The Many Study Positions of Matthew

Big news here in Schulzville: Matt is about ready to embark on an eight-hour exam through which he aspires to obtain his Professional Engineer licence. He has been studying a few hours a week since the frigid days of February, and spent even more time in the preceding months writing his project work statement, finding references, and sending in his application to take the exam. And now, the big day has finally arrived...test day! Good luck...so proud of my engineer! :)

Duck Nesting Box (The Ducks, Part I)

(A Post By Matthew)

      As many of you may know, we have had five ducks wintering with us on the pond.  Of the nine that we received from my brother Philip, only five of them resisted the calling of their wild friends as they migrated south for the winter.  I installed an aerator in the pond to keep the ice open for them and kept their food dish filled.  They have been a source of entertainment during the long winter. 

        One of my co-workers suggested that I make a nesting tube for the ducks and showed me some plans for them on the internet.  I was able to find a roll of wire mesh, staples, a sheet of plastic, and a post out in the shed.  The only item that I didn't have on hand was some grass hay to fill the tube.  

        To start out, I made a platform out of a 2X6 and secured it to the top of the post.  I then cut a piece of the wire mesh to 100 inches and rolled the first 42 inches into a tube.  The next step was to lay the grass on the remaining 58 inches with a piece of plastic to help shed the rain.  After drilling a hole in the ice, I pounded the post in and stapled the wire mesh to the 2X6 as shown below.

Getting ready to staple the wire mesh onto the 2X6

     With the help of my wife, I rolled the rest of wire mesh as tight as possible to avoid losing any of the grass.  After securing the loose end, I arranged the grass in the tube in the shape of a nest.

The tube is a little longer than necessary but that was how tall the wire was and I figured maybe they could share.

A nice cozy nest 

The finished product

       I finished the project just in time, as the weather soon became warm and the ice began to melt.  Much to our dismay, the ducks never seemed to notice the nice nest that I made for them and have since found other nesting locations.  Two of the ducks stay around most of the time and the other three seem to have made a nest at some other location, although they come back often for the free food.

     We ruined their first nesting location when we removed the cover off the aerator we found an egg sitting on the dock.  

     After that we saw them poking around under one of the bushes in our landscaping.  When I checked it the next day there were already two eggs in the nest.

Day one: two eggs 

Day two: one egg was banished from the nest (It must have been bad) 

Day three: another good egg joined the nest.  

     I was a little concerned that the ducks were not sitting on the nest, but after consulting the internet I found out that they won't start sitting until they have laid 10-12 eggs.  After that, the ducks will take turns sitting on the eggs for 28 days until they hatch. 

Late Winter Fun

Winter, fun? Yep! We have found several ways to entertain ourselves in the last cold days of winter.

First, the Princeville/Bradford single groups made their appearance at my dad and mom's house for a lunch call and singing one Saturday afternoon. They were on a mystery trip, and a quick stop in Mediapolis was a diversion scheme by the coordinators. It was exciting to see our friends from there for a short while!  

Another diversion from the cold outside is to teach your son from the high school wrestling team to wrestle. Dad found out after he pinned his opponent that Jonathan hadn't been trying because he still had his hearing devices on and didn't want to break them.

That evening, we also pulled taffy with my family. This was the third time around for a couple of my brothers this year, so they were essentially pros by this point. It turned out well! 

Not surprisingly, we had ice skaters here again this past Saturday. They wanted to get in one last game before the ice melted, and they left just in time. It started to get a little slushy later that day! 

When the ice gets too cold, why not come in and make some cookies? Titus and Timothy helped me out in the kitchen to bake up a treat for the skaters.

Of course, what is winter without some more photos of our ducks? They got a photo shoot one day as we walked around outside. There are still five of them and they are doing great!

This is my handsome man, not a duck. What a quack-up! 

This is the contraption Matt made last fall. He hooked up an aerator to his floating dock to keep the water open for the ducks. This is on the opposite side of the pond from the skating area, to calm any nerves. 

Toward the end of the photo shoot, I was getting a nice photo of Matt when the ducks suddenly flew in front of him and I got an even more priceless shot! :) 

In other non-photographed business, Matt has been spending several evenings studying for his PE (Professional Engineer) exam, which is coming up in April. In fact, that is what he is doing as I write (although he will be proofreading this before I post, if that gets confusing).

Last Friday, I got to spend the evening at a singing with my friend Issa from Ixtlan, MX, who is up visiting her sister in Burlington. My Spanish is extremely rusty after a year and a half without it, but it was still nice to catch up with her a bit! We are hoping to be with her again tomorrow evening at church.

Sunday was Nathan and Kaylyn's wedding in Mediapolis, so we enjoyed the joyful day with many other visitors! We also spent a bit of time at my parents' place saying goodbye to Billy who was going back up to Morris. He has been on a co-op up there since January and will continue through August, but came back home for the wedding. After the reception, we headed out to Matt's parents' home for an evening with the family since Tim and Laurie were here.

On the home front, I have been working a lot of extra hours the past couple weeks as we are in a transition period with coworkers and are a little short on help right now. I normally work about 20 hours a week, but it has been closer to 30-35 now. Thus, less and less seems to be getting done around the house.

Matt will be writing a post (MATT-WRITE A POST??? I KNOW, THE MOST EXCITING THING SINCE SHREDDED CHEESE!!) about one of his latest projects, so I won't ruin the excitement there.

My project has been making drapes for our living room window, and if they turn out I might consider posting pictures later. This is the first time I have really done much sewing, so it is quite an adventure. I have learned to just leave everything on the machine put together and not touch any buttons besides the on/off switch, reverse, and the pedal. Otherwise, it takes me several hours to figure out how to get it working again. This wasted time could obviously be better spent doing other things.

Tonight's entertainment (post-supper, pre-study time): 

-A walk down the road to enjoy the beautiful weather,

-Matt replacing the fuel filter in his car,

-A big man-made fire in the garage from the leftover gas,

-Exploding an aluminum can filled with gas using a .22 (my fourth time ever using a gun),

-Wondering what has come over me since marrying this man.

Have a great week! 

Back to The Old Stomping Grounds

Although I still basically live in my old stomping grounds (AKA Mediapolis), Matt and I got to spend a little over a week at my Mom and Dad's house with my brothers while our parents went on vacation to the Dominican Republic. They left Saturday the 14th and returned home Sunday the 22nd. Everything went fairly smoothly, and it was nice to spend a little more quality time than usual with my brothers!

Even in her absence, Mom did not forget us on Valentines day! She left us a delicious meringue dessert along with individual boxes of candy!

Yum! 

The week went fairly quickly...

Saturday night: Taffy pull at Steiner home
Sunday night: Singing at Fellowship Center
Tuesday - Saturday: Johnny at State Wrestling
Wednesday: No School
Other Afternoons and Evenings: Misc. Practices, Games, and Activities
Friday: Casey's Pizza + Our Own Homemade Donuts!
Saturday: Cleaning House, Bathroom Projects, Singing at Aunt Janette's
Sunday: Presentation at Fellowship Center

I have always wanted to try making homemade donuts, but couldn't ever do it for just Matt and I, so we made them Friday evening. They were a fun treat for all of us and turned out really well! So delicious!

Homemade donuts!

Is anyone seeing a pattern that all of the pictures in this post thus far are centered around food? 

On Saturday I went to a baby shower while Matt and the boys spent the morning cleaning the house for Mom and Dad's arrival home. In the afternoon, he started in on replacing the ceiling fan in their bathroom, along with unclogging the sink. These projects and their cleanup lasted until 11:30.

The middle of the project was a huge mess - with insulation falling everywhere! Good thing Mom didn't have to see this. She was happy with the final product, though! 

After church on Sunday, we took the boys to the airport to decorate Mom and Dad's car. :) They returned from their trip about a half hour after we got home from the fellowship center. We still need to hear all about their trip, but it sounded like they had a wonderful and relaxing time!

As always, it was great to finally sleep in our own bed again when we got home! I spent Monday evening getting caught up from being gone, Tuesday getting started with my week (and ice skating in the evening), and this afternoon catching up on sleep. :) Church was cancelled tonight due to accumulating snow, so hopefully we will be able to get out of our lane tomorrow! If not, we thankfully have a plow to help us out now...

Hope you've all had a great February! Can you believe March is right around the corner? In my world, March means almost April and therefore almost spring...there are still so many things I was hoping to get done this winter, so I'd better get on them!

Saga of the Month-End

Around the last week of January, things started to get rather blurry in our minds until we woke up over a week later and realized we were already several days into February!

The month of January resumed with Matt's coworker's wedding in Davenport - a very lovely and joy-filled day with the happy couple! Unfortunately, there was only one photo on my camera of this event and it is not very descriptive, to say the least.

Umm...this might have been the cutting of the cake, but I am really not sure. 

The following week was a bit of a whirlwind, starting with me getting a quick flu bug on Tuesday. I felt fine by the next day, but ended up missing work both days. When I got back to work on Thursday, I found that my coworkers had also caught my bug, so I was kind of on my own for the last two days of the week and worked several extra hours.

Thursday morning when I arrived back to work, I learned of the passing of Matt's Aunt Beth from Lester who has been battling cancer for about five months, as well as the death of my relative, Tom, who also had a long battle with cancer. The next day, we learned that my Uncle Mark from Morris had passed away suddenly. It was quite unusual that so much tragedy should strike at once.

But before we got too far into mourning, we spent Saturday butchering two of Phil and Kelli's hogs at Seth and Brenda's. It was my second butchering experience (first being chickens at Steiners a few months ago). I meant to bring my camera, but neglected to remember that detail.

Phil & Kelli, Seth & Brenda, and Matt & I ended up leaving Saturday evening for Lester in the midst of a raging snowstorm. The roads were not very good, but thankfully the Lord blessed us with safety during the trip and we had no recordable incidents. We arrived at our hosts' home at 3:15am on Sunday.

Morning church was cancelled in Lester on Sunday, but we were thankful for a few extra hours of sleep. We spent Sunday afternoon with the family and spent the evening at Aunt Beth's visitation. We were also thankful for the opportunity to finally visit with our hosts, Jerome and Jana, Sunday evening.

We said our final farewells to Aunt Beth Monday morning and were thankful for the time to be together with the family. After the noon meal, Matt & I departed on the AC Express for Morris in time to spend the evening at Uncle Mark's visitation. This time, Matt's cousin Derek and Annie invited us to stay with them overnight, so we had a good time catching up with them too.

Tuesday it started snowing just in time for Uncle Mark's funeral, as it seems a Morris funeral is never complete without a blizzard. The service was very nice and we were very encouraged by the last couple weeks of  Uncle Mark's life when he surrendered himself to God.

Both the families of Aunt Beth and Uncle Mark will be in need of prayers in the coming weeks and months as they move forward without their loved ones. It is always a rough road that we hope will eventually bring us closer to God.

"Sittin' On the Far Side Banks of Jordan"

A few from Uncle Mark's family sang this song before his visitation.

Snowy roads did not seem to slow us down too much on the ride home with my parents as we made it home by eleven. A lane filled with eight inches of snow welcomed us home, so Matt had to plow us in. It is not very often that we are "snowed out" of our house!

This sequence of events was followed by a full day of work to catch up on Wednesday, and then an entire afternoon/evening/night of me napping and/or sleeping on Thursday. I was rather exhausted and felt well-rested by Friday morning. The house finally got some much-needed attention on Friday.

Saturday we got quite a bit done around the house, and Sunday we went to Mediapolis church to help my mom serve lunch.

Once again, my blog posts have been constrained by a lack of Internet service, as we ran out of data a week before the billing month ended. We got hooked back up yesterday, and I am back at it again!

As it feels fitting after writing so many words with no pictures to show for them, THE END.

Our Kitchen Renovation

We undertook a major project in our kitchen the other night, namely a severe renovation. What a difference it made! The place is so much more open, spacious, and inviting now.

BEFORE: 

(Kitchen table not pictured but was also included in the undertaking)

 THE NEXT MORNING:

Note my prepared lunch, the daylight streaming (?) through the window, and our supper in the crockpot...yep, we got everything under control.  

So yeah... I kind of fail at being a good housewife, but there it is for you - the great reality of life as we know it. For some reason the only thing we tend to accomplish on Monday evenings is finishing the dishes and getting the kitchen back under control. Things obviously get a little crazy around here on the weekends. ;) And I think my husband has great justification for calling me a messy cook.

But hey...it's what comes out of the kitchen that counts, right??

Over the River and Through the Woods...and out on the Ice and Snow!

We've gone over the river and through the woods two weekends in a row now: the first time to visit Matt's cousin Wendy and her husband Tim in Bradford, and another to Peoria for my Dad's family Christmas at my cousin Andi's house. And, well, the ice and snow are somewhat of a given!

Two weekends ago, we went out to Bradford with Jason and Kelsey to spend a relaxing evening with Tim and Wendy. We had such a good weekend with both couples, and it was fun to see Tim & Wendy's home and get to know the newest Schulz in-law a bit! 

The three couples...as good of a picture that my self-timer could get!

Last Monday and Tuesday evenings were spent dealing with vehicle issues, namely the Impala that had a couple minor maintenance issues that required a trip over to the auto shop in Lockridge. Nate S. came over and helped Matt clear snow off the pond for the upcoming ice hockey game on Thursday. It got a little sketchy in my eyes when they took the Gator out there (which we just bought a week before) to make the plowing go faster, but they assured me the ice was plenty thick enough, so I just stayed inside and thought about other things until they were done.

Thursday evening, about fourteen boys and men were out on the pond playing hockey, along with two spouses and two siblings who figure skated on the side. The ice was a little rough, but that didn't seem to slow anyone down!

The hockey boys (minus a few who left before the photo)

We spent Friday evening getting things caught up inside the home (namely, the dishes) and finishing up one last pan of bars for church serving on Sunday before calling it a night.

Saturday was my dad's family Christmas, so we arrived in Peoria in time for lunch. Aside from the cousins in Phoenix who understandably were not able to make it, there was only one other person missing! To be more specific, there were 27 of us. It was nice to spend some time with everyone, as it has been awhile since we've been together.

The only picture I got of the event was Charlie enjoying his new gift - a Micky Mouse potty training seat! I'm not sure if he knew at this point what exactly he had opened...or that he was posing for the camera on a toilet.  

We served lunch for the first time on Sunday, and it went smoothly. :) It is certainly not nearly as overwhelming in such a small church, which is probably a good thing since we will be doing it again in four months! I was able to get rid of most of my leftover goodies last night at the church potluck, so now I don't have to worry about eating them myself!

Now we are into another week of seeing what the Lord has in store for us! Even when the calendar seems empty, something is bound to fill in that time...