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.