days in the life of a
Previous POSTS
October 2009
click here to read older October 2009 posts....
October 26, 2009
AUTUMN AT MEMORIAL PARK

























October in Indiana.


























And while I'm certainly not crazy about the season that follows, I adore autumn!


























Just a few miles from where we live, Memorial Park is at its loveliest in the fall.


























The ducks are always right there to greet you! 

And hoping you brought them a loaf of bread to share.  (Sorry, Charlie...not this time!)


























I love how this mallard's tailfeathers just curl up at the tip.  And his gorgeous green head! 


























So even though I came to shoot the fall colors, I never can resist the birds!





































But THIS is the REAL REASON I came.































































































































































With the rain and wind over the past few days, the trees are quickly becoming bare and the beautiful colors will soon only be a memory.

But it sure was a gorgeous autumn while it lasted!


October 27, 2009
I JUST LOVE THIS FAMILY!

























This precious family holds a special place in my heart!

We have known Leann and her parents since we first started attending our church way back in 1986.


























We rarely hired a babysitter for our four little ones, but when we did it was nearly always Leann (here with the Emily, Kyler, and Kamaron in 1991).




































My children adored her!  She always brought a fun activity for them to do, fingerpainting with pudding or other such potentially messy stuff that I didn't have the energy or nerve to try.

When she was leaving for her high school prom, I took the kids over to her house to see how beautiful she was.

While my children loved Leann, we so admired her godly parents.  Peggy and Jim were the epitome of what Christian parents should be, and they were such encouragers to us over the years as we raised our own brood.




































When Leann found the man of her dreams and married him ten years ago, we were there to celebrate with them!

And we've come to love CJ as well!  He's been youth leader and mentor for our kids, taking them on mission trips and welcoming them into their home and lives.


























Just a this past summer, CJ officiated Kamaron and Anique's wedding ceremony.  Here they, along with Kristoffer, enjoy some time with Kamaron at the rehearsal picnic.


























Leann and CJ are two of my mainstays for VBS each year.  I can always count on them to add an extra element of fun!


























Now they have their own darling little girls, 5-year-old Abby and 3-year-old Anna.

I was flattered when Leann asked me to take some photos of their family in the gorgeous fall colors of Memorial Park last week, and what a lot of fun we had!

Here are a few of my faves...













































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Aren't they just the sweetest family?

I'll tell you one thing...it's a family bursting at the seams with life, love, laughter, and joy in the Lord!  They are precious!!!

Thanks, Leann and CJ, for bringing a smile to my face and for allowing me to capture the fun spirit of your sweet family!  Love you guys!!!

October 28, 2009
BEANS AND THE GHOST RIDER



























$$$$$$$$$!!!

Christmas money!!!


























Bushels and bushels of beautiful beans!!!

(And don't take the photo above for granted.  It wasn't easy climbing up the wagon ladder, balancing myself and my camera to take a photo of soybeans and then making my way back down without spraining something.  Just one of the countless reasons I would not be a good farmer...)


























But I do love harvest time.



























Farmer Dennis loves harvest time too!

After a summer of worrying and stewing, complaining when it rains too much and fretting when it doesn't, bemoaning the price of seed and chemicals, Dennis is thrilled to see that God has blessed us with a bountiful harvest.

It's the way of farmers.


























Dennis has been farming our piddly 35 acres for 25 years now.

Every year, it's the same song.

Doesn't know how he can possibly make it. 

Gonna get out of farming next year.

Whine and complain, gloom and doom.

And then when harvest rolls around, he's all smiles.

Well, at least, as smiley as Dennis gets.

I tried to get him to come out of the combine or at least open the door for a photo, but he's camera-shy.  Or just plain shy.  Bashful.  One could even say he's socially-challenged.

But he did ask if me taking his photo might help get him a woman, and I told him you just never know who might be reading this.



























Dennis is a good man and a hard worker.

Farming is in his blood, and he does love riding his combine up and down the rows.




























He told me to be sure and get some action shots.

















































Reminds me of Charlie Brown's friend Pigpen...Pigpen in a combine....

















































Hi Dennis!

Don't go acting like you don't see me down here taking your picture!



























Do you see what Dennis has written across his truck windshield?

"Ghost Rider."

Whatever that means.

Mysterious man, our Farmer Dennis!

But we love him and he's been a good neighbor and friend to us for 25 years.



























And if there's one equation I am sure about, it is this:

Bumper Bean Crop + Good Harvest Weather + High Market Price =

One Happy Ghost Rider Farmer!!!

And pretty thankful landlords, too!

Time to start Christmas shopping!!!
October 29, 2009
ALL SHE WANTED WAS A CHICKEN SALAD

























A charming lunch cafe recently opened in my hometown.


























When I was growing up, this building was a fine furniture store with huge showrooms full of beautiful new things.

























Now it is a fine antique store with huge displays full of beautiful OLD things!


























Mama's best friend (and our second-mom as we were growing up), Barbara, has this booth filled with beautiful old things displayed in beautiful new ways.


























And nestled just inside this antique store is Willie's Cafe.

Mama and I decided to do lunch there one day.

You would think we could have lunch together one time without any drama. 

Not.

The cute little waiter-fella named Brandon came to take our order and Mama ordered a chicken salad.

"We're out of chicken,"  he said.

How, I ask you, can a cafe be OUT of grilled chicken when it's a basic ingredient for half the items on their menu???

No chicken.

"What do people order instead of a chicken salad?"  Mama asked Brandon. 

Brandon looked at her a little funny (?) and answered, "Chicken salad salad."

Mama agreed.  Bring her that.

I ordered a chicken salad sandwich on wheat, no chips, no pickle.  I'm just a simple, basic kind of girl (right, Kimmie?!).

When Brandon left the table, Mama asked me what it was she had just ordered.

"A chicken salad salad."

"What is that?" she wanted to know.  "Is it the same as a chicken salad?"

No. 

Chicken salad.  A chicken salad.  A chicken salad salad.

They are three different things, Mama.




































She got what she ordered, which was in effect a blob of chicken salad on top of lettuce and veggies.

A chicken salad salad.

She ate her chicken salad salad and I ate my chicken salad, which were both delicious, by the way.  We chit-chatted and laughed our way through a yummy lunch together.

And we lived happily ever after.

(Or, at least we're working on that last part!)

The End.




October 30, 2009
THE KRINKLEBINES AND FRIENDS

Here's your trivia question for the day:

Who is Mr. Karlos K. Krinklebine?

Of course! I'm sure you remembered!




































Mr. Krinklebine is the pet fish on the Cat in the Hat!


























We now have our own Mr. Krinklebine keeping an eye on things.


























And five of his fishpond friends.

Despite my reluctance, Kim decided to set up the aquarium for the winter.  It's not that I don't like fish, it's that I don't like it when the aquarium gets all algae-y and nasty. 

He has promised he will keep it clean.

We shall see. 
























He caught six goldfish that hatched out in our pond just this past summer and brought them into the house.


























Besides the two orange Krinklebines, only one of the other fish is pretty.  There is one calico-colored fish, but the rest are an ugly brown/bronze.
























Their only redeeming quality is that they are fantails.

Kim has hopes that they will turn to orange inside under the lights.

Again...we shall see.


























So I guess, for the next few months, the Krinklebines and their friends will be living the life of fish-style luxury...warm water and daily feedings...while the others are left outside to face the winter hibernating on the bottoms of their ponds.


























It's a pretty nice life, for a fish.

Mr. Krinklebine seems okay with it!

October 31, 2009
A LOOK BACK...



























Tonight is Halloween.

Living out in the country like we do, we have very few trick-or-treaters.

Which doesn't keep me from stocking up on some candy, by the way.  I don't want to get caught unprepared if we suddenly have a huge influx of costumed kids.

And if we get stuck with a bunch of fun-size M&Ms???  It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make...




































Last Halloween, we only had two trick-or-treaters.

But what adorably sweet ones they were!

Four-year-old Hannah was a princess (what else?) and two-year-old Ashley was a pink poodle!

And they were sporting the bags I had just brought them from India.

Very, very CUTE!!!

I'm hoping they show up on our doorstep again today.

And then, there's this...

































This is what you call Vintage Halloween.

My sisters, brother, and me. 

Halloween, 1970.

Barb was 10, Maria 8, little Mark 2, and yes, that's me at 13 years old.

This photo is so typical of our family.

Barb, as always, is perfectly put together with the fancier duds and the rest of us always look a little more rag-tag.

I was dressed up as a hippie, Mark was an adorable little hobo complete with a stick with a bandanna tied on the end (so convenient to smack us with!), Barb was obviously a classy gypsy woman (is there such a thing?).  And Maria...well, I don't know what her costume was, but she's wearing her usual sweet smirky grin.

Living on the County Line, our trick-or-treating consisted of walking down the gravel road to the few neighbors' homes.  And then Mama (Dad worked second-shift at the factory, so he missed out on all the "fun") would usually drive us the few miles to my Grandma House's where she would give us a bruised, wormy apple and maybe dig a stale cookie out of the cookie jar.  Even though she must have known we (and our other cousins) were coming, she apparently didn't believe in getting together special treats for us.  But she loved us and enjoyed seeing our costumes, and she would have been sorely disappointed if we didn't show up.

I did go to a few memorable Halloween parties in my day.  It's where I learned how to play "Spin the Bottle" in a whole new, different way than the way we played it on the County Line!

But that's another post for another time...maybe next Halloween...