A poem that popped into my brain today

David, my husband, the farmer

First I hear the door,
Then, your steps across floor.
Our greeting—hugs and hellos,
Then the girl and the fellows.

I see it in your eyes,
The stresses of the day.
I want to celebrate the successes,
And wipe all the rest away.

Feed and Clothe us, keep us warm,
Protect and Love us, allow no harm.
Toil and Labor, day in, day out,
I’m so proud of you, without a doubt!

Dedication, Responsibility, and Devotion
Only your family evokes more emotion.
Pajamas and baths, hugs and kisses,
Kids finally asleep, time for Mister and Missus.

Asleep in a spoon,
By the light of the moon.
Night full of dreams,
Until the sun again beams.

As I laid in bed last night WIDE AWAKE (too much caffeine too late in the day) these phrases started popping into my brain and put themselves together. I am no poet, but I do love my husband and I thought it was pretty neat after I got it all down on paper. Thought that I would share.

From Tulip,

KH

Easter Picture, a little late

Been a busy place around here lately. Lots of little things, nothing real huge to report, thought I had already uploaded the Easter picture, but apprently hadn't, so here's the 2009 edition of the Hasekamp kiddos on Easter morning. You might note that the profile picture on my blog is of them LAST year......... yes Cody has grown SEVERAL inches, the rest have as well but his is the most noticable, Jenna's golden locks are longer I think and no Sam hasn't really gotten that dark of hair. We colored his hair for State wrestling and haven't cut it yet, so it is still black, thankfully no longer NEON black as it was the first day or two and actually I am getting used to it, so it will look weird to me when we cut it off I think. Seth is sporting his usual bold fashion choices with the boots on the outside of his slacks, but he's got clothes on, so I am not complaining. Jenna's dress was one that Aunt Lynn got her for Christmas. The week before Easter among other things was spent sewing a dress for the American girl doll to match and the little turkey didn't even have her doll in the picture! :) Oh well.
Have had a few catering jobs lately, it always amazes me how one little thing going wrong can totally throw everything into a pickle....... Had a job last week for desserts originally around a 100 that turned into almost 250....... Not that 250 cream puffs would have been a walk in the park, but when they wouldn't rise, etc and I had to regroup, 500 cookies in replacement was a fun challenge......... added to that the ordered Turtle pretzels and dipped strawberries, last week was a little busy! Some of our good friends are getting married in a few weeks and I will be cooking again, this time is supper for up to 200, she is working on a 'head count' for me right now. This one will be great, a good ol' meat and potatoes meal, looking forward to the cooking and to the day.
We are now within the last month of school, so there are many trips into school for misc assemblies, picnics, field trips, etc etc....... will make the last month go fast that's for sure.

Cody graduates from 8th grade, Monday evening, May 18th. We are planning a little get together at the Pool Hall I think for afterwards..... Then BRING ON SUMMER. As I sit here typing and I am being 'called' outside, it is a glorious spring day outside, there's surely something that I can find to do out there? Right??

Well I am headed out to see what I can find. From Tulip~

KH

I almost hate to ask this question, but........could this week GET any busier??

I took a quiz recently on Facebook that asked how many kids were you supposed to have? Not surprising to me, I scored in the '4-7 kids' bracket. Big shock. Before we had kids I used to say dumb stuff like 5 or 6 would be great.......... I know I must have been smokin' something. Anyway.....lots of morning sickness, heartburn, swollen ankles, sleepless nights, and diapers later, I have to say I have EXACTLY the family that I was supposed to have.
Take this week for example, it is the week leading up to the 'Grand Finale' of the Youth Wrestling Season, State Tournament is THIS weekend, I swear we just started practices last week, oh wait, yeah guess that was 5 months ago.......... hmmmm time flies I guess when you're having fun. We have practice EVERY night this week, yes by choice, no they aren't required, in fact our club doesn't have it every night, so we are actually 'crashing' another club's practice tonight. But you know Sam has worked very hard to get this far and I am not going to stand in his way. Wrestling keeps us busy throughout the winter that is for sure.
Then I start factoring in the guilt our busy life has on my heart. I feel guilty that we don't spend the 'quality time' together at home doing nothing that we probably should be spending, I feel guilty that there is way too many loads of laundry that I am behind on, a few too many dirty dishes and when have I dusted, I couldn't tell you. That's just the kids and home guilt. Now there's the friends and 'community' guilt as well. One of my dearest friends is running for local office, while yes I have made it to alot of the campaign meetings, but there's many things that I have not gotten done, several I volunteered to do, just haven't found the time. There are my classmates who are trying to plan a class reunion, not that it's hinging on me to get that done, but I haven't been consistent with the follow-up and I know that it's hanging in limbo right now, the final plans that is. I am a very devoted church member, our church added a wonderful twice monthly Bible study this year on Wednesday nights, haven't been able to attend one of them (it's a wrestling practice night)
I didn't start this blog to whine, and I am coming around to point, stay with me........
In our busy life, there are the brightest shining moments that are the things that get me through. Some recent ones have been, in no particular order:
Last Saturday, me, my brother, and four of my cousins all came together at my grandma's and had a 'Grandma Ruby' day. There were several others around, mom and her three brothers were in and out, my kids, some of our spouses, etc...... We didn't tell her that we were coming, until a call that I made on my way to her house. We helped her clean her house, reorganize, donate and pitch alot of things, did yardwork and just had a generally GREAT day!! She, who has done SO much for us, was paid back, no where near in full, because we could never pay her back for all that she does for us, all of us, but we made a small start. She seemed to be thrilled with the help and I for one, think that we could do this again as a group or each of us switch off taking a Saturday a month and just help her keep things going. I can't even start to list all the times that she has helped me out. I feel blessed, and hope that I returned that blessing at least in part on Saturday.
Last night, the three boys and I ate supper at McDonald's. How is that a shining moment, you ask. Well let me give you the scene. As we sat and ate a meal together, we talked about of course wrestling, we laughed and generally just relaxed together for a few moments, no it wasn't at home, no it wasn't in front of a home cooked meal, and no we weren't all 6 together; but is was full of sweet mommy moments for me, watching how my sons can be each others friend and love each other at least for a few minutes over a cheeseburger and fries.
Last night the two missing from McDonald's David and Jenna 'worked.' Jenna had a ball it seems, she chattered about all that they did the second I walked in the door last night. She was thrilled to report that she 'helped' Daddy in the grain bin, thus she was dusty and had just had a bath and Daddy always does a better job combing out her beautiful golden hair.
I always worry that the wrestling or whatever 'thing/season' is taking away from our family time, but I had to laugh this morning, all three of the 'school kids' had matching shirts on as they got on the bus, 'Follow us to State, black Panther Wrestling TShirts' covered my kids back today in support of Sam and his fellow 'state bound' buddies. The kids aren't whining or feeling guilty, so why am I? hmm....
So maybe all of this busy-ness is at least sort of okay, because it gives us all excuses to do things together, experience things we might not have, and support and love each other in many different ways....................at least that's what I am hoping, so my 'guilt' won't be in vain!!!
Looking out the office window and watching it rain.
From Tulip~
KH

Pictures from the Weekend

Cody and Rachel Coen, the 8th Grade Candidates for Band Prince and Princess. They didn't win, but I thought that they both looked nice Saturday night. (thanks Becker's for letting Cody clean up at their house, we would have never gotten there on time without your help, thinking Rachel wouldn't have been smiling if he hadn't! HAHAHAHA!!!)

Sam winning one of his matches, the less than enthusiastic face I think has to do with the fact that the boy he beat is a good friend and he knocked him out of the tournament with that win. I think it's hard for the boys sometimes in wrestling as they get to be good friends with these kids. Good Season, Tanner Dowling of Moberly! See you next year!!

My boys

Today was a great day. It started rather early, the alarm went off at 4AM! Cody, Sam and I were out the door by twenty till 5. We met Wayne in Columbia and the four of us drove to Wentzville, MO for the Regional Wrestling Finals. Centralia club sent 28 boys, which I thought was oustanding! We qualified 11 to go on to State Tournament, on the last weekend of this month. SAM INCLUDED!!!!
Sam's day started out like alot of them, he had a pretty easy first match in the second round, had a bye in the first round as he was seeded 1st in the bracket. The bye and two wins under his belt going into the semi final match, he had his first really well matched competition this year. This kid was about Sam's twin, physically and just as strong. But the advantage came in the fact that Sam's opponent has wrestled ALOT more than Sam has this year. I believe the Mom told me that they hadn't sat out a weekend all season. (either they are way more dedicated than us, or have alot more free time and disposable income......) Anyway, Sam lost in that round, he came off the mat, frustrated and I tended to agree, b/c we thought he had the kid pinned, and the ref didn't get down and see it fast enough.......oh well I guess. In Wrestle backs Sam picked up another win by pin (had three all together today!!) which set him up to wrestle for third place. Went into the third place match ready to go and did the job and we came away with third place, not a bad spot, considering the two above him, generally place high at National tournaments.
Cody didn't end up qualifying for State, but had a GREAT day as well. Lost in the second round, as his first round opponent was a scratch (not sure if he was sick or didn't make weight, we never heard) Then in Cody's first round of wrestle backs, to stay in it, he got in there and 'walked the dog' as our beloved Coach, Tim Gilbert would say! ;) Pinned that kid in the second period I think! Semi finals, he was just out muscled and then finished his day wrestling for 5th place. Came away with his last match of youth wrestling by winning, 13 to 9, in a great match. And he's already talking about weight lifting and next year.....
The second we got done wrestling, it was a flying trip back home as the Band Chili Supper and Pie Auction was going on tonight. They also crown the Band King and Queen, Prince and PRincess. This was part two, of our busy day. David, Jenna and Seth met us there. Cody played in the band performance. My pie was one of 40 some odd that were auctioned. My sweet husband was outbid at $70 by our friend, Gary Seider for my Triple Berry pie. AND.........Cody was the 8th Grade Band Prince Candidate. He didn't end up winning, but was very handsome escorting the his class Princess Candidate, Rachel Coen.
Long day, maybe when my camera revives from its dead battery coma and I revive from too many hours awake, I will get a few pics added. Until then,
From Tulip~
KH

March Madness has nothing to with Basketball at our house!

Sitting here at the computer this morning, I am feeling guilty that there are so many other things that I really OUGHT to be doing. But I have really missed getting to regularly add blogs to this site, so crossing my fingers and hoping to make this a higher priority. As I mentioned in the last post, yes I am enjoying Facebook, but I have had a goal in my 'facebook time' It's been a great tool in finding classmates and our goal of 'finding everyone' is much closer. Just a few to go! Our Class Reunion plans seem to be hard to get 'in ink' as we keep running into to conflicts with location, etc..... we are determined to have the reunion and want to stick with our current date of July 25th as the date seemed to suit most people the best. (Crossing my fingers and hoping my back yard isn't the only location available, but will take on for the team if necessary!)
Wrestling is starting it's wind up towards the FINALE at the end of the month. Districts are this weekend in Jefferson City. Sam is seeded 1st in his bracket, there are 6 others in the bracket, he's beaten at least 4 others more than once this year and the other two are first year wrestlers, so he's feeling pretty good about his prospects. And for Sam it's all about the shirt and I promised a 'district champ' t-shirt if he wins it all, so he's got a goal! ;) Cody is seeded 3rd. The districts' top 6 qualifiers go on to Regionals next weekend and that is at Wentzville, MO. From there the top 4 go to State at Hearnes Center the last weekend of March!
4-h is seems to get busier all the time, there are several county activities going on right now, preparations are being made towards this summer's fair, this month is a fundraiser. At our household, calves are being lead pretty well everyday mostly still by David and Bob, but the boys are spending some time in the barn with curry combs and doing a little leading. That will change as soon as wrestling is over, the boys will start spending ALOT more time with them, plus helping the men with field work, which of course we are hoping starts promptly the first of April! (cross your fingers!)
There is one final hog on our farm.......... everything else has been sold, so with all of their 'free time' the men have been working on some new projects. Beth and Jason took over the 'ABS' dealership (which means they now sell cattle semen) We will also being offering the service of AI-ing cows for customers. David and Beth got certified last weekend and Jason already is. Projects around here to help out with this little venture have been the tearing down of our farrowing huts that were along the south side of the little barn behind our house. The guys are building a corral and pen system to make it easier to get our cows in for that pasture and whenever someone would bring in a group of cows to get bred, this system would help in moving the groups around. It looks very nice, David has spent alot of time on the welder. I think he looks forward to the project getting done.
As always there's much more I could share, but that list of what all else, I SHOULD be doing is looming, so I should probably start tackling some of the jobs.
From Tulip~
KH

Remember us?

I have to admit that I have a new addiction, Facebook, which has seemed to 'eat up' alot of my internet time as of late. But besides being other places onthe web, we are just plain BUSY lately. The boys are in the middle of wrestling season and having great seasons!! I think Sam has only lost 2 or 3 times! Most of his wins are by pin! And Cody is winning some matches and accumulating some pins himself! Plus I have tried to take a more active role in the county 4H committees this year, so there have been several meetings to attend. Okay enough with the excuses.

What's all going on lately that good great and fun??? I have been sewing alot lately. Recently made the kids' Valentines' gifts. Jenna and Seth got coloring book totes with pockets for markers that you see in the picture. I also made the boys drawstring mesh bags for some of their wrestling stuff. (Wasn't as lucky to get them to pose for a picture)

Last week, David, Cody, Sam and Bob went with some friends to the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville KY. They saw all sorts of stuff and enjoyed tractor pulls both nights that they were there. While they were gone as a last minute sort of thing, I ended up taking several orders for Valentines goodies (30 dozen dipped strawberries) That was a nice shot in the arm of the ol' checkbook! :)

Cody's gifted class at school, Nexus, is getting ready to compete in their favorite acadmeic competition, Destination Imagination. (google it if you are interested, I don't remember the website) So they are putting in lots of hours during and after school getting ready. The local competition is in Jefferson City, this Saturday. If they place high enough they go to a regional competition in Joplin, MO........if they place there they can go to Knoxville TN like they did two years ago.

The boys are likely to have a busy summer, there is a barn full of show calves. Which they are already working with, and that makes me happy, I am glad that they are learning that an extra effort will pay off in the long run. (also since there are so many, I may have to lead one, so I am liking that they are getting them tamed down! ;)

We are looking forward to more than cattle shows this summer. In June the boys will go to 4H camp and my Dad's side of the family are all gathering at my Aunt's home in Arkansas, some of them I haven't seen since we got together in Oklahoma four years ago!!! I absolutely can't wait!!!! In July is my 20th HS class reunion, we are making great progress in finding classmates, only a few are giving us a good hunt! Hopefully we will find them all!!! And they will ALL get to attend! (well looks like the picture uploaded and I really need to go to bed!)

From Tulip~

KH

David's Birthday, catching up and misc.

Hello there
Seems like forever since I have taken time to write! That was a very long Christmas break, and I for one am glad to be back into the routine of school! Today is David's birthday! He's....... older than me, and that's all I better say. He's taking getting older and having a birthday with alot better attitude than normal, so I won't push it! :) We had 20 people for lunch yesterday to celebrate. I served Pork loin, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, slaw and macaroni and cheese. My mom brought crock pot corn, Grandma brought jello, and Gladys made one of David's favorite's, German Chocolate Cake. So we ATE WELL.
So much has happened since my last entry. The boys have been to two wrestling tournaments. At Boonville the weekend after Christmas, they took second and third, which they were pleased with. Then on the 3rd we went to Blair Oaks, I say we as we ALL went. The little kids did better than I expected them to. And the boys had spectacular days. They both got second place in their respective divisions. Sam pinned two guys and Cody pinned one! GREAT DAY! We went with our good friends, Bob and Margo and their kids to a great pizza place afterwards, Arri's across from the capital in Jeff City. For us that is almost as much a tradition during wrestling season for tourney's in JC as a stop to Central Dairy for ice cream.
Jenna who has been 'blessed' with bad teeth has had an expensive Christmas break, going twice to the dentist and we have one more appointment scheduled and will be racking up a HUGE bill, of course farmers don't have dental coverage!! We thought that she was going to be even MORE expensive as she's been having some ear problems, another one of those 'blessings' of heredity and we had considered putting tubes in her ears. With the BIG dental bills, we are going to hold off at least for now. Not to say next week we will have changed our minds. :)
I am very excited and looking forward to some Quilting classes that I have registered to take at 'Material Girl Quilt Shop' in town. Meredith has a great assortment of classes that she's offering through winter and early spring. There are several good classes with an assortment of totes and purses that you can make. There's even a luggage class, too cool! These are being taught by Lori Van Maanen. Some are on Saturdays, some through the week. Meredith is teaching several different quilt in a day type of classes also! I have signed up for one called 'Honeyberries' this is quilt made with strips of fabric and looks really cool with black and white, which I believe is what I will be making mine out of. There's teddy bear class that looks neat, taught by Meredith's mother in law, Judy Stidham. Also Lori V. is teaching a class where you'll make a cute trendy belt. almost every class is under $30 which is very affordable when you consider the time spent by the teachers. Several of the all day classes, maybe even all include LUNCH! So that's really cool too. I think that these classes would be great for those who love to sew or would like to learn how to, Meredith offers a wide variety for all skill levels. Go in and check the schedule! Think if you start now, what great gifts you could give this year for Christmas!! :)
Well the kids are home and I am trying to manage supper, homework and chores, so I better close this. Hoping that everyone had a blessed holiday and is comfortable settling into 2009!
From Tulip~
KH

Homemade Christmas Gifts

In an effort to save money this year and actually have something under the tree for the kids, I made them alot of things. One of those things was a 'closet' or 'wardrobe' for Jenna's doll clothes. I had looked at them all over and they ranged from $40 to $140 a piece. Now mine isn't made of wood, but with a box, some leftover fabric from Jenna's 'closet doors' (aka curtains) and some scraps of trim and a few (wo)man hours and a little help from Cody and David, Jenna has a really cute place to store her doll clothes. I used a box that I had. Cut my fabric to size and ironed on some 'wonder under' then literally ironed the fabric to the box, it worked just great. I covered the edges with some trim, used a little fabric glue/fray check along the edges. David cut a dowel rod (the only thing we had to buy for this project) to the right length and screwed it in place. The inside was lined with clip art and and things that Cody found and downloaded then printed off from the computer, they were lightly glued in place and then we covered the whole inside with clear contact paper that I had. (fyi-- we reinforced the interior of the box so it is all double layered cardboard, actaully VERY STURDY!) The knobs on the front and the handle on the top David found in the bottom of 'my' tool box, from some time when I had updated some cabinet doors, I think from back when we lived in the trailer.

The hangers were another invention, even the little doll clothes hangers were plenty high priced, I thought. So with a spool of floral wire that I had on hand I made several hangers. I was worried about the ends, so I covered the whole hanger in ribbon (that I also had on hand) They look very cute. Jenna just loves the closet, and we have her doll clothes hanging inside and she found a little 'mini' basket that fits in the bottom and its holding the doll shoes. I wonder where she gets her 'inventive-ness' hmmmm Anyway, wanted to share a picture, as I have told several about this project and I wanted to share a little about the finished project.

From Tulip~

KH

Christmas Celebrations, half way through

Although it's the day after Christmas, as far as the calendar is concerned it's still Christmas here. We have carolled with Church, we've went to Christmas Eve service, Santa's been here, and we've had Christmas with my parents. But we still have Christmas with David's family, the Barnes Christmas and lots of neighbor gifts to deliver, so Christmas is still in 'full swing' here. My kids have really surprised me this year. I worried that they might be disappointed with the gifts, as we made a point to stay within our budget this year and pretty well did it. The number of gifts was about he normal, but there were many more made gifts and smaller lesser expensive things. But you know the kids didn't seem to mind, there wasn't any 'hmm I didn't ask for this or where's the (fill in blank) that I asked for' They seemed to be truly grateful. For that I felt blessed.

Highlights of the days so far have been:

Cody is beside himself about the three sports history documentaries that he got: St Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Chiefs, and Indianapolis Colts, that surprised me, I had no idea he'd be so excited. Bought all three on an Amazon sale for $5.99 each!

Sam has enjoyed the 'build it yourself, design your own' lego set that he got, it was half the price of the 'branded' Lego series that are out there.

Jenna is enjoying the bead set and making necklaces, etc. (Dollar General find for $3)

Seth, well God love him has colored up a storm with his crayons and color books from probably Dollar General as well, can't remember bought them back in the summer thinking it would entertain him on a trip drivng, then didn't end up going and they were in the 'gift' stash, so they go wrapped.....

I sewed up a storm for the last month or more and so far those gifts have been loved so that's cool too. Teachers loved journal covers, Mom did too. Brittany loved her knitting needle holder, Riddick and Trinity's stocking were well received. All four kids are currently wearing the Pajama pants that I made them (they are all asleep) I am looking forward to Grandma and Gladys getting their quilts, DH's sisters getting their runners and journal covers, plus the kids getting their blankets.

I am proud to say that I have 'used up' a large portion of my fabric supply this year and created some great gifts, that cost me no 'extra' money in this time that we are going through with everyone having to tighten belts. I was thrilled to still be able to give 'great stuff'

David and I didn't exchange gifts this year. We put the $$ towards some updates for our bathroom, which is sorely needed. WE are getting a new medicine cabinet, light and exhaust fan. Then we will use the paint that I bought awhile back and finish it off. We feel truly blessed that we don't really 'need' anything and can focus our energy on doing things for our home instead of stressing out about buying gifts.

Since my Christmas cards are mostly still laying here on the desk, unmailed, Merry Christmas to everyone, and hopefully you'll get it soon and can call it a New Years card...........

The boys are wrestling in their first tournament tomorrow and the rest of the house is asleep and that's where I should be as well, so From Tulip~

KH

PS--for anyone who doesn't know, those are the 'cousins' my kids and Wayne's two taken last night at Mom and Dad's (Trinity was very relaxed and spent most of her first Christmas as expected, ASLEEP! Although she and her Aunt K hung out for awhile, which was GREAT!)