Longhorns are addictive

We are addicts. Many people are. I feel bad that we got our 15 year old farm help addicted. People go to meeting to talk about their addiction. Some people spend a lot of money on their addiction. They will do whatever it takes to get more, even drive 24 hours to find the best. Then they brag about the best that they have on the INTERNET. But no one seems to mind, or care. Especially not the other addicts.

I am talking about the Longhorn breed of course!

On Saturday we went to our local meeting to talk about our addiction with other people. It is always alot of fun to compare note and pictures with other breeders and talk about how to make it more known that Longhorns are amazing creatures that live right here in Wisconsin, not just Texas.

Our 15 year old farm helper won't admit his addiction yet, but I can tell. They are easy to spot. He is always looking at our sale catalogs that we get for the up coming sale year. He would rather take care of, and watch, our Longhorns then our milk cows. He has already bought 3 from us! he doesn't own a farm and has no fence up so they stay at our place till he can get it up. He is working off what he owes us for the animals he has bought. Can you believe it? He would rather work it off than have cash in his pocket! Yep, at 15 he is addicted.

I feel so much better now that I have gotten this addiction out in the open but please, don't try and intervene. I will never give it up!

Funny stories

S*&T HAPPENS
Where our cows stand to eat is concrete. While they eat, they also go to the bathroom. This concrete has to get scraped/cleaned off. Noel did that one night before chores. This concrete strip goes right up to the barn where they get milked. Not a big deal except for sometimes, when the poop is really runny, it goes into the barn and into the drains we have for washing down the barn. This causes the drain to plug. After milking Noel left to take care of our animals at another barn. I cleaned the barn up and realized that the drain had plugged. To unplug it, I had to take a shovel to were to drain drains. I got it unplugged just fine and headed back into the barn. It was dark, I couldn't really see and I stepped on the ice. The ice was thinner then I thought and I fell in, up the my knees, in poopy, yucky, smelly s*&t water!

GETTING POKED IN THE EYE REALLY HURTS
I was bedding the cows with a bail that had some stems in it that were hard. I was being cautious of this stems. I tried rolling the bail at lost my concentration for a second. That's when it got me. Up under my glasses, and into my eye! It really hurt but there is no damage, except I keep going around in circles.

BUDDY LIKES ME MORE
Buddy is our herding dog. He loves to chase the cows. We have trained him to chase them any time we say "go get her". He hears that, looks for the cow that is not were it is supposed to be, and takes off running. Noel was having him do that one day. I came out of the house and heard Noel saying this, and saw Buddy take off running. Then I spoke to Noel. Buddy heard me, did a complete 360 and ran full speed toward me. The whole time Noel was yelling "go get her" and pointing to the cow. Buddy just ignored him and ran to be by me. This made me laugh so hard.

FORGET THE GROUNDHOG

Spring is coming! I know this not because some groundhog told me, but because the dingleberries are starting to fall off! Cows lay in anything warm, this includes poop. It gets matted to their winter hair. In the spring, when they shed their hair, the dingleberries fall off. the cows only shed their hair when spring is near.  

What a week!

This last week was very busy for us.

MONDAY: I had off from the group home. Noel came with me to my Dr. appt for our baby. We got to meet the Doctor for the first time. She is so nice. We also got to hear the heart beat again. 160 p/m. I could listen to that all day!

TUESDAY: I had to work at the group home and we were supposed to have our monthly house meeting. It got cancelled so instead  I went to Fleet Farm to pick up some supplies. I came home, ate something, and went right into farm chores.

WEDNESDAY: This was the craziest day all week! I worked at the group home, then went to an appointment to get new glasses. (I was hoping to get Lazik eye surgery but they won't let you when you are pregnant) Noel went to a seminar to learn about how to keep our cows cool in the up coming summer months. In order for him to go he had to use my car. So, he drove me to work in the morning and picked me up from my eye appointment in the afternoon. When we got home, we both got something to eat then had to start chores right away. We have a lady come every month to test our cows cell count and how much milk they are giving, among other things. Well this was the night she was coming, so we had to be on time.

THURSDAY: I worked at the group home. I had to hurry home right away because Noel had to use my car to trim someone horses. This is what he used to do full time, but since becoming dairy farmers he has cut way back, but kept a few customers. While he was gone I bedding the cows, just to get it done with during the warm daylight. then we started in with the rest of chores when he got home. We were in the house by 9:00! Yea, thats early for us.

FRIDAY: After working at the group home, pretty much by myself, I came right home again. What a crazy day at the group home. Normally, there is 2 people working. Today, the other girl working was at doctor appointments in the morning, came home for lunch, then left again to go grocery shopping. The day went fast because I was taking care of 5 guys all day, pretty much by myself. Came home, ate something, then started chores right away. It was nice getting in at a decent time on Thursday, thought we should do it again.

SATURDAY: I have off from the group home!!! I love having off. We did chores together, came in for our first nap all week and to eat, now Noel is unloading hay that we bought from a guy up north. I will soon go out to bed and start chores.

I am so glad this week is over. I can't believe I survived all week with out a nap.

Everything happens for a reason

Sorry for not posting anything for awhile. I would like to give a good reason, but I can't. Guess I have been a little pre-occupied, and just wanting to sleep every moment I can.

Anyway, I have had this topic in my head for sometime. I am sure everyone can all think of something or sometime were they have stopped and thought, "Wow, I'm glad that didn't happen the way I wanted it too" God really seems to have a master plan for us, even if we are not paying attention.

A big one for me is when I was younger I met a boy. I was 16. I really thought we were in love and would last forever. We dated, and lived together for a bit, for 6 years. We tried having a baby together. I can not express how glad I am that we did not.

About 1 year before that, I met Noel. The intention of our meeting was to start dating. We didn't, and became really good friends. What a blessing! We were friends. We hung out. I know all of his ex-girlfriends and like most of them because I hung out with them. Took us 8 years, and the break up with the above mentioned boy, to realize that my true love was right in front of me the whole time. Crazy, but the best way to start a relationship. I wouldn't have had it go any other way.

A couple weeks ago I kept thinking about this older friend of ours. He is caring for his wife that has Alzheimer's. We go and visit when we can. We haven't visited, or talked to him in a very long time. I couldn't stop thinking about him. Then one day he called me! Wanted to know how much start up costs are for farming. His Grandson wants to farm.

I have always wanted to be a stay at home mom and thought 25 would be a good age to have kids. Boy was I wrong on that. I would not have been able to be a stay at home mom at 25. When Noel and were 25 we were both working 2, sometimes 3, jobs each just to make ends meet. No way could we have added a kid into that mix. No time and no money. I am convinced that is why we started farming. We now have plans to bring me home from the group home after baby comes. It is is looking more and more real, not just a dream, every day. WOW, all those crazy hours, fights, money, and time we stuck into getting the farm going, almost 4 years ago. We could not have fit a kid into that mix either. The timing will be perfect.

About 1 month before deer season of 2010 we we talking about Noel not going hunting for the first time in his life, because we didn't have enough money to pay the help. So I decided to start milking. Someone else still had to come and run the tractor and feed the cows but I would learn to milk. Another blessing in disguise. I really didn't want to learn. Who knew that a little more than a year later it would be about the only thing I do on the farm. I know the cows, they know me. I know the ones that tend to be kicky and can prevent that. I know which ones tend to squish and can avoid that too. I am glad that I am still not just learning, but have some experience and feel much more comfortable with the cows.

Everything happens for a reason. There are more examples that I could share but I think that is enough for now. Open your eyes, follow your heart, and know that God has a plan for you. If you pay attention you might just see what it is. Feel free to share your stories too!

Now things have gotten complicated.

We are so happy that we are finally pregnant. So are a lot of other people. Telling people has been exciting and nerve racking. My heart beats just as fast as when I found out, but that over now. Everyone knows. I was a little scared to tell anyone, for fear that I might miscarry, but I believe that every life should be celebrated. No matter how small and fragile. And I can't really keep secrets. I am not regretting telling people because we have gotten so much love and prayers from everyone. I really need that. How can people send help if they don't know that you need it?

Back to the reality called life. This has complicated EVERYTHING. Neither one of us wants to risk anything, but I can't stop working either. In a perfect world I would be able to sleep, eat, sleep, eat, and just repeat that all day. This is not a perfect world though. With adopting, my body doesn't change at all. I just have to be ready when they hand a baby to me. Easy. Very emotional but no morning sickness, back pain, big belly that restricts movement, no labor. I really was OK with not getting pregnant. It was a long, hard road to get to that point though. Every time I heard about someone getting pregnant I wanted to (secretly) punch them, even if I loved them and was really happy for them. It was so hard but I really was OK with it. I knew labor wasn't going to be good for me anyway. I fainted when I got my ears pierced, and seem to have a very low tolerance for pain.

So what do we do now? I am taking it slow and trying to communicate better with Noel about how I am feeling. He is tring to take on more responsibilities and doing more physical work by himself. This is hard for him and he can't keep this up for the next 8 months. We will have to get help. We will have to pay the help. We have to get this place running smoother so it's not as much work and doesn't require your whole day. Noel carries a lot of that burden, is always thinking, and is working on a plan, but it is going to take time. So for now, I milk the cows and help with small stuff. Milking really is the easiest job. I'm just walking. Going in between the cows is a little complicated because of the fear of getting smooched. We have a stick to help let them out and Noel is working on a plan to make it easier. I think pulleys will be involved. We will have to have something else set up soon because I wont be able to bend down. Like I said, it's complicated. The struggle of health and cash flow seems to make everyones' life complicated. If anyone wants to come over and help for free we won't turn you away. Not expecting anyone to, just thought I would throw that out there. I think I need to take a nap now, so I will end here...for now.

It's 2:30am on Wednesday January 4th

I am up because I drank a lot of water before bed. My heart is beating so fast I can barely type. A million thoughts are running though my head. "ahh, so that's why I have had heart burn and not really been feeling well." After 8 + years of Marriage it has finally happened. "Who do we tell? When do we tell them?" We have waited so long and have been on such a long journey. It really took a lot to get here and be able to say this but...

WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!!

Had an ultrasound today (Friday) to find out how far along we are. We are due September 2nd! This is kind of scary to us. We have been pregnant before, told people about it, then we had to "untell" them. That was so hard. But last time I didn't have any symptoms, and there was never a heart beat, so we are already ahead of the game. We actually heard a heart beat, which we were told, is rare this early. The adoption will be getting put on hold for now. We will be able to re-enter the program once we have the baby.

We are so excited, scared, in shock, happy, etc..I knew 2012 was going to be a great year but I never expected this.

I already know that there are a lot of people praying for us and our baby, but I ask you to say one more. We need all the help we can get. Thank you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2011 has been a crazy year for us and 2012 is looking to be just as crazy. Some of our plans for this year include getting our grain bin running (it's been up next to our barn for about 2 years), and hopefully drop spouts so we don't have to use buckets and a cool whip container to feed our cows during milking. We hope to build a place for our heifers and calfs (so they can stay at our place), possibly upgrade the milk cow winter facility, and (with prayers and a little luck) get picked by a birth mom to adopt her child. Stay tuned for this amazing ride that we are on. We will also be doing some traveling again this year to, you guessed it, some Longhorn shows. So far we are planning on going to Indiana to the Winchester Futurity of the North and the Cherry Blossom in Carolina.

We are also planning on buying some land and renting some more. We need to expand our herd of milk cows and we need land to do it. With wanting to raise our cows outside our experts have told us that we should have 2 acres per unit. A unit is a thousand pound animal. That means that we can fit more 100 pound calves on one acres then you can adult cows. An adult cow weighs about 1500 pounds.

We hope that 2012 is just as exciting for you and yours as our plans to be for us.