Squeaks

This blog is out of date

2009-08-26T20:02:00.000-05:00

This blog is out of date!

Fun with leaves

2008-11-04T18:34:00.002-06:00

What Could Possisbly Happen in 3 Months?

2008-10-22T08:16:00.002-05:00

Nothing much is the answer.

I am buisy at shcool and work part time at fareway. That is also what I've been doing for all the time I've not been blogging.

Any way...on to more interesting things...I've decided to give this drawing on the computer thing a try. Hammock Man was one of my first ones. Please comment and tell me what you think. Also if you have any other good ideas of what I should draw just let me know.

Did you know that it is very hard to draw with a mouse?

Zooooooooooooooooooooooo!

2008-08-05T18:44:00.012-05:00

With Rie visiting we decided to go to some fun places with her.

On Monday we woke up (some of us anyway) bright and early rode to the Omaha Zoo. We borrowed Aunt Sarah's van so we had lots of leg room.

When we got to the zoo not all of the animals were in cages. Some animals had been turned in to statues and others had escaped before the cage makers discovered that a tall fences couldn't hold butterflies.

After escaping the angry hippo we got lost in the desert (but we were happy as you can see)

The butterfly house and the shark tank were very nice too.

Even the landscaping had animals in it.

It was a jungle out there and James and Michael were each adopted by different animals.

We call James Lizardman now and Michael is called Rrrrrooorgh (or Simba in Lion-speak).

After feeding the fish (and monkeys) we started to get tired. Until...

...we had to rescue Dudley Doright and Snidely Whiplash from the Clutches of the evil tour guide Nell Fenwick who had tied them to the tour train tracks.

Then we went home.

Rie is Here!

2008-07-22T21:34:00.003-05:00

Yay! Rie is here!

After an exciting ride to Sioux Falls...

We waited for Rie at the Airport.

Ok, ok, we really didn't wait that long...When Rie got off the plane we greeted her with our sign.

Rie was tired so after mom got off of work at the hospital we ate dinner at Chiles and headed home.
We hope that Rie has a fun time with us, but right now she needs to sleep.

Shocking!

2008-07-16T13:28:00.010-05:00

Today we prepared for getting some ponys by setting up a fence...an electric fence. It was fun. First Dad mowed a path throught the tall grass where the fence was to go. Then Dad, the Boys, and I pushed in electric fence poles. Next Dad, Charity, James, and Michael put the shock rope (rope with very thin metal wires woven through) on the poles while I chopped up stray grass that was touching the rope with a machete. When that was done we hooked up the fence to electricity.

In these pictures James, Dad, and Michael are putting up electric fence holders.

Here Michael is testing the electric fence...yup, guess it works...and Charity is taking a music break.

Don't worry, Michael didn't really test the fence that way. But we did test it (see video). That zapping sound means it works. We had lots of fun with electricity and machetes today. Bwahahaha!
We still need to fix up a few things in the shed and get a water tank before we'll get any ponys. For now though we have a good pasture for them.

Pyromaniacs

2008-07-06T10:55:00.006-05:00

This post I'm going to try bigger pictures. Comment on whether you like it or not. Today's topic is of course about our annual shoot-um-up...of fireworks that is. Here are some of the participants...

"Bond, James Bond!"

Sarah(me), "Light the fuse and run!"

Munitions Specialist, Charity,"Fire in the hole!!"

Mom, James, Heather, Derek, Sarah(me), and Charity. "It ain't done till its burned to a crisp,"

Anika, "I need more ammo!"

As always the 4th of July was really fun. No one was hurt...badly...and what can go better together then food, family, and controlled explosions?

A Post for Post's Sake

2008-06-26T13:00:00.002-05:00

Nothing much has transpired since my last post. I did bale hay with Al, Cal, And Randi, which was fun though.
For those of yu who don't know, my uncles Al and Cal have one of the few working small square balers. A few times every summer they bale their hay feild. What happens is first they cut the tall grass and let it dry. Then they hook up the baler to the tractor and a big hay wagon to the baler. This time Al drove (and then Randi when she came), and Cal and I were on the hay wagon. Our job on the wagon is to stack the bales so when it gets to be 6 or 8 layers high it won't tip over. Oh, and a tip...wear long sleeves and jeans because otherwise the dry straw scratches up the skin on your arms and legs. In the end we got 3 really full wagons filled and some straw scratches.
Other then that I've been to some of Becka's softball games which are fun to watch, especially if Becka is playing.

Free Kittens! (Well, some of them anyway)

2008-06-18T16:22:00.010-05:00

We have a whole bunch of kittens this summer. If you know anyone who wants a kitten they should talk to us. Not all of them we are willing to give away though. They are all really nice cats, but if we keep them all our farm will be wall to wall in cat carpet.

Skitter and Handsome : Both of these kittens are up for grabs. Skitter is a very friendly all black cat, but does enjoy climbing up the nearest available pant leg. Handsome is splotchy all over in an interesting non-pattern and is also very friendly.

Hector and Andrew : Hector is very cute and stripey but is Rebecca's kitten so is probably not for sale. Andrew is splotchy with distinguishing splotches on his face. He is very nice and is for the taking.

Lassy and Bandit : Lassy looks like Skitter except she has a white neck spot and doesn't climb up your leg. She is also free for the taking and very nice. Bandit is Charity's very nice kitten and is a patchy grey.

Pepper and Angel : Pepper is my kitten and is stripey grey and Angel is James' kitten and is stripey black. They are both Houdini's babys so they are very fuzzy and shy like her.

Spike and Sock : Spike has really, really long fur and is white with grey ears, feet, and tail. He is Micheals's cat and is not for sale even though he is very nice. Sock is the cutest of the three splotchy cats with a distinguishing white foot. He is for sale (or free) and is very friendly.
So there you have it. If you are in need of a kitten come to us.

Ain't Misbehavin'

2008-06-13T16:17:00.009-05:00

Here are some pictures from the Vanderlugt Reunion. I keep asking myself..."Self, are you really related to these rambunctious rapscallions?..."

...Yup, guess so. (Featured relatives clockwise from top left: Ethan, Isaac, random head, Dillon, Michael, Derek, and Derek)

Day 5 : Pandemoneum! (or the Program)

2008-06-11T22:25:00.008-05:00

Well this is a little late but, oh well. We got out early to day (5 days ago) after much cleaning and the petting zoo, and the horse rides, and playing operation, and the slushies, and the tavern with chips and pop, and do you think this sentence could be any longer?

Then at the program we signed every ones shirts and sang our songs to the parents. The program was really fun, we were more efficient than other years I think (Good job Judy!) and Helen VV signed my VBS shirt! Yay!!

Oh...and here's some pictures of the weather of VBS.

I love the clouds.

Day 3 and 4 : Heat and Rain

2008-06-05T15:46:00.005-05:00

Wow, yesterday and today were complete opposites. Yesterday it rained a little in the morning and was really hot the rest of the day. Today it was dry in the morning and down poured afterwards.

We have only one more day to go. I hope tomorrow is dry, it gets pretty chaotic when hundreds of kids are cooped up inside.

Day 2 : Full Speed Ahead! or I Need to Learn to Pace Myself

2008-06-03T15:35:00.005-05:00

Today was very hectic. We got a lot of our crafts done so im not sure what we're going to do tomorow. All of my 5th grader's ceramic peices are finished but I need to touch them all up before we can stain them. There are other crafts that we can do, but I need to find a way to get my class to take their time. But aside from the confusing craft time today went well.

..And now... the 5th - 8th grade Song and Dance!

Yay!

Day 1 : The Race Begins

2008-06-02T15:38:00.004-05:00

I have decided to blog every day of VBS.
Today was the first day of VBS or Vacation Bible School! As you can see from the pictures below it was quite a party!!! I mean look at all the food!!!!!!

Just kidding... Rebecca, Charity, and I are helpers this year. The first picture is of the kids and us singing "These are the days of Elijah," The next ones are of Charity and Rebecca and the last one is of all the food. The food was for the helpers like me so unfortunately all my younger cousins were very much deprived (sorry Mitchell).
Today was really fun. I still have to learn all the kid's names, but every thing went as smoothly as could be expected.
I think I want to bring a different lunch tomorrow though. Whenever I eat Cat-in-a-Can i get this furry taste in my mouth.

Kidding again...but a cute picture.

Cats Redoux

2008-05-07T21:24:00.013-05:00

The following is a photo compilation of most of our tame cats. Not pictured are the Jebadies (Jet and Ebony) and Wolfman-Dan because they are still wild. Also Ashley isn't pictured, but that's because I don't have good picture of him.

Here are our Head-Cats, Squeaks and Tiger. We also have a tom cat, Ashley, but he isn't very photogenic. These three cats make quite a ruckus outside at night with their fights.

Here are the new mom Houdini and the soon to be mom Sweet-pea. These are our only tame girl cats. The Jebadies and Wolfman are girls but they're very skittish. Maybe next time I take their pictures they will be tame.

Here are our Scardy-cats Pip-squeak and Spooks. They are both tame but Pip is still a young cat and Spooks is often picked on by the Head-cats. They are the most well behaved of our cats, mostly because they don't attack or jump on us.

This is the litter of one of the Jebadies. The grey on is named Bandit and the splotchy one is named Sparta. The two black ones we might trade of give away even though they are very nice kits.

These are Houdi's kittens Pepper (grey) and Angel (black). Since there are only the two of them they are very well fed. There was originally a orange one too, but it died when it was born because it was very cold that day.

Here is the litter of the other Jebadie. Right now they look like bedraggled rodents, but that's only because they are very new. We haven't named the black-splotchy cats or the striped one, but the white one is named Spike.

The Hole N' the Wall Gang

2008-04-09T15:07:00.023-05:00

The Hole N' the Wall Gang includes...

Our fearless leaders, Rebecca-Cassidy and Charity-James,

Our prisoner, Mitch the Mobster,

His Niece, Super-Sydney,

And various other card-sharps and ruffians.

In our spare time we scout out the lay of the land,

Make music,

Duel,

And basically make fools of ourselves.

The Big Surprise

2008-03-30T11:28:00.010-05:00

If you have read Charity's blog you would already know what the big surprise is. For those of you who don't know, or don't trust Charity's posts, here goes.

Well...it was a dark and stormy night!...wait...Ahem!

Well first off, it wasn't really a surprise. Rebecca did know that something was going to happen. She just had the impression that we were going somewhere. As Charity mentioned, she unintentionally discovered that she had to cancel her plans for this weekend, but she didn't know why.

Since her friends were coming late we stalled before leaving on our "trip". I think by this time she was getting suspicious. Things unraveled even quicker when Rebecca's friends called because they had gotten stuck on a level B dirt road near by and needed help to get out. "So who got stuck?" Rebecca asked. Charity and Dad both answered in unison. "Eugene,"said Charity,"Mark somebody," was Dad's reply. There was no point pretending anymore so Dad and us girls piled in the pick up with a chain and tow rope.

When we got to the dirt road we saw what most farmers know this time of year, if went down that road we were going to get stuck, even with our 4 wheel drive pick up. So we left Charity and Rebecca to walk to the Stuck Wisconsinites and Dad and I drove to get Dad's tractor. By this time it was dark out so when we finally reached the stranded van it was a good thing that the tractor had flood lights.

Rebecca's friends and their parents who came along were pretty embarrassed about getting stuck, but their visit wouldn't have been the same if they hadn't. Besides, they're not the only people to get stuck on that road.

Anyway...Rebecca's friends left this morning, and I think they had a good time. Rebecca showed them around our farm and Sioux Center, but if you want to know the specifics, Rebecca will probably write about them later.

Yay Blogging!

2008-01-25T19:56:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone!
Thank you for your Haiku's.

We recently got a new computer and monitor because our old one crashed. I only get to use it on the weekends, but its very cool. Buyt itas hjardf tyo typeo on rthre keyboasrd.
This semester, my classes are very interesting. I think the one that will be funnest, hardest, and most educational at the same time will be photography. Finally I will be able to figure out what all those knobs and dials are on those manual cameras. We even get to develop our own pictures from black and white film. If any one wants me to take their picture, just let me know.
I don't have any really resent pictures, so here are some of my new favorite catten, pip-squeak, and for some reason the illustious hero of song and joke, Mitch the Midget.

By the way, Mitch, we should write our own story.

Winter Beauty

2007-12-17T20:01:00.002-06:00

This fall a litter of kittens was born by our house. As of now only two of them survived. If you read Rebecca's blog you will know that a stray dog ended up at our house. Well, this dog was a little too rough and killed one of the little kittens and hurt Spooks' leg. The dog is gone now so I think that the other two will survive through the winter. One kitten has long splotchy brownish fur and is still a little wild. We named that one Wolfman-Dan (after a radio anouncer[don't ask]). The other one that survived is a mousy striped grey kitten named Pip-Squeak. If I can get the video to work, I have a short clip of his squeaky meow.

The rest of the pictures are from the ice storm we had resently. The sheets of ice that covered the ground wre dangerous to walk on, but the ice made everything beautiful.

A Start

2007-11-28T21:15:00.000-06:00

I don't really feel like blogging, but as long as I write something today, I might be more likely to write later. It's been almost 2 months since I last blogged, but I'll write about what happened someother time.

Yeah the Video Works!

2007-10-04T08:20:00.000-05:00

Yipee Trampoline!

Bored

2007-09-19T16:38:00.000-05:00

Sorry, that I haven't been blogging for while. The main reason being that nothing interesting has happened. Now,however, I have something to write about. A few hours ago I finished Terry Pratchett's new Book, Making Money, and as to be expected it was great. The story line is different from the last Moist Von Lipwig book while still being just as multilayered as

his other books which is amazing for an author to be able to do. My favorite book by Terry Pratchett is still Night Watch but Making Money is good too.

Here is the American cover for those interested.

Tent Over Airplane Continued...

2007-09-15T21:44:00.000-05:00

Today (yesterday actually) I helped take down the tent that was set up three months ago over the navy plane. It was a lot easier to get the plane out then it was to put it in. Charity didn't feel like getting up at 6:30 in the morning so she didn't come. Stan's nephew Alex Nykamp (who went to bed at four in the morning after returning from a Twins game) came though so we still had 4 people to help. Stan, Dad, Alex, and I along with the help of the owner of the plane and his expert Canadian airplane mechanic helped us manuver the airplane in to the open. After that the rest was easy. While we were dissassembling the tent we got to see the mechanic trying out the newly fixed engine. It turns out that the plane was built in the fifties after world War II instead of during world war II as I had previously stated. These types of planes were used as training planes before pilots would fly jets. Then during the Vietnam war they were fitted to drop bombs. The smoke smudges on the side of the plane had been cleaned off, so it was nice to see the plane again in working order.

School has Started

2007-08-31T22:36:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, I have switched majors. I am now at Dordt College for Graphic Design. I really like the change it's more enjoyable and I think I'm better at it.
My first class of the week is Ancient and Medieval art history with professor Sheesley from 8:00-8:50am. Professor Sheesley is new to Dordt and our class was his first class of his new job. I hope we didn't scare him to much. He is fairly young and I think he was a bit nervous, but he's a good teacher. Right now in his class we are learning about the art of the ancient near east and preparing for a group presentation. My group is doing our presentation on the Egyptian book of the dead.
Half way through this semester I will start my HPER class(PE)that goes from 10:00-10:50am, but that doesn't start until next month.
Next is my graphic design class with Professor Versluis from 11:00-11:50am. Professor Versluis is my new advisor and is graphic designer when he's not teaching. He has grey hair and beard and really enjoys his job. In his class we are learning how to use Adobe Illustrator. I had a class in high school where I learned how to use Illustrator, but it's a good review. We also are learning about the history of graphic design, and I still need to pick a graphic designer to write a paper about.
My last class of the day on MWF is Psychology with Professor Hitchcock at 12:00-12:50. Professor Hitchcock is really passionate about what he believes. He has a soft voice, but he is always very serious and firm about what he says. Right now we are just beginning, reading the textbook intros and such, but soon I have to watch the movie My Fair Lady(which is 3 hours long) and then write and identity paper of sorts on it.
On Tuesday and Thursday the first class I have is Drawing at 9:25am. I think this will be my favorite class. Professor Van Wyk is the instructor and makes a lot of prints, drawings, a pottery creations. His youngest daughter is going to get married soon and in his spare time he is building a barn. You can tell that he loves what he does and does everything the best he can. In his class we have to draw about 1-2 sketches per week out of class along with the projects in class. Right now we are taking negative space sketches that we did and transforming them in to abstract drawings that emphasize either the positive or negative space.
Next I have English with Professor De Smith at 11:40-1:00. Professor De Smith has red hair and a daughter, Rachel, who is in my grade. For his class we are reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and discussing it in class. Professor De Smith really enjoys digging into the things we read and the ideas they raise. I really like this class because I really like to read.
The last class of the day is Philosophy with Professor Tazelaar from 1:35-2:55. Professor Tazelaar has a short grey beard, grey flecked brown hair pulled back in a pony tail, and likes to wear ties with famous art works on them. He is really smart and even though he talks fast he crams a lot of information into what he says. He is very interesting to listen to but if you space out for a moment you might miss something. Right now we are just starting off, like Psychology, doing the readings and such and discussing them in class.
Well, this is becoming a long post, so I'd better give some one else a chance to be on the computer. I'll write more posts later.

Stuff Broke

2007-08-23T12:29:00.000-05:00

It started off as a regular day mowing the lawn, until suddenly a giant monkey race a cross the lawn! The presumptuous primate jumped on handles of the mower and steered me into a hole in the ditch!!
Picture of monkey an the left...um...wait a minute...

...Actually I was carefully trying to mow around <-- this random hole in the ditch and turned to sharply. The mower was stuck so well that we had to use the pickup and some rope to pull it out. In the end no one was hurt...

...The muffler broke though.

Other than that this week has been pretty uneventful. Charity, Rebecca, James, and Michael all started school already. I have to wait until Wednesday.
:'(

This Random Cat Moment brought to you by Tiger, Sweet Pea, Houdini, Ashley, Squeaks, and Spooks!

2007-08-07T17:41:00.000-05:00

Nama Tamago Ga Sukijyanai (I don't like raw eggs)

2007-08-06T16:40:00.000-05:00

First off, for those of you I don't know, I work at We-3-Egg, or the world's foremost egg procurement and shipping farm. Ok, just kidding about the last part. In reality We-3-Egg packs eggs that come from the almost 1 million chickens in its 6 ginormous barns. Since chickens lay eggs all day long, the main goal is to keep the flow of eggs in check so the barns won't overflow. The things I do at work range from washing light bulbs to learning Japanese sentences from Charity. Charity and I are basically handy-women. Most days we pull out dead chickens from the barns and then do some random chores afterwards. Other days we pack eggs onto pallets, lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of eggs. If you have read Charity's blog you will see that I agree with her when I say that packing raw eggs is harder than barn duty. You can work the barns at your own pace, but when you pack eggs you have to work at the egg's pace.

Happy Happy Birthday!

2007-07-29T23:04:00.000-05:00

Today is Mom's birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom!!!! Michael and I baked her a yellow cake and we all gave her a digital picture frame. The frame is really interesting, just plug in a memory card or other digital storage device and the frame cycles through the pictures or video clips. I would tell you how old Mom is, but I'll let her tell it instead (and I'm not exactly sure how old she is myself). Yesterday night I couldn't sleep so I came down stairs and made this picture on Microsoft paint. I have seen some cool drawings on the Internet that had been made on paint(example-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk2sPl_Z7ZU)so I wanted to give it a try. Oh, I almost forgot...we got 2 new rabbits, Cricket(male with black fur) and Brownie(female with brown fur). Now our original rabbit Miss Bunny has company.

Sad News

2007-07-19T23:25:00.000-05:00

We have been having problems with our Internet for a few weeks which accounts for my lack of blogging. No, that wasn't the sad news. The sad news is that Michael's cat Boots is dead. It is a mystery as to how she died, since we found her lying on the side walk dead one morning with no apparent injuries. Charity and I were heading off to work (later I will digress on my wonderful new job) and we saw her lying there. Boots looked peacefully asleep, I guess we should have wondered why she didn't wake up when we drove by. We'll miss you Boots!

The Newbies

2007-06-25T16:56:00.000-05:00

Boots: Thusly named because of her four white paws, Boots is the smallest of all the kittens. She is incredibly cute of course and has astonishingly blue eyes, for now. All of the trio had blue eyes at first but they eventually changed. Boots has a white throat and paws, big ears, grey and black stripes, and a small white mark on her nose.

Houdini: Houdini is an escape artist. While being transported to our farm a tool box was required to hold the lid of her box down. This Kitten has a brand of cute all her own. With those sad golden(previously blue)eyes and bend tipped ears it is hard not to pick her up. Houdini is grey and black striped with rusty colored splotches, and the M-shape on her forehead is half orange and half black instead of all black like the others.

The Original Trio

2007-06-22T19:39:00.000-05:00

Squeaks AKA Stripes:
As well as being my cat and the name of my blog, Squeaks is the cutest of all the kittens. He was defaulted to me when Charity and Rebecca chose Tiger and Sweet Pea. Squeaks isn't a real people cat but he is a good cat cat. At first Squeaks would squeak a lot when he was held and was so named. He reminds me a lot of a striped cat we once had named Stripes, so occasionally I call him that. He is a typical grey and black striped kitten with golden eyes(previously blue), a M shape on his forehead, and all black pads on his paws.

Tiger formerly known as Teddy:
Tiger is the friendliest and nicest cat of all our cats. He was named Teddy at first but his unique(to our cats at least) orange color prompted a name change. Tiger's claim to fame is that he enjoys jumping on people's shoulders when they are sitting on the ground. He has white and orange stripes, hazel(once teal blue) eyes, and pink pads on her paws.

Sweet Pea, Cutie Pie, etc... :

Sweet Pea is the sweetest of our cats. She really enjoys being petted. She is growing into a fine cat, but is usually always the first of all of the kittens to curl up in your lap and fall asleep purring. Sweet Pea has grey and black stripes with patches of orangish fur, eyes the same color as Squeaks, with three paws with black pads, and one paw with pink pads. Basically Sweet pea is who you would get if you merged Tiger and Squeaks.

A Fresh Start

2007-06-21T23:02:00.000-05:00

Well, here goes my first attempt at blogging. I can not guarantee that this entry will be very entertaining, or even correctly spelled, but I'll try. This week has been very eventful so far. On Tuesday dad, Charity, a guy named Stan, and I set up a giant 60 x 60 (feet of course!) tent to cover a plane so it could be fixed in relative shelter. OK, I simplified the process a bit, but it worked in the end. The airplane in question was very fascinating, it was a refurbished WWII navy sea plane of some kind. The pilot had made an emergency landing in Sioux City and its snappy new blue paint job was melted of in places where smoke had escaped from the engine.

Yesterday Mom, Charity (again), Aunt Brenda, my cousin Heather and Holly, and I picked Strawberries. So after much camaraderie and sore backs copious amounts of jelly were made. Midway through making this jelly we discovered, via my Grandma Sandbulte, that we really didn't need to be boiling the sugar gelatin mixture after all and in fact the a stove wasn't even necessary.

Today James and Michael each got a kitten. Charity, Rebeecca, and I already had some that were slightly bigger, but the new kittens seemed to get on well with the others. Later I think I'll do a section on them.