more family time

Last week my parents came back to the states to see my brother's new little boy Joshua in Chicago and then came to our house for a night. My sister in MN also came with her two youngest, Joanna and Jesse. We had a great time visiting and relaxing together.

Rebecca and Jesse.

Joanna and Rebecca with grandma and grandpa.

family time

This picture pretty much sums up our day today.

Lots of sunshine and mud.
Although by the end of the day Rebecca and my boots looked a lot more like Dan's.

Spring Fever

I am enjoying my spring break right now and thankful the weather is too. Rebecca loves to play outside and yesterday we got our fill. Our backyard is sloped downward and once she gets her little legs moving it's hard to stop!

Down the slide!

Rebecca kept pointing down to the barn and saying "Da Da" convinced that Dan was in the barn with the cows, who by the way say "oooo."

Enjoying the view on the pond.Another great sign of spring.

research says...

"While the study showed that increased infant TV exposure is of no benefit to cognitive development, it was also found to be of no detriment. The overall effects of increased TV viewing time were neutral." -www.sciencedaily.com

Good news for Rebecca and her love of the "farm video."

Late February farm work

We have a lot of exciting news on the farm front. You realize if I started the blog with the opposite comment you would probably just browse at the pictures and nothing else. Anyway.
This picture here is of Scott's 8950 Case IH tractor and his Vermeer BP8000 with the final cut attachment. In late Jan. he came down and ground hay for me and this time I got some pictures. By grinding the hay it grinds the less desireable hay in with the high quality hay reducing the cows ability to sort out the bad. The processor has knives in the bottom to grind whatever it can reach while the bale rotates falling lower and lower in the tub. The bales are lifted in from the rear. The hay is thrown out the side as seen below.
Below is a picture of Kenna, Scott's dog. She is a tri-color border collie.
I did not take any pictures of the cows but they are all doing well. Official due date to begin calving season is Mar. 19 for the spring cows. They are all carrying good flesh and showing signs that calving is just around the corner. The fall cows/calves are growing well and weaning time is just around the corner. Scott and I frost seeded our pastures last week. We used a mixture of birdsfoot trefoil and red clover. I am excited for spring. One last thing: We have two head of cattle ready for slaugter and are looking for buyers. We will sell quarters, halves, or a whole beef. Email or call for details. They will be ready April 1. What is better with the seasons changing that firing up the grill and slapping a corn fed angus t-bone or sirloin steak on? Mmmmm. "Honey! Fire up the grill."

unlikely toys

I think it's safe to say that most kids at some point have more fun with the box then they do with the toys that are in it.

Big news!

Just when I thought nothing new was going to happen, Rebecca surprised us all.

For a month or so Rebecca has been telling us when she has to poop - she taps her tummy with both hands. We've set her on the potty but she never does anything. Then as soon as I put her diaper back on she will go. But late night she told us she had to go, she started pushing (her face turns all red - it's so cute!), so I rushed her over to the potty and she went! I sat with her for about 10 minutes and even read a few books. It was so exciting! I know she is not going to be potty trained over night, but at least she understands a little better now what it means to "poop in the potty" and she seems to enjoy it all.

Rebecca is just shy of 18 months so I really think she could be potty trained by 2 years.