It's That Time of Year Again

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. Burton Hillis

The custom of the Christmas tree developed in early modern Germany with predecessors that can be traced to the 16th and possibly the 15th century.  According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands to symbolize eternal life was a custom of the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. Tree worship was common among the pagan Europeans and survived their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the New Year to scare away the devil and of setting up a tree for the birds during Christmastime.

 

Interesting information heh?  I never knew that myself so I thought I would Google it and see what I found out so there you go.

 

I do know that last night the kids and I decorated ours and it has become such a fun tradition in our home and something the kids really look forward to each year, especially Zachary.

 

Because of the farm hours I now have I will admit that I wasn't overly thrilled about having to come home from chores at 7 pm, take a shower, eat and then about 8 pm just begin to decorate the tree but the kids insisted earlier in the week that we do it Thursday night when Dad was at his weekly dart night so we could make as much noise as we wanted, goof around more than usual, play our Christmas music as loud as we chose and not interupt him watching Pawn Stars or some other show.  So I gave into their wishes, made myself an Old Fashion and let the fun begin.

 

The kids were in good spirits and Zach couldn't stop talking about how he literally "gets the shakes" just thinking about Christmas morning and opening all of the gifts he gets each year.

Samantha of course is getting "too cool" and everything to enjoy it quite as much as she has in the past, but despite her coolness she did help out quite a bit and seemed to have a good time.

Lucy our dog was pretty uninterested in the entire ordeal but managed to open her eyes for this photo at least.

But I will admit, to me there is nothing quite as sweet and innocent as watching a little 4 year old place ornaments on the tree.  Luke was focused and so involved in getting the ornaments out and hanging them himself and it was so cute to watch.

It's funny, every year when Christmas is approaching I start to grumble a bit, mainly because it really has become such an expensive time of year for us and then it is over so stinking fast.  You put forth so much effort with all the decorations, the shopping, the baking of cookies and the list goes on and on, and then it's done and you just dread the task of putting everything away.

Last night was fun though.  Before the kids were born I used to make sure our tree had every ornament strategically placed and that all ornaments were in sync with each other so I had a perfect tree, but over the years I've gone away from that.  Reason being we have accumulated a lot of personal ornaments with meaning that have replaced the plain old round ornaments I used to have.  I buy all three kids a new ornament each year and they know exactly which ones are theirs and I already told them that when they move out they can take their ornaments with them.

 

I also have the homemade ornaments from the kids from over the years, and although they may not be the "prettiest" ornaments in somebody elses eyes, I wouldn't get rid of them if you paid me. 

 

Memories were a big part of the fun last night.  Reflecting on every individual ornament, who it came from, what meaning it had and so on.

 

 

 

Zach's little sled ornament from kindergarten.

 

 

 

A string of homemade garland Sam made when she was younger. 

Some ornaments that were given to us a few years ago from my Grandma Dorothy, who passed away about 1 1/2 years ago.  They are on the tree in her memory.

One with our little baby Luke's picture in it.  He's getting way too big too fast!!!

 

Obviously I'm not going to bore you with pictures of every single ornament but I think you get the idea.  Our tree has so much meaning to us.  Ask us about any ornament on the tree and for the most part it will have a story behind it and I LOVE THAT!!!

 

This next one by far is the biggest conversation piece and we laugh like crazy every year when Zach brings it out and reveals it again and we almost always hang it front and center on the tree "just because".  Awww, look at my little angel :)

So, our tree is finished, except for the presents under the tree.  Those won't be there until likely December 22nd or thereabouts because we are famous for waiting until the last minute to do our Christmas shopping.  Why break tradition now?

 

The tree may not look perfect to some people but for me I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thanksgiving Thoughts.....from Cows

For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee!
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

So in my last post I touched on how thankful I am for the wonderful things that I have been blessed with in my life and I again woke up this morning feeling an overwhelming sense of peace with my life and gratitude, even if I did have to wake up at 3:45 am on a day when most of the world is sound asleep.

As I was strolling through the barn this morning I took a look around me and saw all those precious faces staring at me...

And it was then that I decided these cows needed to be included in this wonderful celebration and I decided to interview a few and see what they were thankful for.  I mean, really, they must be just as thankful as we are right?

 

So I chatted with this lovely lady first.

As you can see, she looked a little grumpy when I initially asked her and wasn't sure if she wanted to partake in this question and answer session, but after much thought she replied, "I am thankful for hay.   I mean afterall, hay is the bomb!"

 

I nodded at her as it all made sense to me and decided to go talk to some more girls.  Bridget the cow was quite forthcoming with her answer and right there waiting to be a part of this game.

She almost instantaneously said, "My pasture.  I totally love my pasture.  It is a place of solitude for me during the day where I can relax and make more milk for all the lovely people in this world.  Without it I'm not quite sure where I would be."

 

Wow!  I was impressed.  Big words for a cow, heh?

Then I asked this lovely lady here what she was thankful for, even though I already kind of guessed what she was going to say.  And she instantly stated "My baby to be.  See, I'm going to be having another baby soon and I'm very excited to be a Mom again and find out what I'm having.  I'm rooting for a girl of course."

 

Awwww....how touching is that?  See, cows really do have feelings too.

 

And then because I had a lot of work to do yet and I knew "the boss" (my husband) was going to start getting on my case if I didn't pick up the pace I moved onto my last cow for this Thanksgiving Day interview.

 

This is Terri.  She is one of my favorite cows although I will admit can be a total pain in my rear most of the times.  She was full of wisdom and gave multiple answers.

 

"I am thankful for my barn so big and red to keep me warm in the winter and to shelter me from the sun in the summer."

 

She then continued.....

 

"I am also thankful for straw.  Without it my rump would get pretty darn sore and my utter would get real dirty and Lord knows we don't need that."

 

She was full of comments.

 

"And hmmmm....I am thankful, so thankful for being milked twice a day.  I can't imagine how sore I would be if I didn't get milked when I was supposed to."

 

And the best comment she made of all.

 

"I am thankful for YOU and that other guy too (she then winked)."  I then told her, "Diddo!"

 

Interesting heh?  Who would've thought cows had such deep thoughts?

 

What I took out of all of this is the following.  Basically they are thankful for the same things I am, with the exception of the being milked thing.

 

Food to eat, shelter to protect them from the storms life throws at them, a place to sleep, family and friends.  They don't need anything more than that really.  They like it simple, in fact they crave simplicity.  Maybe more of us humans should think the way they do and life wouldn't be so darn complicated.

 

Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!!!

Thankful

Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.
-- Oprah Winfrey

First and foremost, I apologize.  I'm sorry it takes so long for me to post lately.  I have good intentions of getting on here more but then other things happen and I get sidetracked.

 

Not that I want to point blame at anybody for my lack in posting, but if I could I'd have to point it at those three adorable faces up above.  Seriously, they keep me on my toes and they really like to have Mom's attention when I'm not at the farm "hanging out with the girls".

I guess I can't blame them for that, I'm a pretty fun chick to hang out with most of the time.  And I'm also pretty competitive so playing board games with me and playing against me on the Wii can make things even more exciting.  Not to mention our exciting dance-athons in our teeny tiny kitchen.  Our favorite song for those at the moment is Gangdam Style.  Who cannot dance when that song comes on?

 

We've been busy.  Not only at the farm trying to get the Fall harvest complete before that crappy cold/white stuff starts flying, but at home as well.  Samantha had been practicing regularly for her very first high school musical Footloose, which was performed three times this weekend and a big success, Zach had been playing soccer up until a few weekends ago and well Luke, well he's just Luke and keeps me on my toes ALL THE TIME.

There just never seems to be any time left in the day to do much of anything else and I've become very thankful for early departures to my bedroom to sleep for the night.  And also thankful for a break in my day to just sit and watch the latest episode of DWTS on my DVR.  Oh yeah, and my coffee.

For me, life has really become about the little things.  The little things that so many people take for granted so they can get all wrapped up in the greed that has overtaken this country and this society.

Life to me is about the simple things.  These kinds of things.

A good old jump in your pile of leaves.  The kids hate raking them for sure, but to them it is all worth it when they have this to enjoy at the end of it.

 

 

Watching my boys sleep together.  To me there is nothing more comforting and peaceful than these moments.  It makes you feel like you did something right.

 

 

 

 

Smiles on my kid's faces.  Nothing makes me happier, being a parent, knowing that I was able to bring joy to their life in some way, shape or form.

 

 

 

 

I also can't deny a good ol' piece of pizza makes me smile (I think I could eat pizza every day).

 

 

 

 

And some Partylite candles burning in my house.  Still my ultimate dream job if I can ever work it back into my crazy schedule.

 

 

 

 

I am very thankful for God's beauty surrounding us.  Every little inch of it.  Even this morning, when it is rather brisk outside at the farm, the sunrise was absolutely gorgeous.   I will admit when I had an office job I didn't truly appreciate it, I was rarely out in it.  But now, I soak it all in and listen to every little noise from nature.  I breathe in every little scent (good or bad) and I marvel in His creation.

 

 

 

 

 And last but not least, I am thankful for my family.  My husband, my kids, Lucy our dog, my Mom, Brother, Sister, In-laws, our Fathers, little Adam, Nieces, Nephews, Grandparents and everybody in-between who have molded me into who I have become today.  Life is trying, life is tiring and it's not always filled with joy and happiness, but I do believe it has been the trials and tribulations that have made me grow and have made me stronger and for sure have made me way more appreciative of the little things.   God Bless!!!

 

 

 

Long Overdue

I've missed you all.  I've missed sharing my thoughts and life with you.  So...I decided that it was time to make a post as it has been long overdue.

Oh trust me, my life hasn't slowed down one bit, it's still crazy busy with the kids, the farm, the hubby and everything else in-between, but I have a lot going on in my head and a lot going on period that I'd like to share and get out with the hopes of making people smile, or make them realize that they aren't alone in their thoughts and to also boost people's spirits about life in general.

I'm back...I will try my best to be regular with my posts but at the same time I am not making any promises so please be understanding.

Being that I haven't been on here for a while there has been a lot to catch up on and it won't happen in one post alone obviously so I have decided for now to share the latest happenings around the farm.  I have found in the past that you all seemed to find my previous posts about the farm rather interesting.

The stories and "life" around the farm is nonstop.  I've found that the animals have become like my "other" children and I do care about every single one of them.  Who would've thought I'd have a big enough heart in me to give out that much love, heh?  There are a lot of animals to love there.

Some of them continuously drive me crazy, some of them you barely know are there as they are so quiet and easy going and some call out to you with personalities that want the attention that you can't help but love them.

This lovely lady's name is Wren and she is one of the most easy going cows in the barn.  She is a rather small and short cow, by comparison, and when she walks in the barn she is by no means in any kind of hurry.  She takes her old sweet time coming up the aisle and is almost always one of the last ones in.  I can pet her anytime in the barn and she just keeps eating away and makes nothing of it, the kids can pet her too.  She's very sweet.

This cow is one of my favorites because she too is rather calm tempered and I love the marking on her head.  Her name is Amber as you can see and she is typically one of the first cows in the barn for every milking.  One morning a few months ago Jeff went out to walk the cows up for the morning milking and found her laying in the river that runs along the cow pasture.  She had broken down a wire that is up to keep them out of the river, being curious as cows are, and had spent most of the night submerged in the cold water.  We weren't sure if she would make it but she did.  She bounced back rather well with the exception of losing the calf she had been pregnant with at the time.

This pretty lady is Sami and no, I didn't name her.  Jeff's Dad actually named this cow before he passed away.  Funny thing is, she kind of reminds me of our daughter, Sami.  Not that I'm saying our daughter is a cow, she's obviously not, but they have similarities.  This cow LOVES to eat and she makes it a habit when leaving the barn after her milking to bounce into as many stanctions as she can on her walk out looking for leftover hay, corn or whatever she can find.  I would say on average I have to back her out of four different spots before I finally get her butt out of the barn.  She also is tall cow with a bigger build, just like our Sami.  Sami even agrees she is like her and takes no offense to it.  In fact I think she thinks it's pretty cool.

This is Toni and she is for sure the most unique cow we have at the farm as she is blind.  Yep, you heard me.  I think she must have a little sight as she does seem to know her way around the farm pretty darn good, but she definitely has a visual impairment as I have personally witnessed her running into a lot of things.  I hate to say it, but most of the time when I do see her do this, I can't help but chuckle and then I say out loud "poor thing".  I've witnessed her running into the barn walls, poles in the loose housing area and she has hit her melon on the barn cleaner chute many times.  Her poor head takes quite a toll.  Her hearing is awesome though as I can walk where she is and she knows right away I'm there and will turn her head in my direction...just like she did to pose for this picture.

Yesterday was another busy day at the farm with many unexpected happenings.  There truthfully aren't too many dull moments around there with new babies being born almost daily and all of the animals living there. 

Today we had to call the vet in to look at one of our younger cows.  She hasn't been feeling too hot the last few days.  She just looked sad and she wasn't eating real well and if you've ever milked a cow their utters and teets totally change when they are sick and it was obvious when milking her something wasn't right.  He came in and looked and it ended up that she had a twisted stomach and in order for her to feel better surgery was necessary.  We decided, being that she was a new cow and had many years left in her that the cost of surgery was worth her getting better and being around for a while hopefully.  Everything went well.  She's a little sore and still bouncing back but I think she'll be fine.

Farming is hard work and a lot of long hours for sure but like I've said before, it brings you closer to nature and the simplicity of life and I'm so appreciative for that.  I'm amazed daily at so many things around me.

There was an unbelievable sunrise the other morning.  I was ticked I didn't have my camera along to take a picture, it would've been amazing!  I marvel at the corn field to the south of the property and watch how much it grows and how green it has become over the last few weeks.  The little babies all around me, hanging out with their mamas or just hanging out together make me smile.

I truly do believe, despite the hard days, that God knew what he was doing when he led me in this direction in life.  It seems to be where I belong.  Luke seems to love the mornings spent there with Daddy too.  Tractor rides are the best!!!

And like I said before, the farm is full of surprises.  This morning when I climbed into a full wagon of hay bales so I could throw some off and bring them into the barn I found the cutest littlest surprises.  Mama obviously took a lot of time planning out where to hide these little ones.  I have since made everybody aware they are in there so they don't harm them.

The circle of life...it just keeps spinning :)

The End

I do the very best I know how - the very best I can;  and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.  Abraham Lincoln.

So, as you've noticed it's been a while since I posted.  I've been busy and well just not in the right frame of mind to be inspirational here to be honest.

I won't take pictures as proof but I can tell you I am overwhelmed.  My house never gets in order, I've been behind in laundry for months now and truthfully just need to load the truck up once and make one big trip to a local laundromat to tackle this "monster" so I get caught up once and for all.

Every room in our house (with the exception of the living room and kitchen right now) is a disaster with no order and needs to be organized immensely and I'm embarrassed at the sight of them really.  I don't even want people to come in for fear of what they could think.  Things throughout my house that should've been fixed a very long time ago but never get fixed unless I personally do it myself and quite honestly, for anybody who at one point maybe thoughT this, I AM NOT SUPERWOMAN!

Oh I can do a great job of pretending to be, and I think I'm pretty darn close most of the time but I think it just really finally sunk in that I am not.

So because I am not Superwoman, I didn't fix the crappy wall in the bathroom yet, I didn't repaint the living room I so badly need repainted, I can't change the f'ing lightbulb on the side porch that has been burnt out for yes probably 4-5 YEARS (the thread on the screws for the light fixture over it prevent me from taking it off-trust me I tried!), and the new bath faucet I purchased for our sink has yet to be put in but that's okay, I've only had it about a week so it has to ferment in our cupboard for at least another year or so before it could possibly be installed.

Oh yeah, and add three kids, a dog, a hamster and two birds into the mix, and a husband that I love dearly but uses all of his energy at the farm, and well, I've been feeling very defeated as of late.  Which explains my lack of posts lately.  And which has led me to the decision that obviously I just don't have time in this crazy day to day life of mine to be blogging anymore.

Just another thing I am giving up until hopefully another day when life slows down a bit.  Wishful thinking on my part I believe, but a girl's got to wish.

So a few stats about my blog that some of you might find interesting.  In the time I've been blogging just over 7,000 people have read the blog.  And I found it very interesting that they came from the following places:  The US, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Turkey, Latvia, Canada, Netherlands and Austria.  Pretty cool!  Never thought that would happen.

I'll miss sharing my thoughts on here, I'll miss being able to inspire. 

Seriously though, despite my mood as of late and the overwhelmed feeling I have become so very familiar with, I remain positive.  I know I still have it a lot better than some and those things are petty really.

Prayers going out to two high school friends currently struggling with some big battles of their own, Kari and Tania.  You can beat this shit!!!

Blessings to all.   Mwaaaahhhhh!!!!  XOXOXOXOXOXO!!!!

 

Ups & Downs

Experience is a harder teacher because she gives the tests first, the lesson afterward.

It's been a while since I posted about the farm and I thought "the girls" deserved their turn in the spotlight too.  I mean afterall, I spend roughly 63 hours a week (on a good week) with them and they have become part of my family really.

This past week at the farm has been a little rough.  No, my boss hasn't been giving me a hard time or anything, but as with everything in life, we've had some unexpected things occur there that have left us feeling a bit down.

Sunday morning, during milking, one of our more experienced cows (I talked about her in a previous post), when into labor early and the vet was called in to take a look at her.  It ended up that she was pregnant with twins, and the vet delivered them both alive (two little girls), but because they were so early and weighed only roughly 20 pounds a piece or thereabouts, their little lungs weren't developed good enough and they both died within 30 minutes or so.  I don't like to see that kind of stuff.  I know they are just cows to most people, but I never like to see stuff like that happen, I think you all know why.

Mama cow who had the baby twins :(

So that was the first bad thing this week.

Then we found out Tuesday night, via Facebook, that the high school kid who had been working for us for about a year, has decided "he wants to get out of farming".  I love how he worded that..."get out of farming", makes it sound like he ran the place and was going to make it his future.  So once again, we are short of help at the farm.  Only good thing is, we do have somebody else in the works, so hopefully that turns into something.

About this time, the whole attitude we have is bummed a tad, and then we get to the farm on Wednesday morning, only to find that our bull calf that we have been raising for about 9 to 10 months (Bernie) hung/choked himself to death during the night by getting his head caught in a headlock and he must've panicked and fell once it was stuck.  My heart sank when I found him.

Seriously, he wasn't a baby calf really anymore.  I went with Jeff to pick him up when we bought him from this other farm back in September.  A red and white Holstein bull that we were raising for breeding purposes with a very good bloodline.  He weighed roughly 700 pounds now and he would always let you pet him on the nose, Zach did this almost every time he was at the farm and adored him.  Talk about a kick to the head.  All that work and time we had put into him and something like that happens?

This is a picture of Bernie I had from a few months back when he was much smaller.  Poor guy :(

What lessons I have learned this week around the farm.  The circle of life just keeps turning.  As rewarding as the job can be, at the same time, it can get depressing, as can life.

BUT!!!

That is when I kick myself in the ass, not always but most of the time, and remind myself of the good things and the other blessings I am a part of.  So onto more daily images from around the farm to cheer myself and hopefully you up as I've been a little bit of a Debbie Downer so far.

Here are some of the other babies I have around the farm that call me "Mama".  I swear, sometimes when they moo just the right way when they are hungry it sounds like they are calling me that.  Maybe I'm just losing it completely, but it does to me.

Some of the bigger girl babies I am feeding every day.  They are so sweet.

A familiar scene in the barn anytime food is given to the animals.  I see a lot of animal behinds!!!

One of my new bottle babies.  I love how spotted she is.

Another bottle baby.

Another bottle baby.  I love her nose and eyes.

I have a bunch more I could show you but I'm pretty sure you'd get sick of seeing all of those little calves.

So onto the big mamas and experiences I take part in every day.

This young lady apparently wants to be a cheerleader or something and has a problem with "doing the splits" in the cowyard.  Doing the splits for a cow is not an easy thing to get out of so it's not necessarily something to be proud of.  So...to avoid her doing them too much she has special accomodations in our loose housing area between milkings to avoid showing off in front of her friends.  The soft, fluffy straw housing in there helps to avoid her doing them :)

This is a familiar scene at roughly 4:00 pm every day.  The girls are waiting to come into the barn to be milked.  And yes, most of the cows will come up on their own at that given time as they "know the routine".

Some of the girls getting their last bite of "grub" before heading into the barn for milking time.  I think they are giving me the evil eye or something?

Everytime this cow comes down the aisle I crack up.  Her marking on the top of her forehead looks like a bow to me so I can always spot her as it looks like she is wearing a bow in her hair.

And next is the cow I affectionately call the "Grandma" cow when talking to the kids.  She is one of the oldest cows in the barn and doesn't get around the best.  She also has special accomodations in the loose housing barn most of the time or the other younger cows push her around out in the cowyard (big bullies!).  I found out her real name is Mandy.  Pretty name for such a docile and easy going cow, heh?

And the last girl I'm going to introduce you to is one of our "newbies".  She just started being milked about 1 1/2 months ago and I took to her right away because of her face.  Another farmer I know, when I made the comment that she had such a precious face, said they "all look the same", and I disagreed right away.  I think they all look a lot different.  The combination of their markings and personality and the sensitivity you can detect in their eyes makes each one of them different.  This particular one stands out to me because of how black her face is and then you get the white in her chest for the contrast.  Like I said, I think she is pretty darn sweet and distinct looking.

So yeah.  I hope the next week is better at the farm and we aren't hit with anymore surprises like this week.  Seriously though, I still wouldn't trade it.

I visited briefly with some co-workers at my old job earlier this week.  I would've liked to visit longer but I had Luke along and he was tearing up the joint.  But I can tell you, although I love and miss a lot of the people I met there, I didn't walk out of those doors wishing I could go back.  I think I made a good move.

God Bless!!!