Combine video

Here's my sister and my husband combining soybeans. Toward the end of the video, I had to scoot out of the way before the chaff from the back of the combine blew all over me. The very end of the video is my brother-in-law sitting in the tractor of our friend who we plant and harvest crops with.

Harvesting help

We had help this past Saturday with harvesting. My sister and brother-in-law drove here from Colorado and stayed until 4am Tuesday morning. On Sunday, we had a nice visit with our mother who is in the nursing home 12 or so miles from my house.

I am starting a new Small Group Study at church. The first class is tonight. (I am "leading" it.) It is called Boundaries with Kids. There will be 8 sessions in all. I hope there is a good turnout. 16 y.o. was such a compliant, easy going child to raise (well, at least until he hit 16!). However, 3 y.o. is very strong willed. I need some guidance on the best way shape her spirit gently and firmly - without snuffing her passion. I'll tell you how it went in a couple of months. :o)

"Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest." Exodus 34:21

Iowa, Illinois, Missouri

We had a fun time on Saturday roaming around Iowa (10 miles away), Illinois (40 miles away) and Missouri. First we went to Cantril, IA. They have a Mennonite store called the Dutchman's Store. It is like an old fashioned general store. You can buy Muck boots, quilting material, food and spices in bulk, etc.

Next, we drove to a town called Bentonsport, IA. It is on the Des Moines River. There is an iron bridge from the 1800's that still spans the river. (pedestrians can walk on it, but no heavier traffic). There is also the foundation and arch from the old mill. Here are the pics:

We ate lunch in Iowa and had ice cream across the Mississippi River in Hamilton, Illinois. We saw the lock and dam at Keokuk, IA.

I didn't get any photos of the foliage, perhaps today. Sister and brother-in-law are going to help on the combine today while husband harvests soybeans. They are leaving by 5am tomorrow morning to get back to Colorado at a decent time.

Rainy days

Not much has been happening this week. Well, I guess I have to take that back. I had a birthday and we spent half the day in Quincy. The next day, I went to Kirksville to help my mother in law figure out what prescription drug insurance she was going to get. Got some good information to use when I work on my mother's insurance. Yesterday, Friday, was rainy most of the day so we didn't do much. Last night, we went to a hay ride/wienie roast. Had a good time. Several minutes after we got home, my sister from Colorado and her husband arrived. They will be here until Tuesday morning.

3 y.o. was so hyper after the cake/cookies/candy at the hay ride and then having her auntie arrive. 3 y.o. was bouncing off the walls and talking a mile a minute. Sister said it reminded her of me. I don't remember myself at that age, so I'm denying the whole thing! :o)

Not sure what we will do for this weekend. I want to try to get some pictures of the gorgeous foliage in the area.

One of my sisters-in-law has told me about a possible writing opportunity. It sounds exciting and challenging. I will write more about it when I find out more about it.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4

Great Day

I had a great day today with husband, 3 y.o. and 16 y.o.

They gave me breakfast in bed and a handmade card.

We went shopping and had lunch at a Chinese restaurant. I was looking for a dress and navy dress shoes. Guess what, dresses and navy shoes are not "in" this year.

I helped 16 y.o. with homeschooling when we got home while husband played games with 3 y.o. (it rained last night and early this morning, so there was no harvesting going on).

After that, husband and I listened to the scripture and worked on the questions for this week's Sunday School. I received two calls to wish me a happy day.

Nothing spectacular - just a wonderful day with my family. I will try to download pictures tomorrow - although, I just remembered that I am attending a meeting tomorrow with my mother-in-law about her supplemental insurance and then helping to pack some boxes for a shipment to hurricane ravaged Haiti.

I haven't gotten any writing done yet this week, to speak of . Guess I am still detoxing (digesting info) from the writer's retreat.

Psalm 100:3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Novel Retreat

I was tired yesterday after returning from the SCBWI-IA Novel Retreat, so I didn't blog. The retreat was a lot of fun and very informative. Didn't get a very encouraging critique of the first 10 pages of my novel, but I talked to an editor and an agent and they gave some good advice.

I am going to rework (for the nth time) my dragon picture book manuscript and submit it to the agent. Many agencies don't represent picture books, but this one does. We'll go from there. (Didn't I just say a few days ago that I was going to put the picture book on the back burner until after I had the novel finished?) Okay, call me fickle!

I forgot to take my camera to the retreat, so no pictures on this post. The retreat was at the Die Heimat Country Inn in the German Amana Colony. It would be a nice day trip for the family - it only took 2 hours to get there.

Off to work...

Psalm 51:10
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Good day

Today ended up a good day - even though a certain person (me) was a little moody, but I won't go into that!

3 y.o. and I went outside and drew pictures with sidewalk chalk, blew bubbles, played with the barn cats (although, why I call them barn cats when I seldom see them in the barn, I don't know.), and enjoyed the great weather.

16 y.o. got his homeschooling done faster than usual - with good grades. Red-letter day.

Husband couldn't be in the fields today harvesting, so he did business in town after he helped me with some laundry - big kudos to him. Later in the afternoon, I went to an organic dairy and got milk. 3 y.o. insisted that her Daddy needed to take her fishing. I came home and snapped a picture right before they finished. The only catch today was some pond weeds. Several fish got away. We have some really big bass in the pond as well as some crappie (to those of you who are not from the Midwest or the South, it's pronounced croppie - I've mispronounced it before to much laughter.) :o)

After the kids got to bed, I did some research for my young adult novel. Got some great information; had some inspiration for a direction to go in for the ending of the book and thought up a great line or two for the beginning of the book. (I guess they will be "great" lines if they end up in the final draft!) All in all, a very productive, satisfying day.

Chinese Proverb: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

In John 21:24-25, John says, "This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." This was after Jesus had performed the miracle of filling the fishing nets with fish and then "reinstating" Peter. Verse 14 of the same chapter says: "This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead."