Tired

Well, I haven't gotten a whole lot done, but I've gotten enough done.

Tyler's got a BLUE wall in his room. Think bright royal blue......I stripped the wallpaper border off of 2 walls today in his room, and then painted 1 wall blue. Saphire blue paint. need to get another quart to give it a second coat. But he is loving it. The last 2 walls will either be white, a light beige or light grey. Still thinking.....if anyone has any suggestions on the color - SPEAK UP!

I got a 20 foot pole painted white that we are going to hang purple martin birdhouses on.

Tomorrow the kids and I are going to the matinee of Race to Witch Mountain. Jessie wanted to watch the Hannah Montana movie, but Tyler didn't want to watch a girly movie.

I'm so glad I have 3 more days before going to work again. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Have a great evening!
Kris

Why oh why

Do I let certain rooms of my house get overrun with clutter?

I had today off work - AWESOME. A day to play with the kids, sew, hang out.....

Oh No. I had to start cleaning out rooms.

Tyler's room looked like a bomb had gone off in it (and still does, really):

Then I got to the computer/sewing room. Pretty bad when I cannot get inside the door:

But....I cleaned out my roll top desk and moved it out into the family room. I'm thinking I can store IMPORTANT mail in here (like bills and such) and then we can pay them on a regular basis. No more hunting and searching for that elusive paper that got laid on the table 2 weeks ago. Do I need this roll top desk? Probably not....but.....Todd got it for me for a Christmas present the first Christmas we lived in this house....so I cannot bear to part with it.

Pretty bad when I have around the desk cleaned up, and I have 2 bags of trash to show for my efforts.

I'm working tomorrow til noon, so hopefully I can squeeze in some blog reading after work. I miss catching up with everyone terribly bad, but....duty is calling.

Hope everyone has a great evening!
Kris

Piggy Love

This weekend included a whirlwind trip back to visit family in PA. Specifically, Todd's Aund and Uncle. Their son Adam raises show pigs. Good piggys. And he is having an auction this Friday (which we cannot attend due to prior committments). They honestly live up on top of a mountain, and you can see for miles and miles.....

So we wanted to go back and see his pigs. So we would have an idea about what the heck we are getting into.

57 little piglets all in a barn. These pigs have the life. Yes, they are inside, but it's so stinkin cold, they enjoy it. THeir pens get cleaned out every 8 hours and fresh straw put in, they have heat lamps, fresh water and plenty of grain. I was amazed that it did not stink when we first walked in there (after about 6 hours since the pens had been cleaned).

They also raise cattle (of course) and this weekend was a big weekend for calves for them. I think there were 12 born (they are expecting 130-140 total, and they had 40 some before we arrived) this weekend alone.

Of course, as we are looking at calves, Jessie picks out the calf she wants for next year's steer project (and it would be the high dollar one). I couldn't get a better picture of him standing up - Mom wasn't too thrilled that we were on the wrangler looking at him.

The kids cannot wait until pigs come to our house - I think they thought they could easily put them in the back of the Durango and bring them home with us.

I guess I know what we will be doing this summer!
Kris

6

6 years ago today, Tyler was born.

My SIL had just left maybe 30 minutes before my contractions started - Todd had agreed with me that it would be a great idea to have his sister come on a weekly basis and clean the kitchens and bathrooms (which might have also owned to the fact that if I got down on my hands and knees to scrub the floors I couldn't get back up and move and had told him he would have to start doing these things).

Todd was at an auction in Kidron, about 30 min. away.


My contractions started off with a bang - 3 minutes apart (at 5:00 p.m.). I called Todd - if you're not here in 20 min. I'm driving myself to the hospital.

He came flying in 22 min. later - we get to the hospital and I've already been on the phone with the doctor asking for my epidural as soon as I get there.

6 1/2 hours later, Tyler is born.....

What an easy baby. He slept through the night at 7 weeks old, walked at 13 months and always had a smile.

He was a sentimental little boy - just looking at him wrong would upset him to no end and he would start crying (thankfully he has outgrown it now). He is all boy, into tractors, farming, hunting, playing in the mud.

I cannot believe that he is 6 years old already.

He grows like a weed. A couple years ago I jokingly said he needed to quit growing (he was growing out of his jeans every 2-3 months at that point) and oh.....he got so upset with me thinking that he was growing to fast. He fights with his sister, and gets rather inventive on ways to antagonize her. He enjoys school right now, and is so ready for kindergarten in the fall.

Happy birthday buddy! Love you,

Mom

PS - today was the birthday party with grandparents, family and friends. I'll be back tomorrow with piggy pictures - I am EXHAUSTED!

WHOOO HOOOOO It's FRIDAY

Can you tell I am SO ready for the weekend?


What have I been up to? Well, Tyler's birthday is Sunday, and we had his party at school on Wednesday:



We are headed out to Punxsutawney, PA today (in fact, I am leaving work at noon so I can clean the house real quick before we go) to look at Jessie's pigs. Todd's cousin raises them and sells them for 4-H projects, and he has his sale on Good Friday (all the pigs are under 1 month old). But he wants us to make a final decision on which pigs we would like to try and buy through the sale. My suggestions that he pick the pig out so far have fallen on deaf ears. Lots of piggy pictures will be forthcoming on Monday.



Sunday, right when we get home (if all goes according to plan, this will be between noon and 1:00), Jessie's 4-H advisor is coming over to work with her and her steer and heifer for the upcoming show on the 19th.



And at 4:30, we are having family and friends over for Tyler's birthday dinner.



Here's the newest baby to the farm (the one born at 12:36 a.m.):

And here is the first baby, who has some structural problems in her back legs (you can sort of see on her left back leg how crooked it is - think very bow legged cowboy with no muscle tone in his legs). Hopefully she will grow out of them....she's a feisty little buggar.

Have a great weekend everyone!
Kris

Think Spring

Here is my spring table runner. I just need to get a solid (blue, green or beige) to fill in between each square. I like it - not what I was envisioning but....sometimes that is for the best, right?

And I don't know why in the world the picture is rotated but....you get the idea

Also, a BIG THANK YOU to my bloggy friend Ana for nominating me for this award:

the rules are:

1. put the logo on your blog or post.

2. nominate blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude.

3. link to your nominees within your post.

4. let them know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. share the love and link this post to the person from whom you received your award.

Here's how I'm doing this one....anyone who left a comment on either my last post or my RIP Abby post - take the award from me:) I'm too computer illiterate to write down everyone's blog addresses on a piece of paper, do the links and go from there. I know there's got to be an easier way to add links but....I only know what I know. I'll visit your blogs here shortly to let you know you've received the award....later tonight or tomorrow.....we've been working with the steers and heifers and BOTH kids had soccer...

Kris

PS - Happy April Fools Day everyone.

Where were you at 12:36 a.m.?

Bet you weren't where I was!

Todd got home from fire practice at 11:00. And one of the cows was in labor. She had trouble last year big time, so we elect to wait up. Which is a good thing, as this calf was so big, we would have lost the calf and probably her if we didn't know she was birthing it.

By midnight, there was no progress, so Todd chases/ropes the cow, ties her to a tree, and we pull the calf. Yes ladies, cross your legs in sympathy pain for the cow. I did.

I am so glad I am not a cow!!!!

Another heifer....big and red and HEALTHY.