The Farmer and The Princess

This past week was a busy one. We baled over a thousand bales, mostly straw.  I'd bale during the day while some kids could be at the babysitter, then Matt would take over and bale into the night.  Clarence went to the sitter one day, but then decided he'd like to come with and help me, too.  So I spent the next four days with company (3 of them with Clarence).  Yesterday, Clarence and Clifford went to the Finney's house to play.  Cousins Ruthie and Brooke took such good care of Cliff - Ruthie told her mom that she didn't want to put Clifford on the floor because then he might not like her.  I think it's safe to say he was given plenty of attention yesterday. :)  The boys had a great day.  Adina went with Megan in the morning to Megan's house for the day.  Megan and Mark brought me fuel for my tractor yesterday about 5. Adina said she wanted to stay with me.  I figured that'd be fun since I hadn't spent much time with her all week.  We baled a little straw, then headed up to Humboldt to bale up our third cutting of hay.

Yesterday was crazy.  All around the field I was in farmers were hurrying.  Some to finish combining, some to haul grain, some to finish baling, and some to haul the bales off the fields.  So busy. It was fun watching all the activity from my field. I love all the hustle and bustle, even though it stresses the farmers out (I don't like that, but I love this time of year).  And everyone was in even more of a rush because it was supposed to rain this morning.  As of almost 1pm, there's still no rain.  I wonder when it's coming?

Anyway, my post is about my farmer and my princess.  Having Clarence in the tractor is kind of the same, steady pace.  He's predictable. He sits still. He talks about cows, bales, dogs, gardens, and cow numbers.  He sits and thinks for a long time, then he'll ask some questions. Then he'll want to eat a snack and visit some more. He never changes positions. He never turns around or stands up.  He takes a nap when he's tired, usually sitting up.  Like I said, he's predictable.

 

Here's my sweet farmer boy napping. He slept over an hour this day. His head would move forward and he'd swing it back.

 

He's so cute!  After this I let him lay his head in my lap.  There aren't many good napping options in the tractor!

 

Adina's not a still child for tractor work.

She's wild. One minute she's singing. The next she say, "Mom, I need hompin." Then she's standing on the seat. Then she's laying on the seat. Then standing on the floor. Then back jumping on the seat. Then she'll remember she brought stickers, a piece of paper and a pen with. She'll write her name and put stickers on paper for a minute or two. Then she needs a drink of juice. Then she turns around and hides her stuff under my seat. Then she's standing again playing with my hair. Then she's reaching over me trying to get her bug juice.

 

 

She helped me for about 5 hours - not bad for a little princess.  She had about 5 field-potty breaks, ate most of my lunch and brought a lot of excitement and company to another day in the tractor.

 

 

And here are the farmer and the princess sleeping in their sleeping bags last night after a LONG week.

 

And sweet little Clifford had such a fun day playing with his Finney cousins. Thanks, girls!

 

Have a great day, and eat some BEEF today!

 

Help! - My Unfinished Bathroom

So Matt worked really hard on my addition last winter.  Since calving, though, things have come to a standstill.  My bathroom's all that's really left to finish, thankfully.  And most of that's my problem; I haven't found my sink.  These are my ideas, what I'd love to have in my bathroom.  The problem is, I can't find one anywhere. If you have one or know of someone who does, I want it.  I'll pay you for it (for a reasonable price) or just take it if you want to give it to me. :)


I'd love one like this....


Or this...it's just darling!


Or this one. 

Something similar to these...that's what I have my heart set on.

Until next time.... (I will update about regular farm life again soon...)

Have a great day and      Eat some BEEF today!

Makeup Day

This morning we had a lovely rain.  I love waking up to a dark sky and the thought of a rainy morning.  It's cozy.

Well, Matt was up early and went out to finish plowing a field before the rain came.  He came home around 9:30.  After he had some coffee, he laid down on the kitchen floor and took a little nap/rest/frequently interrupted doze. While he was down and out, Adina took the opportunity to practice some of her makeup applying skills.  She thought her daddy would be a great manikin.  And, he didn't seem to mind. Here's what I caught from their conversation throughout the hour or so she played makeup:

(Adina painting Matt’s nails…while he’s sleeping/dozing on the floor.  He said it was ok. )

 

A:“You gonna be ho pretty, Daddy.”

M: “MHMMM. Do you have eyeliner?”

A: Yep, I do.  Uphairs.

M: Do you even know what eyeliner is?

A: Yep, I do. It’s hor eyes. (pointing to her eyelids…she’s talking about eyeshadow.)

M: Do you have any lipstick?                                              

A: Yep, I do have yiphick.  It’s uphairs in my room.

M: (looks up from his nap at his nails…) Wow, that’s really pink.

A: (all the while, working, putting on makeup) You pretty, Daddy. (after putting sparkly lipgloss on Matt)

M: What’s that, Adina?

A: It’s hor your heeks. (rubbing blush all over his cheeks)

A: Here you go, Mom.  (puts a necklace around my neck.) Here you go, Dad. (same thing)

M: Oh thanks, Adina. Who are you writing to, Jacki?

Me: I’m typing your conversation for my blog.

Matt: HAhahaha.

Matt: I don’t think that goes there, Adina.

A: Yes, it does. It’s hor eyes.

M: Are you done yet, Adina?

A: I not. Here a pin, Daddy.

M: Are you gonna put that on me?

A: (Pokes the lovely pin into Matt’s shirt.) That not hurt.

M: All right, anything else? Are you done putting makeup on me? Aren’t you gonna put makeup on me? I didn’t even get eyeliner, Adina. Don’t you have mascara?

Me: Adina, I have mascara if you want to put some on him.

Matt: Oh no, that’s what mascara is?

A: Yep, it’s my mommy’s.  Now we need put hum on you, ok, Mom? We need to, Mom. We need put hum mascary on you, Mom.

Matt: ha, it will be scary after she’s done with you.

 And that’s the end of that.

Here’s her final product:

 Matt's always laying down on the hardwood floor for a quick nap.  Looks comfy, huh?

He's got mascary, lip gloss, blush and eye shadow on, complete with a lovely orange necklace.

 

 First she put orange polish on one hand and yellow on the other, then she put pink over top of both. She told me it's okay if boys put on orange and yellow nailpolish.  I told her only dad can, no other boys. :)

 You can't see it very well, but on her cheeks she's got blush and she put mascara on herself, but didn't do too bad of a job.

 

And she put some mascara and blush on me, too.

So that's the fun we had this morning.  Now I'm baking 7 tea rings, 5 of which I'm selling for an anniversary party this weekend.  Have a super day!

 

Celebrating

It's been a fun six years since Matt and I walked down the aisle.  We were both 21, just starting a farm, finishing college, and had a pile of dreams.  Three kids, 2 college degrees, and a pile of calving seasons later, we're still living the dream.  Happily.  Busily.  In love. :)

Today my parents are taking the kids and we're heading to GF for a date.  I'm so excited to spend time with just Matt.  It's a rare occasion, as you well know.  And the kids are excited for a day at Grandma's, so we all win!

 I love that he makes time for family;  here, we're having a picnic in the woods while he's fencing.  He'd had Clarence and Adina with him all morning.

 We had to take turns with the kids.  I love them.

 He's fun and playful with the kids; he's giving Adina a bucking bronco ride.  :)  It's one of her favorite things!

At Clifford's baptism.

 

 

Happy Anniversary, Matt! I hope we're blessed with a lifetime more of them! Love you.

Hay Haulers

The other morning, Matt asked if I could come out to the hay fields and help him move equipment around so he could get everything hauled off.  Of course, I said "sure" because that's what good farm wives do.  :)  When I got out there, he asked if I could just stay a little while and drive the semi around the field so it would go quicker for him. 
"Sure, Matt."  (Good thing I brought Spif a bottle!) 
We finished off one field, then he said, "Would it be ok if we ran down to Anderson's quick because you're already out here?"  (We have a small hay field in our neighbors' back yard.)
"Sure, Matt." (I guess it no longer matters since I already have them all out here and so far, they were behaving pretty well.)
We got to Anderson's house...Matt drove the semi down there with Clarence and Adina; I drove the tractor with Clifford.  I pull into the yard 5 or so minutes after Matt had gotten there.  Matt walks out of their house and waits for me.  I got out of the tractor and went up to the house.  Marge (our neighbor) had the kids sitting at her island eating brownies and drinking water.  They were pretty happy!  Matt decided to go out and load the semi himself, so I sat and enjoyed a cup of coffee with Marge. We were out on her screened in front porch, which I was taking notes on....(you know, for future reference).   The kids played nicely and she put cartoons on for them to watch.  Clarence polished off three brownies while we were there.  It was a fun morning!  We left for home about 1ish...I was overdue for pumping, and the kids were way overdue for lunch and naps (Clifford fell asleep in the tractor on our way back home...it was adorable!)

Before we left for the field that morning, Adina was trying on some new dress-up clothes she'd gotten the night before.  She was loving all her new toys!  I took a few pictures of her because she was so cute and just loved her outfit.  Here's a few from that day:

Here's me and the kids in the semi.  Adina brought necklaces for us, as well as a purse full of other toys that she willingly let Clifford play with.  They're so sweet and fun!


Today Clarence and Adina are at my mom's house; she had them spend the night last night.  It's so fun for them to get to spend the night there. They love doing something different.  Clarence was really hoping he'd get to help Grandpa Lowell haul some hay.  On the way over, he kept noticing Dad's fields and telling me maybe he'd get to help haul hay today.  I hope so, Clarence!  They also brought their bikes and swimsuits, so I'm sure they'll have a blast today.  Clifford and I are mixing up bread/buns and I hope to pick a bunch of stuff out of my garden, as well as clean up the house since the two messy terrors are gone. :) 
Until next time, friends!

P.S.  I really don't like hot weather; out of all the days to bake, why did I pick today?  My house will be like a sauna by the end of the day!

P.S.S.  It's our six year anniversary tomorrow! I love my husband! :)

Moving Cows - *Family Time*

Yesterday morning, we all jumped in the pickup and headed down to my pasture to move cows.  The cows need to be moved every 4-5 days to a new paddock.  If they aren't, they'll eat the grass down too short in their current paddock and it will make for a slow re-growing period.  So, it was time to move them. 

Since we've had a fast and busy summer, the kids and I haven't gone down to move cows with Matt much.  I always love to go with and see the cows.  They're always so eager to get to a new paddock.   They follow us right through the gate as we open it.  Then we watch carefully to make sure everything looks healthy.  This is usually the time when we'll spot if something is in need of a shot because they're limping behind or just walking really slow from some ailment.  All was well yesterday, though, thankfully.

I brought my camera with hoping I'd be able to take some pictures.  I got a bunch of good ones.  Here are some of my favorites.

Here we'd just let them into their new paddock.  They just run through the gate, excited.

 

Matt's giving mineral.

Here we went to the far end of this paddock to make sure the gate going into the next paddock was closed.  It wasn't, so we had to find the gate and shut it.  (I'm using "we" loosely.  Matt was out doing all this while I took pictures.)   The cows are running towards us, hoping to keep on moving.

 

A little closer...

And closer...Right up to the pickup.

 

Then someone called Matt  while he was out trying to find the gate in the grass.  He has a hard time multi-tasking, so he kind of just wandered around while he was talking.  :)

 

Hello...This is my cow. My cows have green tags; Matt's cows have blue tags.  Clarence's cows have orange tags.  Clifford and Adina don't have any cows yet.

 

Hello, Mama. 

 

Farmer Spif was exhausted!  And extra handsome!

 

Farmer Clarence checking cows out his window.  He likes to stay updated with them.

 

And just for the record, Adina was with on this trip.  She was kind of crabby, though, and only talked about eating treats (that I didn't bring with) and taking her seat belt off.

 

My husband, still out looking for the gate to shut.

The calves.  Most of these were born in April.  It's so fun to watch them grow out on pasture.

 

More calves.  They're so fun to look at, and always so curious.

 

And a few more before we headed out.  Have a good rest of the summer, calves!

And that's some of the fun we have out moving cows.  Well, it's fun to us anyways.

Have a great night!

Clifford The Handsome

Well, here he is...

My third baby.

The sweet, tiny, happy boy.

The one who has slept through the night three RANDOM times since he was born. :)

He's loved by all of us.

Adina does well to play with him; Clarence does well to kiss and smother him.  But they both love him.

He's a great companion for me. 

He goes by Clifford, Cliff, Cliffy, Spiffy Cliffy, and Snaggletooth.  He was seven months old on August 15th, so I really need to give you all an update on my little man.  Here's some pictures, month by month.  Enjoy!

These first two are the day he was born, January 15th.

About 1 month.

About 2 months.

About three months.

 

 

He has a big nose. :)

 

About 4 months.

4 1/2 months.

Almost 5 months...he's camping out at Lake Bronson.

Mommy's happy camper.  (almost 5 months)

6 months.

 

7 months.

7 1/2 months.  It was taken today when we moved cows.  He was exhausted!

 

 

And, that's the update on Clifford's life.  He's a wonderful baby.  We're incredibly blessed!