My baby is turning 3!!!

I can't believe it. Sawyer will be 3 on Friday. (December 5th) It seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home all bundled up in a snowstorm. Now he's a walking, talking maniac! He is such a fun little boy. He has a sweet, care free personality. He wants to go to school so bad. Earlier today, he walked up to me and says "I Wuh you mom." and as he walks away he says "I wuh you so much!" awwwww. I melted. I just can't get over how big he is.

Crazy Curious Babies!

The Belted Galloway Twins, Johnny and June, are getting so big and more and more curious by the day! lol. They are sooo funny. Philip has them, along with Leda (their mother) and Sable (their big sister) down behind the barn now. They keep sneaking under the fence and grazing ou ton the front lawn. It's super cute! So naughty! The tenants in the farmhouse haven't minded yet, aside from trying to shoo them back. (In which Johnny gave her an attitude and headed right back to where he was) The Putney Craft Tour was this weekend and Steven told Philip that more people stopped and go tout and took pictures of the twins being naughty than anything! We should have joined the tour and charged for photos! I will admit, they are VERY cute. And Silly. And naughty.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! While things are tight $$wise for us this year, we have SO much to be thankful for. Our handsome fellas, and just everything about them, our marriage which is wonderful, our cozy home, our furbabies, the cows, our health, and overall happiness, food in our tummies (and GOOD food too!) The list goes on and on. I am So thankful I got 3 extra days with my gram before she died a couple weeks ago, that I DID get to tell her how much I loved her that last time, and hear her tell me the same. Sometimes it is easy to forget these things. It gets hard to take the time to reflect. Worry and stress always seems to find us, yet the beautiful amazing things in our lives, we take for granted. We had a great Thanksgiving.

Getting ready for the Holidays.

The crazy, exciting, season. It's my favorite season. I love Christmas music and the whole feelign of it all. I love the hustle and bustle, good food, friends and family. I love seeing the kids eyes light up as they open their gifts. I love how they fall asleep in random places that night because they just can't stay awake any longer. I love Christmas cookies! This year we will be having our Holidays the night before since Our farm hand, Steven will want to be with his family. Philip will have to work those days. That is ok with us though. The Wednesday Night before Thanksgiving, we are having our friends and a few family over for dinner, Tim and Gelsy and their kids, Jon and Laura and their kids, Cora Skot and Erik, Harold and Joyce, Charles and Elaine (if Elaine is up to it) and Eloise and Larry. We will have a great time and great food. I know this because Tim is an AWESOME cook! (NO that isn't the only reason we invited him! Just a bonus :) Then on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, the boys and I are going to see my family at my Uncle Shawns house. We will come home around 4:30 to hel Daddy feed calves and do evening chores. Our Christmas plan are pretty much the same basic idea, but with less people. We will do our whole tree that evening, since Daddy milks every morning. We can't have him missing out on the gifts and the kids faces. We got our cards done, and I almost have them all ready to go out. I am hoping to hand most of them out as I see people over the next couple weeks to save on postage. We also had a cute one made for the farm to mail to all of our business contacts as well. They came out great. I am slowly getting my holiday shopping done. I have done alot of it on Ebay and Craigslist this year and have gotten some great "package deals". I hope everyone else is having lots of luck getting prepared, and finding those special gifts!

Farming Chatter

Well, things are holding up on the farm. Willie is getting bigger and handsome. His "longhorns" are growing so much! He is so friendly. Philip has been trying to get roundbales home. Last year he didn't beat the snow and it made things MUCH harder than need be. We have pretty mych wrapped up haying (No pun intended :) except for one last field but it doesn't appear that the weather is going to cooperate much there. We would have had it ALL done long before now had the tractor not decided it needed a very expensive break. The cows are now staying in during the night. They still go out during the day so Philip can get the chores done. No one has come down with milk fever lately which is good since we had a couple of older cows recently calve. Other than that there hasn't been too much going on. I have been busy trying get prepared for the Holidays. (Are we ever REALLY prepared though?) Also Sawyer's 3rd birthday is coming right up on December 5th. He is going to have a Finding Nemo Party that evening. I just won a great lot of Take along Thomas trains, tracks and accesories for his "big" birthday Present. He loves Thomas! I can't wait to see him play with them all.

Rest Peacefully Grandma

On Sunday, November 9, my great Grandma, Dorothy Benware, lost the battle of life. She was 90 and in pain. I was blessed to be able to see much of her during her final 3 days. I went over each night after the kids were in bed to help my family members care for her into the night. When she was awake, she was alert and knew who was there and was able to talk a bit as well. I was able to tell her I loved her so much. I was able to hear her say she loved me too. She told Libby, (Her daughter and main caretake-my nana's sister) "Don't cry, I am just moving on"

Knowing this comforts me, but it doesn't ease the pain of the fact that she is really gone. Her duaghter passed away in the 50's at the age of 13 and she had outlived 4 others as well, and Grandpa, so I know she was looking forward to the reunion in Heaven when she got there. She was an amazing woman. I looked up to her so much. I always wanted to be just like her. Her voice was stern yet comforting to me. She always made me laugh or smile. She was the strongest woman I ever knew. She had a hard life, alot of sorrow, yet she NEVER seemed down. As a kid, I just thought she'd be here forever and I still can't grasp the fact that she's gone. We laid her to rest on Wednesday. A beautiful sunny day. Rest peacefully Grammy. Know that I will carry you in my heart and in my memories, until we meet again. I love you so much. Thank you for everything you gave to me and taught me. I hope I have become a woman you are proud of.

A little of This and A Little of That.

I know I have posted twice already today, but this is more of a family type update. Enough of the farming junk already. LOL>

I turned 27 this past Monday (October 20th). It was a beautiful sunny day, and Philip and the boys made it extra special! Garrett had SO much fun making me a card, and decorating my cake and they all treated me like a princess all day. That evening, my dear friend Cora and her family came over for Corn Chowder. It was really fun. I am so blessed with an amazing family and wonderful friends.

October 22nd marked the 10 year anniversary of Gary's death. (Philip's little brother) It is hard to believe that 10 years has passed. I can remember it like it was yesterday. We brought a gorgeous mum up to the cemetary and upon arriving, we realized that a PUMPKIN was growing from the plants in front of his headstone. We had put a small one up their last year, and it composted and sprouted. The caretaker had mowed and weedwhacked around it all summer and here on his anniversary was this perfect little pumpkin. Very cool. We picked it and put it up next to the mum, and it looks just right.


The boys are doing well. Everyone is finally over their colds and sicknesses.

Garrett is loving school. He has gone on two field trips, and is never ceasing to amaze me with all that he is learning. He is writing ALOT now, and more and more without help. He spelled his friend Kobe's name as well as Mom without anyone showing him how to spell them! He is starting to write numbers as well. I am SO proud of him!

Sawyer is talking more and more and clearer everyday. He misses Garrett so much while he is at school. He is doing well though. He is now only one size smaller clothing wise than his "big" brother. He got a new carseat the other day, A Graco Nautilus and he loves it. I think his favorite part of it is the cupholder.

Our friends, Gelsy and Tim Young, welcomed their 3rd child, a little girl, Isabel Valentina 3 weeks ago. She is simply gorgeous! and soooo sweet. She joins a brother Ethan, (who happens to be Garrett's very best bud) and a sister Elina. I am really looking forward to watching her grow and getting my baby fix :)

Philip's aunt Elaine had her operation, and is recovering well. My great grandmother isn't doing very well, she is 90 and having some serious complications. Also just found out another close relative has breast cancer. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Philip's cousin, Jolena and her family welcomed their 6th child, a baby girl who came 2 weeks late and weighed above 9 lbs. Her name is Rith Catherine. She joins Dad Clifford, brothers Nick, Joseph, Samuel and Jonathan, and sisters Hannah and Grace.

Well that is enough of an update for now!!

Free Bull Calves!

A local man had been taking all of our bull calves for awhile now, and he recently decided he had enough. "Oh Great," we thought. "NOW what are we going to do?" since you basically get charged to send them to auction as they bring nothing and you have to pay trucking. Well I got creative and posted an add on craigslist. I can't get over the response! We have had so many calls and emails, we now have a waiting list! Some of them want to raise meat, one family wants 4 for 4-H projects... everyone on the list wants 3-6 calves. We should be good to go through the spring at this rate and have no issues getting rid of them.

Nothing Runs like a Deere...

Except when they break down. Ugh. We were told a short while back that our tractor would soon need a clutch job and were given an estimate. We really had no choice as this is our only tractor with a loader and 4wd. We couldn't afford to have it gone as corn was soon to come. Well corn came, and the ol' girl held out for us. We HAD to get through packing the pile. LITERALLY 5 MINUTES after Philip finished packing the final pile, he was pulling out of the bunker and she gave out. There she sat. She sat in that spot for a week while we decided what we were going to do. Finally we agreed we just had to get her fixed. The repair company came and got her and she sat over there for a week while they figured out was wrong. Come to find out, she had a vast array of issues and was going to cost 2 and a half times what we had originally been quoted. Well after another week she was fixed and back home and now we are FRANTICALLY trying to catch up on the last of our 2nd cut hay.... which we MUST get. That and we are trying to figure out how to make some Golden milk... to pay for the repair job.

Goodbye Waylan...

Well... little Waylan didn't make it. I am sad, but we tried so many different things. I honestly think he had an intestinal deformation. He wasn't growing or putting on weight. Atleast he isn't suffering now. This is the hard part of farming. You do get attached to the animals. I am really sad, even though deep down I knew he wasn't getting any better. Birth defects don'thappen often, but they do happen and it is beyond our control. There goes our hopes for an oxen team. We waited 9 long months, hoping both of our girls bred to longhorns would have bulls that weren't polled. I can still remember the day Philip came down off the hill in the pouring rain carrying Waylan in his arms. "IT'S A BOY!!" He yelled to me while I waited at the gate. "WOOOHOOO!!" I yelled back... thinking that our neighbors probably thought we were nuts. Rest peacefully little bull. Please know that we really wanted to raise you, to work you and train you and that we pulled out all the stops to save you. Goodebye Waylan, we will miss you.