11 months...

Eleven months of sassy pants, silly, growling, funny faces to make you laugh, won't eat vegetables no matter what, baby doll loving, crawling everywhere, blonder than blond, want's her own way, plays with cars, follows Mommy everywhere, loves her Dog-dog, water baby, into everything Sarah...

Eleven months of missing turquoise eyed, brown haired, talks herself to sleep, to big for baby stuff, sleeps in the middle, toenail painting, fairy book loving, likes Daddy more than anything, snuggles to sleep at night, bites when she's mad, oatmeal for breakfast, swing outside all day, Eskimo kissing, center of everything sweet, sweet Marie... 

And just because there should be a picture of her too, the very best big sister in the entire world!!!

Still threshing...

We are still cutting wheat.  The header spins round and round snatching the heads off the straw, as it passes through the enormous combine it is threshed.  The grains make their way to the hopper, where they mound up until emptied on to the cart, then the from the cart to the semi and the semi to the co-op in town or a bin on the farm to be stored until prices are a little better.  The chaff, the unusable husk surrounding the actual kernel of wheat, is blown out the back of the combine in a cloud of dust.

There are some days I feel like I am being threshed.  We have seen storms every night this week.  Last night an inch of rain fell on our fields up north.  It will take a few days for them to dry out enough to be harvested now.  When it gets wet the quality of the wheat goes down.  Sarah is not sleeping this week, be it teething or growing or what, I am tired.  Josie misses Marie immensely and acts out or is moody.  At this moment there are low dark clouds west of town once again.  For some reason the Lord lets these storms hit.  Not just the storms of this harvest but the hurricanes of the last year that have ravaged us, the wheels of the threshing cart that have ground against us.  It is part of His plan.  For everything there is a purpose...  And I pray that as I am threshed I will be found worthy.

"His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Luke 3:17 NIV

August is coming... and the storms we face seem to be stronger these days.  The ache a little sharper, the emptiness a bit more pronounced.  I take comfort in knowing...

"Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say. When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and harrowing the soil? When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field? His God instructs him and teaches him the right way. Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over cumin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a stick. Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. Though he drives the wheels of his threshing cart over it, his horses do not grind it. All this also comes from the LORD Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom."
Isaiah 28:23-29 NIV

I have hope... this is not forever.  One day we will rejoice with our princess in Heaven, in a land where there are no weeds in the fields, no storms to hamper the harvest...  only joy... someday.

" So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the LORD Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
2 Corinthians 4:12-18 NIV

The Mondays...

I've got a case of the Mondays... I'm just tired.  Sarah has been up at least three hours a night the last few nights and eventually that catches up to me.  My ability to keep on the positive side isn't the best when I'm worn out... we're on the second week of harvest now as well.  We got rained out last night.  There are worries as they are calling for a wet week ahead.  We know that God will provide but it's hard not be anxious when our income for the year is sitting in the fields.

Every year this happens though, every year there is at least one storm that comes through and wets it all down when we're cutting wheat.  Last year Marie and I watched that storm together from the back of the car on the side of the dirt road eating strawberry yogurt and I had no idea how precious that was.

I also don't have much to say today.  Not much going on other than long, long days.  Me and my little lady's have been home alone a lot and I think they're getting a little grumpy at not having their Daddy much.  No surprise, this too happens every year.

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV

Since I don't have much, here is my recipe for Harvest Bars.  They're actually chocolate chip cheesecake brownies but I call them harvest bars because this is the only time of the year I'll make them.  They're a  little fattening.

Harvest Bars:

2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
2 8 oz packages cream cheese
2 16 oz packages chocolate chip cookie dough

Press one package of dough into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan.  Mix eggs, vanilla, cream cheese and sugar.  Pour over cookie dough.  Top with second package of cookie dough (mooshed flat in whatever way you can).  Bake at 350 35-45 minuets (but it always seems to take a little longer for the cream cheese layer to set).

Cut up and enjoy, it makes a ton!

Happy Monday!

Fingerprint Friday...

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:
I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know its true
You're a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of God
So look around you and see where YOU can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Where do you see them? Visit Beki at The Rusted Chain to read other Fingerprints and join in!


This week I saw God's fingerprint on my front steps...  Awhile ago Josie brought home three little flowers from Sunday school.  Her's is on the top step, Marie's is on the second step, Sarah's is on the bottom step.  They have been potted and sitting there for over three weeks.  Marie's is the only one blooming.


Thank you Lord for the reminder that while I miss her she is happy and free.  She is running, jumping, laughing, perhaps flying in Your Garden.  She blooms...

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. 
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;  
He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; 
for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. 
As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; 
the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. 
But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children--
Psalm 103:8-17 NIV

Wheat harvest, 2010...

Way up north on Dudden field with the most amazing sky...

Happy in the dirt...

Enjoying being able to see for miles...

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV

Josie riding with Daddy...

Wheat...

Not as tall as the straw...

Finally, because I miss her face...

Harvest time...

We started cutting wheat on Saturday evening.  Sunday I actually was in the field and drove the grain cart all day.  Josie was with me, Sarah spent the day with her God-mother, and Marie was in Heaven.  So amazing  how much life can change in a year.  Last year Little Mama was beside me always, taking dinner to the field... We had some very special picnics together, me and my girl.

I've been busy keeping up with house and home, and cooking and baking when not in the tractor.  Last night I made "Kraut Burgers".  They were a hit.

Kraut Burgers

2 lbs ground beef, browned with salt and pepper
1/2 jar saurkraut, drained
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 loafs store bought bread dough, defrosted.

Mix cheddar into browned ground beef.  Stir in saurkraut.  Divide each loaf of dough into 4 pieces.  Roll out into rounds, spoon about 1 cup mixture into each round. Seal and place on cookie sheets sprinkled with (lots!) of corn meal.  Bake at 400 for about 20 min or until nice and golden. 

We eat them all up with ketchup and mustard.

I also made Chocolate Chip Cake Bars and sent out baggies full of blueberries.  Tonight I'm making tuna melts... and hopefully I can snap a few pictures while I'm out there of Sarah's first harvest!

Also, please pray for Abigail if you can.  She just cannot seem to catch a break and her parent's are struggling.  Just ask for strength and comfort... of course, the God who loves all of us, who made Heaven and Earth... He knows exactly what Miss Abigail needs!  Rest assured Abigail, your name is written in Heaven!

Fingerprint Friday... and then some.

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:
I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know its true
You're a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of God
So look around you and see where YOU can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Where do you see them? Visit Beki at The Rusted Chain to read other Fingerprints and join in!

The second week of July, 2006.  We found out we were going to have a baby.  It was wheat harvest hot, sweet summertime...  We were filled with joy.  And then she arrived the following March, and she took our breath away.

And we got to watch her grow...

It wasn't always easy but she taught us about what was really beautiful, and what faith really meant, and how precious life is...

And then when it was time God called her home...

Her life is my fingerprint this week.  I miss my baby like crazy.

Fingerprint Friday...

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says: I can see the fingerprints of God When I look at you I can see the fingerprints of God And I know its true You're a masterpiece That all creation quietly applauds And you're covered with the fingerprints of God So look around you and see where YOU can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Where do you see them? Visit The Rusted Chain to join in.

His fingerprint in my world... in the day to day.  The dishes in the sink, the weeds in my garden.  His fingerprint is on my children and their dirty feet and faces.  I see God in the cans I am cleaning up off the kitchen floor for the fifth time today, in the plastic bowl of marshmallows taking their mind of the scary thunderstorm outside.  His fingerprint is in the arms of the man I married, the one I absolutely adore, and the one who helped to create these amazing, beautiful little girls.  My fingerprint is in the every day, the ordinary... I am blessed in the simplicity of my life.