Gazebo

One of my favorite things to do in the summer is sell at our produce stand in Omaha. My husband's maternal grandmother started it 20 years ago. She has graciously passed it down to Ty and Ty passed it to me. I LOVE it. I love interacting with all of our customers. I love the pride of selling something that we have prayed and labored over. I love finding new and creative way to display the produce and decorate our little stand. This year we decided we it was time to revamp the look of our stand. My father-in-law, has taken on the task of building our gazebo. He has put so much time and effort and creativity into the gazebo. I am just so pumped to sell from it this season! A HUGE thanks to my father-in-law! If any of you are in the Omaha area this summer come see us on 120&I street. We plan on opening the 20th of June.

Planting

We started planting, in the ground, last Saturday. Planting vegetables is quite different than planting beans and corn. We literally place thousands of plants in the ground by hand. It is a fun job that everyone enjoys, especially on sunny days.
Planting marks the start of the season. Even though we have been planting in the greenhouses since February, planting outside means that we are going to have fruit in around 30 days. This is when things start to get crazy. Like right now, it is 10pm and my man is still out working. Probably switching water lines, fertilizing, and getting things set up for morning when the workers come out. He likes to have everything ready to go when the crew comes to work so that we are not "paying them to stand around".
I am so proud of how hard he works. Thanks to my man for planting good seeds of work ethics in our family.

Firsts

Spring is all about new beginnings and firsts. First blooms, first warm day in what seems like years, first bbq. Naomi had a lot of first last week. She went swinging in the park (one of my favorites) for the first time. She had her first visit to the beauty shop for her first haircut. She played on a piano for the first time. Wore her first Easter dress on her first Easter. Went for her first wagon ride. I can't believe all that she is doing and growing so fast. I try to capture all the firsts. There are so many. Other firsts I am just so excited for are her walking, her first birthday (I love birthdays, they are a HUGE deal to me) first time eating watermelon and sweetcorn. Her first prayer,and the first time she calls me mama, intentionally. What a privilege to get to experience so much of someone's life. WOW! Motherhood, I was always excited for it, couldn't wait to be one, and it is still overwhelming and more rewarding then I could have ever expected. Thank-you Lord for giving us children and your First born.

Dirt and Daddy

Yesterday was a gorgeous 75 degree day so I decided to take a break from painting (that's another story for another day)and take Ty lunch out at our Haygrove by Yutan. It was so nice just to soak up the sun and breath in the sweet aroma of freshly tilled soil. Ty loves showing Naomi all about farming. She helped daddy drive the tractor yesterday and he enjoyed it just as much if not more than she did. She loves her some daddy! She always has a huge smile for him when he comes home. As a mother there is nothing that I enjoy more than watching others love and enjoy my daughter as much as I do. As a wife, I fall in love with my husband all over again every time I see him love up on our little girl.

My Firefighter

Tonight my hubby and I went to the annual Waterloo Firefighters Banquet at Farmer Brown's (which has amazing prime rib!). Ty has been a volunteer going on 3 years already. I am so proud of him. Last year I nagged on him a lot when he went to calls. I don't know why just selfish and needy I guess... I was prego...but still inexcusable. Now I wish he went on more calls. I see what a good thing it is for him. The way it connects us to our community and how wholesome it is for my man to be part of something with other men. Plus,it is amazing how almost any man looks good in a pair of fireman pants and a helmet. I am proud of you, Ty, and am so thankful that you rescued me.

the Beginning

So it has begun. Planting. Watering. Weather watching. Fertilizing. The first tomatoes, green peppers, and watermelons have been planted. We start all of our produce in tray with cells in a greenhouse. We normally only need to heat it at night and a few days here and there. But the sun has been hiding for almost a month. This equals a very high propane bill and a cranky wife. I need the sun. If it is 85 degrees out with no sun, I'm cold.
Right now we have around 50 thousand plants growing in the starter greenhouse. It is a starter greenhouse because it is where we start the plants out. In May, we transplant a quarter of them to our Haygrove and the rest to our field along the Elkhorn River.
So far all of our little plants are healthy and growing strong and steady. I keep the radio station tuned to classical music for my seedlings. I don't really know if it even helps, but it can't hurt, right?

My Delight

Today in my bible study we had a guest speaker and she asked what is a killer delight to us. What kills you with delight? Immediately my daughter, Naomi, popped in my head. Yesterday she was so silly and just a ball of joy. Sometimes I just well up with tear just watching her. She has brought me more joy and love than I ever knew I was capable of feeling. To think that Christ delights in me, in dirty, selfish, unfaithful me, there are no words to fathom that.

Finally!

I just got done painting our entryway for the fourth time! Yes, the fourth time. One would think to consult someone by the third time. I finally like. Truely like. Almost love it! I should by the fourth time around. It is nothing grand or super creative. It just blends and the color is not overwhelming. This room started out a pinkish red, then a country blue gone way wrong, and then turned into a old pumpkin orange. Now it is a subtle tan that nicely blends the two colors on either side. I actually prayed over the paint this time. That is how desperate I was for this room to finally turn out. And He answered! Praise!

School Buses

A week ago or so we bought 2 school buses. We will use them to haul watermelons from the field back to the sheds. We gutted the buses in order to make room for the melons. It was quite comical following Ty home from where we bought the buses. He would stop at every railroad crossing and open the door. Let' s just say there are quite a few crossings on highway 75. I am so thankful to have a man that makes me laugh. Here are some pictures of our new buses!

Naomi getting ready for the summer

My hubby and our girl in the few seats left

the autobuse