~ Constitution Day ~

 

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

 

It took another two years to introduce the first ten amendments which became known as our Bill of Rights… essential to ratification of the US Constitution.

 

You can read more  of the history here.

August week four {wherein we forget how to eat at home}

 

{and I take no pictures?}

 

Twenty years ago, my folks hosted a young man from Brazil.  He quickly became their Brazilian ‘son,’ and over the years my folks have visited a few times at his home.  And several years ago, Toco {Cornelio} returned to Iowa with his mom along.  Sweet, sweet Rosa.  Well, this year for the Farm Progress Show {which is a big, big deal in the Midwest – and in Brazilian agriculture as well}, Toco returned again – along with his wife & children, his mom, and his cousin & her family.  Rosa spent the two weeks with my mom & dad while the younger generations spent their first week at Disney World before coming to Iowa. {anti-climactic?}

Thus begins the Week of Wishing I Knew a Bit More Portugese.  And dining most evenings with my extended family and our South American friends.

 

Monday, August 25::

Abby had an orthodontist appointment, so I suggested she and Kate do their ‘back-to-school’ shopping at the same time… {{Five hours later?}}

The annual Farm Picnic ~ my uncle and brother {and maybe more?} grill up a bzillion turkey tenderloins [this is not breaded like a pork tenderloin, it’s a marinated choice piece of breast meat like a delish grilled chicken sandwich you would buy at ChickFilA or somewhere… only better cuz it’s turkey of course] and sweet corn etc while the rest of us bring side dishes and dessert.  We brought a watermelon {I bought at least four whole watermelons when Kate & I were grocery shopping} – pretty tough contribution I must say.  Altho I regretted my choice of platter when the juice spilled in my lap as we exited our driveway.  ahem.

I told the girls they should *finish* their shopping before they came to the picnic, so they arrived about the time we were ready to come home again.  But they did get to meet/greet our visitors.

 

Tuesday::

Tim and the younger kids went off to the Farm Progress Show for the day.  I encouraged Kate & Abby to get their stuff packed… then left them alone to do it.

I was determined to have some girlfriend time with Jill {espec since it was her birthday}, so we lunched at Hickory Park – complete with ice cream—and ran several errands together {exciting stuff like the getting the oil changed}. 

For supper we again joined my family, this time for my mom’s lasagna.  We brought a lettuce salad, and I bought some of my fave take/bake bread to bake in their oven also [French baguettes from New French Bakery out of the Twin Cities – y.u.m.]

 

Wednesday::

Exciting news to celebrate:  Tim’s niece moved home from the brain trauma rehab center!

Meanwhile we were doing more encouraging of Kate & Abby to pack up their stuff.   So much stuff and so late in the morning with our departure, that we left the younger three home to mind the ranch.

Quick stop at Tim’s mom’s to pick up even more stuff for the girls… and on to the dorm!  After all the said stuff was delivered and looked somewhat orderly lining the hallway… the girls went off to a meeting, and Tim & I went in search of an appealing source of supper.  He wanted a smoothie {not a burger  ;-)}, and I didn’t really know what I wanted.  We found a Panera Bread… and would you believe that was our first time ever to eat there?!

Tim had the Frontega Chicken Panini and a B-Green Smoothie!  I had the Smokehouse Turkey Panini {halves plus salads}.  Color us happy ~ and willing to eat there again!

After the evening church service we were able to meet Kayleb’s beloved Kara, say hello to more family, and finally pray with our girls and leave them to begin a new school year of growing and learning.

 

Thursday::

We left from Tim’s mom’s a little later than hoped, but he was helping his sister narrow her shopping choices of a ‘new’ car.  We left with hopes she would have a title in hand before the day was over, but that choice didn’t pan out after all.  :-(  She may still be driving a borrowed vehicle even now…

We made it home anyway – after another lunch stop at Casey’s for gas/pizza.  The kids at home had been busy cleaning house ~ aren’t they just great?!

Guess what?  Dinner again with our Brazilian friends… this time at a nice Italian restaurant in Ames, courtesy of Toco.  Pizza looked really good – I lost track of how many the kids ate altogether.  Tim & I shared a calzone – very tasty.

 

Friday, August 29 ::

I made a menu for the entire month of September and went grocery shopping.  The Cowgirl was planning to go to a baseball game with the youth group, but it was raining …and I {the taxi driver} was tired.  She agreed to stay home instead… so we all went to my Aunt & Uncle’s for one last dinner with the Brazilians.  Before we left Dani, Marilene & I connected on facebook, so now we can chat anytime  -- with translation by Google if needed.  :-)

No interpreter needed for this picture of  Toco & Dani’s kids from the Farm Progress Show…

 

Saturday:: 

Tim & Thomas probably worked on the shed again… just a normal Saturday at home.

The Popper continued to pick raspberries…

 

Sunday::  Last Day of August!  what a month it’s been.

August week three {no rest…}

 

Tuesday, August 19::

Tim was able to nap some on Monday while the girls drove, so Tuesday morning he was up and out the door to work {the job where he punches a time clock.  for maybe the second time all month?}

I got up, but I don’t think I moved very fast/very well all day… Thankfully I had dinner in the freezer {lasagna} to serve to two more of Tim’s nephews – Jeremy & Andrew – who joined our household for a few days before traveling the rest of their way back to college.

 

Wednesday:: 

I don’t remember what the ‘boys’ stayed busy with while Tim went to work again.   Jeremy probably finished the indoor project of improving our floor by adding support between joists.  [looking for a picture… okay, taking a picture!]  Make sense?  You are looking at the unfinished ceiling in the basement… where Kayleb began and Jeremy finished adding 2x4s etc to stiffen our sorta-bouncy floor (something on Tim’s This Bugs Me list).

Menus included pancakes & scrambled eggs; chicken salad; and taco soup.  Yay! for cooking in our own kitchen again!

After we came home from church Wednesday night, they decided to play a game with Andrew’s iphone – the phone displays a word that the rest of the team has to give clues to help the one who can’t see it guess the right word {can’t even think of the table game’s name}.  Anyhoo, pretty funny to watch.  The phone holder has to flip the phone the right way to either pass to the next word or record their point earned. And it must record a video of the players – they had no small amount of fun.

 

Thursday:: 

Kate & I did some mega-grocery and shower-serving shopping.  Tim had Combine Clinic all day, but in the evening(s) they worked on the shed again.

Abby was on duty for supper prep ~ her delish Cajun Chicken Pasta.

She thought we should celebrated Jeremy’s birthday, albeit belatedly.  With éclair dessert!

 

Friday::

Maggie came out again for another bread-baking lesson.  She mixed hers up by hand while I demonstrated our mixer’s ability to turn out 4 loaves of bread for my brother.  Kate was also b/u/s/y in the kitchen preparing for Saturday’s bridal shower at church… mini cream puffs, the perfect caramel sauce for the coffee bar… 

Jeremy sanded/primed/painted the rust spots on our Suburban while Abby worked on the cattle trailer.  No pics of Abby ~ but wow, was she grubby!

I baked the mini chocolate muffins, and Jeremy helped Abby turn out a big batch of mini cinnamon rolls.  They also found time for some Dutch Blitz…

Also for Saturday, the Cowgirl was involved in preparing a sUrpRiSe! baby shower for her Sunday school teacher {our pastor’s wife}.

 

Saturday::

Jeremy & Andrew left for Wisconsin shortly after the girls & I left for church…

 

We were in charge of the food, not the decorations ~ Looks great, doesn’t it?

Meanwhile in the church basement…

 

To end the day/week properly, we had friends over for supper… :-)

August week two {road trip, part two}

 

Friday, August 15::  2.5-3 hours scenic drive time to Polyface Farm {Joel Salatin} near Swoope, VA. ~160 miles.

{cows pictured were seen along the way – not at the Salatins’ }  :-)

• Their farm is open to self-guided tours.  We watched their team butchering turkeys for a while, but I couldn’t bring myself to take any pictures right then…

• After spending a week on our own shed construction, we enjoyed comparing roof trusses in their barns ~ some with obviously local lumber.

• We purchased some ground beef to have for supper later, as well as a couple dozen eggs for Saturday’s breakfast fodder.
• And it was time to move on down the road!  from Swoope it was about 4.75 hours to our overnight home in the mountains near Ferguson, NC.  254 miles or so.
• Rest stop picnic lunch.
• We also stopped in Wilkesboro for a few more groceries before heading to “Crosswinds.”

• Lovely views {and not much cell coverage}.  But when we finally arrived ~5pm, we were not expecting this on the front door!

• Nevertheless [and after Tim smooshed the big ugly spider], we were all very happy to be there!

• Air hockey, ping pong, burgers to grill, gorgeous sunset, Abby’s nilla wafer treats {with a name I can’t repeat, let alone spell}, lotsa laundry, and a very serious game of Jenga.

 

Saturday:: the view was still wonderful!  After breakfast Tim & crew took a quick hike while I continued to process laundry and re-pack.   About 11am we headed back down the mountain on the one-lane road… with the trash conveniently riding on top of the Suburban.

• After finding our way out of the hills we headed on down to Lattimore!  {about 2 hours, 82 miles}
• Yay!  Daniel’s favorite Cook-Out for lunch!   Great shakes and burgers {and more, but did you count how many times I’ve mentioned burgers?!}

• We unloaded Daniel and his loot and found our own guest rooms… Dined on-campus {burgers or hot dogs?!}… concluded with a round of Agricola.

 

Sunday::  We enjoyed meeting Daniel’s church family in Shelby, NC.  They even had a noon meal at church so enjoyed some good food {no burgers! ha ha} along with the sweet fellowship.

• Supper after the evening service… Sonic!  for burgers/chicken and half-price shakes.

 

Monday August 18::  We finally rousted Daniel from his bed long enough for a last farewell just before 6am.

• 16 hours or so to drive the 1050 miles home from Lattimore, NC.

• Breakfast biscuits at Bojangles in Tennessee and no memories of or receipts for lunch(?)
• We passed at least four accidents along the way.  The first was so fresh that the highway patrol hadn’t arrived yet.  
• Indianapolis!!!  we limited ourselves to an hour with Jodi & her kiddos.  We could have talked all night… but she had an oils class to teach, and we were committed to beating the rush hour out of the city.

• Abby and the Cowgirl took a turn or two at driving for Tim.  Kate did some school work.

• Supper at a Subway in Illinois… and onward to home. 
• Arrival:  11:30pm Central/12:30pm Eastern.   Cue the dogs and their Snoopy-style Happy Dance!
• Thankful for good times, safe travels, and the quieter Suburban {muffler stopped rattling, but the engine light came on in NC – Tim took it to an auto parts store, but nothing showed up on the computer analysis so we continue to drive it…}
• No small thing::  This trip = 2,880miles, give or take.  Our Suburban now has over 275,000 miles on it!