As big as my face.

Something got lost in translation and I ended up with this. And because a girl shouldn't have to drink alone...

fashion sense ≠ farm sense

Our farm is red. We don't drive the ubiquitous (ahem) green. If there was a poster child for Case IH we would be a contender...except when they realized that all too recently I learned the "IH" stood for "international harvester." Much like my penchant for botching song lyrics, I mistakenly took the IH for a lego-type-man. I know. No judging. Even my love of country music and the song International Harvester by Craig Morgan wasn't enough to clue me in. Sidenote: that video was shot in my hometown of Wichita, KS. 

  Please tell me you kinda see it? That cute little lego man...

Sometimes breaking the rules is fun.

Generally speaking, Amy is the better influence if you were to set us side by side and compare histories. For time's sake I'll spare you the details, but she is definitely the voice of reason, a good tupperware-loving, non-T'Ping, always-ask-your-parents, I will keep us in check, kind of friend. And I LOVE her. In more recent events, however, she has elevated a long-loved snack into something slightly more dangerous (READ: delicious) and I feel as if her judgement has been shrouded. Even still, I eat it quite willingly and you should too (??). 

You didn't hear me say peer pressure was never a good thing. How else did I end up with this semblance of a blog? And the good news is there's a calorie-free version: 1. graham crackers 2. peanut butter 3. chocolate chips 4. visiting with a best friend (my point is validated with #6) who doesn't live in the same town (or state) as you. These staples should make their way into a pantry near you.

Ode to the bottom of the pyramid.

The last few days have been so grand

We took the Warrens, minus Daniel, all around our land

Friday we took a field trip out to the Franklin farm

So Ben could take his first tractor ride and woo us with his charm

We had so much fun, even though it was low key

We already miss them, can't you see?

Sweet cheeks.

I imagine the following dialogue twelve years from now, when I'm visiting the Warren household:

Friend of Benjamin (FOB): Who was the crazy old lady who kept attacking trying to pinch your cheeks? 

Benjamin (B): The one with the husband who wears overalls?

FOB: Yeah, that one. 

B: Oh, that's just Katherine, my mom's best friend. You get used to it after a while...

But who. can. resist. those. cheeks. And thighs. And smile. So, so sweet.

SEA to DIA.

The last time I wrote about this, it was DIA to SEA. But now, Seattle is coming to Kansas (by way of Denver)!!!! That's right, Amy's coming for a chat, and my heart overflows. Last I was there, baby Ben and his sweet cheek self was just a few weeks old. And in spite of my denial that it's now five months later, the sweet boy is now SIX months old (that's my kind of math). 

Need I remind you that he flashed some of his first smiles in my general direction. Swoon.  I do have a more recent picture of him, but I'm going to leave you in suspense and wait to post one until I see him TOMORROW! So come back, see what we're up to and check out Ben's first-ever tractor ride. It's gonna be no fail fun. 

We skipped Fall and went straight to snow.

I got to bragging the other day about being on our last corn field and snow came to town just in time to keep me humble. There's not much accumulation and the weather should be back to more normal with warmer temps by Monday, so harvest should be able to resume fairly quickly. I tread lightly so as not to tempt mother nature into forcing us to eke out this final field. But for today, I will enjoy the cold temps, college football Pinterest (GO CATS! Eat purple nuggets), the scent of Fall and time with Farmer Tim.

Final field. Finally.

What you see before you is the FINAL corn field to be cut in this 2012 corn harvest. Or as I like to tweet it: #cornharvest12. Phew. It's been (at least to me) a loooooong three years weeks. Hi, Farmer Tim. My name is Katherine and I'm your wife. Harvest convention says we should begin right about now, or even in another week or two. So this lack of normality means a few extra weeks of winter break at the Franklin homestead! Partaaaaaaaaay. The late fall, winter and early spring months are a farmer's time to play; unless you deal in cattle, and then you might as well forget it. "It" being a break, and thankfully, we get one. We have some pretty sweet travel plans in the coming months so watch out world, Northwest Kansas is about to be UNleashed. But until the last kernel gets dumped at the elevator and the equipment is washed and put away, I pray for continued safety and provision. 

Hold on for one more day.

I've talked before about the small things in life, and I thought I'd share another one as I cruised the streets of Goodland. Behold, Wilson Phillips. 

This song is not only a quality early-90s ballad, but it holds a near and dear spot in my heart as I think on my high school years and some of the world's greatest friends. I've been doing a major email purge (I'm now under 950, from over 2oo0. That's progress, folks.) and came across the aforementioned link- any BSCer, besides me, visit this link recently? It has been my honor to know many of these women, even through some of our most awkward of days (hello, middle and high school), for the better part of my life. And by better, I do measure in years and quality. So today, I get a little nostalgia for the role of the BSC in my life, thankful for the ways they still touch me today. Break free from the chains....hold on for one more day.

Happy hour found the corn field.

My man and his parents have been hard at work in the field. Today, Farmer Tim has been drilling the final acres of wheat. Linda has been running the combine, harvesting the corn. And Gerry has been running the semis full of corn from the field to the elevators at Coop. We currently have no storage bins of our own so we take them to the local elevators, who buy our grain and sell it primarily as feed.

And what could be better than seeing this face at the field?

Seeing this, I suppose.

And although you can't see him, here is Timothy, hard at work. Paaaaay daaaaaaay. Technically, Linda is bringing home today's bacon; but this wheat will be next summer's paycheck. Woot woot.

Somebody wanna come visit?