Harvest Time!

Harvest is heavily upon us.  We are harvesting all but one crop RIGHT NOW!  (Sugar beets, which we could be, they have opened for early beets thank goodness we don't need to dig any early!)Seriously, we need to work on timing!  We have just started cutting hay, which I GOT to swath for a couple of days, (you know we are desperate when I get asked to help!)  We have been going on Grain harvest for over a month and still have a couple of weeks left of that.   Corn chopping is in full swing (we have that custom hired) THANKFULLY!   To top it all off Potatoes have started in Richfield and down on the farm.  We will go straight to Arco when we finish in Richfield so hopefully start there Monday.  We just LOVE having the harvestings going on around us, it isn't half as fun when Ryan has to commute hours away.  The kids BEG to go help with potatoes, which we have everyday, well when we haven't been swathing.  Ashley asked if the bus could drop her off at the cellar today after school so she could just go straight to work!  Hopefully she will be so ambitious when she is really big enough to help…..

Our corn crop is almost in the books until another year!  It has been fun to watch them chop it.  Equipment sure has improved since I was a little girl when dad used that little pull behind chopper.  These guys fly through the corn like nothing, Ryan says they do 10 rows at a time, I think dad did 3?  I don't know but it wasn't many!

It is amazing to see them shoot that corn across the pivot practically, they have to be a good aim!  We haven't enjoyed the rumbling of trucks WELL after 10 pm, makes going to bed hard for kids and all of the dust is dusty, but the rest is still fun!  I have got my own fall work I should be doing, I have three boxes of peaches and two pears I should be doing instead of this but,  awww, they will still be there tomorrow!

Claire In To IT!

Clarie will be three this month, maybe then we will stop having pictures like this:

I'm pretty sure she ate a whole box of fruit snacks this morning ALL BY HERSELF, not to mention she has been into my sewing machine, the soap in the bathroom, and the list goes on and on!  What a big girl!

A Picnic

I have had to get creative with my two little kids since the girls have gone  back to school they think they need to be entertained all day long!  Well Justin insisted we have a picnic, (like everyday now)  So we finally did.  We made the yummiest PB&J he had ever had, he kept saying for some reason this tastes so good!  We waited for an airplane to pass over and one finally did.

Then we jumped on the tramp and played in the sandbox.  We have also been playing a lot of baseball too, his favorite thing lately.  As soon as the sisters walk in the door from school I don't see Justin or Claire until dinner.  I didn't realize how much they entertain each other until I didn't have them anymore!  We are having fun doing lots of mommy school and playing !

Credit Where Credit is Due!

I need to give credit to Gail @ My Repurposed Life  Go check out her post for more help on Windows Live Writer.  I am so excited!  Thanks again Gail!

BEST THING EVER!!!

I just discovered Windows Live Writer, if you are not blogging with it you are SO missing out!!  It loads my pictures in a second AND you can do as many as you want!  My pictures usually take FOREVER to load, not anymore!  I am so excited, be prepared for LOTS more blogging from me!  You can also change the sizes of your pictures and cut and paste, do water marks and all sorts of good stuff, I am just trying it out for the first time this morning, so I haven figured everything out yet, but it is SO cool and super FAST!  Oh yeah its also FREEEEEE!!  I want to know if you are already using it or what the downfalls are if anyone knows, so far I cant see any!  Try it out!  I Just LOVE IT!

The Garden

Here are a couple of shots of the garden before the big freeze, it no longer looks like this anymore, boo hoo!  Until next summer!

 

 

Working in The Garden

We have been trying to make-over the garden a little bit before summer leaves us.  It is just a giant weed patch, and I want it to be pretty, thankfully I have good help to do it for me!  These guys worked for days on all of those weeds! 

 

I have been wanting some stairs to go down into the garden,it slopes down a hill and I finally got them! 

I also planted some Dog Wood bushes that will act as a fence (around here if you want a garden to not get eaten by stray cows you have to keep it fenced) here in a couple of years when they get bigger, but they wont block my view because they only get 6-8 feet tall. They will also block out the unsightly calf pens, burning barrels, etc.  Anyway it is a far cry from done, but it is looking better!  I am excited to get my planter boxes built for my garden next year. 

Labor Day

The kids and I have been "laboring" today. We got the last of the garden harvested, it froze HARD last night, I am sad. I was not ready to be done. I hope some of it, like my tomatoes will still ripen, I don't know though. The kids snapped beans all morning, I used to love to snap beans as a kid because we could watch TV at the same time. It was pretty much the only time we got to watch TV during the day. I didn't let my kids do that though. They watch too much TV already as it is. Ashley and Emma read Better Homes and Gardens and the latest Pottery Barn magazines instead. I am training them young!

Doctors and More Doctors

We have spent our fair share of time at the doctor already this month. The kids all had to get immunizations before school started. There is a reason I wait until they are older to do them, this time just re-confirmed my reservations. Ashley's arm was swollen so big and tight for three days and still has swelling today almost a week later. I couldn't imagine putting that poison in a tiny little 6 month old baby, or younger. I don't know call me crazy, I am just glad I can make the choice for my own kids. Justin couldn't walk for two days with the shots he got in his legs. He did start limping on it the second day but was still really sore. Poor kid;But I am now done officially "protecting" my kids, well until school starts for Just, I havent even started Claires. I was going to this visit but she was sick so couldn't get any this time, she lucked out. Anyway we spent the next day at the dentist. It was Claire's first time, Don't let the smile fool you, she didn't do very well - at all. She did most of the appointment in the sitting up position, I bet the hygienist just LOVED us! Justin was a champ. Except He has a little cavity in a front tooth. I am sick about it. He is my best brusher, and who gets cavities in their front teeth? The dentist assured me you wouldn't even be able to see the filling, he is good at what he does so I will trust him! We have had the flu this week also, I guess that is what you get when you go to the doctor sometimes, lucky us!

Back To School

Ashley and Emma started back to school on Tuesday. They are just thrilled to be back in the books! Emma is in 2nd grade with her teacher Heather; Ashley is in Mrs. Southwicks 4th grade class. Should be a fun year for the girls! They have had two great days so far!