Oh, The Busy Days Of Summer!

Wow...what a week I've had! Most of my busyness was because of a party we threw for Matt's parents' 40th wedding anniversary on Friday.  It was a huge success and very well-attended. 

Here's a picture of my parents (on the left), and Matt's parents (right) when Adina was born. I know that was a whole year ago, but I don't have many pictures of Bob and Carmen together.

40 years together...how awesome! It's hard to imagine being married to someone for that long, yet now that I am married, I can only hope I will be blessed with that many years with Matt. 

Anyway, back to the party.

I was in charge of the food. It was fun. Busy. A little overwhelming at times. Hot! - My house was like 80-some degrees...yuck! I had a lot of help. Mostly from my kids...they helped remind me that they were in the house, too, and I had to play with them a little. :)

My mom and sister came to help, too.  I'm so glad they did.  I would still be boiling and peeling potatoes if not for them.

The party was held at Bob and Carmen's farm. We rented a tent for out on the lawn, and borrowed some picnic tables from the fairgrounds. It was very laid back...picnic style.  We got a pig from my dad and had our butcher in Hallock roast it. It was fabulous! Carmen made her famous beans, and I made buns, potato salad and macaroni salad. Aunts and friends brought assorted bars for dessert.

And, it was a perfect evening weather-wise. How lucky for us! With all the rain we've had this summer, we really lucked out.

And, I made a cake. White with almond flavoring...cream cheese frosting with almond flavoring (Carmen's favorite). I wrote on it "Happy 40th Bob and Carmen" and put a little border around the edge. My sister said it was cute in an 'old-fashioned sort of way'. Not exactly the response I was going for, but oh well.  Guess I'll need more practice before I go into the cake-decorating business.

Earlier in the week, Matt's cousin and her husband and their four boys from Missouri came over for supper and a visit.  So did his parents, grandma and aunt. We had so much fun! The three older boys, ages 8, 7, and 6 were busy fishing, riding horse, playing with play guns, and running all over the yard. Their youngest son is just a year old, so he played in the sandbox with Adina. Clarence tagged along with the big boys and had a blast...they're right up his alley - busy, tough and wild - and they didn't mind a bit that he was right on their heels. We had so much fun visiting and showing them our cows and pastures. Hopefully we can make a trip down to Missouri again to see them and their farm.

And, just one more sidenote...I found a new website/blog, and am a huge fan! Check it out...www.pioneerwoman.blogspot.com.  I even bought her cookbook and have read through the whole thing.  Her writing's fun to read...she's got a good sense of humor.

Last night and tonight, Matt is/was involved in the rodeo in Greenbush. He's in the wild cow milking contest with three other local guys.  We found out he's a fast runner, because last night they got first. If they get first again tonight, they'll all get belt buckles.  Keeping our fingers crossed...   Clarence loves the rodeo, the horses, the cows, and playing with other kids there. I hope when he and Adina are bigger we can go there for the horse shows...we'd all have so much fun!

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

My Sweet Grandma

A couple of weeks ago, my grandma found some pictures from when she was growing up.  I scanned them onto my computer because I want to make some copies for my house.  I love these pictures of her...I can see so much of my dad and especially my Uncle Chuck in her.  I also love these pictures because of the era...I'd give anything to live back then, when life was simpler, technology wasn't so advanced, and people had to work hard for what they got. 

This is Grandma with her chicken "Dickie" and some turkeys they had.  She likes this picture so much because of the chicken and the old barns in the background.

Grandma and her mom, who died when Grandma was a senior in high school.

Grandma with her two nephews.

In her brother's house.

She said she was in about tenth grade or something in this picture.

By their family car.

Grandma is 79 now. I treasure all the time I get to spend with her because she is my only living grandparent. I also love that my kids know who she is and that they get to spend quite a bit of time with her.

No, Mama, You do it!

Uh-Oh...I'm hearing this once in a while now...actually just the past couple of days where I've tried to implement some of what I've learned in the book Children Who Do Too Little.  The book says that two and three year olds are old enough to clear their plates from the table, so I asked Clarence to do it for breakfast and lunch (first we feed the dogs the scraps, then bring it to the sink)...he says "No, Mama, YOU do it." I say, "No, Clarence, you can do it", and he does it without putting up a fuss.

I've heard that with his toys, his dirty clothes in the bathroom, getting a diaper, picking up his shoes, picking up his sandbox toys that he dragged ALL over the yard this morning.  "No, Mama, You do it!"...to which I reply, "No, Clarence, you can do it.  They're your (toys, clothes, etc.)." and he picks them up on his own. 

I have learned a valuable lesson...he is old enough NOW to start picking up after himself, and he's already taking advantage of me and what I will do for him.  I need to repeat, repeat, repeat and keep reminding him to help him form a habit of picking up after himself.  The book says that once kids are five or six and haven't learned to do some small chores, it will be harder and harder to ever get them to start because they won't think it's their job...it'll be mom or dad's job because mom and dad have always done it.  Very valuable information!

Just for fun, here are some words from Clarence's language:

la  ~ water
ungerdog  ~ underdog on the swingset
buck  ~ cup
mowmow ~ mower/mowing
wing ~ swing
Dia ~ Adina
That ~ Grandma Juli
(Silence) ~ when I ask him to say Grandma Carmen
Mura ~ Grandma Muriel
Lole ~ Grandpa Lowell
chickers ~ chickens
ecks ~ eggs
Boke~ both Uncle Mark's  (What we hear most often with either Mark is "Go way, Boke", or "Boke Mean")  It's really cute! :)
There are a bunch more, but I can't think of any right now.

And, he says "Shoot" after almost everything we talk about.  It's usually after I tell him something he didn't realize, like last night we were picking weeds in the garden, I said "No, don't pick that one, that's an onion," and he said "Oh, shoot..." and laughed a little.  It's hilarious!

He also loves to "Eat Cows Daddy" (feed cows with daddy) and "Check Cows Daddy" (check cows with daddy).

Some books I've been reading...

I want to take a minute to share about some books I've read recently that I loved!

1. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle    I highly recommend this book! It's fiction, but it has such a good story and is so captivating. I absolutely couldn't put it down. I think I read this book in two days...just to prepare you, though, the ending is a little different, but I still think it's an awesome book and definitely worth reading!

2. Yesterday I started the book called Children who do to little.  It's really good so far.  It talks about different parenting styles and how important it is for parents to give their children household chores to do to prepare them for the real world. Household chores give children a sense of responsibility and make them feel like they are contributing to the functioning of the family.  It also talks about how our generation makes up excuses for not giving kids chores to do around the house  (they have homework, they're so involved in sports, they need to  practice an instrument, they are in school all day and deserve a happy childhood so they should play outside when they get home, etc.).  By making up excuses and not expecting kids to help with chores, parents are hurting their kids' futures.  Those kids won't know how to take care of their houses or themselves once they are out on their own.  I highly recommend this book for parents, or anyone interested in the subject.  It's a short book and very easy to read. 

The last couple of days...

We've been kind of busy the last couple days.  Wednesday, I had lunch with some friends at the Caribou Grill.  Two of the girls I met up with I never really see...one lives down in the cities and doesn't get home much. It was a lot of fun catching up.  It's crazy to think how our lives change so much once we graduate from high school...we all take off on our own paths and find new adventures for our lives. 

Thursday was my birthday.  I turned 25! It was a good, relaxing day...it was really hot and humid out, so we played outside only for a while and then came back in the house. I wish I had a little kiddie  pool for the kids...I think it would be more fun to be outside on the really hot days if they had that to play in. Matt took Clarence up to check cows on one of our pastures north of our farm.  They took the 4-wheeler, and came back about an hour later in one of our pickups.  Turns out they had gotten stuck in the swamp and Matt had left the pickup up there a couple days ago, so they were able to drive that home.  Good thing, because that would've been a long walk for a 2-year old! :)  Matt was busy hauling cows all day from a pasture up north back to the house...the cows had moved themselves to that pasture by crossing the river on our land out back.  He managed to catch all the cows in the barn on Thursday and thought it would be best to bring them home.  (A lot of good that did him...last night, we went for a drive and passed by that pasture, and all the cows had crossed the river again.  So much work for nothing. I feel bad for Matt when stuff like that happens, because he's working so hard and things just seem to go backwards.) Oh, well! Such is life on the farm! On the evening of my birthday, Adina and I went to a mother-daughter supper with my great-aunt and some other family members...it was a fun evening of visiting.  When I got home, Matt's parents and sister were here...they had brought over a cake for my birthday and come for a visit.  It was a fun evening!

Yesterday, we got up and went to town to do some business. Clarence and I went over to Grandma Muriel's house for coffee while Matt and Adina went to the courthouse for a while.  Matt took a long time and Grandma went up to eat lunch at the senior center, so Clarence and I walked up to the library book sale.  We found a lot of fun animal books, and I found some that looked interesting for myself.  We finally found Matt, but he still had stuff to do, so I took the car, and the kids and I drove around town, picking up flowers, a father's day present, and lunch. 
Last night, we went for a drive to go visit some people up north of town.  It was fun...the kids had fun playing and were so good!

Today, I think we're going to go to Kick'n up Kountry to watch the lawn mower races and hopefully Ashlee Hewitt! I'd love to hear her again...it's been a long time!

Farm Pictures

Here are some pictures of our  farm taken  earlier this spring.  It's much nicer now with mowed green grass and a planted garden. :)

These are are two old red barns.  The big one on the right is in pretty tough shape.  We want to fix it up, but it would cost a lot of money, so I don't think we're going to end up doing that.

This is the barn we use for calving.

This is the barn we use for working cows when it's cold outside.  If it has rained, it gets pretty messy out front.

These two sure do love each other!

Adina's ear surgery...

Adina had tubes put in this morning in Grand Forks.  We were at the hospital at 6:30 this morning, and we were done there about 8:30.  The actual surgery only took about 15 minutes. It's crazy they can do things that fast! Everything went very well...she was really fussy when we first saw her, but she was coming out of her anesthesia, so that was expected.  After she had a bottle and a little nap in the car, she was her old self again.  I'm so glad! Hopefully the tubes will help with fewer ear infections and help drain the fluid in her eardrums.

Clarence comes home sometime tomorrow...I can't wait to see his cute little face, but I know he's having lots of fun playing at G & G Przekwas's house.

Hello...we are the Przekwas's and we live on a farm in northwestern Minnesota. Our family consists of me, Jacki, my husband, Matt, and our two children, Clarence and Adina.  My blog is basically just a place for me to record fun and interesting things that happen around our farm with the animals or our family.  Hope you enjoy!  Here are a couple pictures of my kids.....

This is Adina Cecelia, who just turned 1!

Our family picture taken on Easter Sunday at our church.

Today, we skipped church because Matt and I were out last night at a very fun wedding dance for our friends.  They had a live band and we danced all night. It was so fun! Clarence woke me up at 6:45 this morning...much too early for a momma who'd gone to bed at 2:30.  Anyway, once I was up and going, Clarence and I made breakfast for our houseguests (Matt's dad and sister) and us. 
We spent the day playing on our new swingset, which Matt built last Friday for the kids, just hours before Adina's birthday party guests were supposed to arrive. Luckily, my brother was willing to come and lend a hand. :)  Both kids love swinging...Clarence especially loves "uckerdogs"...He'll say, "nother uckerdog, pease, Mommy."  So, I give underdogs over and over...
My dad called later and asked if we could come and help move cows. We caught a couple horses and went to pick up Nikki's and went over to the cabin to move cows. I told Clarence what we were doing and he was so excited...however, he fell asleep on the way over.  We started without him and let him sleep, but about a half hour in, my sister went and got him so he could ride horse with her.  By the time I saw him, he was all smiles.  Today was his first time ever riding for more than a couple minutes.  He loved it! I got to ride for a little bit, too, after my dad got off his horse and got busy with something else...it was so much fun. I haven't ridden since sometime last fall.  Hopefully I can make more time now this summer to ride my horse.
Everyone came over to our house after moving cows to help eat up leftover birthday salads and have a hamburger. 
We sent Clarence home to spend the night with Matt's dad and sister because we're taking Adina to Grand Forks early in the morning to get tubes put in her ears.  She has to be at the hospital at 6:30 a.m., which means we have to leave our house by 5 at the latest.  So, off to bed I go since morning will come quick...