Working more cattle

Today we got a pleasant surprise at our house, a semi trailer full of cattle. Mommas and babies. Ryan and his brothers worked the first calf heifers and calves this morning and then brought them up to our house to pasture for a little while. We don't have much pasture it is a dry 80 acres, so it wont take these 50 pair long to eat it all up. Ryan is risking his neck to put the finishing touches on the cows as they exit the trailer:

They have to haul the cows separate of the calves so the calves don't get trampled to death so when they all arrive they have to mother-up. Those mamas cry and cry for the babies, and the babies cry and cry for the mommas, you can tell when they find each other because the crying stops. We will turn them out to pasture in the morning, or possibly tonight, they seem to have found each other quite quickly, which is good. Here are the mommas looking for some babies:

The kids had a cold lemonade and a cookie for the men. They all enjoyed the sugary snack, the kids especially! The weather has been beautiful, I felt a little sweaty and kind of got mad about it, but then I realized how long I have been wanting this warm weather and I am sure it is only going to get more HOT, yeah!

Play Day

Clay, Serena, Emma, Erica, Ashley, and Justin painting.


So Pre-school has now turned to play day since we have two big sisters coming who are NOT in pre school. Today we did a little painting project, (inspired by Emma, she has gotten the craft paints out twice this week and tried to paint everything). It was fun, quick but fun and then the kids just played outside. They really enjoyed the dog. The Kents don't have a dog and so they loved playing with Jack. (I think they need to get a dog) It turned out to be a fun morning for the kids and moms, I enjoy getting to visit with Becky, so it really is a play day for all of us!
Justin and Clay, Justin is trying really hard to share, (not really)Emmas dragon fly was really cute, then she mixed all of her colors together and painted it with the end product, which of course was BROWN...she called it golden, that makes it sound a little better, I guess.

Girls day

Yesterday I had a fun girls day. It was my good friend Kristen's birthday so we went out for lunch and shopping. The best part was it was kid free!! Well we had Claire, but no other ones to chase around. It was nice. We just ran around in the morning and then went to Johnny Carinos for lunch and then we hit the MALL. That never happens. I wore new shoes and my feet got sore from all the walking around, I guess I'm not cut out for the mall anymore!
Happy birthday to Kristen!! She and I have only been friends for maybe the past 3 years and we wonder why it took so long to become friends. She is the kindest person and would do anything for me. She has helped me clean my house after having babies and watches my kids for me quite regularly. She is such a good mom and a good wife to her husband. She has good kids, and that was one of the things I admired about her most was how well behaved her boys are. I hope you had a happy day! Love you!!
After we got back I had to mow the lawn, that is my thing, to mow. I don't know why, it must be the farm girl in me, but I don't let Ryan mow (not that he has ever offered) he has mowed once, but he cuts corners and I don't like that. I am so glad it is so nice and green finally!! It was a long day, I got to bed early I was so tired I couldn't stay awake, but the kids were tired too, I think babysitters wear them out, which is nice!

Working cattle

The Cows

Wednesday we got to help move and work cattle. Ryan was moving them up to the dairy so he could work them and then they were shipped up to Driggs Idaho for the summer for pasture. It seems so silly to send cattle that far just for a few months but we are so short on pasture around here because of the water shortages that we don't have a lot of choice. Some of our cousins came up with their dad and grandpa and so we got to spend part of the day with them. Ashley and Kegan wanted to stay and help with the cattle so I left them to work. They had a great time and came home smelling like cows so I guess they helped a little. Emma, Justin, and Sydney came home with me. Sidney is not a cow girl I discovered, she was shaking at the sound of those cattle bellering (is that a word) and kicking, it was so sad. She kept telling Justin, "wheres you mom" and she wouldn't leave my side she was so scared. Justin and Sydney are about 9 months apart, she is older, and they played so well together, Justin didn't even beat her up once this time. They just played and did puzzles and had a good time.

The BIG kids.... Ashley, Kegan, Emma

The little kids.... Justin and Sydney

Claire doing a puzzle???

Claire in the Yard

I wrapped Claire up and put her on the lawn while we worked, she looked so cute all bundled up and warm:

It wasn't 2 minutes later, I looked over to check on her and this is what I saw:

That mama kitty was sitting right on top of her, Claire liked it at first, but then she started squishing her tummy so I kicked her off. Needless to say she spent the rest of the clean up time like this:She doesn't look to be enjoying it that much, but she didn't complain, She never complains, she is a good baby.

Yard work

Yesterday we got a little yard work done. Ryan has been sending some of his guys over to do my spring cleaning for me (while they aren't moving water). All of my front flower beds are cleaned out, I am going to just leave them bare, I am really hoping to have the deck built this summer so I don't want to plant anything that is just going to get covered up. I think it will be easier for me to manage dirt than a flower bed too, I do NOT have a green thumb, unlike my mother. I even got the BIG boss to come and do some work for me.

We got the dirt piles spread out a little better, the kids were sad to loose their favorite place to play, but it is one step closer for more grass. I have decided that if I don't plant grass then I grow weeds, It is just the way it is. I really like grass too, so the more the better. We also spread more gravel in the drive way and we dug the wagon out of the shed. Justin was thrilled with "my wagon."

Ryan also found the baby kittens up in the rafters of the shed, I forgot to take pictures but they are sure cute. She (Princess) had 4 the girls named them, Cocoa, Tiger, Jr., and they couldn't think of another name for the fourth one. Emma has been BEGGING all morning to play with them, but I cant climb up the side of the shed and get them down like Ryan can so we have to wait for him to get them for us.

VOTE

So today was our day to vote for the primary election, is it every one's day to vote, or just Idaho? I wish I was more informed on the candidates. I knew who I would vote for on most of our local Govt, but as far as the Senate, and the Judges, how are we to know??? Ryan says to just check the one on top, that's not fair though, I don't think. And what about a straight Ballot, what if I want to vote Republican on some and Democrat for others, I don't like that at all, it should be the best person wins, not by party. I guess it has been done this way for years and years, it must work out OK, I just don't like it. Anyway I hope every one else's voting was more successful than mine, at least I actually did it!

Emma's hair cut

Emma gets a hair cut just about as often as Justin, not really, but it seems like it. She can grow hair like no one else, I cant believe how much and how thick it is. But she also has a VERY tender head, she cant handle brushing and fixing at all. So when she gets crying every time I try to do her hair then it is a signal: Time for Emma to get a hair cut. She likes her hair short and so do I, it is much easier to manage. It would be so pretty long because it is so full and nice, but she wouldn't be able to brush it because it hurts too much, so maybe when she gets to be a teenager she will grow it out, we will see. I really wanted Aunt Paige to cut it but they have just moved to Arco and she is busy getting settled and so I did it myself. Which is scary, but It turned out OK. I will have to have Paige fix it a little in the back and maybe make it a little shorter, when she gets the time. Justin also got a hair cut, for some reason the clippers were very ticklish this time so it was the fastest hair cut I have ever given. Here are some befores and afters of Emma:

Here kitty, kitty...

We had a little Sunday activity yesterday. I live for Sundays, it is so nice just to be able to do nothing, and not feel guilty about it. And especially to have Ryan around all day long. Church was good, Emma had a rough time in Sacrament meeting. I think she needs to get more sleep at night, she cried more than all of the other kids put together. But it was still nice, I enjoy getting to go to Relief Society, I haven't had the chance to go very often because of other callings that I have to do, but it has been a nice break for Sundays, and Claire was really good, she is at such a good age right now, she just sits and plays with toys or eats snacks. She is a good baby. She turned 8 months on Saturday, it is going by so fast.

We just enjoyed quiet time, the kids left the doors open and the cat got in, It is usually Emma's job to get the cat out, (Ashley doesn't like to get scratched so she wont do it) But Justin got a hold of him this time and this is how he carried him outside;

He thought it was funny until the cat started getting heavy and wiggly and started scratching him, then Justin quickly put him down. It was too funny.

Then we cant have a day with out a little bit of work, the horses escaped because someone forgot to shut the gate...(oops that was my job). Our Mare went off to be bread and all of the horses left are pretty young, (therefore WILD) and so Ryan and the kids kind of just herded them down the road back to the pasture. I was the designated driver and just got to follow behind, here are a few, not so good pictures of that.

It was a nice day, we enjoyed being together, it rained off and on a little, not enough though, I wish we could get some good Washington rain here.

Moms Helpers

Since Ashley went to work with Ryan, Justin and Emma got to become my right, and left hands! They kind of are anyway since Ashley is normally in school but we had a good time this morning. Emma was crying at the door, she did not want to come out and work because "WORK IS NOT FUN" I told her she had to come anyway, and she did. They mostly rode bikes, but we also hooked up the trailer to the lawn mower and we worked in the yard, they got to ride in the trailer which they love so "work is kind of a little bit fun" We planted some hanging plants and I have some dry spots in my lawn where the dirt is very shallow so we spread some potting soil on top of the grass to hopefully get another layer of dirt so the grass wont dry out so fast in those spots. I will have to do it a couple times through out the summer. I also sprayed weeds, there are tons, so I will have to do it again, also I have tons of dandelions this year, it seems like I have them and then they will be gone for a year or two, well they are back this year. Ryan usually mixes me up something to spray on the lawn, he is the big sprayer man on the farm so he usually provides me with something good that works.

So the picture of the suburban with the hood up...It just a dead battery, usually when this happens, because it does happen from time to time, my kids turn on the lights and leave them on, so we were hooking up the battery charger, me and my helpers. I have some how become a pro at that. I guess it is another part of the job description of a Mom, (at our house at least).