Our snowy Christmas

Here are a few pics of the snow at our place during the Christmas holiday. The first pic is a view of the mountain range from our back 5 acres. Gordon and his brother Brad were back with the pigs checking out the fence line. The second one is looking at our house from the barn. The third one is taken from our driveway at the road looking back at our place. The last one is looking out at our backyard and barn from our big picture window in the family room.

As you can see, we had a lot of snow and now going out to take care of animals is a real pain because you either slosh around in the slushy stuff, or slip on the ice. Just what I need. Another chance to slip and mess up my back even more!

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

My little ones

When I started blogging in November, I mentioned all of our farm animals we have. I also mentioned our dogs. We have three mini-dachshunds and a yellow lab. Our yellow lab is Faith. She will turn 2 years old March 13, 2009. We are planning on breeding her when she comes into heat.(should be within the next couple of weeks.) Our breeder has a gorgeous yellow male that will be the daddy. We should get a great breeding out of it.Abby is our black and tan mini-dachshund. She will be 4 years old July 18, 2009. She just had her first litter of pups this past August. We got two cute puppies out of the breeding. We sold the little red female and kept the little red male. That is Puma. He was born August 10, 2008. Ruby is our other red. She will be 2 years old August 18, 2009. The minis are all so different. Abby is quiet and likes to cuddle or snuggle in a blanket by herself. Ruby is the talker. If you look at her, she will talk to you. It is very entertaining. Puma is full of life. Happy and hyper all day long. He is the one in the middle of the other two. Faith is a follower. She likes to be wherever Gordon and I are. We always have to watch where we are going because chances are, we will trip over her.

Anyways, I just wanted to share about my little ones. I love them all and can't imagine them not being part of our family.

Thank you

Thanks to the bloggers that gave me hints on how to fix my blog. I messed around in a different area, and was able to fix the red. I appreciate the help. Now I can change my background as much as my mood allows!
Thanks friends.

Help!!

Ok all you bloggers out there. I need help.

I recently changed the background of my blog, but for some reason, the red background where my info and posts are won't change. I don't want the red, I want it to match the background a little differently. I looked all over to see how to fix it and can't figure it out. Any help would be appreciated!!
Thanks, friends.

From the mouth of babes...

Christmas morning the kids woke up and had to wait until daddy got home from work to start opening presents. Gordon's brother Brad is here for the holidays all the way from Chicago. We sat around and talked about all the gifts and waited patiently. When daddy finally got home and settled, we gathered in the living room and started out our morning singing Happy Birthday to Jesus. We were trying to figure out who was going to be playing Santa and handing out gifts when Sierra pipes up and says, "Uncle Brad should do it. He is the fattest!" Oh my! Luckily Brad doesn't take offense to references about his weight from a 5 year old and we all got a good chuckle out of it. After we were done laughing, I explained to Sierra the proper way to say that someone is heavier than the others. And the fact that it is best to just not say anything at all.

Love

I was tagged by Tiffani!! I am supposed to tag five others and blog about 5 addictions that I have. Here goes...

1. Diet Coke-it is a really bad habit, but there it is. Don't mess with me if I don't get my diet coke. All of you who know me well, am I right?

2. My husband-I know; kind of corny, but true. I love to be with him, and I don't like when we are apart for more than a couple of days.

3.Bath and Body Works antibacterial soaps. They must be good, since myself, Holly and Tiffani all love them.

4. Sleep!!! I love my sleep, oh yes I do. I love my sleep-how about you?

5. My children. I can't live without them. They are the most precious blessings I have ever been given.

Now, on to tagging others. I can't really do that since Holly and Tiff have already tagged the other bloggers I know. Sorry, the game ends here.

It has been a while

I know it has been a while since I last blogged, but with the Christmas holiday here, it has been busy. I promise to get back into it in the next day or so. I have beautiful pictures from our snow storm that I would like to share, so be watching. I will be back....

Off we go

Well, we are off to Portland in this winter weather storm we are having. Hopefully everything will be ok. Please pray for a safe journey for us and a fun time in Portland. While down there we will be celebrating Gordon's grandpa's birthday. He turns 91 on the 21st. He is a very important man in our lives and we wish him health and happiness on his birthday. We will also be celebrating Christmas with both sides of family. I have a strong suspicion that we will be bringing home more than we left with.

Our friend, Greg, will be here taking care of the farm and the dogs. We wish him a safe, fun time on the farm. Enjoy the cuddle time with the doggies!!!

Finally, a tree!

Yesterday we got our tree. I already told you all that, but thought I would let you know about our evening getting it decorated.

It was full of snow and we tried dusting it off with the broom, blowing it off with a shop vac, and finally decided to put down a tarp and bring it in to the family room in front of the pellet stove to dry a little. While it was drying, we had a great dinner of creamy wild rice soup with chicken and rolls. YUMMMMMM!!!! After getting cleaned up from dinner, we decided to tackle the tree.

I had mentioned in my last blog about our pastor preaching on expecting the unexpected. Well, that is the theme of our christmas this year. We have a spot in front of our big bay window that we have put the tree for the past three years. We have to rearrange the furniture and it makes it hard for us to watch TV with our chairs all funny. This year Gordon decided to put our tree in front of the other big window by the stairs. Great idea Gord!! We didn't even have to move our chairs.

Gordon and I got it in place, standing upright and we put the lights on it. Now, in the past, Gordon and I have decorated the tree together with the same ornaments we have had for years and years. Since kids, I usually sit on the floor, hand a child an ornament and Gordon helps them place it on the tree so it looks right. This year, what is our theme? That's right! Expect the unexpected! Gordon sat down and let the kids do all the ornaments themselves. The only advice he gave them was to make sure to space them out so that they are on all of the tree and to not put them too low so the dogs get them or they get knocked off. WOW!! I am impressed! Usually Gordon gets very particular about where he wants the ornaments. The kids did a GREAT job and here is the result.

(I know, it probably isn't the best idea to let my kids stand in the window, but hey, expect the unexpected!!!)

Snow-ok, Wind-go away!!

I was actually a little excited when I heard on the news that we could possibly get 4-8 inches of snow today. I love our farm in the snow. It is so pretty to sit inside by the warm fire and look outside at all the prettiness. That changed in a heartbeat---
Since I have been laid up with a back injury and we hadn't completely decided to wait on our remodel project, we decided not to put up our Christmas decorations this year. We did promise the kids a tree, though. Then I got hurt.
Today while the kids were at school, Gordon and I decided to go get a tree. Today is literally the last day that we had available to do this. Gordon works tomorrow and we leave on Friday for Portland.
Ok, a little snow is kind of fun, but then the wind started. We started out in Everson; couldn't find a tree anywhere. We went into Lynden-no trees! We ended up going almost to Bellingham to the Circle A trailer place on the Guide and finally got a tree. Of course, we paid big for it. We froze getting it onto the vehicle, but finally started on our way home. We got home with about 20 minutes or so to spare before Evan got home from school. Now we have to get it into the house to decorate it. Oh the joys of the holidays!!!

At least we have been somewhat prepared. Our pastor has been speaking on "Expect the unexpected this year for Christmas." Yup, that's us! We will just go with the flo.

Never mind

I was just being so loving and thinking of my husband when I wrote the last post about feeling guilty that Gordon was out taking care of the farm and I couldn't help him.

Well, I take it all back! The crazy freak can freeze out there with his chickens. They probably like him more than I do at this point right now.

I was sitting at the dining room table with Evan and Sierra. Evan was reading to me his homework and Sierra was "reading" one of Evan's books. Gordon snuck up the deck and jumped to the window, pounded on it and yelled, "Rawr". I screamed and he walked off laughing his head off.

Not funny, farmer boy!!! Wait til you least expect it!!!!

Wind, Wind, and more Wind

It is bad enough that I have been laid out for the past four days and now we have a winter wind storm crashing through our farm. It is hard enough not being able to do the normal things like laundry, dishes, picking things up, putting on my own socks, etc...but then this wind storm comes and Gordon is outside freezing his jingle bells off and I can't even help him.
The pig's water had to be turned off so it wouldn't freeze and Gordon had to put down straw for them because they are on concrete. The goats have a nice winter layer of cashmere, but they are going thru the hay like crazy trying to keep their metabolism going. The cows are cows, whatever! They don't care what kind of weather it is. The chickens are probably laying frozen eggs and their water faucet froze, so Gordon is putting up another heat lamp for them and wrapping their water faucet with heat tape. The cats keep trying to find a nice spot to hide from the wind, and the dogs will barely go outside to go potty.
On top of that, we had to get foundation vent insulation blocks again because last year our chickens ate them.

Oh yeah, the joys of winter!!!

The joy of Christmas shopping

Even though I can barely move, and when I do I look like a little old granny, Gordon and I have a date for Christmas shopping tonight. Evan has his Christmas program at school today at 1:30. We are going to that and then our wonderful friend, Jennifer, is going to take the kids home with her and keep them for the evening. Of course, the kids are excited because they get to play with their best friends, Jacob and Anna, but Gordon and I are excited to have a date! Wohoo!!!

Watch out shoppers! I am not nice when I don't feel good!

Oops...I did it again!!

Ok, so my blogging ability has been interupted by the daily happenings of a busy life and the Christmas season and all that I need to be doing right now. I feel terrible that I have been slacking, so here is my latest...

Two days ago, I went out in the dark to put the chickens to bed, and slipped in the mud and wrenched my back funny. I could barely make it to the house and then I had to deal with kids since Gordon was at work. Obviously, I didn't sleep well that night and could barely move the next morning. Sierra ended up missing school because I couldn't get up to drive her and Gordon hadn't come home yet from work. I spent about 4 hours on the couch and then had to get up and try to be presentable for our friend that came over to do family pictures for our Christmas cards. After that Gordon's Uncle and Aunt came by and we visited with them for a while and then went out to dinner with them. I took a Vicodin at around 7pm and ended up sleeping on the couch with a heating pad. Today I woke up and have had a headache (probably from the Vicodin), and feel drugged. I still hurt a lot and am having a hard time doing anything. Sierra thinks it is fun to have to put my socks on for me since I can't bend over to do it. Oh well, I guess this is God's way of telling me to slow down and relax for a few days. All I need is a good book, the remote, and a dog or two to snuggle on the couch with!!!

And yes, I have done this before. It sucks getting older.

A time to reflect...

Looking back on my post from three days ago, I am sad. Today, Tinkerbell went to fly with the chickens in heaven. That horrible creature that is stalking my chickens got Tink. It is probably silly to a lot of you, but she was a really nice chicken and I really enjoyed her. But remember how I said every creature is here for a reason? I think I am learning that nothing is permanent, everything changes and the test is learning to roll with the punches.

I'll miss you, my sweet little Tinkerbell.

Tinkerbell

Tinkerbell is such a sweet little fairy; mischievous, funny, and always willing to help, right? NOT in my family!!! I would like to tell you about our Tinkerbell.

When our Tinkerbell was just a young gal, she had an unfortunate accident and got her neck caught in a door. Not just any door, but the lid to a cooler. Now, we thought for sure that Tink wouldn't make it for many days after that, but she is alive and well. She does have a few issues though. Her neck was obviously broken when she tangled with the cooler lid and it healed in a funny way. She now cannot extend her neck or move it from side to side. Actually, her head is permanently to the left of her body. She will never be like the others, but she is special to us.

Who the heck is Tinkerbell, you might be asking about now?

Well, here she is...our special girl

Now, most chickens have their necks straight out and can extend them to some degree. Tink can do no more than what she is doing in the picture. If you look closely, you can see her feet pointing in the opposite direction.

We run this farm with love and a knowing that God has given us each and every one of these animals to use for a specific purpose. Our cows are for beef, our pigs are for pork, our goats are for entertainment, and our chickens are for egg production. We don't know for sure if Tink will ever be able to lay eggs. We don't know the extent of her special needs, but we do know that she was given to us with a purpose.

Her purpose is to remind us that life doesn't always go the way that we want it to, but we need to make the most of it and enjoy each and every day. Just like our Tinkerbell.

Busy life

I can't believe that it has been almost a week since I last blogged. Life has been busy and hectic and it has been hard to sit down at the computer and update everyone, so I will try to fill you in on my weekend without getting to wordy.



Thursday was Thanksgiving. Even though we didn't do our big meal until Friday because Gordon was working, we had a family day at Chris & Tim's house and spent the day preparing for Friday. Of course, that pretty much consisted of eating, snacking, and tasting everything. Chris, Sherri and I went to Bromley's Market at about 3pm or so to figure out what to do for dinner. The people working there must have thought we were all a little strange. We had on sweats and slippers and were discussing what to have for dinner. (mind you, it was Thanksgiving day). Needless to say, it was fun.
Friday we had our big dinner with turkey, mashed taters, sweet potatoes and all the other good stuff. It was a fun, relaxing day filled with eating and more eating!!
Saturday we all took off and went up to Langley BC to the Colossus movie theater. If you have never been up there, it is worth a drive. The theater is in the shape of a space ship. It is pretty cool. They also have an IMAX theater there. Grandma, Grandpa, myself and the four teenage girls went to see Twilight, while Gordon, Chris, Tim, Evan, Sierra and Carson went to see Bolt. I really wanted to see Bolt also, but the girls wanted me to see Twilight. It was actually a great movie. After that we went to Montana's for dinner. Another great place in Canada.
On Sunday, some of us went to church, Gordon went to work and some of us layed around being lazy. Everyone came to our house for lunch and goofing around, then we all went to Chris & Tim's for turkey left-overs for dinner.
Monday was school for my kids, shopping at Walmart for everyone else. Dinner at El Nopals in Sumas and then to the Sumas Park for the arrival of Santa Claus. It was cold and wet, but we had fun.
Tuesday, Grandma, Grandpa, Sherri and girls all left and we ended our day with ballet and basketball. Whew! I told you it was a busy weekend with lots and lots of eating. Now hopefully I will get back to my normal routine!!

I am thankful...day 8

On this day, Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my husband and my children. Gordon has been my best friend since 1982. He has been the best blessing that I have had in life. Gordon is a strong man, in his work ethic and his beliefs. He tries his best to always be honest, fair, and loving. He works so hard at his job as a firefighter and then comes home and works as hard on the farm. He is a loving husband and a wonderful father. He shows his love and loyalty to me and his kids every day.
Gordon, thank you for being my best friend, my husband, my world. I love you!

Evan and Sierra are the best kids a person could ask for. Evan is smart, athletic, and a loving boy. He loves school, but he loves sports even more. He is a great son and a great brother to Sierra.
Evan, thanks for being my bestest boy in the world. I love you so much!

Sierra is compassionate, loving and caring. She tries to make everyone happy and she loves to sing and dance. She is always trying to make everyone laugh, and is a happy little girl. She is my bright sunshine.
Sierra, thank you for being the light of my life. I love you so much!

As I reflect back and think about all the people in my life that I am thankful for, I realize that I am a very rich person. I have wonderful friends and a wonderful family. I wouldn't trade any of them for the world. I hope that my writings of my family and friends makes you take a second to pause and think about all you are thankful for. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.
God Bless!!!

I am thankful...day 7

Today I am thankful for my younger sister Sherri and her two girls, Kendahl and Makenah.
Sherri is a strong woman. She has proven that to me in many ways, but the most obvious is by being a single parent and raising her daughters to have good attitudes and good behavior. (for the most part) : )
Sherri has held the same job since just out of high school and provides well for her girls. She is a fun auntie who likes to spend time with the other kids when she can. When she comes up to visit, my kids are always very excited to see her.
Kendahl and Makenah are beautiful girls, both inside and out. They are very respectful and let their crazy auntie pick on them all the time. They have great relationships with my kids and spend time with them when they come to visit. When the girls were younger, I had them for two weeks and Gordon and I spoiled them rotten. We have memories of that time on video and we like to look back and see how cute they were.
Thanks, Sherri, for being a great sister and great Auntie and for raising such great girls. Kendahl and Makenah, thank you for being wonderful nieces and loving my kids the way you do.

I am thankful...day 6

Today I am thankful for my sister Chris, her husband Tim and their three kids, Jessica, Cheyanne and Carson. When Jessica was born, I was able to have my sister come stay with me for a few weeks and I got to spoil Jessica rotten. When Cheyanne was a few months old, I got to keep her for a weekend by myself. That was fun, but tiring. Carson came along a lot later and he comes over for special auntie time and sleepovers with the cousins.
Chris works hard for her family. She has always held down a job, even when the kids were little. She is generous with all of the kid's friends and spends time transporting them from place to place.
Tim is always willing to lend a hand when needed. He enjoys being with his family and is a "pal" to Carson all the time. He spends lots of "guy" time with Carson, but then can turn around and hang out with his girls. Chris & Tim moved up here last year and we have had many opportunities to hang out and do family BBQ's and pool parties.
Jessi and Cheyanne come over and spend time with us whenever they can. They are busy teenagers, so that time is few and far between, but we love it when they are here. They also babysit for us when we need them to. Carson loves to come over and play on the farm and ride his motorcycle. He loves to play with Evan and Sierra.
Thanks for being part of our lives and giving us the chance to be closer to the kids. We love you.

Owl soup anyone?

Yes, I do know that it is illegal to hurt an owl and I will not be hurting one; I just wanted to get your attention.

Yesterday morning Gordon went out to feed the chickens and found one laying outside the roost, dead, with its neck and head completely gone. The rest of its body was intact. What the heck could have gotten to it? We have made a nice secure area for them. The dogs can't get in, the cats can't get in, so what could it be?
Later that evening, I went out to feed animals. It was already almost dark so it was hard to see. I was walking from the barn to the chicken coup when I heard this noise. Whoosh, Whoosh-I look over at the coup in time to see a huge white body fly out of the roost and all the chickens are going crazy. Yep, a big old owl. I went into the coup to check out the damage. Except for a whole lot of scare chickens, no one was worse off than before the owl visit.
Now, I like owls-don't get me wrong, but when they start feeding off of my chickens, they are not welcome here! When Gordon got home from the Seahawks game (bugger), he tarped the roost so that the owl can't have any more treats.
Go away and stay away, you big naughty bunch of feathers!!!

I am thankful...day 5

Today I am thankful for my mom and dad. My parents taught us about sticking together through thick and thin. They have led by example throughout our lives and given us girls all a strong foundation to grow up on.
My mom is a strong, but silent type of person. She is very strong in her beliefs and she shares them with those around her. She has always had a way of teaching us a lesson without us knowing that she was, and looking back I always think to myself, "How did she do that?" I tend to voice my opinions and my mom keeps hers to herself unless needed. She is a very strong faithful woman and has taught all of her grandkids about God. She has spent as much time with her grandkids as she can, and she always supports them in their sport endevors and is right on the sidelines rooting them on. Of course, she doesn't live close by, so she attends games for my kids and Chris & Tim's kids when she is here visiting.
Mom, thanks for being a great support system and for being a strong role model. I love you(and so do your grandkids).

My dad has a huge love for his family. He has lived next to his parents most of his life and we grew up next to Granny & Gramps. Now that they are gone and us kids have moved away, he tries to spend as much time as possible with all of us. We do vacations together that always make Dad happy. He loves spending time with his grandkids. Dad also extends his farm knowledge to me all the time and helps me figure things out when I need. When he is here to visit, he helps do things around the farm so we get things done.
Dad, thanks for showing me how important family is. That is a great legacy to pass on to your children. I love you(and so do your grandkids).

I am thankful...day 4

Today I am thankful for my brother-in-law, Brad. Brad is Gordon's younger brother by three years and has always been close to Gordon and I. Growing up, we used to pick on Brad something fierce and he took it well. He used to tag along with us to hockey games, pizza night and other activities we did back then. Brad has lived away from us for quite a while. He moved out of his parents house and went to Irvine, CA for work. That was an amazing place to visit. Then his job transferred him to Maple Grove, MN. We were sure he wasn't going to like it there. Complete opposite of CA in weather and lifestyle, but Brad fit right in and made a great place for himself. We had the pleasure of visiting him twice when he was in MN. Then his job transferred him again. This time to Wheaton, IL. This move has been hard on Brad and also on us. He is a lot farther away and we haven't yet been able to visit him there. We hope to soon.
Brad is a great guy who loves his family and spends as much time as he can with his nephew and niece. The kids think he is a big teddy bear. Last year he went with us to a store over Christmas break and taught the kids how to run up and down the isles yelling at the top of their lungs. After that, he put them in the dog beds on the shelves at Fred Meyer and told them to bark like dogs until we found them. Yes, the kids think he is great, but I want to deck him when he does that kind of stuff. But hey, what are Uncles for if not for spoiling?
Brad, I love you. You are a great brother and a wonderful uncle. Life would be great if you were a little closer to the farm, but we treasure the time we get to spend with you.

Is there a doctor in the house? Er, I mean, a vet in the barn?

So as is normally the case, when something is going to go wrong with an animal, it is usually when Gordon is at work.
Thus, this was my Saturday...

Evan and I went out to feed animals yesterday morning and everything was going just dandy. We took care of the chickens, then went to the barn for the rest of the animals. We fed the goats their hay and then opened up the back part of the barn to feed the cows and pigs. I started to feed the pigs their morning bread ration and that is when I saw it...One of the pigs turned around and it had a ginormous red thing hanging out of it's butt. Gross!!! I looked closer and realized that it wasn't an unusually large apple sticking out of the wrong end, but a prolapsed rectum. Yep, I did say prolapsed rectum! Super gross!! As Evan stood next to me gagging, I called Gordon at work to see what he wanted me to do. I didn't think about calling the guy that we bought the pigs from, so when Gordon suggested that, I thought it was a great idea.
I called Darin and he explained that the pig would probably be dead within 24 hours due to bleeding. Great! We have every pig sold and accounted for. We can't afford to lose one now. And of course, it isn't one of the bigger pigs that is ready for butcher. It is a smaller one that still has a ways to go.
I also called our next door neighbor, who in his prime, was one of the largest hog farmers in New York State. He came over and tried to help me segregate the pig into a pen by itself. He said that if we got it contained, the other pigs wouldn't be able to bother it and it had a greater chance of living through the weekend so we could take it to the butcher on Monday. We tried for an hour to get this pig into a pen by itself. It was too smart for us. No way was it going close enough for us to contain it. After many close calls with pig poo, we gave up and decided to try later. I went down to the barn three more times, to no avail. I finally decided I could care less. Let the pig get eaten by the others. Stupid pig!
When I went down to feed about 6:30, the pig wandered in to the pen and I was able to contain it. Now why didn't he do that the first time? I could have done without all the pig poo on my clothes and the frustration of not being able to get the little sucker into the pen.
Of course after all that, Gordon got home from work around 9pm, we went out to check on the pig and guess what? He got out!!! I was about ready to turn around and give up, when Gordon walked into the pen, got the pig to follow him in and closed him back up. Are you serious?!!! I despise pigs!! Especially ones with things hanging out of their butts!!!

I am thankful...day 3

Today I am thankful for Grammy and Papa. Grammy and Papa are Gordon's parents. They are wonderful loving parents who have spoiled us for years and now spoil our children. Not that that is what makes me thankful to them. I am thankful for their love, support, knowledge and ability to help out with the children whenever it is needed.
They play with the kids, teach the kids, and spend as much time as they can with the kids. They come here for a lot of long weekends, plus a month during the summer. Papa helps out with chores and projects and every year does a "Papa" project. This last summer he built a school bus shelter for the kids. It is great to go out and sit in the shelter with Evan and play games or do puzzles in his crossword book that is always out there. Papa is a hard worker, a big softy (when it comes to the kids), and enjoys life as much as possible.
Thank you, Papa for being such a great dad and Papa, and also for working as hard as you do to provide for your family.
Grammy works hard inside. She always helps out with cleaning, laundry and cooking. When she is here, the fridge is always full and so is every one's bellies. She plays special games with the kids that she makes up and they think she is really cool to have such great games to play. Grammy provides me with entertainment all the time. She is easy to scare and I love popping around the corner at her and making her scream. Yes, she is getting older; I might have to be careful from now on! (Just kidding, Grammy)
Grammy, thanks for being a great Grammy to the kids and a wonderful mom and friend to me. Love to both you and Papa!

Confession time

Ok, when I started this blog, I said I would always be honest. Un-intentionally I have been dishonest and Gordon pointed this out to me, so I am apologizing to all who read my blog.

In my profile it states that we only have two mini-dachshunds. We actually have three. I omitted Puma because we didn't plan on keeping him. I am still not convinced we are keeping him, but everyone else in my family is. See, Abby had two puppies on August 10th and we sold the female right away to family friends. I had so many people interested in Puma that I thought for sure he would be gone by now. That hasn't happened.
I admit, I did not advertise him. I was trying to sell him by word of mouth, but I didn't do it intentionally to keep him. I really do not want 4 dogs right now. Potty training during the cold fall and winter months is not my idea of fun. Even though I don't really want to keep him, I love him. He is so much fun. So, I guess I need to resign myself to the fact that he is a keeper. (unless the right people just happen to fall out of the sky).
I apologize for not being completely honest in my profile and I have changed it to say three mini-dachshunds.

Happy now, Gordon?

I am thankful..day 2

Today I am thankful for Great Grandpa and Aunt Jan.

Great Grandpa is Gordon's grandfather. He is a strong, faithful man who loves his family more than life itself. He lost his wife at a very young age and has been faithful to her all these years. Great Grandpa turns 91 this Christmas. He has lived a long, full life and continues to love every minute of every day. He raised 4 children by himself for the better part of their lives, and he raised them well. He continues to be Gordon's hero, and I have loved Great Grandpa since the day I met him. He is a wonderful man who has always been very loving to me. When I was dating Gordon back in junior high, Great Grandpa told me that he approved of me for his grandson and he gave me a nickel with a hole drilled out of it. He told me to never lose it. He had no idea that I would continue to hold on to that nickel all these years. I put a ribbon through the hole and have worn it under my shirt during very difficult times. I wore it during some hard times with Gordon and I also wore it during my fertility treatments. For a silly little nickel worth nothing, it has always held a special place in my heart.
Thank you Great Grandpa for being a wonderful influence to me, to Gordon and now to my children. I love you.

Aunt Jan is Great Grandpa's oldest child. When I met Jan I was amazed that she had spent her life taking care of Grandpa when her mom died. She has been by his side all these years and takes extremely good care of him. She is fun to be around and has always been a strong woman. She shows her family love by taking care of everyone, cooking the best meals ever, and spending time with them.
Aunt Jan, thank you for being such a great person to me. You have passed that love on to my children, who think the world of you. We all love you very much.

I am thankful

I had this great plan last week to start the week before Thanksgiving and blog daily about my family and why I am thankful for them. My friend Holly beat me to it with her thankfulness post the other day. But I am going to be different. I am just blogging about family. Since today is one week before Thanksgiving, here goes my first thankfulness blog.

I am thankful for my friends. (They are my family, too.)

Holly, the bestest friend ever. She is a strong Christian woman who loves her friends and family. She has taught me about being a great friend to others. Holly is the homemaker of the group. She loves to cook, bake, and does a lot of canning in the summer months. She is very family oriented and hospitable. Holly, you make me smile and I love you dearly. You are always there for me when I need you.

Tiffani, the bestest friend ever. She is a strong Christian woman who is not afraid to tell you exactly like it is. She is a strong family woman and one of the best mommies I know. She has a fantastic sense of humor and is very sarcastic. I love that about her.
Tiffani, you are my sounding board. You listen intently and give very good advice. I love you dearly.

Tarah, Stephana, Tiffany, Erin and Amy Jo. These girls are my support group. We are all there for each other and hold each other up in prayer. We laugh, cry and goof off together. Our yearly "girl's night" weekends are very precious to me.
Girls, you all mean the world to me and I love you all. Thanks for showing me that even though we are all a little different, when we are together, we are great!

Jennifer, my newest friend. Although I haven't known her long, she is a true friend. I enjoy our sideline talks while our boys play different sports together. The kids picked out great friends and through them, we have built a friendship also.
Jennifer, thanks for being my friend. I am thankful for you.

Karen, a forever friend. She is the type of friend that you will have forever. She is loyal, trusting and honest. We will always be connected through our husbands jobs and our journeys through adoption together.
Karen, you are special in my life and an incredible Godly woman. You are an inspiration to me.

Peggy, an oldtime friend. She was my closest friend in high school and part of college. We lost touch when our lives turned in the direction of work and marriages, but she has never been far from my mind.
Peggy, I am so glad we re-connected and I am thankful for you and your friendship.

Friends are a very important part of life. Everyone needs friends and everyone needs to be a friend. Be thankful for your friends and don't be afraid to let them know how much they mean to you.

Still a rough day

So in my earlier post, I wrote about the fact that it was a rough day. And so it continues...

Evan came home with his library books. I saw that one of them is the book, "Chester". It is about a wild horse that is not happy being wild and wants to find something to do so it goes to the city, etc...
My conversation with Evan goes like this:

M-Oh Evan, I am so glad you brought home this book. I read this book when I was a little girl. I loved it.

E-When was that Mom, 1918?

M-Ouch! That hurts!

I walk away to the sound of Evan and Gordon laughing...

Tomorrow has GOT to be better.

Can I have gum?...

So far today has been rough.

Evan and Sierra have both been so busy and not feeling quite up to par. Evan has the sniffles and has complained of a head-ache more than once this week. Sierra has a sinus infection with a very runny nose. Again. They cough a lot at night and I don't think either one of them is getting the sleep they need.

Evan had a hard time getting up this morning and Gordon kept telling him to hurry up. Evan was moving at a slightly faster pace than a snail on Valium. He kept dilly-dallying (is that a word?) so much this morning that he missed his bus. Great! Now we have to drive him to school.

While all of this is going on, Sierra is melting down and crying because there are no more granola bars. Really? I am surprised she didn't throw herself on the ground kicking and screaming. I know I was completely devastated that there were no more granola bars. (yes, that is sarcasm you hear in my voice.)

So, off to school we go. First to drop of Evan and then get Sierra to preschool. We met our friend Greg for breakfast at the Farmer's Roost in Everson. One thing I have learned about this little farmer hang-out: DON'T sit at the old farmer's table! They don't like it and they will sit right down on your lap if you are in their spot. Yes, I speak from experience. :)

We get back to the house and do a few things while waiting to go pick Sierra up again. I get to the school and the assistant teacher tells me that Sierra has something to say to me. This is never a good sign. Sierra, with her big blue eyes, looks up at me and says that she can't remember. So, teacher Mindy tells me that Sierra didn't tell the truth today. Basically, she lied. She said she washed her hands after using the potty, but she didn't.
We get in the car to come home and this is my conversation with my daughter:

M-Why did you lie to Miss Mindy?

S-I didn't understand her question.

M-Sierra, you did understand her question. You chose to not tell her the truth and that hurts my heart and also teacher Mindy's. How can I learn to trust you if you don't tell the truth?

S-I don't know. Can I have my water color book?

M-No, you are being punished for lying and you cannot have your book today.

S-Ok, can I color when I get home?

M-No, you are going to have lunch and go take a rest. I think you are extra tired and it is making you have bad judgement.

S-I don't want to take a nap.

M-I understand, but the choice is not yours. You messed up your choice and now you will have to deal with mine. Naptime.

S-I am sad that you are mad at me. (sniff, sniff)

M-I am not mad, just disappointed that you didn't make the right choice. You know that lying gets you in more trouble than telling the ugly truth.

S-Ok, can I have a piece of gum?



Really, are you serious?!?! Did anything register in that little brain of hers? OMG, I might explode!!!

NAPTIME!!!

Tagged again

Today I was tagged by Holly. Here are the rules. Stop what you are doing, take a picture of where you do your blogging and another picture of your living room. So, I dropped everything and took a couple of pictures.
Let me first say that my office looks about normal. It is supposed to be a craft room and office, but I have only gotten part of it done. The kids like to sit in here and make a mess with their "crafts". Remember how I said I like to sit at the computer and look out at my chickens? Well, the window on the right looks out at their hen house and coup. The window on the left looks out at the front pasture, the road and our gorgeous view of the mountains. I am adding that picture also. Gordon got up the other morning and watched the sun come over the mountain. This is what he saw.

Now, here comes the fun part. This tag couldn't have come at a better time. I just had a Tastefully Simple party here two days ago and my house is clean!!! Yeah baby! I can't say that very often. Doesn't it look nice in my living room? Enjoy it because it won't last. My kids like to take all the couch cushions and blankets and make "beds" or "forts". Plus, we usually have 4 dogs laying around in their also. Anyways, thanks Holly for tagging me at just the right time. Love you. I know I won't be that lucky next time.
Now, the end of this tag is that I am supposed to tag three other people. I don't have three others to tag. So I guess it ends here. Sorry-I need more blogging friends.

Goats, goats, goats

I talk a lot about our chickens because they are so much fun, but we also have Cashmere Goats on our farm. Let's talk about goats.

Cashmere goats are sweet creatures, with a gentle way about them. They have long, soft cashmere fiber that grows in the winter and they shed it around springtime. They also have horns. The one thing I learned about Cashmeres is that, unlike other goats, they have to have their horns because they use their horns as sweat glands. Since they have fiber, they tend to stay warm and sweating through their horns cools them off. I was concerned when we first bought our goats, thinking that they would impale one of my children, but they are very gentle and don't use their horns as weapons. Yet.

We have Luna, Simon, Lily, Fiona and Claire. During the spring, summer and fall months they are in a big pasture out front enjoying the green grass and being able to watch people pass by. We have even had people stop by to watch them play on their rock pile. In the winter, we like to give them a good place to be sheltered from the rain, snow and wind. So that is what Gordon and I did today. We built the goats their own little area out back next to the pigs. They have part of the lean-to that they can use as shelter and they have a large area that they can roam around in and eat grass. We worked hard and the end result has made man and goat happy. It is time for bed where I can rest my weary head and get re-energized for a new project tomorrow. What will it be?

I am FABULOUS!!!

So, I have been tagged again. This one is a little harder for me than the other one where I had to get a picture from my file and explain it. This one says I need to list the reasons that I am fabulous. So here goes...

-I have been a faithful and loving girlfriend and then wife to Gordon for 26 years! Married for 17 of those.
-I love my in-laws(yes, I do)
-I enjoy the simple things in life, like watching out the office window at my chickens pecking around for good treats in the ground.
-I love spending time with my children and am a good mommy.
-I am living life to the fullest, with God in charge of it all.
-I have great friends that I love dearly.
-I am taking an online course to get my degree in Medical Transcriptioning while being a mom and a farm wife.

Ok, I know you are all thinking that there is a ton more to list, but my fingers are tired from typing. Love you all!!!

Not a lot to say

I can't believe I haven't been on here since Thursday. Boy, you miss a couple of days and there is a lot to catch up on. I had to read all my friend's blogs and then think of something fabulous to write about. So here goes...ME-I AM FABULOUS!!!

Ok, not really.

Yesterday I studied..all day. I started at 10:30 and didn't get done until 6:00pm. I only took breaks to go potty or get something to drink. I planned on studying for a couple of hours and finishing up a module that I was just starting. It was titled...GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION. I thought, "piece of cake. This shouldn't take long." Wrong!!!
I can't tell you how stupid I felt doing Junior High grammar and punctuation. I couldn't believe how hard it was. I was having a hard time keeping positive. I thought, how in the world have I made it this far in life when I can't even remember the difference between a preposition and a conjunction? Really? I am glad to admit, I took the final at 5:30 and by 6:00pm, ended my module with a score of 97%. But I will tell you. I worked HARD for that.

Gordon made dinner and then we watched "Chicken Run" with the kids. I had never watched that movie with them before and I thought it was a great movie.

Today I cleaned. And cleaned. And cleaned. Did I mention that today I cleaned? That is what I have been doing all day.
Ok, I have taken my break. Now it is back to more cleaning.

I sure hope I can move tomorrow...

Today was a boring day

Today started out boring and continued to be boring all day. I did really exciting things like study for 2 1/2 hours, a few dishes, colored a picture with Sierra, fed animals, collected eggs and then spent 2 hours at the book fair at Evan's school.
I know, I know. I am trying to slow down a bit and control all my super-duper fun activities today. Hmm, how will I ever be able to make this evening as fun as this morning and afternoon? I know-I will make hamburgers for dinner, do the dishes and watch Survivor. Whoo-hoo!!! What a day!!

(Yes, sarcasm does run in the family)

Holy Crap!!!

Let's face it. Not every day can be a great day on the farm, right?

Today started out so innocent and great. I got Evan up and to the school bus on time and got Sierra ready and watching cartoons with about 35 minutes before needing to leave and take her to school. Here is part one of my day...I take a medication that I have been taking for quite some time now to help with my blood pressure and when I miss a day, it gives me a drunken like head-ache. Not the kind that hurts, but one that makes me feel like I have had about 30 drinks to0 many. When I turn my head, it takes my eyes and the rest of my senses about 7 seconds to follow. Not necessarily a great feeling, plus it makes it hard to get things done. Guess what, I forgot to take my medicine yesterday and now my head is driving me crazy trying to suck the medication out of my body up into my head to control the funky feeling I have had since waking up. YUCK!

After taking Sierra to school, I went to the grocery store. I do not like to go grocery shopping. In fact, in my book it is right up there with going to the dentist. Yes, I pretty much hate it. Anyways, I got that done and came home and put away the groceries. I was in a little bit of a hurry because I needed to still feed animals since I didn't get that done this morning. So, groceries away and then out to feed. No problem! Done in time to change back into decent clothes, not chicken, cow or pig poop stained clothes, and off to pick up Sierra from school.

Now picture this...since Gordon is working and the kids are in school, I haven't had any conversation for a few hours. Other than telling the checker at Safeway that my day was going ok. I am in the car, thinking about the fact that the end of my quiet time is almost over when all of a sudden....Yeow! Yeow! From the back of the Suburban the sound of a person being consumed by a pack of hungry wolves erupts. Now, you know how you get scared by something and you start screaming and then realize what it is that scared you, so you should stop screaming but can't? Oh yeah baby. That's right. I CAN'T STOP SCREAMING!!! AHHHH....AHHHH....AHHHH! Finally, I calm down and guess what jumps at me from the back? Yep, a harmless little creature know as our pet cat, Cassie!!! Holy crap! Dumb animal must have climbed in when I was unloading groceries and got stuck in there. Of course, instead of letting me know he was in there, he waits until I am half way to Sierra's school before letting it be known. He must have been terrified of being in a moving vehicle.

Yeah, I know you are all laughing hysterically at the thought of me screaming uncontrollably about a little ol' cat, but really! I could have had a heart attack or my vehicle could have gone off the road. Who knows. Anything could have happened to me. Don't you all feel a little bad about laughing at my misfortune? NO? Well, just remember, it could have happened to any one of us. How would you have handled it? Not by screaming? Yea, right!! Dream on. At least Sierra thought I was the best mommy in the world by bringing her cat to help me pick her up from school.

And no, my headache did not suddenly get better! Screaming actually made it worse. Whew, I need to go put my feet up for a while and try to regain my composure.

Any sympathy? Even a little bit?

Chicken Coup

Yesterday Gordon, Evan and our friend Greg worked on the chicken coup. We are trying to change it so that it works for the chickens year round. It used to be a horse barn, but since we don't have horses, we have our chickens out there. Since we sell our eggs, we want the chickens to have a comfortable place to live. Evan didn't have school so he was out there helping all day. I took a break from my laundry-a-thon and went out to take a few pictures of the men working. During this time, Sierra was inside having a quiet day since she spent the night coughing and didn't get much sleep. In the afternoon I got a call to go pick up bread from the outlet store. When they call, I go running. We get a huge rack of bread for really cheap to feed our pigs. So off Sierra and I went to the outlet. While we were out we stopped and picked up 8 foot long fluorescent lights for the chicken coup also. When we got home, I prepared dinner and then Gordon cooked it for us. After that, Gordon and I watched "Made of Honor" and the kids watched "Tom & Jerry". It ended up being about 10:30 so off we went to bed.

Bowling day

This afternoon we went bowling. I haven't bowled in a few years. Probably two or three. The last time I remember bowling was when Sierra was in a baby carrier and Evan could barely pick up a bowling ball.
We played two games. Evan going first, then Sierra, then Mommy with Daddy bringing up the rear. It was a fun day. None of us did very well, even using the bumpers, but we had pizza and laughter throughout both games. We had fun. Too bad we forgot to take the camera with us. Oh well, maybe next time.

Busy, busy, busy

I had big plans to post about my girl's night with Sierra, but got busy on Saturday morning and then took off for the beef auction that afternoon. We spent all day at the auction, bought one beef cow, and then came home and had a family movie night watching Jim Carrey's "The Grinch". It was fun, but it prevented me from telling my girl's night story. Let me preface with this, if you have high blood pressure, are pregnant, have heart conditions, or any other medical issues, you might not want to read this post. I can guarantee that you will laugh so hard you could increase your condition or possibly pee your pants, so please proceed with caution...



So, Sierra wanted to take a bath together first before we painted our toenails and watched tv. I filled the tub with nice steaming hot water and lots of bubbles. I had dual purpose for the bubbles. One, they are fun. Two, hide my body! I mean, really, who wants to look at their mother naked? Not me!!! (no offense, Mom.)

I told Sierra to come in and get undressed and go potty. As she is sitting on the toilet, I got undressed and into the tub. She starts off with saying, "Mom, your bottom is kind of big, but that's ok-I love you anyways." Thanks Sierra. As you can tell, our night started off really well. She decided that she was going to treat me to a back wash so she got soap on a towel and washed my back. This wasn't enough for her so she had to wash my hair. Then my face. Of course she was trying to be so careful not to get soap in my eyes. BOOM-SOAP IN THE EYE!!! So, I sit in the tub as my daughter is treating me to a spa night with one eye stinging like someone poured gasoline in it, closed and leaking as many tears as possible and trying to assure her that I am ok. Finally, the pain lessens and I can get on with our evening. She washed my arms and hands and then decided to wash my feet. Here is how that went.


"Mom, lay down and put one foot up."


(in sing song like voice)
"Now, just relax. Think of the beautiful weather. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. You're doing a great job."


And then,


(not in sing song voice anymore)
"Mom, why are your boobs laying sideways into your armpits?"


Ok, fun time over. She notices too much. After I stop laughing and explain about gravity, (which she doesn't get still) I tell her it is so I can wash between my boobs.


"Oh, ok."


Bath time over---


Out of the tub and onto the next phase of girl's night. She decided to paint my toenails and I couldn't watch or pick the color. Ok, it is Fall time. I'm not going to be wearing sandals, what the heck!! After about 20 minutes of her "fixing" her artwork, I got to paint hers and take a picture of our feet together.


Believe it or not, we got done with girl's night at 9:30 and went to bed. We started at 6:30. Needless to say, it was a long night for me, but Sierra will cherish that time forever.

And by the way, my boobs don't actually go all the way into my armpits!!!

Girl's night

Tonight is poker night in the barn for the guys!! Yeah!
Sierra and I are getting ready to take a bath, do our nails and hair, watch a movie together and just enjoy being girls.
Sierra is growing up so fast and she wants to be so girly. I have resigned myself to the fact that I have to act girly once in a while too. So, I am off to put on my pink jammies, pink slippers and have a girl's night with my daughter.

Tagged by Holly

Wow, I was tagged. I feel so special. So to let everyone know what is going on, I was tagged by Holly. The game is: when you are tagged, you have to post and write about the fourth picture in your fourth folder of your MyPictures. I have a ton of pics and I wasn't quite sure if I was supposed to do it from the very beginning of MyPictures or just for 2008. So, I will post both.

The very first one is in 2004. We were in our house on LaBello and it was summer time. Grammy and Papa had just bought the kids a Rainbow play stucture for the back yard. Two young "20's" that worked at Rainbow, a guy and a girl, came to set up the structure. We thought it would take all day. There was no way this little gal was going to be much help. Well, let me tell you how wrong I was...we all sat back on the deck and watched these two work. It only took them a few hours and the whole thing was up and ready. It was amazing! They knew every post, screw and hook and exactly where it went. We were all so impressed. So, on to the picture...Evan got to climb on the play structure and have a blast. He was just two at the time. Aren't those chubby cheeks just the cutest? Anyway, that explains the first picture.

The second picture was taken in April of 2008. As most of you know, we raise beef cows. This picture is of Otis. We took a picture of him because he was the next in line for slaughter. I know-GROSS!!! Not really. We like to take a picture of the cows when they come to us and then another one when it is time for slaughter to see how much they grew. It is a training tool for us to gauge the weights of the animal to see if we need to fatten them up more or not. So far, all our beef has been wonderful. So that explains the picture of Otis.

(Shameless plug)-We do sell our beef. If interested in beef, pork, meat chickens or eggs just let us know and we will get you on our list.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed these pictures.

Whew, what a day!

Today has been quite the day. I woke up with a slight headache and it progressed all day and got worse and worse. I started out my morning with getting Evan off to school and then going to feed animals. We have one chicken that is quite mean and when you reach in to check on eggs, she hisses and pecks at you. Of course, since I wasn't feeling up to par, I didn't pay attention that she was the one in the laying box and she pecked the heck out of my hand. Now, if you were my mother (who wouldn't be in the hen house anyway due to extreme foul fear), you would have grabbed her by the neck and twisted the "peck" right out of her. Since I am not my mother, I just yelled at her and called her a big ugly ball of feathers. After that fun, I came back in and asked Sierra to get herself dressed while I did some studying on the computer. About 20 minutes later, she came in and said "how do I look, Mom?" I turned around and she looked like someone that you can find on the streets of Las Vegas!! She had pink and purple eyeshadow on, rosy cheeks and bright red lipstick with glitter all over (and around) her lips. I said "oh my, you look made up, where did you get the make-up?" She replied, "don't you remember; Auntie Chris gave it to me." THANKS A LOT AUNTIE CHRIS!!!

About an hour or so later, I got done with my studying and got ready to go to the school and help the PTO hand out Butter Braids. Chris took Sierra home with her for the day and I went to school.

Remember I said I woke up with a headache? Oh yeah baby, throb city!!! All day long!!! At 4:30 Evan was done with school so we went and picked up Sierra and came home. I fed animals and my kids made their own dinner (mac & cheese) and I took pain killers. Please, headache-go away. Don't come back any other day. Bedtime will be early tonight.

History in the making

Last night, as most of you should be aware, was history in the making. What an awesome event. We had our kids stay up and watch President Obama's speech with us. Even though they don't fully understand the importance, we wanted them to know it was a really big deal. Gordon was explaining a few things to Evan and when President Obama's girls came out on stage, he mentioned that now they get to get a puppy for the White House. Evan thought that was cool and wanted to offer them our puppy, Puma. Puma Obama....doesn't that have a nice ring to it? Way to go Evan!! Such a generous thought.

Remembering when....

I just got through finding a long lost friend on Facebook. She was my bestest bestest friend in high school. We did pretty much everything together. We went to prom together with Gordon and his friend Kevin and then drove down to the beach and stayed overnight. Her mom made us matching jammies just for prom night. We went around the hotel in our matching jammies thinking that we were the cutest things ever!! I wish I had a picture of that. Anyways, we would go on trips to visit Gordon in college, stay up til all hours of the night being goofy, and all kinds of teenage goofy stuff. It was great to find her and get to say hi. So everyone, indulge me and get a good laugh at this picture from prom night, 1987. Love you Peggy!!!

My beauty queen

Today is picture day at Evan's school so I got up early, got myself all prettied up and then got Sierra all prettied up. I was told that sibling pictures don't get done until retake day, but I thought "what the heck" and decided to try to get hers done. I already had to go in and do mine for a PTO volunteer tag, so I took her with me. Yeah, they let me do it!!! Sierra sat pretty and smiled big. Hopefully Evan will do the same when his class goes in to do theirs. Anyway, when we got home from the grocery store, Sierra asked me to take her picture and send it to her daddy at work, so I thought I would share it with all of you. More later after an afternoon of ballet and more house work.

Kids say the funniest things sometimes...

So last night as I was sitting at the computer going over last minute things, Evan and Sierra were in the office with me working on their "projects". I told the kids it was time to get ready for bed and Evan looked me in the eye and said, "I can't go to bed, Mom, it isn't in my instincts." Now, I don't know what the heck he meant by that, but it was so funny. Needless to say, he went to bed, but gave me a great chuckle at the same time. Then this morning as I was getting ready to leave for a PTO meeting, Sierra gave me a hug and told me she loved me and then said, "Don't be gone long, like you're dead or something." Where do they come up with these???

I actually figured it out!

I am so proud of myself. I have been trying to change the background of my blog since last night. I followed my instincts and did a lot of praying to make sure I didn't mess it all up and WA-LAA...I did it!!! Since the name of our farm is Little Bearfoot Farm, I went with a bear theme. I also collect Cherished Teddies and Little Bearfoot Bears, so it all works out perfectly.

It is a really blah day. The rain is pouring down and the sky is gray. Gordon came home from a 48 hour work shift and he is sick and not feeling good so he is resting and taking it easy today. The kids are having an "underwear day". Basically, unless they have to get dressed, they will run around in undies all day. I am going to a home party later today, but other than that, I think we will all just relax and have family time today.

I can't believe I am doing this!! Well, it is official. I am actually blogging. As with most of my friends and family, we are all so busy with life that it is hard to keep up on what everyone is doing. I find myself excited to read up on all my friends' blogs and can't wait for them to post something new. With that being said, I decided to start my own and record my days as a mom of two and a farm wife. There are so many things that happen around here in a day, I figured this would be a fun way to share some of those funny and sometimes not so funny adventures. It may not always be pretty, but I gaurantee it will be honest.So let's get started...Today I didn't wake up until 9:38am. My kids slept with me in my bed because Gordon was working. We all were tired after an evening of Halloween fun and a late night movie (Underdog). After getting the kids settled with morning cartoons and hot chocolate, I went out to feed the animals. In passing thru my mud room, I noticed this extremely foul smell. Yep, the puppy had pooped on the floor again. I cleaned that up and went on my way outside. The pigs greeted me with their usual snorting and squealing. I fed them and then "hayed" up the cows. The chickens provide more entertainment to me than the pigs or cows. I walked out with a scoop full of scratch grain and the chickens practically attacked me. I guess scratch grain is to the chickens like cat nip is to a cat. After collecting the few eggs that were in there, I went back in the house and fed the dogs. The kids were much easier. They didn't want any breakfast, so I started some laundry while the kids played together for a while. Today has been a day of making a new monthly calendar, laundry, cleaning up puppy poop (again and again), and trying to keep the kids entertained. Evan and I played three games of Aggrevation and Sierra has been working on a "project". In an hour or so, I will go back out and feed animals again and then chill with the kiddos. I hope you all will enjoy future happenings on my blog. Tune in later...