Things can now get back to normal here on this Monday morning on the Knolltop. It’s sunny, a little foggy and promises to be a warm spring day.

Yesterday we headed to Toledo only to find out that there was a miscommunication and Luke’s team was not playing in the tournament. We were only halfway there, so we turned around and came back. It was too late to attend church so we went to TSC to pick up a couple of things. I saw a shirt there that I’ve requested from my children as a Mother’s Day gift…although I’m not holding my breath! It was a John Deere shirt that said, “Tractor Queen” on the front. Luke was not in favor of spending any money on anything that said John Deere. He’s so hard nosed about his tractor colors! I told him that if Farmalls were so great then why don’t they have a line of clothing in TSC? He had no reasonable reply…just trash talk!

It’s a sure sign of baseball season around here when everyone hustles out of the barn to load up the truck with baseball equipment and heads to the ballpark. That’s what happened last evening as Bobby and the boys hopped in the pickup and took off for the field. They love to get a gang of kids up there and play ball.

Luke came home with a big smile on his face, he loves baseball and hasn’t had the chance to even play catch. And Jake was covered in dirt from head to toe from sliding into home plate.

On Saturday while we were waiting in between Sarah’s games, Luke and I played catch outside. It was such a nice day and so fun to play with him. Sarah’s team had to move from one school to the other to play more games and on our way over we spotted one of those radar things that sits on the street and clocks your speed. You know..those machines that make you feel guilty because you thought you were going 25 mph down a residential street when actually you were really going 54! Anyway, Luke got the bright idea of throwing the baseball in front of this radar to see how fast he could pitch. Like the irresponsible mom that I am…I agreed. I”I am the baby of the family afterall…I find this kind of stuff really fun.

So I stood behind the radar…way behind…and Luke stood about 60 feet in front of it and proceeded to throw the ball to me. The first pitch was a strike….he hit the radar machine! He said he just wanted to show it who was boss. A good mother would’ve told him to pack it up, we’re going to watch Sarah play ball. But, I’ve never claimed to be a good mother, so I told him to try it again. He pitched it again and the radar said 52 mph. Disgusted with the reading he claimed it was all messed up and he tried it again and again….but it didn’t even register his speed. All the way back to the gym he muttered to himself….”52? I was throwing 52 mph in peewee! What is up with that thing? I must have been too close or too far away…it just can’t be right…that’s like JW’s speed, I’ve got to be faster than him! That just can’t be right! We need a radar gun, mom!”

I encouraged him by telling him he’s all washed up and his best days as a baseball player are behind him. We had a good laugh and then pinky promised not to tell Daddy. Afterall, he’s the responsible parent and would not appreciate my irresponsible behavior! It’s a good thing one of us is a grown up!

Good Sunday morning from the Knolltop! It’s kind of sunny and kind of hazy today.

Where do I start? The last couple of days getting ready for Bobby’s surprise visit from his mom and sister were extremely busy. On Friday I was able to get the house mostly clean and the laundry done….you could even see the laundry room floor! As I hustled around I made the kids do some odd jobs that they don’t normally do, I thought for sure Bobby would become suspicious…but he didn’t.

After JW’s game Friday night, they split the double header and he got to pitch and did a great job…we came home and I continued to do laundry and to make sure they took care of their things before they went to bed.

On Saturday morning as we rushed out the door to Sarah’s volleyball tournament, Bobby’s birthday breakfast was uneventful with the kids barely saying happy birthday, no cards were given and I was all about having the kids do their dishes so the kitchen was clean and telling Luke to finish putting out the mulch before we left. Honestly, Luke putting out mulch at 7:30 in the morning? Surely I thought Bobby would think that was odd and start to question the clean house, the fresh mulch and the absence of the Christmas tree on the front porch….but he didn’t.

While at the tournament, he called me to see when I might be coming home. I just told him I didn’t know when I’d be home and that Sarah’s team kept winning so they would be playing longer. In the meantime, I had fielded several calls from Nana telling me where she was and when they got closer “Operation Surprise” went into action.

Sarah had to ride home with someone else while Luke, Jake and I started home. We made a quick stop for a card and some goodies and then arrived home to find Bobby and JW sitting in the livingroom reading. It was all quite calm here. The house was clean and we were ready for the big moment. I didn’t want to fix dinner because we were going out later, so I had to come up with something to eat if they didn’t get here quick. Not seeing any sign of them, I began to slowly get dinner on the table. JW took Bobby out and lured him into playing catch while I stalled in the kitchen.

Carole was supposed to call when they got close and she was going to talk to Bobby while they drove in the driveway. No call. A few minutes later and still no call. I had to put dinner on the table soon because the cows needed to be milked. So I just put out stuff for sandwiches and called them into eat.

Bobby sarcastically said, “Boy, you went all out today!” I replied, “Well, it is your birthday, I wanted to do something special for you!” We sat and ate and still no call. Several cars came down the road and still no call. With every cloud of dust, I looked down the road, but still nothing.

Finally the phone rang and it was Carole. They visited while JW and I kept looking down the road. It seemed like an eternity before they finally came driving up the road and into the driveway. Still talking on the phone Bobby looked at me and mouthed, “Who is that?” I shrugged my shoulders and waited…..when they got out of the car he started laughing and everyone started hugging and laughing. It was great!

The kids and I did chores while they went to town to get cake and ice cream. Then we went to dinner and back home for cake. It was a great surprise and Bobby woke up this morning saying, I still can’t believe you kept that a secret! He keeps asking who knew about it and I said, everyone knew about it but you! (I told you he didn’t read my blog)

Aunt Carole, the mother of two great grown boys and now the mother in law of a beautiful daughter in law, was a big hit! After dinner the boys and I were walking out and they commented, “Aunt Carole reminds me a lot of you mom, but she’s a way cooler mom than you!” Although it was backwards, I’ll take that as a compliment.

As of this morning, Aunt Carole and the big boys are planning a trip to Dallas where she will spoil them rotton. She has planned a fishing trip, a Ranger’s game, sleeping in and swimming all day in her pool. I want to go too!

It was a great time….and Bobby said one of his best birthdays ever!

Jake had gotten into a squabble with Luke, so he wasn’t in the picture taking mood.

Now we are off to Toledo for Luke’s basketball tournament….life never stops.

Good Morning from the Knolltop. Another beautiful morning and hopefully a beautiful day!

The boys are up and gone this morning for their FFA Spring Skills contest. JW is doing environmental skills, whatever that is, and Luke is going to be soil judging, playing in the dirt. I don’t even know how to judge soil! Isn’t it great that they are learning all this stuff? I just love FFA.

JW has a double header tonight, it should be a real test since all the seniors are gone. Sarah has VB practice today and her first tournament is tomorrow! Oops…I just remembered, I forgot to tell Grandma. Sorry about that mom!

I have to run to town today to get food for the VB tournament and material for Sarah to make a blanket. I guess the norm is to bring a blanket and everyone sits on their blanket while they wait to play their next game. Sarah’s more concerned with getting a tie blanket made than playing the game…typical for a 12 year old girl.

I just got word of a new National Dairy Animal Welfare Initiative that is being discussed. A third party coming in to audit dairy farms to make sure we are doing things right. This sounds dangerous to me….when I get more info, I’ll pass it along. Or if anyone else has any information, please share!

Gotta get breakfast!

It’s another nice morning here on the Knolltop. Spring has sprung around here, with the flowers budding and the birds singing…I think spring is really here!

I was able to get lots done outside yesterday. My neighbor has an immaculate yard so I have a very high standard to live up to. I very rarely make it, but I know she continues to hold out hope that I will make my yard look as nice as hers so the farmsteads match. You see, this is a two home farm and uniformity would be a great thing, if I could only keep up.

The last two evenings there has been a neighbor raking leaves out of Miss Stanna’s flower beds. So yesterday I decided I needed to rake and put mulch down to get ready for our company. I picked the windiest day of the year to rake, so I opted not to start a fire. I didn’t think the local fire department would appreciate it. Instead I loaded all the leaves in the back of the pickup and dumped them in the field. The only bad part was that most of my leaves were blowing into Miss Stanna’s yard. As I tried to hurry and get the leaves loaded up, I was hoping she wasn’t standing in her kitchen looking out at the mess I was creating in her clean yard!

But the wind saved me, the leaves just kept on blowing across her yard and into the field!

When I came in to put in another load of laundry I pulled out the wet clothes and a nice clean cell phone! Yes, I washed my cell phone and they really don’t work well after that. So last night I had to run into town and get a new one. I know…I’m a mess. And did I mention my dryer quit? Yes, all of you who said my dryer would break down as soon as I gave my spare dryer away…you were correct! So I spent last weekend drying everything the Amish way, on a drying rack in front of the fire. Monday the repair man came and fixed it….I’ve been a washing maniac ever since!

Better get breakfast!

Another sunny morning here on the Knolltop! Boy that moon was bright this morning too!

JW’s team notched up another mark in the W column last night. They beat Pittsford in a very boring game. It was a shut out, no actually they mercied (sp?) them. It was a nice night for a ballgame, but still cold enough to wrap up in a blanket. JW didn’t pitch, he’ll get plenty of pitching in on Friday when they have a double header and the seniors will be gone on their senior trip. That ought to pose quite a challenge to the underclassmen.

I’m headed out to do yard work today. Those southerners are coming and I don’t want my farmhouse to look like Christmas. So I guess that means I’ve got to remove the Christmas tree from the front porch, along with all the other “used to be” greenery. Hey, don’t laugh, we just got done with snow last Saturday and I’m still not convinced we’re out of the woods yet!

I think Bobby is planning on hauling manure today…oh that ought to make the neighborhood smell pretty!

Good Morning from the clear, springlike Knolltop! It’s been a busy morning here on the Knolltop and it’s not even 10 am yet. When I got up to make the coffee at 3:30 am, a truck and trailer drove in the drive over at the barn. Gene VanRhee was coming by to pick up a couple of heifers on his way home from the New York Spring Show. I decided he must be tired so I let him sleep. We got done milking and while I was making breakfast he finally got up and came in to nourish himself with blueberry pancakes, sausage and some strong coffee.

We got the heifers loaded and when we got all the socializing done he went on his way. While we were visiting the cows decided to make a spring jaunt..no, not up to Knolltop Morgans, they just busted into the pasture and were having a great time on the pretty green grass. After rounding them up, I finally got back in and still have dishes to do, a shower to take and a run to the store.

JW’s game went well last night. He looked like a superstar when he came in to relieve the pitcher after five innings. He warmed up and then struck his first batter out in three pitches to get them out of a very long inning. Then he proceeded to strike out three more guys in the next inning and they won the game.

It’s fun to have moments like that when you look like you saved the game. When in all actuality, he didn’t save the game, they were up on Adrian-Madison by 6, so it wasn’t as if the game was close, it was just that the other pitcher had thrown for three innings and was getting tired and started walking batters. He had done a great job…just got tired. Tonight they play Pittsford and it will probably be a very close game.

And finally, I will tell you this secret, but you have to promise not to tell BOBBY! He never reads my blog, so I don’t have to worry about him seeing this, but I want all of you to be in on this surprise so when I write about in next week you’ll have been in on the game…..so to speak.

This Saturday is Bobby’s 50th birthday and his mom and sister are flying up to surprise him. They are supposed to get here on Saturday afternoon. I can’t wait! And I can’t keep a secret either! I’ll let you know how it goes. Because Bobby’s dad is retired from Delta Airlines, the family all fly on passes, so they are flying standby. So we all need to pray that they get on the flight, if they don’t then they won’t be able to come. So…pray!

It’s a clear morning here on the Knolltop…much better than yesterday when we woke up to snow flurries!

We had a very busy weekend and I’m glad it’s Monday! Saturday morning we took all of our warm blankets and a picnic lunch and headed to a baseball tournament in Grass Lake. It was raining one minute, blowing the next but wrapped under tons of blankets with our winter togs on, we were warm as toast…..when our blankets would stay in place.

JW pitched a couple of innings the first game, but they lost. Then JW had the winning RBI so they won the second game. He was pretty happy when he got home. We were happy to be home too….where it was warm! In between games we had a picnic lunch in the van. Gramps and Grandma came down and while Gramps hung out in the van and watched from the parking lot, Grandma braved the weather for her grandson and sat with me the whole time in the bleachers. I don’t mean to make Gramps sound like a wimp…in fact….I think he might have been the smartest one of all!

While we were freezing, Luke was sweating at a basketball tournament in Toledo. They won a game and lost a game and then on Sunday we all trekked down there to watch them smoke the Toledo Gators. Afterward we stopped for lunch and got home just in time for a Sunday afternoon nap!

After chores we went to the Udder Side for ice cream compliments of Miss Stanna our next store neighbor who kindly gave us a gift card to the Udder Side. She does that a couple of times a year because Bobby makes sure her driveway is plowed and Jake shovels her sidewalk. We love those kinds of gifts!

Today I’m off to get a birth certificate for Sarah so she can play volleyball on Saturday. Yes, her tournaments are starting up so I will be spending each and every Saturday watching screaming girls play volleyball! At least I won’t freeze to death!

And isn’t it strange that I’ve had a social security card for her since she was a month old, but they didn’t automatically issue us a birth certificate? I guess they wanted to make sure if she had any income as a newborn, it was reported!

JW has a game today at home, it will be sunny, but not too warm. Another ballgame wrapped up in a sleeping bag!

It’s cool and rainy here on the Knolltop…but I’m much better here in my warm house than I was yesterday sitting at the Midwest Spring Classic freezing my tail off!

When we left, we had just got done doing chores so we were warm and so we didn’t take any heavy clothing. Boy were we sorry. It rained and the wind blew and it was down right cold! Lori and I stayed in the barn where the cattle were tied up as long as we could, they were the only heaters around. But then we had to go sit in the tent where the sale was and even the auctioneer, Merv Leffler had to put his dirty overalls on halfway through the sale because he was so cold.

I finally sat in front of the corn stove last night til I warmed up and when I thawed out I was able to be productive.

The cattle looked good and the sale went well, although I have no idea what the average was…I could barely write down the prices with my frozen fingers. Lori ended up selling a fresh cow and then bought a March calf. She can’t seem to sell an animal and just leave the sale, she seems to have a hang up where if she gets rid of one she has to replace it. I guess she’s every sale managers dream!

JW has a game this afternoon and Luke will travel to Toledo for basketball tonight and then over the weekend. It promises to be a busy few days!

Pancakes and sausage are waiting!

Another pretty morning here on the Knolltop as the sun comes up on a partly cloudy sky.

We are headed to a sale today in Fremont Indiana. The Mid-West Spring Classic to be exact. It’s being hosted by Mark Sellers, the president of the Indiana Holstein Association. Lori at Knolltop Morgans has a heifer in the sale well, actually it’s her daughter’s heifer. We will go and see how well she sells and Lori might even come home with something for her daughter.

Jake has been on the couch all week with an ear infection and today he finally went to school. He actually wanted to go. Last Saturday night he came to me complaining of an ear ache and said there was all this water coming out! So we went to Urgent Care and got him all fixed up. I haven’t had a sick kid….sick enough for a doctor’s visit in a couple of years. I will count my blessings! And we can chalk it up to living in a drafty old farmhouse…a runny nose is the sign of good health…at least that’s what my dad always said. Who knows!

And judging from the comments left from yesterday, I’m not the only one with faulty equipment on my truck and a bunch of bored cops in the neighborhood! I’m glad I’m not alone!

Better go get the chores finished up so we can head south.

It’s a windy, warm morning here on the Knolltop. I couldn’t believe it when I got up to make the coffee and it was 60 out! I love not having to wear all those clothes out to milk!

Last night JW’s team won again. This time they knocked off Waldron 6-4. We got the cows milked and got there during the third inning. Yes, it was a slow game. I had forgotten how cool you can get on these spring evenings at the ball park. By the time I got home I was just freezing! JW played a little outfield and then played third base for a while. I can’t tell you how he did batting…I know, I know, what kind of mother am I?

Since when is it illegal to have a truck without a tailgate? The other night while I was driving home from Ohio a police car came up behind me and I figured since I wasn’t speeding he was after someone else. So I kept on chatting on my cell phone with Frank Robinson, who I called on mistake by pushing the wrong name in my phonebook….and I just ignored the flashing lights. After a mile or two I decided to stop. I told Frank what was happening and hung up. I was baffled at why they would stop me….I knew I couldn’t have been speeding in this old farm truck.

The officer came up to me and I immediately asked, “Was I speeding?” And he replied, “No ma’am, you weren’t speeding but you do have some equipment violations.” My thoughts started flowing and I began to wonder why at 10 pm on a Saturday night they could find time to stop a woman in a farm truck for equipment violations! Do they not have anything else to do?

He told me that I had one light out on my licence plate and that I had no tailgate. Oh my…arrest me! One little light and an AWOL tailgate? Honestly! Then he finally fessed up, and said they wanted to make sure I sober. I replied, “Sober? Oh yes sir, I’m sober alright! I just got done speaking at an FFA banquet in Ohio, I think I’m sober!” And as I went on and on and on I then thought, I’m making my case worse and I said, “The way I’m running my mouth I’m starting to sound like I’m drunk, aren’t I?”

The officer said, “Oh no ma’am, I know you’re not drunk.” Then he took my liscence and came back with a warning. He asked me again where I had been and I told him and then explained to him that my husband had our van and was visiting friends in Wisconsin and that I had the farm truck, thus…no tailgate. He looked at the truck and said, “Oh, that explains a lot.” And then he let me go.

I called Frank back and told him I was in jail…he didn’t buy it.

Better go get breakfast!