FarmLife Tuesday~Recovery Mode

February 2, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Around the farm the last couple of weeks has been recovery mode… Recovery from When Mommy Gets Sick, after having sick kiddos. We survived all that, three weeks of sickness, and mommy is still in recovery mode as she just doesn’t have her energy back yet…But, I am getting very close… if baby wasn’t teething and I wasn’t dealing with his discomfort through most nights I would likely be there…

The bathroom has been scrubbed and the house is getting in a bit better order. Our mornings are running smoother, and well, things are coming together pretty nice. We didn’t miss more than three days of school during all of the yucky stuff.

We have had some very nice 60+ degree days over the last week and took full advantage of them spending hours and hours outside.

We have done school every day and I am seeing improvement in all of their skills… except one in their reading… So, I have been looking for a few extra resources to help get us over the hump.

There have been days spent working on hubby’s or kiddos or all of them… new toy…

Hubby was given this Wheel Horse Lawn Mower to see if he could get it running again. It had been in a fire…

Guess what???

He got it running, new tires and the kiddos love it. They used an old harrow section to work their grandparents driveway!!

I also have gotten new tires on my van, helped move some hay, and we are working on catching up our calves and bringing them home… next week I will likely be blogging about them… ;)

Filed Under: FarmLife, Farmwife Tagged With:

FarmLife Tuesday~Snow

January 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment

FarmLife during the winter can be a challenge. We heard the forecast, we kept up with our weather apps on the phone. We prepared as much as we could. We then waited, watched, waited and decided it wasn’t going to snow… But, then, nearly 19 hours after it was said to start, it did, and not with a slow few flurries… no, if this would have been rain falling, it would have caused flash flooding…

This picture is just thirty minutes after it started snowing. The flakes were huge and heavy.

Just look at those snowflakes!!

It was a winter wonderland….

But…

We have livestock, there was an Arctic front on our doorstep and our sick baby was getting sicker…

Sicker as in, I had packed a bag for the hospital…

I had been staying up all night with him for several nights.

I was worn out and now was worried that if he REALLY needed to go to the hospital, we wouldn’t be able to get there…

But…

God worked it out…

I spent some time on the phone with an on call nurse explaining our situation.

Hubby brought home a loader that could get us out if needed.

The people who have cattle here broke through the drifts by morning.

Baby did get a bit worse, but we worked through it.

We kept animals watered even in single digit temperatures.

We stayed warm.

We had lots of family time just relaxing…as much as you can with a houseful of sick kiddos.

We survived…

The livestock survived.

All are feeling better.

Winter on the farm is not all fun. However, it is worth it. We get to see God work through issues that no man could take on and come out ahead on. FarmLife is not for everyone. It is hard, it is time consuming and never runs on a plan… As soon as you make a plan, a cow will get out, a horse will get sick, or deer will take out a 1/2 mile of fence. FarmLife… I love it. I live it. I thrive in it!

Filed Under: Christian Family, Christian Home, Christian Mothering, Christian Wife, FarmLife, Farmwife, Livestock Tagged With: , ,

FarmLife Tuesday Catching Up

December 16, 2014 by Leave a Comment

FarmLife this time of year is less crazy on the farm, but is a time to catch up on appointments and such. So, we have hit the road, A LOT… We have doctor appointments every day this week. EVERY.Single.DAY. However, some are follow up appointments, some PT, some chiropractor, but all at least an 8 mile drive… As you can see, we are catching up on appointments.

FarmLife Tuesday Catching Up on Appointments, Christmas Traditions and more

We are also catching up on some household things!!

We got our Christmas Tree and many decoration up.

We got our Tree Decorated and up.

I have spent a lot of time catching up on baby snuggles. He has been a little more cuddly since his oral surgery.

2014-12-12 15.33.36

I took a little time on Saturday morning to take a canvas painting class at our local craft store.

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We made apple pie filling, but The Hot Gut aka my hubby had to fix a leaky pot aka water bath canner.

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Our children enjoyed helping make apple pie filling!!

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We made a total of 15 quarts!!

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When we got the apple pie filling done, we headed to my hometown to check out the Christmas lights!!

2014-12-14 19.28.34

 

Have you had to play a little catch up as it has gotten colder? What are some things you are catching up on?

Filed Under: FarmLife, Farmwife Tagged With:

FarmLife Tuesday ~

December 9, 2014 by 1 Comment

Well, this week’s FarmLife Tuesday is a bit boring as it was work in the shop week. I kind of tend to avoid the first week when hubby heads to the shop to actually work on equipment during our down time. Why? Because it is kind of a HUGE mess. He spends this first week cleaning and straightening the shop up and well, being home with seven children, I kind of sort of you know… get enough cleaning and straightening.

We took this week to hit the books pretty hard, and go to one of several upcoming doctor appointments. In fact yesterday our six month old had oral surgery for lip and tongue ties. He is a bit fussy still, and does not enjoy the stretches that we have to do to help him heal up properly. I will blog more about his ties a little later.

Baby after his lip and tongue tie revisions

 

Here you can see the swelling in his top lip still. He is nursing pretty good, and sleeping… if in my arms. ;)

Next week, I hope to have a little more Real FarmLife to show you.

Filed Under: Christian Home, Christian Wife, FarmLife, Farmwife

FarmLife Tuesday Dec. 2

December 1, 2014 by 1 Comment

I have tried to come up with a better title for my Tuesday post about our farm life. I use the hashtag #FarmLife quite often and believe FarmLife Tuesday is a good fit. Now that it is getting colder, grabbing pictures on the farm may become a bit more challenging… We tend to work a bit faster. However, I can still share what we are up too. Maybe, since hubby is out on the farm more, I can get him to grab more pictures?

FarmLife Tuesday will give you a look into our lives on the farm. From homeschooling, to homemaking, and beyond.

As I have blogged about before, our lives are centered around our farm. Therefore FarmLife Tuesday will really give you a look into the numerous things we work around to do the typical homeschool, house wife and childhood tasks.

We have all heard of wheat harvest, corn harvest and such. But, have you heard of cutting alfalfa for seed? We have spent the last two weeks bringing in alfalfa seed to be planted for new hay crops. Alfalfa is normally “harvested” or better said, swathed (mowing) into windrows and then baled into bales of hay. However, this type of harvesting does not allow for new seed to be planted, so sometimes when conditions are right farmers (who have the proper equipment) will take in their alfalfa for seed, rather than hay.

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My husband is threshing Alfalfa seed. This is rather rare in our area. We are one of only two farmers in our community who are set up to thresh this tiny seed. Alfalfa seed is about the size of a mustard seed.

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Our youngest daughter enjoying a rare 68 degree day in late November. She is sitting in a field of alfalfa that has already been through the machine.

 

Threshing Alfalfa Seed

 

Here you can see my husband in the combine. That header doesn’t look to be the normal header you think of when you think of a combine, does it? It is called a pick up head. It is used for crops that have been swathed and left to dry before being run through the combine. It has to pick the plants off the ground to thresh the seed out.

Due to some high winds the windrow that the swather had cut and laid blew all over the field. This made it impossible for the combine to pick it up and thresh the alfalfa seed. Our children used pitch forks and picked the hay back up and put it into the windrows, saving us hundreds of dollars in lost seed.

Due to some high winds the windrow that the swather had cut and laid blew all over the field. This made it impossible for the combine to pick it up and thresh the alfalfa seed. Our children used pitch forks and picked the hay back up and put it into the windrows, saving us hundreds of dollars in lost seed. This hard work has earned them a special day of fun… a Spring (or sooner if we have a very warm day) trip to the zoo.

Lightened Embarrasing kids

One Sunday Afternoon we decided to try to get a quick family picture. Well, trying to get 9 people smiling and looking at the camera at the same time proved challenging. So, I resorted to fun… This is just taken with a 10 second delay. ;)

What would you like to see on FarmLife Tuesday? What picture above is your favorite?

Filed Under: Blessings, Christian Family, Christian Home, Christian Wife, FarmLife, Farmwife Tagged With: , ,

Pictures From Around the Farm

November 11, 2014 by Leave a Comment

I am a little late posting this today, but here are a few. We have finished Milo and soybean harvest, but still have some alfalfa seed to finish up. So, without further ado, here are some pictures from around our farm!! Some days I just go find my hubby out in the field and see what kind of pictures I can get. This is what this week’s pictures from around the farm are an evening near dusk grabbing shots as he works.

 

Combine cutting soybeans as the moon rises behind it.

 

 

Combine cutting soybeans as the moon rises behind it.

 

The sun was still above the horizon as I grabbed this shot of his cutting soy beans. That is the moon coming up...

The sun was still above the horizon as I grabbed this shot of his cutting soy beans. That is the moon coming up…

Cutting soybeans as the sky turns to a beautiful twilight.

Cutting soybeans as the sky turns to a beautiful twilight.

I hope you have enjoyed these few pictures of us finishing our soybean harvest. Stay tuned for next weeks pictures from around the farm!!

Filed Under: Farmwife

A Look into Our FarmLife…

November 3, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Our lives are centered around our farm.. if for no other reason than farm life pretty much takes a ton of time. Then because it is our income, our bread and butter, the bacon… or in our case beef.

Our entire family is a part of our farm chores, from driving tractors, to working on equipment, to feeding livestock and watering cows. We all get our hands in a little dirt and umm dung.

Each week I hope to bring you a look into our FarmLife…

Rainbow giving promise over an alfalfa field in our backyard.

Rainbow giving promise over an alfalfa field in our backyard.

Husband helping our neighbor/cousin harvest milo. Unloading into the grain cart while the grain cart unloads into the truck. Ready to send off to the elevator.

Husband helping our neighbor/cousin harvest milo. Unloading into the grain cart while the grain cart unloads into the truck. Ready to send off to the elevator.

My little cow watering helper... asleep on the job.

My little cow watering helper… asleep on the job.

Feeding the cows... should I mention that when the bull looked at me and grunted I ran into the electric fence?

Feeding the cows… should I mention that when the bull looked at me and grunted I ran into the electric fence? Oldest is helping cut the wrap off the bale so the cattle don’t get tangled in it or ingest it and die. The bull is the the white guy already chomping on the bale of hay. Those bales each weigh about 1500 LBS.

What would you like to see from our farm life?

Filed Under: Autumn Fun, Christian Family, Christian Home, Christian Wife, Farmwife, Livestock

Wheat Harvest 2014 Blessings

July 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Wheat harvest 2014 is beginning to wind down here. It seems to me like it has taken forever, but really, it is just running later in the year.

Wheat Harvest 2014

Here in our area of Kansas, wheat harvest 2014 has not been a bumper crop. With the drought, and cold temperatures a bit too late in the season the crop has been rather slim.

Wheat Harvest 2014

It has been a roller coaster for our family. Well, with a new baby in the family, a new to us combine and well, rain every few days, it has been one of those will it ever end type of wheat harvests’. We have had just a little going on. You know, wheat harvest, putting up hay, Vacation Bible School and having a baby all in about five weeks time.

With all that has gone on, we recruited our children to help out. Very typical for farm families. This is why our farm is a FAMILY farm. Our oldest, nearly fifteen is now swathing hay. He is starting on our second cutting now. With alfalfa hay, you normally four to five cuttings a year. He has also started working ground, tilling it to get it ready to plant next year’s crops. Having children old enough and mature enough to help has taken a huge load off our work load.

We got all our wheat harvested early on. However, we have helped friends and family since. Since our wheat crop was a bit lacking, cutting for others will help bring in a little extra money.

As a Farm Wife I am Needed

Simon was born just days before wheat harvest started. But, he was born, long enough before that we weren’t stressed terribly bad while in the hospital. However, having a baby during the harvest season is a bit or a lot stressful. I worried whether I would be up to driving to help move equipment from field to field or take meals to those who didn’t stop to eat. I worried about parts runs and all the fun that goes with being a farm wife. We are needed a lot, and I was down…

God Knew What He was Doing

However, God knew what He was doing, like there was any doubt…

  • Baby came a bit early.
  • Friends helped us out.
  • It rained lessening the effects of our current drought. (we are still in a drought)
  • We are all healthy and mostly recovered.

Blessings

I have been able to help out with things around the farm. Mainly, taking kiddos to the field, taking meals to the field and helping move equipment. I may be driving a tract the end of this week. I am feeling pretty well now, though a bit tired. Simon sleeps better than some of our other newborns. Our children love to help with him, so I can get things done when needed.

Baby Simon Harvest Blessing

How is God blessing your summer? How has God shown Himself in your life during a time that could be/or was stressful?

 

Filed Under: Blessings, Christian Family, Christian Home, Christian Mothering, encouragement, Farmwife Tagged With: , , ,

Baby #7 is Here~ Birth Story

July 6, 2014 by 1 Comment

Well, it seems it is time to come back here and tell a bit about my pregnancy adventure, as Baby # 7 has been here for just over a month. I am sharing with you his birth story and a few pictures, and how God worked through this latest journey.

I never really planned to take a hiatus, but I was sick… sick for nearly 20 weeks, and then I got sick again at 30 weeks. There were days I just couldn’t eat. Some days I would make myself eat and be sick. So, I had to focus on just getting through the pregnancy and doing the best I could around the house. So, I am here to introduce y’all to Simon, our seventh blessing.

This pregnancy was one of those, nothing ordinary or typical for me type pregnancies. We were convinced he was a girl, until our sonogram in January.Those aren't girl parts

This ain’t no Maggie Faith

 

The Birth Story…

To really see how God worked through this pregnancy, you have to know his birth story. Our summer and wheat harvest began with a new baby boy, coming 10 days before his scheduled c section. I went into labor early Monday morning on June 2. After laboring at home trying to convince myself it wasn’t labor, my hubby came home, took one look at me, fed kiddos lunch and took oldest to a neighbor’s, then loaded the rest of us in the van for what should have been a 2 hour drive… ended up being 1 hour 15 minutes maybe.

A friend met us at the hospital to take our other 5 kiddos to her house for what ended up being 4 days.

After hooking me up to the monitors, they realized quite quickly my contractions were 2 to 3 min apart and lasting 45 to 75 sometimes 90 seconds. They gave me Benadryl to attempt to stop them as baby was transverse. They continued. About an hour later I started have terrible pain on my lower right side with each contraction, but it didn’t stop when they ended, it got worse with each. They did a quick sono, and called a C-section. Within 30 or 45 mins. (Lost track of time) I was on the table.

C-Section

During the C-section they discovered a weakening and beginning of muscle separation in the same area of my extreme pain. With contractions, his feet would get in there and cause further separation. They called it the beginnings of a hernia.

After they got him out, they did some minor repair to help it pull together and heal.

Simon weighed 9 lbs 6 oz., 20 inches long. He was 37 weeks 4 days. He spent his first night in the Special Neonatal Care Nursery due to him not being able to maintain his body temperature. By Tuesday morning he was able to room with us.

Simon Rodney's Birth Story. The Story of the Blessings of a c-section, and how God worked through the birth of a little boy to a farm family in the midst of the harvest season!!

We came home Thursday evening, June 5.

He dealt with some Jaundice, and on June 7th I ended up in the ER with Mastitis.

Here is how God worked through all this…

It rained the Sunday before he was born… Being that we farm, huge blessing because we are in a drought and my hubby couldn’t get in the field, therefore he didn’t stress about needing to be home when we were in the hospital two hours away.

Tuesday morning, after he was born a group of our neighbors and church family gathered together to bale up our hay that was ready, allowing my hubby to be able to stay with me.

It has rained off and on since, allowing hubby to be more easily around to help with appointments and such.

We have managed to work through the worst latch issues I have dealt with and I have nursed more months than not in my married life. He had to have is lip clipped for a lip tie, and may need further intervention in time.

Lip Tie in one month old before clipping

The week he was born, worked better than the planned week, for our child care help, for our farming and for our health.

Giving God all the Glory!!!!

Red, White and Blue Patriotic Diaper

Rockin’ his Red, White and Blue Patriotic Diaper on Independence Day at one month and two days old!!

Filed Under: Breastfeeding, Christian Family, Family update, Farmwife Tagged With: , , ,

Thirty-One Days of Our Life on the Prairie Day 3

October 2, 2013 by 1 Comment

   Have you been enjoying the pictures of our life on the prairie?  Well, you are  going   to31 Days of Our Life on the Prairie button
laugh at one of these, say awww with one, say how fun and then well wonder what in the world I am taking a picture of for the last. I am really enjoying sharing our life on the prairie with you.  I pray you can see how God blesses us through our days as we work to tend to His land, and raise our children to be disciple for Him. 

 

 

First picture is the set up of our seed wheat cleaning.  In order to plant wheat as weed free as possible, you have to clean it.  We typically save our own seed wheat back from year to year.  The cleaner (red) is an antique my hubby was given.  We found one just like it at a historical museum a couple of months ago.

Next to the right, we have our seed wheat cleaning crew.  Our children LOVE to help with this job, and so we take shifts so everyone gets their turn.  Here they are eating their lunch while they take a short break.

(Bottom left)  Well, what can I say?  That is a little squeeze type plastic squirt gun.  I found it this way and well, had to take a picture.  Now, that I have had time to think about it, I think I should put some water and essential oils in it for you know some air freshener?

Last we have our youngest son playing with his kitten.  I wish I could get him to look at me with his smile wide so you could see our “real live Jack-O-Kid”, he currently has two teeth missing and two more loose.

What has been your favorite picture so far?

Filed Under: 31 Days of Our Life on the Prairie, Farmwife, Homesteading, on the farm, Real Life Tagged With:

Thirty-One Days of Our Life on the Prairie Pictures

October 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment

So, as I was praying what I should be posting on this blog over the next several weeks, God kept saying keep it real. So, I thought oh Farm pictures, but really I am not always able to get just farm pictures, but our lives revolve around the farm, homeschool and this all takes place on the prairie. Yes, as in Little House on the Prairie…maybe we should be Large Family on the Prairie? So, now you will be introduced to Our Life on the Prairie.

31 Days of Our Life on the Prairie from PeaceCreekonthePrairie.com

Anyway, for the next 31 days I hope to bring you a few pictures of Our Life on the Prairie.

Day 1 of Our Life on the Prairie

So today is…

  • Aunt Bea (dog) and Crazy Foot (cat) napping together. They both have white on their chest and white toes. You are likely to find them cuddled together sleeping or wrestling when they are inside.
  • A field worked and ready to be planted to wheat at dusk. This field is just outside the house.
  • Our seven and five-year olds working on their All About Reading pages.

What pictures from Our Life on the Prairie would you like to see over the next 31 days?

Filed Under: 31 Days of Our Life on the Prairie, Christian Family, Christian Home, Farmwife, homeschool, on the farm Tagged With: ,

Ten Reasons I LOVE My Big Van~Two Hundred Thousand Miles and Counting

October 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment

As is true with many larger than average families, we gave up the fun to drive cute cars years ago. We had a mini van for a bit, but then child number five was on the way and we bought our 15 passenger Chevy Express with 123,000 miles on it. Just the other day, it turned over Two Hundred Thousand and Counting!! We have had this van for six years now.

Chevy Express Vans Can Last Almost Forever 200K miles and counting

Now, I know 200,000 miles is really not all that many, however this van has chased cows, been run into by bikes, driven through fields of wheat and hay, and had six children living in it during many days on trips to the doctor’s office, field trips and other adventures.

I honestly LOVE my van. The only thing I would rather drive out here in the country is a four door pickup, but it wouldn’t hold my entire family. It would however, be better for hauling hay, which I tend to need to do every so often, so I get to grab this nice rig…

Funny story:
A couple of years ago, after The Hot Guy (aka my husband Brad) worked on this pick up’s rear end, he sent me to town in it. I took off and got to town, but it seemed like I got there REALLY fast…

Well, a couple of days later a friend was borrowing it, and my husband mentioned to him that the speedometer was about 20 mph off, as in, 55 was actually 75. OOPS!! Yeah, I was going about 60 according to it’s speedometer. So, old doesn’t mean broke down. lol

 

Ten reasons I love my big van…

  1. We can all travel together as a family.
  2. When we have a break down on the farm, we can go as a family to pick up parts because there is almost always plenty of room.
  3. It is big, and safer in a wreck than a small car. People are more likely to see you, because well, it kind of sticks out.
  4. I can almost always find it in a parking lot…unless we are at a homeschool convention.
  5. We have made a ton of memories in that van.
  6. Gets good gas mileage, or better than what people think. 14-16 MPG.
  7. There is room for friends to join us on the road.
  8. I can drive out in the fields if needed, as it is high enough that I won’t catch a field on fire… or most of the time it is.
  9. It handles dirt roads better than my mini van EVER did.
  10. I NEVER get flat tires. NEVER. My mini van had flat tires all the time. Same roads driven too.

BONUS Reason…It is paid off and has been for a couple of years!!

Filed Under: Farmwife, Large Families Tagged With: ,

Where I Went, What Happened and a Little Summer Fun

September 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Well, summer was quite the ride around here. Not just all farm happenings either. There were blessings and some big challenges.

God was with us, guiding us and holding our hands all along the way through it all. Seriously, I rarely had time to sit down and blog. I didn’t have time to sit down and eat a lot of the time. I ate in the van, while holding a bottle for a bucket calf, while directing chores, and while holding gates. I sure am glad for protein smoothies!! I learned to make them a fairly well rounded meal. Mainly out of necessity.

Summer Fun

One of my favorite smoothies:

  • 1 scoop Jay Robb Vanilla Protein Powder
  • 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries
  • 1/2 cup ice
  • 1.25 cups raw milk or coconut milk~Prefer the raw milk
  • Fresh Cilantro to taste
  • Pure Cacao to taste
  • handful or two of fresh greens—I normally use spinach

Toss in my Ninja single serve cup, blend until smooth and drink it down! It works great for breakfast lunch and dinner. However, I don’t recommend trying to solely survive on it. (BTW, I LOVE this blender, been using it 2-3 times a day for six months and no issues)

I found this smoothie idea from the book Trim Healthy Mama. I don’t use everything from this book, nor do I follow a diet plan from it, but I have taken some recipes, and ideas and am using them. It is definitely worth the read to understand the science behind how our bodies work. This has worked for me to make sure I am not eating junk food when on the run.

Now, why I have I been on the run?

We have had doctor appointments:

  • Our five year old has had strep or another throat infection six times since April 1. Finally in August we were able to be seen by the ENT, and he had his tonsils out on Sept. 6. His recovery has been a challenge and he ended up back in the ER on Sunday with a medication reaction, throat swelling and dehydration.
  • Heidi, our child with the vision challenges, finally qualified for vision therapy. She goes to a town forty five minutes away twice a week for that.
  • Hannah has been getting chiropractic and physical therapy treatments for her tight heel cords and femoral ante torsion (hope I spelled that right). She has graduated out of her night foot brace and is able to just wear toe braces when I can get her to, and continue with the other treatments on a weekly basis nearly two hours from home.
  • So, that adds up to three planned appointments away from home a week, plus several sick visits during all this.
  • For some odd reason my husbands farm equipment has had an unusual amount of break downs over the last month. I have been running for parts an hour away from home on some mornings and then therapy appointments in the afternoons.
  • I try to coincide our grocery runs with our therapy appointments, but that means each trip we add a grocery run to takes an extra hour or two.

So, at least three days away from home, plus Sundays, means when I have been home, I have been quite busy. In August we took over the care of our neighbor’s garden, as they are on a mission trip. So, add canning to my list of things that have kept me busy.

We have tried not to lose family time during all this, so that has added a bit of crazy too.

I also went to North Carolina to visit my grandparents in August for their 87th Surprise Birthday Party. I took Hannah with me. We enjoyed our time there and are hoping to drive out for a long field trip later next spring.

What were some of your summer highlights?

Filed Under: Blessings, Christian Family, Christian Home, Christian Wife, Farmwife, Horse, Livestock, summer fun Tagged With:

Spring on the Farm Watched Our Mare Foal

May 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Friday was quite the exciting day on the farm. I watched our mare foal. She had a little stud colt. His name is Snickers, and he is super cute, a little sweet with some crunchiness around the edges. As in, if you can get your hands on him, he settles right down, but catching him, without Stormy getting quite grouchy is becoming a bit of an issue. lol Food is our friend!!! Hardly ever does anyone actually see a mare foal, but I did just that! I walked outside to check on our mare, and she foaled right in front of me.

Snickers is a very loved little guy. Nearly three years ago, we tried to breed Stormy, but she was hurt very badly, and lost the baby early in the pregnancy.

She is a VERY protective mommy, and with food in front of her, we can handle the baby, without, well, you risk being her food. We will be dealing with that over time. I am super glad that she is such a good mama, and we don’t have to worry about anything getting in that shouldn’t be there. Including turtles, as there is a dead one in there.

I got to watch mare foal to Snickers, and well, that is quite unusual. Normally mares won’t let you watch them. I hid around the corner of our garage, and got this shot:

Stormy having Snickers, front legs are out.

Then she got up turned around twice walked to the left of where she is here and he was born.

Stormy meeting Snickers

I ran in quickly after he was born, when I saw him thrashing around trying to get out of the sack and broke it open around his face. I towel dried his face, head, and neck a bit as there was a cool breeze and I didn’t want him to get chilled. Here she is checking him out for the first time.

Stormy and Snickers bonding

As soon as I could tell she was going to be fine with him, I backed away and kept watching. This is her first baby, and she is obviously in love with him.

Friday evening after Stormy and Snickers had a chance to bond well, we continued imprinting him and introduce our dog to him, so she would accept him as part of her family.

Everyone getting to know each other

We are enjoying getting to know Snickers, and will be sharing more pictures of our adventures in making him a family horse.

Here are some pictures of him on Sunday:

Snickers and Stormy grazing outside their pen.

Snickers and Stormy grazing outside their pen.

Snickers hanging out with mom

Snickers hanging out with mom

 

Snickers Checking out The Hot Guy

Snickers Checking out The Hot Guy

Filed Under: Farmwife, Horse, on the farm Tagged With: , , ,

Farm Life Chronicles on the Prairie~Cows, Babies, Bunnies, and More

May 12, 2013 by 1 Comment

Farm wives don’t quite have the days that other moms do. Farm Life makes things a little more adventuresome. Some times God finds a way to wear you out before your children have even popped out of bed…

Farm Life Chronicles on the Prairie

The last couple of weeks have been a farm life frenzy. Cows, a bull, horses, and chickens, along with our pets and a couple of baby bunnies.

Farm Life About took My Nose Off

Two weeks ago:

It all started when I got up to go check on our pregnant mare Stormy, due to foal any day. I walked out of the house, had just walked around my van when a huge black cow comes flying by. I don’t mean meandering, I mean a dead run, because Aunt Bea (our dog) is right on her tail. Aunt Bea does this when the cows get out, because the yard is her area, not theirs. After I peeled my nose off the cow’s side and gathered my wits enough to look around, I noticed eight cows in the yard. I called my hubby who was still in the house and let him know about the cows. They aren’t our cows, but, we don’t really want them running around the yard, especially where our children play. As we got to checking the situation out a little closer, we quickly realized there were actually around 25 head running amuck. It took about an hour to get them all rounded up and back where they go.

Farm Life found a baby bunny

As we were finishing up and hauling hay to the horses, I looked down and found two baby bunnies (no hair yet), they were alive, but they were not in a nest. I sent them in with one of my girls to get warmed up. Later that day we found two more not far from where I had picked them up already dead. One died that night, and the other lasted four days. I suspect as the cows were running through the yard, they scattered them.

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Horsing Around with Farm Life

Last Sunday, we decided to let our kiddos ride our older horse (not the pregnant one). Well, she decided to prove to us that she isn’t old, umm, I think 24 for a horse is pretty old. lol She tried to take off with our ten year old, so The Hot Guy (aka Brad, my husband) jumped on her, and she tried to buck with him, so I got on and just road her down until she quit trying to buck. I was able to walk the next morning, and it has been nearly two years since I last road, and it has been nearly 20 years since I had to ride the buck out.

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It takes a bit to remember that when you are training, your horsemanship skills fly off the horse with that first buck. Your goal becomes, sticking with the horse, to help the horse know that won’t get them out of their “job”. And so, as much as I hate it, my toes are down here, as I am nudging her back into movement after bucking a whole circle with me. lol

Monday, we had an orthopedist appoint for our thirteen year old, Philip who broke his wrist nearly three weeks ago at a youth group skating party. When we got home, I rode Dee, the old horse again, and had to again ride the buck out. I haven’t ridden since, as I umm, needed to umm, rest up and let my legs stop hurting. lol

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Bucket Calf

We also, still have a bucket calf we are feeding. This is Rosie and Hannah. Rosie is not as calm as Scooter was, and is quite um, spunky. Scooter was put together with a mama cow who lost her calf and is doing AWESOME!!

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Hannah LOVES to help with Rosie. Winking smile

We had doctor appointments every day this past week. Noah has a sinus infection, Heidi had a second opinion on her vision (which is a whole other post), and then Isaiah got strep, and Hannah had an appointment for her legs.

Friday, before we took off to Hannah’s appointment, we had a special deliver, which I will post about soon… Hint, it has to do with the beginning of this post!

With all these appointments and happenings on the farm, my posting may become a bit sparse, but I plan to be posting some more farm pictures. Winking smile We should have lots of baby pictures coming soon…

Farm life is never boring and constantly changing. Do you live on a farm? How does your farm life compare to ours?

Filed Under: Christian Family, Farmwife, Homesteading, Horse, Livestock Tagged With:

Farm Life Chronicles on the Prairie

March 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment

It seems my readers enjoy our stories from the farm. So, I would like to try to share a few farm life highlights each week.

Farm Life Chronicles on the Prairie

Spring Forward Slows the Farm

Spring Forward has been a long time great thing for farmers as far as crops and livestock go. However, me, I like that earlier hour of darkness of an evening. Farmers for the most part come home at dark. This seems to make a long day for the mom who is home all day with her dear children and she can quickly start missing that extra hour of adult communication. This week, most days I didn’t see The Hot Guy home to stay until near or after 9 pm. Not horrible, but it does make for a long day when you don’t see or talk to another adult, except for my lovely group of ladies I chat with online each week, in a blogging group. Y’all know who you are, and you don’t know how much of my sanity you save by being the only other adult voice in my home.

I was actually asked this week if I was an introvert…umm, well, we shall just let that one rest. I think y’all know the answer to that.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, we moved one of our horses, for two reasons. One they quit getting along and two…she is expected to foal in about six weeks. Monday when we woke, we noticed she had not drank well, even though we attempted to teach her how to use her automatic waterer. So, every hour to hour and a half, we went out to “hold the ball” down for her to get a drink. Being pregnant, we don’t think this is a good time to test the fact that if she gets thirsty enough she will figure it out. Talk about a fun way to disrupt the day. Whoever was sent out to hold the ball, would get distracted on the way back to the house and end up being out there for at least thirty minutes. Lesson? Farm life is full of unplanned interruptions…go with it!

Automatic Waterers only Work if the Animal Knows How to Use them

Tuesday morning, I woke better, as in not so late. Two of our chickens were out, and the dog was quite upset they were not where they belong. We have lots of coyotes in the pasture behind our house and well, penning them is the only way to keep them alive. Stormy was still not getting this whole automatic waterer thing, but doing a little better. We fed our beef cow herd, and watched a few deer nibble on the alfalfa that is showing signs of spring growth, thanks to the wonderfully blessed snows we received a couple of weeks ago. We managed to get through all our chore and homeschool assignments, and watched some Leave it to Beaver before bed.

Working on her Creating a Masterpiece Colored Pencil Drawing

Working on her Creating a Masterpiece Colored Pencil Drawing

New Toilet Cleaner from Your Kitchen

Wednesday morning was much like earlier in the week, except I woke to a plumbing problem with the one and only toilet in our home for eight people. Yes, ONE toilet for EIGHT people… Uh Oh… And that led to this new discovery of how to clean and break up toilet clogs in one single step. Again, the chickens were out…not sure why they keep getting out, but I guess the old saying “the grass is greener on the other side of the fence” seems to be true for chickens too. We were missing one for about four hours, and finally let the dog back outside to see if she would point us to it…and she did, up in a tree, with a kitten chasing the poor hen higher and higher… We managed to get most of our homeschool done and some of the chores. Something about spring and animals throwing us a few extra miles in our days seems to slow us down on the bookwork part of our homeschool days. Y’all know that climbing trees to rescue chickens is lots more fun and somehow has to be some education in there, than sitting at the dining room table writing about James Garfield for your history.

New Baby on the Farm brings extra Joy to Farm Life

Thursday morning, thankfully the chickens had stayed in, but The Hot Guy received a phone call from the other guy who rents the pasture here and has cattle here. He had a three day old calf, whose momma wasn’t taking care of her. Well, The Hot Guy went out to the pasture and brought her in. She is so tiny…less than 40 lbs, and a normal beef calf is 75-100 lbs. Her first night in the barn was bad, and honestly, I didn’t think she would make it, but…she is still going and getting stronger every day! We have named her Scooter. Book work didn’t happen today, as we figured out how to work four calf feedings into our chores and other parts of the day. Today was also our Fifteenth Anniversary!! Farm Life interrupted our plans for a supper out, but a new baby calf is always fun to have on the farm.

Hannah feeding Schooter the Bucket Calf

Hannah feeding Scooter

Farm Life Date

Friday, The Hot Guy and I took off to a larger town forty-five miles away…we went on a DATE. However, fairly certain a few of you would balk at what we did:

  • First top, a Steel Warehouse—as in iron
  • Next, Tractor Supply Company—Needed some goodies for little Scooter
  • Starbucks-yeah, that was for me.
  • Out to look at some tools at a place where an auction is scheduled for next weekend
  • Lunch—wonderful bar-b-que place
  • Bulk food store
  • Grocery Store

 

Steel Warehouse

Inside the steel warehouse

Ladies, I am telling you, a date is something you do with your husband, without children and whenever, no matter what you are doing, you can just be the two of you together. The whole idea that it has to be romantic is not realistic in my life. Romance here is giving The Hot Guy a hug when he isn’t covered in grease, oil or cow poo…

Saturday, I woke to a sick four year old and walked around on eggshells trying to decide if she would need to go in. With antibiotic drops for her ears, she is better, and now I am sick… Love the things they share. Hence, why what seems to be a review of last week’s Chronicles from the Farm is posting today. Most of my farm life, was spent inside.

Farm life is full of blessings and challenges. God is by our sides every day, keeping us safe, offering us comfort and giving us blessings and humor all around.

Farm Life Funny :

The Hot Guy is sitting down to lunch and keeps asking who smells like calf poo. We are all looking around, checking our shoes, when he wipes his nose and notices the smell is worse…the inside of his shirt sleeve is umm covered in, yeah, you guessed it. So, now the calf is producing laundry with the kids. I sat there trying to remember if he had given me a hug recently… Sometimes, farm life literally stinks.

Filed Under: Blessings, Chores, Christian Family, Christian Home, Christian Mothering, Christian Wife, Farmwife, homeschool, Homesteading, Horse, Lifestyle of learning, Livestock, on the farm Tagged With: , , ,

Weekend Fun on the Farm Thanks to Schedule Changes

March 10, 2013 by 1 Comment

Weekends on the farm are never boring. In fact many times we tend to squeeze in more than we could ever accomplish. However, I have spent a little time in prayer about our schedule. We never get five full book work days done in a week. We always seem to need to have a day to make up some work, and get caught up on things around the house for those times when we have to leave for a day to take care of something.

So, last weekend, when I did our lesson plans, I only scheduled four days of book work, and Friday as our make up day for any leftover school and chores. This little schedule change made for a GREAT weekend and plenty of time to get a few extras done.

We ended up going out of town all day Friday, but when we got home, we did what we normally do on Saturday morning, and had Saturday morning to work on some decluttering areas that never seem to get done. WOW, what a difference that made. We are starting the week with laundry caught up, lesson plans and chore lists printed, house mostly cleaned up, no dishes in the sink and all.

So, what did we do Saturday afternoon?

The four oldest went with The Hot Guy (AKA my hubby) to his shop to work and play. The three below, umm….

PLAYED!!!

So, why the laundry hamper outside? Well, they had to strip and go directly to the basement to shower, rather than bring their clothes in.

Other things we did?

I broke up a horse fight and froze my tail end off on Sunday… We moved them around and now all are happy or umm, safe. Not too happy as they are a herd animal and now are separated, but were about to be anyway, as one is due to foal in about 6 weeks.

I also set up this week’s chores and lessons on a new program, that I will be sharing little about tomorrow, with a coupon code.

How was your Weekend? What schedule changes have you implemented to make a smoother running home?

Filed Under: Christian Family, Christian Home, Christian Wife, Farmwife, homemaking, homeschool, homeschool organization, homeschool schedules, Horse, household organization, on the farm Tagged With: ,

Economy Got You Questioning Homeschool?

March 6, 2013 by 1 Comment

Today, I am guest posting on the Teach Them Diligently Blog, about how our family has been able to continue homeschooling during tough times.

Homeschooling during tough times, doesn’t mean you only shrink your curriculum budget.  You learn to shrink a little here and there.

Making household cleaners is actually quite simple. 

I use baking soda as an abrasive for sinks, tubs, showers and the toilet.

I use Vinegar when we don’t need an abrasive. Between major scrubbings, on counters, appliances and more.

To make a deodorizing spray, I take vinegar, water, and a couple of my favorite essential oils, mix together in a spray bottle and mist where needed, sometimes that includes our dog.

Join the discussion over on the Teach Them Diligently Blog and ask your questions there. Winking smile

Filed Under: Christian Family, Christian Home, Christian Mothering, Farmwife Tagged With:

Homeschool on the Snowy Prairie

February 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Over the last week, we have had snow, as in a lot of snow for our area.  I have heard for our community anywhere from 22-30 inches.

There were two rounds of snow, the first was pretty even and with everyone saying about 16 inches.  However, the second round drifted a lot, and is drifting today too, so not as easily measured.  Whatever amount it is, we love it, and are so very thankful for the blessed moisture on our crops.

We didn’t stop school for the snow though.  We had school around chores and played in the snow for breaks or when mom decided that staying in was not worth it. The animal chores took up quite a bit of time.  Between needing water and extra feed, some of the drifts make it possible for curious babies to go right up and over a fence.  

 

I pulled out an Ice and Snow Study, I found on Currclick, we read about Abraham Lincoln, found out at a funeral that our 7 year old has a distant cousin who looks almost exactly like her, worked on a Black Beauty unit study, did some puzzles, started our Creating a Masterpiece Art Study, Decorated some eye patches, and much more.

The snow storms bring children energy and this mama pain, as in back and neck pain that ends up drifting to my legs, head and right arm.  So, once the wiggles got in the way of the learning, I umm..kicked or let them out the door. 

 

As you can see, they had lots of fun outside.  Snow days in the homeschool, don’t have to mean a missed day of school.  There are many ways to add in some school while outside.  We didn’t do this, this time, as I didn’t stay out much due to the back pain.  However, in the past we have used food coloring mixed with ice cold water in spray bottles to practice spelling words in the snow, used a tape measure to measure the snow balls they made, learned how snow is made before it hits the ground, along with the weather conditions needed, and more.

How much snow did you get?  How do you spend your snow days in your homeschool?

Filed Under: Christian Family, Christian Home, Christian Wife, Cows, Farmwife, homeschool, Horse, Lifestyle of learning, Livestock, winter fun Tagged With: , ,

Homeschooling Through The Foggy Headedness

January 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment

What a title ehh? So, how many of you are wondering what’s new, if I am just now mentioning that my head is foggy? Well, here of late, I have been foggier than normal. It all started with an ear infection, and well, it seems there is still some congestion fog stuck in my head. I couldn’t sleep very well during the infection and my body seems to be stuck in that routine…I wake by 4-5 am each day and am not falling asleep until midnight or so, though I do lay there, for hours waiting or wishing praying to go to sleep… Yeah, that is losing a bit of sleep… I know that with the holidays and getting back into routine and a few of the stressful things on the farm, haven’t helped. I am not really sick, but still seem off…However, life goes on…

Homeschooling Through the Foggy Headedness

Anyway, since obviously, a lack of sleep makes my head a bit foggy, and well, I still need to do school with my children, keep the house up, laundry and meals, I need to figure it out right?

Well, I have and one way is to make sure we are all up by 7:30, and all animal chores are done by 8:15. School starts by 9, and we all have a quiet/rest time in the after noon. Not much variance from our routine, but the quiet rest time is more enforced. I am not reading much…I do my devotion/quiet time, and that is about it. For some reason, reading much at all makes my head swim. I don’t think it has much to do with my eyes, so much as the sinus pressure. It doesn’t help that my head gets heavier with each cold/snow/rain front that comes through. We have had several and another coming tonight.

So, really, what is a mom to do? Well, for one, she gets things done when she feels good. She delegates other things. For the younger child crowd, she hands them puzzles and rests on the couch. We also cuddle while watching a LeapFrog movie. We delegate an older child to work on flash cards etc. Older children can look through a younger child’s phonics work to help out. It is actually good for them. I have found that their spelling is getting better. Who’da Thunk?

There are going to be seasons where homeschooling isn’t going as you planned. That’s ok, that is how we build our children to be usefulThey see that in real life there are real struggles. It doesn’t hit them upside the head 3 hours after leaving home. They learn to serve. They learn to help and to see where help is needed without being told. Their spouses will thank you.

So, what about getting rid of that foggy headedness?

  • Exercise. A brisk walk outside, helps a ton.
  • Get in the word, or listen to the Bible, even a speaker on the radio talking about the Word.
  • Eat healthy
  • Chew or suck on something with strong peppmint
  • Make sure you are getting plenty of protein
  • Rest when needed
  • Spend some time doing something fun
  • Go to the chiropractor

So, you do ever get in a fog? How do you keep things going while you are stuck in the fog?

Another post for Project Cleanse…Because part of getting more productive is figuring out how to be productive when your body is off. ;)

Project Cleanse

Filed Under: Blessings, Christian Family, Christian Home, Christian Mothering, Christian Wife, encouragement, Farmwife, homemaking, household organization, Housewife, Large Families, Marriage, Project Cleanse Tagged With: , , , ,
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