In 3...2...1

In just three short days I will lose all my babies to another year of school.  Where the heck did summer vacation go?!?!  I was so excited for the last day of school in May I never even took the time to wrap up the year on my blog!  As I try to wrap my head around all the adjusting and schedule changes that will go on in the next week with the new school year coming, I feel the need for closure on kindergarten, 3rd, and 6th grade.

The last day of school for Keeley-3rd, Katelyn-K, Barbara-6th, Jacob-6th, & Sara-9th

I swear I don't color coordinate them - they just tend to always dress alike!!!

We are SO proud of Keeley for receiving the "Citizenship Award" in Mrs. Taylor's room

Keeley also was recognized for her role as a "Student Leadership Representative"

The moment I waited the WHOLE stinking long school year for!!!

Although his start was a little rocky in 6th grade, Jake turned it around and did an excellent job academically.  He will start 7th grade as the varsity football equipment manager, earned a spot in Junior Jazz Band, and is the 7th grade class vice president.

My girls are home!!!

Kate had perfect attendance!  (Keeley missed it by one day.)

So for the next 3 days I will give a few extra hugs and kisses, spend more time watching cartoons, making their favorite meals, and using every one of my superpowers to stop Monday morning from coming...

Imperfectly Perfect Mother's Day

Mother's Day is supposed to be a day to celebrate Moms - hence the name of it, right?  Well, sometimes things just don't go as planned and Mother's Day isn't always filled with sunshine and roses...we're only human, right?!?!

It started off like any other Sunday - we got up and got ready for church, but from my bedroom I could already hear the head-butting begin...one didn't want cold cereal for breakfast, one wanted to wear her cowboy boots with her dress, one put on a shirt that was too wrinkly and Dad made them change it.  I did my best to brush it off and reminded them all on the way to church that "It's Mother's Day - please just listen, cooperate, and get along."  We know how to do this - why was it so difficult especially on Mother's Day?!?!

The church service was a beautiful Mother's Day Song Service and I was hoping it would have given everyone a chance to reset.  We came home and snapped some pictures by our gorgeous lilacs  and then headed for brunch with Scott's family in New Ulm.

Our little Runges!

The guy I get to do this SUPER hard but awesome parent job with!

All three kids behaved perfectly but 2 out of 3 still got on Dad's nerves by not eating enough of what was on their plates.  After a nice brunch and some more pictures we ran to Wal-Mart to grab some water, snacks, and heavy duty garbage bags so we would be ready to spend our afternoon cleaning road ditches.

Me and my kiddos - again!

Always at work...

Because Keeley was allowed to put the boots on after church and I like her boots with her dress :)

Now that I've distracted you with cute pictures - back to the road ditches - does this sound like the ideal way to spend Mother's Day?  Easy answer - No it does not.  However, responsibilities and obligations sometimes fall before wants.  We typically have our Farm Bureau and 4-H Adopt-A-Highway road ditches cleaned before Mother's Day and this year we had Keeley's school play and Honors Concert Piano practice on Saturday so we were up against a wall.  It was forecast to rain most of this week (which it has) and we didn't want the grass to get any longer, so that meant cleaning ditches on Sunday.  I was totally fine with that - we have enjoyed doing it as a family for the past 2 years.

Kate - working her ditch cleaning cuteness!!!  All business - with plenty of fashion!











Sad thing was this year was different - we all entered it with a bad attitude - including me after the way the morning began and especially after reading everyone's gushy, perfect posts on Facebook.  To make matters worse, after we went home from brunch, changed clothes and got the pick up, we drove the 10 miles out to the family farm to get the 4-wheeler and Bushhog and then realized the new garbage bags we had just purchased were left at home.  Keeley and I got back in the truck and drove the 20 mile round trip to retrieve the bags and then went back to the farm to get started.  We all were still crabby with each other and the girls and I took off to start while the boys finished getting their 4-wheeler ready to go.

Keeley - full of heart and fully committed to doing her job to make the world a better place - especially for Dustin's pigs :)






















The busy boys - two peas in a pod - most of the time...






Then something amazing happened over the next FOUR hours of working outdoors non-stop - the bickering stopped, the bad attitudes changed to positive, the frowns changed to smiles, and we were working together as a family again.  Not nearly as glamorous as our previous pictures, but much more genuinely happy.

The pictures speak for themselves.  We spent an afternoon, technology free (except mom's phone camera!), cleaning up God's beautiful creation and it slowly fixed us all, calmed us down, and brought us back to why we love and appreciate each other and reminded us how well we work together as a family when all the other distractions are taken away.

We ended the night with a quick visit with my parents and then take-out for supper in our PJs at 9 pm after hot showers - not the New York Strip Steaks I'd been hoping for, but the grill will still be there this weekend...  Then the girls gave me the gifts that they made at school - The Kinder Cooks Cookbook had us all laughing until we cried!

 And Keeley's card was so sweet she made me cry all over again! 

We all have a moments when we're not the best version of us - mine are daily! - but I'm sure blessed that I am a Mom 365 days a year and not just on Mother's Day! <3  A belated Happy Mother's Day to all Moms and all those who help support any kiddo (especially those who have stood in for me on many occasions!), whether they are biologically yours or not, in any way - you are needed and appreciated!!!  And an extra hug and "love you"to all the kids in my life who are comfortable enough to make yourselves at home at our home - you will always be welcome!  <3

...oh, and as for gifts from the boys - Scott got me an XM Radio subscription to get me through all the summer "running" - which I TOTALLY love and appreciate!  And from Jake - he said, "Happy Mother's Day!  You get to be my Mom!" :)

We're not totally blowing this parenting job!!! ;)

Sooo..... when you have multiple kids you constantly are judging yourself for mistakes you made with your first kid.  We held him too long...responded to every cry...rocked him to sleep for the first year...  By the second and third you slap yourself on the forehead and sigh, "Oh, man, did I do that wrong..."  For the past 11 1/2 years Scott and I have second guessed every move we have made as parents - was it the right move putting him in preschool for only one year?  Was it a good decision putting him in public school vs. private school?  Should we have held him back with a July 1st birthday?  Your first kid starts to feel like an experiment.  We spend a lot of time making sure that we give our 3 kids every tool that we can to make sure that they not only survive in school, but thrive in school.

We are currently trying to survive having 3 kids in 3 different schools.  Yes, we chose that.  But it does make it more difficult for a stay-at-home mom to remain on top of all 3 kids in all 3 schools and still continue to be as "hands-on" as I was with one child in one school.

Days like today make the years of parenting, sacrificing, teaching....pay off.  When Jake came through the door this afternoon, glowing with pride - his enormous smile lighting up his face, and told me he had been chosen as student of the trimester in his section of the 6th grade class my mouth fell open.  Not that I doubt his worth in receiving the award - it's just not often that "little" Jake gets recognized for anything!  Academics are supposed to be an unbiased playing field and it is extremely rewarding as a parent to have your child recognized at any level of personal accomplishment.  A quote from his award by his teacher, Mrs. Faber, " Jacob never failed.  Jacob felt the pressures of the 6th grade early on but took this on as a challenge and has learned to manage his time to become an excellent student."  This isn't an accident!  As parents we watched his grades slide and we worked together to help Jake get back on top of them and come up with our new High School expectations.  As a parent it is reassuring to know:

SOMETIMES WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING!!!!  YES, WE REQUIRE HIM TO PRACTICE FOR HOURS BEFORE A TEST, BUT THAT'S PARENTING!!!!  WE WILL DO THE SAME THING WITH OUR DAUGHTERS!

We are very involved parents (sometimes we question too involved) but that's who we are.  We want to ensure that our children are performing in life to their full capacity.  We are extremely involved in their lives and continuously pray we have raised them to make the right decisions.

So today we celebrate the HANDS ON PARENTS - We are right there with you - you are AWESOME!!!  And if you live in rural Minnesota and your local Dairy Queen happened to open for the season on March 1st, that is an added celebration bonus!  Cheers to you!  CHEERS TO ALL OUR KIDS!!!

Mrs. Faber's Student of the Trimester - 2nd Trimester 2016

DQ Reward!

Miss Priss - Keeley - 3rd Grade Leadership Team

Baby Kate - surviving Kindergarten - one day at a time! ;)

Farmers + Guy Fieri = 1st Blogaversary!

It's my 1st Blogaversary today so naturally I've been reflecting on what I've accomplished in the past year.  A year ago Scott and I had just come home from the Minnesota Farm Bureau Leadership Conference (which we have attended annually in January since the first year we were married) and, as usual, we came home pretty pumped up about Ag and full of new ideas of things we hoped to accomplish.  One of those was starting this blog.  It was an idea I had kicked around for some time but figured I really didn't have anything to say that people would be interested in.  I firmly believe God places certain people around you when you need them.  During the conference Scott and I had the pleasure of having a meal with the wonderful Lanoue family from Southwest Minnesota.  We enjoyed getting to know them better and by the end of the conversation they had encouraged me to bite the bullet and put myself out there.  Ruth also has a wonderful blog  - Family Farm Experience - I encourage you to check it out!

As is fitting, we attended our 12th Leadership Conference this past weekend and had a blast visiting with our Farm Bureau friends we only get to see a few times a year.

250+ attended the conference - seen here listening to Minnesota Farm Bureau President, Kevin Paap

 Although we attend a lot of educational sessions and listen to speakers while we are at the conference, we also know how to have a good time - in a BIG way!

Human Hungry Hungry Hippos

Oversized Yahtzee

Lots of Bean Bags

Jumbo Jenga

Copperhead Creek

He may not always seem like a fun guy but he is PRETTY hilarious and likes to have a good time - he will do anything to get me to smile!

Packaging 10,800 meals for Kids Against Hunger before our Saturday evening banquet

Looking good Mr. Runge!

The conference was excellent, as usual!  Another reminder why we do what we do - I wasn't raised with an Ag background - but Scott was.  His life is mine and vice versa.  I have come to realize how many people do not understand that without farmers they would have nothing!  Nothing to eat.  Nothing to wear.  No where to live.  Farmers provide steak, bacon, eggs, milk, bread, sugar, flour, corn, wool, cotton, wood, fuel....there is no end to the list.  Things DO NOT come from a store!  They come from farmers!  This was the first year at the conference that I could proudly say I'm not a farmer (rather than feeling a bit awkward being there and not living on a farm) - but that I live in a rural community and Ag is important to my family and friends and impacts me and my livelihood on a daily basis.  I am an AGvocate.  I want to do my part in making sure those in the agricultural industry are recognized for the amazing work they do - they are truly working to feed the world.  The sooner people realize that farmers are intelligent people who research, graph, analyse, and use science and math for the betterment of the earth, and that they are not just people dropping seeds into dirt looking to make a quick buck, the better the world will be...after all - farmers feed their own families, too.

Off my soapbox now...

So, on a lighter note!  If you follow my blog or know me at all, you know that I am very passionate about food and cooking.  I've shared some of my recipes on my blog (which was really my way of forcing myself to clean up my post-it note ridden counters full of chicken scratches of pretty much everything I make in the kitchen - you never know when something will turn out really good and your hubby will love it and say you should make it again and you have to look at him and admit you have no idea what you did because you just started throwing stuff together and didn't measure it or write it down!) Whew!  That was a really long side note.  Anyhow!  I love the Food Network and Cooking Channel and have them on pretty much constantly when I'm home alone - I need the background noise!  I love the show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and have always wanted to eat somewhere Guy has.  So.....before we left Minneapolis we went out to eat at the Colossal Cafe.

GUY ATE HERE!!!!

Thanks to a few of our AwEsoME Farm Bureau friends for humoring me and coming with to brunch!

I wanted to have what Guy ate - Flappers with 3 Rivers Maple Syrup, apple, walnut, & Brie cheese - after I ordered mine I was informed that they were out of flappers for the day so I ordered a Cubano sandwich (which was delicious!).  The owner felt bad I didn't get mine and managed to eek one more pancake out of her batter so I could try it - and gave it to me free of charge!  What an awesome place!

Scott had biscuits and gravy - with sunny side up eggs which Guy would HATE!

The restaurant only seated about 15 at a time!  A wonderful experience and something to cross off my bucket list!

It's been wonderful year - thanks for living it with the Rural Runges!