Celebrating a Birth Day

Where did April go? I'm staring May in the face and truly wonder where the days go! But April for my little family is full of birthdays, no really all our birthdays are in April, so I think that helps to quicken the pace of the days! But as I celebrated my birthday just yesterday and my son's a week ago, I realized we are doing Birthdays all wrong. Yes you were born, good for you, but who brought you into this world? 

So Excuse me while I take a minute to be selfish and rant about my awesomeness! But it's not just me who should be doing this, I think every mother out there deserves to take a few minutes on their child's birthday to bask in the glory of their creation.

In an incredible blessing and miracle of life, I created a child; from me, for 9 months, I grew a human being! That's pretty amazing if you ask me!  Then in a somewhat difficult and trying experience I brought that child into the world and he was born. Now every year we celebrate his birthday!

But it's also a birth day for the Mother, the day you became a Mother, Mom, Mommy, Mama. And whether it was the first, fourth or twelfth time, every Mother deserves a little recognition on that special day. So next time on your Birthday take a real minute to say Thank You to the woman who brought you into this world, she really will appreciate it!  

{Wordless Wednesday}

Liebster Blog Award

Woah, how fun! Jamie from This Uncharted Rhoade, nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award! Never been nominated for an award before, so Thank You Jamie! Make sure to check out her blog! 

Rules

This award is given to new or up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers...the award is then passed along to other bloggers in the same category to help spread the word and support one another.

What to do: 1. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves. 2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to. 3. Choose 11 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and link them in your post. 4. Go back to their page and tell them about the award. 5. No tag backs.

Random Facts

1. Thanks in large part to my son, I now HAVE to have a cup of coffee to get my morning going.

2. I hate pickles, tomatoes, mushrooms and white chocolate.

3. We don't watch TV. We have a TV, but no regular service. Movies and Netflix for us. 

4. I REALLY miss riding. I was a very dedicated Hunter/Jumper rider until my horse had a "mental breakdown" and refused to trailer anymore. Now I just have pasture pets.

5. It's farm fresh eggs for me from now on, I won't ever go back to store bought eggs! 

6. I love to read! Totally enjoy getting lost in the pages of another world!

7. We have the best dog ever, he's a boxer named Brody. 

8. I faint when things get bloody.....it's really an issue being a farm girl, and irritates me that I can't control it. It seems to be getting worse as I get older too! 

9. My name starts with a D because my parents and older brother are A, B and C. 

10. I thought I had a large extended family growing up, then I married my husband; now I really know what a large extended family is. 

11. I'm afraid of moths, yes I said moths and no I'm not proud of it. 

Questions from Jamie

1. Why did you start blogging? 
 I came across a "animal rights" video that was taken undercover on a dairy farm. It enraged me! Not just for the fact that things were totally taken out of context, but also because these clips were taken over a long period of time that this abuse was happening on this one farm. These "animals rights" people did nothing to stop the abuse so they could get their video of bad dairy farming. I am here blogging to tell the truth about diary farming.

2. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Without a doubt my Mom's spaghetti carbonara! Now if only I could figure out how to make it just right, I can't seem to get it just right, it has to be made by Mom! 

3. If you could have the perfect day, doing anything at all, what would you do?
 Honestly, exactly what I am doing right now! Everyday doesn't go as planned and it's definitely hard more then sometimes. But I get to work with my family, be home to raise my son, enjoy working outside and with animals. For me, it doesn't get any better then that! But for a one day thing, I could definitely go for a nice warm, perfect day maybe by a mountain lake. All the people I love, some good food and drinks and good times relaxing. It's good for the soul to recharge sometimes! 

4. What would your dream car (or truck) be? 
Oh this a tough one, I am secretly a muscle car admirer and one day will own a late 1960's Ford Mustang! Modern day I would love to get my hands on my own Dodge Ram 2500, I'm a truck girl at heart! Although a Jeep Rubicon would be fun for off road......did I mention I kind of have a things for vehicles!!

5. What's your favorite type of music? 
 I love music and am totally one of those preset jumpers. Everyday listening is usually country, but I really do enjoy classic rock, oldies, alternative and some of the modern mixes.

6. What is one things you would be completely lost without?
 My husband! He's my best friend, my rock, my home, my hero, my inspiration, really my everything! We've been a part of each others lives for so long that I really don't know what I would do without him. Maybe a little cheesy, but it really is the truth for me! 

7. What's your biggest pet peeve?
When I'm cruising down the road and somebody pulls out in front of me when the coast behind me is completely clear. And then doesn't bother to speed up quickly. Really you couldn't wait the few seconds for me to go by and then pull out?!? No you had to pull out in front of me and make me slam on my breaks! If I get that dream truck, it will have a big brush guard bumper and I will refuse to slow down, get outta my way inconsiderate person!

8. Are you an early bird or night owl?
 Ha! You'd think being a dairy farmer I would totally be an early bird? Not true in the least bit, I HATE getting up early! Always have! I'm totally a night owl and it makes for a bad habit when I am getting up early to do the milking! 

9. What was your favorite gift you received last Christmas?
The commercialization of Christmas drives me crazy, so this might sound a little cheesy, but honestly just getting all our family together. We don't often get free time to get everyone together so it's special to have that day with everyone! 

10. Mayo or Miracle Whip?
Hands down Mayo! I want to try my hand at making homemade Mayo! 

11. If you had to live out the rest of your life as a animal, what would you be?
Ooh another good one, I'm a total animal lover of all kinds. almost tempted to go with something totally wild and exotic like a Jaguar just for a change of scenery. I also think our lovely Ladies lead a pretty awesome and pampered life. But I will have to go with a horse. They are my favorite animal and I've always felt a special bond with them. There's something so beautiful, mysterious and powerful about horses!

My Nominees
Diane from A Farm Wife
Erin from E. Davis Photography
Elise from The Frugal Farm Wife
Suzi from Chores and Chandeliers
Kim from Kim's Country Line
Krista from A Day in the Life of a Farmer's Wife
The Hahn-Way Holsteins crew from For the Love of Dairy
The Dairy Guy from Dairy Moos
Sarah from This Farm Families Life
Robin from Farm Folly
Jen from Ramblings from a Ranch Wife

Questions for my Nominees
1. What is your favorite post you've written so far on your blog?
2. Any travel plans in the near future? If not where would you love to go?
3. What inspired you to start blogging?
4. Your all time favorite childhood memory?
5. How would you describe your personality?
6. One food that you couldn't live without? What do you indulge in?
7. What's your favorite time of the year and why?
8. How do you make a bad day good? What cheers you up?
9. Who are the other important players in your life right now?
10. Your favorite fun activity? 
11. If you had to do one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Thanks for reading and make sure to check out the other blogs that I nominated. There really are so many great small blogs out there. And we all love to hear from you and see that people visited! So thanks for stopping by! Hope you'll come back soon!!! 

{Wordless Wednesday}

Spring Cleaning

I hate cleaning, no really I completely loathe cleaning my home! There's literally a million other things I would rather do and usually do end up doing, so my house is always in some sort of dissarray. Which is ok with me, it's just how I am. And we spend most of our time outside anyways.....which should be a motivator for cleaning since all kinds of "farm goodness" seem to get dragged in.

Anyways.......we had a teaser couple of nice weeks the end of March and then April did what April does; rain! April Showers bring May Flowers.......I prefer April Showers Ruin May Flowers, I am kind of partial to daffodils, which always seems to meet an early demise due to April Rain. Well that rain brought us back inside and made me realize that I REALLY needed to do some cleaning!

Well the logical person, would get the whole house clean. But a weekend day to myself led to inspiration to FINALLY finish our bedroom. I have gone through so many colors schemes and ideas for our bedroom it's ridiculous. But I found one I truly loved! And it didn't even require repainting the walls! But it did mean we had to clean our room. Our bedroom hardly ever gets really clean, it's the last room that matters. It was so disgustingly gross this time, I refused to snap a before picture! I'll let your imagination handle that!

But I was good and got everything out, all the laundry done and put away (that's the worst part of laundry for me!) And cleaned everything! Covers off the headboard and chaise lounge, curtains and windows washed, everything dusted. I even ironed our bedskirt before I put it back on, I never iron anything, I expected the end of the world to soon commence! Sigh of relief it looks great.......now I'll keep it that way right?

Well with our room clean I got to bring out my goodies I had found!

This was my inspiration for the current color pallet in our room. I'm not a bird person, but this little wren made me think of spring and a happy little song! The scroll work and colors instantly popped bohemian into my mind!

At my next stop World Market, which just happens to be my favorite store I ran across this duvet cover! I knew it was fate because it matched the colors in my picture I had found! So I just went for it!

A couple more throw pillows, some yellow sheets because we can always use more sunshine.

I filled the awkward space behind our television with some fake flowers for a pop of color, not exactly what I was looking for, but it does the job.

Got the curtains hung back up. I just love the way light filters through sheer!

And the artwork hung.

 TA-DA! I think I may finally be happy with our room!

Now I just need to find a way to fill the space above our headboard......I think I have a couple of ideas brewing, so stayed tuned!  Oh and finish my vanity area, which I totally forgot to snap a couple of pictures of! Thanks for letting me share! :-)

They're not all happy endings.....

Jesusita~to say she's a favorite would be an understatement!

Never is life and death more evident then on the farm. When you become the caretaker of animals, you take on all responsibilities good and bad. In a way I feel it is a little like playing God and yet never is it more apparent that we are not the ones in charge.

Most births happen without difficulty and go as planned. Every once in a while a Lady will need help, but most often nature takes it course and the female body gets to show off a bit. From our Ladies is where I learned to trust the birth process and helped a little with my decision to have my own son at home.

Then some don't go as planned. I guess you could call me an anxious Midwife especially when it comes to some of my favorite Ladies. So when the all time favorite started to show some signs of going into labor the other evening, it didn't bother me at all to trudge back out to the barn in my pj's to check on her progress. This was her 8th calf and she had no history at all of calving troubles, so mostly the vigilance was for my sake! The first check showed she was in some discomfort, but I knew it would probably be several hours before any real progress. So I made the decision to wait and head back out later. The second check late into the night showed about the same results, nothing showing, and no obvious sign she was having any troubles.

I gave her some scratches and reassuring words as she nuzzled up to me for some attention. Nothing looked out of the ordinary and I knew the rest of the crew would be up for morning milking shortly, so I headed back to bed.

My farmer headed out to morning milking a bit early to check on her......he found a dead bull calf.

We will never know exactly the cause, that's just the way it is in situations like this. Sometimes things just don't end the way we want them to. Luckily Jesusita is doing well and very happy to be back in the milking herd. That's the best news you can get from an unhappy ending.

{Wordless Wednesday}

{Wordless Wednesday}

Okay sometime soon, I will get around to a real post. But the weather has been so nice lately, that I've too busy outside enjoying!! Our Ladies have been too!!