Yeah, it's been quite awhile!

Yes, I know it's been quite awhile - just not good about "journaling" every day ... every week.... or even every month for that matter! I'll take my cue from the pix I just uploaded as to what we have done in the last 6-8wks. John blogged about the bringing in of the corn. Before we did that we went and tagged our Christmas tree - back in October! That way, when it's below zero with lung freezing windchills (which it was the day we went to cut it down) we don't have to be trapesying all over to find the "perfect" tree .... which someone would have already tagged since we were so late in going to the farm. So here are a few shots of the warm day we went to tag our beautiful tree.

Caitlin teaching Juliana about crickets.

This looks like a good one! Jeremy's first Christmas tree hunt!

Cait with hot cider in hand: Nate and Juls hup, two, three, four ....!

Another biology lesson on mushrooms. Caitlin says that science is the only thing that keeps the school day tolerable!!

We made our choice, tagged the tree and were off. Not sure what we did for the rest of the day, though - 10/11 was a long time ago! : )

Juliana's giggle fit

It's Time for Corn!

The photo above (note the date) shows what prompted us to head to the grain elevator this weekend. This will be our fourth winter of heating our home with corn, which here in the midwest is a very plentiful & renewable resource. For those of you not familiar with our home, we live in a ranch-style on a slight hill, with a walk-out lower level (one-story in the front, two stories in the back). In the lower level is our family room with a large glass window facing north. The house is very well insulated and the forced-air natural gas heater keeps most of the house very comfortable. Unfortunately, the family room where we spend a lot of our time was ALWAYS cold. We would sit down there watching a movie in multiple layers of clothing and with blankets covering us! We explored several options to heat this room, including adding a gas fireplace but then settled on a corn stove. Corn is very efficient and burns hot. We purchased a stove from the Amaizablaze company and my brother Tim and I installed it in one afternoon. No chimney is required, just a "dryer vent" through the wall to the outside. The family room is now the warmest room in the house and by running our central fan 24/7 and keeping a ceiling fan running at the top of the stairway the cornstove is able to heat most of the house. Our furnace rarely kicks in anymore.

Pros of heating with corn: Efficient- even with corn prices relatively high this year at almost $4 per bushel, I will heat the house for approx. $600 this winter; Environmental- not using oil based energy to heat; Easy- light the stove and keep the corn hopper full and it will run for almost 2 weeks with little effort. Twice daily I'll pull a "clinker" of compressed ash out of the burn box and refill the hopper. Every 10-14 days I'll shut the stove down and clean it with a wire brush and shop-vac; Aroma- the smell of roasted corn is great!

Cons of heating with corn: Bulk & storage- we've gradually added storage over the 4 years using mainly large trash cans. We now have 15 of the 45 gallon cans and 11 of the 32 gallon cans as well as about ten 20 gallon containers. These will hold 150 bushels of corn, which is what we burned over the course of last winter. Approx 2/3 of the corn is now stored in our utility room just off the family room. The remainder is in an outside shed. Corn is heavy, at 56 lbs per bushel. Yesterday and today we manually unloaded over 4 tons of corn into the various containers; Dust- every time you manipulate the corn from one place to another, you have dust. You learn to deal with it!


We borrowed Dan Stephenson's truck and got 5 loads of approx 30 bushels each

Three of the kiddos played while we unloaded. Jeremy helped with getting empty cans and lids ready.

Caitlin preparing to unload. Note Jeremy's head just behind the truck.

We scoop with 2.5 gallon buckets, each weighing about 17 lbs when full.

Caitlin passes to Grace, who passes to John...

...who dumps into the trash can

note the accumulation of dust on Caitlin's jeans and sweatshirt

as the truck begins to empty, the shovel is used to move the corn into scoopable piles

and eventually a dust pan gets the last kernels

Caitlin empties her boots!

The utility room, holding the 15 x 45 gallon cans and a single 32 gallon can. Dusting soon followed!

OK, OK, We're Posting!

Wow, I can't believe all the digs we've been getting about not posting. It's busy around here! Jodi even dissed us in her blog-- but then she's always been a little more organized than us :-)

Our summer was as crazy as ever. We had 2 birthdays in June, 1 in July and 4 more in August; there was a wedding in June; 4th of July in Clear Lake was awesome (AGAIN); Caitlin and Grace spent much of the summer at camp, either camping or working; we went camping a couple of times; we spent a great weekend at the Omaha zoo; we renovated our kitchen; we went to Family Camp at IRBC and weathered a scare when Jeremy fractured his skull!

Autumn hasn't been any slower so far. Mary is home-schooling six children; John is working a (temporary) new schedule which has him doing 7 over-nights in a row once every 4 weeks--the benefit is that he has 7 days off every 4 weeks too. In early October, we used those 7 days off to haul the camper out to eastern Iowa and spent time hiking along the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River and enjoying the scenery; we went out last weekend and picked out/tagged a Christmas tree. We'll go back to the tree farm in early December to cut it down; we've been raking a ton of leaves, and the yard is full again!

May: John bowled in the Iowa State tournament in Council Bluffs in May, which is right across the Missouri River from Omaha. The whole family went out and we spent 2 days exploring the Omaha Zoo.

The zoo was actually very hilly, and there was a LOT of walking!


June: We celebrated Jeremy's 8th and Caitlin's 16th BD's. Caitlin got her license and has been doing a great job driving. She'll only drive the Suburban however since John's Honda has a manual transmission and Caitlin is not too fond of a clutch. Jeriah and Shawna got married on June 21. Caitlin and Grace were the guestbook attendants and Juliana was the beautiful flower girl. The newlyweds honeymooned in Ocean City, MD and had a second reception in Havre de Grace, MD hosted by Jeriah's grandparents for those family members who couldn't travel all the way to Iowa for the wedding. Mary spent a week nursing at Special Camp at IRBC. She's been doing this for many years now and loves it. We took the camper out to Clear Lake State Park for several days at the end of the month and the kids had a blast. We began our kitchen project by ripping out the island and moving the dishwasher over next to the sink. New cabinets and countertop gradually made their appearance!


Jeremy's first BD with his forever family




Caitlin loves her new IPod!




Caitlin was giving all the kids rides on the scooter

We were camped on a circle and the little ones just loved riding around and around




John's favorite position when camping


July: we went home from our little camping trip on July 3 and then headed downtown to the annual July 4 carnival by the lake. On July 4, we watched the parade in the morning and a spectacular fireworks display over the lake at night. Nathan celebrated his 5th birthday later in the month and we spent a weekend in Colfax at Jeriah and Shawna's.




Sarabeth blazing down the giant slide


What a MESS!

But it sure is gooood-e-licious!

Emma Nichols and Grace carried our church's banner in the July 4 parade


Caitlin was walking alongside handing out Vacation Bible School invitations

Sarabeth enjoyed the ride and all the waving
Nathan got a remote controlled Cars car!

It says January 3. Trust me......it was July.


August: is a VERY busy month at our house. Birthdays for Juliana, Jeriah, Shawna and John. Family Camp is usually in August. School starts at the end of the month. We were kept hopping. We went to Mary's sister's house in Ames on the 5th and celebrated all 4 August BD's that evening. Family Camp started on the 9th and we had a great time again. On the last night of the camp, they opened the pool for an evening swim. Jeremy was up the ladder, down the slide, up the ladder, down the slide....over and over. Until....he went up the ladder and lost his balance, falling back head first onto the concrete. We took him over to Mercy in Mason City where they diagnosed a fractured skull and admitted him to the pediatric unit. The next morning, they decided to transfer him to Iowa City, as there was a very small bleed in his head and they wanted surgical backup just in case it got worse. Jeremy and Mary spent 2 days in Iowa City as Jeremy dealt with a major headache. A few days after getting home, he was his old rambunctious self again. Praise the Lord!


Mama and her littlest girl cutting the BD cake


Another BD cake, this time for 4!


Jeremy and Dad heading off to the zip line. Jeremy jumped off that building 8 times this week!


We all enjoyed splashing each other on the bumper boats




Jet Ski rides are always a highlight of Family Camp
"Faster daddy, faster"!
Jeremy enjoyed his first JetSki ride


Caitlin climbing the wall

Sarabeth beginning her climb...

...and reaching the top. Congratulations Sarabeth!

Water rats

Caitlin taking aim
She wouldn't shoot Bambi, would she?

No she wouldn't, but HE would!


Jeremy did EVERYTHING this week, except climb the wall




Caitlin and her good friend Julie



Grace, Nathan and Jeremy spent a lot of time on the Slip 'n Slide


September/October: School's in full swing. Jeriah has started into the Master of Divinity program at Faith's Seminary. Caitlin is a junior and Grace a freshman. Sarabeth and Jeremy are doing mostly a 3rd grade program, although Jeremy is still behind in reading. That will catch up as his vocabulary continues to grow and as he has more time to practice. He has only been in the US since March and he's doing great. Nathan and Juliana are doing pre-K work and both are reading! Juliana is especially proud of this feat.

As I mentioned earlier, we were able to spend a few days camping out near the Mississippi River. We spent one day at Iowa's Pike's Peak State Park and another day hiking/exploring through the Effigy Mounds National Monument area. There are several Native American burial mounds and animal shaped mounds located throughout this park. We took about a 1.5 mile hike that had some pretty good climbs. When we got to the top, the views of the river were spectacular. We saw some wildlife (deer; turkey; hawks; giant millipedes etc.) on this trip and also heard the coyotes howling at night. It was a very nice getaway for the family.

Hiking up a hill at the Effigy Mounds National Monument

It's hard to see at ground level, but this mound is called "Little Bear" and is in the shape of a bear.

At the "Fire Point" overlook, which was the 1/2 way point of our hike

All the kids at the Pike's Peak overlook. The Wisconsin River empties into the Mississippi here.

What a beautiful view of the Big River. Prairie du Chien, WI is on the other side of the river.

The teens enjoyed the climbing/exploring

A majestic sight