This week flew by. Todd's 41st birthday was on Tuesday. Abby made some cheesecake tarts and we had a roast with mashed potatoes and gravy for his birthday supper. We were busy with school all week, and then Friday evening Quinn and Kendra T and their family came over for the weekend. What a fun time!! There wasn't a dull moment the whole weekend, and there was a lot of disappointment when they had to go home tonight.

There was just enough snow on the hill for the kids to go sledding on Saturday.

Making pizza for lunch.

Putting on a play

Watching intently!

The younger kids' turn to entertain us.

Snippets of the week

Lincoln & Heidi being silly

Garrett

Lincoln

Garrett singing "Was it for me" for his sister (He turned 2 in November)

Heidi & Lincoln putting on a show

Fellowship, Food and Fun

Our meeting and the Effingham meeting met together for union meeting at our house today. We had a wonderful time of fellowship. It is always so helpful to share in what others have read and meditated on during the week. It seemed like, because of it being the beginning of a new year, there was a spirit of fresh purpose in the meeting. Lincoln wanted to sing the hymn "Was it for me, for me alone, the Saviour left his glorious throne..." It was an excellent hymn to begin the first meeting of the year.

After meeting, everyone stayed for a potluck and visit. Marty, Mary and Sara stayed for a while after everyone else left and played Farkle with us.

Laura made pizza for supper and now Todd and the kids are playing Settlers of Catan while I am getting lesson plans together for this week. I'm taking a break to write a little bit on here and get Garrett settled down for the night.

Here is the scene I found just now as I was walking down the hallway.

Garrett's Good Night Song: Mommy loves you, Mommy loves you. Daddy too, Daddy too. You're our little baby. You're our little baby. We love you, We love you.

Happy 2011!!!

My Resolution for the new year: Write on my blog

So, I'm getting it taken care of on the first day.

It's not hard to imagine that this will be a wonderful year with a sunny blue sky, cold enough outside to enjoy a warm fire inside, kids all healthy and happy (as I look out the window and see three of them, barefoot without coats, bringing in wood - sigh).

We saw 2010 out and 2011 in with a lively houseful. Don and Talisha, Jacob, Joel and Jadon, Bruce, Jeff, Nathan & Alijah came over for supper and a game filled evening. (Skipbo, Chess, Chinese Checkers, Bible Charades, Bible Pictionary, oh and did I mention Rook?) Everyone, from Bruce to Garrett managed to stay awake the whole time. Garrett was buzzing around helping himself to everyone's sodie (as it is called in this area) - "bpop" (as it is called by Garrett), M&Ms and whatever other sugar he could find. I managed to forget to get out the camera, but maybe Talisha will use her amazing clairvoyant skills and e-mail a few pictures from the evening. The kids all went out and banged pots and pans shouted and screamed the new year in - just the way a new year should be welcomed.

This morning started out with the kids snacking on the sugar laden leftovers from last night's snacks before breakfast. Todd headed out for Brownstown after breakfast. The kids and I are having a quiet day playing, reading and getting a little school done. We have union meeting and potluck at our house tomorrow, so we're looking forward to another day filled with friends, fellowship and good times.

I hope you all have a wonderful year full of blessing and good things.

(Whew, got that resolution under my belt now)

Critter update

Sheep and Lambs:

Ruby had a twins (girl (Onyx) and boy(Jett)) March 31

Daphne twin boys April 6

Gabby - boy (Andrew) April 9

Harriett - twins (girl and boy) April 11

Fern - ? - April 12

Abigail - girl (Addy) - April 13

Cheerio - twins (girl (Charm) and boy (Lucky) - April 22

Cupcake - girl - April 22

Sapphire - boy - ?

Frosting - ? - ?

They were all fathered by Sweet William

Cattle

Peyton - Female Miniature Jersey

Heather - Female Miniature Jersey - Not Polled - Had a heifer calf which we sold)

Lilac - Female Jersey -

Buttercup - Female Jersey - Born December 15, 2009 to Lilac

Rosie - Female Hereford - DIED

Blossom - Female Hereford - Born to Rosie in July or August of 2007

Stormy - Female Hereford/Black Angus Cross - Born to Blossom on May 13, 2009

Independence - Female Hereford - Born to Rosie in July or August of 2008

Ferdinand - Male Hereford cross - Born to Independence April 26, 2010 (had to have vet pull him - we'll have to get that story on the blog one of these days!)

Rodeo - Female Dexter/Red Polled Cross - Born April 2008

Strut - Male Miniature Belted Galloway - Not Polled but dehorned - About 4 Years Old

Oreo - Female Miniature Belted Galloway - Polled -About 2 Years Old - SOLD

Spikey - Male Dexter - With Horns - Born about July 2008

Horned Mama- Female Dexter - Not Polled - About 14 Years Old

Cocoa - Female- born to Horned Mama Early December 2009

Jemimah - Female Dexter/Miniature Belted Cross - Polled - About 3 Years Old - SOLD

Ribeye - Male Dexter/Miniature Belted/? Cross - Born to Jemimah about May 13, 2009

April - Female Miniature Belted Galloway - SOLD

Cornish Cross Chicks - bought April 16, 2010 - scheduled for processing June 2

Rabbits - Bought in mid April - 4 California White

We still have Blueberry the donkey, a guinea, Autumn the dog and about 5 cats - oh and I forgot to mention the box turtle and toad... :)

We've been so busy that mom hasn't had time to post, so I (Laura) decided to do it this time.

Last Saturday we had a funeral for Great-Grandpa, who died April 20, 2010. Then we got to have union meeting at our house for all the family on Sunday. We had a potluck afterwards and we kids chased lambs and milked the cow into paper cups.

We have had several additions to our farm, 14 new lambs, a calf, chicks, 4 rabbits, a turtle, and a toad. We are also expecting kittens one of these days!

Bye for now!

Laura

January - Brrrrrrr

We have had a colder than average January this year. There is no doubt about the fact that it is winter. It has made me appreciate the people who pioneered and settled this country. Going out to milk the cow in the way below freezing temperatures brings a picture to mind of a settler going out with his lantern in the wee hours of the morning and again in the early evening - with his breath fogging the air - icicles forming on his beard. As we fill up the water tank from the hose and make sure the submersible heater is plugged in, I think of families going out to chop ice off of the creek, possibly warming enough snow on their wood burning stove or going to the well to carry water in wooden buckets to their thirsty livestock (and cows drink a lot of water!). Life is so much more convenient now. We walk back into our warm, bright house and think of those people chopping enough firewood with an ax to carry them through a cold, dark winter. We owe a lot to those brave, hearty people who left what was familiar and comfortable to them and traveled across mile after difficult mile to a life of hardship and a terrific amount of work. Somehow, though, I think they must have had a pretty good life in spite of or perhaps because of it.

We are waiting on Rosey to calve. Every day we think that it surely must be the day... But, she keeps holding out on us. :) She is a gentle, old cow - this will be her last calf. She is very lame and at times can hardly walk across the pasture without her back legs giving out on her. We closed her up in the grain bin last night and today since it is so cold and windy out - we'd rather the calf was born in out of the wind, at least.

Buttercup is growing really well. She still isn't completely tame. We tie her up every time we milk her mama so she will get used to us. When we hold her lead rope, she stands still by us and even nuzzles us a bit, but as soon as we let her free, she scoots away as quickly as she can :)

So... Life keeps us busy. School is back underway after a winter break - now we are all looking forward to the middle of May when we are out for the summer. We're planting our garden in our heads already (don't know if we will actually get one in the ground, though :) ) and the kids are looking forward to getting to spend more time outside and - with the animals.

An update on our current critters

Cattle:

Peyton - Female Miniature Jersey

Heather - Female Miniature Jersey - Not Polled

Lilac - Female Jersey -

Buttercup - Female Jersey - Born December 15, 2009 to Lilac

Rosie - Female Hereford -

Blossom - Female Hereford - Born to Rosie in July or August of 2007

Stormy - Female Hereford/Black Angus Cross - Born to Blossom on May 13, 2009

Independence - Female Hereford - Born to Rosie in July or August of 2008

Rodeo - Female Dexter/Red Polled Cross - Born April 2008

Jenny (Do not have anymore) - Female Miniature Hereford - About 2 Years Old (Died August 2009 - during delivery of a breech calf)

Strut - Male Miniature Belted Galloway - Not Polled but dehorned - About 4 Years Old

Oreo - Female Miniature Belted Galloway - Polled -About 2 Years Old

Spikey - Male Dexter - With Horns - Born about July 2008

Horned Mama- Female Dexter - Not Polled - About 14 Years Old

Cocoa - Female (we think) - born to Horned Mama Early December 2009

Jemimah - Female Dexter/Miniature Belted Cross - Polled - About 3 Years Old

Ribeye - Male Dexter/Miniature Belted/? Cross - Born to Jemimah about May 13, 2009

Fred (don't have anymore) - Dexter Red Polled Cross - Not Polled, but dehorned - About 1 Year Old (butchered)

April - Female Miniature Belted Galloway -

Shetland Sheep

Ruby - Female - Born 4/24/2005

Jasper (don't have anymore) - Male - Born 4/23/2009 to Ruby (sold)

Saphire - Female - Born 4/23/2009 to Ruby

Harriett - Female

- Male - Born 4/25/2009 to Harriett- died 6/7/2009 after getting stuck in some netting

Cheerio -Female - Born 4/25/2009 to Harriett

Cupcake - Female - Born 3/27/2007

Sprinkles - (don't have anymore) Male - Born 4/26/2009 to Cupcake (sold)

Frosting - Female - Born 4/26/2009 to Cupcake

Abigail - Female - Born 4/5/08 to Ruby

Gabby - Female - Born 4/25/29 to Abigail

Fern - Female - Born 8/1/08 to Cupcake

Daphne - Female born 4/9/08

Sweet William (don't have anymore)- Male - Born 4/25/09 to Daphne (sold)

Donkey - Female - Blueberry Gray (Named by Lincoln and Heidi) - Craig brought her over January 16, 2010 - Born 1999

Finally Pictures from the August and September 2009 post!

I am finally putting pictures on here from August 2009 when my nephew and niece were visiting us.

"Critter Pictures"

Abigail went out today and took some pictures of Buttercup and Lilac - the heifer Jersey calf that was born a couple of weeks ago and her mom. Buttercup is really growing. We have been milking Lilac about once a day and enjoying her milk, but we are leaving most of it for Buttercup since it has been so cold out. She needs all the energy she can get right now.

More Birthday!

Yesterday was Todd's real birthday. Laura made him his traditional cheesecake birthday cake for supper. We had bbq little hot dogs and leftovers from Sunday's potluck last night. Because it has been so cold out that the water out in the pasture for the cattle was frozen solid, Todd spent most of yesterday evening trying to get it thawed out. We ended up having his "birthday meal" tonight - crock pot beef cubes with mushrooms, mashed potatoes, corn and salad. So he was able to stretch his birthday out for a few days.

Tired little boy!

For some reason, this picture is turned sideways, but anyway you can get the idea. This is how Lincoln fell asleep at quiet time today - after declaring that he wasn't tired.

Surprise!!!

We had union meeting at our house today and a potluck afterwards. I had arranged for a surprise 40th birthday party for Todd in the afternoon. The kids did a great job not spilling the beans. Don and Talisha helped organize things and picked up a cake for us, and then we worked on things for it while Todd was at work and with Don in the semi. We had a lot of fun getting ready for it, and couldn't believe that he never caught on. We started off singing hymns for a while, and then sat around and visited while we ate cake and snacks. Thanks everyone who came and helped celebrate with us :)

December 2009

It is hard to believe it is the end of 2009 - or maybe I should say the beginning of 2010. They say time flies when you are having fun - I guess we must be having fun then!! :) We enjoyed having some company this month. A few of the workers were here for a few days working on a project. It was special to have them and we really enjoyed our mealtime conversations.

Gregg and Sarah M and their boys were here for a few days later in the month. They were on their way home from her sister's house in Arizona. It was great to have them here. The kids spent a lot of time building with Legos and Tinkertoys and getting to know their "3rd cousins". The adults spent a lot of time around the fireplace visiting.

Don and Talisha and their boys along with Ryan and Autumn W. joined us for New Years Eve. We had a small surprise birthday party for Todd to try to throw him off so he wouldn't suspect the big one that was planned for Sunday afternoon.

The kids got to celebrate midnight at about 9:00 with some horns, whistles and little pop fireworks - a little banging on pots and pans and general bedlam and noise! We sent them to bed and then sat around to play games - we ended up talking and laughing and laughing some more instead of the games. Don and Talisha's family spent the night. The kids made Dutch Babies for breakfast - then Don and Todd went for a truck drive while Talisha and the kids and I enjoyed the day here.

Our new calf is here

Today was the day Lilac had her calf. She started to act restless late in the morning. She kept trying to go into the blackberry brambles and hide out. We really didn't want to have to help deliver a calf in there! A little after noon I took her out into the yard and walked her around for a little bit to see if she would eat a little grass - she hadn't been acting very interested in the hay. She walked around and ate a little bit and then all of a sudden laid down. We were able to get her up and Todd and Abigail pretty much dragged her back to the grain bin and got her inside and then Todd had to head back to work. Things started happening pretty fast, then so I called the kids out so they could get in on the action. They all stood around the wall of the grain bin while Lilac delivered the calf. It was a pretty cool science lesson!

It was a very cold day, and the calf got pretty cold and listless shortly after being born. I stayed out in the grain bin with them most of the day drying her off, rubbing her to warm her up, trying to get her to stand and eat. When Todd got home from work he brought out a heat lamp and more blankets and we finally got her

warmed up and drinking from a bottle.

Winter Weather

Today is a very cold, windy, snowy day! So, of course, we have a heifer ready to calve. She's been showing signs for a few days now and we're hoping she will wait a few more days until the weather calms down before she has her baby. We are really excited about this baby! The mama is one of our Jerseys - a sweet girl who follows us around like a puppy dog for hugs, petting and especially treats! We are hoping to be able to milk her after she calves. It will be a new experience for both her and us! We don't really have a shed or barn for her to calve in, so we cleaned out the grain bin on Saturday so she can at least have a dry warmish place to be. It is really a pretty good size for her and her body temperature keeps it warm enough so her water doesn't freeze. There is someone who works with Todd who has an aunt who will come and teach us how to get started on the milking business.

Charlotte's Birthday and our Anniversary

Today was our 13th anniversary and Charlotte's 9th birthday. The years together have gone very quickly! The kids pooled some of their money and sent us out to lunch today. I picked up Todd from work and we went to the new Mexican restaurant in Shelbyville. It was a nice little date :) and it was so sweet of the kids.

Thanksgiving

We went to Clint & Dawn's for Thanksgiving this year. We headed up there Wednesday and came back home Sunday. It was really nice spending time with their family. The kids had a lot of fun together - it was a houseful!! Some of them went out hunting early in the mornings - Daniel shot his 3rd deer of the season, which was pretty exciting. They got to track it across the field and had to pull it out of a creek. We had the traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, and then got up early to go black Friday shopping the next morning to get a few bargains. The men and kids spent some time splitting wood for their wood burning stove and we spent one evening over at Clint's parent's house getting some wood split for them too. We didn't take our camera along, so we didn't get any pictures of our time there :(

October and November 2009

Well, I've done it again.

Somehow since we got our Facebook account, I have found it

easier to post quick tidbits on there instead of adding posts here. These pictures are mixed up, but for some reason I can't figure out how to get them in the right order. Anyway, there are pictures of all of the October and November birthdays here.

We are most of the way through "birthday season" here. Emily turned 7 and Abigail turned 10 in October. Laura, Heidi and Garrett turned 12, 5 and 1 respectively in November. Charlotte will have her 9th birthday in December and then Todd hits the big 40 in January. Then we wait until May for Lincoln's and my birthdays. We enjoy lots of birthday goodies at this time of year :) It is so hard to believe that a year has gone by since little Garrett was born. He has been such an added joy to our family. He has a great sense of humor for such a little guy. His new game is to run away laughing when I go to pick him up - but then he usually turns around and runs back towards me with his arms held high (just melts my heart). In case you can't tell, we are so so happy with all of our kids! One of his recent cute moments happened a few weeks ago - I was trying to rock him to sleep for a nap, and he wasn't wanting to settle down. Finally he sat straight up in my lap and yelled as loud as he could "LAURA", "LAURA". He has learned that when he wants his way, surely one of his sisters will let him have it :) - Not a good thing, but pretty cute right now.

We had an unseasonably cold October - but November has been milder. Today was a gorgeous, sunny day. The kids played outside with our newest batch of kittens for a while - Just as Lincoln is outgrowing the stage of torturing kittens by hanging them upside down by their tails or picking them up by their ears, Garrett has grown into it - poor kitties!

Heidi has turned 5 now, and is really loving to learn. She has started reading a little bit and it's fun to have her bring things to us and sound the new words out. I just love the part of teaching them to read when it finally clicks and they take off.

Emily has just discovered that she is ready for the Boxcar Children series of books. The other girls are just as excited as she is - asking her which part of the book she is reading - talking about the things that are happening... I looked over this evening and she was engrossed in her book and Laura and Abigail were hanging over her shoulders reading with her. :) So now we have 4 bookworms in the house. Her bigger sisters have been teaching her how to ride a bike without training wheels, which has been very exciting for her. Charlotte graduated to a bigger bike and handed her bike down to Emily and Emily handed her bike down to Heidi - so they are all happy. Heidi has been having fun riding round and round our porch (which really isn't very big - so she has gotten very good at turning :) - the other day she ran into the house yelling "mommy, mommy I just rode around the porch ONE HANDED - it was very hard")

The "critters" are all doing great. We moved the cows over across a stream crossing to our biggest pasture a couple of weeks ago. It is a great motivator for us to get a little exercise in when we go check on them every day or so. We have 12 cows/heifers, 1 little steer and 2 bulls now. 3 of the heifers are Jerseys - they are unbelievably friendly. They come up for hugs and treats (mostly treats) and then follow us around the pasture like puppy dogs. We are really enjoying them. We're not sure what we will do when they calve - if we will milk them or take them up to Arthur for a while and let someone up there milk them. We should start getting some calves in the next couple of months - right in the middle of the winter :P

Well, this is a long post, so I had better go. Maybe I will do better about posting next time --- we'll see.

August and September 2009

I can't believe I haven't written anything on here for so long. The days have been busy and full. In August, we went up to Seneca for a gospel meeting and brought Daniel and Jessica home with us for a few days. We really enjoyed having them here. We went to Lincoln Log Cabin, had a bonfire with a wienie roast and homemade ice cream, the kids put on a play about Abraham Lincoln, we had a BIG storm - so we set up a tent in the basement and pretended it was a cabin so we could play "olden days" while the electricity was out. We went back up to Seneca on Thursday for the day and left Daniel and Jessica with their mom. I told them I would get pictures put on here, so one of these days I will get that done.

We also enjoyed a day at the Decatur zoo with Laura, Samuel and Adrian.

We enjoyed the workdays at Brownstown getting ready for convention. Likely this will be the last year to use the dining tent there - they are hoping to have the new dining shed and cookhouse ready for convention next year.

We went to Shoals convention for Saturday night and Sunday and then had our convention at Brownstown the following week. Wonderful days! We are looking forward to getting to another out of state convention in a few weeks also.

School started here last Tuesday. Our first week was a good one. I have been tweaking the schedule a little bit and working on lesson plans this afternoon.

We are looking forward to having Todd's mom here in a couple of weeks. We're hoping to get a few field trips in while she is here - to the pumpkin patch, the planetarium, and maybe an apple orchard. She'll get in on a few school days, too.

Yesterday we put up a temporary fence to move the cows on to some fresh grass. It was getting pretty short in the pasture they were in, and we need to build some more fence over on the bigger pasture before we can move them over there. After they harvest the beans, we can use the bigger pasture, but if we move them now, the cows may harvest the beans instead. :) Unfortunately, we lost one of our Herfords this summer - her calf was breech and neither the cow or calf made it through delivery. We were gone when it happened.

Last evening we picked up a batch of 25 laying hens. The kids were excited about getting to gather eggs again - we will see how long that lasts :)

Well, this is just a brief summary of our summer, but I thought I had better get it written down before I forgot completely. I will try to get pictures posted soon.

Summer Days

We have been having a great summer so far. We had been planning to get a few days of school in during July, but haven't hit the books yet - too much other fun stuff to do. The kids have had some great experiences the past couple of weeks that will count towards school as field trips, though. Laura, Abigail & Charlotte got to go with Shelley to Conner Prairie http://www.connerprairie.org/ in Indiana. They had a great time going back in time and learning some about life in the 1800s. Later Laura and Abigail spent the night with some friends and had a history lesson about World War 1. A few days later they spent the night with some other friends and learned some about the Vietnam and Korean wars.

On Thursday, Shelley took Emily, Lincoln and Heidi to Mattoon to the little airport there. Gary gave them a tour of the airport. They got to sit in a real airplane and a fake airplane (I am assuming that was a simulator). They saw the yellow crop duster plane and watched some take offs and landings - watched some construction being done and then finished off with a picnic at the park.

Abigail and Charlotte have spent the last couple of days at B'town with Shelley. Yesterday they made a few batches of cookies for convention - Although it sounds like the cookies didn't all make it into the freezer. :) Today Todd and Laura headed to B'town to help work on the building project. The metal is getting put on, so I am sure it is looking more like a building instead of a skelaton. We were all planning to go, but Lincoln and Garrett both woke up with fevers, so Emily, Heidi, the boys and I stayed home. They don't seem to have any other symptoms, so hopefully it is a short lived virus.

Ouch!

I'm wondering if hitting your baby brother on the head and then gently kissing the owie cancel each other out?

Missing our girls

Today I am remembering what it was like to have 4 kids with no "big" ones to help. Emily was in tears when her big sisters left with Shelley this morning. We had jokingly told her that when they left she would have to fill in for all of them. She tearily told me that she didn't think she would be able to do all of their work and hers too. (I assured her that we had been joking and we didn't expect her to do all of that :) ) Before lunch I asked the kids to pick up toys - I asked Heidi to pick up the play food and she asked if someone could help her (read with a whine). I told her that she was one of the big girls today and Emily had something else that she had to do and that she could do it herself. She disappeared for a few minutes (I heard her talking to Lincoln). Then, here comes Lincoln saying "I'm one of the big gurls". She had been convincing him that he needed to help her because he was a big girl. (rolling eyes). He actually did a great job putting away all of his Matchbox cars! (and I didn't let him get away with being a "gurl" - Heidi somehow conned Emily into helping her along with setting the table)

Time with Shelley

Preps start soon here, and Janine has gone to visit family befor preps, so Shelley is traveling alone these days. She has been taking some of our girls with her for a couple of days at a time. Charlotte and Emily had their turn at the end of last week, tomorrow Shelley and the 3 oldest are going to Indianapolis. Shelley has a doctor's appointment there and she is taking Laura, Abby and Charlotte to Connor's Prairie while she is there. Laura and Abigail will have their turn to go with her at the end of the week. They (we) have really been enjoying time with Shelley. And she (hopefully-at least she acts like it) is enjoying time with the kids :) Although, today might have been a bit iffy in the enjoyment department. Some of the kids were pretty lively... about drove me crazy and I don't have far to go :)

Sunday Afternoon Naps

Travels

We had a great weekend in Michigan visiting Dawn's family. Saw lots of people at Tyler and Katrina's graduation party. The cousins had a great time together - the time always goes too fast.

Nothin' much happening lately

It's been a while since I posted anything. We have been busy, but nothing really exciting - just normal life. We're planning to move some cattle this evening or tomorrow, so I'll probably have something to say then :D The girls are out in the pool cooling off. We finally got it filled over the weekend, so this is the first time they have played in it (except when it only had a few inches of water in it last week). The boys and I are hanging out in the air conditioning. :)

Out of the mouths of babes

Heidi came up to me out of the blue today and said "Grandma Buelah is probably in Heaven today, isn't she?" "She died a long time ago, so she must be there by now." "Do you believe me?" - I thought that was pretty sweet.

Lincoln was really tired tonight. We were having graham crackers and milk for a bedtime snack. He got up from the table and said he was going to bed - headed back there - decided to come back for another cracker. As he was headed for the table he dropped his cracker and then burst into tears - "Now I have to go to bed, I dropped my cracker and it broke." I told him I could get him another one, but he insisted that he had to go to bed cause his cracker broke... So I rocked him for a little while and now he is happily asleep. :)

The past few days have been busy, but uneventful. Tonight we loaded Fred up on the trailer - he has a date with the abattoir in the morning. He wasn't keen on getting up in the trailer, but the bucket of corn was too tempting for him to resist. So we will be down to just the Beltie bull, who we are holding for someone from Indiana, and the bull calves. We will be very glad to only have cows and heifers.

We had some oatmeal left over from breakfast this morning, so I decided to make bread. It had been a while since I had made any. We ate a loaf for snack and a loaf for supper. It doesn't last very long around here - especially when we have fresh strawberry jam to go with it.

Special visits

We had a good meeting this morning. The Brownstown meeting and our meeting were together here. It was nice to have most everyone stay for potluck afterwards. Marco's family was visiting Marylou, so it was extra special to have them here too. The kids really enjoyed being together. We had a huge feast! There was way more food than what we could eat. Everything was delicious!

After meeting, I happened to look out the window and see a sheep on its side kicking its legs. Todd and some of the other men went to check it out, and found that one of the lambs and our yearling, Fern, were stuck in some poultry netting we had out there. They were very tangled up and in pretty bad shape. Unfortunately, the little lamb didn't make it :( Fern seems to be doing ok, but has a limp. The lamb that died was Harriett's little ram lamb.

We went down to Newton to the gospel meeting this afternoon. Then came back home and buried the little lamb and did a few other chores before putting the kids to bed. We moved Garrett out of his cradle into his crib last week, and now we are trying to teach him to go to sleep in it...he is doing pretty well with it, but it is hard on me to listen to him cry himself to sleep.

The kids would like us to put their pool up this week, so maybe I will tackle that job tomorrow if the weather is nice. They are anxious to get swimming. :)

I just realized that it was 22 years ago today that I graduated from High School. Time flies!

Out again!!!

We finally got the fences to keep the animals in. Well...except for the 3 sheep that like to get out under the bottom wire that isn't connected to the charger... But...if the gates aren't closed, it doesn't matter how hot the charger keeps the fence, the animals will get out! And the gate must have opened itself, nobody else seems to know how it got opened... :) My consolation is that I was talking to one of our neighbors the other day after I found one of his cows on the road. He said that in his experience, if you have cows, you can just expect that they will get out.

We woke up to 5 cows out in the yard. By the time we got out there, they were headed for the road...then across the road...then into the neighbors newly growing corn field. Those tender plants must have been pretty delicious, because the cows wouldn't be enticed even by buckets of corn. We were finally able to persuade them back across the road and into the fence again. Mom, you'll be glad to know that the cows that got out were our more gentle cows and not any of the bulls. In fact, Samson went home this week, so he and Fred won't be fighting anymore.

We have union meeting here tomorrow, so we spent the day getting ready for it. Talisha came over to help me wash windows and clean - thanks Talisha :) - while Todd was at B'town helping with the building. We are having a Mexican Themed potluck for lunch afterwards. We put together some taco fixings and made some refried beans, black beans and fresh salsa for it. Laura and some of the other kids made some snickerdoodle cookies while I was out mowing - they did a great job (I snuck one for my bedtime snack ;) ) It will be interesting to see what everyone else brings.

Our Current Critters

This post won't be very exciting. It is just a list of our current cattle and sheep so we can easily find it without having to go to the file cabinet.

Cattle:

Rosie - Female Hereford -

Blossom - Female Hereford - Born to Rosie in July or August of 2007

Stormy - Female Hereford/Black Angus Cross - Born to Blossom on May 13, 2009

Independence - Female Hereford - Born to Rosie in July or August of 2008

- Female Dexter/Red Polled Cross - Born April 2008

Jenny - Female Miniature Hereford - About 2 Years Old

- Male Miniature Belted Galloway - Not Polled but dehorned - About 4 Years Old

Oreo - Female Miniature Belted Galloway - Polled -About 2 Years Old

- Male Dexter - With Horns - Born about July 2008

- Female Dexter - Not Polled - About 14 Years Old

Jemimah - Female Dexter/Miniature Belted Cross - Polled - About 3 Years Old

Ribeye - Male Dexter/Miniature Belted/? Cross - Born to Jemimah about May 13, 2009

Fred - Dexter Red Polled Cross - Not Polled, but dehorned - About 1 Year Old

- Female Miniature Jersey - Less than a year

Shetland Sheep

Ruby - Female - Born 4/24/2005

Jasper - Male - Born 4/23/2009 to Ruby

Saphire - Female - Born 4/23/2009 to Ruby

Harriett - Female

- Male - Born 4/25/2009 to Harriett- died 6/7/2009 after getting stuck in some netting

Cheerio -Female - Born 4/25/2009 to Harriett

Cupcake - Female - Born 3/27/2007

Sprinkles - Male - Born 4/26/2009 to Cupcake

Frosting - Female - Born 4/26/2009 to Cupcake

Abigail - Female - Born 4/5/08 to Ruby

Gabby - Female - Born 4/25/29 to Abigail

Fern - Female - Born 8/1/08 to Cupcake

Daphne - Female born 4/9/08

Sweet William- Male - Born 4/25/09 to Daphne

If the shoe fits...

This evening we were getting ready to go to Bible Study, and Heidi was complaining that her shoes weren't fitting her right. I went downstairs to look in the boxes to see if we had a pair that would work for her. I asked her what size her shoes were...there was a pause...and then she said "they are about the same size as my feet"

I thought I would write a little bit about the beginning of our farm here. When we first moved down here and were renting a house while we were building this house, some very good friends of ours had a couple of bottle fed lambs. The wondered if our kids would enjoy having them and bottle feeding them - of course we thought they would, so Todd built a little pen and shed for them and the kids and I went down to pick them up in the van. They were so cute and little - they fit in a cardboard box. Anyway, we underestimated the amount of grass the little fellows would eat, and it wasn't long before their little pen didn't have any grass left in it - so...we let them out in the yard during the day when we were over here working on the house. They really enjoyed the shade of the porch - hence the name of our blog - "Critters on the Porch". They were the first of many critters that enjoyed laying on the porch. A couple of times they even made it into the front door of the house - they sure did skid around on the freshly laid and finished hardwood floor!!!

Our next experience with farm animals happened when we decided to get some chickens. We had been talking about getting some sometime. Todd was at a tradeshow for work and met up with one of our friends there. Brad asked if we were interested in their chicken house that they weren't using. Todd said we sure would be. About that time, Rural King - our local farm store - advertised their "Chick Sale". We figured we could get some, put them in the basement for a little while until Brad could get the chicken house up here for us. We had to buy at least 25 - so we did, but then we got to figuring up that if we ate 1 chicken a week they wouldn't last very long - so we headed back to Rural King to get more chickens. I think we finally ended up with about 60. Then, it started to rain - it rained and rained and then rained some more. The days turned into weeks and it was so wet Brad couldn't get his trailer in to get the chicken house out. The chicks grew and grew and grew and started flying out of their box and smelling up the house!!! There was a little falling down shack across the road from us and the farmer there said we could have it if we wanted it and pulled it across the road for us. So, that became our new chicken house - and still is working great a few years later.

Garrett's first "words" and the quiet country life

Our littlest farm boy has started talking - his first "word" was "er-er-er-er-errrrr" - imitating the sound of the rooster that likes to come up on to the porch to wake us up every morning (now that is a dedicated rooster!). His second word was "aaaaauuuuu" - imitating the bellowing cows in the pasture. And his third "word" - "aaaaaaaa" - copying the sheep and lambs calling to each other.

People think of the country as being quiet - I will say that it is not quiet - peaceful, absolutely, but quiet.....no. Last night we had the windows open - we heard geese, coyotes, cows, sheep, dogs, and a bird that sang the entire night. I think it must have been a mockingbird - it would sing about 5 or 6 notes, then change its tune for another 5 or 6 notes and then change again and again... It was beautiful singing, but not exactly appreciated in the middle of the night. And finally, the roosters started crowing - it is amazing - they come up to the porch at almost exactly the same time every morning - park themselves under our window - and let loose with their crowing. I think they must be punishing us for getting rid of all of the hens a couple of months ago!

I guess I should add one of Lincoln's cute sayings from today. He was really tired at lunch time so I was wanting him to sleep during quiet time. I rocked him for quite a while - finally I figured he was sleeping soundly enough for me to lay him down. I put him in his bed and covered him up - he peeked up at me and said "You are not making me happy." Closed his eyes again and slept for about 2 hours. :)