Going to Pa. for National Plowing Matches

Well be gone for a week to go to Pa. to the National Plowing Matches.
WEll, be back after labor day... Have a great week-end everyone..~!

Have temporary teeth and they look really good. Ben couple days would say "GranAnnie let me see your mouth" he would see that I had 3 teeth missing. "WOW GranAnnie you have no teeth".. So he saw me yesterday and he said "GranAnnie let me see your mouth" His eyes got really big and said "GranAnnie you have teeth".. and he said that is good... He is so cute..

I will miss him while I'm gone.. I gave him my super nintendo game and he loves playing Donkey Kong.. He calls it the monkey game.
Must get packed ~ I'm almost ready.. just a few more things to get together..
Ta Ta For Now...

He's a God of Abundance

I have this devotion I read every morning and oh my it is so good..
Ps.23:5~ My cup runs over~
From my devotion for today~
Paul writes, "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Eph.3:20) Our God is a God of abundance~! In Scripture, the overflowing cup is a powerful symbol. As long as your cup was kept full you were welcome. But if it sat empty the host was hinting that it was time to go. If he really enjoyed your company he kept filling it until it ran over the edge and down onto the table. Is your cup overflowing today? That means you're welcome at God's table, your seat is guaranteed, nobody can take your place, and your needs will be abundantly supplied. F.B. Meyer wrote: "Whatever the blessing in your cup, it's sure to run over. With God the calf is always the ftted calf, the robe is always the best robe, the joy is unspeakable, the peace passeth understanding. God's way is always characterized by overflowing bounty." So the last thing on earth we need to worry about is "making ends meet". Our cup overfows. Take grace for example; The more we see our sinfulness, the more we see God's abounding grace forgiving us" (Ro 5:20). To abound is to have a surplus~! The cup God gives overflows, with mercy. Are you afraid it will run dry? That your warranty will expire? That your mistakes are too great? No Way~! Before Parl became a Christian he went around persecuting, imprsoning and killing Christians. Yet he wrote, "Grace....was poured out on me abundantily" (1 Tim 1:14) Whatever you need today. God has ~~ in abundance. So ask, and believe Him for it~!
Wow~! that touched my heart.. God gives me blessings so abundantly I wouldn't be able to write them all onto a 9x10 piece of paper. If you would like to have this devotion for yourself just write to: Daily Devotional PO BOX 5160, Alpharetta, Ga. 30023-5160 or call 1-800-856-6159 or e -mail: twfyt@wordforyou.com It costs $1 per book... I order 25 at a time and give them out at my bible study. and to my family or anyone I think needs one.. It's a great witness tool and it sends out God's word.
God's Blessing to All, God is Good ~ All the Time...

Homemade birthday card

I think homemade birthday cards are so wonderful. Jodie our oldest daughter made this for her Dad for his birthday.. IT's now hanging in my office right above the light switch.. He is so proud of his card.. Jodie has a drawing of Ben riding on the John Deere Tractor with Pa Pa Dee... Cute Cute Cute.


Went to the dentist today and had my right front tooth removed... Yikes it is sore tonight.. My lip is also sore. Took some tylenol and hopefully it kicks in soon. Well be going back to dentist on Thursday to get crowns put in two of my teeth in front. Well be so glad when my smile is back to normal.. Lots of people staring today.. I just smile and think ~ I'll bet they are wondering how this happened to my lip.. On my way home I stopped at Dairy Queen and got me a chocolate milkshake.. Because I had a big piece of gauze in my mouth I wrote the girl a note and told her what I wanted at the drive-thru.. She looked at me with the biggest eyes. I wrote on the note that I tripped over a garden hose and wrote "Be Careful". She smiled and gave me the milkshake.. I came home and went to bed.
Ben called me after he got home from school to see how I was feeling..I told him I was getting better. Tracie said he is so concerned.. I told him I would come to see him tomorrow after he gets home.. He liked that idea. Tracie said this was his first day at Pre-School and he had a good time. When she picked him up at Daycare today he wanted to stay.. He was working on some puzzles and having a great time... He loves puzzles.
It's so chilly outside 57 degrees.. Unbeiveable that one week it's so humid that when you go outside ~ the lenses on your glasses fogs over and then tonight you go outside and you need a jacket.. I like it and it feels good. Especially to turn the AC off...open the windows and let some fresh air inside..
Grandaughter, Kelsy left for Italy today.. She is a senior at Iowa State University.. She is doing an internship in Italy with her Graphic Artist education . She is so talented. I saw some of her work online today and I was amazed. She has couple posters on billboards in Kansas City.
She worked for the Kansas City Chiefs this summer...I am so proud of her.. God has special plans for her in the future..
Have a great day everyone... Ta Ta For Now

Benny diligently washing the Benny Mobile and Grandpa Dee Dee's truck~!

After church on Sunday, Benny and I went outside and washed the Benny Mobile . Oh he loved standing on the ladder and washing the windows. This little guy stayed with this project for couple of hours. He loved it~! Especially the spraying . His shirt says it all "Prince Charming".
We had a great time washing, rinsing, washing , rinsing and talking ~talking~talking.

Here he is with a different shirt on because we stopped washing the Benny Mobile and went inside and took naps..He took a two hour nap.. He was really tired.
He really liked washing this huge truck as he called it. Grandpa Dee Dee"s truck.. I couldn't believe it, Dave came outside and asked him if he wanted a ride on the 530 John Deere.. He said "No Thank You". I'm busy... Lol.




He's back to being Prince Charming... saying "Cheese"~!
It was a hot day and a good day for washing the car/truck and playing in the water. When I spayed him with a little water he would say "GranAnnie ~ Please No Spraying me,,,spray the car..". I would say Oh Benny I'm so sorry... He would just laugh... He is such a fun guy to have around..


I think he learned how to stick out the tongue from Grandpa Dee Dee. He was really focused on the windshield to be sure to get all the smushed bugs off.

When we were almost finished washing the truck I was walking towards the front of the truck to get more hose pulled over and Benny lifted up the hose without me knowing. I tripped over the hose and came down flat on my chin and smashed my two front teeth through my lower lip. Thank goodness I didn't put my arms out to brace my fall. There was blood all over the place and poor Benny was concerned about me. We went to the house and I got into the bathroom and got a washcloth to put on my face.. Poor little guy he kept asking me if I was o.k. and he said "GranAnnie, you need to be careful".. He was so concerned with all the red that was coming through the cloth.
Tracie, Ben's mom came and we took Ben to his Dad's house.. Then we went to Anamosa Hospital.. I now have 3 stitches on outer lip and 2 stitches on inner lip.. X-ray that showed no broken bones in neck or chin.. I told the Dr. that my guardian angels were either dead or they lost all their feathers. I could of broken my nose, jaw, wrists, had a head concussion. God is good~! My chin hurts and of course my lip... Went to the dentist yesterday and it's going to cost $2600 to repair my smile.. Don't want to go around looking like a jack-o-lantern forever. I go today to get one front tooth removed and then go back to my dentist on Thurs. to get crowns on 2 of my teeth. It was a costly fall. Ben called me last night very concerned... "Grannie Annie how are you feeling~!" His Dad said that he was worried about me and wanted to know.. Sweet Benny...he is so thoughtful...

John is going home ~!

John is getting ready to go home and Ben took the picture. Ben is starting to like camera's and my camera on my phone. This is taken with my phone. I think it takes really good pictures even thou John's hand is blurred.. Ben is 3 1/2 and after he takes the picture he grins and then he looks to see if his picture is O.K. Just like GranAnnie does..
John and I went to JC Penney's and he got his clothes to start school. We got some really good buys there. Most of everything he bought was 50% off. The flat hat he has on his head was not on sale. When I was his age I wore a sailor's cap everywhere I went. I'm sure my grandma smiled or chuckled everytime she saw me with that hat on.. What is it with hats? Every generation has it's own way of dressing, wearing hats, shoes.. Now they have the flat bottom shoes that cost a lot~! They are used for skate boarding.. John and Kelly both have skate boards and they get around pretty good. No place to use a skate board here on the farm so they didn't bring them.


Ben taking picture of John in the car. Silly boy. It took us 2 hours to get to Stockton, Illinois and Ben was getting pretty bored sitting in his chair.. John likes to have his seat back a little ways and Ben started doing his high energy arm and leg swinging. He got John on the shoulder with his foot. John says "Ben, no kicking~!".. Ben says "How did you like that John?" Oh my. Ben did pretty good on the trip, he only spilled his water, his popcorn and his peanuts. I have a little square plastic tub that I put Ben's food and drink in and all he has to do is reach over and grab whatever he wants. On the other side of him is another tub and that holds books, catologs of John Deere toy tractors, games, activities to keep him busy. When traveling with Ben you have to be prepared ~! like a Girl Scout. That is the G.S. motto "Be Prepared". Then we have to have his music from the "Wiggles". He loves the wiggles music. He doesn't watch them on TV anymore but he loves the songs that they sing. I always look where there is a elementary school or a park , I always know they have playground equipment for him to play on and get some of that energy spent getting out of the car and running and going on the highest slides. Thank goodness for playground equipment..

Here's Ben with Kelly's hat on that she left at the house. He loves these flat hats.. While John and Kelly were here Ben learned how to do the controls for my Super Nintendo game. He loves to play Donkey Kong.. He calls it the monkey game. He does good going forward, backwards and jumping. He hasn't learned yet how to pick up anything and throw it.. This is a very old game and it's hanging in there and still working. When we got home yesterday from taking John to meet his Dad, Rich in Illinois Ben wanted to come to my house to play monkey.. So we came and played for an 1/2 hour and then I packed it up and told him he could take it to his Mommy's house and play it with Mommy. He was very excited..

He likes to watch Curious George right now. When he was a baby, Aunt Joelyn got him a Curious George stuffed animal.. He never paid much attention to it until now.. NOW George sits on the couch next to him and they watch the DVD together along with his pal "Nibbles".. Nibbles is a stuffed rabbit that we don't dare lose..

This morning the house is quiet and it's rather different after the flurry of having grandchildren here for the last 3 weeks. They are all home now getting ready for school to start. Our school here in Springville had to close after the first day of school.. The elementary had a big mold problem with all the rain and humidity we had this summer. I worked there as a custodian for 15 years and that school has had a huge problem with mold. There were 5 schools in our area that had to close their schools.. Good to get the mold cleaned up and the school be safe for kids that have allergies to mold.

Nice day here in Iowa, 72 degrees this morning and sunny.. Going to Belmond , Iowa for the State Plowing Matches, that will be held on Saturday.. It's a competition where a plot of ground is plowed with tractors. The competitor is judged on staightness, going into the area that is being plowed and coming out has to be even each time, can only plow 7" into the soil, everything has to be plowed under, no weeds or stubble can be showing, only have a certain amount of time to start to finish.. Lots of things to be considered in the whole plowing section . At the end of the day the judges tally up their scores and then trophies are given out. Over labor day week-end we will be going to Pennslyvania for the National Plowing Matches. 7 states will be there competing. If you have never seen a plowing competition, it's hard to imagine what I've just described.. One doesn't just go to the field and plow it up.. There is a skill one has to have to be good and to win.

It's Friday and today is Dave's birthday~! August 20.. He is 1/2 way to 134.. I think that sounds better than being 67. We don't get older we get more valuable.. I don't think of myself old ~ I have so much I want to do in my life and I just refuse to sit down for very long.

Ta Ta For Now~! Have a Tiggeriffic Day~!~!

Dairy Queen is a great place to meet~!

Dairy Queen is a good place to meet so we can see Kelsy and Joelyn.. Kelsy is our grandaughter and Joelyn is her Mom. Kelsy is a Senior at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. She will be leaving Aug. 24th for an internship in Italy until Dec. 18th.. She is so excited she will be staying in Barcelona for a short time and then go to Rome.. She is a graphic artist and very very talented. Notice GranAnnie is tooting her horn.. lol... I'm so proud of her . In the picture is Emily , Kelly and John. Grampa Dave is sitting next to John. Rich came to our house today to pick up Kelly and take her back to Illinois and dropping off John to stay for the week...
So far John and I went to J C Penney to do some school clothes shopping, he got his hair trimmed and thinned out.
Went to the library to get a book to read for both of us. He loves to read. John is 13 and going into the 8th grade. Olin, Kelsy's brother came over yesterday. We had a great time with him.. He is going to be a Sophmore at Iowa State University.
Olin is majoring in Mechcanical Engineering and he is very talented in drawing things too. It's great to have the grandchildren all get together to make memories. That's my goal in life~ making memories.. that way we have something to talk about on rainy days or when we get old..


Here's Sparky Girl, Kelly giving Ben one more swing at the Marion Park.. He loves to swing around and around. I can't do this anymore.. One swing and I'm on the ground.. laughing.
In the background is the Marion Library.. I love this library and go to it often..



Here's John getting used to driving the lawn tractor.. Granpa Dave told him he needed to practice around the yard so when it's time to mow he will be used to going around the trees and the garden. Last time he used this tractor he drove it into my vegetable garden.. oops~!~! I lost a few pepper plants and tomato plants.
Where he lives in Illinois, his dad has a company come to mow the grass. So John has missed out on mowing the grass at his house. BUT here in Iowa where we have an acre of grass to mow or more he will get a chance to mow...


John is so handsome in this picture. He has practiced with the mower and Grandpa Dave is in the foreground weed whacking and getting ready for the mowing..
This morning he is still asleep~! He likes to stay up late.. Aug. 24 that will change quickly, school starts for him and the ole alarm will be getting him up at 6 a.m.
Lately I'm lucky to be up at 8.. I like to go to bed and read and then sleep in a little.. I used to be up at 5 a.m. when the house is quiet and I can sit outside in my chair and watch the birds and drink my first cup of coffee.
Life is great at the Postlethwait's house. Have a great Wednesday..I'm excited, John is here and we are going to have a fun day~!

Springville Fun Days

After a hot day at the Fun Days in Springville, Kelly and I went swimming.. Here she is on the turtle cooling off. This turtle likes to roll over so it's very hard to stay on.. We had a lot of fun swimming in this pool.

Here's Kelly playing Bingo at the fun days.. She played until she won.. The prizes were very nice~! I liked the T-shirt that she had on.. very cool penquins..~!

Here is the church float that was made for the parade.. Fred is in the green shirt. He was our driver and pulled our float through the parade. . His son Nathan is next to him.. See Kelly in her purple penquin shirt? The title of our float was "Life is Better When Jesus is Driving.."

Isn't that the truth..

Kelly at cooking classes at Hy-Vee grocery store

Kelly and I had some shopping to do at the Hy-vee grocery store to get some groceries.. When we got inside there was a sign that said "Kids Cooking Class".. I asked her if she wanted to join. She said "Sure~!".. So she joined in with the other kids. It was so much fun to watch.. They were making healthy snacks.. She said she would be able to use those ideas someday when she got a babysitting job.. She is a Girl Scout and I told her she could also use those ideas for getting a badge... While she was in class for 1 hour I went ahead and got the groceries so we could go home.. Of course when coming to town we always stop at Dairy Queen or McDonalds and get a ice cream cone to eat the 15 miles to the farm... yum yum~!



She is so beautiful~! Thursday evening we went to the Kernel's baseball game in Cedar Rapids. They are affiliatted with the California A's..
ADM Cornsweeteners was having a recognition for their workers and retirees night. Dave used to work for ADM.
They served hamburgers. brats and free pop. It was good and we had a great time watching the game. Even thou it was 89 degrees and very humid it was still nice.




Kelly was asked to go on the field with a group of kids to hold this huge flag before the game started. I took it with my phone and you have to imagine what a close up picture would of looked like. She thought this was so cool..
We had a great time and was glad we got to go to the game. It just adds to the memories that Kelly had while she was here in Iowa.
I will miss her when she goes home.
She is such a wonderful, caring young girl...

My Sparky Girl has arrived~!

This is my Sparky girl~! I have called Kelly this since she was a little girl.. I met Rich in Stockton, Illinois.. Gave him back Emily that was here last week, I hated her to go because we had such a great time and now I have Kelly. Kelly is age 11 and is such a wonderful girl. She is sooooo good with Ben. Kelly has the energy to watch and keep up with him.. When Ben goes home, Kelly always says "Whew he is so busy"..
This morning we woke up early before Ben got up (He stayed all night at GranAnnie's) and made strawberry jam.. She has never done this before and oh my, she loved it~! She didn't know this is how jam is made and she said it tastes so much better than store bought.. I used Spenda for the sugar. Hope it does O.K. We made 6 jelly jars of Strawberry Jam. She said she can hardly wait to open up one jar and put it on her toast...when she gets home.. I told her it would taste good in the morning when school starts and she can have it on her toast before she goes to school. Yum~! Yum~! She is going into 6th grade.


Here she is stirring the jam.. She asks 'What is all this foam all about?".. I told her that is normal and we will have to use a metal spoon to get it all out... I just love having the grandchildren here. I always do something with them that they have never done before.



She took this picture. She was so proud~! This is our homemade salsa.. We put one jalapeno pepper in because Kelly and her dad, Rich love spicy things. IT's now cooking down and we have the jars all cleaned and ready to fill..

These pictures are not in order.. But here is Kelly getting the tomatoes skinned, and cut-up to put in the chopper.. I gave her a clove of garlic and told her to cut it up and sure enough she used her noodle and put it in the chopper.. She said "That was easy"... We got everything measured , diced, sliced and into the big pot to cook.. She said she loves Salsa.. We made 4 pints and 1 quart.. I told her she could take it all home and share with her family.

She put this dress on because she said it would be something good to wear when cooking. Lol. She said "Can we make apple pie tomorrow?" I said of course.. She wants to learn how to cook. Yesterday we went to Hy-vee grocery store to get groceries and they were holding cooking lessons for children.. I asked them if Kelly could join in with the group and they said "Of course".. So she got to learn a few things on how to make healthy snacks.. She loved it~!

Rainy Monday ~ which is O.K.

Reading everyone's blogs this morning and can't seem to get anything done.. It's such a joy to read these blogs as it makes me laugh, and think of my days.. I was laughing so much this morning my husband Dave came in and said "What is so funny".. I tried to tell him, but it wasn't funny to him.. Of course not.
Emily is up and at it this morning, she is eating her bagel and trying to do her math.. She loves Math as much as I do ~~~NOT~! Dave is helping her and I can feel her resistance.. He loves Math. She is a sweet girl and is being patient with Grandpa Dave trying to get to her to understand. I always have to have Dave help me with fractions, (when fractions was taught when I was in school, I had the mumps and missed two weeks of school) and missed fractions.. He can't spell ~ so I help to spell.. Were helpers for each other in our math and spelling..
Emily wants to go to see the movie Ramona and Beezus.. So at noon we are going to the movie.. My friend Holly is going too with her two children. Caryn and Nathan.. Caryn and Emily are best friends.. Caryn is 8 and Emily is 9.. Emily goes back to Illinois tomorrow and she will be back at her house.. She said she will miss me mushly... We have had a good week together and have had lots of fun.. Hopefully she will remember and have great memories to take with her as she gets older.
Need to feed my birds and fill my hummingbird feeders before I go.. Have a tiggeriffic Monday...

It's raining today..

Today Emily is over at her friends house Caryn and I have decided to clean my house.. Caryn's mom has bunk beds she is wanting to get rid of and I decided to bring them to my house. So I got the bedroom upstairs ready to put them in there... Rats~! Now it's raining and I'll just have to wait until it quits to go after them...

Dave is gone for not sure how long. He took his 530 John Deere tractor to take in a parade in Ely, Iowa... Bet he wishes he had a rain coat.. He's going to be wet and chilly when he comes home.

Ben called me and said "Mommy just bought me a Buzz Light Year"...Above and Beyond, too Infinity. I thought that was so funny. Tracie went to Aldie's today to shop for groceries and then they went to WalMart... She took these pictures and the one with him on the horse is a little blurry... She said she gives him 2 quarters and tells him he can ride whatever he wants.. So he chose the horse... He was content with not having anymore money and off they went.. She said when they got to the front doors it was pouring down rain.. So they just ran for it.. I asked her if she melted.. She laughed and said "No.." but Ben loved running in the rain and stomped in all the puddles... He is a normal boy..~! Glad to hear that...

Quit raining.. so off I go to get those bunk beds.. I can hardly wait... Ta Ta For now...

Here is Ben, Tracie and Emily standing next to the corn..It's really high~! Ben is saying "GranAnnie it's above my head".. Look GranAnnie~!"

Albert's corn is taller than me and Mommie and Emily"..

Steve said yesterday that this corn has dented which is a good sign.. It will be their first farm to harvest this fall and Ben can ride the combine..

Went to my friend, Holly's house yesterday.. Nathan age 11 gave a ride to Ben, Emily (9) Caryn (8). He was in hog heaven.. He had a great time tottling all over the yard with the girls... Nathan doesn't know it but everytime we go to Holly's house now Ben is going to be expecting a ride.. He loves tractor rides regardless if he is riding in the trailer or sitting on Nathan's lap and helping to drive.

Ben doing his favorite thing Riding with Steve on his tractor.

Yesterday when I picked up Ben at daycare I noticed that Steve our neighbor was working on fluffing the hay with his new tractor. Ben got all excited~! So we drove down the lane and Steve saw us and stopped his tractor..
He said "Hi Ben, you wanna ride with me?" I said "picture time"..So the boys stopped and let me take a few pictures.
Ben climbed into the cab and off they went.


Hey boys~!
Ben calls Steve's tractor.. Otis.. We borrowed a book from the library and found a tractor story about a red tractor named Otis. We have renewed this book 3 times now.. Guess I better see if I can buy one.. This is Ben's favorite book right now.. Grandpa Dee Dee only has green tractors. Men and their toys ,doesn't matter to Ben green,yellow,red,,he loves them all~!

Bye GranAnnie see you later...

Gotta love it~!~!

Emily is coming to my house~!~!

I'm so excited, Emily, my grandaughter is coming to my house today and staying for a week. She lives in Barrington, Illinois with her Dad, sister Kelly and brother John. Rich lets the kids come to Iowa for a week at a time.. So it's Emily's turn.

She is 9 years old.. I'll bet this morning she is packing to come. I'm going to meet Rich in Stockton, Il.. sometime today.. I can hardly wait. She is such a sweetie.. After Emily, Kelly comes and then John.. What a great way to end one's summer.. Having their grandchildren come for a visit.. I have lots of things planned for each one of them... Ben "Rascal Shorts" can hardly wait to see them.. He loves his cousins..

My sweet sister, Lynn George

This is my sister, Lynn who I love and miss so very much..Growing up she was known as Lynn George. That is what her nickname . She lives in South Carolina. Here is a description of a "Southerner":

A southerner is a person born or living in the south, gracious, easy going, slow talking, friendly folk devoted to front porches, oak trees, cool breezes, magnolias, peaches and fried chicken. She is all of this and more.

I try and go to her house every year and at this time I see on this picture it was the year 2007.

When we get together our favorite thing to do is to go to Columbia Zoo and visit the gorillas. then we go up the big hill to the botanical garden and look at all the flowers and trees and the water falls.. It's all so beautiful. When we get back to her house we like to sit on the back deck and drink our hot tea and build a fire in the fire pit and just sit and laugh and talk about our day. When I was there this last March it was full moon time and it was amazingly big and bright.

Brother Dave was there at this time and we bought lots of perienniels for her garden. He bought her some solar lamps for her garden and it was so cool to see them shining all over her yard.. I think that is such a marvelous invention.

While there in March we went to the Ocean and stayed for a few days.. We went to the Brook Green Garden in Pawleys Island.. What a wonderful garden with lots of those southern oak trees, flowers and lots and lots of statues.. We were there for a whole day and enjoyed everything we saw. I took lots of pictures with my new camera brother Dave had given me. It's a Nikon...

It's August and I'm thinking of when I can go and see her again.. Probably won't be until next spring.. I can hardly wait. We always make lots of memories and enjoy each other so much. Wish we lived closer.. Iowa and South Carolina are far apart. Thank goodness we have Verizon phones, we can talk to each other frequently.. I love all this new technology..

It's been a great day in Iowa... Ta Ta For Now~~~~~