More spring stuff

So, we are now up to 7 calves with 7 to go. The one without a name is now Baby Girl. Then we have Cassie, Chicago and Tan Man. Chicago and Tan Man were born the same day. I went with the fabulous Super doggie dog to the barn. It was the first day he had really been out in a while, but that is another story. I could here one of the cows in the barn making noise and got there just in time to hear the sqwish and there was Chicago.

Steve had me go out to Catawba to pick up Baylor so we could get Momma and baby in the maternity pen. When Baylor checked Diedre, she had hooves sticking out of her. Steve came home because she was having a tough time. Baylor and I got her in the pull shoot. They pulled a while and there was the biggest calf we have ever had on our farm... Tan Man. He's so cute. I really need to post some photos.

As always, there are a few problems. Chicago has an infected navel and Henry isn't feeling to well. He probably picked up some bacteria from a puddle.

As for Super Doggie Dog... well, when Ethan was gone, he injured his front two paws. Not enough to go to the vet, but it was really sensitive and, like Ethan with his sprained ankle, he lay on the couch for almost a week. He started feeling better just about the day we were to pick up Ethan.

Where was Ethan? He went to Spain France and Italy for a 12 day trip with his Spanish class. He had a great time, but lost his camera somewhere. His friends are going to get him copies of their photos.

Ethan started his final sports season at NE. He is running track and playing baseball. The baseball team is 0 - 6, but the track team is doing great. In his first ever track meet, he placed 3rd in the 100 and 200 and 2nd in the long jump. This past weekend was his second meet. He placed first in the 100, 2nd in the 200 (by a tenth of a second), 1st in the 4x100 relay, and 5th in long jump. He wished now he had run track sooner.

Kelly is still doing well in school and Baylor is anxiously awaiting school to be over so he can get his license.

I am involved in a couple of traveling scarf projects and am really enjoying them. It's a fun way to get to know new people. I really need to figure out my camera to post photos...

Spring

So I checked my blog and saw it's been over a month since I last wrote. OMG! Who would have guessed. So much has happened good and bad.

The burns on my hand and leg have healed nicely. They are still brown and look weird, but should be not quite so icky come summer. That's all I care about.

My class has been delightfully fun and thought provoking. We have finished In Our Time by Hemingway and are headed into Spring Break. Not that I will get to go anywhere. There is still work to do and all spring break does is free up my time to work more.

Kelly is getting her act together (I hope) and starting to get into the college thing. I am beginning to see a definite plus for living on campus as there is more incentive to work as a college student, not as a high school graduate, if you know what I mean.

Ethan has been accepted at Wabash, Wilmington and Capital. He is waiting for Wooster to contact him to see what money they are offering. I think it's wonderful he has to choose. Tomorrow we are going to Casey's for a dinner with the National Football Foundation Springfield Chapter. He is receiving a scholarship from them. Next week he leaves for Spain. What a great way to live.

Baylor finished 6th in sectionals in wrestling. This means he just missed moving on to regionals. About 7 boys did go on, but none are going to state. It's kind of sad, really. I thought a few of them would go on, but not so.

We have at last count 4 calves born. Honey had a heifer calf on February 13 that Steve calls Starshine. Shanik had hers on 22, a bull shorthorn calf name Henry. Roxie had a heifer on the 23. Baylor calls her Ruby because she looks just like Roxie. Patchy Cow had a heifer on the 27, but I haven't heard her name yet.

So things have been very busy on the farm lately. Spring is coming, even though it's 20 degrees today.

New year, new class

I am in my second class of the school year. It is SOO much fun. It is a reading intensive course called 'The Lost Generation'. I am really loving this class. We are reading Winesburg Ohio right now, and it is really interesting. I am finding I 'know' a lot of the people in the book.

As the oldest person in the class, I have a different perspective on the book than the rest of the students. I find I am really looking within to find the meaning behind the story.

In other news, wrestling is going well. We are not always winning, but we have one senior, three juniors and the rest are freshman and sophomores. Baylor is doing OK, with his record being 13 - 12. He is going to be working with the Pee Wee wrestlers on Sunday. He should really like that. There are a few kids on the Pee Wee team he knows through 4H. They think he is great.

Ethan just got back from Denver. He had a wonderful trip. His photos were fun to look at and the videos were really great. Kelly and I had a good time laughing at the antics of Ethan, Brandon, Josh and Lance.

Kelly is doing all right. I hope her classes are going well, but you never know. She is without a license right now so she is relying on the kindness of her family to get to and from school.

Have a great weekend all.

Five golden rings

Today is the fifth day of Christmas. Did you get your five golden rings? How was your holiday? Did you have family and friends around? Did you enjoy yourself? Eat to much? Have a great time?

I know our family did. I am being a little more reflective on our lives than usual. We have a young man who is a friend of Kelly's living with us. This is the first holiday he has known in years. He sometimes doesn't know what to think of all our doings. Our family gatherings, our joy of each other, our occasional spats followed by everything being OK. It's kind of weird.

He thought I hated him because Kelly wasn't helping much, but the reality is that it wasn't him, it was Kelly. She made me mad because she wouldn't go by the schedule. The cleaning schedule that so needs to be kept up during the holidays. Everyone has their part and if it isn't done, we all suffer.

Ah, well, everything was great despite the corner mess.

I didn't quite get my knitting completed, but had a few other goodies for my sisters and will send off the completed items as soon as they are completed. Of course, as it always does, now that the holiday is over, the knitting goes much faster. Hopefully I will have all the items completed by the end of the month.

The only bad thing that happened was mine. I was moving a hot crock pot and spilled hot bar b que sauce on my leg. I also tried to catch the crock pot and burned my hand. So as I sit and type, I have a big burn on my right hand and a similar one on my left leg. Luckily Mom had silvadene cream and I have been applying it religiously. It is healing, but still quite tender.

Hope you all had a great holiday.

Love it or leave it?

Ok, so do you love the Christmas season? or do you have the same old excuses I've heard for years? Too commercial, too much glitz, too everything.

I love the Christmas season. Now my kids don't get tons of stuff. Quite honestly, they don't need it. They get a few gifts from us, and one or two from each of my sisters and their grandmother. Not lots of stuff. I don't give out lots either. I don't see a need for it.

I like Christmas cards, both sending and receiving. I love Christmas carols, almost all of them.

Christmas season to me isn't about the gifts, although I do make a lot of goodies for family members. To me, it's about time spent with people. Going to Cambridge to meet my sister, Lou, for lunch and to wish each other a wonderful holiday. Going to Barb's home for Thanksgiving dinner and dropping all the rolls on the floor. Laughing so hard our tummys hurt. Meeting up with neighbors.

I like to go shopping at this time of year as well. I am the crazy lady wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. Smiling and asking other people their opinion. Just enjoying myself and whoever is with me.

So when you are out shopping or whatever this year, I suggest when you wait in line at the register, talk to the people around you. At the post office ask the person behind you if they are having a good day. Then really listen to the answer. Ask questions, tell people to have a happy holiday, enjoy yourself.

Thanksgiving

So what are you thankful for this November 26?

I am thankful for so many things:

Spending time with family. How lucky I am that my children and their friends LIKE my husband and I. We don't always get along, but it's wonderful that we all work together for the greater good of family.

The opportunity to be able to make gifts for those I love. OK, everyone knows I love to craft. It's a good excuse to try something new. What am I making now? It's a secret until AFTER the holidays. I would love to make some of those Noro Silk Garden scarves, though. Have you seen the ones the Harlot made? Beautiful.

A job that I like. I don't always like who I am working with, but I do love what I do. I get to touch the future and the past at once. How cool is that!

The ability to learn. I love learning new stuff! And my 'big' research paper is on knitting as relaxation therapy. What a great way to end the semester. Even if I don't get an A, I will be happy because I get to read all kinds of really cool books.

Have a wonderful holiday. Try not to eat too much. Enjoy your time with family. Go shopping on Friday and really freak out people by being HAPPY!!!!!

Is parent a verb?

Apparently in our home it is. I am glad that teens find our home so welcome.

Ethan has a friend that stays at our house often. His parents are both EMT's and often are gone in the evening. Brandon will stay at our house and help out.

Now, Kelly has a friend who was homeless. Since it was 30 degrees last week, we took him in. I don't know what's going on with his family life, but here he is. He goes to an alternative school and then works in the evenings.

So what's the deal? Is parent a verb? How would you handle it if your child had a friend with no where to go? Would you help them out?

This teen is 18 and an adult by all standards, except that he doesn't have a high school education yet. How can anyone in the US or any first world country, consider it acceptable that young people are not getting the most basic education? Is this the 21st century? Or the 19th? This kid doesn't have a bank account of any kind, doesn't have medical care, doesn't know anything about living on his own, except what he's learned by his limited experiences.

Who will teach these displaced children how to really be productive citizens?

I guess our family has the opportunity to see where it's values truly are.