my awesome husband

Everything is "awesome" these days. I think it is a word that Catherine's Kindergarten teacher likes to use a lot. So much for all the effort I've made over the last six years selecting good Caldecott and Newberry Award winning books and limiting her access to television and movies. Less than a week in the "real world" under the influence of a very enthusiastic teacher and we're down to using one adjective to describe everything. Awesome! (not).

Now, about my awesome husband: Adam finished siding the second story north and south sides of the house last week (3 down, 1 to go):

He took apart and fixed the washing machine for me (so that he could have clean underwear on Monday morning):

He picked 125 pounds of pears off a 70-foot tree at our friends house (remember the peaches?) He may have actually picked more than that, being one of two crazy - I mean brave - enough to climb the tallest ladders to reach the biggest and best pears near the top of the tree. Nevertheless, we brought home 125 pounds in a laundry basket and party tub (not to mention the pears filling our stomachs). Joining us were a family of 10, our friends who own the tree, and another couple. If you don't hear from me for a while, it is because I'm busy canning:

Adam will be busy working overtime at the hospital, plugging away at the siding, fixing the van (the rear seal is leaking on the transmission), and his car (he hit a deer and the hood needs to be replaced).

my new ride

This may sound silly, but I'm so excited about my "new" car! A friend, who is a missionary for FOCUS, had a Toyota that died. He was given a Nissan by a benefactor, but decided it was worth fixing the Toyota (which was a newer car with fewer miles) for his brother. When it came time to get the Toyota back to him, the Nissan was having problems of its own. So, in exchange for fixing the Toyota, he transferred ownership of the Nissan to us. It sat in our driveway (aka the car lot) all winter, in need of a new muffler and a few other repairs. This spring, we were looking at the car and talking again about what we were going to do with it. It was to become Adam's commuter car when his Acura died. Although the Acura was totaled in an accident two years ago and now has close to 270,000 miles on it, it keeps on going...and going....and going (which is good).

Suddenly it dawned on me - why can't I drive it? There's no law against having a child in the front seat (without an airbag). I gathered up four "extra" car seats and buckled them in. Then Adam spent a few evenings fixing it up and voila - a new car for me to drive to and around town with the kids. It gets much better gas mileage than the van, especially in town. With gas prices the way they are, it was worth the cost to fix it now because we'll save more on gas in the long run. Besides, when (if?) the Acura DOES finally die it will become his new commuter vehicle. In the meantime, I get to drive a CAR again!

I give in.

I've neglected to post that my husband and his friend (and his friend's brother) bought a boat. They got a great deal, of course and I'd have written about it sooner, but it took a few weeks of fixing the boat and otherwise getting it ready to get it on the lake. They've been out a few times; we've been out as a family once (Sunday afternoon). Adam caught the first fish on Sunday - a walleye - but it didn't meet the size requirements. Tonight, they came home with half a dozen crappie fish that met (and barely exceeded) the 10 inch minimum. They are cleaning them as I type...they filled a whole pint freezer bag with the boneless fillets. Jesse says "We're going to have to go out a lot more before there's enough to eat."

the stuff of life

Our garden has been flourishing. We've been harvesting and eating fresh radishes, kohlrabi, green beans, zucchini, and beets. The tomato plants are loaded with green tomatoes, the cucumbers will be ready soon as will a few bell peppers. Our acorn squash plants are HUGE and the watermelon and cantaloupe plants are starting to take off. I've also been enjoying our beautiful and fragrant roses, hollyhock, petunias, and daylilies.

Anthony decided he doesn't need to wear diapers any longer and goes "pee peeeee (pause) paaaa teeee" most of the time. He's much more successful when wearing shorts with no underwear. It's a lot of work, so not much else is getting done around the house, but if it means no more diapers, it will be worth it!

Adam recently got a motorcycle endorsement on his license and bought a 1986 Suzuki Intruder, a helmet, and a protective jacket. I've read all the scary statistics about how dangerous motorcycles are, and although I have every confidence in his driving ability (he is a very cautious and defensive driver) I am more worried that he could be hit by someone else on his motorcycle than in a car. Is it worth the gas savings (at 50mpg)? No. But, he grew up riding dirt bikes with his uncles and brothers and he has wanted a motorcycle since I met him. It is part of who he is - who I I love. So watch out for motorcycles!

Oh yes - and I had a birthday. I'm 29 now and that is, according to my brother, "Yung No Mo". I thought I had another year! Adam bought me a couple of bird feeders, hooks, and wild bird seed, seeing how I've been so interested in bird watching lately. After searching for an ideal location for them, I got to lay back, put my feet up, and do some quiet reading on my own. It would have been perfect if it weren't for the throbbing pain in my foot. You see, while I was looking in our scrap wood pile for a treated 4x4 to mount the feeder hooks on, I stepped on a nail. If you need me, I'll be the old lady hobbling around the house trying to get a pair of shorts back on my naked 2 year old.

new van

This is a BIG van. It is a 2005 Chevrolet 3500 Express 12 passenger van with 36K. We traded our Ford Windstar (which was beginning to show signs of transmission trouble) and got a great deal on this 1-ton beauty. It has a 6L, V-8 Vortec engine, which sounds like it would be a huge gas guzzling monster, but we were pleasantly surprised to get 19 mpg on our first trip (all highway, but still not much less than what we were getting in our minivan). We're loving it and not missing the green machine one bit.

driveway or car lot?

Our family vehicle is a Ford Windstar. It is not exactly our favorite, but has never left us stranded, so I can't complain. We have an Acura Integra from Adam's college days with 260,000+ miles and still going strong. This car has been fantastic and doesn't owe us a thing. We have a 4WD Chevy 2500 with a diesel engine that we bought for sentimental reasons and was our money pit for 2006. Adam fixed or replaced just about every major part including the injection pump, transmission, and engine - it owes us a lot. Nevertheless, country life requires owning a truck and we were thankful to have the 4WD last winter to get around. We also have a small Kubota tractor (another acreage essential) and a much older beat-up version of this (not an essential, but nice to have for hauling stuff around and fun to drive).

The reason we went to Kansas City last week was to return a Toyota Corolla to our friend, Anand. It needed a new engine and a few hundred dollars worth of other work, which Adam did for him. Our "reimbursement" for parts (excluding the engine) and labor was a Nissan Stanza. Adam has given it a tune up and fixed a few little things as he is trying to decide whether we are going to keep or sell it. The body and interior are in fantastic shape, but it is a bit underpowered and needs a little more work.

There is also a red (pink) Ford Escort in the driveway which arrived this morning on a trailer and belongs to another friend. It overheated, the engine is locked up, and my darling husband is going to see what he can do about getting it unstuck. Our friend also got a great deal on a Ford Explorer earlier this week (because) it looks as if it might have a bad transmission. That is in our garage and I expect that Adam is going to be helping him check it out this afternoon.

I am blessed to have such a handy husband and thankful that we can help out others since so many people have been generous with us, "...remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Acts 20:35