Milk and Cookies 2019

Another year has come and is almost gone as I remembered it was time for my annual holiday letter and I had not started it yet. I was also too tired and pregnant to argue with the other people in my house about a family picture in front of the Christmas tree so you will just have to enjoy the pictures at the end of the slides from our various family adventures throughout the year.

We hope this post finds you stuffed with fun, food, and family during this holiday season! 

A Sweet Surprise

Summer on this funny farm generally brings lazy mornings, farm chores, and afternoons in the swimming pool (or reading books poolside as you look up each time someone yells 'mom'). This summer has been much of the same AND we found out a sweet surprise that will add another tail to our funny farm!

Due to some symptoms that started to add together and seem familiar I decided to see the doctor and found out baby Kane #4 will be joining our funny farm at the end of December. Being 39 and pregnant after starting this family adventure thirteen years ago has been quite an adjustment for me to wrap my head around. So it has taken me awhile to let people know. Of course the growing human inside my stomach is starting to give itself away! So I have taken to Photoshop, Pic Collage, and Photofy to help pictures tell my story.

And to tell the three giggly girls we already have at home I decided to put together a little game. I knew I wanted the girls to have something to remember when we told them so I found some fun Cabbage Patch animals and animal forms from Play Dough to go along with the farm theme I was looking for. Then I created a word jumble with baby animal names using the cat, dog, rabbit, goat, sheep, and chicken animals I had found. When the girls had kitty, puppy, bunny, kid, lamb, and chick unscrambled they had letters to unscramble the word baby. I then gave them each two of the animals I had found along with the name of a group of those animals - clowder, pack, tribe, herd, flock, and brood and also an extra card with their names and a card that said sisters because I needed one more letter! As they matched the group of animals with the props they received a card with the name of the animal and one letter capitalized. In the end they had to unscramble the capital letters to spell the word sibling. When they put it together they had baby sibling and we showed them the ultrasound pictures.

It was so fun to watch them work together to match and unscramble the words and try to figure out what the heck they were doing this for. And I even noticed my middle G has the stuffed chick in her bed to sleep with each night. 

And since I chose not to find out the gender with the first three G girls I left this one up to Mark to decide when we went to the 20 week ultrasound....

Stay tuned to see how this sweet surprise shakes up the funny farm and takes us on some new adventures in growing great kiddos. 

Milk and Cookies 2018

Well - it is that time of year again! When I remember that I said I was going to try an blog more, but realized I have not posted since my Christmas letter from last year.

The cards were ordered, but never made it out last year and I have not even made the effort to fight my family to get around the Christmas tree for a picture this year. So I guess you will have to imagine how much we have changed in a year. I might try to gather everyone around the tree on Christmas Eve, but we will have to see how much Holiday Magic is flying around the house that night.

It didn't happen on Christmas Eve but we did get a picture with Mark and his cake on his birthday. 

Until then, check out these Google Slides as I try something new to share some highlights from our year. Hope all is well and warm with you this sweet holiday season.

Milk and Cookies 2018

Milk and Cookies 2017

Well I guess last year was an anomaly when it comes to Christmas cards as we just got around to taking the picture on the 21st of December this year. So I think cards might just have to be digital as well this year or maybe a little something to ring in your new year. We will have to see how this week after Christmas on a Monday goes.

The two big G's had some fun Black Friday shopping with their Aunt Michele and found these fun reindeer jammies for all three of them. They have had fun wearing them to school, dance, and cookie baking weekend (when the littlest G was warned about wearing a deer costume outside on opening deer season weekend) So we decided to have fun with these comfy PJ's in our annual around the Christmas tree family picture as well. Hope you enjoy!

Also enjoy the annual Milk and Cookies letter to see what we have all been up to this year. 

Heroes are remembered, legends never die...

The worst thing about life is that it ends. And last week my aunt and cousins faced the end of the life of a man that his daughter-in-law said best 'they just don't make them like him.'

Uncle Jim always had a smile and would always ask me how teaching was going. And he listened to me talk about students, classes, and salary issues with an open ear. He always wanted to know how milking was going on the farm and told Mark if he needed help he used to sling milk in canisters from the barn to the tank. 

That is just who Jim was - a friendly smile, an ear to listen, a sportsman, and a go-getter.  His obituary said he coached nearly every sport and I often heard about him helping many people in town and looking for the next thing to do. As I saw the posts roll out on Facebook and the comments continue to grow I could tell that everyone else knew this too. 

I posted in a few comments a quote from a poem by sportswriter Grantland Rice that was hanging in the gym when I worked at WDMS that I think says exactly what Jim was - 
"For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, He writes–not that you won or lost–but how you played the Game."

As a teacher of technology one of the first things I make sure students know is that what you put online is always online. But we also live in a day in age when more information is created online in a day than we used to receive in years, which makes information quick to get lost in the shuffle and harder to find. I saw these posts as a catch 22 - they will be great for my aunt and cousins to looks back when they need an extra reminder of how great Jim was, but just as life continues so does social media and the posts will be pushed to a memory. And I saw on a bench at the funeral home "When someone you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a treasure." So I felt the need to put all these special posts together in this blog as an easy to find way to remember. And the librarian in me is hoping to take all the screen shots and put them together in a book to share as well.

I know the memories will live on in your hearts and continue to grow in the traditions built by the family Jim and Sally raised up. And hopefully this post will help you remember what your hearts already knew, Jim was an amazing man who passed kindness on to ALL those lucky enough to know him.

Click here to see screen shots of posts from Facebook

A Family Tradition

The theme for the county fair this year is A Family Tradition and Gracyn always likes to make a collage of pictures that has to do with the theme. As she was picking the pictures I started to think it would make a great blog post as the reason I started this blog was to help remember all the things we did on our funny farm as a family growing together.

Here are the words she came up with when describing the pictures in her collage.

Farm - You can't describe our family without including the farm. We spend time each day together working and being together on the farm. From calf chores to picking up rocks we always find a way to spend some time with each other and find dad when he is busy keeping the whole thing going.

Wedding - Last year we were lucky enough to add two Kane girls to our family when two of our nephews were married. We had a lot of fun being with family and dancing to the music. We also took some time to get together and take a picture of everyone together. As our family grows it is amazing to get a good picture of who we all are.

Easter - Piñata - Every year for Easter the Kane family gets together to eat, hunt Easter Eggs, smash a Piñata, and enjoy a peanut butter rice crispy shaped bunny treat from the kitchen of Aunt Marcia. This year we decided to take another family picture on the front steps of the house in Quasky. The last time we took the picture seven people in the picture were not an official part of the family or even born yet! It is not as easy to organize all the people but still great to hear all the laughter not caught on film. The Piñata started as a tradition when we celebrated together after the holiday and Grandma picked a bunny shaped one up in the clearance aisle. Since then we have had bunnies, chicks in eggs, homemade brown bags, and Olaf! The 'bat' to break open the candy has been passed on from the Kane kids to Bryan or the McEnany boys to the Kane girls as the kids have grown.

Pumpkin Patch - Tire Swing - Gus @ Pumpkin Patch -  Corn Maze - Carving Pumpkins - Trick or Treat - Cotton Candy on Halloween - I did not realize we seem to pack a lot into Halloween time at our house! Sherban's Pumpkin Patch in Manchester seems to kick off our Halloween fun. The girls always love their turn flying through the air on the tire swing. And I always makes sure we get pictures behind all the wood props. The last couple years we have met my Aunt Shelia, cousin Cyndi, and her boys for the trunk or treat celebration as a practice run for finding all the pieces to our costumes. Two of the three girls have taken turns going through the haunted bus at the end of the trail of trunks. One has always been too scared to try it out - they must get that 'scaredy cat' from their mom who used to read instead of watch scary movies at sleepovers. We have also enjoyed finding our way through the themes corn maze each year. Luckily we have always found our way out! Then we pick out our pumpkins and have a picture with Gus the scarecrow before we go. On Halloween we Trick or Treat twice! We start by checking out the candy at my dad's store for downtown Trick or Treat in Independence before we snake around the streets and fill our bags for the first time. We finish the night hitting the streets in Walker - being sure to get cotton candy from the house on the corner with the delicious treat each year. Whew - I am tried just writing this...

Girl Scouts - 4H - The girls have picked some pretty good activities to be involved in outside of school. Despite the fact that I was worried about both of the girls selling Thin Mints and Samoas in February, they have both learned some fabulous communication and commerce skills. I am so glad they both have wonderful leaders to help them in their journey. This is our second year trying out 4H and the girls have had a great time attending meetings with hayrides, holiday games, creating crafts, and touring to see the animals other members have to show at fair - from rabbits to pigs to fainting goats. They have also enjoyed some time before fair working with their dad on some woodworking skills to create a flower box and hook hanger to share at fair. Gracyn continued her fashion events with a romper for clothing selection and shorts with a tank top and attached scarf for the $15 Challenge. And on Sunday all her hard work paid off when she earned a purple ribbon for her dance during Share the Fun!

Chucky Cheese - Hu Hot - Since Gretchyn decided she needed her birthday at Chucky Cheese when she turned 5 we have tried to get back there each year for some fun family time. Gwyn even kept her ski ball on the write track this year! And it was fun to watch the girls work together to earn tickets and eyes light up when daddy joined in to play like the big kid he is! Gracyn, Gwyn, and I have always enjoyed finding a time to enjoy Hu Hot together. But this year we finally got Gretchyn to join us as well. All I have to do is let her eat S'Mores for lunch - included with her own small fire at the table to roast the marshmallows. Now we can have our spicy dishes on the grill and she can enjoy a sweet treat all together.

Ice Cream Cake - Pie in Face - It is great to have a tradition that includes such a sweet treat as a Dairy Queen ice cream cake. Each birthday my mom will have the girls pick out which character or activity they are enjoying at the moment to put on their cake for them and us. We have enjoyed Max from The Secret Life of Pets and a deer so far this year. This year also ended a tradition on birthdays for us as Gwyn had her 5th birthday party - the last that will just be family. Next year she will have friends from Kindergarten over to play with. So this year we broke out some extra fun when Aunt Manette brought out Pie in the Face. It was a little more fun to watch everyone else get pie in their face, but I did try it out against the birthday girl once myself. It was also fun to watch Gwyn play against Kane as we celebrated her party on his 18th birthday. There were giggles and finger licking all around.

Sister Smiles - Indoor Pool Pirates - First Day School Pictures - I have always loved to take pictures and with three smiling girls it is always fun to get them together and show of their pearly whites. With Gretchyn suddenly doing everything she can to avoid a picture it is a little harder to get them all together, but before she became photofobic we did get some good ones this year - one even with them just messing around on the living room floor and one as they say 'ay mate' before heading into the indoor waterpark at Honey Creek Resort on Lake Rathbun. But the ones that end up as my lock screen on my phone each year are the tradition we have continued from when Mark was a little boy - pictures on the front steps on the first day of school. It has morphed from just Gracyn when she headed off to preschool to all three girls together and one at a time as they proudly show off their new backpacks, outfits, and shoes. I hope they still have the same smiles when I have them standing out their on the first day of the Senior year.

Cheerleading Camp - This year was the first time all three girls could spend a day of Christmas break with the NL Cheerleaders at Little Lynx Cheer Camp. It was a quiet day for mommy, but a day of loud yells, floor pounding, and high jumping for the girls. And then it is always fun to go see them shout it all out at the half time of a Girl's Basketball Game in January.

Christmas Cookies - Christmas Card Picture - Moodolph - Christmas Concert Christmas - is another busy time of traditions and probably my favorite holiday of the year. [The six rubbermaid tubs of decorations in my storage room might be a good indication of this.]  We kick off the holiday season with cookie making with Mark's family. We all bring recipes, supplies, and something to make for dinner and turn the kitchen into a factory of cookie making and decorating. And because I love a challenge we always try to take our Christmas Card picture after we have had a busy day baking. This year instead of getting us matching shirts, we all wore a shirt with 'a few of our favorite things' from deer to tractors to Paris to fish to books. We had some words about sitting still and smiling, but then had couple that could be used for the card and a lot of goofy ones that tell the story of our funny farm. This year we even invited our version of Elf on the Shelf - Moodolph 'the reindeer in training' to be part of the picture. The magic of the season begins when he shows up at the beginning of December to keep watch on who is naughty or nice. He even leaves some gifts along the way - the favorite this year were the PJ's to wear until we see him again next season. We also dress and bundle up one night in December to go watch the girls sing and smile as they sing songs of the season. The tradition came to an end for Gracyn this year as she leaves elementary, but Gwyn will pick it up for her next year when she enters Kindergarten!

Since I could not get the actual collage to embed here in the blog [oh how touchy technology can be] I am attaching a link to the collage of pictures Gracyn made to capture these family traditions. We also created a candy cane word cloud to help explain what the pictures represented. That is embedded and linked below as well.

I am already excited for the theme next year to see what she comes up with to create!


http://www.getloupe.com/v/n8nrywmc?r=u

Milk and Cookies 2016

It may be a Christmas miracle as I have my postcards and I am typing this BEFORE the big guy has taken to the sky to deliver presents! [fingers crossed the labels and stamps make it on the cards in time to be in the mail to make it to all of you before the stockings are stuffed] This year we decided to wear shirts with a few of our favorite things for our annual family photo in front of the tree.

(and as always we got a picture for the card on the first try!)

A few of our favorite things by Slidely Slideshow

Mark The cows continue to be one of Mark’s favorite things as close to 80 of them keep him company twice a day in the barn each day. Gretchyn has taken to joining him in the barn to finish milking and washing up most nights. She also made sure she was there to tag along as he went out hunting this deer season. Together they were able to get Gretchyn’s first buck! He again took a few days off the farm at Country on the River in Wisconsin to enjoy some country music and even relaxed one morning by sleeping in past 8:00. When he isn’t farming he is fixing and he even managed to have the patience and give me the right instructions to help put the combine back together this fall.

We all enjoyed a trip to the Omaha Zoo this summer to enjoy some time with our favorite people and animals!

Melissa Just five years overdue I have made my way back to being a teacher-librarian so I guess this is the way the story goes. I am still in Anamosa and continue to be at the HS for ½ the day and have also expanded to meet and help the staff at the MS for ½ the day. There is never a dull moment and that is how I like it! Being a mom is still the best job I have as the girls continue to grow (as Mark pointed out just tonight) almost taller than me. We filled up a pool this summer and between cooling off in there, enjoying some sun and pages of a book, and Mark continuing to challenge me with things on the farm I never saw this city girl doing this year leaves me knowing I have all of my favorite things!

Gracyn This year brought double digits for the first child in our house when Gracyn turned 10! She continues to be the girly girl as her favorite thing is planning a trip to Paris someday. [I can only hope Mom gets to take a long]. She was able to participate in showing at 4H this summer and enjoyed showing off her talents in finding a second hand outfit for $15, taking pictures, creating a video to tell about accessories in fashion, and even earned a Junior Purple for her stop motion video of her Lego Friends making a smoothie to share a healthy snack. She continues to participate in Girl Scouts and will have her 6th dance recital in May be learning moves in Hip Hop and Ballet.

Gretchyn This farm girl helped unload more than 40 bales of hay this summer! She loves to spend time milking, taking care of cows, learning, fixing, and building with her dad. Their latest project was painting the blind Mark made - her job was to paint the tires so they would blend in too! And as you read above her hard work paid off when she was able to shoot her first buck during first season. She has continued as a Brownie for Girl Scouts and along with Gracyn will sell cookies again in February. After taking a year off she has decided to try out Clover Kids for 4H again this year - she is not quite old enough to show an animal officially, but she did have her dad break out the harness this summer as she led a pretty tame calf they named Felicia around the yard. She is also working hard to learn a new Hip Hop dance each week.

Gwyn This little girl started Preschool two days a week this fall and has already learned all of her letters (except Q) and loves to tell us what all the letters are on the shirts we are wearing. It is so fun to hear what her and her sisters share about their days at school. She spends most of her days at home trying to keep up with her big sisters and beating daddy back to the barn after feeding calves, but still finds time to snuggle with her mom and gives some of the best hugs around. She became quite the mermaid in the pool this summer and tried out  both ice and roller skating in the rinks this year. She loves spending time with the kitties in the barn and can always make us smile with the contagious laugh she has.