Jonathan's First Bloody Nose

Yep...the more mobile he gets the more accidents we have...he already has had his first black eye and today he got his first bloody nose!

 

He was crawling around and decided he wanted to stand up in the doorway...well, his hand slipped and came face down into the corner of the doorway jam!  OUCH!  Tears and blood flowed!  It might be a bit bruised but we'll have to keep an eye on it.  He has a vertical line on his forehead too...poor little boy!

Our printer died

It was eight years old so I can't say it was a surprise...we have put it to good use! But the other day when Marion was trying to print newsletters it kept making this horrid grinding noise...a few days after that, it did it again and no longer will feed paper through...big bumber!

Fortunately, I don't have much ink left so we won't be out that way...

When we upgraded our computer to Vista we found out that our printer monitor was no longer supported by our OS...at that point I knew we'd be looking into a new printer at some point but couldn't justify a new one when the old one still worked.

I am pretty excited about the new printer because I have wanted a scanner for some time now but between costs and space we just couldn't justify it...well...we decided since we were getting a new printer anyway that we'd go for an all-in-one...so we will now have printer/scanner/copier all in one! I could have gotten one with a fax in it as well but our old faithful brother fax still works just fine so we didn't go that direction...plus we don't use fax that often anyway!

I am just SO excited...the only down part is that it will more then likely arrive while I am gone to my retreat...but how exciting to come home!

We debated for a while between the Espon and the HP but finally decided on the HP...ink was less expensive and the reviews were a bit better...the Epson did have Bluetooth capabilities and CD/DVD printing options but those were just nice toos...not necessities. Plus we can get a Bluetooth adapter for this printer at minimal cost! Another benefit to the HP was that the ink will all be available locally so we won't have to order online or go someplace else to get ink!

I guess that is all I have to report today!

PS...am I doing better at updating?

September is Almost Done

I cannot express how happy I will be to end the month of September...it seems that it went crazy and hasn't let up!

It is not that it has been a 'bad' month just very busy and with the recent illness and all...it seems to have gotten out of hand. We have had something every single week...and not just little things like Story Hour & preschool (though we did have those too)...things like the Women's Conference and the first MOPS meeting and a trip to Hastings and Marion's birthday! And this last weekend...Old Settler's Day.

I know...it has not been near as full as say Mark and Karla's month...if you haven't heard, they are moving to Salina! Now...that is a transition to fill a month! Throw into the mix that Karla is expecting the 9th Schlatter Cousin and you can see why my month has been nothing to theirs! Hopefully my October won't be as busy and I can get to Salina to help Karla unpack some...or at least say hi! Now all of our family will be within 3 hours of us (except for my dad).

I am also excited to be ending September because I get to go on a four day retreat by myself! Yep...no kids...just me and my scrapbooking! I can't even remember when I last scrapbooked...it had to have been before Jonathan was born at least...my goal for this weekend is to get Jonathan's book completely caught up to the present and if I have time, work on the family albums. I'll let you know when I get back how I did on that.

Well, the photos that I am uploading to print for the retreat are done, so I best be running!

Update on the Farm

Well, Marion is busy drilling wheat...he says we have about three more days if the weather holds...then they will have to wait till the soybeans are harvested, disked and then they will need to drill that soybean ground.

We have had a nice run of weather lately with no rain delays.

The soybeans are dying down nicely...the corn is turning and the milo is ripening. All in line with fall harvest. Jim just did sillage and I think they have all the cane cut and baled now. Marion said something about one more cutting of alfalfa but I can't remember when he said they would do that!

That is basically the farm news...I can't think of anything else right now...I'll ask Marion and let you know if he adds anything!

Marion's Birthday

Well Marion is now 37!

We both cannot believe that he is only 3 years away from 40...what more this was our 7th birthday together!

With my still recovering from my illness, he told me not to do anything but if any of you know me, you know I couldn't do that! So my biggest gift to him was cleaning the house, and a nice steak dinner. I did manage to get a cake baked as well.

He had to work in the field until dark so we didn't celebrate until around 8 that night but it gave me more time to work on the house.

Here are a few pics:

Melanie's Sick

Hello Everyone...

 

I am sorry that we have slacked off again on posting here....I have had about three days of illness and I am still recovering.  I am finally able to take some fluids (broth) without getting totally ill.  I have also been up now for an hour and a half which is the longest I have managed in three days...so I think I am finally coming to the other end...of course, now I am getting the feverish part of things where I go through the chills and sweats.

 

So if you think about it, please pray for me and the kids!

 

Thanks.

Nathan's ENT Check up

Well, Nathan had another ENT check up today. He is only going in every six months or so now. The doctor said everything looked good and that he would probably remove the tubes in the spring if they didn't come out on their own by then. It has been two years since he put the T-tubes in both ears now.

This morning Abigail woke with a fever and wasn't feeling well. Grandma said she could just rest at her house but I guess the tylenol helped her feel better because Grandma said she just played and played.

Nathan didn't have one this morning but by the time we got to Hastings he was definitely feverish and not feeling well. It made the appointment easy for the doctor to check him however he as a bit testy when the doctor wanted to check his throat for good measure. He had some drainage in his throat but the doctor said nothing else that would indicate strep or a more serious illness. So we are very thankful for that.

Hopefully the kids will feel better soon.

And the Garden is still going....

Yes...today we did the green beans that have been piling in the fridge...we thought for a while that we weren't going to get green beans this year but now they have set on and we are very blessed...I think I got 19 quarts today. I can't remember all that Marianne got while we were in Scottsbluff but I think it was like 26 pints and some odd quarts...this is our second batch of canning and I think we have a total of 28 quarts over here...so they haven't done too bad.

I also have drawer of tomatoes that needs to be processed and some more cucumbers...but I have done ALOT of pickles already and don't really think we need any more so they might go to the chickens if they go soft before I get to them.

We also were able to get some apples from the youth group and so I started doing applesauce as well...I have 8 1/2 quarts of those done and a box and 1/3 left to do. I am needing some more quart jars though...I don't really want to have to buy them new but I may have to...I know Marianne was looking for quarts as well. It seems with the growing family that pints don't really get us too far in a meal...though I could use them and just open two if needed.

Kid's Accomplishments

Okay...so this is a family blog right...and not only do we have it to share info with family but also to journal about what is happening in our kids lives as they grow...so I really hope no one things we are bragging too much here...if we are...please take it with a grain of salt...we are not thinking our children are superhero...astronomically way talented or anything like that...we simply want to remember some of these great events and stories as they happen. 

 

So Jonathan is really starting to stand up alot more...today when I went to get him from his morning nap, he was standing facing the wall playing with the Eeore wall decor that was right in front of him...he'd pat Eeore and then grab the railing and bounce!  He was having such a good time that he didn't even notice I was there...when he finally did see me...he squealed and laughed...oh he as having so much fun.  Later when he went down for his afternoon nap...he had a hard time settling down because he wanted to stand and bounce more!  I don't know how much nap he really got in!

 

I also wanted to share how well Abigail is doing with her phonics.  She has really started understanding the concept of blending letter sounds together to make words.  She can readily read "log" and "hog" now and is very proud of herself...she has started declaring "I can read now!"  We have had to help tame that down some and explain that she is "starting" to read but that there are lots of words out there that she doesn't know yet so she still need to practice and learn!  There are several other three letter words that she can put together now too but we aren't pushing that too much because the phonics lessons really encourage not going beyond what letters they have been introduced to to avoid confusion.  There are so many "rules" when learning to read...we have to be careful..she really only understands the short sounding vowels...the other day she was trying to read "far" and the /a/ sound isn't the short /a/ sound so it was very confusing to her...but she is really responsive to learning and the phonics lesson is by far her favorite part of school!

 

Well, that about sums up the update on the kids.  Nathan is still strongly wanting to follow after Daddy.  Nothing really new going on with him at the moment. 

Our Little Farmer

Marion just came in and was telling me an amazing story about our little farmer - Nathan!

 

Nathan has been VERY interested in doing anything and everything he can with Daddy.  He wants to carry pliers like Daddy, he wants to wear boots like Daddy, he wants to drive tractors like Daddy.  Just about anything Daddy does...Nathan wants to be there!  One day last week Nathan was in little boy heaven when Daddy agreed to take him on the tractor while he disked...Nathan spent hours on the tractor, watching, singing, and even sleeping.  He especially loved to sit backward and watch the disk rip up the ground.  Marion said it brought back fond memories of when he'd be on the tractor with his dad. 

 

Well, little did we know how much Nathan was absorbing.  Just this evening Marion found Nathan covered in grease and standing by the little Ford tractor 'greasing' the tractor.  What surprised us is that Nathan put it together that (a) the tractor needed greased, (b) he needed a grease gun to do this, (c) there was a grease gun in the brown building - one that Marion had never shown him before and that he had to have discovered on his own, (d) he went all the way to the building, got the grease gun and then hauled it out to the tractor, (e) and the clincher...HE ACTUALLY FOUND TWO GREASE ZERKS to attach the gun to!!!  THEN when Marion came to get him, he said he HAD to show Daddy where he'd greased so Daddy would know those were already done! 

 

Now..is that amazing or what...the only time we can think of that he even remotely saw anything about greasing was when Marion was only greasing the disk...not the tractor!  Now if we could just get Nathan more interested in using the potty! 

 

We are constantly amazed at the imaginations of our children and how God has blessed them so richly.  The things they come up with in their play and coloring makes a person wonder what happened to us as we grew up.  When something like this happens, we just sit back and marvel at how great God is to give us children and wonderful it is to watch these children grow.

Have you seen this?

This looks to be an AWESOME movie coming out...I told Marion we will be buying this one...I hope you all take the time to support this movie as it looks to be one of the good ones out there!  Personally...we support all kinds of movies...and I truly feel we all need to make an extra effort when a movie comes out that promotes good values and morals. 

 

Melanie

http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/

He Stood UP!

Yes...I absolutely cannot believe it but Jonathan just stood up on his own!

We were in the kitchen finishing lunch and Jonathan was sitting on the floor exploring and crawling around. All of a sudden I looked over to where he was and HE WAS STANDING next to the canner...apparently he crawled over to the canner and using the handles to pulled himself up! I am just so stunned...

The kids tried to get him to recreate the event but he was getting so much attention that he was interested in standing again...I wonder what he will pull up on next?

Just had to share...how exciting!

Here is a picture of him after he was standing:

Scottsbluff Pictures

Okay...so here are the pictures from the Scottsbluff trip...or at least a couple of them...The first one is one I took of the kids in Dad's mobile home one morning...I thought it was pretty cute!

Next we have Aunt Muffy with Jonathan:

And Isaac helping Abigail do horseshoes:

Larissa and Isaac waiting for the food to be served:

Patti, Elizabeth, Daryl and David visiting:

I hope you enjoyed a few of the pics...I guess I didn't get as many as I had originally thought that I did...but you can see we did have a good time.

Trip to Scottsbluff

Yea!  We had a great trip!

 

Marion and I had not planned on going back to Scottsbluff this fall since we made our trip in the spring this year however, when dad called and said they were having a family gathering and that pretty much everyone was going to be there we reconsidered.  We weren't sure if Marion would be able to go because of the work that needed to be done on the farm but we went ahead and made plans for me and the kids to go.  As we anticipated, it didn't rain and Marion was needed on the farm so last Friday I headed out to Gothenburg where I stayed with my sister that night.  Then on Saturday we made a little stop by Grandma Makey's to visit and have lunch and then off to Scottsbluff.  We stayed in my dad's mobile home and the kids really liked that...they thought is was great fun to have our own "house" at Grandpa's. 

 

On Sunday we made it to church at Monument Bible which is where Marion and I were married.  Abigail got it this time...in the spring we tried to tell her that we were married there and it didn't register.  She did VERY well sitting through church and several of our friends commented on how big she was!  Nathan and Jonathan had a great time in the nursery there.

 

Monday was the picnic day.  The kids had a great time playing with all the cousins.  I tried to put them down right away to get them a good rest in before we ate but that didn't work so well so I let them get up and play.  It was probably 3 or so before Nathan finally gave up and laid down for a nap.  Abigail never did take a nap. 

 

Pretty much all of the family was there except for three of Uncle David's kids, Uncle Dean, and a few of our significant others...It was great to catch up and see everyone.  I was especially glad to be able to spend some more time with my Aunt Muffy...I saw her for the first time in five years earlier this year and then again this weekend.  (And NO...I am not just writing that because you keep checking my blog...I really have enjoyed reconnecting with you!)

 

I'll try to post some of the pictures I got but it won't be for a little while because the next week is pretty crazy for me with MOPS, State Fair in Hutchinson, and our Women's conference on the 13th.  If I get a moment or two I'll try to post some and keep you updated. 

News for the Doctor

Well, we got good news on Friday!  All my blood work came back normal!  I am most thankful for the thyroid results! 

 

So now what do we do...well I have started taking Prilosec for reflux to see if that doesn't help the situation and we will see...I am supposed to take it for 2-3 weeks.

 

However, I am thinking that maybe it is more of an allergy thing because I didn't have any difficulties with it when I was in Scottsbluff and then the very next day that I got home, I was hoarse again. 

 

I haven't really had allergies so I don't know for sure but we will keep on the course of Prilosec to rule that out and then we'll go from there. 

 

Just wanted to let you all know since I had posted about that...OH>.and Nathan's belly button is great...it started responding after just 24 hours of antibiotic and it we haven't had any other problems since.