Welcome To The World

After a long day, and on her birthday...Kelly gave birth to Julia Bernice. I say one shouldn't have to work so hard on her birthday but I am guessing that she thinks it was all worth it.

Let's see if I can get the sequence of events straight. And I will post pictures along the way...

September 23rd is Kelly's birthday and her due day. She was scheduled to be induced at 6am yesterday (the 23rd) but as I suspected Julia Bernice came into this world in her own way and on her own timeline.

At 1am that morning Kelly began to have contractions. I received a text from Len at 4am telling me that they were on their way to the hospital. At 6am she had progressed in her journey and if it continued to go as such we were to have a little girl by around 8am. 8am came and went and no little girl although Kel was comfortable and doing well as I could here her laughing in the background.

Lenny continued to give me text or voice updates until 1:00pm which was the last message that I received. 4:00 came and went and I figured well if something was amiss he would call me so I figured that they were busy. Little did I know.....the call that I got from Len and 4:30 was, "She's a whopper" I am afraid that I laughed out loud. Kelly is a petite itty bitty cute as hell gal and I just couldn't even imagine her giving birth to a large baby...where oh where is there room???

As it turns out , because the dilation process was just not progressing, and it had been a long day, they did a C section and Julia Bernice came into the world at 2:02pm weighing 8 pounds 8.3 ounces and is 21 1/2 inches long with lots of dark hair and bigger than her daddy was at birth. Kelly was and is a trooper and is doing very well and of course Lenny is a proud and happy poppa. She is really not a 'whopper' but I think she is bigger than even Lenny expected.

Is she not perfect?Trying to talk already..or perhaps boss her daddy around? Oh no it's just a yawn. However, I can't wait for the day that she does boss her dad around...LOLLook familiar?

26 years ago (OMG he looks crabby doesn't he??)And 26 years later

Lenny changing his very first diaper (and oh my it was a mess) getting helpful hints from Kel's mom Sherry.

Well now David and I have three to spoil and love. Life is good.
More pictures and updates to come (ya think????duhh huh)

The Change Begins

Peeko and I took a leisurely walk through our woods a day or so ago looking for some color. The leaves had just begun to turn.

A brilliant orange

Green turning to red

Some of the wild flowers in our patch. They are beautiful and seem to 'pop' right out at you.

Sharing the pollen

As always when we go somewhere we are watching for deer. This fella stood quite nicely as I snapped away.

He and his doe.
This weekend begins the Fall Festival in our little town. No better way to see the start of fall than from the air....so David and I took a wonderful ride in a little plane that was set up for the festival. Now I am the gal that does not even look out the window of big planes when we are going to Mexico...but somehow it just seemed right to do this today. I was so impressed that I couldn't even listen to what the other's were talking about...I just looked out of the window with my mouth hanging open. I did manage to take a few pictures although didn't take the time to adjust any of the camera settings so you get what you get.

Our plane

Our 'plane mates' were a 91 year young lady and her niece (who happens to work in my new dental office...the niece not the 91 year old!). Every year they go on a mystery tour. The niece surprises her aunt with an interesting day trip and no one (except the niece) knows where they will end up. How fun huh?


And our 'backseat driver'.


The colors from the air

And flying over our place...it looks pretty nice from the air

Our colored woods...much more color than the other day.
Our plane landing with it's passengers before us

Our fabulous pilot.

Grandma's report

Abigail Rose is 2 weeks old...hard to believe that it has been 2 weeks already

Kelly is still hanging in there. Julia Bernice is part Grunst and you know they do things their way.....she will come when she is good and ready I suspect.

I Know What You Guys Are Saying....

Lenny is saying....'Are you f------ kidding me?', Ryan is shaking his head in disbelief, Rachel is giggling and Mikey and Jan are laughing out loud thinking we have totally lost our minds now! My friend Mary is thinking that she really has rubbed off on me...and yes she has.



Picture this. Ma and Pa Kettle on their work horsed pulling a two bottom plow and a disk er. Gotta get the soil ready for plantin ya know.



Well we don't have work horses YET but yup we have a two bottom plow and a disk er. Went to an auction and purchased these two antiques for next to nothing.



Our little jeep will pull these two through the 'field' very nicely. We are going to plant sweet corn, potatoes and who knows what else! At $6 a dozen it pays to grow our own corn!

And Kelly L you are right (cuz I know you are thinking this) David will be the one in the jeep and I will be the one doing any raking that needs to be done and all of the planting, weeding and watering, in other words all of the physical work as usual!

Today I tried my hand at canning beets and am about to make up my bread and butter pickles.


Grandma's update-

Abigail Rose, Ry and Jen are settling into parenthood and enjoying themselves.


Kelly has had a lot of pressure this past week and has not been able to sleep. Today she is almost fully effaced and is dilated to 2. What do you think Jen, how long will she go?

Stand Up 2 Cancer

I started crying at 7:00pm and laughed and cried during the entire show. This collaboration was incredible just that Katie Couric and crew were able to put this together. I hope that some of you were able to tune in. If not I of course have attached the link...and feel free to make a donation....I can't even imagine how much money they raised during the show.
https://www.standup2cancer.org/donate_splash.asp
Melissa Etheridge performed.....the day that I got the call from wonderful Doc D saying...you have breast cancer.....that night Melissa had a concert special on TV (October is BC month) for breast cancer. I have never been a fan of hers but listened to her entire concert that night and cried wondering what the hell. As it turned out that concert allowed me to 'cry it out' and from that night on I FOUGHT.

Here are the words that gave me the strength that I needed. The highlighted words are the ones that truly gave me strength.

(Melissa Etheridge)
It's been years since they told her about it
The darkness her body possessed
And the scars are still there in the mirror
Everyday that she gets herself dressed
Though the pain is miles and miles behind her
And the fear is now a docile beast
If you ask her why she is still running
She'll tell you it makes her complete
[Chorus:]
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother, your sister, your wife
I run for you and me, my friend
I run for life
It's a blur since they told me about it
How the darkness had taken its toll
And they cut into my skin and they cut into my body
But they will never get a piece of my soul
And now I'm still learning the lesson
To awake when I hear the call
And if you ask me why I am still running
I'll tell you I run for us all
[Chorus:]
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother your sister your wife
I run for you and me my friend
I run for life
And someday if they tell you about it
If the darkness knocks on your door
Remember her remember me
We will be running as we have before
Running for answers
Running for more
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother, your sister, your wife
I run for you and me my friend
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother your sister, your daughter, your wife
For you and me my friend
I run for life
Ohohohoh
I run for your mother your sister your wife
I run for you and me my friend
I run for life

We've Got One!!

Little Abigail Rose Woelpern was born at 6:44 this morning after almost four hours of labor. She weighs in at 6 pounds 11 ounces and has blond hair. Mom and baby are doing very well...daddy Ryan sounded like he is doing great too.

The Harvest Begins

Tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, beets, radishes, and peppers galore! Still to come is squash, more peppers and tomatoes, brussel sprouts and cabbage.

Most of my time has been spent in the kitchen teaching myself how to dehydrate veggies and blueberries, canning peaches, freezing sweetcorn and making salsa as well as pizza/spaghetti sauce. It has been fun.

The fruits of my labor.

Dehydrating has been interesting and I am not sure that I like the process as it takes way too long. Jerky is one thing but dehydrating berries and veggies (tomatoes, peppers and onions) seems to take forever. But they will all be good when the snow flies I am sure. My next project will be canning deer meat.

The weather has certainly taken a turn up here. We woke up yesterday am to hot and humid. An hour later the wind shifted and it is now chilly to say the least. We got much needed rain all day long however which produced this great rainbow that stretches from tree to tree.

It is September the month of the babies. Nope neither little girl has arrived yet and are not due for a few weeks but we are waiting........

Latest Visitors(oop just realized that I wrote this and meant to publish on the 19th of Aug but guess I didnt get it published so it is a tad late)

We had the pleasure of sharing our work in progress to a few visitors this past week/weekend. With gas and the economy as it is we know that it is not easy for people to drive long distances so it makes it even more appreciated when people are able to visit...and of course we are able to show our new home off!

Jess and Judy came for a few days. Jess has been around for the entire process...from the camper and no landscaping to now. We spent our time sitting by the campfire eating smores (after the appropriate roasting sticks were found) and just enjoying the company. And yes, Jess and David played cribbage. This time David took her two out of three. Gotta give it to him as he has been on a losing streak!

And the day that they left my aunt Etta and uncle Roger drove over. They have their camper at a seasonal site four hours from us so were very happy that they made the trek. They were out on a road trip with their friends Linda and Al. Etta and mom accompanied David and I on many trips and those times are cherished...and missed. So it was great to see them all.

And I have to say...congratulations Michael Phelps. Is he not a great athlete as well as a seemingly wonderful person!

Quote Of The Week

Courage is tiny pieces of fear all glued together. ~Irisa Hail

A gal that lives in Nicollet who completed her chemo for breast cancer around the time that I was diagnosed had this quote posted on her Caring Bridge site. I think it is worth sharing.

Counting Down

Our four new to be parents are counting the days until the grand babies are born.

Ry and Jen will welcome little Abigail in two to three weeks. Jen is doing well and despite being almost ready to deliver she continues to do and teach yoga. I am suspecting that her training will come in might handy when she is in labor.

Lenny and Kel will welcome Julia Bernice in three to four weeks time. Kel too is doing well with her pregnancy...working 40 plus hours a week along with keeping a house clean and ready to show (it's for sale). Kel's one complaint is that little Julie Bernice keeps kicking her with those danged long legs!

And the expectant dad's...well I am sure they are anxious to have their little girls here so that they can spoil them. And David and I...well that goes without saying.

Jen reports that there is a folk lore saying women tend to go into labor when the moon is full. We just completed a full moon but their is another on September 15th...a few days after Jen's expected due date and a few days before Kel's. Now how interesting would it be to have both mom's deliver on the same day!

The 'expectant' full moon

And the sun shinning through after the babies arrive.

Summer Festivities

Our small town draws a huge crowd every Wednesday with their Turtle Races. This town has a population of 120 or so and is made up of about 4 driving blocks of streets. One day a week during the summer they close off one entire street for the well known and hugely attended Turtle Races.
They not only race turtles, and yes they really do race turtles with prizes for winners as well as having your picture featured in the local paper. Yup they even have a weekly local paper! Anyway, there are other activities during this day like

Hula hoop competitions ........for kids and adults alike.

Turtle hats are very popular.

As are the many other activities

The cars line up well outside of town, so many so that the local grocery store places a sign in it's lot to keep attendees from taking up shopper's spaces.

And, no it may not be the State Fair or the Owatona Fair but it has many of the features of those fairs in a smaller way.

Remer Days is very well attended as I am sure are many of the local 'days' in the northland.

This festival began with the Kiddie Parade...not very impressive is it....to us anyway. The crowd cheered and clapped and just had a good time.

This was followed by the 'real' parade which was much longer and more fun than we expected.

Floats much more unique than any we have seen in a while (who am I kidding, it is the first parade that we have been to in a while!).

This lady is certainly no 'spring chicken' but she could still twirl a baton!

And the north's idea of the Shriner's. OK so they didn't claim to be the Shriner's but they did make figure eights like the Shriner's do.

No parade is complete without wanna be politicians

And this one brought a tear to my eye....a tribute to the local fallen soldiers

Lead by the proud Harley Riders

Who do we think would win this race? Ryan, this reminded me of you in your younger days! Not the tractor no no the other guy.

There was even food on a stick. A pork chop on a stick and it was great. Fresh cut state fair type french fries, corn dogs, fresh squeezed lemonade and Mikey, the brats that we loved last year. Oh by the way....remember that 80 year old lady that you met last year and told her you would see her this year? She was looking for you!

Thursday Jessica is coming for a visit. I am excited to share what we have accomplished up here with her. Jess is one of the people that has seen our little slice of heaven from the very beginning and will be amazed at how it looks now I am sure. We would love to show it off to our other friends...come on up. Fall is a beautiful time up here you know!

The New Pedicure Rage

It seems that some folks pay lots of cash to put their feet in a pan containing little fish. The fish eat the dead skin off of your feet and make them soft as a baby's butt. That's what they said on Good Morning America anyway!

I on the other hand have my own private fish-a-cure and it happens to be free. All I have to do is sit on the dock while the dogs swim and let the sunfish nibble away!

A weird feeling to be sure. These fish barely move when Tack swims through them. In fact they follow her for a bit and then come right back to the feet hanging in the water.

These sunfish enticed Peeko to swim. He has always loved the water...as long as it didn't touch his chest. For about two days he stood on the dock looking at these fish in the water

And then one day he took the leap

Made a splash

And by golly much to his surprise he was swimming!

I sat on that dock and laughed out loud at him. He wasn't real sure of himself at first, jumping in only far enough to think he was going to 'catch' a fish. But now after three days I can't get him out of the water. Today he swam continually for 45 minutes while I sat on the dock knitting and Tackla ran around. Yup, he even out swims our water dog Tack.

Because David is still down south working on the little house...he is busting butt to get it done so that he can come home and stay home...I am finding that I have to entertain myself.

Today was spent getting lost in a little podunk town that has a population of maybe 300. They had city wide garage sales (what a bust those sales were...Chrissy you didn't miss a thing)! I found myself in the 'residential' section of town totally turned around and disoriented! I did find my way out, knew that I would, but for a bit I felt like..well how a kid playing pin the tail on the donkey must feel like. Blindfolded, spun around and dizzy! Too funny actually. I called Jess to get directions but she was of NO help...LOL.

I did find a great trading post joint. I have never seen so much 'stuff' in one place. This joint is a block long and is filled overfull with stuff. Mary...tons of garden art. I did walk the length of the building..no lights, a narrow walkway only as it was filled with stuff, and I was sure I was going to fall through the floor boards. It was an experience and I will be sure to take David when he comes home.

We've got an 8 or 10 point buck at our mineral lick. I have the tripod set up and am hoping to get a picture of him...no luck as of yet.

Planted 10 additional flowers yesterday. The gardens are filling up. This fall I will move plants around once we get a strategic plan to my madness.....Mary you are wearing off on me! Every fall Mary digs up and moves most of her plants and then she gives some to me! I also need one if not two more raised vegetable beds. My tomatoes are much too close together and all though we will get lots of them they aren't going to get very big I am afraid.

Today feels like a stay at home, no getting lost knitting day. The weather is great up here. I hope you all enjoy your day.