Friday, January 31, 2014

abe.

At the end of December, Corey decided to try moving Abe in with the other cows. We had noticed that the two calves over there (who are younger than Abe) were starting to eat hay, but Abe still wasn't. He didn't have anyone to teach him. 

It's hard to tell from the picture (I was inside... where it was warm!) but Corey is pretty much dragging Abe over there. He was basically just resisting the halter that was around his face and the rope, but it made it look like he really didn't want to be over there. 

The other cows were pretty curious about this new little black calf (Corey has Herefords, but Abe was one of my dad's Black Angus). They tried to check him out right away, but he just ran from them.

This was the little spectator section from Corey and I's bedroom...

The two other calves were even more curious about this new little friend...

Gretchen thought it was so sweet that they wanted to play with him...

He was so freaked out, though. Just scared to death. We realized (later) that Abe had really never even seen another cow before. His momma died before he was born (my dad did a post-mortem c-section)... we got him when he was just a few days old... and he had been in the barn and small pen where he couldn't even see any of the other cows. His only interactions had been with us (mainly Lawson) and Marley. I really think he thought he was a dog.

Look at him running over to Corey...

It was so sad to watch. I know Corey got tired of me asking if he was okay.

There may have even been some tears shed by a certain red-head who was really worried about him.

Doesn't he look sad?


He was there for a day and a half and then the weather got super, crazy, bitter cold. There's really no shelter in the field where these cows are and we felt bad that Abe didn't have a momma to snuggle up with. So Corey moved him back over to the barn and smaller pen. (No rope and halter this time... he just followed Lawson.)

But... Corey rearranged some fencing. (I helped him fix fence one day. In the snow! And then asked on Facebook if that made me a real farm wife, yet.) He made it so the other set of cows (and one calf) could have access to the pen right beside Abe. Then he put in a calf gate between the two pens. (Too small for cows to fit through, but the calves can walk back and forth between the two pens.)

So now... Abe has a friend...

It was so fun the first day when we saw him over there with the other cows... the other calf coming into his pen... one day they were chasing each other around and playing.

He's started eating hay now and lots of grain, but he still gets excited to see this guy coming...



Look how big he's gotten! His head used to naturally fit through the second opening in the fence...


Remember when we first got Abe and he and Marley were about the same size? Marley was maybe a little bigger?

These two are still pretty good buds...

Friday, January 24, 2014

questions?

So I have a couple posts on my "To Blog About" list. (Abe is so big now!)
But I'm kind of in a bloggy slump right now.

So help me out... any ideas?
Any questions?
Anything you want to know?

{Funny... I just typed this out and then realized I posted almost the exact same thing in January of 2012.
Maybe it's a January thing...}

Sunday, January 19, 2014

gingerbread house.









Doesn't everyone make a gingerbread house in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day? =)

Saturday, January 11, 2014

goals. and randomness.

I always have lists of things to do... areas to organize... things to make... projects for school... projects for home... lots of ideas and goals. 

{Here's our Christmas gingerbread house... still in the box. It might become a Valentine house.}

{This was the temperature on Monday at 9:00 am. The windchill was -22.* 
We enjoyed our "too cold for school" day and staying home one extra day.}

But for 2014, I have one major goal... to be more on the ball and stay on top of things. (Obviously I'm doing well since I'm posting about my 2014 goal on Jan. 11th...)

{I love our big kitchen island for lots of reasons. This is one of them.}


I spent the last half of 2012 and most of 2013 feeling behind. Behind on life... behind at school... behind on so many things. I don't love that feeling. I especially don't love it when it ends up costing us things like late fees... missed deadlines... missed occasions. That happened way too much last year. 

{My sweet 11 year old niece painted this for Corey and I for Christmas. We LOVE it!}

Budgeting... chore systems... allowances... Bible reading... organizing... selling unused things... blog books (2012 and 2013)... exercising... those are all goals for the year, too. But they also fall under the category of just staying on top of things. 


We have big dreams that this summer, 2014, is finally going to be our relaxing summer. 2012 was spent uprooting our whole life and moving here. 2013 was spent finishing building this house and moving out here. At this point, there are no huge, life-changing events planned for 2014. And I kind of want to keep it that way. 


There are friends I want to reconnect with. (Hanni... this WILL be our year!) Friends I want to spend more time with.

There are little hearts and minds to shape and mold. Both at school and at home. I want to get better with chores and responsibilities and making sure to instill a good work ethic in these little people of ours.


Since it is now 12:05 pm... I should probably do some things like shower... get dressed... start working on laundry, cleaning, etc. You know, since I'm so on top of things. =) At least I can cross "random blog post" off my list now!

Happy 2014! (11 days late)