Check!

We're checking things off the to-do list every day now, and it's wonderful!

In the past week to week and a half, we have:

• finished the perimeter of the fences (enough so the cows can be out grazing.....we still have some clips to put on, but that's it!)
• hauled the hay home from Humboldt (that's all the hay we had left to haul, about 120 bales left at Humboldt, and Matt finished it this morning)
• worked the cows.........Tuesday was the day....it went great!
• worked the calves.........Tuesday.....a very long day.....well over 500 animals (cows, calves, heifers and bulls) were worked.  It took about 12 hours. We finished in the barn in the dark with two big lights.  I'm so glad we're done. It's such a huge relief! And, we had great help throughout the day....people came when they could and stayed for a little time, or the whole day, whatever worked for their schedules.  We also made it through the day with nobody getting hurt from scary, wild animals - nobody except me, that is, when I was running to try and get Matt some medicine QUICK! and I tripped and fell.  Then Matt laughed at me.  Nikki had to bring him the medicine. :)
• Matt and his dad are working on the waterer out back right now so the cows don't have to walk so far for their water.  That'll be working soon.

It's been a very productive week.  Matt's happy with the progress, as am I. 
What we still have left to do won't really take much time:

• wean calves....Matt's doing that this coming week.  He's going to feed everything up on the big hill right by the barns, shut the gates and lock everything in, then let only the cows go back out and eat.  Then we'll lock just the calves up.  The reason we don't wean the calves when we work them is because it's too stressful for the calves and they don't gain weight well if they're under too much stress. 
• cut wood.....Matt seems to think some day soon we'll take all three pickups (with clean back ends) and head to the woods.  He also thinks that the kids and I will be a lot of help. I'd be a lot of help without the kids, but they get antsy when they're with, so I wouldn't be as much help as I should be; so, if he wants to really do that, I think I'll haul the kids to the sitter and we can just work at it together. 
• put tin on the shop roof.....He wants this done before winter (whenever that's coming). Good luck, honey!
• put up my addition......the cement's done.......as soon as we get materials ordered, he hopes to get it up quickly. I hope he gets it up quickly, too. :)  It's not a project that I want to take years, and I do realize that in order to make this happen, I need to help.  I plan on it - after they get the walls up and the roof on, etc.

That's about it, I guess. 

We went to Matt's aunt and uncle's house in Roseau for Thanksgiving. It was a nice, relaxing, quiet day (as relaxing as it can get with two wild kids among adults....). :) It was nice to see everyone and visit all afternoon. Matt's aunt and cousin from Missouri drove up to spend Thanksgiving with the family. I thought that was really nice of her.  Today, the whole crew (Carmen, Karolyn - Carmen's sister, Grandma Jeanette, Mary, Bob, Pattie - Carmen's other sister, Rebekah, Amelia - Pattie's two daughters, and Amelia's boyfriend) came over to visit. Pattie - Matt's Missouri Aunt, wanted to see the fence we've been working on, so she was able to see that.  We had coffee and bars at my house, then headed over to my dad's farm to see the shop Matt's brother, Mark, is building.  He's doing a great job and is almost finished, so he wanted to show Auntie Pattie before she heads back to Missouri later today.  It was really nice for everyone to come over this way and see what we've been up to. 

Auntie Mary will be back playing hockey this week (she had a concussion a week and a half ago), so we're probably going to go back to Roseau a time or two this week to watch her play. It's so fun to see her play! Clarence just loves it.....and he loves that Mary bought him some hockey skates yesterday.  I guess they really want Clarence to learn how to skate, don't you think? Tomorrow afternoon, we might go to Roseau and skate (Matt and Clarence) with Auntie Mary.  We'll see what the day brings, I guess.


Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a relaxing weekend!