Wow…I can’t believe it! I forgot to post anything on my blog this morning! My mother called and reminded me and until then I was totally out of sync.

That’s what happens when you change your routine. This morning when I got in from the barn, I had to take Sarah to the school for a field trip. When I got home it was time to fix breakfast. I had a headache so I relaxed for a bit after breakfast and then realized I needed to get my column written. As soon as I started my column, the phone began ringing and my list of things to get done grew by leaps and bounds. Pretty soon I was begging for more time for my column and was out the door to run some errands. Forgetting all about my blog!

So…here we are….it’s a beautiful morning, or what’s left of it, on the Knolltop. JW’s team lost both games last night. But that has been overshadowed by JW’s excitement about motorcycle school. I’m not even going there!

Schedules are a good thing if you actually read them. Yesterday I said in my post that I had to provide food for the baseball team last night. Well, yesterday I ran to the store to pick up a few things then I donned my apron and baked sweetrolls, chocolate cake and rice crispy treats for the kids. After chores I loaded up the van with all the food and headed to the game only to find out that my day to provide the meal is Monday not yesterday! The lady that so carefully planned and typed out the schedule looked at me in disbelief. I apologized to her for not paying attention. I felt bad because when she made out the schedule, I’m sure she was counting on competent adults to actually read and follow the directions. But then there’s me. The one who thinks she knows what she’s doing and most of the time doesn’t!

Oh well, I told her it was better to have too much food than to not have enough.

And finally, Beth saw JW’s picture on the front of the Farmers’ Advance. Yes, I wrote that article, and whenever I write a story where any of my family is involved, I always ask Erin not to put my by-line on it. I forgot to ask and my by-line was on it…and I’m sure there are lots of parents out there who are chatting about Melissa Hart promoting her own son! Oh well. Life goes on!

It has to be the most beautiful sunrise here on the Knolltop I’ve seen in a long time!

Although we had a stay at home night last evening with no games or practices….today will make up for it! JW has a double header with Climax, one of the toughest teams in the league. I have to provide the meal for both teams after the game. We all share in the meal, one mom does drinks, one does snacks and a couple of others do the main meal. I can’t decide what kind of dessert I should make.

Sarah has volleyball practice and Jake has baseball practice. So it will be a busy night to preceed a very busy, tournament filled weekend. On Saturday, Luke is in a three on three basketball tournament and Sarah has her volleyball extravaganza! JW is taking motocycle classes so he can learn to drive a motorcycle. Yes….pray for this very nervous mom who doesn’t want anything to do with her son driving a motorcycle! He says he’s doing it so he can save on gas this summer….great reasoning…I’ll give him that!

Daylight’s burnin’! Better get going!

The Knolltop is rainy!

JW had a game last night and they lost. It was a bummer. They battled back and then lost it due to poor defense. After we said our goodbyes to the grandparents, we rushed Jake to practice and then I came home and flaked out. Well, I did a couple of loads of laundry and then made some caramel corn and some regular popcorn and then sat down to watch American Idol.

It was so nice just to sit for an entire hour. I mean, I didn’t move! With the remote in my left hand, the caramel corn in my lap, feeding myself with my right hand, I was in heaven. There were a million things I should’ve been doing, like preparing for the interview I have to do this morning and setting up a couple of other interviews for the rest of the week, I didn’t, I just sat down and enjoyed the company of my kids…whoever floated in and out.

I will pay for that. I have four stories plus two columns due by next Tuesday. But procrastination feels soooooo good!

So…I’d better get off my procrastination groove and get going!

My sweetcorn is planted and I now have authorization to plant the rest of my garden! Yes, the farming gods came down and planted eight rows of corn leaving me enough space for the rest of my garden. Now, I’ve got to find the time to go get the seeds and actually plant them!

I made Mr. Darvan stop and pose for the picture, he even smiled! He has no idea how world famous he is now. As you might of guessed, this crop farmer isn’t into blogs, in fact he had no idea what a blog was. Nor was he interested in finding out! He just loves planting his crops and watching them grow. At last count, Jake said he farms around 2700 acres. Oh, that’s right, you’re not supposed to tell how many acres you farm….oops!

JW had a game last evening, they got beat by last year’s State Baseball Champions, the Reading Rangers. The score was 6-1, so I guess that wasn’t a bad outing considering who they were playing. Tonight he has a home game against Pittsford and Jake has practice.

Better get breakfast!

Who had the best Mothers Day? ME!

Good morning from an overcast, 40 degree Knolltop! Yesterday was another great day for this mom. It started with my most favorite morning greeting in the world….”You stay in bed honey, the kids and I are going to do the chores!” YES! So, I dropped back into bed and obeyed!

I slept until 6:30 and then finally got up and made breakfast for everyone….since we were out of cereal and I didn’t want my kids to have to come in from the barn and then scrounge around the kitchen trying to make anything from scratch. Although, I don’t think they were planning making breakfast….but….you never know so I saved them the trouble.

When we got home from church, I changed clothes and settled in for a rainy day Sunday afternoon nap. When I woke up, I heard whispering…something was up….but what? I went to the kitchen and started making cookies and took some ground beef out for hamburgers on the grill. The older boys were getting ready to walk out the door when I asked them where they were going, they said they had to run to Buddies to get something for Daddy. By the smirk on their faces I could tell that’s not exactly where they were headed. So…trying to make them squirm just a bit more, I asked them to pick up some hamburger buns and some chips for me….they quickly said yes and were almost out the door, but then JW walked over to Sarah and whispered some instructions. I acted like I had no idea what was going on and continued to work in the kitchen.

As I worked in the kitchen preparing for the meal, Jake finally said, “Mom, why don’t you just go lay down!” Sarah sneered at him and said, “Jake, you’re going to give it away!” I agreed I should just lay down and that’s what I did until the boys arrived back home 30 minutes later.

They walked in with pizza and said, “Wow, mom, did you know that they sold pizza at Buddies? It’s a new thing they’re doing now!” They were so proud of themselves I couldn’t let on that I knew anything….so I just acted surprised!

It was a real treat to have my kids do that for me. I also received a bouquet of hand picked flowers and a card from Sarah and Jake made a couple of special projects in school for me. What a great day!

And what did I do for my mom? Well, she got to spend a day watching game after game after game after game after game of volleyball at Sarah’s tournament on Saturday. She and my dad came down and after watching a couple hours of volleyball, dad took us to lunch at this really great cafe…which when he picked it out, I was very leery of eating there, but it turned out to be a great lunch……I really should learn to trust my dad and his eating establishment choices. Then we went back and watched more volleyball until the last ball was bumped!

So…moms…time to report in…what did you do for your special day?

It’s another sunny morning here on the Knolltop, but not warm enough to wear shorts….yet.

Yesterday there were some comments on whether I was a working mom or not. It’s funny, if you count up the hours I spend in the barn doing chores….it does add up and could be considered a job. But since I don’t have to shower, put on make up and dress in business attire, I don’t consider it a job. Especially since I just walk across the road to work. Actually, it’s become more of a physical work out and if I don’t do it, then I can’t eat like a horse! Not only can I wear garage sale clothing, I get to spend quality time arguing with my husband while we make a living together. Plus, my children get to work along side of us…they love that! NOT!

So, all in all, I still consider myself a stay at home mom. I really have the best of both worlds…..am I spoiled or what?!

And these FFA ties…an instructional page on how to tie a tie in the FFA handbook! That’s priceless! But needed for a bunch of farm boys who never had to wear a tie except on Easter and Christmas!

In JW’s defense…he knows how to tie a tie…..he just doesn’t like to! His father taught both of the boys how to properly make a knot!

Better get going….more writing to do!

It is a cool, kind of cloudy, kind of sunny day here on the Knolltop.

I’m finally going to be home all day today. I really don’t know how all of you working women do it! I was away from the farm for three hours on Tuesday and Wednesday and I feel so behind the eight ball! I’ve got a full slate today of things to get done and because I was gone, it seems very overwhelming. How do women who leave at 7 am and get home at 4 pm keep their households running? All I can think of is the laundry they must have to do each night….and the meals they have to cook without the benefit of being home all day long to procrastinate the preparation! I guess they are really good at delegating their duties to the rest of the family and they have to be great time managers.

Tonight is the Spring concert at the school. Luke and Sarah will be performing. You know what that means? I have to make sure their black pants and white shirts are neatly starched and pressed. And that I find the black socks. I think Luke is required to wear a tie also.

Speaking of ties….this morning at breakfast we were looking at the picture of the new Region 2 officer team. JW looked it over and said, “My tie looks the best.” To which I replied, “It better, you had the only clip on FFA tie there!” He smiled his big smile at me and I just shook my head. I can’t believe they make clip on FFA ties! And furthermore that JW traded his regular FFA tie in for a clip on. In fact, as I remember he didn’t trade it in…I think he stole it from a Junior High FFA member after the State Convention… claiming he had seniority!

Better keep going!

Good Morning from a windy, cool Knolltop.

It was a busy day yesterday as I left to teach 5th and 6th grade students about Conservation. First, I was late…why? Because I’m terrible at managing my time! Then I had to extend my lesson because one of the schools didn’t sign up. So I had the kids longer than I had expected…so what did I do? Dairy promotion of course! I talked about the benefits of dairy products. And those kids are so great….they love dairy products! So it was very easy to promote to a group who loves what you produce.

When I got home, I warmed up leftovers for dinner and Bobby headed for the game while Luke and I headed to the barn and Sarah headed for volleyball practice. After chores, I picked Sarah up and dropped Jake off for baseball practice. Because it had been a day of running….I treated myself to some ice cream while I watched Jake’s practice. Ice cream always makes things better.

JW’s game was delayed by lightening for a while, but they ended up winning. After JW’s game, Bobby came to Jake’s practice…you see..he loves baseball and is willing to watch any kind of baseball….practice….a game in town…a game on the TV….whatever. As soon as he got home and everyone got into bed what were we watching on TV? Baseball, of course!

Since I have to go teach about conservation again today during my nap time….I took a nap this morning…boy did that feel good! Now, I’ll hop on the treadmill for a little bit then head back into town to teach kids how pizza is made from dirt!

Good Morning from the residence of the newly elected President of the Michigan FFA Region 2!

Yes, JW was elected President yesterday and was quite excited about it. He called me on his way home from camp to tell me..that was how excited he was. When they got home, he told me all about the speeches and even recited his….of course he hadn’t written it down or anything it was all impromptu…but what I heard was very good. I’m so proud of him!

Luke gave me the run down of who won what…and most importantly, who he has recruited for his 3 on 3 basketball team for next years camp! Of course, that means that all those boys have to be elected as officers in their own FFA chapter in order to be there. I don’t think he cares about those details, he just will not lose to a team of girls again!

Jake and I got the lawn mowed and trimmed yesterday. He mowed when he was not riding with Mr. Darvan on the planter. They planted beans yesterday and yes, my garden is all tilled up and ready to plant.

Today I will go to the fairgrounds and teach a bunch of elementary students how pizza comes from dirt. The local NRCS hosts this day and I’ve been recruited to teach. It will be fun.

Then JW has a game, Sarah and Jake have practice, so Luke and I will hold down the fort and ….oh yeah…milk the cows!

Good Morning from the sunny Knolltop.

The house feels empty without the two older boys here. But I do have to say, it’s peaceful.

Yesterday at FFA officer training camp, the boys were in the 3 on 3 basketball tournament and from what I hear, it wasn’t pretty. They lost to a team of freshman girls. Luke fouled out….but of course, according to him, the girls got all the calls! I guess this girls team took out a few teams of boys and were going to be in the finals last night. It’s good to be humbled every once in a while.

They had invited me to the banquet for an award. When I got there, I sat with the North Adams group and we had a very nice dinner. After dinner they gave out Honorary degrees and guess who earned herself another one! Yes, the girl who was never in FFA in school now has a Honorary Degree from Michigan Region 2 and from Stryker, Ohio! And I didn’t have to give a speech, memorize a creed, learn parlimentary procedure or study about global trade!

When I left the camp they were getting ready for a rousing game of Capture the Flag and then a hotdog roast. Today they will elect officers, JW has to give a speech…I guess a campaign speech for running for President. I’d love to be there to hear it. He didn’t know he had to give one until last night. He’s better on a deadline anyway.

Better get breakfast for Sarah and Jake!