Sleeping With Antiques

 

Harvest is rolling on the farm. Trying to get those beans in before the rain. 

Here's a look back at our summer! 

Father's Day

We made James's Father's Day dreams come true this June when we headed back to Cherry county for the second year in a row. We grabbed a hotel in town and spent a couple days on the water.

We spent lots and lots of hours on the boat: fishing, tubing, swimming and cruising. 

I'm convinced that if you take babies on boats regularly, they just have to figure it out. Typical third kid to have to take a nap on a towel in a fishing boat. Turns out the 9-year-old was a little tired, too. 

The kids had blast tubing; and by kids I mean all of us. Trevin and I are equally competitive, which resulted in a battle for who could stay on the tube longer. The grand finale came when I flew off the side of the tube but my hands refused to let go, so my body skipped on the water until James stopped the boat to save his wife from herself. My stomach and thighs were sore for a week. I think I gained some respect from Trevin... until he saw me hobbling around like an old lady. 

We also took some time to walk the Cowboy Trail in Valentine and go across the bridge over the Niobrara River which is always a favorite. 

The refuge lakes are probably one of my favorite places of all time. We got to take kayaks with us to Valentine for the first time and it really added to our trip. We all took turns venturing out on the kayaks, fishing and exploring - one of my favorite parts of the trip.

When we returned home we spent some time with my family for Father's Day at Friesen Dam and did a little more fishing.

Farming

James put in some hours with the flamer in June. It's always fun when we gets to use the machine he built and designed. (Huge shoutout to the guys who have helped streamline these machines! You know who you are. And you are probably not here... reading my blog... but hey, credit where credit is due.)

Just three farmers talking about farming.

We had a surprising turn of events when we purchased another 80 this summer. We weren't pursuing more land, but when an adjacent piece drops in your lap, you sign the papers. James is excited about transitioning another piece of ground. I'm just raising the household debt ceiling every time we need to in order to grow the operation. All jokes aside, very thankful that we have the opportunity to grow the farm. Hoping it is a blessing to our children and our children's children.

Wheat harvest hits at the beginning of July. It's always a good change of pace when we get to roll the combine out in the middle of summer. It's a good reminder that the work put in does eventually pay off.

Major gladiator vibes when we walk through the wheat fields. Ya feel me? 

Wheat harvest leads into irrigating which means muddy boots and muddy babies.

Trevin has put in a lot of farm hours this summer, mostly mowing and roguing.

Next comes sweet corn; boy is that a treat. Macklin managed his fair share of corn on the cob this year.

Harvest started up yesterday, and I'm wondering why the calendar is betraying me. Boy, these seasons are flying by. Here's to another fall in the field. 

Fourth of July

We celebrated the 4th of July at Brooke and Joey's for The Greatest Firework Show In All The Land. (The only people that don't call it that are the people that have never been there.)

Mack slept through most of the show and I was impressed. 

The Sunday of 4th of July we usually blow off our fireworks at home. "It's always good when the wheat is harvested before the firecrackers are lit." - Megan Huenefeld

Boating

Lake + Friends = Summer

On repeat...

As we like to say, "We're boat people now." 

10th Anniversary

Remember these babies? 

One decade ago. Ten years married.

My wise marriage advice, after all of my experience, would be to marry the best guy, because he will make marriage super great. That's all of my advice. And be kind. 

We've been wanting to do a big trip for our 10th anniversary. (Like across the world big.) But Covid put a big squash on that, so we dropped the planning. About month before our anniversary, James suggested, out of the blue, that we at least do a weekend getaway to celebrate our 10 year. I thought that was a great idea and was shocked and flattered that he was thinking ahead and preparing. 

About two weeks before our anniversary, James said, "What if we just do an overnight in Lincoln for our anniversary?" I was like "Uh.. Yeah.. That'd be fine." I knew things were busy and it's not the easiest time to get away, so I just brushed it off and moved on. 

About a week before our anniversary, James said, "What if we just work on house project stuff in Lincoln on Wednesday while your mom has the kids?" I said, "For our anniversary?" He was like, "Yeah. We can grab supper while we're there or something." I reluctantly agreed because I didn't want to be high-maintenance, and honestly, we really needed to make some decisions about the remodel we're starting this fall. So that was the plan... to celebrate ten years of marriage.

THE WEEKEND BEFORE OUR ANNIVERSARY, he says to me, "What if, instead of going on Wednesday, what if we just go on Monday afternoon to work on house stuff instead?" And I responded very gracefully, "FOR OUR TENTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY?!" I was afraid if I waited any more days that eventually our anniversary plans would consist of a 20 minute conversation, on the phone, while kids are screaming in the background, and probably bad cell reception. So being the calm and collected person that I am, I started crying and asking him why he doesn't want to spend time with me. He held it in as long as he could and then he started laughing, which just made me mad. He then revealed to me that he had a getaway all planned for us and he was trying to surprise me and throw me off the scent. He had meals planned out, airbnbs booked, and sitters lined up. Of course, I told him he's terrible at this, but I made sure to cry enough happy tears and tell him how much I love him and how excited I was. 

I still had no idea what we had planned, I only knew how long we were going to be gone. We ended up in Nebraska City at the Lied Lodge for supper and then we walked the paths around the Lodge.

Then he informed me that we were staying the first night in an antique store airbnb. I didn't know what that meant, but it was exactly as it sounds. It was an airbnb inside of an antique store, and it was as creepy as it was cool.

We were able to browse the entire shop by ourselves and could purchase anything that caught our eye. I tried to convince James we needed this amazing antique bar, but he disagreed. We spent so much time just perusing through piles and shelves. Seriously felt like a date planned just for me. He's learned a thing or two in 10 years. 

There was a small bedroom suite in the back of the store. Once we were inside the suite, you kind of, almost, forgot that you were in an antique store. Almost. 

The next morning we headed into Omaha and spent the morning stopping at a few places to look at some options for our remodel project. It was super laid-back and we just had a fun time dreaming and shopping. 

We found our next airbnb in Midtown Omaha. We were just a couple blocks away from Jazz on the Green and landed a table on the outdoor balcony at a wood fire pizza restaurant. We spent the evening listening to live jazz and shoving a lot of pizza in our faces. 

When we got home, James made quick use of his anniversary present by whipping up the first batch of homemade ice cream.

It's been the best 10 years of marriage I've ever had to the best husband I've ever had. Somehow, you're managing to get funnier every year, which is lame because I used to be the funny one. Maybe by the end of this next decade I can get you to care about Nebraska football. You're the best husband, dad, friend, and lover. You never cease to amaze me. Happy anniversary, babe.

Homeschooling

We got a jumpstart on school this year and opened the books in July. I knew with the upcoming house remodel that it would be hard to get schoolwork done on some days this winter with me tied up lending a hand or the noise being enough to drive anyone insane. So we started early to get us a good head start. Thank goodness for flexibility and being able to do school whenever and however we want. 

Trev started 4th grade and Myla is tackling Kindergarten. I was nervous how it would go having two kids needing a decent amount of schooling, but so far it's been a breeze. (Maybe even easier than last year. I'm whispering this because I don't want to jinx it.)

Myla got her own desk this year, which has helped tremendously keeping both of the kids on task and in their own spaces. Trevin's curriculum has made a big shift to more independent work, which has also helped when trying to homeschool an extra kid and add in a busy toddler on top of that.

A little secret, which is probably not hard to figure out if you know me at all, I don't love the extra projects. I just don't. I'm giving it my best to incorporate them when I can, but it does not come naturally to me. One fun thing we did try was making homemade pottery when we were learning about the Acoma Pueblo Native Americans. 

The kids helped mix the dough and then shaped it into whatever they wanted to make. We baked it to harden, and then it was ready for paint.

We painted the pottery while we watched the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics. In that moment, I thought to myself, "Homeschooling is pretty cool."  (Speaking of the Olympics - we included a lot of that into our P.E., geography, and current events curriculum. Basically, we watched a lot of Olympics.)

We've also had some really nice mornings, so we've taken advantage of that and worked on the deck. 

Those mornings feel like we're living a dream life. 

Notice all these pictures of the nice moments. Aww. Homeschooling is no joke, though. Sometimes the kids fight. Sometimes no one wants to do school (including me.) Sometimes there's more people crying than not. Sometimes we don't finish. But sometimes I get to watch my child learn a new skill. Sometimes we laugh unexpectedly and tell stories and make really great memories together. Sometimes we skip the books and hit the field trip. Sometimes it's completely perfect.

Macklin likes to join in and disrupt as much as possible, but it's usually a welcomed distraction. 

It's a full-time job trying to keep this guy entertained. SO thankful he still likes that morning nap. 

My strategy is to let him destroy the basement every week while we do school and then we pick it up for the weekends. Then repeat. 

Hamilton County Fair

The Hamilton County Fair is always a summer must. 

James can handle the carousel, but that's about it.

I had the pleasure of dragging my 9-year-old son onto a ride he was terrified of. It was the best. He screamed and I laughed. We ended up running into cousin/friends and by the end of the night, Trevin was suddenly really brave and ready to take on all the big rides. 

One really really great night. 

Except for when we lost Macklin for a second. He was just hanging out with a carnival worker... 

no big deal.

Helms Visit

I never take enough pictures when the Helms family visits, but it's always one of the biggest highlights of the summer! 

They come and work so hard every year while they're on the farm. Plenty of laughs and good food to go around.

State Fair

We go to the state fair every year, mostly for the Nebraska Game and Parks exhibit and the nitro ice cream for James.

My favorite moment was when James had to tell the people at the Case booth that they had the wheat and oats labels wrong on the bins for kids to play with. They had wheat labeled oats and the oats labeled wheat. James teased the guy, "You've been lying to these kids for days!" The guy definitely thought James was joking at first, but when we came back around on our way out, we saw that they had switched them. You're welcome, Nebraska.

You know it's been a good day when the baby falls asleep in the stroller.

Zoo

Dentist appointments in Omaha meant an afternoon spent at the zoo.

We experienced Stingray Beach for the first time and the kids loved getting to touch the stingrays.

Macklin said "moo" to most of the animals. Myla made sure to screech anytime she saw a bat. Trevin made sure to point out every bat to his sister.

Family days that double as school trips are the best.

Other Highlights:

Throwing it back to all the other great moments of the summer:

Our Nuss friends were back and it was so fun getting the babes together and reliving the glory days at Gary's and Sweet Treat. 

It was my 10th wedding anniversary this summer, so naturally, it was my 10th high school class reunion. (I was known as a rebel. Except I wasn't.)

I helped set up the parade float and some of the decorations at the dinner. We had a slim showing for the parade, but ended up with close to 35 (out of 100ish) for the reunion. Crazy to think it's been 10 years since I've seen most of them. What a fun night it was, catching up with everyone and reminiscing the good ol' days.

We had a nasty storm roll through the area and the tree damage was unlike anything we've ever experienced. We lost so many trees around the farm. It will literally take years to get to it all. It was heartbreaking and stressful, adding another load of weight onto the very busy summer.

We spent a lot of days outside, doing all the summer things!

Bubbles in the water table are always a hit! 

Lots of sibling bonding

"Mom! Come quick! The toilet is smoking!!"

And our family wall-sit competitions. We found out that Myla is way more competitive than we thought, fighting through tears to make sure she was the last one on the wall. It was shocking.

The past few months have been filled with friends, more friends, and especially, baby friends.

We took a family girls' trip to IKEA, a first for 3 of them! I think they get the hype now. 

I got to help host a bridal shower for a new friend, and then got to travel to Kansas for their wedding a few weeks later. I just love love.

We attended another wedding - for James's cousin. It was such a beautiful evening. 

 It's great when your friends are family, so they're always at the family events. 

Probably one of the most memorable days this summer was spending the afternoon fishing with Gracia and Rubin and then attending the Garth Brooks concert at Memorial Stadium with them. 

I had a bass break my line while we were fishing. Believe it or not, James managed to reel in the exact same fish a little while later and pulled out both hooks. 

The concert was hot and crowded and I had to pee the entire time, but it was worth every penny. What a great show. I could sing Garth at the end of every day, and I just might.

Ashton and JT have started a new venture called the Temple Craft Restoration Project. They purchased another building on the square and have big plans for it. 

They hosted a big fundraiser launch and reveal party for the community and it was really fun to be a part of it. It's going to be such a cool project. It has already been quite entertaining. If you feel like donating or learning more, visit their facebook page. (Shameless plug for my besties.) I won't give away any of their secrets, but you should definitely check out their page to find out what they are up to. And follow along, because it's going to be sweet.

Fall has brought on football season. The most magical time of the year. My nephews are playing high school ball now so it's a blast being able to catch their games when we can.

And of course, we watch the Huskers every week. And every week we get our hearts broken worse than the week before. Such is life as a Husker fan. Macklin's expressions are the exact same as mine while I watch the games. 

Trevin

• Started 4th grade

• All about shooting right now - bows, nerf guns, bb gun, airsoft gun... if it shoots, he's all over it.

• Currently refusing a haircut. I am not fighting it because I do not care and that's about the end of that story. 

• Constantly making jokes or coming up with ways to prank people. He's so quick-witted. 

• He finished his last year of swim lessons and he is pumped. He checks with me at least once a month to make sure he's really, seriously, definitely done forever. 

• He's a hard worker, particular, organized, and observant. He's a really awesome kid and the more time I spend with him, the more I love being with him. 

Myla

• Started kindergarten!

• Got in on CRC day camp crafts this summer. 

• Unlike her brother, she loves swim lessons.

• She had a special daddy-daughter date, including playing at the park and eating ice cream.

• She sneaks into our bed every once in a while. But it's hard to kick her out when she sleeps like this. 

• She can be found on the deck playing with the cats - petting them, singing to them, dancing with them... She often says to them, "I'll give you attention!"

• Her reading is really taking off this month. She's gaining more confidence and is really starting to enjoy it.

• She's the perfect middle child, splitting her time playing with each brother and loving every second.

• She's creative, a little clumsy, generous, and absolutely darling. 

Macklin

Oh, I just adore this stage he's in.

• He is that perfect mix of ornery and cute, and it is just irresistible.

• His vocabulary has exploded. He's picking up new words every week. The latest ones off the top of my head are moo, tractor, shoe, kitty, beep beep, puppy, no, boat, boo, chirp chirp, please, thank you, baby, hi, and hello. The most commonly used words are tractor, shoe, thank you, and daddy. He yells tractor, papa, or daddy every time someone drives by. He grabs his shoes multiple times a day and squeals "shoes! shoes!" until someone puts them on him. Or he'll grab your shoes and bring them to you to put on. He also says thank you anytime he wants something, and often times he'll say it again after he gets something. He's making machine noises whenever he's playing with little cars or tractors.

• He started singing which might be my new favorite skill from the summer. He will sing along with the kids when they sing Pharaoh, Pharaoh. And if I ask him to sing a song for me he goes, "Ohhh" in a low pitch tone. It's amazing. 

• He's a busy toddler, always on the move. Our house is a tornado all of the time, BUT he is playing really well independently right now so no one is going to get in the way of that.

• He's always trying to get into the trash, and I'm sure he's throwing things away all the time that he's not supposed to. One day I came out of the bathroom to find him parked next to the trashcan eating old spaghetti off of the top. (See photo below.) His nickname is trash panda. I can't wait to have our trash in a cupboard very very soon. 

• He's currently working on his canines, a couple have poked through, but the others are still working their way in.

• He's eating food so much better now and I can almost always feed him whatever we're eating. He's still getting bottles before bed. I know. I know. It will be gone at some point. Maybe someone should just come take the bottles out of our house. Or maybe I should just be an adult and do it. 

• He learned how to fist bump and gives lots of high fives. He also learned how to shoot a rubber band with his fingers and it's highly impressive. 

• His personality it really coming through. He gives a strong stink eye, like another toddler boy I remember. His laughter is contagious and he thinks more and more things are funny by the day, including himself. He likes making people laugh and likes being the center of attention. 

That's our summer in a nutshell. 

We're taking on a massive main floor renovation as soon as harvest wraps up. (Kitchen, living/dining room, laundry room, bathroom, office, entryways, and new windows... no sweat, right?) I'm spending the next couple of weeks moving EvErYtHiNg into the basement and trying to finalize all of the house plans. If you have any tips on simplistic cooking, I'm all ears! Likely lots of crockpot and instant pot meals in my future. And probably pb&js... 

BUT I'm so incredibly excited to show you what we've got planned. It will be such a joy when it is complete. It's the last major remodel phase of the house, which is going to feel so satisfying when it is finished. 

To be completely honest, the month of September has been brutal for our family, but I needed a little more time before writing about it. We're exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally, but we see the clouds lifting and there's hope and light on the horizon.

Until next time, friends. ♥

Adding acres, growing on the farm...