Déjà vu, irony and sweets

Dh was in a car accident this morning (yes it was a year and 3 days ago) . . . this time none of the kids were with him, thank God! Some cows escaped their fence and came running out onto the highway (yes I am fully aware of the irony). As dh tried to avoid the brown cow, he slammed into the black cow. She flew over the car and was last seen slowly walking away. The local police officer made it out and verified what happened, took pics and secured the scene as they waited for the deputy to arrive. Dh believes the car is totaled, guess we'll know more later. Please keep us in your prayers, especially DH as he has to be on the road so early in the morning. :( I don't think I'm gonna be catching up on my sleep after all :(

In other news: stay tuned for our next blog giveaway and review :) The kids and I have been busily working on hot process soap making, lots of baking and fun gifts to share. If you still have someone on your list that you haven't found a gift for, here are a few of our favorite homemade gift ideas from across the web.

1. Hot Chocolate on a stick (with Marshmallow)

2. Marshmallow Bonbons

3. Cream cheese chocolate fudge or peanut butter fudge

1 more thing

It always seems like there is always 1 more thing, ugh! The backup fridge has died, of course this would not be an issue except that the other fridge died in the spring and the back up took it's place. It's been years since we've moved so imagine our surprise to see the new rental vehicle rates. :( We found a (new to us) fridge at a used furniture store, a few towns over and were so thrilled at the price, it was about the same as a new larger dorm fridge except standard size. Well, know we couldn't afford to tack on another $100 to the price dh opted to take the dying truck to get it. Thankfully he made it there and back safe and sound. Pray that the fridge will hold out and doesn't die.

Since we haven't found a reliable form of transportation it looks like we will be going the home birth route. We are still working out the details. Our previous experience was very positive, so we are praying that all will go well and it will be uneventful. On the upside we will be closer to the ER than we were the last time, in case of a true emergency. We are still praying for a reliable vehicle that can fit all of us.

This week the children are learning lessons in having a grateful heart, I have taken all extras out this week, including computer time. There is lots of deep cleaning scheduled. I have found that children today are not very thankful for what they have and while we don't have a lot by any means, it is very important to be thankful for even the little we are blessed with. This lesson is difficult even for us as adults, so I welcome the chance to instill this lesson early.

Down to 1

Notch seemed to have made a speedy recovery while at the sale barn last week as they "nursed" her back to health, the day after the sale they went to move her via fork lift and she promptly jumped out of the bucket. Monday, however, she mysteriously too another fall and wouldn't get up just in time before getting a chance to cross the stage. We are now in the insurance process, though we haven't heard much about what all will be needed. I am guessing that she will be put down :(

The truck appears not to be salvageable. The options don't even include rebuilding the existing engine. Though the mechanic did say that we might have some luck trying to find a wrecked truck that we could switch the engine out, I'll look into that tomorrow I guess, there is no way we could afford a rebuilt or new engine at this point. So now we are down to just the Focus.

On the bright side, baby looks good. He is head down and weights about 5 lbs 5 ounces. He seems rather cramped, but just a few more weeks. He has more than enough fluid and the cord looks good, as do his tiny little organs. :) It was nice to see him this week and I'm glad he is getting in position :)

Chip seems to be a electric fence jumper :( Which explains why we are constantly having to fix it, he will be steered soon, hopefully that will tame him down a bit, he should make a very nice beef steer. Dolly is a WAY better mama than Blackbird and has practically adopted little Ebony. DH went to bring them in for the night and all the cows came in and Dolly raced back to the pasture to get Ebony, Blackbird hadn't even noticed that she was missing.

Ebony is still as tiny as ever. She will be a true miniature, it is so odd to see her next to Chip who is only 5 days younger. She still looks like a newborn or a big toy and can easily be picked up, not that she likes that at all. This makes her a fencing nightmare as she can easily stoop down and crawl under the electric fence. This drives Dolly crazy.

Well as always keep us in your prayers, thanks :)

Traffic stopping

Today was my appointment to see the doctor, she recently had a baby and I am shocked she is back to work already, but it's only 1 half day a week so it's not horrible by any means. Anyway, I got in the truck, as dh was taking me, and I noticed that there was a horrible knocking noise. Now I don't know if I've explained this to you or not but my daddy was a mechanic, that makes me very aware of car noises. My dh is very hard of hearing and generally oblivious of car noises as cars are nothing more than a means of getting from point A to B. As I was saying, the noise was really loud and he listened for a sec and suddenly he heard it. It was an awful worrisome sound so he stopped and checked the oil, it was low. We were already running late so he figured we'd pick some up over by the doctors office in the city.

I must have prayed the entire way there as the roads are not heavily trafficked between my house and the city and we don't own a cell phone. There isn't even a gas station or a payphone between here and there. We finally get into the city and pass the gas station and as we stopped at the light the truck stopped. There is construction on that road so no one could pass us :( The guy in the 18-wheeler behind us was very nice though :) DH tried and tried and couldn't get it re-started, doesn't help that the starter is also going out. We were on a slight incline so the truck kept rolling backwards, Dh asked me to steer while he pushed as traffic was starting to get really backed up behind us. I am always impressed by how freakishly strong my dh is :) I digress, he began pushing and the nice guy in the truck behind got out and helped him.

Safely in the construction cones the kids and I talked about cars and their different fluids. Dh walked to the gas station we had passed to get some oil. There was a nice breeze out today thankfully so it was not too bad when we had to wait a bit longer as the gas station didn't have any oil and DH had to walk a bit further to O'Rileys. He came back with 3 quarts of oil and the car took all of them gladly, he jumped in and attempted to get it started and within a few minutes the engine was started, though there was still some knocking. DH would have to go to Wal-mart a bit further up the highway to get more oil.

I finally got to the doctors office, now half an hour late and thankfully she was still there. It had been 2 months since I last saw her and I was grateful to the scale when it said I had only gained 1 pound :) We chatted for a bit and she listened to baby, who was very active at the time. I have another sono coming up next week as baby was breach at the last sono and I finally got my glucose test done along with my other bloodwork. All in all it was a good day. Please pray that the truck repairs will not be too expensive.

Now to the quick updates: Yesterday was a HUGE cattle auction not far from here and Dh took Notch, Pickle, Coffee and Patches. We were tired of the irritation and harassment of whomever has been calling the sheriff out, it has been a weekly issue for the past few weeks and sometimes we would hear from the sheriff a few times during the week. Even the sheriff's office was beginning to wonder who we pissed off. Anyway, the sale was a disaster and I remember now why I hate selling cattle there. Notch was injured prior to taking the stage and now will need to be tended (by them) for the next week in the hopes of getting her back on her feet. If they can get her back up then they will attempt to sell her next week, if not they will put her down and file a claim with their insurance to pay us for her. There was so much cattle there that the sale started at noon and dh didn't get home till midnight.

Today I was on facebook (my second home) and a friend posted a video that I initially was going to ignore but decided to watch anyway. Man did it speak to me, WOW!! I know now that it is not time to sell off all the cattle and that we will need to strengthen our resolve to make this farm sustainable and that we frankly have to want it more. With this new resolve we will proceed forward and continue to work on the beef herd that we have left. The reduced numbers should make it easier to take them through winter and the money from the sale will help get the hay we need to do that. Anyway, now you're all caught up, hope you are getting stocked up this winter promises to be brutal.

No good deed goes unpunished

Three days ago dh brought home a dog from work. It was an odd looking little thing and very frightened. He was told it has been abused by it previous owner and the person who rescued it couldn't keep her with pit bull and Rottweiler that she had. My dh is an animal lover, though he'd never admit it. So the little lady came home with him without much question. The next day I looked at her and noticed that her stomach seemed unusually large for such a small dog. Her teats were also protruding, now I'm no dog expert and my experience with the little critters is very limited. Dh asked around work and he was told to check her teats for milk. Well AR is the only person she likes so he was able to tell us that there was in fact milk. We set up the old chicken room for her, but of course she prefered the laundry room. Oh, we've named her Mini, in case you're wondering. This morning we woke up to 3 new puppies and their mama sleeping in the laundry room. I imagine bubba will be in his glee once they can play.



As if that was not enough excitement for the day, dh went out to feed the animals at lunch and the beef cows were missing. He got in the car to go look for them and as he went to turn he bottomed out the car in a ditch. He walked back to the house hoping to be able to take the truck but sure enough the battery has died and still no cows to be seen. It is now past the time for him to get ready for work so he had to call in. :( Turns out that the corner of the electric fence came off/broke (not too sure) and that dropped the fence for them to leave. He and AR took off on foot to try and find the cows, hopefully they can find them and get them back in without incident. A girl can hope anyway.

I survived week 1

The week is practically over and I have survived. I am really excited about work and am learning a few new things along the way. I'm so psyched that I have even begun to reconcile our bank statements :)

This week we were surprised to find 18 eggs on the side of the nesting box, lol those crazy chickens. We will need to fence the yard when we get our refund as the free rangers keep wandering into the road and have been getting hit :(

We got a great deal on hay from our regular hay guy that should take us nicely into March. The cows are very happy about this development as it means they don't have to wait for a good deal at the sale barn anymore. Hay is cheapest at the sale barn when the weather is not too cold, but very expensive if it is really cold that week.

We are looking at our options for transportation as I have the only vehicle and that means that we will start to lose our source of pig food. :( I don't want to have to grain them exclusively, so we will need to find a cheap but reliable vehicle.

Saturday is my sister's birthday, I made her an infinity scarf . . . actually it's not a true infinity scarf as there is a seam. I don't have circular knitting needles so I did it as a regular scarf and sewed the ends. :)

Car is totalled, the process is long . . .

It has taken what feels like an eternity for the insurance company to determine that the vehicle is totalled. Now the process is really beginning, they now have paperwork to send us so that they can take ownership and pay the leinholder, then the bank will give info to the GAP insurance company and they will pay the rest. I am thankful that we have GAP coverage and highly recommend that everyone looking to buy a car - on loan (new or used) get it also.

Christmas was . . . incredible. The tree was filled with wonderful, thoughtful presents. We were incredibly blessed and for that we are truly thankful. I pray that you all will have a wonderful and blessed 2010. :)

Not much to see, move along

The car will also need a new transmission. No further comment.

Homeschooling is going well, it is wonderful to see how much the children are learning and we are having lots of fun with it. The Kindergartner is as quick as a whip and very eager to learn everything. My mother gifted the children a subscription to brain pop to add to their learning aids. The kids really love it. Our 6th grader is enjoying the flexibility that homeschooling offers. Having ADHD is quite difficult in a traditional school setting, the ability to take breaks and spend time outside and working with his hands, offers him a whole lot more than he could have gotten. The toddlers are not left out they are learning writing basics along with counting and the alphabet. The older toddler has his colors and shapes down already.

Anyway, we continue to pray for guidance. We were not able to keep our appointment with the butcher as we had no vehicle to pull the trailer :( Anywho that's what's been going on.

What a day!!

Actually this started last night. Dh came to pick me up from work and we noticed that the tire was going flat, so we headed to the QT for air. Thinking on his feet he also got a can of fix a flat. We continued on our way home and suddenly the tire blew out. We made it safely to the shoulder and got to working on changing the tire. We talked and laughed as we worked and as dh went to check on . . . I don't know what now . . . the expedition rolled back and slipped off the jack. :( Turns out dh forgot to put on the parking brake as we were on a hill.

The expedition was now too low for us to get the jack repositioned and the time was getting late. This is his last week of work and we didn't want him to run late. In a bind we got the number to the highway patrol and they sent someone out. We got the new tire on and as soon as we got the jacks out, discovered that the tire was very flat :( I asked the patrolman if he could take dh to the gas station across the highway but was told that he didn't have that kind of time. He wished us good luck and left.

Dh rolled the tire down the hill, jumped the fence and proceeded to walk to the gas station that we could see from the highway. 20 minutes later he returned with the aired up tire and we were once again in business. Things sounded a bit wobbly so I asked that we go to the gas station and get more air. We did and the children made quite a production of the matter. Can't blame them really we had been in the care for a few hours at that point.

AR was at his game 2 hours from our home and we were getting stressed as the coach was to be bringing him home and it was already 9:30pm and we were an hour from home. I got a hold of the coaches wife and discovered that the game was still going and they were a run behind. The game turned into a double as they won the first game. We were relieved.

We get home and could not fine Quinn and Lot, we were less than pleased. We locked Treva and Judd down and took care of the pigs and chickens. We drove around the pasture and down their usual road of choice, nothing. We drove around the rest of the property, lights on bright and finally found the boys. They went in quietly and we began working on the garden fence. Not one of our better communication moments. Dh went to work and AR came home (they lost the game, placing them 3rd).

I awoke to the sound of the phone ringing, it was dh. The spare blew out on his way home. :( I woke AR and had him go check to see if the ground was dry around the car and to try to get it out. He returned and told me that the car wouldn't start. Great, once again dh was stranded. Fortunately a nice neighbor brought him into town and he was able to get another ride to the house.

I called the local dealership and he felt certain that he didn't have the tires in stock. I called the towing company and they have a full service deal, he asked what size tires we have and I had no clue. i called the Ford place back and they didn't either. I was not impressed! The towing company came and got dh and the keys and for 3 hours he waited at their place.

While he was there i asked AR to get some scrambled eggs started as we bought eggs from a farm in Derby yesterday. We are sold out of our eggs so we have to buy eggs for the house, lol. Imagine his surprise/disgust when he cracked the egg and discovered a partially developing baby chick. :( Hoping it was a fluke he began cracking them a bit more carefully, he found 2 more. At that point we got out the brightest light we had and every egg in the house was checked. We found another 17. To say the least we will not be buying eggs from those people again!! I also had no interest in having eggs for breakfast anymore, can't imagine why!

The day is mostly over and I am now getting ready to go to work. We have an egg and chicken delivery that needs to be done and i have work that should get finished today. It's going to be a long day. :(



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When it rains . . .

Well, I was hopeful for a better week but no such luck. Dh called this morning to let me know that I would have to pick him up and drop the kids to school as he had spun out, hit the curb and almost landed in the huge ditch at Wally World. As a result of his little incident the front wheel is now rubbing against . . . something or other and the back tire is now flat, joy! The maintenance guy helped him push it into a parking space. Thankfully I live in a small town and my insurance company is always on top of stuff, they got us a call back with the adjuster in minutes. We were really happy to know we have rental coverage, though the 1K deductible is gonna hurt :( I'm not sure how Merry this Christmas will be anymore :( I'm gonna talk to the kids about a smaller scale Christmas, after all it's not about presents, it's about being together and that we've got. Wish me luck!! Anyway, I've got to get some work done, I only just made it in and they watch every minute of my time now. :(

Who said that the car issues are over . . .

I was driving to work this morning when all of a sudden I looked down to check my speed (since I don't have cruise control) and found that everything on my dashboard was dead :( Thankfully we are still in our warranty period, I called rusty eck and the service guy said to just bring it right in. He did sound a bit concerned though :( I guess we'll find out soon. Dh is coming to pick up the car and take it in as I have a lot of work to catch up on :(