th and staying until Jan. 2nd! Debora and I have been cohorts in planning a party for Thomas on the 27th - stay tuned for more details....

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Then, in mid-January, I will be flying to Phoenix, once again - this time to run in the PF Changs' Rock 'n Roll Arizona Marathon (only the 1/2!), along with Heather, Mara, Mike, Krista and Cari! My folks will be out there to pick up the pieces at the finish line, along with John and Rohan.....

Meet our newest grandson - Ryan James Aho!!

The Homecoming (belated entry!)

Video shot on Friday, October 23, 2009!

I apologize for both the late posting and the poor quality video! I had zoomed in to get a closer view (it was raining, and I was standing in the doorway to the house) and was unable to un-zoom as they got closer, so I edited off the end of the video. Live and learn!

Dad got into the house, with Mike's guidance and thankfully sank into his own kitchen chair! It felt good to be home"

Even better, was getting into his favorite easy chair in the living room....

....and chewing the fat with his son and son-in-law!

I had stayed home to get dinner on for Dad's homecoming, while Mary and Mike had headed over to Neenah to pick up Dad and Mom and bring 'em on home! Unfortunately, this was the last photo I took that day, as we got caught up in dinner and conversation.

Mike has been absolutely wonderful with Dad, even taking him down to play pool on Monday - and I hear he nearly beat his opponent! Way to go, Dad! Mike has a way of motivating Dad to do lots and lots of things he might have thought impossible before, and Mom of course is thrilled to have him there. Mary and I joined them for dinner on Sunday for Mike's 55th birthday - not something we get to do much of, as we live so far apart.

The plan is for Mike and Dad to take off on Friday for Montana and the deer hunt - just cabin-cruising for Dad, but lots of commaraderie with the guys. Then a couple of days later, we will get Mom on the plane for her yearly trek to AZ for some much needed TLC from Heather and John - thanks so much, guys!

WELCOME HOME TO DAD AND MOM!!!

Sunday with Sam and Fam!

We had a wonderful visit with Sam, Sally and Scott this past Sunday, on our day off. Every single time we see him, he is speaking better and is so darn entertaining! Even though he had a stuffy nose - everyone got a turn at wiping that poor offending feature! - he was in a pretty good mood and kept going non-stop until he crashed into something in the kitchen. Gatfly came to the rescue and held and sang to him until he gave into his fatigue. Then he was down for a nap, and Gatfly went for a run. If it hadn't been for a pounder of a headache and breaking out in hives (exercise-induced, I only get them occasionally) I would have run a lot further - it was absolutely gorgeous out. I ran in a newer development and the pavement was perfect to run on. Mama took the opportunity for a quick lie-down (with a book, so I don't think she slept) and Daddy and Boppa worked at putting the storm on the patio door. I went out to snap of photo of them working on that, after I returned, and they were just headed back to the garage with ladder and tools in hand - so not actually a working picture, but they did work!

While we were all out in the garage before dinner (Chinese, of course!) Sam's other Boppa and friend, Wally along with his nephew, Dusty and dog, Miles stopped in for a short visit. I think Sam was beside himself, running between his two Boppas! He thought that was pretty cool to have both of them at HIS house. Grandma wasn't along, or the poor kid might have blown a fuse trying to impress us all at once! Boppa Aho showed him how to hold the bolt with his pliers so that he could pound on it with his hammer and not hit his fingers. He had wanted me to hold it for him earlier, and I just used my fingers - he actually seems to have an aptitude for working with tools - wonder where that comes from?? Gets it from both sides, from what I could see. He was even good about hitting the bolt on the head when he turned to look at something else, which he did frequently, much to my consternation. Daddy and Boppa Bacon had worked on fixing up Scott's bigger compressor, and Sam impressed his other Boppa by pointing out the smaller one also, and telling him they were both compressors. Sam will try (mostly correctly) to say anything you ask him to. He loves books of all sorts and will sit through an entire story. He will also help to tell the story and can point at and name anything on the page. Such a fun age!

All in all, it was a wonderful L-O-N-G day (that's good, on a day off, since we only get one in 21 off) and both Dan and I wondered if the next time we head to Baldwin will be to see A-2! Due date is November 14 or 15, so it won't be long now!!! :) We wish for them a safe delivery and a very healthy baby boy! Sam has been watching with interest as his parents are slowly introducing baby stuff around the house: the boppy seat in the living room; the bassinet in Mama and Daddy's room; a few little baby things here and there. When they were here last, Sally had me put my hand on her tummy to feel A-2 kicking, and Sam scowled at me and pushed my hand away - "my baby!" I hope that was a good sign.... ;)

GRANDPA HANSEN UPDATE: This post was mostly about Sam, but I can't leave Grandpa and Grandma out entirely! (My folks) My Dad was able to walk without using his cane, in his afternoon session of Physical Therapy yesterday - he hasn't ceased to amaze us with his recovery! In fact, all of us who have seen him, have commented that he is getting around better than before his strokes! Maybe a little PT then would have been beneficial....who knows?? They are beginning to get very excited about going home on Friday. The plan is that he will be discharged sometime in the AM - it will be good to have them both back in Rural!!! And Mike will be rolling into Rural sometime on Thursday night. Safe trip to you, big brother!

The best laid plans.....here is the video! ;)

I decided to only upload one of the three I had taken, as one was quite similar to a previous one, and the other I had started to video too late in the activity to get the 'good stuff'.

Sorry about the poor quality of picture. Not sure what I did to get that.....

Heading back to his room, following physical therapy - aren`t they cute???

Dad found this to be pretty exhausting work, but kept at it pretty well.

He trooped right up and down these steps a couple of times!

By now, most of you have heard that Grandpa Hansen will be discharged (barring anything unforeseen) on Friday, October 23rd!! He is so excited about that, and Mike's impending arrival on the 22nd. Mike is driving out and will spend approximately 10 days with the folks. Mom is looking forward to it, as well! ;)

He is doing phenomonal with his therapies! It was so much fun to see him walking arm in arm with Mom! I have video of this which I will post later tonight. I wanted to get these pictures up ASAP, though.

They received a beautiful bouquet from one of their grandchildren - later we found out it was Cari - that was addressed to Grandpa and Grandma, so we had it narrowed down to 12 of you! Grandpa really liked them, but was itching to know who they were from - glad Mary knew! ;)

Well, it's suppertime and my man is home. I'll get to those videos later....

Dad's Therapy Sessions Continue.....

Kind of a step-exerciser, to strengthen his upper legs - he exerted up to 70 lbs. of pressure. Not bad!

Taking a break with his #1 Cheerleader.

OT - sorting the cards, according to suit. Also working on twisting his torso and maintaining balance.

A familiar task, threading nuts onto bolts.


Dad took this picture of Mom and me - camera was sitting on his tray, he had to depress the shutter button. The attempt at holding it and taking a picture made me nervous for my camera....



Peddling with his hands - always the clown!




He did these steps after walking down to the gym from his room - I think they were calling that 250 feet. No wonder he gets tired by the end of the day!

He still throws his left foot and leg some, but is really doing a great job!

Panoramic view from the 6th floor windows of Theda Clark, overlooking the Fox River.


Here are a few pictures from my visit to Dad and Mom on the 7th. Dad continues to amaze us all! Also a few shots of the scenery from Harbor House, where Mom is (thankfully) able to stay, and from the picture windows at the end of the PT floor. I'm so glad that Mary is so available to be there for the folks - the rest of us are filling in, where we can.




While Dad is in the hospital, and Mom is out of the house, we are getting their bathroom re-done. We had wanted to surprise both of them, but decided that we needed Mom's input on some of the decisions. It is going to be beautiful! Many thanks to our cousin (Mom's nephew), David Smith!



On Tuesday, October 6th, we had the extreme pleasure of a visit from Mike, Rohan, Michelle and Jackson! It was so great to see them, and introduce Rohan to the farm! We get another chance to see them, plus the rest of Mike's immediate family, on Saturday. :) We will have more pictures to post, after that fun day!!!

"He ought to be in pictures...." Dad got after me for taking so many pictures/videos, but I told him how everyone is enjoying seeing his progress! Doesn't he look great??

FYI: He DOES change his clothes, he just happens to be wearing his gray sweatpants and Packer shirt every time I take a video! ;)

BELATED GREETINGS TO MARA & HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY SISTER!!!

A beautiful Happy Birthday to our Mara (shown here with one of her favorite guys!)!

We didn't forget her, I just didn't get anything posted on Friday!! Love you much!!

And a Big Happy Birthday to my younger sister, Heather!!

(I love this picture that Katye took of the two of us!)

Heather was able to come for several days this past week -
it was great for Dad's morale and equally as wonderful for Mom's!
Plus, I got to see her, and we even went for a run together! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BOTH OF YOU!!

Dad - on the road-to-recovery!!

Mary with Dad, as he rests between walking therapy sessions.

Mary and I participated in a 3 mile walk/run earlier in the day.

Mary walked and I ran - we both did well! ;)

Granddaughter, Kristin Harvey, came and spent some time with Grandpa and Grandma while Mary and I were at Potawatomi State Park. Thanks Kristin - I know they enjoyed your time together!

While I was there, Kristin's husband, Mike came to pick her up, so he got in some visiting time as well. I didn't have my camera out when Stephanie and her boyfriend, Kelly were there, prior to that. Next time!

These are two videos I shot today, while visiting Dad at Theda Clark. He is on the Rehab floor there, recovering from a series of strokes he suffered a week ago, on Saturday, September 26th.

We were able to get him to the hospital, via ambulance, within the magic window of time for him to receive TPA - medication that lessens the severity of a stroke, and can reverse some damage.

After receiving his very first helicopter ride (with little or no recollection of that event) he spent Saturday afternoon through Thursday afternoon in the step-down unit on the second floor. Usually, they go to a different room on that floor before being moved up to the rehab unit, but between his rapid improvement and the availability of a room on the 6th floor, he skipped that step.

He has made huge strides this week - we are so proud of him! Mom is doing well, and is key support. Dad's speech is good, and he is in good spirits. His biggest trouble areas are his eyesight - vision is limited but improves as he 'exercises' it, and what the therapists refer to as 'left side neglect'. This shows up more with his left hand and arm, as you can see he steps out pretty well, although balance plays in there, too. He has some short term memory loss, which we hope will get better with time.

Dan and I, being the closest on hand, helped in getting Dad to the hospital, and Mom over to Theda Clark, when Dad was transferred. All three of us girls have played tag-team this week, with Mary coming home Sunday evening, from her vacation in GA to see her family, and Heather flying in from Phoenix on Tuesday afternoon, staying through Friday morning. Mary will be there most of the time, until things settle down (soon, by the looks) and I will go when I can. Mike plans on spending at least a week with the folks, after Dad gets home from the hospital. The plan is for Dad to be rehabilitated to the point he can move directly home, when he is discharged. They allow 2 weeks for rehab at TC, and if he continues at his present rate, he should be well on course.

All of his extended family has been wonderful, as well as his (and Mom's) many friends. He has had a myriad of calls (he loves to talk with anyone on the phone, and does well) and several visits. These are all very important for his continued good outlook - so keep it up, everyone! :) The easiest way to contact them is via their cell phone. If you would like their number, please contact me.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, prayers and concerns! He is doing great!

Labor Day Weekend 2009

The captions explain the photos pretty well. What we didn't get pictures of was Sam helping Gramma make applesauce - even helped pick the apples off our tree - and a birthday cake for Grampa! He was 'lots' of help and it was truly adorable when he sang Happy Birthday to Grampa - where was the camera then??? Oh well....
We had a blast with Sam and his family, as usual - always enjoy their visits! Can't wait until December when we get to have three of our four grandsons together! Thomas and family will be flying in on December 19th and will be around until January 2nd! Fun times ahead, that is for sure!!! We will be interested to see how Sam deals with competition nearer his own size, for Gramma's and Grampa's attention, and also all of "his" toys! Thomas will turn 2 while he is here, so I am sure there will be another party, although not on the scale of his first birthday in Brazil last year. :) We will be missing Rohan in December, but A-2 will have made his appearance by then. It's been a while since we had a tiny baby around! :)

Morning Hike

What a great way to start our day! It was absolutely beautiful out this morning - low 60's and sunny. It wasn't my day to run, so Dan suggested a hike in the woods. We only had to go about one and a half miles to hook up with the Ice Age Trail, off Foley Road. It definitely needs more exploring when we have more time.

Back to chopping hay for now! Enjoy your upcoming Holiday Weekend!! We have Sam and Sally coming for a couple of days while Scott heads over to Algoma to do some fishing. Fun times!

Pictures from August...

I've not been very good about posting this summer! Here are some pictures of what we have been up to this August...

Waupaca Triathlon Relay Team!

My Team-mates, Keri Stenger (bike) and Cariann Mathwig-Ramseier (swim)!

Me, running the 5K, as I passed Mary's house.

Cariann Mathwig-Ramseier swam the half mile in 16:19 - a personal best for her!

Keri Stenger biked 20 miles in 1 hour and 7 minutes - a personal best for her!

Holly Bacon (that's me!) ran 5K (3.1 miles) in 37:03 - my first race, so my personal best, also!
(I had previously timed myself at 37:29, for 3.0 miles)

That gave us a team time of 2 hours 2 minutes and 55 seconds! (I think that included the transition times) Out of 14 women's relay teams, we placed 5th!

If you would like to see other results from the Waupaca Triathlon, go to onlineraceresults.com and look for the RSB Tri team.

There were pictures taken of the three of us together, but not on my camera. It was a great day and a wonderful experience! I'm definitely hooked on running!! I will be posting more pictures from the weekend after tomorrow, as Sam and his family are here until then. :)

Sam's July Weekend-at-the-Farm!

The last weekend in July, Sam, Sally and Scott came to spend some time at the farm! Boy, did we have fun!! They rolled in later on Friday pm, but Sam settled down pretty quick. We had put them into the bedroom with A/C, so they would be more comfortable, and had moved the youth bed against the foot of the big bed in there. When Sam saw that bed, he ran and piled his 'stuff' on it and immediately camped out! So cute! I think he spent most of the night in it, too. Getting to be a big boy! I, on the other hand, found it hard to drop off to sleep. Why, you ask? Because, when he walked through the door, Sam said "Hi Gramma"!!! He hadn't really called me much of anything before that, and it really floored me! I was not prepared for how being called "Gramma" would make me feel - really! It was right up there with holding him for the very first time!! I am not usually an emotional person - I don't cry at weddings/births, etc. but I really choked up! Now I know how Dan feels when he calls for "Boppa". And it was Gramma this and Gramma that, for the remainder of the weekend - I was (and still am) on cloud nine!
The next morning I ran home from chores after we were done milking and got Sam to come down and "help" in the parlor - see the pictures! When I got upstairs, they were all awake, reading a book, with Sam sandwiched between his Mom and Da. He had to wiggle down to the end of the bed, and plopped down onto the youth bed, where he had to show me how he slept, with his hands under his head, elbows out to the side - so darn cute!
After breakfast, we all headed down to help Mary load boxes, that had been previously packed, into trailers to get moved to the garage at the new house. She had permission to move whatever she wanted into the outbuildings. This really cut down on the amount of stuff to be moved the following weekend, after the closings. (she had both house closings on Friday morning) Sally opted to watch Erik and Elyse, along with Sam - that really helped! OH - I was standing near where they were playing and Sam stomped over to me and backed up, with his arms out protectively and loudly stated - for Erik's benefit - "My Gramma!" Another lump-in-the-throat moment! ;) Everyone was bushed Saturday night, so we forewent the bonfire at the Golke residence. We were sorry to miss it, but that's how it goes sometimes.
Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast and then headed to JR's petting zoo in Waupaca - what a nice little zoo! It was just the right amount of animals for Sam's attention span. See the pictures - it is definitely worth checking out, if you have little ones. Sam, of course, was probably just as mesmerized by the playground, complete with sandbox, as the animals. We all enjoyed it!
After lunch at Culver's, we headed back home as it was time for them to pack up and head to Baldwin.
Wonderful time - oh, and we had a good visit with the Germany Bacon's later in the afternoon, too! Dan and I had a really long visit with Mara this past weekend, so we feel all caught up with our kids again!

Happy Belated Birthday to Debora, this past Saturday! We talked with them again, on that day - all are doing well! Thomas is really advancing, too! ;)
Oh, and Rohan is crawling!! Wow!

"Weekend" in Phoenix!

I flew into Phoenix late Friday morning, and was met at the airport by Michael and Rohan - what a surprise! I had just spoken to Heather and she told me she was on her way! ;) Over the next couple of days, I had lots of Rohan-time - it was absolutely wonderful!! I also got to see Mike and Lorrie, and Steve and most of John's family. It was a lot of fun getting to know his siblings better - I especially enjoyed Katye and Chris, as they were staying at Heather and John's when I was there, and Karla, Bear and Molly, too! I spent Saturday night after the wedding, at Mara and Mike's - so more Rohan-time! I got in about a mile of running with Mara on Sunday am before I crapped out in the heat. There were lots of opportunities to slither into the pool to cool off - what a treat! Also got in some shopping at Ross' with Mara and Rohan on Sunday. ;)
The wedding was beautiful, as were all the people there. The party was a lot of fun - excellent DJ! The food was delicious, too! [Note: if soda cans are stored in the heat too long, they explode!] The Schmit Clan really knows how to throw a party and have a good time - it was great! So glad I was able to be there for their special day. (See the Schmit Blog for a better re-cap of the weekend)
My flight home was uneventful, heading out at 6:50 am on Monday. It seemed like I had been gone for a week, instead of 3 days +, we packed in so much visiting and fun! Thanks to Heather and John for the wonderful hospitality, and Mara and her family, too! Next time, Dan is coming, too!!!!!

"Lightning McQueen!

This was Sam's Lightning McQueen's maiden voyage....I see many hours of fun with this new toy from his Aho grandparents!

Birthday Cake Video from 7-5-09

This is one of the videos from Sam's birthday at Algoma.

One Week Ago, Today - Sam turned 2 years old!!

Let the pictures speak for themselves! We had a wonderful day with all the Aho Family!

Quality, not Quantity Time!

Thursday night, Sam and his family rolled in, sometime after ten o'clock pm. They were heading to Algoma and Grandma and Grandpa Aho's marina for the weekend, and didn't want to go the whole distance in one trip. By ten or so the next morning, they were headed out of the drive-way.

It's amazing how quickly the memories come back when you hear the pitter-patter of bare feet on the wood floors late at night! Sam had to run in and give me hugs and kisses goodnight, then up and down the hall a few times.....he finally settled down and we didn't hear anything more from him the rest of the night.

When we were cleaning up in the milking parlor the next morning, Sally, Scott and of course, Sam, walked in to "help". Sam had to check out the cats and the cows and even got to help Uncle Rog scrape manure. It was funny to see him using the small scraper that we keep in the pit to push manure out in the holding area. Roger was pushing the manure down the return alley, and Sam was pushing it out of the holding area into the alley, behind where Roger had already scraped! And of course the more Roger objected, the more Sam giggled and scraped.

While Grampa and Gatfly finished cleaning, Sam took his folks out to visit George, the bull. Then it was on to the tractors. The pictures pretty much tell the story there, he loved them! After trying most of them out, and the silage truck, too, it was time to head back to the house for a good farm breakfast - humps and hollows! (aka German Oven Pancakes) Forks were made for sissies, so by the time Sam was done eating, he was syrup from head to toe! Into the bathtub he went! I think that may have been all part of his 'evil' plan, as he headed straight for the linen cupboard, where the tub toys are kept in a dishpan.

When he got out of the tub, he had to show Uncle Roger (who had stopped in to say good-bye) how he likes to streak after his bath. Soon after I had him dressed, Uncle John stopped in to say hi. It took Sam a couple of minutes to warm up, but he obliged John with a hug and kiss before Da packed him into his carseat for the trip to Algoma. Scott called after they left and said he had fallen asleep by the time they hit the hill by Weyauwega! Farming tires a guy out!
We will be heading over to Algoma tomorrow for Sam's birthday dinner at the marina. My folks will be riding with us, so it will be a regular party! I'm sure there will be more pictures after Sunday.

I hope you all are having a wonderful 4th of July weekend!! Be safe!

We Got Boys!! :)

Sally and Scott had their ultrasound done yesterday - it's another boy!!!! Yippeee!! We are so excited! Our grandson, Sam, will have a baby brother, sometime in November! We have been referring to this baby as A-2, and may continue with that. That 'Sam' started with an S was a coincidence, they are not necessarily following a theme there. I still think 'Felix' is cute.....(Scott's middle name, and his paternal Grandpa's name) but I guess I can see their objections. I had my turn naming children....

See their blog for more photos of the ultrasound.

Happy Father's Day to the Father-of-my-children, and Grandfather of theirs!!

Canada fishing trip - just the guys!

A big Welcome-to-Brasil from Josh & Debora's son,Thomas!

A kiss for luck, and I'm on my way!

Mara and Mike's son, Rohan, tickling his Grampa's fancy!

Daddy's girl - or, another shot of those 80's sideburns!

Showing Sally and Scott's son, Sam, the proper way to enjoy a sand....box!


I couldn't have wished for a better father for my children -

and he has proven to be a Super-Grampa, too!

Happy Father's Day, Dan!

[Do you know how hard it was to find pictures of Dan with the kids, when I gave them all their photos?? I'm sure they have their favorites, but this is what I had to work with.]

Happy 61st Anniversary to the Folks!

After 61 years together,

they are still each other's "catch of the day"!

Mom couldn't remember if these photos were taken

before or after they were married, but somewhere around that time.

Happy Anniversary to two very important people in my life!

Fun Weekend with Friends and Family!

I am a bit pokey about getting my posting done lately - sorry!

This slide show is, again, a mixed bag, with most of the pictures being from our visit with Sam this past Sunday. We had gotten him a sandbox for his birthday, and decided to give it to him early so that he could enjoy it for the entire summer. It was a huge hit! We kind of figured that it would be, after hearing about all the fun Thomas is having with the sandbox at his kindergarten. I wish we could see the two of them playing together, but we will have to wait until Christmastime for that. Even this Grandma probably won't allow a sandbox in her living room, though.....maybe the front porch if it isn't too frigid outside. ;) By then, Rohan should be almost big enough to participate, if he and his family are able to come home for Christmas! It would be SUPER-FANTASTIC to have all the grands here together - Sally's babe will be here by then, too! I'll start wishing on the stars tonight!! ;)

There are also pictures from when my friend, Suzi Sannes, was here this past week. They came from North Carolina to bury her father-in-law's ashes over in Appleton, and to see family. (and friends!) Suzi was able to come over for lunch with me on Friday, and then we got invited to go to a bonfire over at Marlene and Owen's on Saturday night. It was a lot of fun! I even got to ride on the horse-drawn wagon - pretty smooth ride! Thanks Owen! We stayed out til 11:00 that night - it has been quite some time since we did that (probably Brazil!) I really enjoyed my time with Suzi - it went too fast, though! Back to email and Facebook...

Oh, I also had taken a picture of the tractor with chopper and wagon that I drive during haying. I can handle it just fine in the field, but it gets a bit hairy driving it down the road sometimes. The roads around here can be pretty narrow in places, and this rig is pretty wide. Sometimes the guys move it from field to field for me. They don't seem to worry about the on-coming traffic like I do, or those that sneak up behind you and think they need to pass.

Well, that is all I have for this time! Oh! I went over and helped Mary move some stuff down from the attic above her garage. When we were done, I guided her in opening her own blog. If you would like access to it, please contact her, as it is limited access only.

Have a wonderful day!!

Oh! I saw by Kailea's Facebook that it is only one more month til their wedding! That means one more month til I get to go to Phoenix and see Rohan - and everyone else, too, but he gets top-billing! :)

Sally reminded me, in her comment, about how Sam says sandbox. At first all I could get him to say was 'sand'. Then he would say 'box'. He never actually put the two together - except with a brief pause between them: sand......box. It was cute!

Ranadom Pictures.....

As usual, I didn't check through my pictures very well when I posted Dan's K'ville pictures! I forgot that he was there over 2 days, and when my camera downloads pictures, it puts them into folders, according to the date they were shot. I only posted pics from the second day he was there, so here are a couple more from then, and some random ones following. The last two are from this past weekend when the kids were here. I know I took quite a few pictures, but apparently I was doing it on Sally's camera! Check out their blog for some more cute ones!

Apparently, this is one of Rohan's favorite napping places!


Grampa Bacon with Rohan

Auntie Shell telling Rohan a story. At least he is sure listening to her!

Mama and Rohan having some play-time!

Grampa Syring with Rohan (and Dan's thumb!)

We have some trees growing too closely to the foundation of the house that need to be cut down. There are a couple of problems with this: they are prime habitat for our songbirds that we so enjoy feeding and watching; how to cut them down without hurting the house; is stump removal even an option?? How much of the foundation would come out with the stump? Otherwise, they will just re-grow. This one is on the east end of the house.

This is the one at the front of the house - the smaller trunk is where it had been trimmed back before. It just re-grew in front of that. The wire is our old TV antenna, so obsolete.

There used to be two pine trees growing in the lawn directly in front of the house. We took one of them out a few years back, as it was leaning so much, it looked funny. This one was dying so we took it down on our last Sunday off. I could easily lift any of the chunks that Dan cut up - it was that dead and punky. It looks different, but strangely we don't miss it very much. We still have the large pine at the west of our first driveway. That one is doing okay, just yet. We also took out a clump of locust trees, in the fenceline between the two houses, near the gazebo. Dan wants to try morning glories there again, but I fear we are getting too late. It didn't get very much sun before, but taking out those trees opened it up some.

Sally and Scott all ready to head out for Sally's 10 year Class Reunion, this past Saturday night. They had a good time, but I think we had at least as much fun, watching Sam! I ran home after the milking chores were done and got Sam so they could leave. Then Sam and I headed back to the farm to 'watch' the guys do the clean up chores. Sam was a little hestiant/nervous at first, but I think he finally realized that the cows were on the other side of the gates, so it was all good. He loved checking out the skid steer as it sat at the end of the barn. First he timidly touched it, then would back away and grin. Later I was able to get him to sit in it, which would have been fine except that his 30 lbs. or so was just enough to make the buzzer go off! He could not get off that skidder quick enough!! 'Grau' (Sam's new name for me, at least this weekend!) had all she could do to grab him and help him to keep his balance as he stepped down over the bucket! He had fun running between 'Rog' and 'Boppa' who were cleaning in the parlor, and 'Ja' who was scraping in the holding area. We had been hoping for nicer weather, as there is a big pile of sand, used for bedding the cows, that would have been a lot of fun to play in with his trucks and diggers. Oh well, next time! We headed home and made a birthday cake for Mommy's party on Sunday, then into the bathtub. I had picked up some new tub toys (would you believe I hadn't had any before this??) so Sam had to check them out thoroughly. 'Grau' had to add warm water to the bath a couple of times, because Sam just wasn't ready to get out yet - and yes, I did remember to wash him while he was in there! ;) I also got to read him an entire book - something he needs to be just tired enough, but not too tired, to do. Then we rocked and listened to 'Soundscapes' music on the TV. He finally crashed around 9:30. Oops. Bad grandparenting....but I got to hold him for a while before we put him in our bed, where he slept until Mommy and Daddy got home. It's been a long time since we had a kid in bed with us - brought back lots of memories! Sunday mornings we always wondered if the bed frame would hold all of us, especially when they joined us with a leap!

This is our Sam.

I tried NUMEROUS times to get a candid shot of him, but he would hear the camera and turn to "cheese" at me just about every time! I would snap the photo, just to look at it and see his cheesy little grin - see one photo of my mom reading to Sam, on Sally's blog.

Coming Attractions....

I will be posting pictures from Sam's weekend here (and Scott and Sally, too)....
Just finished up with the farm bookwork - took longer than usual this month! The rain has kept us from haying, so I may have some time in the next day or two.
We are still here!

Old Post - Syrings Move from Kirksville

This is a trip that Dan made down to Kirksville in May. He drove the farm pickup down, with Larry and Michelle as passengers. The three of them helped to load the truck and Rav4 for the long haul, then Dan and Larry headed back to WI with their washer/dryer plus some other odds and ends they couldn't take with. Michelle drove to AZ with Mara, Mike and Rohan.
It was a long trip, hot weather, busy time there but they were glad to be of help to the kids. I stayed home to help out here on the farm, as I knew that Dan was going to get to return the favor to me when I go to AZ in July for Jordan and Kailea's wedding - and of course to see the kids!

Lazy Blogger....

FIRST: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR "BABY"- SALLY, yesterday!!!
Also Mike Syring had a birthday on Wednesday - busy week in our family!

Okay, so I haven't done this in a while. It has been busy around here: first getting the crops in - done - as of last Monday! Then the very next day Roger started knocking down hay, so I got to jump in the chopper on Wednesday. Looks like that will be my MO until it is all in. There is already talk of making some big bales, though, so I won't have to chop all 200+ acres of it! Whew! Oh, and Dan is busy doing the spraying - he has a good start on that, if he can just keep it going. There is always something - wind, rain, breakdowns - to contend with. In otherwords, to quote a new country song: "Sounds like life, to me!"

Our household is adjusting to one less cat. It's hard to realize how big a space a little cat fills up! And no, I don't want to get another kitty, thank you. Four is a great plenty. I keep thinking each season, that this is Racé's last winter/spring, etc., but he keeps plugging along. He can't hear a thing, though, so I worry about him when he goes outside. At about 15 years old, he is our only indoor/outdoor cat. I was rather hoping that I would be finding less fur around, but Fozzy and Toquinho are both long-haired, so that hasn't changed much. Or I should say, Fozzy WAS long-haired. He has been getting a hair cut from Dan, bit by bit. I took a picture of him, but he was too embarrassed to let me post it. Fozzy, not Dan. He is a black cat, but looks gray where Dan has trimmed him. So sad... ;)

I'm typing this, waiting to hear that it is time to head to the field to chop. There is something other than the weather holding things up today. It is absolutely gorgeous out! I went out finished mowing the lawn a bit ago - took me 4 days of bits and pieces to get it done! I was using the push mower, mainly because I prefer the job it does, but also because the rider is torn apart at the moment. Looks pretty good, except where the dandelions are poking their heads up already. Oh well. The daisies, on the other hand, look fantastic!! They are my all-time favorite flower!

Oh! We have Sam, Sally and Scott coming tonight, for the weekend! Fun times! Especially since we get to babysit for Sam tomorrow night while Sally and Scott go to Sally's 10 year class reunion - ouch! Where did that time go?!? Sam is growing by leaps and bounds and learning new things about every 5 minutes - it will be awesome to spend some time with them this weekend! We will get to celebrate Sally's birthday, as well.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend - remember, it's what you do and who you spend your time with, not the weather (which isn't supposed to be all that nice around here)!

Farewell to Our Beautiful Little Stella.....

STELLA

2007-2009

Uncanny!!

THE NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED,

TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT!

The Corn Planting is Done!

Every year there is an unofficial race to see if we can beat the year before, and while I didn't mark it on the calendar (Roger has it down somewhere) I think the corn is in about 10-11 days earlier than last year - possibly a new record for us! You have to understand, that unlike the farmers who just do crops, we have to work around our milking chores as well. Soybeans are next, and John is out prepping the fields for them right now. Yay! By the looks of the hayfields, we will be haying soon, also. Dan will be tackling the spraying, as well. Fun times ahead - read: long, long days and short tempers.

Since I have a brief reprieve - all the work with the soil-saver is done - I worked on mowing our lawn. Finally!! While it looks different, I'm not sure I would go as far as 'better', yet. Next time, I will (hopefully) have a shorter interval and use the push mower. That will depend on the haying, I am sure. Once that starts, I keep pretty busy running the chopper until we are done.

Well, I have the push mower ready to do the areas I can't do with the rider, so I had better get at it. Hope you are all enjoying the sunshine, if not calm winds. I have just about had it with the wind! It makes you tired to be out in it, even if you aren't doing that much!

Next on my agenda for free time is getting the garden in. That, and I have a weaving order waiting for a rainy day....there's always house-cleaning, but we won't talk about that.....

I checked with Roger this morning, and he says that one year (he didn't specify which one) he had all the corn in by May 9!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope you all have a super-fantastic day!

For a wonderful tribute to my mother, please see my sister, Heather's blog! Beautifully done, Heather!! (the Schmit Family blog)

We had dinner at Mary's today - wonderful food and great company! The folks were there, as well as cousins David and Dianne.

Going to See the Buffalo - May 3

As usual, I am a week late getting my photos up! Oh well. Must be my MO now.

We had a wonderful day with Sam and his family last Sunday. We got there mid-morning and stuck around until after five. The weather was gorgeous, the food delicious and the time spent together, priceless! As you can see, we went over to the local Buffalo farm - cannot remember the name, but it is near Hammond, I think. Sam, of course, had to wear his barn boots and farm hat. He is quite the little farmer - or at least grandson of farmers. He really enjoys the out of doors, like most kids, and was thrilled when his parents left the patio door open so he could go in-and-out-and-in-and-out! Hunter liked that too!

Scott grilled us up some of their Lake Michigan catch, Sally cooked up some sweet corn and I tossed together a ramen and cabbage salad - we ate quite well! That and some strawberries for dessert! Yum! (Dan's contribution was occupying Sam while we were doing this!)

As always, the time went too quickly! We enjoy every minute we have with them. We also got a call from Josh while we were there, so we all joined in the conversation - that's always fun!

Thanks to the Aho family for a wonderful day - you are wonderful hosts!

This past week I pretty much lived in the tractor, when I wasn't milking cows. One field was so big it took me 4 days to get it done - I was glad to finally pull out of that one!

There were several days running that I spoke with Debora, too. Really enjoyed our visits and hearing about Thomas' kindergarten. You will have to watch their blog for news about that! :) She also made a surprising discovery in Bechhofen - she overheard some Portuguese being spoken and introduced herself to some women from Brazil, one of whom just moved to Bechhofen! They are all married to German men. I am so happy that she got to meet more people, especially ones who speak her native language! This gal also has a toddler, so that will be fun for them to connnect.

You will have to check out Mara and Mike's blog for some REALLY cute photos of Rohan, taken at their daycare's first anniversary - love them!

We had a good rain during the night, so I anticipate a day here in the house and also getting up to Amherst for the EMS Open House mid-day. A good breather!

Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day tomorrow and a fun weekend!

Flowers for all the special women in my life!

(photo from summer, 2008)

The Week in Review...

The fieldwork has kicked in, so my time has become quite limited for fun stuff.

After I posted last weekend's notes, we had visitors while we were eating supper on Saturday night. Jim, Tanna and Titus Bacon showed up, to help with chores! Titus is 7, and showed real aptitude for working with cows! He especially liked to push the buttons (to release the cows, and close the gates afterwards - not Dan's buttons....) and scrape away any poop that the cows dared to drop in the parlor on their way out. He also showed that he had quite a knack for coming up with names for the animals - on the spot, so to speak - although I can only remember a couple of them: #53 is now Casey, and the newest black and white kitty is Max. He would say, "what's that one's name?" and if we didn't have an answer, he would immediately follow up with "her name is _____!" I wish we could've harnessed his energy! Jim got involved moving cows in and dipping them, while Tanna was kept busy hoisting Titus up so he could hit the toggle that drops the milkers after the cow is done. That woman must have some pipes - I lifted him once! It was fun having them here and the milking went surprisingly fast. Even though Titus was very interested in taking "Max" home, Dad said no. Oh well. ;)

I don't really know where this week went, except that I finished up chopping stalks and got going on running the soil-saver. Two fields done, many to go. But....we have tomorrow off, so we are heading up to visit our oldest grandson- Sam! Oh, and Sally and Scott, too. :) There was talk of visiting a buffalo farm - that sounds like fun! I'll definitely remember my camera this time!!!

All of us, here on the farm, attended Les Jenner's funeral on Friday. It was a nice service and Steph did an admirable job of reading a very sentimental poem - a gift of love for her Grandfather. I don't think there was a dry eye in the church, least of all, hers. We also got to witness, for the first time, a military burial. Very moving, and fitting for a Retired Lt. Colonel in the Air Force. We concluded the gathering by having a luncheon at Simpson's'. Very nice. I even got to see some of my more distant cousins, that Tom and I share. Another good-bye to one of the 'greatest generation'.

Watch for pictures of the fun we will be having tomorrow! Hopefully I will get them posted before next weekend! (no promises....)

Post Script:
I knew there was something I was forgetting to write about!!! We actually entertained last Sunday! Before chores in the morning, I threw a beef roast into the crock pot and my folks and Mary joined us for dinner. We don't do a lot of entertaining, ever, and even less so in the busy spring, but we had rain and it looked like a good opportunity. The crowning point of the day, though, was doing a webcam visit with Germany! My folks hadn't seen that done yet, and were thrilled to be able to see and talk with Josh, Debora and Thomas. Thomas was quite the little entertainer, too! Josh spoke of the 'flood level' in a toddler's home, and Debora was kept busy moving things out of Thomas' reach. They were in the basement 'den' and it was an area he didn't usually go, so there was much to move. Then Debora went and got a small radio that Thomas had figured out how to turn on and off. And he would dance to the music!! We couldn't really tell what type of music was playing (probably a German polka - we teased Josh that Thomas would have to take accordian lessons while he was there!), but that little guy sure has the moves! He was sitting on his knees and just working his shoulders and arms. We were curious about this, until Josh panned the video and we saw Debora doing similar moves. He wasn't watching her right then, but we knew where he got his rhythm! :) THEN she got him to stand up and dance - was that ever cute! I don't think I could explain it well enough. They said that they had a video of him dancing, so I guess we will just have to wait for them to post it. Suffice it to say, he has Brazilian blood!
Oh, and it was good to see the folks and Mary as well! Mom, Mary and I had a game of Scrabble going, but Mary got called that someone wanted to see their camper trailer they have for sale, so she had to go. Mom whopped me. That's all I'm saying....

Bits and Pieces

Nothing too exciting happened this week, and not much planned for the weekend. Read: no grandson visit....

I guess there were a couple of birthdays: Paul Smidansky on Monday, and Elyse Ramseier on Tuesday - that's exciting when you turn 5 years old! I missed wishing Paul happy birthday then, so will do it now - Hope you had a good one, Paul! I haven't been very good about posting birthday wishes on my blog this year.

On Tuesday, we had snow! It was warm enough that it didn't hang around very long, but it was starting to cover the ground. It helped to green the grass up, too. Mucked up my fieldwork, though....

When I could, I got out into the field to chop stalks. So, that means I finished the one field by the Pipe Woods on Sunday morning, and did Harold's yesterday afternoon. Not too much more to chop, then on to digging.

Weaving! Because of the weather, I was able to spend a couple of days out in the weavery. Mary was busy with her house showing on Monday, and general cleaning and packing so I was on my own. It was nice enough, temperature-wise, to not have the heat on. The last day I was out there, I had the windows open - I love that! I missed the banter tossed back and forth between the looms, though. It's been fun to have someone to weave alongside me.

I also missed mentioning the "Dia do Descabrimento do Brasil" on Wednesday! That is the day commemorating the day of discovery of Brazil. It is a holiday there, and I hope all our Brazilian friends enjoyed it!

Oh - a rather big even did take place this week! Linda came back to work for us! She came one evening to try her hand at milking, after suffering a broken wrist and dislocated finger in February. She thought it would go okay, so she was there Friday am for milking. According to Roger, it went pretty well, although she had some difficulty using the rubber scraper on the floor. I would think so! I also wondered how it went for her setting the milkers up. It takes quite a yank to pull the milkers off the jetters (rubber attachments used for washing/sanitizing the milkers). I don't think we realize all the muscles involved in our simple, daily things that we do until we are injured and can't do them. Hopefully Roger and John stepped up to help her out some! Welcome back, Linda! :)

Oh, and Grampa would say that the biggest event of the week was when his oldest grandson, Sam, called him up and said "Boppa"! We have had the opportunity to speak with them a few times this week, and every time Sam gets a little more vocal. We can't make out much of what he says, although Mama and Daddy have a little better luck with that, but he sure rattles off a litany of 'words'! Prior to this, the most we would get out of Sam was 'hi' and maybe sometimes 'da'. He would refer to his Dad, Grampa and the dog as 'da'. I don't think he has called me anything yet. Soon, though, at the rate he is learning!

I have been re-connecting with quite a few old friends on Facebook, and I am loving it! Earlier I found Suzi Sannes, who has turned out to be a real soul-mate! We have such fun conversations! Also Hazel (Christensen) Packer - but she is such a busy lady, I don't hear from her much. This past week I was contacted by Melita Meyer Remsen - my best friend from high school! What fun! Then a couple of days later, Gabby Grimme Hanson - and she is in the state, so may try to see her sometime. Not too far from Sally, I guess. It is rather funny to renew friendships that were between teenagers, or young mothers and now we are most of us moms and some even grandmas! Simply amazing! And of course, none of us has changed and we look just as good as we did 'back then'! ;)

Well, for not much happening, I managed to write quite a bit. I hope you all have a fun weekend planned, with some time for R&R in there. Looks like a good day for a nap, here! Dan's already snoozing, so I have to go and play 'catch-up'!