Another week with Grandpa and Grandma

I have had a great two weeks with my grandchildren!  I spent Monday-Thursday in Peoria enjoying baby Ryan and visiting with Megan while Drew and Kayley were at Pre-K during the day.  On Friday I headed back to the farm with Drew and Kayley.  They stayed with us until this past Friday, when we met Megan and Ryan near Davenport and I returned Drew and Kayley to their mother.  We had so much fun during the week, never leaving the farm!  They picked up sticks, drove the golf cart, picked cherry tomatoes every morning, played on Pirate's Bay daily, rode on the lawn mower and cart, played baseball, played pool, etc.  Never a dull moment (or a moment to sit, for that matter!)  They were so good and Mark and I are so thrilled that they enjoy coming here.  That will end soon enough as they grow so I will take advantage of it while the time lasts!

The weather has cooled a bit and we even got a bit of rain.  Too late for our crops but it did start to give a hint of green to our brown lawn.  I still don't have to mow, though!  Mark continues to do well with his new knee and can bend it to 131 degrees which we were told was very good.  His biggest complaint is not getting a good nights sleep.  The knee "nags" enough to keep waking him up, thus he is so tired during the day.  We have to fix this sleeping thing!  I so enjoy seeing him walk without a limp!!!  The last several years that is all he was able to do when he walked but I hardly ever notice him limping anymore.  So glad he had this surgery!  I am assuming he is, too.  :-)

Some pics and videos of our week at the farm:

Evidently we watched a little too much Olympics during their visit

Sliding down Pirate's Bay

Playing in the dirt where our deck used to be

Yum, Grandpa's sweetcorn!

Kayley taking Drew and Grandpa for a ride.  Scary.....

More fun in the dirt.  Bath time!

Drew was such a big helper with all our sticks

Trying to find some green beans in this parched patch

How come I never smile when I pick up all these sticks?

I found a huge one, Grandma!

Drew and Kayley arriving at the farm last week

Saying good-bye to Ryan before we left for Iowa

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She just wasn't "into" stick pick up today.  You are on your own, Drew!

All comfy for the lawn mower ride

Cooling off after all their hard work

I won!

This could be a tie

Oops!

Kayley singing in the loft of the playset:

Drew loves baseball!:

Trying to get up that very wet slide: 

 

i am officially done with this summer

Mother nature or climate catastrophe, whichever, but I am through with this Iowa summer.  I have struggled to keep my garden, sweet corn and flowers green since our last rain the end of June only to see it all basically destroyed in a vicious windstorm that brought exactly .1 inch of rain!  I am going to let everything make it on its own....or not.  One exception will be my tomatoes as they basically had less damage and I do LOVE fresh tomatoes.  I will keep watering those!  We are also starting to worry about our well so I think it best to stop all the endless watering of everything.  I have spent all day cleaning up sticks and branches from every single INCH of our property and still have several hours left to do.  My back is killing me.  Thank goodness Craig came over and sawed up the bigger branches and helped me get them on the burn pile.  Mark picked a good time to have knee surgery and miss out on all this fun!  :-)

Well, this wasn't a very positive post, was it?  Ha!  I think I am just very tired of it all right now.  On a brighter note, we are going to Lake Okoboji in August with Megan and family and Matt so that will be a glorious time with our very dear old friends Jim and Nancy.  Cannot wait.  As soon as we return from our lake trip I am heading to Peoria to babysit our new grandson Ryan when Megan goes back to work.  Doesn't that sound much better than raking up sticks and trying to keep dying plants alive?  Yes!  There is a bright light at the end of this tunnel.  :-)

Rain please

It is very hot here and it sounds like it is so most everywhere!  Day after day of this extreme heat with no relief in the forecast coupled with absolutely no rain makes for a grumpy farmer and his wife!  It was good timing to get a knee replaced because you absolutely don't want to be outdoors doing anything!

I watered our sweet corn this morning and this afternoon it appears to be dry as a bone again.  I don't think it helped one bit.  I water my garden daily but cucumbers and squash could care less.  They want to die and wilt no matter what I do.  I really love cukes so this makes me sad!  The tomatoes, peppers and green beans look good so that is something, I guess.  I believe grocery shopping will be even more expensive in the near future.  :-(

Mark is doing incredibly well with his new part.  He faithfully does his exercises twice a day and yesterday morning was his first meeting with the physical therapist.  She was amazed how well he is doing and with the extension and bending that he could do with that new knee.    She said there was no need to see her as often as they had scheduled so we cut out one day per week so now he will go on Tuesdays and Fridays instead of three times.  The goal is to get the knee at 0 degrees extension and 120 degrees bending and he is already at 0 and 118 six days after surgery.  Yay!  Next Monday he gets the staples out and she said he will be able to go even further after those are removed.

We are getting a little bored just sitting around here, even in the AC.  I can see a shopping trip somewhere in our my near future, just to get up and out of the house!  I need absolutely nothing but sure I can come home with something that cheers me up.  :-)

Some random pics in closing....

Mark feeling happy before surgery....must have been the drugs!

Taking a snooze while icing his new knee

Our lawns looking really streesed!

Same lawns in May looking much happier.

Why I didn't go into nursing

Lots has happened since my last post.  The biggest thing is Mark's full knee replacement surgery on July 10, 2012.  He is getting along okay but obviously has pain.  That pain will increase lots come Monday when he begins going to physical therapy to work that new knee.  Until then we are doing at home exercises to keep it moving.  I am trying to be a patient nurse but my personality might not be compatible with the word "patient", but I am trying!  Now he has swelling in the ankle and my first thought is blood clot!  We are icing it and if it doesn't go down we will call for suggestions on what to do.  On the whole, he is a great patient and I am a bit surprised as I thought he would be pretty cranky.  :-)  No matter what he goes through these next few weeks, he will be better off than he was with that old knee!

Before his surgery we travelled to Peoria, IL to spend the 4th with our children and grandchildren.  It was very hot there, too, so most of our time was spent indoors keeping cool.  New grandson Ryan is doing well and is very precious.  Kayley had been battling severe flu but was on the mend by the time we arrived.  Drew became sick while we were there but mainly fever and sore throat which motrin seemed to keep at bay and he still enjoyed our visit.  Matt came from Omaha so we had a good family reunion those few days!

We are still in a drought and have no hopes of having a bumper harvest.  I will be thrilled if we have anything to harvest!  Pray for rain!  We have been watering our sweet corn and garden so at least we will have some food!

Pics from Peoria:

Kayley throwing a popping fireworks onto the cement

Kayley, Grandma and Drew at Mickey's Pizzeria

Grandma and her three favorite people!

Drew loves going to Mickey's!

Uncle Matt and Ryan

Drew celebrating the 4th

Happy Grandpa

Very proud grandparents

Matt with his niece and nephews

Drew at T-ball

Kayley was given a drink by an admiring 5 year old boy......

Hit the ball to me!

Hmmm.....what should I order?

First attempt at catching the parachutes

Successful attempt!

Hot and dry

I am back on the farm after spending 17 days in Peoria helping out Megan and Andy get settled into their routine with a new baby and Drew and Kayley.  Like any grandma I adore my new grandchild!  It was very hard to leave them but it was made easier knowing that we are going to spend the 4th of July holiday there with them all.  Matt will be joining us so that makes it even better.

Mark and I have been very busy since I returned.  More rock picking was on the agenda and we are finally finished with that rather back breaking chore!  He is happy to have it done.  The weather is really hot and no rain in our foreseeable future.  Tomorrow we might hit 100 degrees.  It could be a long, hot and dry summer.  Our crops will not appreciate that.

This fall we are remodeling the outside of our home which includes new siding so we decided to tear down the deck.  It was old and weather worn but it was still very hard to see it go.  My extended family has lots of memories spent on that deck with Mom and Dad.  As sister Sharon said, nothing lasts forever, and I guess that is true.  I don't think we will put up another deck.  We are looking at putting in a ground level patio instead.  I like the view from my patio doors now with the deck gone so I think I will be happy with that option.  My biggest challenge, being blonde and all, is to NOT step out the patio door this summer!  That first step would be a definite leg breaker!  

Good-bye dear deck!

Getting closer. 

Megan said that Ryan is doing well but giving them a bit of awake time during the night.  I think that is common for most parents but Drew and Kayley really didn't wake up/stay up all that much as infants so this is something new for them.  As I write this he is probably already sleeping longer at night!  I cannot wait to see that little boy in one week.  He has probably already changed from when I saw him!  I think I better start looking at flights from Phoenix to Peoria a bit more often this winter!

Ryan Matthew very content

Drew and Kayley love holding Ryan when they get home from school

Drew ready to head to the diamond for his first t-ball game

I want to hold him!

Kayley checking on her baby brother

Megan is trying headbands to try to teach her scissors shorn hair to do what it is supposed to do!

One more of Ryan

We have a new grandson, Ryan Matthew!

June 6th was a very great day as we welcomed the newest grandchild into our family.  Ryan Matthew was born around 7:50 a.m. and weighed 8 lbs.  He is another bit of a miracle baby.  Read our daughter Megan's blog listed on the right side called Kayley's Story.  She explains it all very well and has more pictures of this blessed event!

June 5th was Mark's birthday and we had spent the morning picking up rocks.  When we came in at noon Megan called and wondered if there was any chance I could drive to Peoria and help with Drew and Kayley as she thought they would be having a baby fairly soon.  I said YES!  I showered and jumped in the car (after wishing Mark a quick happy birthday!) and drove the 5 hours to Peoria.  Megan spent that night in the hospital and was scheduled for a C section at 7:30 the following morning.  

I dropped Drew and Kayley off at pre-school and headed to the hospital to meet my new grandson.  I didn't have to wait long and was able to watch the nurses clean him up and check him out.  He was perfect and beautiful.  What more can a grandma wish for?!?!?

Matt and Mark drove to Peoria this past week-end to help Kayley celebrate her 4th birthday on the 9th and to meet Ryan.  It was a fun and exciting time!  I am still in Peoria and will stay until next Thursday when Megan is cleared to drive again.  It will probably be hard to tear myself away from the three grandchildren but we are all coming back for the 4th of July holiday so that won't be long.  Ha, about only a week for me!  :-)

Some pics and video from the past week:

Meeting Ryan:

Drew at one of his first T-Ball practices

Drew loosens up his throwing arm

No balls come to me so I will put sand in my glove

Ryan Matthew Thiel.  Isn't he cute?

Happy 4th Birthday, Kayley!