Fence Painting

We have been working on our fence all summer.  When we bought the place, it was full of rotten wood, rusted nails and the paint was flaking off.  First we replaced all of the rotten boards with treated wood and used galvanized screws.  We had to let the treated wood age a bit so it would take the paint.  Over a period of a few weeks, the boys and I put a coat of primer.  It took a long time.

Then this weekend, Uncle Gregg volunteered as a farm hand, willing to do any work needed.  When most people volunteer to help out, painting isn't what they're hoping to do.  Gregg though was super gracious and never batted any eye.  We hoped to get the long stretch along the driveway done, but when we finished that by 11:00, we decided to push on and finish it all up.  Three gallons of paint and a good morning of work from the five members of the crew finished the project.  Thanks again, Gregg and Allison for your help!

The Year Amanda Didn't Go to the Fair

It has been a fairly difficult few weeks since Nathan came home. That has left the majority of the heavy lifting to Shube and me when I'm home.

 The highlight of our summers, especially for Amanda, is the Minnesota State Fair. We have gone every year that we've lived here and we love it. You know Amanda isn't feeling well, when she decides to opt out of the fair. We thought of every possible way to make it work but it just wasn't going to be. So yesterday, I loaded up the four oldest and we headed out. We tried to take pictures of all of the things we did and ate to share with Amanda when we got home. It was a great time and it made me thankful all over again for Amanda. Over and over again while I was there I just thanked God for how much work she put in with our family.

I felt like this year, we really got a good sense of the fair.  We saw some things that we hadn't before.  We did the barns, ate tons of fair food and watched most of our usual shows.  We also went to the coliseum and watched girls barrel riding.  This was a lot of fun and you could see the time and energy that each contestant had put into the fair.

Mini Donuts! Our fist stop every year.

Biggest pumpkin

All you can drink milk for $1

Ben and Matthew get ready to ride the Stratosphere.

Pickles and french fries for lunch

While we were doing lunch near the stage in carousel park, a guy from Cub grocery store came up and asked if the boys wanted to do a trivia contest on stage.  So up they went.  It was fun.  They got to do it with the Minnesota Timber Wolves mascot Crush.  Plus they gave us two $10 Cub gift cards.

All in all, it was a great day.  We certainly missed Amanda and Lucy.  But we had a great time just the five of us.

MOTLEY CREW

Angry Politics

I have been watching quite a bit of the convention this week.  One of the most disappointing speeches was from our former governor Tim Pawlenty.  I like Tim Pawlenty, but this speech was so bitter and filled with vitriol that I almost wanted to turn it off.  He threw angry one liner after angry one liner for about 10 minutes.

I'm tired of politics like this.  Shouldn't we as Americans and even more so, Christians hope that the President is successful in helping America?  Shouldn't we work together and compromise to try and do what's best for the country?

Last night when Mitt Romney spoke I really appreciated his tone.  It was different.  It was almost a lament for our country.  He was disappointed in President Obama, but he didn't come off as bitter.  He said, "I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed."  Now, one could question his sincerity, but the sentiment rings true.  I also thought it was great how he connected with some people who voted for Obama.  In the clip below he pretty much says the same thing that Pawlenty did.  You voted for Obama and it seemed like a great thing at the time.  Now you're rethinking it.


I'm not hopeful on this, but I would sure like to see a little less anger and bitterness in our political system over the next few months.  I'll cross my fingers.

Nathan video

Here's another video from when we were in the hospital. I love all of his little sounds. Everyone is doing well here. Amanda is up and around and Nathan is feeding well. We went to the doctor's yesterday and he is gaining weight well. I go back to work tomorrow.

The weather here has been amazing so the kids and I have been spending a lot of time outside. Matthew found a crab apple tree on our property a few days ago. Today we picked a bunch and made crabapple sauce. Yummo! The end of summer is a wonderful time on the farm. It's a great time to have been born.

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Four very excited kids and . . . Lucy

All of the kids had been counting down the days until Nathan came. They couldn't wait to meet their new little brother. Lucy was excited too, I'm not sure though if she knew exactly what was coming.

When the kids all got to the hospital on the day he was born, Lucy was very nervous and did not want anything to do with Nathan. She hardly wanted to get up in bed with Amanda. Then Amanda started bleeding and all the kids had to leave.

The next day when they came back Lucy still didn't want to be near him. All the other kids though couldn't get enough. They all wanted to hold him and didn't want to stop. Molly said, "I want to being him home now."

Lucy was not even excited about the compulsory group picture.

We finally got her to give him a little kiss though before it was time to go. That night Shube said that Lucy said, "Our baby is pwetty." She's warming up to him already.

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The Birth of Nathan John

I'm able to blog from my iPad now so, you should be seeing some more posts coming this week. Here are the stats on our little guy.

Nathan John was born at 9:31AM. He was 8lbs 12 oz and 21 inches long. Amanda was super happy because they allowed him to be with her the whole time during the surgery. When he came out they did the quick eye goop and the vitamin k shot and then he was back at Amanda's head. Usually they have taken the kids to the nursery to do all of this.

Things went pretty well in the hospital. Amanda had some major bleeding immediately after we go into our room, but they were able to get that under control with some medicine. It was a little scary, but we are thankful everyone is all right.

We're home now and glad to be. I'll write more soon about the other kids and their reactions to their new brother. Thanks for all of you that prayed for us in the last few days.

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Introducing, Nathan John

We are so thankful to God for his blessing of our new son, Nathan John. He is very sweet and looks like an interesting mix of all of our other boys. Amanda is doing well after the surgery. She is already up and out of bed. I am amazed by her and even more the strength and protection that God gives to her. Thank you for your prayers for us. Many more pictures to come as I'm able.