Happy Father's Day to My Farmer

LP, My Farmer and MP after church today

Happy Father's Day to My Farmer!

Thank you for being a hard worker and care giver for our kids and me.  

LP, MP and I all love you so much!

My Hero

My hero is the quiet type,

No marching bands, no media hype,

But through my eyes it's plain to see,

A hero, God has sent to me.

With gentle strength and quiet pride,

All self-concern is set aside,

To reach out to his fellow man,

And be there with a helping hand.

Heroes are a rarity,

A blessing to humanity.

With all they give and all they do,

I'll the thing you never knew,

My hero has always been you.

- Anonymous

Officially Corn, Beans, Pigs & KIDS

On Thursday, May 30th at 12:30am My Farmer and I were blessed with a little girl.  MP weighed 8lbs 8oz and was 19 3/4 inches long.  We were able to come home from the hospital yesterday afternoon and have a weekend full of family and guests.  I'll be sharing more soon, but for now I thought I better make the announcement and at least show a few photos!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Rain, Rain Go Away, Come Again When We're Done Planting

Last year I talked about the drought many times and even this year I've continued to talk about the drought.  Well, I don't think anyone in our area, and actually throughout the state of Iowa, is concerned about being in a drought anymore...  Let's just say we've gotten our fair share of rain lately!

Here is last week's Drought Monitor map for the state of Iowa
(I guess whoever is incharge of updating is still on their Memorial Day vacation
because it wasn't updated this morning)
I have circled the county where we live and farm.
As of last week we still lived in an "Abnormally Dry" area

On Saturday we received around 2 inches of rain and then overnight into Sunday we received an additional 4 inches of rain!  Normally on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend My Farmer, LP and I go to church and then go to a Memorial Day service at the cemetery - not this year...  Instead we were busy making sure everything was alright at our current house, our new home and at our hog site.  

We've gotten pretty accustom to water in our basement at our current house if it rains a lot.  The key is, if water reaches the apple tree, there is water in our basement.  Water was at the apple tree probably by 5am on Sunday...  

On Sunday water was ponded past our apple tree.
Today though can see how far the water has retreated since then
but you can still see how wet it is.

Our sump pump has been working nonstop since Sunday at our current house and finally today it is taking a breather and only pumps every so often.  I think I might actually be able to do some laundry today because now the laundry washer's water will have somewhere to go!

Our new house only had a little bit of water in the basement thankfully and our hog buildings were fine.  We were a little worried the hog barns were going to get water into them on Sunday morning but the rain stopped just in time that we didn't have to stress about that.

But stress is still high as we have large ponds in all of our fields.  Not only are we worrying about drowning out the corn that is planted in some of those fields, we are also worrying about the corn and soybeans we still have to plant!  And it doesn't look like this week there will be a good chance of getting field work done with a chance of rain every day.  Because the season is starting to go late, we are starting to talk about switching some of our intended corn fields into soybeans fields and have also talked with our crop insurance agent about preventive planting acres.

This is a view to the east from our acreage where you can see several "ponds".
On Sunday these were one giant "lake"!

I guess the only thing that needs to happen this week, so we can get our minds off of all of this, is to have a baby!  Every morning My Farmer talks to MP through my stomach telling him or her that it would be a good time to arrive!

Have you been dealing with flood conditions where you live?  Do you have any questions about planting this spring?

2013 Family Summer Fun Bucket List

As we draw near to the Memorial Day weekend we approach the unofficial start of summer.  This of course makes me think of all the things we want and will be doing this summer - having a baby, finish planting our corn and soybean crops, moving to a new acreage and having some family fun!  I'm a big "list" person - the feeling of crossing off items from my list makes me smile!  Anyways, here is my Family Fun Summer Bucket List for this year.  We should have a lot of fun!

1. Go to the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines (and invite my Grandma S/LP's Great-Grandma to come along)
2. Ride the Train at the Boone Scenic Valley Road (and invite my Grandpa & Grandma K/LP's Great-Grandparents to come along)
3. Go to the County Fair
4. Go to the State Fair
5. Visit a New Midwest Town/Landmark
6. Go Camping at Pine Lake with Friends
7. Go on a Family Vacation
8. Sign-up for the Summer Reading Program at our Local Library
9. Participate in the Latimer Fun Day 5K Run/2 Mile Walk
10. Go Swimming at the Swimming Pool
11. Go Golfing
12. Go on a Nature Walk at Beeds Lake
13. Have a Picnic at Clear Lake's Beach
14. Watch Fireworks for the 4th of July
15. Have Family Dates (Mom & Dad, Mom & LP, Mom & MP, Dad & LP, Dad & MP)
16. Go to a Baseball Game

What is on your Summer Bucket List?  What are some of your favorite things to do with your family during the summer?

Hump Day Bump Report

Well, I'm still here and pregnant!  And to tell you the truth, I wonder if this baby is going to be born in June, rather than May, like My Farmer and I always thought...  Oh well, like we say, the baby will come when the baby is ready.  Here is this week's Hump Day Bump Report:

• How far along?  38 Weeks Down - 2 Weeks To Go!

• Baby size:  Pumpkin

• Baby milestone:  The baby may have an inch or more of hair at this point.

• How did your doctor's appointment go this week?  Are you dilated?  My appointment went well.  Things are looking good and I have started dilating!  Granted I was only less than 1 cm dilated but hey, at least it is a start!

• How is the "to do" list coming along?  I think I pretty much have everything bought that I wanted to buy.  Now I just need to do some baby laundry, set up the bassinet, install the car seat and pack the hospital bag.  

• How is the "nesting" going?  Besides what I mentioned for the "to do" list, I also want to put together a few more freezer meals, as well as probably get some pantry ingredients for quick-fix meals.  I also in general just want to do some more laundry for the entire household and clean My Farmer's and my bedroom.

• Any swelling now?  I shouldn't have said anything a couple weeks ago - I have started getting a little swelling in my feet and fingers.  All I have to say is thank goodness it is nice enough to wear sandals and I'm thankful my wedding ring still fits!

• Any crazy or unexpected pregnancy symptoms?  This was unexpected for me, I have had a few mornings where I have woken up with a charley horse in one of my legs.  One morning it was so bad I couldn't sit up to massage it or get up to stand on it, so I had to wake up My Farmer to help me - probably not the best thing, initially he thought it was "time"!  He sure got moving right away but as soon as I said I needed him to massage my charley horse in my calf, he calmed down and went back into half-way asleep mode.

• Are you planning on doing anything fun to destress before the baby arrives?  I got a pedicure before my doctor's appointment earlier this week and if we can't be in the field tomorrow, My Farmer and I are going to go to the movies and have a little date - just the two of us.  So part of me really wants it to be too wet to be in the field so we can go on a date but then the farmer in me knows that if we can be, it'd be best if we could actually be in the field.

• Emotions:  Still feeling good and pretty easy going.  I got pretty active working on my to do list and nesting last week but after my appointment and finding out I was less than 1 cm dialated I have eased back on getting things done, which is too bad, because I really need to get things done still.

Don't forget to place your bets on my blog's facebook page if you think MP will be a boy or a girl and when you think MP will arrive!  And if you missed it, check out last week's Hump Day Bump Report.

Schools and Tornado Safety

I have lived in Iowa my entire life so I'm no stranger to tornadoes.  After the tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma yesterday, including destroying two elementary schools, I can't help but think of tornado safety in schools.  Just like in Oklahoma, the same goes for Iowa, the tornado shelters include restrooms, locker rooms and hallways.  If you live in tornado alley, you know that the safest place to be is underground.  Luckily in Iowa, most people have basements under their houses.  It does not sound that very many people in this part of Oklahoma yesterday had underground shelters or basements.

An aerial photo of Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Oklahoma
taken before yesterday's tornado
(photo from NY Daily News) 

An aerial photo of Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Oklahoma
taken after yesterday's tornado
(photo from NY Daily News) 

So if we know the safest place to be is underground when a tornado is approaching, why don't we have underground shelters for our children in our schools to go to?  I can't help but think of a tornado that hit around this time five years ago in Parkersburg, Iowa.  It happened on Graduation Sunday, as many people were coming home from graduation parties.  Luckily, this tornado didn't hit while school was in session.  Before the tornado, Aplington-Parkersburg High School had similar tornado shelters in it's school just like in Moore, Oklahoma - hallways, bathrooms, etc.  After the tornado, Aplington-Parkersburg High School had to rebuild and with that rebuild they built a concrete re-enforced underground wrestling room that doubles as a storm shelter, with enough room to house the student body twice over.  I think this is something every school should consider not only for it's students, but for it's community.  I think about how bonds are passed for a new gym or a new auditorium or a new football field, why not pass a bond for a storm shelter?

My heart breaks for those in Moore, Oklahoma and other places that have been devastated the last couple of days.  During the aftermath of these tornadoes, I hope schools and communities throughout tornado alley think about what should be done for safety.

Farm Friday

Welcome to the first Farm Friday of the year!  Throughout the growing season I'll be giving a couple Farm Friday updates a month.

Tis the season for spring planting of our corn and soybean crops.  Planting has been a little late this year due to cool and wet conditions, and delayed even because of a late snow storm.  But the weather window finally flew open this week and we were able to get a lot of corn planted, along with tillage work and herbicide application, before a rain storm popped up last night.

My Farmer planting corn

This week was just what we were looking for to get a lot of ground covered.  Sunny skies and windy conditions allowed for quick drying and a warm up of the soil.  The rain we got last night will probably keep us out of the field for a day, but hey - that means the lawn can get mowed right!

My Farmer and LP hopping into the tractor to plant some corn

Do you have questions about corn and soybean planting?

Also, wanted to share some posts from last year for all the farmer's wives and farmers out there:

• Rules of a Farm Wife (Spring Edition)  (This is my list of a few simple rules to make life easier during busy times of the year in the field.)
• Rules of a Farmer (How to Have a Happy Farm Wife) (This is My Farmer's response to the above post.)