So, this is what happens when you get bored. This all happened before the kids left for school. I woke up tired and have been restless all day. I was looking for people to pick on.
Today, I went to the breeders to pick up Faith. It was an interesting and very educational trip. The plan was that I would come over, help her do another breeding on Faith, and then be able to bring Faith home. Our breeder does most of her breedings by artificial insemination.
NOTE TO ALL READERS: This might get a little detailed about breeding. Read with caution.
So, we bring the male in the room with Faith. He was really excited to see her. We let him get a little frisky with her and then when he mounts her, the breeder basically uses a plastic vagina to get the specimen. When that is done, I held Faith while she injects the semen into her cervix. Why do we do it this way? Let me explain: When dogs breed the natural way you only get about 20% of the semen to get to the cervix. By artificial insemination, you get the full 100%. So, that being done, we took the very last droplet of semen and put it under the microscope to see the motility of the sperm. It was incredible! There were thousands of them, and that was just in one tiny droplet!!
Anyways, the breeder insisted that I bring her microscope home and show the kids. She said it would be so educational for them. I didn't really think my kids would be interested, but I brought it home anyways.
Sierra was very interested, so I let her see and then explained what she was looking at. Here is our conversation:
Sierra-What is that?
Me-Those are little fishy like things that boys have in their bodies to help make babies.
Sierra-THOSE are babies?
Me-No, not yet. They have to go into the mommy's tummy and the mommy has eggs that the fishy things meet. Then they make a baby together.
Sierra-The mom lays eggs?
Me-No, the fishy things and the eggs meet and touch and then they make babies. The fishy things are like tadpoles.
Sierra-Oh, can I see again?
Me-Yes, does this make sense?
Sierra-No, but I see the termites in the picture!!!
Grammy asnwers because mommy is laughing too hard!
Grammy-No, Sierra not termites; tadpoles.
Sierra-Oh.
Papa comes in and Sierra tells him that she is looking in the picture thingy and she sees termites!!
Oh brother! I knew I should have just not shown her the sperm!!!
Today has been a busy but fun day. Sierra had school so Grammy and I took her and then we went to the grocery store. Papa and Evan stayed at home to work on Evan's racecar track. After school, we got lunch provided to us thanks to Sierra's teachers. They put together a salad bar lunch for us moms. It was great. When we got home, Papa and Evan decided we needed to go into town to look for more cars for the racetrack. We went to a bunch of different places and were told we needed to order them online. Feeling a little discouraged, we made our way over to Cold Stone to drown our sorrows in ice cream.
We were almost home when we looked over at our neighbors and saw one of the new cows in their llama field. Whoops! Papa and I got our boots on and went to try and coax him back to our pasture. Our neighbor was just coming home when we got to her back pasture. We went into the llama pen, but the llamas didn't like that very much. Finally the neighbor came out and told us they were just curious, but wouldn't hurt us. Their biggest male, Cowboy, came over to me and put his lips on my forehead to sniff me. It was very creepy! Finally, Papa, the neighbor and I got the cow corraled into a little pen. Papa went to get the trailer so we could load him up and get him home. Oh no, he didn't want to do that, so he jumped thru the neighbors fence and started going away from our field. Great! I was hoofin it thru the fields chasing this cow, who by now I have dubbed with the name BH (butt-head), towards neighbors that I have never met. Of course they aren't home, but their 130 lb Rottweiller was!! Yikes, was I going to become Rotty food? Luckily, the dog was more interested in chasing the cow and trying to herd it for me. No, doggie, don't chase it down the driveway towards the road! Oh crap, now what? How do I get between it and the road when it is about 10 feet ahead of me and it starts to run? I know-call Grammy and ask her to jump in the car and come and block the driveway! I finally get the cow to go towards another neighbors driveway. Grammy blocked of the road and the neighbors were home so they came out and helped me. We got the cow into their front pasture! Yes! We are home free now! About this time, Papa shows up with the trailer and the cow decides to jump thru this fence. Grammy drives up the road, honking her horn, yelling out the window-Yaw, Yaw, go back, go back!! She literally ran the cow back up the road, driving along side it and yelling. It was hilarious!! The cow came back up the driveway, back into the fenced in pen and we got the hot fence on in time. The cow did try a few times more to get out, but it started getting a really good shock. This hot fence was really hot.
By this time, I have been chasing this cow for about an hour all thru the fields and woods. I am really exhausted! We drive back to our house to get hay for the cow and leave it at the neighbors. My thought is, I have done enough! Gordon gets to deal with this cow when he gets home tomorrow!!
Papa and I went out and fixed the fence that the cow went thru at our place, fed the rest of the animals, took out garbage and recycle, and headed inside for a nice warm dinner. Now it is time for bed. My legs still feel like rubber from walking so much thru the fields.
Can you believe that when I talked to Gordon on the phone later he actually asked me if I have come up with names for the four new cows? Only for the black one that I chased all over...$%@#$%#$%*&!!!!!
I have argued in my mind several times today if I should write this post. I know my great friend, Tiffani reads this and I don't want to make her mad or jealous or anything, but I decided she has a new baby, whom I would love to be snuggling right now, so she just has to deal with it.
On Friday, Gordon made a smokin deal with a guy on Craigslist to buy four beef cows from him. The only problem was that he lives down in Toutle, WA which is about a 4 hour drive from here. We had plans to go to our friends house Saturday night for dinner, so Gordon and the guy agreed to a Sunday beef exchange day.
At 4:30am on Sunday, Gordon woke me up to help him get Sierra ready to go. (Yes, my kids wanted to go with him to get the cows.) So, up I go, get them ready, and send them out the door. At last! Peace and quiet. I don't have to get up until 7:30 to get ready to go to church, so back to bed I go. Only my mind didn't cooperate with my body and I couldn't fall back to sleep. Are you kidding? I had three more hours of sleep I could get and my mind said no!!! Anyways, I got up around 6:30 and went out to feed animals. It was about 20 degrees out and the wind was blowing. That woke me up in a hurry. Anyways, I got them all taken care of and got ready for church. Grammy and I enjoyed church together; although it was a little strange not having to go pick up kids in their classrooms after. We decided to go do a little shopping and maybe go to a movie. We were having so much fun shopping without kids that we decided not to watch a movie and just have a fun shopping day. We finally got home around 4pm. Whew! I was exhausted! We were only home about a half hour and the guys and kids got home with the new cows. There goes our peace and quiet!
We ended the evening by going out to dinner at the Nuthouse. There were only a few people in there, so the waitress gave my kids brooms and told them to start sweeping all of the nut shells into a pile. The kids loved this! When we got ready to leave, she gave them $.50 for the candy machine and thanked them for their help. All in all-it was a great day!
Have You Ever?
Here's a little ditty going around the blogosphere. You are supposed to highlight the things you have done, and supposedly this is a list of things that people should do in life before they die. The stuff in red is the stuff I have done.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (Junior High & High School-Flute)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/ world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped (No, thanks. Rubber bands break.)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea(Gee, that sounds safe.)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked(No, thank you, I choose to live)
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping (Hello, we have our own pool!)
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (back in Junior High youth group)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (Brainard, MN)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving/ snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served in a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood/ platelets
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy(Gordon and I were just discussing why I have kept my stuffed animals.)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (I was "let go". That is different)
76. Seen the changing of the guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (from an airplane)
80. Published a book
81. Been to the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (Junior High 4-H club)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone(who hasn't?)
99. Been stung by a bee
Today we took Faith to the vet for a progesterone test. We are going to be breeding her with a beautiful yellow male named Pheonix. If everything looks good, we will breed her next week. Then we wait 63 days for a litter of beautiful yellow labradors. Our breeder has been breeding labs for 30 years. She really knows what she is doing. She studies the geneology of the dogs and makes really nice, healthy, hip and eye certified litters of puppies. I am hoping to get 8-12 puppies out of this breeding. I will definitely keep you posted. If we breed her next week, she will be due around the 29th of March.
Well, Grammy and Papa are here. They came with more bags and treasures than they do when they come for a month. Wait; are they staying a month? Holy crapola! Just kidding. They are staying until the 5th of February. That means my kids won't listen to us, they will eat a bunch of candy, stay up late, and generally be little demon spawns until then. Yep. It must be great to be a grandparent. Sugar em up, spoil them rotten, and then run for the hills. Thanks a lot, Grammy and Papa!!!
Not really. We are glad to have you up here. We enjoy it and so do the kids. Thanks for showing them so much love!!!
