Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

The past couple of weeks have been a flurry of activity!
We again enjoyed a wonderful weekend with the Rockholds and Mickelsons. We went to Camp Forest Springs for the Christmas Dinner Theater. Of course, we stopped in Fennimore for some Wisconsin cheese, and had to get a winter picture with Igor, the Carr Valley Cheese mascot.
The trip is just over 400 miles, and believe me, we laughed almost all the way!

When we arrived at CFS, we were treated as royal guests. We enjoyed appetizers, an excellent dinner, and the play, which was the best yet! It was an intense drama with a touch of humor. It was fun, and at the same time, portrayed how desperately we need Jesus Christ, and the difference He makes in our lives.




We got a little snow the following weekend, and took the little boys sledding at the cemetery. That's always fun.




















Christmas was spent with family from both "sides". We spent Christmas Eve with the Schulte bunch at Pam's house. Then, Christmas morning, we went to Tyler and Kathy's for a fine Christmas breakfast. While we were there, Zach cut his hand with Wyatt's new pocket knife. It was a pretty bad cut, but with a little tape and some super-glue, they got him fixed up. Then, Travis and Gail's for a delicious dinner, and off to Mom and Dad's for supper with the Nye clan.


One of the special joys of this Christmas was getting to meet Ruben's mom and sisters. They came from Honduras to spend Christmas with us, and we were blessed by the time we shared with them.








Snow started falling on Christmas day, and this morning we have about 5-6 inches on the ground with snow still falling. It's beautiful!



All too soon, this year will be history! Happy New Year!

Candlelight Carols In The Windy City

What an incredible Christmas celebration! We enjoyed the evening immensely! Moody Church itself is something to see, and the performance was excellent. I'm uploading a video I recorded from one of the selections. The Bell Choir did three songs, and I didn't think to record even one. I love the bells! They're my favorite part of the whole program. The conductor also included the entire audience for three songs, and singing carols amidst a huge crowd, accompanied by a symphony orchestra is just indescribably beautiful.

The weather could not have been better! Expecting it to be frigid and windy, I wore my warmest clothes, and never actually cooled off! At times, I was uncomfortably warm, which is much better than miserably cold.

Amtrak is a great way to go. We arrived in Chicago in time for lunch and ate at The Artist, which was just a few steps from our hotel. The Congress Hotel gave us an upgraded room, so we enjoyed the extra space, and even had a small view of the lake. We ate real Chicago-style pizza at Gino's Saturday evening. Delicious! I've never met a pizza I didn't like, but Gino's is the best I've ever tasted.

Michigan Avenue was, of course, very busy... and beautifully decorated. We looked at everything, and even made a few purchases. I'm continually amazed at the beautiful buildings. There was just so much to see, and so little time! We covered a lot of ground for our brief stay. Gariann and Julie could have covered a lot more without me, but were kind enough to adjust to my pace.

• Glitz and glitter
• Caribou coffee
• Germantown
• Spiced hot drinks in a souvenir boot mug.
• Stairwell races
• Coat on, coat off, coat on, no off, no, ON, oops, Off again and on....
• Hot chocolate and candy at Ghirardelli's
• Bloomingdale's and Miss Ellen
• Macy's animated windows
• Candied nuts and Chicago-style popcorn
• Policemen on horses
• Swarovski crystal
• FoodLife stir-fry
• Family restrooms
• Revolving doors
• Booty lift britches
• Sad blisters
  

It was a great weekend!



(I wish I'd thought to photograph one of the posters we saw displayed on Michigan Avenue. It seems that in the opinion of Chicago, our President's halo has slipped. )

Much, Much Later Update: Video finally loaded!

The Schulte Men Went Shopping!

And take a look at what they brought home!
















The guys were able to get back in the field today, and had a pretty good day. They hauled over three thousand bushels in spite of a two hour wait at the elevator.
Zach and Wyatt were here Friday to decorate our Christmas tree. It's beautiful, and both boys made a new ornament for the tree. They have made special ornaments for our tree every year since Zach started school.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're just two days away from Thanksgiving, and then four weeks to Christmas! Where does the time go? Zach and Wyatt are planning to come Friday to decorate our Christmas tree. They have helped every year since they were born, and it's something they seem to enjoy. Of course, I do too!
Most of the farmers in our area are still trying to harvest the crops, including us. It's been a rainy and wet fall! We're are thankful for a bountiful crop! And we'll be thankful when it's all "in the bin" too! Our calves did go to the sale on November 7th. They weighed in at 401 pounds each! We were thankful for the check we received for them. About a week later, we bought a young Angus bull. Wyatt named him Big Daddy T. The last calf we let Wyatt name was "Burger King", and we have maybe five or six packages of him left in the freezer.
We have so much for which to be thankful! I've been noticing on the Facebook pages that people are posting something each day for which they are thankful. I have not been doing that. In fact, I've hardly been on Facebook lately. So, because I have so little else to say, I'm going to list just a few reasons I have to be thankful!

• Jesus loves me!
• I can worship openly.
• I have parents who have loved me all my life....and continue to do so!
• I have godly parents.
• I have two sisters and a brother.
• I am prayed for daily....(by those godly parents)
• I have a faithful husband.
• I have two wonderful sons.
• I have two wonderful daughters-in law.
• I have grandchildren! And great grandchildren!
• Most of my family lives close (within 50 miles) and we get to see one another often.
  
• I have a comfortable home.
• I have reliable transportation.
• We have Christian radio.
• Indoor plumbing.
• I have a job!
  
• I have eyesight, and the ability to read.
• I have friends.
• I have clothing.
• I have plenty to eat.
• I'm in good health.
• I enjoy playing piano. I'm thankful now for those lessons!
• I live in Iowa, the heartland of the USA.
  
• I have enough.

I'm sure I could go on and on, but I received a call from Dennis, and he needs my help! So, that's it for this time!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Autumn Activities Abound!

Can't believe today is the nineteenth of October! Summer was over way too soon, and amazingly, we're just a few weeks from Thanksgiving! We've traveled countless miles and enjoyed making many great memories with friends and family.
In September, Bobbie and I enjoyed our annual trip to Louisville, Kentucky for the National Quartet Convention. Every time we go, we believe it's the best ever, and this year was no exception. We enjoyed every minute of the trip. We did spend one night at a stinky, sleazy Motel 6 on the way over, but we were able to get some rest, and it really gave us a lot of laughs. Honestly, it was the worst room ever! Let me just say that we will not ever be staying there again.
Oktoberfest 2009 in Ottumwa was wet and cold, but our marching band placed very well in the parade. We took four bus loads of kids, and the weather was so miserable that the bus drivers found a lovely coffee shop, and we stayed warm and dry for the whole time!
Gariann, Mom, Nanci and I went to Branson for the weekend of October 10th. Bob and Brenda gave us a place to stay, and treated us as royal guests! We did some shopping, attended Karla's wedding, and enjoyed an evening at the Dixie Stampede with Hoffstatters and Porters. I came home with a whole new wardrobe! Wow!
Looking ahead, we have another wedding, Candlelight Carols at Moody, and CFS Dinner Theater yet to enjoy.
The foliage in our area is in beautiful fall color, and now that the sun is shining, everywhere I look is simply gorgeous. Farmers are busy with harvest, although Travis and Dennis have not yet started. It's been a little wet, and the crops are still a little green. They expect to be in full harvest mode by next week though.
Our calves have grown, and are just about ready to take the ride to Keosauqua, where they'll find new homes. We expect to sell them early in November, or at least before Thanksgiving.
Well, that pretty much summarizes what's been going on here at Honeysuckle Lodge.
Enjoy these beautiful fall days!

Races at Burlington September 19, 2009

Brian Neal had a really nice write up about the 4-cylinder race Dennis won on September 19.
To read the entire article, click HERE and then scroll down to the September 20th entry.
It was exciting, with not more than a car length gap between them throughout the entire race!


John Whalen and Dennis Schulte led the field to the green in the 12 lap 4 Cylinder feature, with Schulte edging out Travis Yakle at the line by inches to lead lap 1. Schulte and Yakle would battle for the top spot, when the one and only caution of the event came out on lap 7 for Gabe Harrison's spin on the front stretch. On the restart, Schulte would hold off Yakle to grab the lead. Schulte then held off all challenges by Yakle over the final 5 laps to claim the win. Wayne Noble came from 8th to finish in third, Bryce Bailey came from 11th to finish in fourth, with Darin Smith rounding out the top five.

Thanks to All TEACHERS!

After being interviewed by the school administration, the prospective teacher said:
'Let me see if I've got this right.
'You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning.
'You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride.
'You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job.
'You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the final exams.
'You also want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents in English, Spanish or any other language, by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card.
'You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.
'You want me to do all this and then you tell me. . . I CAN'T PRAY?


Not all of us are "school teachers", but all of us are teachers none the less. You are being observed, and you are teaching as long as you're breathing. The question is not, "do I teach". The question is "What do I teach"! Think about that! Pray about that!

Summer Vacation Coming to an End!

Already! Monday morning I'll be back to school. Students will return on Tuesday. Where did the summer go?
I received an E-mail this morning with one sentence at the very end that I thought worthy of posting. I need to see this, read this, and apply this every day! Perhaps you do also?

Lord, keep Your arm around my shoulder and Your hand over my mouth!

Rebuilding Strong!

Twenty-five years ago, Dennis built our cattle corral. Today, he's replacing a good portion of it. Several posts had rotted away, and it was no longer strong enough to push the cattle through.
He says the replacements should make it good for another 25 years, so he figures this is the last time he will be doing this little job. When he did it the first time, he used a jobber to dig the post holes. This time, he used the auger. Even so, it was a lot of hard work, and I appreciate it!
I don't know too many who would tackle it alone at his age! He does good work, and lots of it too!
I'm so blessed to have such a fine husband!


So, while he works so hard out in the heat and humidity, what do I do? You're reading it!
I'm also fixing some grub, so when he gets finished he will have just enough time to shower before supper is ready.
School starts August 25! I can't believe summer is almost over.

I found the pictures from 25 years ago in my scrapbook. Decided to scan and post them just for fun. Here's Dennis and his "helpful" dog team, building our first corral.


If you use Facebook, I have more pictures there. I have also put a lot of the pictures from my week in Wisconsin on Facebook. I think you can find me by clicking here.

Almost AUGUST!

We're just over three weeks from a new school year. Still a little time, but so much we want to do! Yesterday we did the annual corn process. Dad and Travis picked, we all shucked until we had a head start, and then we let the cutters start. Once we had some cut, Gariann went inside to do the cooking and cooling. We started around 7:30 and had picked, shucked, cut and cooked about 130 dozen ears. We don't have a final count on the number of bags in the freezer yet, but I'm guessing it will exceed 250 pints. We were a great team, and we'll all have corn to eat this winter even if we have nothing else!








































Zach finally agreed to get his hair cut! I think he's so much healthier looking and handsome with his buzz cut! Wyatt got his cut several weeks before Zach, and at first he thought he looked "like a dork". He didn't, of course! I think their buzz cuts are cute!

VERY Brief Update!!!

Since several have pointed out that I've not updated in some time, here is a very quick update.
More later, with pictures.

• Summer school has gone very well and will end July 30.
  
• Swimming party for just our family at the new pool tonight! Should be fun!
• Spent last weekend in Northern Wisconsin at Camp Forest Springs
• Spending this weekend in Northern Wisconsin at Camp Forest Springs
• Sweet corn is almost ready to pick and process for our winter supply!
• Summer is going by way too fast!!!!

It was totally unintentional, but each of those things listed started with an "S"! Here are a few more random news flashes:

• Bobbie got a new car! 2010 Prius. Very nice!
• Gariann and Kirk have new bikes! Also very nice!
• We have lots of bluebirds utilizing all those boxes Zach made.
• It's raining again today!
• Jake had his 18th birthday yesterday! WOW!
• I have become a collector of baseball cards!
  
• We're still looking for a good home for our dog. Call if you're interested!
• All three calves are doing well, growing and cute as can be.
• Lynn has ordered solar lights for our flagpoles! Yea!
• We've been reading a lot more this summer, and watching less television! Yea!!!

Well, I'm sure I could go on and on, but my students will be here in about ten minutes, and I have to be ready!
Watch for new photos soon!

10:30 PM
Just back from the pool party.

July First!

Finally! It's been so long since my last post, I really don't know where to start!
On June 11, summer school classes started at Mar's One Room Schoolhouse. I have two students attending three mornings each week. They're both very good students. I am really hard pressed to have challenging lessons for Zach. I've been having him working with multiplying, adding and subtracting fractions, finding percentages, and lots of multiplication and division problems to solve. Wyatt is learning to count by twos and threes. He's also counting by fives and tens to one hundred, which he learned in his kindergarten class, but we don't want to forget! He is reading aloud every day. We alternate between music, art and P.E. One day, we had Bobbie as a guest art teacher. They each went home with a very nice pastel picture.



Our heifers have all calved. The first two had no problems, but the third one was unable to deliver on her own. By the time we realized she needed help, the calf was dead. Kirk came to help us and we were able to save the cow. The fourth and final one also had difficulty, but we were ready this time. All three of the living calves are girls. The one we lost was a boy.

Travis has been building rafters in our barn. He's using the lumber he salvaged from Grandma Schulte's house. She'd be very pleased to know that! Dennis and Dad have helped quite a bit. They're a hard-working crew! I should have taken a picture of them while they were working. Instead, I caught them sitting down for lunch, telling stories and laughing a lot.



Today, we put up about 475 bales of hay. We had quite a crew, and everything went well. We had Tyler coming to help when he got off, but we'd just finished unloading the last wagon as he drove down the lane. It was a perfect day for it. The temperatures were in the low seventies and mostly cloudy skies. Our crew hardly broke a sweat!

June!

Wow! School's out, and the first week of "summer vacation" is already gone! It's been a full week with various activities. Lots of mowing, some planting, chasing cows, fixing fences, walking every morning with Mom and Bobbie, and baseball games are just a few of the things that have kept us busy.
We finally decided that the bird pictured in the previous post was indeed a snow bunting. He's since moved on. Last night we enjoyed hearing the whippoorwills! Lightning bugs and whippoorwills....can it get any better than that? I love summer!
The pictures below just prove that some members of our family might be a little crazy! Tyler, and his friend, Michael are laying on the ground hoping Wyatt jumps far enough to clear them. You'll not catch me doing that!

Can You Help?

We are unable to identify this bird. It's about the size of a sparrow. If you know what it is, we'd love to hear from you! We think it may be a snow bunting, but it's not quite like the pictures we have in our book.

Wet and Windy Wednesday

We hear thunder rumbling, and know it's coming. We just don't know how long before it hits. We're really hoping that the "large hail" will not get here at all!
These past few weeks, we have enjoyed watching a family of cardinals. They built a nest in the bayberry bush right next to our front porch. We observed the mother sitting on her eggs. It wasn't long before they hatched, and we watched the parents feed their babies. Both worked constantly caring for the young ones. Today, the young left the nest! I noticed the parents flitting about and "clucking" a lot. After looking more closely, I saw one of the little ones hopping around in the bush, and then it tried to fly. My fear was that the dog would notice, and kill the babies, but that didn't happen. I expect we'll see them frequently at the feeders now. I'm adding pictures in no particular order.






























Isn't he (or she) cute!
Well, the storm hit, and we got less than a half inch of rain....so far. It really blew and rained hard, but not for too long. No hail, thankfully. Our Internet service stalled out, as it normally does during a bad storm. The sky is still very cloudy, but it looks like it might be breaking up.
I hope the baby birds were in a safe, dry place!