Ruby Slippers and Georgia Peaches

Three went by fast, and four was even faster.

 

 

She is soft and cuddly. You forget how soft and cuddly they really are.

She is very predictable and follows a schedule pretty easily.

She is sleeping about 6.5 hours at night and takes two solid naps during the daytime. She will also take little naps here and there.

 

She loves to look. Just look.

 

 

She’s started “talking” and finding her voice more and more. She loves when she has someone to “talk” to or to talk to her.

She’s also a pro at making spit bubble and blowing rasberries.

 

Her fingers and hands have become her best friends. It’s called “hand regard”.

 

Sometimes it’s hard determining if she’s fussing or if she trying out her voice. But most of the time she’s just trying out her lungs.

 

At her last doctor’s visit she was:

13.9lbs

25 inches long

50^th percentile for weight

90^th percentile for height

A week later, at the health department for shots, she was 13.15lbs.

She has thick little legs.

 

She didn’t have any issues with her shots. She cried a little but calmed down easily after Marci held her for a little bit.

 

She can flip over from her stomach to her back any time that she likes. When lying down on a blanket on the floor, she will try to roll anywhere in the room.

She also likes to grab or work on her grasping skills. She’s doing pretty well in that area.

She’s also had a little bit of food. We are doing oatmeal first.

She liked it and hasn’t had any problems with it.

Her hair is getting a tad bit better at taming. In some situations it tries to make its way to standing straight up. It is still very light in color.

We are working on sitting up without assistance and putting weight on her legs. Those are the next major milestones for her age.

Her eyes are more green than any other color.

She’s a cutie.

In Atlanta you have MARTA. In Washington D.C. you have METRO. In Chicago, they have the “L”.

We have nothing like that here.

But I do follow a path to town that I lovingly call the “L”.

We live in a big, almost rectangle, state.

Then, we live in little squares.

We have a road every mile. North, South, East and West, there is a road. Most are dirt, only some are paved. They are all straight lines.

To get to town, I drive down the long part of the L, then turn left (east), and make the jaunt down the short part of the L.

To get back home, I just have to go backwards up the L.

For the most part, we travel in very straight lines.

There are, however, slight curves when traveling north where county lines meet.

The other day, we were traveling north to the “big” Wal-Mart in Great Bend. I went around those two gentle curves in the road.

I didn’t think much of it, until I heard “wwwwhooooaaaaaa” from the little 2 ½ year old rider in the back seat.

Yes, little one that was a curve.

Bless Her.

J

“Hey” is rarely heard around here. Except if you meet someone from Oklahoma. On a side note, when we first moved here, people thought we were from Oklahoma.

Most everyone here says “Hi” or “hello”.

But hay….there’s a lot of that.

We have so much hay, that there is a hay broker for our farm. He deals with hay, a hay crew, trading hay and straw. He drives and flies all over the Midwest making deals and lining up the shipping of the hay.

Most of our hay is alfalfa. They get about 4- 5 cuts a season off of one circle. We also have straw after the wheat has been cut.

The big square bales are beautiful sights along the horizon.

(straw bales)

This is a bale stacker or “stinger”. The front forks scoops up the bale, flips it over the top of the cab and the bale slides down the slope.

When the stinger is full, the hydraulics push the back of the stinger up (like a dump truck) and a stack is formed on the ground.

The bales of alfalfa weigh about 1,500 pounds.

They ship about 35,000 to 40,000 pounds at a time.

They weigh on a scale before leaving, and then weigh on a different scale when they get to their destination.

Seems like an easy, safe job. Until something happens that you’ll never forget.

Last year, August 22^nd, one of our drivers died when two alfalfa bales fell off the truck and crushed him.

He had made a delivery, like any of the other deliveries that he had done in the past two years.

The owner of the feedlot was unloading the hay, as the driver was unfastening the straps. One bale shifted and started falling, and our driver couldn’t get out of the way fast enough.

He didn’t have any outward injuries save for a little scratch on his forehead.

When I think back to him, I instantly smile and think about how sweet he was. He was originally from Bristol, Tennessee. He had a great southern/east Tennessee accent. When he would start talking I was instantly reminded of Grandpa Jones from HeeHaw. He sounded just like Grandpa.

He was a very nice man and was always quick to say “hey” and ask about little Ruby. He was also a good friend’s brother in law. We shared two Easter dinners with him. I loved hearing about his former jobs and his stories of going to help a friend in Florida during orange picking season.

A year later, and we still miss his smiling face, his dry humor, his East Tennessee accent and his “Hey Y’all”.

 

 

“Farming” means different things in different areas of the country. In Georgia it could mean that you have chicken houses. It could also mean that you have some cows, goats, run a few yard chickens and tend a small family garden. In South Georgia, it could mean that you have some goobers growing in the ground, late soybeans and some winter wheat.

Here in Kansas it could mean that you have about 160 acres of irrigated corn, soybeans, winter wheat or alfalfa. It could also mean that you have 160 or more acres of dry land crops and run a few cows in the winter.

However, one little commentary unites all farmers everywhere.

I’ve read many of Paul Harvey’s commentaries, and even have heard a few. But when a great marketing person for Dodge put his words with beautiful images for a commercial, I was blown away.

 

I cry a little every time I watch it.

 

I love my farmer. He works extremely hard. Things can change in a blink of an eye.

And at times dangerous.

 

We watch weather reports like a hawk watches for tiny mice in a field.

Everything can be blown away in an instant.

 

Or covered with snow.

(Ruby with a newborn that was abandoned and bottle fed)

Or abandoned in the snow by its confused mama.

 

The hours are long and hard. But I’m glad that he gets to come home each night. Some wives can’t say that.

 

Work starts all over the next day.

 

 

God bless my farmer.

 

 

One time when Wooster and I were “just friends” or “dating”, we were in an outdoor sports store in Gainesville, Georgia. I can’t remember the exact date, or year but I’ll always remember that little store.

It was very crowded with inventory and had all kinds of animal heads/bodies covering the walls and posts.

I would look around, become enamored with something, and lose Wooster amongst the tall shelves and deer stands. It was sensory overload city. I wasn’t the only one feeling lost.

There was a pretty little blonde headed girl that was wandering around too. She might have been around 2 ½ or 3 years old. She had the most beautiful little ringlets and a green dress on. Fifteen or so years later, I don’t remember what her face looked like, but I do remember her.

On one aisle, or area, she was lost from her mama and daddy. She mistakenly thought that Wooster was her dad and followed him down the whole aisle while saying “DDDDADDDDY??? DDDDAAADDDY?? DADDY?”

Wooster never turned around, or acknowledged the little girl. He didn’t even think of it, why would a little girl be calling him “daddy”?  I helped the little one find her parents and all was well.

Later, we would joke that he had some kids that he wasn’t telling people about.

Until.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This guy came along.

We were first around Christopher back in 2006 when we went on a mission trip to Alaska. We did a VBS and did some other construction work (i.e. filling a ditch in with dirt). Chris helped out with the recreation part of the VBS. We also had a main goal of bouncing a bounce ball from the parking lot up to the 2^nd floor of the church, where I would catch it, while leaning out, from the window. But that’s beside the point. J

After that short jaunt in Alaska, we later went on to be leaders of the youth group that Chris was in.

We’ve spent A LOT of time around each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve watched him grow as a person, leader and in his spirituality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve witnessed bad decisions and good decisions being made (with everyone praying for both).

He’s always willing to go and to serve. And he has a great looking jeep. What’s not to love?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(maybe it WAS a bad decision to wear those daisy dukes on that roofing project in Ohio. It’s all fun and games until…)

 

We’ve sat through cold baseball games, played basketball at weird times at night, and even had the infamous “My Word is LAW” talks in parking lots with two vans full of students trying not to watch.

 

Then there’s this girl….

 

 

 

 

 

She’s a fun one. (aaannnddd she’ll probably kill me for that one right there.)

I think every picture I have of her, she’s moving or talking and it’s blurry. No surprise there.

 

 

 

 

I can’t say enough. She. Is. So. MUCH. FUN.

She’s pretty on the inside and out.

She has two crowns to prove it.

 

 

 

 

 

Homecoming Queen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miss Marigold

But crowns aren’t everything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obviously.

The girl can work too. She also has a great servant’s heart and sweet spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I pray for this girl, her current situations and her future.

These two are ALWAYS willing to go, have fun, talk to people and to lead. I know I’ve said it over and over. BUT THEY ARE fun people.

God has AMAZING plans for both of these great people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently, she and Chris drove across the country to spend a week in Moore, Oklahoma. They worked, prayed and played with others during World Changers. Then at the end of the week, they drove to see us!

It was a sight for sore eyes.

I loved every second we got to be around them.

Back to the original story at the beginning of this post. (and let me dry my eyes for a second.)

Wooster is approximately 15 years older than Chris and 17 years older than Katie.

I always joke around that he could be their dad. Mainly I do it to give him a hard time. But there is some (very slight) truth to it.

Their parents and grandparents have done a fabulous job raising them.

They also gave us a great opportunity to be a leader in their life. It was/is a great responsibility but it has been a true joy to know them both. We didn’t take any moment of time with them for granted and tried to soak up and let soak in any influence we had with them.

I take great pride in both of them and can only imagine how much their parents feel about them.

Only their parents, grandparents, immediate family, cousins, roommates, best friends and future spouses (okay…a good many people) could love them more than us. But we love them and support them. That’s the most important thing.

🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All four of our “kids”.

They are beautiful.

Can you tell we are proud?

I would tell everyone about these people all day if I could.

I love them.

 

You can hear them buzzing overhead at many different times of the year.

I have probably tried to get pictures of them at *LEAST* a dozen of times. None of the pictures turn out the way I would like. Plus, I like to try to stay a safe distance away….I have NO IDEA what kind of chemicals they are spraying and would rather not find out.

I work with the speed setting of the camera, focal points and try to time the swoops of the plane, but I just can’t seem to master a good clear picture of them.

(yep…blurry)

They do huge swoops, fly down, spray, then almost do a full pull up into vertical positions, turn and swoop back down again.

I imagine it’s a fun job.

If I could be persuasive enough, I would try to talk someone into taking me up. I’m sure it’s a fun ride.

But what would I do with those two youngins?