Our little nugget

As my sister calls it, our little baby nugget is on the way! Due in early June (June 9, as of now, which is Grant's birthday), our lives will forever change. We couldn't be more excited! Here's a bit of the progress...
Thursday I'll be 16 weeks! Can't wait to find out what we're having....

Our Home - Painted!

Here is the finished project (well, finished for now). Next steps... maybe some shutters, landscaping, painting the doors... we'll see!

front

north side

west side

south side

Big snow flurries

We had some great big snow flurries yesterday. First it was rain, then sleet, then big snowflakes! It didn't stick around, but it was fun to watch it snow for awhile. It sure makes for a big sloppy mess on the roads, but that is winter around here!

view from the back sliding door

view from the front door. cattle love snow!

One week until Thanksgiving!


P.S. The house is painted! Glad I got it done before the snow hit. I'll post pictures soon.

Our Fall Project

I'm thankful that the weather has been so nice this fall since we are painting the outside of our house! We got new siding and I decided to paint the house myself... and luckily others have helped. I'm getting to the end of the project. Here are some pictures to show the progression...

Front of the house before..

front of the house after (except for a little bit that isn't done yet)...

South side before..

South side after...

Patio area before...

Pation area with first coat (not quite done yet)..

More pictures to come!

Summer nights

We like to just hang out on summer nights. It's nice to have a big yard to play in, hammock to relax in, and patio/patio set to sit on. The cats and dog give us entertainment, that's for sure. You never know what they are going to do next!

Gus loves to play with plastic buckets.

Tiny isn't quite so tiny anymore. :)

Jeremy was sitting on my lap in the hammock. When I got up, she stayed and sat there for awhile. The perfect photo opportunity!

Caleb James!!

We now have a nephew!! Brett and Cassie had their baby boy on July 8. He was almost 8 lbs! We hope we can see him (and them) sometime in the coming months. For now, we'll have to rely on pictures, the phone and Skype to connect and see the little guy. Here are some pictures that they put up of him. He's such a cutie!! Congratulations Brett and Cassie!

Tubing

We recently got lots of rain. What else do you do when the creek is so high? You tube!! We went through the woods, followed the creek, from the north side of the section down to where the creek crosses the road about 1/4 mile up from the farm. It was quite the experience! Here are pictures of us just starting out on our journey. Now I can say I've done this in my lifetime...

Touches of farm life

I was looking around my home today, and realized that there are a lot of small things that I would probably never have in my home if I didn't live on a farm... or with a farmer/rancher/hunter... or in the country. Most of you probably had many different thoughts of me living out here and becoming a "farm girl"... but I've come to love it!

Little touches of farm life:

Mud boots GALORE...

my hubby's workboots (you can tell he's been working)...

cowboy hats hanging on the mudroom wall...

bow and arrow, camouflage, more cowboy hats...

antler decor on my shelves...

more antler decor...

this little tractor accent on my table...

mounted deer antlers in the office (we are actually housing these temporarily until they can go back to their original home in Derek and Kara's home)...

BIG horns... (I'm against having an actually dead, stuffed animal in my house, and it took a bit of convincing to consider having mounted horns in the house, but I secretly like these in the office... don't tell anyone)...

pictures of hay bales and cattle...

and random cattle figurines, pictures, etc. (excuse the messy desk as we are in the middle of busy wheat harvest/hay baling season and Grant doesn't have time to clean his desk... I don't dare move anything for fear of misplacing a very important paper or sticky note).

As you can see, a great deal of my life now revolves around farming, cattle and hunting. And that is just inside my house... we won't get into the lodge, shop, and the rest of the farm. Wouldn't trade it for anything! But don't worry, I still get my "city" time working my part-time job in the booming metropolis of Newton, KS. Here's a link to the website that tells about Main Street Company and the two other stores by the same owners: http://www.highstreetco.com/hsmain.html Come visit them if you are ever in Newton!!

Relaxing...

I found the kitten relaxing... in the scoop shovel. Interesting place. Strangely, she must like this little hang out spot, because I've seen her laying like this multiple times! Oh my constant source of entertainment. For that, I am grateful.

Trip out east

My mom, sister and I took a trip out east to DC, Ocean City, and Baltimore. We had lots of fun and did all kinds of things. Here is a link to the pictures I put on Facebook if you want to see what all we did!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2354311&id=17012383&l=59bfc8e1e8

Alyssa Jo Klingenberg!!!!!!!!!!

Derek and Kara had their second baby girl on May 17, 2010, Alyssa Jo. We're so excited for them! She was 6lbs, 3oz. and 18 inches long. She is such a beautiful baby, and so easygoing. Makayla is definitely a proud big sister. She always wants to "hold you", aka, hold her (meaning Alyssa). So cute! Congratulations Derek and Kara!

Makayla and Grandma Kaufman checking out new baby sister.

















Proud Aunt Allie and Uncle Grant!

Proud Mama!!

Tornado chasing

Grant, Derek and their cousin Eric went tornado chasing in Oklahoma on Monday. They saw this tornado with multiple vortex.

Crazy crazy, if you ask me. Nevertheless, they enjoy it. If you want to see videos of the tornadoes they have captured this year, you can see them on youtube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_dk7QX-Mu4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFiGYUTeb_I

Big cat in a little bowl

Just something hilarious that I caught a picture of. Thought you all might enjoy it! (Yes, the cats are a large source of entertainment for me...)

Climbing in..

and getting comfy.

Why it seemed like a good idea to curl up in the bowl? No one knows. :)

Corn Hole

My wonderful parents got us the board and bean bags for Corn Hole! We've been playing it a lot since the weather has been nicer. It's so much fun! Makayla likes to play, but it becomes a challenge when she climbs on the board, looks into the hole, and takes the bean bags. Oh well... we still have lots of fun!

Sarah and Derek...

vs. Grant and Martin. Look at the focus.

Makayla stealing away the bean bags.

I was trying to distract her with the camera.

I thought this picture of her running toward me was too cute not to post.
So I told her to pose and smile. Then she would want to see the pictures.

"Cheese!"