Last Names

Here ya' go.  The finished products.  I wanted all of the Luiken pictures to come from the Luiken farm and all of the Balvanz pictures to come from the Balvanz farm.  I gave them to Dad and Ryan's Dad for Father's Day and made each of my brothers one, too.  However, Steve's is still on the hope chest in our bedroom.  I'm terrible. 

They're not perfect, but everyone liked them and they represent things the guys see or use at their own farms, so that, to me, makes them more special.

B= is the Balvanz Cattle brand.  This is an engraved rock at Dad's shop.

A= the frosty fence posts leaning in a field.

L= a tractor window.

V= a shadow on the barn of the farm Mom & Dad just purchased.

A= I don't know what this is really called.  It is the thing you clamp to ground things when you weld.??? Dad is so proud right now.  I think I'll call it a grounding clamp?? hehe..

N= a gate at one of the calf lots' loading pen. It's hard to see in this picture...and Ns are hard to find!

Z= your good ol' barn door...actually that one is more of an inside door/gate.

L= from the inside of the hoop barn.

U= a chain hook

I= fence post

K= I totally lucked out on this one!  This is from a fuel barrel stand.  It's no longer there, so I got it just in time!

E= This is a picture through the gate at Ryan's cattle lot. You can see his calves through the gate. For Arnie's, I took a picture of a gate with hog feeders in the background, since I always knew him to have pigs.

N= part of an auger. 



We have them hanging in our new family room and I told DD that when she's married, I will take pictures for her new last name and hang them with all of our family names....Let's hope that's not for about 20 years!

Frosting

Mornings like this Dad would always say, "A guy should really get the camera out and take some pictures on a morning like this."  The fog has a beautiful way of frosting things up. 

These pictures are from a morning last winter.  I was in search of "letters" for a project I wanted to do for my brothers, Dad and Ryan's Dad, Arnie.  On this particular morning I found a fabulous "A" for the Balvanz family!  I'll have to take a picture of the final products that are now hanging in our basement family room.

Even Will was full of frost!

You have to look at everything...like these fence posts leaning in a corner of a field...Perfect "A"

A potential "E"



Yellow Snow

The kids got out the squirt bottles and colored water a few weeks ago and got busy making snow blocks on the front step.  They were playing "car wash."  Each block was a car and the colored water was the soap.

Of course, they had to eat some snow.  Yellow snow of all things!

Messy Monday

Just keepin' it real...

Heck, I'm not even sure it's Monday.

All I do know is we've been busy.  Busy getting carpet.  Busy getting the flu.  Busy getting the sectional.  Busy getting an ear-infection.  Busy coughing.  Busy running to the Dr. Busy trying out the new sectional.

In case you're wondering, yes.  The boys are both sleeping. Yes, the ceiling looks suspicious.  Yes, I'll post more pictures of the basement...when it looks a little more finished and yes, I'm exhausted.



Spelling Test!

Can you believe this list?

Those were definitely NOT my spelling words way back when I was in First-grade.  In fact, I'm not sure I even had a spelling test in First-grade.  Can you tell by these words what she's studying right now?

Yup, PENGUINS. 

I wasn't positive what a 'rookery' was...my daughter informed me.  And, so it's begun.  The "I-know-more-than-my-mom" disease.  Perfect.  

We're proud to report she didn't miss a single word!

Actually, she has yet to miss a spelling word all year.  It's bound to happen.  I have to keep reminding her, that one day, she will miss one.  She replies, "maybe not!" 

The girl is quite the smarty-pants.  While most moms keep papers with perfect scores and beautiful, glittery star stickers...I made a special point to keep a recent math worksheet dated January 10, 2011.  That was the first time she has missed a math problem all year!  Don't worry.  I keep plenty of "Good Work" sheets and awesome artwork, too!

Maybe, she gets her love for Spelling from her Momma...but it's most certainly not where she gets her love for Math. 

That's Daddy's territory!  (Thank goodness!!)



Martin LUIKEN King, Jr.

Lane, Friday after school:   "Mom! Monday is somebody's birthday.  A gray guy, I think."

*Side note: No, Lane does not say African-American.  Since he was 3 he has differentiated people with darker skin than his by saying the color of skin.  Who knows why he doesn't say brown.  He's always had trouble deciphering gray and brown.  Maybe he's color-blind? Maybe he doesn't know his colors? I get why he doesn't say black.  Skin doesn't look black, like the color black he knows.  Anyhoo.  He is in no way trying to hurt someone's feelings by saying they have gray skin.  You get what I mean. 

Lane:  "His name was Martin LUIKEN King, Jr. and I know what he did!  Gray people couldn't go into certain stores...and he made it so they could.  They couldn't ride on school buses...and he made it so they could.  They couldn't go to school with kids who had white skin...he made it so they could.

Then a naughty guy shot him with a gun.  Not tomorrow, not tomorrow, but the next tomorrow...is his birthday and we get to read two new books about him at school!" 

Tornado Shelter Turned Reading Cubby

Prior to the hail storm we always kept the space under the steps downstairs empty.  Ok, not empty.  There always seemed to be a few stuffed animals or dolls in there.  Until now the basement has always been cement floors, so we threw in a piece of carpet we had leftover from upstairs and made sure there were a couple pillows and 2 tumbling mats to cover heads with, a camping lantern and a crank weather radio/ flashlight in case of storms.  Luckily, we were out of town for the August 9, 2009 storm.  But, we did spend many a tense moments in that little space the summer of 2008 after the Parkersburg tornado.  It seemed that summer the sirens went off more than I could ever remember, we supposed people were a little more cautious after the destruction and warning times in Parkersburg. 

The kids freak and I mean f.r.e.a.k. if they hear the siren go off.  They don't even bother to ask if they should go downstairs, they don't even look at Ryan or me.  They head, no... run straight to the basement. 

In an effort to make the place a little less scary and a lot more fun, I decided we should transform the "shelter" into a reading cubby.  I told the kids they could write, put stickers, tape things to the steps and the walls underneath the steps.  We threw in some pillows, collected a few of their favorite books, a couple blankets, a little lamp and voila! A Reading Cubby.  Drue especially loves the space since she is able to read 'big-girl chapter books' now!

I love this.  It was written in October, when DD was "6 in a haf!"

Never forget the HALF!

The Basement: Part 1

It may seem odd, but one of the best selling points we found in our home was the basement.  The unfinished basement.  Ryan knew that someday he would be able to do whatever he wanted to with the big open room.  The very first room we painted and carpeted when we moved, 3 1/2 yrs ago was the toyroom, also in the basement.  There is also a 'computer room' (with laptops, every room is the computer room?) that we had recarpeted and painted.  This past year, we had the basement bathroom redone, tiled/painted/new shower/toilet, etc... Still need to find lights and a vanity, though.  But, the big room remained empty and ended up being a catch all for things we didn't put away the first time, you know how that goes.  The end of last February, we decided to dive into the family room.  Ryan tore off panelling...which was glued to dry-wall, so he tore of dry-wall (mess!)  He tore the carpet off the steps and started from scratch.  He insulated the walls, put up new sheetrock walls and added sheetrock the open ceiling.  It's been an unorganized, dusty, construction-site mess down there...for too long.  But...

I'm ecstatic to report that the 'messy stuff' is done!  We have rolls of carpet in the basement ready for installation on Monday.  A sectional sitting in Homemakers' warehouse ready to be delivered Thursday and a computer room full of things that need to go back in the new room. 

Needless to say, we're far from done, but things are coming along smoothly, now.  We've done everything ourselves, except the taping, mudding and texturing of the walls/ceiling...oh, and the bathroom tiling.  We still have the bar to design and build and I have to paint doors, but the end is in sight!

 I can hardly wait to get to decorating!

These are pictures I took last winter...I can't wait to share the {almost} done pictures, too!

Carpet out & panelling off stairway.

We used rolled & foam insulation.  There's my treadmill all covered up.

 He still looks like that, just in another room! He's been very neglected.

Looking into the kids' toyroom. Bathroom to the right.

Holy cow!  I can't believe it looked like this!  That's the bathroom!

 No shower, no stool, no sink, no WALLS!

Little Miss DD helping paint.  My mom's outfit is like a painting journal...we can find our basement on it, her living room.  She's killer at trimming rooms out.  I dont' even attempt.  I'll never be as good as her!

Digga Dean worked hard, too!

Just proof that, I did help paint my own basement. 

That night my dad brought over smokies, cheese, crackers, sausage and drinks. 

He and Ryan nicely sat downstairs and entertained us...no paintbrushes in hand.



Friends for Life

Our New Year's Eve plans had to be postponed because, last minute, DD got sick.  We were all bummed, but knew we'd just have to celebrate the next weekend.  We had our good friends, the James family over.  The kids hadn't seen eachother, in what seems like to them, forever.  Actually, it felt like that to me, too! 

The favorite thing for DD to do with her girl friends is to change clothes...several times! She had the clothes on the floor for the entire week before they came over, just waiting for the girls to run back to her room.  And, it also never seems to fail that when Lane is around these girls, his shirt is off within minutes.  Quite the ladies man. 

Lane had talked me into purchasing a 'disco' kind of light at Menards on one of our many trips and he thought this night would be the perfect night for a dance party. And, being the only boy, I think he was enjoying himself at this party! 

The big girls made the sign....but everyone was invited.  Grown ups included!

Gingerbread Houses!

Oh my, did we have fun on Christmas Eve-Eve! Steve and Lisa were home for a full week before Christmas and, like every time they are home, the week went so fast.  We had Christmas at Grandma Mary's, a Sunday School program, an Elementary School concert, nightly dinners at Mom & Dad's, Christmas at Grandma  Grandpa Larson's and of course Christmas Eve church service followed by Christmas at Mom & Dad's.  We Luikens also had Christmas with Ryan's family the weekend Steve flew in and to top it off, Lane was sick with Influenza A.  We were busy.  Crazy busy. 

On the 23rd, Steve and Shawn grilled wonderful steaks from the calves they just had butchered.  They were amazing and their niece, who is a self-proclaimed 'steak connoisseur'... well, I couldn't cut the meat fast enough for her!  After dinner, we had our first, but surely not last, "Gingerbread House Contest!" Mom and Dad purchased all kinds of candies and frostings that were perfect for dressing up the gingerbread houses. Actually, they were graham cracker houses...We got in teams and started building.  The only rule was that everything had to be edible.  We had such a great time and everyone is already thinking about what our houses will look like next year. 

DD & Lisa were on a team.

Ryan got stuck with me.

Pa decided he should be on his own team in case his idea didn't work...it did!

Steve & KK teamed up.

Dig worked with Shawn.

The view from the loft. 

and the FINAL PRODUCTS...

Pa and his Teepee! Too cute!  He also had an Indian and a fire.  Notice the wreath above the entrance and smoke rising out of the top!

Lisa and D had a cute little house complete with colorful sidewalk and sucker lamps!

We had a pretty generic looking house with Christmas lights hanging, a little snowman, coconut snow and lighted tree.

Steve & KK had a Wizard of Oz theme, Yellow Brick Road, witch and munchkins sledding!

Ok...this one was just too perfect.  No one would have expected less from Shawn.  I think his walls were even insulated.  There are ice-skating Teddy-grahams and fancy trees.

What a mess we made!  Plenty of candy leftover, too!

Checking out the final products. Such fun!

Poor Mom was busy in the kitchen making candy cane cookies for Santa.  I had told the kids we may have to buy him cookies this year, and they told their Nanny, who wouldn't think of it! So, she made sure the kids had homemade cookies to take home and leave out for Santa the next evening.  Such a sweet old lady!  Just kidding, Mom.  I mean, you're sweet...not old, or not THAT old anyway. 

Next year, I won't let her miss the fun of building the gingerbread houses! 

I know for a fact that Santa likes Oreos, too. 

My Winter Cuties

Happy Birthday, Ryan Dean!

One of Lane's favorite things to do is look at the website he calls, "Bakes and Cakes."  It's really Cake Wrecks.  You'll find it on the right of this page.  We love to giggle at the horrible-mess-of-a-cake pictures.  Some of them don't even look edible.  Some have crazy grammar mistakes.  But, Dig especially likes to look at the Sunday Sweets posts.  These are pictures of beautiful, perfect looking cakes, some of which don't look edible, either.  Last night, he was "searching for next year's birthday cake."  His birthday is September, mind you. It's gonna be awhile.  We found some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cakes that he loved.  It just so happened that today is his daddy's big day.  So, guess who got a Ninja Turtle cake for his 36th birthday. 

Drue stayed home sick from school today and Lane doesn't go until after lunch, so we got busy right after breakfast.  We happened to have everything we needed left over from our gingerbread house party at my parents' before Christmas. (Post on that to come!)

They definitely aren't perfect, but they are fun, and it was good practice.. incase Dig doesn't change his mind in the next nine months. Yeah right!

Notice Dig has his Turtle Power shirt on, too! 

The kids were so excited to show Daddy his cake.  They had to wait a little later than usual to see him tonight because he took the last load of calves to Tama, but he sure loved coming home to some cake and ice-cream made especially for him by his favorite kiddos!

Happy Birthday, Ryan Dean!