History of this tractor to me,

........ Well where do we start.

The loader was built by your great uncle Mike (the welder in the family)
                                   The blade from the plow was bought from a guy in Lydia who had it on his Jeep.
The decals on the tank are incorrect, your Grandpa made sure I knew that when I was quite young.

Dad (your grandpa) removed the side panels to work on the starter back in the early 80's, he left them off to let Allis breath a little better.

Around the same time we (Jim Trecker, Dad, Eric,Me) swapped out her engine with a Gleaner combine. Uncle Eric has a pretty exciting story about that Gleaner and a small house rat.

If you don't make sure you remove the brake lock it will stay on. There were plenty of time Dad (stopped) me asking "Is the brake on!"...and yes it was. Sorry Dad

a couple brake replacements later.

The gas gauge is incorrect, that is all you need to know. Papa has a pretty good yard stick process in which he can tell you approx when she will start to sputter.

If the battery is weak park it under the tree. The one where the Fox had her den.

Pop the clutch.

I have started far more tractors via the clutch than the starter.

That should be enough for now.

Until next time.

Dear Tooth Fairy,

 

Sincerely,

Elias

**The toothfairy doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.**

Football

There isn't much I can say specifically about all the pictures below.  When I look at them they make me cry.  Not because I'm sad and don't like them.  Because they make me so proud and I absolutely love them.  I can't get over how quickly we have made it to the middle school years.  Everyone knows and talks about how fast life flys by; this year it has hit me harder than ever.   

I cried when I dropped him off at his jump start program for school to prepare for 6th grade.

 

I cried when I dropped him off for his first football practice.

 

I cried when I dropped him off on his first day of school this year.

 

Cried all because this sweet boy has made me enjoy being his mother most of all.

 

I will enjoy these times to come for sure.  And miss them as they pass.

 

Aurora Staples Inn

Did I ever show you my pictures of our room at the Aurora Staples Inn we stayed at for our wedding in Stillwater?  No?  Okay, I know, I know.  So I was really lazy for a loooooong time and didn't want to lift a finger to blog.  Okay, I'll show you now.  Keep in mind that I took these pictures before we left.  The bed isn't made perfect and there are things of ours laying here and there in the pictures.

We rented the carriage house, which is the old garage of the Inn turned living quarters.  I didn't take a picture of the bathroom, but take my word that it was plenty big with a large tiled shower.  And beautiful.  Neither Jeff or I were particularily fond of the breakfast they served, but that would probably be the case at any bed and breakfast we would have gone to.  Thanks to our mothers, we like home style hearty breakfasts.  The service was prompt and very polite.  We will definately go back to enjoy the peace, quiet and relaxed atmosphere.  No TV, lots of rest.  Just what we wanted and needed.

The most comfortable bed in the world.  I spent most of my time right there on the left side.

The four person tub.  Um... who want's to take a bath with four people?  I'll stick with two, but thank you.  It was so big, I couldn't keep myself grounded. 

The door to the bathroom.

 Lovely furniture.  Nevermind the men's clothes left in the bottom drawer. 

The sitting room.  I didn't sit in it.  Who sits in it when there is such an awesome bed!

 Another little sitting area with table.

The house itself had lots of history behind it and suprised us a bit when reading through the details dating back.  We would recommend this bed and breakfast if anyone is ever looking to stay at a bed and breakfast in Stillwater.  The Inn Keepers were very accomdating and great to work with. 

http://www.aurorastaplesinn.com/

To see the rest of the photos from our wedding you can visit Mandy Guth Photography.  Mandy is located in Stillwater and I'd highly recommend her doing photos for you if you're in the area.  Stillwater has so many awesome locations for photos.  If you're adventurous enough to have pictures taken when you're away from home, it's the place to do it.

http://www.mandyguthphotography.com/f446572571

20/20

20 weeks down.  20 weeks to go!

We're smack dab in the middle and things are going great.  Josie and Elias joined us for the big ultrasound yesterday.  We did a lot of laughing throughout because the kids had lots of weird questions and observations.  It was a bit uncomfortable laying on a table with your belly exposed, the Ultrasound Tech moving the probe over your stomach and you can't stop laughing.  She was great about everything though.

The Tech estimated the weight of baby off of the measurements she took to be 13 oz.  My weekly pregnancy update emails said the estimated weight of babies at 20 weeks is 10.5 oz, so we're right on track.  Between weeks 10 and 15, I had only gained 1 lb.  Friday, 9/14/12 we'll have our follow up from the ultrasound/20 week appointment.  The doctor said he wasn't too concerned about the low weight gain the last time, but I'm curious to know if I've put on sufficient enough pounds between weeks 15 and 20.  I'm feeling like my belly is quite large-- but pretty much all baby-- and straight out.

We didn't find out the gender of the baby at the ultrasound.  We'll leave you all guessing-- we'd love to hear your predictions though!  I'll list some things that I've heard people base their predictions on:

• I've been feeling great throughout this pregnancy, with the exception of being drop dead tired, a little "off" feeling and not having much of an appetite between weeks 6 and 12.  My appetite hasn't reappeared completely, but I'm no longer nauseous at the sent of certain foods, especially cooked meat; I just eat a little less. 
• Fruit is probably my biggest craving right now, or from the very beginning really.  I guess it's a good craving to have! 
• The baby's heartbeat was 144 at our 15 week appointment and 135 at the 20 week ultrasound.  
• I don't think I'm "carrying" the baby high or low.  You be the judge through.  Based on my pregnancies with Josie and Elias, everyone predicted the opposite of what they were. 
• Elais *knows the baby is a boy.  Josie *knows the baby is a girl.

Now you've see Baby Sticha on the outside, lets get on to the ultrasound pictures!

During the ultrasound Baby Sticha was quite active and I noticed when I would feel the movements, the arms were the things moving around on the screen.   

 Showing off those muscles already!

 

 And our favorite moment of the ultrasound was watching the baby YAWN.

I'm pretty sure we all left the ultrasound room with big smiles on our faces.  It was pretty sweet to get this glimpse of our new family member we all can't wait to meet.

 

So, so sweet.

A New Year

I always feel as the beginning of the school year is more significant than an actual New Year or even birthdays sometimes through the eyes of kids and parents with kids.  Don't you think?  Maybe because along the way during the school year, time flies and life gets busy with homework and activities that the beginning of the school year is a fresh start for what you can learn and accomplish for the next 9 months.  A sign of maturing minds... or, so I hope for my kids. 

Sometimes I wonder. 

Just today when I told Josie that the door needed to be opened all the way, she replied, "No closed," to which I repeated myself and she repeated herself again.  I shook my head and let it be, because that's what I've learned to do- pick my battles.  Determining if a door needed to be opened or closed was not worth the effort.  Although... a few seconds later I heard an "Oh yeah, OPEN.  Ha ha ha ha." 

At least she corrected herself.  I have much to be proud of.  *wink *smile*

Today she turned an 8th grader.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We set our alarms for 5:30 am, so we could have enough time to get ready, breathe, eat breakfast, breathe, and not rush out the door only to breathe once we got in the car.  Trust me, that's our normal morning routine.  I woke up 7 minutes before my alarm went off to use the bathroom, then of course, crawled back into bed.  Hey, I had 5 whole minutes!  And, no I didn't fall back asleep.  I tried.  Soon enough I heard the kids alarm going off and it was fairly quickly turned off.  I knew it was, none other than, Elias.  The smoke detector could go off and Josie would sleep right through it.  By the time I got myself back out of bed and grabbed my towel to head to the shower, Elias was dressed, brushing his teeth and just about ready to go. 

 

He was so excited for his first day of 6th grade.  First day of Middle School.

Josie rated her first day of school as a 9.8 out of 10.

Elias rated his first day of school as a 9 out of 10.

 

I would have to say that because our morning went very smoothly, they got to school on time, both kids showed up after school when they were expected, I got to make them cookies when we stopped home, and they had smiles on their faces, it's a definate 10 for me. 

 

Happy new year.

 

A Sweet Story

One day last week Josie spent the day with my Mom and Grandma Horejsi.  Mom picked up Josie from school and went to visit my Grandma in Northfield at the assisted living home.  For those of you who don't know my Grandma, she is 90 years old.  Her hard drive is full of great memories. Sometimes though, that clouds her memory with the present.

When we went to pick up Josie at Mom and Dad's my Mom was beaming with how Josie had treated Grandma.  For Grandma, it is very important to know who you are or what your maiden name was.  Mom explained who Josie was at which point Grandma asked what her maiden name was?  Mom told me that Josie responded like a champ (even if it was repetitive).  I am (and so is my Mom) so proud of how Josie handled the situation.

At the end of the visit Grandma H told Josie she loved her and gave her a kiss.

Guess no matter how full your hard drive is you still know love.

The Birth of a Nickname

Let me preface this entry by stating that there is much to be aknowledged by a nickname. My Father has been the master of dolling out nicknames without any explanation. I was known to my family as Freddy for the first countless years of my life. When I ask my Dad why, he really has no justification for the name, its just what came out.

This brings me to the present. We (meaning my father, myself and Elias) were bailing hay last week and had to "drop" alot of the bales due to the fact that we were unable to pull the wagon behind the bailer. With Elias being the smallest out of the bunch I thought it would be a good time for him to cut his teeth driving the old farm truck while we loaded the bales. It started out very simple with me saying, "Okay just drive straight and let off the brake."  He was doing just fine and gaining confidence, so we moved onto me not riding the side of the truck, but me walking in front and him to follow my exact path.

So this brings us to the near incident.  I had mapped out his path to the next row of bales when we had our break down.  It started with "Elias brake.... brake.... stop.... STOP... STOP.... STTTOOOOOPPPP!  OH MY GOSH STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

He stopped just shy of the only post in the field. 

I was immediately second guessing my attempt to garner Elias some driving experience.  We... well, I... backed the truck off the post to which he asked, "Did I dent the truck?"  I explained that he didn't, and gave him the speech about needing to watch were we are driving, all the while I was thinking I shouldn't have put him in that position.

After we unloaded the truck we were back at the field and had about 50 more bales to pick up.  I had already spoken to Dad while we sent Elias to get water in the house hoping he wasn't upset about the whole ordeal.  My Dad reasurred me that at some point I had done just the same.

Back at the field Dad was driving, Elias in the middle and me shotgun.  Dad looks over and says, "Move over Louie, you're driving."  All you could see was a smile from ear to ear.  In other words- he had no problem getting back on that horse.  I am proud to say he did and rode that horse without any other issues.

Next time, Louie, you better watch it!

Ya, you.

OCSD

I have a problem.

I have OCSD.

Obsessive.
Compulsive.
Sock.
Disorder.

Having a twelve year old who does NOT wear socks that match - does NOT match my psychological laundering chore responsibilities.  At least in my mind.  She wears socks that don't match.  At first I couldn't understand why I always had trouble with matching her socks.  I guess it's the new trend.













It really brings out the OCSD in me.

Help!

Basement Bathroom: Post I

Jeff has been working on a new basement bathroom.  From scratch.  He's cool like that.  I like him.

From the demo of a big bulky shelf that sat in the space we are using, to how it looks today, he gets A LOT of credit.  We have had lots of helpers along the way that we are SO very thankful for:  Rob, John, Marge, Ken, Chris, Lynn, Paul, Kendra and Paul G.  You are all wonderful to offer your help.

Progression from framing to sheet rock to paint...

As of last night we have in floor heat coils - so exciting!  Next steps are laying the self leveling concrete and tiling.  Then on to the finishing touches with the toilet, lighting and cabinet.

The cabinet is my project for the weekend.  We are refinishing a cabinet found in my grandparents basement.  It's nothing too fancy, but it turned out to be the right size we were needing and gave us the opportunity to customize to our liking.

(Yes, I forgot to take a before picture and Jeff reminding me after I took the drawers and doors off.)

The cabinet, doors and drawers have been sanded and are waiting for their new coat of paint.  Next bathroom post, I hope to show you the finished and functioning bathroom!

*smile*

Laundry List

Over the last many months we have been working on quite a few projects.  There never seems to be any "down time" unless we've crashed and burned lately.  I attribute this to my promotion from Cleaning Lady to Project Manager of Stichaville *wink*.   I am blessed with a man that has so much patience and lets me think I'm the boss some of the time - okay, okay... most of the time... because I am. 

Over the summer we were able to make some updates to the kitchen. 
New Paint.  New Floor.  New Paneling.
I am not the best at remembering to take before pictures until we are half way into a project, so here is the only picture I have of the kitchen.  It's a bright and bold kitchen and we love how it turned out.
Moving on to the past couple months, our "laundry list" of projects are becoming out of control.  I am totally to blame.  Really, I just can't stop.  We were generously offered some dressers from my grandparents home, and of course, we not only came home with two dressers, a hutch and a shelf, but framed art, a fancy elaborate mirror, and other little treasures.  Right now what you would normally call a garage, we now call the furniture shop.  It is full of the projects that are waiting to be sanded, primed, painted or stained and put back together so they can start being useful.

We have started working on some of the pieces between our time working on the basement.  I love that we both enjoy working on these things together. 

Now, because I'm a list maker, here is our list of everything that needs to be done:

Basement bathroom
Refinish bathroom cabinet
Tile basement bathroom floor
Basement bedroom 1
Basement bedroom 2
Refinish dresser/buffet 1
Refinish hutch
Refinish shelf
Refinish dresser 2
Paint living room
Paint upstairs bedroom

As I put this list together, I'm realizing that this is only the things we should accomplish this winter and spring.  Summer has a list of it's own.  Oh, and I forgot to add the actual laundry to the list that is starting to tile the basement floor. 

Wish me luck -or- wish J luck. 
*wink*

Welcome

We're glad you stopped by.