My latest update on the 101 in 1001 I am attempting to do. How many days in am I now? 175? Need to be 17 or 18 complete, then.
1. Celebrate five strange holidays (cheeseburger day, September 18 2023) 2/5
We 'celebrated' cheeseburger day by eating homemade cheeseburgers. And fries. Can't forget fries.
22. Finish cleaning barn office and redoing the awards/putting them up in frames DONE September 2023
I'm counting this as done. All the frames are back up on the wall. There is still work to be done in the office as it is never ending, but the main areas I wished to tackle are complete. My husband keeps working in there which is 'undoing' some of the progress on the counters by the computer, so that is a never ending process, haha.
32. Create free to use items in Cricut design space (3/15)
I made a 'Raising Arrows' t'shirt for my husband as his birthday gift and since I created it using all free items on the design space in Cricut, I published it for anyone else to use as well.
37. Try to do a walk for ms or life walk or something similar (DONE September 20, 2023)
We did this in September as we joined the 1 Million March 4 Children in our area against the SOGI curriculum being pushed in schools. I am disturbed and disgusted by the stuff they are putting in the school libraries and classroom libraries that children have access to. I'm thankful to be homeschooling, and I'm thankful that there are many schools in the area that haven't fallen to this yet, but oh boy some of the stories I've heard from even our local area disturb me.
42. Read entire Bible in a year (35/66 books)
I'm currently in Isaiah and 2 Thessalonians.
54. Try 10 new recipes (10/10) (DONE October 11 2023)
This week I made a cheesy bacon soup. It was really good! Took a lot longer to make than I expected, though, haha. It was on our 'dairy' calendar. The kids sometimes spot those recipes and beg me to make them. Also, for my daughter's birthday, I made gluten free and sugar free banana cupcakes and cream cheese frosting. Yes, no sugar. I used honey to sweeten a little cream cheese for her (she is avoiding all sugar).
60. Finish basement floor (DONE October8 2023)
I'm so happy to be done this now. I mean, there is always more I could do, but I am now done the area I set to do. I had to wait with the one zone near the washer and dryer because I had to put up the shelf in the corner first in order to be able to note where the matts would need to go to. That's done!
61. Put up shelves for laundry room/table area (WIP)
I got the main shelf that I wanted up now. It's for the laundry baskets. So much nicer than before. Now I need to make the table section and the façade for in front of the laundry sink to make it look nicer.
95. Successfully grow a garden (here and here) DONE October 2023
Gardening for the year is done. I didn't grow many things, only tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers. They all grew. Tomatoes were all tiny, but I got a lot of them. Potatoes look good, too. I just need to pull out all the plants now. Peppers are only now showing up. They are about 2 inches across. I might need to bring the pot inside the workshop so they don't freeze and can continue growing.
This month we drove a number of hours to another new museum we've never been to, The Agriculture Museum. There was a fair of sorts happening and we thought it would be interesting to visit, as it happened to be my husband's weekend off. So, away we went.
The kids saw some adorable ponies and were able to pet them.
There were fun opportunities for picture taking, which I must do of course!
They had some interesting critters to pet in a children's area, including this tortoise, other turtles, some other reptiles, and snakes! I wasn't touching the snake, but my son got to hold it.
This heritage museum is similar to the one we visit often in that it is a whole village, but one thing they had that ours did not was a railway with rail cars, a station, and even a grain elevator! That was interesting to see!
Another thing we really enjoyed was the ability to be able to pump the foot pedal of the printing press ourselves. We all gave it a try. My son took this picture of me working the machine. It was interesting and actually a bit difficult to get the hang of to start. Once you got it, though, it was easy. Like the man said, it was like riding a bike!
I liked the post office area. The boxes there reminded me a little of what it was like to get the mail from the post office as a kid. We had to go into the building and find our box. They weren't near our house at all. These were much fancier looking! But the style was similar to what I remember as a kid.
I took this picture of the under stairs area pantry. I think this is something I should do in my basement! The museum here had lots of two story buildings we were able to go upstairs in and view. The kids thought that was great!
This one house, one of the first ones we saw, reminded me of my childhood. I have no idea how old the house I grew up in was, but the doors, the hand rail, the wallpaper, all of it reminded me of what was in my house growing up before we modified things. The door handles were the same, with the large keyhole underneath.
The register is one thing I miss from my childhood. Sounds strange, I know. I remember putting our socks and boot inserts over it to dry them after coming in from the wet snow outside. It was very much like this one, just with a different scrollwork. There were similar beautiful floor vents as well that I remember having in our house before they were switched out. The floor is similar, too. The hardwood underneath the linoleum looked very similar. It splintered into our socks like crazy. Those slivers make that floor all the more memorable.
And this post at the foot of the stairs! So similar to what we had! It's crazy!
I did not expect to have nostalgia visiting a museum I had never seen before! I had a lot of fun, and the kids really enjoyed it, too!
I'm feeling very excited about my Saturday this May long weekend!
First, some backstory. Somehow my baby got hand foot mouth disease. May 9 she got rather cranky, wasn't eating proper, and as I saw her two incisor teeth poking out, I figured she was teething. Normal stuff. Saturday, a few days later, I noticed a bit of a rash on her bum, but not the normal diaper rash. It looked like irritation. I figured it was likely from getting some grass in her diaper as we were outside a lot that week. Sunday, after church, one of the kids told me that they noticed some strange marks on her feet. Little red blisters. I hadn't seen them during her bath, they seemed to crop up overnight, and the kids love helping her get ready and dressed her for church for me. Later that evening, I saw a couple start up on her hands. Yup. I really don't know where she could have caught it as we were home the entire time. Never have we had this in the house before. Thankfully, at church, she didn't really want to play, just cuddle with me, so I really hope nobody else caught it from her!
The following day, my son started complaining of issues. Got a fever. Headaches. My 3 year old the day after that. They had bumps on their hands (not so much the feet, though) and I think in their mouth although hard to see. My 10 year old got in her mouth pretty bad. Tuesday night she showed me her throat and yup. Her hands as well. She got sick a few days later. So even though it was the long weekend and my husband had it off, we couldn't very well go anywhere with other people.
It was a stay at home kind of weekend.
So, Friday I had dreams of getting some jobs done that I hadn't been able to work on much (it's hard to do things outside while watching the baby). Spent an hour with my oldest two kids and my husband shoveling sand out of the sandbox that was still in the chicken coop enclosure. We needed that out before moving the birds back in for the summer. They were using it as a jump off point to get out of the coop. And the kids couldn't play in it anymore with how many tree roots made their way through the plastic into that sand. So, we took it out! Yay! Very happy about that.
Next was the van and truck. Both were filthy. Cleaned the interior of both together with help from the kiddos. Then my husband washed the outside of them. Yay! So nice having clean vehicles again!
When parking the van, I noticed how bad the garage was. Really noticed. This is a job I've wanted to do for years, but most of the stuff in there is for the farm, so I really didn't know what to do with it all, so I didn't tackle it. I decided that this was the weekend! Two of my girls decided to help me. We moved all the siding, house reno pieces, ducts, etc into the area above the garage where I've seen plenty more of that stuff. Still need to clean that area up, though. Moved tools and bolts to the farm workshop. Wood has a place in the machine shed specifically for wood, and I've been moving all the scrap pieces I've been seeing in random places to that location as I find them. Made piles for trash, things to keep on the shelf, etc. Wiped off all the shelves and put things back. I now have 2.5 empty shelves (except for an old scale I couldn't lift)! And that is after putting all our chairs, umbrella strollers, sleds, etc on there! The side area is cleared except for the buckets for the collustrum company, and they are so much easier to get now, too! And we swept it all out! We didn't get the one area with the old truck, though. The battery is fried, and a rusty bolt snapped while my husband was trying to get it out, so we need to tow it. There is stuff there, but I cannot reach it currently, so I'm leaving that for now.
I am so very happy with all the work we got done! Today I was gifted some tomato starts from my brother in law and his fiancé (so excited! They're getting married soon!), and he helped me get a bunch of tubs from in the barn drilled and filled with dirt/sand/manure so I could plant! I spent a bunch of time working on that, and the chicken coop today.
Well, that's all for now! Been really happy with the beautiful weather we've had recently! SO nice to get outside again!
When life grips you and doesn't let you go, you neglect the things that aren't of vast importance. And this blog has been one of those things. I apologize. I haven't been here since 2018, and it is so strange to see this space again after so long!
Life has hit us hard. Good things, bad things, all the things. We've almost lost the farm. 2018 was hard in that way. My husband's dad became sick and was unable to work on the farm anymore, and my husband has been working extra hard to keep it going. Summer of 2018 saw a huge heat wave hit the area, and many farms were affected. Milk decreased, and the animals don't do well, even when you do everything you can to help them. The bank we were with decided to send someone down in the midst of the heat wave. He didn't like dad, and had decided we were neglecting our animals (they hold their heads down when hot, and look so sad). He made an attempt to set the milk board against us. We were told a number of things by animal welfare that we were to do... all of which we were already doing and had been doing for years except for two things that were not something we could reasonably do in our current barn (I will say, we did end up doing them both, but the one has cost us tens of thousands in repairs over the last 5 years. Exactly what we said would happen. We were supposed to be able to build a new barn by now, but the bank lied to us when we signed on 14 years ago). This guy sent a bad report to the bank which caused them to tell us to pay the mortgage in full right away or they would foreclose on our farm. We had to sell land, quota, equipment, all to attempt to keep what was ours because one guy (who made it clear in the past that he disliked dad for some reason) wanted to shut us down. We didn't cave. Thousands of dollars in lawyer fees later, we were allowed to push the payment of the 7 figure loan for about a year. I got pregnant during that time, and we had a baby girl, due right around when they wanted the balance. Thankfully, they allowed another few months, and then because dad was super ill, they pushed it yet again. We were paying off huge segments of the loan with the sales of land and quota. Then, at the beginning of the covid19 pandemic, dad died.
I don't even know where to begin when it comes to dealing with the passing of someone close to you. The kids were devastated. My oldest son and dad were very close. My 5th child, Baby Z, the one I mentioned in my last post, was named after my father in law. In Dad's last weekend, I felt my husband should take Baby Z to visit dad. I'm so glad he did. We were blessed to be living next door, and the older kids went to play games and puzzles with mom and dad often (we knew he was dying for months now, so we did what we could to keep the kids from getting sick. We were told even a cold could kill him). It was hard. And then we got the call. He had asked for my husband. We knew. The ambulance was called, he was brought to the hospital, and only one person was allowed in the room with him at a time. He died alone, when the brothers were switching shifts outside.
What made things even harder was that this was in the midst of the shutdowns. No hugs. No gatherings. No funerals. 10 people in one place and no more than that. And my family was 8 people. No exceptions. We felt very alone during that time. No church family, although I am very grateful to the 2 families who came of their own accord and brought us a meal. Very few people came to the viewing. The service was one of the first ones they did online, and so there were bugs to work out, but they managed it. Two of his own children couldn't come because they lived out of province and travel wasn't allowed. It was really hard on mom.
I gave hugs anyway.
Covid really wrecked things for everyone, and our family was no exception. Some things didn't change much, however we lost many of our support systems. Lost friends. Hurtful things said. Felt abandoned and alone by our church. Our homeschool group ended due to the regulations. Our farm was struggling to get by as it is now half the size it was before while still trying to support the huge insurance payments and such from when it was so much larger. Then there was the storm that destroyed part of the barn in 2021, and while insurance is supposed to cover everything, the last concrete tower silo was unable to be salvaged and the cost to rip it down and replace it and the feed room was more than the 'value' of the tower by insurance, so we had to pay 5 figures out of pocket, which we really didn't have. The drought brought a huge increase in feed costs, so that they doubled in only a few short months, and we felt like we were drowning once again. In fact, I'd say we've been barely surviving things this entire time.
March of 2021, I found out I was expecting yet again! It might sound weird, but I was terrified. I didn't want to make appointments. I didn't want to acknowledge it at all. I was scared of what people would say and think. I'm not sure why, but I think my hormones and anxiety were in rough shape due to everything over the last few years already. It took everything in me to even make my first appointment, and with the mask requirement in most places, I stayed home. It is hard to describe what I felt. It made no sense. In order to make myself tell others, I decided to write a parody song to Shania Twain's 'I feel like a woman'. I did my best to get excited and not worry about what others would say or think, and it actually worked. I became excited over time about our coming baby!
Pregnancy is always a crazy time for me, and I went a bit crazy renovating the girls shared bedroom. Built a few things outside, cleaned in the barn office, found project after project to keep my mind and body occupied as my anxiety was through the roof with everything going on. I feared giving birth. I feared I would die. Nightmares plagued me. Anxiety was terrible. It was crippling. I had never experienced it this bad before. And then, my husband was sick and anxious himself. On medications. Problem after problem on the farm. Dad was gone. He was the sole decision maker, and there were a number of things he still had to learn. It was hard.
I went through a 46 hour labor with my last baby, and oh boy... she did not want to turn. I didn't know when to go to the hospital because my pushing stage with my 6th baby saw my contractions at 5 minutes apart even while pushing. I had 2 weak contractions and one strong one with my last 3 babies. It made things very difficult to time. I actually had an epidural this last time, and almost had issues with that one, too! I was exhausted as I hadn't slept in days now, could feel that I was fighting the contractions due to exhaustion, and so I asked for one. The tech said there was a blood clot in the needle and he had to re-administer, and it was likely I would get headaches due to loss of spinal fluid. Thankfully, I didn't get the headaches.
Baby still didn't want to come out, and I was afraid I'd need a c-section. I usually reach pushing stage and baby is here in less than 3 contractions of active pushing, but I lost count with my last baby. She wouldn't enter the birth canal. Not at all. I remember saying 'I can't' out loud, and then prayed that God would do something because I couldn't do this without Him. Next contraction, the baby entered the birth canal! The following contraction, she was out! Turns out, she was not facing the right way. She came facing my left leg instead of my spine. However, none of that mattered in the end! She was here! And she was beautiful! All the kids were so excited to meet her, although they had to wait until we came home as there were no visitors allowed in the hospital at all due to the restrictions. Honestly, though, I kind of liked it being just me, my husband, and our newest baby. Blessings in all things, and God knew what I needed. (I did make a video on YouTube of my birth story, but it isn't made public right now. Not sure I want to publish it publicly yet. I might need to make a shorter version for that).
Anyway, Baby K is a year old now. We are planning our 20th anniversary already. I'm homeschooling 5 kids age kindergarten through 9th grade while attempting to keep the farm going. I've been learning new things, like making butter, cottage cheese, yogurt, and I even started canning this last fall! And I've joined the ranks of bird owners, as we got chickens last June, too! I love having my own fresh eggs each morning!
Life is an adventure! It is incredible to me just how much things can change over the years. Time has been hard on us, but we are better for it. And our family is bigger, and I wouldn't change it for the world! God knows what is best for our family, and I just pray for His continued guidance in all things. I need more time with Him, as I feel pulled in so many directions as of late.
How is it possible that my oldest is a young woman already? How is it possible that I've been married almost 20 years now? How is it possible that I'm turning 40 this year? How can it be? I still don't feel much different than I did when having my first baby almost 15 years ago. How is it possible?
The flow of time is swift and harsh. One day, you are young and newly married, then you start having a family and you are a young mom, then you look in the mirror and see an older person than you thought you were looking back at you. How does this happen?
The saying really is true... Time flies.
How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon? - Dr. Seuss
Lately, I'm so tired! I'd love to spend all day sleeping, but I have to be Ok with a few hours a night, and hopefully a nap later in the day. That usually means I don't do much through the day beyond the stuff I need to (like laundry, cooking, baking, diapers, and nursing). I want to work on my old paper scrapbooks, but I get interrupted so often that I don't get anywhere on it. I want to sew a dress, but I feel like laying out the fabric will just mean a two year old in it. I also have no pattern... I kinda want to have some fun with it and just see what I can come up with, but I need to be without my kids, and that doesn't happen often. And when it does, I want sleep, ha ha.
Oh, and sculpting! I want to do some sculpting so badly! And maybe some art... sigh. I need something of a deadline in order to actually do anything. Birthday parties are perfect as I have a deadline to reach, so I need to get the items done by then, and that motivates me to do so. I am exhausted by the end of it all, though.
I've been wanting to prepare for another trip... which doesn't seem to be able to happen. You see, we saved up to go on a vacation in November this year (two years since our last one). I worked hard to save up... however we cannot go on a trip if my husband is needed on the farm. My father in law is due for a surgery in fall, and will not be able to work for over a year. We cannot operate the farm without him and Chuck. That means no weekends off at that point... which means no holidays either. At all. Unless we can somehow spring for robot milkers. Our farm cannot support another hired worker, either. Mainly because dad will continue receiving income when he isn't working as well. Adding another paid employee will strain the farm further. Thankfully, I've been working at reducing debt load on the farm, but it still isn't enough. So, likely no trip for another two years (as dad is scheduled for yet another surgery a year after this one... sigh).
My big motivator for doing some crafting was the promise of a trip come November. I still should do these things... but I'm a bit down about it all. Sigh.
I really need a vacation... but it looks like it won't happen. :( Back to the daily grind of laundry, dishes, cleaning, diapers, food, baking bread, etc etc. At least I am doing stuff... right? I just wish more of it was stuff that lasted longer than a day, ha ha..
I've got more photo fun for you all! Aren't you excited?
This labor day weekend we went to Fall on the Farm at the local museum. If you live in the area, this is an awesome museum to visit! It celebrates Mennonites and the way they lived, as well as the beginnings of our town. It literally has the first general store, a blacksmiths shop, some old barns (and barns that are attached to the houses), and many other interesting buildings and equipment to see. And the most awesome part is the windmill. The original was one brought over from Deutchland and built in the area. Unfortunately, we don't have the wind here to power the thing on a regular basis, so they didn't use it as much, and it ended up in the museum. It was burned down in 06 I believe (some vandalism. Really sad), and a replica was put up in its place. And it was perfect that day... the wind was strong and we got to see it actually grinding the wheat into flour. And if you wanted to, you could buy the flour from the store.
Above are some pictures of the museum. It is literally a street filled with old buildings with real items that were donated that were once used by many of the people of the area. I love the tricycle! Toys, old tools that you would get to see in action (yes, there is someone volunteering to work in the blacksmith shop... they do things as though it is a real working town right there in front of you on special occasion days... there are about 4 or 5 of those days per year). I got to see someone working at the original Derksen Printers on the printing press. It's interesting to see how things were done way back then. And a woman was using a weavers loom to make a bath matt. Some made pickles right in front of you, others baked bread and made butter (and you could taste some of these goods), there was a pig butchering that happened at a certain time, and the meat was auctioned off, and they even had some harvesting with actual sickles if you wanted to watch that. The sawmill in the back would go into operation at a certain time, there was a petting zoo for the kiddos, as well as an entertainer, people in all the buildings 'living' out the lives of the people then (in full costume). The schools and churches are always interesting, as the people there were always willing to describe how things were way back then (grades 1-8 in one classroom). A real trip through time.
M loved it!
Wanna know her favorite part? The candy 'shop'... a little outdoor place with rock candies, peppermint sticks, and penny candy (you remember those, right? They're 5cents now, but still).
Enjoying some candy
They had bouncers for the kids, as well as some other activities near the sod house. I call it the sod house because the roof has grass growing on it and it is half buried in the ground. It is a very interesting little building!
M had so much fun that she tuckered herself out...
Instead of bouncing on the bouncers, she was content to lay down and let all the other kids do the work. It was so funny!
She loved the petting zoo... I think we've got a natural animal lover here. And Bram? Well, he was content to sit in his sleepy wrap the whole time (unless he was hungry) and watch from there. No pickle tasting for him! :)
The last weekend in August was the Honey Festival in our town. Can you believe I haven't been there since we got married? So we braved the wet weather and went this year. It was so much fun! M had a great time. She loved the parade, especially the bikes. Tradition, after all. A bunch of kids and parents alike decorate their bikes to ride at the beginning of the parade. It is always fun to see. After that was lunch... good noodle soup and a bun, or a sausage burger (mmmm... great Mennonite meal). We had lunch for $6... for all three of us. For $2, you could get a bracelet for your child and they could partake in all the children's festivities (bouncers, face painting, games and more games, toys, other activities). M actually bounced in the bouncer. As for face painting, the lineup was so long, so we didn't bother. I think M's favorite was the barrel rides... a bunch of barrels on wheels pulled behind a garden tractor around the park for 50cents a ride. She cried whenever we tried to take her out. (see photo below). Oh, and they had a 'honey hunt'. Straws of honey were hidden in a bunch of straw and kids had to search for them. M didn't find any, but another girl had a few and gave one to her. So sweet! M just liked digging out all the straw and giving it to daddy. I guess she figured that the straw was the prize, and we should bring it home for our calves!
Later that evening we went back for supper (chicken... sooo good, and only $12 for us both to have chicken, bun, coleslaw, and dessert... and I think there was more but I cannot remember...). We stayed around for the fireworks... the first we've seen in a few years now. M's first ever. She did NOT like the loud boom at first and would cry, but after awhile of oohs and aaaahs, she got used to them and pointed and said 'pretty'. Bram slept through most of it... started crying near the end due to all the noise I'm sure.
It was a great couple of weekends! I love all the fun we've been having, and honestly, it is SO much more fun with kids. You get to see things through their eyes, and their eyes are always so much brighter and in love with so many things that we take for granted. God definitely blesses us through our children!
Funny thing, I actually completed two items on my 101 list by going to these fun things! #9: Visit a museum, and #95: Go to 3 Local Festivals/Fairs 3/3. How cool is that!
Day 358 - actually taken May 25... oops Baby toes.
Day 359 - May 25
Power went out at 3pm... you think this is the reason why?
Apparently, the cables weren't put up properly, and one fell down and burnt into the pole, causing it to break due to the high winds we had that day (90km winds, anyone?). You can guess which way it was blowing... :) It was fixed in about 4 hours... however, it was annoying due to milking starting around 3:30, having no water and needing the generator on the farm for the guys to get the animals milked. And no water means no plate cooler, which means that there was a chance the whole tank would need to be dumped due to not being cooled as fast as normal. They tested it, and it was fine, thank goodness. That's a lot of money down the drain otherwise.
Oh, and this is one of the poles on the farm. No joke.
If you haven't already noticed, I'm a farmer's wife. As a farmer's wife, I find that there are MANY different farm events throughout the winter months (because farmers don't have cropping during those times, and are instead planning through the next year). We are a dairy, so the work is the same (just with less in terms of cropping and harvesting of course), but either way, my husband likes to go to these various workshops, meetings, and seminars. And today was no different.
Today was the second day of the three 'Ag Days' in Brandon. My husband wanted to go. He also wanted me to go. I didn't feel too keen on it (I've been there twice before, and it's the same thing every year pretty much), and since we couldn't take our daughter (they couldn't put the seat in the bus, and wouldn't allow her on due to liability issues, which I can understand), he lined up a babysitter for the day. My sister! However, on Monday, my baby girl was being so cranky and stubborn (she's been like this for awhile now and I couldn't figure out why), and so I thought it best that I not stick my sister with my daughter. However, due to miscommunication between me and my husband, instead of talking to her before making the 'call' to say I would or would not be coming, he sent her a text. She wasn't too happy since she had been looking forward to a day with Baby M. We worked things out, and while I was still unable to go (which I didn't mind), Baby M stayed Tuesday night at her aunty's, as well as all day today until 4pm.
Wow. A day without anyone in the house but me. A day where I could sleep in if I wanted (yup... all of a half hour... and I wasn't sleeping... sigh) A day where the kitchen would remain clean ALL DAY! A day where I could do what I wanted and not worry about what someone else was up to. A day where... I missed my little rugrat!
I made my breakfast... no Baby M. I ate without wondering if I had to hurry for her sake. I ate crunchy cereal instead of soggy! I got to do the dishes, the laundry, put up her pictures and clean the office closet without interruption. I even went through all my files and receipts and shredded a bunch of stuff! Needless to say, I got a lot of work done in a few short hours. Then I decided to do something I hadn't done in ages.
I watched a movie. By myself. And did cross stitch at the same time! After eating a lunch I made by frying up last night's leftovers and not needing to worry if M could eat it or not!
Oh, and the movie I watched? Julie and Julia. Pretty good movie. A bit on the long side, but I had my cross stitching that I was doing at the same time, so no problems there. Not one that my husband would watch, and not one that I would be able to fit into one of Baby M's nap times either. It was nice.
Afterwards though, I had to call my sister. I had to know how Baby M was doing, and if I was needed or not.
I wouldn't have minded staying home longer. Not at all. But, my sis had other things she needed to get to as well, so I went over there, and stayed until my hubby got back from his little field trip. And would you guess what I did? I helped Mom make supper and I did the dishes when she had to leave for something that evening... while my daughter played a bit strange to me and wanted Aunty R, or Grandma, or Grandpa. I gave her a hug and held her a bit, fed her some supper before Grandma took over, but I'm boring apparently. So, I did dishes.
Well, this week has been quite interesting! No joke! Wanna know what I've been up to? I'm sure you are all just DYING to find out, right? ;)
Anyway, on Monday we decided to purchase the 2005 Extended Montana van from the dealership... and I love it. I can hardly believe we have a van! And it's nice! It has less than 80 000 kms on it, is in super condition, has a DVD player (which will be good for when going on road trips, which I LOVE to do), etc etc. I figure that in the end, figuring the monthly payments on it, the registration costs, and the fuel, we won't really be spending any more on this vehicle than we did on the car we were leasing... and it will be OURS after 3 years of payments! I'm thrilled with that!
The first couple of days this week I spent working on finishing a few Christmas gifts I'd started (I'm now done 7 of 15... although I haven't started wrapping any), cleaning house, doing laundry, etc. I also had to pack for the Annual Dairy Meeting we have this time of year. It's a three day conference of sorts at a hotel in the city. My husband went to all the meetings while I watched our lil munchkin. I tried to make it for one of the meetings, but apparently that one started early so I only got in halfway through. They had a daycare there, which was nice for the banquet itself. We had our lil one there for two other meals too, as she enjoyed being with all the other kids.
The first day, supper with my in-laws... Baby M was thrilled.
We were supposed to arrive Wednesday at around 12:30 for lunch. I still had M's swim lesson, which usually ended at 10:40... and a chiro appointment at 11am. It takes about an hour to drive to the hotel from our place. I got to my appointment 10 minutes early, and sat there for 40 minutes before leaving... without having my appointment. I could NOT wait any longer than that... we had to be somewhere. I don't understand what took so long. There were only 2 other people in the waiting room when I arrived, and usually I'm in and out of there in 15 minutes. Only when you need to be somewhere... right? We did get there a bit late, but still in time for lunch, which was much needed.
Meeting Mooky.
M was able to see the kids a little that evening as I figured it would be nice for her to see the daycare a bit with me around still. Mooky, the Milk Mascot (which I didn't know existed until that day) arrived on the scene. They were all a bit disappointed that all the kids except M had left to go swimming, but soon were thrilled to see how M loved the big costumed cow!
Sharing toys
Mooky, M, and Grandpa.
I couldn't resist. One of the guys there thought it was a shame they didn't have a video camera, when I piped up that my camera had the video option on it, and was in my bag right there. So, he took this little video... I never thought my little girl would love cows so much!
Later that evening, while waiting for my husband to come back from chores, I wandered around the showroom with M. We happened to walk past one of the side doors where she spotted Mooky in the hallway, coming towards the front door to the room. She was off to see the mascot once again. Mooky didn't notice her until she had chased her down the hall and partway into the showroom... and it was 'Mooky's assistant' who noticed and warned the person in the costume of the little baby running up behind her (you can't see too well in those things I've been told). Baby M wanted to show Mooky the squishy cow she had received from one of the business displays.
That was the good day. That night, Baby M did not sleep well. The hotel room was hot and dry (my husband turned down the heat, but that didn't cool it off soon enough for us, and the air was terribly dry), and while she normally sleeps well, even in a different place, she did not that night. She woke crying every single hour. We held her, put her in our bed with us, cleared her nose (she had a bit of a runny nose this week), tried putting a wet cloth near her playpen, put a wet towel on the register, gave her children's Tylenol, checked her diaper, gave her water... whatever we could. She would not sleep. Finally, at about 6am, she fell asleep and stayed asleep till 8. My husband and I went to eat breakfast in shifts... we were NOT going to wake her (and were not going to sleep that night either). Everyone could tell she had a bad night (most other families had bad nights too, for the same reasons). She was red eyed and not herself, even with two very full, very good naps. Thankfully, she slept all night the following night. Could be that running the shower before bed and adding cups of water around the room helped.
The weekend was busy too. Saturday we spent shopping. I had to get a few more craft supplies for a couple of the gifts I'm making... not to mention some ingredients for Christmas baking. I loved watching Baby M play in the play area with the other kids. And playing and dancing to the music in the Disney store. That was priceless. Oh... and she got to see Santa for the first time! We couldn't take pictures, but we were allowed to take video... she didn't care for sitting on his lap though. Poor guy. Next baby didn't like it either.
Today we went to church before heading to a gathering. I put Baby M in her new Christmas dress... she is SO cute in it!
She loves grandma's earrings... they have little bells on them, and she wanted to hear them ring.
She had a ball at the gathering... running around when she was done eating. And... she moves too fast to get a good shot when I forget to put the flash on, ha ha.
Well, that's our week in a nutshell... or a post... depends on how you look at it. I hope you had a wonderful first week of December as well! Oh, and as for snow? We finally got some on the 1st that decided to have staying power! How awesome is that!?
This week has been wonderful... crazy in many ways, but wonderful.
Firstly, I finally got some of my work done in the house... see my previous post for details. We also had the Farm Management group head guy down to go over our farm numbers, using my bookkeeping as the basis for what is happening on the farm. It's been interesting, inputting all that data onto the AgExpert program, but it is worth it. Now to learn some of the other ins and outs of the program and familiarize myself with the payroll section, the printable cheques, and the budgeting area. Oh, and apparently, 'word on the street' is that my books are impeccable... I think that's the word that was used... haha. It feels really good to know that I'm doing something right!
Another thing that happened this week... my sister-in-law got her house! She's been renting a place nearby that had mould issues, and needed to find a place for herself (she was looking into renting somewhere else, but this area is known for rental places not being in very good shape most of the time...). It's a nice place, and we'll be helping her move this next weekend.
More news, yesterday I was dress shopping. A friend of mine is getting married later this year, and she asked me to be a bridesmaid! I'm so honored! I've never been a bridesmaid, and I'm looking forward to helping her out with anything she needs help with (like wedding favors, invites, anything...) and I LOVE her other bridesmaids! We all ordered our dresses already (yup... her two sisters came out from the province over and loved the dress she had picked, both ordered it... I went yesterday with the other two bridesmaids and we all ended up loving the dress on us and got it... it's gorgeous... and I forgot my camera so I don't have pics. Shoot). The color? Eggplant (gorgeous!)!
I did some more shopping on Thursday... again at Liquidation world. My sis called me up to say they just got a bunch of clothes in and I had to come check it out. I need clothes this summer, as my wardrobe last year was maternity, and my previous year's stuff needs... well... a lot of it has seemingly shrunk. Seriously. It's like two inches of length disappeared off these shirts. I know I buy cheap clothes, but really! Anyway, off I went. They had everything! I got 10 baby items... 6 for my munchkin, and 4 for gifts for a few people expecting babies this summer. I also got myself a dress, a pair of jeans, a t-shirt jacket type button up, and 3 other shirts for a grand total of $84 after tax. I'm thrilled! The following pic is of items I bought for my baby. Sorry, no pics of the clothes for myself yet. They are designer labels apparently though! Nice stuff!
Anyway, here are a few pics of my lil one. This is my SIL holding my baby... apparently munchkin loved sticking her feet in her face!
Next is my lil girl playing with the ducky she got from her grandparents (my hubby's folks)... it quacks. Although, I think she just likes how it feels.
Here she is on hands and... toes. Yup. Toes. She's getting closer and closer to crawling.
Oh, and we're getting her started early... hahaha
Butt up? Trying to crawl yet again. She's on hands and knees quite often. It's so cute!
A bloggy friend of mine, Lacey, started a new group that I just HAD to join! Another of my bloggy freinds, Becky, is part of this group too, so as you can see, it's a very 'happening' group. It's called T.R.A.S.H. and is for superheros!
If you don't know, T.R.A.S.H. stands for Totally Rad Animal Saving Hero. No, I don't have a cape (unless you count the invisible one hiding in the back of my closet), but capes just get in the way. After all, I'm no matador... although we do have one bull on the farm...
But I digress...
There have been many times where my husband has wondered if I have some kind of magnetic ability where animals are concerned, and he is still in awe at my telling him that he is about to drive over a frog on the highway, or to quickly look out the window in the ditch at the deer/wolf/fox that is watching us... and on the rarest of occasions, bear. Animals seem to love me... I have no idea why... perhaps the eau de T.R.A.S.H. is alluring to them. I could often be seen with a trail of cats following behind me as I walked down my parents driveway, our dogs beside me. Nothing like a string of 6 or so cats to make you wonder... especially with two dogs at the head!
I remember the time my sister found one of our kittens outside in the snow... cold and wet as the neighbors dog seemed to deem him worthy of snackage... but this dog, being playful and not one to actually hurt a kitten, didn't actually snack, just slobbered. Anyway, poor kitty had been left in the snow afterwards and was frozen. I mean it. My sister brought him to me and asked if he was dead, as she had heard him making noise, but now he was silent. The heart was beating. I remembered seeing on tv a guy bringing a baby animal back by rubbing it, so I grabbed a large towel and set to rubbing the poor thing. After awhile, he came to, and meowed piteously. We kept him in the house, I rubbed him for an hour or so until I could feel him shaking and his limbs didn't feel so... limp. He ended up just fine... lost a tow or two, and half his tail, and the tips of his ears, but he was a loveable kitty anyway... even gave me a hug for all my trouble later that year.
Then there was the lost kitten... my cat had a batch and one suddenly went missing. I searched the shed till I found him... somehow lodged himself in one of the shelves and his belly was squished so he couldn't move or meow, and the mommy was rather upset, pacing back and forth till I got him out. He had a scar across his tummy. We named him Lucky.
There have been numerous cats dropped off at our farm, most of them noticed during the night. One little guy was meowing so loud he woke me, so I grabbed my slippers and went outside to search for him. I thought one of our kittens was in trouble, but thankfully it was just this little guy that had been dropped off and was crying for attention, being in a strange place and obviously a house cat (his nails were trimmed). I brought him in for the night, and we went in search of his family from some of the neighbors. Someone fell in love with him and took him in. I was kind of disappointed as I wanted to keep him, but we have so many cats that might not have been too good.
We recently had another cat dropped off here, another housecat to be exact. She was such a sweetie, but unfortunetly was not able to survive on the farm. Caught one of the killer kitty diseases that cats tend to catch when they didn't grow up here. The vet didn't get to give her the shots in time. Poor thing. She was in a tree meowing at us when we came home one evening. Wanted in the house SO badly... but she shed like crazy and I had a new baby. She was a favorite on the farm for the few weeks she was here.
My hubby is a T.R.A.S.H. Man. Our one dog was found in one of our fields among the bales. He took him home (just a puppy... so sweet... blended in with the snow) and he's our White Fang. Then there was the time DH found a cat in the middle of a bale... with his head sticking out. How it survived the ride, I don't know. He dug him out and took him home. Kitty was dizzy for awhile!
I could go on, but really, who has time for that!
Anyway, I figure we must be a T.R.A.S.H. family. My little girl is too young to know much about animals, but being raised on a farm will probably bring forth a love for all things furry and cute! After all... who can resist a fuzzy little kitten?
