It sure was nice to get to church on Sabbath.  The Sabbath school video "The Gates of Hell" took us on location where Jesus taught his disciples to be on the offensive against the devil.  After the video we discussed how many times we as Christians tend to be on the defensive when we should be on the offensive.  Pastor Steve gave a good message.  We had a lunch afterwards and then enjoyed blessings of songs and readings in the afternoon.

Tim and his brother drove to the Mandan Veterans Cemetery to visit their dad's grave and put flowers there.

Since Tim left church after eating lunch Whitney gave Daniel, Leah, and me a ride home.  Actually she took us all around the area.  She wanted to visit our church cemetery south of Alfred so we did that first.  After changing clothes at our home she took us to hers.  We played with the baby kittens while she checked on her chicks.  As it was hot she opened a window in the coop and turned their heat lamp off.

She had a couple farms in the area where she was taking care of the cats and dogs while their owners were gone for the weekend.  We rode along as she did this.

By the time she finished doing that it was time for her to feed the 5 bottle calves at the main Huebner farm.  Daniel played with the dog and Leah rang the doorbell as she thought Ryan was in the house.  He wasn't but his mother, Janice let her in to play anyway.  I watched while Whitney fed the calves.  When Whitney was finished we went up to the house and visited awhile there.  Ryan's sister was home for the weekend with her 2 year old son and new baby daughter.  It was nice to see the baby and I enjoyed the visit with them.  Ryan was out digging in the field right south of the house so he stopped and gave Daniel and Leah each a ride in the tractor.  When we were outside we noticed the temperature was a lot cooler than it had been.  So

Whitney felt she better go back and put the heat lamp on her chicks again.

By the time we got back here Tim was home from Mandan and told us how his afternoon went.  He was glad he was able to get to the graveside and enjoyed his time with his brother.

I was glad I was able to get a window into Whitney's world and really had such a wonderful restful Sabbath.

After sleeping in way too long this morning I haven't accomplished much other than changing bedding and washing laundry.  I still need to vacuum and sweep and make something for lunch.

Tim and Daniel are outside doing this.

Tim was able to pick up this wood already cut down from someone he knew in town who wanted it out of there.  He is so thankful for Daniel's help in running the log splitter.

While I was outside I checked how my garden was doing after the storm last night.  The peas, corn, potatoes, and onions are growing well.  I do think I will have to replant my short row of beans as they don't seem to be coming up.

This afternoon Whitney will pick me up so we can go to a Pampered Chef bridal shower in Jud.  I'm looking forward to that as they are always so fun.  And I will get to see my daughter again this week!

I had best get the rest of my work finished.

Glad the wind is gone.

What a wind that was!  It is so nice to not hear it today.  It looks like it will be a really nice day out there.  Maybe I will feel well enough to actually do some work around here.

For the last 12 days I have been ill.  It started with Leah getting a fever and cough.  A few days later I got it.  The fever lasted for two days but the weakness and coughing continued much longer.  On Monday I finally felt like I was a little better.  Yesterday was pretty good and today feels good so far.  I had prayed that Tim and Daniel wouldn't get as ill as Leah and I did.  And they didn't.  They have colds but never got the fever and weakness.

Since we all felt better we did make it to Fargo yesterday for Daniel's weekly appointment.  We started early as I wasn't sure how fast we would be able to drive in that wind.  So we got there one hour early.  As there is a McDonald's right on the road close to Dr. Agnes' office we stopped there for awhile.  I got a mocha (mmmmm) and the children played.  Dr. Agnes said he tried Daniel on some harder therapy but it was a little too much for him.  Daniel remarked that it wasn't very fun.   Usually he likes it at the office as he gets to do different things than we do at home.

We didn't spend much time in Fargo as I don't feel much like walking around.  We stopped at a couple different playgrounds so the children could play and we could eat our lunch.  We filled gas.  And we stopped at the Stockman's Center (I can't remember the name.)  so I could pick up some syringe parts for Whitney.  They have been busy working cattle.

We stopped in Jamestown to see Dustin.  He is leaving in a few days.  I really don't know how I will bear it.  But I know that with my Lord's help I will get through this time.

After doing shopping at Wal-Mart we went home a different route than we normally take so we could drop off the cattle supplies at Whitney and Ryan's place.  They weren't there of course but we did look at her new baby chicks and the kittens before heading home.

It was good to get home and get things put away and be in my own home again.  The children were sad to find that "Jack", the dog was gone.  He looked really sad when we left in the morning and must have taken off shortly after that.  I hope he will find a good home.

It is nice to be done with school for the summer.  I had planned to paint my living room, back entry, and maybe the dining room last week.  And I thought I would be all caught up on my spring cleaning.  Now my house seems even dirtier as I haven't cleaned it for two weeks now.  I think I will be able to do some cleaning today.  I will leave the painting for awhile yet. 

I best be going and get to doing something.  Blessings to you.

Our Sabbath

Even though we were unable to go to church we had a nice Sabbath.  Whitney had planned a going away dinner for Dustin.  I wasn't feeling the best and hope that I didn't pass along my germs.  But I sucked on cough drops and didn't talk much as I still don't have a very strong voice.  

Here someone was coloring. 

It was fun to see Dustin color.

We enjoyed being with him all afternoon.  Sure going to miss him!

Whitney had made chicken chimichangas and beef enchiladas for lunch.  Mmmmm, it was good.

They have such a nice home with good sized dining, kitchen, and living rooms.

The children always enjoy Ryan.

A few weeks ago a cat was dropped off at Ryan and Whitney's.  Whitney is sure she was a house cat as she kept trying to get into the house.  And she was pregnant.  She now has five cute baby kittens that she birthed right up by the house's foundation out in the open.  Whitney moved them to a shed.  On Sabbath the little mother brought them back to the house.  If it would get hot outside those babies would bake pretty quickly on the south side of the house.  The mother is sure a nice cat but apparently not too bright about keeping her kittens safe.

Whitney had heard that there was a man from the area who was said he was going to drop off all his animals at different farms.  We had two dogs show up here yesterday.  It really made me miss Sunny as she would have run them off quickly.

Daniel was outside doing chores, letting the chickens outside, feeding them, and feeding Misty, the horse, when two dogs showed up.  He felt the one looked like it wanted to get him so he hid in the chicken coop for awhile.  When he felt it was safe to come out he went to the play set and from there made it to the house.  He told me about the dogs and that one was killing chickens.  I got Tim up and he caught the dog chewing on a chicken.  Tim did away with that dog.  But we don't know what to do with the other one.

It is a shaggy black miniature collie type dog.  He seems nice and intelligent.  He didn't take part in chasing chickens and has not shown an aggression whatsoever.  He is very obedient.  I don't really want him but don't have the heart to do away with him.  He, too, seems like he was a house dog as he tried to get in the house yesterday but after me telling him "No" he hasn't tried again.

I can see that he is full of ticks.  So I suppose we will have to pull them off.  I've fed him and he seemed very grateful.  I am already attached and so are the children.  He will follow us all around but doesn't care to play.  Daniel named him "Jack" after "Jack" in the Little House series.

I think it is free to put an ad in the Lost and Found section of the newspaper so we will have to try that.

Finished

Finally...we are finished, almost finished anyway.  We still have to bolt that bottom ladder to the play set.  Then we will be done.

The children are enjoying it.  We do want to remove the sod and put some pea rock all around the play area.  And we will frame the rocks with some wood to keep them where they should be.  Who knows when that will get done.  At least they can enjoy it this summer.

While I was outside I saw our neighbor planting.  The farmers sure have been busy this nice week.  Whitney said they should get finished with their planting by the weekend.

We were watching a DVD of family photos set to music that I finally finished for Dustin when I found Leah had fallen asleep in her chair.  She has been sick for over a week and has been snoring like an old bear.

I came down with whatever Leah had Saturday night, too.  I had a fever for two days and now have been coughing.  I prayed that Tim and Daniel wouldn't get as ill as Leah and I.  So far they just have cold symptoms.

On Sabbath the group, Cornerstone, is singing at our church.  Unless I get a whole lot better in a day and a half I don't suppose I will get to see them.

And Whitney is having a going away party for Dustin after church.  I'm going to that!  Dustin is moving to Arizona on the 28th.  That's going to be hard for me.

Stay well.

Fun in the Sun

We did get sun.  It feels so good.  While checking on the children I saw this scene.  They had the beach umbrella and chairs around the fire pit.  Who knows what fun thing they were playing.

  Thursday evening I looked out at my bird feeder and saw a bird I had never seen.  I keep my "Birds of the Dakotas Field Guide"  handy so I can look up any birds I don't recognize (which are quite a few.)  I found that this bird is a female Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.  Later I saw the male though he was too shy to let me get his picture.

I also saw this pretty dove.

The dove wasn't too sure those big birds were safe to be around and was keeping her distance.

When checking on the children I saw them sitting in the ditch surrounded by a sea of dandelions.

They were doing this.

I would ask prayers for my dear step dad, Bob.  He has been in the hospital since Thursday night.  The update I got from Bob this morning states they have siphoned off 14-16 liters of fluid with lasix IV.  This accumulation of fluids is the result of the Mitral Valve in the heart not working properly.  They are looking at surgery to replace that valve.  His doctor in Tulsa is recommending a doctor in Ohio who does that type of surgery several times a day.  It looks like he will be doing this in the near future.

Also we have had some illness here.  Leah has been sick since Tuesday night.  She had a fever and congestion.  I think she is out of the woods now.  Saturday night I came down with a fever and spent most of yesterday and last night with it.  I have a lot of drainage going down my throat (yuk) though I feel better today.  But I have lost my voice and can only whisper.  It is such a weird feeling.  I'm hoping if Tim and Daniel get this they won't get as ill as Leah and I did.

Blessings of health to all of you. 

Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day

Well it has been raining it seems like all month with only a few breaks in between.  I love rain but have a hard time when it rains for days at a time.  I have little energy and don't get much accomplished here in the house.  I should do more in the house now so I can be outside when it gets nice. 

This morning I have enjoyed watching some of the birds that are dining at my feeder.  These sparrows come every day. 

This morning I saw a flicker below the feeder.  When I was taking pictures I saw it across the driveway.  Must be getting a few worms.

(I'm using the new tools for Blogger and find I need to learn new things again.  The alignment keeps changing.)

Tim and I have been parking our vehicles outside.  The gravel road is so muddy.  No sense getting the garage full of mud that we will have to scrape out.

This is our last week of school.  Daniel is so excited.  It has been a good study but I am happy to be done for the school year. 

This week Daniel is taking tests on the geography he learned.  At the beginning of the year he was able to only name one country, USA, on the pretest.  So far on his post tests he has done so well.  He knew all the North American countries but got Honduras and Belize mixed up.  He got all the South American countries correct.  He did well in Europe but not so well in Africa.  Today he will take the Asia test and on Friday Australia.

Last week he finished his math book, English, and spelling.  So our school days this week have been shorter.  That's okay because we are starting each day with 1 1/2 hours of vision therapy.

I see on the weather forecast that sunny warmer weather is on its way.  I am looking forward to that.

My Mother's Days

Yes, I meant to say Days as I got honored on Sabbath and on Sunday. My grown daughter Whitney and grown son Brandon were here on Sabbath helping to make that day special. But on Sunday I got honored again when grown sons Brandon and Dustin came out just to bring me gifts and spend time with me! I am feeling very loved right now.

Brandon gave me this...(my favorite candies)





and this...I love lilies...my mother had tiger lilies in her flower bed...

These were from Dustin. Reading the card almost made me cry. And I can't wait to get started on the book...

Whitney had given me this on Sabbath...I love practical gifts...that knife is heavy duty and sharp...she makes such beautiful cards at Stamping Club each month...

And of course my dear husband and children gave me the wonderful dishwasher last week.

When I was at Sam's last Tuesday I saw this plant and got it for my cousin. It was with the outside plants so I thought that is what it was. When I got home I read that it was for inside. Since my cousin has many allergies I don't dare give it to her. I love the way it looks on my dining room table and will keep it myself. I just hope I don't kill it as I am not very good with indoor plants. It is a star flower.

Thank you dear heavenly Father for creating me a woman, for giving me a good man, and for making me a mother of five children. Each one is so precious and dear. I absolutely love being a mother! Amen.

Mothers

First of all "Happy Mother's Day" all you mothers. May your children rise up and call you blessed. May they appreciate the life you helped to give them and all your sacrifices throughout the years.

Yesterday at church we had a wonderful service honoring godly mothers. There were several poems and songs. Anyone who wanted to share about their mothers was encouraged to do so. Terry S. was the M.C. and did a wonderful job sharing about his mother, grandmother, and other older ladies of the church. One thing he asked was for us to share our mother's favorite verse.

When my mother died we were asked what her favorite verse of the Bible was so it could be used at the funeral service and in the bulletin. At the time I had no idea. Later I got my mother's Bible. What a blessing that has been. I like to read through the Bible in a year. Some years I use my mother's Bible as I do this. It helps me feel close to her as I read her markings and comments she made in it. Let us leave this legacy for our children.

In the inside cover of my mother's Bible she had written what her favorite verses were. They are found in Job 19:25-27. Since it isn't long I will include it here as it is so filled with hope.

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

Isn't that beautiful? If Job could write this while he was being tested with such a great test that few of us will ever experience, and believe it, can not we? I can and do!

Also she had written that Psalms 139 was her favorite Psalms. It is a Psalm of David and talks about God searching and knowing us. How we can't escape from His presence. How He knew us before we were even formed. "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth." Again some very precious verses filled with hope.

I love that I had a godly mother who certainly wasn't perfect but tried to live her life of faith and teach it to us children. She loved her family and was such a good wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. I don't think she ever met anyone she couldn't love.

So my post is mainly about my mother with some pictures from the past. I've included pictures of my grandmothers and mother-in-law as they, too, were important figures of godly mothers in my life.

My mother loved to camp and was great about organizing great events. Here we were camping at Beaver Lake State Park. She always made every event so fun as she was filled with joy and life. She loved to cook and we could go to anything she helped to plan knowing we would be filled with lots of good stuff.




See...here Mom was putting out a spread on the back of their pickup. She always served Dad as though he were a king. It was the same weekend and we went for the day to Linton and fished on the Missouri. Don't you love her fun hat?


Here was another camping trip at Lake Ashtabula. Mom and Dad had a nice camper but Mom wanted to camp back in the primitive camp. We had a tent, too. Mom was enjoying a nice Sabbath nap with the poodles. The apricot poodle, Muffin, was actually hers but she never took him home. So I raised him along with Dukey. They were known as "the Boys."

My grandparents Moldenhauer lived in Kulm when I was a young girl and woman. They would come to church in Alfred. My grandfather was a lay pastor there for a few years. My mother would always ask them to come over to our house after church if we weren't going any where else. Here my mother was playing her old pump organ for Grandma Hulda. Whitney now has this beautiful old organ. Grandma was a woman who always loved children. She had 16 of her own! I have many happy memories of her.

Here Mom is with her mother, Amelia. She was another faithful example of a godly woman. Mom would invite her to our home a lot as well. But she had to be shared with my mother's many sisters who would all want her at their houses on Sabbaths as well.

I shared a special kinship with this grandmother maybe because I was named after her, Kimberly Amelia. She was so very dear and special to me.

Grandma lived in Jamestown for all the years I knew her. Here I was visiting her as I often did with the boys. She always had her favorite old chair sitting in this spot in the living room. How I miss her and her home where she always welcomed me with open arms.

I also have a wonderful godly mother-in-law. I really couldn't have asked for a better one. Here my in-laws had come out to my parent's farm for dinner. My in-laws must have been around the age Tim and I are now.

We needed a family picture for some reason. My beautiful mother-in-law always had such a lovely smile.

Indeed I was blessed. If you have a godly mother please "rise up and call her" today.

I leave you with one of my favorite verses from III John verse 4.

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Snow in May

Isn't it lovely? It is falling so gently and the birds are singing so they must be enjoying it. The children are out playing in it. And I know it should be gone by tomorrow.




It is heavy snow.

Looks like a pretty little lane.

This week my dear hubby surprised me with a new servant. He used his bonus from work to buy it. He said it is from his children to their mother. I love it!!!!!!!!!! Since we don't have room to install one in the kitchen or even set this portable in the kitchen I have it in the dining room. It rolls well and I've washed one load so far and it got the dishes so clean. It sure will make entertaining much easier and I will have more time to enjoy my guests.

I leave you with this video of "Spring in ND." Turn up your volume and you will hear the birds singing their little hearts out and Mario meowing for his food.

Well...another cloudy cold day. This is typical May weather. I'm so glad that we had a nice April. I hear that we could get a couple inches of snow today and tomorrow. It will be good moisture, I guess, that should disappear quickly.

Whitney stopped over yesterday and brought her chickens. They seemed happy to be back at their old place. She had been letting them outside at her place when a fox ate 5 of them in one day. One good thing is that the fox got my enemy. I had told her she would have to do away with him as I wouldn't allow him on my place. The fox took care of it.

She is getting baby chicks at the end of the month and didn't have room at her place to keep both at the same time. She's got some hens that are really mean and would probably kill baby chicks. They are the Americana Araconas (I think). They are brown with little tufts of feathers sticking out from their cheeks. I remember when they were baby chicks. I would be out there feeding them and I would feel something pecking on me, turn around, and see it was them. The tufts made them look angry, too. These hens would stand inside the coop by the little door and not let "Little Lady" inside. Little Lady was a rooster that we thought was a hen when he was a chick, hence the name. It stuck and we just never changed it. They would peck him if he tried to come in. So he had to wait until everyone was roosted before he could come inside for the night.

I will leave the chickens inside the coop and fence for a couple days. Then we will let them roam around. It will be different not having a rooster. I like the sound of their crowing.

Daniel's vision therapy is going well. Here's a picture of him doing the X's and O's exercise. He draws over the X's and under the O's without touching any letters. He can only use one eye and can't touch the paper or table with his arms.




After he draws the lines he has to go back and dot the O's, put the pen back to his cheek, and fill in the O's. I tried doing it and found I couldn't get the O's dotted. It looked like I was putting the pen in the right place but didn't. Try it sometime. Remember to cover one eye.


This is the Marsden ball exercise.

Here Daniel is falling off the rail. Occasionally he does that.

Actually he does have good balance so this exercise is very easy for him.

This is the ABC chart. I hang it on the wall, he stands 10 feet back, holds the lens up to his eye, and patches the other eye.

The last month we retired the wood stove and have been using our Eden Pure heater. The heater has done a great job keeping it nice and warm in here. I was happy not to have to fill the stove and clean out the ashes and keep the floor clean around the stove. When I heard that we were to get snow and it was going to get colder I decided to make fire last night. It is nice and toasty in here and it is nice to see that the kids aren't wrapped up in blankets this morning.

I see that my bird feeder is empty and there are some pretty little birds looking for seeds. I had best go feed them.


Oh...I forgot...I wanted to link to this interesting video I watched this morning. It was in a Dr. Mercola e-newsletter that I get. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/06/a-movie-about-water-you-need-to-see.aspx If you get a chance watch it.

The Last Few Days

It has been hard to find time to get on the computer and write here. I've been busy each day with Daniel's vision therapy. It has been taking us over and hour to do. I tried some of the things he has to do and found they are hard to do. Plus we are still doing school each week day. The nice thing about that is we are almost finished for this year. We have one week after this and we will be done for the summer. That will help us as we get into the routine of vision therapy.

On Sabbath we had some friends come over for lunch after church. It was so nice to be with them here. As the husband has allergies to animals they could never visit us. Since we no longer have animals in the house they were able to spend the whole day. The kids had a great time playing together. In the evening we adults were able to play a game of "Hand and Foot." I love that game.

On Sunday I felt like I was coming down with a cold. So I haven't done anything extra around here as I have no extra energy.

It was nice to see the sun shining on Monday. The kids went outside most of the afternoon and were playing so nicely. Whitney stopped over here in the late afternoon so I got to visit with her. That's always nice.

Yesterday was our weekly trip to Fargo to see Dr. Agnes. I can see that I need to leave about 15 minutes earlier than I did. I stopped in Jamestown to get some money from the ATM. Then I got a cup of coffee from Burger King since it was right there. We just made it to the office by 10:00. I like to be at least 10 minutes early.

Daniel got to do some different things at the office than he does here at home. I could hear him talking away to Dr. Agnes. He isn't shy around people he feels comfortable with so I'm glad he feels comfortable with Dr. Agnes. Leah and I sat in the waiting room. We colored and read out of the books that were there. The time went fast.

We didn't do much shopping. I did get groceries and gas from Sam's. And we stopped at Menard's to pick up the Hoppers they were out of last week. They had given me a rain check. A hopper is an inflated ball with a handle that kids can hop around on. They were only $5.99 and already the kids have had great fun with them. I'm sure they help with balance and coordination.

We stopped at Barnes and Noble as I was looking for a gift for someone. I could easily spend a whole day there. The kids liked it too. Leah cried when we had to leave. She doesn't usually do that but she was looking at books and had a couple stuffed animals she was playing with in the children's section.

I forgot about the road construction on the 45th street exit and went that way. So there was a detour to I94. It took us west past Home Depot. On that street we finally found a playground. We stopped so the kids could get out and play for a few minutes. It was kind of cool and windy so they only played about 15 minutes. I was able to sit in the van and watch them and look at the book I found at the book store. I think that little bit of exercise helped them sit for the return trip.

Of course it was windy again. But it wasn't as bad as last week's trip home. It didn't get really windy until we got close to Jamestown. By then we were almost home.

I'm really glad for the rain but am getting tired of the gloomy days. I would love some sunshine!