Changes on the Homefront

Things have been quiet here on the blog

even though things been anything but quiet here in our life.

In September our 18 year old nephew Noah moved in with us.

Christopher turned 10.

Linnea turned 15 and I didn't get any pictures. *sigh*

We had our annual family hayride at my parents' farm.

We had our 19th wedding anniversary.

The boys played a ton of football
and we drove to a lot of games.

In October my baby Cece had her 1st birthday
and started walking.

Linnea began to participate in a choir comprised of all homeschooled students that meets once a week.

Isaiah's football team had an undefeated season record.
We made it to every game, sometimes driving some pretty big distances for this farming family.
They won their section championship and made it through to the semi-finals for our state.

Linnea is going out for basketball this year and practice will start soon.
I'm excited for her but will miss her in the house knowing she will be gone often
for practice and games.

Starting in late July/early August, I got "promoted" to work in the barn.
haha.
I do the morning milkings now because Dennis has a job in town.
During football season, I also did many of the evening milkings so that we could be on the road as soon as Dennis got home from work.
I used to milk all the time up until Andrew was born so it's not exactly new to me
but Linnea and I have had to really work hard to keep the house running
with me in the barn every morning.
It took some adjusting for everyone
and the boys and I have admittedly butted heads a few times on a few things
but all in all it's been a very positive thing all the way around.

Andrew became a teenager last week
aaaaaand I didn't get any pictures on that day either.
He is really growing up in so many ways.
Today I heard him moving cows in the pasture and thought his voice is sounding more like Dennis' now.

Abram is adding words to his vocabulary daily.
He took his time speaking, but has a lot to say now!
I'm always a little sad when they change the sweet way they say some of their words...
He used to pronounce his name "A-mum" to "A-bwum"---still super cute, but I get nostalgic about stuff like that.

THM (Trim Healthy Mama) is still going well.
I highly recommend it.

I don't know how much total weight I've lost because I've been gaining
some in preparation for Baby #12 who is due to arrive in March.
(the farthest "down" I got was 65 pounds lost)
I have felt quite well this pregnancy, the only "ailment" being fatigue.
I don't know that I can blame that entirely on the pregnancy, though,
as there are several other factors in my life that are likely contributors.

I appreciate all the "checking in" since I've been posting so rarely.
I'm still here...just a tad busier and away from the internet,
perhaps a bit more guarded with what I say.

I cannot quite wrap my brain around the fact that we are almost to double digits in November.
I love the changing of the seasons and I find things to look forward to in each one.
Right now, I am enjoying the coziness of sweaters and multiple cups of tea,
kids with cheeks rosy from the chill wind as they play outside in the dusk before supper,
the quietness of the barn in the mornings
and the brisk wind that dries the clothes so quickly on the clothesline.

County Fair

I actually remembered to bring my camera along to our county fair this year.

I am finally getting around to posting these pictures.

Elijah showed this little Holstein-Jersey crossbred calf.

 Ruby was so excited about showing this little Milking Shorthorn this year;

it was all she could talk about for weeks.

Then, the morning of the dairy show, all her confidence dissolved in a puddle 

of uncertainty and we were left with this face.

The picture didn't focus correctly, but you can still see what I mean.

She settled in after just a bit of time in the ring.

At her age, 4Hers are required to have an adult with them in the ring.

I have several to choose from, haha.

Nathaniel was Ruby's adult.

(It does sometimes feel weird to me that I have "adult" children...)

 Mr. Christopher had a round of anxiety to begin with as well,

and it was my fault.

His white show pants somehow got left home; I still don't know how it happened

though if I were a betting woman, I'd say it had something to do

with the number of 4Hers I have showing, the number of cows to milk at home before the show,

the number of children I have who are not yet old enough for 4H,

and the number of miles we live from the fair grounds.

It seems likely, anyhow.

 Isaiah has a special affinity for colored breeds of dairy cattle.

This little shorthorn earned him a trip to the state fair.

 Elizabeth 

 Ivy 

 Abram

 Isaiah and Linnea each showed a Jersey

 These two little boys were too stinkin' CUTE.

Abram is in the gray shirt and Colby is in green.

Colby's mama used to show in our county, too.

Full circle...

 Monkey see, monkey do.

 One of my favorite pictures.

Andrew with his dry cow, Ingaborg.

 Monkey see, monkey do. :)

 4H friends!

 Linnea showed Grandpa Wayne's horse Princess.

Between the dairy show, the horse show and the sheep show, 

she kept me moving.

 Cece likes to do "SO BIG".

 baby teeth...

 Christopher and Elijah enjoyed watching the horse games.

Isaiah and Linnea each went to the state fair,

Isaiah with his heifer and Linnea with her sheep.

Only eight months until we do it all over again!

Something New

Linnea won a trip to the State Fair again this year.

(click here  and here to see her trip from last year.)

She tried something new for our county fair with showing a sheep

and that is what she won her trip on.

Linnea and "Stevie"

It was a new experience to have a project in the sheep barn.

Abram was and is pretty brave around any of our animals.

I don't have any pictures of the kids getting ready for the fair with any

of their other projects (my camera lens was broken)

so these pictures are courtesy of the friend of ours who owns the sheep.

As I was saying,

Abram liked the sheep.

Linnea left on Wednesday morning and will be back late Sunday night.

Dennis and Elijah are going down with my parents tomorrow

because our club's musical entry also won a trip to the State Fair.

Elijah is very excited to see the event of which he has only heretofore heard stories!

Isaiah will leave on Sunday morning

as his state fair trip was earned with a non-livestock project.

He made a bow out of some sapling branches.

I don't have a picture of it,

but if it concerns Isaiah, it's very difficult to get a picture.

I am glad for the ability to text the kids when they are away from home;

when I was a kid at something like this, there was no way to communicate like there is now.

It's much more reassuring for both kid and parent, in my opinion!

Thankfully, both Linnea and Isaiah have had jobs this summer

that have provided for their expenses at the fair.

I wish I could have gone down tomorrow 

but someone needed to stay home here with the littles

and for the kids handling the farm work while Dennis is gone for the day.

Also, I'm pretty sure I would not have had the energy

to navigate the masses of people and the sprawling fairgrounds.

I hope my mom takes a few pictures so I can see a little of what they were up to!

Farm Dogs

I tend to think that farm dogs are different than town dogs.

Basically, a farm dog's job is to bark when someone drives in the yard and when animals are where they aren't supposed to be.

It is expected that they will tolerate the kids' attention

and it's a bonus when they enjoy the kids' attention.

Our dogs do not come in the house (except for when Molly's being a big wimp and she pushes her way in during a thunder storm) so when the kids play outside, the dogs generally come close for some lovin'.

We currently have two dogs, Molly and Copper.

Molly is our smart dog and Copper, well, notsomuch.

When Molly is tired of the attention, she leaves.

Copper never tires of the attention and he never leaves--

he pushes in even closer.

Abram likes to pet Copper and Copper knows that this is a good way to get some attention.

The problem is that it stops Abram's swing from swinging and Abram gets mad.

Abram then pushes against Copper with his foot so he can kind of swing, but he pretty much just ends up bumping against Copper.

Copper doesn't get the message, Abram gets mad, Mom has to yell to the dog to get away.

Elizabeth was just about to fuss at me to "hep" her get up on the "hi-ya" (higher) swing, that's why her face is like this.

The older kids were all gone the day I took these and I tell you, it feels weird to "only" have three to take care of and watch.

It's sort of a reprieve and more work all at the same time.

Easter at Grandma & Grandpa's House--With LOTS of Pictures

 Daddy and Ruby

 Grandpa hid eggs for the grandkids to find.

 Ivy Joy with her collection.

 My dad's 63 birthday fell on Easter Sunday so we had

more than one reason to celebrate.

It was a beautiful day and Abram loved being

free to roam on the grass and sidewalk.

After a delicious dinner,

Grandpa and Linnea got the horses out.

 Elizabeth loves the "ee-hees" (horsies).

All of the children have no fear being atop the horses, whether they be 

big or little.

Ruby on Dusty

Even Daddy was able to help with the handling & riding today.

Christopher helped to keep tabs on Elizabeth.

She wants to "go see" everything and doesn't always 

take heed for her personal safety.

Christopher willingly served as her guardian.

 Uncle Mike and Uncle Aaron

helped little girls with little ponies.

Christopher is quite the young horseman.

Here he is helping Ruby with a boost on to Holly, his pony.

Abram's and Grandpa's birthdays are a week apart so they blew candles out together.

Grandpa kept Abram's inquisitive hands out of the flame. :)

Elizabeth and Auntie Bethany 

Abram got to open gifts from aunts & uncles and Grandma & Grandpa.

 There was a rubber ball at the bottom of this tall gift bag

that he was determined to get to by himself.

Oh, how we laughed to watch him nearly climb inside!

Success!!

He also got a drum and knew just what to do!