My favorite kind of night

Last night, we headed over by Lake Bronson to my pasture to check cows and get the paddocks ready to start rotating the cows.  It was so much fun...We've been thinking that it'd be hard to get us all out to do that because we don't have a trailer for the ranger.  However, we found out last night the ranger fits in our new trailer.  Yay!  More fun for all of us.

Clifford gets the most work done when he's got a sorting stick in his hand. 

 P.S. Don't touch it!

Matt's getting the waterers working; Adina's scouting for wild animals.

So cute!

The Fam on the ranger.

Hey, helpers!  Clarence had new insulators ready to hand to Matt if one was broken or missing; Adina just enjoyed the ride.

We found him a shorter stick.  He didn't let go of it once.  And he smiled like this the entire night.

Handsome husband!

The cows running towards us...they want new grass.

]

Inspector Cliff checking/watching as they come closer.

Ready to go and move them.

Coming into a new paddock...ready for tasty new grass.

My favorite cowdog...Rhubarb America Przekwas. :)  (named by Matt, of course.)

She's tired...she had run all over the pasture by this time.

Matt getting another waterer going;  thirsty for some rusty water, anyone?

Clarence took our picture.  

Poor Adina was cold, so I gave her my sweatshirt; she fell asleep soon after.

And Clifford was ready for all the work in the world.  

Totally out.  Cliff put his head on her lap a couple times pretending to sleep with her.

He found an eartag (a new, clean one) that he chewed on and wouldn't let anyone touch.  Notice he's still holding tight to his sorting stick.

Poor Clarence was getting tired, too.  

He had no smiles for Mama.  He fell asleep on the way back to the pickup.

Clifford, on the other hand, was ready to keep doing farm work.

Such a pretty evening!

Well, that sums up our night.  We fixed fence, prepared all the water tanks, shut gates, and put all the cows into one paddock to start their summer rotation.  The kids were all such good and cheerful little helpers...I'm guessing the ranger ride had a lot to do with that. :)

She's 4!

On June 9th, Miss Adina turned 4 years old.  The day was spent hauling our last 30 or so pairs out to pasture.  That night, we celebrated that night with grandparents, some aunts and uncles, homemade pizza and a cake.  Then the following Sunday (Father's Day), we celebrated again with extended family.  We had a great big party and lots of fun visiting.  Sorry, but I didn't get many pictures of the people who were there....just of Adina with her cake and opening her presents.

Here she's helping load the last of the calves into the trailer...

She's so cute doing this, waving her little arms in the air and trying to be quick. :)

Cute little 4 year old.

Going through her new coloring books and reading books from her grandma/great-grandma.

I made buns for the big family party...I was busy in the kitchen and turned around to find this...I was mad at him and he just laughed at me.

Nearly a whole pan wrecked...I had to reshape and let them raise longer.

Then the day of the birthday, we couldn't find him and he was into the buns again...he was ripping holes in the bags trying to get one.  

Ha...he messed up a few.

Clarence helping unload the dishwasher the day of the birthday...what a good little helper.

Auntie Mary decorated her little cake.  She's been planning a "flower cake" since winter some time...

Opening presents.

More presents...

Pictures with her grandpas because it's Father's Day and her party...

Haha...Poor Bob has trouble keeping his eyes open.

She was getting tired of the pictures.

After she blew out her candles, she loved licking off the frosting.

She had a great party. Thanks to all who came out and celebrated with her!

Little Clifford Dean

Well, Clifford is about 16 1/2 months old now...he's a huge fan of his siblings, the bovine species, cats, playing outside, and getting dirty.

He's starting to say a few words, too, and since this is my place to remember them, here they are:

"Mom" - he yells my name whenever he needs me. :)

"Ah-Da" - All Done.

"Hi" - He picks up random phones and says, "Hi, hi, hi..." over and over.  And he says hi to random people everywhere.

"Owie" - He fell and scraped his knee on Sunday.  Every time he looks at his scratches from it, he points and says, "owie, owie, owie" over and over...and makes his voice sound sadder each time.

"Uh-Oh" - this is a recent development.  He knows something has happened, and it's his way to get my attention.

"Mo" - (More)...of anything.

When we're outside feeding cows or just running around and he sees the cows, he either "moos" at them or says, "ssssssssssssssssssss" and points at them.

And, he's starting to figure out how to tell me what he wants by pointing at things and grunting, etc.


His favorite things to do outside are:

• go down the slide
• find mud puddles
• sit in the mud puddles
• throw rocks in the mud puddles
• chase the cats
• find sticks and chase animals or siblings
• help in the barn
• watch everything going on outside
• play in the little kiddie pool

It's safe to say he's all boy.  Clarence and Adina are being great helpers with him, too.  They watch him closely, help him, play with him, and bug him when they get the chance.

Here he is with Adina when we were working cows one night.  They were all such happy, great kids that long night.

What You Can Learn From Our 5-year old Cattle Rancher

1. He can tell you the difference between cows, bulls, heifers, steers and calves.  In detail. 


2. He knows the numbers of the 2 cows I brought to the Kittson County Fair 10 years ago when I was still in 4-H. He can also find them out on pasture.

3. He's learning how to write all our cow numbers. He's learning how to write all of Grandpa Lowell's cow numbers. He's learning how to write numbers of random cows we find on the internet.  He's obsessed.

4. Why do we keep the heifers and sell the steers? Ask Clarence.  He'll tell you that heifers make you money because they can have more babies and steers make you money because they can't have babies.

5. He can tell you what you should feed his little calves in the barn. He can tell you what you should feed the pigs. He can tell you what to feed each of the pens of cows we have in the yard...not in great detail, but he'd be very helpful if you needed to come over and do chores for us. :)

6. Do you know the difference between a hay bale, a straw bale, or a corn bale? Clarence can help.  He can also tell you the difference between beet pulp and corn silage.

7. Clarence can tell you all about preg checking...you know, checking to see whether the cows are bred or not. That's all I'll say about it. Yes, I know he knows too much about some things for his age.

8. He can tell you the numbers of his cows out in the pasture. Sure they have orange ear tags and we don't, but he can write down their numbers for you. Pretty cute.

9. Ear tags. Who has what color? Ask Clarence...Grandpa Lowell/Uncle Chuck; Nathan; Nikki and Mark; his Daddy; his Mom; him. 

10. He can show you how to run calves down the chute.

11. Clarence is too brave for being 5. It scares me sometimes. He can show you how to sort heifers... the bigger ones. The other day, he came into the tractor and told me he had some heifers sorted out in the barn that we should keep. I asked him if they were fancy,  and he said, "Yeah, they're really nice. I have two black ones and two with white faces." And he did...they were all sorted out and stuck in a little pen in the back of the barn.  Ahhh!

 

Well, I hope you've enjoyed a little insight into the life of this little cattle rancher. He's a fun kid to have around!

Back in the Swing

Hi there...it's been a while.

We're just busy living life, I guess. We've been going to preschool, feeding cows, trying to do more work on our addition, running here and there, teaching piano, etc.  It seems like we never slow down.  Matt keeps asking why I haven't written in a while. Partly it's because of the stuff I mentioned above, and part of it's because I just don't have the heart to write anything right now. I know that I like having these memories of my kids to look back on, but at the same time, I guess I just want to live it and not write about it, too. Am I making any sense?

Well, little Spiffy Cliffy turned 1 on Wednesday. I can't believe how fast that year went.  He's such a fun, happy, busy little boy.  He wants to be anywhere Clarence and Adina are. He puts more things in his mouth than they ever did, though - I feel like I'm always doing the finger sweep to see what he's got in there...marbles, money, styrofoam, paper, whatever he can find. And so far I've been lucky...no chokes. Thank you, God! Another favorite thing of his is climbing the stairs really fast if I forget to put the baby gate up and digging in the toilet if I or someone else forgets to put the lid down.  We're always keeping an eye on him! Adina and Clarence are big helpers for that, though. They let me know what he's up to.  He's also a good little helper in the tractor. I've been helping Matt the last month or so with chores every day and the kids and I drive the mixer wagon.  Adina's good if she brings a bunch of treats with; Clifford's just good. He jumps around and barks at the dogs and moos at the cows if we're sitting still, but when we move and head to a pen to feed, he sits still and just watches. He's so good...and I remember that's just how Clarence used to be in the tractor.

Adina's been busy coloring, watching movies, helping me and just growing up. She likes to help with most chores around the house like scrubbing the floor, vacuuming, and cleaning the bathroom. I really don't have to beg her for help in those areas...it's more when I ask her to pick up toys that she just looks at me and lets Clarence do all the picking up. 
 It's crazy how much older she seems lately. She uses manners when she talks and just seems to have a sweeter nature than her "terrible two" days.  She's still as stubborn as ever, though, so I'm trying to find ways to creatively deal with that. :)  All in all, she's so much fun...

Clarence has been up to the same as usual...cows. He has five or so little calves out in the barn that he works with/feeds/leads, etc. on a daily basis. He's trying to train one of them to lead right now. I guess he wants to get a jump start on the fair.  When we feed cows, we dump a pile of silage/beet pulp for him and he scoops it up in his little buckets and feeds to his calves. He's so helpful, too...when we're feeding the heifers by where he works with his calves, he's always waiting with the gate open for us so we don't have to jump out and open it ourselves. What a great little kid!

Since his birthday, he's been drawing, coloring and painting pictures. Right now, I've got about 15 taped to my kitchen windows that he wants up for Clifford's birthday in a few weeks. He's going to sell them to whoever wants to buy them. He charges a dollar or a quarter, whatever you want to pay (his words). It seems like he's always looking for a way to make another dollar.

Matt's been up to his usual...no good. Just kidding. Ha. He's feeding cows daily (we try to help nearly every day) and doing little projects here and there. We've worked cows and calves a few times with Clarence's help. The other two kids head to the babysitter's house when we're out in the barn...it's tough to have their "help".  Yesterday, he built me a nice big shelf for all my canned stuff in the basement. Clarence helped him, and it's awesome! They organized all my stuff and made it all look so nice. I love it!

Well, I guess all I've done is update on the family, but that's ok. We're just trying to slow things down a little to enjoy our winter.  As I wrote that, I thought about Adina. About two times a week, she asks me, "Mom, when's it going to be summer?"  I think she's mostly just waiting for her birthday...it's been hard for her to see both her brothers have birthdays and she doesn't get one until summer. Oh well, she's being more patient about it now.

Have a fabulous day and weekend, friends! 

Things I Love

Well, I was trying to think of something fun to write, so I'll talk about things that I love and make me smile...lately anyway. :)

• Adina sitting on the floor with Clifford right now playing quietly with all his toys.  She's so nice to sit and play...and dig through his box of baby toys.  He loves the attention.
• Conversations with Clarence Matthew.  What a kid.  We talk about cow numbers, fencing, his store, insurance, whether his heifers will have heifer or bull calves (he's hoping for heifers so he can keep them), cows breeding (truly), writing letters, etc.  I even picked him up from school last week to find out he'd been trying to sell his teachers insurance and he'd been telling  them all about the cows and bulls breeding.  Yes, I know he knows too much for an almost 5 year old.  But what are we to do?
• Hockey started last night (for my kids).  We didn't go, though. Clarence didn't want to because he said he needed to come home and fence for his calves.  He never even got to fence though, because he and Matt were baling corn stalks all day. 
• The weather.  I love fall. I love winter. I love spring, and I love summer (everything but the heat).  My favorite thing about this time of year is waking up in a warm, cozy house and seeing the frost everywhere.  It's so pretty.  I also love waking up to snow coming down (or rain in the summer).  It's also so cozy and calming.
• Having all the cows home for the winter.  Yes, it's a headache when they manage to get out, but it's so nice to know they're all close by and easier to take care of. It's also fun working them and bringing the kids out to get them safely involved.
• My morning coffee.
• Being home with my sweet kiddos (and husband).
• Watching Clifford try new foods and like them.  He had spaghetti for lunch today, with real milk in a sippy cup.  He ate a whole bowl full of food.
• Reading my books....I've been reading all Tracie Peterson's book series.  I love them.
• Baking.
• Listening to Chris Ledoux's music while I'm busy around the house.  It motivates me.
• Christmas shopping online. I've got so many good ideas and I don't have to leave my house.  Awesome!

Well, that's enough of a list for now.  Just a little hello on this beautiful fall day!

Fabulous Fall - Flying By Too Fast

I absolutely love fall. The changing leaves, the cool, crisp air, the fun activities we do...I love bringing the cows home, working them, harvesting my garden (which, thankfully, is done), seeing the frost on the ground in the mornings, etc. 

We are busy here. Matt especially. He's been doing many last-minute projects around the farm to prepare for winter.  He's been hauling a lot of manure, combining beans, fixing the combine, hauling cows home, chasing cows back in the pasture...oh, it goes on and on.  He's cut a load of wood...we need to do a few more. :)  Hopefully I can help him.  I always liked cutting wood with my dad growing up.  I like helping Matt do it, but it always seems like it's hard to find the time to get out there and go with him.

Yesterday we took a few hours to run down to the appliance store in Stephen.  My microwave quit on Wednesday...or fried itself or whatever.  When it was plugged in and the door was shut, it would keep going, no matter what.  Probably not real safe.  Off we went.  We were also in dire need of a fridge. What we were looking for is an old thing someone traded in/something he fixed up and wanted to sell again for all the cow medicine.  What we came home with was a nice new fridge for me; Matt can have my old side-by-side for the cow medicine.  I think it's a fair trade...well, it's not really a trade.  But anyway, I like my new fridge. :)

My title talks about fall flying by fast.  Well, speaking of fast, you should see how fast Spiffy Cliff can move around the house these days.  He's crawling everywhere; the baby gate goes up, he pulls himself up on it, and pretends he's in jail.  He's fun like that.  He stands behind the kids' stool and pushes it around the room.  (Please stop growing so fast, Clifford! Mommy wants you to be a sweet tiny baby for a while longer!)  He goes into the living room and pulls all the movies off the shelf.  He's trying to organize, I guess. 

He's a fun baby.  And he's definitely a momma's boy.  But I like him that way.

 

And he's so good at organizing.  He wants my books in alphabetical order.

 

 

Adina's adjusting to her new hairstyle.  We're finding that it looks best if her hair is pulled up in the back. Otherwise she seems to have a mullet.  So, I've been braiding, putting it in a bun, and putting in barettes.  So far that seems to help.  She's really liking school. She sings songs regularly - ABC's, Zaccheus, Twinkle, Twinkle, I See the Moon, the Itsy, Bitsy Spider, etc.  We sing them over and over.  She loves it! She can write an "A" (upside down), among other letters.  She only wears pretty dresses with tights and sparkly shoes to Wendy's, school and church.  I have to really beg her to wear pants of any kind.  Oh well...she's sure a cutie!

 

 

 Cliff was feeling sad and neglected, so I asked Adina to play legos with him.  He liked the attention.
She's trying to build a castle.

 Don't mind the messy face...Halloween candy will do that to a person.  Like her bangs?

She's such a nice big sister.

 

 This guy makes my heart melt. :)

My helpful, handsome husband.

He's taking the doors off my new fridge so we can turn it sideways to get it in the kitchen.  He's pretty handy that way.

 

 

This guy is my sweetie, too.  He was all ready to go help Matt on Tuesday when I left for school.  They had a busy day of hauling manure, moving the combine, and who knows what else.  He doesn't miss a beat, though.

 

Last night, Clarence spent the night at Mom and Dad's. He'd been hauling cows home with my dad, Nathan, Mark and Nikki all day. They were having supper at Mom's last night. Clarence and Harley were watching Little House.  Mom brought supper in to Clarence and found him asleep on the couch.  She couldn't wake him...he was out cold for the night.  He spent the night there, and woke up early with my dad this morning.  My mom woke up to find them leaving the house. She said, "Aren't you going to stay here with me for a bit, Clarence?"  He replied, "Grandma, you know I have work to do.  We've got a lot of cows to haul today."  Haha...what a cute little worker.  He's so full of information and things to talk about.  I bet he's given Dad many ideas as to how to run the farm better.  I miss him.

 

At home these past few weeks, he's been trying to round up his bottle calves; that entails finding ropes, finding the calves, putting the ropes around their necks, finding his dad to drag/lead them to the barn, penning the calves up, feeding them, accidentally letting the calves out, and starting the whole process over again.  He's also been carving the pumpkins we've had decorating our deck.  Not to make pretty faces on them, though. He's trying to get hundreds of seeds that he's washing, drying and saving to plant next spring.  He wants to sell pumpkins next year. 

 

He also sets up a store in the living room. I have to pay him if I want toilet paper, paper towels, or jars of any kind.  He's always looking for a way to make a buck.

 

He talks to me about insurance, cow numbers, ideas for the farm, things he's doing on his own (play) farm upstairs, how to write his friends' names, how well he's been writing his own numbers (most of them are backwards), and many other random things I can't even think of right now. 

 

 

I took the kids trick-or-treating the other night.  Most of you have probably seen this picture on facebook, but I thought I'd share again. They were so well-behaved that night! I love when they're so sweet and happy. :)   We had a great time together.  And I arrived home with three sleeping, worn-out kiddos.

 

 

 

Adios, my friends.

 

Eat some beef today!