Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Now I know why I do it!

Ok the worst part of doing these parties is dreading the thought of "is any one going to come!"

Thanks to mom for coming!!! With her there were a total of 6 people plus me! Yeah! Oh yeah did I mention that I was able to get $592 (19 pieces) of jewelry for $168!!!!!!

That is less that 1/3 of the cost!!!! This is so exciting!!! I know you guys are probably rolling your eyes but let me explain.

When you are as let say "large" as I am it really isn't fun buying clothes. Most stores don't have anything that fits me. So to me buying the jewelry takes the place of the cute clothes that you guys get to shop for and wear.

Please don't preach about it being up to me to lose the weight. I know that. This is just my way to dress things up a bit with jewelry.

Oh yeah and Kati and Kimi, I didn't have you use your names after all. A friend of mine's mom wanted some stuff and her order was over the $100 for the pre order. So thanks anyway!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Is anybody out there?

OK no one has left a comment to any of my posts. Are any of you reading them? Please let me know. It feels really lonely in here!

Well Jessi and I finished the big shirt order. I cheered when the last one was done. I'll deliver them tomorrow! Now back to taxes. I have about 9 returns to do. Guys don't forget my premier jewelry party tomorrow night. It should be big fun. I have an order from mom. Did you Kimi and Kati want to order anything.

Track Meet

Ok so do you guys remember the days of the track meet. It would be beautiful the day before and gorgeous the day after but the day of the track meet well that's another story!

It was so cold this morning sitting out in the 35 mile per hour wind and cloud cover. Of course the track ran from north to south. All those kids running into the wind. Who thought that one up. Then when the sun finally did shine it was warmer but the wind was still blowing you over.

I stayed at home until Jessi called and said it's almost time for my events mom you should come now. So I jump in the car thinking I'd be gone just an hour or so and 4 hours later here I am. She ran the 800 which is twice around the track. She never stopped and kept on running. There were over 50 girls in two heats. Next was the shot put. She can really throw that heavy piece of iron. There was one girl from Wakita and you could tell she had been coached by someone who knew what they were doing. She threw that thing twice as far as any of the other 60 girls.

I feel a little wind/sun burn on my face so I better go doctor it up with the blue stuff.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Tony's Pizza Even Tasted Good

OK you know you are exhausted when even Tony's Pizza tastes good. Sometimes I wonder what I was thinking when I wanted to make t-shirts.

Don't get me wrong, I like the extra money it provides but I sure get tired! And when this project is done I have about 4-6 more that people want. So I worked all evening on the shirts and came in and Jessi had made Tony's pepperoni pizza. It was a little cold but it was good. I had two pieces and then sat down to check the computer. Of course the kids are arguing and fussing. Jake tells me now that he has homework. Why didn't he tell me on Friday? I guess why didn't I ask?

So much for a weekend on the farm. I'll hit the ground running again tomorrow. I still have those 111 shirts to finish!

New Baby Calf

OK so now I know why the cow kept coming at me yesterday. She was in labor! I'd charge anybody who was messing around me too! So this morning we had heck getting the baby seperated from the momma. We would chase them from pen to pen.

All of a sudden Jessi yells whats coming out of her butt? It was a hoof. Every once in a while it would stick out further. After 2 hours (not exaggerating) we finally got the two mommas in the far pen and were able to feed the little calf. She had been stealing the milk from the cow who was in labor.

So while Jenni, Jessi, Jake and I were feeding the calf Tim was over on the other side watching the cow. All of a sudden he yelled we have a new calf. Now what in the world is wrong with him. The miracle of life and he stands there and lets it happen right in front of him and never once told us to come see. I was so mad at him. I think that would have been very interesting for the kids to see let alone me. I've never seen a calf born.

So for the time being we are keeping the bottle baby separate so the new one can get the milk for itself a few days then we will see if that momma will take both calves.

Such excitement here on the farm.

I've spent the rest of the day working on my 350 shirt order. I'm exhausted and my back hurts. Josh is helping me. He is the best!

Morning Again

Ok up again at 7:00 a.m. At least I got to sleep that long. I'd have slept longer but my DH (dear husband) got up to take the dogs out and left them out to long and they wouldn't come back. So he started screaming at them which really woke me up. Of course he got mad when I told him not to leave them out so long by themselves. So great start to the day!

Jenni soon came in and brought her school backpack for me to sign all the necessary papers for tomorrow. I told her it wasn't Monday still Sunday and she said "I know, just want to be prepared." Now where did that come from definitely not me or Tim! By the way she brought home her reading assessment test and she reads on a 3rd grade fourth month level. Now why can't my third grader read that well? He still reads on a first grade level. UGH!!!!

I made biscuits with gravy. Tim, Jenni and I ate the first batch. when the other kids get up I'll make the other batch.

Just asking for input of any kind. Even though we all pitched in and have the house clean, things are starting to appear out of place again. There are socks in the living room, a jacket in the dining room, crap on the kitchen table. What do you do to keep things picked up and are your houses really always as perfect as they seem when I come by? Now mom I know yours probably is because it's just you and then just you and Bob. I mean two adults how much could get dirty? But Kati and Kimi what do you do? Do you have a special time that everyone helps or do you just pick up after everyone? I'm tired of being the maid to everyone. I might have one or two things out in the living areas yet why should I have to pick up everyone else's crap. I've tried the put it in a bucket and charge for it. No reaction. I've threatened to throw it away and I don't like to be the bad guy always yelling at them to get it cleaned up. HELP!!!!!?

BTW Tim had to get dressed and go out and get the dogs. Now he has put the leashes on them and Roxy won't go to him. She just sits and stares at him like she is p_____d!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Fastest Snow Storm Ever

OK I was up this morning at 5:00 a.m. only a dusting of snow on the ground. Around noon snowing and blowing so much Amy got her van stuck down the road. 6:00 p.m. still plenty of snow in the yard but the fields are almost melted clean away. Amazing!

It is great snow for a snowman. The kids are out now rolling their snowmen.

OK finalized all the summer vacation spots today too. For the 13 & 14 we will be at Fishing Bridge campground in Yellowstone. These were the only two nights available when Tim called last week.

The 15 th through the 21 we will be staying at the Cody KOA. http://www.codykoa.com/ We went ahead and reserved the fancy sites with the lawn furniture. I mean this is camping but I want it to be nice! Then we will travel on to South Dakota to the Rafter J Ranch campground. http://www.rafterj.com/ We will be here for the nights of 22 to 25. This is over a weekend so any and all of you please consider coming to Mount Rushmore with us! Or heck just make reservations for the whole trip with us. I'm sure you could find a spot at the Cody KOA the first two nights that we are staying in the park. It is only an hour drive to the park.

I can honestly say I was bummed when the TV satellite kicked in and started working again. I actually made everyone help me clean up the living,dining,and kitchen. We split up by twos and each couple took a room. It really went fast this way. You know when the kitchen is clean I don't mind cooking so I whipped up the family favorite chicken spaghetti. We really chowed down! This is the only meal I can think of that everyone even the kids will eat!

It's about time to go out feed our little calf again. So far so good. There are two other cows in with her and one is ready to calve anyday. They really are protective of the little calf and I have seen her try to nurse on the expectant cow. We are hoping she will have her calf soon and the mom will have enough milk for both of them. If not we will be feeding this cow for some time.
Update on feeding the calf this evening. Ok I don't know what it is. The little calf will come up to me if I have the bottle. If Tim has the bottle it turns to back away from him. So this time the baby was in with the two cows. Tim walked up and it backed away. He gave me the bottle and she started walking toward me so I started slowly going toward her. Then out of no where the pregnant cow started charging me. I turned and ran for the fence. Tim was yelling at it and she stopped before she got me the stupid B_ _ _ _ H! So Tim ran them all in the other part of the corral. I still had the bottle and the calf started sort of coming towards me again. So (while watching the other cows) I got the calf started on the bottle and then tried to back into other part to shut the gate and damn if the other cow didn't start at me. What the heck! I finally got her into the other pen and then the kids took over giving her the bottle. As soon as we opened the gate the other cows came right in for her. Scared the crap out of me!

I have to share the events of the night we gave her the first bottle. I of course go out with my camera thinking oh this will be a great opportunity to get the kids feeding their first bottle calf. You know I drive Jessi crazy with my camera but anyway. Tim has her pinned in the alleyway in a 8 x 8 area. Jessi gives him the bottle and he starts following the calf around chasing it in a circle trying to get it to take the bottle. Now mind you this is the first human interaction this calf has ever had. She is scared to death trying to run through the fence and here is this man chasing it with a bottle it had never seen before. Jessi was scrambling around to stay out of the way because she was afraid of getting kicked.

After several minutes of the here calfy calfy, come here calfy calfy. I laid my camera down got in the corral herded the calf into a corner and climbed around her where I could hold her between my legs and give her the bottle. And yes it was almost that quickly. She took about thirty minutes to figure out what was in the bottle and that we weren't trying to hurt her. She got loose a couple of times and Jessi would squeal and run. I finally said Jessi trust me Jake could kick you harder than this little calf can. Tim tried to catch her a couple of times but he too is afraid of getting kicked. What a bunch of city folk I live with! They are learning though.

Jake took Roxi the bulldog outside with him earlier. He came back in but forgot to bring Roxi back in. About 30 minutes later someone asked where are the dogs. She was still outside. I let her in and she was just shaking. I wrapped her in a blanket and she has been asleep on the chair ever since. Poor baby!

Ok maybe it is a blizzard!

Well I can eat my words when I need to and oh my am I chewing right now. It is snowing and blowing. As some of you know we are the proud family of a bottle calf. It's mom was old and had to be put down after giving birth. The calf if so cute! Anyway we had put off going out to feed her so here Jessi Tim and I go heading out with the bottle of milk.

The snow was blowing so hard that it felt like little pins hitting my face. You can still see so it isn't snowing that much but what is coming down sure did sting. Thank goodness the little stinker came walking up to us when we showed her the bottle this time. For the last three days we would have to corner her to get her to take it. I guess waiting till 11:15 to feed her she was pretty hungry!

Summer Vacation Update

OK we have decided to go to Yellowstone and South Dakota Mount Rushmore. We booked the last two nights they had in the park at Yellowstone but plan to stay in Cody Wyoming outside of yellowstone for 4 or 5 nights. Then we will head for South Dakota. Not sure where after that.

We are leaving around July 12th.

Let me know if you want more details.

Blizzard Conditions

Wow I have lived through so many blizzards and didn't even know it!

They have forecast for several days now the impending storm that is going to dump 12-18 inches of snow in our area. As of this morning there is only a dusting on the ground where I am. It is snowing a little more now but if this is a blizzard what are the real snow storms I've been in.

I guess being a weatherman you are allowed a few missteps occasionally. This however is way off. To be honest I am very disappointed. I was looking forward to some good deep wet snow where we could go sled down the overpass. We have been here three years and I can only remember one snow that was deep enough to do that and we didn't go.

Nothing like playing in the snow until you are soaked and freezing. Of course we still don't have a fireplace in this house so there goes the other half of the fun (warming up by the fire).

Fortunately we still have electricity but the satellite kind of stinks. We aren't getting it at all in the living room and my room only has a few channels and it pixels in and out. So I guess we will have to communicate with each other YIKES!!!!

Jessi has been training Roxi to sit, lay, high five and hugs. She is really doing well. They are so cute. Buddy will do everything but the hugs part.

Have a happy snow day!

Friday, March 27, 2009

Today

Boy has it been a long time since I have posted. I guess we have been busy!

Today was pretty hectic as usual. I have been working on a 350 shirt order. Tim and Jenni helped me today.

We are waiting on the big snow storm so we had to get everything rewinterized. What a pain!

We have a bottle calf that I hope survives the cold snap. Her mother was really old and she had problems a week after giving birth. The vet tried to help her but they had to put her down so we are feeding this calf twice a day. Which doesn't seem nearly enough but what do I know. She still won't come up to the bottle we have to corner her and then she will eat.

I haven't taken any photos in several days and I'm really missing it.

Maybe tomorrow with the foot of snow we are supposed to have.