Catching Up

Well, it's been over a month since I last wrote a post.  Not because I didn't want to, but because I've been having some computer issues and have been too busy to do anything about it.  Oh well, maybe that's for the better?

Anyway, last week, I went to GF with Nikki (she had her 37-week dr. appt.) and Spiffy Clifford.  We had a great day...shopping, lunch, and a handsome boy to keep us company. I bought a new computer...a laptop. I'm so excited to have fast internet, a fast computer, and the ability to upload pictures quickly!  Yay!

So my goal from now on is to add some fun pictures of my kiddos and farm life.  I'll be working on that later today or later this week or later this month.  Eventually...you know.


The garden's doing great...I planted 60 or so tomato plants and after 3 or 4 plants died, the rest have grown quite wonderfully.  We've been eating BLT's a few times, and yesterday I made a roaster-full of spaghetti sauce to can.  I ended up with 12 quart jars of sauce. Wonderful progress amidst a busy day of being a momma.  I've also froze some bags of green beans as well.  Green beans and corn are the kids' favorite winter vegetables, so I need to make sure I make very good use of what I've grown and freeze away. 

The kids are good...

Clarence has been farming a lot; he likes to help in the garden.  A couple weeks ago, after the fair, the garden was a disaster.  We couldn't find rows because of all the weeds.  Matt and I took a couple days (an hour or two here and there...not full days) and weeded.  Clarence was right there with us, taking the weeds out of our hands and putting them in his wagon, then pulling the full wagon over to the pasture and depositing them in the pasture for the cows to dig through (or for them to die there).  Then he'd bring the wagon back and fill it up again.  He's so cute!  He was working so hard at it and that darn wagon was heavy...loaded up with weeds and four flat tires.  What a kid.  Meanwhile, Clifford was busy working in his office and watching us and Adina was eating suckers.  She'd wander around the garden with a sucker in her mouth and visit with us. Matt would ask her to help and she'd say, "tomorrow, Dad."  Ha...she makes me smile.  And Spiff....well, he's wonderful. He doesn't like sleeping through the night yet, and we're ok with it...at least I am.  Matt doesn't ever hear him cry in the night, but we like to hang out once in a while. Sometimes he'll drink a bottle/nurse and go right back to bed. Other times, he'll hang out for an hour before falling back to sleep.  OH well...he's such an easy baby I can hardly be upset about it.  We'll sleep better next year, or the year after, or the year after.  Someday. :) 

Clarence and Adina are getting pumped up for school.  Adina will be starting pre-school this fall, and Clarence will be in his 2nd year of pre-school.  We'll be busy and learning a lot around here!

Well, I'm off....off to make lunch and stuff. 

I'll update again soon!

The Farm...A Legacy for Future Generations

On Tuesday, Matt and I took the day off and went on the Minnesota Stockmen's Cattle Tour in Roseau County.  It was so fun spending the day together.  The kids stayed with Grandma Carmen.  We stopped at a feed place, a feedlot, a few different farms, and a place that makes outdoor woodstoves.  We were carried around on a charter bus, and given a variety of information/sources on different subjects.

Anyway, one of my little booklets I was reading through said this:

"Telling the REAL Story of Beef 
As the gap between consumers and agriculture widens, consumers have questions about how beef is raised.  Farmers and ranchers like you can bridge that gap by answering questions and telling your personal story. 

Telling the REAL story means telling YOUR story:

• You care for your animals, 365 days a year, often at all hours and in all weather.
• You care for the land because it is your livelihood an dlegacy for future generations.
• You care about providing safe and nutritious beef for consumers."

My thouhts today are on the second bullet point.  I've always thought my parents raised us a little differently than (most) other kids.  My dad told us all the time that he hoped we'd come back after high school and take over the farm.  He wanted us around to continue with what he'd started.  It was a totally different viewpoint than we hear in schools:

• Go!
• Get away from here for a while.
• Be somebody!
• Get an education
• Make a ton of money
• You don't need to come back here; there's nothing here anyway.

While some kids truly do want that, I didn't.  And I think all of my classmates and family knew it.  That's why I came back, I guess.  I kind of regret going to college to be a teacher.  Yes, it is a job that I could get around here, but it's not truly what I wanted to be.  I want(ed) to be a farmer, stay-at-home mom, helper, etc.  I didn't want a job in town. I was raised helping on the farm.  That's where I wanted to be. 

I suppose I was pushed into finding a major in college.  Yes, I did love it.  I'm a nerd that way.  I loved learning new things.  However, I wish I would've studied something I was truly passionate about, like farming/cows/piano.  Oh well...I guess I can study things I'm interested in on my own.  I'm not saying I'm not happy with having my education, because it has come in handy with subbing on the side here and there, but if I could do it over, I'd have gone to NDSU (after I got over being scared of Fargo) or UMC.  Anyway, my point in all of this is because I always think about my own kids now that I have my own family.

I'm going to tell them all the time that I hope they come back and farm with their dad or come back and live around here.  I want them close.  Selfish? Maybe.  Maybe not.  Maybe it's just  a momma hoping my children love the land and the way they were raised and want the same thing for their own families.  I know it's a long way off, but that's my hope and dream.  

Today's Motivation

Today, I am:

Mom
Wife
Baker
Gardener...

Plus many more...
But these are the ones I want to be good at today!


And Clarence...he's a cattle farmer.
He woke me up this morning with his clothes on, ready to go outside (at 6:30). He wakes me because I want to know where he's going and because he needs clean work pants, which are in the dryer. He's been working with his bottle calves ever since.  I looked out a minute ago, and he had his wagon by a little bale Matt had given him. He was busy filling the wagon up with hay, then he brought it over to feed to the horses.  He's such a hard worker and has so much ambition.  And he's having fun doing it, too.  I love my boy!

What about you?

Ten Thoughts About Growing Up

Over the weekend, I attended a classmate's wedding.  She was a beautiful bride.  And it was a lovely wedding.  I saw so many friends from high school...people I have seen maybe once or twice since the summer we graduated.  It made me think about the last ten years and how things have changed for all of us.  Here are ten things I like and don't like about growing up.

10.  I miss the days when we would go uptown during lunch hour for tacos...all of us piled into a few vehicles...then back to school.

9. I miss going to friends' houses and watching "The Bachelor" or other shows we enjoyed at the time and just hanging out.

8. I miss being involved with 4-H...especially now with summer here and the fair coming...I miss picking out new heifers to name and train.  However, I'll get to start that again soon enough with my own kids.

7. I miss riding horse.  I know I can still go. It's just so much juggling with my three little kids who don't know the rules around horses...and trying to squeeze in the time. I'd have to wake up really early (I already don't get enough sleep these days), or use naptime (when it's so darn hot out!).   I suppose that, too, will pick up again when the kids can all be involved in riding horse with me.  I CAN'T WAIT!

6. I miss talking with my friends.  Sure, now we have facebook and texting, but it's definitely not the same as visiting face to face.  And since we're all so spread out, that's unrealistic, too.  I'm looking forward to our class reunion in July to catch up with them  all again!

5.  I like growing up because I had dreams...things I wanted to do...find a handsome guy and get married, have a passel of kids, buy a farm....check, check, check. I've completed  (most of) those.  I'd still like another baby or two, God willing.  :)

4. I like watching my kids grow.  They have their own unique personalities. It's fun to see who they're turning out to be.  It's also a very difficult thing to try and guide them along that path.

3. I like being involved with my own farm - helping Matt, making decisions with him, being a stay-at-home mom.

2. I like that we've grown up and have moved past the drama of high school.  Not that there was a ton of it, but looking back, some behavior is so "high-schoolish". 

1. I love my life. Period.  But the number one thing I don't like about growing up is TIME is going WAY TOO FAST.  My kids are growing in the blink of an eye.  I don't want to miss a thing! 


Have a super hot day! Ugh! One of the things I like the least about summer - the heat!

Lots of Work, Lots of Play

Summer is finally here.

I love it!

I don't have much time to write today because I'm getting ready for Adina's birthday on Sunday...cleaning the house and baking buns.  Matt's working on fixing up the yard.

We've been:

• seeding (it's finally all done!)
• hauling cows out
• AI-ing cows and heifers
• putting bulls out on pasture

Matt did those three pretty much by himself this month....Well, actually, Clarence needs a little credit, too.  He loves helping Matt with everything outside!
The kids and I have been helping with:

• working at and attending Vacation Bible School
• cleaning the yard
• cleaning the house
• planting the garden
• playing in the little blue pool
• swatting mosquitos
• chasing bottle calves around the yard (the kids, NOT Matt and me)
• Clifford's been working on his tan....

Clarence graduated from his first year of preschool.  He loved getting to hang out with his friends on a regular basis, and has learned so much this year. He can write his name (which he used our dusty vehicle to practice on a couple weeks ago) and sing the ABC's (which we've now taught to Adina). Here he is with the kids in his class:



Also this month, Adina turned three on June 9th...we'll be having a family birthday party for her on Sunday; she's been such a patient little girl waiting for her party. 





It was my birthday on the 16th (I shared it with Father's Day).  I'm now 27...getting so old!  Matt celebrated his birthday on Memorial Day out at Lake Bronson...and he's 27 as well. 
Here he is with his cake and his birthday buddies:



One quick story:
A couple days ago, Clarence came out of the house with his and Adina's scissors and pulling his wagon.  I asked, "Whatcha doing with your scissors, Clarence?" 
He replied, "Just cutting long grass."
Me: (thinking, Ok, whatever, you're keeping busy outside...go for it)
Later on that day, I asked, "So why were you cutting the long grass?  To feed to your calves or the horses?"
C: "No, I'm making trails.  Snowcat trails in the woods. For next winter."

Ha. He makes my day.  He's always working and planning ahead. :)  And just so you know, he did take advantage of his scissors and give Adina some layered bangs.  It's nothing too terrible, but it's not quite the look I was going for with her.  Oh well...at least hair grows.

Well, now to get working. Have a fabulous weekend, all!  I'll update again soon...maybe even get some of our camping pictures up!

Dilemmas and Mishaps

So, we've had a busy week...seeding, shots, working outside, etc.

I'll start with the dilemmas.

Dilemma #1:  Clarence has one dilemma.  (And so do we, I guess.)  I think I mentioned in an earlier post that Cha-Cha had a baby.  Cha-Cha's the pony the neighbors gave us when they moved away.  Anyway, she had a baby on Mother's Day.  We still haven't officially named him/her (or figured out the gender!).  Nikki suggested that we name him/her Smoky Bun.  Then I told Clarence, "Remember on Little House, Laura's horse is named Bunny?" Well, Clarence remembered.  Now he wants to name the baby Bunny Rabbit.  Nikki keeps arguing with him that it can be Smoky Bun.  That way she can call it Smoky and he can call it Bunny.  He's determined, though, that that won't work.  It has to be Bunny Rabbit.  I've suggested Smoky Bunny Rabbit, but that won't work either. 

I'll let you know if this dilemma is solved.  Or if we all just pick a name and call the horse whatever name we want.  We'll see, I guess.

Dilemma #2: It's May 31st and we're not done seeding.  And it's rained a lot in the last two weeks.  I think the rain we had yesterday and durin the night was around 4 inches...am I right, people?  I don't have a rain gauge set up; we rely on people to inform us. 

A lot of other people aren't done seeding, either.  It's really not that crucial for us since we have our cows, but it's nice to know we have some feed growing that we can depend on.  Otherwise, we'll be selling cows, buying feed, or scrounging around last minute to make sure we'll make it through the winter okay.

Dilemma #3:  So much work to do, so little time! What to do, what to do.  Matt's to-do list is a mile long.  He's got fencing, cleaning machinery, getting hay equipment ready, hauling cows, fixing water tanks, etc. etc. etc.  The list goes on and on.  And there's not really anything I can set out and do myself.  I can help, which I will do, but I guess we just have to go a day at a time.  In order for me to help, we also need to count on the babysitter; there's no way I can be much help if we don't have a babysitter.  Well, I could pretend to be helpful and bring the kids with, but you know...:

"Mom, I need to go pee."
"Mom, my tummy hurts."
Mom, I'm hungry."
"Waaahahhhaaa"  (Clifford's hungry/tired/wet)
"Mom, come see this."
"Mom, I'm stuck."
"Mom, Conce did pinch me."
"Mom, Adina hit me."
"Mom, Conce did push me in the water."
"Mom, Adina pushed me first."

And yeah, you get the point.  I'd be REALLY helpful.

Dilemma #4:  Do I dare tell my kids that dandelions are weeds, not flowers?   They think dandelions are the most beautiful flowers.  And they pick me bouquets nearly every day.  (I think I just answered my own question...if I get bouquets of dandelions, then they can be considered flowers.)  :)


Mishap #1:  Matt seeded on Wednesday.  I ran back and forth to Hallock 3 times getting huge totes full of soybean seed.  We're small little farmers...everything takes longer because we don't have big equipment.  But I'm not complaining; we like being cattle farmers with only a few crops on the side for our rotation.  All I'm saying is, what it takes big farmers to do in an hour or two, it takes us a whole day.  And then our drills broke at the end of the night.  Matt was wondering if he should keep seeding or wait and do it in the morning (when it was supposed to and did rain).  The drills answered the question for him.  A bolt broke that connects the two drills together, and he went about ten feet down the field with one set of drills.  The other had broke off and sat in the field.  I'd gone out to check on him and help him refill the drills (by hand, with 5-gallon buckets) and found him puzzled, standing in the field.  It took a little while to put it back together, and he would've been able to seed again yesterday morning, but then it rained.  A lot.  Guess it'll be put on hold for a bit. 

Only one bad mishap, I guess...other than cows are still getting out occasionally.  We'll be plugging away at fencing, one pasture at a time.... :)

And the shots I mentioned at the beginning were for Clifford. He had his 4-month shots yesterday (2 wks overdue).  He is 17 lbs. 12 oz., 26 inches long, and was such a tough guy yesterday.  He cried during his shots, then was totally fine the rest of the day. I remember my other kids being cranky after their shots (Clifford was even cranky after his 2-month shots), but he was so happy and totally himself.  I'm so glad. It always makes me sad to see them cry from their shots.
Have a great last day of May....(Where did May go, by the way?)

Farm News Flash

Lots of things to talk about today, I guess...

You know why?
Because all three kids are sleeping and I have peace and quiet!

I need to get out and finish planting my garden, though...time's flying by, and I want my plants to get growing.

The other day, Matt called about ten after one.  Clarence had been sleeping for about 45 minutes, Adina had been sleeping about 10 minutes, and I was in the process of trying to get Clifford to fall asleep.  Matt called.  He said he'd gotten stuck with our tractor trying to pull Mark's tractor out on some CRP ground.  He needed me to come quick and pick them up and bring them to get another tractor.  I needed to hurry because there's a hole in the back tire of our tractor and it goes flat within an hour.  So what did I do? Wake the kids up and run down to get them.  I wasn't very happy about it. At all.  Then yesterday we went to my cousin Brittany's house for a little playtime with the cousins.  We got home around 2:30; there were cows out by the highway (ALREADY! It'll be a long summer if they keep that up!), so the kids wanted to ride 4-wheeler down there with Matt to put them back in.  So they skipped their naps yesterday, too.  They've been sleeping in, though, which is nice since we all go to bed kind of late. However, as a mom with children who love to play, talk and be busy during their every waking minute, it's sure nice to have a little quiet time.  :) 

Two  days ago, Clarence went from having one bottle calf, Lila, to having three bottle calves, Lila, Lola and Wayne.  Lola and Wayne don't love being bottle calves yet, so they don't come running for bottles when Clarence goes out to feed them.  They still have to be cornered in the pen, then shown the bottle and the milk inside.  Soon they'll figure it out, though, and Clarence will be one busy boy, feeding three calves two or three times a day.  He loves it, though.  He's such a little farm boy, and such a hard little worker (even if the work he accomplishes is only beneficial to him...).   The other day he told me, "Mom, when I grow up, I'm gonna raise cows and be a horse trainer like my dad."  I wasn't overly surprised.  About the raising cows part, that is. But a horse trainer....did anyone know Matt Przekwas knows how to train horses?  I didn't. :) 
It's cute, though, that Clarence thinks Matt trains horses...I guess getting on and going for a ride could be considered that, huh?

Well, anyway, Matt's spent all yesterday afternoon and most of today fencing.  He's not very happy about it, either.  But it's only the beginning of the summer, and we don't want to deal with cows out all over the place, either. 

And, tomorrow's his birthday.  He'll be 27!  He told me not to get him anything.  I really don't need to, but I feel like I should.  However, the day kind of snuck up on me and I didn't plan ahead, so he really isn't going to get anything (except maybe homemade cards by the kids and a birthday cake...).  Hope he isn't disappointed.

Well, off to be productive during naptime.  Have a fabulous long weekend!

Sweet Summertime - The Bucket List

It's officially summer...(as far as commitments, school, piano lessons, graduations, and Sunday School goes).  I'm so excited about this!

Here's our Summer Bucket List:   (and this is according to me, since I layed the kids down without asking their opinions on what would be fun for the summer)

• Go camping at least 3 times.
• be beach bums at Bronson... (I think Clifford will look AMAZING as a beach bum!)  :)
• go on a road trip...maybe out West to see Uncle Mike...
• go fishing
• Attend and participate in the Kittson County Fair
• Clarence has a cow/calf pair picked out already; she's red with a red calf, looks really great, and is a nice, quiet cow.  And he has two heifers we might work with so down the road he can take them as cow/calf pairs.
• The kids are going to ride Chico in lead line in the open class horse show, so that means we need Chico up here for a week or two to practice! Fun!
• Attend my 9-year Class Reunion
• Have friends over for suppers and bonfires
• Clean up the yard
• Side the rest of my house...yes, friends, my house is currently white on the new part and pale yellow on the old part...I really don't even notice it anymore, but it'd be nice to get it done...
• Keep my flowers looking pretty all summer long
• Fix up the old shed into a playhouse
• Use all the produce in my garden: fresh, canned or frozen
• Enjoy each and every day!

How about you?

A Beautiful Week

Yay for nice weather!

Psalm 118:24   This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

I love this verse.  It is so easy to adapt this to each and every day, and it's also so important so I have the right outlook on everything. 

You know....
Like when:

Mr. Mustard buns (Clifford) poops up to his armpits....

Poor Clarence who's had a high fever and woke me up the other night because he'd puked in his bed.....Yuck for me to clean and yuck for him to feel that way!  It's so sad to see them not feeling good.

When Adina won't decide between two dresses to wear because neither one of them is "petty" enough...


But I try to be optimistic....

• I had the kids pray for  rain the other night; God blessed us with rain that very night!
• Mother's Day was fun...we went to church, had lunch here at home with Nikki, Mark and Harley, went to the greenhouse to buy some flowers for the Grandma's, then went to Mom and Dad's for supper and a bonfire...fun times!
• Clarence came in on Mother's Day after we'd gotten home from church and said, "Mom, Cha-Cha had her baby!"  Of course, I didn't believe him, because I was expecting a baby in a month or so at the earliest....nope! We went  out and Cha-Cha (a miniature horse the neighbors GAVE us a few years ago because they didn't want to feed it anymore) had  a tiny little baby dancing around her.  The baby's about the size of Ruby, our dog.  I'm not sure yet, though, whether it's a boy or girl.  We haven't been that close to it.  We're going to put Cha-Cha and the baby in their own pen for a while to work with it and so the kids can play around with it. 
• It's time to plant flowers....I love buying them and planting them; now the kids are old enough, too, that they just love helping me. :)  It helps give them something productive to do.  I have a bunch of garden seeds to plant, too.  Hopefully within this next week I'll get it done!
• A couple weeks ago I posted about my frazzled life and always having a messy house; I'm trying to remedy that.  Before the kids can go out and play, I have them go through the house and find four things that they can pick up and put away in the right spot.  This is so helpful because we usually end up doing it together, we usually end up picking up more than four things apiece, and the kids don't mind doing it now that we've done it a few times.  Also, if they come in early before lunch time and just  want to sit around, I've been giving them little jobs.  The other day, I gave Adina a spray bottle and a wash cloth and let her work on scrubbing spots off the floor.  We both loved it (she because she likes that stuff, me because the floor was getting clean!).  She also put away all the silverware in the dishwasher, and didn't mind a bit.  I'm hoping this is something we'll keep working on all summer for my sanity!
• Clarence's stories about what he works on outside; he sits in the sandbox for hours hauling beet pulp and tailings to our neighbors, Arlen and Eddie. 
• Clarence has a new bottle calf in his calf pen; he's overjoyed! He's named her Lila.  He bottle-feeds her 3 times  a day, with a little help from his daddy. :)
• Adina's still planning on getting purple gucks this spring.  Anyone know where I could get some?
• She's also started calling Clarence "Conce" instead of "Har" now.  It's fun to hear how her vocabulary is changing. 

Well, hope you all enjoy the beautiful day and week. Rejoice and be glad!

Funny Kids

Tonight when Matt came in for supper, Clarence walked into the kitchen to talk to him.  Here's what I remember from their conversation...

C: I had a calf today, Dad.

M: Oh you did, where?

Me: In his pen.

C: (shakes his head 'no', points towards his farm animals)

Me: On his farm.

C: Yeah, on my farm. 

Matt: What did you have?

C: A heifer.

Matt: How many calves have you had so far now?

C: Three heifers, one bull.

Matt: Oh, I see. Have you lost any?

C: Yeah, one.  It got laid on.

Matt: Have you had any twins?

C: Yeah, the cow today had twins. 

Matt: Oh, really? Are they both doing good?

C: No, the cow went into the woods and lost one of her calves. 

Matt: Oh, that's too bad.

C: Yeah.

(From there, the conversation was pretty much over...we were both hiding behind our sleeves listening/participating in this conversation.  It was hilarious.  He knows so much!)

_________

Adina's been at daycare all week while Matt and I haul pairs out.  Each day when I bring her to and from town, she points out all the wildlife to me.  We see eagles (eagows), ducks (gucks), deer and geese.  Her favorites are the gucks.

One day on the way home, she told me she wants girl gucks. Purple girl gucks. With parkles.  (Those would be cute, don't you think?)  I guess we'll have to try and find her a couple ducks to raise with our baby chicks this spring. 


And the other day after I'd been teaching piano lessons all day, I picked her up.  In the car, she asked me, "Why you not pretty today, Mom?" I asked her, "What do you mean?" She told me that my clothes weren't pretty.  (I was wearing khakis with a zip-up fleece jacket...not pretty, no, but comfortable and presentable.  I guess she needs to show me a few things about what's pretty and what's not.  :)

_________________

We've made a lot of progress hauling pairs out to pasture this week.  If anyone out there needs a good workout, please come over and join us for a day.  Walking through the mud all day really makes a person work!  We've got 100 pairs out on pastures close to home, which is so wonderful! Matt ordered the medicine in 50-dose bottles this year...let's just say he probably won't do that again.  Hauling out fifty pairs in one day between the two of us is hard work.  I'm really tired tonight.  I hope the kids sleep in in the morning........

Hope you have a fabulous weekend and enjoy the balmy weather!

Oh, and p.s......Clifford says hello.  He's just busy sleeping and being cute. :)