Blog Hop ’10

August 5, 2010

Once again Pensive Robin is hosting a Blog Hop – which is kind of like a Open House for bloggers. I’ve met some of the sweetest people on previous Blog Hops and I’m so excited to meet some more!

So – hey everybody- come on in and make yourself at home!

Let me introduce myself!

I’m Melinda – a 40 something country gal living with my amazing husband and five kids on our land in the beautiful hills of southern Iowa. Our nearest neighbors are Amish.

My husband and I will celebrate 20 years of marriage next week!

I have a huge gardens, an orchard, lots of chickens, crazy hormones, 3-1/2 teenagers, 1 1/2 pre-teens, and a big old farmhouse that we are renovating.

And I’m a chocoholic.

Totally.

I ate the head of a caramel Santa Claus for breakfast. I found him in the freezer when I went looking for cheese. He just looked at me and said, “Eat me already – I’ve been in here since December!”   :)

My other addictions include Food Network, Christian fiction, cooking, baking, and thrift store shopping.

Both my husband and I have large – slightly crazy families – so I have massive amounts of company – sometimes for a week at a time. I love feeding the multitudes!

Balloon Faces

I write about raising teens, growing old, country living and the craziness of life.

Sometimes I’m silly. Sometimes I’m serious. But I try to always stay real.

Thanks for stopping by!

Come back soon!

By Country Gal | Posted in Chocolate, Community | Tagged , | Comments (44)

Vacation Bible School – Country Style!

August 4, 2010

What happens when you take a bus load of kids, one big piece of property, and a slightly crazy Vacation Bible School director? (that would be me!)

A whole lot of fun – with a whole lot of Bible teaching!

Sign

We’ve been working for months now to prepare to host our church’s one-day Vacation Bible School here at Windy Ridge.   My sister-in-law Julie and her two sons came from Chicago the week before to help us transform our property into the Amazon.

I think almost half the church was here on Saturday to help!

Puppet

Pedro and Jan built a puppet theater and Julie sewed the curtains for it. The youth group kids manned the puppets for us.

Boat

We had 3 different outposts set up on the property – each with a different Bible story and emphasis. When you do everything outside you have the unique opportunity to make things real. At each outpost we set up a tent and instead of a cardboard canoe – we used our real one.

slip

You also have the opportunity to use water – real water – and lots of it! We had relays with squirt guns and even a slip and slide water fall.

We played with slime, dug in quick sand, caught piranhas, found buried treasure, and made some crafts – all while learning how much God loves each of us.

We sent the kids home exhausted but grinning from ear to ear!

I was exhausted too – but so thankful that after all the hard work by so many people – an entire bus load of kids heard the plan of salvation clearly presented.

And that, my friends, makes it all worth while.

By Country Gal | Posted in Children, Community | Tagged , , | Comments (5)

4H Judging at the County Fair

July 9, 2010

The County Fair.

The very words put fear and trembling into the hearts of 4H moms.

It’s marked in red on my calendar.

D -Day.

This year we have all five children in 4H. That means a grand total of 19 projects and all of those projects are due at the same time on the same day.

In a perfect world my diligent children would have been working on projects all year – on their own – with little assistance.

My world isn’t perfect.

We worked on projects the week before the fair like our lives depended on it.  (For some of my children – it did!)

Despite the stress and the rush, each child was completed on time even if we did had to use duct tape. :)

Judging went very well. Very, very well.

Six projects were chosen for the State Fair.

One was an Outstanding Junior exhibit.

And all the rest were blue ribbons – except Buddy’s – he still a Clover Kid and only gets a rainbow participation ribbon.

And now it’s over for another year.

We’ll take a couple of days to rest up and savor the moment.

Maybe by then I will have all my brain cells back…

By Country Gal | Posted in 4H, Children, Community | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

In Which We Meet Chuck Norris

June 7, 2010

Yes, you read that title correctly – Chuck Norris. This is the real Chuck Norris – as in the Walker: Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris.

He was in Iowa stumping for my man for governor – Bob Vander Plaats. He was scheduled to speak at a rally in Council Bluffs – and we had volunteered to help.

But the day didn’t start out so well.

We had had epic storms the night before with a new storm coming through every 2 hours all night dumping more rain. By the time we woke up we had almost 6 inches in the rain gauge and could see flooding all around us.

But a little bit of rain wasn’t about to stop us – we were heading out to see Chuck Norris!

FloodWe had several detours trying to get around flooded roads. The trip became a mental game as we tried to remember where all the low bridges were and which roads were likely to be covered.

It was overcast and cool until we hit Council Bluffs.  Then the sun burst out from behind the clouds as if it knew that Chuck Norris was coming to town!

Then the heat and humidity started to climb. I could feel my hair frizzing.

We found the venue easily – almost by accident – and got to work. We put out signs, set up tables, and greeted people.

The excitement mounted as we saw the police escort pull in and the word spread that “Chuck Norris is in the building”.

A staffer pulled me aside and said I could slip my family back for a picture with Chuck and his wife if I wanted.

If I wanted?! Hmm…let me think about that…a family picture with Chuck and Gina Norris and Bob and Carla Vander Plaats?!

Oh yeah! We hurried back there as fast as we could before someone changed their mind!

We each got to personally meet the legend and his beautiful wife.

I shook Chuck Norris’s hand.

Really I  did – and my arm still works!

I think I said something really profound like “Wow – you’re Chuck Norris!”

Then we were all posed together and had our picture taken by a professional photographer – my entire family dressed in Bob Vander Plaats for governor t-shirts, with my hair frizzed and my face red from the heat.

It just might be our Christmas card!

(I wish I could show you the picture – but it hasn’t been emailed to us yet!)

The rally went really well – people were very responsive to Bob’s speech and the place erupted when Chuck Norris took the stage!

Chuck Norris
He stayed around after his talk and signed autographs until everyone had one. This guy is one class act! Seriously – Chuck and Gina are 2 of the nicest, most personable people I have ever had the privilege of meeting.

(That’s my son Matt with the legend himself!)

Meanwhile – I was passing out Vander Plaats for Governor yard signs like candy!

Later as the crowds dwindled and their car was leaving lot to catch their flight – Gina Norris saw my husband in the parking lot, rolled down her window and said, “You’re got some great kids!”

Oh my. Oh my. Oh my!

All seven of us were beaming as we got in the van to head home!

What a day it had been!

By Country Gal | Posted in Community, Memories, Weather | Tagged , , | Comments (5)

Overheard at the Thrift Store…

May 21, 2010

It’s been a busy week – but my to-do list is getting shorter!

One of the things on that list was to hit a few thrift stores for those last minute additions to the kid’s suitcases for their week away – a couple of t-shirts, some shorts, and a couple pair of capris.

Dagmar and I headed to Grant City to check out our favorite one there, arriving soon after they opened the doors for the day.

We had just started our search through the racks when an older lady came in carrying a sack and looking a bit frantic.

“Dorothy!” she said, “Have you sold that bag of clothes I brought in before?”

Dorothy (the lady working that afternoon) replied, “No, I don’t think so – I think they’re still sorting it out in the back – why?”

“Wilbur put the wrong bag in the car!” (She held out the bag she was carrying) “We brought home all the clothes that didn’t fit and donated  the bag with his best clothes in it! He tried to put his pants on this morning and he could barely close them!” our frantic woman said as she moved quickly through the store to the back room.

I was still speechless with surprise over this outburst, when, just a few minutes later an older gentleman came in slowly wearing some very tight pants, his rather large tummy hanging over the waistband.

Poor guy could hardly breath – it had to be Wilbur.

Dorothy just pointed to the back room, smiling.

We could all hear the excited voices of his wife – the frantic woman – as she feverishly pawed through the donated bags in the back room.

We all heard her shouts of joy when the lost bag was recovered.

We all watched her triumphant exit from the thrift store with the correct bag in hand – followed rather slowly by her husband Wilbur who still looked as though a deep breath would burst a seam.

Then and only then did I laugh.

By Country Gal | Posted in Community, Thrifty Ideas | Tagged | Comments (6)