Lorene
Just a little lefse, will go a long ways
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Grandpa's toys
Sometimes we wonder where our kids got the know how to figure out things like they can. I give credit to Dad. He could fix anything in the shop, resole his shoes, build something with wood or make something from nothing. I haven't run across a picture of the ferris wheel but I'll add that to this entry when I find it. When we went to Mom and Dad's, no matter if it was 10:30 at night when we got there, the kids had to get out the marble game and roll a few marbles before they went to bed. The train got pulled around, hooked up differently and pulled around some more. What great entertainment he made for our children. And it brought great pleasure to him to sit in his chair and watch them. Now, who entertained who?
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Reflections
For some time now I have been contemplating this question. "What kind of Mother was I?"
As the saying goes, its a deep subject. I remember in great detail the birth of each one. If you want the details, just ask! They were all relatively easy births, only a little Novocaine to put in a few stitches. From there on the days begin to blur. Yes, I remember being up nights. One time when Brian was a baby and I was rocking and nursing him in the middle of the night next to the old oil burner in the back bedroom, I heard a noise and found the collie dog at my elbow. She had laid up against the porch door and it had come open. She heard me and came to find me. That is about the most i remember about being up in the night with the children. (the bats? thats another story.)
As they got older there were lots of stressful days, i suppose. Vern reminds me once in a while that I would call him in the barn and ask him to come get the kids for a while. I suppose that was in the wintertime. In the summer time he didn't spend so much time in the barn, but he was always willing to have them outside to follow him around for a while.
They always helped us on the farm. Melissa had a little plastic wheelbarrow that Vern would put a dab of silage in and she'd wheel it up and dump it for a cow. Brian always like to help on the greasiest dirty job. One of my favorite pictures of him is on all fours trying to see under a lawn mower parked in front of the shop. Joel, well, he was the opposite. He never liked the dirt of farming. But, again he always helped. i remember once he and Annie helped us pick rocks in a hayfield. He discovered he had disturbed a ant farm under a rock. The ants were frantically trying to move their eggs to a different location. He laid on his belly and with a stiff alfalfa stem carefully helped them. Annie says feeding cows is how she learned fractions. Patty got 3 3/4 pounds of corn, Lucy 1/2 pound, etc.
Did we work our kids too hard? I don't know. We did what we had to to to make a living. Melissa did a little babysitting when she was older. Brian worked for some of the neighbors on occasion, I suppose Joel did too, I don't remember. I can't remember if Annie did or not. But I don't think they ever lacked for spending money. From the time they turned 16 we provided them a car and gas money. And the car was theirs when they left home.
Emotionally. That is the harder one. The longer I work in the medical field the more I think every one has emotional problems. We all have issues with our parents and the way we were treated. No one's parents were perfect. And in the case of raising our children we only did what we knew to do or were capable of processing. Yes, some of this was passed down from our ancestors and now that we are older I realize not all of it was good, but its all we knew. How true is the saying that babies don't come with manuals. And even if they did, each child is so different there would have to be a specific manual for each one.
I wish, in hindsight, I would have been more conscious that the only manual is the Bible. I wish I would have had the wisdom to read and understand the times that Jesus interacted with children. I wish I would have understood better how to love one another even as He loved us. I wish I would never have said an unkind word or done an unkind deed.
But now that time of my life is past. I cannot undo it. I can weep for my mistakes and ask forgiveness but only God can truly forgive and forget. My dear children that I love so much can forgive, but unfortunately, they will never forget.
Our own lives as children was maybe not all it could have been. (you have all heard Dad tell the story about getting a licking for throwing the rock through the machine shed roof and later being told he had it coming anyway.) I suppose that is part of the struggle of becoming a better person as an adult. If we had all been raised by "perfect" parents, what would we be like? If there was no struggle in our lives we wouldn't seek something better and in seeking something better we find God, the only "perfect" parent, and Jesus, the only perfect older brother.
My only hope is they will learn from my mistakes. That the errors I made will inspire them to be better husbands, better wives, better parents.
And that in the process they will grow in wisdom and love.
As the saying goes, its a deep subject. I remember in great detail the birth of each one. If you want the details, just ask! They were all relatively easy births, only a little Novocaine to put in a few stitches. From there on the days begin to blur. Yes, I remember being up nights. One time when Brian was a baby and I was rocking and nursing him in the middle of the night next to the old oil burner in the back bedroom, I heard a noise and found the collie dog at my elbow. She had laid up against the porch door and it had come open. She heard me and came to find me. That is about the most i remember about being up in the night with the children. (the bats? thats another story.)
As they got older there were lots of stressful days, i suppose. Vern reminds me once in a while that I would call him in the barn and ask him to come get the kids for a while. I suppose that was in the wintertime. In the summer time he didn't spend so much time in the barn, but he was always willing to have them outside to follow him around for a while.
They always helped us on the farm. Melissa had a little plastic wheelbarrow that Vern would put a dab of silage in and she'd wheel it up and dump it for a cow. Brian always like to help on the greasiest dirty job. One of my favorite pictures of him is on all fours trying to see under a lawn mower parked in front of the shop. Joel, well, he was the opposite. He never liked the dirt of farming. But, again he always helped. i remember once he and Annie helped us pick rocks in a hayfield. He discovered he had disturbed a ant farm under a rock. The ants were frantically trying to move their eggs to a different location. He laid on his belly and with a stiff alfalfa stem carefully helped them. Annie says feeding cows is how she learned fractions. Patty got 3 3/4 pounds of corn, Lucy 1/2 pound, etc.
Did we work our kids too hard? I don't know. We did what we had to to to make a living. Melissa did a little babysitting when she was older. Brian worked for some of the neighbors on occasion, I suppose Joel did too, I don't remember. I can't remember if Annie did or not. But I don't think they ever lacked for spending money. From the time they turned 16 we provided them a car and gas money. And the car was theirs when they left home.
Emotionally. That is the harder one. The longer I work in the medical field the more I think every one has emotional problems. We all have issues with our parents and the way we were treated. No one's parents were perfect. And in the case of raising our children we only did what we knew to do or were capable of processing. Yes, some of this was passed down from our ancestors and now that we are older I realize not all of it was good, but its all we knew. How true is the saying that babies don't come with manuals. And even if they did, each child is so different there would have to be a specific manual for each one.
I wish, in hindsight, I would have been more conscious that the only manual is the Bible. I wish I would have had the wisdom to read and understand the times that Jesus interacted with children. I wish I would have understood better how to love one another even as He loved us. I wish I would never have said an unkind word or done an unkind deed.
But now that time of my life is past. I cannot undo it. I can weep for my mistakes and ask forgiveness but only God can truly forgive and forget. My dear children that I love so much can forgive, but unfortunately, they will never forget.
Our own lives as children was maybe not all it could have been. (you have all heard Dad tell the story about getting a licking for throwing the rock through the machine shed roof and later being told he had it coming anyway.) I suppose that is part of the struggle of becoming a better person as an adult. If we had all been raised by "perfect" parents, what would we be like? If there was no struggle in our lives we wouldn't seek something better and in seeking something better we find God, the only "perfect" parent, and Jesus, the only perfect older brother.
My only hope is they will learn from my mistakes. That the errors I made will inspire them to be better husbands, better wives, better parents.
And that in the process they will grow in wisdom and love.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Alayna, this is adorable! Thank you so much! I had heard you had a new craft and seen the adorable needle punch blue birds you made for Gramma Mote, but what a treat to get one from you in the mail yesterday! Dad said, we were looking for something to warm up our guest room and maybe this will have to be part of it! Hey, I think you have given me an idea for a theme there! Joel do you remember when we had sheep?
We missed you this weekend. Lets see, two years ago since you brought Alayna home to meet us? This family is gradually growing in rook players. Aedan is very good at it and Miranda is learning, too. I will still watch. Wish you were coming home again soon!
We missed you this weekend. Lets see, two years ago since you brought Alayna home to meet us? This family is gradually growing in rook players. Aedan is very good at it and Miranda is learning, too. I will still watch. Wish you were coming home again soon!
January 3, 2009
How about a picnic and a nice relaxing afternoon on the lawn chair! Oh, well, too much work, methinks! Four months. Just give us four months and we'll be sitting out there in the gorgeous sunshine with the fresh spring air sipping on a glass of cold iced tea. Right now i want a cup of steaming latte and a fireplace. I don't even care if its the fake electric one. Just so it looks warm! Actually, today has been in the 20's above ZERO. Much nicer than the 30 below we had a few weeks ago. However, it has started to snow again and we are expected to get 6 to 8 inches. Vern and I are so thankful we live on the edge of Alex. We no longer worry about the roads, or any of the other complications that came with winter out on the farm. We love it here!
January 1, 2009
We celebrated January 1, 2009. Brian and Kris, Aedan, Emmett and Amara were coming. Kris's dad was coming down from Fargo. Melissa and Daryl, Miranda and Kaylee were coming over.
I opened the refrigerator to get something out for breakfast and almost stepped in a puddle of water. After mopping, pulling out the fridge and mopping some more Vern tried to take the valve apart only to discover the fitting below the valve, that was attached to the copper pipe, was leaking. So in order to fix it we needed torches and whatever else it takes to work on copper plumbing. On happy day!
So, the very first thing Brian and Daryl did when the came was to go with Vern to Menards to get the kit needed to fix it. After much frustration because the torch would not burn when Brian turned it upside down (it had to, it was the only way to work in the wall) the guys discovered Roy's entire copper plumbing kit in the garage! It didn't take long to get it fixed then. Needless to say the faulty kit went back to Menards today. Roy stopped in on his way up north and when we told him his kit came to the rescue he was quite pleased!
The rest of the day went FINE. We ate, played games, played games, ate, played games and ate until finally Melissa and Daryl decided they better leave. Wasn't long and we were all in bed.
Friday: Kris, Emmett and Amara went to Fergus Falls to visit a friend and do some post-holiday shopping at Target. I went to a funeral for a co-workers husband. (he was 54). Brian, Aedan and Dad chipped hard packed snow off the driveway and blew it clean. When I came home they were in the basement contemplating rearranging it. They did too. But that's another story.
By 5:30 or so we all were at Melissa and Daryl's for supper and more games. Emmett has studied Native American children's games and is going to do a report for his classmates. He IS in 1st grade. One is called "keeper of the fire". He learned their games were serious stuff. This one is about listening skills and stealth. He also learned that EVERY game they played, even children's games, was accompanied by betting. No wonder they own the casinos. So they practiced keeper of the fire for his class project. Eventually Brian and Kris left to go back to the cities and we came home by 11 PM.. Pretty late for this old girl!
Brian and Emmet chopping mushrooms for the sausage and cheese omelets they made to accompany the butter milk pancakes they made for breakfast!!!
Kaylee and Amara dancing to Gramma playing a very slow sugar plum fairy dance and a couple of waltzes. Don't you just love that flying hair!!!
I opened the refrigerator to get something out for breakfast and almost stepped in a puddle of water. After mopping, pulling out the fridge and mopping some more Vern tried to take the valve apart only to discover the fitting below the valve, that was attached to the copper pipe, was leaking. So in order to fix it we needed torches and whatever else it takes to work on copper plumbing. On happy day!
So, the very first thing Brian and Daryl did when the came was to go with Vern to Menards to get the kit needed to fix it. After much frustration because the torch would not burn when Brian turned it upside down (it had to, it was the only way to work in the wall) the guys discovered Roy's entire copper plumbing kit in the garage! It didn't take long to get it fixed then. Needless to say the faulty kit went back to Menards today. Roy stopped in on his way up north and when we told him his kit came to the rescue he was quite pleased!
The rest of the day went FINE. We ate, played games, played games, ate, played games and ate until finally Melissa and Daryl decided they better leave. Wasn't long and we were all in bed.
Friday: Kris, Emmett and Amara went to Fergus Falls to visit a friend and do some post-holiday shopping at Target. I went to a funeral for a co-workers husband. (he was 54). Brian, Aedan and Dad chipped hard packed snow off the driveway and blew it clean. When I came home they were in the basement contemplating rearranging it. They did too. But that's another story.
By 5:30 or so we all were at Melissa and Daryl's for supper and more games. Emmett has studied Native American children's games and is going to do a report for his classmates. He IS in 1st grade. One is called "keeper of the fire". He learned their games were serious stuff. This one is about listening skills and stealth. He also learned that EVERY game they played, even children's games, was accompanied by betting. No wonder they own the casinos. So they practiced keeper of the fire for his class project. Eventually Brian and Kris left to go back to the cities and we came home by 11 PM.. Pretty late for this old girl!
Brian and Emmet chopping mushrooms for the sausage and cheese omelets they made to accompany the butter milk pancakes they made for breakfast!!!
Kaylee and Amara dancing to Gramma playing a very slow sugar plum fairy dance and a couple of waltzes. Don't you just love that flying hair!!!December snowman
Annie and Len came Dec 26. Seems like we just bummed on Saturday. Sunday we went to St Cloud Special Meeting. We had a "special" day and nice weather too! I have one picture of Len and Annie from the weekend, but not one I am willing to publish to the world! So instead, I will share with you the snowman Vern made ON OUR DECK the day they came. When they came he had slumped against the railing and Len proceeded to smash his head back into place. The next morning he had slumped the other direction and frozen solid. I don't know if that was annoying to Len or what but he proceeded to use the snowman's head as a golf ball..and snowman soon was history. Made for a great laugh tho as Len was barefoot.
We have had the snowiest December since 1968.
We have had the snowiest December since 1968.
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