Family Night

Family Night has a special meaning in our house.  We had started it when we had only four children, continued it through the years while the family grew, and now there are two that have moved out of the house.  So, the family being together is more special now that it happens less frequently.

On Sunday night one person in the family is highlighted.  That person gets to choose either a dinner meal, or a dessert.  That person also gets to choose an activity that the whole family gets to participate in.
Meal choices range from pizza to grilled pork chops. Desserts (rare on a daily basis) are always something out of the ordinary, ice-cream cones, kettle-style popcorn, etc.  Activities over the years have been pretty interesting.  Dear Farmer and the Wife are the "stuck-in-the-muds"...apparently going to bed early and having a family picture are not activities highest on anyone else's lists.  Sometimes activities have been simply inviting over another family to join in the chaos.  Always it is fun to simply be together.

Last night was one of the Little Farmer's Daughter's Family Night.  She was all excited planning her dessert. Ice-Cream Cones dipped in chocolate with jimmy-sprinkles and an apple cider donut on top.  I'm with you, I don't understand the donut, but there's little reasoning with a four-year old.  For her activity we were going to pull out the dress-ups and dance to the music from a certain movie about a couple of Nordic-princessess and a snowman.  The adults didn't do much dancing, but we did do some picture taking.  Honorable Son No.1 and Dear Farmer were conversing on the text from church (1 Thessalonians) and Spurgeon's sermons. The Eldest Farmer's Daughter was trying to plan out her week between jobs, family schedule, and friends. The Second Farmer's Daughter was braiding the Wife's hair (it's fun to have a mother with long hair).  The Pied Piper of the Farm-boy trio said the evening was so much fun!  He even did an "ice-cream dance" that he learned from his brother, Honorable Son No.2, who was not present with us...and we had the dessert. There will be a repeat of this night next week, which I think is very comforting.  There will be a different person in the family highlighted, a different dessert, and a different activity-but the picture will look much the same.  Family loving eachother.

Top Ten Date-Nights with Dear Farmer

The rain today prevented Dear Farmer from doing hay, so he took the Wife out on a date. This was very appreciated by both the Wife, and all the children (the Wife had been getting a little lot stressed lately while being the single parent).  Thought it would be fun to show you what Dear Farmer and the Wife consider a "hot" date.


Top Ten Date-Nights with Dear Farmer

1. Out to the local-ish "have it all" home repair store.
2. Out to the next closest local-ish "have everything the first didn't have" home repair store.
3. Out to the local-ish tractor and farm supply store.
4. Out to the grocery store.
5. For a drive around the fields to check progress of growth.
6. To the local "have it all" for your home store.
7. To a family member's house.
8. To a car dealership(to look at trucks for the farm).
9. Down to the barn to hook-up equipment/clean up equipment.
10. Driving equipment out to fields for the next cutting/bailing.

For all of you Wives...you aren't alone. 

For all of you Farmers...as long as the date begins with, has in the middle, and ends with "I love you." You can't go wrong.

The Cowboys are coming!

The farm here is divided by a road.  Not just any road, a commuter road.  It makes life interesting.

Especially interesting when you need to move 80+ head of cattle from the east fields to the west fields for grazing.  Guess what's between the east fields and west fields?  If you said, the road, you got it!
Usually Dear Farmer lets down the electric line and claps his hands and says,"Come on, ladies! Let's go!", and all the cows follow him.  But it's a little more hairy when you have an open road that you need the cows to cross before they get to the next field.  Who knows what one cow could decide to do?!
The eldest Farmer's Daughter works at a stable where cowboys board their horses.  When the cowboys found that Dear Farmer had cows, they were all excited.  They were thrilled when Dear Farmer said they could ride their horses among the herd, but their faces really lit up when Dear Farmer started talking about moving the herd across the road. All the possibilities of anything going wrong, all parties thought, could be solved if there were cowboys on horseback.   Aside from the great picture it makes(the Farmer's Daughter takes magnificent ones) it's actually very practical.  When a cow and a horse are together, the cow naturally will move away from the horse.  The horse is usually taller and more "in charge" than the cow.  (We are not talking about rodeos.) When a person ON a horse is among the cows, they will pretty much walk wherever they are told.  We move the cattle nice and slow (you don't want your meat running all day, makes for a tough steak) especially across the road, that's perfect.  Two cowboys flank the cows and stop traffic...and wow!  You should see traffic stop for a cowboy on a horse in the middle of the road!  Those cars don't even question or try to move around.  One cowboy moves the cattle across from behind and Dear Farmer stands in the front of the cows(on the other side of the road) clapping his hands and saying, "Come on, ladies! Let's go!"  It's definitely a team effort!  So far, everyone's doing the job great.  The Cowboys are happy.  Dear Farmer is happy.  And everything has gone fine.
Now when we prepare to move the herd across the road, we hear a little person excitedly shout, "The Cowboys are coming!"  And they do.

What did Dear Farmer do for his birthday?

In our large family gifts are usually time together, not so much opening boxes or having things.  Last year the children at home started the tradition of all pitching in together for Dear Farmer's birthday...
this year children at home took Dear Farmer out for his birthday gift to the "John Deere Historical Site" in Grand Detour, IL.  If you're a "John Deere"-fan, it's a must!
Check on their website first, to confirm when they are open, admission was only $5.00 for ages 12 and up-we went on a Saturday, they were open from 9-5.  We packed a picnic lunch, they have a beautiful pavilion to lunch in, and they have nice clean bathrooms as well.
The site is approximately one block long, and maybe a quarter block wide.  It's absolutely beautiful and well kept.  You are given a guided tour in small groups with other visitors.  We were a small group all by ourselves, but there was a couple that tagged along with us.  I only felt bad for the other couple when it came to "Do you have any questions?" from the tour guide.  The Pied Piper always has tons of questions.  I'm sure the couple would have gladly moved on.

On site there are several buildings of interest:

• One building is an excavation site of the original blacksmith shop built by John Deere where the company first started.  In that building is a movie about John Deere, and many artifacts from the dig. 
• One building is a replica of the blacksmith shop where an actual blacksmith was giving a demonstration as well as a verbal "tour" around the shop.  The blacksmith was entertaining and informative!  What a craftsman!
• One building was John Deere's home.  The family owned the property for a number of years, so family pictures and furniture were decorating the home.  There are also a number of period pieces to complete the lived-in look.
• One building is the neighbor's house, where there is a gift shoppe.  We didn't go in there...I had eight small children with me, and was not planning on purchasing anything for them.

The entire time there was about an hour and a half, not too long for the littlest, and just right for the parents.

Having seen this John Deere site, it makes Dear Farmer want to go to Moline, IL and see the corporate HQ. I don't know anything about that, we'll have to look into it for next year's birthday.

If you head over that direction, there is more to do in the area.  Lee County in Illinois has a well organized visitor's bureau.  

The highlight of Dear Farmer's birthday...he said it was being with his family!  What a great guy!!!

*Do I need to tell you no one paid me to say anything about anything?  We just had a great time, and would love you others to have a great time there as well!

Happy Birthday, Dear Farmer!

Dear Farmer is celebrating his birthday this weekend!


If you'd like to leave Dear Farmer a birthday message, feel free in the comments!!!

Why did the duck cross the road?

The farm here is divided by a road.  Not just any road, a commuter road.  It makes life interesting.

You know the joke.  The answer around here, however, is very different...
We have ducks.  We have had ducks.  We used to have more ducks, but now we have fewer ducks.  This road, between our fields, is like the ducks' source of entertainment.  Particularly in the morning, during the "rush" time.
In the morning, the ducks waddle out in a line, down over the field, through the creek, up the yard, past the wooden fence and to..the road.  Why does the duck cross the road?  The duck doesn't cross the road.  The duck waddles onto the road, and looks back to his buddies.  He quacks to the buddies. The buddies all waddle up to the road.  They all stand in a line stretching across the road.  Now traffic in both directions is stopped. Car honks, duck quacks.  (We have come to the conclusion that the ducks think the cars are "talking" to them when they honk.) Cars honk, ducks quack.  Finally one frustrated driver edges around ducks and into the gravel (slowly) on the right side of the road, other cars follow, they are on their way again.  The ducks find themselves alone in the middle of the road.  The ducks waddle to the other side of the road.  Nothing more to see there.  Repeat this scenario in the afternoon "rush".
What are you going to do about it?  There really isn't anything we can do about it.  We can't find where the ducks sleep to "lock them up" at night.  They are all drakes(male) so it's not like they are profitable on the farm...though they do eat ticks...All we can really do is watch them waddle and apologize to the cars on the road.  If you pass by our farm...go a little slower and see if you can figure out the real answer to the joke.

What to do while Dear Farmer cuts hay?

Dear Farmer has begun cutting hay.  The Wife is a "hay-ing widow" for the next four months...
The children don't mind Dear Farmer being gone in the fields day after day, though...because the Wife is a beach-girl!
 "Wake up and jump into your suits children, we're hitting the beach!"
Yes, the Wife is very happy to sit on sand all day.  The children run, the children swim, the children don't care how cold the water is, the house is staying clean and the Wife is spending no money!  Really?! How great is that!
There are still responsibilities that need to be tended to on the farm.  Goats and chickens to feed. But we can all pitch in and get the work done in plenty of time to be picnic-ing on the sand.
The Wife LOVES summertime!
Dear Farmer enjoys hearing the stories of the beach, seeing the "treasures" the children have brought home, and knowing that his family has had a great day...while he was playing on his tractor cutting hay.